- 15:42 @rustyrockets solid gold advert. I mean she did write "Womanizer" for didn't she???? #
- 15:44 Heading back to the "ton of King" aka Kington, this evening. And it will be my first time back to my home since being married. Interesting! #
Saturday 29 August 2009
A Secret Transmission within the Guild
Thursday 27 August 2009
A thought....
OK. You may find this subject weird/strange but then I ffind this all quite intriguing.
So while the TV was on in the background as we we're making dinner classic "Friends" has the episode where Joey has an audition for a film where he plays a Catholic immigrant to America. The film is set in the 20's and so Italian immigrants of Catholic descent would not be circumcised.
Now why, you may ask, is this all so funny for the never ending comedy show?
Well Joey is circumcised and so he fashions for the audition a false foreskin.
But then lets just think about this all for a bit. I would assume that really only familys that are Jewish or happen to have a Jewish background would follow this tradition. Also it is practiced by people of Muslim descent and also by some African Christian churches, and some Oriental Christian churches.
However in America, no matter the faith, even if secular, circumcision is the norm.
Now of course this gets all the more interesting that this affects the view that women have on men. In the past Sam has come across an lj girly community an American girl asked "have you seen a uncricumcised man and what do you think of it". Some of the replies, mainly from American women said that they found it unsightly and considered it unhygenic. Even go so far as not dating a guy if there was such a revelation.
Now some of the replies found this concept mad, mainly women from Europe and the UK for whom this scenario is of course very common, if notthe norm.
Now let's consider the history of the circumcision.
From Wikipedia it states...
"Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave drawings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures are open to interpretation.[2][3][4] Religious male circumcision is considered a commandment from God in Judaism.[5] In Islam, though not discussed in the Qur'an, circumcision is widely practiced and most often considered to be a sunnah.[6] It is also customary in some Christian churches in Africa, including some Oriental Orthodox Churches.[7] According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global estimates suggest that 30% of males are circumcised, of whom 68% are Muslim.[8] The prevalence of circumcision varies mostly with religious affiliation, and sometimes culture. Most circumcisions are performed during adolescence for cultural or religious reasons.[9] There is controversy regarding circumcision. Advocates of circumcision argue, for example, that it provides important health advantages which outweigh the risks, has no substantial effects on sexual function, has a low complication rate when carried out by an experienced physician, and is best performed during the neonatal period.[10] Opponents of circumcision argue, for example, that it interferes with normal sexual function, is performed due to excuses and myths believed or conjured by parents and health providers, is extremely painful, and when performed on infants and children violates the individual's human rights.[11]
The American Medical Association stated in 1999: "Virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circumcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice."[12]
The World Health Organization (WHO; 2007), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS; 2007), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2008) state that evidence indicates male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of HIV acquisition by men during penile-vaginal sex, but also state that circumcision only provides minimal protection and should not replace other interventions to prevent transmission of HIV.[13][14]"
Also...
"It has been variously proposed that circumcision began as a religious sacrifice, as a rite of passage marking a boy's entrance into adulthood, as a form of sympathetic magic to ensure virility, as a means of suppressing sexual pleasure or to increase a man's attractiveness to women, or as an aid to hygiene where regular bathing was impractical, among other possibilities. Immerman et al. suggest that circumcision causes lowered sexual arousal of pubescent males, and hypothesize that this was a competitive advantage to tribes practicing circumcision, leading to its spread regardless of whether the people understood this.[15] It is possible that circumcision arose independently in different cultures for different reasons."
"The oldest documentary evidence for circumcision comes from ancient Egypt.[16] Circumcision was common, although not universal, among ancient Semitic peoples.[17] In the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great, however, Greek dislike of circumcision (they regarded a man as truly "naked" only if his prepuce was retracted) led to a decline in its incidence among many peoples that had previously practiced it.[18] Circumcision has ancient roots among several ethnic groups in sub-equatorial Africa, and is still performed on adolescent boys to symbolize their transition to warrior status or adulthood.[19]"
Now ok that is the history part. Fine. That's tradition. But now lets consider the more modern culture that surronds the practice.
