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Concerns Affect D.C. Condom Giveaway [yeah, they're from China]
WaPo ^ | 09/05/07 | Susan Levine

Posted on 09/05/2007 8:00:51 AM PDT by Froufrou

Tens of thousands of condoms provided free by the District to curb HIV-AIDS have been returned to the health department because of complaints that their paper packaging is easily damaged and could render the condoms ineffective.

Demand at two distribution sites in Southeast set up by nonprofit groups plummeted more than 80 percent after the condoms, in a mustard-yellow and purple wrapper, were introduced this year. More than 2,000 packets a week were scooped up in mid-March, but by late May, only 400 were being given away each week.

Volunteers concerned about why interest had dropped began asking people who had picked up the condoms. They were told about packets ripping in purses or bursting open in pockets. As a result, recipients said they had little confidence that the condoms would offer protection.

In addition, expiration dates on some of the Chinese-made condoms were illegible.

"People were saying, 'These packets aren't any good,' " said Franck DeRose, executive director of an organization called the Condom Project, one of those involved in the grass-roots distribution system. A coalition that includes the Condom Project sent back 100,000 condoms to the city, about 15 percent of what the city says has been passed out to groups.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: china; condoms; imports; trade

1 posted on 09/05/2007 8:00:56 AM PDT by Froufrou
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To: Froufrou

4000 liberals a week reporting to Doctors with melanine rashes.....Priceless!!


2 posted on 09/05/2007 8:04:02 AM PDT by HardStarboard (Take No Prisoners - We're Out of Qurans)
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To: Froufrou
Wouldn’t that make a wonderful lawsuit against some Chinese psuedo-government corporation? Negligent conception!

Well, maybe in California.

3 posted on 09/05/2007 8:04:24 AM PDT by Law is not justice but process
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To: Froufrou

Baby boom on the way?


4 posted on 09/05/2007 8:05:07 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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The lead lining was a bit uncomfortable.


5 posted on 09/05/2007 8:06:13 AM PDT by Enterprise (I can't talk about liberals anymore because some of the words will get me sent to rehab.)
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To: Smokin' Joe
Holy prophylactics, Batman!
6 posted on 09/05/2007 8:06:18 AM PDT by LIConFem (Thompson 2008. Lifetime ACU Rating: 86 -- Hunter 2008 (VP) Lifetime ACU Rating: 92)
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To: Smokin' Joe

But, why do you ask, Broken Condom Made in China?


7 posted on 09/05/2007 8:06:45 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Froufrou
Dry Bones cartoon: Another lead paint scare from Made in China products.
8 posted on 09/05/2007 8:07:08 AM PDT by Andy from Beaverton (I'm so anti-pc, I use a Mac)
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To: LIConFem

More boneheaded products from China...


9 posted on 09/05/2007 8:07:18 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Go Hawks !)
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To: Froufrou; TigersEye

Shaking my head here again. Personally I won’t use products from China anymore. I wouldn’t trust condoms from China.


10 posted on 09/05/2007 8:10:16 AM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: Enterprise

At least you get a little lead in your pencil.


11 posted on 09/05/2007 8:13:49 AM PDT by dblshot
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To: Froufrou

Saw these for sale in a vending machine. On the machine was graffiti saying “Don’t buy this chewing gum - tastes awful.”


12 posted on 09/05/2007 8:20:27 AM PDT by posterchild (If you don't look ahead nobody will, there's no time to kill - Clint Black)
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To: pandoraou812

Ever stop to think why there’s so many Chinese?


13 posted on 09/05/2007 8:25:41 AM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: posterchild

I just have to wonder about myopic volunteers and free condoms. Who is it, do they think, who cannot afford his own condoms? And, have they never heard of the genocide of blacks visited upon them by Planned Parenthood? That has created some attitude, you know.


14 posted on 09/05/2007 8:28:55 AM PDT by ClaireSolt (Have you have gotten mixed up in a mish-masher?)
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To: metmom

lmao... More men the women now too! I am boycotting products from China.


15 posted on 09/05/2007 8:39:10 AM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: Froufrou

I have to tell you a story. In the eighties I met a business associate of my husband, a Chinaman named Steven Sy. This guy was in the condom business before the rest of us knew there was an aids scare. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find he has something to do with these bad condoms. He was the most unscrupulous unethical man I ever met. At every convention, meeting he was handing his imported Chinese condoms out like party favors.


