Good morning — and happy Friday! Here are some of the stories we’re reading as we push toward the weekend…
Jobs –> February jobs report beats economists’ pessimistic predictions but still shows anemic growth. Nelson Schwartz runs down the details for the NYT.
Ukraine –> The Supreme Council of Crimea voted to become part of the Russian Federation yesterday — TNR’s Linda Kinstler has a roundup of developments.
“Villages, towns, cities and counties” –> ALEC is coming to corrupt a local government near you, reports Ed Pilkington for The Guardian.
Not everyone’s sold on Hillary –> Sen. Bernie Sanders tells The Nation’s John Nichols that he’s “prepared to run” for the White House in 2016 — perhaps as an independent. At No More Mister Nice Blog, Steve M. reluctantly writes that running for president is no way to start a movement.
The power of corporate propaganda –> Keystone XL has overwhelming public support according to a new Washington Post poll, and the vast majority of respondents believe, wrongly, that the project would create tons of jobs.
And some people power –> Fifteen Vermont towns passed a resolution calling on the legislature to establish a public bank that would serve Main Street like North Dakota’s. Jon Queally reports for Common Dreams.
Separate and unequal –> At Dissent, historian Colin Gordon, author of Growing Apart: A Political History of American Inequality, writes about how growing inequality is tearing our social contract apart.
CPAC –> The annual conservative confab is underway, and Devin Burghart reports for The National Memo that “ugly racial ideology” is front and center. ALSO: Paul Ryan told a moving anecdote that appears to have been lifted from a book, according to WaPo fact-checker Glenn Kessler.
Is the dream dead? –> Salon’s Andrew Leonard writes that a libertarian fantasy has died with the unmasking of Bitcoin’s creator.
Theft is a crime –> But wage theft is rarely prosecuted as such. But in New Haven, that’s changing, thanks to grassroots activism on behalf of mostly low-wage workers. Melinda Tuhus reports for In These Times.
Getting it wrong –> At TAP, Abby Rapoport argues that the media’s beloved ‘establishment v. tea partiers’ narrative is all wrong in Texas.
Irony=dead –> Peter Maas notes that the NSA has an in-house advice columnist — and that one letter writer complained about being watched by his boss.
Threatening for action –> Chuck Schumer says Obama should stop deporting people who would be eligible for legalization under the Senate immigration bill if the House fails to act by September. Reid Epstein reports for Politico.
Probably not kosher –> Oscar Mayer has invented an iPhone app that — with the help of an external device — wakes you up with the sounds and smell of frying bacon.
