Salem-News.com Culture articles Page 8

Will Male Circumcision be Banned in 2014?

"It is simply immoral to surgically remove any healthy, natural, normally functioning tissue from a human being without their consent" - Asa Rubin, director of MGMbill.org's Massachusetts state office in Brookline

(WASHINGTON, DC) - As momentum continues to build against male circumcision, intactivists from around the USA have flooded Congress and 10 state legislatures with proposed legislation to ban genital cutting of boys.

If enacted, the Male Genital Mutilation (MGM) Bill would amend existing female genital mutilation laws by making them gender neutral.

Proposed Pit Bull Ban in Oregon Sparks Outrage

Many cities in the U.S. have banned pit bulls or enacted sterilization or muzzle laws.

(MEDFORD, OR) - Tyler Woodard, a resident of Medford, OR and owner of a pit bull named Smokey, was outraged when he learned of the City Council’s solution for recent dog attacks in the area: a proposition that would ban pit bulls or require their sterilization. He started a petition on Care2 that has gathered nearly 5,000 supporters.

“It's not pit bulls as a breed who are the problem, but their owners,” wrote Woodard, who has owned Smokey for five years. “Dog owners whose animals act aggressively towards other animals must face stricter penalties. A ban on pit bulls unfairly discriminates against them.”

Conscientious Objector Omar Saad Sentenced to Prison for the Third Time for His Refusal to Join the Israeli Army

Omar is a young guy belonging to the Palestinian Arab Druze community.

(TEL AVIV New Profile) - Omar Saad, 18 years old from Mghar, a village in the Galil, arrived, Monday 13.1.2014, to the Induction Base in Tal Hashomer where he declared his refusal to serve in the Israeli Army. Omar was sentenced to 20 days of imprisonment for his refusal, in the military prison No. 6 near Atlit.

Omar is a young guy belonging to the Palestinian Arab Druze community. This community, in contrast to Arab society in large, was the target of a decision by Prime Minister Ben Gurion in 1956 that forced them to serve in the Israeli army.

A reprise: the final financial solution...
It`s Time We Shot The Messengers

Give a man a spade and he'll plant a seed. Give him a horse and plow and he'll plant a crop. Give him a tractor and he'll drive to the nearest liquor store - Peace Corps Handbook

(DAYTONA BEACH) - We're living in a cuckoo's nest that would have baffled Ken Kesey. Consider just three items at the top of our agenda.

(1) Astronomical military spending at a time when there's nobody left in the world big enough to fight us, (2) the health care farce, which makes us the most expensive, least effective (at least #47) and largest laughingstock in the world, and finally, (3) the triumph of corporate governance in Washington, which is icing the decline and fall of both capitalism and democracy in one fell swoop.

Fundamentalism: A Psychological Problem

Human beings will end violence or Violence will end human beings.

(TASMANIA, Aust.) - Fundamentalism is a widespread problem. It often manifests in a religious context - making it highly visible - but there are plenty of secular fundamentalists too. If we are to understand fundamentalism we should not view it as a religious problem: It is a psychological one.

What is a fundamentalist? A fundamentalist is usually considered to be a person who adheres strictly to a doctrine, viewpoint or set of principles that are considered original and 'pure'; this doctrine might be theological in nature.

Fallen among the Humorless, and other Impious Recollections

George Orwell was right, of course, when he observed that the only thing the rich and powerful ever really fear is to be laughed at publicly.

(NANAIMO, Vancouver Island) - The recent news that my old Alma Mater, the Vancouver School of Theology, has just been sold off to become a wing of the Economics Faculty at the University of BC strikes me not only as highly appropriate, considering the spirit of the place, but a definite kind of poetic justice.

It also prompted me to compose the following fond remembrances of my life as a budding young theologian there, in the late 1980's.

European Circumcision Debate Will Include Jewish American

Psychologist and Author Ronald Goldman Criticizes the Practice.

(BOSTON) - Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Circumcision Resource Center, a nonprofit educational organization in Boston, has been invited by the Council of Europe to participate in an interdisciplinary dialogue about circumcision at a meeting in France on January 28.

There is a growing European debate about circumcision. In October the Council of Europe, an organization of 47 member States, overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution that called circumcision, among other procedures, a violation of the physical integrity of children...

Excess Snow Plus East Village Residents With Limited Mobility and Community Involvement = Success!

Snow really builds up in the main East Village Calgary intersection making it difficult for the many people who live in the area and who use walkers, scooters, wheelchairs and canes, to walk safely...

(CALGARY) - This story is a good example of how ordinary people on the ground can cooperate locally to benefit their larger communities.

It is this principle that can be applied almost anywhere in the world. It's the kind of idea that can expand and become unstoppable to make the world a better place.

Senior Home Residents Often Shortchanged

Are our public policy makers in hibernation? It's past time to wake up!

(SALEM) - There's a major difference between living in a senior retirement home and a nursing center facility. That first category lacks healthcare supervision. In essence, it's like a hotel for the elderly.

Yes, you do get three square meals as part of your rent ticket. But the emphasis is on creating tasty dishes....and not necessarily healthy ones. In fact, for many seniors, mealtime is their primary social outlet. People form clusters for chitchat to have a sense of constancy. That's to counterbalance the sense of loss these older folks get daily from conditions they cannot control.

Brilliant Thoughts by Great Thinkers

My choice of quotable thinkers hasn't been to those best known but to writers and speakers that many miss. Their ideas are all worth thinking about.

(MANAMA, Bahrain) - A favourite pastime of mine involves reading brilliant thoughts of wise men and women. I see their words, think about them, and save their messages when I believe they're worth keeping, rereading and sharing.

Sometimes these thoughts provide healthy advice for personal development, like this observation by Mohandas Gandhi: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."