A Polish law that can force some rapists and paedophiles to undergo chemical castration has come into effect. The legislation, passed by Polish MPs last September, applies to men who rape children or immediate family members. The procedure has been tried elsewhere, but usually on a voluntary basis. Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed the measures after a series of high-profile paedophilia cases last year. Read more…

Meet the latest marijuana martyr. ​A 30-year-old Nevada man on Wednesday chose a month in jail instead of probation which would have meant he couldn’t use medical marijuana for one year. Charles Ray Balzer of Gardnerville, Nev., told East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl he was unwilling to give up pot for a year, and he would do 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to harassment, reports The Record-Courier. Balzer has a legal medical marijuana card from the Nevada State Health Division. He told EnEarl he smokes cannabis and takes a prescription painkiller for a back injury. If Balzer had accepted...

So says Lancashire man According to the last Bastion of Truth in modern times the Lancashire Evening Post, Lancashire parents needn’t worry about their kids binge drinking or dabbling with drugs, because many are already under the spell of a far more terrifying beast: computer games. One schoolboy came forward to The Evening Post to spin his tale of woe – he admitted that his games addiction completely took over his life, he got rid of his mates, neglected school, played truant and only ate junk food. He went on gaming sessions that would last up to 48 hours. Naysayers need only look...

By Daily Mail Reporter Married men be warned: Don’t enjoy yourself too much. Research shows that if you’re happier than your wife, you could soon be heading for the divorce courts. Economists have identified a phenomenon called the ‘Happiness Gap’, which states that the bigger the difference between spouses’ satisfaction levels, the greater the risk of a break-up. Crucially, the study, which looked at tens of thousands of couples in Britain, Germany and Australia, found the effect was seen only when the husband was feeling better about life than his wife. It was also...

(CNN) — Fatima Mohamed, a 45-year-old Somali immigrant living in America, was faced with a question most parents will never worry about: Should my daughter be circumcised? The United States has outlawed female genital cutting, but cultural and religious pressures to circumcise girls linger among some African and Muslim immigrant families. Mohamed says the decision was an easy one for her to make after going through the painful experience herself in Africa as a child. She strongly opposes the idea of cutting her 11-year-old daughter, an American-born Somali with long curly hair, who plays...

Study Finds, Unlike Men, Women Who Are Much Older (or Younger) Than Spouse Have Shorter Life Expectancy´ (CBS) While studies have show marriage to extend life expectancy in both men and women, women who marry much younger men had better watch out – they’re much more likely to die younger. A new study shows that women who marry men seven to nine years younger than they are increase their mortality risk by 20 percent. This is the opposite of the finding for men who marry much younger wives – their life expectancy increases. The new study from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic...

By Rod Chaytor ‘Absurd’ study on leadership A cash-strapped health authority was condemned yesterday for blowing £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on a survey asking staff if they thought Adolf Hitler was “cool”. The bizarre survey on leadership also asked workers to compare the Nazi dictator with their own chief executive, along with others such as Richard Branson, Gordon Brown, Winston Churchill and England football boss Fabio Capello. The questionnaire, named Making Leadership Cool, was rubberstamped by NHS West Midlands Strategic Health Authority. Bosses spent £10,000...

The faltering economy didn’t just affect Americans’ wallets — the recession also led to an increase in child abuse, according to a study presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, Time magazine reported. Researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburg reported a significant rise in child injuries due to shaken baby syndrome. After analyzing 512 cases from their centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Washington, they found that cases had increased from six per month in 2004 to more than nine cases per month by December 2007. Shaken baby syndrome occurs most commonly...

LONDON: For worked up couples, the “perfect moment” when they can finally sit down and relax at the end of the day comes at precisely 8.44pm, research has found. The study of 3,000 people found the average couple settles down together at 8.05pm — but it takes a further 39 minutes to unwind and forget about the stresses and strains of the working day. The pressures of long working hours and domestic tasks also mean married couples are spending less than 75 minutes of quality time together, according to the study. Read more…

The discovery that laughing may have the same effect on appetite as exercise could lead to ‘laughter treatment’ for patients who have lost their interest in food A hearty laugh can unleash some of the same changes in the body’s chemistry as a quick bout of physical exercise, scientists claim. People who watched funny movies or comedy acts experienced the same hormonal changes that follow exercise and that are thought to boost appetite, they say. The finding could lead to the development of better ways to encourage healthy eating among patients who have gone off their food because...