All About Condoms

Judge Dozier allows lewd March letters into testimony....However, the judge excluded a condom wrapper that had been found with the letters.

By Richard Lawson and Walker Duncan

08-11-2006 3:13 PM — After a lengthy discussion during this afternoon's proceedings in the murder trial of Perry March, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier has admitted into testimony lewd letters Perry March sent to a former paralegal at Bass, Berry & Sims. However, the judge excluded a condom wrapper that had been found with the letters.

March's defense attorneys had sought to prevent the letters from being admitted into testimony, challenging the former paralegal on the stand on how she knew that March was the author of the letters. The prosecution sought to establish that Janet March obtained the letters and was going to take them to her meeting with a divorce attorney.

Two of three letters mentioned in court yesterday by the former Bass, Berry paralegal were found in a large envelope in Janet and Perry March's home after he had moved to Chicago. The contents of the letters haven't been revealed yet; that revelation may still come. How Janet March came to possess the letters is another question that may or may not be answered.

A smaller envelope inside the large envelope contained a condom wrapper. Dozier excluded those items from testimony noting that there was no clear proof that Janet March had been upset by the condom wrapper and no proof that she had mentioned it to anyone. He ruled that it would prejudice the jury, and the jury was called back into the courtroom.

These condoms won`t penetrate the market...the label could draw youngsters into having sex earlier, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Bangkok, Aug 10:

Thai cultural watchdogs have banned a line of condoms whose name translates as "Good Penetration," saying the suggestive label could draw youngsters into having sex earlier, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The condoms are actually named "Tom Dundee" after the stage name of a popular country singer, but Culture Ministry officials said this was inappropriate and offended good norms and culture, the Thai Rath tabloid said.

"Dundee" in Thai means "Good Penetration."

"Although the name is not vulgar or rude, it is ambiguous, boastful and provocative," said Ladda Tangsupachai of the Cultural Watch Center.

"It could entice excessive consumption and lure children and youths with little maturity to start having sexual activities before their appropriate age," she added.

Dundee, whose real name is Puntiva Poomiprates, defended lending his stage name to the condom brand.

He said he was merely following a government policy to promote safe sex in a country where over 500,000 people have HIV or AIDS, and indicators point to climbing infection rates among the young.

"You can`t stop human desire, no matter how old they are, so it is better to protect them," Puntiva told media persons, adding that he had been telling his audiences about the risks of AIDS and unwanted pregnancy for years.

In Thailand, condom producers have to seek approval from both the Health and Culture ministries.

Bureau Report

Condom-phobia defence in HIV predator case

This week a Melbourne courtroom heard that a man accused of deliberately infecting a number of men with the HIV virus suffers from “condom phobia.”

In a pre committal hearing held in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, three doctors who treated Michael John Neal, 48, of Coburg, gave evidence under a compulsory examination of witnesses.

HIV specialist, Dr Stephen Rowles, told the court Neal had a “condom phobia” and frequently engaged in unprotected anal sex with several men. Describing Neal’s behaviour as “reckless”, Dr Rowles said it was Neal’s wish to contract HIV so he could have unprotected sex with other men with the virus.

Dr Rowles told the court Neal “sometimes” wanted to become HIV positive so he could have unprotected anal intercourse. Dr Rowles said that he had underlined a note in Michael John Neal's file on October 21, 1999, which read “wants to become HIV positive sometimes so he can have ‘paic’ (unprotected anal intercourse)” because Dr Rowles was exasperated or surprised by it.

My opinion is that it’s possible that it could increase the risk of trauma during anal sex and therefore increase the risk of acquisition or transmission of HIV,” Dr Rowles told the courtroom where Magistrate Lisa Hannan presided.

Another witness appearing before the court, Dr Nicholas Medland, consulted Neal more than 100 times between 1999 and 2006. Dr Medland told the court that Neal had had unprotected sex with another patient of his in June 2001 and allegedly told the man he was HIV negative — a year after he was diagnosed with the virus.

Dr Medland said that when he confronted Neal about the allegation and explained the legal ramifications of his behaviour, Neal said he would tell the man about his HIV status.

The court also heard that Neal had a “Prince Albert” piercing through his genitals, which could heighten the risk of HIV transmission.

Police allege Neal, a father of five, infected five men with the HIV Virus and deliberately attempted to infect another 11 men by having unprotected sex with them between October 2000 and March 2005.

Neal is facing 115 charges including five counts of intentionally causing a very serious disease, rape, possessing and producing child pornography and committing an indecent act in the presence of a child under 16.
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Clinton condoms and condominiums

From the LA Times:

A new line of condoms is grabbing headlines in China even as its sparks a debate about trademark law and promotion campaigns. The products' brand names: "Clinton" and "Lewinsky."
The condoms are sold in boxes of 12, with the brand named after former President Bill Clinton priced at $3.70 and that of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky at $2.25.

Guangzhou Haojian Bioscience Co. said it registered both trademarks and is pricing the brands differently to reflect the higher quality of the Clinton line.

"We chose the name because we think Clinton is a symbol of success and a man of responsibility. And Lewinsky is a woman who dares to love and dares to hate," said Liu Wenhua, the company's general manager.

Clinton has already been used as the 'celebrity spokesman' in a series of dodgy advertisements for a real estate development in Beijing. He was previously also offered two million US dollars to act as brand representative for a Chinese clothing manufacturer. The surname of George W. Bush, on the other hand, might become the name of a diaper brand in the near future: a man from Henan Province has applied to register the Chinese rendering of 'Bush' (bu shi) as a trademark for diapers, because it is a pun on the words 'not wet'.
Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn, September 22, 2005 02:48 PM