Monday, August 30, 2010

Image of the day: scatalogical?

Why this image?

It is from a link in an essay at Slate, which argues that:
sitting on toilets—a recent phenomenon, stemming from the invention of the flush toilet in 1591—might be unhealthy. ...
For most of human history—several hundred thousand years—we've squatted. Today, 1.2 billion people squat because they simply don't have a toilet, while many, many more in Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe use toilets designed specifically for squatting.
So, how about squatting in America?  Well, the same Slate essay notes:
Americans, now fatter than ever, are having trouble standing up from a sit, never mind a squat.
I have blogged often about the toilet issue, or the lack of, in many parts of the world, particularly in India.

Even now when I travel in India, it is disheartening that the country that spends gazillions on military infrastructure can't seem to put sanitation as a priority.  For 63 years since independence.  Unfortunate.

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