Northern lights take unusual trip down south

WASHINGTON—A baffling solar storm pulled colorful northern lights unusually far south, surprising space weather experts and treating skywatchers to a rare and spectacular treat.


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A storm-chasing photographer captured the strange sky show in Arkansas Monday night. People in Kentucky and Georgia reported their sightings to local television stations. A special automated NASA camera that takes a picture of the sky every minute in Huntsville, Ala., captured 20 minutes of the vibrant red and green aurora borealis.

In Arkansas, Brian Emfinger called the view "extremely vivid, the most vivid I have ever seen. There was just 15 to 20 minutes where it really went crazy."

Emfinger, a storm chaser, captured the vibrant nighttime images on camera in Ozark, Ark.

He called it "a much bigger deal" than a tornado" because he sees dozens of those every year. This is only the second northern lights in a decade that he has seen this far south.

"They are very rare events," said NASA scientist Bill Cooke, who found the aurora photos in the Alabama camera's archive and posted them on the Marshall Space Flight Center's blog. "We don't see them this far south that often."

Officials at the federal Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo., said they were surprised at the southern reach. The center monitors solar storms, which trigger auroras.

Space weather forecast chief Bob Rutledge said given the size of the solar storm, the lights probably shouldn't have been visible south of Iowa. The storm was only considered "moderate" sized, he said.

He called the storm unusual, its effects reaching Earth eight hours faster than forecast. But that timing made it just about perfect for U.S. viewing, he said.

"The peak of the intensity happened when it was dark or becoming dark over the U.S., coupled with the clear skies. We did have significant aurora sightings," Rutledge said. "The timing was good on this."

In Huntsville, the aurora lasted from 8:25 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. CDT, Cooke said. In Arkansas, Emfinger went out shortly after sunset after getting a space weather alert. He saw auroras that lasted until after 11 p.m.

An aurora begins with a storm shooting a magnetic solar wind from the sun. The wind slams into Earth's magnetic field, compressing it. That excites electrons of oxygen and nitrogen. When those excited electrons calm down, they emit red and green colors, Rutledge said.

Often solar storms can cause damage satellites and power grids. This one didn't, Rutledge said.


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Online:

NASA's automated camera capturing the aurora: http://bit.ly/t3n81N

Brian Emfinger's page: http://www.realclearwx.com/

The Space Weather Prediction Center: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Derek Holland Put On A Headset Last Night And Did Impressions Of Harry Caray And Arnold Schwarzenegger

What we watched: So how long will it be before the television networks demand that flex scheduling be extended to include the entirety of the NFL season, rather than just its final few weeks? One night after the Saints couldn't stop scoring against the Colts, the Ravens and Jaguars combined for six fumbles and four third-down conversions in 28 tries. With the exception of Josh Scobee's three field goals from 50-plus yards, it was unfunny comedy.
It's often much too easy for the rest of us to second-guess coaching decisions made by men who get paid enormous sums of money for their football acumen. But even the Ravens players were left to wonder last night why Ray Rice carried the ball just eight times in a game in which Joe Flacco needed nearly three quarters to throw for so much as a first down. Granted, Rice fumbled early on, but there's a difference between having little tolerance for such mistakes and just plain failing to realize you're not using your best (if not only) viable option. Then, of course, there was Jack Del Rio, who elected to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the Ravens' 15 in the first quarter, only to have the Jags get the first down before fumbling it back on the next play. Watching Monday Night Football made for that kind of evening. And mercifully, it's over.

Elsewhere

Theo Epstein wrote a college essay for the Globe: "For the last decade, I gave everything I had to the Red Sox and received even more in return. I grew enormously as a person, had some successes, and made a lot of mistakes, too. I still love the organization, enjoy close relationships with owners John Henry and Tom Werner - as well as a complicated but ultimately productive and rewarding relationship with Larry Lucchino - and count many of my co-workers among my dearest friends. The reason I am leaving has nothing to do with power, pressure, money, or relationships. It has nothing to do with September, either." [Boston Globe]

Gawker's Hamilton Nolan on boxer Nonito Donaire: "Donaire says he will move up to 122 pounds for his next fight. From there he can easily jump up to the talent-laden featherweight division, and create his legacy against truly worthy opposition. Two or three years from now, Nonito Donaire could very well be the best pound for pound fighter in boxing. But first, he'll have to learn body punching." [HBO]

Your Cobra vs. Mongoose Interlude:

Posnanski on Tim McCarver: "Trouble is, McCarver has been doing this a long time. And one of the sad truths is that sports color commentary tends to have an expiration date (and, I'll admit, sportswriting often does, too). There comes a time when everyone has heard the stories, when the insights have become clichés, when the game just changes on you. And if we're being realistic - and I'm not saying this is true for McCarver because I don't know - there usually comes a time when longtime color commentators stop doing the prep work, stop working the clubhouses, stop keeping up with the latest news. They rely on their experience, their history. That's just human nature. I thought it was telling when Terry Francona, who was so refreshing in part because he was so up to date, made the point that Kinsler is one of the best young players in the game. Two days later, McCarver said: ‘I had never thought of him that way.'" [Sports Illustrated]

Can't run from the IRS: "Olympic champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee, one of the greatest female athletes in history, and her track coach husband owe more than $1.22 million in delinquent federal taxes, according to public records. Joyner, 49, won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the late 1980s and 1990s and launched a charitable foundation in East St. Louis, Ill." [Detroit News]

Merch: Managing editor Tom Scocca and contributing editor Drew Magary have both written books. You can buy Scocca's Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future here, and Magary's The Postmortal here. Now do it.

Send stories, photos, and anything else you might have to tips@deadspin.com.

