BREAKING NEWS: Earthquake rocks entire East Coast, aftershocks likely

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook Charleston on Tuesday afternoon.
The movement was also felt in much of Washington, D.C., and as far north as Rhode Island, New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where President Barack Obama is vacationing.
In West Virginia's capital, hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily.
"The whole building shook," said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. "You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own."
Hugh Bevins, district chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Science Center, said it felt as if his office on Dunbar Street in Charleston was swaying. Bevins, who lived in Nevada for a number of years, knew immediately it was an earthquake.
"It was kind of exciting," he said. "It was a pretty good sized earthquake if we felt it here, too."

Bevins said he had spoken with colleagues at the USGS office in Richmond, Va., who said their building shook violently. They were concerned the roof would collapse.

He said he'd never felt anything like Tuesday's incident in his 12 years in West Virginia, but another co-worker recalled a similar incident some 40 years ago.

Bevins said he has been hearing from friends and relatives who felt it, and others who didn't. Bevins' wife did not feel the quake and neither did his friend in Elkview.

"River valleys tend to shake a lot more," he said. "The saturated ground tends to shake more and kind of amplifies the waves that come through."

Several buildings in the Kanawha Valley were temporarily evacuated including those at West Virginia State University in Institute and downtown office towers in Charleston. The Kanawha County Courthouse and Judicial Annex were evacuated along with Charleston City Hall.

Kanawha Metro 911 received hundreds of calls in the minutes following the quake from residents reporting what they felt. Emergency officials weren't aware of any injuries or property damage related to the event, according to a statement issued by Metro Communications.

Dispatchers advised residents to leave their buildings if they felt the structures were insecure.

John Gurlach, air traffic controller at the Morgantown Municipal Airport was in a 40-foot-tall tower when the earth trembled.

"There were two of us looking at each other saying, 'What's that?'" he said, even as a commuter plane was landing. "It was noticeably shaking. It felt like a B-52 unloading."

Earthquake map shows epicenter in central Virginia

The U.S. Geological Survey has posted this map of the 5.9-magnitude earthquake that hit central Virginia just before 2 p.m. today, sending tremors up and down the East Coast.
The yellow glow represents the area where potential damage is deemed "light" and perceived shaking is "moderate."
The quake’s frequency hit the geology of the region just right, like a tuning fork, and reverberated outward, said Alexander Gates, the chairman of earth and environmental sciences at Rutgers-Newark, and an earthquake expert. But there’s no likely danger for aftershocks of the Virginia quake, which will be significantly more minor, he said.
“That was pretty good, huh? I was impressed,” Gates said. “You don’t get earthquakes like that so often on the East Coast.”
Though small earthquakes occur in New Jersey all the time, earthquake experts said today's shaking was highly unusual.

"It's probably the largest one people have felt in New Jersey in decades," said Martha Withjack, professor of geological sciences at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

The Virginia-centered earthquake was felt all along the East Coast because of the nature of the area's rocks, Withjack said. Unlike the West Coast, where the underlying rocks are broken from frequent quakes, the older rocks beneath New Jersey are long and solid. That means the shaking in Virginia was easily transferred to New Jersey.

"The energy all the way from Virginia got transferred to us," Withjack said.

The magnitude of the earthquake was a 5.9, according to the USGS.

The USGS is also expected to release official intensity numbers, which use a different scale to document how intensely the shaking was at various points along the East Coast. The intensity scale goes from 1 to 12, with 12 being the highest. It is likely New Jersey was at a 3, which is considered the low end of the scale with no damage, Withjack said.

"California wouldn't even blink about this," Withjack said.

According to the scale, an intensity of 3 is described as: "Felt quite noticeably by people indoors, especially on the upper floors of buildings. Many do not recognize it as an earthquake. Standing motor cars may rock slightly. Vibration similar to the passing of a truck. Duration estimated."

There is a chance this earthquake was a precursor to a larger quake that will happen within a few days. But the chances are very small.
"It's not likely," Withjack said.

Earthquake rocks East Coast

By Carolyn Pesce and Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

Updated 4m ago

• Comments
• 
  
• 
  

• 
• 
• 

A powerful earthquake rocked the Mid-Atlantic region Tuesday afternoon, hitting areas from North Carolina to as far north as Ottawa, Canada.
The earthquake, which hit at about 1:51 p.m. ET, measured 5.8 and lasted up to 45 seconds, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It shook office buildings and homes and rattled residents. The USGS warned of aftershocks.

Its epicenter was reported about 4 miles southwest of Mineral, Va., near Richmond, Va., and about 80 miles south of Washington, D.C.

*
VIDEO: Live coverage from WUSA in Washington
*
PHOTOS: Earthquake rocks East Coast

Witnesses reported a low rumble that grew to distinct and sustained shaking, rattling windows and fraying nerves.

"It scared the heck out of me. I'm still shaking," said Joan Morris, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

No injuries were reported. Federal officials say two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va., were automatically taken offline by safety systems around the time of the earthquake.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint say their networks were congested as the quake sent people scrambling for the phones. Twitter lit up with personal earthquake reports up and down the East Coast.

