Taking the dog to work reduces stress… to some

It’s true that spending half of the time playing with your dog, taking him to walk and talking about him reduces stress on the workers, but on the other hand greatly increases the stress on the boss, who will be paying for all this fun. Sure, having fun at work reduces stress; we didn’t need someone at the Journal of Workplace Health Management, where the study was published, to stop playing with his dog to write it. Bound to comply a working schedule without pay, the dogs too will have to study how to get rid of their own stress.

Time >

Incredible: chocolate will make you thinner after all!

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego came to a startling conclusion: chocolate not only isn’t fattening, but it makes people thinner. It is suspected that the same chemicals that make chocolate prevent heart disease prevents their fats to have their natural effect. But this is a modest effect, so if you really want to lose weight, our advice is you should eat tons of chocolates, while reading ‘The Caricaturist’. A word of caution about studies from California: sometimes they are completely useless, and in other times they are invented just to get in the news.

Sky News >

Eating red meat can kill you but not eating it may be even worse

According to Dr. Frank Hu, from the Harvard School of Public Health, red meat increases the chances of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, significantly decreasing the life expectancy of those who consume it regularly. This expert says it shall be consumed only two or three times a week, rather than having it on our daily eating habits. People like Dr. Hu are proven to diminish the joy of living, making us feel guilty every time we eat a steak, anxious because of the consequences and depressed if we deprive ourselves of it. Therefore, we must know when to hear Dr. Hu to protect our physical health, but we also need to know when to ignore him to protect our mental health.

Stuffo >

UN can lower the price of cocaine

Bolivia president Evo Morales argued – again – for the end of prohibition of using coca leaves, at a UN meeting. Morales wants to return to his country natives the legality of the ancient habit of chewing those leaves, which by its properties, is effective against altitude sickness and masks the sensation of hunger, allowing them to walk through the Andes carrying little food. However, because of those who chew those leaves with their nose, Morales will probably fail to achieve his purpose, despite being on the prestigious top of worse-dressed world leaders. And if so, it will be bad news for the vast half dozen Bolivians who still roam the Andes and also for the few millions of addicts who thought they could save some money.

Reuters >

8 year Indonesian smokes two packs of cigarettes a day

In Indonesia there is no legally established minimum age for smoking and tobacco has a very low price, which causes more people to smoke more and more people to die because of tobacco consumption. We can say that everything is set to all 240 million Indonesians turn into smokers, which is excellent news for the tobacco industry. Also interesting for the glass industry, observing by this child’s case, for when he lacks cigarettes he gets angry, and soon the windows will need their glasses changed.

The Telegraph >

Prisoners of Connecticut will be force fed if necessary

The Supreme Court of Connecticut held that prisoners must be force-fed when they do not wish to do so by their own. This means the guards actually will have to hold any stubborn man who doesn’t want to eat and stick a tube in his mouth down which he will be fed – a practice described as barbaric. Based on our knowledge of the digestive process, surely the same court will soon determine that the prisoners will have to dump by force, if they willingly won’t. We look forward to know what will be the technique to apply then.

Associated Press >

China less harsh on birth control

China will soften the slogans they have been using in favor of its policy of each couple to have only one child. Instead of being raw direct, threatening with sterilization or with the demolition of the family house, will now be more restrained. With the growing influence of China in the Western world, perhaps the countries with an aged population can find in this an inspiration for a rejuvenation policy, suggesting to couples to have more children, saying, for example: "If you have less than six kids, your holidays will have just three months."

BBC >