Welcome to Monday, July 11th, Slurpees and Icees...

President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order aimed at protecting abortion access using federal agencies’ authorities. 

Biden’s executive action comes as a response to the Supreme Court’s reversal of abortion rights precedents under Roe and Casey in a case known as Dobbs, which sent authority for regulating abortions back to the states.

The executive order instructs a number of federal agencies to take actions related to abortion access. For example, it instructs the Dept. of Health and Human Services to protect sensitive patient information under HIPAA, and the Dept. of Justice to provide technical assistance for states to afford legal protection to out-of-state patients seeking abortions and providers offering such services.

Do you support or oppose President Biden’s executive action on abortion access?

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Assassinated During Campaign Speech

Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday while giving a campaign speech in the western prefecture of Nara by a lone gunman.

The gunman used a homemade double-barrelled firearm apparently assembled using pipe, tape, wood, and electrical components. The gunman was immediately apprehended on the scene.

Abe was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, as he was in office from September 2006 to September 2007, and served a second term from December 2012 to September 2020.

U.S. Economy Added 372K Jobs in June, Leaving Workforce About 524K Jobs Shy of Pre-Pandemic Level

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday released its jobs report for June 2022, which found the U.S. economy added 372,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%. The report exceeds the Dow Jones forecast of 250,000 jobs. With June's gains, overall employment in the U.S. economy is down about 524,000 jobs from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020. 

The labor force participation rate was 62.2% in June, essentially unchanged from last month and about 1.2 percentage points below its February 2020 level.

How do you feel about the state of the job market?

All the Memes Fit to Post

And, In The End...

Today is July 11, or 7/11, known as Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven stores. What flavor Slurpee will you be treating yourself to today?

—Jamie Epstein

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