One Twitter user, @allisonkilkenny, a blogger and contributing reporter for The Nation, wrote: "Weirdest moment: Seeing the people I'm following in DC tweet 'earthquake' seconds before I felt it here in NYC."

Sonia Spence, a data transcriber for the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services in Manhattan, said she had just returned to her desk on the fourth floor of 26 Federal Plaza when the building began to sway.

"I thought, 'What could be shaking the building like this?' My first thought was a terrorist," she said.

Spence, a legally blind Bronx resident, said she dropped her purse which contained her cellphone, hurrying downstairs and outside.

The earthquake was one of the largest ever recorded in the Washington, D.C., area. The depth of the quake was only 0.6 miles which partly explains the widely felt shaking.

On "the East Coast you have this old, hard, cold crust that does a lovely job of transmitting the waves … the energy. … This large of an eathquake could definitely have been felt hundreds of miles away," said Lucy Jones, a seismologist at the USGS. "Central Virginia does get its share of minor earthquakes, but an earthquake of this size on the East Coast is certainly very unusual," says seismologist Karen Fischer of Brown University.

Virginia is not on an active earthquake fault and is roughly in the middle of the North American continental crustal plate, she says. But it has residual fault scars left over from 200 million to 300 million years ago, when it was an earthquake zone, at the time when the Atlantic Ocean rifted apart from Europe. An earthquake that registered 3.9 hit in 2003, followed by a 4.5 that same year.

"We are just seeing pressure build up and release on those scars," Fischer says. "There is a lot of debate on exactly what is going on down there and exactly how quakes this big happen in this kind of crustal zone."

Fischer says the shallow depth of the Virginia quake is only a first estimate and will likely be revised.

"One lesson of this quake is that building codes will likely need to be revisited on the East Coast," Fischer says. "Because we are not as conscious of earthquakes here as the West Coast, and we will have to see about structural damage to buildings, although I have not heard any damage reports so far."

David Oppenheimer, a seismologist for the USGS at the Earthquake Science Center in Meno Park, Calif., said Tuesday's temblor was not expected. Oppenheimer said the quake is a big concern because the infrastructure in the region is not build to handle the shaking.

"This is the kind of thing that we worry about, infrequent large earthquakes in highly population areas with an old inventory of brick buildings, structures built before there were earthquake codes," he said. "You put this earthquake under a more urban area you would have had perhaps loss of life and more damage."

Tomas Rockwell, professor of geology at San Diego State University, said people in the region should be prepared for numerous aftershocks that could last for months.

"Earthquakes of this size typically have aftershock sequences," he said. The largest aftershock is typically one magnitude point below the main shock. So an aftershock will likely be in the high 4s or a magnitude 5, and then there will be a bunch of 4s and 3s and 2s, he said.

Tuesday's quake had officials in the region scrambling to evacuate office buildings, monuments and airports.

The control towers at John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports were evacuated by the Federal Aviation Administration as a precaution, an FAA spokesman said. Flights out of both airports were canceled.

The State Department building in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington evacuated, public affairs specialist Urenia Young said in an e-mail. "We are out of the building," she wrote.

Halley Pack, a 24-year-old paralegal, was putting on her sneakers in the basement-level gym of her office building in downtown Washington when the shaking started. She said she didn't realize that it was an earthquake at first.

"I've never been in an earthquake before," she said, standing in her exercise clothes outside her office building at 2:20 p.m. "I thought something was wrong with me, like I had a headache." Pack said she even jumped on the elliptical trainer for a few minutes before officials announced that the building was being evacuated.

Outside, dozens of office workers milled about comparing notes and trying to reach friends and family on their mobile phones. The quake knocked out traffic lights, snarling traffic as fire trucks and other emergency vehicles, sirens blaring, snaked through the confusion.

Pack's colleague Caitlin Shea, 22, said she was at her desk when the earthquake struck. "The filing cabinets started shaking. I thought they would topple on us."

She was nervous about re-entering the 12-story building where they work. "I'm afraid of aftershocks," she said.

In North Carolina, the tremors sent light bulbs shaking in their fixtures and brought people out into the street looking for a potential cause. Karen Schaefer was stopped at a traffic light in northern Raleigh when her 1995 Honda Accord began shaking.

"It felt like when you are sitting on a suspension bridge and you feel it swaying," she said. "But I knew I wasn't on a suspension bridge. I was, like, 'Is this an earthquake?' and I said, 'No, this is Raleigh, N.C.'"

In the Oak Run/Ivy Ridge area near New Castle, Del., Mary Lou Byrd and Buzz Hamilton were standing outside after the quake rumbled.

"I was just standing in my house, and it started shaking," Byrd said. "I wasn't sure it was an earthquake until I saw all of the neighbors standing in the street talking to each other."

"I thought someone was barreling up the road with a trash truck, but the whole house shook, and we heard dishes rattling," said Shaun Gallagher of the Forest Brook Glen development near Newport, Del.

