Canadian Housing Crisis, Stock Market Rally, Inflation, and Sports Gambling

Wednesday morning news drop

• Canada wants to build 400,000 homes a year. Who’s going to build them? The government has promised to build about 400,000 homes annually for the next decade. There’s just one problem: It’s not clear there are enough workers to build them. (Global News)

• Will Ottawa's plan to hike housing supply move the needle on home prices? Groups say they're encouraged by the steps taken, but not everyone is sold on the measures (Financial Post)

• Paying people to buy an electric car is a really expensive way to cut emissions There are cautionary lessons for Canada here. In last week’s federal budget, Ottawa staked an additional $1.7-billion over three years on subsidies for EV buyers, plus $548-million to encourage businesses to switch to medium- and heavy-duty EVs (Globe and Mail)

• Why Stocks Are Rallying in the Midst of a War and Soaring Inflation: Investors are confronting one of the most uncertain periods of their lifetimes. Stocks are rallying anyway. The S&P 500 has rebounded 7.6% from its 2022 low in March, cutting its losses for the year to about 6%. (Wall Street Journal)

• I’ve Got Time to Recover From This Inflation, Right? Inflation hasn’t been this high since the early 1980s. Although this is not unprecedented – before then, it had been 65 years before it even reached those same levels – it is also not a regular occurrence. Hence why the Fed is adjusting the gears a bit higher, allowing the rest of the economy to coast downhill. (Wealth Found Me)

• The Can’t-Lose Betting Strategy That’s Taking the Gamble Out of Sports Gambling Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and others have been handing out untold millions in sign-up bonuses. Coupon-clipping types are playing them against each other to make risk-free bets. (Bloomberg)

• Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid It’s not just a phase. (Atlantic)

  How to Stop Procrastinating A science-based system to conquer chronic procrastination (Curiosity Chronicle)

• Finding the next pandemic virus before it finds us The tricky work of seeking, sequencing, and sharing viruses around the world. (Vox)

• How Liberia’s frontline health workers are protecting us all Remote regions of sub-Saharan Africa are among the world’s hotspots for new diseases. But Liberia is using an innovative approach to identify outbreaks before they become a problem. (BBC)

• An ocean of noise: how sonic pollution is hurting marine life Today’s oceans are a tumult of engine roar, artificial sonar and seismic blasts that make it impossible for marine creatures to hunt or communicate. We could make it stop, so why don’t we? (Guardian)

• The Future of the International Space Station Looks Dire For 30 years the U.S.-Russia partnership at the ISS was above it all. Now the U.S. finds itself in need of a friend, not a foe (Businessweek)

• Pro-Russia Sentiment on Indian Twitter Draws Scrutiny While India and Russia have long had close ties, researchers say there are signs that social media posts parroting Kremlin talking points may not be legitimate. (New York Times)

• Vintage Chevy Station Wagon: A Look Back The Chevrolet Nomad The '50s birthed some of the most iconic station wagons ever, and this includes the legendary Chevrolet Nomad. (Hot Cars)

Russia and the War, Corporate Landlords, and Sportswashing

Tuesday morning news drop

• Putin and Xi Exposed the Great Illusion of Capitalism Unless the U.S. and its allies mobilize to save it, the second great age of globalization is coming to a catastrophic close. (Bloomberg)

• The war in data, week six: The aftermath of massacres: Russia’s invasion has cost thousands of lives, forced millions to flee and sent shockwaves through the global economy. (Grid)

• U.S. Hunt for Russian Oligarch’s Office Fortunes HUNT FOR RUSSIAN Their moves during the past decade to hide billions of dollars could thwart sanctions imposed over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (Washington Post)

• Corporate landlords are gobbling up U.S. suburbs. These homeowners are fighting back. Using authority that lets them punish homeowners who fail to cut the grass, one predominantly Black neighborhood in North Carolina slows the pace of investor purchases. (Washington Post)

