Consumer Reports recently tested a whopping 15,000 condoms (bought by one dude!) representing 20 models. Alas, there was no actual-use testing done in the lab on the slab, just the boring scientific stuff: packaging examination, stretching, measuring, filling them with liquid to check for leaks, and inflating them with air to the size of 5-gallon water jugs to check for strength until they popped! Wait, who said science was boring? (Check out the video above to see how they do it — try to ignore the cheesy wink-wink-nudge-nudge commentary.) Seven out of the twenty got a perfect score — they include one Durex, two Lifestyles, and four Trojan models — but to get the specific models and their exact ratings you have to be a subscriber. Damn you, Consumer Reports! But a little birdie told us that one of the best ones (receiving a perfect score in strength, reliability and leakage) was Trojan Her Pleasure Ecstasy and one of the worst ones (for strength and leakage) was the Night Light glow-in-the-dark model (though it definitely would give wearers the chance to recreate that awesome scene from Skin Deep).
There’s been a lot of self-congratulatory back-patting around the House’s passing of the Health Reform Bill this past Saturday — but it’s come at a huge price. The Democratic Congress pretty much abandoned women’s reproductive rights by including the last-minute Stupak-Pitts Amendment to appease some religio-conservative members of Congress, including several male conservative Dems. Don’t be fooled: it’s not just simply ensuring that there will be no federal funding for abortion care (which was already in the bill) — it goes much further. According to Reproductive Health Reality Check:
It effectively bans coverage for most abortions from all public and private health plans in the Exchange (i.e. the reformed health insurance market).
It includes only extremely narrow exceptions (rape, incest) and excludes cases where the health but not the life of the woman is threatened by the pregnancy, where there are severe fetal abnormalities, etc.
It allows for a ridiculous and useless abortion rider, which means women would have to buy stand-alone coverage for a completely unexpected event (who plans to have an abortion?!).
It allows for discrimination against abortion providers.
Abortion is a safe and legal medical procedure that’s currently covered by 87 percent of employer plans and that one in three women will go through in their lifetime. This bill, passed with pressure from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (hello, separation of church and state?), will unfairly take away this necessary coverage and financially penalize women. We should be able to get health reform with a public option without throwing women under the bus — and we can do this if we speak up. Please call on Senate Leader Harry Reid to stop this abortion-care ban.
For a lot more important information on how dangerous and destructive this amendment is, check out these resources:
It seems like every few years, someone comes out with a study about what percentage of the population would choose a good night’s sleep over sex. The studies are usually sponsored by a mattress company, or a pharmaceutical firm developing non-addictive (riiiiight) sleeping pills, or — as in the most recent case — a chain of hotels with extremely comfortable beds. The study, funded by Westin Hotels, found that 51% of Americans surveyed would choose sleep over sex (as we mentioned here earlier this week). It sounds much less depressing if you put it the other way: 49% of us would still sacrifice sleep for a bit of raucous boot-knocking, aw yeah. But it sounds much more depressing when you learn that a decade ago, a massive 69% (heh) of those surveyed said they’d choose sex over sleep.
Richard Louv’s 2005 book Last Child in the Woods introduced the phrase “nature deficit disorder” into our lexicon. Louv argued that kids spend much less time outdoors, and, as a result, not only fail to develop an appreciation for and connection to nature (and, by extension, the importance of environmental challenges), but also suffer from health problems such as obesity, attention deficit disorder, and even depression to a greater degree.
Salon.com has an extended scene from forthcoming documentary “What’s the Matter With Kansas?“, based on Thomas Frank’s bestselling book of the same title about the Right Wing’s rise in the once-liberal state. It features Dr. George Tiller, the Wichita-based abortion provider who was gunned down last Sunday while attending church. The clip touches on the years of threats and abuse Tiller experienced — law suits, arson, death threats, failed assassination attempts — for his commitment to providing women with safe and legal reproductive care. When Tiller speaks, he seems exhausted yet resigned to defending women’s rights against these radicals. It’s tragic.
After the jump, a round-up of interesting articles and info on Dr. Tiller and reproductive rights in the wake of his murder…
The League of American Bicyclists has declared May 11 – 15 “Bike to Work Week,” and published a nine-page bike commuter guide for those of us who may still think that riding in traffic is a good way to get killed. Among the benefits of bicycle commuting:
Health: No need to worry about making time for the gym: “Ride your bike to work, and you no longer need to make time to exercise.”
We’re big proponents of high quality sex toys made from body-safe materials, which is why we’ve always been big fans of Tantus — they’re a relatively small American manufacturer of 100% medical grade silicone toys. They recently sent out this training video to their retailers in order to help sales people push their pokers and plugs. Sure, it’s a digital pat on their own back, but the information within the first few minutes of the vid on the potential toxins in cheap, low quality toys that are pervasive in this unregulated industry is well worth a view. (Not sure what a phthalate is or how to pronounce it? Here’s your answer. And don’t let the big guy with the flavor savor scare you.) You don’t necessarily have to buy Tantus brand, but you should be buying “green” toys that are hypoallergenic, inert and toxin-free. Aren’t your family jewels worth it?
When the relatively new HPV vaccine Gardasil came on the market for girls a few years ago, conservatives got their panties all in a bind over the possibility that it would give sweet, innocent P.Y.T.s permission to do it. Now that the vaccine is being considered for boys, no one seems too worried about their purity being tarnished. According to the Washington Post, the big questions this time around are about safety and cost-effectiveness. (And who says feminism is obsolete?) In the article, Gregory D. Zimet, a professor of pediatrics and psychology at Indiana University, brings up an interesting point about about this question of whether it’s really worth it for the boys: “This is a vaccine that principally benefits women’s health. I wonder if it was the reverse, and there was a vaccine for women that helped prevent prostate cancer in men, this would be as much of an issue.” It’s like Gloria Steinem once wrote, if guys menstruated, tampons and pads would be federally funded and free.
