memeorandum: Where the Jobs Are — WILLISTON, N.D. — Right now you are … (Gail Collins/New York Times)

11:55 AM ET, July 26, 2012

Top Items:

First Read / msnbc.com:

Romney steps onto the world stage — *** London Calling: On his first full day of business and meetings on his overseas trip, Mitt Romney has already met with former British PM Tony Blair, current Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and Deputy PM Nick Clegg.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Political Carnival

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

‘D’ Is for Diplomacy — LONDON — Mitt Romney has only been on British soil for 24 hours, but he and his campaign are quickly finding out that every word matters. — Even before he touched down, a quote by an unnamed Romney adviser in London's Daily Telegraph newspaper was already creating a stir.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Guardian and ABCNEWS

James Kirkup / Telegraph:

Olympics: David Cameron rejects Mitt Romney's suggestion Britain is not ready — David Cameron has rejected suggestions from Mitt Romney, the US presidential candidate, that Britain is not prepared to run and celebrate the Olympic Games. — The Prime Minister said he would tell …

Discussion: The Hill, Guardian, Taylor Marsh and Indecision Forever

Jason Cherkis / The Huffington Post:

Mitt Romney Registered As Lobbyist For Salt Lake City Olympics … REACT: — FOLLOW: — John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Elections 2012, Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama , Olympics, Video, London Olympics 2012, Atlanta Summer Games, Federal Spending, London Olympics 2012 …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Owen Gibson / Guardian:

David Cameron hits back at Mitt Romney over London 2012 doubts — Prime minister says Olympics have brought the UK together to put on a ‘friendly Games’ for international visitors — The prime minister has hit back at comments from the US presidential candidate Mitt Romney querying Britain's readiness …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Balloon Juice

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:
Romney's Remarks on Olympics Cause Stir in London

Discussion: New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

CNN:
Cameron reaffirms support for same-sex marriage on eve of Romney meeting

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS and Towleroad News #gay

David Blair / Telegraph:
Mitt Romney questions whether Britain is ready for Olympic Games

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Atlantic Cities, Guardian and USA Today

Steve Holland / Reuters:
“Anglo-Saxon” quote overshadows start of Romney tour

Discussion: American Prospect

Sara Murray / Wall Street Journal:
Romney Muted on Policy Criticism

Discussion: Washington Wire, Telegraph and The Agonist

Fran Spielman / Chicago Sun Times:

Emanuel goes after Chick-fil-A for boss' anti-gay views — The anti-gay views openly espoused by the president of a fast food chain specializing in chicken sandwiches have run afoul of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a local alderman, who are determined to block Chick-fil-A from expanding in Chicago.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Lynn Sweet, Fox News, Independent Journal Review, Moonbattery, americanthinker.com and National Review

Boston Globe:

Menino shouldn't block Chick-fil-A because of president's views — The president of Chick-fil-A opposes gay marriage. While this view goes against the grain in a state that made history by embracing it, it's no reason for Mayor Thomas M. Menino to oppose a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Boston.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Politico

Fran Spielman / Chicago Sun Times:

Rahm welcomes help from Farrakahn, ignores anti-Semitic remarks — Mayor Rahm Emanuel during City Council meeting Wednesday, July 26, 2012. John H. White~Sun-Times — Ignoring Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's history of anti-Semitic remarks, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday welcomed …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and Chicago Tribune

Alyssa Newcomb / ABCNEWS:
Chicago Latest to Oppose Chick-Fil-A

Discussion: Southern Beale, Questions and Observations, Wonkette, The Other McCain, The Volokh Conspiracy, Sister Toldjah, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Wizbang, LewRockwell.com Blog and Michelle Malkin

Lymari Morales / Gallup:

U.S. Business Owners Now Among Least Approving of Obama — Professional workers are the most approving — WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. business owners' approval of President Barack Obama fell in the second quarter of 2012 to 35%, essentially tying farmers and fishers for the lowest approval among major occupational groups.

