New Chinese Trend Involves Dyeing Dogs to Look Like Wild Animals

Thanks to a bizarre new practice in China, you can have your very own Hobbes! Well, kinda. A recent development in China involves taking ordinary dogs and dyeing their fur to make them resemble wild animals. For example, chow chows have dyed black and white to resemble pandas, while retrievers have been dyed to resemble tigers.

Chinese-domesticated animal relations have come a long way since the days of cooking and eating canines. Now instead of eating dogs, people are entering them in competitions, such as the dog dyeing competition at Pets Show Taipei.

Of course, the consumption of dog is still a common practice in some areas of China and the rest of Asia, and still drawing the ire of animal rights groups around the world. No word yet on dyeing dogs to look like wild animals, but it seems about as bad as dressing them in Halloween costumes.

Indian Man Doesn’t Bathe for 37 Years, Still Gets to Have Sex

Religion makes people do crazy things. Forbid medicine in favor of prayer; protest funerals; and, in the case of a 65-year old farmer in India, stop bathing. Entirely. Guru Kailash Singh gave up bathing 37 years ago after his wedding after a priest told him that doing so would aid in the creation of a son. Not only has he not stopped bathing, but he doesn’t cut his dreadlocks anymore, which is less significant when you realize that a lot of seemingly sane, non-religious folk do the same thing.

Apparently the whole “non-bathing” thing has irked his wife, Kalavati Devi, aged 60. With the help of others, she attempted to chase him into a stream, but he wouldn’t have any of it. “He fought us off and ran away,” she said. Thankfully, his wife has gotten used to it. Sadly, children apparently tease him as he rides his bike through the village. “There are many people who have a poor character that mock me for not washing,” he said. “They do not understand my decision but I will not change my mind as it is God’s choice, not mine.” So did it work? He has seven daughters. Poor guy. I think what’s worse is that his wife is apparently still having sex with him, and his refusal to bathe means she plans on continuing until she bears him a son.

Doctors in India Turning Girls into Boys

Man, being born a woman in India must be tough, as it appears some parents are paying upwards of ￡2,000 to turn their female children into boys using a procedure called a genitoplasty. According to the Madhya Pradesh government, up to 300 young girls were surgically altered to become boys, presumably over fears such as marriage costs and dowries. Those against the practice, which include women’s and children’s rights campaigners such as Ranjana Kumari of the Centre for Social Research called it “social madness.” “The figures are getting worse,” she said. “In 2001 there were 886 girls born to every 1,000 boys in Delhi. Today there are only 866. The more educated and rich you are, the more there is killing of girls. People don’t want to share their property or invest in girls’ education or pay dowries. It’s the greedy middle classes running after money. It is just so shocking and an outright violation of children’s rights.”

During the course of the investigation, the doctors accused of performing the surgery claimed that it was being done to “correct” children that were born with characteristics of both a male and a female. Those speaking out against this practice make the claim that this was just a ruse, or a case of misidentifying the condition, in order to gain a boy in the household. Ranjana Kumari goes on to explain the spiritual significance of having a woman in the household, but also points out that women should be supported financially and with jobs of their own. Wise words indeed.

Is One of The World’s Most Dangerous Jobs in China?

For many, the answer to this question will be yes after reading about these workers building a wooden path on the side of a sheer mountain, thousands of feet above the ground. Every day they go about their business on Shifou Mountain in Hunan Province, operating with hardly any safety measures, knowing that one little slip will be their last. When finished, the wooden sightseeing path will stretch for 1.8 miles, and will have the distinction of being the longest of its kind in China. The 3-foot wide narrow walkway, stands vertically at 90 degrees without a single slope (or better put, a sheer drop and certain death thousands of feet below).

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this construction is the fact that workers must drill holes into the face of the mountain in order to implant the wooden supports that hold up the walkway. The workers seem unfazed by the danger they face every day as most of them are local to the mountain area and are used to working above the ground. “Young people don’t want this job, as it means we have to stay deep in the mountains for months, sometimes even years… But I don’t feel it’s so different from any other job. It’s not as dangerous as people think. You just wear the ropes, and then everything is okay, “ says worker, Yu Ji. It is hoped this footpath, which will offer unique, and spectacular mountain views, will be a great tourist attraction and maybe it will be.

Still, no one seems to wonder about one itsy-bitsy thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9UZbnNjJbY&feature=player_embedded

Couple in China Buys Video Games by Selling Their Kids

I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that a Chinese couple sold their kids to buy and play video games at Internet cafes, or that they had three kids and were both under the age of 21.  According to the Sanxiang City News, the second child of Li Lin and Li Juan was sold for less than $500, while their first and third child were sold for around $4600 shortly after. The couple was turned in after Li Lin, the father, told his mother what happened. She took them to the police, where they apparently showed no remorse. The parents are young and naive, so when asked about their nefarious deeds, they stated that they were unaware what they were doing is illegal. “We didn’t want to raise them,” they said. “We just want to sell them for some money.” The couple met in an Internet cafe in 2007, and shortly after meeting quickly consummated the relationship and moved in together, spending most of their time playing video games in Internet cafes. Shortly after their first child was born in 2008, they left it at home and traveled 30km to play video games.

Bags Of Cobras Cause Panic on Vietnamese Train

Straight out of the plot of a bad horror movie comes this true tale of a recent skirmish between train passengers in Hanoi and venomous king cobras lying in see-through bags under one of the seats. The snakes were very much alive, although their mouths were stitched shut. The incident occurred when the train stopped in the city of Quang Ngai, on the route from Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam to the capital, Hanoi, in the north. A conductor was quietly checking the tickets when all hell broke lose. “Snakes! Snakes!” came the cry and within seconds everyone was screaming and running as fast as they could away from the terrifying sight. Chaos ensued and one railway official, Pham Quynh, told the press that while he could not say how many snakes there were, the bags collectively weighed 45 kilograms (100 pounds).

Due to the fact that snake meat is considered a delicacy in Vietnam, security staff believed these cobraswere destined for restaurants in Hanoi. Vietnamese law protects the cobras and it is forbidden to kill or trade them because they are an endangered species. Snake meat is considered to have aphrodisiac effects. A large king cobra can net a smuggler US $500. Hundreds of passengers ran screaming through the train and the owner of the snakes disappeared during the ensuing turmoil. Security officials gave the cobras to forest rangers who released them into the wild after no one claimed them.

Japanese Ice Aquarium Offers Cool Alternative to Normal Aquariums

Aquariums are always a great summer activity, especially when the temperature refuses to stop climbing. You get to walk around room after room of stunning displays of marine life, from lowly starfish to sharks, the garbage pits of the sea. The Japanese have figured out a way to beat the heat without all the necessary upkeep found with traditional aquariums. The Kori no Suizokukan, or the “ice aquarium,” is located in Kesennuma in northeastern Japan, and features approximately 450 specimens frozen in ice. Bathed in blue light, presumably for atmosphere, the specimens include about 80 different species of marine life, flash frozen as they’re unloaded at Kesennuma’s port on the Pacific Ocean.