Holy Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly, Batman!

FDA Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak 2009. Flash Player 9 is required.
I like a good PBJ every once in a while. I had one today, taking my life in my hands… so I decided to check online what brands were affected by the recall of the Peanut Corp. of America troubles and I found a cool widget. Naturally, I had to put it here.

It was on the FDA website and it’s pretty amazing to see such a useful application of technology by the government.

I played with it a bit and found that I was pretty safe eating the Peter Pan we have on hand. Actually, we buy enough of the stuff, it’s probably been in the cupboard since before the whole incident.

Most of the product seems to be either sold in the south, or in commercial bulk packages, which is where the danger seems to be – other products with PB as an ingredient. Many of the brands seem to be house brands for stores in other areas of the country, but some struck close to home. It’s probably safe to say the some product almost anywhere in the US has been affected.

I saw some Wegmans products. I also saw some ice cream made by local maker Perry’s Ice Cream that was sold both under the Perry’s brand and the Meijer name. There aren’t any Meijer stores here, but you don’t have to go far down the road to find them. I think I’ve seem them in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

It seems like the big name brands mostly escaped. They probably use enough peanut paste to do their own processing. So a Reese’s Cup is probably safe, but a store-brand candy with peanut filling might not be. Same goes for peanut butter. seems like they said Jiff and Peter Pan are okay, but the various store brands were recalled. You won’t find any of them in a store, I’m sure, but if you are doubtful about what is in your cupboard, check the widget at the left.

When headlines go wrong

Crackdown on Child Labor in the Agriculture IndustryI saw this headline in the local paper today and thought to myself, “Wow, I didn’t know they had a problem with child labor in greenhouses…”

Leap into 2009

2008 Leap SecondDid you feel it? Did you get just a little bit more done today? A few minutes ago, at 6:59:60 pm local time, an extra second was added to the calendar. That’s right, after second #59, there was #60, then #00. It was done then because it was midnight in Universal Coordinated Time, UTC. It’s called a Leap Second.

So why add a second? Who’s going to even notice? Probably not you or I, but people in science doing precise measurement, especially of celestial objects, needed it. Do you need to reset your clock? Not unless you’re really obsessed with accuracy. Continue Reading…

Blowing in the New Year…

A week agoA week ago, we were having a perfect, snowy December. There had been snow on the ground almost continuously since before Thanksgiving, but no major storm to speak of. The ski areas were having the best start in years.

But that all changed after Christmas. We’ve had rain and almost all the snow has melted here. There’s still enough down south in the ski areas, but they’ve got to be concerned.

Click any photo for a larger image.

Today: high winds knock down trees.
Today, high winds came in this morning and it’s more like March coming in like a Lion, than December. Gusts more than 50 mph woke us this morning along with the sound of sirens as the local Fire Department kept busy answering calls. Continue Reading…