I was saddened to learn that a friend's baby died. Jennifer is a Facebook friend. She is a fellow intactivist and we are both passionate about fighting for genital integrity. I have never met her. As Intactivists we are members of a close-knit community who fight against male infant circumcision and therein lies our bond.

Jennifer lost her baby after 36 weeks of gestation. It may be another week or two before the baby is delivered as a stillbirth. That short time will give Jen a chance to say goodbye to the baby she carried for so long. One of the greatest losses suffered by a parent is the loss of a child.

Many of us in that Facebook community are showing our support by burning a candle. The candle is for Jennifer and her baby that died in the womb. The candle sheds light when in a dark place. With our many candles burning brightly, we wish to let Jen know she is not alone.

Please join me in a moment of silence as we think of those who have lost a loved one.

  Read more . . .

The big news this week is the CDC released information on the infant circumcision rate for hospitals. The CDC says that the circumcision rate for male infants born in hospitals has dropped recently. Three different data sources were examined by the CDC. See Washington Post: Circumcision rates falling, CDC says

• National Hospital Discharge Survey shows the circumcision rate fell from 62.5% in 1999 to 56.9% in 2008.
• Nationwide Inpatient Sample shows the circumcision rate fell from 63.5% in 1999 to 56.3% in 2008.
• Charge Data Master shows the circumcision rate fell from 58.4 percent in 2001 to 54.7% in 2010.

It is interesting that the CDC says nothing about their study of circumcision complication rates in which the CDC noted that the 2009 circumcision rate was 32.5%. See my August 2010 report on the CDC slide presentation showing a circumcision decrease..

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.
 

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The WHOLE Network: Expecting Moms: Trust Your Gut, Don't Make the Cut
Many mothers circumcise their sons even though their gut tells them that it is wrong or that it will unnecessarily hurt their son. Why do mothers allow their newborn babies to be brutally circumcised when there is so much information out there that tells them that infant circumcision is wrong.

HubPages: Ron Low Interview (Infant Circumcision)
Ron Low, maker of the TLC Tugger and other foreskin restoration devices, is interviewed about male infant circumcision and foreskin restoration. Ron very ably discusses why male infant circumcision is harmful and should be stopped. Read more . . .

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.
 

Monday, August 22, 2011

Dr Momma Peaceful Parenting: Intact or Circumcised: A Significant Difference in the Adult Penis
Removing a part of the penis from a baby boy through infant circumcision affects the man that boy grows up to be. Circumcision removes the foreskin, which has important functions like protecting the glans and making sex more pleasurable for both the man and his partner. Many circumcised men are restoring their foreskin to regain some of what they lost by being circumcised.

The New York Times: Health: Circumcise or Don’t? Quandary for Parents
The Times points out that there really are no valid reasons to circumcise baby boys in an article that still tends to advocate for male genital cutting. “There’s no compelling medical reason to [circumcise baby boys],” said Dr. Douglas S. Diekema, a pro-circ member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’s task force on circumcision. So, why not leave the choice to the owner of the penis. Maybe he would like to keep his whole sex organ. I know I would have liked to remain whole.

The Bilerico Project: To Cut or Not to Cut
A discussion of the history of circumcision, from Egypt to America. The author also tells how Victorian medical experts in the 1870s began touting circumcision as a purveyor of many health benefits for men. Currently, there are a few staunch advocates for male infant circumcision or male genital mutilation. But there is resistance from intactivists. "The United States has the highest rate of HIV infection and the highest rate of male circumcision in the industrialized world. Male circumcision, therefore, cannot reasonably be thought to prevent HIV infection."
  Read more . . .

Every year Burning Man is held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. This year's Burning Man starts Monday, August 29 and runs through Labor Day, September 5. Burning Man's Black Rock City is dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.

I would love to make it to Burning Man some year.

I just found out that a foreskin restoration Playa Event is scheduled at this year's Burning Man on August 30 at 5pm.

From the announcement:

Learn how to restore your foreskin using safe, non-surgical techniques. A restored foreskin provides greater sexual pleasure for you and your partner. We'll offer dialogue, support, and a safe container. All are welcome. More info at restoringforeskin.org.

I think it is great that someone restoring his foreskin is giving a class/workshop there.
  Read more . . .

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.
 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The WHOLE Network: Getting Back What was Lost: A Journey to Foreskin Restoration
James Mac writes about circumcision and his foreskin restoration. His is a common story. One that is repeated all too often in our circumcision culture. He does not like that he was circumcised as a child. He took matters in his own hands and restored his foreskin to regain some of what he lost.
 

Monday, August 15, 2011

The WHOLE Network: The Development of Foreskin Retraction in the Child & Adolescent
The foreskin of an intact (uncircumcised) baby boy is fused to the glans. The foreskin remains attached to the glans for several years. For some boys, the foreskin does not retract naturally until his early- to mid-teens. Care-givers and healthcare providers must be careful to avoid premature retraction of the foreskin, which is contrary to medical recommendations, painful, traumatic, tears the attachment points (synechiae), may cause infection, is likely to generate medico-legal problems, and may cause paraphimosis, with the tight foreskin acting like a tourniquet. The first person to retract the boy’s foreskin should be the boy himself.
  Read more . . .

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.

One interesting topic this week is the furor in Africa what happens to the removed foreskins from the male circumcision campaign. News has come to light that male foreskins are used in the cosmetic industry and for manufacturing some medical products.