• How Chief Technology Officers Are Investing Big in the Future A survey of more than 3,000 executives across industries provides a crystal ball into how companies are spending today for tomorrow. (Bloomberg)

• The Huge Endeavor to Produce a Tiny Microchip As the global chip shortage continues, we take an inside look at how semiconductors are fabricated. (New York Times)

• The Fortunes of MacKenzie Scott Three decades after worrying about making rent, she is now giving away billions — all while trying to keep herself out of the spotlight. (New York Times)

• Faster rate hikes, cooling home prices could put the squeeze on HELOC holders HELOC interest rates are variable, and many Canadians pay only the interest, leaving principal amount subject to rising rates (Financial Post)

• The Rookie Scale: Scottie Barnes May Not Be ROY, but He Has Turned Toronto Around Plus, a deep dive into Evan Mobley’s defensive impact and a look at how Jose Alvarado and Bones Hyland have emerged as key contributors (Ringer)

• Opinion: Tiger Woods has already won Tiger Woods had already won the minute he walked onto that fairway at the 86th Masters golf tournament on Thursday and, for me, he doesn't need a sixth green jacket prize to prove it. (CNN)

• Sportswashing Is Everywhere, but It’s Not New Regimes have been using sports to burnish their images or distract from their problematic behavior for centuries. (Sports Illustrated)

Ukraine and Russia, China, Climate Change, and Wastewater Management

Monday morning news drop

• The wartime president: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with Scott Pelley in Kyiv On February 24, with the Russian invasion coming at him from three sides, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached for his most powerful weapon – his phone. The moment Zelenskyy told his people he refused to flee, Ukraine refused to fall. Leaders don't become legends often, but over these nearly seven weeks, this 44-year-old former comedian inspired his country to stand up to the overwhelming force of Russia. Last Wednesday, we were admitted to Zelenskyy's fortified war rooms to meet the man who stands between the Russian army and the free world. (60 Minutes)

• ‘This Is True Barbarity’: Life and Death Under Russian Occupation: The town of Trostyanets was occupied by Russian forces for a month before the Ukrainian military liberated it. Residents described weeks of hunger and horror. (New York Times)

• The Bear Breaks Down: Andrei Soldatov on Russia’s Self-Destruction: “When you have a guy in the Kremlin who is being absolutely delusional about the real situation in Ukraine, you can’t speak in terms of a coherent foreign policy.” (Octavian Report)

• US right wing figures in step with Kremlin over Ukraine disinformation: False narratives pushed by Tucker Carlson and key Republicans in Congress have been embraced and recycled by Moscow (The Guardian)

• How a QAnon conspiracy theory about Ukraine bioweapons became mainstream disinformation It started as a fringe belief. Now it's an official stated reason for Russia’s invasion (CBC)

• Why China stands firmly with Russia — for now Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has known China as a student, scholar and head of state. When it comes to China’s “limitless partnership” with Putin’s Russia, he thinks he knows where the red lines are. (Grid)

• Mortgage Rates Rise, Home Sellers Fear Time Is Running Out to Cash In A growing sense of urgency to list properties before the housing market cools (Wall Street Journal)

• How Many Billionaires Are There, Anyway? Forbes thinks there are 735 of them in America. Another count finds 927. Whatever the answer, the mystery is revealing — and the number is growing rapidly. (New York Times Magazine)

• Heaps of money got Disney what it wanted in Florida, until now The Walt Disney Co. has dominated Florida for so long that the very idea of a backlash from the state’s political leaders has been unimaginable. Yet here we are. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his GOP colleagues in the state legislature are threatening to bring the hammer down on the entertainment behemoth. Why? Because Disney is expressing disapproval of their latest effort to pander to their far-right base, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law aimed at oppressing transgender people. (Los Angeles Times)

• Baseball’s Owners Are Winning the Game Behind the Game With the most powerful union in pro sports, why are player salaries falling even as franchise values soar? (Businessweek)

