Brigadoon Daily
Your daily dose of the emerging issues + independent thinkers shaping commerce + culture
November 12, 2021
‘We baby boomers have had our day’
TOP FIVE
1. Xi is expected to invite Biden to the Beijing Winter Olympics
2. South Africa can’t afford to quit coal
3. Vegan diets won’t save us
4. The man who has lived as a hermit for 40 years
5. Hamilton says he must win Brazilian GP to keep title fight alive
BRIGADOON EVENT
Brigadoon Workshop: World 2022 | 7 Elections + 7 Topics
This two-session workshop will help you understand the geopolitical landscape, plan for seven critical elections worldwide, and gather insights on the seven topics that will shape commerce and culture as we advance.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | 12:00 - 2:00 pm ET
Washington, DC or Virtual
For more information or sign up - click here.
GLOBALIZATION + STATECRAFT
Historic resolution seals President Xi's grip on power: DW reports top Communist Party officials in China have approved a resolution that paves the way for President Xi Jinping to extend his rule.
AFP: China’s Communist Party passes rare resolution strengthening Xi Jinping’s authority
Chinese leaders pave way for Xi's 3rd term and beyond: Nikkei reports the historical resolution touts Communist Party's achievements while ignoring criticisms.
WP: China clears a path for Xi Jinping to rule until at least 2027
China’s Xi designated a historical figure by party
WSJ
Chinese Communist party clears way for Xi to tighten grip on power: First ‘historical resolution’ in 40 years declares president’s leadership key to nation’s ‘great rejuvenation.’
FT
Xi Jinping’s cult of personality gets a big boost
Benjamin Hart
Xi Jinping, China's eternal president: According to the old rules, he should step down next year. But the Chinese leader has now secured his grip on power beyond two terms. It’s a massive taboo breach — yet other taboos remain in place.
Dang Yuan
Does Xi Jinping’s seizure of history threaten his future?
New Yorker
Xi Jinping warns of ‘cold war’ divisions as US rebuilds alliances: Biden’s security adviser says America is forging ahead with a new Asia-Pacific framework.
FT
AFP: Biden, Xi expected to hold virtual summit on Monday: US media
CNBC: Xi is expected to invite Biden to the Beijing Winter Olympics, sources say
+ As the United States and China continue discussions on a virtual summit to be held between the countries’ two leaders next week, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics loom large.
+ Xi Jinping is expected to use the discussion, expected next week, to extend a personal invitation to President Biden to attend the events in Beijing in February, sources said.
+ The invitation would serve as a challenge to Biden to decline, and put the relationship on ice; or accept, and contradict his administration’s own messaging on democracy and human rights.
Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi: China hand or too pro-Beijing? Either way, the new top diplomat will need to navigate tough realities.
Nikkei
Arcane, hereditary, all-male — and at the heart of British democracy: How a small blue-blooded band of peers cling on to power in the House of Lords.
FT
Bloomberg: US warns Europe that Russia may plan Ukraine invasion
+ Officials briefed EU, didn’t share information, people say
+ US says it’s watching Russian military buildup near Ukraine
Belarus threatens to cut gas transit to EU as migrant crisis escalates: FT reports President Alexander Lukashenko vows to halt flows if Brussels imposes more sanctions over Minsk's role in border chaos.
AFP: Russia, Western countries clash at UN over Belarus border crisis
The Bolsonaro-Trump connection threatening Brazil’s elections: With his poll numbers falling, President Jair Bolsonaro is already questioning the legitimacy of next year’s election. He has help from the United States.
NYT
Workers take coffee breaks at their own risk, Italy’s top court finds
WP
Portugal adopts strict pandemic-era labor protections for remote work: WP reports new laws passed in Portugal in an effort to promote work-life balance prohibit employers from contacting remote workers after hours in most circumstances and mandate that employers pay staff for work-related expenses incurred while working at home.
FW de Klerk obituary: The Times reports the former president of South Africa who made history by negotiating the end of apartheid, releasing Nelson Mandela from prison, and winning the Nobel peace prize, yet remained a divisive figure.
South Africa can’t afford to quit coal. Will rich countries pay for the transition? Pressure to end coal-powered electricity generation has fired tensions between already-industrialized nations and developing ones, which have poured billions into coal infrastructure. South Africa is the most dependent on the fuel of any G20 country.
WSJ
Ethiopia’s civil war is a problem US troops can help solve: Sending peacekeepers to the pivotal nation of East Africa wouldn’t be popular domestically, but might be the only way to stop the conflict.
James Stavridis
POLITICS + CAMPAIGNS
Biden’s White House scrambles to tame soaring US inflation: FT reports a focus on high prices marks a shift from earlier attempts to boost demand in the pandemic-battered economy.
