Now that's harsh

Every once in a while, I run across an item on the news wire or on the Internet that stops me dead in my tracks. Such was the case with a Reuters dispatch today out of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Reuters, police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers who have been accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises. I'll let that sink in for a minute. OK, back to the story. Police also took 14 alleged victims of sorcery into custody. The men claimed that the black magic practitioners touched them to make their genitals shrivel up or disappear. Some say the assailants' aim was to extort money in exchange for a cure. The arrests of both the alleged shrinkers and shrinkees were carried out to prevent bloodshed, according to police in Kinshasa, who said 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs in Ghana about 10 years back. Reuters quoted Kinshasa police chief Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, who had this to say: "When you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that, I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it.'" Sound advice. So, we may have plenty of problems here in the good old US of A, but I've never had someone threaten to harm my penis. Well, maybe a couple of ex-girlfriends, but certainly not a witch doctor. By the way, the photo you see with this post is of Michelangelo's David. I know it has nothing to do with the Congo story, but it's not easy finding photos to go with penis stories, at least without offending anyone. Who can argue with high art? I'm hoping to have an update on this story later in the year. My friend Dave is planning a trip to Africa in the fall, and we'll see if he can bring up back a first-person report. Watch your goodies, buddy!