IN THE MIX: Bruce Springsteen first played the Spectrum back in 1973, and the Boss is coming back to South Philadelphia twice more before the arena’s appointment with the wrecking ball this fall. Springsteen and the E Street Band, whose new album, Working On A Dream, hits stores Tuesday, will play the Spectrum on April 28 and 29. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. on the web at ComcastTIX.com, on the phone at 1-800-298-4200 or in person at the Wachovia Center Complex and at select Acme Markets. MORE
BACKSTREETS: The wait is close to over for U.S. dates, too — there’s plenty of chatter today suggesting the news is imminent, for a U.S. tour beginning April 1 in San Jose. So far, dates are trickling in: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports a May 19 show at Mellon Arena, and Ticketmaster.com has the show listed with a February 2 on sale; also on sale February 2 (the day after the Super Bowl, of course) is a May 5 show in Charlottesville, VA at John Paul Jones Arena. More U.S. arena dates to come — watch ’em fill in on our Tour/Ticket Info page! MORE
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: This Land Is Your Land
ASSOCIATED PRESS: The recession is killing jobs at an alarming pace, with tens of thousands of new layoffs announced Monday by some of the biggest names in American business _ Pfizer, Caterpillar and Home Depot. More pink slips, pay freezes and other hits are expected to slam workers in the months ahead as companies desperately 
look for ways to survive. “We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg _ the big firms,” said Rebecca Braeu, economist at John Hancock Financial Services. “There’s certainly other firms beneath them that will lay off workers as quickly or even quicker.” Looking ahead, economists predicted a net loss of at least 2 million jobs _ possibly more _ this year even if President Barack Obama’s $825 billion package of increased government spending and tax cuts is enacted. Last year, the economy lost a net 2.6 million jobs, the most since 1945, though the labor force has grown significantly since then. The mounting toll was visible Monday as roughly 40,000 more U.S. workers got the grim news. MORE
FINANCIAL TIMES: Corporate bellwethers in the US and Europe slashed more than 76,000 jobs from their payrolls to confront the deepening economic downturn, marking one of the most brutal days yet for workers on both sides of the Atlantic. MORE
EYES ON OBMA: If you need any further evidence of just how delusional the Republican Party really is, take a look at this screen shot, which was taken from the website of the National Republican Congressional Committee (the wing of the national GOP responsible for getting GOP candidates elected).
The first line is really all you need to read: “Thanks to Republican economic policies, the U.S. economy is robust, and job creation is strong.” MORE
NEW YORK TIMES: Furloughs, wage reductions, hiring freezes and shorter hours simply did not do enough. A year into this recession, companies across the board are resorting to mass job cuts.“The economy is deteriorating at a faster clip than even the most dreary forecasts had expected,” said Joseph Brusuelas, an economist. MORE
ASSOCIATED PRESS: The House Judiciary Committee chairman subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl 
Rove on Monday to testify about the Bush administration’s firing of U.S. attorneys and prosecution of a former Democratic governor. The subpoena by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., continues a long-running legal battle with ex-President George W. Bush’s former White House political director. Rove previously refused to appear before the panel, contending that former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress. The subpoena commanded Rove to appear for a deposition on Feb. 2 on the firings of U.S. attorneys for political reasons. Conyers also demanded testimony on whether politics played a role in the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat. Bush upheld Rove’s legal position, but Conyers said times have changed. “That ‘absolute immunity’ position … has been rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates and President Obama has previously dismissed the claim as ‘completely misguided,'” Conyers said in a statement. MORE