Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Good morning, folks. Planet Michael, a virtual world devoted to Michael Jackson\’s life, is being developed. Now, your morning constitutional:

The Senate will take up a Defense Authorization Act today that includes a repeal of the \”don\’t ask, don\’t tell\” policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving in the military.

Letting all the Bush tax cuts expire could come close to balancing the budget.

House Republicans plan to unveil a campaign blueprint later this week, which they hope will show that Republicans have an agenda to govern beyond merely stopping the White House.

Adults under 30 are driving less and own fewer cars, seeing cars less as a status symbol than a source of pollution, and driving as a waste compared to mass transit where they can use their \”PDAs.\”

If they manage to take congress this year, Republicans want to kill health care reform by defunding it, but that may not be as easy as they hope.

Picking your own apples is a scam.

Nine NATO soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash on Tuesday in Afghanistan, making 2010 the most deadly year of the nearly decade-long war.

Facing social pressure, parents in Afghanistan are dressing their daughters like boys.

A combination of high crop prices and low interest rates has investors buying up farms in a frenzy.

Two officials at the Vatican Bank are being investigated for money laundering.

Scientists discover some of the mechanisms that allow plants to thrive in highly radioactive places like Chernobyl.

Finally, a 71-year-old man fights off an intruder with a Swiffer WetJet.