• A Million Little Pieces: The Race to Rebuild the World’s Coral Reefs: Nearly half of these ocean ecosystems have been wiped out since 1950. One man is on a mission to reverse that—by speed-growing coral in hyperefficient nurseries. (Wired)

• It’s Time for a Net Zero Building Boom A mix of high-tech and old-fashioned energy efficiency tactics can deliver carbon-neutral buildings, right now. But the U.S. needs to pick up the pace. (CityLab)

• What’s really holding the world back from stopping climate change The latest UN climate report suggests the world has to end new fossil fuel infrastructure to meet current goals (Vox)

• Inside the Bitcoin Bust That Took Down the Web’s Biggest Child Abuse Site They thought their payments were untraceable. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The untold story of the case that shredded the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity. (Wired)

• How sewage can warn us about the next pandemic The ins and outs of wastewater surveillance. (Vox)

• Why experts are terrified of a human-made pandemic — and what we can do to stop it As biology gets better, biosecurity gets harder. Here’s what the world can do to prepare. (Vox)

Videos of the Week, Federal Budget, and a Recession?

Friday morning news drop

• Federal budget 2022: Here are the highlights Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's budget focuses on housing, greening the economy (CBC)

• Federal budget moves ahead with new tax on big bank and insurer profits 1-time fee will be levied on 2021 profit, along with slightly higher rate moving forward (CBC)

• Faster rate hikes, cooling home prices could put the squeeze on HELOC holders HELOC interest rates are variable, and many Canadians pay only the interest, leaving principal amount subject to rising rates. (Financial Post)

• The U.S. Economy Is Booming. So Why Are Economists Worrying About a Recession? There is little sign that a recession is imminent. But sky-high demand and supply shortages are testing the economy’s limits. (New York Times)

• Will high inflation hurt stock returns in the long run? Not really Inflation above 7% and a recent inversion in the yield curve have some investors wondering whether to tinker with their investment strategy. Investors won’t necessarily benefit, however, by moving their allocations to U.S. Treasurys. Think about the long-term, keep in mind that this time could be different, and stay the course. (CNBC)

• Day drinking, ‘Big Shot’ and billions of dollars: How the nickel market imploded For the majority of the last decade, nickel prices were boring. On the London Metal Exchange, the premier trading and price-formation venue for industrial metals, nickel traded between $10,000 and $20,000 per metric ton and moved about $100 each day. Then in early March a short squeeze of epic proportions, prodded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, awoke the sleeping giant. (CNN)

• America Is Staring Down Its First So What? Wave The United States could be in for a double whammy: a surge it cares to neither measure nor respond to. (The Atlantic)

Videos of the Week

John John Florence - Surfing through Portugal

The Wildest Event in BMX - THE BEST OF SWAMPFEST 2022

Trey Jones - Again & Again: We have always been a fan of Trey Jones and watching him grow up in the BMX community has been nothing short of amazing. From his own unique style of riding to the events he puts on, his passion is obvious, 100% BMX'er, which is what we are. Enjoy this edit and what's to come as Trey rejoins the Cult Crew.

Civilized - Dillon Lloyd: The man, the myth, the Buck. Wethepeople Pro Dillon Lloyd throws down for a brand new video filmed in his home of Montreal.

Boogie Nights Reimagined: After a year of relentless weather, Kona Canada’s sponsored trail Boogie Nights on Mt Seymour was in dire need of some love and upgrades. Our team of volunteers, in partnership with the NSMBA, worked tirelessly throughout the winter to bring new life to the trail. We are stoked to share the fruits of their labor with you. Video: Eric Lawrenuk

Hard Grit - Craig Evans: Loamers are easy - soft, grippy, forgiving. Craig Evans is hard, talented and relentless, which is how he's able to make some of Yorkshire's greasiest, squarest rocks look like a flow trail. Pull up a chair and a pint of ale for four minutes of savagely poetic riding on places tires have never been before.

