Pit Stop News Desk

So this morning Loudoun County High School in Leesburg, VA was put on lockdown for several hours after a security guard spotted a student with a gun via the cameras. Turned out to be a false alarm, the student only had headphones on him, but now parents and teachers arriving for work (this started at 8:45, high school starts at 9:00) are furious that they were not informed by officers on the scene what was going on.

I can understand why, I assume it was to keep the news suppressed so as not to spook the suspect or students. And probably to avoid a media circus.

And while I'm on local news, stay away from Sterling. It seems that the gang violence is on the rise, probably bloosted by a drug trade.

On a much happier note, Ford is launching a new brand: Ford Performance. Ford says that by 2020, they will have 12 vehicles under this brand. In addition to the models one would expect to find, such as the F-150 Raptor (Off-Road Pickup) and the Shelby GT350 Mustang (Top Tier Muscle Car), there will also be souped up versions of normal vehicles such as the Fiesta (Mini-Compact Car) and Focus (Compact Car).

Football fans take note, Congress could indirectly cancel this year's Super Bowl. One of the laws enacted following 9/11 requires the owners of the franchise buy some pretty hefty insurance. The law apparently expires this year, before the Super Bowl, but if Congress decides to renew it, then the owners will have to scramble to renew their insurance, which apparently is already expired. I doubt the game would be cancelled given the amount of money at stake, but still...

You guys all remember that there was a panda born at the Simthsonian National Zoo last year, right? Well Bao-Bao, as the panda is now affectionately known, had a nasty encounter with an electric fence transformer in one of the yards. It has been raining in the DC area for three days now and it is theorized that the box has shorted and so gave Bao-Bao a nasty shock yesterday when she bit the box out of curiosity.

Normally the box is out of her reach, but she was climbing on bushes and other plants in the yard and ended up next to the box. The shock was bad enough to make her fall backwards and then scamper up a tree where she remains today. That means she spent a rainy, cold night in a tall tree. And an afternoon too as the pandas are normally brought inside around 1 o'clock.

Her mother Mei Xiang (usually pronounced May Jong) didn't sleep very much, if at all, last night out of anxiety. She has so far been allowed to roam in and out of the yard. She's been refusing to eat for the most part, but did chow down on some apples recently. She's clearly stressed out about this.

Keepers are currently planning how to retrieve Bao-Bao. Due to the rain, the yard will not safely support any kind of equipment. Also an issue is the height and position of the tree Bao-Bao is in. Out of respect for Mei, they do not wish to attempt an operation from the yard. I suspect they will have to bring in a bucket lift or a crane and try reaching her from the viewing area.

awww. :c At least Bao-Bao wasn't injured, it seems!

She's still outside and apart from eating some bark, still hasn't eaten. She may not have long lasting injuries, but she is clearly traumatized. Mei seems to doing somewhat better as she's sleeping right now and I saw her eating bamboo a few hours ago.

Bao-Bao came out of the tree

Right now she's eating bamboo.

Yay for Bao-Bao!! :la:

My mom says she came down at 2:30 last night after being offered a large frozen fruitsicle. She bolted inside to enjoy that.

Breaking News! x2!

AirAsia Flight 8501, carrying 162 people, has disappeared over the Java Sea. The flight was heading to Singapore and the last transmission, according to CNN, was the pilots asking for clearance to a higher flight level to get above the Severe Thunderstorms were over the Java Sea at the time. The plane is a A320-200 had made 13,600 flights, accumulating 23,000 hours of flight time. The last maintenance check was on November 16.

Also on going on the other side of the globe in the Adriatic Sea, the ferry Norman Atlantic is burning with at least 300 still on board. 1 is confirmed dead, while 150 have been rescued out of 467 on the manifest. The waters are ice cold and the winds heavy.

Solemn Update.... 2x...

AirAsia Flight 8501 has finally been found, or at least floating debris confirmed to be part of the plane has. All 162 passengers and crew on board are believed to have sadly perished.

Over in the Adriatic Sea, The rescue operation of passengers and crew from the burning Norman Atlantic has finally concluded. 10 people are confirmed to have perished while 427 (including all crew) have been rescued. The original manifest is now said to have only 422 passengers and 56 crewmembers. 80 of the people rescued are not on the manifest and it's unknown if this means others are missing. The death toll is expected to climb over the next few days as ships search the sea for bodies. From what I gather, the ship is still float and they are attempting to tow it to shore. The Captain and a few other crew members were the last to leave.

I would like to take a moment and commend the Italian Coast Guard for their heroic operation. They completed 34 sorties in 46 mph winds. At night. Had it not been for their bravery and persistence, this would've have been a horrific tragedy.

Anyone else watching the State of the Union Address?

Hey, it's hard enough watching subbed anime while driving a train over steep terrain :I

Oh I'm sorry I forgot about the important things :I

Anyway, from my befuddled and tired memory, without having the energy to go back over the address for everything I could possibly mention, here's the big stuff I remember:

• He called for the authorization of the use of force against ISIS;
  
  
• Talked about rebuilding relations with Cuba;
  
  
• Talked about closing Guantanamo Bay;
  
  
• Called for free community college;
  
  
• Talked about strengthening our infrastructure;
  
  
• Talked about increasing internet access (pls ;A;) and advocated for an open internet;
  
  
• First President to use the word "transgender" in a SOTU (!!), as well as "lesbian" rather than just "gay", and "bisexual," all while advocating for a more accommodating America;
  
  
• Talked about acknowledging climate change and cracking down on it big time;
  
  

And a whole bunch of other things—it's late at night/early in the morning, this is the first SOTU I've actually fully watched, some of the topics tended to stand out to me more than others, some of them were important but seemed skimmed over compared to the rest of the speech (but hey only so much you can fit into an hour), and some of them I plumb forgot he talked about in all the commotion. I'll probably be able to articulate myself better tomorrow because my thoughts are not there doing the thing right now because sleep is calling. :B

I didn't watch it, but that's because I was watching The Flash with my family. Also I have a short attention span for things I don't like. And judging by the timestamp of Cap's post it went pretty late and I kind of had school tomorrow.