The man suspected of killing two people early this morning at a New Jersey Pathmark before shooting himself to death during a confrontation with police is believed to be a 23-year-old former Marine who worked at the grocery store for two weeks, according to WABC-TV.

The suspect left the Old Bridge, N.J., shopping plaza at about 4 a.m. and returned, having changed into camouflage clothing, armed with an AK-47 and an automatic handgun, authorities told WABC, which reported that both victims, a man and a woman, were young adults.

Police had responded to shots inside the Pathmark on Route 9 at 4 a.m.

Authorities believe the man killed two before turning the gun on himself, according to WABC. There's no word on his motive.

"This is the worst phone call a mayor can receive," Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry told NewJersey.com of the information he obtained about 6:30 a.m. "You can prepare for these things but you can't prevent them."

Several employees were inside the store, which was preparing to open at 6 a.m. Two windows near the entrance to the Pathmark were shot out.

Numerous employees were taken across the street to a T.G.I. Friday's and many were being treated for trauma at waiting ambulances.

The scene is now under control, according to WABC, and there were emergency responders in the plaza parking lot who had been standing in front of the store for some time.

Taylor Swift has a new interview with Rolling Stone, although I don’t think she’s taken the cover or anything. Sidenote: The latest cover RS cover story seems to be Matt Taibbi’s epic investigation into Mitt Romney’s financial dealings over the past four decades – you can read the full piece here (Yes, I’m mainly encouraging people to read Taibbi’s story because I have a wonk-crush on him. Matt Taibbi is BOSS. And Chris Hayes too.) Anyway, back to Swifty. Much to her credit (?), she doesn’t completely avoid questions about dating a Kennedy teenager, but she manages to avoid saying Conor Kennedy’s name and she only talks around the whole buying-a-house-right-beside-the-Kennedy-compound thing. Mostly, she talks about music and how she wrote her new album:

    “I went through a few roller coasters,” says Taylor Swift, reflecting on her relationships over the past two years. She channeled the turmoil into her fourth studio LP, Red, out October 22nd. “Trying to chronicle each step of the way was challenging, because you go to some really dark places with the lyrics. Then in the next track, you’re talking about how amazing it is to meet somebody new.”

    After writing 2010′s smash Speak Now by herself, Swift veered in the opposite direction, co-writing with pop hitmakers such as Max Martin and Adele collaborator Dan Wilson. She wound up with nearly 40 potential songs; in between stops on the yearlong world tour that she wrapped in March, Swift joined her writing partners in L.A. and Nashville.

    “I felt like an apprentice,” Swift says. “They taught me so much about melodic sense, and they let me do what I love, which is the lyrics.”

    The result is Swift’s most eclectic set ever, ranging from “State of Grace,” a howling, U2-style epic with reverb-drenched guitars, to a sweet acoustic duet with U.K. singer Ed Sheeran. Another key track even features a dubstep-inspired bass breakdown. So far, the new direction isn’t hurting Swift’s career: Lead single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” a bitter breakup anthem with a hip-hop-flavored Max Martin beat, has shattered chart records, selling a stunning 623,000 digital singles in its first week. To Swift, the musical excursions aren’t surprising, given how much hip-hop and R&B she listens to. “I have so many play­lists full of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown,” she says. “I love Wiz Khalifa.”

    Lyrically, the album is full of Swift’s usual themes of romance and heartbreak. “I know general things about love,” she says. “How to treat people well, what you deserve and when to walk away. Other than that, love is a complete mystery – and that’s why I like to write about it.”

    Swift has spent much of the summer with her new boyfriend, Conor Kennedy (the son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. She’s even looked into buying a house near the Kennedy compound. “That would be so amazing,” she says.

    But Swift won
’t be resting for long: She’s already thinking about how to top her last tour, which featured aerialists, costume changes and a mock wedding onstage every night. “I really want to go out on the road in the spring,” she says. “After I write a song, I always end up laying awake at night thinking, ‘What are the lighting cues going to be on this? How big is the pit going to be?’ I have been thinking of some big moments that are going to happen.”

Queen Elizabeth II is cooler than any of us. She raises corgis, parachutes from planes with James Bond (sort of) and hangs out with some awesome girlfriends. Should we even keep trying?

Her Majesty took to the wheel in Balmoral over the weekend -- home of the infamous corgis vs. Princess Beatrice's terrier smackdown -- rollin' in a Range Rover on her way back from a grouse shoot. But instead of her trademark floral hats -- much more customary for a royal -- she slipped into some unusual headgear, wearing what appeared to be a grey-colored hoodie.

The 86-year-old queen usually scoots around in her chaffeured Bentley, so we're surprised to see her gunning behind the wheel of a green Range Rover. But regardless... THAT HOODIE.

Now, we have to ask. Was the queen actually decked out in a hoodie, or was her headwear just a scarf pinned down with bobby pins (which we can sort of make out in the photos)? Judge for yourself.

By now, everyone and their mother knows that Taylor Swift is dating a Kennedy (Conor, 18, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), and that the leggy country crooner all but party-bombed a Kennedy wedding last week ("I personally went up to Ms. Swift…and asked her nicely as I could to leave," the bride's mother said).

