beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, medical, science

Circumcision and Morality

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Two pieces I picked up from this week’s New Scientist. First a report of moves to “encourage” male circumcision:

New York is […] considering whether promoting circumcision among the city’s men might help limit the spread of HIV there. The procedure has worked wonders in Africa, cutting the infection rate by 60 per cent in circumcised Ugandans, Kenyans and South Africans compared with their intact compatriots. On 28 March, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS endorsed it as a means of reducing HIV spread.
So far […] the procedure has only been shown to work in Africa and in men who only have sex with women. So could a similar strategy work in New York, where sex between men and infection through intravenous drug use are more prevalent?

As this quote implies male circumcision isn’t just actively under consideration in NY but also in the whole of Africa. And now to female circumcision:

The painful and dangerous practice of female circumcision has been outlawed in […]Eritrea, where around 94 per cent of women are circumcised […] anyone who requests, incites or promotes female genital mutilation [will] be punished with a fine and imprisonment.

I appreciate that there is a difference of scale between male and female circumcision, but it seems to me there is a disconnect here. How can it be immoral to (seek to) mutilate female genitalia but yet moral to (seek to) mutilate the male penis?

Yes, OK, male circumcision may reduce the incidence of HIV amongst a defined section of the population: males who have sex with females without condoms. But it worries me that there is clearly going to be (political, medical and peer) pressure applied to men to get circumcised, and on parents to have baby boys circumcised. Worse I can see circumcision of male babies becoming an unquestioned part of perinatal care with parents not even being asked if they consent. And for adult men (at least in Africa) I can foresee the scenario there was in India some years ago where men were effectively bribed to have vasectomies. If I choose circumcision of my own free will, then fine. But how dare the medical profession, let alone politicians, decree that I must (or even should)? And how dare parents inflict it on a baby? If the same situation was being applied to women there would be the most almighty outcry — and rightly.

Let’s stand by our human rights and be very clear that all body mutilation (whether medically induced or not) which is not chosen of the subject’s own free will is immoral and (probably) illegal under international law.

When will politicians and the medical profession learn?

(Oh and by the way, no I’m not circumcised and I’m very glad my parents didn’t inflict it on me.)

memes, thoughts

Friday Five: More About Me

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1. Who was your first crush?
A girl in my class at school named Sandra Shorer. We were about 10, maybe younger. She was not at all interested. I wonder where she is now, some 45 years later?

2. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Introvert, although I can move towards extrovert if I have to I can’t do proper extrovert and I don’t find it comfortable.

3. What is your favorite non-sexual thing you like to do with the love of your life?
Talk. The one thing we vowed to do when we got married was to keep talking to each other. I won’t say we have a permanent on-going conversation, but it comes very close at times. It helps that we are interested in many of the same things and understand the world in similar ways and with similar humour.

4. Name one quirky habit your partner does that either annoys you or makes you grin.
Does everything too slowly; every job seems to take twice the time it would if I did it.

5. Do you believe in monogamous relationships?
No, not unless that is what both of you agree you want after careful thought. Monogamy is not how the human species was designed, it is an artificial invention of god philosophies used in order to keep control (of both men and women). Multiple partners are fine but they should not be hidden, secret affairs — be open about it; which means talking and communication.

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Five.]

photography, pleasures

Back on Duty


Back on Duty, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Harry the office cat is back on duty after his operation. Although he’s still confined to barracks (and mighty fed up about it) his leg is healing well and, as you can see, he’s allowed to do light office duties. Amazingly he hasn’t (yet) removed the stitches! And he’s back to being huggy Harry, which is nice.

photography, pleasures

Poor Harry


Poor Harry, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Harry the Cat has been to the vet today for an op: he’s lost a tooth and a lump from his back leg. He’s back home; and he’s obviously a bit sore, which is hardly surprising given that incision in his leg. Otherwise he seems fine, apart from being pissed off at being kept in.

Give him only half a helping of this special soft food, and no crunch says the vet. So Noreen did just that: he wolfed down the paté, and then proceeded to demolish Sally’s whole helping of their normal food. Meanwhile Sally is pissed of ‘cos there’s no crunch!

Keep him in until you bring him back to have the stitches out in 10 days. Some hope! He’s already eyeing the study fanlight. Oh and he’s currently sitting on top of my scanner which I was actually using when he arrived!

Cats! Love ’em to bits.

current affairs, science, thoughts

10 Things We Didn't Know Last Week

Every week the BBC News website posts an item called 10 things we didn’t know last week. I just happened to look at this week’s and was struck by some of the oddities therein …

