Infant Circumcision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Infant Circumcision - Essay Example According to Schoen et al (2000), evidence indicates that in the first year of life uncircumcised infants have at least a 10-fold increased risk of UTI; a circumcised infant has approximately a 1 in 1000 chance of having UTI in the first year of life, whereas an uncircumcised infant has a 1 in 100 chance. The Soweto study, conducted in South Africa, found that circumcision reduced the risk of men contracting AIDS during heterosexual intercourse by about 65 percent. Circumcision prevented six to seven out of 10 potential HIV infection stated by Astor (2005). Studies suggest that circumcised males may be less at risk for syphilis than are uncircumcised males. Genital ulcers related to STD may increase susceptibility. A probable biologic rationalization for this association in that the mucous surface of the uncircumcised penis allows for viral attachment to lymphoid cells at or near the surface of the mucous membrane, as well as more likely minor abrasions resulting in increased access to target tissues. Schoen et al (2000) stated a successive study indicating only a 3-fold greater risk of penile cancer in uncircumcised men unreasonably combined lethal invasive penile cancer with carcinoma in situ (CIS). 213 cases (122 CIS, 91 invasive cancers) in a large health maintenance organization reported relative risk of CIS developing in uncircumcised men was 3-fold. Another study by Maden et al uncircumcised men had 22 times the risk of having invasive cancer compared with circumcised men. IV. Objections A. Circumcision reduces sexual pleasure. During sex, the extra length of extremely sensitive skin provided by the foreskin allows the erect penis shaft to slide gracefully back and forth within the penile skin, providing an additional layer of friction and protection during the sexual act and providing an additional level of pleasure, when compared to the rigid and inflexible nature of most circumcised penises (http://www.coolnurse.com/circumcision_probs2.htm, 2005). B. Circumcision is a painful procedure. Circumcision is extremely painful and traumatic for an infant. According to anti-circumcision, it is a form of child abuse, and that the perpetrators of this form of child abuse are really offensive criminals who have caused conflicting damage to their own children (http://www.universalway.org/circtruth.html, 2004). V. Rebuttals A. Circumcision does not reduce sexual pleasure. Schoen et al (2000) stated anecdotal beliefs about foreskin protective benefit on the tip of the penis and the belief that circumcision causes decreased sexual pleasure. Neither of these anecdotal beliefs meets the stated criterion of being evidence-based. On the contrary, in the case of sexual pleasure, surveys indicate that women prefer sex with circumcised men, primarily from the standpoint of cleanliness and appearance, and the AAP Task Force (1999) cites evidence that circumcised adult men have more varied sexual practice and less sexual dysfunction. B. Pain is effectively controlled by

The Talented Freak Essay -- Music, Lady Gaga, Sex

The music industry has taken a wrong turn, and it affects our new generation; music videos becoming more like pornographic trailers causing men and women to objectify each other as a sex object. According to Camille Paglia (lecturer, educator, and feminist) in â€Å"Lady Gaga and The Death of Sex,† â€Å"Hollywood discovered that sex was great box office† (2). Because sex sells, it is a market technique used by record companies to sell more record. So does sex usage really empower women? In Paglia’s article, â€Å"Madonna I: Animality and Artifice,† she claims that dominatrix (used by Madonna) empowers women, and it should be praised by all female musicians (89). I agree to Paglia’s claim that sexuality sometimes empower rather than exploit women to act sluttish; however, in music, I believe the line between a woman using sexuality and promoting herself as an object is unnoticed because it changes depend on who dominate. When male musicians dominate a certain type of genre (hip-hop), many new musicians (women included) degrade women to jumpstart their career because sex sell. For instance, before Nicki Minaj gets famous, she started her career by degrading women in her mix tape, â€Å"Sucka Free,† cover picture because most people think hip-hop is only male profession, and it has little respect for women because mostly men listen to hip-hop. And so for female rappers to get the attention from those men, she has to jumpstart her career by using her sex appeal image. In addition to her degrading cover pose, that might caused young women in our society to accept it as a norm, she was criticized by many because that posture was not only inappropriate, but it was copied from Lil’ Kim. In fact, it was the same pose Lil' Kim uses on one of her older cover... ...a blame Gaga for killing sex. Personally, I think Paglia argument that blames Gaga for not being sexy did not explain enough about Gaga who know how to play piano, write music, sing great live, dance, and make fashion (Needham 2). It mostly comparison to her â€Å"long-term crush† (Needham 2) Madonna who is, as Paglia stated, â€Å"the future of feminism† (â€Å"Madonna I: Animality and Artifice† 90) now seems â€Å"marooned in the past† (Needham 2). Overall Gaga is empowering everyone respect each other and love themselves, unlike Rihanna who exploiting women to be a slave for men. I believe Rihanna not only degrading women but also exploiting kids by sing to them inappropriate song for their age. Regardless if number of musicians like Rihanna increase, I think Gaga will accomplish far more success than musicians who choose to follow rather than lead.

