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

But first, here is a post I found at Austin Mama: Foreskin and Several Years from Now. This humorous article was written by the wife of a man restoring his foreskin. It was posted on October 11, 2001. I imagine her husband is fully restored by now and she is no longer laughing, but likely screaming from pleasure as he uses his new foreskin.
 

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Intact America: INTACTIVIST OF THE MONTH: Joseph Jensen
The October 2012 Intactivist of the Month for Intact America is Joseph Jensen. He is a young man, recently graduated from university and newly employed by Intact America. He is intact and the post tells of him growing up intact. He says it was not a problem.
 

Monday, October 1, 2012

Lizard Dick: Fall is here! Time to Tug my Foreskin!
After restoring his foreskin for several months, this tugger took a break over the summer. He writes about starting to tug again.

Above the Law: Circumcision, Anti-Semitism, And You (Part Deux)
A legal analysis of the various issues with respect to the New York City informed consent requirement for circumcision. The Jewish community is up in arms. But the law is on the side of allowing the required informed consent.

Intactivists of Australasia: Circumcision and foreskin restoration hit the mainstream media in Australia
A report of a Australian public broadcaster having an open forum on circumcision. Also, Punch publishes a testimonial by a man who says I was circumcised and I want my foreskin back!
 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Punch: I was circumcised and I want my foreskin back!
A man tells of how he reacted to seeing other boys who were intact and had their whole penis, not circumcised like him. He dismissed foreskin restoration when he first learned of it as a teenager. By the time he was in his mid-twenties he decided to begin foreskin restoration in earnest. He believes that boys should be protected just as we protect girls from genital cutting.
 

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Crescent City Jewish News: Finnish party plans new bill to ban circumcision
A report about the call to outlaw male circumcision of children in Finland. The Jewish publication points to the recently revised AAP circumcision policy statement for support, but they incorrectly characterize the policy as a study.

Andrew Sullivan & The Daily Beast: Dissent Of The Day, Ctd
After his previous post against male infant circumcision, Andrew Sullivan takes on the dissent. Andrew points out that the circumcision decision is unlike any other decision a parent makes. Circumcision removes a healthy part of a baby boy through elective, non-therapeutic  surgery. He asks, "Would anyone ever think of doing such a thing if it were not related to ancient religious tradition?" The obvious answer is NO!

Genital Autonomy: The 2012 Helsinki Declaration of the Right to Genital Autonomy
A strong statement against infant and child circumcision:"We call on all governments to acknowledge the Right of Genital Autonomy for every child and adult, that is the right to: * personal control of their own genital and reproductive organs; and * protection from unnecessary genital modification and other irreversible reproductive interventions."

Lizard Dick: Retrospective – 6 month check in
The author is 6 months late posting a progress report on his foreskin restoration. He is happy with the progress he has had with his first 6 months of restoring. He is enjoying much more satisfying sex. For the first time, he is enjoying oral sex. Before restoring, oral sex did not do much for him. Now that he has restored sensitivity to his penis, WOW.
 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Strathmore Standard: The case against circumcision
Winnipeg Free Press: Circumcision unnecessary despite AAP decree
Dr. Gifford-Jones lists the reasons why baby boys should be left whole and intact and not circumcised. He rightly points out that male infant circumcision removes a substantial amount of skin from the baby's penis. He says that urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a red herring. There are better ways to control UTIs than surgery. There are many examples of complications from male infant circumcision.

HuffPost Healthy Living: First, Do No Harm
Georganne Chapin, founder and Executive Director of Intact America, writes about the failing of the American Academy of Pedeatrics to protect their patients by not telling the whole truth about infant circumcision. Although the AAP says that parents need full information, the AAP circumcision policy statement pushes the doctor's trade association agenda of more elective surgery that is not medically indicated. We spend too much in the United States for medical care. Doctors often order tests and procedures, just to be safe, that result in fattening their wallets and bank accounts. What happened to doctors thinking first of their patients' needs? Healthy baby boys do not need elective surgery of their most sensitive body part.

UK Constitutional Law Group: Andrew Hammel: Why the Circumcision Judgment looks so weird to American Eyes
A thorough look at the differences between the German and United States culture and laws. Germany's recent court decision outlawing child circumcision is based on their culture and society.
 

Friday, October 5, 2012

HIV in Kenya: HIV and Circumcision Still Diverting Funding from More Vital Development Issues
Kenya has problems funding help to reduce deaths from pregnancy and birth complications. The author notes that many millions of dollars are being allocated for the male circumcision campaign with little results. That money could be better spent to improve the health outlook for women.

Barrel of Oranges: Anti-Circumcision is not Anti-Semitism
The author explains why being against circumcision has nothing to do with being against Jews or the Jewish religion. It is too easy for some to cry out anti-semitism whenever anyone suggests anything that is not liked. It is sort of how people call someone a bully whenever that person expresses an opinion that is contrary or disagreeable to them.
 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Slate: The Longform Guide to the Phallus
A collection of articles about the male member. Of particular note is the The Foreskin Renaissance article posted by The Good Men Project. That article introduced a lot of people to foreskin restoration and to me, Tally. Other articles include stories about John Bobbitt, Dr. Money and his misguided attempt to make a boy into a girl after a botched circumcision, battlefield genital injuries, and other horror stories. It seems like the story of my foreskin restoration is the only light article in the list.

Freethought Blog: The return of snipping (circumcision)
A common sense look at the recent effort of the German government to overrule the German court outlawing circumcision of children. The blogger rightly points out that the government is ignoring the rights of the children by allowing their bodies to be modified in the name of religion.

