“About 1 in 10 Americans -- more than 32 million people -- are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but experts say that number is nowhere near high enough to suppress the spread through herd immunity. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says March and April will be “pivotal times” for whether people can work toward ending the pandemic nightmare or will erase progress by ignoring safety measures. Around the world, richer nations are administering about one vaccine dose every single second, but most of the poorest ones have yet to get a single shot, a global vaccine alliance says. These same rich nations are blocking efforts by developing countries to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines so others can get the vaccines they need. A World Trade Organization committee will meet today to discuss waiving these rights in the interest of public health.” Read more at CNN
“The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package is expected to pass the House today, then go to President Biden’s desk to be signed, ending weeks of bureaucratic back-and-forth. Biden is also planning a tour and a media blitz to sell Americans on the benefits of the deal. Though progressive Democrats are disappointed it doesn’t include that $15 minimum wage, Sen. Bernie Sanders said the bill, with various provisions for struggling Americans, ‘is the most significant legislation for working people that has been passed in decades.’ However, people aren’t just struggling on the economic front. Democratic lawmakers also want to examine further the mental health impact of the pandemic in the form of a bill that would direct millions of dollars to the National Institute of Mental Health to fund relevant research.” Read more at CNN
“The House has passed the so-called PRO Act, a bill that encourages unions and enhances the power of workers to organize and collectively bargain for wages and benefits. Biden was a strong proponent of the bill, marking the latest link in a chain of pro-union actions he’s taken since assuming office. Labor rights are a big point of conversation now, with the pandemic contributing to job insecurity and workplace safety concerns. Meanwhile, the House also moved to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, a landmark bill championed by Biden when he was a senator in 1994. The bill expired in 2018. The new version enhances previous versions by providing grants and support to groups that work on issues related to sexual assault, domestic violence and prevention, among other things.” Read more at CNN
“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday approved a request from the Capitol Police to extend the deployment of National Guard members to protect Congress into May, defense officials said, keeping a military presence around one of the nation’s major landmarks for two more months.
Meanwhile, the Senate voted Tuesday to move forward on confirming two of President Biden’s Cabinet picks, Merrick Garland for attorney general and Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, setting up final confirmation for both on Wednesday afternoon.” Read more at Washington Post
“Donald Trump put his name on the stimulus checks issued during his administration. Biden won’t.” Read more at New York Times
“Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday signed into law legislation banning nearly all abortions in the state, a sweeping measure that supporters hope will force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark Roe v. Wade decision but opponents vow to block before it takes effect later this year.
The Republican governor had expressed reservations about the bill, which only allows the procedure to save the life of the mother and does not provide exceptions for those impregnated in an act of rape or incest. Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where legislators have proposed outright abortion bans this year.” Read more at Time
“Alaska on Tuesday became the first state to remove eligibility requirements for the coronavirus vaccine, making immunization available to anyone 16 and older who lives or works in the state.” Read more at Washington Post
“CORONAVIRUS: States continued to roll back coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday while simultaneously attempting to broaden the base of individuals who can receive COVID-19 vaccines in an attempt to corral the pandemic.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Tuesday that, effective Friday, all capacity limits have been lifted at restaurants, bars, gyms and shops. At mass gathering sites such as theaters, music venues and outdoor sporting facilities, including Camden Yards and Pimlico Race Course, 50 percent capacity is permitted. The Baltimore Orioles’ home opener is on April 8, and the Preakness Stakes is expected to take place in May.
‘My advice would be that they should follow the state guidance and get in line,’ Hogan said at a news conference. ‘It’s been very confusing with a patchwork of different people changing rules or not being in alignment with one another.’ (The Baltimore Sun).
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said that the group of those eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines will now extend to those aged 60 and over, beginning this morning. Previously, the age cutoff was 65.
The New York governor added that public-facing essential workers from governmental and nonprofit entities will be eligible for inoculations beginning March 17. This group includes public works employees, social service and child service caseworkers, government inspectors, sanitation workers, and Department of Motor Vehicles workers.” Read more at The Hill
“UC Davis is offering some students ‘grants’ of $75 to encourage them not to travel during spring break this year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The program, which is a partnership between the university and the city of Davis, Calif., is accepting up to 750 applications from students to receive the funds, which can be spent at ‘selected Davis stores,’ Gary May, the chancellor of UC Davis, said in a statement last week.
