Harry Popper Condom

Studio stands up against Swiss manufacturer of ‘Harry Popper’ condoms for copyright infringement.
It’s the boy wizard as you’ve never seen him before. He has the trademark round spectacles and the regulation magic wand. But his tongue is extended in a lascivious manner and his thoughts are purely carnal. For good measure, he is in the guise of a pink, pimpled prophylactic.
Unsurprisingly, not everyone is amused. Warner Bros this week sued the Swiss manufacturer of the “Harry Popper” condoms for copyright infringement. “The image of my client is in danger,” a studio lawyer complained to the Swiss newspaper Bote. “This is clearly a reference to the film and fictional character of Harry Potter. Everyone who sees the condoms automatically thinks of Harry Potter.” The Harry Popper condoms have reportedly been on sale since 2006.
The Harry Potter brand is worth an estimated £15bn and lawyers for both Warner Bros and author JK Rowling have earned a reputation for protecting their product. In 2008, the studio launched a similar lawsuit against a Hindi-language Bollywood production, Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors. The suit was eventually thrown out by an Indian court.
For the time being, condom manufacturers Magic X are standing firm. “Our product has nothing to do with Harry Potter,” claimed a spokesperson for the company.
from The Guardian
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SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA – A Mission Viejo man who claims he chewed on a condom while eating soup at an Orange County Claim Jumper restaurant will have his case heard in court.
Philip Hodousek, 51, is seeking unspecified damages and a public apology from the Irvine-based restaurant chain and any vendor associated with making the soup, the Orange County Register reported.
Hodousek was offered a $30,000 settlement by the company, according to his attorney, Eric Traut. Hodousek reportedly wants to repair his tarnished reputation.
According to court documents, Hodousek and his wife, Sherry, along with their then 18-year-old daughter went to the Claim Jumper restaurant in Mission Viejo to enjoy an Easter Brunch on Sunday, April 12, 2009.
Hodousek said he ordered several items, including a bowl of french onion soup.
As he ate the soup, he felt what he believed was a tough piece of cheese on the side of his mouth. When he couldn’t chew it into pieces, he told his family that it felt like rubber, according to the court filing.
Hodousek says he spit it out into his napkin, at which time his wife said, “Oh my God, it’s a condom.” Hodousek says he then vomited in the men’s bathroom.
After speaking with the server, the restaurant’s general manager, Marc Hadley, came over to the table and explained that the item was a rubber glove used by employees to prepare food and apologized, the documents state. Hodousek insists upon further investigation it was determined the item was not a rubber glove, but clearly a condom.
Hodousek snapped a picture of the item with his cell phone, wrapped it in a napkin and took it with him.
Hodousek had the condom tested by Lab Corp in North Carolina, and preliminary tests revealed female DNA.
According to Traut, Claim Jumper Enterprises, Inc. conducted its own tests but has not provided all the results.
Last July, Hodousek admitted to owing the state and federal governments nearly $300,000 in back taxes and penalties, but said his debt and the restaurant incident are unrelated, the O.C. Register reported.
Traut says the Hodousek family wants their name cleared of any wrongdoing.
from KTLA-TV

SWITZERLAND – An extra small condom for boys as young as 12 is going on sale in Switzerland.
The condom is being produced because a study conducted in 2008 showed that 12 to 14-year-old boys did not protect themselves sufficiently when having sex.
Young boys often cannot find a suitably sized condom, Bettina Maeschli, spokeswoman of the Swiss Aids Federation said on Monday.
The organisation got together with two others working in the area of sexual health to have the condoms produced.
Initially 55,000 packs containing one small and one normal-sized condom are being manufactured. The manufacturer, Lamprecht AG, will produce more if necessary. Maeschli said no figures were available to indicate possible demand.
