Linkmeister

Obama in Germany

Obama speech:

• NYT
• Video

Man, speaking to a mass of 200,000 people has to be either the biggest ego-boost or the most terrifying event of one's life.

Peanuts! (Don't) Git your peanuts here!

The Seattle Mariners will close off two sections of Safeco Park (Field? whatever) to peanut eaters for a pair of games later this season.

Sections 311 and 312 in the right-field upper seating area will be cleaned thoroughly before each of the games. Signs will also be posted nearby to alert fans of a ban on all peanut products in those two sections. No peanuts or foods containing peanut products will be sold at nearby concession stands to ensure the safety of those in the section. People who buy tickets in those sections must agree to obey the peanut ban.

I have no doubt that there are a lot of kids who suffer from peanut allergies, but I wonder: is it actually the peanuts or could it be the land on which they're grown and/or the pesticides with which the plants are treated? I have no memory of any kids suffering from any allergy to peanut butter when I was in elementary school.

I'm sure various agriculture departments and pharma companies have already asked that question, but I've never seen an answer.

Prices

Sunday: A gallon of regular unleaded gas -- $4.38

Today:

• A half-gallon of skim milk -- $3.79
• A pound of boneless thinly sliced pork chops -- $4.99

Lucky you live Hawai'i!

Word clouds

Have you seen Wordle?

It's a clever little toy which creates a cloud from the words it finds on a blog page or a page of text.

It shows you your most frequent words in larger font, which could be useful. If you think your writing has been perhaps a tad too focused on one subject for a day or two, subject it to Wordle.

Here's the blog front page.

If Neil Young played Lennon/McCartney

Oh. My. Goodness. Neil Young performing "A Day in the Life" in Madrid earlier this year.

Awesome.

One down, one to go

Radovan Karadzic was captured today.

About damned time. He's been on the run since 1995, after being indicted in The Hague for war crimes including ethnic cleansing and setting the policy that led to the massacre of 7,000-plus Muslims at Srebrenica in Bosnia earlier that year.

Let's hope that the prosecutors have figured out how to keep defendants from gaming the system as Milosevic did.

(The One to Go in the title refers to Ratko Mladic, Serbian Army commander during the Bosnia war.)

One small step for a man. . .

On the anniversary of the first moon landing: Sinatra singing "Fly Me to the Moon."

There's a reminiscence party going on over at Shakesville. I was on Guam and we had no television, but I've seen the film clip so often my memory tells me I saw it live.

Yes Minister

Hmm. If it's not an explicit endorsement of Obama, it's pretty damned close. I imagine the White House and Senator McCain's campaign are fuming. Prime Minister al-Maliki of Iraq:

In an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine released Saturday, al-Maliki said he was not seeking to endorse Obama. The Illinois senator and likely Democratic nominee has pledged to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months if he is elected.

"That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," al-Maliki was quoted as saying. "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of U.S. troops in Iraq would cause problems."

Asked when U.S. forces would leave Iraq, he responded, "As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned."

There's some initial analysis here.

Update: The entire Der Spiegel interview is here, in English.

Solar systems

If you heard Science Friday today you heard a lot about solar energy. If you have a south-facing section of roof, you can probably benefit from installing a solar water heating system. Note: these systems (which we have) are not the kind you hear about which will allow you to sell excess power back to the utility company; those are called Photovoltaic systems. The more common solar heating system is an array of thermal panels installed on a roof with water piped through it. As the sun heats the water it's collected in a water tank and pumped up into the house when the hot water faucet is turned on. Most systems have a backup electric heater controlled by a thermostat to augment hot water in the event of several consecutive cloudy days.

If you're looking for a contractor near you, go to Find Solar. It's got a search function by state/county as well as a humongous list of FAQs.