Happy Friday morning! One more day until the weekend. Here’s a sampling of what we’re reading this AM at Moyers & Company HQ…
Jobs report –> Dean Baker with his quick takeaway from the monthly data. ALSO: Paul Krugman notes that the rate of long-term unemployment has quadrupled since before the 2008 crash, and that not addressing the labor crisis is causing long-term harm to the economy. ALSO, TOO: At The Nation, George Zornick looks at the next “cliff” — unemployment benefits for those long-term jobless will expire in January if Congress doesn’t get its act together.
ENDA passed in the Senate –> Kate Nocera reports for Buzzfeed that social-cons are “flummoxed” that GOP senators didn’t put up much of a fight. ALSO: Former Bush spox Ari Fleischer practically begs House Republicans to allow a vote on the bill in an op-ed for Politico.
End times for ex-pres –> At MoJo, Sarah Posner reports that George W. Bush is raising money for a group that converts Jews to Christianity in order to bring on The Rapture.
Koch brothers versus wind –> The oil billionaires are lobbying hard to end a tax incentive that’s helped increase American wind energy, reports John Upton in Grist.
Ten bucks –> Catherine Rampell and Steven Greenhouse report for the NYT that the White House is embracing a proposal to raise the minimum wage.
Did the NSA collect data on Mitt Romney? –> Probably, writes Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic, but not for political gain.
BENGHAZI!!!!! –> CBS 60 Minutes reporter Lara Logan apologized today for including the account of an officer whose credibility has come into question in a recent report on the embassy attack. The New York Times reports on the story.
Arms race –> BBC‘s Mark Urban reports that the Saudis may have purchased nuclear weapons from Pakistan, for delivery whenever needed.
Libertarians in fantasyland –> Writing at Salon, Charles Davis says the libertarian ideal of a “free market” could never exist in the real world.
Scandinavian gals –> Lynn Parramore writes for Reuters about Scandinavia’s world-leading gender equality, and why it makes everyone there happy despite the cold.
Counterfactual –> At The Atlantic, Tina Dupuy wonders what would happen to a female politician who was as ditzy as Rand Paul.
Don’t panic –> The Guardian’s Stuart Clark says that a one-ton satellite which is expected to crash somewhere on the planet on Sunday or Monday is no cause for alarm. Feel better?
Rich people are weird –> A couple of days old, but this WSJ story about jails being turned into ultra-luxury hotels has us scratching our heads.
