Posted by
Scatbug on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 10:12:16 PM
A summary of assorted happenings from around the globe...
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DUBAI (Reuters) - A top cardiologist has warned television viewers in the United Arab Emirates to try to stay calm during the Olympics because they were particularly vulnerable to suffering heart attacks while watching sports.
Klaus Kallmayer, head of cardiology at City Hospital in Dubai and the German Heart Centre in Bremen, said cardiovascular incidents increase during sporting events as spectators get caught up in the moment.
"Watching a stressful sports game involving the national team can more than double the risk of an acute cardiovascular event. And the UAE's poor cardiovascular record means spectators here can be even more at risk," Kallmayer said in a statement.
"Sports enthusiasts who prefer watching the proceedings from the sofa rather than engaging in physical activity themselves should be aware that statistically the comfort of their living room is no safer than actually competing," he said.
Kallmayer said he did not wish to scare people away from watching the Games but cautioned them to avoid exceptional stress levels.
Arab sports enthusiasts gear up for the Olympics.
Experts warn such men are at risk for negative health
outcomes when driven to over exuberance.
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Sticking with the Olympics, the Chinese government is leaving nothing to chance in projecting an image of...um...to highlight the cultural...er...hmmm...
This one's a head scratcher to be sure:
BEIJING (Reuters) - Homing pigeons and kites are the latest victims of Beijing's drive to hold a trouble-free Olympics after authorities announced they will be banned in parts of the city.
Elaborate kites in the shape of dragons and other creatures are a common sight in the skies above Beijing parks, where enthusiasts fly them to giddy heights.
Raising homing pigeons is also a hobby popular among longtime residents, especially old people, who sometimes attach whistles to birds' feet so they whir through the air.
Chinese officials stress that the bans affect only areas around the Beijing airport, and were made in the interests of safe airline travel. But one Beijing resident isn't buying it:
Kite-maker Liu Xuejin, 61, who flies the swallow-shaped kites his store specializes in every night, said the rule was puzzling.
"There's not much potential danger in flying kites, so long as you don't play along the roads where there are high electricity wires," said Liu, who has crafted kites out of silk and bamboo for decades. "They must be joking."
Perhaps that explains things: it's just a joke to highlight the glorious 3,000 year history of Chinese humor. Anyway, soon after this story went to press, Mr. Liu volunteered to leave his Beijing home to work in one of the People's Revolutionary Toy Factories near the Mongolian border.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kids' meals at popular fast-food restaurants deliver more than a quick lunch or dinner -- 90 percent of them have far more than a meal's worth of calories and many are loaded with fat and salt too, according to a report released on Monday.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest -- the group that took the fun out of movie popcorn and Chinese takeout by revealing the fat and calorie content of such treats -- said it is difficult to find anything remotely healthful for a child to eat at several restaurant chains.
And why do chain restaurants sell this fatty, salty food to unsuspecting children? Apparently to kill them:
"People may not get a heart attack until their 50s or 60s, but arteries begin to clog in childhood," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo Wootan. "Most of these kids' meals appear to be designed to put America's children on the fast track to obesity, disability, heart attack or diabetes."
As the saying goes, what would we do without experts.
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PHOENIX (Reuters) - The United States began a pilot program on Tuesday that allows some illegal immigrants to come forward and schedule their own deportation, after criticism that stepped-up raids cause traumatic family splits.
Immigration -- principally what to do with some 12 million mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants living and working in the shadows -- is a hot issue in the United States, especially in the midst of an election year and an economic downturn.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's Scheduled Departure program is set to run through August 22 in five cities. It offers fugitive illegal immigrants with no criminal history up to 90 days to leave the United States, during when they can stay out of jail.
An ICE fugitive is an illegal immigrant who has failed to leave after a final order of removal, deportation or exclusion from an immigration judge.
"Mr. Sanchez, you have violated a deportation order issued by a Federal judge. You have up to 90 days to get your affairs squared away and return to your home country. Failure to do so would mean...well...you just try it buster and see what happens. Now, on your way out, stop by the clerk's office for a packing supplies voucher. You know, boxes, tape and whatnot. There's also a raffle for a free U-Haul rental. Drive safely."