Mind Soup

And I thought we've got it bad in Lebanon. Apparently, in China its far worse. Photo Credits: AFP According to Associate Press on Monday, thousands of cars were stuck on the road in a 100-kilometer (62-mile) traffic jam leading to Beijing that has lasted nine days. "The Beijing-Tibet expressway slowed to a crawl on August 14 due to a spike in traffic by cargo-bearing heavy trucks heading to the capital, and compounded by road maintenance work that began five days later," the Global Times said. The state-run newspaper said the jam between Beijing and Jining city had "given birth to a mini-economy with local merchants capitalizing on the stranded drivers' predicament by selling them water and food at inflated prices." That stretch of highway linking Beijing with the northern province of Hebei and the Inner Mongolia region has become increasingly prone to massive jams as the capital of more than 20 million people sucks in huge shipments of goods. ...

Step away from the television... TV is not your friend. In fact, according to a new study, it's your mortal enemy. Researchers have discovered that every hour per day spent watching television increases your chance of dying from heart disease by one-fifth. We all know a sedentary lifestyle can lead to disastrous health problems, but this new study shows even the most physically fit are at risk for heart disease when they spend a good amount of time watching TV. "Even if someone has a healthy body weight, sitting for long periods of time still has an unhealthy influence on their blood sugar and blood fats," says Professor David Dunstan, the study's lead researcher. Australian scientists, lead by Prof. Dunstan, looked at about 9,000 people over the course of six years, grouping them into categories depending on how much television they watched. The group that watched the most (four or more hours a day) were 80% more likely to develop heart disease and die from ...