Students can purchase ‘supplies’ in four categories using the $75, including ‘Get Active, Get Artsy, Home Improvement and Let’s Stay In,’ according to May’s statement.” Read more at The Hill
“New guidelines from medical experts will nearly double the number of people in the United States who are advised to have yearly CT scans to screen for lung cancer and will include many more Black people and women.
The disease is the leading cause of US cancer deaths, and the goal of the expanded screening is to find it early enough to cure it in more people at high risk because of smoking. In those individuals, annual CT scans can reduce the risk of death by up to 25 percent, large studies have found.
The recommendations, by the US Preventive Services Task Force, include people ages 50 to 80 who have smoked at least a pack a day for 20 years or more, and who still smoke or have quit within the past 15 years.” Read more at Boston Globe
Since leaving office, President Donald J. Trump has made moves to try to remain an influential force in Republican politics. Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
“WASHINGTON — It was a familiar play by Donald J. Trump: lashing out at his enemies and trying to raise money from it.
The former president this week escalated a standoff over the Republican Party’s financial future, blasting party leaders and urging his backers to send donations to his new political action committee — not to the institutional groups that traditionally control the G.O.P.’s coffers.
‘No more money for RINOS,’ he said in a statement released on Monday by his bare-bones post-presidential office, referring to Republicans In Name Only. He directed donors to his own website instead.
The aggressive move against his own party is the latest sign that Mr. Trump is trying to wrest control of the low-dollar online fund-raising juggernaut he helped create, diverting it from Republican fund-raising groups toward his own committee, which has virtually no restrictions on how the money can be spent.” Read more at New York Times
“Pressure grows on Texas agency. Political pressure is mounting in the state to reverse $16 billion in power overcharges from last month’s blackouts. The Texas utility commission said last week that it wasn’t inclined to reverse the potential overcharges.” Read more in Wall Street Journal
“A second official from the party of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has died in custody following alleged torture. The death raises concerns about the treatment of detainees following the military’s seizure of power last month. Since then, the military junta has arrested government officials, protesters, journalists, civil servants and nonprofit workers. Many people have been taken arbitrarily in nighttime raids, and their families don't know where they are or their condition, the United Nations said. Myanmar’s military has also occupied hospitals and schools to quell rising shows of resistance.” Read more at CNN
“41% — The percentage of Lake Mead that is currently filled. The largest reservoir in the Southwest relies on dwindling flows from the Colorado River and is among one of many across the region whose water levels have fallen during an extreme drought. The arid weather has affected most of the land in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. With a warming climate and shifting atmospheric pressures exacerbating dry spells, federal officials have warned that Lake Mead’s expected shrinkage in coming years could trigger water cuts to millions of users.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“LONDON — Piers Morgan, one of Britain's harshest critics of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, resigned as co-host of ‘Good Morning Britain’ television show, ITV announced Tuesday, following a flood of complaints to a British media watchdog.
On Monday morning’s broadcast, Morgan said he ‘didn't believe a word’ Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in her interview alleging mistreatment by Buckingham Palace, specifically her assertion that she felt suicidal and was offered no help.
Morgan also questioned whether the comments made about the skin color of biracial Meghan’s unborn child were necessarily racist.
He stormed off the set Tuesday — and quickly returned — after a colleague challenged Morgan over why he seemed to always ‘trash’ Meghan.
An ITV spokesperson said: ‘Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.’” Read more at Washington Post
“Lives Lived: In “The Phantom Tollbooth,” a touchstone of children’s literature, a bored boy named Milo passes through a tollbooth in his room to a land of whimsy, wordplay and imagination. The book’s author, Norton Juster, died at 91.” Read more at New York Times
“It’s round two of the news industry’s war against Facebook and Google.
Under bipartisan legislation U.S. lawmakers plan to introduce today, David McLaughlin and Sara Forden report, media organizations will be allowed to bargain as a group with the companies over payment for content and the data about readers they vacuum up, which is vital to their business model.
It comes after publishers in Australia won the ability to receive payment for news, though not without a fight, as Facebook temporarily imposed a news blackout on its platform in the country. Facebook and Google gained some consolation by avoiding forced arbitration.