But the top-earning entertainer under 30 is not stopping there. She's already bought that $4.9 million vacation home near the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., which she alludes to in a new interview in Rolling Stone. "That would be so amazing," Swift gushed to the publication.

Other things the 22-year-old gushed about? Her love for R&B hip-hop ("I love Wiz Khalifa" -- how quirky!) and collaborating with industry pros Max Martin and Dan Wilson for her fourth album, "Red" (out October 22). She also expounded on love, just generally. "Trying to chronicle each step of the way was challenging, because you go to some really dark places with the lyrics. Then in the next track, you're talking about how amazing it is to meet someone new," Swift said.

Not that we're sensing a trend here [insert Taylor Swift surprise face here], but … Conor, you listening?

Taylor Swift is never ever getting back together with you ... unless you're in a furry costume? That's at least one of the takeaways from the first video for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," the hit new single from the pop-country singer.

As you might guess, the song -- off Swift's upcoming album Red -- details a poisonous, break-up/make-up relationship that Swift finds "exhausting." (No word yet on which of Swift's famous exes the break-up anthem is about.) In the video -- which uses some fancy camera tricks to look like one continuous take -- Swift goes back and forth with her hipster boyfriend, and only finds solace (and "we-HEEEEs") with her friends, a group of furry-costume wearing musicians.

Since its release, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" has been on top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It sold a record-setting 623,000 digital copies during its debut week.

The video isn't embeddable yet, but feel free to sing along and head over to MTV.com for the whole video.

Obama's America" has been one of the most-discussed movies of the summer, with media coverage focusing on two things above all: the amount of money it has generated at the box office and the movie's anti-Obama message, especially controversial in an election year.

But conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza, who co-directed the movie and wrote "The Roots of Obama's Rage," the non-fiction book it's based on, told The Huffington Post that he didn't initially intend for it to be a big ticket-seller or a tool of political persuasion. He came up with the idea of making the movie trying to think of ways address critics of his book, who said it had failed to prove its central claim that Obama had been influenced by his father.

"I was thinking, 'Haven't you guys read Obama's book? He wrote practically 500 pages on this subject,'" D'Souza said. "And then I noticed that Obama had read his own book in audiobook. I began to listen to it, and I thought, 'It's all here in his own voice! If only I could take some of this stuff, critical points, and make a documentary, it would be very helpful for people.'"

D'Souza said he thought back to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," which inspired heated debate when it was released on the eve of the 2004 presidential election.

"I realized that the conditions now are very similar. A controversial president, half the country on each side of the fence, anxiety about the American dream," he said. "So I thought, why not take a page out of Michael Moore's book and make a film -- although a very different kind of film, I hope."

An acquaintance put him in touch with producer Gerald Molan, who'd worked on "Schindler's List." Molan agreed that "The Roots of Obama's Rage" had the makings of a compelling movie. D'Souza raised $2.5 million from 25 friends and acquaintances -- "mostly from my neighborhood in California," he said -- and started work on the movie with co-director John Sullivan. They filmed around the world in January and February, then had a final cut ready by the end of May.

To minimize financial risk, they rolled out the movie slowly, opening on just one screen on July 13. Ticket sales were strong, so they expanded distribution -- first to four screens, then to six, 10, 61 and 169 in the following weeks. Last weekend, it was playing on 1,091 screens and had made $6.5 million -- more than any new movie that week.

Keith Simanton, managing editor of the online movie database IMDB, said that the movie's success was largely an effect of canny marketing and good timing. "It's had a groundswell around it. The platform release worked well -- and being in the middle of the Republican convention helps. They timed it well; if they'd pumped this out in July, we wouldn't be having this conversation, " he told The Huffington Post.

Mariah Carey proves that she can still “Get’em” at 42-years-old!The music video for Mariah’s "Triumphant (Get’Em)" ft. Rick Ross and Meek Mill just dropped – and the mother-of-two looks better than ever. In true Mimi fashion, the "American Idol" judge sports some super short dresses as she plays a gold-clad ring girl.And the wind machine is a nice (also hilarious) touch – because there’s generally a strong breeze inside a boxing ring. Right?Check out the video and vote below! Read more »


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Britain's Barclays has picked softly spoken retail boss Antony Jenkins as its new chief executive to fill the shoes left by Bob Diamond, the colorful American investment banker who resigned after a rate-rigging scandal.

Jenkins, brought in six years ago to turn around the British bank's credit card business, lacks experience in investment banking, which, though a big profit driver for Barclays, has been at the heart of the firm's recent troubles.

Jenkins's manner will mark a sharp contrast with the flashier style of Diamond, who built up Barclays's thriving investment bank but resigned as chief executive in July after the bank admitted manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate.

Diamond was, however, grooming Jenkins for the top job before his own fall from grace.

"He's a very capable guy," Oriel Securities analyst Mike Trippitt said. "I think the fact that he's come up the ranks in the retail and commercial world means he'll take a very fresh view of the investment bank."

