This week's compendium

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

1. Iran was beaten (by East Timor) [1a] for a seat on the powerful new UN body nicknamed UN Women [1b]. Saudi Arabia (!) got a seat.

2. the Age reported that the Grand Prix’s in jeopardy due to an A$800,000 dispute [2a]. It’s a media beat-up [2b]. A vain effort to revive the dead event. Why not pay up and shut up, GP Corporation. You’re expert at spending taxpayers’ dollars.

3. Cymbalta (duloxetine) was cleared by the US FDA for treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain [3]. Its pain relief mechanism’s unknown, but.

4. the UN published its annual flagship report on comprehensive human development (i.e. quality of life) for each country [4a, 4b]. Australia came 2nd, US 4th, Canada 8th, Israel 15th, UK 26th. And Iran 70th – ho hum.

5. Levi’s announces a new method of making jeans, which uses much less water [5]. It’ll save 16M litres of water each year. Good on you, Levi’s.

6. San Franciso voted in a law requiring that foods meet certain nutritional standards, before they can be sold with toys [6]. Good on you, SanFran.

7. gizmodo told us the world’s running out of chocolate [7]. Oh no. Dear me. Ho hum.

8. our neighbour and sharefarmer Sharon, featured on the ABC Radio National’s ‘Bush Telegraph’ [8]. Nice interview, SJ.

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

This week's compendium

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

1. on salon.com Francis Lam started a series on baking [1]. How exciting. And delicious.

2. evidence emerged that the US baseball legend Lou Gehrig probably didn’t have the disease named after him, i.e. Lou Gehrig’s Disease [2]. Whoops.

3. gizmodo.com posted an astoundingly wondrous series of diptych photographs [3]. Fantastic, fantastic.

4. the journal Circulation published research showing a moderate intake of high cocoa chocolate was associated with reduced heart failure risk [4a]. It can modestly lower blood pressure, too [4b].

5. and Tai Chi was reported to help fibromyalgia [5]. Sure beats medication.

6. an Iowa egg producer recalled 380 million eggs following a Salmonella enteritidis outbreak affecting hundreds of people [6]. It’s Food Inc. in action, folks.

7. an Australian survey reported in the latest MJA concluded the severity of sleep apnoea is increasing. Why? Because obesity’s increasing [7]. It’s Food Inc. in action, folks.

8. this beautiful profile of beautiful darling Kate went up on a fellow crafter’s blog [8]. I am so proud of Kate.

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

This week's compendium

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

1. Nutrition Diva reminded us chocolate’s good for us due to the flavanol content as well as the cacao percentage [1]. And cocoa beans from different countries have vastly different flavanol content.

2. Drew Ward, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, resigned. He said he’d achieved his objective of taking the event from a car race to a major entertainment event. And he denied being pushed out [2]. He didn’t because it isn’t. And he was.

3. a treehugger item showed off beautiful and cosy slippers made from recycled sweaters and leather jackets [3]. What about it, Foxs Lane?

4. 1,500 West Australians including Federal and State parliamentarians, stood up to support Israel [4a, 4b]. Good on them – every single one of them.

5. gizmodo convincingly and colourfully demonstrated that iPhone users have more sex [5]. Sweetheart Vivienne is an iPhone user. Ho hum.

6. the Annals of Internal Medicine published research showing high blood lipid levels in early adulthood are associated with increased coronary calcium 20 years later [6]. It’s never too soon to start healthy behaviours.

7. an Archives of Neurology study showed high accuracy diagnosing Alzheimer disease – based on protein patterns in the cerebrospinal fluid [7]. I don’t know if early diagnosis is worthwhile if there’s no effective treatment?

8. the WHO decreed that the H1N1 flu pandemic’s officially over [8]. And what a beat-up it was, too.

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