Effective Decisions

Saumya Bhattacharya expressed her thoughts on how to come up with effective decisions and how to prevent its downsides. She quoted the source from the book of Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist and a Professor of Finance at Columbia Business School, called Think Twice—Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition. Mauboussin’s first step is to have enough knowledge in the situation that you have. This would help in making effective decisions if you are understand what you are getting into. He mentioned an example of Stephen Greenspan that confirms that sometimes it is better to be wise rather than being just intelligent. Essentially, he mentioned having a decision-making journal, that whenever you have an important decision to make, you can write the decisions you have come up, how you arrived at it, and assume what are the effects of your decisions. Changing voices especially writing was challenging. It can be intimidating because it is not a common way of expressing to us non-writers. Eventually, we have to get used to in a business writing way and even scholarly way. Both are essential because in writing you have to consider your readers and what level of knowledge they can comprehend. Sometimes we tend to overly express our thoughts through fancy words that lead to deviation in the main thought, unclear message, and disorganized thoughts. To avoid this, you must be brief, use familiar vocabulary and must be logical. I can classify the differences of business writing vs. scholarly writing into three categories: purpose, format, and its readers. In business writing, you are trying attain specific goal to complete a job while scholarly writing also known as academic writing that is commonly used in academic fields. It is usually based upon research of the chosen subject. Business writing often has a brief content like memos, reports and evaluations. In academic writing, we have essays, term papers and lab reports that are usually required to have extensive research and good sources. Scholarly writing can be used to support managerial writing because it is usually based on research and mostly written by experts. Sometimes you might need to have a good source that can prove your statement correct or to prove others’ statement wrong or vice-versa. Whether you used scholarly or business writing, as long as you keep it simple, clear, and consistent, your readers will understand what you are trying to convey. References Bhattacharya, S (March 7, 2010). HOW TO DECIDE EFFECTIVELY. Business Today, Vol. 19 Issue 5, p157-157. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=968c482b-8197-48ac-9de1-e51638e99332%40sessionmgr112&vid=2&hid=101 University of Houston-Victoria. ACADEMIC VS. BUSINESS WRITING. Retrieved from http://www.uhv.edu/ac/business/academic.aspx (July 18, 2013) Walden University (2013). SCHOLARLY WRITING. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/312.htm (July, 18, 2013) May, Claire and May, Gordon (2012). EFFECTIVE WRITING A HANDBOOK OF ACCOUNTANTS. One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Prentice Hall. Ask.com. Retrieved from http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-scholarly-writing (July 18, 2013)