"It felt and sounded like a big gust of wind came through. I looked outside and the trees weren't even moving," said Jean Carsten, 59, who was at home in Bayville, N.J., when she felt the tremors. "My husband said, 'That was an earthquake.'"

Dan Thompson, director of communications at Fork Union Military Academy, a military-style boarding school in the village of Fork Union, Va., said the shaking was "pretty significant, but there was no damage or injuries. Just a few books knocked off the shelves."

About 200 were on campus either as members of the football or soccer teams, or as part of the 60 cadet officers here for training. "We want all our parents to know everyone is safe, and there's no danger at this point," Thompson said.

"No need for any of that. Everything's in good shape," he said, then offering a quip about another natural event, Hurricane Irene, bearing down on the East Coast: "We're already looking forward to the hurricane."

Feds vow to 'peel onion' on bias claims against sheriff's deputies

An official with the U.S. Department of Justice vowed Friday morning “to peel the onion to its core” on allegations that Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in the Antelope Valley have harassed minority residents of government-subsidized housing.

Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez said investigators would parse sheriff’s records and arrest data to determine if deputies were “used” to help drive out black and Latino residents of the historically white high desert.

Perez said one investigation focus would be determining if minorities accounted for a disproportionate share of misdemeanor and obstruction arrests. Arrests solely related to obstruction charges are often perceived as potential indicators of racial bias.

A county monitor last year issued a report showing 64% of obstruction-related arrests in Lancaster involved blacks, despite the fact that only 42% of all arrests involved blacks.

“While the rates of felony arrests are similar to elsewhere in the county, the two cities appear to have unusually high rates of misdemeanor arrests, and particularly high rates of arrests of African Americans,” Perez said.

Other investigation focuses would be allegations of racially motivated stops and searches; and identifying subsidized housing residents during routine traffic stops.
Perez also said federal investigators will be determining if deputies, who often accompany housing inspectors, have conducted essentially warrantless searches when checking whether residents who receive government assistance are in compliance with the terms of the program.

The inquiries are part of a federal civil rights probe, known as a pattern-and-practice investigation, officially announced Friday into the sheriff’s Palmdale and Lancaster stations.

If a pattern of misconduct is found, U.S. officials could seek a court-ordered federal consent decree similar to the one the Los Angeles Police Department operated under after the Rampart corruption scandal.

It took nearly a decade for the LAPD to have federal oversight lifted.

Perez, however, was careful to note that the Rampart investigation was broader, focusing on a number of issues throughout the entire department, whereas this probe relates to only a small portion of the sheriff’s jurisdiction.

Sheriff Lee Baca joined Perez at the news conference, vowing to open up his department to federal investigators.

Perez told the media Baca was fully cooperative thus far. In his statements, Baca refused to endorse the notion city officials have presented that government-subsidized, or Section 8, housing areas are hubs for crime.

He did, however, say he was heartened that he knew of no civil rights-related complaints from citizens in the Antelope Valley. His spokesman later explained the stations had received such complaints, but they were “at a certain level that they don’t need his attention yet.”

A group of civil attorneys who recently sued the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster for subsidized-housing discrimination were pleased with the announcement of the federal probe of the sheriff's department.

“We welcome the Department of Justice’s efforts to safeguard fair housing in the Antelope Valley and ensure people can seek a better life for their families free from harassment and fear,” the lawyers said in a joint statement Friday.

Obama finds a way to ignite Comprehensive Immigration Reform

New York - August 19, 2011 - President Obama is on the move to provide protection to immigrants even if Congress does act on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Just the other day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton issued two important memorandum on the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration matters. Prosecutorial discretion applies to the agency’s authority to not enforce immigration laws against those individuals and groups that are in the process of deportation or removal proceedings. In other words a person not in deportation, at this time cannot make use of this memo.

The Morton Memo directs that ICE attorneys and employees to exercise prosecutorial discretion and desist from going after noncitizens with close family, educational, military, or other ties in the U.S. As an alternative, the memo orders them to apply their efforts for people who pose a threat to public safety or national security. What his means is that if you are illegal in the United States and have not committed a crime and have not yet been deported, you can take a deep breath because Immigration is not looking for you.

Even if someone calls the ICE hotline to tell them that a person is illegal in the United States, ICE will not go after them unless they are criminals or pose a threat to our safety.

What are the Factors for Prosecutorial Discretion

The memo lists the following 19 items for ICE to consider when applying Prosecutorial Discretion:

