Right so it's HIV/STD Awareness and Prevention time, kids. And if any of you are wondering why, it's cause I just went to my twenty thousandth training and I feel the need to pass my knowledge on. I'm not gonna go into too much detail but here's the breakdown.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases are fucking scary. And there's a lot of ways to lower your risk of transmission. The best thing to do it to examine your behaviour and look for possible risks and try to figure out how to lower your harm. One of the best ways to lower your risk it to stay safe in all your sexual encounters, and a lot of times that means using condoms.

How to Put on a Condom:

1. Look at the expiration date. If it hasn't passed, you're still good.

2. Check for holes in the packaging.

3. After you've opened the package, don't unroll the condom, just check to see which way it rolls down and pinch the tip of it with one hand (so that the cum has a place to go) also you need to make sure that the air is squeezed out at the top (so that it won't burst).

4. Now with your other hand roll the condom all the way down the length of the penis. If you've tried putting the condom on, only to discover that it's backwards, don't flip it over, use a new condom cause pre-cum also carries HIV and semen so you can still get pregnant.

5. After sex, make sure that the guy holds the condom at the base when pulling out. And make sure that he doesn't take off while still on top, spillage kind of defeats the point.

6. Also, don't flush condoms down the toilet, they will clog it, if not the first time then eventually, and no one wants to have to call a plumber to remove the used condoms.

some condom don'ts:

never use an oil based lubricant with a condom, the oil breaks down the rubber and can cause the condom to break. Examples of oil based lubricants include: Vaseline, Crisco, lotions, massage oils, and well, anything with the word oil in it.

don't "double bag" or use more than one condom, some people think it's safer, but the rubber on rubber friction can actually lead to breakage.

Don't keep your condoms in your car or wallet, they can break down in high temperatures and should be kept in a cool dry place.

Never reuse a condom, they're good one time only.

Nonoxynol-9, is a pretty common spermacidal agent, and tests have shown it to be effective in killing HIV in the test tube, but it's also really abrasive and a lot of people are allergic to it. It can actually irritate your sex organs and cause you to get small cuts and abrasions, which really makes HIV transmission easier.

Some condom do's:

Do use a water based lubricant. Lubricants actually help condoms to not break, and they make sex pretty great too. Also, putting a few drops of lube on the head of a penis before putting a condom on is a great trick to increase pleasure (tell that to those fuckers who insist that condoms suck cause they can't feel anything). Examples of water based lubricants include: K-Y Jelly, Astroglide, and ID glide.

Do put your foreskin down first if you're not circumcised, it'll allow it to move without breaking the condom.

Do experiment with different brands and flavors, practice putting condoms on with your mouth (watch the teeth!), you can practice on inanimate objects first, have condom races, go nuts!

A few things to note:

If used correctly less than 2% of condoms break.

If you're allergic to latex, polyurethane condoms are available, they too protect against pregnancy HIV and STDs. but lambskin or other "natural" condoms have little tiny holes in then so while they advertise that they protect against pregnancy, they don't protect against HIV, it can still get through those little holes!

No condom is too small, try it out, you can fit a condom over your entire forearm, there's no excuse for not wearing one.

What to do it it breaks:

Try not to panic. It is important that women not douche; it can cause injury to internal tissue and push sperm further into the body. Cover the entire genital area with a contraceptive foam, which has a high concentration of spermicide and will help neutralize any infectious agent. Try to figure out why the condom broke so that you can prevent it from happening again. If you're concerned about pregnancy or exposure to STDs, contact your doctor or one of the places linked below.

And finally, some good websites, resources and hotlines:

For all kinds of info on HIV/AIDS try: http://www.thebody.com
For info on condoms, and to order them online try: http://www.condommania.com
Panned Parenthood
For a good list of national hotlines and stuff click here.