NH Medicaid May Cut Payments for Circumcision

AS0016701FC20 Baby, visiting doctor, stethoscope examinationphoto courtesy of Wellcome Images

 

The state medicaid program should no longer pay for elective circumcisions in NH, says a proposed bill. 

The bill’s sponsor, state representative Keith Murphy of Bedford, describes the practice as unethical.

“To me there’s something fundamentally wrong about strapping a baby boy to a board and amputating perfectly healthy, normal tissue,” says Murphy.

The American Association of Pediatrics doesn’t agree that the practice is “fundamentally wrong.” In an August, 2014 statement, they said (emphasis mine):

Evaluation of current evidence indicates that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks and that the procedure’s benefits justify access to this procedure for families who choose it, however, existing scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend routine circumcision. Therefore, because the procedure is not essential to a child’s current well-being, we recommend that the decision to circumcise is one best made by parents in consultation with their pediatrician, taking into account what is in the best interests of the child, including medical, religious, cultural, and ethnic traditions.

Sanest thing I’ve heard all year. Give the parents lots of sound, medical information, and then let them make up their own minds when they’re deciding how to get their kids the best care for their circumstances.

Mother and Child: A Christmas Gallery of Original Art

Merry Christmas, everybody! I offered up Midnight Mass for all of you, especially for anyone who is lonely or grieving or in pain today. Thanks for another wonderful year of company.

Over at the Register today, nine artists have graciously shared their lovely Madonna and Child artwork with us. Here is just one, by 16-year-old painter Noyuri Umezaki:

 

Christmas art Umizaki

 

Check out the rest here.

Damien and I be chatting with Mark Shea on Radio Maria this evening!

ermahgerd

Mark has the details:

Fellow Patheosi and National Catholic Register blogger and all around Catholic pants expert Simcha Fisher and her rambunctious crew will be on the radio with me today at 6 PM Eastern talking about all things Christmassy (and maybe Hannukkahy too).

To listen to Catholic and Enjoying Live! on line go here at 6:00 PM EDT. The show is live, so feel free to call in at 1–866–333–6279 and you can chat.  And if you want to hear archived shows interviewing such folk as Sherry Weddell, Brandon Vogt, Steven Greydanus, Tom McDonald, Dale Ahlquist, Tricia Bolle, Kevin O’Brien, and Elizabeth Stoker-Bruenig, go here.

I literally can not think of a literally better way you could spend an hour of your Christmas eve, and I mean that literally. Would love to chat if you want to call in!

So he knocks on Raymond Chandler’s door . . .

After seventeen years, you think you have heard all the stories, but I heard a new one this evening. Not especially Christmas-y, but I know at least a few of you who will appreciate the hell out of this.

stevefisherMy husband’s grandfather was Steve Fisher, a pulp novelist and Hollywood screenwriter and producer. Back in the 40′s, he’s writing the screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Lady in the Lake and finds himself stumped, trying to figure out certain aspects of how the mystery unfolded, and how the relationships worked.

So in desperation, he goes to Raymond Chandler’s door and knocked. Chandler opens the door, and clearly has at least half a snootful already. So TaTa Steve introduces himself and explains his dilemma, and asks for help.

Chandler says, “I got my check, I don’t give a shit.” Slams door. End scene.

Just thought you might like to know.

Christmas music I can’t wait to hear!

Today I learned the word “macaronic,” which refers to a style of work where all kinds of languages are thrown together, not necessarily in the most elegant or scholarly way. Like, apparently, a peasant dumpling.

Read about and hear the rest of ten of my favorite pieces of Christmas music at the Register. 

Cheap and Easy Christmas Things that Even You Can Do!

I assume you’re already doing all the religious stuff, and have already bought, made, figured out, or given up on gifts. Here are a bunch of other nice Christmasy things you can do pretty easily, using materials that you may actually have in your house and skills you can probably muster up even at this stage of your life.

 

SOMETHING SWEET TO EAT:

Fudge recipe that doesn’t require a candy thermometer.

fudge

Can be dressed up with various nuts, crushed candies, flavored chips (peanut butter, mint, butterscotch, etc.), but yummy on its own. There are also lots of other great recipes on that page, with clear instructions.

Also more of less foolproof, and without any exotic ingredients or equipment, but messy to make: buckeyes. I let the kids do this one, since it involves a lot of hand-mooshing of dough and unsanitary dipping in chocolate.

 

SOMETHING SAVORY TO EAT:

 

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Jew-for-a-day potato latkes that are great for Chanukah but don’t require any special Jew ingredients. I didn’t bother with the cheesecloth; I just squeezed out the potato shreds in a colander and added a bit of extra flour. So tasty and tender. Serve with sour cream. Leave time to go lie down afterwards.

 

SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO:

Christmas music that is free and won’t make you grind your teeth: The Boston Camerata never disappoints.

medieval feast

 

SOME DECORATIONS TO MAKE:

 

paper ornament

Neat Christmas decorations that require only some paper, a stapler, and some string.

The dog actually made this one, and he’s an idiot! That’s how easy it is! The dog couldn’t even find the stapler, so he used needle and thread. For a fancier look, try using this basic idea, but with lots of different sizes and shapes (giant to tiny), different cuts (straight, scalloped, etc.), with shiny, patterned, or regular paper, and hang them from string or ribbons or yarn, and add sparkly beads to the string. Instantly dresses up a room if you hang up half a dozen from the ceiling.