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All about Jenna Lyons

If you own a sweater, or pencil skirt or pair of oxfords from J.Crew, you have already been acquainted with Jenna Lyons, even if you don't know her by name.
The creative director and president of J.Crew, who is currently going through a messy divorce, is credited with developing the retail behemoth's preppy-yet-offbeat aesthetic. In recent years, Lyons has become a style personality, the antidote to the Alexander McQueens and Lady Gagas of the world, known for mixing basics with the subtly quirky.
J.CREW EXEC IN MESSY SPLIT
Women deeply identify with the laid-back, 6-foot-5 creative director and have increasingly been interested in the minutiae of her life. In 2008, J.Crew sought to take advantage of Lyons' appealing personality by creating "Jenna's Picks," a section in their catalogues dedicated to her favorite items.

GETTY IMAGES FOR MERCEDES-BENZ F
Jenna Lyons with Solange Knowles at the J.Crew Spring 2012 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
Lyons has appeared in magazines like Glamour, InStyle and Lucky and has even been on "Oprah" in a segment filmed in her closet. Forbes magazine said that she reached "icon status comparable to the likes of superstar designers like Donna Karan and Miuccia Prada."
Lyons' family life has long been part of her story. She married artist Vincent Mazeau in 2002 in a ceremony that was covered in New York magazine.
"Vincent and I envisioned a black-tie barbecue for our wedding," Lyons said alongside photos of her in an easy, breezy wedding dress and Mazeau in a kilt.
The couple's townhouse in Park Slope has been frequently photographed, and become an object of lust for many a New Yorker. "My trick has been to approach each area like putting together an outfit," Lyons told Living Etc. "You might start with an old pair of jeans, a cashmere cardigan, or a floral belt, and work around that central fashion statement."
Earlier this year, Mazeau shot photos of Lyons and their son Beckett, 5, around the house for a J.Crew feature called "Saturday with Jenna." One of the images showed Lyons' painting her son's toes hot pink. A scandal erupted, with newscasters dissecting the image and claiming Lyons was sending confusing gender messages to her son. Jon Stewart jokingly dubbed the incident "Toemaggedon."
"I’m not surprised that [Beckett] was interested in what I was doing," Lyons told New York magazine. "My God, my toes went from white to hot pink — it was very exciting."
Originally from Palos Verdes, Calif., Lyons came to New York in 1987 to study at Parsons. In 1990, she started at J.Crew -- then a small upstart. By 2007, she had worked her way up to creative director. In 2009 she earned $750,000 and was given bonuses and benefits bringing her total pay to $4.2 million, according to reports. Last year, she was named company president.
Earlier today, Page Six reported that Lyons and Mazeau split this summer, and that divorce proceedings are getting contentious. Mazeau is seeking custody of Beckett, as well as the couple's townhouse and a large settlement, arguing that he put the breaks on his career to stay home with their son. Meanwhile, Lyons friends say she supported his career and gave him a financially comfortable life. Lyons is reportedly in love again, this time with a woman.
J.Crew would not respond to whispers of the split.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/all_about_jenna_lyons_us3sBAN6gxlENValJysmoI#ixzz1bqQeYGrP

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Northern Lights glow over U.S. skies

Thanks to a massive solar storm, the Northern Lights made a rare appearance over the United States Monday night, turning the sky an eerie pink and green in Michigan and much of the Southeastern U.S. — including the Washington area.


The Aurora Borealis, as seen over Michigan. (Image via YouTube ) Also known as the Aurora Borealis, the light show in the sky arrived some eight hours earlier than expected, spilling over the Canadian border just as night fell over North America, according to SpaceWeather.com.

The Aurora Borealis is a rare sight in the skies above the U.S. But when the lights appeared on Sept. 2, 1859 over Boston, Pittsburgh, and Portland, the New York Times reported it was “so brilliant that at about one o'clock [a.m.] ordinary print could be read by the light.”

One person in East Michigan captured Monday’s spectacular light show and made the following time-lapse video:


The Northern Lights are caused by charged solar particles colliding with atoms in the upper atmosphere near the North Pole.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy vs. Len Goodman: Who Is Dancing's Alpha Male?

Len Goodman and pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy engaged in some verbal jousting on Monday's Dancing with the Stars, ratcheting up the tension between the show's head judge and the ballroom's bad boy. Maks lashed out after receiving 20 out of 30 points for his routine with partner Hope Solo. When Goodman called it her "worst dance of the season," Maks suggested Goodman has been in the business too long. "Maybe it's time to go," he said.

When the two come face-to-face again on Tuesday's results show, there's bound to be tension – but which one is the true Dancing heavyweight? Here, a comparison between the ballroom's brawlers:

Total years in the biz
Maks: About 27 (age 31)
Len: About 50 (age 67)

Seasons on the show
Len: 13
Maks: 11 (Maks sat out season 1 and season 6)

In their corners
Maks: While he's a character fans love to hate, he also manages to charm people with his fiery, loveable-rogue side (not to mention his apparent allergy to shirt buttons). "Maks is really funny. He's actually pretty easy if you tell him you love him all the time," his partner last season, Kirstie Alley, has said, adding, "We always have chemistry."

Len: The respected judge, who often gets boos in the ballroom, speaks his mind and doesn't pull punches – but it's clear he's only trying to help Dancing's stars, as Derek Hough pointed out Tuesday.

"I feel like the judges have been incredibly generous," Hough said after Maks's outburst. "But we're all very emotional."

Wins & Honors
Len: Specializing in the "exhibition" form of ballroom, he's been a professional dancer and teacher. He runs a dance school in his hometown of Kent, England. He's won the British Exhibition four times and was the runner up in the Exhibition World Championships.

He's won the British Rising Star Award, the Carl Allen Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award. He's had success judging the Latin American and Ballroom professional dance competition and the World and British Championships.

Maks: The Latin dancer has choreographed for director Franco Dragone's Las Vegas show, Le Rêve, and performed in the Broadway show Burn the Floor.

He is also the 2005 Yankee Classic Professional Latin Champion, the 2004 Manhattan Dancesport Professional Latin Champion and the 2003 Ohio Star Ball Latin Champion, according to his bio. Though he's never won a mirror-ball trophy on DWTS, he came closest in seasons 5 and 12, placing second with partners Mel B and Kirstie Alley.

