Marty Walsh, the former mayor of Boston and a former union president, was confirmed by the Senate to be the new Secretary of Labor, marking a seismic shift in role of the department in union development and membership, NBC News reports.

Confirmed by a 68-29 vote, Walsh led the Boston Building Trades Council, a group of trade unions, before running for the state legislature in 1997.  He was elected mayor of Boston in 2014, a position he resigned upon being nominated by President Joe Biden to head the Labor Department.

Biden has openly encouraged union membership, particularly in an organizing effort at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, even making a video noting that the only people who can decide if they organize are the workers themselves, not their employers or the government.  Biden has repeatedly said that labor unions are the key to a successful middle class.

https://youtu.be/Vks2eXIHQzM

… ’cause you know you always wanted to do it.

A suspended New York City police officer was arrested early Sunday morning when police responded to a report of gunshots and found the officer and three friends leaving the beach after firing a weapon at the Atlantic Ocean, the Associated Press reports.

David Afanador, 39, a 16-year veteran of the NYPD, had a loaded Beretta 9 mm handgun and three loaded 15-round magazines on him when he was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Sunday.  Police did not specify what weapon Afanador fired at the ocean, or if the ocean did anything to provoke the officer.

Afanador and a woman in the group were arrested.  Afanador was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and prohibited use of a weapon. He was also cited for possession of alcohol, which is banned at Ocean Beach Park, for carrying an open can of Truly Hard Seltzer.  The woman was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and prohibited use of a weapon. 

“Police in Boulder, Colorado, have alerted that there is an ‘Active Shooter at the King Soopers on Table Mesa. AVOID THE AREA’ on their Twitter page.

“King Soopers is a supermarket brand of Kroger in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States.  Aerial video from the scene showed a massive police response and at least six ambulances.” –CNN

“Sidney Powell has moved to dismiss Dominion’s defamation lawsuit. She argues that when she accused Dominion of being part of an election-rigging scheme with ties to Venezuela, ‘no reasonable person would conclude” those ‘were truly statements of fact’ … Powell argues she can’t be liable if the information she based her “opinions and legal theories” on were actually unreliable, comparing herself to reporters who get 1A protection when they cite sources; but she later also makes clear she disputes that her info was ‘false’ … Powell also raises jurisdictional and venue-related arguments, basically saying the parties + allegations lack sufficient ties to DC and the case should be moved to Texas.” —Zoe Tillman of Buzzfeed News

“A year ago the pandemic drained the subway of nearly all its riders, sickened thousands of New York City transit workers and plunged North America’s largest public transit agency into its worst financial emergency ever. Today ridership on the subway has crept back up to about a third of its usual levels, from an all-time low of 7 percent last spring. An infusion of billions of dollars in federal aid has kept the Metropolitan Transportation Authority afloat. And the agency, which operates the subway, buses and two commuter rail lines, was further lifted by another $6 billion in President Biden’s sweeping rescue plan. But the M.T.A.’s long-term survival depends on the return of riders and their fares, which make up the agency’s largest funding source. Nearly 40 percent of the agency’s operating revenue comes from fares, a higher percentage than almost any other major American transit system. Now as the city’s mass vaccination campaign reaches more people and urban life slowly rebounds, public transit officials are confronting a sobering reality: a growing consensus that ridership may never return entirely to its prepandemic levels and that the agency will have to reshape and reduce service to reflect new commuting patterns.”

“Adjusting to a new normal could mean longer waits between trains during what was once considered rush hour and less service on suburban-bound trains, where ridership remains anemic. With many office workers still working from home, the M.T.A. has already scaled back service on both its commuter rails, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road, where ridership has plateaued at about a quarter of prepandemic levels. Even as the pandemic subsides, some companies are shifting workplace rules to make at least some remote work a permanent option. The uncertainty makes projections challenging, but an analysis by McKinsey & Company commissioned by the M.T.A. found that ridership might eventually reach 80 to 92 percent of prepandemic levels – and not until the end of 2024” – New York Times.

Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin will get his coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, more than three months after the first vaccines became available as only 6.3 million people in the country have received at least one dose of the three available vaccines, the Associated Press reports.

Putin will not likely get his shot in public, a Kremlin spokesperson reported, and the Kremlin has not disclosed which one of the three vaccine types he’ll receive.  Repeatedly asked why he has not yet received the vaccine, Putin said in December it was because it wasn’t available to him; at the time, Russia was only providing vaccines to people between the ages of 18 and 60.  Putin is 68. Russia has developed the Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac vaccines, and it is planning to provide more than 700 million doses to developing nations like India, South Korea, Brazil and Turkey.

