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April 06, 2012 | | GENDER Mitt Romney has dropped 19 percentage points among female independents in one poll of swing-state voters. The Daily Beast’s Patricia Murphy examines whether it’s too late for him to get past the cultural issues to focus on the economy. DISAPPOINTING Bad news: the streak of robust hiring in the U.S. economy has come to a close. After three months of at least 200,000 new jobs added, the U.S. produced only 120,000 jobs in March, a disappointing number that was lower than expected. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday the unemployment rate dropped from 8.3 to 8.2 percent, due in part to fewer Americans looking for work, not entirely to more people finding jobs. Stock futures are falling in response to the news. WORSE Despite agreeing to a ceasefire that would have gone into effect at 6 a.m. Thursday, Syrian government troops broadened an offensive against opposition fighters in three Damascus neighborhoods on Friday, with fierce fighting breaking out. There was hope last week when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to a brokered plan, which calls for his forces to pull out of towns by next Tuesday. But United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan told the General Assembly on Thursday that the ceasefire is now in jeopardy. “Clearly the violence is still continuing at alarming levels daily," he said. “Military operations have not stopped.” REPRIMAND A military board has recommended that Marine Sgt. Gary Stein be dismissed after he criticized President Obama on his Facebook page, including allegedly putting the commander-in-chief’s face on a Jackass movie poster. The Marine Corps administrative board said late Thursday that Stein was guilty of misconduct and should be given a less-than-honorable discharge. A general will now decide Stein’s fate. Stein allegedly posted images on a page he created called Armed Forces Tea Party, and he also superimposed Obama's image on a poster for The Incredibles, but changed the title to “The Horribles.” DISAGREE A new poll conducted by USA Today/Gallup shows a huge divide between blacks and whites in their views about the Trayvon Martin shooting. Among blacks, 73 percent believe George Zimmerman, the alleged shooter who killed Martin on Feb. 26, would have been arrested if Martin was white, while only 33 percent of whites agreed. When asked whether race made a difference in the case, 52 percent of whites said no. | | 
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