Violation of Rights: Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin and the three former officers who backed him up the day he murdered George Floyd have been indicted on federal civil rights charges.

  The indictment says Derek Chauvin, who was convicted or murder in the black man’s death, conducted an “unreasonable seizure” and submitted Floyd to “unreasonable force by a police officer.” 

  Former cops Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng were charged with failure to intervene. Chauvin, Thao, Kueng and the fourth officer, Thomas Lane, also are charged failing to give Floyd medical aid.

  The indictment says “the defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care, and willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to Floyd.”

  Chauvin is also charged with unreasonable force on a 14-year-old in 2017. 

  The indictment says Chauvin “held the teenager by the throat and struck the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight” and in a familiar description that he “held his knee on the neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting, also resulting in bodily injury.”

On the Job: Republicans are blaming President Biden for a weak jobs report, claiming that generous pandemic unemployment benefits are keeping people home on the couch instead of looking for work.

  The economy added 266,000 jobs in April, not even a third of the one million jobs many economists expected.

  Biden pointed out that the economy has already added 1.5 million jobs during his three months in office and, “We’re still digging out of an economic collapse that cost us 22 million jobs.” 

  Texas Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, said in a news release that, “This is a stunning economic setback, and unequivocal proof that President Biden is sabotaging our jobs recovery with promises of higher taxes and regulation on local businesses that discourage hiring and drive jobs overseas.” 

  Some employers report that they’re having trouble finding people. The US Chamber of Commerce says the weekly $300 unemployment benefit discourages people from looking for work, a little like the old argument that people want to be on welfare.

Econ 101: In one of those twists that only economists think they can explain, the stock market hit a record yesterday after the news of disappointing job growth.

  Evidently investors are happy that the economy is not overheating and creating inflation as it recovers from the pandemic.

  The NY Times reports that, “As the economy has rebounded from last year’s shutdowns, investors have grown worried this year that the Federal Reserve might be prompted to remove some of its emergency assistance for the economy — by raising interest rates or cutting back on its bond-buying program — sooner than anticipated.”

  One theory is that workplaces are reopening faster than schools, and parents can’t return to work.

  Another possibility, as Heather Long writes for The Washington Post, is that “The coronavirus outbreak has had a dramatic psychological effect on workers, and people are reassessing what they want to do and how they want to work, whether in an office, at home or some hybrid combination.”

  There will be a test on Monday.

High Hurdle: Japan extended its coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions until the end of May, casting doubt on hosting the Summer Olympics, which would begin in 11 weeks.  Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the measures are necessary because infections remain at a “high level, mainly in large cities.”

  Japan is reporting about 6,000 daily new cases of coronavirus and the Olympics are facing growing calls for cancellation. An online petition has collected nearly 200,000 signatures in a couple of days. Opinion polling reveals that a majority of the public is opposed to holding the games set to open July 23^rd.

Skyfall: A Chinese space rocket is expected to re-enter the atmosphere sometime this weekend, showering someplace on earth with debris. Right now, no one knows where it will hit.

  The Chinese say most likely the debris will land in an ocean, because the Earth is 70 percent water. This is akin to the old line that comes just before or after disaster; “Company officials say there’s no danger to the public.” 

Viral News: The CDC now says that the coronavirus carries in the air a little further than they said previously. They say you can get it even when you are more than six feet away from an infected person. They previously said that most infections were acquired through “close contact, not airborne transmission.”

Last Words: The staff of Washingtonian magazine conducted a one-day job stoppage after their publisher threatened in an essay published in the Washington Post that employees continuing to work from home as the pandemic subsides could become less valuable and easier to “let go.”

  Cathy Merrill wrote that, “Although there might be some pains and anxiety going back into the office, the biggest benefit for workers may be simple job security.” She said, “Remember something every manager knows: The hardest people to let go are the ones you know.”

  By yesterday morning, many of Washingtonian’s editorial staff of about 25 pledged that they wouldn’t publish anything on the magazine’s website or social media channels for the day.

  Sometimes the hardest bosses to work for in journalism are the ones you know.

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