One of the weirdest parts of the @NYTimes’ smear job on me was reporter @ReidEpstein claiming I “offered a false history of Greenland,” then quibbling about the origin of a name. 1/9https://t.co/cFKWfxa50l

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) March 22, 2021

Full Thread by Señor RonAnon: “In the interview, it was clear Reid Epstein was building a narrative about ‘disinformation.’ I called him on it, demanding he cite any. He backpedaled, saying I mentioned in 2010 how Greenland used to be green. That is, I said Greenland once had a more temperate climate, so the Norse settled there for a while. Which happens to be true. Epstein should try reading up: Solving the ‘climate mystery’ of the Vikings. Notice, I wasn’t saying Greenland had no ice, only that people once found it more hospitable for settlement.”

https://youtu.be/T9UPaMCO_2c

Zack Smith, a legal scholar of unknown (but sinking) reputation, claimed that the District of Columbia should not be granted statehood because DC residents can already influence Congressional debate because of yard signs and bumper stickers they display… ’cause that’s the exact same thing as having voting members in the House and Senate.

New York Times: “President Biden’s economic advisers are preparing to recommend spending as much as $3 trillion on a sweeping set of efforts aimed at boosting the economy, reducing carbon emissions and narrowing economic inequality, beginning with a giant infrastructure plan that may be financed in part through tax increases on corporations and the rich. After months of internal debate, Mr. Biden’s advisers are expected to present a proposal to the president this week that recommends carving his economic agenda into separate legislative pieces, rather than trying to push a mammoth package through Congress, according to people familiar with the plans and documents obtained by The New York Times.”

“The total new spending in the plans would likely be $3 trillion, a person familiar with them said. That figure does not include the cost of extending new temporary tax cuts meant to fight poverty, which could reach hundreds of billions of dollars, according to estimates prepared by administration officials. Officials have not yet determined the exact breakdown in cost between the two packages. Mr. Biden supports all of the individual spending and tax cut proposals under consideration, but it is unclear whether he will back splitting his agenda into pieces, or what legislative strategy he and Democratic leaders will pursue to maximize the chances of pushing the new programs through Congress given their narrow majorities in both chambers. Administration officials caution that details of the spending programs remain in flux. But the scope of the proposal under consideration highlights the aggressive approach the Biden administration wants to take as it tries to harness the power of the federal government to narrow economic inequality, reduce the carbon emissions that drive climate change and improve American manufacturing and high-technology industries in an escalating battle with China and other foreign competitors.”

For the first time in 85 years, Hasbro will update the Community Chest cards that come with the board game Monopoly, giving the public input into what their own communities find important, CBS News reports.

“Covering topics like beauty contests, holiday funds, and life insurance, there is no denying the Monopoly game’s Community Chest Cards are long overdue for a refresh,” Hasbro said in a press release.  “And, coming out of the tumultuous year of 2020, the term ‘community’ has taken on a whole new meaning.”

Some outdated cards, such as getting $20 for taking second place in a beauty contest, could be replaced by cash to shop local, rewards for returning a lost pet or a gift for helping a neighbor clean up after a storm.

President Biden has instead emphasized the humane treatment of immigrants, regardless of their legal status.@nytimes https://t.co/5IuyZTXm6x

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) March 22, 2021

Kent Taylor, the CEO of the international restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse, took his own life last week after battling post-COVID symptoms, his family said according to the Washington Post.  His body was found Thursday in a field on family property outside Louisville, Kentucky.

“After a battle with post-COVID related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, Kent Taylor took his own life this week,” his family said in a statement shared with the Post. “Kent battled and fought hard like the former track champion that he was, but the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable.”

Taylor reported suffered from a intense form of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears, which is common in people who have been exposed to dangerous loud noises and can worsen after someone battles COVID.  Worsened tinnitus is one of a range of symptoms suffered by people with “long COVID,” a lingering and largely mysterious condition impacting between 10-30% of people who have survived coronavirus infection.

CNN: “The US announced sanctions Monday against two Chinese officials for ‘serious human rights abuses’ against Uyghur Muslims, a step coordinated with the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom, which imposed sanctions on the same individuals and others, the Treasury Department said. ‘Chinese authorities will continue to face consequences as long as atrocities occur in Xinjiang,’ said the Treasury Department’s Foreign Assets Control Director, Andrea M. Gacki.”