"Infant circumcision was taken up in the United States, Australia and the English-speaking parts of Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom. There are several hypotheses to explain why infant circumcision was accepted in the United States about the year 1900. The germ theory of disease elicited an image of the human body as a conveyance for many dangerous germs, making the public "germ phobic" and suspicious of dirt and bodily secretions. The penis became "dirty" by association with its function, and from this premise circumcision was seen as preventative medicine to be practiced universally.[20] In the view of many practitioners at the time, circumcision was a method of treating and preventing masturbation.[20] Aggleton wrote that John Kellogg viewed male circumcision in this way, and further "advocated an unashamedly punitive approach."[21] Circumcision was also said to protect against syphilis,[22] phimosis, paraphimosis, balanitis, and "excessive venery" (which was believed to produce paralysis).[20] Gollaher states that physicians advocating circumcision in the late nineteenth century expected public scepticism, and refinedtheir arguments to overcome it.[20]"
Also...
"As a result of these findings, the WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) stated that male circumcision is an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention but should be carried out by well trained medical professionals and under conditions of informed consent.[8][13][154] Both the WHO and CDC indicate that circumcision may not reduce HIV transmission from men to women, and that data is lacking for the transmission rate of men who engage in anal sex with a female partner.[13][14] The joint WHO/UNAIDS recommendation also notes that circumcision only provides partial protection from HIV and should never replace known methods of HIV prevention.[154]
Some have challenged the validity of the African randomized controlled trials, prompting a number of researchers to question the effectiveness of circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy.[155][156]
A randomised controlled trial in Uganda found that male circumcision did not reduce male to female transmission of HIV. The authors could not rule out the possibility of higher risk of transmission from men who did not wait for the wound to fully heal before engaging in intercourse.[157]
A meta-analysis of data from fifteen observational studies of men who have sex with men found "insufficient evidence that male circumcision protects against HIV infection or other STIs."[158]"
"Meta-analyses by Van Howe [159] and Bosch et al.[160] of observational studies had differing conclusions as to whether circumcision reduces infection of human papilloma virus. A recent prospective trial in Uganda [161] randomized 3393 subjects to circumcision or a control group and found a significant reduction of HPV infection in the circumcision group. At 24 month follow-up, there was a 27.9% prevalence of high-risk HPV genotypes in the control group and only a 18.0% prevalence in the circumcision group (adjusted risk ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.90; P=0.009). Another recent trial by Auvert et al. in Orange Farm, South Africa, randomized men to either a circumcision or control group. At the 21 month visit, the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection was lower in the circumcised men than the uncircumcised participants (14.8% and 22.3% respectively, a prevalence rate ratio of 0.66) in the absence of any difference in reported sexual behaviour or gonorrhea prevalence.[162]
So while the TV was on in the background as we we're making dinner classic "Friends" has the episode where Joey has an audition for a film where he plays a Catholic immigrant to America. The film is set in the 20's and so Italian immigrants of Catholic descent would not be circumcised.
Now why, you may ask, is this all so funny for the never ending comedy show?
Well Joey is circumcised and so he fashions for the audition a false foreskin.
But then lets just think about this all for a bit. I would assume that really only familys that are Jewish or happen to have a Jewish background would follow this tradition. Also it is practiced by people of Muslim descent and also by some African Christian churches, and some Oriental Christian churches.
However in America, no matter the faith, even if secular, circumcision is the norm.
Now of course this gets all the more interesting that this affects the view that women have on men. In the past Sam has come across an lj girly community an American girl asked "have you seen a uncricumcised man and what do you think of it". Some of the replies, mainly from American women said that they found it unsightly and considered it unhygenic. Even go so far as not dating a guy if there was such a revelation.
Now some of the replies found this concept mad, mainly women from Europe and the UK for whom this scenario is of course very common, if notthe norm.
Now let's consider the history of the circumcision.
From Wikipedia it states...
"Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave drawings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures are open to interpretation.[2][3][4] Religious male circumcision is considered a commandment from God in Judaism.[5] In Islam, though not discussed in the Qur'an, circumcision is widely practiced and most often considered to be a sunnah.[6] It is also customary in some Christian churches in Africa, including some Oriental Orthodox Churches.[7] According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global estimates suggest that 30% of males are circumcised, of whom 68% are Muslim.[8] The prevalence of circumcision varies mostly with religious affiliation, and sometimes culture. Most circumcisions are performed during adolescence for cultural or religious reasons.[9] There is controversy regarding circumcision. Advocates of circumcision argue, for example, that it provides important health advantages which outweigh the risks, has no substantial effects on sexual function, has a low complication rate when carried out by an experienced physician, and is best performed during the neonatal period.[10] Opponents of circumcision argue, for example, that it interferes with normal sexual function, is performed due to excuses and myths believed or conjured by parents and health providers, is extremely painful, and when performed on infants and children violates the individual's human rights.[11]
The American Medical Association stated in 1999: "Virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circumcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice."[12]
The World Health Organization (WHO; 2007), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS; 2007), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2008) state that evidence indicates male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of HIV acquisition by men during penile-vaginal sex, but also state that circumcision only provides minimal protection and should not replace other interventions to prevent transmission of HIV.[13][14]"
Also...
"It has been variously proposed that circumcision began as a religious sacrifice, as a rite of passage marking a boy's entrance into adulthood, as a form of sympathetic magic to ensure virility, as a means of suppressing sexual pleasure or to increase a man's attractiveness to women, or as an aid to hygiene where regular bathing was impractical, among other possibilities. Immerman et al. suggest that circumcision causes lowered sexual arousal of pubescent males, and hypothesize that this was a competitive advantage to tribes practicing circumcision, leading to its spread regardless of whether the people understood this.[15] It is possible that circumcision arose independently in different cultures for different reasons."
"The oldest documentary evidence for circumcision comes from ancient Egypt.[16] Circumcision was common, although not universal, among ancient Semitic peoples.[17] In the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great, however, Greek dislike of circumcision (they regarded a man as truly "naked" only if his prepuce was retracted) led to a decline in its incidence among many peoples that had previously practiced it.[18] Circumcision has ancient roots among several ethnic groups in sub-equatorial Africa, and is still performed on adolescent boys to symbolize their transition to warrior status or adulthood.[19]"
Now ok that is the history part. Fine. That's tradition. But now lets consider the more modern culture that surronds the practice.
"Infant circumcision was taken up in the United States, Australia and the English-speaking parts of Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom. There are several hypotheses to explain why infant circumcision was accepted in the United States about the year 1900. The germ theory of disease elicited an image of the human body as a conveyance for many dangerous germs, making the public "germ phobic" and suspicious of dirt and bodily secretions. The penis became "dirty" by association with its function, and from this premise circumcision was seen as preventative medicine to be practiced universally.[20] In the view of many practitioners at the time, circumcision was a method of treating and preventing masturbation.[20] Aggleton wrote that John Kellogg viewed male circumcision in this way, and further "advocated an unashamedly punitive approach."[21] Circumcision was also said to protect against syphilis,[22] phimosis, paraphimosis, balanitis, and "excessive venery" (which was believed to produce paralysis).[20] Gollaher states that physicians advocating circumcision in the late nineteenth century expected public scepticism, and refinedtheir arguments to overcome it.[20]"
Also...