Niklas Tilk - Ain't Done Yet: Hold on to your horses, Niklas Tilk spent one year travelling around Europe crushing every spot in sight. From tech freecoaster lines to deadman gaps; this video goes to show why Niklas is one of the most progressive 26" street riders out there. Enjoy 12 minutes of VX street goodness.

Hell of a Month - Best of March 2022 There’s so much heavy skating each month that we decided to package all the best footy into this super-edit. March was wild. April has a lot to live up to...

Riley Hawk's "Nepotism" Part: Riley flies down rails and attacks some banks while Turnstile stomps the soundtrack.

The Mark Suciu SOTY Trip: “Game On” Following his comprehensive tear through 2021, Suciu took to the underskated Italian island of Sardinia for a victory lap loaded with stunning spots alongside Busenitz, Knox, SBN, O’Brien and more.

Surfers Not Street Children Surfers Not Street Children is a charity that uses surfing to intervene in the lives of children living on the street in South Africa and Mozambique.

The Labour Shortage, Yield Curve, and Cities With Pro Sports

Thursday morning news drop

• The labour shortage isn't over — and employers are having to lower their hiring expectations Businesses are dropping some of their job requirements as they struggle to recruit the right candidates (CBC)

• Behind the counter: how some Victoria restaurants are beating the labour shortage The industry-wide labour shortage is putting more power in the hands of the employees, and the restaurants that adapt are surviving. Part six of our labour series, Pay Check (Capital Daily)

• Apple Makes It Easy to Work Remotely (Unless You Work for Apple) The company’s relatively inflexible remote-work policies are inspiring some employees to look elsewhere. Businessweek (Businessweek)

• The Predictive Power of the Yield Curve: Even if the yield curve does predict a recession yet again you can’t predict: When the recession will happen. If/when the stock market will begin to fall. The magnitude of the recession and stock market correction. What the Fed will do in the meantime. (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• Can Norway’s $1.3 Trillion Oil Fund Actually Give Up Oil? It’s hard to understate how big a shift this is. Ever since the first transfers were made in 1996, Norway has made a careful effort to keep the fund at arm’s length from political aims. It was conceived of as a national savings account to hedge against fluctuations in the price of oil. But from its inception, people feared it could be manipulated for political ends. They saw successive oligarchies in the Middle East grow rich on oil at the expense of their people. Experts warned Norway was being naive to expect that a democratic society could manage such a big cash flow in a sustainable way. (Institutional Investor)

• The Hottest NFT Marketplace is Mostly Users Selling to Themselves LooksRare encourages users to trade via Looks token incentives Trading has effectively helped to mask the cooling NFT demand. (Bloomberg)

• How Long Do Boosters Last? Here’s The Deal On Whether You Need Another One. Now that months have passed since getting boosted against COVID, you may be wondering if the shot is still protecting you. Here’s everything experts do — and don’t — know. (Buzzfeed)

• What we can learn from people who take the Flat Earth theory seriously “Flat Earth enables people to cast out all previous information that they didn’t want to believe and rebuild the world from scratch.” (Grid)

• Why People Are Acting So Weird: Crime, “unruly passenger” incidents, and other types of strange behavior have all soared recently. Why? (The Atlantic)

• What Do Cities Lose When They Lose Pro Sports? In negotiations between the Oakland Athletics and city officials over the future of the A’s in Oakland, more is on the line than just baseball (Ringer)

Yield Curve Inversion, Recession, Inflation, and Child Care

Wednesday morning news drop

• The Yield Curve Just Inverted…Now What? Last week the yield curve inverted for the first time since August 2019. For the uninitiated, a yield curve inversion occurs when the interest rate paid on short-term debt exceeds the interest rate paid on long-term debt of the same quality. Typically, this occurs when 2-Year U.S. Treasuries are paying more than 10-Year U.S. Treasuries. (Of Dollars and Data)

• Why Do People Dislike Inflation? The great public concern with inflation has certainly had an impact on the economics profession. We must ask whether the extent of public concern with inflation really makes sense, or whether the economics profession has been influenced from without into devoting too much attention to inflation. (NBER)