• iAfrica: Government fuels 'foreskin trade' Monday, August 8, 2011
• Sowetan: Concern that foreskins of circumcised babies will be sold illicitly to the global cosmetics industry Monday, August 8, 2011
• Africa Times Live: Babies' foreskins could be sold: Ethics watchdog Monday, August 8, 2011
• Daily News: Circumcision could promote illicit trade: report Monday, August 8, 2011
   

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The WHOLE Network: An Open Letter to Mohel Michael Henesch
A young man writes a letter to the mohel who circumcised him 21 years ago. The young man does not like being circumcised. He provides his personal experience with the results of the mohel's handiwork. He does not like the irritation of the exposed tissue. Nor does he like the gradual loss of sexual pleasure as his penis develops a protective callous because the foreskin is missing and cannot protect the delicate tissues.

Salem-News:  Rites of the Parents Against Rights of the Child; Circumcision, a Misdemeanor or a Crime?
A discussion of religious rites versus bodily rights of children. "Circumcision: men's power over the child!" "Circumcision does not answer the needs of the child…" Genital cutting of children is slowly becoming abhorred worldwide. But it is not disappearing fast enough.
 

Monday, August 8, 2011

The WHOLE Network: Does Circumcision Cause Erectile Dysfunction?
The United States, a nation with 4.5% of the world's population, consumes 47% of the world's Viagra. Hmm. The United States also is one of the nations with the highest male circumcision rate in the world. Correlation? Causation? Hmm. I know that before I started restoring my foreskin that my sexual performance had dropped tremendously as I aged. I cannot say that I had Erectile Dysfunction or ED, but I was not far from it. Restoring my foreskin reversed that. Read more . . .

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.

After last week's decision to strike the San Francisco circumcision ban measure from the ballot, the blogosphere and other media have been quiet about circumcision.
 

Sunday, July 31, 2011

What I'm Missing: Part 24, The Jews
Kurt continues his story of growing up circumcised. He recalls an episode where a friend tells his theory of why almost every guy in America is circumcised. His theory that it was because of all the Jewish doctors in America has some credibility. In the mid-twentieth century, more than half of all doctors in the United States were Jewish.
  Read more . . .

The big news this week is that a judge ruled that the San Francisco circumcision ban measure must be removed from the ballot because it violated state law. First, the judge made a tentative ruling that the ballot measure would be stricken from the ballot. the judge said that the California Business and Professions Code prohibits local regulation of medical procedures. She said that it "serves no legitimate purpose" for an illegal measure to remain on the ballot and ordered elections chief John Arntz "to, um, cut it off." (Can we grow up enough to stop with the stupid puns, already.)

• City Insider: Circumcision ban to be snipped from ballot
• USA Today: Circumcision ban to be stricken from San Francisco ballot

Then, the following day after a hearing the judge makes her decision final.

• BBC News: San Francisco circumcision ban struck from ballot
• CNN Health: San Francisco judge removes circumcision ban from ballot

Intactivists say they are considering an appeal of the judge's ruling. Read more . . .

I do not normally discuss politics. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I believe that it is the purpose of a government to provide certain services to its people, but I also believe that the government should be fiscally responsible. Those are not incompatible objectives.

There has always been strife with our politicians. But in the past 12 years, the pot went from being stirred vigorously to being really heated up to being almost ready to boil over.

The current problem first manifested itself during the 2000 Presidential elections. The Swiftboating of Senator Kerry was emblematic of the new way of winning. No need to have a good platform or a good track record. All that was necessary was to smear the other side, to go lower than the other side dared to go. The tactic was even named Swiftboating after the smear campaign against Kerry. Unfortunately, such tactics are successful in our sheeple society.

The 2008 Presidential elections saw the new Tea Party's rise. The Tea Party revitalized the Republican Party, but it also splintered it. The Tea Party has an extremist platform that is more fanatical than realistic. Unfortunately, the 2010 midterm elections saw the Tea Party move into the House, assuring the Republican Party a House majority, but only in number, not in the party platform. The Tea Party also assumed power in many states.

Now we have the politicians piggybacking solutions to the budget deficit to the debt ceiling. These are two issues that need not be joined. Raising the debt ceiling has traditionally been technical legislation with little fanfare. This time, though, we have the Republicans seeking to use the debt ceiling issue as a vehicle to move their agenda. It is backfiring on them. Read more . . .

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.

The big news this week is the lawsuit brought for a boy with a botched circumcision. When the boy was a week old, he was circumcised, Unfortunately, more than his foreskin was removed. This is a complication of the surgery that most parents are not aware of. The boy, now eight years old, has had multiple corrective surgeries and will have to live the rest of his life with his botched circumcision. Sure, he was awarded $4.6 million, but I would rather have my whole penis instead of the money.

• laist: Family Wins $4.6M in Lawsuit After Circumcision Gone Wrong
• NZ Herald: NZ $5.6 million compo after botched circumcision
• LA Weekly Blog: Penis Clipping as Part of Circumcision Gone Bad Yields $4 Million-Plus Settlement For Boy in L.A.
• Long Beach Press-Telegram: Boy's botched circumcision leads to $4.6 million award
• California Injury Lawyers Blog: Products Liability: Los Angeles Judge Awards Family $4.6M for Injury from Botched Circumcision
   

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Barefoot Intactivist: Urologist Renounces Infant Circumcision; Discusses Risks, Harms, & Lack Of Benefits
A discussion of a video interview of Dr. Snyder, former president of the Virginia Urological Society. Dr. Snyder talks about the ethical problems with performing an unnecessary procedure (circumcision) on a child that cannot consent.  The urologist also de-bunks the myths that newborn circumcision can stop penile cancer (the rarest of all male cancers), urinary tract infections, and HIV. Read more . . .