Memorable quotes:
Maks: "I know my assets so I don't have a problem opening my shirt. I notice women looking at my chest all the time. If you want to look at my chest, go ahead."

Len: "You come out and show me a proper dance. I'm fed up, Maks, with shirts coming off."

Who do you think is Dancings top dog?
Len. He should be respected
Maksim. He's defending his partner

Vikings’ Chris Cook charged with felony domestic assault for allegedly strangling girlfriend

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook was charged Tuesday with trying to strangle his girlfriend, leaving her with a bloody nose and lip in an alleged attack that jeopardizes his status with the team.

Cook was charged with felony domestic assault by strangulation, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

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(Michael Dwyer, File/Associated Press) - FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2010, file photo, Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook wears headphones before an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass. Police have arrested Cook on domestic battery charges that could cause him to miss this weekend’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Eden Prairie police spokeswoman Katie Beal says the 24-year-old was arrested without incident after someone called 911 around 2 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011, to report hearing people across the street yelling and screaming.

The 24-year-old Cook was arrested early Saturday and released from custody Tuesday on $40,000 bail.

He is barred from contact with the alleged victim and cannot leave Minnesota, which would prevent him from traveling with the Vikings to Sunday’s game at Carolina.

Cook has a court appearance set for Wednesday afternoon.

According to the complaint, Cook became upset early Saturday when he found out his girlfriend of 10 months had spoken to an ex-boyfriend.

The woman told police Cook threw her on the bed at his home near the team’s suburban headquarters in Eden Prairie, got on top of her, and grabbed her neck with an open hand, constricting her ability to breathe.

The complaint said the woman freed herself by grabbing Cook’s hair, which he wears in shoulder-length dreadlocks. Cook then struck her in the ear, sending her crashing into a wall. As the woman ran to the living room, he grabbed her neck again and squeezed it.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said at a news conference that Cook answered the door to the house and officers found the woman with a bloody nose and upper lip. She had marks on her neck and hemorrhaging in her eye, Freeman said, consistent with victims of strangulation. State guidelines call for a sentence of a year and a day, he said.

Cook’s attorney, David Valentini, told reporters his client was “of course” remorseful and “not happy” about the situation.

“He’s upset that he was sitting there. He’s upset he missed the game. And he’s upset for the whole incident,” Valentini said.

Cook apologized Tuesday on his Twitter account to the fans, Vikings ownership and the coaching staff, his teammates and friends and family and said, “There’s always two sides to a story!!”

Earlier this year, Cook was found not guilty of brandishing a firearm after allegedly pulling a gun on a neighbor in Virginia. Freeman noted that case but said, “As far as we’re concerned, there’s no record.”

Freeman also said he’s unaware of any prior abuse in the relationship. But a recent amendment to state law makes the case against Cook more serious. The penalty for domestic abuse strangulation was enhanced to a felony in 2005.

“Before the law was changed, you could strangle someone nearly to death and the most serious thing you could be charged with was a misdemeanor punishable by at most 90 days in jail,” said Minneapolis attorney Susan Gaertner, who helped spearhead the legislation while serving as Ramsey County attorney. “There was a great deal of research showing that an incident of strangulation is a huge red flag that a pattern of violence is escalating.”

Freeman said his office has prosecuted more than 20 of these cases this year.

“It’s a precursor in tragically too many cases to more serious events,” Freeman said.

He said the alleged victim has been cooperating with the investigation.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier spoke with Cook during the offseason to reiterate the importance of staying out of trouble off the field, and the second-year player emerged as the team’s best in pass coverage. At 6-foot-2, he has the size to match up with taller receivers and the speed to keep up with smaller ones.

But while the Vikings fell to 1-6 in losing to Green Bay Sunday, Cook was in the county jail a few blocks away. His absence forced cornerbacks Asher Allen and Marcus Sherels into more significant playing time.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is reviewing the matter. Such charges often bring suspensions, per the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Vikings officials didn’t respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

Sweat Lodge Follower Speaks Out Woman says James Arthur Ray was a "gifted teacher" Source: Sweat Lodge Follower Speaks Out | NBC San Diego

For years, a San Diego woman was in inner circle of a man who police said lead a group into a sweat lodge that later killed three people.
James Arthur Ray faced three counts of manslaughter for the deaths of three people during a sweat lodge ceremony he led near Sedona in 2009.
Two years ago, when Connie Joy found out something had gone horribly wrong with Ray's sweat lodge, she wasn't surprised.
She said she tried to warn others and even Ray the sweat lodge was too dangerous. And now she said she’s lucky to be alive.
Joy was like the many people who came in contact with Ray.
MULTIMEDIA

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“He was a gifted teacher,” Joy said.
She met him in 2007 at a seminar in San Diego and where she and her husband became instantly drawn to the charismatic man they believed could help change their lives.
"He had a skill and that's the sad thing,” Joy said. “He had a gift and the gift was to take a lot of different information and merge it together in a way that people could understand.”
Joy and her husband attended 27 seminars and events between 2007 and 2009.
They became charter members of Ray's World Wealth Society, in which they paid $75,000 dues.
Joy said Ray would challenge his followers to do things they didn't think they were capable of.
"Eventually your walking on fire, eventually your bending a rebar with your throat, eventually your snapping arrows with your throat or your breaking concrete bricks.”
After her sweat lodge experience Joy tried to tell Ray it was too dangerous, however, he didn't listen.
"I was done. I was more than done. I was feeling sick and I'm thinking to myself, wait a minute. He's going to do more rounds. This is not ok.”
Joy and her husband were supposed to be inside the sweat lodge in Sedona. But just two weeks before the incident, they decided to cut ties with Ray.
“You look at it and wish. What could we have done? Had we been there would we have had the nerve to rip the covers off the tarps. You know James is a hard man to defy. “


Source: Sweat Lodge Follower Speaks Out | NBC San Diego

Albert Pujols, Quarterback

To hear some tell it, Albert Pujols isn’t just the best player on the St. Louis Cardinals – he’s also their manager, G.M. and resident VIP. What Monday proved is that he isn’t clairvoyant.


