This week's compendium

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

1. tennis player Lleyton Hewitt and his wife charged fans A$2 for the wondrous privilege of finding out the name of their newborn child [1a]. Is there no limit to the greed and bad taste of so-called celebrities. Anyway it’s Ava [1b]. Big whoopee.

2. the Corruption Perceptions Index 2010 was announced [2a]. Canada’s 6th best, Australia 8th, UK 20th, USA 22nd. [2b]. Israel’s 30th and Iran 146th. Ho hum.

3. consumer magazine Choice announced its 2010 Shonky Awards – for the shonkiest products and services [3a, 3b]. Ho hum again.

4. Mohammed (spelt various ways) was the most popular name for newborn boys in England and Wales in 2009 [4]. This ended Jack’s 14 years as number one.

5. austerity measures were announced for the 2011 Australian F1 Grand Prix [5]. The best one of all would be to cancel the bloody thing.

6. low-dose aspirin was confirmed to help prevent bowel cancer [6a]. Lifestyle choices are effective too [6b].

7. and heavy smoking was shown to double the risk of various types of dementia [7]. Is there no limit to the downsides of smoking.

8. Sweetheart Vivienne participated in the Melbourne Jewish Book Festival [8a, 8b]. Apparently she aced it. I wish I was there.

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

This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium – with a strong health/medical slant. This week…

1. with the northern winter approaching, salon.com ran this fine piece about the common cold [1]. I think you’ll learn something from it.

2. the BMJ reported that compared with placebo, chondroitin and/or glucosamine had no effect on the pain and pathology of osteoarthritis [2]. As an owner of arthritic fingers, I say ‘Damn!’.

3. the journal Gut told us that low dose aspirin significantly reduces the risk of colorectal cancer [3]. As an aspirin-taking owner of a bowel, I say ‘Yay!’.

4. Science Friday put up this ab fab vid of Caledonian Crows using twigs as tools [4]. Ain’t evolution inspiring.

5. the Heart Foundation ran two new TV advertisements – about heeding the signs of heart attack, and calling 000 [5]. Hopefully they’ll save lives.

6. planetgreen.com told us of ‘Tips for Freezing Fresh Produce’ [6]. It’s nice to know how to do it properly – and safely.

7. gizmodo ran an article titled ‘Chasing the Perfect Cup of Coffee with Science’ [7]. Amazing! Me? I’m all for the article’s last line: ‘…in the end, the only question that should matter is, "does it taste good?”’.

8. in fact today and tomorrow, darling Emily’s appearing at the 5th annual Wave Rock Weekender in Western Australia [8]. Break a leg, Em. xxx

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