We also had fun last year gluing together various kinds of pasta for ornaments. Hot glue worked the best. These can be painted (metallic spray paint is great) or even colored with markers, but you can also get on board the “natural pasta look” train that is not actually a thing. We made wreaths, trees, angels, instruments, and all kinds of stars. We really did! But here are the ones I can actually find, to take a picture of, including the inevitable unfinished Dalek:

 

pasta ornaments

Just look on Pinterest for “pasta ornament” and you’ll see all the possibilities. Because it’s Christmas, I didn’t say “pastabilities.”

 

SOMETHING TO READ OUT LOUD:

 

A_Christmas_Carol_-_Mr._Fezziwig's_Ball

Full text of A Christmas Carol by Dickens from Project Gutenberg. I have never actually gotten around to reading this out loud to the kids, but it’s doable. It’s a long short story, not a novel. If you can find a copy of it anywhere, the 1951 movie with Alastair Sim is the best by far.

 

SOMETHING TO AVOID:

argy bargy

Contentious social media. Seriously, if you are feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, you will not feel more peaceful and generous after spending time arguing about torture, racism, rape culture, or liturgical practices, so just close that tab and go find something nicer to do with your time. It’s not that these things aren’t important, and it’s not that you’re wrong. It’s just arguing about them is not going to help us get ready for Christmas. Save some argy bargy for the New Year! It’ll keep.

Calling all artists! I’m looking for Christmas artwork.

I’d love to put together a gallery of Christmas art for the Register on Christmas day. If you have a photo of a work of original art you’d be willing to share (and if you own the copyright or have permission to share online!), please drop me a line at simchafisher[at]gmail[dot]com and write “Christmas art” for the subject. I try to keep the wordiness to a minimum on Christmas, so this will just be an image and, if you like, a link to your blog or website. Thanks!

Gift-Giving is so Catholic!

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We don’t want to convey to our kids that love can be bought on Amazon; but we also shouldn’t try to persuade them that love is some kind of nebulous, moonshiny, spiritual quality that has very little to do with their everyday experiences. Rather than turning Christmas into a story about God vs. Happiness, the trick is to turn love and giving into part of one seamless idea.

Read the rest at the Register. 

That time you were so busy, you forgot you wrote that book

Well, one chapter of it, anyway.

This is so dang stupid. Right before supper, FedEx delivers a box of ten copies ofCatholic and Married: Leaning Into Love , which looks good, but I have never heard of it, and I certainly didn’t order ten copies. So I fire off a note to the publisher, saying that I think I got the author’s shipment by mistake, and what should I do with them? Ha ha, I says to myself, I’m not the only one who flakes out from time to time! They don’t even know who wrote their own book! Ha ha, it is to laugh!

So then Laraine posts this picture to Facebook:

 

 

catholic and married

 

. . . and I suddenly remember, Oh yeah, I did write a chapter of that! Duh. Boy, life is so exciting and unpredictable when you have no long term memory whatsoever. I can remember what we had for supper a few hours ago, but mainly because the kids did such a lousy job sweeping that a lot if it is still on the floor, looking at me. (Tacos.)

Oh, so that’s what  my chapter is about (apparently): children. It’s called “Mirrors Around a Flame: The Gift of Children.” I forget whether or not it was a taco night when I wrote it. Anyway, it’s a good title, whoever wrote it.

Other than ridiculously flaky me, this book includes a fantastic line up of authors! Here is the table of contents:

table of contents

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Here is the description from OSV:

“And they lived happily ever after.” Only in fairy tales, you say. But there is life after the honeymoon-messy, challenging, happily-married life. That’s the great promise of Catholic marriage, and if you’re married or considering marriage the joy is there for you, too.

Many Catholics today share the culture’s unease-fear of divorce, the prevalence of cohabitation, the wounds of past relationships all conspire to make til-death-do-us-part seem like a risky proposition. But the authors of Catholic and Married all agree, marriage is the adventure of a lifetime.

In these sometimes funny, tell-it-like-it-is chapters, this diverse group of men and women offer you their insights and advice on:

  • Children – the gift that keeps on giving
  • Marrying young – objections and object lessons
  • Contraception – an honest discussion on a touchy subject
  • Parenting skills – it’s not rocket science (it just feels like it sometimes)
  • And much more!

These stories will encourage you to lean into love. Hold nothing back. And experience the Catholic marriage God intended for you.

I couldn’t be more delighted/astonished to be part of this great project!
P.S. I wrote that chapter before I was pregnant, so there is at least some chance that it makes sense, unlike this post.

First Things likes The Sinner’s Guide to NFP!

sgnfp stack

Reviewer Christine Emba says in First Things:

What especially recommends The Sinner’s Guide to a broader ­audience is Fisher’s ability to use NFP as a starting point to engage with the larger and more universal questions facing anyone attempting to live out a Christian life day to day. What is prudence? How does one persevere in adversity? What does charity actually look like in relationships, and in daily life? As Fisher asks, “Does God just hate women, or what?” The question “Is it the right time to conceive” gives way to a plainspoken yet illuminating discourse on the phrase “God’s will.” A chapter entitled “Groping Toward Chastity” helps define the oft-misunderstood word in terms relevant to any reader—single or married.

Read the rest of “Marriage with Benefits” here. This review makes me realize how desperately I was longing for someone to describe it as “this slim volume.” I feel so happy.

You can order SGNFP in paperback directly from Our Sunday Visitor or from Amazon. Also available: the ebook for Kindle or Nook, and the audiobook, read croakily by yours twooly. And looky, it has 230 reviews, with an average of 4.9 out of five stars!