• the agency’s civil immigration enforcement priorities;
• the person’s length of presence in the United States, with particular consideration given to presence while in lawful status;
• the circumstances of the person’s arrival in the United States and the manner of his or her entry, particularly if the alien came to the United States as a young child;
• the person’s pursuit of education in the United States, with particular consideration given to those who have graduated from a U.S. high school or have successfully pursued or are pursuing a college or advanced degrees at a legitimate institution of higher education in the United States;
• whether the person, or the person’s immediate relative, has served in the U.S. military, reserves, or national guard, with particular consideration given to those who served in combat;
• the person’s criminal history, including arrests, prior convictions, or outstanding arrest warrants;
• the person’s immigration history, including any prior removal, outstanding order of removal, prior denial of status, or evidence of fraud;
• whether the person poses a national security or public safety concern;
• the person’s ties and contributions to the community, including family relationships;
• the person’s ties to the home country and conditions in the country;
• the person’s age, with particular consideration given to minors and the elderly;
• whether the person has a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, child, or parent;
• whether the person is the primary caretaker of a person with a mental or physical disability, minor, or seriously ill relative;
• whether the person or the person’s spouse is pregnant or nursing;
• whether the person or the person’s spouse suffers from severe mental or physical illness;
• whether the person’s nationality renders removal unlikely;
• Whether the person is likely to be granted legal status or other relief from removal, including as a relative of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident;
• whether the person is likely to be granted temporary or permanent status or other relief from removal, including as an asylum seeker, or a victim of domestic violence, human trafficking, or other crime; and
• whether the person is currently cooperating or has cooperated with federal, state, or local law-enforcement authorities, such as ICE, the U.S Attorneys or Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, or National Labor Relations Board, among others.


The Morton Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion also identifies groups of persons who deserves “particular care” when making prosecutorial decisions. Specifically, these individuals embrace:


• veterans and members of the U.S. armed forces;
• long-time lawful permanent residents;
• minors and elderly individuals;
• individuals present in the United States since childhood;
• pregnant or nursing women;
• victims of domestic violence, trafficking, or other serious crimes;
• individuals who suffer from a serious mental or physical disability; and
• individuals with serious health conditions.

Prosecutorial Discretion is Not a Green Card

First, any form of prosecutorial discretion is fragile at best, and does not grant legal status or benefit. Secondly, decisions about prosecutorial discretion are usually made on a case-by-case . If granted, the person’s case will receive a “deferred Action” (placed in a low priority) and will probably receive work authorization.

Conclusion

Achieving the goal of the memos will require a method by which prosecutorial discretion is considered in every case brought to ICE’s attention, even before a Notice to Appear (charging document in deportation) is issued. ICE attorneys and employees will have to be trained to follow these memos, and held responsible when they fail to act properly. Finally, ICE must invest resources in training its officers and attorneys to accept the concept of prosecutorial discretion and the critical nature of exercising it in each and every appropriate case.


A WARNING

Over the last few years many immigrants have left the United States after residing here for many years. Some left for economic or familial reasons. These people unfortunately will have great problems in re-entering the United States. Current laws state that if a person remained illegal for a period greater than one year (1) in the U.S.; he or she cannot obtain their permanent legal status (Green Card) until they have remained outside the U.S. for a period of 10 years.

Atlanta Falcons-Jacksonville Jaguars Open Thread

 

It’s time for the team’s second rumble in sunny Florida in as many weeks. This week, it’s the mighty Jaguars.

Don’t sweat it if the Falcons fall behind. It is just pre-season, of course, and this team is going to be plenty good once the season rolls around. What matters is that the Falcons play well and get a sense of which reserves are going to be worth keeping as they move forward. The first required round of cutdowns is just around the corner on August 30, after all.

Watch the reserves tonight to see how they hold up against capable Jaguars backups. Watch the starters to see if they can eviscerate the Jags' starters. Heck, watch the coaching staff as they enjoy a big bowl of vanilla scheming. It's gonna be fun!

So crack open a cold one and join me in the thread for a discussion of the game. Enjoy!

HP TouchPad Fire Sales Begin, $99 for 16GB

If you told me last week that I'd be buying an HP TouchPad this evening, I probably wouldn't have believed you. But in the wake of the company's stunning decision to pull the plug on support for webOS devices, including the TouchPad, the fire sales have started and I nabbed a 32GB version for $149.

Details about where and when the official sales begin are still a bit sketchy, but I followed these instructions to find a $149 32GB device on HP's Web site. The 16GB, which some were purchasing for $99 earlier in the night, are apparently out of stock on the company's Web site.

Various tech blogs around the Web are pointing to a PreCentral post that is currently down, but it appears that the discounts first went live in Canada at Best Buy, Future Shop, The Source, London Drugs, and Staples. Indeed, the Canadian Best Buy site lists the 16GB TouchPad for $99. Future Shop also has it listed, but says it's unavailable.

According to Daily Tech, however, PreCentral posted a memo that HP reportedly sent to its affiliates. "HP will be lowering the price of the TouchPad beginning Saturday 8/20/11. This is the lowest price ever for the TouchPad so please post it as soon as it goes live. 16GB TouchPad- $99; 32GB TouchPad - $149," the note reads.

No mention of when on Saturday the deals might start in the U.S., but Best Buy is apparently sitting on a huge supply of TouchPads, so they might have a few in stock. At this point, the U.S. versions of the Amazon and Best Buy Web sites list the old prices; $499 for 16GB or $599 for 32GB. If the hysteria from the tech press on Twitter this evening was any indication, people are going to snap these up quickly, so grab one while you can.

Why would you buy a TouchPad? The device has received largely positive reviews, with the main drawback being the lack of apps. That's not likely to improve with the TouchPad's demise, but if you just want a tablet for browsing the Web, it's not a bad deal.

