A Sumatran Tiger with her cubs at the Los Angeles Zoo. From ZooBorns."An abandoned amusement park inside Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s compound. Among the dead and the ruins, Libyans struggle to escape their country’s twisted history."
U.S. Assembling Secret Drone Bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Officials Say from the Washington Post
"The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. officials said."
Moody's Downgrades BofA, Well Fargo, Citigroup On Fears U.S. Wouldn't Aid Banks from Reuters via Huffington Post
"Moody's Corp on Wednesday cut the debt ratings of Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc, three of the largest U.S. banks, on worries the government would be less likely to support a large lender if it got into trouble."
OBAMACARE NUGGET!!
Young Adults Make Gains in Health Insurance Coverage from the New York Times
"Young adults, long the group most likely to be uninsured, are gaining health coverage faster than expected since the 2010 health law began allowing parents to cover them as dependents on family policies."
Marines Hit the Ground Running in Seeking Recruits at Gay Center from the New York Times
"... one of the strangest days in the history of the United States Marine Corps unfolded without the protests and insults that Sergeant Henry had feared. Sergeant Henry, who had been invited to set up a recruiting booth on the first day of the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell” at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in downtown Tulsa, instead spent it in quiet conversation with a trickle of gay women who came in to ask about joining the Marines."
Savvy PR move here on the part of the Marines.
The Death of Troy Davis (Andrew Cohen) from the Atlantic
"The Georgia execution reminds us of the flaws in our capital punishment system."
Reality Check (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"Every time you think the ultras in the current GOP won't go there, they do. They'll sabotage economic growth for short term political advantage. ... If they claw their way back to power this way, our system really will be broken for a long time. And the great possibility of an adult conversation on pragmatic grounds to help the economy will be lost. And this is emphatically not Obama's fault. He tried. They threw it back in his face again and again. Which means, I believe, that we should double down in backing him, instead of the ear-splitting whine coming from the left."
Democrats Hit Back On 'Class Warfare' Claims, Call Out GOP For Cutting Aid To Women And Children (Amanda Terkel) from the Huffington Post
"Democrats are hitting back at Republicans who say President Obama's plan to increase taxes on millionaires and billionaires amounts to "class warfare," arguing that the GOP is the party that has been protecting the interests of a particular class -- the wealthiest Americans."
Vote Shows Boehner's Lack of Control from Politico
"House Republicans tried a fresh strategy Wednesday night: Go it alone on a spending bill. The result was an embarrassing setback."
House Republicans Regrouping on CR, Pondering Two Options from the National Journal
"House GOP leadership aides said the Republican Conference will be presented with two options: Either they revote on the continuing resolution that includes offsets to disaster-relief spending and force their membership to get in line for the 218 votes required for it to pass, or they move instead on a clean CR with no spending offsets that will bring Democrats on board but adhere less to the GOP’s fiscal principles."
Alliance for Christ (William Saletan) from Slate
"Rick Perry's pledge to stand with Israel "as a Christian" is a gift to Islamic extremists. ... Bush never said he had a Christian duty to stand with Israel, because to say such a thing would have been stupid and dangerous. By framing U.S. foreign policy in terms of a religious alliance between Christians and Jews, Perry is validating the propaganda of Islamic extremists. He's jeopardizing peace, Israel, and the United States."
Michele Bachmann Can't Win, HuffPost-Patch GOP Power Outsiders Say from the Huffington Post
"...we first asked respondents to use one word to describe their impression of Bachmann. Unlike with the two frontrunners, nearly half the words (48 percent) to describe Bachmann were negative, including "inexperienced," "crazy," "lightweight" and "scary.""
DOG NUGGET!!
Hounded By Grief Over A Canine Companion (AUDIO) from NPR's All Things Considered
A VERY MOVING tribute to a special pet!
"I am torn between being glad he's at peace and hoping he haunts me, not unlike a dog version of Patrick Swayze in Ghost. Dogs love us like we wish we could love others; they are faithful where we are feckless. For as long as they are able, they endure."
RODENT NUGGET!!
Rent-A-Guinea Pig Service Takes Off in Switzerland from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Guinea pigs are sociable animals and Swiss law prohibits owners from keeping the furry rodents on their own. But what happens when one dies? Don't fret, just call Priska Küng, who runs a 'rent-a-guinea pig' service to provide companionship for grieving, lonely animals in the twilight of their years."
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