if you watch the video linked at lost nomad, you can see the bee man cut himself with what looks like a utility knife. he never tries to remove a finger, just get enough blood to “sign” his poster.

the video is really worth watching, because you can hear all the reporters laughing just before the guy jumps onto the flag, followed by some polite clapping once he lands. it sounds like there were no more than five people there watching.

I have to admit, this is kind of impressive, although I have to wonder about the motivations of the individuals who do this sort of thing. Are they really trying to make a real statement, or just being plain old media whores in a new and interesting way? Today, he’s jumping onto a Japanese flag with a swarm of bees on him, tomorrow he’s spending a week covered in bees, allowing them to feed him with their sweet, sweet nectar. Hell, I bet if he did that, some American network would pay him a truckload of money and give him his own special, like the Uberwhore of all media, David Blaine.

Maybe he wanted to cover all bases in this protest. Cut up hand (maybe he didnt cut off any fingers, but the blood adds to the effect) and jump on a Japanese flag in a swarm of bees. What’s next? Lighting himself on fire? Cutting off his own head?

This incident did make it into the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asi.....964512.stm

“The honeybee dares to abandon its life when enemies are attempting to attack, to protect its own home. From now on, I hope these bees will contribute to protect our Dokdo”, Ahn Sang-Gyu said.

I like my honey without tasteless politics . . .