College Football Trending Hard
With the arrival of Labor Day weekend and the start of school, comes the start of the College Football season. ESPN has a good list of all of the conferences here. At one point on Saturday, college football and teams were pretty much 100% of the trending topics and hot searches. jacksonville state, north carolina football investigation, notre dame football, penn state football, alabama football, iowa hawkeye football, clemson football, tcu football, nebraska football, michigan football, texas a m football, auburn football, rice university, florida gators football, oregon ducks football, washington huskies football, lsu football, were all topics in the top 30 on Google Trends for more of the day. Remember, NFL football isn’t far away either!
Comedian Robert Schimmel Dies Days After Car Crash
Comedian Robert Schimmel, known to many for his appearances on the Howard Stern show, died at the age of 60 as a results of injuries suffered in a car crash, as reported here. The New York Times has a pretty good writeup here. What is a little disturbing is that Robert Schimmel’s death is trending on the web right now not so much because of his fame, but rather because of potential that there are photos of the Robert Schimmel accident on the web, showing him injured.
In memory, here is a comedy clip, but warning, this is NSFW (not safe for work):
New Zealand Rocked By Serious 7.0 Earthquake
New Zealand was hit today by a major earthquake, reported at 7.0 to 7.4, depending on the source. CNN says the 7.0 quake hit near Christchurch, and did some damage to buildings and water mains in the city. No report of deaths, but more than 100 people injured. Reuters reports it as a 7.1. The National Post has some good information and very good quality photos here.
Oil Platform Explosion In the Gulf
After the huge issues of the BP rig sinking and letting out tons of oil in the gulf, anything that happens on these sorts of platforms is very big news. CNN reports that a rig 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana owned by Mariner had an explosion and fire. There were no fatalities reported, and only a minor oil sheen has been spotted. All 13 workers on board are reported safe. It has also been reported that the rig was under renovation and repair, and was not under production according to this report.
Rapper T.I. and Wife Tiny Arrested
TMZ has pictures here of rapper t.i. and his wife tiny getting arrested in SoCal. LA county Sheriff pulled them over for a minor traffic violation, apparently smelled some marijuana smoke, and searched the car. While it is not clear what substance was found, TMZ was told it was not cocaine, and that “The class of the controlled substance that was found includes methamphetamines and ecstasy.”. t.i. was previously found guilty of purchasing illegal guns. E online has more on the drug bust here.
Hostages safe, Hostage Taker Killed by Police
It is a tragic situation, no matter what the result. All of the hostages from the Discovery Channel building are safe, but police did take the life of the gunman. CNN’s coverage indicates that he had a “number of devices” in a backpack that they also had to render safe. James Jay Lee died trying to get his message of concern for the planet out, one that he had according to reports tried to put out before in front of the Discovery Channel building, and had been arrested for. According to TMZ, James Lee had been ordered to a mental institution in 2008. It is not clear if he got the help he needed at that point. The three hostages he was holding escaped without harm.
Gunman Takes Hostages at Discovery Channel HQ
An armed individual, possibly identified as James Lee, has burst into the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland, and has taken an unknown number of hostages. It is reported that over 1900 people who work in this building. The gunman is apparently upset at Discovery Channel for not doing more to save the planet, and has been seen before protesting in front of the building. CNN has an ongoing story here. The bizarre manifesto is here (but the site is currently down). More background from CNN. Foxnews covers the story here, and says the gunman also has a bomb. More updates to come.
Hurricane Earl Takes Aim at Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island NC
The latest projections from the National Hurricane Center show that Hurricane Earl has continued much more Westward than originally though. At this point (11AM Wednesday), hurricane watches have been issued for the Outer Banks, Ocracoke Island, and other coastal areas of North Carolina and up into Virginia. Even Canada’s Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Provinces are on alert, as it looks like this is the route for Earl when he is done with the US. Earl may also play havoc with weekend travel plans all along the East Coast, in the busy air travel corridor.
