Things Noticeable this week

[vinceprince]

I would actually dispute the UK being a truly secular society when the Head of State is the Head of the Church of England and 26 bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords.

Also the law in England and Wales provides that children at all maintained schools "shall on each school day take part in an act of collective worship". Even in schools with no religious designation, the worship must be "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".

So kids must worship a supernatural being before going off to their science classes

[bloke57]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

So kids must worship a supernatural being before going off to their science classes

Ah! But which one?

In my day it was a straight choice between Twizzle or Torchy the Battery Boy.





Theologians could never quite agree which one was the true saviour.

[cicciobuki]

I was reading up a bit on the issue and i'm gonna use some quotes from this source in my reply here. I'll put the parts form there in italic

By the way, i am fine with a adult deciding this for himself. Some of these claimed benefits are not applicable to children (like all the sexual stuff or penile cancer), so a grown up can still decide to do the cut if he feels it's worth it.

Originally Posted by gordian_knot

What are the benefits of circumcision?

There is some evidence that circumcision has health benefits, including:

• A decreased risk of urinary tract infections.

The methodology for studies claiming that circumcision reduces the risk of UTI complicates making any conclusion. They do not account for confounding variables such as breastfeeding, urine collection method, definition of UTI, and rooming in. For a rate of 1%, 100 boys would have to be circumcised to prevent one UTI, which might be prevented by breastfeeding or rooming in.
A Japanese study of 603 boys who were not circumcised did not find one case of UTI. This further suggests methodological problems with attempts to claim a strong association. UTI is easily treatable with antibiotics.

• A reduced risk of some sexually transmitted diseases in men.
• Protection against penile cancer and a reduced risk of cervical cancer in female sex partners.

Studies are conflicting for each sexually transmitted disease. Sexually transmitted diseases and circumcision involve behavior, hygiene practices, culture, and religion, and it is impossible to control all the confounding variables that affect sexual behavior and circumcision status.

Circumcision may increase the risk of developing gonorrhea and chlamydia. (...) In a study on transmission rates of HIV from infected males to uninfected females and from infected females to uninfected males in Uganda, the authors found that circumcision status was not a significant factor in the risk of transmission. Sexually transmitted diseases obviously cannot be transmitted until an individual engages in sexual activity.
Therefore, a male may make a decision to be circumcised when he is older without losing this claimed benefit.

• Prevention of balanitis (inflammation of the glans) and balanoposthitis (inflammation of the glans and foreskin).

Obviously circumcision prevents inflammation of the foreskin

• Prevention of phimosis (the inability to retract the foreskin) and paraphimosis (the inability to return the foreskin to its original location).

i know a small kid who had phimosis and what they do now is give a little cut in the foreskin, so the penis will work properly without the need to remove the foreskin. Will sting for a while

In fact, as a kid i had trouble with pulling back my foreskin too. My mom took me to my doctor, who looked at it and (without warning) pulled the skin back! Au! I remember i nearly fainted a few minutes later
Anyway, he gave me some pommade and i had to practice pulling back the skin every day. Stung for a week or two but no need for circumvisions.

I don't know about paraphimosis but in both cases i think preventive measure are way too drastic. I mean, they can be fixed if the problem arises (lame pun not intended)

What are the risks of circumcision?

Like any surgical procedure, there are risks associated with circumcision. However, this risk is low. Problems associated with circumcision include:

• Pain
• Risk of bleeding and infection at the site of the circumcision
• Irritation of the glans
• Increased risk of meatitis (inflammation of the opening of the penis)
• Risk of injury to the penis

Even though it will be a low risk, circumcisions can go very wrong (DO NOT google it, seriously! i just did and i think i'll be skipping dinner today...), with serious consequences for the unfortunate kids (physical and mental).

Source: WebMD
It's not morally wrong because there are clear health benefits if done properly. There are no health benefits to a tattoo so the two are not comparable. It's right it should be the parents' choice.

The tattoo wasn't the best example, but i still think a person should be able to decide for himself when he's old enough. The few people i know who have been 'snipped' as a kid (it's not something everyone talks about all the time ) weren't happy about it.

I don't see substancial health benefits for circumcision at young age, especially not when keeping the risks in mind, even if the risks are low, they can be very severe.

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by anothercustom

People look for a conspiracy angle about everything and anything nowadays. The Internet is just one big playground for conspiracists.

Quite so and I totally agree. The media is continually awash with fake news, propaganda and conspiracy stories.

However, I'm told there was some discussion on LBC yesterday about this specific topic, with a suggestions that more than 200 unknown bodies have been found on the upper floors.

So this is certainly worth investigating and if there's no truth to any of it, there should be an official statement.

Unfortunately, its increasingly hard to trust most politicans as deceipt and lying are almost part of their job descriptions.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

Some 40% of DUP activists believe that creationism should be taught in science classes, a Belfast Telegraph survey has found

Germany just passed a law against "fake news". Admittedly the fake news in Genesis was written about 2,700 years ago, so far as our best experts can tell, but I wonder if Germany would forbid teaching creationism on this basis

[gordian_knot]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

I would actually dispute the UK being a truly secular society when the Head of State is the Head of the Church of England and 26 bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords.

Then you should be directing your ire at them, because unlike the DUP they really do have a massive impact on which laws are inflicted on us.

I happen to agree they should all be given the boot and Church and State be separated.

[bloke57]

Originally Posted by gordian_knot

Then you should be directing your ire at them, because unlike the DUP they really do have a massive impact on which laws are inflicted on us.

I happen to agree they should all be given the boot and Church and State be separated.

Are you advocating strangling our bishops?

There's a thread for that!

[Devius]

A gunman has opened fire inside a hospital in the Bronx borough of New York.

The man, said to be dressed as a doctor, began shooting at the 972-bed Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, reports say.

At least three people are believed to have been shot, although other reports speak of multiple casualties and an ongoing situation.

Messages on social media spoke of doctors and nurses barricading themselves inside the building.

There are some reports of a fire in the building.

New York's mayor has just been briefed on the situation and police are going floor to floor throughout the hospital looking for the gunman.

The New York Police Department posted a tweet urging members of the public to avoid the area around the hospital at 1650 Grand Concourse.

The New York Times quoted a fire department official as saying that three doctors had been shot. Their condition is not known.

Some reports say the gunman may have been a former employee but this has not been confirmed.

Details:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40461573

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by gordian_knot

What are the benefits of circumcision?
..........There are no health benefits to a tattoo so the two are not comparable. It's right it should be the parents' choice.

Shouldn't it be the choice of the person who is getting the end of their knob sliced off?

Your parents wouldn't be allowed to get you tattooed but they can mutilate your cock without even a by-your-leave !!!!

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by CARLTON BROWN

...and if there's no truth to any of it, there should be an official statement.

No, there shouldn't be official statements debunking fake news / conspiracy theroies. Releasing official statements will just give the people who peddle this crap the exposure and attention they crave.