Southern Harm: Tornadoes kill hundreds in Alabama, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia, etc. In this video, a tornado chaser almost shits his pants.

Northwest Rite of Passage: It's been in the high 30s this morning. And it snowed six inches in the passes.

Bottoms Up, Mum 'n' Dad! Study by UW Professor finds that teens who drink with adult supervision are more likely to have problems.

Politico on Obama's Willingness to Present His Birth Certificate: "By directly and coolly engaging a debate with his most fevered critics, Obama offered the most unmistakable validation ever to the idea that we are living in an era of public life with no referee—and no common understandings between fair and unfair, between relevant and trivial, or even between facts and fantasy."

MSNBC on Trump's Self-Congratulation: "This is the political equivalent of lighting a house on fire, calling 911 and then expecting a medal."

Fred, Who Just Happens to Sound Like He's 16: GOP presidential candidate doesn't want you to think of him as gay, he wants you to think of him as "Fred, who just happens to be gay."

Dose of Their Own Medicine: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will force senate Republicans to vote on Republican budget, which would strip funding from Medicare and Medicaid, thereby infuriating the elderly, their core continents in the 2012 bid for reelection.

Not-So-Super Market: GDP down sharply from this time last year. Citing the effect of high gas prices in part, economists says that the economy's current growth rate is slower than the pace of population growth.

How Long Until Emily Heffter Gets Back? Lynn Thompson at the Seattle Times writes clumsy hit piece on Sierra Club for opposing the deep-bore tunnel (AKA, for having the gall to disagree with ST's editorial page).

Meanwhile on Fairview: Seattle Times employee arrested for child porn.

An excellent tune for today's drizzle: