News Nuggets 1175

DAYLEE PICTURE: A Tigers Tree Frog in Colombia.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Obama’s Gutsy Gun Control Push (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"He’s asking for what he wants, not just what he thinks is possible. Hope that’s the template for his second term."

Va. House Speaker Expected to Derail Senate Republicans’ Redistricting Plan from the Washington Post
"The Republican speaker intends to use procedural move to kill map, say those familiar with his plans."

Obama Looms Large Over Democrats' 2014 Fight to Retain the Senate (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"The biggest factor in how the cycle turns out probably isn’t candidate recruiting, fundraising or the number of open seats, though each will affect the fight for the Senate next year. It is almost certainly going to be President Barack Obama’s popularity and the electorate’s sense of how he is doing."

What’s Wrong With The GOP — By A Republican Who Gets It (Jason Sattler) from the National Memo
"In her blog post “Forget what you’ve heard, here’s what’s really wrong with the GOP,” she lays out five reasons why the Republican Party is seeing stars, despite an ailing economy and the best demographic advantage they will ever have."

Eric Cantor’s Empty Happy Talk (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post 
"Republicans have happened upon a felicitous new strategy for reviving their party from its depressed state: They need only think happy thoughts."

British Lawmakers Back Same-Sex Marriage: Lessons for the GOP (Ryu Spaeth) from The Week
"The bill was championed by Prime Minister David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party — and he's facing outright rebellion."

Karl Rove Takes on the Tea Party. Is a GOP Civil War Looming? (Liz Mariantes) from the Christian Science Monitor
"GOP strategist Karl Rove launches a group to back candidates it sees as most electable, reports say. Tea party groups and others are crying foul." http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-

The ‘Rabid’ Hate Aimed at Trayvon Martin (Jonathan Capehart) from the Washington Post
"That Trayvon brings out the worst in people is well known. What continues to shock me isn’t so much how widely held the negative view of him is, it is how openly people express their racism."

Pa. Gov. Says No To Medicaid Expansion from Talking Points Memo
"Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) announced Tuesday that his state will turn down the Medicaid expansion, becoming the first governor of a blue state to officially say no to the coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act that the Supreme Court made optional."
He's running for reelection next year.  His polling numbers lately have been bad.  With this decision, it's now official: He's toast.

How the Job Market for Law School Grads Crumbled (and How It Could Come Back to Life) (Jordan Weissmann) from the Atlantic
"ast week, it was reported that law school applications were on pace to hit a 30-year low, a dramatic turn of events that could leave campuses with about 24 percent fewer students than in 2010. Young adults, it seems, have fully absorbed the wretched state of the legal job market.    And hallelujah to that."

TWO RICHARD III NUGGETS!!
We Told You So: Richard III Society Celebrates Their Hero’s Rediscovery (Dan Jones) from the Daily Beast
"For a stalwart group of Richard III’s defenders the exhumation of his bones gives a chance to press their case that he wasn’t the monster of history and literature. Alas says Dan Jones the evidence proves
otherwise."

Richard III’s Bones: Should One of History’s Losers Be Redeemed? (Ishaan Tharoor) from Time Magazine
"Throughout while kings and barons charged across the field, countless unnamed small folk, afforded little choice and no glory, died in as gruesome a fashion as Richard III. Gazing at his now identified bones, as naked as all those who fell in his wars, one can’t help but see a thin, brittle vision of justice."

MALIAN CULTURE NUGGET!!
How Timbuktu Saved Its Books (Tristan McConnell) from Harpers
"Behind the rescue of Mali’s historic manuscripts."

OLD BIRD NUGGET!!
Albatross Named Wisdom Astounds Scientists by Giving Birth at Age 62 from the Washington Post
"She is described as awesome. And wonderful. And maybe a little weird. She is the world’s oldest known living wild bird at age 62, and she gave birth to a healthy chick that hatched Sunday."