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.

Allies Press Libya, Saying Declaration of Cease-Fire Is Not Enough  —  WASHINGTON — The United States, Britain and France pushed forward against Libya on Friday as they declared that a cease-fire abruptly announced by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's government was not enough, at least for now, to ward off military action against his forces.

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 …

‘No-fly’ win for lame-duck Clinton  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's revelation that she won't be staying on if there is a second Obama term may have been news to those who don't know her, but did not surprise her friends, who say she's spending an increasing amount of time considering …

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.

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 …

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.

Sixty-four senators call on Obama to take up tax, entitlement reform  —  President Obama came under new pressure Friday to broaden talks about government spending to include tax and entitlement reform.  —  Sixty-four senators — 32 Democrats and 32 Republicans — called for the expanded talks in a letter to Obama.

Gingrich: Healthcare reform will be repealed in 2013  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted the Democrats' healthcare reform law will be repealed, but not before the 2012 election.  —  “I think it will be repealed,” said Gingrich, who is exploring a presidential run.

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.

Haley Barbour's son says he doesn't want father to make a White House run  —  WASHINGTON — The son of potential presidential contender Haley Barbour told a conservative columnist on Thursday that he hopes his father doesn't mount a White House bid.  —  In a personal e-mail to the columnist …

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.

Opposition says no compromise possible with Yemen govt  —  Yemen imposes state of emergency after 42 shot dead  —  Yemeni protesters carry “down with the regime” banner  —  Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced a state of emergency on Friday after medics said 42 people were killed …

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 …

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 …

How to Talk to a First Panicker: 5 Rules  —  How Not to Calm People Down: Governments at all levels in the U.S. are trying to reassure Americans that they have nothing to fear from the plume of radiation heading east from Japan across the Pacfic.  I assume the officials and experts are right about this.

The NPR video and political dirty tricks  —  James O'Keefe's guerrilla video attack on NPR has led to the resignation of its chief executive and an ethical debate: When are lies justified in pursuit of a political cause?  —  It is now clear that O'Keefe's editing of the raw video …

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.