November 03, 2004

• Reminds me of the umpteen "Ate My Balls" pages I made on geocities, back in the day. I needed this.
• Well, as bad as things seem here, at least we don't have testicle-eating cats to worry about.
• Not yet.
• Spiritualism in Kenya The unkindest cat Oct 28th 2004 | NAIROBI From The Economist print edition Tales of the improbable A FRISKY feline is causing consternation in Kenya. According to reports in the local press this week, a ghost cat, commissioned by mischievous spirits, has been dispatched to the Kenyan countryside to gnaw off the genitals of men while they sleep. Such reports are quite common. Kenyan men seem to lose their testicles to ghosts with alarming frequency. There is, of course, usually a rational explanation. A proud man will often prefer to blame spirits rather than admit the more humiliating truth that, after an evening of merriment on payday, he stumbled home inebriated and penniless to find his irate wife waiting with a kitchen knife in hand. A belief in the supernatural runs deep at all levels of Kenyan society. Before elections in 2002, an assistant minister was reportedly advised by a witchdoctor that if he wore the same pair of red Y-fronts, unwashed, until polling day, he would win re-election. However, he forgot to tell his maid, who went and washed the lucky underpants. He lost his seat. Miracle-workers do not have to be local to be popular. Benny Hinn, an American televangelist, drew over a million people to his last faith-healing extravaganza in Nairobi. The audience handed over their shillings and were wowed as the apparently crippled rose to their feet and skipped off the stage. But not everyone was so lucky. Three elderly Kenyans who had discharged themselves from hospital hoping for a miracle died during the rally. Ten others fell out of trees while watching the rally, and did not have their broken bones fixed. Economists fear that the hiring of witchdoctors is adding to the already crippling expense of Kenyan funerals, the number of which has increased sharply thanks to AIDS. Your correspondent, however, saw one witchdoctor who more than earned his fee. A minibus meant to ferry mourners to a funeral in western Kenya refused to start. The mourners concluded that the body did not want to be laid to rest because a witch was on board. They called in a witchdoctor. After sprinkling some water and murmuring incantations, he duly identified the culprit, who was thrown off with her cargo of vegetables and chickens. The bus then roared off without further mishap. [I love the last bit about the bus.]
• This is Pinky. He's a very loving cat. 1.9Mb .wmv (via)
• Thanks nicola, I was not looking forward to typing up that article.
• Pinky has a taste for meat, obviously.