What's a botched circumcision worth to you? A 5-year-old who suffered damage from his circumcision has been awarded $1.3 million. The boy was just 12 hours old when the doctor who performed the procedure amputated the tip of his penis. Doctors at another hospital were able to reattach the tip, and the penis is expected to be fully functional. But there's scarring and the possibility of nerve damage.

So remind me again -- why do we circumcise baby boys?

I'm going to attempt to not offend those who circumcise or those who do not. I'm probably not going to succeed. But a new study on circumcision has come out and it has me thinking. The study looked at why circumcision reduces a man's risk of getting HIV by at least half. It was known it did before, but the exact reason why wasn't concrete. This new information supports the thought that by removing the foreskin, bacteria cannot build up and compromise the immune system, making some more susceptible to contract HIV. 

I still don't think this is a good argument to say all men should be circumcised.

Well, now we know more than we ever wanted to about Snooki's son's penis. In a word, baby Lorenzo's man parts are "awesome." According to his mom, anyway.

Oh Snooki, you know you're not supposed to talk about your son's circumcision, right? Hold up! Yes, we moms can debate the ol' foreskin snip 'til the cows come home.

After hearing about the unnecessary and tragic deaths of two infants who contracted herpes after undergoing a circumcision ritual in New York, I couldn't help but be appalled and heartbroken for those poor parents who trusted their mohels to perform the procedure safely. The mohels used a circumcision method called metzitzah b'peh, in which the mohel uses his mouth to stop the bleeding after the baby's foreskin is removed. In addition to the two babies who died after contracting herpes from their mohel, two others were left with devastating brain damage from the disease.

And now that there are Ultra-Orthodox rabbis who say they will defy a law (if it goes into act) that requires parental consent when this particular method of circumcision is going to be used, I'm absolutely outraged. Because those parents have every right to know exactly how their baby sons are going to be circumcised before allowing the ritual to take place.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has changed its guidelines on circumcision for the first time in more than a decade. And, despite an overwhelming move toward skipping the procedure, the new language actually sounds a little more positive toward it. As a mom of both a boy and a girl, I am happy about this change.

The AAP hasn't completely gone over in support of circumcision,  but the old language sounded a little more neutral. Now it says essentially that the health benefits to the procedure are much more compelling than the risks. Sounds very close to an endorsement, though, no?

Personally, I think it's about the time. The "intactivists" may have some points when it comes to the natural state of a boy's penis. But they have no point when it comes to health. Circumcision wins every time.

Parenthood seems strewn with all sorts of controversial subjects that inevitably pit mothers against each other, but here's one topic I know we can all agree on: circumcision. Boy, isn't it nice to finally come across an area of parenting that's completely free of  --

Yeah, I'm kidding, of course. Nothing seems to get people fired up quite like the decision whether or not to circumcise, which is why I found myself almost cringing when I read about the recent study from Johns Hopkins University that claims declining circumcision rates are contributing to an increase in medical problems.

In fact, they say that the trend towards avoiding circumcision may add over $4 billion in U.S. health care costs.

So here's something. Parents with a killer sense of humor (or a blaring lack of one) decided it would be awesome if they let their 8-day-old son "drive" around the reception of his circumcision ceremony in a remote control car. Why no one has thought of this before is shocking, especially after you see how purely magnificent it is.

The too cool for school newborn rides around in a room full of drumming, flashing lights, and exploding fireworks, all while asleep. It's phenomenal. And frankly, you have to see it to believe it.

You’d think the Germans would have more respect for Jewish religious traditions, you know, considering that whole Holocaust thing. Which is why I was shocked to hear that the country outlawed circumcision this week even for religious purposes.

I told a friend who grew up in Germany about this, and she said it didn’t surprise her. Her exact words were, “No one gets circumcised in Germany ... there are nude beaches, and well, you see things. And I can tell you circumcision is very uncommon.”