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Albert Pujols
After 11 years as the Cards’ centerpiece, Pujols is granted wide leeway. Manager Tony La Russa admitted just how much Tuesday afternoon, acknowledging that Pujols was responsible for a key hit-and-run gone wrong. That play cost the Cardinals a key baserunner in a tight, tied Game 5 that Texas won to stand one win away from its first World Series title.

St. Louis had Allen Craig on first base with one out in the top of the seventh and Pujols at the plate in a 1-0 count. The Cardinals put on a hit-and-run play – a potentially dangerous move, with Craig’s average speed against catcher Mike Napoli’s strong arm.

If the hit-and-run worked, Pujols would swing the bat, put the ball in play, and bail out Craig. But Rangers reliever Alexei Ogando threw the pitch high, and Pujols couldn’t make contact with it – making Craig a sitting duck thrown out at second base with five feet to spare. The Cardinals had lost a golden opportunity at an important time.

Initially, after Monday’s game, La Russa wouldn’t divulge where the botched play came from – strange enough, because it nearly always comes from the manager himself. Then, in the clubhouse, Pujols told reporters that he called the hit-and-run – saying it was called “by me. Is that a problem?”

La Russa backed up his slugger’s account. While it is an extreme rarity for a player to audible to his own plays in the batter’s box, Pujols has had the ability to call his own hit-and-run plays for three or four years, and the manager said he’s earned it.

“Albert has that ability,” La Russa said. “Picked a 1-0 pitch, Ogando threw it out of the strike zone, and it didn’t work. But it has nothing to do with Albert having special privileges or not being as great as all of us have seen him be for years, and a lot of us that know him on a daily basis say he is.”

In football or basketball, quarterbacks or point guards have wide leeway to dictate game action. In baseball, the pitchers and catchers have much the same authority in the field. But it’s very rare to see a hitter have the ability to change strategy on the fly.

Pujols isn’t the first La Russa player given hit-and-run authority, the manager said. When Edgar Renteria was a Cardinal, he could dial them up himself. And La Russa mentioned contemporaries from when he played in the 1960s who could call their own plays, like former Cardinals shortstop Alvin Dark.

“Whenever I’ve been a manager and a player has a real good feel, and can handle the bat and he wanted to be able to put a play on, he’s been given that right,” La Russa said.

It turns out Pujols may need some more practice exercising his special authority. La Russa said calling the hit-and-run there was a mistake – he never would have gone for that move.

“If he would have asked me, I would have said, ‘Don’t put it on,’ because they’re obviously being very careful with him. You can’t really expect the ball to be around the plate.”

Pujols’s powers also underscore how important a presence he is on this team, where he is more than a leader – he is something of a limited partner in the decision-making, alongside La Russa. Sometimes the two confer in the dugout together over proper tactics before a key at-bat.

“The way it works is that quite often when he’s going to bat, he’ll stop by and he’ll ask, ‘Hey, I’m thinking hit-and-run, what do you think?’” La Russa said.

Pujols and the Cardinals are engaged in a power struggle of sorts off the field. Pujols wants a huge new contract, and the Cardinals are angling to keep him without paying the world to do so.

But there are few other options for Pujols. The Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies are set at first base, taking away three key big-market suitors. The Cardinals are most likely his best option. Whatever he might give back in dollars, he’d be guaranteed to keep the clubhouse presence and authority he’s used to having.

'Gold Rush Alaska' Season 2 strikes Discovery

Who doesn't dream of finding gold and striking it rich? Especially as children, we're repeatedly told wild tales of gold mines, buried treasure, and shiny nuggets for the taking. I remember cherishing "Fool's Gold" (the lookalike mineral pyrite) and vowing one day to scour the western hills for my own rewards.


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Alas, I have little time for digging these days, but I do enjoy — along with millions of other viewers — tuning in to Discovery's hit series "Gold Rush Alaska" for a fix. The reality show, which averaged an impressive 3.78 million viewers per episode last year, follows six men, laid off from work, who attempt to strike it rich in Porcupine Creek, Alaska.

“This group of everyday men have harnessed their hopes and dreams and combined it with ferocity of spirit in an attempt to rekindle the American Dream for their families," Discovery said. "'Gold Rush Alaska' reflects what many Americans are feeling right now, and it’s clearly struck a chord with our audience.”

Season 2, which kicks off this Friday at 9 p.m. EST, features the crew once again putting everything on the line as they struggle to overcome the mistakes of their rookie season and pull some meaningful worth from the earth. Last year's haul resulted in only $20,000 of gold.

To catch fans up on what's been happening in between seasons (as well as rope in new viewers), Discovery will air an "Off-Season" special. From the release:

It's the mining off-season and Todd Hoffman and his father Jack have some big decisions to make. After finding just $20,000 in gold their rookie mining season, they've had to scrape through the winter in Oregon. But the Hoffmans aren't ones to give up. Instead, they decide to double their chances of striking it rich and secure a second mining claim.

Just days before the start of the season, as they pack up to hunt for gold at both Porcupine Creek and Klondike sites, they get some disastrous news: the water license for their Klondike claim — essential to run a mining operation — did not come through. Their dream of a second mine in the Klondike is over before it started. Todd breaks the news to his crew, and they set off to Alaska with only the old Porcupine Creek claim to mine.

Pete Seeger, grandson Occupy Wall Street in long tradition of activism

Tao Rodriguez-Seeger was halfway through Friday night’s march down Broadway to support the Occupy Wall Street movement, a guitar strapped over his shoulder and his grandfather Pete Seeger at his side. Suddenly a New York City police officer stepped from the crowd and grabbed his elbow.

“Are you Tao Seeger?” the officer asked tersely. “Was this your idea? Did you think of this?”

Rodriguez-Seeger, a New Orleans-based musician, was certain arrest was imminent. The officer reached for his hand and he readied for the cuffs. Then something unexpected happened.

“He shook my hand and said, ‘Thank you, thank you. This is beautiful,’” Rodriguez-Seeger said. “That really did it for me. The cops recognized what we were about.”

That moment affirmed the message that his grandfather has preached tirelessly across nine decades. The causes and movements have changed from time to time over 75 years, but his message has always been the same: Song is the key to understanding and change.

“Music does something to you,” Rodriguez-Seeger said. “It can cross rivers of meaning that entire books can’t get across. ... You take any one of Bob Dylan’s songs and you get to the heart of the matter where it took Homer volumes and volumes of books to get to the same point.”

Today, Pete Seeger is approaching the far end of a life lived walking hand in hand with American history, often at odds with the government that runs things. It failed to shut him up. The courts had no chance. Changing tastes and values? Never. Even time seems to have taken a step back in deference to the musical rabble-rouser’s resolve and determination.

This time around, the 92-year-old Seeger was carried along by two canes, not the sound of his banjo. But his presence, in a crowd of nearly 1,000 with guitar players and chanting sign-holders and police swirling around, gave the new protest movement something it seemed to lack over the last month.

A momentary clarity, longtime friend Guy Davis thinks. A purpose. A direction.

“It’s his humanity,” Davis said.

Seeger’s voice first rose in the 1930s against Hitler. He met Woody Guthrie, Alan Lomax and Lead Belly, and began to advocate for migrant workers and miners in the 1940s. He stared down Sen. Joseph McCarthy and endured a blacklisting he simply shrugged away. In middle age, he was a key figure in the folk revival that produced Dylan and, later, the protests that helped shape modern America.

Seeger still takes delight in lending his presence to important things, even if his voice doesn’t carry like it used to. He found himself attracted to the studied inorganization of the Wall Street protesters.

“Be wary of great leaders,” he said Sunday in a phone interview full of songs and stories when asked what he identifies with in the Occupy Wall Street message. “Hope that there are many, many small leaders.”

Other than the canes and snowy beard, Seeger hasn’t changed much since he began singing out against fascism in the mid-1930s after dropping out of Harvard in frustration.

“The sociology professor said, ‘Don’t think that you can change the world. The only thing you can do is study it,’” Seeger said. “... But this was 1937 and Hitler had taken power. He was murdering people and was ready to go to war.”

You could say Seeger inherited his activism. His great-great grandfather came to America seeking self-determination after reading the Declaration of Independence. His great-grandfather was an abolitionist. His father was a socialist who spoke out against World War I.

His views didn’t always make him popular. He was a member of the Communist Party, something he later apologized for. He was initially for staying out of World War II, but changed his mind when Hitler broke his nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union. He also spoke out against the war in Vietnam, a move that got him censored on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” and visited North Vietnam in 1972.

Seeger’s influence is incalculable, however. He’s the rare artist whose music and message transcends time, speaking to his children and their children and on and on.

The son of a musicologist and a violinist, he began leading others in song at 8 and was introduced to protest music around 12. Early on, he saw beauty and possibility in traditional songs often considered regional hokum or race records unfit for an upstanding white audience.

His message found an eager audience in the young generation of kids who would go on to define rock ‘n’ roll, changing American and world culture in myriad ways. He introduced Martin Luther King Jr. to “We Shall Overcome.” In his hands, songs like “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” and “Turn, Turn, Turn!” became galvanizing anthems.

He remains a voice for the disenfranchised — the poor of Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta and victims of racism and greed.

Kira Moyer-Sims, a 19-year-old participant in the Occupy Wall Street movement, was introduced to Seeger’s music on mix CDs from her high-school social studies teacher. Those songs, from a time that seems far away in the age of the iPod, spoke to her with modern urgency and helped push her into the protest ranks.

“Hearing this new music for me was huge and made me realize totally the importance of our nation’s history and the fact that we can change it if we want to,” she said. “Seeing Pete Seeger there in solidarity with the thing I’ve been living the past 38 days ... was phenomenal for me.”

The idea of protesting for progressive change seemed to have gone out of vogue in the U.S. — or at least disappeared from public view. After the flower children moved on to mid-life and minivans, Americans turned their focus inward. Fewer people had time for simple songs with complex meanings.

Rodriguez-Seeger said he was attracted to the nascent Occupy Wall Street movement when he joined a support march two weeks ago in Las Vegas. He was drawn to the anti-establishment message but noticed immediately that something was missing.

“I saw a lot of people getting angry at us for marching, getting out of their SUVs and giving us the finger and screaming obscenities” and using anti-gay slurs, Rodriguez-Seeger said. “I thought, if we were singing right now my gut tells me they’d be less inclined to behave like that because it’s very difficult when you’re hearing music to get that angry.”

Davis, a 59-year-old Bronx bluesman who has been friends with the Seegers for 50 years, saw more than a little something of the grandfather in the grandson when he looked over at the pair Friday night. Rodriguez-Seeger helped organize the march, which came together in 30 hours and was driven for the most part by social-media sites like Twitter, Facebook and now YouTube, where dozens of videos mark the night.

“Pete is seeing his life come to fruition,” Davis said. “He is seeing the fruits of his labors. All the years he invested in Tao, all the years I used to see him take Tao around when Tao was just a teenager, have paid off beautifully.”

And the grandfather doesn’t mind the fact that a new generation of Seegers is lifting its voice, even as he gladly slides into the background. Pete Seeger, in fact, says he’s a little bemused by all the attention.

“Of course it’s a great honor, but I’d just as soon be anonymous,” he said. He would like to go down to Zuccotti Park, the heart of the movement, but he hopes he can just do it on the sly without the star power. Maybe next week on Halloween. “I won’t be recognized,” he muses. “Everybody will be in costume.”