• Tracking the Price of Nails since 1695: The real price of nails fell by a factor of 10 from the late 1700s to the middle of the twentieth century, largely as a result of productivity growth in manufacturing. (NBER)

• Child Care Revolution: What Canada Can Learn from Germany With $10-a-day child care on the horizon, there’s a lot to learn from a country similar to ours (Walrus)

• Wall Street’s Rigid Culture Bends to Demands for Flexibility at Work Many big banks are offering flexible working arrangements — sometimes grudgingly — as they chase talent that would rather stay home. (New York Times)

• 10 Companies to Watch In Q2 2022 The rise of remote work in the pandemic has boosted demand for cloud computing; Relationships with partners such as Amazon Web Services is poised to grow at three times the rate of the broader cybersecurity market through 2025, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. (Bloomberg)

• Shrinking the Gap: how the clothing brand lost its way Gap’s clothes defined an era, but the brand has been steadily declining for years. Can a collaboration with Kanye West revive its fortunes – or is it just another sign of a company flailing around for an identity? (Guardian)

• Hertz Plans Electric Car Fleet Expansion With 65,000 Polestars The five-year deal will give renters an alternative to Tesla. (Bloomberg)

• The Alberta government spent another $22 million on unpaid land rent for oil and gas operators in 2021 When oil and gas companies are unable, or unwilling, to pay their land rent, the provincial government will pay it for them. More than 99 per cent of the time, Alberta never gets its money back (Narwhal)

• “This Shouldn’t Happen”: Inside the Virus-Hunting Nonprofit at the Center of the Lab-Leak Controversy Chasing scientific renown, grant dollars, and approval from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Peter Daszak transformed the environmental nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance into a government-funded sponsor of risky, cutting-edge virus research in both the U.S. and Wuhan, China. Drawing on more than 100,000 leaked documents, a V.F. investigation shows how an organization dedicated to preventing the next pandemic found itself suspected of helping start one. (Vanity Fair)

• Victoria's Colonial Bungalow Fling "The colonial bungalow, identified by its extensive perimeter verandahs, dominant hipped roof, and low-slung horizontal form would have been familiar to any British colonist who had spent time in India or the Pacific possessions where it had become the standard expatriate house type." (Century Bungalow - Part 1) and (Century Bungalow - Part 2)

War Crimes in Ukraine, Corporate Profits, and Carbon Emissions

Tuesday morning news drop

• Global outrage mounts as Ukraine accuses retreating Russians of civilian massacre Warning: this story contains images showing dead bodies (CBC)

• How the West Got Russia’s Military So, So Wrong Good equipment and clever doctrine reveal little about how an army will perform in a war. (Atlantic)

• Hunt for oligarch assets adds new urgency to Canada's plan for beneficial ownership registry Right now Canada largely permits private companies to set up without revealing who is behind them (Financial Post)

• Profits Soar as U.S. Corporations Have Best Year Since 1950 New data show earnings jumped 35% in 2021, while workers got an 11% bump. (Businessweek)

• Five Things I Know about Investing Dartmouth finance professor Kenneth R. French explains five principles he uses as the foundation for a holistic approach to portfolio design. French develops a flexible and comprehensive framework for portfolio design using the global average of all investors and the global portfolio of all stocks, bonds, and other financial assets as reference points. (Dimensional Fund Advisors)

• From VW to JPMorgan, the Unlikely Cast Behind Nickel’s Big Squeeze The nickel market remains paralyzed after this month’s crisis. (Bloomberg)

• ‘He Goes Where the Fire Is’: A Virus Hunter in the Wuhan Market For years, Edward Holmes worried about animal markets causing a pandemic. Now he finds himself at the center of the debate over the origins of the coronavirus. (New York Times)

• A Glimpse Into a Fearful, Angry, Imaginary World Ginni Thomas’s texts offer a window into a dark and conspiratorial mindset. (The Atlantic)

