Male Circumsicion

This stems from the recent BBC Newshour podcast I just finished listening to, which can be found at: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/newshour

episode: 5/27/2011, 2pm

Firstly, lets define what the foreskin, and circumcision is:

Male circumcision is the practice of removing a collection of tissues, the foreskin, from the penis at birth. Many people actually don't know what a foreskin actually is, so let me define it here before we start. A foreskin is a double layered fold of skin and mucosa surrounding the glans of the penis. The outer layer is primarily skin, the inner layer is a mixture of specialized mucosa, highly specialized erogeneous nerve endings. The functions of the forskin include creating a 'gliding mechanism' in sexual intercourse, as well as protection for the naturally sensitive glans, and regulation of the natural environement (moisture, oils, etc) around the glans. Circumcision removes the outer layer of skin, the inner mucosa tissues, many of the erogeneous nerver endings, the penis' inborn gliding mechanism, 

See the wikipedia page for a brief overview of ethical, social, relgious, and medical issues surrounding the act of cicumsicion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision.

There are movements in San Francisco and other cities in the United States to make cicumcision of male infants illegal. It does not make 'later-in-life' circumcisions illegal - one can still get one if they want it.

In short:

Religious Groups (Jews + Muslims, specifically mentioned in this podcast) don't like the idea of outlawing infant circumcision because they feel it is a form of censorship and an infringement on their rights to freedom of religious expression.

Anti-circumcision groups: the forskin of the penis is an important erogenous zone, and benefits males in terms of sexual function and also in overall genital health.

Personally, I feel that circumcision is somewhat barbaric, and certainly non-essential. Whatever health benefits might purportedly arise from cutting off your dick-skin could easily be achieved through good personal hygiene and using condoms while having sex. Certainly, getting circumcised and having unprotected sex with multiple partners is not going to prevent you from contracting STDs. Are men that are circumcised 'not whole'? Certainly not! But, can one honestly make the argument "Yes, I prefer my parents to remove parts of my body that they/society deem non-important without my consent"? Even if there are health benefits, it seems that most of the 'biggies' are directly related to sexual activity - something I doubt most infants take part in. Can one really make the argument that no-foreskin offers a better protective power than foreskin+condom, or circumcised+condom? My guess would be that condoms are the thing that prevents infection, above all other factors. Regardless, I like my foreskin, and see no reason why I should cut it off, and am thankful for my parents for not doing so. Here are some articles that go in-depth into medical considerations surrounding circumcision:

Study 1 - http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/HIV/vanhowe4/
This study is a meta-study, combining results from several other studies. They found that there was not a correlation between HIV-AIDS and circumcision.

Study 2 - http://tinyurl.com/3jefcbc (may or may not work)
This study comes a year after study 1, and includes study 1's results as a reference. Study 2 finds that there IS a correlation between reduced risk of HIV-AIDs and circumcision in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Study 3

And a study on cervical cancer vs human papeloma virus residing in foreskin: http://tinyurl.com/4x4fqgl
And its almost not worth linking to wikipedia, since I assume that's the first place everyone goes for information these days, but I thought the discussion on the article on circumcision was really thorough, 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision#cite_note-VanHoweHIVmeta-159

Osama Bin Laden

Well, I wasn't going to even talk about Osama biting the dust, but it seems like everyone is doing it, so I'll throw in my two cents. When I was a Sophomore in highschool, I came to school to find all televisions tuned to a news station. In each class I attended, the teacher asked if we should simply watch the events of 9/11 unfold, or if we should continue with the lesson plan as scheduled, to prove that we would not allow a terrorist attack to frighten us out of our routine, and as a sign of respect for those who lost their lives - that we would not let terrorists use their deaths to control what we think and do.

I think that day probably affected everyone to some degree - personally, I've always wondered how much of an effect it really had on me - New York was so far away, and those events just seemed like they were coming from another world - and shit, I was 16, and had lots of other teenage things on my mind.

