Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Siberian Doctors Use Sticks to Literally Beat Drug Addiction

Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:46 AM PST

There’s a new way to beat your addiction, but it hurts, a lot. Psychologists at a Siberian drug clinic are using corporal punishment to help drug, alcohol and even sex addicts get their lives back. The bizarre treatment involves lashing patients’ buttocks with sticks and canes.

“We cane the patients on the buttocks with a clear and definite medical purpose – it is not some warped sado-masochistic activity,” Professor Marina Chukhrova told The Siberian Times. Apparently, there are some sound scientific principles behind these beatings. Chukhrova and fellow practitioner Dr German Pilipenko claim addicts suffer from a lack of endorphins, known as the “happiness hormones”, and the excruciating pain stimulates their brains to release endorphins into the body, making them feel better about themselves without having to use any other stimulants. “The caning counteracts a lack of enthusiasm for life which is often behind addictions, suicidal tendencies and psychosomatic disorders,” Pilipenko says. He admits their technique gets a lot of skepticism from fellow doctors, but insists the pain acts as an injection against stress.

Photo: The Siberian Times

 The Siberian Times reporters had a chance to observe a couple of caning sessions involving a drug user and an alcoholic. Young Natasha was introduced to drugs by a boyfriend who was since killed by the habit, and says the controversial treatment saved her life. She receives 60 lashes per session. “With each lash I scream and grip tight to the end of the surgical table. It’s a stinging pain, real agony, and my whole body jolts. Often I cry, and the doctor sometimes asks what I am feeling, and if I am ok,” she says. “My body gets really hot and my palm starts sweating. It’s really unpleasant – but after each session, I can see that it works. In fact, it’s the only thing that has worked for me. The pain helps me understand the dangers I have caused to myself, how I was simply killing myself.”

 Photo: The Siberian Times

41-year-old Yuri was so stressed out by work that he developed a serious vodka-drinking habit. Alcoholics get between 30 and 60 strokes, but he felt every one of them. ”The first strike was sickening. I screamed, and swore like a drunk sailor,” he said. “Somehow I got through all 30 lashes. The next day I got up with a stinging backside but no desire at all to touch the vodka in the fridge. The bottle has stayed there now for a year.” But although it helped cure his addiction, the treatment caused other serious problems for Yuri. “She [his girlfriend] suspected me of all sorts of weird things, from a secret affair to visiting the local dominatrix. I told her the truth – and when I explained it all she said she was proud of me for taking such a risky step to cure myself,” he told the press.

Photo: The Siberian Times

Chukhrova and Pilipenko, as well as their patients claim the treatment works when all else fails, but other mainstream doctors say the beating can be replaced with other known endorphin production stimulants like exercise, acupuncture, massage therapy or eating chocolate. The Siberian practitioners insist that the pain “acts like a warning so that the individual doesn’t let offence, annoyance, anger, laziness, desolation or hopelessness get in his way of going towards the next achievement,” adding that they only use flexible willow branches that don’t break or cause bleeding, and they only strike the buttocks area. One other very important thing worth mentioning is that these lashing sessions are only used in the final stages of a long treatment that involves a lot of counseling and even detox.

The Siberian clinic gets patients from all over Russia and has received inquiries about appointments from as far as the United States.

Siberian Doctors Use Sticks to Literally Beat Drug Addiction was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Carbeque – Barbeque Installed in a Car Gives “To Go” a Whole New Meaning

Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:32 AM PST

What do you get when you put together a passion for cars and a love for barbeque? Well, a Carbeque, of course. A vehicle that's perhaps the only one of its kind, the Carbeque looks just as cool as it sounds. Owned by Australian Radio personality Merrick Watts, the car itself is based around a 1973 Ford Langau, powered by a 351 V8 with extractors, and styled similar to the ones used in Mel Gibson's 'Mad Max' movies. The only difference here is that the trunk comes with a fully functional grill. According to Watts, the Carbeque is the answer to the question that's been plaguing people since the first tailgating party. "How many times are you driving somewhere, and there's nowhere you can have a barbeque," he says. But with the Carbeque, "you just pull over, and you start cooking."

Watts was recently signed on as the face of Meat & Livestock Australia's promotional campaign. As a part of the promotional activities, the Carbeque was unveiled in Parrmatta Mall on the 26th of November, last year. Just before he powered up the car for the first time at the unveiling, he said, "It's balls-out amazing! I took our entire marketing budget. It's not just a car, I introduced the world's first CARBEQUE!" While describing the car, Watts said, "Half car, half barbeque! It's integrated, it's part of its genetic make-up, it's been spliced with a barbeque. You open up the boot, and out comes a cantilevered barbeque, the greatest barbeque you've ever seen. Not some ratty little hot plate thing, a full blown barbeque." Well, it has to be, considering that Watts spent a whopping $156,000 (the money meant for marketing his show, Merrick and the Highway Patrol), on the car. According to the show's producer Elle Conwell, "We can cook 9 (10.5 ounce) T-Bone steaks at one time. The Carbeque can pump out around 35 pounds of steak within the hour, or around 200 sausages. The roasting hood means that this Carbeque is ideal for cooking multiple dogs at anytime – depends on your taste. Maybe three Chihuahuas or one larger German Shepherd!"

