Apologies for the silence, which was in part due to a glorious whirlwind of a visit to Dublin, where I spent a while with Ireland’s answer to Oprah, Gerry Ryan. I’ve always been a bit of a fan of Gerry’s morning show on RTE2 so I know that pretty much anything goes. And I was [...]
From the ever-helpful Kaiser Family Foundation we have a new game: Pos or Not? Players get to see a photo and profile of young men and women, then have to guess whether or not the person is HIV-infected. It’s intended to challenge prejudices and preconceptions, and I have to say it does it pretty well. [...]
From most reliable news source in the US, Onion Radio: Hat tip: Mark Zip.
A fashion designer turned massage parlour owner in Indonesia has come up with an inspired solution to the problem of unsafe sex: he’s padlocking his girls in to their trousers. Paul Watson of the LA Times spoke to Franky Setiawan, owner of Doghado Massage Parlor, who came up with the chastity pants. Setiawan “says he [...]
The World Bank and others plan to bribe young Tanzanians to stay HIV negative, according to Andrew Jack, writing in The Financial Times. We know blackmail can work pretty well in HIV prevention. When brothel-owners in Thailand were told their businesses would be shut down if they didn’t ensure clients used condoms, condom use shot [...]
If you’re a guy into rough sex with other guys, or just curious about it, check out the fantastic new website at Hard Cell. Everything you ever wanted to know about the ins and outs of different sexual practices, and some stuff you probably didn’t want to know, as well. What a pleasure to find [...]
This video, not to be taken tooooo seriously (though the science is spot on), is the product of a rainy afternoon with the incomparable Candy Gourlay. Check out Candy’s wit, wisdom and illustration at Notes From the Slushpile
Researchers hoping to prevent dengue fever have discovered that male mosquitoes manipulate the females they have sex with. Apparently, their semen is rich with proteins that cut down on a female’s appetite, slashing her desire to go off and suck down more mammals’ blood. It’s when mosquitoes bite mammals, including humans, that they pass on [...]
It’s five years since the first London school opened an on-site clinic that dishes out contraceptive advice and condoms to schoolkids. And it seems to be working. Not a baby at the school ever since, compared with nine pregnancies in a year shortly before the programme began. Writing in the Guardian, Fran Abrams points out [...]
As the US tabloids trawl New Yorks’s cleavages for signs of Spitzer, I offer this cheat sheet from Matt Bors. (Click to enlarge.) If I had Matt’s graphic talents, I’d want to do one for politicians in other countries, too. Because let’s face it, there are whole categories missing that are of prime importance to [...]
In the prologue to my soon-to-be-published book The Wisdom of Whores, I give an example of the different ways nerds like me look at cause and effect in health. When I was writing it, I made up an example out of the air — something that I thought that people would relate to and be [...]
One in four teenaged girls in the United States has a sexually transmitted infection, according to anew study from CDC. Only half of those girls are sexually active. Among those who have ever had sex, STI rates are 40%. We don’t know how that compares with past rates in the United States, because this kind [...]
Scott Swensen suggests the following Prostitution Pledge for Politicians. As an American politician I will stop all hypocritical, self-righteous moralizing and judgment of the lives of others. I pledge to support legislation that treats all humans as equals and ensure that foreign assistance dollars intended to stop HIV/AIDS are allocated using the very best public [...]
So New York’s Democrat governor Elliot Spitzer admits to having been a naughty boy. He wanted to have sex with someone who wasn’t his wife, and pay for it. Tut tut. Paroxysms of delight from his enemies at The Wall Street Journal and comment about Spitzer’s staying power and other analysis many other places besides. [...]
OK, we know global warming is taking over from HIV as the development fashion of the day. But for those who haven’t quite made the switch, or who have one foot in each camp, here’s detailed advice on how to have greener sex. Looking at some of the advice, I wonder if they can’t see [...]
Anyone who has ever been on the metro in Paris knows that the French use sex to sell everything from dishwashers to floor cleaner. Now the league of students is using it in this (im)passioned plea to the government: Build more housing for students! Thanks to Unspun for throwing back the covers on this one.
So Italian researchers have looked at just 20 women, and found the G-spot. This has excited comment in the UK, though not much elsewhere. The Guardian’s (rather good) weekly science podcast, wonders at the fact that women can have more than one type of orgasm. Or rather, two male commentators wonder. If they’d asked a [...]
Check out this lovely article on why we kiss from Scientific American. Just don’t think too hard about the relationship between kissing, chewing the cud and HIV.
Ever heard me ranting about “kids-and-AIDS”, “security-and-AIDS”, “fisheries-and-AIDS” and adding despariningly that I’m just waiting for “global-warming-and-AIDS”? Well it’s here. Or at least “global-warming-and-safe-sex” is. Pictured left, the Eco-sexy kit, which will set you back just US$59. For more variety (and some truly artistic hand-blown glass work), check out these eco-friendly sex toys from Babeland. [...]
Spanish gay-bashing update: Hundreds of Spaniards protested outside the headquarters of the country’s (un)Popular Party today, demanding that the party leader Mariano Rajoy retract his opposition to adoption rights for gay couples. True to form, the Mayor of Madrd Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón stuck two fingers up at the PP, of which he’s a nominal member, and [...]