Regardless of what I felt then, I think that the attack on 9/11 did have an effect on me - I felt that effect resonate when I visited the site of the WTC almost ten years after the attack to find that it was still deeply ingrained in the minds of New Yorkers, and other Americans who came to see the carnage - wrapped up in a new construction site, and pay homage to the dead, and try to achieve some sense of closure. Regarding 9/11, I am hesitant to talk about it, because I feel strongly that I should not co-opt the real tragedy of those who lost loved ones, however, I do feel a great deal of sympathy for those affected, and it that sense, it does effect me.

And now, I find that the perpetrator of these events has been killed, of all ways, in a gun-battle in a house. What am I supposed to feel? Relief? Elation? Anger? I don't know that killing him has changed anything. Does his death really provide closure? It does not bring back anyone who has been killed by his machinations. I've seen a whole host of reactions, and funny enough, I had a strong reaction to either side, there seems to be two camps - those who are happy bin Laden is dead, and those who feel its wrong to celebrate killing, period. It bothered me to see people celebrating his death, but it also really bothered me when people got up on soap-boxes and voiced their objections to people celebrating his death - it seems there is no winning side.

Bin Laden was more than a man - he had become a symbol of evil in the minds of many people, he lived free, exulting in his atrocious crime and the pain that he had caused Americans. His single action has affected the way that we travel, it has for better or for worse, left a very dark mark on everyone - think of how things were before 9/11, and how they are now. Is it so strange that people might be elated at his death? Do we even have the right to try an 'educate them' regarding the proper way to react? Conversely, why should we celebrate death -  doing so is at least morbid, and at worst, treading dangerously close to the idea that we have the right to kill who ever we deem evil.

I suppose that the death of one person is meaningless compared to the deaths of the thousands of people who perished in the WTC Towers. Part of me, the angry part, wants to see bin Laden put on trial for all of his sins, to see remorse flood his eyes when he realizes how much pain and suffering he inflicted, to see him relive the horrors that he inflicted and understand the meaning of his actions. The angry part of me feels like just blowing the guy away robs our 'right' to justice.

But, the logical side of me wonders if there is any way that resolution can happen involving bin Laden. What happened was so horrific, its almost too much to even want to deal with the man. Its as though his action severed him from being human in my mind - its inconceivable for me to imagine what I would have to become in order to do what he did - it was monstrous. How do you deal with a monster? A real monster - it just seems like the sort of thing where one's gut reaction is to just push it away, lock it in a cell where he will be forgotten.

Justice is an extremely slippery concept for me to grasp. I don't think its ever simple. I think that sometimes, a hurt is deep, and there isn't a single simple action that will make it go away. And, there isn't a way to return to how things were before - you just can't. You have to let go of what once was, and try to find some way of moving ahead, positively and resolutely, into the future.

Requisite First Post - About Me

I'm a positive person; I love, and desperately need socializing with good friends over delicious beer and food. I love creating in every sense of the word – I find that figuring out how things work, building or making something, rather than buying it, can be simultaneously extremely gratifying, and extremely frustrating. It’s probably due to that need to create and understand the world around me that I chose to study physics. I find the study thoroughly enriching, and it leaves plenty of room for my touchy-feely squishy emotional-ness to get satisfaction; though that in no way means that I insist on experiencing everything through the lens of physics. Currently, I actually do physics for a living and it is awesome - I am still getting used to the idea. I think that I would have been equally happy pursuing some other creative outlet, but that physics just ended up being the right thing at the right time in college.

One thing I notice about being in physics is that many people automatically think physicists are smart. I'd be lying if I denied enjoying the stereotype at times, but I should make a clear distinction, in that specific knowledge of a narrow field, and using obscure jargon, while fun to tout, does not make one wise, compassionate, or happy. I strive to be the latter – which I think is a much nobler pursuit than being ‘smart’.

In fact, I think that I enjoy talking about physics at a level that captures interest of people that don’t do physics, much more satisfying than actually doing physics research. I like sharing knowledge and experiences,  as much as enjoy learning about other people’s knowledge and experiences.

I hope to use this blog to learn more about myself, write about what I do at a level that is enjoyable to everyone, and talk about whatever interests me at the moment, which can vary wildly.