October 03, 2007
Man uses adult store's cuffs in robbery
FERNDALE, Mich. - A parolee faces charges of robbing a lingerie and adult novelties store after locking up a clerk with a pair of off-the-shelf handcuffs.
Police in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale say the clerk triggered a holdup alarm after seeing the masked suspect enter the Priscilla's store shortly after noon Monday. The man announced a robbery, led the woman into a back room and handcuffed her to a storage shelf.
The clerk got to a phone and called police, who were waiting for the man as he walked out the back door. Officers said they recovered $213 in cash.
Police say the man was released from prison in April after serving seven years in prison for armed robbery. He's scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Posted by ronnie at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)
July 31, 2007
In Japan, even sex goes high-tech
TOKYO (AFP) - The Japanese love technology so much that now even sex toys are on the cutting edge.
The "gPod," a phallic-shaped vibrator, is designed to respond automatically to sounds picked up by an accompanying handset, which can plug into anything from a telephone to a music player to a television.
The 25,000-yen (200-dollar) gPod was one of a number of toys that went on public view Friday at Japan's first-ever sex toy expo in suburban Tokyo.
"You can use it in many ways, for example hooking it up to your mobile phone," said Ichiro Kameda, the machine's inventor.
"The dildo vibrates through the same waves as a voice. So one of the ideas is that you can use it here in Tokyo when your boyfriend in New York is talking to you on the phone."
Kameda said he had spent four years trying to design a product when he hit upon the concept. He declined to say how the idea came to him.
Nearly 160 companies or groups are exhibiting products and services at the three-day Adult Treasure Expo 2007, including sex toys, sex machines, costumes and videos.
Posted by ronnie at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2007
Ballack, Kahn win sex toy suit
BERLIN (Reuters) - German sex shop chain Beate Uhse must pay German football stars Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn 50,000 euros ($67,380) each for using their names for vibrators without permission, the company said on Monday.
The company had marketed the sex toys, dubbed "Michael B." and "Olli K.", before Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006.
Although the surnames of the two German football stars were not used, it was clear they referred to Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
Kahn and national team captain Ballack sued Beate Uhse in court for unauthorised use of their names and won.
"The products have been withdrawn," the spokeswoman said. "We have to pay 50,000 euros to each of them."
Posted by ronnie at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
Sex toys contain dangerous chemicals says Greenpeace
THE HAGUE (AFP) - Environmental group Greenpeace called on the European Union to ban the use of chemical plastic softeners in sex toys because they contained dangerous substances known as phthalates.
"Adult sex toys contain the same toxic substances that the European Union banned from use in children's toys," Greenpeace said in a press release from its international headquarters here.
The environmental group said it was shocked to find that seven of the eight sex toys it had tested contained between 24 and 51 percent of phthalates.
"It is unbelievable that such toxic substances can be used in adult toys. We have tested many products in the last few years but never have we encountered such high concentrations," Greenpeace spokesman Bart van Opzeeland said.
Greenpeace research has shown that phthalates can disrupt the human hormonal system, diminishes fertility and adversely affects the kidneys and liver.
The substance is used to soften plastics and PVC plastic. Greenpeace stressed that a ban on phthalates would not mean the disappearance of people's favourite sex toys as there are plenty of non-toxic alternatives.
Posted by ronnie at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2006
Chinese sex toys confiscated in Vietnam
HANOI, Vietnam - Authorities in Vietnam's southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City seized one ton of Chinese-made sex toys, aphrodisiacs and other sexual stimulants, state-controlled media reported Friday.
Police and market inspectors Thursday confiscated the illegal shipment, which included more than 10,000 tablets of Viagra, sex toys and sexual stimulants in the form of tablets, powder and liquid hidden in a truckload of onions, the Laborer newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted a truck driver Mai Ngoc Hoang as saying he was hired to transport the goods from the northern province of Lang Son bordering China to Ho Chi Minh City.