Trippitt added that Jenkins was unlikely to kill off the latter, but would look at how capital was allocated in the divisions.

Technology and gadget enthusiast Jenkins beat off competition from external candidates for the role, confounding those who had thought the bank would look outside to signal a clean break with former management.

Barclays on Thursday vaunted Jenkins' "intimate knowledge" of the bank's portfolio, and his retail experience could be an advantage in the face of new rules forcing UK banks to safeguard small customers.

British banks are being asked to effectively isolate their riskier investment bank arms from their retail businesses, so taxpayers will not have to bail them out in any repeat of the financial crisis that struck in 2008.

Jenkins inherits a daunting in-tray. His appointment came hours after British fraud prosecutors confirmed they were launching a criminal probe into payments between Barclays and Qatar Holding in 2008.

Four current and former senior employees are also under investigation by the financial watchdog, including finance director Chris Lucas.

In June Barclays paid $453 million to U.S. and UK authorities to settle with regulators over the Libor probes.

"We have made serious mistakes in recent years and clearly failed to keep pace with our stakeholders' expectations," Jenkins said in a statement.

My children are fans of the food at Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG). Soft, fresh tacos; black beans; melted cheese - what's not to like? So I was intrigued when I read about a payment policy that the restaurant chain uses in some locations. It's called "rounding" (which, by coincidence, my daughter is learning about at elementary school).

Tim Boyle/Getty ImagesThe Consumerist recently riffed on a column in The Star-Ledger, which reported on Chipotle's practice of rounding the change in receipt totals for cash transactions at some restaurants. These locations do this so that cashiers don't have to handle lots of coins, which tends to slow the lines down. If you've ever been to Chipotle, you know that the food is dished out in assembly-line style, where you place your order and then walk along the counter, telling the staff that, yes, you'd like some guacamole, please, but hold the rice. You pay at the end of the line.

As The Consumerist pointed out, rounding to the nearest nickel isn't really a big deal, as long as the restaurant is rounding down. But if it rounds up, you pay extra - even if it's just a penny or two.

In one sense, this seems like a smart idea. Who wants excess change clogging up their pockets, anyway, especially if it means you'll get your food faster? But at least one customer objected to this "Chipotle-style math," the New Jersey newspaper reported, and sent in his receipts for review:

    "On the first, dated July 13, the nine items added up to $32.93. There was $2.31 in tax. The total should have been $35.24, but next to the 'total' line on the receipt, it said $35.25. The next receipt, with the same sale date, showed a subtotal of $8.64. The tax was $0.60, so the grand total should have been $9.24. But no. With Chipotle-style math, the total was $9.25."

I called a Chipotle spokesman, Chris Arnold, who said the chain uses rounding in a few "high volume" markets,  including New York, New Jersey and some locations in Boston. The idea is to reduce the time cashiers spend doling out pennies, to keep the lines moving quickly. (In some locations, he said, "there are lines out the door as soon as we open.") The total, he said, was previously rounded either up or down, to the "nearest nickel." The result generally was a wash for the restaurant, he said. And for most customers, he said, "I think generally it's been a nonissue."

But a few penny-pinchers (my description, not Mr. Arnold's) did object. So as of August, he said, the chain is only rounding down. (Also, receipts should now have a line showing the impact of the rounding math.) He said he didn't know of other outlets that round receipts.

Do you think rounding of meal receipts - up or down - to eliminate pennies is a reasonable policy for a busy restaurant?

The owner of an Indian clothing store said Wednesday that he would only change its name from "Hitler" if he was compensated for re-branding costs, amid a growing row over the new shop.

The outlet, which sells Western men's wear, opened 10 days ago in Ahmedabad city in the western state of Gujarat with "Hitler" written in big letters over the front and with a Nazi swastika as the dot on the "i".

"I will change it (the name) if people want to compensate me for the money we have spent -- the logo, the hoarding, the business cards, the brand," Rajesh Shah told AFP.

He put the total costs at about 150,000 rupees ($2,700).

Shah insisted that until the store opened he did not know who Adolf Hitler was and that Hitler was a nickname given to the grandfather of his store partner because "he was very strict".

"I didn't know how much the name would disturb people," he told AFP by telephone from Ahmedabad. "It was only when the store opened I learnt Hitler had killed six million people."

Members of the tiny Jewish community in Ahmedabad condemned the store's name, while a senior Israeli diplomat said the embassy would raise the matter "in the strongest possible way."

"People use such names mostly out of ignorance," Israel's Mumbai Consul General Orna Sagiv told AFP.

Esther David, a prominent Indian writer in Ahmedabad who is Jewish, said she was "disturbed and distressed" by the shop, but added that some Indians used the word "Hitler" casually to describe autocratic people.

David said Jewish residents had sought to change Shah's mind about the store's name and told him about the Holocaust.

The row evoked memories of a controversy six years ago when a Mumbai restaurant owner called his cafe "Hitler's Cross" and put a swastika on the hoarding, claiming Hitler was a "catchy" name.

The restaurant owner eventually agreed to change the name after protests by the Israeli embassy, Germany and the US Anti-Defamation League.