1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (107 page)

803

FACT :
In the Satere-Mawe tribe in South America, a boy being initiated into manhood is forced to wear gloves woven with hundreds of bullet ants, whose
sting is considered the most painful of any insect
. The ants sting the boy until he passes out from pain; if he can be revived, he is considered a true man.
Is he disqualified if he craps himself?

Alex Levinton, “The 5 Most Horrifying Bugs in the World,”
Cracked.com
,
www.cracked.com
.

Steve Backshall, Venom: Poisonous Animals in the Natural World (New Holland Publishers, 2007).

804

FACT :
In Britain, placing a postage stamp
bearing the British monarch upside down
is considered treason.
Even if she looks better that way?

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

805

FACT :
In France, you are forbidden
to name a pig
“Napoleon.”
The French hate redundancy.

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

806

FACT :
By law,
a pregnant woman can urinate anywhere
she wants in Britain— even, if she so chooses, in a police officer’s helmet.
But if she has to go number two, she’ll need to find a Queen’s Guard with the big furry hat. Gotta wipe, you know.

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

807

FACT :
Masturbation is
an offense punishable by decapitation
in Indonesia.
Tell me they at least let you finish.

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

808

FACT :
Drunk driving is handled seriously in El Salvador. In San Salvador,
offenders may be sentenced to death
by firing squad.
Except that the firing squad soldiers are usually drunk, too, and tend to miss.

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

809

FACT :
Male doctors in Bahrain are not legally permitted
to look directly at a woman’s genitals
: they may only examine them with a mirror.
I bet that makes childbirth fun.

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

810

FACT :
It is illegal for a cab in London to carry rabid dogs or corpses.
I hope Keith Richards has his own car.

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.

811

FACT :
All males fourteen years or older are
to perform longbow practice for two hours
each day in England.
Is that what the kids call that now? We called it “beating the bishop.”

Alex Wade, “The World’s Strangest Laws,” Times Online, August 15, 2007,
www.business.timesonline.co.uk
.