Midday open thread

• In case you missed it, we have some exciting new site updates.
• Oh goody. We might have Donald Trump to kick around some more after all.
• And speaking of people who are never, ever gonna be president:
  

  It wouldn?t be a presidential campaign without probing questions from the likes of MTV about inappropriate things like undergarments. But this week, the question came from the candidate himself ? former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty ? who turned the tables on a team of pop-culture bloggers in Ames, Iowa, by asking them to name their favorite Lady Gaga song.

• Here's some required reading for all those politicians who keep getting themselves into trouble for using songs without permission.
• Wedding bells will be ringing soon:
  

  New York City, whose top elected officials strongly supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, will take the unusual step of opening city offices on a Sunday, July 24, so gay couples can marry on the day the law takes effect.

  The city clerk?s offices in all five boroughs will open that day, and judges will be on hand to officiate at the weddings after couples receive marriage licenses.

• Bill Clinton smacks Rick Scott:

  ?I can?t help thinking since we just celebrated the Fourth of July and we?re supposed to be a country dedicated to liberty that one of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time,? Clinton said at Campus Progress?s annual conference in Washington.

  ?There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today,? Clinton added.

  Clinton mentioned Florida Gov. Rick Scott?s move in March to overturn past state precedent ? including under former GOP governors ? that allows convicted felons to vote once they?ve served they?ve finished probation periods.

• Boo hoo:
  

  Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation will close its tabloid News of the World after this Sunday's edition, as a result of an escalating phone hacking scandal, James Murdoch said on Thursday.

• Californians beware: Sen. Dianne Feinstein is sooooooo old! If you re-elect her, she'll practically be the oldest senator ever! Except, you know, not.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/yCdBfxXLyQE/-Midday-open-thread

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