“‘Treasury is committed to promoting accountability for the Chinese government’s human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention and torture, against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.’ The US designated Wang Junzheng, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Chen Mingguo, Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau. ‘These individuals are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption,’ the Treasury Department said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the Chinese campaign against Uyghurs as genocide.”

I’m looking closely at Georgia’s race for Governor.

If it weren’t for Brian Kemp, Donald Trump would still be President of these United States.

We need courageous conservatives leading our state, not those afraid to stand up to the Radical Left.

— Vernon Jones (@VernonForGA) March 22, 2021

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1.5 million people at America’s airports on Sunday, the most in more than a year, as people push to return to normalcy with the rollout of the vaccine, Reuters reports.

With 1.54 million people screened Sunday, TSA checkpoints saw the 11th consecutive day with more than one million air travelers and the most since March 13, 2020.  The passenger volume, however, was still 30% lower than pre-coronavirus days.

While the weekend saw a spike as people traveled for leisure, business travel was still significantly lower, hitting just 53% of the weeklong pre-pandemic levels.  International travel was down by 68% over the week, largely due to international travel restrictions both in the US and overseas.

“Three of President Biden’s top border officials are traveling to Mexico today and then Guatemala to meet with top foreign government officials about solutions to migration surges at the U.S. border, two senior administration officials told reporters Monday morning. The majority come from the Northern Triangle – traveling through both Guatemala and Mexico to cross the border into the U.S. 75% of family members and unaccompanied minors who crossed into the U.S. last month came from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to agency data.”

“Southern border coordinator Roberta Jacobson, the National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere Juan González and the State Department’s recently-appointed Northern Triangle special envoy Ricardo Zúñiga will travel to Mexico today to meet with the foreign secretary, deputy foreign secretary and other officials. González and Zuniga will then travel to Guatemala to meet with Guatemalan officials, including President Alejandro Giammattei and Foreign Minister Pedro Bolo. The trip ‘builds on the administration’s focused work on addressing the root causes of irregular migration as a cyclical regional issue that neither starts nor stops at the southern border of the United States,’ a senior administration official said on the call” – Axios.

Washington Post: “An unlikely coalition of Democrats across the ideological spectrum mounted an 11th-hour push in the final weekend before the American Rescue Plan for President Biden to go big on tackling child poverty. They prevailed over what one person involved in the process called the ‘cost police’ in Biden’s inner circle, those anxiously warning about the ballooning cost of the stimulus package. This under-the-radar success created what could be the most consequential piece of the $1.9 trillion package – one that, if made permanent, could approach the impact of the programs established under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.”

“The sudden, unexpected creation of an approximately $120 billion social program has thrown a twist into the political landscape. Some Democrats now fear being labeled big-government spenders in the upcoming midterms. Some conservatives, on the other hand, are embracing the idea as a family-friendly measure. With the initiative expiring in a year, all but ensuring it will be a major issue in the midterms, the child poverty measure raises a central question: Are the politics of big government back? The program’s impact probably will be profound. It expands the federal child-rearing subsidy by 50 percent – and parents of toddlers will get even more. A family with two young children and no income will now get $600 a month. The parents of 90 percent of the country’s children will benefit, and 27 million children will be lifted from poverty, according to analysts.”

“Former President Trump warned the GOP that removing the filibuster would be ‘catastrophic for the Republican Party’ during an interview on the podcast “The Truth with Lisa Boothe.’ Trump told Republican lawmakers in 2018 that keeping the filibuster would be ‘the end of the party,’ insisting that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would eliminate it as soon as Democrats took the majority, Politico reported at the time. Schumer has faced mounting pressure from progressives to remove the filibuster for priority issues like climate change and voting rights. Eliminating the 60-vote filibuster and moving to a simple majority requirement in the Senate would significantly limit the power of the minority party, which has often used the procedure to delay or block legislative action it opposes.”

“‘Look, he’s hanging by a thread right now with respect to the filibuster,’ Trump said about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) attempts to stave off any changes to the filibuster. ‘[I]f they get the fili – he’s hanging on Joe Manchin, who always goes with the Democrats. Joe talks, but he ends up going with the Democrats.’ ‘Now there’s another great senator from the state of Arizona,’ Trump continued, referring to moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). ‘He’s hanging by a thread and if they get rid of the filibuster, if they knock it out, it will be catastrophic for the Republican Party.’ Trump went on to attack McConnell as weak, arguing that the party needs ‘better leadership’ in order to ‘rein in’ anti-Trump senators like Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). ‘And now, they knock out the filibuster, it’s going to be a real problem. … they’re gong to have a free for all,’ he added” – Axios.