"As a result of these findings, the WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) stated that male circumcision is an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention but should be carried out by well trained medical professionals and under conditions of informed consent.[8][13][154] Both the WHO and CDC indicate that circumcision may not reduce HIV transmission from men to women, and that data is lacking for the transmission rate of men who engage in anal sex with a female partner.[13][14] The joint WHO/UNAIDS recommendation also notes that circumcision only provides partial protection from HIV and should never replace known methods of HIV prevention.[154]
Some have challenged the validity of the African randomized controlled trials, prompting a number of researchers to question the effectiveness of circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy.[155][156]
A randomised controlled trial in Uganda found that male circumcision did not reduce male to female transmission of HIV. The authors could not rule out the possibility of higher risk of transmission from men who did not wait for the wound to fully heal before engaging in intercourse.[157]
A meta-analysis of data from fifteen observational studies of men who have sex with men found "insufficient evidence that male circumcision protects against HIV infection or other STIs."[158]"
"Meta-analyses by Van Howe [159] and Bosch et al.[160] of observational studies had differing conclusions as to whether circumcision reduces infection of human papilloma virus. A recent prospective trial in Uganda [161] randomized 3393 subjects to circumcision or a control group and found a significant reduction of HPV infection in the circumcision group. At 24 month follow-up, there was a 27.9% prevalence of high-risk HPV genotypes in the control group and only a 18.0% prevalence in the circumcision group (adjusted risk ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.90; P=0.009). Another recent trial by Auvert et al. in Orange Farm, South Africa, randomized men to either a circumcision or control group. At the 21 month visit, the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection was lower in the circumcised men than the uncircumcised participants (14.8% and 22.3% respectively, a prevalence rate ratio of 0.66) in the absence of any difference in reported sexual behaviour or gonorrhea prevalence.[162]
Two studies have shown that circumcised men report, or were found to have, a higher prevalence of genital warts than uncircumcised men.[163][164]"
So basically there seem to be no benefits being cricumcised. This is also true of any improvement of the enjoyment of intercourse, and of course I have not even stated the potential chance for infection to occur due to poor circumcision practices.
So I ask, why does the uncircucised man get such bad press???
To draw a analogy, this is as bad stating that an unwaxed woman is "dirty". If that were the case then I think man would have evolved to have neither pubic hair or foreskin.
So to conclude, just as it can be percieved as being mysogynistic of men to require women to wax their genitalia, the same could be thought of women who think men should be circumcised, and that anything else is weird or dirty.
So opinions? Guys and girls.
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Anniversary
Oh and I forgot to say that today is my 6 month anniversary of being married to Sam.
I love her so much as I wouldn't have got this far without her.
I love her so much as I wouldn't have got this far without her.
Update... finally
I really have gotten bad at posting updates. I somewhat feel what I have to say is rather boring, lacking of substance and not relevant to many of you. But here we go.
Since graduation I've been up to the usual. Work has been slow. I don't feel under as much pressure as I once was for PhD, and this has been effecting my own motivation. But I have soldiered on and now after the first 7 months of work I can see the end in sight for my first paper here in Warwick. Now I am in the process of harvesting the data and the paper is almost written up. I am also at the end of the first draft of my review paper for Manchester, on he subject of neural networks. It will be the first of it's kind so I hope it will get many citations.
Otherwise life has consisted of hanging out with the few friends we have in Leamington, starting Vampire for roleplay, writing loads for Changeling, writing a story for freshers week that I can run for roleplay (and this has acted as a way to practice writing a SAS, storyteller adventure system), and also looking into some freelance work.
THe weekend just gone we had the joy of my mother-in-law and Sam's aunt being down, and so we took the time to go to Warwick castle, which was filled with kids, but had some amazing eagles and other large birds of prey (Sam doesn't like birds, especialyl vultures it seems), and walking around Warwick which is a lovely little place. The next day we went to the local car boot sale where I picked up book 2 and 5 of Chung Kuo (need to get book 4 as the last one I read was book 3), and a SAS gasmask that looked extra creepy but should be fun some time (maybe Unhallowed Metropolis?).
The weekend before that we were in London where we stayed with Dan, and on the Saturday we headed to Picadilly circus and the Japan centre for Selina's birthday (Sam's friend). Of course things went a little out of control when Sam banged her head badly on the dodgems (I was driving... typical :( ).
We of course held the murder Mystery Game, Death in Venice, which was awesome and hilarious as accents and quips flew about.
pictures
We also made gingerbread men for Lughnasadh, which ended up being quite a messy affair and the gingerbread men looking quite haunting!
