Drinking and STDs...

The owner of this wine and liquor store must surely have a sense of humour, right?

I guess this means that the link between excessive drinking and STDs is no longer anecdotal, is it?

The photo came courtesy of The Huffington Post this time (I have seen it before as it has done the rounds of the internet and email inboxes).

The Pope Sees the Light...

Pope Benedict XVI has seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not Jesus. The Pope, God bless his soul, has finally worked out that abstinence, although the best solution, is not a reality that the Catholic Church can make happen. Well, not unless they start forcibly restraining unmarried or un-partnered couples.

Condoms, particularly the use of them, are not a 100% effective way of preventing the spread of STD or STI. However, they do significantly better than the option of taking a shower without a raincoat. In any event, the Pope's support is not blanket support for the idea that the Catholic Church facilitate a program of condom distribution through its parishes.

The Pope's support suggests that prostitutes, and in particular male prostitutes,would be beginning to act responsibly if they were to start using condoms. I might have to go out and get the book from which the Pope's comments are sourced: Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times. And, the news story that I pilfered for this piece was quoting from excerpts that were published in The Vatican rag, L’Osservatore Romano.

The Catholic Church has adopted a position that is anti-condom use. It has maintained this position in the face of some intense and harsh criticism. So, is this statement by the Pope indicative of a softening in the position of the Catholic Church? No, it is not. The Pope was very explicit in restricting his comments to a very narrow range of condom use. His choice of male prostitutes was undoubtedly a conscious one that was sort to deflect any concerns about condoms being used as a contraceptive device. The position of the Catholic Church with respect to the use of condoms as a form of contraception remains unchanged.

Yet, when it is all said and done, there is an argument to be made that this may in fact be a first step in recognising that the issue of HIV / AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease and infection is an issue that transcends simple arguments of morality. It is an issue that has and will continue to be a measure of the times in which we live, particularly if you live in Africa or Asia.

Progress is progress even if it is in small and scripted steps.

Mobile Phones and the STD Test Application...

After the Ugly Meter which seems to be nothing more than a little frivolity there is the possibility that scientists will hit the STD test jackpot so to speak. It is being reported that in the not too distant future STD testing can be done at home or with the help of your trusty mobile phone. The test will be as simple as providing a little urine sample on a computer chip and placing it into your phone and waiting for the phone to spit out the results.

Not all experts are of the belief that this technology is imminent in the consumer-ready sense. However, it seems that it is not something that is outside the realm of possibility. The experts have developed simple test kits for HIV. So, the future is nigh, so to speak.

However, the technology raises some interesting nocturnal entertainment possibilities, don't you think? Going out on the turps on a Friday and Saturday night and entering the one-night stand lottery need not result in a recurring case of STD. The reality will be that right next to the condoms in the wallet or purse will be the STD computer chips. It would be pretty funny to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. "So, I am really looking forward to getting down and dirty with you, but before we do would you mind if I watched you pee on this computer chip?" Sort of crushes the moment, doesn't it?

Nevertheless, the old adage of "it is better to be safe than sorry" might make it cheaper in the long run. All the same, I am wondering what happens when the mobile phone pipes up..."Warning, Warning, Warning, don't do it, Chlamydia!" or "Warning, Warning, Warning, do not go there...Gonorrhea!"

It is a good idea. Anything that keeps our young, and perhaps old, people healthy is a worthwhile cause. Yet, it is still one of those things that you find yourself shaking your head at, like will it still work once the beer goggles are on?

Toys for Children -- Stuffed STDs

It is mid-September and getting close to Christmas. We have been planning to get away and go up the New South Wales north coast for a week or so just after Christmas. This obviously gets one to thinking about buying gifts in preparation for the big day where the fat fella in a red suit comes down the chimney and leaves a bag full of goodies for the kid.

Anyways, the best place to get ideas for gifts I reckon is the internet. So, online I went.

The above is what I found. It was one of those moments where one shakes their head, smiles, and then thinks, "I wonder who bought one or all of those?"

You can see the water cooler conversation now, can't you?

John: Hey Bill, what did you get your kid for Christmas?

Bill: I gave him chlamydia and the pox! What about yourself? What did you give yours?

John: Funnily enough, I gave my kid the clap and herpes.

There is something that does not sit right with the idea of making stuffed toys to represent sexually transmitted diseases or infections (STD / STI) and then giving them to children.

Imagine your kid takes one of these stuffed toys to school:

Teacher: Johnny, what did you get for your birthday?

Little Johnny: Miss, my parents gave me the clap!

Teacher: Oh, OK, how do you like it?

God is Love -- Jesus Supports the Use of Condoms

I fully expect to offend people with the picture that leads off this post. I do not apologize for the message of this piece. Thanks to the Freethinker for illuminating this controversy for me here and here.

Sexually transmitted diseases of all types are slowly but surely decimating our collective future. The idea that abstinence is the answer has proven to be clearly not the case. The need here is to ensure that people are fully educated and therefore able to make informed decisions on their own. If abstinence happens to be that choice, then all well and good. However, if the choice is a different one, then at least those individuals will have at their disposal the knowledge that may just save their lives.