The condoms, named “Ceylor Hotshot” will be sold over the counter, and Swiss Aids Foundation will also sell them via the internet. In addition, they will be distributed to sex educationalists so that they can inform boys about the importance of using the correct size.
from Swiss Info

VANCOUVER, CANADA – One of the Olympic stats most talked about around Vancouver this weekend wasn’t medals or scores, per se, but condoms. One hundred thousand condoms are being given out in the Athletes’ Village, which adds up to 14.6 condoms for each of the 6,850 athletes and officials expected to attend the Olympics and Paralympics. And apparently, that’s what happens when you get the hottest, healthiest young people together for two weeks.
Or is it? The questions that come to mind are why so many condoms are needed by those bobsledders, skaters and other athletes? And why there’s so much interest in the number they go through anyway? After all, I haven’t seen any reports of the number of Q-tips or toilet paper needed to fulfill the whims of the denizens of Athletes Village
The official condom count
Officials have handed out free condoms to athletes since the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona. In the next Summer Games in Sydney, the initial supply of 70,000 ran out, and organizers had to order 20,000 more. Then in Athens, officials brought in a whopping 130,000. And most recently, in Beijing, organizers brought in 100,000, all with the motto “faster, higher, stronger,” then auctioned off the leftover 5,000.
So the magic number seems to be about 100,000: for winter or summer. That works out to about once a day for the two-week event, which starts to approach Wilt Chamberlain’s rate (who claimed he slept with over 20,000 women over his life, and bragged about sleeping with 23 women in 10 days).
So the magic number seems to be about 100,000: for winter or summer. Assuming that most condoms are used between two athletes, the number presupposes 29 encounters in two weeks. That’s two a day, and rivals Wilt Chamberlain’s rate (who >claimed he slept with over 20,000 women over his life, and bragged about sleeping with 23 women in 10 days).
Athlete friends of mine say that one reason for the condom binge is that many competitors abstain from sex for up to six weeks before the Olympics, supposedly to build maximum testosterone levels and get a competitive advantage. So after their event, more than one champagne cork pops, so to speak.
That’s compounded by the fact that many athletes of this level have committed themselves primarily to sport, so don’t have partners or kids. And therefore are, um, able to hook up after their events (and body parts) are wrapped up.
Boys (and girls) in the bubble?
But it’s more than that, according to Jennifer Matthews, who authored the Whistler Guys’ Study as part of her graduate work in health promotion studies at the University of Alberta. She followed the sexual encounters of 15 guys aged 19-31 in Whistler, and said certain factors create a nexus for “hook ups.”
There can be a kind of bubble created when young people are in a culture of fitness with its focus on physicality, are away from home and their normal environment, know few people and therefore are constantly in meeting-and-socializing mode, and are in a celebratory or party atmosphere. That’s all compounded when there is alcohol involved (and who knows what goes on behind the walls of the Athletes Village?).
The bubble feeling creates a sense that the “normal rules don’t apply,” which can affect the frequency of sexual encounters and the use of protection. In a bubble can be a sense of “living only for the moment.”
“If you’re not playing by the normal rules, you may be less likely to use a condom,” says Matthews. “You might think, ‘Oh, I usually do, but I got carried away by the moment.’ But STIs don’t make that distinction. As human beings, we make exceptions, but viruses don’t.”?
Preventing unwanted souvenirs
Dr. Reka Gustafson, medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority said in a recent Vancouver Sun article that handing out condoms to athletes is an opportunity to put positive health promotion messages out there, and reinforce the message of controlling sexually transmitted diseases.
Matthews cautions that we can’t necessarily estimate the number of sexual incidents by the number of condoms being handed out. (Who knows, maybe it’s a better souvenir than a country pin?). No studies have been done to track the actual sexual activity by athletes at a Games, or whether athletes take more risks than others. ??
But because of the likelihood factors, she said there’s a strong likelihood that there’s a lot of activity. She also said it likely varies by sub-culture: that certain sports have different language, behavioral, and even sexual norms.??
But even though there’s no proof, and the condom stat is often met with laughter, health officials are probably on the right track. And in addition to the STI issue, it’s probably not a great idea to end up with a baby boom nine months from now, even though those kids would be ridiculously genetically gifted.
