Patriotic love-making
“Skip work and have sex”
was the message Wednesday
from the governor of a central
Russian province to his constituents.
The plea was part of
a nationwide effort to combat
the country’s low birth rate.
As an added bonus, women
who do conceive and then give
birth in exactly nine months
on Russia’s national day, June
12, will qualify for a prize
– a TV, refrigerator or even
possibly a new house.
The region’s governor
asked employers to contribute
to the Kremlin’s campaign to
increase the country’s birth
rate by giving couples the day
off from work to have sex.
Give in to temptation
If chocolate cravings are
not indulged, they will only
get worse, according to British
research. Researchers at
the University of Bristol also
found that chocolate is not
addictive.
The compounds in chocolate
that produce a buzz in
the brain can be found in
many other foods in higher
concentrations. These foods,
like avocados and cheese,
aren’t popularly considered
addictive. Therefore, the conclusion
was made that the
compound phenylethylamine
and its effects on the brain are
not what makes chocolate so
irresistible.
The study suggests it’s the
social label put on chocolate of
“naughty but nice” that might
create the idea of chocolate
being a forbidden pleasure that
causes greater desire.
Other chocolate researchers
have found that dark chocolate
contains elements linked to
heart health, but most experts
agree that its high fat and sugar
content might very well cancel
out any positive effects.
Bras no match for breasts
A new study claims most
bras can’t cut it when it comes
to supporting bouncing breasts
– no matter what size they are.
It also found that women’s
breasts bounce farther than
previously thought, reaching
a maximum vertical distance
of eight inches.
The study was conducted
by Joanna Scurr, a biomechanics
professor at the University
of Portsmouth in England.
She took the biomechanical
measurements of 70 women
of varying bra sizes while they
walked, jogged and ran in
different types of bras.
Scurr found that most bras
only limit vertical movement,
while most breasts also move
side-to-side and in-and-out.
Wearing a sports bra reduced
overall breast movement in
A-cup women by 53 percent,
compared with a 55-percent
reduction for G-cup women.
A pair of D-cup breasts
weigh about 15 to 23 pounds.
Bouncing breasts can prove
painful and even damage the
limited natural support system
of skin and ligaments.
Scurr estimated 50 percent
of women experience breast
pain during exercise.
Nazi values
A popular German talk
show host was fired Sunday
after praising the family
policies of the Nazis at a press
conference for her book on
child-rearing. The station’s
programming director said her
comments proved “incompatible”
with her role as a TV talk
show host and presenter.
At the press conference, the
TV personality-turned-author
said the family values that
were nurtured in the Nazi era
were unfortunately left behind
in the late 1960s.
The woman has been a
presenter on the German
network’s flagship news program
for 18 years.