A Boy with Seven Limbs

These photos are of eight year old Kumar Paswan from a remote Indian village who has an astonishing medical condition. He was born with a parasitic twin. The twin stopped developing in the womb before it separated fully from Kumar and has left him with seven limbs. He has launched an appeal for the thousands of pounds needed for an operation to remove the parasite.

 

Taiwanese Woman Catches 4 million Mosquitoes set World Record

If mosquitoes  have nightmares, odds are Huang Yuyen will be making an appearance in them. Yuyen, a pig farmer from Taiwan, may soon find a place in the record books for killing the most winged-bloodsuckers in a month -- over 4 million of them, in fact. The insect slaughter was part of a contest held by a company that makes bug-catchers, which awarded Yuyen around $3,000 for her 3 lbs, 5 ounces worth of mosquito carcasses.

According to the Liberty Times, Yuyen beat out 72 other mosquito-catching participants quite handily -- her closest competitor nabbed less than half of her estimated 4 million bugs. The contest was organized by Imbictus International, a manufacturer of 'environmentally friendly' mosquito-traps, which subdue the bloodsuckers without harmful chemicals.

Yuyen reportedly used 10 of these bug-catchers around her pig farm in southern Taiwan to round up the 4.05 million mosquitoes in just one month. For her effort, she walked away with a cool $3,000 and probably a place in the record books; an application has been sent to the Guinness World Records.

To achieve this record, Yuyen managed to capture about 90 mosquitoes every minute for a month.

This isn't the first time mosquito hunting has been made a sport. Earlier this summer, folks in the town of Tartu, Estonia gathered for a contest to see how many of those pesky insects they could kill in 10 minutes -- though unlike Yuyen, many used their exposed skin as bait. In all, around 400 bugs were nabbed by the 38 participants.

While the death of 4 million mosquitoes will likely not have a significant impact on the insect's numbers in Taiwan, the sheer scale of the slaughter does raise some ethical questions among people who, you know, hold some reverence for living things. It's not to say that even the most devout animal-rights activist wouldn't take a smack at a mosquito given the opportunity, but killing millions of them for a contest may be a bit much to celebrate.

Still, it's no wonder why people would relish in the death of so many mosquitoes considering the human toll they've taken. Throughout the world, mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue and malaria continue to threaten communities, a problem expected to worsen as rising temps and increases in rainfall bolster the insect's numbers -- evidenced, perhaps, by the fact that one woman in Taiwan was able to catch over 4 million of them in a month.

No word yet on how Yuyen plans on spending her prize money, but I suspect bug-spray will be near the top of her list.

Amazing facts-Cannibalism

Cannibalism is as old as mankind and we certainly weren’t the first to come up with the idea. Animals have been eating members of their own species since the dawn of time and think nothing of it. To them it’s perfectly natural. Many species of arachnid, for example, instinctively begin to chow down on their mothers as soon as they are born and some mammals have been known to do the same thing. In fact, in some cases mammalian mothers will eat their own offspring if they feel the conditions needed to rear offspring have not been met. Ever seen a hamster do this? It’s pretty disturbing.

Of course, the introduction of civilization, the very thing that separates us from the animals, makes it impractical and morally objectionable to kill and eat your kinsmen. When living in a group structure it is much better to let your friends and family live so they can help you carry that massive mammoth carcass back home. But what if your intended victim is not a member of your tribe? By making a meal of a rival tribesman you not only rid yourself of a troublesome neighbor, you also get yourself a family sized bucket of tasty man flesh as a special treat for the kids. This is one widely accepted answer to the question of where all those pesky Neanderthals went. That’s right, we ate them (or some of them at least – the rest probably ate each other).

Here are some examples of cannibalistic societies in recorded history:


The Carib
The Carib people of the Lesser Antilles not only had the entire Caribbean Sea named after them; their name is also the origin of the word cannibal. Christopher Columbus was the first to report cannibalism among the Carib, whom he referred to as the Caniba (a mispronunciation of ‘Karibna’, the Carib word for ‘person’). Following this many Europeans formed the belief that the Carib practiced general cannibalism but this was not true, the Carib practiced ritual cannibalism and only ever against their enemies.

