Northern Lights in Arkansas?

So last night in the Ozarks the northern lights were very active. While I lay in my bed asleep many Arkansans were out viewing what I have been trying to view for several years. Early in the evening I did notice that it was a very clear night and went out and viewed some stars, but little did I know the show that was in store just a few hours away.

Arkansas photographer Brian Emfinger was alerted to the northern lights by SpaceWeather.com's aurora alert. "I ran out and put my camera out and immediately saw reddish aurora," he wrote. "I ran out into the field, and within a few minutes the aurora went crazy!"

Topping my bucket list is viewing the northern lights. Above the Super Bowl, BCS Championship, meeting Halle Berry. To miss something like this in my own backyard is pretty disheartening. Maybe next time…

Here are some pics I found on the web:

BCS Rankings

How is it possible that Arkansas a one loss team, is behind two other schools each also with one loss? Arkansas lost one the road at Alabama (BCS #2). Oregon is somewhat justified as they lost to LSU (BCS #1) at a “neutral site”. However, Oklahoma losing at home to a Texas Tech team with 2 losses should be enough to push them towards the bottom of 1 loss teams in the BCS standings. Not cool…

Entitlement

As a society we need to vastly improve our ability to educate ourselves as well as those among us. Yesterday approximately 50 exotic animals were murdered because some zealot is permitted to enslave these animals for his personal entertainment. When he decides that he has had enough he simply lets these beautiful animals out into an environment where the authorities have no choice but to put them down. Perhaps if we got off our couch, or turned off the latest episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashian’s, and decide to go see a documentary or read a book, conceivably then you would realize there is more to our world than just your personal perspective. The sooner we realize that animals are not here for our amusement the better the planet will be for all of us. We have no entitlement, I am not sure how we developed this viewpoint that we are somehow better than all the other creatures. That is simply false. Go watch Disney’s African Cats and witness firsthand the everyday struggle these animals endure simply for survival! Maybe that will help us appreciate that there are constantly significant things going on outside of our bubble. Instead of enjoying and appreciating animals we have come to the conclusion that we are better off hunting and exploiting them. On that I will leave you with this note.

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."  - Albert Einstein

On the other hand if humans went extinct the animal kingdom would flourish.