Photo: Southern Cross Austereo

The Carbeque is being described as every Aussie bloke's fantasy. There were many impressed at the unveiling itself, including V8 Supercar drivers Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander. V8 Supercars commentator Neil Crompton said, "It combines all of life's pleasures; four wheels and a barbeque. It doesn't get any better." For Holdsworth, it was the paintjob. "I love the paint job," he said. "It looks like it's been burnt by the barbeque." Even auto experts like James May from the BBC series 'Top Gear' was excited about the car. "When I first read the message, and saw it's a car with a BBQ, I thought we've done that, but then I looked at the pictures, and I thought, hang on, this is an actual integrated BBQ. It strikes me that in the modern world you have to make your accessories and devices multi-tasking, you should be cooking whilst driving to an event, otherwise you might as well just drive to a restaurant." He does point out that we might need to "develop square sausages that don't roll about" for the Carbeque.

Photo: Southern Cross Austereo

The twin burner barbeque swings out 90 degrees from the boot. The bootlid itself is modified and disguised to look like a rear wing. It also allows for a lot of space below, to store steaks and beers when the barbeque swings into position. The car comes with a twin exhaust system, automatic transmission and the suspension was upgraded all round, with an internal roll bar, tow bar, and rear-view camera. On the outside, you can see other additions like triple bonnet scoops, rear window louvre, front spoiler, modified grille, chunky bodyside scoops, custom wheels and Cooper Cobra tyres. The interiors include SAAS front bucket seats, LED lighting, a SAAS steering wheel and a $4,000 stereo upgrade. Throughout the Australian summer, the Carbeque will be used for Austereo and Meat & Livestock Australia's promotions. Well, the one thing that hasn't been done with the Carbeque is to cook while driving. And no one's likely to try that anytime soon.

 Photo via Radio Info

Photo via Weird Universe

 

Source: Just Auto

Carbeque – Barbeque Installed in a Car Gives “To Go” a Whole New Meaning was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Sick Gambling in Taiwan – Betting on When Terminally Ill Cancer Patients Will Die

Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:13 AM PST

A macabre gambling trend has taken off in Taiwan’s thrid largest city of Taichung. Doctors, nurses and even the families of terminally ill cancer patients are placing bets on when the sick will die, for the chance to win three times the wagered sum.

It’s sick what some people will do for money. According to various news reports, a sinister gambling trend has sprung up in Taichung, Taiwan- people are actually making bets on how long incurable cancer patients in the city’s hospitals have to live. And we’re not talking about isolated cases of morally-challenged gamblers looking to make some money through any means possible, this is a full-fledged underground industry industry worth over $30 million. On a single Taichung street there are over 60 so-called “senior clubs” posing as charity organisations for the elderly that are nothing more than gambling dens challenging punters to place their bets on whatever cancer patient they think is the most likely to die within one month. What’s even more disturbing about this practice is that doctors, nurses and even family members of the terminally ill patients are also eager for a piece of the action.

Photo: Huang Kuo-feng/Want China Times

Local media reports many dying patients of in the wards of Taichung hospitals wake up to see not only relatives by their bedsides, but also groups of gamblers checking their vital signs and inquiring about the prognosis. Bet organizers also roam the hospitals regularly, whispering to various clients that it will soon be time to “pay the bill” or “close the case”. The sickening game is very simple. As a dying cancer patient is put into play, gamblers have to make a bet of at least $40 ($65), but reports say some punters have placed as much as $350,000. If the patient dies within one month, the house takes the entire pot, but if he survives past that, pay-outs to punters rise with each day and week the ill person manages to cheat death, up to six months.

Taichung’s Street of Death 

What’s appalling about all this is bookies actually ask for permission from the cancer patient’s family to put him into play, and promise them 10% of the whole put, should he survive for another month. Stomp reports a 10% finders fee is paid to families of the patients win or lose, making the game even more hard to resist, especially for poor families who can’t even afford the cost of the burial. In some cases, families have apparently been offered bonuses by bet organizers if they instruct doctors to withhold life-prolonging treatments. Taiwan police is currently investigating this macabre gambling trend.

Hell of a world we’re living in, eh…

Sick Gambling in Taiwan – Betting on When Terminally Ill Cancer Patients Will Die was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

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