Has the entire nation of Japan lost thier minds?

A Japanese artist cooked his own genitals and served them to five paying diners in Tokyo to cover the medical costs, in a bizarre act to raise awareness about sexual minorities.

Mao Sugiyama had his penis and testicles surgically removed in March and kept them frozen for two months before dishing them out -- seasoned and braised -- to customers at an event hall on May 13, according to postings on his Twitter account and local police.

Diners paid 20,000 yen ($250) for the plate with a portion of genitals. Pictures published on a website appeared to show the meal came complete with mushrooms and a parsley garnish.

The painter, who is reportedly 22, said on Twitter the organ had been removed by a physician and certified to be free of infections.

The meal was prepared under the supervision of a certified cook and diners were required to sign a waiver indemnifying Sugiyama and event organisers.

In May 18 tweets, the artist said steps were taken so the act met all relevant laws, including a ban on organ sales, processing of medical waste and even food sanitation requirements.

"I receive questions from some women and men... asking 'Will there be a next time? Please host it again.' But there is only one set of male organ," he tweeted on May 16.

"Unfortunately, I have no plan for the next time."

Sugiyama, who considers himself "asexual", that is without gender, initially thought about eating the genitals himself, but decided to solicit paying customers to help pay his hospital bills for the surgery.
In an email to AFP, he confirmed the event had taken place and said it was organised to raise awareness about "sexual minorities, x-gender, asexual people". He said he was readying to publish an official account of the day.

Police in Tokyo said they knew of the episode, but added that it had not broken the law as cannibalism was not illegal in Japan.

"We are aware of the case. There was nothing (criminal) to it. It does not violate any detailed rules. There is nothing to take action about," an officer at Suginami police said.

Sugiyama sparked a firestorm of interest on April 8 with one tweet:

"[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen …Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location."

On April 13, five of six diners who signed up for the $250-a-plate feast, sat down to dinner. The sixth person was a no-show.

The next day, an organizer posted a blog -- subsequently deleted -- containing pictures of the event. Images showed dozens of people who attended the event just to catch a glimpse of the rare treat.

The extra diners were served crocodile-based dishes while Sugiyama cooked up the exclusive meal.

The story went viral in Japan. Some showed even more interest, while others complained. But Calorie Lab called Japanese authorities, who deemed the banquet legal because there is no law against cannibalism in the country.

More people have brain tape worms than you think.

The number of people afflicted with brain tapeworms worldwide has been "grossly underestimated," a new study warns. The brain tapeworms, which cause a disease called neurocysticercosis, are most common in Central and South America. While the disease is rare in the US and Europe, the disease is "still frequently diagnosed" in migrant populations from the endemic areas, the study says. The researchers also estimate that in areas where the disease originated, 29 percent of epilepsy cases are caused by brain tapeworms. "Overall, 1.7 to 3 million persons are conservatively estimated to suffer from epilepsy due to NCC worldwide," the study says.




“Nobody knows exactly how many people there are with it in the United States,” the study's lead author, Theodore Nash, told Discover Magazine. Nash and other experts on the topic have been traveling through Latin America with CT scanners and blood tests to test populations for the disease, Discover reported. In a study in Peru, they found that 37 percent of the people they looked at had been infected by the tapeworm. Nash's study also shows that in Latin America, brain tapeworms may afflict up to 29 million people.
People can contract tapeworms from eating undercooked pork or from ingesting food or drink contaminated by feces from an infected person, the New York Times reported.
Nash sees a few dozen patients a year with brain tapeworms at his clinic in Maryland, Discover reported. His patients have come in paralyzed on one side of their body, unable to walk, unable to speak or partially blind. Some have had violent seizures and one went into a coma. But Nash stresses there are solutions to stopping the disease from starting, such as vaccinating pigs or giving drugs to people already infected so it won't spread. “All of this seems to be very feasible, but nobody wants to do anything about it,” he told Discover. 
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/health/120523/brain-tapeworms-are-more-common-previously-thought-study-warns

A man, a Zebra and a Parrot walk into this bar and...

DUBUQUE, Iowa - It sounds like the beginning of a joke. A man, a zebra, a parrot walk into a bar.

This is the guy

A Cascade man was arrested outside of a Dubuque bar on Sunday night with a pet zebra and a macaw parrot in the front seat of his truck.

Officers charged Jerald Reiter, 55, with OWI. Police reports say officers stopped him in the parking lot of the Dog House Lounge as he drove away in his truck. According to police, field sobriety tests showed Reiter had a blood alcohol level of .14. The legal limit in Iowa is .08.

Reiter tells KCRG.com that he and his girlfriend, Vickey Teters, see the animals like their kids and often take them for rides. On Sunday night, they say they took the zebra and the macaw to the bar because it often lets people bring their animals inside.

Reiter says the owner told him they were serving food that night and he couldn’t bring a zebra inside the bar. Bar owners tell KCRG.com that no animals are ever allowed inside the establishment.

At that time he went outside to put the animals in his truck and several people were in the parking lot taking pictures. He believes one of those people called police.

Reiter disputes the charges and says he realized he was too drunk to drive and was about to let a passenger in the truck to take the wheel when he was arrested.

Online records show Mr. Reiter was released from the Dubuque County Jail May 21, 2012.

 

Drunken weightlifting is not a good idea.

BRIGHTON, England -

A British man was crushed to death while attempting to lift weights in his garage.
Chris Bailey, 28, decided to go for a workout Saturday after going out drinking with his landlord until 3:00am local time in Brighton, southeastern England, the Brighton Argus reported.

Landlord Oliver Steel, 57, found his body in the garage later that day after he woke up to find the front door open.

He told the newspaper, "I found him on the bench with the bar across his chest. I tried to wake him, but I knew he was dead. I had to try and lift the weight off him, which wasn't easy because it was so heavy. I tried to resuscitate him, but he was gone."
Paramedics were initially called to the home just after noon local time Saturday. His death is being treated as unexplained. An autopsy was underway Monday.


SOURCE LINK: http://www.theargus.co.uk