Hey guys, this has to do with you too, since if you have a lady friend who’s on this there may be potential for danger here, so listen up.  The birth control patch that was hailed as a great new invention just not too long ago, is now “on trial” from many doctors and consumer advocates who claim that the risk of the patch vs. the traditional birth control pill for women proportionately outweighs it’s convenience too much, making it a much riskier choice for women who want birth control without taking a pill, and are calling for the product to be removed from market.

The patch, which I gather is made by juggernaut Johnson and Johnson, has been shown to have a much higher risk factor for women when it comes to blood clots in the lungs and the legs, because it releases almost 60% more estrogen into the blood stream, which is the primary risk factor for blood clots in women, than the pill does.  This is because it is in patch form, and the body absorbs more apparently this way, than it does if the pill is swallowed with the pregnancy preventing estrogen hormones in it.

The FDA has received many complaints about the birth control patch, and yet it has remained on market, so I’m not sure how severe the complaints and the evidence has to be for them to pull a product from market or make the manufacturer voluntarily pull it, although I’m sure they’re deluged with these types of requests on a dailly basis since we are a medicated society now unfortunately.

Good news is the the demand for the birth control patch has gone down considerably ever since word of mouth and bad publicity started occurring for the patch somewhere just a few years ago. 

The demand was cut more in half, with less than half the amount of prescriptions being written for it now than there were just a few years ago, so probably both patients are wising up to the risks and are not willing to take that extra risk for the convenience of a patch, and/or doctors are not willing to put their female patients at risk because they personally believe this link is critical enough to not put them in harms way. 

Of course the same warnings against smoking go for anyone on the patch as they do for women on the pills, since smoking patients can greatly increase their odds of blood clots when on the birth control pill.  This is a clear warning on all birth control oral and patch, and shots usually. 

Well, Bobby Brown, more famous for being Whitney Houston’s embattled ex husband than he is for his former music career, has taken the cake again with his new tell all book that is set to come out where he tells it like it is about his lifetime.  In one part of the book, which is cowritten by another author as well, he claims that the word on the street - whatever that means - is that he’s a very good lover and is very “well endowed”, which for any of you that don’t know what the means, means he has a large penis.  At least in his own mind.

Brown goes on to reveal, among other things reportedly, that he and Whitney had great chemistry in the bedroom and he’s good at sexuall pleasing women basically, and even supposedly is going to  name a major pop star whom he allegedly bedded.  Not sure if I believe this one, but hey, anything’s possible when you’re young and stupid, right? 

Bobby Brown has been made to look like the villain in the Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston divorce, and many think that he’s the reason the Whitney started doing hard core drugs, but he might refute that partly in his book as well so I’ve heard.  All I can say is that it seems like Whitney is doing a lot better without him, so that kind of helps along the theory that he was the reason for the couple’s admittedly “joing” downfall, but Whitney I’m sure was no angel either, and it takes two to tango.

I just love when men claim they’re great lovers and well endowed with large penises.  It makes you wonder why they have to say it out loud, if it’s true, men usually will keep that to themselves.  It just seems a little classier.  But then again, look who we’re dealing with.

Just when you thought the world of politics was already submerged in enough sex scandal to last a few good years in the press, here comes another one!  In the wake o Elliot Spitzer’s downfall among allegations that he used an escort service several times that was geared toward high profile and rich men, his lieutenant governor has taken over for him. 

To avoid any investigations into his personal past, the new governor of New York has already come forth with his skeletons and proclaimed that he had an extramarital affair, and his wife did as well when they were going through a rough patch in their marriage.

Not only that, he has already gone so far as to disclose that he tried certain recreational drugs in his youth.  I for one think it’s smart of him to just come right out and spill it, instead of wasting the taxpayers money with big investigations.  And who cares about his past anyways? 

Well now, the Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been dubbed the hip hop mayor of Detroit, and has gained quite a loyal following among the younger population, but also has been a dividing force, is being investigated for lying about an ongoing affair with his assistant.  Mr. Kilpatrick and his assistant are both married with children, although now his assistant (it sounds like) may be separated. 

The reason it is being pursued is because supposedly Mr. Kilpatrick lied about the affair, and committed perjury by doing so.  He is being pursued because it is said that he lied after intimate text messages between himself and his assistant were found. 

I’m not really sure why this has to do with public interest (I think you can see that I don’t care what politicians do in their spare time), but the prosecutor is saying that he created a mockery out of the justice system by lying and has wasted taxpayers money and trust, so he is being pursued.  He could serve many years if he is convicted.  What is this world coming to?