But what’s arguably even more fascinating about this story than public health issues, STI rates, hook up rates, or even unwanted pregnancy rates, is why the public is so interested in it.  ?
Why do you care?
“People like the story of athletes and sex,” says Matthews. They’re “titillated” by the idea, especially because it all happens behind closed doors.
That plays into the way “media uses sexuality, creating it as mysterious, taboo and exciting. Who doesn’t want a part of that? Sexual imagery in the media is almost exclusively young, fit people,” so “athletes are sexy by definition.
“She thinks people are also interested in sex stories because in general, when it comes to sex people “somehow feel as though they are missing out on something. Sex has been sold to us as this incredible experience, and I think most people’s human, messy, less-than-explosive experiences just can’t live up to those expectations.”
They grab on to stories like the supposed athletes’ sex party because “people want to understand if they are ‘normal’” so information they glean from other people’s stories, becomes the bar they compare themselves to. Whether or not those stories are true.
“It is ironic that we live in such a sexually explicit culture and yet know so little about sexuality.”
from The Tyee

Condoms that do not fit right could break and may reduce sexual pleasure for both partners, suggesting reasons why men and women often fail to use them, researchers reported on Monday.
The study has implications for countries trying to encourage people to use condoms to reduce the risk of AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy, the researchers reported in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
“Men and their female sex partners may benefit from public health efforts designed to promote the improved fit of condoms,” Dr. Richard Crosby of the University of Kentucky and Dr. Bill Yarber of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Indiana wrote.
They surveyed 436 men aged 18 to 67 for their study.
Nearly half — 45 percent — said they had used a badly fitting condom during the previous three months.
These men were more than 2 times as likely to say the condom broke or slipped when they used it. They also often reported it was irritating to wear.
The men who wore poorly fitting condoms were twice as likely to say that using one reduced sexual pleasure for themselves and their partners.
The findings may make some people giggle, but the researchers said the implications were serious. Men will often not buy condoms sized “small” or even “medium,” they said.
“Moreover, the increased likelihood that men using ill-fitting condoms will remove condoms before sex ends constitutes another form of condom failure. Fortunately, it seems likely that these problems could be rectified through education programs,” the researchers wrote.
from Reuters

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Without discussion, the Milwaukee School Board voted 7-0 Thursday night to make condoms available at many of the city’s high schools, paving the way to make Milwaukee Public Schools one of the relatively few districts in the nation to provide contraception to students.
The communicable disease prevention program, as the district calls it, could be in place as soon as the 2010-’11 school year.
The proposal sparked some opposition after being made public Dec. 2, but the board approved the condom distribution without much dissent. Comments from the public are not allowed at board meetings and a board committee had voted 5-0 on Dec. 9 to recommend adopting the program.
The condoms will be available free of charge, but only to students in high schools that have school nurses and only after students request them at the nurse’s office, according to a fact sheet circulated by the school district. Up to two condoms will be distributed at a time.
Thursday’s vote does not authorize funding for the program, but the district has said it will not use taxpayer money to buy condoms and instead will seek other sources of funding.
In proposing the program, the school district said a 2009 study found that nearly 63% of MPS high school students were sexually active, and that nearly one-third of those students had not used a condom the last time they had sexual intercourse.
Also cited were figures that rate Milwaukee high among U.S. cities in births to teen mothers and “particularly high” in the incidence of certain sexually transmitted diseases.
The district noted that its sex education policy takes an abstinence-based approach to reducing the risk of communicable diseases. And it says research shows that students are more likely to use condoms if they are available in schools but no more likely to be sexually active.
When the proposal was first publicized, Sally Ladky, executive director of the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Abstinence Coalition, said that a comprehensive medical exam, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and a full report of a student’s medical and family history should be required before any school offered a student contraception.
Citing the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the school district said 4.5% of high schools in the country make condoms available to students.
Last month, Democrats in the state Legislature tried to pass a bill that would require schools that teach sex education to instruct students about birth control, but Republicans blocked final passage of the measure.
