A wonderful map/video

It's a bit long to watch at around 15 minutes, but a truly wonderful idea, especially for those of us who became politically aware around or after the end of the Cold War - thanks so much Isao!

Advice from France: "use cutlery"

Image via Wikipedia
On German television, there was just a review of this book, in which a French woman living in the US provides her own tips on why the French are the least obese people in Europe: never eat with your hands, always sit at a table and use cutlery, and don't diet.

Interestingly, Wikipedia presents a picture of European metal ware (along with wooden chopsticks and a porcelain Chinese spoon) for the German Besteck, whereas the only picture given for Cutlery is of "starch-polyester disposable cutlery."

As I have written before, but the use of plastic cutlery in the US is one of my major pet peeves every time I come back.

I wonder if the Frenchwoman also recommends never eating alone.

New website online

Image via Wikipedia
As I announced back in April, my blog writings pertaining to renewables are moving to a professional website. Originally, I thought it would be going online in June, but you know how big projects are -- at any rate, it went online today and is called Renewables International.

My first series, entitled Peak Demand Parity, focuses on what will happen when peak solar power production reaches peak power demand, which will probably happen first in Germany. While everyone seems to be focusing on "grid parity" (the point where solar power costs the same as power from your wall socket), I argue that peak demand parity will be more of a paradigm changer.

You can find the first five of six installments here.