With 16K Condoms, Antarctic Base Ready for Winter

Maker says they're unrelated to boy wizard

(NEWSER) - Warner Bros. is suing a Swiss manufacturer over its latest product: “Harry Popper” condoms, which come bearing an image of a bespectacled purple phallus twirling a wand and sticking out his tongue. “Our product has nothing to do with Harry Potter,” a company spokesman tells the Guardian . More»

(NEWSER) - Judging by the average convenience store condom selection, men with small penises do not exist. Selling small condoms is difficult for marketers, so most brands have opted not to bother, writes Menachem Kaiser of the Atlantic . LifeStyles’ “Snugger Fit” designation is about as straightforward as it gets. Durex has a complicated sizing chart, and Trojan has a Starbucks-like sizing system; its condoms come in Regular, Large, and Extra Large. More»

Cites particular concern in poor and minority areas

(NEWSER) - A labor coalition is sponsoring a petition calling on CVS to stop locking up condoms, the Kansas City Star reports. More than 200 groups across the country have signed the appeal to stop the practice, which the mega-chain says is an anti-shoplifting measure but critics say scares off would-be shoppers. The policy is a particular problem in areas with large poor and minority populations, notes a signer, because of African-American communities’ high rate of new HIV cases. More»

More under-40s opt for the liberating procedure

(NEWSER) - Once exclusive to the over-40 crowd, vasectomies are increasingly popular among young men who want condom-free sex and no fears of Daddydom. But there's also a control component, writes Richard Morgan in Details: These men are taking charge of birth control, not leaving it up to the woman. "I don't have to worry about being tricked," says one snipped man. More»

Condom use also levels off, reviving debate about abstinence sex ed

(NEWSER) - A decade-long drop in the teen sex rate leveled off between 2001-2007 and it may now be slowly rising again, the Washington Post reports. The government survey of thousands of high school students also found that an increase in condom use flattened out in 2003. The numbers have alarmed public health workers and revived debate about the effectiveness of abstinence-focused sex-ed programs. More»