*Checked out NBC Washington's new "Moods"/Washington Is... section? I hadn't! (Sorry, vacay.) Definitely interactive. Also, leads to hilarious/tacky catchphrases at the top of the homepage (see above). My problem with this is the same problem I have with "viewers' choice awards" on reality TV shows. (Full disclosure: don't watch many reality TV shows.) The whole "America has spoken" thing smacks of a.) Regis Philbin and b.) hypergeneralization. Still, Washington has spoken...and NBC's new site, moodswings and all? Pretty baller! Or maybe not.

*WUSA-9 reports that four teenagers are being charged by Prince William County police for white supremacist-style vandalism:

First Sgt. Kim Chinn says police received a call at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday that some sod had been pulled from a pallet and used to write "White Power," "KKK" and form a swastika at Sinclair Elementary School. She says the incident may have occurred overnight.

*BREAD & BUTTER WaTimes SCOOP: Jennifer Harper upbraids the Obama admininstration for cheapening the annual remembrance of 9/11. Biggest faux pas? Evites for families of those killed at the Pentagon.

*INSPIRATIONAL REUTERS QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "The amount of solar energy falling upon the earth's desert regions during 6 hours of a typical day equals the total amount of energy from all sources consumed by the entire population of the globe in a year's time."

*JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE'S DAY, SORT OF: Studies show that candlelit dinners are bad for the environment!

*AWKWARD TOWN HALL/HEALTHCARE VIDEO DU JOUR:

• Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) held a town-hall meeting in Hillsboro, MO yesterday.  Or rather, she tried to hold a town-hall meeting and was met with so much anger about health care reform that she took to disciplining the audience.  Video of her questioning the audience's rudeness is here, but McCaskill also tweeted her feelings about this great day in America.
• At another town-hall meeting in New Hampshire, President Obama spent time addressing the concerns of citizens who are wary of the new health care plan.  Unfortunately, this guy couldn't be assuaged, so he decided to show up with a (legal) gun strapped to his leg. Chris Matthews is ready to tear William Kostric a new one but apparently the gun was more for show than actual use and according to Kostric, no one from New Hampshire was alarmed.
• With the death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver yesterday morning, newspapers are reporting that the Kennedy era is really over.  A year ago, the same newspapers reported this news when Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer, which they also reported ten years ago after the death of JFK Jr. The Post attempts to clarify what is meant by the end of the Kennedy era but the more pressing question is which Kennedy will carry on the legacy.
• The staff of DCist has officially jumped on board the DC Voting Rights bus. Literally. Editor Martin Austermuhle is not a US citizen, so he can't vote anyway, but he lent his image to a new bus campaign sponsored by I-Am-DC.  Look for his poster on your favorite Metrobus and then consider joining the cause, so that maybe a person who can vote in the District can be the next spokes-model.
• And finally, after the death of John Hughes on Friday, the supposed inspiration for Ferris Beuller is coming out of the woodwork. Edward McNally went to high school with Hughes in the suburbs of Chicago and apparently caused some trouble with his friends as a teenager, but that's less important.  In this essay, McNally pays tribute to a friend and encourages everyone to live just one day as Ferris did.  Apparently, this is a tactic used by many trial attorneys.

Enjoy the day and bring an umbrella, City Deskers!