Republicans offered amendments – rejected by Democrats – that would have required schools to teach students about fetal development and the potential for criminal charges against underage students for having sex.
from The Journal Sentinel

SOUTH AFRICA – A suggestion that South African condoms should be branded with footballs during the 2010 World Cup is “nuts”, Cape Town’s mayor has said.
The proposal, by lobby groups working with prostitutes, is part of a debate around plans to try to prevent HIV/Aids spreading during the tournament.
The South Africa National Aids Council and Sex World Education Advocacy Group also wants prostitution decriminalised.
But Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato is resisting such calls.
“I’m not in favour of legalising prostitution; I’m very worried about young girls who prostitute themselves standing in the streets,” South Africa’s Pretoria News paper quotes him as saying.
Some 5.2m South Africans have HIV – the highest number of people living with the virus in one country in the world.
An estimated 450,000 visitors are expected to visit South Africa for the World Cup which starts in June next year.
from The BBC
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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON – Though a recent study by Trojan implies sexual-health awareness at the UW is decreasing, students and staff seem to doubt the legitimacy of the study.
In the annual Sexual Health Report Card ranking sponsored by Trojan Condoms and conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces, the UW placed 91st out of 141 colleges in the United States.
This number demonstrates a significant decrease from the past two years. Between 2007 and 2008, the UW dropped from third place to 74th place and has since dropped 17 more places in the past year.
The ranking structure is based on 13 separate criteria, ranging from “student opinion of the health center” to “condom availability.” Each category receives a grade, all of which are combined to create an overall “GPA” that represents sexual health at the specific school. Despite the UW’s low ranking and 2.52 GPA, the results show eight “B’s,” three “C’s,” and only one “D” in student survey answers, and one “F” in availability of an anonymous sex-help hotline.
In a handout sent out to all ranked schools, Trojan expressed their reasons for conducting this annual study.
“America has poor sexual health, and the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card is another iteration of our efforts to raise awareness and spark conversation about the importance of sexual health,” the handout said.
However, Mark Shaw, UW director of health promotion, believes the survey to be subjective.
“I do not feel this survey is legitimate,” he said. “The same information was given [this year], and a vastly different ‘ranking’ resulted. That shows that the people interpreting the information at the other end, who would be different from year to year, respond differently to what’s given to them.”
Though one of the lowest scores was received in the “student survey” category, this score may not accurately represent the student body. Bert Sperling, founder of Sperling’s BestPlaces, explained the methods in acquiring survey responses.
“[The survey] was something new for us in the last two years,” Sperling said. “So that might be part of [the low ranking]. One thing I have noticed looking at the UW’s brief is that the overall student perceptions are not particularly great regarding the health center, for whatever reason.”
The survey, which was advertised through Facebook to each school on the report card, asked general questions regarding trust in the health center and knowledge of sexual-health services. However, only 75 students participated in the quiz about sexual health at the UW, Sperling said.
Despite the reported low opinions provided in the student survey, there is a myriad of opportunities to seek out sexual-health assistance. Through the University Health Education Leadership Program (UHELP), students can pay $15 for a membership card in the Condom Club and use the card up to 10 times, receiving five condoms per use. However, unlike schools such as Washington State University and Western Washington University, the UW does not offer free condoms on a consistently available basis.
Aside from the Condom Club, UHELP also offers presentations for any group that is interested, especially Freshman Interest Groups. During presentations, the group’s speakers discuss contraceptives and other areas of sexual health, as well as conducting an interactive game for students called “Condom Olympics,” which focuses on “contraceptives, their uses, effectiveness and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),” Shaw said.
Though normally a drop in ranking may represent a decrease in the efforts of sexual-health groups, UHELP peer health educator Will Kappes says the only change in the UHELP program is advertising.
“We have a Web site, and we just designed a poster that you can see on the door, and we’re getting T-shirts really soon,” he said. “So we’re getting advertising on the way. We actually do have committees as well: presentation, marketing and events committees.”
In regard to other categories that affect the UW’s ranking, Hall Health also offers STD testing for a fee, drop-in appointments, peer health educators, and a committee to prevent rape and sexual violence.
