Mount St. Helens is not done.

She erupted again today, and scientists are now expecting another eruption(s), bigger than previously forecast:

The volcano alert of Mount St. Helens was raised to Level 3, which “indicates we feel an eruption is imminent, or is in progress,” said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Tom Pierson from the observatory.

The growing consensus among scientists is that new magma is probably entering the volcano’s upper levels, possibly bringing with it volatile gases that could lead to eruptions, said Bill Steele at the University of Washington’s seismic laboratory in Seattle.

“We’re in an eruptive period where there’s a potential hazard,” Steele said.

Scientists said that although the risks were growing larger, they did not expect anything approaching the volcano’s devastating May 18, 1980, eruption, which killed 57 people and coated much of the Northwest with ash.

But they are now saying this is “the most intense seismic activity we’ve seen since the [1980] eruption.”

Well the Stanford Cardinal succeeded in doing this week what they failed to do against USC last week and came off with a 27-13 win over Washington.

I was actually surprised with how close this game was. After their play against USC last week, and with the beating UW took last week (loosing three starters on offense), I expected a stronger Stanford win.

The Husky offense did fairly well, it was defense and special teams that killed us. Two blocked punts, one which was downed in the end zone for a Stanford TD made a big difference.

But based on this weeks performance I have to wonder if USC just didn’t take the Cardinal serious enough last week.

Evidently Hank Aaron’s motivational words weren’t enough. As noted below, Purdue crushed the Irish, 41-16. It’s the Boilermakers’ first win at Notre Dame Stadium since 1974. So much for the Top 25.

USC doesn’t play this week, but their next opponent, Cal, absolutely crushed Oregon State. Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Texas both won, so now ESPN College Gameday has a decision to make. Which showdown of undefeateds will they attend: #1 USC vs. #8/9 Cal, or #2 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas? Matt Leinart hears they are “probably going to be there [at USC],” but I gotta admit I’m skeptical. We’ll see.

P.S. The Coliseum is sold out for next week’s game, the first sellout for a Cal game at L.A. since 1930. It’s also the biggest USC home crowd for a non-UCLA, non-Notre Dame game since 1952.

“The game will be shown live regionally on ABC-TV,” according to USCTrojans.com. Regionally? I don’t like the sound of that…

UPDATE: Looks like the Ohio State-Wisconsin game will most likely be the game that’s “regionally” televised on our local ABC affiliate. Damn. I’ll have to try to find a bar that has the ‘SC game on satellite, or something…

All I can say is: The #1 team in the country’s biggest game of the season, against another undefeated Top 10 team, is not nationally televised?!? LAME!!!

@messaging.sprintpcs.comThe bad news: Notre Dame lost, 41-16. :( The good news: Becky is still cute. And she’s wearing a shamrock on her cheek. :)

@messaging.sprintpcs.comNotre Dame trying to make a comeback but still down, 34-16, with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

@messaging.sprintpcs.comThe bad news: Purdue leads Notre Dame, 20-3 at halftime. The good news: Becky is cute. :)

BUT FIRST: Yes yes, Go Irish! to be sure to be sure. :)

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Naow then. :) Does this rise to the level of a Kerfuffle? I suppose not…when is a Newspaper not a real Newspaper? [What sayest thou, O Oracles of Annenberg? :] When is Crawford really Clifton? When does Dan Rather, crafty as a Texas whangdoodle in the Galveston monsoon season, do an Exposé? (When will They ever learn, Oh! when will they ehhh-hev-ver Learrrn? :)

Seems the publishers of the weekly Lone Star Iconoclast out of Crawford, TX — indeed, 25 miles out of it in Clifton (”the Norwegian capital of Texas“! :) according to Danny and Katie over at crawfordtx.com — have done an editorial bashing Bush (whom they say they backed in 2000) and supporting Kerry. Excerpt:

(more…)

GO IRISH!! BEAT BOILERS!!

Ichiro Suzuki did it! He broke the major-league single-season hit record, which was 84 years old. Woohoo!

Meanwhile, the battle between the Angels and A’s for the AL West title is coming down to the wire in a season-ending series that amounts to a best-of-three mini-playoff. After a 10-0 win tonight, it’s Advantage Angels. The A’s now need to win two straight, or Anaheim is in.

Over in the National League, the Giants and Dodgers are also going head-to-head, for the NL West crown, but the Giants must sweep the series or L.A. will win the title. (1 down, 2 to go.) However, even if the Giants lose that race, they are also in the running for the for the wild card — currently tied with the Astros and two games ahead of the Cubs (who, alas, are on the verge of elimination; their best-case scenario is a three-way tie).

@messaging.sprintpcs.comAt CJ’s with Becky. She looks perplexed in this photo… possibly wondering why I’m taking her picture. :)

Drudge has the rundown on the debate ratings:

NBC News 17.2 million
CBS News 13.48 million
ABC News 11.50 million
Fox News Channel 9.56 million
Fox broadcast 5.2 million
CNN 4.4 million
MSNBC 1.2 million

The 9.56 million is a new record peak for Fox News in particular and cable news in general.

Four years ago, CNN won the debate ratings war among the cable networks with 3.27 million; Fox News had 1.88 million. So while CNN’s ratings increased about 35%, Fox’s more than quadrupled. MSNBC’s were pathetically stagnant, increasing from 1.03 million to 1.2 million.

UPDATE: The total number of viewers on all networks is even higher than previously estimated: 62,459,000!

@messaging.sprintpcs.comThe campus is buzzing with excitement. Where in the world, besides Notre Dame on a football weekend, can you find green traffic cones? :)

Here’s my fellow 1L and debate-drinking-game participant Brooke’s take on last night’s events. Summary: “Toes are tingly. Debates are funny.” Heh. She’s also perplexed about those “Islamic Muslims” that Kerry mentioned.

Scientists are saying that the eruption was exactly what they were expecting. In addition, seismic activity has stopped, leading scientists to believe that for now, this is it.

[UPDATE]
Well, she must not be done yet. Seismic activity has started up again, so we may be in for some more throat clearing from our friendly neighborhood volcano.