Wellness Mama: Circumcision - Just A Medical Procedure?
A thorough article about male infant circumcision, with sources and links to even more information. The article discusses how baby boys are circumcised and the supposed benefits and the many risks of the unnecessary surgery.
 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Canada Free Press: Male Circumcision : What Would Newborns Say?
Dr. G. Jones looks at male infant circumcision. The doctor lists ten reasons why baby boys would say "NO!" to circumcision if they could only talk be fully and truthfully informed about the unnecessary elective surgery. He waffles at the end when it comes to cultural or religious circumcision. I fail to see how the motivation behind the surgery changes the other 9 reasons for avoiding circumcision surgery.
 

Monday, 8 October 2012

New humanist blog: New Humanist Podcast October 2012: circumcision, forced marriage, and the myth of the mummy's curse
A podcast about male infant circumcision. A contributor to the New Humanist magazine is interviewed about his infant circumcision. After researching the issue of infant circumcision, he believes that infant circumcision should stop and he wishes he had never been circumcised. His basic conclusions are that circumcision is unnecessary.

Dr Momma - peaceful parenting: The Cut
A poem of a mother's lament for letting her newborn son be circumcised. She let them cut off a portion of his most sensitive body part.
 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

PR Web: CIRCUMserum™ Pioneers New 'Private Care' Category in Expanding Men's Grooming Market
A press release about a new cream for circumcised men. Purportedly, the cream helps reduce the keratinization of a circumcised man's penis and restore lost sensitivity. This is a great concept, but, unfortunately, they do not address the issue of re-keratinization because the internal parts of the circumcised penis are still exposed. The real answer for circumcised men is to restore their foreskin so that they have full coverage. The restored foreskin will protect the sensitive bits and allow them to remain sensitive. Foreskin restoration is also permanent and does not require buying a cream to remain sensitive for the rest of a man's life.

Bikyamasr: Germany looks to appease Muslims, Jews and allow circumcision
A critical look at the German government's move to allow circumcision of children. The article notes that there are critics of allowing circumcision of boys.
 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Intact America Blog: A Human Rights Violation on a Massive Scale
Georganne Chapin, Director of Intact America, wrote an article published on the Huffington Post: First, Do No Harm. Here she writes about the upcoming AAP conference in New Orleans and the Intact America presence there. Intact America is presenting a picture story of men who did not consent to being circumcised and who wish that they had not been circumcised as infants.
 

Friday, October 12, 2012

Yahoo! News: Intact America, the Nation’s Leading Critic of Infant Circumcision, Kicked Out of the American Academy of Pediatrics' National Convention
Guggie Daly: Intact America, the Nation’s Leading Critic of Infant Circumcision, Kicked Out of the American Academy of Pediatrics' National Convention
Intact America had planned on having an educational exhibit at the AAP National Convention. But the event organizers canceled Intact America's exhibitor contract. “Pediatricians must be reminded that their patients are the babies,” says Georganne Chapin, Director of Intact America. “If we can’t remind them in the hall, we will remind them in the streets of New Orleans.”

Constitutional Law Prof Blog: Rabbis File Complaint Against NYC Regulation Requiring Circumcision Notice
Jewish organizations and Rabbis are suing New York City over a recently passed regulation requiring that mohels obtain informed consent from parents that their baby boys are at risk of acquiring herpes if the mohel uses oral suction on their freshly circumcised sons. The professor offers nothing informative regarding the lawsuit. I would have expected that the professor would have compared previous Supreme Court cases in which religious practices were restricted for various reasons. See, for example, the Supreme Court case Prince v. Massachusetts, which held that parental authority is not absolute and can be permissibly restricted if doing so is in the interests of a child's welfare. The case was about children distributing religious material, ald, although not directly on point, provides insight into restrictions that can be placed on religious activity.

Haaretz: An end to the agony
The Israeli publication includes an opinion piece by an author who welcomes restrictions on circumcision of children. The full article is available on the subscriber edition of the website.

The Gothamist: Jewish Groups Sue City Over Snip-N-Suck Circumcision Rule
Jewish rabbis protest the NYC Board of Health requirement for a waiver from parents before allowing a circumcision. The rabbis claim that the ruling is "blood libel," even though the intention of the waiver is protect the children from diseases passed on by the mohels.

Free Thought Blogs: The New York City circumcision row
NYC Board of Health now requires a parental waiver before a baby boy is circumcised. The Jewish community is in an uproar that their religious rights are being restricted and placed second behind the rights of baby boys to be protected from unnecessary health risks, such as by having their freshly circumcised penis sucked by a mohel.

The Times of Israel: Israeli pediatric association calls for end to circumcision-related rite
The Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association is calling for an end to the oral sucktion rite known as metzitzah b’peh. The Israeli medical group says direct contact with the circumcision wound is to be avoided for health reasons. Many Jewish babies have gotten herpes after the circumcising mohel sucked the boy's penis. Herpes is often fatal for infants.
 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Joseph4GI: SILENCING DISSENT: AAP Bans Intact America from Trade Show
Commentary about the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) cancellation of the Intact America contract to exhibit at the AAP National Conference in New Orleans later this month. Intact America had planned on having an educational exhibit teaching the doctors at the convention about the harms of circumcision. But the recent cancelation moves that exhibit outside the convention hall, where it will turn into a demonstration.

Men Do Complain: 28 is too many
Twenty-eight countries practice female genital cutting (FGM) and the organization 28 Too Many fights to protect girls from female circumcision.