LegendaryLife Blog

The nursing blog has sent me a heads-up about some important information that they have put together regarding College students and STDs on campus. Most of this I already knew but some was still surprising. This should be mandatory reading for all freshmen and undergraduates!

Here is a summary, be sure to click the link for more detailed information:

• 25% of college students already have an STD (not surprising as this number is similar to that of the general US public)
• Condoms are only used about half the time
• 20% of girls have HPV, which can cause some problems with pregnancy later in life
• Half of the 20 million or so of new STD infections occur in people of college age
• 80% of those with an STD experience no symptoms, hence why most don’t even know they have it!
• HPV is the number one disease on campus
• 50% of alcoholic students consider contraception as an afterthought when engaging in risky behavior
• More than half of the students believe they can see an STD by looking, which is true but only 20% of the time when it’s actually “flaring up”.
• 60% of woman still have sex even if the guy doesn’t want to wear a condom.
• 60% of woman believed they were in a committed relationship while only 40% of men believed in the same.

I would also add that most STDs are curable but those that are not, such as HIV Disease, require regular medical attention and drugs for the rest of your life… not something to take lightly.

Buzvia: 10 Truly Shocking Stats On STDs and College Students

In North America and to a lesser degree in Europe, when you call customer service, more often then not, your being patched directly through to an Indian call center to handle your requests. Taxes with companies such as H&R Block are also subcontracted to India including a lot of manufacturing, resource allocation and even strategic development. If you have some money and don’t have time to become pregnant yourself, it only makes sense to outsource that to India as well!

Pregnancy

It’s no secret that the entire process of pregnancy takes a number of the woman, that, till now, was simply a birthright, there where no other alternatives. The hormonal, psychological and physical toll or pregnancy stay with her the rest of her life along with the stretch marks. Pregnancy isn’t without it’s risks but as women push their child bearing years into their mid to late 30s, infertility becomes a growing issue as well. India serves an unlimited number of young, economically disadvantaged women who are willing, if the price is right, to become a surrogate. The process occurs through in-vitro fertilization (sorry guys) using the man’s sperm and the woman’s eggs, they are then implanted into the surrogate. The end result? Your child in every sense of the word, sharing no genetic material with the surrogate and your wife or girlfriend gets to keep her amazing body, having a child without ever taking a day off work nor pain associated with giving birth.

Womb for Rent

Now, this surrogate isn’t getting pregnant with your child for the fun of it, she expects to be financially compensated. In India, a woman can expect around $4 500 for the entire process, not a lot by First World standards but this is 15 years of wages for the average maid! She gets pregnant and wins essentially a lottery that sets her up on a better path in the future. She wins as she gets out of relative poverty, the family wins as they get a child out of the transaction. Both winners right?

Self-Induced problem

It’s no secret that one of the major factors causing infertility is age, the longer people wait before starting a family, the harder it will be. A woman as at her peak reproductively in her 20s, out in nature, this isn’t a problem but in the real world, that is right before university, after high school! It seems nature hasn’t adapted fast enough to our ever changing world and now, couples the world over, are paying dearly for it. A woman having a child in her 20s, unless within a very secure relationship, has a higher chance of being marginalized the rest of her life. I wrote a few months back about my experiences working in Canada and Australia at minimum wage jobs, what I may not have mentioned is that the vast majority of the women that where there, you guessed it, started their family in their early 20s if not younger. They where mostly divorced or never got married to begin with, most of them hated their jobs as much as their lot in life. For men, although we can have children all our lives, our peak is in our mid 20s. It isn’t just infertility rates that increase with age by the way, genetic defects rise as well such as Autism, Down Syndrome and a host of other conditions that a family would want to avoid at all costs.

Moral Issues

This isn’t just happening in India, it’s happening around the world, even in the industrialized world so I am not picking on India specifically. The biggest question you need to ask in these circumstances is that if the woman was economically advantaged, would she want to become a surrogate for a family she has no relationship with? Although there are exceptions, I bet 95% of the time the answer will be “Hell No”. So, the question must be asked, is renting a strangers womb for 9 months a moral act? I know that on the streets of Bangkok (Thailand), you can rent a young woman for $20US for a 24 hour period (use your imagination) so is this much different? How much different is renting a woman for 9 months compared to a 24 hour period, or even buying a liver for that matter? These are poor women, who have no real choice, selling the only thing they have to try to better themselves. Alternatively, most people rent their brains and bodies 8 hours a day, so how is even this act different? I am not here to preach, but just think about this and feel free to share your comments.

The Bottom Line

There is no way around this, renting a person, now matter how well intentioned, is still renting a person.