Rising inflation challenges Biden economic agenda: WSJ reports the highest inflation in three decades is posing a new test for President Biden as he seeks to push through another pillar of his economic agenda while also easing Americans’ concerns about rising consumer prices.
President Biden’s economic agenda wasn’t designed for shortages and inflation
Greg Ip
+ The average American lost power for eight hours last year, the highest average outage time since at least 2013.
Trump wins temporary victory in effort to keep White House records secret: Guardian reports the former president is asking a court to block the release of material related to the House investigation into the attack on the Capitol.
Retiring Alabama Sen. Shelby says he will back former aide over Trump-endorsed candidate: WP reports Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-AL) said he plans to spend $5 million of his campaign funds to help his former chief of staff in the Republican primary to replace him, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
WP: Former NJ Governor Chris Christie takes a jab at Trump for losing last year’s election
America isn’t ready for the electric-vehicle revolution
Steve LeVine
Vegan diets won’t save us: Not all plant food is virtuous and not all meat and dairy are problematic.
Noel Yaxley
DISRUPTION + INNOVATION
How to make big, old companies act fast: Five shifts have changed the way successful legacy multinationals do strategy.
Pia Lauritzen
COMMERCE
Rich Millennials to financial advisers: Thanks for the golf invite, but you can’t invest my money: Wealthy young investors don’t see much use for the wealth-management firms their parents rely on. They would rather pick their own stocks or plow their money into crypto.
WSJ
+ In 2020 and 2021, a whopping 13,250 apartments across the country have come from repurposed offices, per a new report from RentCafe.
Elon Musk has sold almost $5 billion in Tesla stock during a spate of transactions, CNBC first reported Wednesday evening.
Omorpho is making gym clothes with micro-weights built into the garments to provide more resistance while working out.
Uber CEO flies into London as driver shortages hit app: FT reports Dara Khosrowshahi holds talks with mayor Sadiq Khan over driver rights and pledges 10% pay rise.
Battle: The highest-grossing film of 2021 worldwide is The Battle at Lake Changjin, a Chinese war movie that’s made $877 million at home and is now the second-highest-grossing film of all time in China. The movie now mounts its international tour, and will hit screens in the United States and Canada on November 19, Australia in December, and has planned releases in the UK, Ireland, and Malaysia.
Turkey: According to the USDA, frozen turkey inventories are 24 percent below the average three-year volume.
Sorry, human-centered design won’t save us
Christina Luchkiw
MARKETING + COMMUNICATIONS
Design for planet: Using storytelling to reframe the climate crisis: By shifting the focus towards storytelling, designers can reposition their own work and thereby effect change in consumers.
Molly Long
SPACE + SCIENCE
A Viking axe struck a Newfoundland tree in the year 1021. Here’s how scientists proved it.
Aeon
Axios: SpaceX launches crew of 4 astronauts to International Space Station
PERFORMANCE
How to be more productive and eliminate time-wasting activities by using the “Eisenhower Box”
James Clear
CULTURE
Adam Boulton on leaving Sky News: ‘We baby boomers have had our day’: After spending 33 years at the channel, Boulton is departing Sky News. It’s over for the public school, Oxbridge, male old guard, he says.
The Times
The man who has lived as a hermit for 40 years: For almost 40 years Ken Smith has shunned conventional life and lived without electricity or running water in a hand-made log cabin on the banks of a remote loch in the Scottish Highlands.
BBC
They say colleges are censorious. So they are starting a new one. The founders of the University of Austin say they want to defend intellectual dissent and declare that something in higher education is fundamentally broken.
NYT
SPORT
Roger Federer as religious experience
David Foster Wallace
Running the natural wonders of the UK: This year, Merrell partnered with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) to establish the Seven Natural Wonders of the UK – a list of natural landmarks unified by shared beauty and geological significance.
Sidetracked
Guardian: ‘I wanted less than a minute’: 105-year-old unsatisfied after 100m world record
+ Julia ‘Hurricane’ Hawkins sets record in 105+ category
+ Athlete has also excelled in cycling time trials
Matt Araiza: college football’s breakout star is ... a punter? Guardian reports the San Diego State junior can boom kicks more than 80 yards and seems to set a new record every week. The NFL has duly taken notice.
WP: Christian Pulisic will not start in USMNT’s showdown with Mexico
Guardian: Lewis Hamilton says he must win Brazilian GP to keep title fight alive
+ Hamilton trails Max Verstappen by 19 points with four races left
+ ‘The task is as steep as can be,’ admits world champion
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Curation and commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder @ Brigadoon
Get Brigadoon Daily in your inbox.