• Huge carbon emissions cuts, removals needed — but not being made, UN climate report finds Report says world hurtling to danger zone without more action (CBC)

• In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things The truth is new and counterintuitive: we have the technology necessary to rapidly ditch fossil fuels. (New Yorker)

• The Mystifying Rise of Child Suicide A family tragedy sheds light on a burgeoning mental-health emergency. (New Yorker)

Foreign Buyers Tax, Home Prices, Covid, Kyle Lowery, and Chris Paul

Monday morning news drop

• Think Foreign Buyer Taxes Don’t Work? Look At Windsor & Toronto Real Estate: BMO Ontario’s non-resident speculation tax (NRST) is expanding in size and location. The NRST was a 15% tax on the purchase of residential real estate in the Golden Horseshoe (Greater Toronto). As of March 30, 2022, it’s now 20% and applies to the whole province. Low revenues might have some believing it hasn’t been very effective, but that’s not the case. BMO wrote to clients this week to urge people to look at Windsor real estate if you want to see its impact. (Better Dwelling)

• Can Home Prices and Interest Rates Soar at the Same Time? Rising mortgage rates are supposed to cool house prices. But this time could be different. (New York Times)

• This Is What Happens When Globalization Breaks Down The story of one shipping container from a factory in China to a warehouse in the United States traces the arc of a global supply chain consumed by trouble. (New York Times)

• When Nokia Pulled Out of Russia, a Vast Surveillance System Remained The Finnish company played a key role in enabling Russia’s cyberspying, documents show, raising questions of corporate responsibility. (New York Times)

• Are you really getting a deal at your favourite dollar store? CBC’s Marketplace put items for sale at Dollarama and Dollar Tree to the test (CBC Marketplace)

• It’s not too late for new Covid-19 drugs to change the pandemic The new, easy-to-take antivirals are now on pharmacy shelves. This is who they stand to help the most. (Vox)

• Did Sweden beat the pandemic by refusing to lock down? No, its record is disastrous. A new study by European scientific researchers buries all those claims in the ground. Published in Nature, the study paints a devastating picture of Swedish policies and their effects. “The Swedish response to this pandemic,” the researchers report, “was unique and characterized by a morally, ethically, and scientifically questionable laissez-faire approach.” (LA Times)

• Covid success to covid disaster: What happened in Hong Kong? For two years, Hong Kong was known for its relative success in controlling covid. Strict measures, 3-week quarantines for travelers, lockdowns and curfews were part of the effort, even after most of the world had moved toward coexisting with the virus. But starting in February, Hong Kong’s defenses faltered. (Grid)

• War got weird: Half a century of IT innovation is now being used for destruction. Technology fundamentally transforms the experience of human life in unexpected ways that are difficult to comprehend. Technology weirds the world. Military technology, unfortunately, is part of that. If you give human beings new capabilities, some of those humans are going to use those capabilities to try to kill each other. (Noahpinion)

• Why Kyle Lowry’s carefully-planned exit was necessary for Raptors to take next step The Toronto Raptors would never be where they are now without Kyle Lowry.

  But they wouldn’t be able to get to where they want to be if the team’s all-time leader in assists, steals, charges drawn and wins was still wearing No. 7, throwing his body all over the wood and into the crowd like every loose ball was a live grenade that needed to be smothered. (Sportsnet)

• For My Toronto Family Kyle Lowry’s love letter to Toronto “It’s never going to be a wrap between me and this city. With family, it’s never goodbye.” (The Players Tribune)

• Chris Paul Is Building a Business Empire. Now All He Needs Is an NBA Ring: CP3 is making deals, texting with Bob Iger, and getting ready for a championship run. (Businessweek)

• How High Energy Prices Could Help Both the Climate and the U.S. With Russian output shut in, U.S. producers could gain market share even as world hastens shift to renewables. (Wall Street Journal)

