That's what the National Weather Service, CNN, our local stations, and every meteorologist under the sun says we can look forward to today through Wednesday morning. 12-14", maybe up to 18" for those a bit farther south than we, and I'll tell you what - I am NOT looking forward to this.
But it hasn't started yet, so for now, I'll let it slide.
The only other thing I have going for me right now is a series I was apparently unaware of until today that aired on Showtime, hosted and written by the lovable and inarguably coarse Penn & Teller. It's called "Bullshit", and I will warn you right now (in case the title doesn't) that there is a lot of inappropriate language being tossed around, but that doesn't really bother me.
Anyway, they did an episode on circumcision. I'm an intactivist, meaning that I believe that RIC (routine infant circumcision) is not only morally wrong but that the vast majority of the claims arguing FOR it are incorrect and, quite simply, false. I don't buy that I should be chopping a functional, healthy, NORMAL part of my infant son's genitalia off because there's a possibility that when he's 80 he won't be able to or will choose not to properly clean himself and will end up with an infection. I don't think that saying my sons should look like their father is a viable reason to circumcise them. I don't believe that incomplete research studies done on ADULTS in AFRICA, where HIV/AIDS is unquestionably a serious problem, should have absolutely any effect on whether or not my son remains intact from birth. I believe that the spread of STDs and other problems can be combated by teaching our sons and daughters that condoms are a good thing and that safe sex is the ultimate best option if you're going to be having sex with someone you aren't committed to. Last, but not least, I believe that male circumcision is akin to female circumcision, which is given the far more frightening and accurate name of "female genital mutilation", and that it's a sad state of affairs when the bodies of our daughters are protected from this travesty while our sons are still at risk.
Anyway, back to the episode.
I ended up watching the third part of it on YouTube, but unfortunately the first two parts had been taken down. Why? Something about inappropriate content, which floored me since in the final part the viewer gets to look at (not without warning, mind you) the restored penis and foreskin of an older gentleman, and a portion of a circumcision video that does indeed show the unblurred genitalia of a newborn boy. Whatever. So I looked up alternate places to watch it, because I think this is a rather good, succinct way of putting how I feel about circumcision, and I've come up with this link that I think works. I hope works. The quality isn't that great, and you'll need to turn your sound up (and push the green "play" button, not either of the "low" or "high" quality buttons), but you don't need to sign up for anything or download any bogus malware codecs, so I think it's a pretty good option. The video's about half an hour long, and I HIGHLY recommend you watch it - at the very least, the screams of a baby boy being strapped down and having part of his penis lopped off will stick with you long enough that if you're on the fence about circumcision, you'll have no problem deciding it's a barbaric process.
I mean, come on. Even a good portion of the Jewish community, the original circumcising group, is beginning to phase out this antiquated, outdated practice of mutilating their baby boys. That should be enough to show the rest of us that this "trend" needs to end.
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