Well, this is one of those very scary news story that, thank God, is a very rare occurrence, that makes all of us look at our loved ones and thank the heavens that they are still with us.  It also makes us very aware that life is precious and even the most seemingly harmless little surgeries are in fact, surgeries and still present some sort of threat to our health if our bodies do not react favorably and/or predictably toward them.

The 37 year old man, Jem Abbott and his wife Karen, had decided that after two children they were done having kids, so Jem decided to have the vasectomy, which is a very low risk and relatively painless and easy procedure that is done under local anesthesia.  Jem was told the same thing that every man about to undergo a vasectomy is told, that the procedure was relatively quick and painless, and that he just may experience a bit of swelling and tenderness in the area afterwards, but he would remedy that with the typical ice packs, or bags of frozen peas as more commonly prescribed. 

However, Jem started feeling badly and vomiting and having diarrhea just days after the surgery.  Unbeknownst to him at the time, his body was experiencing a deadly reaction to surgeries, in which the body actually attacks itself instead of the infection (I guess this can also happen any time there is infection, not just in surgery cases), called septicemia.  Jem unfortunately succumbed to the deadly bacterial infection in which his body attacked itself in one week after his low risk operation.  The doctor had apparently prescribed antibiotics to fend off what he thought was a normal bacterial infection and it was already too late.

Septicemia is extremely rare, and therefore is rarely talked about in the media and news stories.  A good thing, because this clearly is a tragedy since a father of two has been taken from his young children after undergoing what he thought would just be routine for him.  And why wouldn’t he think that?  Our heart goes out to the Abbott family. 

Wow.  I didn’t even know that there was a state who had a ban on sex toys, but apparently Texas did, and it has now been lifted thanks to a judgment by an appeals court for a company that thought the law was unfair and trying to regulate what adults do in their own private time in their own homes.  I second that motion!

The statute that had been on the books was one of the oldest ones, and left Texas as one of only two state with such strict laws on the books about selling toys of an obscene nature.  So, really, those sex toy parties that are so popular everywhere else, would have been totally illegal in Texas.  Very strange thought indeed.

The first court to hear the case, which was brought by two sellers of such toys back in 2004, said that the constitution did not offer any protection for them, and therefore the Texas law was upheld, but they took it all the way to appeals, and a judgment has now been held in their favor as having the law overturned/repealed. 

This is encouraging news for other sex toy makers and sellers that are left in another state or two with the same ridiculous, outdated laws, but they are still fighting their way through the courts to get the law lifted, and have been in some cases for up to years.  I’m amazed that this type of law regulating people’s private business is still constitutional in some states.  Makes you wonder why we have a US constitution when states can still make laws that sort of infringe on our rights, you know?

I just read an interesting article about the ever evolving and always complicated world of dating.  It was written from a single women’s perspective, and in fact one that had just decided to have a baby via artificial insemination on her own, who actually wrote the piece advocating settling on a lifetime mate rather than holding out for Mr. or Mrs. Right.

I’m not sure if I entirely agree with this sentiment, and naturally it goes against everyone’s whimsy romantic ideas about marriage when in fact marriage many times is not all it’s cracked up to be after a man and woman have been together for many years.  Anyone who does say that their spouse is perfect and they feel like every day is a fantasy is probably lying, and I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but I really feel as though that is true. 

The author thinks that same way, and expressed that so many of us are weeding out perfectly good companions because we deem them to not be this or not be that, when we may in fact be passing up Mr. or Mrs. Good enough.  It certainly sounds unromantic, but after all, isn’t that what marriage becomes after about five to ten years anyways?

I think the most important aspect of any long term relationship is that you feel your with someone who understands you, who laughs at your jokes, and who can also make you laugh, and someone who really cares about what happens to you and how you live your lives together.  Other than that, if you’re really eachother’s friend after all is said and done, that is probably what counts most.  Passion, sex and looks always fade, but friendship and a deep caring for one another never does. 

Aw, shucks listen to me, I’m getting all emotional! 

I just got done watching the movie “Magnolia” which is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, most noted for his Boogie Nights movie, which I loved.  It was a really great movie that told the story of several people who we think are strangers but end up being strangely interrelated at the end of the film.  In it, Tom Cruise plays a character who is eerily close to his real life personality today, except Tom in real life is a nice guy who’s very passionate about a religion, not passionate about “taming” or “conquering” women like his character in Magnolia. 

Magnolia came out in 1999, and it was a fairly new concept at that time, since there weren’t too many movies that were a montage about several characters with huge ensemble casts that were commercial successes.  And actually, Magnolia was not a huge commercial success either, before I get ahead of myself. 