Videos of the Week, Interest Rates, Inflation, Ukraine, and the Tow Truck Mafia

Friday morning news drop

• Brace yourself: Interest rates could be headed up even faster and higher than we thought Some economists now think Bank of Canada rate could go twice as high as it was pre-pandemic (CBC)

• America’s inflation problem is weirdly hard to fix America’s inflation problem, explained to the extent it is possible.(Vox)

• Softwood lumber prices remain flat as transportation headaches continue Shipping delays continued to be the main word as inventories in the field were waning and deliveries were frustratingly slow. Sawmills were able to keep strong order files of up to four weeks so prices remained flat. Lumber yards at suppliers were choked due to sheer lack of rails cars coming in as well as difficulty sourcing trucks. (Canadian Forest Industries)

• War in Ukraine: what explains the calm in global stock markets? Amid surprise that the financial system has not been dealt a more severe blow there are warnings of systemic risks still to be uncovered. (Financial Times)

• The Last Cell Tower in Mariupol For weeks, a lone mobile base station allowed thousands in the besieged Ukrainian city to stay connected—until Russian troops arrived. (Wired)

• The Worst Part of Working From Home Is Now Haunting Reopened Offices. Hybrid schedules are supposed to provide the best of both worlds: all the benefits of working from home (no commute, more focus, hanging out with the dog, whatever it may be) plus the benefit of in-person collaboration with colleagues. The problem is … much of the time, it isn’t happening that way. (Slate)

• The female problem: how male bias in medical trials ruined women’s health. Centuries of female exclusion has meant women’s diseases are often missed, misdiagnosed or remain a total mystery. (The Guardian)

• Inside the Tow Truck Mafia: How Organized Crime Took Over Canada’s Towing Industry Back alley deals, fake crashes, arson, and even murder—nothing is off limits in the ruthless world of Canada's towing companies. (The Drive)

• Cancelled ferry sailings are a symptom of a longstanding problem in the marine industry. It’s only going to get worse. Worker shortages are now endemic in the industry—but warnings started decades ago. (Capital Daily)

• 'On the verge of mental and physical breakdown': why a growing number of Victoria nurses are quitting Victoria nurses cite short staffing, payroll issues, abuse as reasons for leaving the industry. (Capital Daily)

• Let It Go Kevin Durant thought he was leaving the turmoil in Golden State, but whether it’s Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status, the James Harden trade, or the other James Harden trade, his Nets tenure has been full of disruptions. Yet, as he enters his mid-30s, KD is more Zen than ever. “Before, I used to worry about expectations,” he says, “but now, I’m solidified and confident in what I bring.” (Ringer)

Videos of the Week

Art Form: “The surfboard is a constant blending of curves and how they interact with the water. Making those curves feel comfortable, like an extension of your feet and your mind, is so interesting...there shouldn’t be any rules about what a surfboard looks like.” - Matt Parker.

Corey Martinez on His Levo SL Professional BMX rider, Corey Martinez, has found good times aboard a Specialized Turbo Levo SL recently, keeping the creativity alive on both trails and in the streets.

Finn Iles Takes on Portugal Tracks with Style Rupert Walker, Tommy and I spent a week in Portugal filming before the first World Cup and this is what we came up with!

Brook MacDonald's Dream Track: Brook “The Bulldog” MacDonald is back! Back riding bikes all day every day! No race tape this time around, but that doesn't mean the MTB heavyweight from New Zealand held back. On the contrary, Brook let his imagination loose for this one. To build his Dream Track, he joined forces with Remy Morton and the result is nothing short of MTB magic.

Lucy Van Eesteren Joins Race Face: Personality shows itself in many ways, both on and off the bike. For 16-year-old Lucy Van Eesteren, it means a healthy dose of dad jokes, ironic comments, and pop-culture references paired with some very impressive riding abilities. We’re looking forward to seeing big things from this young rider in 2022 as she continues to sharpen her skills on the bike and her humour off the bike. And who knows, maybe we’ll even get to see an epic dad joke battle with the Godfather himself, Wade Simmons. Welcome Lucy, we’re stoked to have you on the team!

