Posted on 03/25/2002 7:50:47 AM PST by Texaggie79
| Owner of topless barber's shop fined |
The owner of a topless barber's shop in Arkansas has been fined for breaking bylaws.
Robert Balliette, 37, who owns Johnson's Tanning for Men, pleaded guilty to breaking two bylaws in Hot Springs.
Authorities said three female topless haircutters offered sexual services to undercover officers posing as customers.
A police spokesman in Hot Springs says the shop in the tourist town is still open for business.
Police sent informants and undercover officers into the business after residents complained.
''On more than one occasion, operatives have been offered physical contact and activities which, under definition by state law and city ordinance, are considered illegal and very sexual in nature,'' court documents claimed.
Hot Springs has a population of around 30,000.
Story filed: 19:50 Friday 22nd March 2002
David Wroe
March 25 2002
Australian researchers are expected to soon publish a study that shows a male hormonal contraceptive to be effective.
A group of fertile men led normal sex lives for two years without getting their partners pregnant after a three-monthly shot of progestin and testosterone in the arm.
The research means a male pill may be available within the next few years as the progestin-testosterone combination can easily be achieved in pill form.
The study, by scientists from Sydney's ANZAC Research Institute and Melbourne's Prince Henry Institute, is believed to be the most successful in the world.
Previous studies had shown male hormonal contraceptives could suppress sperm output, said ANZAC Institute head and research leader David Handelsman
"But we're not just counting sperm, we're counting success at preventing pregnancy," he said. "We know the outcome has been very successful."
Professor Handelsman has been involved in the research for about 10 years. All that's left is to get the balance right between the two hormones.
While the female pill had been around for 40 years, the development of the male pill had been hampered by lack of money, he said.
Drug companies with the big research dollars have not shown much interest in developing a male pill, leaving it to a few, publicly funded research institutes.
"I'm not a believer in any conspiracy - I really can't explain it. It's an intriguing mystery and it's a pity, but it's a fact," he said.
A male oral contraceptive has generally been seen as unprofitable for drug companies. Oral contraceptives are aimed at couples in stable relationships for whom disease is not a worry.
If the male partner starts taking a male pill, the woman stops taking the female pill. Since most drug companies make a female pill, they would lose a customer for every one they gain. There are only seven or eight groups in the world making progress on male hormonal pills.
Deakin University sociologist Helen Keleher, who also runs the Australian Women's Health Network, said feminists had long argued that male scientists had controlled women's bodies through contraception.
"Another way of looking at it is that there has simply been this incredible fascination with women's reproductive systems," she said. "They're not as straightforward as men's; they are much more cyclic and less easily controlled."
Adam Lawson, whose first son was born two weeks ago at the Monash Medical Centre, said he had noticed among his male friends an ingrained assumption that contraception was a woman's responsibility.
"Women go on the pill, you know? It's so easy and that's the way it's done," he said.
`South Park' Cussing May Actually Be Good For Kids
That's the word from comic book author Gerard Jones, who has written for "Pokemon," "The X-Men" and "Spider-Man," and is the author of a new book, "Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes And Make-Believe Violence" (Perseus).
Although conventional wisdom suggests that normal kids will curse up a storm if they hear Eric Cartman or Bart Simpson say it first, Jones says evidence suggests the opposite.
He says pre-teen kids are very concerned with doing the right things, and, if anything, shows like "South Park" teach them how not to behave.
As a result, he thinks that the cartoon cursing might be cathartic for kids and swear them off swearing themselves.
Hear that parents? Wake up the kids and let em watch South Park!!!
'Bout time!... I keep worrying about my boyfriends getting pregnant ;~D
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