argh

TEMPERATURES WILL BE 15 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WITH DAYTIME HIGHS REACHING INTO THE 90S ACROSS THE TACOMA...SEATTLE AND EVERETT AREAS. WEDNESDAY WILL BE THE WARMEST OF THE TWO DAYS WITH HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S POSSIBLE.

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. STAY IN AN AIR CONDITIONED ROOM IF POSSIBLE OR OBTAIN AN APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF FANS TO HELP CIRCULATE THE AIR. HAVE PLENTY OF WATER AVAILABLE AND AVOID STRENUOUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

Kill me.

Retail rules all change now.

The Supreme Court has overturned Dr. Miles Medical v. John D. Parke Sons (1911), which held that manufacturer price-fixing agreements between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, was, by presumption, a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This type of price-fixing is now presumptively legal, though it can be ruled illegal on a per-case basis if it is specifically shown to have damaged competition.

This is a fundamental change to retail landscape in the US and will increase upward pressure on prices, as various types of discounting will become much easier to stop. (Costco, for example, will probably be a big loser here; so will internet retailers.) SCOTUSblog talked about it during the argument phase, and has more commentary now. Manufacturers will be able to broadly set minimum price requirements at retail as a condition of sale to distributors (and distributors will be able to do the same to retailers), even though they no longer own the goods, rather than suggestions, as seen in the MSRP. The question of whether this is anticompetitive is slightly different as price-to-consumer is not the only measure of competition, but there's little debate that it will make average retail prices higher. The overall effect will be interesting to watch.

(Original pointer to the gaming blog courtesy ysabel.)

OH NOW WHAT THE HELL

RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
352 PM PDT MON JUL 9 2007

...CRITICALLY HOT...DRY AND WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING..

.A VERY STRONG UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE AND A HEAT-DRIVEN SURFACE TROUGH HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST. THIS WILL LEAD TO MODERATE NORTHEAST WINDS ON TUESDAY...AND NEAR-RECORD HEAT WILL LEAD TO CRITICALLY LOW HUMIDITY.

WAZ651-654-655-657-101545-
/O.UPG.KSEW.FW.A.0001.070710T1900Z-070711T0400Z/
/O.NEW.KSEW.FW.W.0001.070710T1800Z-070711T0400Z/
CENTRAL COASTAL LOWLANDS-CENTRAL AND SOUTH PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-BLACK HILLS AND SOUTHWEST INTERIOR LOWLANDS-WEST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL CASCADES-352 PM PDT MON JUL 9 2007

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 9 PM PDT TUESDAY..

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 9 PM PDT TUESDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

A CRITICAL COMBINATION OF NORTHEAST WIND AND LOW HUMIDITY WILL DEVELOP ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER THE LOWLANDS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON FROM THE SEATTLE AND BREMERTON AREAS SOUTH TOWARD OLYMPIA AND SHELTON AND THEN WEST THROUGH THE CHEHALIS GAP TO GRAYS HARBOR.

THE FORECAST ON TUESDAY CALLS FOR NORTHEAST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 20 TO 30 MPH AT THE SAME TIME THAT RELATIVE HUMIDITY LEVELS FALL TO BETWEEN 20 AND 30 PERCENT. THIS WILL CAUSE FUELS TO DRY QUICKLY AND COULD CREATE CONTROL PROBLEMS FOR ANY FIRES THAT GET STARTED. NEAR-RECORD HEAT WILL ONLY CAUSE FURTHER PROBLEMS BY PRE-HEATING FUELS AND CAUSING HEAT FATIGUE FOR FIREFIGHTERS.

A RED FLAG WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN DRY LIGHTNING IS OR THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.

DRY LIGHTNING?! WHAT THE HELL? I mean seriously, just call it SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION and be done with it.