Finally we ahave sorted out Sam's course at London and worked out the plan for accomodation. I feel really annoyed at the government etc for not providing enough support to people who want to retrain when they are unemployed. So I've paid the course fees and hope it all works out and that early January Sam will be in a nice new job doing some she has a passion for.
That's about all right now. Of course we have Sam's birthday coming up and we should be up in Manchester for a bit. This weekendwe're planning to go to Kington to visit my parents so that should be a lazy weekend.
Since graduation I've been up to the usual. Work has been slow. I don't feel under as much pressure as I once was for PhD, and this has been effecting my own motivation. But I have soldiered on and now after the first 7 months of work I can see the end in sight for my first paper here in Warwick. Now I am in the process of harvesting the data and the paper is almost written up. I am also at the end of the first draft of my review paper for Manchester, on he subject of neural networks. It will be the first of it's kind so I hope it will get many citations.
Otherwise life has consisted of hanging out with the few friends we have in Leamington, starting Vampire for roleplay, writing loads for Changeling, writing a story for freshers week that I can run for roleplay (and this has acted as a way to practice writing a SAS, storyteller adventure system), and also looking into some freelance work.
THe weekend just gone we had the joy of my mother-in-law and Sam's aunt being down, and so we took the time to go to Warwick castle, which was filled with kids, but had some amazing eagles and other large birds of prey (Sam doesn't like birds, especialyl vultures it seems), and walking around Warwick which is a lovely little place. The next day we went to the local car boot sale where I picked up book 2 and 5 of Chung Kuo (need to get book 4 as the last one I read was book 3), and a SAS gasmask that looked extra creepy but should be fun some time (maybe Unhallowed Metropolis?).
The weekend before that we were in London where we stayed with Dan, and on the Saturday we headed to Picadilly circus and the Japan centre for Selina's birthday (Sam's friend). Of course things went a little out of control when Sam banged her head badly on the dodgems (I was driving... typical :( ).
We of course held the murder Mystery Game, Death in Venice, which was awesome and hilarious as accents and quips flew about.
pictures
We also made gingerbread men for Lughnasadh, which ended up being quite a messy affair and the gingerbread men looking quite haunting!
Finally we ahave sorted out Sam's course at London and worked out the plan for accomodation. I feel really annoyed at the government etc for not providing enough support to people who want to retrain when they are unemployed. So I've paid the course fees and hope it all works out and that early January Sam will be in a nice new job doing some she has a passion for.
That's about all right now. Of course we have Sam's birthday coming up and we should be up in Manchester for a bit. This weekendwe're planning to go to Kington to visit my parents so that should be a lazy weekend.
Saturday 22 August 2009
Monday 10 August 2009
Writer's Block: Memo to Myself
1. Don't make sacrifices. People won't return the favour when it is needed.
2. Realize when people go from needing help to just taking advantage. Being nice gets you into a mess when others don't play the same game.
3. Don't lose faith. Things will work out in the end.
4. Have more respect for yourself. Don't just do something because it is expected/you hate yourself at that moment in time.
5. Be more picky. You have always deserved better, both in terms of friends and women.
6. Don't be an emotional crutch to the point that you crumble when the chips are down and you need help.
7. Don't be afraid of asking for help from family and friends.
8. Be more critical of others. Fuck what the masses think, if someone is a fucktard say it. Your opinion counts.
But then if I did tell myself all these things and I had followed them would it all be better? Or would it lead to worse things and chances being missed?
2. Realize when people go from needing help to just taking advantage. Being nice gets you into a mess when others don't play the same game.
3. Don't lose faith. Things will work out in the end.
4. Have more respect for yourself. Don't just do something because it is expected/you hate yourself at that moment in time.
5. Be more picky. You have always deserved better, both in terms of friends and women.
6. Don't be an emotional crutch to the point that you crumble when the chips are down and you need help.
7. Don't be afraid of asking for help from family and friends.
8. Be more critical of others. Fuck what the masses think, if someone is a fucktard say it. Your opinion counts.
But then if I did tell myself all these things and I had followed them would it all be better? Or would it lead to worse things and chances being missed?
Friday 7 August 2009
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