Morning Constitutional – Thursday, 25 March 2010

Good morning folks. We got a lot of news to get through, so sit down and shut up. Here\’s your morning constitutional:

Republicans overnight have forced the Senate to adopt changes to at least two provisions in the health care reform fix bill, citing parliamentary issues, which would require it to be sent back to the House for approval before passage. The two provisions both are related to higher education funding.

Syracuse is adopting a \”grossing up\” policy, in which it covers the tax difference between benefits for married straights and partnered gays.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the execution of Henry Skinner pending a decision to take up his appeal, which would allow his defense access to untested DNA evidence. DNA testing yesterday, in fact, exonerated Anthony Caravella from Florida, who was serving a life sentence for a 1983 rape and murder. He was 15 and had an IQ of 67 when he was convicted.

Members of congress who voted for the health care reform bill have become targets has vandals have targeted at least five congressional offices nationwide, including at least one assassination threat. More for the Associated Press.

A $1.25B deal worked out last month between the Obama administration and black farmers who had been shut out of USDA loan and assistance programs looks about ready to fall apart due to congressional inaction.

The U.S. and Russia reached a deal on cutting their respective nuclear arsenals. The treaty will be signed in Prague next week, but still needs Senate ratification to take effect.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today will announce changes to the \”don\’t ask don\’t tell\” policy in the military, which would make it harder for the military to expel gays. It will be an interim policy while the Pentagon and Congress decide on repealing the policy altogether.

The Acadamy gives awards to the best actor and the best actress; but, is this sexist?

Science is crazy: Could it be that galaxy clusters are being pulled by the gravity of matter outside the known universe?

What does your email provider say about you?

There may be lessons for President Obama in how past presidents dealt with the intellectual and academic community.

Advice from David Mamet to screenwriters.

Things are not going so well in North Korea, as North Koreans fear another famine and economic collapse.

Finally, in more delicious news, it looks as thought maple syrup contains at least twenty compounds that have been linked to human health, thirteen of which have been newly discovered.