US Officials Back Indonesian Stand Against Papua Independence

Analysts say U.S. support for Indonesia's strong stand against Papuan separatists puts added pressure on the independence movement to seek a negotiated settlement. But there are concerns that the U.S. is not putting equal pressure on the Indonesian side to peacefully resolve the conflict.

While visiting Indonesia, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reiterated the U.S. commitment to closer ties with Indonesia and voiced support for Indonesia's strong stance against a separatist movement in the eastern province of Papua.

But U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell says the warming relationship has not stopped the U.S. from speaking out against possible human rights abuses by the military in Papua.

"We have made very clear where there are allegations of abuse or problems associated with excessive violence," said Campbell. "We want those circumstances thoroughly explored. And if there is indeed cause for subsequent remedial action, we would expect a legal process to be followed accordingly."

A number of violent incidents in Papua have escalated tensions in the region, including recent shootings that killed six people in connection with a labor strike at the Freeport gold and copper mine. In another incident, more than 300 people were arrested at a political rally and congress where separatists proclaimed their independence from Indonesia. Indonesian military forces beat the protestors with rattan canes and batons, and six activists were charged with treason.

Muridan Widjojo, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences who has been involved in organizing peace talks in Papua, says the strong government response to the independence movement will put pressure on Papuans to return to the negotiating table.

"In the long run they will see that the only possible way to deal with their problem by using the means of dialogue," said Widjojo. "So they have tried the congress. They have to declare literally Papua independence and they will learn from this experience."

Rich in natural resources West Papua is one of the poorest regions in Indonesia. Separatists have called for independence from Indonesia for decades. The Indonesian government has granted the region some autonomy, and its leaders say they are willing to give Papuans more local control, but independence is out of the question.

Alexandra Wulan, a researcher with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, says the U.S. has little choice but to support Indonesia's promise to negotiate a peaceful settlement, because Washington needs Indonesia's support to counter China's growing influence in the region.

"At the moment they really need the support of the Indonesian government," said Wulan. "Therefore, they have to put aside the issues of human rights. And of course giving assurance to the Indonesian government that they have their back, I mean the U.S. has the Indonesian back in this case of Papua."

But she says the Indonesian side has lacked leadership on resolving the region's problems.

Campbell says despite the sensitivity of the topic, the U.S. has voiced concerns to Indonesian officials on human rights issues and the slow pace of progress in the region.

"I think there needs to be a deeper set of discussions about development, about the aspirations of local populations and I think there needs to be a clear sign of a determination on both sides to be able to deal with the very real problems that exist on the ground today," Campbell said.

He says the policy of engagement with the Indonesian military has actually given the U.S. some access and leverage to promote human rights in the region.

Floodwaters Enter Bangkok Airport

BANGKOK—Thailand's flood crisis escalated Tuesday as fast-rising floodwaters began surging into one of Bangkok's two airports, shutting down commercial flights there and adding to the growing sense of gloom permeating the city as supplies of key goods such as bottled water, rice and noodles ran low.
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Economic Impact From Thai Flood Spreads

News that floodwaters breached a wall of sandbags surrounding the Don Muang airport in the north of the city, which is used for domestic flights, appeared to be a tipping point for many residents, who rushed to city-center supermarkets to stock up on water and basic essentials only to find empty shelves due to earlier rounds of panic-buying. For several days, convenience stories and major outlets have displayed messages apologizing for the way the worst floods in half a century have disrupted their supply chains, leaving many people wondering whether they should leave the city until the situation improves and worsening the crisis facing recently-elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

"I have a list of things my wife told me to buy, but I can't find any of it here," said Noppol Wannasri, 41 years old. "Perhaps we should get out of town for a while."

Even though most areas of Bangkok are still dry, many residents appear to be thinking the same thing. After local airlines Nok Air and Orient Thai said they were suspending flights at Don Muang airport until the end of the month at least, a surge of travelers descended on the remaining airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport to the east of the city center, which has international and domestic flights. Thai television reports showed long queues of people checking in to fly to parts of the country less affected by the chronic flooding or inquiring about tickets.

The government's flood relief center—based at the Don Muang airport—meanwhile issued evacuation alerts to more areas around Bangkok Tuesday as the city's flood defenses come under increasing pressure. The latest area to be evacuated was Muang Ake, just north of Bangkok in Pathum Thani province.

China provides aid to Cambodian flood survivors as a food shortage continues, while Thailand braces for a deluge of water from the north. Video: Reuters.

Ms. Yingluck's government Tuesday declared a holiday from Thursday through Monday in affected provinces, including Bangkok, to help people get to grips with the extent of the crisis and called on private businesses not involved in the supply and production of key goods and services to do the same.

Financial institutions and the country's financial markets will remain open, Thailand's central bank said.

Seven of Bangkok's 50 districts have been declared to be at risk from flooding—with most oin the north and east of the city. Late on Monday, Bangkok city Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned people living in Bang Phlat to find safe places for their belongings beyond the reach of rising floodwaters after an overspill from the Chao Phraya River running through the city center breached a construction site for a new subway project.

The deluge since the onset of unusually heavy rains in late July has already killed at least 366 people, submerged an area roughly the size of Connecticut and shut down large chunks of Thailand's manufacturing base. The effects have rippled around the world, disrupting the supply of key components such as hard-disk drives and auto parts, potentially undermining Thailand's reputation as a pivotal—and reliable—cog in the global economy.

In the latest disruptions, Japanese digital-camera maker Canon Inc. revised downward its full-year outlook due to concerns about the impact of flooding in Thailand. Although Canon doesn't run its own camera plants here, its inability to secure supplies of key parts from flood-struck local companies is hampering its camera business. Despite ongoing efforts to broaden its range of suppliers, the company said it will inevitably suffer some negative impact toward the year-end shopping season.

Meanwhile, Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it has halted production in Malaysia due to parts supply disruptions caused by flooding in Thailand, in the latest sign of the spreading business impact of the disaster. Honda said in a statement it has yet to decide when to resume operations in Malaysia; one of its plants in Thailand already is submerged and the firm is one of the highest-profile victims of the crisis.

