Sky burials are often practiced in the mountains of Tibet, both for religious and practical reasons. Basically, the corpse is placed on a mountain top and sliced open in various places, to attract the birds of prey circling above. They’d probably feast on it anyway, but an invitation like that doesn’t hurt.

Most Tibetans are Buddhists and believe in rebirth. Once a person dies, their body is considered nothing more than an empty vessels that needs to disposed of. Since the ground is often as hard as rock and wood and fire are precious resources, feeding nature’s creatures is a practical choice. I know it looks grotesque, but to Buddhists this is a last sign of generosity by the deceased, offering his body as nourishment for other living creatures.

image credits

image credits:

The Human Catapault Stunt – Watch more Funny Videos

When I put my virginity up for auction in September, it was in part a sociological experiment—I wanted to study the public’s response. Now it seems that the tables have turned, and the public is studying me.

I’m a 22-year-old woman who recently earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Women’s Studies, and soon I’ll be entering a Masters Degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy. During the time in between, in addition to my regular 9-to-5, I’ve been exploring my upcoming thesis project: the value of virginity. To be more specific, I’ve put my own virginity up for auction on the Moonlight Bunny Ranch website, and I recently received my highest bid so far: a cool $3.8 million.

I’ve been congratulated for my “entrepreneurial gumption,” as one CEO of a Fortune 500 company put it.

In addition to bids, however, I’ve also received an astonishing, sometimes unnerving, amount of media attention. Many of these reports have portrayed me inaccurately, however, so let me tell you what this is all about.

This all started long before September. In fact, it started in college, where my eyes were opened by my Women’s Studies professors and fellow classmates. I came to understand the role of “woman” spanning culture and time. At the university level, I was given permission to think differently and form a moral code of my own design. College opened my eyes.

Like most little girls, I was raised to believe that virginity is a sacred gift a woman should reserve for just the right man. But college taught me that this concept is just a tool to keep the status quo intact. Deflowering is historically oppressive—early European marriages began with a dowry, in which a father would sell his virginal daughter to the man whose family could offer the most agricultural wealth. Dads were basically their daughters’ pimps.

When I learned this, it became apparent to me that idealized virginity is just a tool to keep women in their place. But then I realized something else: if virginity is considered that valuable, what’s to stop me from benefiting from that? It is mine, after all. And the value of my chastity is one level on which men cannot compete with me. I decided to flip the equation, and turn my virginity into something that allows me to gain power and opportunity from men. I took the ancient notion that a woman’s virginity is priceless and used it as a vehicle for capitalism.

Are you rolling your eyes? I knew this experiment would bring me condemnation. But I’m not saying every forward-thinking person has to agree with what I’m doing. You should develop your own personal belief system—that’s exactly my point! For me, valuing virginity as sacred is simply not a concept I could embrace. But valuing virginity monetarily—now that’s a concept I could definitely get behind. I no longer view the selling of sex as wrong or immoral—my time at college showed me that I had too blindly accepted such arbitrary norms. And for what it’s worth, the winning bid won’t necessarily be the highest—I get to choose.

So, with this value system firmly in place, I contacted the organization I felt could best provide me a safe and legal means through which to execute my idea: The Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Reno, Nevada.

I have been to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch twice to meet with its larger-than-life owner, Dennis Hof. I would describe the environment as a comical hybrid of a sorority house crossed with a laid-back gentlemen’s club.

The Ranch not only provided me with the publicity to reach bidders through a personal email address on their website, but also as a way to capture a big enough “sample” of the public so I could research their reactions.

Some of these reactions have been surprising. As expected, many people value virginity itself—people who think it’s important to save, and men who think it’s valuable enough to buy. But I’ve discovered that others value the lucrative nature of my experiment even more. I’ve been congratulated for my “entrepreneurial gumption,” as one CEO of a Fortune 500 company put it.

I might even be an early adopter of a future trend, if the ads that clutter Craigslist are any indication of the direction we’re headed in. These days, more and more women my age are profiting directly from their sex appeal, but I’m not sure other women should follow my lead. One conclusion my experiment has already borne out is that society isn’t ready for public auctions like mine—yet.

Natalie Dylan has a B.A. in Women’s Studies. She is from San Diego. “Natalie Dylan” is a pseudonym.

Even in today’s modern world where science and technology has made such great advancements, there are places and people who still practice the ancient practices and rituals of their ancestors. These seven rituals are still being practiced in the world. Although if one is unaware of them , they seem really odd and disturbing but in places where they are practiced, it’s not a big deal for them. Some of them have been banned but they are still practiced.

Baby tossing (A Hindu Ritual)

In the western India, this baby tossing ritual is practiced which is said to be 500 years old. Parents from different parts of the country bring their babys to be tossed from a 50 feet high tower. The tower is considered the tower of goodluck. Parents believe that this would bring good health to their children. People say that there have never been any accidents while practicing this ritual.

