Why does it continue to surprise people when Twitter breaks news before you hear it on "the news." News organizations don't magically summon information - they gather it from individuals on the scene. If the people experiencing an event can easily broadcast info before the reporters arrive, it's no shocker they sometimes do. All Twitter reported that, "amazingly," a Tweet about Whitney Houston's death went out "almost a whole hour" before the Associated Press became the first mainstream news outfit to emit an alert about it. "Twitter has traced the first tweet about Houston's death back to user @BarBeeBritt, who enquired 'Is Whitney Houston really dead?' to her 799 followers at 1602 PST on February 11." The big question is how this "first tweet" sounds like a response to something else. Maybe there's a mystery network even faster than Twitter?!

The fans have gone home, the refs have put their whistles in their pockets, and Danica Patrick has finished getting dressed, but the Super Bowl XLIV postgame carries on. The most talked-about commercial during the game was a Chrysler spot with surprise narrator Clint Eastwood. It was about how industry in Detroit has begun recovering, and it had the tagline "Halftime in America," suggesting the best is yet to come after these commercial messages. Now "the left and right are having their fun goofing on it" reports THR. Rush Limbaugh's writing staff decided "halftime" sounded too much like a suggestion that Obama needs a second term, so they got a Clint voice-impersonator to do a parody that said "It's halftime in America ... People are out of work and they're hurting. And they're all wondering what Obama's gonna do to them next." Another parody from the Second City Network "appears to be a subtle attack on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney." (The original and parodies are gathered here). According to Politico, Limbaugh claimed Eastwood "got scammed" into doing the ad.