“A more objective instrument to use could be the National College Health Assessment (NCHA),” Shaw said. Though not specifically geared toward sexual health, the NCHA provides a more comprehensive survey, with approximately 245,000 students at 400 colleges and universities participating.
from The Daily University of Washington

Research from America shows that men who make use of the medications Viagra, Cialis and Levitra are four times more probable to end up with broken condoms than men who do not use these medications. However another study done by the same researchers last year showed that there was no link but nevertheless more research needs to be done in this area for a better understanding of the way that Viagra affects condom use.
The study was done with a group of 440 volunteers who regularly used condoms for vaginal sex. Just under ten percent of the men used a condom and for this group twelve percent reported condom breakage compared to only five percent of the group who did not make use of an erectile dysfunction medication. The researchers also reported that men who had sex for a longer period of time were also be more likely to experience their condom breaking.
The group of researchers said that it is possible that because the use of erectile dysfunction drugs increases the strength and hardness of an erection it may be that that the condoms are put under more pressure than usual. They suggested that the drugs manufacturers should possibly advise that when using a condom with their products it would be important to check that the size of the condom was sufficient.
When conducting this sort of research it is extremely difficult to come up with accurate results unless a very large pool of volunteers can be found to conduct research over a long period of time. In order to get 100 percent accurate results it would also be necessary to use standard condom products.
Since erectile dysfunction drugs allow you to have sex for a longer period of time it is pretty obvious that condom breakage is more likely to occur, however to blame Viagra, Cialis and Levitra alone for these incidents is not really justifiable as many other factors come into play. It could be the use of poor quality condoms, badly fitting condoms or just incorrect usage of them.
This research which was published in the medical journal Sexually Transmitted Infections is likely to aggravate the debate surrounding the use of Viagra and its cousins and the spread of STD’s which we have previously written about at Ukmedix News and also which AIDS charities often complain about.
from UK Medix
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FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA – With a history dating back to 1000 B.C., condoms are the most common form of contraception and can be purchased at nearly any convenience or drug store. They are easy to come by and many clinics give them away for free. At Cal State Fullerton, the Student Health and Counseling Center often gives out free rubbers at events like the Health Fair.
While name-brand condoms like Trojan and Lifestyles typically range from $4.49 to $5.99 for a three-pack, the Health Center sells both brands for only 10 cents each. On an information board in the pharmacy, students are confronted with a math equation that equals affordable safety: For the price of three Trojan-brand condoms at a standard drug store, Titans can get 60 at the SHCC. The variety of condoms shifts occasionally, but high-end protection is always available during pharmacy hours.
Titan or not, an even cheaper solution sits just on the corner of State College Boulevard and Chapman Avenue: the local 99 Cents Only Store. A pack of 12 brightly-colored bits of protection is, you guessed it, only 99 cents. This equates to about eight cents apiece, a steal with a two-cent savings compared to on-campus condoms.
Two cents can add up to big bucks in savings, depending on your investment in the practice of safe sex.
Despite the news of the minimal cost, many students on campus are wary of the idea of using a condom from a discount store.
“It’s the 99 Cents Store. I would use hangers from the 99 Cents Store. I would use screws and screwdrivers. I wouldn’t buy condoms like I wouldn’t buy food at the 99 Cents Store,” said Nickolas Jones, 26, a CSUF graduate student.
“The price itself says a lot,” said Aziel Manago, 19, a pre-nursing major. True, the price does say a lot, but what it says is safe sex is being made affordable for virtually everyone within driving distance of one of the company’s 279 store locations in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas. There are spermicidal, ribbed and colored varieties, among others, to choose from.
The two brands that can always be found at most locations in Southern California are Fantasy and Trustex. Both are products of Line One Laboratories, a distributor based in Pasadena, Calif.
Contrary to assumptions made by some surveyed students, the condoms are only cheap in price, not quality.
The condoms are not in the chain of stores because they are defective or old. Boxes at the State College and Chapman store display expiration dates ranging from 2012 to 2014.