Slaughtering of animals on Eid ul Adha(A Muslim Ritual)

Eid ul Adha or the festival of sacrifice is celebrated every year on the 10^th of zilhaj according to the islamic calender. On this day Muslims in every part of the world sacrifice animals in the Memory of Ibrahim (Abraham) who became willing to sacrifice his son Ismaeel as an act of obedience. However God replaced his son (Ismaeel) with a ram. On every 10^th of zilhaj Muslims slaughter sheeps, goats, rams, camels and cows. The meat is distributed among the poors, friends and relatives and is also kept for one’s own self.

Bull fighting in Spain

Bullfighting is a Spanish ritual in which one or more bulls are ritually killed by the bullfighter also called the Matador. During the phases of fight, the bullfighter does some formal moves (which are traditional and a part of the game), these moves are intentionally done to distract, to make the bull angry and to injure it. The bullfighter can also be injured during the fight or can even get killed. The fight ends usually with the death of the bull which is due to a sword thrust by the bullfighter.

Thailand’s Elephant Crushing Ritual

In the northern Thailand, baby elephants are caged ,known as the “training crush”, and the baby elephants are tied up and immobilized in a small cage and tortured. They are stabbed with nails in their ears and feet. They are beaten, they are left hungry for long hours. They are not allowed to sleep. The torture is to break the elephant’s spirit and make them submissive to their owners. This ritual is centuries old and is practiced to domesticate the young elephants.

Shia Muslims Mourning Ritual

In the month of Muharram (which is the first month of Islamic Calendar) the Shia Muslims mourn in the remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, who was a Shia imam, and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him, the founder of Islam). The mourning reaches its climax on 10^th of the month which is called the Ashura as on this day the Imam Hussain and his family and supporters were killed by the forces of second Umayad Caliph Yazid. The mourning includes beating of the chest with hands and chains, cutting of the chest and head with blades and other sharp tools.

Thaipusam Festival in Hinduism

Thaipusam is an annual festival of Hindus. In this festival the devotees spear their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods and pierce their chests and backs with small, hook-like needles. They apparently feel no pain and in many cases, no blood is seen. According to them it is their belief in Lord Murugan which prevents the pain and bleeding.

Muti killings

(Pictures have not been shown because they were really very disturbing and sick)

In the Southern Africa murders and mutilation in association with cultural and tradational practices is known as muti killings. As this word originally means medicine. So the murder of people is for their body parts , to be used as ingredients of any medicine or concoctions used in witchcraft. Muti killing is not actually a human sacrifice but it is killing and murdering for body parts. Many of the children fall victim to

I never thought I would be arguing for the rights of Adolph Hitler.

A three year old boy named Adolph Hitler Campbell by his parents as well as his two sisters who were also given “Nazified” names were removed from the custody of their parents by New Jersey Youth And Family Services.  The “unique” names of the children were first brought to national light when ShopRite supermarket refused to sell them a birthday cake with Adolf Hitler’s name on it. It is unknown if the children’s names were the sole reason for the removal.  There were no previous official complaints of any type of abuse in the family.

Let us start with the fact that parents who would give their children such a name are either  racist, anti-Semitic, mentally unbalanced or a combination of the three.  It is possible they are simply Nazi history buffs but my money is on the first three. None of these in themselves constitute child abuse, or constitute an imminent danger to the children.  Is that not what we are talking about when the state takes the extreme action of  removing children from the home?  Is there an immediate danger to the children?  I am not a family law attorney but I suspect the standard has to rise above an “uncomfortable upbringing”  Does naming your child Adolph Hitler(as a middle name)  constitute the type of  abuse in itself to warrant removal from the home?   If this were enough itself , half the stars in Hollywood would be guilty of child abuse for naming giving their children whacked out names that will make things difficult for them growing up.   Does the State have the power to force the parents to change the name or get a court order on their own changing the name?  If the parents state that using Hitler as a middle name was a form of political expression can the state intervene?  There are constitutional issues here on a number of levels. The right to privacy and freedom of expression to name a couple. There has to be more going on than meets the eye.  I suspect that there was enough of an outcry when  the national spotlight was on the family Hitler that prompted Youth and Family Services to take a close look at the family.  It would not be shocking that the mental instability flowing from parents who would give such names to their children also manifested itself  in more egregious abuse that did put the children in danger.  If this was not the case, this was the ultimate abuse in state authority.

I wonder what the only decedents of Adolph Hitler living in the United States would have to say about this. They  are alive and well in Long Island, New York living quietly under assumed names.  I suspect that the Campbells  are now wishing they had baked their own birthday cake for little Adolph’s party.

When his teacher, Guo, found out that young Zheng had not completed his homework, she flipped out.

“She was very angry at the time,” he said. “She ripped and twisted my cheeks with both her hands and then she lifted me off the ground.”

The teacher held the boy up until one of his cheeks actually ripped off and the boy was bleeding profusely.

Without hesitation the teacher reached down and picked up Zheng’s cheek skin, put it on his face, and instructed the boy go home immediately.

When the parents saw Zheng, they immediately took him to the hospital where it took 52 stitches to have his cheek sewn back on.

Zheng’s father has reported the case to the police and is expected to press for damages.

(link)