One night, nine dates

• The newest singles trend arranges quickie dates with a coffee shop of eligible bachelors

Nine Dates in one night requires an exceptional outfit, don’t ya think?

“C’mon, you’ve got sexier things than that,” says my roommate, dismissing my all-black baggy get-up. “Put on one of those tops-you know the ones.” Oh, I know. She wants me in a Britneyesque jobbie that shrinks two sizes when you take it off. Well, between you, Britney, and my nine impending Dates, I thankfully have a few slinky selections.

Last summer, a single-like-me friend with her share of those tops convinced me that trying a new service called 9 Minute Dates was a good idea. The premise intrigued me: meet nine single guys in one evening at a coffee shop. Ask questions and size each other up over java and pastries. Since I’m already beginning to think that “a few good men” is an exaggeration when it comes to the dating scene, I decide to try it.

Antidepressants ‘may harm sperm’

• Drugs taken by millions of men to alleviate depression may affect their fertility, say US scientists. A small number of healthy men given the antidepressant paroxetine for four weeks had far higher levels of sperm with damaged DNA.

source: BBC
The results, reported in New Scientist magazine, do not necessarily mean these men would have serious problems becoming a father.

However, a UK fertility specialist said they were a “cause for concern”.

Getting tested

• If you’re sexually active, you’re at risk of catching a sexually transmitted infection. Getting screened for STIs is easy and can prevent health complications for you and your sexual partners.
Source-bbc.co.uk

Why you should get tested

If there’s a possibility you may have an STI, it’s important to get tested. Don’t wait for obvious symptoms to appear. Chlamydia, for example, has few recognisable symptoms, especially in women. You can be infected and not know.

What Type of Romantic Is Your Sweatheart?

• I had a conversation about romance with a male friend of mine last night.

I had a conversation about romance with a male friend of mine last night. He was sharing with me that he prefers doing, and being the recipient of, “little things” when he is in a relationship. This as opposed to extravagant surprises and public declarations of love. It got me thinking about what romance means to me.

There are a lot of things that others find romantic but I consider corny and overdone…and then there are the things that give me that warm fuzzy feeling. How unfortunate it would be if my partner didn’t know what I liked best.

Flu jab for pregnant women ‘likely’

• All pregnant women could get the flu jab from next year to help protect their unborn babies.
Government advisers recommended in October 2006 that all pregnant women be given the flu jab. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) told ministers that mothers-to-be should get the vaccine to protect themselves and their babies.

Cracking up?

• Work related stress can ruin your life, not just your job
After three weeks of summer holidays with her family in Italy, Laura Hughes was preparing to return to her job of producing current-affairs documentaries. Flipping open her laptop, she heard her son Oscar, 6, remarking glumly to his father that “Mummy’s going back to work, so she’s going be really angry with us all again and we better stay out of her way”. It was a reminder that she wasn’t fooling anyone; managing a high-octane career was making her intolerably stressed.

Don’t fall for this doormat dogma, women — it’s loony

• It figures. Western economies take a nosedive and the call goes up to bring back the 1950s house frau, with her Cupid’s bow of lipstick and dog-like eagerness to please.
Send your woman to obedience school to cure her of those nasty feminist habits. Get her hooked on Botox so she can’t frown, even if she wants to. Make sure she knows you may no longer be a master of the universe but you’re an absolute ruler in the home.

Antibiotic use in pregnancy linked to cerebral palsy

• Giving antibiotics to pregnant women in the hopes of delaying labour may increase the child’s risk for cerebral palsy, a new study suggests.
Doctors used to give antibiotics to women at risk for premature labour who had no signs of infection. The drugs are now only recommended when a woman’s water breaks prematurely or if she has an obvious infection.

In Thursday’s online issue of the medical journal the Lancet, British researchers looked at whether prescribing two antibiotics could prevent underlying infection to delay premature birth in 4,221 pregnant women.

Suppressing Hunger Hormone Could Be As Effective As Bariatric Surgery

• US researchers working with pigs discovered a way of lowering appetite as effectively as bariatric surgery except they used minimally invasive surgery that suppresses the hunger hormone…

US researchers working with pigs discovered a way of lowering appetite as effectively as bariatric surgery except they used minimally invasive surgery that suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin by vaporizing the main blood vessel that carries blood to the top section of the stomach (the fundus).

Immigrant Women, Seeking Status Adjustment, Face Forced Vaccination

• This July, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new requirements, including five new vaccinations for individuals seeking adjustment of immigration status.

This July, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new requirements, including five new vaccinations for individuals seeking adjustment of immigration status. One of these

What Men Love About Women

• 11 Things Men Love About Women
11 Things Men Love About Women

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hide the moisturizer.

Your sweaty post-gym rawness

You think you’re most desirable when you’re all dolled up and looking as elegant as a champagne flute. No.

Obesity ‘raises miscarriage risk’

• Women who have had a miscarriage could be at greater risk of miscarrying again if they are obese, research suggests.
A team from London’s St Mary’s Hospital followed the progress of 696 women whose miscarriages were classed as “unexplained” by a specialist clinic.

The team told a conference in Canada the risk of a further miscarriage was raised by 73% if the woman was obese.

Mothers allowed to check boyfriends for sex offences

• SINGLE mothers will be able to demand police checks on prospective boyfriends under a new scheme designed to combat paedophiles.
The initiative, to be launched tomorrow, is a watered-down version of Sarah’s Law – a proposal named after eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who was murdered eight years ago.

How to break the cycle of divorce

• Author Daisy Goodwin was 5 when her parents split up. After 21 years of marriage she explains why she would never put her daughters through the same heartache

Feeling car sick? Blame the bacteria

• If a man’s home is his castle then maybe his car is his rubbish bin, with a study finding the typical car has 283 different types of bacteria present in every square centimeter (square inch).

The science of laughter

• Humour may play a vital role in children’s development, reports Alastair Clarke
We all appreciate the importance of humour. It can lift the glummest of moments, forge a friendship, and relieve stress after a hard day at work.

Violence against women impairs children’s health

• Violence against women in a family also has serious consequences for the children’s growth, health, and survival.

Youth and Calm

‘Tis death! and peace, indeed, is here,
And ease from shame, and rest from fear.
There’s nothing can dismarble now
The smoothness of that limpid brow.

The Broken Heart

News o’ grief had overteaken
Dark-eyed Fanny, now vorseaken;
There she zot, wi’ breast a-heaven,
While vrom zide to zide, wi’ grieven,

Dealing With Narcissistic Mother

• Narcissistic personality disorder, more commonly known as NPD, can be described as a personality disorder wherein a person suffers from an inflated sense of self importance.

Narcissistic personality disorder, more commonly known as NPD, can be described as a personality disorder wherein a person suffers from an inflated sense of self importance. Such people think of themselves as always right and in order to hide their own faults, end up criticizing others. The ‘ultra confidence’ that they show is just a veil to conceal their fragile ego, due to which they often have a deep need for admiration. Having a narcissistic person around is, in itself, is a major problem. However, if the person happens to be your parent, especially your mother, the problem increases manifold.