Morning Constitutional – 7 April 2010

Good morning, folks. George Lucas and Seth Green are going to make an animated comedy based on Star Wars. Now, your morning constitutional.

Correction: Yesterday, we reported that the rules for Scrabble might be changing. Turns out that isn\’t the case at all.

A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra this morning, triggering two tsunamis and injuring several people. No casualties have been reported.

Seventeen have been killed in anti-government protests in Kyrgyzstan as police clash with protesters in the nation\’s capital. President Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency.

Does cable have a grip on speedy Internet?

Since the launch of space shuttle Discovery on Monday, there are now four women in space, a world record.

USA Today reports today that the U.S. military is using its experience fighting guerillas in Iraq and Afghanistan to help Mexico\’s armed forces fight Mexico\’s increasingly violent drug cartels.

While some expect that President Karzai is playing up a domestic audience, others worry his rhetoric is causing instability at best or hostility at worst. Some wonder if the scheduled 12 May meeting between Presidents Obama and Karzai will happen.

Despite a good March, in which the Republican National Committee raised $11.4M (the most they have ever raised in a March of a congressional election year), many Republicans are worried that the RNC will be strapped for cash in this election cycle. Also, from the New York Times: GOP Squirms as Spotlight Focuses on Its Leader.

The cast of Modern Family, as a ensemble cast, must strategize its Emmy submissions.

Ezra Klein in Newsweek: What Happens When Congress Fails to do Its Job?

About time: Superheavy element 117 has finally been synthesized.

A first-edition, 16th-century collection of St. Augustine\’s writings, complete with annotations describing St. Augustine\’s influence on Luther and King Henry VII\’s break with Rome, will be auctioned by Sotheby\’s in Paris on 18 May.

The Hill\’s Alexander Bolton: Five stumbling blocks that could hurt Democrats in November.

The May election in the U.K. will likely end with a hung parliament. The BBC looks at the past five times such an occurrence has happened in the past century.

Federal Reserve sees signs that the economic recovery might slow, despite recent rapid growth.

Colombia is home to another dangerous drug, one which strips free will from its users.

Finally, in happier news for somebody, a study by the London School of Economics finds that the cleverest women are also the heaviest drinkers.