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Friday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits.

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Today's edition of quick hits:
 
* Philippines: "Survivors in remote areas of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan said Friday they had been ignored by relief efforts, even as aid began to reach some of the worst-affected zones. The logistical logjam that delayed the distribution of international food and medical supplies is finally easing, but many rural islands communities have yet to receive any help."
 
* Iran: "A senior Obama administration official said on Friday that a solution could be found for one of the major stumbling blocks to an agreement that would freeze Iran's nuclear program, and that the accord might be achieved next week."
 
* On a related note, I think Feinstein's right about this: "A prominent Jewish Democrat endorsed President Obama's diplomacy with Iran on Friday, giving the president crucial support amid growing pushback from Congress. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she was 'baffled' by her colleagues' press for more sanctions, and accused them of trying to 'undermine' talks."
 
* HealthCare.gov progress: "The administration is judging its improvement by two metrics, [Jeff] Zients said: the website's response times and its error rates. In other words, how long it takes a page to load for users and how often users encounter a crash or error page. In both areas, Zients reported, HealthCare.gov is improving exponentially."
 
* Imagine that: "Senate Democrats do not expect to vote on the ObamaCare fix the House approved on Friday with 39 Democratic votes, according to a senior Democratic aide."
 
* Oh how I wish the political world treated stories like these as the real Obamacare scandal: "Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) on Friday announced that his state would not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act for up to 40,000 low-income Alaskans who would be eligible, calling the law a 'failed experiment.'"
 
* Virginia: "Even if Democrat Mark Herring ends up with more votes than his Republican rival Mark Obenshain in the tightly contested Virginia attorney general's race, he could still lose."
 
* Jobless aid: "The Obama administration on Friday came out strongly in support of extending long-term unemployment insurance past its current expiration date."
 
* The first time in nearly two decades: "In the decades-long fight for energy independence, the United States has scored a major symbolic victory. In October, for the first time since February 1995, the U.S. produced more crude oil than it imported, the Energy Information Administration said this week."
 
* I've always liked this guy: "President Obama nominated Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, an early supporter and grass-roots advocate for the Affordable Care Act, as surgeon general on Thursday."
 
* TPM ran a message today from one of the "losers" under the Affordable Care Act that I found quite compelling.
 
* And finally, who doesn't love Batkid? POTUS even recorded a Vine for him, and this press release from the Justice Department is the height of awesome.
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.