Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 17 August 2010

Good morning, everybody. Tila Tequila was attacked on-stage by stones, bottles and various other things at the annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival in Illinois. Now, your morning constitutional:

In Pakistan, one-fifth of which is under water due to horrific flooding, water-borne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera may bring further tragedy.

At least 59 were killed by a suicide bomber at an army recruitment center in Baghdad.

Five months after the election, with no government yet formed, coalition talks have been suspended after Nouri al-Maliki claimed the al-Iraqiya bloc, the winner of the most votes in the election, represented Sunnis, and  al-Iraqiya, claiming to be a non-sectarian party, has demanded an apology.

U.S. may ease travel restrictions to Cuba, although the trade embargo will remain.

NewsCorp., the parent company of Fox, contributed $1M to the Republican Governors Association this year.

Republicans are seizing on the planned Islamic community center in Manhattan as a wedge issue going into this year\’s mid-term elections. Rep. Keith Ellison eloquently defends the planned community center while Sen. Harry Reid fumbles.

Nate Silver: How stable is the generic ballot?

The Federal Reserve on Monday unveiled a number of new regulations to crack down on abusive mortgage lending.

Daniel Gross: The key to the future of the economy is exports.

The Obama administration announced it will require stricter environmental standards for off-shore drilling.

World CO2 emissions dropped overall last year due to the economic downturn, although emissions in China grew enough that they are as high as the U.S. and Russia combined.

An awesome redesign of the New York City subway system.

A study has found that college students score 40% lower on a measure of empathy than their counterparts 20 or 30 years ago.

Finally, one third of British adults sleep with a teddy bear, according to a new survey.