This week's compendium

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

1. talking about the Australian F1 Grand Prix, this article says it’s ‘surrounded by…the ocean’ [1]. It’s a lake, stupid. Stick to selling Cheap Used Cars.

2. Concord Massachusetts, where Walden Pond is, became the first US town/city to ban bottled water sales [2a]. Last September Bundanoon in NSW became the first town in the world to do it [2b].

3. the newly crowned Miss America – 24-year-old Arab American Rima Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant – was shown to have strong family links to Hezbollah [3a, 3b]. A Hezbollah official commented ‘The criteria through which we evaluate women are different from those of the west [3c]’. Yessir.

4. in the NSW parliament, a private member’s bill to ban the burqa on grounds of security and women’s rights, was voted down [4a]. That’s not stopping France, though [4b].

5. the Get-Fit Guy told us what to eat before, during and after exercise [5]. It’s practical and thus useful advice.

6. aiming for everyone to borrow or lend everything [6a], along came thingloop.com [6b]. It extends the concept of sharedearth.com which I wrote about last week [6c].

7. darling Emily alerted me to this wonderful blog site mapping feral fruit trees in Melbourne [7]. She said the site made her think of me. Why so, I wonder.

8. Sweetheart Vivienne spent the week at Varuna, the Writers’ House, in the Blue Mountains [8a]. I hope she did justice to the god Varuna [8b].

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.OECD members voted unanimously to invite Israel to join [1]. It’s nice to start a compendium with some good news.

2. a report concluded that a federal government plan to give every Australian a unique e-health record would save our health system A$7.6b a year and prevent 5,000 deaths [2]. It’s due to start in July 2012.

3. Grammar Girl gave us the rundown on adverbs [3]. She did it so expertly.

4. a paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded nuts – any nuts – helped blood lipid levels; and the more the better [4]. Okay then.

5. a UK study showed just five minutes of fresh air and exercise makes a huge difference in mood and self-esteem [5]. And the effect’s even bigger if water – e.g. a lake or river – is added.

6. I read of sharedearth.com which is a kind of craigslist linking prospective gardeners with those with gardens [6a, 6b]. And it’s free of charge.

7. a Canberra University report on saving in Australia showed the best savers are aged 45-54 years, and men are better savers than women [7]. Ho hum.

8. regarding dementia, a US study showed spouses of dementia sufferers have a 6-fold increased risk of developing dementia themselves [8a]; and whilst a review showed a current lack of evidence that omega-3 fatty acids are effective in dementia prevention [8b], an Israeli breakthrough has brought stem cell therapy a step closer [8c]. Currently the scope for prevention’s bleak; but treatment via stem cell therapy looks promising.

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