Any conquistador to stumble across a society of cannibals would have been utterly thrilled. At the time it was considered a Christian’s duty to punish and subjugate any society known to practice cannibalism. This led to many tribal cultures in the Africa and the Americas being falsely accused of cannibalism and may have precipitated the slave trade.

The Aztec
The Aztec were without a doubt the most brutal society in pre-Columbian America. They made thousands of human sacrifices each year, ceremonially slaughtering their victims in a variety of grim ways. Typically, victims had their beating hearts torn out but being burned alive was also quite common. So what did the Aztecs do with the bodies after the party was over? While there is no academic consensus on whether or not the Aztecs practiced cannibalism it stands to reason that they did. Cannibalism, while not necessarily a cultural norm, was not uncommon in pre-Columbian societies and many scholars argue that the Aztecs would have thought little of rummaging through the temple bins for a snack. Others theories that human flesh would have been a delicacy eaten only by the aristocratic elite. The lack of animal proteins in the Aztec diet would have made human flesh a healthy and desirable treat, especially considering the novelty value.

The Native Americans
There is evidence to suggest that many Native American peoples, including the Sioux, the Cree, the Comanche and even the Iroquois, may have once practiced ritualistic cannibalism. Of course, this is a highly charged and highly political debate. Many argue that the accusation of cannibalism is an attempt to depict Native Americans as brutal and uncivilized peoples, thus justifying their subjugation. However, some argue the opposite, saying that Native American cannibalism has been denied or even covered up by some historians in the name of political correctness. Whatever the truth, it would seem that cannibalism was once practiced by at least some Native American cultures, particularly those of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The now extinct Karankawa of Texas are a prime example. In 1768 a Spanish priest witnessed and recorded a Karankawa ritual in which a captive was tied to a stake. The Karankawa danced around the man, occasionally slicing off a piece of his flesh to be roasted and eaten in front of him.

Africa
While no single society in Africa can be cannibalistic, the practice of cannibalism in Africa throughout history has been frequent and widespread. Even today there is thought to be an underground trade in human body parts. Some believe that eating certain human organs and body parts will have a magical healing effect and some witchdoctors are thought to run black market operations, actively harvesting, proscribing and selling bits of other people as supposed ‘natural treatments’. As a result, thousands of people across Africa go missing each year after falling prey to the collection gangs. Most cruel of all is the fact that many victims are not killed but have parts of their bodies removed whilst alive. Sickeningly a human penis can be sold as a cure for impotence but there is a market for everything from a victim’s fingers to their lips.

Cannibalism has also been reported in several recent African conflicts, including the Second Congo War and the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is usually directed against social or racial groups that are thought to be vulnerable, such as the Congolese Pygmies.

Fiji
Cannibalism seems to have once been widespread in many Polynesian and Melanesian cultures. For example, Fiji was once known as the cannibal isles. One Fijian tribal chief claimed to have eaten 875 people and boasted of his achievement.

The native inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia were also thought to be cannibals. When a waling ship capsized near the islands in 1820 the captain decided to lead the survivors 3000 miles upwind to Chile rather than risk taking on the cannibals. Ironically, the survivors themselves later resorted to cannibalism as a means of survival.

The Korowai
The Korowai of Papua, Indonesia may be the only tribe left in the world to practice ritual cannibalism. It is said that they kill and eat members of their tribe that have been convicted of witchcraft, although this may just be a ploy to attract tourists. Apparently the brain is most tasty part of the victim’s body and is eaten raw while still warm. Korowai houses are built high on stilts. It is thought that this design evolved through a need for protection, owing to the once rampant practice of cannibalism on the island. Members of the Fore tribe, who live on the opposite side of the island to the Korowai in what is now Papua New Guinea, are thought to have contracted the degenerative brain disorder Kuru (also known as laughing sickness) through the ritual consumption of their own dead tribesmen.

The Maori
One of the most well documented instances of cannibalism involves the Maori people of New Zealand. Cannibalism has been a part of Maori warfare since time immemorial and they didn’t stop at killing and eating their rival tribesmen. When the crew of a British ship, the Boyd, were accused of unjustly flogging the son of a Maori chieftain, his father’s warriors took revenge by killing and eating 66 of the ship’s passengers and crew. The event became known as the ‘Boyd Massacre’. The Maori also cannibalized European settlers in the ensuing wars and rebellions against the British Empire, as recently as 1869.

