• This video is crazy, but not as crazy as the fact that a tornado hit NYC. Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens to be exact. The storm hit fast and had winds as fast as 100 miles per hour. It even affected The King of Queens. “It’s like a war zone out here,” said female Queens resident Gene King. “Trees are down, some houses have come apart.” Hope everyone is OK in NYC tonight. (Thanks @BreakingNews for the video clip.) source

• no Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in “I’m Not Here” wasn’t real. It was completely staged.
• yes It was multi-year performance art piece made with the blessing of Joaquin’s agents.
• no The Letterman appearance wasn’t real either, and Letterman wasn’t in on it. source

• The tax cuts at the high end have not produced any jobs; it only increased the deficit. We’re still paying the price that they have contributed to the deficit all along.
• Speaker Nancy Pelosi • Regarding extension of the Bush tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000 a year (and families making over @250,000).

But not everyone agrees with Nancy …

• 31 House Democrats support extending tax cuts for the rich source

• 14.3% the poverty rate in the U.S. in 2009 – the highest level since 1994
• 43.6M the number of Americans currently in need of some sort of help
• oneethnic group – Asians – didn’t see their poverty levels rise source

• 25% increase in repossessions of homes by banks source

• 46% of Americans don’t really like Sarah Palin all that much
• 33%don’t know what to think about the ultra-influential Palin
• 21% of Americans have a favorable view of Sarah Palin source

• » The Tea Party’s in a similar boat: In fact, the Modern Tea Party has an even smaller favorability rating, with just 19 percent of people giving them a thumbs-up. But as proven this week, they have the power to win primaries. And it’s not like Congress has spectacularly high approval ratings, either, guys.

• All bets are off on whether these 1997 comments will have any effect on her election. (See: Rand Paul’s still being in the race despite his gaffes) In fact, if anything, she’s probably going to lose anyway, so this may not have an effect at all. In other news, Talking Points Memo is hardcore on the Christine O’Donnell beat. Jesus Christ, guys. source

• I must say that these revelations were a shock for me, a great sadness.
• Pope Benedict XVI • Stumbling to the kind of response he should’ve made a long time ago about the sex abuse crisis, and the church’s pathetic response. “The first interest is the victims,” he said, and that the church was trying to figure out “how can we repair, what can we do to help them to overcome the trauma, to re-find their lives.” Pope Benedict made these comments in Britain in the first papal trip to the country since 1982. source