Are you seeing the cheaper TouchPads showing up on any other sites? Did you buy one? Let us know in the comments.

Bill Clinton boots burgers, says he's now vegan

(CBS) No more burgers for Bubba. Bill Clinton says he's gone vegan.

The former president - and former heart patient - said in an interview with CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta that he had given up the fatty fare he used to eat and switched to fruits, vegetables, and beans. When asked if that made him a vegan, Clinton said, "I suppose I am, if I don't eat dairy or meat or fish."

Clinton didn't say whether he ate eggs or honey. True vegans avoid those foods as well as meat, fish, and dairy products, according to a definition posted by the Vegetarian Society.

Clinton, who turned 65 Friday, said he had decided to revamp his diet after realizing that cutting calories and working out might not be enough to prevent a recurrence of heart trouble. He has twice undergone surgery to open clogged coronary arteries.

"I had played Russian roulette because even though I had changed my diet some and cut down on the caloric total of my ingestion and cut back on much of the cholesterol in the food I was eating," Clinton said, according to the Boston Herald. "I still - without any scientific basis to support what I did - was taking in a lot of extra cholesterol without knowing it. So that's when I made a decision to really change."

Beans might not be as tempting as a burger, but there's strong evidence that switching to a vegetable-based diet offers some protection against high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer as well as a reduced risk of death from heart disease.

Clinton told Dr. Gupta that he likes the foods he now eats, But, ever the politician, he fessed up that he eats meat "once in a while."

"At Thanksgiving," he said, "I have one bite of turkey."

The Vegetarian Society has more on the health benefits of vegan diets.

Like Every Administration, White House Defends Obama "Vacation"

Every White House is a bit defensive about presidential vacations and President Obama's staff is no exception.

"Whenever you talk about a presidential vacation you ought to put the word "vacation" in quotes because you can bet that there will still be work that he's doing every day," deputy press secretary Bill Burton told reporters yesterday on Air Force One.

Mr. Obama and family are today beginning a 10 day "vacation" on Martha's Vineyard. (Okay, Bill, those quotation marks are for you.")

Burton is right in that a president is never really on vacation. The job follows him wherever he goes as does a sizeable contingent of aides, secret service and communications personnel as well as the military officers who carry the "football," the nickname for the briefcase containing the nuclear launch codes. Some vacation...

Burton made a point of saying that Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan is among those accompanying Mr. Obama to Martha's Vineyard and will give him a national security and intelligence briefing every day.

Like its predecessors, the Obama White House is unapologetic about the president getting away for some rest and recreation. Last summer, Mr. Obama played golf on 4 of his eight days on Martha's Vineyard. It's also billed as time for him to spend with his family before his daughters go back to school in September.

"I don't think there's an American person who doesn't know that the president is working hard to do everything possible to get this economy back on the right track," said Burton to emphasize the point that the president deserves some time away from the White House grind, even if some of the grind goes with him.
This is Mr. Obama's 9th vacation since taking office. As of today, he has spent all or part of 38 days on "vacation" away from the White House. He has also made 14 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 32 days. It brings his total time away to all or part of 70 days.

It's less than the "vacation" time taken during the same period by his immediate predecessor. (Former President George W. Bush gets the quotation marks too.)

As of this point in his 1st term, Mr. Bush had made 14 visits to his Texas ranch spanning all or part of 102 days. He also made 40 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 123 days. His "vacation" total at this point in his presidency was all or part of 225 days away.

To show that even as he heads on vacation he's on the job, the White House announced that Mr. Obama would make a statement on the economy before getting on Marine One to begin his trip to the Vineyard.

Burton also said yesterday that Mr. Obama would be getting "constant updates on what's happening in the economy and other issues" while on Martha's Vineyard, where he has rented a house for his time there.

"Like a lot of American people, the president is taking a little time with his family to recharge his batteries," Burton said. But when asked if Mr. Obama really needed a vacation, Burton stopped short of making that assertion.

Relaxing Obama hits bookstore with Malia and Sasha

(AP) VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. -- President Barack Obama began the first full day of his Martha's Vineyard vacation on Friday by dropping into a bookstore with daughters Malia and Sasha, emerging to shouts of "2012!" and "Four More Years."

Inside the Bunch of Grapes bookstore, Obama, casually dressed in khakis and an untucked blue polo shirt, introduced the girls to some patrons before setting out in search of some vacation reading. The scenario for his daughters seems entirely different, according to the president.

"They've got to buy some books," Obama said of Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10. He added that one of them had an assignment.

One woman who later identified herself as Terry Wilson, 63, of Alexandria, Va., told the president: "Please don't forget the teachers." Obama replied that he loves teachers. "How could I forget them?" he said.

After going upstairs and looking around the store, Obama was seen holding five or six books, including "Brave New World" and "The Bayou Trilogy." He went to the cashier after Malia and Sasha had picked out some books of their own, but disagreed with the $32 price he was quoted, which seemed low for the size of his stack. He paid by credit card, telling the cashiers that he uses it only about three times a year.