Of course, the Maori kicked the habit long ago and now live a healthy flesh-free lifestyle. The same can also be said of all the cultures on this list, with the possible exception of the Korowai. But it cannot be said that the archaic act of cannibalism has completely disappeared; every now and then it rears its ugly, flesh-chewing head to remind us of our gruesome and barbaric past. Sometimes this occurs in extreme survival situation (which can perhaps be forgiven) but it can also take the form of a single crazed lunatic

Jean-Bédel Bokassa
The self declared Emperor of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, has been tried, but never convicted, of cannibalism. In 1979, when a number of school children protested against the introduction of new, mandatory school uniforms Emperor Bokassa gobbled the naughty children up. Some one hundred school children were massacred and, while Bokassa clearly could not have eaten all of them, he is thought to have beaten many of them to death himself. Bokassa’s Ugandan contemporary, Idi Amin, is also rumored to have eaten his enemies.

 

Dorangel Vargas
Dorangal Vargas, otherwise known as the ‘Hannibal Lecter of the Andes’, killed and ate at-least ten men while homeless and living in a park in San Cristobal, Venesuala. Vargas used the park as a hunting ground for two years before being arrested in 1999, after which he has spoken openly about his crimes. “I make a very tasty stew out of the tongue” Vargo told reporters “and I use the eyes to make a healthy and nutritious soup.”

Shades Of Grey

 

 

 

 

 

 

When describing India, some questions are best left unanswered.

When you live in a foreign country, especially a country with a better standard of living than your own, questions are bound to crop up. Innocent questions no doubt, but ones which make replying Yes or No seem equally bad.
“So female infanticide still happens in India, huh?”
“Ummm..yes, but…only in the really remote villages.”
I say Yes, and their eyes glaze over. So I come from the country where baby girls are drowned. That is really the end of the story, isn’t it? Except it’s not.
The answer is either Yes or No. It should be either Black or White. But my answer is in Grey. I want to tell them about how special India really is. I want to tell them about all the instances where Indian women are given a place of honour. About Raksha Bandhan, when brothers tie a special band around their sister’s wrists promising eternal protection. About the Taj Mahal, which was built as a monument of love by a king for his queen.
“Slum Dog millionaire – some movie that. So do these slums actually exist?”
My hesitation is answer enough.
“It’s OK, there’s no need to be ashamed”, their expressions tell me.
Yes, we do have slums and that heart-wrenching kind of poverty. But where you only see grime and misery, I see happy faces of slum-dwellers who squat beside the tracks and wave at you as you watch them from the open windows of your train compartments. I see kindness and brotherhood forged out of hunger and hardships where two children share a single ‘roti’ to keep themselves alive. All they need is a single square meal, the grass below and the sky above and they are happy. Where you see poor living conditions, I see satisfaction and contentment with the simple pleasures of life.
I want to shine the torch on the positive aspects of India. The hidden, uncommercialised ones. Not the spicy curry or even spicier Bollywood movies. I want to tell them about the soothing calm of temple hymns at dawn, the colours of paddy fields against a setting sun, and the smell of wet earth after the first rain of the monsoons.
No, we do not have Starbucks. Ok, we do have Baristas and Cafe Coffee Days. But to taste the real India, all you need is a cup of Filter Kaapi, served in a tiny steel tumbler with a line of froth on top. It might not come with a fancy cardboard holder to keep you from burning your ahnd. Or toffee nut or caramel flavours. But it comes with enough warmth and flavour to invigorate your senses.
And no, snakes, Maharajas and elephants DO NOT walk the streets anymore.
“Yes, we have traffic lights, thank you very much. And yes they work. Well, most of the time.”
And again among these questions, I find myself caught in a web of ‘Yes’s and ‘But’s. Trying hard to convince, and somehow making it worse in the process.
India is as unruly as it is peaceful. It is as dirty as it is beautiful. It is as imperfect as it is perfect. It is as much home as any place can be. And let there be no question about that. Because the answer to that is neither black, nor white nor grey. It comes in beautiful shades of Saffron, White and Green with a Navy Blue Chakra in the middle.