The Japanese car maker had scaled down production in Malaysia from Oct. 10 in an effort to avoid a complete halt in manufacturing operations in the country.

Bank of Thailand Gov. Prasarn Trairatvorakul said Tuesday that the severe flooding will likely drag down economic growth this year to below 3%, but reconstruction efforts in the coming year could boost growth in 2012 to around the 4% mark.

Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@wsj.com and Phisanu Phromchanya at phisanu.phromchanya@dowjones.com

It takes 2 to tango for peace, says MILF chair

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leadership has described its ongoing engagement with the Philippine government as a dance, with the 2 sides needing to know the right steps toward peace.

"This is like dancing the tango. It takes two to tango. And government should be a strong partner (if they want this to succeed)," MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad told ABS-CBN News in an exclusive interview.

The MILF Central Committee said it stands firm on peace negotiations.

However, it wants a political settlement to be made first before the government focuses on its planned reforms for the Bangsamoro people.

"The MILF wants to pursue the Central Committee peacetalks and come up with a political settlement --- unless government abrogates all past agreements and renounces the peace process," Murad said.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Ging Deles, meanwhile, clarified that the MILF has not rejected government proposals to address the Mindanao problem.

She added that negotiations are continuing, and formal talks are expected to begin soon.

Deles also defended President Benigno Aquino's stand against declaring an all-out war against the MILF, in the aftermath of last week's clashes in Basilan and the attacks in Zamboanga Sibugay.

She cited a World Bank study that shows the Philippine government already spent between $2 billion to $3 billion from 1970 to 2001 for resolving the conflict in Mindanao.

The same study said progress in Mindanao is set back by as long as 30 years for every major offensive.

Meanwhile, it could take as long as 15 years for affected residents to get a semblance of a normal life, it added.

Bangsamoro scholar Noor Lucman, who helped ABS-CBN News get an interview with Murad, said the military's ongoing pursuit operations against so-called lawless elements should not be considered an all-out war.

He said he is aware of the cost of an all-out war and the end of peace talks.

Deles and Lucman both believe that former President Joseph Eestrada's all-out war against the MILF in 2000 was a failure.

The military overran the MILF main camp of Abubakar in 2000. In 2003, then Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes ordered the bombing of the MILF camp at the Buliok complex in Maguindanao.

In 2008, clashes and attacks again erupted when the Supreme Court ruled that the Memorandum on Agreement on Ancestral Domain reached during the Arroyo administration was unconstitutional.

The MILF said it will release in 3 days' time a statement on the current situation in Mindanao and recent clashes in Al-Barka, Basilan that resulted in the deaths of 19 soldiers. - ANC

The McRib makes a McComeback

McDonald's announced Monday that the boneless barbecue pork sandwich, usually available in only a few stores at a time, will be sold at all U.S. locations through Nov. 14.
Most of the time, it's up to local franchises to determine when and if they want to sell the McRib — except in Germany, the only place where it's always available.
McDonald's said the response was so great last November when it made the McRib available nationally for about three weeks that it decided to bring it back nationwide this year. The company, which previously hadn't sold the McRib nationally since 1994, declined to give sales numbers.
The sandwich, which is dressed with onions, pickle slices and barbecue sauce, was introduced nationally in 1982. With 500 calories and 26 grams of fat, it's slightly trimmer than the Big Mac, which has 540 calories and 29 grams of fat. And just like the Big Mac, the McRib has become a popular McDonald's offering.
There are Facebook groups such as "Bring Back the McRib!!!" There are Twitter tags, where posts range from "Lucky me, the McRib is back" to "If you eat McRibs, you need to re-evaluate what it is you actually want in life."
Last year, the guy who won McDonald's $1 million Monopoly grand prize was ordering — you guessed it — a McRib. Earlier this month, former Playmate Jenny McCarthy contacted the McRib Locator website for help finding a McRib in southern California: She found one in Fountain Valley.
The website's creator, Alan Klein, said he suspected something was up when traffic exploded from about 150 hits a day to about 4,000 in the past week or so, as more fans reported sightings. People are sending him photos of their McRib variations: the McRib with lettuce and tomato, the McRib with bacon, three McRibs stacked on top of each other.
Klein, a meteorologist in the Minneapolis area, runs the website in his spare time with help from his wife, Kimberly. He created the Locator in 2008 because he wanted to learn how to use the Google Maps program for work, and because he had fond memories of eating the pork sandwich while growing up on a hog farm.
"We've been spoiled this year and last year with it being around nationwide," he said. "But I hope it stays elusive, because otherwise nobody will come to our website."
If the McRib is so popular, why not just offer it all the time? McDonald's likes to stoke the enthusiasm with an aura of transience.
"Bringing it back every so often adds to the excitement," said Marta Fearon, McDonald's U.S. marketing director, who said she's not sure if the McRib will reappear every fall.
And how can it be called a McRib if it doesn't have any bones? Said Fearon: "That gives it this quirky sense of humor."

The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP): What you need to know

On Monday, the federal government announced that it would revise the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), implementing changes that The Washington Post’s Zachary A. Goldfarb reported would “allow many more struggling borrowers to refinance their mortgages at today’s ultra-low rates, reducing monthly payments for some homeowners and potentially providing a modest boost to the economy.”

The HARP program, which was rolled out in 2009, is designed to help. Those who are “underwater” on their homes and owe more than the homes are worth. So far, The Post reported, it has reached less than one-tenth of the 5 million borrowers it was designed to help. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you need to know about the changes.

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 Flashback: Last year, some mortgage lenders and government officials took action after discovering that many mortgage documents were mishandled.
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 Metropolitan areas with the most expensive sales prices for single-family homes in the first quarter of 2011, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

What was announced? The enhancements will allow some homeowners who are not currently eligible to refinance to do so under HARP. The changes cut fees for borrowers who want to refinance into short-term mortgages and some other borrowers. They also eliminate a cap that prevented “underwater” borrowers who owe more than 125 percent of what their property is worth from accessing the program.