"We're counting on you!" one patron yelled as Obama left the store.

Raw Video: Obama's Martha's Vinyard retreat
Mark Knoller: When presidents go on "vacation," controversy follows

He also found a supportive audience outside the shop.

"He's working all the time. He's getting a little relaxing when he's with his girls," said Virlynn Atkinson, also was on vacation from Washington, D.C. "But for the most part, I'm sure he's working. There's too much going on in the country. He's very conscientious."

Several Republican presidential candidates have criticized Obama for coming to this upscale island resort off the coast of Massachusetts at a time of such economic uncertainty across the country.

The White House defends Obama's desire for time to recharge and spend time with his family before the new school year begins. Officials also note that the president is never really on vacation. Obama received briefings on the economy and national security before going to the bookstore.

Obama arrived on the island on Thursday for a 10-day vacation with his wife and daughters, his third summer vacation here as president.

Eddie Vedder there as West Memphis Three released

 
(CBS/AP) As the so-called West Memphis Three were released from prison Friday, one of their longtime supporters, singer and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, was on hand.
Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., convicted of murdering three 8-year-olds in West Memphis, Ark., were set free via a legal maneuver called an "Alford Plea." Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley pleaded guilty while maintaining innocence and acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them.

Echols' wife, Lorri, sat in the front row of a crowded courtroom, next to Vedder, who became a key supporter of the men after watching a pair of HBO documentaries about the case. Vedder put his arm around her during the proceedings.

MTV reports The Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines, another supporter of the men, was also at the courtroom as they were released. Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Tom Waits have also been outspoken supporters of Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley.

 

Boston weather forecast 8/20/11: some sun, possible shower/t-storm

This is a new forecast, starting Friday evening.

Forecast Discussion: A weak cold front is starting to develop some severe thunderstorms over the city of Boston. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is now in effect for the city until 3:45 PM. This front will pass early tomorrow morning. There is the slight chance for a shower or thunderstorm before midnight, then it will remain partly to mostly cloudy. By tomorrow, some isolated showers and thunderstorms may form in the late afternoon or early evening. However, I would not call this day a washout. Beaches should see highs in the upper 70’s to lower 80’s. A weak high pressure ridge will give us drier conditions on Saturday night. But, another cold front in the Northern Plains will move over us by late Sunday afternoon. This front, along with high humidity, will produce isolated areas of heavy rain and strong to isolated severe thunderstorms. The precipitation will end as the front moves offshore Monday afternoon. High pressure will bring drier weather by midweek. But, a new cold front will bring showers and periods of rain Thursday night into Friday afternoon.

REVIEW: 'Fright Night': A remake with real bite

 
Vampires used to be scary. No seriously, hear me out. Oh, sure, nowadays vampires are emotionally tortured softies who long for true love and half-off sales of hair product. But there was a time, not so long ago when vampires were much more interested in eating your face than talking about their feelings.

The 1980s cult classic, "Fright Night," featured such a vampire, one who landed in suburbia and had to square off against a horror-movie-obsessed teen and a washed up actor in a battle to the death that featured as many laughs as it did scares.

Now in 2011, "Fright Night" has returned and managed the rare feat of being a worthy remake that honors the spirit of the original while giving fans something new to sink their teeth into.

Cunningly set in the soulless track housing of the Las Vegas suburbs (Vegas has suburbs? Who knew?), we find our teenaged vampire slayer Charlie Brewster now played by Anton Yelchin.

Charlie's life is a fairly content one. In spite of an absent father, he has a good relationship with his mom (the ever-engaging Toni Collette), a respectable level of popularity and an exceptionally cute girlfriend named Amy (Imogen Poots).

All is well until Charley's nerdy buddy, Ed (Mclovin himself Christopher Mintz-Plasse), becomes convinced that Charley's new next-door neighbor, Jerry (Colin Farrell, who seems to be having the time of his life with this role) is an undead killing machine.

Charley is naturally skeptical until Ed disappears and he finally witnesses Jerry in all his vampire glory. With no one to turn to for help, Charley tracks down the one person he thinks will believe him, Vegas magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant), who boasts of powers of the occult and numerous vampire conquests.

Naturally, Peter is a drunken fraud, but he does unwittingly possess a lot of helpful information. "Fright Night" then punches the accelerator as Charley leads Amy, his mom and a reluctant Peter through some thrilling action set pieces as they face off against the seemingly unstoppable Jerry.

"Fright Night" boasts all the fun and depth of an amusement park haunted house. Plus it knows its audience because its got nerd-cred for days. Yelchin starred as Chekov in the "Star Trek" reboot; Tennant spent several seasons as Doctor Who; and the script was penned by Marti Noxon, who was a writer/producer on the beloved television version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

By rounding out the cast with Farrell and Collette, we get some decent actors in pivotal roles, giving the movie just enough weight so as not to spin off into pure camp silliness.

