WHOA. Regular readers of “The Straight Dope” will realize how strange this column-ending is. It’s from the current column, on suttee. Cecil Adams points out that some Hindus, including women, argue that suttee (widow suicide) should be allowed because it’s an integral part of their tradition. He adds, “Sure, East is East and West is West and all that. (In fairness, it should be said that many Indians were appalled by the whole affair.) The odd commonality–and let’s set aside questions of right or wrong here–is that when a woman in either hemisphere exercises her right to choose, somebody (or something) winds up dead.”

I don’t really know what to say about this, but I thought I’d point it out.