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From this article:

The Department of Health and Human Services Monday released a proposalthat allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman’s access tocontraception. In order to do this, the Department is attempting toredefine many forms of contraception, the birth control 40% ofAmericans use, as abortion.

These 10 health benefits of sex is backed by scientific scrutiny. Read the article here.

1. Sex Relieves Stress
A big health benefit of sex is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations — such as speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic — and noted their blood pressure response to stress.

Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.

Another study published in the same journal found that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in cohabiting participants. Yet other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.

2. Sex Boosts Immunity
Good sexual health may mean better physical health. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had.

Those in the “frequent” group — once or twice a week — had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups — who reported being abstinent, having sex less than once a week, or having it very often, three or more times weekly.

3. Sex Burns Calories
Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.

“Sex is a great mode of exercise,” says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.

4. Sex Improves Cardiovascular Health
While some older folks may worry that the efforts expended during sex could cause a stroke, that’s not so, according to researchers from England. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found frequency of sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years.

And the heart health benefits of sex don’t end there. The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.

5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem
Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex, collected by University of Texas researchers and published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass., although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better. “One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves,” she tells WebMD. “Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it.”

6. Sex Improves Intimacy
Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps us bond and build trust. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina evaluated 59 premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands and partners ending with hugs. They found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.

“Oxytocin allows us to feel the urge to nurture and to bond,” Britton says.

Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you’re feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.

7. Sex Reduces Pain
As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.

In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain threshold by more than half.

8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk
Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life, Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International. When they followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without, they found no association of prostate cancer with the number of sexual partners as the men reached their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

But they found men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third.

Another study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men, as well, compared with less frequent ejaculations of four to seven monthly.

9. Sex Strengthens Pelvic Floor Muscles
For women, doing a few pelvic floor muscle exercises known as Kegels during sex offers a couple of benefits. You will enjoy more pleasure, and you’ll also strengthen the area and help to minimize the risk of incontinence later in life.

To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.

10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better
The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, according to research.

And getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure. Something to think about, especially if you’ve been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.

According to this Durex survey they do…

Americans spend nearly three hours every week grooming themselves, but less than one hour on foreplay and sexual intercourse. It’s no wonder that only 46% of us describe our love lives as exciting, or existent for that matter.

Also we only have sex once every 4.3 days while the global average is once every 3.5 days.

Great article from Dethroner.

• My lover and I enjoy role-play, but I’ve gotten tired of thesame cliché scenarios like student/teacher and boss/secretary. Anyrecommendations for new roles that might help spice it up?

I don’t know what system you’re playing, but “student/teacher” and“boss/secretary” do not sound like choices that would inspire one torole-playing greatness. Consider a classic like “cleric of the watcherfrom the depths/virgin” or “half-orc paladin/gelatinous cube.” Andremember, silken rope may be more expensive, but it’s nearly half theweight in encumbrance.

• I’ve been dating someone really great for a few months, buthe’s never referred to me as his girlfriend. How do I take it toanother Level?

While the obvious answer is “Accomplish a story task in theboyfriend track for XP equal or greater to your next level threshold,”I get the feeling you might be hinting that you want to descend intothe fetid labyrinth that festers beneath his ancient wizard’s tower. Inthat case the stairs are in quadrant M23, behind the Throne of theKobold Hetman.

• I’m into S&M and so is my lover, but we can’t afford tovisit a dungeon. How can we create a dungeon ambiance at home withoutgoing broke?

It’s been years since I’ve seen anyone playing that proto-system“Swords & Magic!” Kudos to your fine taste; And huzzah. Do notdiscount the scene-setting potential of ambient background noise. May Irecommend “Swords & Magic Scintillating Soundscapes: Volume IV:Bigby’s Blue Basement”? (Available on reel-to-reel and microcassette.)

• What’s more important: 18 Dexterity, or 18 Endurance (or 18 Charisma)?

Note: “Endurance” is, in D&D parlance, “Constitution.” I mean duh!

Depending on your chosen character class, any could important. Ahigh charisma makes it dead simple to lure lusty tavern wenches up toyour three-copper mat of straw. (Hint: Use clean straw for that specialsomeone!) A high Constitution allows one to produce up to 1d3+1draughts of seminal fluid per round, ensuring a high success percentageon any procreation rolls. I have heard — and ye be tellin’ no man n’erbeast from whence this knowledge sprang — that a high Dex gives one theability to give pleasure to others. I suspect it’s an urban arcanum legend.

• I think nerdy women are hot. Where and how do I meet them?

Where? 1. DragonCon 2. WyrmCon 3. WyvernCon 4. TiamatCon 5. The Texas Instruments Graphing Calculator Showroom.

How? I recommend telephoto lens, at least 300mm.

• My girlfriend is older and more experienced than me. What can I do to impress her in bed?

Ah ha! Clearly you are looking for Feats, introduced in the ThirdEdition ruleset, which offer a variety of abilities that can be used toimpress or distract your opponent. Consider: “Acrobatic,” “Alertness,”“Animal Affinity,” “Armor Proficiency (Medium),” and “Athletic.” (Andthat’s just from the As!)

See also: “Blind-Fight,” “Cleave,” “Craft Rod,” “Deflect Arrows,”“Enlarge Spell,” “Extend Spell,” “Greater Two-Weapon Fighting,” “IronWill,” “Mounted Combat,” “Rapid Reload,” or “Shot on the Run.”(Actually, pretty much all the Feats are gold.)

• What skills do D&D players have that can be applied to sex?

I can open a two-liter of Mountain Dew with the armored ridge of my taint. ’nuff said.

• Is it possible to have sex with someone if you don’t respect their character?

No. If you can’t pretend to respect the person they pretend to be,how can they expect you to pretend to respect the person they are? Askthem to re-roll.

• I am a 27-year old virgin. It’s not that I’m unattractive ortotally uncool, I just never found anyone I really wanted. But now I’mready. Where should I go to lose my virginity in a really memorable way?

Chuck, you asshole. It’s one thing to miss the game but you were onBurrito Supreme duty. Get thee over to my place tomorrow and we’ll do asolo adventure that should satisfy your curiosity. Bring your latexdice bag.

• I have a medieval costume fetish. How do I interest a partner in this?

Easy as regenerating a limb with troll’s blood! Are you a woman?Simply dress up in a bikini, link together a few pop can tabs intosomething resembling chain mail, and drape your “armor” over yourcrotch or breasts.

Are you a man? Oh, fucking forget about it. You can call it your“Wand of Wonder” all you like but she’s still going to laugh at yourcape.

• My last lover cheated on me. How can I learn to trust again?

Experience is a harsh mistress. Or wait, no, Xytherias of Calmodorn is a harsh mistress. XP is just a bitch.

In a recent comic book by Kaare Andrews called Spider-Man: Reign, Mary Jane has died of cancer because of Spider-man’s sperm.

Actual dialog from comic:

“Oh God, I’m sorry! The doctors didn’t understand how it happened! How you had been poisoned by radioactivity! How your body slowly became riddled with cancer! I did. I was… I am filled with radioactive blood. And not just blood. Every fluid. Touching me… loving me… Loving me killed you!”

That’s right kids, radioactive spider-sperm!

That’s the sign of someone who clearly gave a great deal of time considering all of the ramifications of the radioactive spider bite.