This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. a lower Grand Prix attendance confirmed the event’s moribund [1a]. But the evidence doesn’t faze its apologists [1b].

2. SecondBite [2a] collected 1½ tonnes of leftover Atlantic salmon from the Grand Prix and distributed it to the needy/hungry [2b]. It must be the GP’s only benefit.

3. the CEO of Tasmanian electricity supplier Aurora Energy, defended prices rises [3]. His bonus size’s probably linked to the electricity price.

4. the American Academy of Pediatrics published a Policy Statement on Child Passenger Safety [4a]. Every parent of a child younger than 13 should read at least its summary [4b].

5. Qantas staff objected to John Travolta starring in a new pre-flight instructional video [5]. I don’t blame them. That’s not a job for a celebrity.

6. Grammar Girl wrote a piece on writing ‘e-mail’ versus ‘email’ [6]. She concludes it’s a style choice, but the trend’s to the latter.

7. following last Monday’s post [7a], I read this terrific article about various potato growing methods [7b]. Hmmmm. Food for thought.

8. I found out that only the most beautiful girls get to have an airline named after them [8]. Go IndiGo!

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

Qantas and the Grand Prix: a match made in heaven. Or hell.

Qantas. It’s been in the news lately. Because several of its planes have met with mishaps. The record [1] reveals two Qantas mishaps in 2006, four in 2007, eight in 2008, five in 2009, and so far 12 in 2010. I’ve previously written of Qantas’s mishaps [2] and their likely cause(s) [3]. Judging by these stats, self evidently Qantas hasn’t successfully fixed the cause(s). Me? I used to selectively fly Qantas – domestically and internationally. Its safety record seduced me. Since 1992 I’ve been a Qantas Club member. And I own 188 Qantas shares (current price A$2.67 each). I bought them when Qantas was naming rights sponsor of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix (which it did from 1997-2001) and I was a Save Albert Park activist. From 2002 to 2009 when the major sponsors were Foster’s then ING, I indolently retained these shares. Then, amazingly, in 2010 Qantas became major sponsor again, announcing its 1-year sponsorship less than a month before the event [4]. Last Saturday Qantas announced a 1-year extension – for the 2011 event [5]. What a perfect fit: an airline that can’t control its rapidly increasing frequency of mishaps, and an event that can’t control its rapidly inceasing requirement for taxpayer bailouts. It’s a match made in heaven. Or, more likely, hell.

P.S. Our house guest Dieter flies out today bound for Canada. He’s flying from Launceston to Melbourne, then from Melbourne to Sydney on, yes, Qantas. I wish him safe travelling.

farmdoc's blog post number 678

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. Torah Bright won Australia’s first gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics [1]. Funny that – I thought Torah Bright was an evangelical Jewish sect.

2. talking of Olympic medals, the Vancouver Winter Olympics is the first Olympics whose medals contain recycled materials, i.e. gold, silver and copper from recycled e-waste [2]. Well done, Canada.

3. a mere month before the event, Qantas was announced as the naming rights sponsor for the 2010 Australian F1 Grand Prix [3]. Where the bloody hell have you been until now, Qantas?

4. I read that cat food has been successfully used to control cane toads – by attracting carnivorous meat ants that eat and kill baby toads [4]. Will the ants follow the toads – which themselves were originally introduced as a biological control – and become a major environmental scourge?

5. I came across this fascinating article about how love improves health [5]. I’ve been in love with Sweetheart Vivienne for over 45 years; and I’m healthy for my age. QED.

6. this paper describes methods of muscle cramp prevention [6]. It says quinine’s effective but unsafe; and vitamin B may be the best bet. It doesn’t mention corks in the bed.

7. I read this report of the promising early results of using paracetamol to help prevent heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers [7]. It may be the next wonder drug, but the article cautions that paracetamol is now Australia’s commonest cause of liver failure, having passed hepatitis and alcohol.

8. Darling Indigo, on her blog, offered ‘Indi’s random giveaway’. Coco the wombat [8a, 8b] hopes she'll win.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

farmdoc's blog post number 665

I’ve just finished a non-fiction book whose content’s as fascinating as its title: The Men Who Killed Qantas [1, 2]. In 263 readable pages Matthew Benns catalogues Qantas’s biggest downsides – starting at its birth soon after WWI, and ending in September 2009 with the Airbus A380’s woes. As his book’s title and subtitle suggest, Benns’s theme is that in recent years and decades, Qantas’s quest to maximise profits has compromised safety. The 16 chapters are cutely numbered QF1 to QF16. The standout chapter is QF9: ‘Toxic air’. It’s an expose of ‘aerotoxic syndrome’ [3, 4, 5] – which I’d never heard of before. Aerotoxic syndrome causes debility, and even death, of aircrew and passengers after exposure to toxic fumes during flight. The fumes’ pungent odour’s reminiscent of vomit or blue cheese. Apparently, to cut costs, air is taken superheated from inside the jet engines, cooled by aircon, and pumped unfiltered into the cockpit and cabin. This system works almost all the time. Indeed unless there’s an engine oil leak, in which case the oil when superheated breaks down into various chemicals including carcinogens and organo-phosphates. Oil leaks are much more likely in older planes. Pretty scary, eh. Conspiratorially, Benns suggests airlines worldwide are covering up aerotoxic syndrome. I’ve written before of ‘disease mongering’ [6, 7]. I’ve no idea if aerotoxic syndrome’s a covered-up real disease, or a mongered disease. Time will tell.

farmdoc's blog post number 219

If you roll a die twice and get a six both times, what’s the chance of a six on the third roll? Assuming the die’s not loaded, it’s one in six. In other words, as they say in investment circles, past performance is no indication of future returns. It's quite simple and straight-forward, really. No worries. But you might worry if you were a passenger on a certain Qantas jumbo jet. You know, the one whose side was blown out last July by an exploding oxygen cylinder. The repairs, which cost A$10m, were completed 10 days ago. Three days later, when the same jet was being towed across the tarmac, it struck another Qantas jumbo, resulting in further damage. So now, if you have to fly from A to B and I give you the choice of flying in that twice-damaged plane or another, never-damaged one, with the same fare on each, which plane would you choose? And why? Okay, so what if the fare on the 2-time loser plane was half of the fare on the accident-free plane? Or a quarter? Or free? Interesting to ponder, eh. I’ve previously written that I think of myself as a sceptic, i.e. the antithesis of a superstitious man. But I don’t know what I’d choose in this case. Especially as it’s said that bad things come in threes.