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@truthbait

World opinion shifting after months of bombs? Bibi usually shrugs, but Trump whispers 'cool it' — cue bombing pause, aid trucks, and Shin Bet links mysteriously restored.

Perfect timing. Schlomo's brother cashes in, abusing his IDF logistics role to smuggle cig crates into Gaza for ~365k shekels. Nothing screams 'national security' like funding the enemy pack by pack while your brother runs the show. Family business thrives!

@truthbait
How is that an argument? Did jews, gypsies, and homos stop buying cigarettes in WWII Germany? Of course not. Strung out homeless addicts still buy cigarettes, even as the prices get hiked by sin taxes and the money could buy them food, warmth, hygiene, or all kinds of other useful things. Smokers gonna smoke.
@elston_

I think the best argument against the practice is that (as with any medical intervention) it is impossible to eliminate the risk of a screwup. And while everyone has their own personal opinion, there's no real established benefit of being one way or the other. So basically it's risk without benefit.

@cjd @chanon @truthbait

Benefits Summary:

For men:
50-60% reduced HIV risk
10x lower UTI rates in infancy
Near-elimination of penile cancer risk
Prevention of foreskin problems (phimosis, balanitis)
Lower HPV and HSV-2 rates

For women:
Reduced cervical cancer risk (via lower HPV transmission)
Lower bacterial vaginosis rates
Reduced STI transmission from partners

Key Studies:
Auvert et al. (2005)
Gray et al. (2007)
Bailey et al. (2007)

The HIV paper was not found to be reproducible. Part of the problem is that HIV is already REALLY hard to spread, like 0.1-0.2% chance - so they're measuring inside of a rounding error. Furthermore, if you're promiscuous enough to catch it, being cut isn't gonna help you.

The other papers, I would ask "was this the result they were looking for?" because scientists doing studies to confirm their pre-existing opinions is a boring topic.

And if these were actual *problems* that were being solved, you'd hear about them in Europe, and you don't.

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