Coffee Drinkers May Live Longer

TARA PARKER-POPE New York Times May 16, 2012 Your morning cup of coffee may start to taste even better after a major government study found that frequent coffee drinkers have a lower risk of dying from a variety of diseases, compared with people who drink little or no coffee. The report, published online in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, analyzed the coffee-drinking habits of more than 400,000 men and women ages 50 to 71, making it the largest-ever study of the relationship between coffee consumption and health. Previous studies have offered conflicting results on the relative benefits or harms associated with regular coffee consumption. While coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant that may temporarily increase heart rate and blood pressure in some people, coffee also contains hundreds of unique compounds and antioxidants that may confer health benefits. Further confusing much of the research into coffee is the fact…

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Plastic ban in the bag

MATT SMITH May 18, 2012 12.01am The Mercury PLASTIC bags will be banned across Tasmania with the help of funds delivered in the next three years. More than $700,000 has been earmarked to develop legislation that will move towards banning lightweight, non-biodegradable plastic check-out bags. The ban will follow the lead of East Coast town Coles Bay which, in 2003, became the first Australian town to ban plastic bags. Environment Minister Brian Wightman said the funding would be used for the legislation, consultation with retailers, education campaigns and compliance once the ban is in place. The ban has tripartite support in the Tasmanian Parliament. “We know plastic bags are among the worst and most visible types of waste clogging our environment, and posing a threat to our wildlife,” Mr Wightman said. “Tasmanians want a clean and a healthy environment, and the lightweight, non-degradable plastic bags remain a symbol of waste,…

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Target joins online rush to Asia to sidestep GST

Blair Speedy The Australian May 18, 2012 WESFARMERS’ discount department store Target will begin shipping goods directly from China to Australian internet shoppers by September, allowing them to avoid paying GST. In an exclusive interview with The Australian, managing director Dene Rogers said the company was setting up pick-and-pack facilities in China, the source of “the vast majority” of its merchandise, and expected to begin shipping to Australian customers in the September quarter. “We want to be able to offer a broad range of products with competitive pricing, and by locating in Asia we can do that . . . Typically we would have imported everything into Melbourne and sent it out from our main distribution centre, but that was relatively uneconomic,” he said. The move to offshore shipping follows similar ventures by Myer, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi, which have all set up offshore distribution facilities to allow shoppers…

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Administration fears for Retravision

May 18, 2012 The Age The fate of another retailer is under a cloud, with fears Retravision Southern may slide into administration. Retravision Southern, the buying and marketing company for 99 privately-owned Retravision stores in Victoria and Tasmania, reassured employees yesterday that they would be paid if the company fell into administration, according to a trade publication. “I can confirm that this morning we did have a staff briefing and at that meeting it was noted that things were tough for the Retravision Southern region,” a spokesman for Retravision chairman Ian Ray told appliance retailing publication Current.com.au. “We are working through various ‘work-out’ solutions, and there have been some late payments with suppliers.” Retravision Southern is understood to be facing cash flow problems with difficulties paying suppliers. Retravision Southern operates as an independently-owned franchise of Retravision, servicing stores in Victoria and Tasmania. Profits fell 8.1 per cent in 2011 to…

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Entrepreneur’s Cheeki idea takes hold

Adam Cooper May 14, 2012 The Age REMEMBER when many of us vowed we’d never buy water in a plastic bottle? What was once considered a fad is now a massive industry, as Australians spend more than $500 million every year on bottled water, which comes out of a tap at the cost of barely a few cents per litre. On top of that, the environmental impact of discarded bottles is immense. The Total Environment Centre estimates that of the 6.67 billion plastic containers Australians drink their way through every year, only one-third are recycled. The rest are landfill or litter. Environmental advocacy group Do Something estimates it takes between 1.3 and three litres of water to make one litre of bottled water. For entrepreneur Simon Karlik, who began selling his Cheeki stainless steel drink bottles three years ago in a bid to reduce reliance on plastic bottles, the idea…

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Website ranks cheapest petrol towns

AAP May 14, 2012 A NEW online petrol ranking system is making it easier for long-distance drivers to find the cheapest town to fill up. NRMA’s Bowser Buster ranks the average price of unleaded petrol across 52 regional locations in NSW and Canberra. Drivers will be able to use the rankings to see which towns historically sell petrol at a cheaper or higher price. “Ranking data for a town could provide motorists with a good understanding of where the cheaper and more expensive places are to fill up,” said NRMA president Wendy Machin. Ms Machin said Albury ranked in the top five cheapest towns to fill up for less. “The centres that consistently appear in the top 10 cheapest places to purchase unleaded petrol are Albury, Ballina, Canberra and Moama,” she said. Places that charge the highest prices include Bega, Cooma, Hay, Moree, West Wyalong and Yass. Bowser Buster ranks…

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