Director Craig Gillespie carries a limited resume with his only previous features being the sweet and quirky "Lars and the Real Girl" and the completely forgettable comedy "Mr. Woodcock." Here Gillespie wisely leans on Noxon's lively script, but also does an admirable job of balancing tension, action, horror and comedy by pushing all the right buttons at all the right times.

"Fright Night" is being shown in totally unnecessary 3D, so you would be wise to save your dollars as the movie is entirely enjoyable in regular ol' two dimensions.

With school back in session and Labor Day not far off, this is the perfect film for the end of summer as movie fans look to squeeze one last drop of popcorn-fueled fun out of what has been a bit of an underwhelming summer at the box office.

And hey, simply seeing a vampire on screen who would rather be ripping out throats than moping around is worth the price of admission for me.

"Fright Night" is rated R for bloody horror violence and language including some sexual references.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/illinois/life/matdekinder/article_6290ad53-65d8-5f46-9767-66c4e8d653d6.html#ixzz1VVqxfql9

Kim Kardashian Plans to Take Kris Humphries' Name

The bride-to-be revealed what name she'll go by at home, how Nicole Richie helped with her wedding dress choice and how she'll spend her last night as a single woman to Ryan Seacrest Friday.

Tomorrow, Kim Kardashian will say "I do" to fiance Kris Humphries in Santa Barbara, CA.
our editor recommends
Kim Kardashian Fetes Engagement With Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party (Video)
Kim Kardashian Preps for TV Wedding With Workout, Massage, Chiropractor

The morning before her big day, the bride-to-be called in to Ryan Seacrest's morning show to discuss her plans for the big day.
STORY: The Business Behind Kim Kardashian's TV Wedding

The reality star revealed that she'll be making more than two dress changes throughout the sure-to-be grandiose evening. As for the gown she'll wear to walk down the isle, Kardashian, said she had a little help from another celebrity
PHOTOS: Inside Kardashian Inc.

"Nicole Richie called me and was like 'Oh my God, I have this vision for your gown, just hear me out please, please, please. I think you should go super classic, really, you know, kind of old Hollywood, think like, museum. You can't go with something trendy, you can't show off too much,'" said Kardashian. "So she came over, and she was like drawing out all of these things and you know, Simone, our stylist was like 'Oh my God, we have this vision.' So it completely changed what I thought I was going to go with. Its timeless."

COVER STORY: How the Kardashians Made $65 Million Last Year

And, despite changing her mind "a few times," the reality star says her A-list designer has been more than accommodating.

"Vera Wang has been very patient with me. I've literally flown out there twice. I once flew out there last week for two hours. I think my whole trip from New York to L.A. was a four hour trip that Ii was there with 11 hours in the air, flying. I needed to do it for piece of mind, it just made me feel so much better. "

But, with 24 hours to go, she says all the pre-wedding jitters are out of the way.

"It's so weird how calm I am. But I think I had my freak-out moment about a week ago."

When Seacrest asked what she'd freaked out about, Kardashian responded: "Everything and anything. From Kris' dogs in my space to his shirts on the floor, to going over budget, to everything you could possibly think of. I mean, it's ridiculous issues that I guess everyone goes though, but you just have a freak-out moment where you just like go crazy over every last thing from seating to hotels...planning a wedding is so much work. I had no idea."

As for that famous name, "At home, I'll be Mrs. Humphries," reveals the star. "But out on the streets, I'll be Kim Kardashian."

And, don't expect the nearly-newlywed to spend her last hours of freedom partying. When Seacrest asked what she plans to do tonight, Kardashian said, "Probably spray-tanning, nails, Anastasia midnight call to do my eyebrows."
 

HP Considered Buying Tibco, Teradata

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) considered buying Tibco Software Inc. (TIBX) and Teradata Corp. before pursuing the U.K.’s Autonomy Corp., said people with direct knowledge of the situation.

HP agreed to buy Cambridge, England-based Autonomy yesterday for $10.3 billion. HP approached Tibco this year, indicating it could make a per-share offer in the high $30s, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the details aren’t public. Tibco Chief Executive Officer Vivek Ranadive held out for a higher bid, telling the board he could get the stock to the proposed price range without a takeover, the person said. Tibco’s shares closed yesterday at $19.07.

HP also examined Dayton, Ohio-based software maker Teradata before approaching Autonomy in April, said some of the people. Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch, who had known HP chief Leo Apotheker since his days at the helm of SAP AG (SAP), entered talks with HP without seeking competing bids because the company had performed well independently, lessening the need for a sale, the people said.

HP had hesitated about whether to pursue the deal, announced yesterday, following Standard & Poor’s cut this month to the U.S. credit rating and the widening European sovereign- debt crisis, rattled global markets, the people said.

Palo Alto, California-based HP, whose debt financing for the deal was arranged Barclays Plc, is using part of its cash abroad for the acquisition, said the people.

'Paradise Lost' Filmmakers React to Release of West Memphis 3

“To see our work culminate in the righting of this tragic miscarriage of justice is more than a filmmaker could ask for,” says director Joe Berlinger.

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky were in Jonesboro, Ark., Friday to witness the release of Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly and to film the poignant ending to their third and final film about the case.

