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 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 …

‘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.”

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.

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 …

Hidden-camera activist James O'Keefe turns away APP videographer  —  have made headlines, apparently was not thrilled about the idea of being videotaped himself during a speech he gave Thursday evening.  —  O'Keefe, who spoke to about 100 members of the Bayshore Tea Party and their supporters …

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.

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 …

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 …

Ronald Reagan & George W. Bush  —  My friend Pete Wehner took my criticism of President George W. Bush and some of his most senior staff as a challenge to compare Bush to President Ronald Reagan. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/ 2011/03/17/answering-mark-levins- challenge/ Comparing Ronald Reagan …

The Greatest Blog Post Ever Written?  —  That might be hyperbole . . . but then again, it might not. … Who is saying these things?  It is Lee Stranahan at the Huffington Post, a lefty for whom I have never had anything but the utmost respect.  So much so that, when he was looking …

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 …

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.

Form and Follow-Through  —  Today we rise up in defense of traditional values.  For example, is it a good idea to have sex with somebody on the first date?  Probably not.  In the Journal of Family Psychology, Dean Busby, Jason Carroll and Brian Willoughby studied the effect of sexual timing on later marriage relationships.

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.

Obama cancels public speech in Rio square: embassy  —  President Barack Obama has cancelled a public speech he was scheduled to deliver Sunday in a Rio square during his upcoming visit to Brazil, the US embassy in Brasilia said.  —  The speech in the historic plaza known as Cinelandia …