Jon Mackellar - The Best F****ing Edit Ever: Australian rider Jon "Termite" Mackellar comes through with top tier biking on dirt, street, and park for one well rounded video part! Video: Tim Storey.

Daniel DuBois' "Madness" Part Dan's been making waves in The Bay for a minute, but this part showcases the true magnitude of his potential, from heavy rails to the bricks of China Banks.

Better Than You CM Punk vs MJF in the feud of the year

The Great Resignation, Yield Curve Inversion, and Online Shopping

Thursday morning news drop

• The Great Resignation is taking root around the world In the past 12 months, a record number of Americans have quit their jobs, and workers around the world have been paying attention. "The Great Resignation is people saying, 'Whatever the situation is, I want better,'" Patrecia Ming Buckley told CNN Business as 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs last month. (CNN Business)

• To Retain Employees, Support Their Passions Outside Work With more and more people quitting, leaders need to find new ways to boost retention. One under-recognized way to keep employees on board is to give them the flexibility and resources they need to pursue their out-of-work passions. Drawing on their research, the authors offer practical strategies for creating “passion opportunities” so that you can attract and retain employees who want to pursue their passions outside of work. Beyond simply providing employees with flexibility, leaders need to make sure that employees feel comfortable actually using this flexibility. Given longstanding ideas about the “ideal worker,” or the notion prevalent in the U.S. that a good employee is one who dedicates their time and energy solely to work, embracing non-work passions requires igniting a mindset shift, including explicit endorsement from leaders. (Harvard Business Review)

• U.S. Treasuries yield curve flashes warning sign to investors The U.S. Treasury yield curve is flashing a warning sign to Wall Street, where many are worried that a recession could be in store after bond investors pushed up short-term rates to the point where yields on the two-year Treasury were actually higher than the 10-year Treasury. (Globe and Mail)

• What Does a Bond Bear Market Look Like? There have basically only been three long-term bond market cycles over the past 100 years or so for U.S. government bonds: (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• Does the End of Cash Mean the End of Privacy? As cash disappears from the modern economy, privacy disappears with it. You can’t spend money with a credit card, debit card or check without creating a record of your transaction. (New York Times)

• US seeks new lithium sources as demand for batteries grows. The race is on to produce more lithium in the United States. The U.S. will need far more lithium to achieve its clean energy goals — and the industry that mines, extracts and processes the chemical element is poised to grow. But it also faces a host of challenges from environmentalists, Indigenous groups and government regulators. (AP News)

• Climate groups say a change in coding can reduce bitcoin energy consumption by 99% A simple switch in the way transactions are verified could reduce bitcoin’s energy-guzzling mining habits. (The Guardian)

• 10 Lessons from Great Businesses After publishing over half a million words on some of the world’s most innovative businesses, these are the 10 lessons I come back to again and again. You’ll find tactics from Stripe, FTX, Tiger Global, OpenSea, and other exceptional organizations. (The Generalist)

• Online shopping in the middle of the ocean E-commerce giants don’t reliably deliver to the remote islands of French Polynesia, so locals made their own online shopping service (Rest of World)

• How War in Ukraine Roiled Facebook and Instagram The rules over what war content is permitted on Facebook and Instagram keep changing, causing internal confusion. (New York Times)

• Canadian marijuana producers watch closely as Democrats aim to rewrite U.S. cannabis laws More than three years after legal cannabis arrived in North America on a national scale, Congress is taking another stab at following Canada’s lead by ending long-standing federal prohibitions on marijuana in the United States. (Globe and Mail)

• Joel Embiid: ‘I Thought I’d Really Lose It’ Throughout a season of uncertainty for the Sixers, the star center has been the team’s unshakable anchor, remaining steadfast in his focus on bringing a championship to Philadelphia. (Sports Illustrated)