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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

One-Third of a French Fry Short of a Big Mac Meal  —  How can we put the current debate over the federal budget into a tangible perspective that anyone can understand?  This morning I read a post by Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute in which he criticized the Washington Post's characterization …

Exclusive Interview With Jim Shankman, the Man Behind the Ann Althouse Threat  —  Jim Shankman, the Madison-based author of a now notorious, vile Internet screed directed at blogger Ann Althouse and her husband, returned my call late last night and we spoke for approximately 30 - 40 minutes.

President ‘Present’  —  Obama dodges the big decisions to keep his approval ratings up.  —  One knock on Barack Obama in the 2008 election was his record as an Illinois state senator, where he repeatedly ducked tough issues by voting “present.”  It seems old habits die hard.

First Read's Top 10 Senate takeovers  —  From The NBC Political Unit  —  With the news that DNC Chairman and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) is “increasingly likely” to run in Virginia and Rep. Dean Heller (R) getting into the Nevada race, we thought we'd bring you another Senate Top 10, our second of the year.