Collective bargaining bill published despite restraining order  —  By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - A controversial bill limiting collective bargaining for public workers has been officially published despite a temporary restraining order barring its publication.

Academic Intimidation  —  Regular readers may recall my praise for William Cronon's Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West, a great book that had a big influence on my work in economic geography.  Cronon has inspired many other people; Josh Marshall was deeply influenced by his environmental history of New England.

Bob Herbert to Leave The Times  —  Bob Herbert, a columnist for The New York Times Op-Ed page, is leaving the paper after nearly 20 years.  —  Mr. Herbert's resignation was announced in a memo to Times staff members on Friday.  His last column will appear in the paper on Saturday.

Does Pawlenty Have a Sharia Problem?  —  Pawlenty's effort to expand Muslim homeownership could hurt him in the GOP primary.  —  Abid Lakhani wanted to buy a home.  —  Unfortunately, as an observant Muslim, his options were limited.  Many Muslims hold that the paying or charging of interest …

Huckabee Has Slight Edge, Palin Down, in GOP '12 Preferences  —  Romney, Palin would tie if Huckabee does not run  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mike Huckabee tops a large list of potential GOP presidential candidates in current support for the party's 2012 nomination, with 19% of Republicans saying they are most likely to back him.

Energized Muslim Brotherhood in Libya eyes a prize  —  (CNN) — Dr. Abdulmonem Hresha knows first hand how Moammar Gadhafi's regime works.  He says the seeds of his opposition were sown when he was age 10.  —  He and classmates were taken to witness the public execution of a political opponent of Gadhafi.

Harper government falls in historic Commons showdown  —  The second minority government of Stephen Harper has fallen.  —  Early Friday afternoon, 156 opposition MPs - all of the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloquistes present in the House of Commons - rose to support a motion of no-confidence.

Barack Obama to lawmakers: We won't kill Qadhafi  —  President Barack Obama told congressional leaders there are no plans to use the U.S. military to assassinate Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi — despite the administration's policy of seeking regime change in the North African country …

Why Obama's Libya war coalition is the smallest in decades  —  President Barack Obama has touted his emphasis on multilateralism in the U.S. military intervention in Libya, but, for political, operational, and legal reasons, Obama's “coalition of the willing” is smaller than any major …

Woops, Newt Did It Again: Trying To Defend Libya Flip-Flop, Gingrich Reverses Himself On Air Power  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News last night to “attempt[] to clarify [his] stance on Libya,” as Fox itself put it, but only ran into more trouble.

Florida looks to curtail union dues  —  The latest in the public sector union fight, this time in Florida:  —  After a largely party-line vote, the Florida House delivered a major blow to public employee unions, approving a bill that would ban automatic dues deduction and require members …

Antiwar Senator, War-Powers President  —  Like all of his predecessors, this president has realized why the Constitution vested certain powers in the executive branch: Only it can act with dispatch.  —  President Barack Obama has again flip-flopped on national security—and we can all be grateful.

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links  —  Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.  —  Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought …

Katie Couric Plots CBS Exit  —  The CBS Evening News anchor is very likely to leave in June, and Scott Pelley is a top contender to replace her—but CBS is looking both within and outside the network, Howard Kurtz reports.  Plus, behind the CBS News shakeup.  —  The search is on for Katie Couric's successor.

Connie Mack will NOT run for U.S. Senate  —  U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV won't run for U.S. Senate.  —  “I've got two small children and it's hard enough to get to spend a lot of good quality time now.  I have a wife.  They are all very important to me and at the end of the day family has to be number one …

Haley Barbour On Global Warming: ‘We Should Proceed’ As If It ‘Is Actually Happening’  —  ABC News' Michael Falcone reports:  —  CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Potential presidential candidate Haley Barbour appears to be staking out a moderate position on global warming than some of his possible rivals …

In Prison for Taking a Liar Loan  —  A few weeks ago, when the Justice Department decided not to prosecute Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide, I wrote a column lamenting the fact that none of the big fish were likely to go to prison for their roles in the financial crisis.

Michigan Drastically Cutting Unemployment Insurance And Fox's Stuart Varney is Simply Giddy Over Real ‘Austerity’  —  Michigan voted to extend unemployment initially, but has now become the first state to cut the number of weeks a person can have unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 starting in 2012.

Lamestream Media: Reload or White Flag?  —  “Let's keep pivoting around media bias, and not get distracted with the vulgar personal shots.  Call out lies and set the record straight, but always keep the ball moving.  No one ever won a game only playing defense.”

CBO: Taxing mileage a ‘practical option’ for revenue enhancement  —  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs …