THE COMING SHOWDOWN over law faculty tenure.

NASHVILLE: The next boomtown of the New South? I wouldn’t get too excited about that commuter rail line, which has been pretty much of a bust.

COMPARISON: iPad2 vs. Motorola Xoom.

AT AMAZON, it’s the Friday Sale.

“THE GUYS AT ENRON NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE THIS:” Bill Gates on states’ accounting flimflams. “The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist said state budgets have received a puzzling lack of scrutiny and have been ‘riddled with gimmicks’ aimed at deferring or disguising the true costs of public employees’ health care and pension obligations, citing California’s ongoing budget crisis as an example of creative deficit spending and the subsequent cuts to education spending as an unacceptable cost.”

Related: Economists: State, local pension funds understate shortfall by $1.5 trillion or more. So will any of these flimflammers get to share a cell with a guy named “Spike?” Or is that just for business people that politicians don’t like?

THIS IS THE ACTUAL WAPO HEADLINE: Democratic legislators embracing tactic to gain leverage: Fleeing. Brave Senator Robin ran away. . . .

SHIKHA DALMIA: The government trough: Public unions find a watering hole has become a drowning pool.

MICKEY KAUS: Here is the problem I have with indicting John Edwards.

I just want to point out that while he’s charged with using campaign money to hush up his affair with Rielle Hunter, many members of the press kept quiet for free! Keep rockin, dudes. . . .

BLOGGINGHEADS TV: Ann Althouse on the press’s bias in favor of the Wisconsin protesters, as compared to its treatment of the Tea Party.

BYRON YORK: While Obama Seeks New Ideas, His Bureaucrats Stifle Them.

LOU DOLINAR: THE CASE OF THE DEADLY DOLPHINS. “Cold weather, not oil, seems responsible for the recent spate of baby-dolphin deaths along the Gulf coast, according to researchers at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab . . . Melting snow — a rarity for the state — was behind the water temperature drop.”

MORE ON THAT ATF GUNRUNNING SCANDAL: Agent: ATF Partly Responsible For Mexico Violence.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT: We know how to get around earmark ban. “A House Democrat indicated Thursday that lawmakers are getting around the new ban on earmarks by convincing Obama administration officials to fund their pet projects. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), an appropriator, made the remarks during an appearance on C-SPAN’s ‘Washington Journal’ program.”

DAN MITCHELL: Guess Who Profits From Inflation?

My take: Inflation benefits debtors. The world’s biggest debtor is the U.S. government. The U.S. government also controls the money supply for the world’s reserve currency . . . .

CHANGE: Harvard To Let ROTC Back On Campus.

THE HILL: Republicans ramp up push to block EPA climate regulations.

LIBERTARIAN FEVER — CATCH IT! Pew poll: Support way up for gay marriage, abortion, legalizing marijuana. Gun rights, too.

THE WAR AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY (CONT’D): Mother of 3 Arrested for Taking Pictures of Tourist Attraction at Airport.

UPDATE: A followup. That default judgment probably won’t stick, but it’ll certainly get their attention.

SHOCKING CLAIM: Madison Mayor Colluded With Unions.

UNCLOUDY DAY ON THE BUDGET FRONT: If he had a sense of shame, Geithner would have to have been embarrassed.

PROFESSOR JACOBSON: Koch Derangement Syndrome Jumped The Shark Rather Quickly.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Public Universities Seek More Autonomy as Financing From States Shrinks. “The public universities say that with less money from state coffers, they cannot afford the complicated web of state regulations governing areas like procurement and building, and that they need more flexibility to compete with private institutions.”

THE LOAN ARRANGER. “No wonder this is do or die for the public sector unions. It is another f*n economic bubble.”

HOMELAND SECURITY DENIES “BIZARRE INTERNET-FUELED RUMORS,” then admits they’re true. Clown show. But without the laughs.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on Toys and Games.