End The Day With A Smile

“your honor, I would like to remind the members of the jury how pretty you look today”

— Brent (@murrman5) August 12, 2014

Let the record show that the defendant pointed at me when I asked who the coolest lawyer ever was.

— patrick (@tastefactory) June 19, 2014

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FUN PRANK: Leave a falcon to someone in your will, you never had a falcon, but everyone will be like “where the fuck is the falcon?”

— Snorklhuahua (@weinerdog4life) May 8, 2014

I accidentally touched the underside of a public toilet seat with my finger. Well, you had a good run, finger. *chainsaw sound*

— patrick (@tastefactory) August 12, 2014

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[Date] I just realized this appetizer coupon is expired. I’m going to need you to distract the waiter while I sneak out of here.

— Tommytoughstuff (@Tommytoughstuff) August 11, 2014

Beethoven: hey everybody, this next song’s called “Für Elise” Elise: omg, we broke up 6 months ago, get over urslf B: SHUT UP ELISE I LUV U

— refriend beans (@pharmasean) July 7, 2014

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being an adult is like learning for the first time that santa isn’t real every single day

— ballin’ ass furlin (@thefurlinator) August 4, 2014

me: time to sleep, brain brain: i said hip hop the hippie to the hippie to the hip hip a hop you don’t sto

— ashley barnhill (@ashley_barnhill) August 1, 2014

Chat Away

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, in Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, August 12, 2014 (Photo by Pete Souza)

Want A Growing Economy? Elect A Democrat

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Josh Boak: U.S. Job Openings In June Hit 13-Year-Plus High

U.S. employers in June advertised the most monthly job openings in more than 13 years. Employers posted 4.67 million jobs in June, up 2.1 percent from May’s total of 4.58 million, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The number of advertised openings was the highest since February 2001, a positive sign that points to a strengthening economy. The report “provides further confirmation that the U.S. labor market has indeed shifted to a period of stronger growth,”

said Jeremy Schwartz, an analyst at the bank Credit Suisse. Known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey or JOLTS, the report provides a detailed look at where employment might be heading. the pressure on employers to offer more generous wages could be increasing. On average, there are 2 unemployed workers for every job opening. That’s down from an average of 2.6 unemployed people per opening at the start of the year. As that ratio continues to fall, employers will likely have to boost salaries.

More here

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June job openings hit highest level in 13 years pic.twitter.com/PYWYMb2Fed

— Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) August 12, 2014

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There were 2 unemployed workers in June for every job opening, the lowest level since April 2008 pic.twitter.com/9pyhynoRxc

— Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) August 12, 2014

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Lucia Mutikani: Fresh Data Shows U.S. Jobs Market Tightening

The share of unemployed Americans competing for each open job hit a six-year low in June, suggesting a labor market tightening that could give way to faster wage growth. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased to a seasonally adjusted 4.67 million in June, the highest level since February 2001. At the same time, hiring reached its highest point since February 2008. Job growth has topped 200,000 in each of the past six months, a stretch last seen in 1997.

The unemployment rate has declined to 6.2 percent from 6.7 percent at the end of 2013. Troy Davig, the head of research at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, told Reuters on Monday that rising job openings suggested earnings growth was poised to move higher. “Faster wage growth certainly seems in the pipeline,” he said. “The labor market appears to be hitting a turning point.”

More here

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US economy en fuego right now. RT @NickTimiraos: June job openings hit highest level in 13 years pic.twitter.com/nIb6p8XVHP

— Stephen Baines (@spbaines) August 12, 2014

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U.S. job openings in June hit 13-year-plus high http://t.co/wOY4Xpdqk1 pic.twitter.com/4g9AZvleGK

— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) August 12, 2014

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U.S. job openings at more than 13-year high in June, hiring rises http://t.co/HX27jasn0S

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 12, 2014

A Tweet Or Two

pic.twitter.com/99jInVIJYP

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) August 11, 2014

I’m sure the guys who were helping Cliven Bundy break the law would be reasonable if one of their peers were shot in the back ten times.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 11, 2014

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Some context: #Ferguson is 2/3 black. Has a white mayor and mostly white city council. 53 police officers. Only 3 black (2 female, 1 male).

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 12, 2014

Good to support community efforts but what Ferguson needs is for white people to be challenging their communities.

— Colleen (@colleenkelly) August 12, 2014

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Attorney: On a day the parents were planning to take their son to college, they are planning a funeral and ordering 2nd autopsy. #MikeBrown

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 12, 2014

What a police state looks like What it looks like when your rights are violated. #Ferguson http://t.co/SEFbTChTRI pic.twitter.com/kiAeyZmBbk

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) August 12, 2014

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The photographer who took the iconic #Ferguson photo is @kodacohen – follow him for more stunning images #MikeBrown pic.twitter.com/2Z3RYPwMRt

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 12, 2014

'Witness to #MikeBrown Shooting Speaks; Police Don’t Want to Hear It' http://t.co/TrGxujSEUS pic.twitter.com/Hj53IFxezw

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 12, 2014

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Yes let’s do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown pic.twitter.com/Ng0pUlxWhr

— YoungGifted&Black✊ (@CJ_musick_lawya) August 10, 2014

In this CNN report from #Ferguson, you can hear a police officer curse at protesters and call them “animals.” http://t.co/rIk4rj0TMA

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 11, 2014

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Iconic

@kodacohen: Protestors confront police at the Ferguson PD. #MikeBrown

 

A Darkness Visible

 

It was 2003. My sister-in-law was visiting us. It was a weekend, and her, my wife, and our niece were going to go up the coast to a fish shack just over the Ventura County line. They asked if I wanted to join them. I said no.

The fly-by-night telecommunications company for which I worked had just closed its doors, but I had quickly found a job at a similar company. I started that following Monday. And all I could see was a hopeless, endless succession of dead-end jobs, one following the other, none leading to anything, no hope of doing anything better, anything more meaningful. I was trapped. I was in the grip of my depression.

Depression can be triggered by anything—or it can be triggered by nothing. It can have warning signs; or it can come upon you like Judgment Day, as a thief in the night. It robs you of you, turning you into someone other than who you were, altering you irrevocably. You are suddenly or not so suddenly this person you weren’t before, a distorted image of the person loved and cherished by others, an image of yourself dark, twisted, sent into the world too soon.

My depressive episodes, stretching back to the late Nineties, have usually been triggered by the combination of pointless work, or lack of work, and the curious malady of my stutter which made me despair of ever being able to do anything other than what I was doing. But triggers don’t always happen. As Robin Williams shows, people who have it all can feel as if they have nothing. Fame, glory, money: they don’t matter. When depression strikes, it doesn’t discriminate. It will take the high and the low, the rich and the poor. It’s very democratic in that way.

Rise and Shine – And Chat On

 On This Day: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama with Justice Sonia Sotomayor prior to a reception for the new Supreme Court Justice at the White House, on Aug. 12, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Morning again everyone, I’m still on my R&S break, so chat on. We’ll have updates later in the day.

 

Early Bird Chat

 On This Day – One of the loveliest Pete Souza photos: President Barack Obama hugs Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient actor Sidney Poitier during the award ceremony in the East Room of the White House, on Aug. 12, 2009

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Morning everyone.