Monday morning news drop
How the American health system is holding up compared to Canada with Covid Omicron is revealing flaws everywhere — and providing lessons about what can be fixed (CBC)
The Omicron LeBrons Want to Stay in the NBA They signed 10-day contracts when the league was ravaged by Covid. Now some of the NBA’s temps are sticking around. The latest variant was their lucky break. (Wall Street Journal)
The Great Resignation: Why more Americans are quitting their jobs than ever before We've all seen signs in front of shops, restaurants, and factories: "we're hiring!" "Help wanted!" And now, the Omicron variant is taking a toll on the already depleted workforce. We've wondered how there can be so many open jobs when nearly every employer seems to be offering better pay, benefits and even signing bonuses. (60 Minutes)
Titans of Carmaking Are Plotting the Overthrow of Elon Musk Volkswagen and Toyota are coming for Tesla, laying out $170 billion worth of investments to stay on top. (Bloomberg)
America needs immigration to grow and thrive The morphing of immigration into a culture-war wedge issue represents a huge economic risk for the United States of America. Immigration isn’t just important for our identity and culture; it’s also crucial for our economy. There are a number of reasons for this, but they all come down to the challenge of an aging, shrinking population. And right-wing culture warriors like Amy Wax are standing in the way. (Noahpinion)
‘There’s no room for error’: The humble tugboat’s crucial role in easing a global crisis Each day on the water, he sees evidence of a seemingly insatiable demand in the comings and goings of container ships, automobile carriers, oil tankers, even the Chiquita banana boat. “Those of us who work out here see everyone’s lives writ large,” he says. “Every day we get a firsthand view of the size and scale of the American economy and American consumerism. Not many appreciate this when they go to the market and buy individual. (Los Angeles Times)
How we fixed the ozone layer: When it comes to stories of progress, there aren’t many environmental successes to learn from. Although there are some local and national successes – such as the large reductions in local air pollution in rich countries – there are almost none at the global level. Yet there is one exception: the ozone layer. Humanity’s ability to heal the depleted ozone layer is not only our biggest environmental success, it is the most impressive example of international cooperation on any challenge in history. The story behind humanity’s greatest environmental success is too rarely told and too often taken for granted. This is how humanity fixed the ozone layer and why it matters. (Works in Progress)
100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved … (The Guardian)
To catch an insurrectionist Everyone thought it was cool to take selfies doing crimes until the FBI got all their data from Google and said hello. (Recode)
The Super League Debacle Forced Manchester United’s American Owners to Listen to Fans After the Glazer family moved to upend European soccer, supporters of their storied club got a chance to exert some local control. (Bloomberg)
How Jessica Simpson Almost Lost Her Name The pop star’s billion-dollar fashion brand fell into the hands of the wrong company. After a two-year battle, she finally bought it back. (Bloomberg)
Inside the mind of an NFL kicker The NFL playoffs start next weekend and here's one safe bet: at least a few games will come down to football's great secret hiding in plain sight. We speak of kickers, who score about a third of the points in the NFL, but only get a small fraction of the respect. (60 Minutes)