For Democrats in the U.S., the issue comes down to monopoly power. President Joe Biden has signaled a firm approach by planning to put two progressive antitrust scholars in top positions.
But anger against tech companies goes beyond the financial decline of newspapers.
Conservatives were outraged when Twitter booted former president Donald Trump off, hours after he called those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 ‘patriots.’ Progressives decry the airtime given to QAnon-type conspiracy theories.
For now, Washington is the focus of the battle. But France and Canada are also considering emulating Australia’s example. The focus on big tech’s power is also prompting less savory governments to act.
Over in Russia, authorities plan to make Twitter slower to load for users after announcing lawsuits against it and four other social-media companies for failing to delete posts about protests over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
It’s a sign there’s one thing politicians across the board seem to agree on: Reining in tech giants.” — Karl Maier Read more at Bloomberg
Facebook, Twitter and Google logos. Source: NurPhoto
“Sales of Lego sets surged last year as more children stayed home during global pandemic lockdowns - and parents bought the colorful plastic brick toys to keep them entertained through days of isolation.
The privately-held Danish company said its net profit rose 19% to 9.9 billion kroner ($1.6 billion) as sales jumped 21% and it grew its presence in its 12 largest markets.
Lego, which on top of its sets also earns money from video game apps, seems to be one of the businesses - like online retailers and technology companies - that were well placed to earn money from the massive disruptions in society worldwide during the pandemic.” Read more at AP
One year into the pandemic, more than 10 million Americans are still out of work — and many of the jobs they lost won't even exist when this is over, Axios @Work author Erica Pandey reports.
The big picture: Putting the country back to work will require vast amounts of retraining and career shifting, as former bartenders learn to code and former cruise ship workers look for jobs at data centers.
The U.S. is still unprepared to take that on at scale.
"We knew artificial intelligence was going to devastate jobs," says Plinio Ayala, CEO of the job training company Per Scholas. "But, frankly, I thought that was five or seven years away." Read more at Axios
The president, seen petting the alleged assailant in early 2021. Photo: White House/Adam Schultz
“In an aphorism come to life, President Joe Biden’s dog, Major, has reportedly bitten a member of White House security. Most often a good boy, the German shepherd was sent to the family’s home in Delaware last week after what CNN described as a ‘biting incident.’ In solidarity, because they are a bonded pair — or because it’s one of those situations where both dogs get blamed for one action —the other Biden dog, Champ, was sent to Delaware as well. The exact status of Major’s victim is unknown.” Read more at NYMag
“Roger Mudd, a longtime CBS News political correspondent who reported on the Pentagon’s profligate spending, whose interview with Edward M. Kennedy ended the senator’s White House prospects and who briefly shared the anchor job at his onetime rival, NBC News, died March 9 at his home in McLean, Va. He was 93.
The cause was complications from kidney failure, said a son, Jonathan Mudd.
Mr. Mudd spent almost 20 years covering Capitol Hill, political campaigns and corruption scandals for CBS News. He did special reports on the Watergate scandal and its fallout, including the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974.
His 1979 interview of Kennedy, who represented Massachusetts, was credited with crushing the senator’s presidential ambitions just as he was preparing to challenge President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic nomination.” Read more at Washington Post
“Sputnik lands in Europe. Production facilities in Italy, Spain, France, and Germany have signed deals to produce the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine, according to the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. The Sputnik vaccine is not yet approved by EU regulators, but individual states are permitted to grant their own approvals—as Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic already have. French authorities have contradicted the Russian claim, saying that no companies there had signed any deals to produce the vaccine.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Mexico’s marijuana bill. Lawmakers in Mexico’s Lower House of Congress will today discuss a bill to legalize marijuana in the country, potentially creating the world’s largest legal market for the drug. The bill to legalize and regulate marijuana already passed the Senate in November and moved out of House committees on Monday. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador supports the legislation, which he says will help the country better combat drug cartels.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Russia and China are taking their cooperation out of this world, after the two countries signed an agreement to build a lunar station together. A memorandum of understanding signed Tuesday by the Chinese and Russian space agencies plans to construct ‘a complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface and/or in the orbit of the moon.’ The project joins NASA’s Gateway program, a collaboration with the space agencies of Europe, Japan, and Canada, to build an orbiting lunar space station by the late 2020s.” Read more at Foreign Policy
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