Edition 101! Morale-Boosting News! The 7 Secrets of Merkel Leadership Magic, What Made the Worst Band in the World, and why it Didn’t Matter and more!

Grüezi! I’m Adrian Monck, and welcome to this LinkedIn newsletter!

Also this week – electric cars in the slow lane, ice like jello, and eco-Xmas tips to keep your green relatives quiet.

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1?? We All Need a Boost

With Omicron around I’m scaling back Christmas plans. I need a boost!

Not that kind of boost. I mean a morale boost. That’s why I turned to this study in the New England Journal of Medicine which looks at people who’ve had three vaccine shots. It shows:

A 90% reduction in death for people aged 50+ who had booster shots...

This comes – natch – with lots of caveats...

The experts are still looking at what #Omicron means, but – and it’s a big BUT – what if it is more infectious and less severe?

The bad news is that it will cause more deaths, because – simply by infecting more people – the virus’s chances of doing damage go up.

But beside that grim consequence, there are other reasons to think that the virus is losing the battle against vaccines.

Spain’s El Paìs, which has been a great source of reporting through the crisis, has a fascinating piece headlined “The omicron variant: Why it is of concern but at the same time could be good news.” It notes:

In the last two epidemic waves in Spain, despite the high number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths have fallen: the fifth wave in the country was seven times less lethal than the preceding ones.

Coronaviruses that once killed our ancestors now just cause common colds. But back then, viruses died out because they decimated your village.

• “Adrián Hugo Aginagalde from the Spanish Epidemiology Society explains: ‘An acute infectious respiratory illness requires an aged population and fast intercontinental transport,’ he said. ‘If not, it would not have been serious [the population was young, wouldn’t have died and there would have been no reference], nor would it have reached the whole world.’
• “The most recent of the four coronaviruses that live together until now with humans is HCoV-OC43 ... Some authors believe that this could be the pathogen that caused the pandemic that originated with the so-called Russian flu, with high peaks of mortality between 1889 and 1890. Today it is an inoffensive virus that causes colds.
• “In the future, SARS-CoV-2 could become something similar. And #omicron may be a step in that direction. Time will tell.”

Fingers and toes crossed.

??To keep fighting, we can start by doing more with the vaccines we have.

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2???If You’re Not a Communist at 18 and a Conservative at 60...

Then you’re not former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A young woman politician on a November morning in 1990. A few glasses of Schnapps. A little bit of Caravaggio on the campaign trail with the light streaming in. Germany and the world bid farewell to an iconic leader.

Business leader Axel Steiger has this to say about her leadership qualities:

1. unpretentious and highly intelligent;
2. a very clear value system: it was all about serving the Country, never about herself;
3. hard-working always working as hard as possible to find the best solution for any crisis;
4. humble;
5. humane;
6. high integrity;
7. always authentic, showing self-control and rationality.

What are your top leadership qualities? Let me know below.

??Part of her legacy? Germany has the best brand in the world.

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3???Why the Electric Car Revolution is in the Slow Lane

First up. They’re expensive. Elon Musk didn’t get rich selling cheap cars.

??Here’s an innovation that could speed things up.

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4?? Scotch on the Jelly

A new form of wobbly ice is crushing it.

??It’s not the Scotch: why some people live past 100.

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5???My Octopus Teacher? Meet my Lobster Lecturer

Taking sentient seafood seriously.

??If sea levels keep rising, our seafood may start living in these coastal cities.

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6?? Eco-Xmas Tree Tips

How to avoid green needling over your choice of tree.

??How nature-based solutions can tackle climate change.

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7?? The Beatles are Everywhere

What were your first impressions of the Beatles?

Music legend Quincy Jones recalls:

“They were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing m*****f******. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.”

• “Once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it.
• “We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’
• “So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up.
• “Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, m*****f***** because it ain’t you.’
• “Great guy, though.”?

Paul McCartney had thoughts on Quincy’s thoughts...

??No bands just a brand new book club podcast! Have a listen!

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If you enjoy this newsletter – please recommend it!

Best,

Adrian

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