1. The UK’s national time signal is accurate to within 1,000th of a second of Coordinated Universal Time.
2. Drinking, drug-taking teenagers are in the decline in England, according to a survey by the Information Centre.
3. The average water temperature of the UK’s rivers and lakes is 5C in winter, 18C in summer.
4. Eight of the 10 most crowded train journeys in the UK are outside London. [That did surprise me when I saw it earlier in the week; but then note they are measuring overground trains, not the London Underground.]
5. The average duvet is home to 20,000 live dust mites. [I’m surprised that’s all; I would have expected the number to be 100 times bigger!]
6. Designer discount retailer TK Maxx is called TJ Maxx in the US. [Try to understand the importance of this.]
7. Having a baby can cost you up to two months sleep in the first year. [I would have thought that continues for something like 20 years, doesn’t it? Though never having been selfish enough to have children I wouldn’t know.]
8. Chimps and bonobos differ from humans by only 1% of DNA and could accept a blood transfusion or a kidney. [I knew the 1% difference in DNA, but hadn’t realised the implications for transplants. But why a chimp would want a human kidney baffles me.]
9. Britain’s peat bogs store carbon that is equivalent to 20 years’ worth of national industrial emissions.
10. Dogs can seemingly perform the Heimlich manoeuvre (a technique for helping someone who is choking). [I have this bizarre picture of a coiffed miniature poodle trying to do the HM on an 18 stone rugby player!]

books, food+drink, memes, people, thoughts

Getting to Know Me Better — A Meme

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I’ve just come across this meme lurking on my machine — see they never die out! I’ve no idea where I got it from, but let’s see if we can start it off again.

Getting to Know Me Better

What time did you get up this morning?
As it’s Saturday I had a nice lie in, following a late-ish night. Didn’t get up until about 09.45. On work mornings it is anything between 6 and 8am depending on what my schedule is.

Diamonds or pearls?
If I must, pearls, but I’d much prefer tanzanite or amber.

What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
I keep telling you I don’t do films, so it’ll be no surprise when I tell you the last time I recall going to the cinema was to see Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Pictures at an Exhibition in 1973! It was on with a film by The Strawbs which was really why we went.

What is your favourite TV show?
Channel 4 TV’s Time Team. Three days of serious archaeological investigation condensed into an hour of TV. Usually interesting even if they do dig too many Roman and pre-Roman sites for my interest.

What do you usually have for breakfast?
I used not to do breakfast, other than a large mug of tea. However since I’ve been told I’m diabetic I do try to have something, even if not the ideally balanced breakfast the medics would like. So now it’s that large mug of tea with some fruit, yoghurt or toast.

Favourite cuisine?
It’s probably a toss-up between Indian and Italian.

What food do you dislike?
Egg custard is my biggest hate. Not over keen on milk puddings. And I don’t like meat and sugar (meat and fruit is OK as long as it isn’t sweet as well).

What is your favourite CD at the moment?
Pink Floyd; Wish You were Here. But you could choose almost anything from late Beatles or 70s Pink Floyd, Yes, Caravan.

Morning or night person?
Neither. I don’t generally survive much past 11.30pm, though I can get a second wind after midnight. And I’m useless at getting up in the morning, as was my father before me.

Favourite sandwich?
Whatever I fancy at the time. Choose from: smoked salmon, chicken & avocado, bacon, prawns.

What characteristic do you despise?
Most of all management lies and politics. Being a cynic I see through it all. I also hate people who know it all, who have to be right, or think their God’s gift.

Favourite item of clothing?
Nothing. I wear as few clothes as I can as much of the time as I can. We both spend a lot of our time at home wearing nothing; or a t-shirt and jeans in the middle of winter. Fortunately our house is naturally warm so we don’t have to waste energy on heating it; the heating thermostat is set at about 20C. But then I’m not one to feel the cold and never have been; when I was young and playing cricket I was always the first to discard a sweater and the last to put one on. Now I have a good covering of blubber.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Difficult. For a “do nothing” holiday I fancy a naturist village by the sea in a nice sunny area of France (and I mean a real village; none of this Cap d’Agde rubbish). For a sightseeing holiday I rather fancy Japan. And travel has to be by magic carpet, door to door.

What colour is your bathroom?
Ivory.

Favourite brand of clothing?
I’ve already told you I don’t wear clothes if I don’t have to. In consequence I don’t couldn’t care less about brands. Vain I am not.

Where would you retire to?
Probably Dorset, South Devon or Norfolk, although I suspect we’ll stay where we are.

What was your most memorable birthday?
My 21st. It’s about the only one I do remember. I was given a coffee percolator and in road testing it got caffeine poisoning.

Favourite sport to watch?
Cricket, as long as it isn’t this one-day rubbish played in pyjamas. But then I’ve lost tough with cricket as I got disillusioned quite a few years ago with the way the game was being run and bastardised as a marketing exercise.

When is your birthday?
11 January

What is your shoe size?
10 or 11 depending on the cut; I have very broad and deep feet.

Pets?
Two cats and lots of fish (tropical and pond).

What did you want to be when you were little?
When I was really little I hadn’t got a clue; I was always worried that my friends all knew they wanted to be engine drivers or whatever when I didn’t even know how to start thinking about the problem. By the time I was 15 or 16 I knew I wanted to do scientific research, which I achieved if only briefly.

What is your favourite flower?
Hmmm, probably daffodils and lilies.

What date on the calendar are you looking forward to?
The one when I get that big lottery win and retire.

What music do you like?
Almost anything before Bach and 60s/70s pop/rock.

Your Favourite Book?
Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time. But then you knew I’d say that.

That’s it. I’ll tag Kelly, Jilly, Sue, Noreen, Misty, Chris. Either post your answers on your weblog and add a pointer in the comments here, or post your answers as a comment.

Enjoy!