U.N. Approves Airstrikes to Halt Attacks by Qaddafi Forces  —  UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council approved a measure on Thursday authorizing “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians from harm at the hands of forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Reid trashes House vote to defund NPR, adjourns Senate  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) seized an opportunity Thursday night to criticize a House vote earlier in the day to defund National Public Radio.  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who had come to the floor …

Support for Gay Marriage Reaches a Milestone  —  More Than Half of Americans Say Gay Marriage Should Be Legal  —  More than half of Americans say it should be legal for gays and lesbians to marry, a first in nearly a decade of polls by ABC News and The Washington Post.

O'Keefe's Latest NPR Bombshell Instantly Falls Apart  —  Discredited conservative activist James O'Keefe is out with yet another NPR video, and its auteur took to Twitter to tease its SHOCKING REVELATION:  —  Yep, that's the big story, and in his narration to the tape O'Keefe delivers this breaking news …

The Forgotten Millions  —  More than three years after we entered the worst economic slump since the 1930s, a strange and disturbing thing has happened to our political discourse: Washington has lost interest in the unemployed.  —  Jobs do get mentioned now and then — and a few political figures …

OPINION: Cutting off NPR funding means less news, job losses  —  These days, I'm frequently asked, “Can public broadcasting survive without federal funding?”  I understand the reason for the question — we all understand the terrible burden of our national debt — but the real question is …

Cable reaches Japan nuclear plant  —  Engineers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant have managed to lay a cable to reactor 2, the UN's nuclear watchdog reports.  —  Restoring power should enable engineers to restart the pumps which send coolant over the reactor.

Anti-teacher climate humbles the conservative husband of a Cleveland educator: Connie Schultz  —  It's a question on a lot of parents' minds these days: How do we teach character?  —  New York Times columnist David Brooks was in Cleveland on Monday to talk about his new book, “The Social Animal …

Union thuggery against Althouse and Meade: “We will hang up wanted posters of you everywhere you like to go.”  —  “We will picket on public property as close to your house as we can every day.  We will harrass the ever loving s**t out of you all the time.  Campus is OCCUPIED.  State street is OCCUPIED.

Democrats argue party failing to humanize cuts, losing message war  —  A growing chorus of Democratic loyalists argue their party is losing the messaging battle over spending by failing to put a human face on cuts proposed by the GOP.  —  Instead of shining the spotlight on the programs slashed …

War  —  I got on a plane in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where I spent the morning trying to explain the war in Afghanistan to students and alumni of my high school — how the war started, why we are still there after nine years, how the war has changed since 2008, and where I see the war headed in 2011.

Journalistic irony  —  On Wednesday, the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, depicted the threat posed by Japanese nuclear reactors as much graver than had been suggested by Japanese officials.  Yesterday, this is how The New York Times described the impact …

Anthony Weiner Sarcastically Mocks GOP NPR Defunding Bill (VIDEO)  —  Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) thinks the House bill to defund NPR is completely ridiculous.  And he thinks the Republicans who rushed it to the floor Thursday are wasting everyone's time.  —  The way he expressed his feelings to the nation?

SEC moves to charge Fannie, Freddie execs  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving toward charging former and current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives with violations related to the financial crisis, setting up a clash with the housing regulator that oversees the companies, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Stimulus-backed station honoring Biden overshoots budget  —  As a thank-you to its most famous customer, Amtrak is renaming the train station in Wilmington, Del. after stimulus “sheriff” Vice President Joseph R. Biden — after the project received $20 million in stimulus money, and came in $5.7 million over the initial announced budget.

Eight Out of Ten Illegal Aliens Apprehended in 2010 Never Prosecuted, Says Border Congressman  —  Washington (CNSNews.com) - An illegal alien apprehended by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency during the last fiscal year had an estimated 84 percent chance of never being prosecuted …

Union equates lavish benefits to black civil rights  —  Chief Political Correspondent Follow Him @ByronYork  —  “Madison is just the beginning!”  AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka told a union rally in Annapolis on Monday.  “Like that old song goes, 'You ain't seen n-n-n-n-nothing yet!' ”

Mmm, mmm, mmm: NJ shuts down Barack Obama Elementary School  —  How fitting that a school named after our profligate, post-achievement president is shutting down thanks to fiscal mismanagement and non-achievement.  —  R.I.P., Barack Obama Elementary School (hat tip: reader Peter):

Frantic Repairs Go On at Plant as Japan Raises Severity of Crisis  —  HONG KONG — Japanese engineers battled on Friday to cool spent fuel rods and restore electric power to pumps at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station plant as new challenges seemed to accumulate by the hour …