Hoang was detained for questioning and police are investigating the case, the report said.
Posted by ronnie at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2006
Cricket club's sex shop deal stumped
LONDON (AFP) - An English cricket club has had to pull out from a sponsorship deal with a sex shop after it was threatened with expulsion by its local league.
Southport Trinity Cricket Club, in Lancashire, north-west England, had already produced shirts for its players displaying the logo of Nice'n'Naughty - a chain of adult shops selling pornographic videos and sex toys - in time for the start of their season this Saturday.
However, the amateur team was forced to ditch the shirts and refund Nice'n'Naughty's sponsorship money after being threatened with expulsion from the Liverpool and District Competition of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Premier League.
Southport chairman Colin Maxwell said: "Obviously, we knew that Nice'n'Naughty is not to everybody's taste, but we didn't realise it would cause this much of a problem.
"It is a legitimate high street company. The Southport branch is right opposite the train station.
"We are living in 2006, it's not like the old days when these shops were seedy, back street affairs."
Maxwell added the Liverpool and District Cricket authorities originally approved the deal but later issued an ultimatum to the club - lose the shirts, or lose points.
"They originally approved the deal but I think they came under pressure from the ECB, and they have to be seen to act accordingly," Maxwell explained.
"They told us that if we played in the shirts, any points we scored would be taken away from us.
"We had already had the shirts made up, so not only do we have to refund the sponsorship money but we have wasted cash on the shirts as well. It has cost us around 1,000 pounds, which is a lot of money to a club like ours."
He added: "Other teams in the league are sponsored by breweries and the league itself is sponsored by a gambling firm, Littlewoods Gaming.
"If alcohol and gambling are considered to be appropriate, then why not an adult shop?"
Nice'n'Naughty has eight shops across north-west England and Wales. Its director, Simon Prescott, is said to be a keen cricket fan eager to promote his business among followers of the game.
The company's website boasts: "We are the UK's leading chain of licensed sex shops and offer an extensive range of hardcore VHS/DVD, magazines, fetish wear, PVC clothing, rubber clothing, leather clothing, boots, shoes, wigs, breast forms, bondage equipment, lingerie, hosiery, sex toys and novelties."
Posted by ronnie at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2006
Romans blush as pharmacies stock adult 'toys'
ROME (AFP) - Adult sex toys jostled for space with cotton pads and cough syrup on pharmacy shelves in Rome this week, but a rash of publicity has prompted shopowners to spare the blushes of customers and withdraw them from view, though not from sale.
"It's Time to Change your Toys" taunted the English-language slogan on the objects' daring display stand as the "toys" went on sale in pharmacies across the Italian capital earlier this week.
But press photographers trying to snap a picture drew a blank on Friday after pharmacists opted for a more prudent approach, deciding to remove the "toys" from the view of unsuspecting adults searching for more prosaic forms of relief... like Vick's vapor rub.
The offending objects are a phallus-shaped vibrator for females and a stimulating "ring" designed for male pleasure.
"The display has been removed to a more private area so as to avoid any embarrassment it might cause to clients," said a statement from Farmacap, a chain of 30 pharmacies run by Rome's left-leaning city authorities.
Farmacap has signed a contract with condom-manufacturer Durex to distribute the sex aids.
The company said Friday the adult toys were "registered as aids or health instruments" in the health ministry's catalogue of recognized pharmaceutical products, and thus as suitable for sale in a pharmacy as Vick's.
The company said the sex aids would likely be useful to people suffering from sexual problems.
Unsurprisingly, the move has shocked conservatives, though at least one saw the funny side.
"Vibrators for all! I can see it now, the outgoing mayor's election slogan," snapped Giuseppe Sorrenti, a member of the National Alliance, part of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government.
"All we need now is for Rocco Siffredi (a porn star) to be appointed as the health secretary," said Sorrenti.
Posted by ronnie at 02:59 PM | Comments (0)