Extreme Behavior: Self-Imposed Bodily Harm

Questionable Judgments: In September, three young men in a dinghy on a canal in Australia's Gold Coast region stood up at the same time to moon a group of people but lost their balance and fell in, with two recovering quickly, but the third not able to avoid the then-circling dinghy's outboard propeller, which got him in the face and sent him to the hospital in serious condition.

In September, three young men in a dinghy on a canal in Australia's Gold Coast region stood up to moon a group of people but lost their balance and fell in, with two recovering quickly, but the third was chopped in the face by the then-circling dinghy's outboard propeller and was in serious condition.

An estimated 50 followers of Hira Ratan Manek live in the Atlanta, Ga., area, according to an August Journal-Constitution report, and regularly follow his teaching to stare directly into the sun, supposedly for energy and clarity of thought. Ophthalmologists consulted by the newspaper expressed alarm, even though Manek advises to start at 10 seconds' time and gradually increase (to 45 minutes!) and to stare only when the sun is on the horizon.

An estimated 50 followers of Hira Ratan Manek live in the Atlanta area, according to an August Journal-Constitution report, and regularly follow his teaching to stare directly into the sun, supposedly for energy and clarity of thought. Ophthalmologists consulted by the newspaper expressed alarm, even though Manek advises to start at 10 seconds' time and gradually increase (to 45 minutes!) and to stare only when the sun is near the horizon.

In August, a Whitehall, Pa., man, William Sekol, 82, attempting to destroy a yellow jackets' nest beneath a storm sewer grate in his front yard, put a dried tree over the grate, doused it with gasoline, and lit it (supposedly to suffocate the yellow jackets underneath). However, some gasoline ran into the sewer, where its fumes combusted. In the resulting explosion, Sekol's mustache and eyebrows were singed.

David Pawlik called the fire department in Cleburne, Tex., in July to ask if the "blue flames" he and his wife were seeing every time she lit a cigarette were dangerous, and an inspector said he would be right over and for Mrs. Pawlik not to light another cigarette. However, anxious about the imminent inspection, she lit up and was killed in the subsequent explosion. (The home was all- electric, but there had been a natural gas leak underneath the yard.)

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