Senior Vice President of Line One Laboratories Budiman Lee explained the cheap sale of their product through the discount stores.
“Twice a year we put out the Trustex brand for consumers that love high end-products but cannot afford the high price in a pharmacy. So, we work with 99 Cents Only Stores to let the consumers enjoy the high-end Trustex brand.”
For college students, this seems like the perfect answer to maintaining safer sex practices while on a tight budget. Not all students are so worried about the integrity of Line One Laboratories’ product.
CSUF alumnus Jeff Scheidler, 25, hadn’t given the topic much thought but maintained that, “Condoms are condoms, right?”
Alejandro Guerrero, 20, gave two thumbs up when told about the discounted, reliable products.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, students have no reason to question the effectiveness of any condom over another. All manufacturers are subject to regulation by the FDA to ensure all condoms meet standards.
The FDA’s “Condoms and Sexually Transmitted Diseases” brochure stated, “Manufacturers ‘spot check’ their condoms using a ‘water-leak’ test. FDA inspectors do a similar test on sample condoms they take from warehouses. The condoms are filled with water and checked for leaks. An average of 996 of 1,000 condoms must pass this test.”
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS reported, “Carefully monitored studies have demonstrated that consistent and correct use of condoms is an effective means of protecting users and their partners against unplanned pregnancy and STDs, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.”
Other tests the manufacturer conducts on random batches include stretching the latex, filling it with air and sending jolts of powerful electricity into the condom through metal rods to look for melting in weak spots.
“Whether it’s a Trojan or not, free or cheap, I recommend a condom in general. In terms of protection percentage, they’re the same,” said Senior HIV Testing Counselor Jason Tran, 23, of the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team, concerning the importance of safer sex.
Regardless of where you go to get your goods or how much you pay for your favored flavor, color or brand, the important part is that a condom be worn properly during the entire session of intercourse each and every time.
from The Daily Titan

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VATICAN CITY – Condoms are not always effective in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, said Cardinal Peter Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana.
Abstinence, fidelity in marriage and universal access to antiretroviral drugs are the strategies the church continues to promote in the fight against AIDS, he said.
The cardinal, who will turn 61 Oct. 11, made the comments during a Vatican press conference Oct. 5, presenting some of the issues to be discussed during the second special Synod of Bishops for Africa.
Cardinal Turkson was asked about the AIDS epidemic in Africa and what position the synod will take, specifically concerning the use of condoms in HIV prevention.
He said when “people propose the use of condoms it becomes effective only in families where they are going to be faithful.”
However, condoms give “people a false sense of security, which rather facilitates the spread of HIV/AIDS,” he said.
Condoms cannot be relied upon to provide 100-percent protection against HIV transmission because “there are condoms which arrive in Ghana, which in the heat and whatever burst during sex,” he said.
Because there is always a chance condoms might break during sexual intimacy, he is reluctant to recommend condom use even to married couples in which one partner is affected with HIV, he said.
The priorities for African bishops at the synod will remain “abstinence and loyalty and fidelity” within marriage, he said.
During pastoral counseling, he said he presents the issues and discusses them with the person seeking advice, which “allows the person to decide, to (make) his own decision.”
He said he does not “undervalue the possibility that somebody who has AIDS recognizes his own Christian commitment (and) would simply just decide to refrain from sex,” even if he or she were in a faithful marriage, in order to prevent the spread of HIV.
“Some would in such a situation have advised the use of condoms by a partner who has HIV so that it doesn’t spread, but again, in our part of the world, even the use of condoms is sometimes risky,” he said.
“If we have proper, top quality condoms, then one can probably with certainty speak about” the effectiveness of an infected partner using condoms, “but that is also not the case” in Ghana, he said.
Cardinal Turkson said he would rather see the resources spent on manufacturing and providing prophylactics to Africa be earmarked for subsidizing antiretroviral drugs for the people there.
“Let us use those resources to support the production of antiretroviral drugs so (they) would be more available to people,” he said. “That’s probably the big favor that we can do for the people suffering from HIV/AIDS.”
from The Catholic News Service