Official State Tree of U. S. States and Territories

All 50 states and several U.S. territories have officially embraced a state tree. All of these state trees, with the exception of Hawaiis state tree, are natives that naturally live and grow in the state in which they are designated. Each state tree is listed in order by state, common name, scientific name and the year of enabling legislation. You will also find a Smokey Bear poster of all state trees. Here you will see each tree, a fruit, and a leaf.   Alabama State Tree, longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, enacted 1997 Alaska State Tree, Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, enacted 1962 Arizona State Tree, Palo Verde, Cercidium microphyllum, enacted 1939 California State Tree, California redwood, Sequoia giganteum* Sequoia sempervirens*, enacted 1937/1953 Colorado State Tree, Colorado blue spruce, Picea pungens, enacted 1939 Connecticut State Tree, white oak, Quercus alba, enacted 1947 District of Columbia State Tree, scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea, enacted 1939 Delaware State Tree, American Holly, Ilex opaca, enacted 1939 Florida State Tree, Sabal palm, Sabal palmetto, enacted 1953 Georgia State Tree, live oak, Quercus virginiana, enacted 1937 Guam State Tree, ifil or ifit, Intsia bijuga Hawaii State Tree, kukui or candlenut, Aleurites moluccana, enacted 1959 Idaho State Tree, Western white pine, Pinus monticola, enacted 1935 Illinois State Tree, white oak, Quercus alba, enacted 1973 Indiana State Tree, tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, enacted 1931 Iowa State Tree, oak, Quercus**, enacted 1961 Kansas State Tree, cottonwood, Populus deltoides, enacted 1937 Kentucky State Tree, tulip poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, enacted 1994 Louisiana State Tree, bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, enacted 1963 Maine State Tree, eastern white pine, Pinus strobus, enacted 1945 Maryland State Tree, white oak , Quercus alba, enacted 1941 Massachusetts State Tree, American elm , Ulmus americana, enacted 1941 Michigan State Tree, eastern white pine , Pinus strobus, enacted 1955 Minnesota State Tree, red pine , Pinus resinosa, enacted 1945 Mississippi State Tree, magnolia, Magnolia***, enacted 1938 Missouri State Tree, flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, enacted 1955 Montana State Tree, Western yellow pine, Pinus ponderosa, enacted 1949 Nebraska State Tree, cottonwood, Populus deltoides, enacted 1972 Nevada State Tree, singleleaf pinyon pine, Pinus monophylla, enacted 1953 New Hampshire State Tree, white birch, Betula papyrifera, enacted 1947 New Jersey State Tree, Northern red oak, Quercus rubra, enacted 1950 New Mexico State Tree, pinyon pine, Pinus edulis, enacted 1949 New York State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1956 North Carolina State Tree, pine, Pinus sp., enacted 1963 North Dakota State Tree, American elm, Ulmus americana, enacted 1947 Northern Marianas State Tree, flame tree, Delonix regia Ohio State Tree, buckeye, Aesculus glabra, enacted 1953 Oklahoma State Tree, Eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis, enacted 1937 Oregon State Tree, Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, enacted 1939 Pennsylvania State Tree, eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, enacted 1931 Puerto Rico State Tree, silk-cotton tree, Ceiba pentandra Rhode Island State Tree, red maple, Acer rubrum, enacted 1964 South Carolina State Tree, Sabel palm, Sabal palmetto, enacted 1939 South Dakota State Tree, black hills spruce, Picea glauca, enacted 1947 Tennessee State Tree, Tulip poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, enacted 1947 Texas State Tree, pecan, Carya illinoinensis, enacted 1947 Utah State Tree, blue spruce, Picea pungens, enacted 1933 Vermont State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1949 Virginia State Tree, flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, enacted 1956 Washington State Tree, Tsuga heterophylla, enacted 1947 West Virginia State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1949 Wisconsin State Tree, sugar maple, Acer saccharum, enacted 1949 Wyoming State Tree, plains cottonwood, Poplus deltoides subsp. monilifera, enacted 1947 * California has designated two distinct species as its state tree.** Although Iowa did not designate a specific species of oak as its state tree, many people recognize bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, as the state tree since it is the most widespread species in the state.*** Although no specific species of magnolia was designated as the state tree of Mississippi, most references recognize the Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, as the state tree.This information was provided by the United States National Arboretum. Many state trees listed here can be found in the U.S. National Arboretums National Grove of State Trees.