the buzz log

With the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon dominating the news, you may have missed several vital stories that stirred things up in the Search box. Below, a recap of several of the week's most biggest stories.

Governor's fall from grace
The questions started early in the week. Folks wanted to know why nobody had heard from South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in several days. Was he missing? Was he in trouble? Soon, his office replied that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Mystery solved, right? Nope. It came to light that Sanford was actually in Argentina. At first he claimed he simply wanted to go to Buenos Aires because it's a wonderful city. But, as is often the case with politicians, the truth actually involved another woman. Sanford was having an affair with an Argentine woman, Maria Belen Shapur. Searches on the Governor remained high throughout the week, as did lookups on his wife, Jenny Sanford.

A death in Iran
The ongoing violence surrounding Iran's election have caused death, pain, and anguish. But for many, those feelings weren't really brought home until they met Neda. The 26-year-old Iranian woman was killed while protesting the country's election results. Shockingly, her death was caught on video. The attention the video received this week turned her into a symbol of the struggle for a new Iranian government. The video, while graphic and disturbing, inspired a tremendous number of searches on the "Internet icon." Lookups on "who is neda," "neda iran photos," and "neda agha soltan" all spiked as people sought to learn more about the symbol of Iranian rebellion.

The mystery of Jeff Goldblum
After the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, the Web started buzzing with news of yet another celebrity dying: Jeff Goldblum. Fortunately, the rumor that Goldblum had died in New Zealand turned out to be false. Still, people searched on the "Jurassic Park" actor in droves. Goldblum's rep issued a statement confirming the actor is "fine and in Los Angeles." Interestingly, this isn't the first time an actor has been rumored to have died on the cliffs of the island country. According to Snopes.com, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks have also been the subject of the New Zealand death prank.

Also buzzing this week...
• "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" opened to big money and bad reviews.
• Congress passed the $1 billion "Cash for Clunkers" bill.
• Rhode Island is considering shortening its official name name over slavery connotations.

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