Discussion: Power Line, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Washington Post, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, GOP 12, Politico, Washington Free Beacon, The Lonely Conservative and Pirate's Cove

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Approval of Obama among business owners drops in second quarter

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

unionleader.com:

Romney's taxes: Why do they matter? — Mitt Romney is a rich man. Like everyone, rich or poor, he has done everything legally available to him to minimize the tax bite. There are very few people standing in line waiting for the opportunity to overpay their taxes.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, The Caucus and Daily Kos

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Senate passes bill to keep tax cuts for the middle class — The Senate on Wednesday narrowly approved a plan to preserve tax cuts for the middle class while letting them expire for the wealthy, a powerful if largely symbolic victory for Democrats who have been pushing to raise taxes on the rich for more than a decade.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, New York Magazine, Right Wing News and ataxingmatter

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — Senate Dems Jam House Republicans, Pass Bush Tax-Cut Extension For Middle Class

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Addicting Info, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, Firedoglake, Hullabaloo and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Mark Sappenfield / Christian Science Monitor:

North Korea flag mixup to go down in Olympic history as major insult — A video before the North Korea-Colombia Olympic women's soccer game Wednesday showed the South Korean flag. In the history of Olympic host nation embarrassments, it's a whopper. — LONDON

Discussion: Riehl World View

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Where the Jobs Are — WILLISTON, N.D. — Right now you are probably asking yourself: “What would it be like to live in a place with an unemployment rate of 1 percent?” — Me, too! So I went to Williston, N.D., to find out. There are certain things that journalists do as a public service …

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Romney advisor accuses Donilon of leaking to the New York Times — A top advisor to Mitt Romney's campaign on Wednesday accused U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon of leaking classified intelligence information to New York Times reporter David Sanger.

Discussion: Politico

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Obama: AK-47s belong on battlefield, not streets — NEW ORLEANS - President Obama touched the sensitive issue of guns here on Wednesday, pivoting off last week's Colorado movie theater shootings to call for a “consensus around violence reduction” in the country.

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, Pirate's Cove, BBC and Obsidian Wings

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:

It's not OK to ignore this pro-Romney ad — There are two really effective campaign ads blanketing the airwaves. One from each campaign. But only one of them is perhaps the most dangerous in its potential impact against its target. And Democrats better beware.

Discussion: Wizbang, Althouse and American Prospect

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Romney Struggles To Distinguish His Economic Policies From Bush's — Mitt Romney couldn't substantially distinguish his economic policies from former President George W. Bush's during an interview with NBC's Brian Williams on Wednesday, saying only that he would “take action to get America on track to have a balanced budget.”

Discussion: American Prospect, New York Magazine and Eclectablog

First Read / msnbc.com:
NBC exclusive: Romney talks with Brian Williams

Discussion: Politico, BuzzFeed, Washington Wire, Washington Post, Business Insider, Ballot Box, Associated Press and The Page

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

The Battle for Ballot Integrity in Pennsylvania — Pennsylvania is, for the moment, ground zero in the battle over voter fraud. In March, Pennsylvania's legislature enacted a law that requires identification for voting. The ACLU has sued to enjoin enforcement of the law …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Philadelphia City Paper, Wall Street Journal, BREITBART.COM and Washington Examiner

Dani Dayan / New York Times:

Israel's Settlers Are Here to Stay — WHATEVER word you use to describe Israel's 1967 acquisition of Judea and Samaria — commonly referred to as the West Bank in these pages — will not change the historical facts. Arabs called for Israel's annihilation in 1967, and Israel legitimately seized …

Discussion: Tablet Magazine, The Times of Israel and Israel Matzav

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Busted... Team O Plants 3 “Surprised” Veterans at Out-of-the-Way Diner to Speak With Obama - Then Releases Their Bios — What a coincidence! Obama just happened to find three friendly veterans in a booth at a Portland diner this week. — It was a “surprise stop.” — At least, that's what local King5 told us.

Discussion: Oregonian, Independent Journal Review and KING-TV

Mary Pilon / New York Times:

Equestrian | Dressage: Ann Romney's Horse Prepares for Olympic Debut — LONDON — More than 10,000 athletes are descending on London this week for the Summer Olympics, including global names like Usain Bolt, Oscar Pistorius and Michael Phelps. But the one athlete that is seemingly under stricter guard …

Discussion: News Desk, Hotline On Call and New York Magazine

Katherine Weber / Christian News, The Christian Post:

CP N.AMERICA — Bullied LGBT Teens Request Lunch With Kirk Cameron Amid NJ Marriage Event — In a better world, buying pens and eating lunch would be a politics-free ... Activists representing bullied teens of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT) …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Washington Post:

Skype makes chats and user data more available to police — Skype, the online phone service long favored by political dissidents, criminals and others eager to communicate beyond the reach of governments, has expanded its cooperation with law enforcement authorities to make online chats …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE