A 7.0 quake has struck Haiti just outside Port-au-Prince causing widespread damage. The Haitian ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN, "I think it's really a catastrophe of major proportions." The AFP spoke to a reporter with a Haitian TV station who described devastation in the capital:

Newspapers steal stories from each other all the the time, even staffers. But Village Voice Media just had its vans seized by an alt-weekly competitor in San Francisco. We knew the industry was getting desperate, but, damn.

[The handwriting on Anna Wintour's place card for the Eunice Johnson tribute luncheon at The Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday is as tight, thin, and pristine as her famous visage. Image via Getty

• More on the epic mess at NBC: Conan O'Brien's manager says the late-night host's missive earlier today "came from the heart" and wasn't a negotiating ploy; TMZ reports that Conan is close to signing a deal with Fox; the public is siding with O'Brien over Leno; Letterman is taking lots of pleasure in the drama, naturally; and as for NBC chief Jeff Zucker, the man responsible for creating this disaster, this latest chapter may (finally!) be his undoing.
• Sarah Palin showed up for her first day at Fox News today. [AP, NYT]
• Is Rupert Murdoch about to kick Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to the curb? Some people seem to think so, although it's probably pretty unlikely. [NYM]
• Longtime Condé Nast exec Richard Beckman is leaving the publishing giant to become the CEO of e3 Global Media, the company that is now in control of The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, AdAge and others. [NYP, NYT]
• Remember that breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS that Dan Rather lost last fall? His motion to appeal the decision has ended in defeat, too. [AP]
• ABC is bringing back Cougar Town, The Middle and Modern Family for second seasons. No word on the fate of Conveyor Belt of Love, alas. [LAT]
• Who will replace Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 4? Take your pick! [LAT]
• Google may close its China operations over freedom of speech issues. [PC]
• "Just how bad was 2009 for magazines?" Pretty bad. [NYT]

Every day we take a moment to recognize a comment (or in this case comments) that deserves a little extra attention. For humor, for insight, for whatever, basically. Today's co-winners are scroll_lock and lobstr.

In what Spencer Ackerman accurately calls "the best case of un-self-conscious projection on the internet at the moment," Christopher Hitchens has written a Vanity Fair piece on how 9/11 made Gore Vidal go crazy.

Conan announced that he refuses be pushed back to the 12:05 slot, essentially ending his tenure at NBC. He cited NBC not giving his show the chance to grow. Which got us thinking, what other shows were prematurely snuffed out?

The hapless governor of New York, David Paterson, now must overcome the arrest of his 15-year-old son for possession of a stolen credit card and shooting dice. This in addition to the president himself opposing his re-election bid, and the whole cocaine-use-and-infidelity-and-pot-smoking thing. "Comically unprepared to take office" indeed. (via)

"We thought your readers would be interested in photos of a well-behaved Dennis Rodman—"

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the future: in 2010, you can play the piano on YouTube. Truly, it's a brave new world, and I think we can all agree that it is time to shut Science down. We're done here.

the actor describing the aftermath of an incident on the set of The Eagle of the Ninth involving boiling water being poured down his wetsuit which "pretty much burned the skin off the head of my dick," to Details.

[Former Christian rock singer Katheryn Perry wears an expressive T-shirt in Los Angeles; image via INF]

UPDATE: Joe Revitte from Dollar Van Demos sent this note telling his side of the story.

Now that beloved carrot-top Conan O'Brien has gone and laid a gentle smack down on NBC for their time-shifting late night foxtrot, what are some ways he could fuck over the (already so fucked) network? Let's imagine some possibilities.

Today, New York Post gossip dowager Cindy Adams (of all people) had a very important question to ask about Levi Johnston: "What happened?" We haven't heard from him in months. Where did he go? Is this exile or punishment?

We found it hard to believe those rumors that Sarah Palin would earn $100,000 speaking at the Tea Party Convention. But Politico obtained documents confirming the former vice presidential candidate routinely asks $100,000 per speech, or $75,000 on the West Coast. This is why the right-wing teabaggers must pay $549 each, to hear Sarah Palin rail against politicians who take their hard-earned money away.

Today Ellen announced Simon Cowell will be leaving American Idol on the very day she begins her stint as a judge. She did not, however, make any predictions about the future of the show in his absence.

Rudy said on Don Imus' radio show: "When they were paid in cash rather than stock... they balance my budget. They were wonderful from the point of view of getting the money you need to run New York City... they should do a better job of explaining what they contribute, which is really the life blood that makes our economy work." Government compensation reform is, needless to say, terrorism.

Come one, come all, to the Radical Faerie Gathering! A worldwide subculture devoted to rejecting heteronormative society and celebrating queerness, Faeries unite annually at the Gathering, in love and mutual understanding and good vibes, wearing loincloths and body glitter. NSFW.

Did learning that your antidepressant is fucking useless make you toss all your Paxils out the window? Not so fast! You don't want to lose that sweet placebo effect. Because there's still a lot to be depressed about.