16 posted on 09/05/2007 8:52:27 AM PDT by AuntB (" It takes more than walking across the border to be an American." Duncan Hunter)
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To: Froufrou
Everybody”s slammin’ China for faulty packaging? Seems to me that a lot of the blame belongs right here! Someone, or some committee, in Washington decided that this product was completely acceptable. That’s certainly not China’s fault.
The companies I deal with are held to standards. My standards! If the product is not done right, I refuse it. Goin’ to a company this afternoon to show them some junk they did for us. If they can’t do a better job, they’re history.
I also hold Mattel responsible for not testing toys they bought from China. If the toys had lead paint, it’s Mattel’s fault for not having higher standards, and not testing anything before the sale of those items. They should have told the Chinese manufacturers, “no lead paint!” If the Chinese were told, and they sent poisonous crap anyway, Mattel should have tested and found the problems immediately.
I’m not lettin’ China off the hook completely, but there is a shared responsibility IMO. And with China’s unsafe products so much in the news right now, everything from that country should, and must be, tested!
17 posted on 09/05/2007 9:06:15 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
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To: AuntB

AuntB, before anyone accuses us of profiling or racism, I just want to say I completely understand what you are conveying in your post.

The guy flat-out gave you the creeps, and I know what you mean because I’ve been through it, too...that person who, when you shake hands, a little shiver of revulsion runs down your spine...


18 posted on 09/05/2007 9:07:35 AM PDT by Froufrou
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To: Froufrou
AuntB, before anyone accuses us of profiling or racism, I just want to say I completely understand what you are conveying in your post.

If that's what it takes to clear out of this country the likes of the guy I told you about, I'm all for it.:<)

19 posted on 09/05/2007 9:15:10 AM PDT by AuntB (" It takes more than walking across the border to be an American." Duncan Hunter)
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To: AuntB

Not to put our minds in the gutter, but when people see these free condoms aren’t going to be adequate, do they forget the safe sex message, and go ahead and do what they were going to do anyway?

Then if that happens, will the gov’t get sued for not providing adequate free protection? Just how far does liability go?


20 posted on 09/05/2007 9:20:05 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Dilbert San Diego

I don’t know, Dilbert. We can’t sue the Feds for failing to protect the border and enforce the law, so they probably have no liability.


21 posted on 09/05/2007 9:26:04 AM PDT by AuntB (" It takes more than walking across the border to be an American." Duncan Hunter)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

Aside from the qualititative issue there’s also a quantitative issue.

The Chinese were quite cavalier in blaming others for the bad dog food and I still don’t hear any hint of culpability on their part.

People like that, who pretend to be above contempt, are not to be trusted, IMHO, and as such are not fit business partners.


22 posted on 09/05/2007 9:31:07 AM PDT by Froufrou
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To: massgopguy

Just like defective tires: subject to blowouts...


23 posted on 09/05/2007 9:49:33 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: pandoraou812
I wouldn’t trust condoms from China.

Wouldn't they be a little small anyway? ;^P

24 posted on 09/05/2007 1:49:02 PM PDT by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

I agree with you. There seems to be a lot of buck passing going on. Mattel bought those toys from Chinese companies. Mattel sold them to American consumers. Who has the biggest responsibility to American consumers? I would say the American company with its long standing reputation with American consumers. They put their brand name on it they can take the blame.


25 posted on 09/05/2007 1:57:43 PM PDT by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: TigersEye

You’re soooooooo bad!! ~Pandy~


26 posted on 09/05/2007 2:01:46 PM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra
The companies I deal with are held to standards. My standards! If the product is not done right, I refuse it. Goin’ to a company this afternoon to show them some junk they did for us. If they can’t do a better job, they’re history. I also hold Mattel responsible for not testing toys they bought from China. If the toys had lead paint, it’s Mattel’s fault for not having higher standards, and not testing anything before the sale of those items. They should have told the Chinese manufacturers, “no lead paint!” If the Chinese were told, and they sent poisonous crap anyway, Mattel should have tested and found the problems immediately. I’m not lettin’ China off the hook completely, but there is a shared responsibility IMO. And with China’s unsafe products so much in the news right now, everything from that country should, and must be, tested!

Companies are supposed to bid - and build - to spec. A contractor who submits the low bid and then builds a bridge that collapses is to blame. Not the municipality that put the construction of the bridge up for bid. The problem with Chinese contractors is that they bid at the spec and then build below spec. The solution isn't to accept Chinese bids (for contracts) at higher prices - it's to figure out which contractors are trustworthy and to blacklist the ones that aren't. What people are finding out is that Chinese contractors may not actually be the cheapest - due to auditing and inspection costs - if a given spec is necessary. Well, the disposable crap we use was previously "Made in Taiwan", "Made in Indonesia", "Made in Korea", et al. I'm sure we can find other places to supply this stuff.

27 posted on 09/05/2007 3:18:02 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
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To: Zhang Fei

That’s pretty much what I said!


28 posted on 09/05/2007 5:46:24 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
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