Am I eligible? To be eligible, you must have a mortgage owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, sold to those agencies on or before May 31, 2009. The current loan-to-value ratio on the mortgage must be greater than 80 percent. Having a mortgage that was previously refinanced under the program disqualifies you from the program. Borrowers cannot not have missed any mortgage payments in the past six months and cannot have had more than one missed payment in the past 12 months.

How do I take advantage of HARP? According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the first step borrowers should take is to see whether their mortgages are owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. If so, borrowers should contact lenders that offer HARP refinances.

When do the changes go into effect? The FHFA is expected to publish final changes in November. According to a fact sheet on the program, the timing will vary by lender.

Related stories:

Government announces new program to help ‘underwater’ homeowners

Obama’s efforts to aid homeowners, boost housing market fall far short of goals

NFLX Stock Down: Netflix Loses Nearly One Million Subscribers Over 3 Months

NFLX Stocks Down as Netflix Struggles to Grow and Rental and one Stream at a Time

LOS GATOS, CA - While Netflix advertisements can be seen everywhere and as recently as this summer the company was doing quite well, they have lost around 800,000 subscribers over three months, causing some to question whether the company has what it takes to survive long term.

After falling 61% from the stock's peak in mid-July, NFLX shares plunged a stunning 28% in after-hours trading Monday. This followed a bearish financial forecast.

According to Mercury News, the Netflix subscriber drop-off was the fallout from the company's series of missteps, Reed Hastings and David Wells, Netflix's chief executive and chief financial officers, respectively, said in a letter to shareholders released Monday.

They added that the primary cause of the subscriber decline was the price hike. That move, which raised prices by as much as 60 percent, hit customers who subscribed to both Netflix's DVD and its streaming video services.

Forbes has reported that the stock movement could be trouble or might spark a "monster rally."

"NFLX surged into the close Friday and is up in the pre-market, so it looks like we may see a little run into the report," they wrote.

NFL Scores Week 7, Ravens Vs. Jaguars: Blaine Gabbert, Maurice Jones-Drew Get Monday Night Football Win

The Jaguars pulled off a surprise victory against the Ravens, winning an ugly game on the leg of their kicker, Josh Scobee.

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Oct 25, 2011 - The Jacksonville Jaguars surprised the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football in a game that provided a few interesting moments and fewer instances of actual, good football.

Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 105 yards on 30 carries, but he also fumbled the ball three times, losing one on the Ravens goal line. The Jaguars got all their points from the leg of kicker Josh Scobee.

Meanwhile, the Ravens drop a surprising outing despite a typically strong effort from their defense. Much blame rests on Joe Flacco, who did nothing early and finished with just 147 yards passing.

Let's hand out some superlatives:

• Offensive Player of the Game: No way around it, Josh Scobee was the hero. The kicker hit all four of his attempts, including three (!) from outside of 50 yards. The Jags scored on two drives in which they failed to move the ball more than five yards. That's thanks to good field position and the leg of their kicker.

• Defensive Player of the Game: The best defender was the football itself, which squirted out of the hands of running backs on both sides. Fumbles ruled the first half in this sloppy contest.

• GIF of the Game: Joe Flacco produced the GIF of the game when he nearly ran out of the back of the end zone. Watch the GIF below and get the full context from our Monday Night

Internet Censorship: S.978 Could Put Bieber in Jail

Internet Censorship: S.978 Could Put Bieber in Jail
POSTED BY SEAN ⋅ OCTOBER 24, 2011 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT
FILED UNDER CENSORSHIP, CENSORSHIP IN AMERICA, CONGRESS, HOWARD BERMAN, INTERNET BLACKLIST BILL, INTERNET CENSORSHIP, JOHN MCCAIN, JUSTIN BIEBER, LOIS CAPPS, MARY BONO MACK, RONWYDEN, S.978, YOUTUBE
If there’s one bill in Congress that pits people of all political stripes against big corporations and the politicians they fund, S.978 is it. The word around the campfire is that the bill is set to be introduced in The House of Representatives this Wednesday (October 26, 2011). The bill would make web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a prison sentence of up to 5 years. That means you could go to jail for posting a video to YouTube with the wrong background music, all in the name of protecting big media companies that don’t want to update their old business models for the age of peer-to-peer sharing.

Fight for the Future, a new organization from some of the folks who helped built OpenCongress, are launching today with a pretty hilarious, but also very serious, take on the bill. As they explain, if this bill is enacted even big-label pop stars who launched their careers doing covers, like Justin Bieber, could face jail time. From their press release:

Music and film companies are pushing a law that would make streaming any copyrighted material a felony with a five-year jail sentence. The irony is, if they succeed, even their own stars would face jail time.

Teen pop star Justin Bieber himself got famous posting videos of himself singing unauthorized covers of popular R&B songs to YouTube. Totally jail-able. The law is S.978, and it’s a real threat: The bill has already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we expect introduction in the House soon.

Of course, if Bieber could go to jail, almost any aspiring singer could too. So could any fan singing or dancing along with their favorite song, or posting a video of a performance (say, a kids’ school play), as long as it got enough views and brought some measurable benefit to the person posting.

We’ve already seen the music and movie companies use civil penalties written for large-scale commercial piracy to sue 14-year-olds and their families into bankruptcy, so the idea of this one day being used to jail ordinary users is hardly far-fetched.

Thing is, this isn’t some fringe bill with no chance of passing. It has already been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, word in the intellectual-property scene is that a companion version is about to be introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith [R, TX-21], the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the House. Add to that the millions of dollars that corporate backers of the bill are donating to Congress and it becomes even easier to imagine this thing being pushed through.

Fight for the future is collecting signatures on a petition to Congress in opposition to this bills. Of course you can also use the OpenCongress Contact-Congress platform to email your members of Congress about it.