The Russians have a problem in that they don’t produce enough offspring and they tend to die a lot younger  than they should, hence a declining population.  The folks in Ulyanovsk, Russia think they have the solution.  They’ve declared September 12 the Day of Conception and given couples time off from work to go and be fertile. 

It gets better.

On June 12, Russia’s national day, the proud parents who "give birth to a patriot" on that day win "money, car, refrigerators, and other prizes."  Now that’s what I call a Patriot Act! From the article:

Everyone who has a
baby in an Ulyanovsk hospital on Russia Day gets some kind of prize.
But the grand prize winners are couples judged to be the fittest
parents by a committee that deliberates for two weeks over the
selection.

The 2007
grand prize went to Irina and Andrei Kartuzov, who received a
UAZ-Patriot, an SUV made in Ulyanovsk. They told reporters they were
planning to have another child anyway when they heard about the
contest.

Irina Kartuzova had to have a Caesarian section to deliver the baby and it was scheduled for June 12.

The
selection committee chose the Kartuzovs from among the 78 couples
because of their “respectability” and “commendable parenting” of
their two older children, a spokesman for the governor said.

It’s not just the Ulyanovskovites who think they need to be aggressive in boosting the birthrate. In his state of the nation address last year Russian president Darth Vader Dick Cheney Vladimir Putin declared the declining population the most acute problem facing the country and announced a "broad effort to boost Russia’s birthrate, including cash incentives to families to have more than one child."

Ulyanovsk’s Governor, Sergei Morozov, added the fun twist in his region with the Day of Conception and the Russia Day bonuses, and it seems to be working.  Ulyanovsk’s birthrate is up 4.5% this year over the same time last year.

I’m thinking that we should all show our support for the Ulyanovskovites by participating on September 12.  We should take the day off and, you know, do what any good Ulyanovskovite would do.  Honey?