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Anti-Prostitution Posters, World War II Emphasizing the relationship between patriotism, morality, health preservation, and disease prevention, images of the infected soldier and disease-carrying prostitute in posters during the First and Second World Wars came to symbolize both moral failure and social decay. The following posters use images of "loose" women, patriotic iconography, and frightening symbols to grab the attention of the viewer and inspire behavior modification. These images not only reflected attitudes, values, and beliefs about the causes and consequences of venereal disease but also affected responses to the problem. (Note: Most these photos link back to Retronaut; added are...

It's a rumor that dates back decades: To keep the sexual appetites of recruits in check so they can focus on basic training, the military services sneak saltpeter into the food served to new soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. Jeff Schogol, the "Rumor Doctor" at Stars and Stripes, actually went to the trouble of getting the services to respond to this legend. You probably won't be surprised to learn that he got a series of strenuous denials. "The rigors of basic training alone are sufficient to keep the urges at abeyance," an Army spokesman reported. "Keep in mind that it's...

Vasectomy has always been an unpopular operation in the dacoit-infested Chambal district of Madhya Pradesh, but it enjoyed a brief surge in popularity last year. More than 250 men put their private parts under the surgeon’s knife through 2008; this, in a place where the male sterilisation figure had never reached double figures in the past 20 years. They had an incentive: the government, in the form of Shivpuri District Collector Manish Shrivastava, had promised them an arms licence each if they underwent the operation. They did so in family planning camps where forms for gun licences were made available....

Authorities descended on a Staten Island home Thursday after learning of the presence of large amounts of potassium nitrate, authorities said. Police discovered more than a ton of the substance in a storage facility near the home. Small amounts of potassium nitrate, mercury, peroxide and sulfur were found inside the residence. The resident, a man in his 50s, was taken into custody and charges were pending. His name was not released. The substance is often used in pyrotechnics, but NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Thursday there was no evidence the man was involved in making bombs or selling bomb-making materials....

BERLIN (AP) - The German parliament was closed Friday as police sniffer dogs searched the building for explosives after two men were found carrying chemicals, a parliamentary spokesman said. Security staff at the Reichstag building in downtown Berlin apprehended the men in a washroom, said the spokesman, Hans Hotter. He said the chemicals appeared to be saltpeter — which is used in gunpowder — salt and charcoal. A parliamentary official who spoke on condition of anonymity had said earlier that the men were journalists for the Hamburg-based magazine Max. Hotter declined to confirm that, saying the two hadn't been able...