Adding to the list of stories that were formerly weird but which now occur with such frequency that they must be retired from circulation: (91) The apparently irresistible urge of curious men to tinker in workshops with live ammunition, such as the attempt by a 57-year-old man in Charleston, W.Va., in August to drill through a bullet in order to make a keychain ornament. (The resulting explosion tore up his left hand, but he was not expected to lose it.)
(92) The “Lysistrata”-style organized withholding of sex by wives in male-dominated third-world countries as a means of influencing their husbands’ behavior. (However, in Kenya, one husband fought back in May by filing a lawsuit in Nairobi High Court against the women’s group whose recent strike was somewhat successful. The man asked for compensation for his “anxiety” and “sleepless nights.”)
This article appears in Nov 11-17, 2009.