Buzvia: Giving birth becomes the latest job outsourced to India

No matter your views on Larry Flint, you got to give him credit for exposing the sexual deprivation that seems to take hold of most people in this world. We are sexual animals, from the moment we hit puberty, we have a deep desire to procreate, to deny this is to deny our heritage.

Larry Flint goes after the two faced

What I respect about Larry Flint is that during election time, he exposes via a million dollar “informer” bounty, how two faced some politicians really are. He is a self-described sexual animal and unlike most of us, very proud of the footprint he has had on American culture. Some professional politicians preach abstinence and religious doctrine while secretly having affairs with people who are sometimes of the same sex. What I find very interesting is that these two faced politicians, once discovered, admit to their sin and ask God for forgiveness (????). Yet, in all likely hood, would have kept doing what they where caught doing otherwise, a forced apology is the most insincere of all. This happens globally by the way, two faced politicians who pass laws condoning their own secretive acts isn’t anything new from China to Italy.

Sex is what we are

A sad reality is that we have all been brainwashed by religious doctrine of various degrees that to express our sexuality is evil, gay or straight, if you decide to enjoy the body had been produced by the love of your parents, your going straight to Hell. The Romans where extremely liberal with their sexuality, with bath houses and even a very open tolerance for diverse sexual behaviors yet our “modern society” is intent on depriving us of what we really are.

I understand fully the predominance of sexually transmitted diseases (including aids and herpes for which there is no cure) but a mix of extreme selectiveness and precautionary weapons can exponentially reduce the risks (though not 100%) of acquiring these true evils. There are HIV Disease test kits available on the market (http://blog.myfoodcount.com/the-60-second-hiv-disease-test/), blood tests and physical protection available just about anywhere. The last thing you want is to regret a few hours of fun for the rest of your life.

Sobering Stats

The one thing that keeps me in check is this fact, 1:250 which represents the ratio of HIV Disease infection and 1:4 which represents the ratio of Herpes infected individuals within the United States. Each country is in various states of denial about their own figures but assuming these ratios represent minimum exposure rates around the world is a very safe bet.

Weapon of Knowledge

What is the point of this article? Well, I want to expose the one weapon that politicians and the religious community are intent on keeping secret, that of knowledge. We need to educate our children, yes, children, from the moment they say their first words about sex. There is NOTHING evil, bad, disgusting or immoral about sex. Knowledge has been shown to give power to those who otherwise would have done regretful behaviors, yet, the powers that be are intent on keeping sexual taboos from being openly discussed. Hiding behind the Quran, Bible, cultural taboos or just plain ignorance is doing our species a great disservice in the long run.

Think of it this way, all the people who tell the great religious lessons of the past where the product of sex, even if you believe in Virgin Births, you cannot deny that the mother of Jesus was the product of sexual behavior. I bet you never thought of sex that way before huh?

The Bottom Line

The sexual behavior of our species needs to be moderated by knowledge, not ignorance in order to stand the test of time.

Buzzvia

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/10/vitter.madam/index.html

I guess some things in the bedroom are an acquired taste but this is just plain scary! Why any guy would allow a person to put this on them is beyond me.

Dream Lover 2000 to the rescue?

If you have a problem in your relationship, shocking your partner isn’t at the top of my list of things to improve the situation. If your partner is that bad that you need to do the equivalent of putting their finger in the socket so they listen to you, time to find a new partner. It offers a number of intensity levels but again, the only intensity level that is of any value is 0

The Bottom Line

Of all the sexual devices I have seen, this has got to be among the worst!

Buzzvia

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/training-%28your%29-tool/dream-lover-2000-keeps-that-dawg-on-a-shocking-leash-289228.php

Sexual health is as important as proper diet and exercise regimen, as such, Trojan Vibrating Rings has been unleashed upon the marketplace.

Features

Trojan found out, to nobodies surprise, that 44% of females where using vibrating products to enhance their sexual experiences, so sticking a vibrating mechanism on a condom is quite a logical step. Each pack contains both a latex condom and the vibrating ring for the price of 9$, they will be available in limited markets across North American due to outdated religiously based laws on their sectarian books.

There is both a standard (one vibrator) version and an extreme with… you guessed it… two vibrating mechanisms! I hope this doesn’t end up becoming like the race by razor companies where each six months they release a blade with yet another blade (up to 5 so far).

What I wish they had

These are a great idea except you cannot re-use the vibrating ring, so expect a few stunned birds at the local landfill if they happen to peck within the wrong garbage mound.

The Bottom Line

A popular Beach Boys song comes to mind…

Reference
http://www.trojanvibratingring.com/
Buzvia: CrunchGear