The three men, who were incarcerated for 18 years, were convicted in the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys who were found next to a muddy creek in the wooded Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Ark.

Berlinger and Sinofsky’s first film in 1996, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills, galvanized support for the West Memphis 3 with a bevy of Hollywood A-listers, including Johnny Depp and Peter Jackson, turning the case into a cause célèbre. Berlinger and Sinofsky stayed with the case, producing a follow-up – Paradise Lost 2: Revelations – in 2000. Both films were shown on HBO. And the third and final installment -- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – will air on the network in January. It will recount the entire saga; from the arrests in 1993 to the growing movement, through the appeals process and the uncovering of new evidence and will conclude with their release. Purgatory is scheduled to premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“Eighteen years and three films ago, we started this journey to document the terrible murders of three innocent boys and the subsequent circus that followed the arrests and convictions of Baldwin, Echols and Misskelly,” Berlinger said in a statement. “To see our work culminate in the righting of this tragic miscarriage of justice is more than a filmmaker could ask for.”

Added Sinofsky: “Today, we, along with HBO, are humbled to be a part of this remarkable outcome.”

Paula Deen feuds with Anthony Bourdain: gourmet elitism?

Though the celebrity chefs have never met, Anthony Bourdain took aim at Paula Deen in an interview for this week's TV Guide, calling her the "most dangerous person to America" and proud of the fact that her food is "bad for you." Deen's retort revealed a lot.

The Food Network hostess remarked that unlike Bourdain, she and her colleagues give "time and money to help the food-deprived, sick children and abandoned animals."

"You know, not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine," she said.

RELATED: America's new culinary renaissance

It seemed like Deen was labeling Bourdain a member of an elitist group that has lost touch with the average consumer. In addition, it seemed like she was echoing an opinion that has floated around the proletariat kitchens of the world for centuries: that gourmet chefs think the more expensive a thing is, the better it will taste.

"It has always been crucial to the gourmet's pleasure that he eat in ways the mainstream cannot afford," writes B. R. Myers in the Atlantic, "For hundreds of years this meant consuming enormous quantities of meat."

But for hundreds of years there has also been beauty in simplicity, and this is what Deen emphasizes in the biography on her website. Her success in cooking, she says, is rooted in a 1989 "lunch-and-love-in-a-bag" operation; her path to stardom took her through "poverty, doubt, and agorophobia."

By contrast, Bourdain’s website focuses on his degrees and his contributions to the field of literature.

But just as Deen's love of the quaint shouldn’t make her a public enemy, so might there be some sense in Bourdain’s scathing comments. Bourdain has been writing on the safety and integrity (or lack thereof) surrounding food for years. In a piece for the New Yorker titled 'Don’t Eat Before Reading This’, he wrote he wasn’t surprised to "hear rumors of a study of the nation’s prison population which reportedly found that the leading civilian occupation among inmates before they were put behind bars was 'cook.'''

Though this comes off as a tad extreme, just like Deen’s remarks it hints at something more: many so-called "food elitists" are only trying to make healthy choices. "It’s better food," writes Joel Salatin in Flavor Magazine, "It tastes better. It handles better. And it’s safer: Anyone buying chemicalized, drug-infused food is engaging in risky behavior."
 

Lady Gaga: Her ‘You and I’ video is online

Lady Gaga’s music video for “You and I” has arrived online, two days before it’s slated to make its debut on MTV.

There are at least 77 weird things going on in this video that are destined to pop up in your most surreal nightmares in the near future. So I’ll just draw attention to three highlights.

1. Gaga assumes multiple identities here, including one that involves being a mermaid who, as best as I could tell from the rapid-fire editing, is able to have sex with hot guys. That is so not how I remember things working in “Splash.”


2. Gaga and her dancers also perform in what appears to be the same barn Kevin Bacon danced in during “Footloose.”

3. At one point Gaga makes out with her alter ego, Jo Calderone. Which essentially means that Lady Gaga gets to make out with herself. Narcissism — it’s never looked artier!

‘The Big Lebowski’ reunion: The Dude and his co-stars, still abiding

 
Jeff Bridges may have been unfairly passed over as this year’s inductee into the Celebrity Bowling Hall of Fame. But that clearly did not dampen any of his Dude enthusiasm, as he and several of his “Big Lebowski” co-stars gathered in New York last night for a “Lebowski” reunion.

Naturally, this event — which included a sold-out Q&A with Bridges, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, John Turturro and music supervisor T-Bone Burnett — was promotional in nature, a celebration of the Blu-ray release of “Lebowski” released earlier this week. (By writing this blog post, I believe I am contractually obligated to pass on the information that said Blu-ray will, indeed, tie your whole room together.)

Aside from hawking DVDs, though, the occasion provided an excuse for Bridges and co. to mug for photos, which you can see in the gallery above. The many fans of the Coen brothers movie may also appreciate the opportunity to watch the Q&A, which will continue to be available for the next week via the Livestream embed that appears after the jump. An truncated, three-minute video of the event also has been embedded below, for all your Dude and Donny needs.