Tom Cruise plays the Frank Mackey character, who has made a business out of seminars that sell “conquering women” to men who are desperate and never get any action or the time of day from women.  However, he goes about it in a not so nice way, forever degrading women, saying that he can get any women he wants.  He lists among his bullet points of things to do to get, and then dump, women as not calling for 8 days at least, putting up an act of emotional competency and caring, and creating jealousy. 

In other words, all the stuff that guys who are forever stuck in the junior high and high school mentality of “getting girls” do.  And the men that follow him I’m sure find they are met with resistence instead of a bowing down of the heads and so forth that Frank preaches.  Frank preaches in a firey manner, rotating his pelvis in suggestive motions, creating unease and angst, but also excitement in his followers that they can be just like him if they act like a self absorbed jerk who alternates feelings and caring with an idiotic attitude. 

It’s a wonder he doesn’t sell pheromones to attract women, it’d be much easier than going through his blue booklets.  All in all, his character is hilarious, and ultimately, even identifiable when we find out how became such a megalomaniac.  As I said, some of his behavior in this film reflects a bit of what we’re seeing in his scientology videos today, so it’s interesting. 

Ooh, ouch.  I would feel sorry for this guy if it weren’t his own stupid fault, but alas, this is one of those headlines that should make it’s way on Jay Leno or David Letterman under some skit called “Stupid Criminals” or something.  Apparently a man was trying to rob a convenient store for some cash and a pack of cigarettes (Gee, just one?), when he tried to put the gun back into the waistband of his pants. 

Sounds like the gun’s safety was still off, because the guy ended up shooting himself in the groin area in the process, injuring one of his testicles and also part of his leg in the process.  Poor guy - not!  He’s 25 years old and lives in Indiana, where the robbery took place.  This is a great example of why crime doesn’t pay, or rather why it pays you back, and not the way you’d like. 

The criminals did end up getting caught right away.  Police found him with his injuries at his home and plan to charge his with armed robbery - after his wounds get tended to, of course.  Imagine the shock when the clerk heard the gun discharge - I bet she was thanking God that it wasn’t meant for her.  The good thing is, no one was injured except for the idiot who robbed the place. 

This is just one of those examples where it shows that people who resort to crime instead of using their minds and ingenuity to make a dime get punished in one way or another.  Call it karma or whatever, but I believe it that more and more every day with life experiences and news stories exactly like this! 

Wow.  Can you imagine, first of all, being struck by lightning?  See your life flash before you, waking up after moments or perhaps even minutes, and realizing that you were one of the very statistically FEW people in this world who get hit by lightning - let alone who survive being struck by lighting?  Well, this guy can honestly say that he’s been hit by lightning at dinner parties.  Imagine having that story to tell, wouldn’t that be a hoot?

The man, who lives in Britain, and is now 43 years old, was struck by lightning five years ago, and after living through it was told that he was infertile and would not be able to have children.  And who could blame the doctors who treated him for thinking any different?  Well, he has surprised all involved, because he has become a father recently to a beautiful 8 pounds some odd ounces little boy.

The amazing part is how he was struck and the fact that he even survived.  I guess he was jogging not far from his home in Britain when he was struck by lightning.  The man had extensive head injuries, including a jaw break in many different places, his eye sockets were smashed (ouch!), and he also had to overcome four blood clots in his brain.  The doctors were actually amazed that he even pulled through ok.  But this guy, if there ever was a definition of one, is a total survivor. 

Not only has he made a full recovery from his internal injuries, but he is back at running and has recently run a 10k race AND he fathered a baby!  Wow, this guy is truly an inspiration I’d say.  Amazing story - these are the kinds that you actually like to hear about in the news instead of all the gloom and doom we get accustomed to hearing these days. 

Hey everyone, all my great Male Enhancement readers, I just wanted to say to everyone have a very wonderful New Year’s Eve.  Stay out of trouble (ok, I’m a little late if you’re already out, I realize it’s late right now), and try to make some really good new year’s resolutions this year.  Don’t make it all about working out more, try to make it about something more meaningful that will truly enhance your life, and that you know you can stick to, ’cause it makes sense. 

Everything else just seems to fall in line if that’s the case, right?  Anyways, trying not to get all philisophical on ya, but I’ve just felt incredibly blessed this past year, and lucky to have all my family and friends healthy and happy and by my side too.  I’ve made some great trips and vacations and met some very interesting people I will never forget.  Ok, guys, here’s to an excellent and prosperous 2008 for all of us. 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!!