IMPROVE YOUR ORGASM

You may have thought your sexual pleasure was the one thing that couldn't get any better. Think again.

Woody Allen once said about orgasms, "My worst one was right on the money" Though you may not get to bed the likes of Julia Roberts and Mira Sorvino--as the Woodman does in his movies--it's safe to say that most guys are pretty happy with the way sex feels. And yet, if we told you there are ways to make it feel significantly better, wouldn't you want to know about them? We thought you would.

Practice the following, and while we can't quite promise you'll double your pleasure, you will definitely notice a difference. You'll be happy, your partner will be happy--just about everybody will be happy except the people in the apartment next door. Just remember: Increased pleasure may lead to a faster climax at first, which can be a problem (well, probably more for her than for you). But once you've harnessed the power of your newfound sexual sensitivity, your sex life--and hers--will be better than ever before.

Boost your brain chemistry. While many brain functions combine to help you feel sexual pleasure, one of the most important roles is filled by the neurotransmitter dopamine. In fact, new erection-boosting medications currently in development work by enhancing the way dopamine behaves in the brain. But dopamine levels can also be raised naturally. Eat plenty of protein as well as antioxidant-packed fruits such as blueberries. Don't do drugs and cut down on alcohol, as these substances stimulate dopamine receptors--hence the pleasurable feelings you get from them--but over time desensitize your brain to its own dopamine, so that you need more of it to get the same effect. (Heavy drinking can also eventually harm your nerves, decreasing sensitivity, although by that point, sex may be the least of your problems.)

The best news of all? Studies have found that exercise increases both your dopamine levels and the number of dopamine receptors in your brain--meaning that your workouts will foster your ability to have more pleasure now, without lessening your pleasure in the future.

Exercise your Kegels. Often used by practitioners of tantric sex as a way of retaining their precious bodily fluids during orgasm, Kegel exercises are thought to increase sexual sensation. To do them, simply hold the muscles that control urination. Perform five to 10 contractions for 10 seconds, three to five times a day. The longer you do this, the firmer your contractions will become. After a while, you may find you're having stronger orgasms--and as a welcome side effect, you may have more control over your erections as well.

Hold back. Most guys already know this technique works; they don't do it because, well, who wants to? But once you see how much more pleasure you get from postponing the inevitable--and you start getting compliments on your staying power--you may find that a little restraint goes a long way.

There are several ways to increase the amount of time you can last before climaxing. Perhaps the best is to involve your partner; let her know when you get close, so you can slow or even stop the movements and allow your arousal to subside. Another is to practice slow, deep breathing to keep your excitement from building too quickly. And if you've been doing your Kegels, you can alternately hold and let go of that same muscle to achieve what Kerry and Diane Riley, authors of Sexual Secrets for Men, call "pumping the prostate": "Providing you begin pumping well before a peak is reached, and you pump frequently and firmly, your climax can be delayed as long as you wish."

What's not recommended is the ancient technique of attempting to think of something nonsexual, like baseball box scores. While this may help you last longer, it could also cause you to lose your erection. Besides, for most guys, the image of A-Rod fouling out doesn't exactly enhance the sexual experience.

Grease up. Proper use of a sexual lubricant will "definitely enhance sex," says Marty Klein, Ph.D., a northern California sex therapist and the author of Ask Me Anything. While they're often thought of as a woman's product, lubricants can increase sensation so much that some men who try them once never go without them again. Just remember never to use a petroleum-based product (such as Vaseline) or vegetable oils with a condom, unless you want to see what happens when latex dissolves. A few good water-based brands are AstroGlide (originally developed for NASA!), Probe, Slippery Stuff and KY Liquid (not to be confused with the original KY Jelly).

You don't have to walk into Le Smut Shoppe to buy good lubricants; they're usually available in the condom section of chain drugstores. If you find them messy, go to a gourmet store and get one of those oil misters used for nonstick cooking; fill it with lubricant, then spray where needed without touching the stuff.

Use a pleasure-boosting condom. Isn't technology great? Scientists have been working day and night to improve rubbers, and they've done a pretty good job. The Pleasure Plus, the InSpiral, Trojan's Ultra Pleasure and Durex's Intense Sensation all have pleasure-enhancing designs, some of which feature baggy tips to rub you the right way. You can also find a wider variety of sizes than ever before, ensuring a snug but not-too-tight fit. Don't try to increase your pleasure by doing without the condom, unless you find sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies equally pleasurable.

Change your bike seat. In 1996, MEN'S FITNESS was the first magazine to inform you of the problems bicycle riding could pose to your sex life. As a result of a hard seat pressuring the perineum--that area between your behind and your genitals--guys were finding that reduced blood flow and possibly even nerve damage were sapping their genital sensitivity. Some urologists even believe this could raise your risk of impotence.

With the advent of new seats, there's no reason to endanger your nads. Equip your bike with a male-friendly saddle, one that is well-cushioned and has a groove down the middle to relieve pressure. (Several manufacturers now make high-performance seats with these features.) Be sure the saddle is level and at the right height; you should be able to pedal at the downstroke with your leg extended, but without locking Your knee. Make a point of standing on your bicycle for regular intervals to take the pressure off. And above all, don't fall onto the top bar, especially when mountain biking--this can permanently damage those precious nerves and arteries.

If you're taking these precautions and still feel numbness, consider shortening your rides or switching to a recumbent bicycle, which puts little pressure on the perineum.

Focus on other areas. "Sensitivity in general goes down as you get older," says Texas urologist Kenneth Goldberg, M.D. "If you recognize this, you can attempt to use alternative areas of the body to produce arousal and stimulation."

