How Obama turned on a dime toward war  —  At the start of this week, the consensus around Washington was that military action against Libya was not in the cards.  However, in the last several days, the White House completely altered its stance and successfully pushed for the authorization …

Dane County judge halts collective bargaining law  —  By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison — Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order Friday, barring the publication of a controversial new law that would sharply curtail collective bargaining for public employees.

The Imperial President  —  The president's speech was disturbingly empty.  There are, it appears, only two reasons the US is going to war, without any Congressional vote, or any real public debate.  The first is that the US cannot stand idly by while atrocities take place.

The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people  —  The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears - as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors …

PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET FOR 2012  —  Letter to the Honorable Daniel K. Inouye  —  ABSTRACT  —  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), with contributions from the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, has analyzed the President's budget submission for fiscal year 2012.

Qaddafi Son Says Libya Will Release 4 Journalists  —  TRIPOLI, Libya — Four New York Times journalists missing in Libya since Tuesday were captured by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and will be released, the Libyan leader's son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi told Christiane Amanpour in an ABC News interview early Friday.

War On The Poor: Minnesota Republicans Want To Bust Poor People Who Carry Cash  —  They're not just crazy, they're evil — and un-Christian, should they have the audacity to claim otherwise.  If only we could force them to live like this, they wouldn't last a week: … It may not be right, Angel.

GOP Bill Would Force IRS to Conduct Abortion Audits  —  Were you raped?  Was it incest?  And other questions the government's tax cops would have to ask women who've terminated pregnancies.  —  Post Comment  —  Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail through the House of Representatives …

Biden mentions rape in criticizing Republicans  —  Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Friday, compared Republicans in Congress to people who excuse rapists by blaming their victims.  —  The vice president, known for speaking his mind and at times putting …

Takedown: Ed Schultz Destroys Fox News' “No Looting in Japan” Theme  —  Boy, am I glad Ed Schultz dealt with this.  It's been a Fox theme since yesterday, beginning on Megyn Kelly's show and continuing on all the way through tonight's O'Reilly Factor.  It goes like this: Unlike here after Katrina …

Hidden Camera Activist James O'Keefe Refuses To Be Taped During Speech  —  Conservative activist James O'Keefe, who has gained notoriety for his hidden-camera stings of NPR executives, ACORN employees, teacher unions, and CNN reporters, gave a speech to a New Jersey Tea Party group today.

‘Supermoon’ Rises: Biggest Full Moon in 18 Years Occurs Saturday Night  —  Thanks to a fluke of orbital mechanics that brings the moon closer to Earth than that it has been in more than 18 years, the biggest full moon of 2011 will occur on Saturday, leading some observers to dub it a “supermoon.”

Answering Mark Levin's Challenge  —  On his Facebook page, Mark Levin takes exception to some of us who have said critical words about Sarah Palin.  —  In his response, Mark groups Karl Rove, David Frum, and me, all of whom served in the Bush administration.

Is economics a science? (liquidity trap edition)  —  Not yet, apparently:  —  1. If I Google “predictions liquidity trap model,” the first author who comes up is me.  —  2. The second item which comes up is this article, which suggests a test: “A random coefficient estimation procedure …

Libya Renews Attacks as Coalition Weighs Response  —  Obama Demands Gadhafi Pull Back Troops; Qatar Is First Arab Nation to Join Mission  —  Sam Dagher reports from Libya that renewed assaults against rebel-held towns suggest the fighting continues despite Gadhafi's declaration of a cease-fire earlier Friday.

Fairweather media: CNN sends 400 reporters to royal wedding, only 50 sent to Japan  —  CNN alone will have a team of roughly 400 reporters, cameramen and crew assigned to the wedding.  The network has 50 people on the ground working on the breaking news in Japan, plus others scattered in Bahrain, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

Helen Thomas is Playboy's April Interview  —  A Candid Conversation with the Disgraced Dean of the White House Press Corps About her Rage against Israel, her Sympathy for Palestinians and Why she was Fired  —  /PRNewswire/ — “I knew exactly what I was doing - I was going for broke.

US Cost of Living Hits Record, Passing Pre-Crisis High  —  One would think that after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Americans could at least catch a break for a while with deflationary forces keeping the cost of living relatively low.  That's not the case.

Bachmann accuses Weiner of trading in ‘fiction’ on budget.  His retort: 'I don't think you want to go there'  —  There's something about Anthony Weiner that seems to really get under Sean Hannity's skin.  Maybe it's the way he makes both Hannity and his guests look like utter buffoons.