Another Quiz (A Much Better One, Though)

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The VC Travel Quiz…..

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No pressure:

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A Must-Read or Two

15 charts that will restore your faith in the American economy http://t.co/gJ8FaG7coQ via @qz

— allanbrauer (@allanbrauer) July 5, 2013

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New post on Stonekettle Station: http://t.co/XZjoMI7glV – An Open Letter To The Idiot Nation

— Jim Wright (@Stonekettle) July 5, 2013

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A Crash Course in the #NSA Programs and the #Fourth Amendment http://t.co/oVqBaILsfU #UnderstandtheFourth before you #RestoretheFourth

— The People’s View (@thepeoplesview) July 5, 2013

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This analysis is pretty right on for the white privileged set => Generation Snowden, Part I http://t.co/wrhPqNTO9q

— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) July 5, 2013

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Shorter @WikiLeaks: Govts should have no secrets except asylum requests from fugitives #Snowden #goodforthegoose #NSA http://t.co/S92x5DUzos

— The People’s View (@thepeoplesview) July 5, 2013

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GOP made a series of allegations in the IRS “scandal.” They’ve all been discredited http://t.co/SxSpKFId3V Some accountability would be nice

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) July 5, 2013

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The Wall Street Journal Celebrates Human Freedom http://t.co/3LPdp4abRg

— Charles P. Pierce (@ESQPolitics) July 5, 2013

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#standwithwendy If my Vagina shot bullets, could I conceal it from Rick Perry and John Kasich? http://t.co/4YZxm0h7in

— Helen Philpot (@HelenPhilpot) July 2, 2013

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Scott Walker quietly signed a bill requiring ultrasounds for all women seeking abortions in Wisconsin: http://t.co/4vgembVhGX

— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) July 5, 2013

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CNBC Host LOSES It: Climate science is a ‘bona fide cult’ http://t.co/Q3VqY7kM2o”

— SportsGirl101 (@Arianna8927) July 5, 2013

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WHAT?: Missouri Attorney General calls for revival of gas chambers http://t.co/M0HPf8ZkvJ

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) July 5, 2013

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A Progressive Manifesto: This is How We Win: http://t.co/DabtLpmoMF

— Milt Shook (@MiltShook) July 5, 2013

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Chat On!

President Obama salutes before boarding Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base en route Camp David

Chat Away

President Obama, wearing *insert color here* shorts, departs the White House for a round of golf, July 5

Rise and Shine

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Today:

2:30: President Obama departs Joint Base Andrews en route Camp David

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BREAKING: U.S. payrolls rise 195,000; unemployment rate stays at 7.6%

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) July 5, 2013

MORE: Revisions add combined 70,000 jobs for May, April

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) July 5, 2013

U.S. jobless rate holds close to four-year low | http://t.co/al4yzOAkAO

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) July 5, 2013

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Steve Benen: U.S. job growth improves, exceeds expectations

Going into this morning, most economists projected job growth from June to be about 155,000 new jobs. With this in mind, the new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows not only good news, but unexpectedly good news…..

The U.S. economy added a better-than-expected 195,000 jobs in June and employment gains for May and April were revised sharply higher, the U.S. government said Friday. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.6%, but the size of the labor force increased by 177,000, according to the Labor Department said.

…. Perhaps the most important – and most heartening – detail in this new report is the upward revisions for the previous two months…

More here

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Best stock market and job growth since the 90s. We should raise taxes on the 1% every year?

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) July 5, 2013

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Business Insider: It’s a beat!

195K new private sector jobs was well ahead of the 165K new jobs that was expected.

More here

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In a statement probably typed up 4 months ago… RT @tackettdc: Glass half empty: Boehner says growth tepid, unemployment rate too high

— Duke (@DukeStJournal) July 5, 2013

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Ah, funny how this didn’t get much attention….

NYT: I.R.S. Scrutiny Went Beyond the Political

In 2010, a tiny Palestinian-rights group called Minnesota Break the Bonds applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status. Two years and a lot of prodding later, the I.R.S. sent the group’s leaders a series of questions and requests almost identical to the ones it was sending to Tea Party groups at the time.

…. The controversy that erupted in May has focused on an ideological question: Were conservative groups singled out for special treatment based on their politics, or did the I.R.S. equally target liberal groups? But a closer look at the I.R.S. operation suggests that the problem was less about ideology and more about how a process instructing reviewers to “be on the lookout” for selected terms was applied to any group that mentioned certain words in its application.

More here

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ThinkProgress: What The Mainstream Media Misses About Texas’ Ongoing Abortion Battle

Over the past week, Texas has captured national attention with a dramatic show-down between a Republican-controlled legislature and thousands of reproductive health advocates…. but many of the narratives the media is crafting aren’t actually getting at the full scope of the story.

In addition to criminalizing abortion services after 20 weeks, the other provisions in Texas’ abortion proposals would impose harsh restrictions on abortion providers. By subjecting abortion clinics to new regulations that would force them to make expensive updates to their facilities — unnecessary measures that major medical groups, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, oppose — Texas’ bill would force 90 percent of the state’s clinics to close their doors. That would leave just five abortion clinics in the entire Lone Star State, which happens to be the second most populous state in the country.

…. And the real catch? Outside of the debate about abortion access after 20 weeks — even outside of the fight for abortion rights altogether — the “abortion clinics” in question are often providing health services that encompass much more than helping women terminate a pregnancy. Many of them also provide preventative care, family planning counseling, STD testing, and cancer screenings. And they offer those health services to Texans of both genders who are typically uninsured.

More here

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News Observer: Gov. Pat McCrory doled out handshakes and hailed parade-goers as he rode in this Rowan County town’s Fourth of July parade Thursday, but he wouldn’t say what he’d do about a controversial abortion bill if it reaches his desk.

That question has been on many minds in North Carolina this week, after the N.C. Senate Wednesday approved sweeping new rules that could limit abortions. The bill now goes to the N.C. House.

The legislation would require N.C. abortion clinics to meet tougher standards similar to those governing outpatient surgery clinics. As a result, critics say, it would effectively close the majority of the state’s 16 abortion clinics. It would also require doctors to be present when women take pills to induce abortions.

More here

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SERIOUSLY: Entire House #GOP leadership has signed pledge to put Koch Brothers ahead of the planet http://t.co/vEzJnoS44O #GOP #unAmerican

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) July 5, 2013

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Oh boy…..

Mediaite: Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, was a little shocked when reporters switched from questioning him about the U.S.’s openly gay nominee for Ambassador to the Dominican Republic to the subject of the regional egg trade: “We go from faggots and lesbians to this?” he said, laughing. “We’re jumping to chickens now?”….

More here

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Woah – nice voice! Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey sings the National Anthem at the Washington Nationals versus Milwaukee Brewers at Nationals Park on July 4:

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#Obama #ShirtColorGate Shorter –> @TheObamaDiary pic.twitter.com/GNg3Xpi3iA

— Eric Wolfson (@ericwolfson) July 5, 2013

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@TheObamaDiary SOLVED: Hawaiian Punch!

— allanbrauer (@allanbrauer) July 5, 2013

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MooooOOOOoooorning!

PS:

I think it's spelled ASH pic.twitter.com/uK2Od4rwJe

— Kelly (@greeleygeek) July 5, 2013

This land….