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What are we reading? September 9, 2021

Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
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Photo: Qi Yang/Getty Images

Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.

Nelson Bennett, reporter:

Four species of commercially fished tuna are recovering, underscoring how international cooperation on the world’s fisheries can have an impact. “Four commercially-fished tuna species are on the path to recovery thanks to the enforcement of regional fishing quotas over the last decade,” says the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. — World Economic Forum

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/tuna-species-showing-signs-of-recovery-ocean-conservation/

Challenges to vaccine mandates in Canada are almost certain to eventually make their way to the Supreme Court of Canada to determine whether individual rights and freedoms are subordinate to the rights of society as a whole. But in the U.S., there is already a Supreme Court precedent dating back to 1905 that confirmed they are, at least in the U.S., which has even stronger constitutional protections for individual liberties than than Canada does in its constitution. In 1905, a man who challenged a $5 fine given to him for refusing to get vaccinated against smallpox lost his bid to have the court find the fine unconstitutional. — Politico

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/08/vaccine-mandate-strong-supreme-court-precedent-510280

Glen Korstrom, reporter:

This curious article explores the double lives some work-from-home employees are living. Some secretly hold two jobs.  They slack off at both, aiming to do just what is required, and they get two pay cheques. Separate laptops, and muting on Zoom calls (which can happen concurrently) is standard. So is scrubbing LinkedIn. — Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-people-who-work-from-home-have-a-secret-they-have-two-jobs-11628866529?st=mohdncc5el8uyqi&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

What once seemed like a certainty that most office workers would head back to the workplace this fall is increasingly looking like it will be … 2022 … at least. – New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/business/rto-return-to-office.html?referringSource=articleShare

I love many musical genres, and in the pop category, one of my favourites is ABBA.  I never thought I’d see the day when they reunited. It is so good to see. Here’s an article that traces their break-up, and it has current interviews that reveal reflection.

Bjorn says: “no one on Earth has experienced this kind of relationship, that we have, because, thinking about it, it's true, nobody else has.”

A superstar pop group including two couples going through divorces within a year of each other? Fleetwood Mac would come closest, although Lindsey and Stevie never actually married, and it was a five-person band.

Regardless, the two new ABBA tracks on streaming services now are worth listening to. Looking forward to the full album release later this month. – India TV

https://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/music/why-did-abba-break-up-the-double-divorce-that-kept-them-apart-almost-40-years-731504

Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:

The road to a low-carbon transportation fuel future is far from straight. This article covers some of the speed bumps and potholes involved in harnessing ammonia as a low-carbon option – New Atlas

https://newatlas.com/energy/green-ammonia-primer-clean-fuel/

Recent calculations confirm the old saw that, yes, the rich are getting richer and the super-rich in America are getting super-richer – by a cool US$1.8 trillion during the pandemic, according to Americans For Tax Fairness

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16fwh0SZQSq1VOjMifjNtxB30MtrgtZTV1miOej2TEjw/edit#gid=1259834744

Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor:

In this sobering look at the Great Stagnation, Max Bell School of Public Policy associate professor Andrew Potter attempts to explain why, “compared to the amazing pace of invention and discovery that was the norm from the late 1700s until the first half of the twentieth century, the last fifty years have been a bit of a snooze.” – The Walrus

https://thewalrus.ca/its-not-in-your-head-the-world-really-is-getting-worse/

Trying to nail down what makes people happy in their jobs has been the labour of platoons of researchers over many years. Recent studies suggest it’s a pretty simple formula: “Some of the squishiest aspects of a job are also the ones that make it most rewarding: the values held by your company and your co-workers. Research has shown, for example, that all over the world job satisfaction depends on a sense of accomplishment, recognition for a job well done, and work-life balance.” – The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/09/dream-job-values-happiness/619951/