The art work is by Ben Heine, a Belgian, and was in direct response to the statements of the Pope and his fellow clergy members who seem to believe that it says somewhere in the Bible that condom use is strictly prohibited and that the use of condoms actually makes the HIV / AIDS tragedy in places like Africa even worse. The art work was posted on a site called DeviantArt. Unfortunately, DeviantArt in their infinite wisdom deemed the work too offensive or controversial or something because they removed it, and then ultimately banned Heine from the site.

I fully support the right of websites to determine their own content. However, a quick look around the DeviantArt site turns up quite a lot of art that would best be described as pornographic and perhaps even offensive to some, not to me though. So, why single out this piece of art for censorship? Come to think of it, I am not offended by Jesus wearing a condom or the idea that the Christian God is a God of Love and would be cool with a pro-condom message. This is not because it encourages promiscuity but to the contrary because it saves souls from agonizing and pointless deaths.

The right to freely express one's ideas is a core tenet of my philosophy on life. I have not and do not advocate that there are no limits to free speech, in fact quite to the contrary. However, sometimes free speech sometimes offends, and causing offense does not necessarily mean that it has crossed that uncrossable line in the sand where it is no longer protected. My personal opinion is that I can accept some people will be offended by the image, but I do not believe the image crosses the line.

Is it in bad taste? To each their own.

Sexual Barrier Protection Devices.

The Internet is a great repository for all kinds of stuff that can be used as base materials for teaching. I teach the odd legal drafting, plain English legal writing, and English for Lawyers courses, and have found some more material for this subject.

A bill to be entitled

An act relating to state inmates; authorizing a nonprofit or public health care organization to distribute sexual barrier protection devices to inmates in the state correctional system; requiring the Department of Corrections to develop a plan to properly dispose of used sexual barrier protection devices; providing an effective date.

I have the Silent Majority to thank for the link.

This is a piece of legislation that is on the cards for Florida. I am actually not so much against the legislation and do not have any moral or ethical issues with the provision of sexual barrier protection devices to inmates of correctional facilities. There are good reasons for the provision of these devices, such as seeking to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in jails, including HIV, among others.

I was intrigued by what a sexual barrier protection device is. Unfortunately, the bill does not specify in the limited extract I have as to what might be included. It does mention condoms, but I get the distinct feeling that there is more to this than just condoms. Nevertheless, it is still a good lesson in legal drafting.

When one wants legal certainty then it pays to be specific or in this case explicit. It is worth noting that a simple Google search turns up a lot of hits for the term but not a lot of definitive answers.

Oral Sex

The heading of this post reflects the content and is by no means a cynical attempt to boost visitor numbers to my humble abode. Then again maybe it is that too!

Let's face it oral sex is no longer taboo like it might once have been and it certainly is no longer solely practiced by members of the oldest profession in the world. The Australian Sexual Health Congress being held in Perth that some 90 per cent of those under 30 have partaken in what is conveniently named "going down under" seeing the congress is in Australia and all. It is interesting that so many people have now started to poke their collective heads around down stairs so to speak

Sex experts (I have always wondered whether or not this means you have had more practice than others and are therefore an expert?) suggest that the sharp rise in those prepared to try are doing so because of better hygiene standards and feminism. I am not sure how the feminism angle plays out but I am guessing more women are exercising the right to be pleasured and get pleasured (not sure that sounds right, but whatever).

Besides oral sex lost a lot of the taboo associated with it when good ol' Billy Clinton decided that oral sex was not really sex when he shook his finger at the assembled media and uttered those now famous words, "I did not have sexual relations with that women!" The rest they say is history. It certainly gave "that woman" aka Monica Lewinsky more than 15 minutes of fame, it did give us the now infamous blue dress with the seminal stains of a serving US president, and myriad of bit part players and their testimony.

The sexperts are also theorizing that people are looking for greater variety in their sexual experiences. Hence going where they have not gone before is perhaps an exciting challenge. It is also theorized that oral sex means that there is no need to think primarily of contraception. The list of theories continues with that oral sex is less likely to result in HIV infection. However, don't count your chickens before they hatch as it seems some other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as gonorrhea and herpes are on the increase in practitioners of oral sex.

So, if you are one of those people that have never been downstairs then you should be happy knowing that you are part of an ever-decreasing minority.

Circumcision and STDs

A recent study is one of good and bad news with respect to circumcision. A study conducted in Africa by the US National Institutes of Health evidenced that the rates of HIV / AIDS infection in circumcised men fell by 50% compared to their non-circumcised colleagues. However, another study shows that circumcision does not seem to protect men from other more common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These are part of a number of studies that have examined this issue.

A study out of South Africa showed even more promising figures where circumcision was shown to reduce HIV infection by 60%. For African countries that are in the midst of a HIV / AIDS pandemic these are encouraging figures.

Nevertheless, a New Zealand study has shown that circumcision does not protect men from other common STDs like herpes, chlamydia, and genital warts.

The results and discussions of the studies can be found in the International Journal of Epidemiology (online) and the Journal of Pediatrics, 152: 383-387, 2008.