Watching the film from Haiti has been especially brutal. When I first heard there was an earthquake near Petionville, I thought that was weird. You see, Petionville won the Ohio Derby several years ago. Then I realized the magnitude of this thing and it's pretty gut-wrenching.

Thousands dead. Perhaps 3 million of a nation of 9 million affected. Your capital city, Port-au-Prince, pretty much gone. Obviously, no one in charge as even the head of the shadow government is now homeless. No army or police presence. Aid on its way, but gridlocked. Adds up to a pretty bad scene.

Shepard Smith, God bless him, on Fox News puts into perspective: "This is a story where the pictures are going to look the same over the days ahead. And we are all going to be get bored with it, because we always do. And then they’ll all be truly alone, and then they’ll really need us."

Meal of Links

Uh-oh. The guy who invented SpaghettiO's died.

Catching up with Patti Smith. She is like the Zelig of late '60s-early '70s NYC.

Sarah Palin likes all of the founding fathers. Then stumbles upon George Washington as her favorite.

Nikola Tesla still inspires the geeks. With obligatory "Tesla Girls" references.

Mark it. "Treme" starts on HBO on April 11. Get on it quickly. Meanwhile, "Eastbound & Down" cranks up again on February 19.

Roger Miller gets some love. Dang me.

Exercise Yard

The Glazers have pretty much ruined the finances of Manchester United. That's why Raheem Morris coaches Tampa Bay. It's called "no money".

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