But why wait? Younger guys tend to focus on the joystick without giving adequate attention to the sensory-input panels that exist all over their bodies. Your bedmate will probably be all too happy to help you figure out where your own best erogenous zones are--especially if you do the same for her.

Children among 39 secret US detainees

US: Amnesty International and five other human rights groups have identified 39 people who are believed to have been held in secret US custody and whose current whereabouts remain unknown. The list also names relatives of suspects who were themselves detained in secret prisons, including children as young as seven.

Amnesty International and five other human rights groups have identified 39 people who are believed to have been held in secret US custody and whose current whereabouts remain unknown. The list also names relatives of suspects who were themselves detained in secret prisons, including children as young as seven.

The 21-page report, Off the Record: US Responsibility for Enforced Disappearances in the War on Terror, includes the names of four people named as "disappeared" prisoners for the first time. The full list includes nationals from countries including Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan and Spain. The men are believed to have been arrested in countries including Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan, and transferred to secret US detention centres.

The US has acknowledged that three of the people on the list have been detained, and the report says there is "strong evidence" that a further 18 were detained in secret prisons.

The report documents the detention of family members of suspected terrorists, apparently in an effort to obtain information about the suspects.

In September 2002, Yusuf al-Khalid (then nine years old) and Abed al-Khalid (then seven years old) were reportedly apprehended by Pakistani security forces during the attempted capture of their father, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He was successfully apprehended several months later, and the US government has acknowledged that he was held in a secret prison before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay.

In an April 16th, 2007, statement, Ali Khan, the father of another prisoner the US has acknowledged was held in secret detention, indicated that Yusef and Abed al-Khalid had been held in the same location as his son.

"The Pakistani guards told my son that the boys were kept in a separate area upstairs, and were denied food and water by other guards. They were also mentally tortured by having ants or other creatures put on their legs to scare them and get them to say where their father was hiding," Mr Khan said.

After Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's arrest in March 2003, Yusuf and Abed al-Khalid were reportedly transferred out of Pakistan for questioning about their father's activities and to be used by the US as leverage to force their father to co-operate.

A Daily Telegraph report on March 10th, 2003, confirmed that CIA interrogators had detained the children and that one official explained that: "We are handling them with kid gloves. After all, they are only little children . . . but we need to know as much about their father's recent activities as possible. We have child psychologists on hand at all times and they are given the best of care."

Immigration: crucial vote fails:

A plan to reform immigration laws that would allow most undocumented immigrants, including thousands of Irish people, to remain in the US legally, hung in the balance last night after it failed a crucial vote in the Senate. A move to limit debate on the Bill, which was drafted jointly by Democrats and moderate Republicans, fell 27 votes short of the 60 needed.

This followed a series of amendments that upset the delicately balanced compromise negotiated by senators and the White House and makes it less likely that the controversial changes can be enacted before President Bush leaves office.

Democratic leader of the Senate Harry Reid set another vote for later yesterday in a bid to rescue the Bill, but Republicans were seeking assurances they would get chances to add several conservative-backed changes that would toughen up the measure.

A "grand bargain" between Democrats and Republicans started to unravel early yesterday when the Senate agreed by 49 votes to 48 to phase out the Bill's temporary worker programme after five years. Business interests and their congressional allies were already angry that the programme had been cut in half from its original target.

Senator Edward Kennedy said politicians would work to patch it up in hopes of eventually passing the Bill but Mr Reid yesterday floated a possible exit argument in case no agreement is reached.

"This is the president's Bill," he said, adding that "a vast majority of Democrats want this legislation to go forward."

Foreign porn stars lose pole positions

Reported Maclean's. Porn star Melissa Wolf had left the adult entertainment industry to sell real estate not long ago. Billed as "North America's Most Published Penthouse Pet," Wolf, now 43, was getting a little long in the tooth. But earlier this year, U.S. authorities raided her Atlanta, Ga., mansion; Wolf now awaits charges of running a brothel out of her $1-million home and has been forced back to the stage to pay her mortgage and legal bills. Luckily, Wolf, who was born Lisa Ann Taylor in Vancouver and performed two Canadian dates some months ago on her Not Guilty Tour, carries a Canadian passport and won't be affected by a recent push from the federal government to ban foreign strippers from Canada. Immigration Minister Diane Finley says her bill is aimed at protecting "vulnerable foreign workers" -- though she allowed it would clean up the same Liberal mess that led to Judy Sgro's resignation from the portfolio under Paul Martin.

But Canadian club managers are worried the move could inadvertently bar headlining U.S. adult entertainers from Canada -- even if they'd likely fall victim to little else than making piles of money. "We still have some premier, top entertainers," says Bryon Gottfredsen, manager of Airways Country Inn, in Nisku. "But there's not a lot of the actual porn stars." Big money is at stake in Alberta, where even no-name dancers earn as much as $10,000 a week. Last August, Airways, which caters to the oil and gas industry, imported up-and-coming porn star Vivian West, a booking that took three months to facilitate. (Wolf also appeared at Airways.)

"If this ruling goes through, I might not be able to bring her back," Gottfredsen complains. Should Finley's bill pass, Wolf might not entirely be in the clear either, even as a Canadian. A reality-show pilot she will star in following her life as a 43-year-old stripper films in Canada this fall. "It's like a Rocky Balboa story and trying to make a comeback," says Wolf. But her roommate and co-star, Nicole Probert -- also known as the Country Club Call Girl -- may have to get a permit.