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BEIJING - Among all the protests, pollution concerns and talk of boycotts surrounding the Beijing Olympics, a more basic problem has arisen for organizers: the toilets. At the more than 30 test events held by organizers, the presence of squat toilets at many of the new and renovated venues has drawn frequent complaints. "We have asked the venues to improve on this, to increase the number to sit-down toilets," Yao Hui, deputy director of venue management for the Beijing organizers, said Wednesday. "Many people have raised the question of toilets."

An employee of an Auburn nursing home called firefighters for help because the toilets were exploding with steam...

PC WC by: Deborah Lambert, January 29, 2008 If you think the level of academic conferences can’t sink any lower, read on. Last fall, New York University offered a day-long seminar titled “Sex, Gender and the Public Toilet: Outing the Water Closet.” Cultural commentator/author Roger Kimball reported that it took four departments to tackle this weighty topic: the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, the Department of Media, Culture and Communication, the Center for Religion and Media, and the Council on Media and Culture. Kimball noted that the gathering “brought together pioneering scholars of sex and gender with...

Robo-toilets proposed to stop 'gay' cruising Mayor: 'Homosexuals ... engaging in sex, anonymous sex, illegal sex' Posted: July 7, 2007 6:55 p.m. Eastern Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle says his city has a problem with "homosexual activity" in public restrooms and he has a plan to stop it – robotic toilets that allow occupants to stay inside for only a short time before the door automatically opens. "We're trying to provide a family environment where people can take their children who need to use the bathroom without having to worry about a couple of men in there engaged in a...

UNISEX wash basin areas could be built in schools to help tackle bullying. The move is part of recommendations covering schools in England being rebuilt or refurbished as part of the Government's £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme. BSF aims to rebuild or renew every one of England's 3,500 state secondary schools during the 15-year lifetime of the initiative. The new guidelines were issued by the Government agency responsible for delivering the programme, Partnerships for Schools. Toilets in Schools was published earlier this month and details new toilet block designs to be incorporated into all BSF schools. It...

Unisex toilets should be built at schools to stop bullying, according to the Government. Guidelines issued by the Department for Education today also recommend installing glass-panelled walls between hand-washing areas, scrapping urinals and installing trough sinks to make flooding more difficult.

Toilets in one London prison are getting a face-lift — or rather, a change in direction — to accommodate Muslim inmates who can't use them while facing Mecca, a British newspaper reported. Government officials ackowledged using tax dollars for the changes to the facilities, but maintained that moving the toilets was part of "on-going refurbishment," according to an article in The Sun. Islamic code prohibits Muslims from facing or turning their backs on the direction of prayer when they use the bathroom. Muslim prisoners complained of having to sit sideways on toilets so as to not break code.

Around 1,450 passengers on a luxury cruise ship have been left without toilets for three days, according to people on board. A series of blockages in the plumbing system is said to have led to "mayhem" on board Thomson's Destiny cruise ship. Tour operator Thomson admitted that there have been problems with the vacuum system of the toilets, but said it was bringing in a team of "super-technicians" to fix the system overnight. A spokeswoman said: "The team of 10 experts will be working through the night to ensure that the problem will be sorted." She was unable to confirm...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has until the end of the month to decide on legislation aimed at further conserving water. SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will soon decide if he wants to save millions of gallons of water annually by using even lower-flush home and public toilets, and a new military favorite that's reminiscent of portable potties — waterless, no-flush urinals in public buildings. Legislation — which involved an 11th-hour deal between labor and manufacturers to clear the way for nonwater urinals — slipped around the public spotlight during lawmakers' end-of-session rush. Even so, the measure praised as "making California a...

There are a number of issues with which a competent republican propagandist could beat the dems and libs to death in short order, and which we don't ever read about. The easily made case that Saddam Hussein was behind the anthrax attacks which followed 9-11 is one such. Another involves toilets. You can get a feel for this one by doing a google search on the two terms 'toilet' and 'smuggling'... One of the hits which turns up notes: Canadian Toilet Smuggling Ring Flushed Out The U.S. has beefed up their Canadian border patrol in midst of severe water shortage...

The Civil Administration on Wednesday knocked down 13 structures - most of them toilet facilities - donated by Christian groups to Palestinians living in two cave communities in the West Bank. The Civil Administration, a branch of the Israel Defense Forces that deals with civilian issues in the territories, sent troops Wednesday afternoon to knock the buildings down. The facilities serve dozens of residents of the Mrar al-Abid and Safieh communities, which are otherwise not connected to a water supply or any electrical grid.

British authorities are spending taxpayers’ money to rebuild prison toilets so Muslim inmates don’t have to face Mecca while using them. The Islamic religion prohibits Muslims from facing or turning their backs on the Kiblah — the direction of prayer — when they use the toilet, according to the Sun newspaper in London. Muslim inmates complain that they have to sit sideways on prison toilets to comply with that prohibition. But now jail officials have bowed to pressure from Muslim leaders and agreed to turn toilets 90 degrees at London’s Brixton prison. Authorities have refused to reveal the cost of...

A group that wants to see more public toilets in the city is about to make a big stink. Get ready to see men urinating on the street - cardboard copies that is. These peeing Toms, set to hit the streets tomorrow, are part of a guerilla ad campaign being plotted by a band of potty-demanding New Yorkers called The Privy Council. Just in time for the Christmas rush, the group plans to spread the life-like cutouts, as well as cardboard toilets, in high traffic areas across the city, including Times Square and Rockefeller Center. The faux toilet seats will...

Experts debating toilet standards Toilet experts have gathered in Belfast for a conference to explore issues of public lavatory standards in countries across the globe. It is the first World Toilet Summit to be held outside the Far East. Delegates come from such sectors as public health and educational authorities, hospitality and tourism bodies as well as toilet providers. The Bog Standard campaign to raise the calibre of Northern Ireland's school toilets is also being launched. It wants to "bring awareness of the health and learning benefits of better toilets for pupils", a statement said. The campaign will also encourage...

IT'S enough to make you wonder why they insist on putting the seat down. A new survey shows 22 per cent of professional Australian women crouch or squat over the toilets in their workplaces rather than risk contact with the seats. And another 14 per cent - making more than a third of women overall - wipe the seat first, then crouch over the seat just to be safe. The survey, conducted by Initial Healthcare, gathered the responses of 200 women working in advertising agencies, publishing, finance, pharmaceutical and general business in Australia last month. Forty-six per cent of respondents...

City wants toilet garden removed The saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure hit close to home recently when a River Road resident was told by the Grand Rapids Police Department that numerous toilets in use on city property as flower pots have to go or he will face trespassing charges. The resident, Lee Jackson, believes that the police department is trying to force their removal as a personal vendetta. The police contend, however, that encroachment on city property demand the removal. Lee Jackson, who planted and maintains the flowers, says that the toilet flower beds are not...

KEN LIVINGSTONE has told Londoners not to flush the lavatory after relieving themselves. The Mayor of London said that dramatic action was needed to prevent an acute water shortage and painted a vision of standpipes in the streets if nothing is done. Mr Livingstone made the comments while inaugurating a public education campaign to promote water conservation. He said that he could ask ministers for an immediate hosepipe and sprinkler ban if the situation deteriorated. Modifying lavatory habits was an important part of this programme, he said. “The quickest and most dramatic impact is, don’t use a sprinkler or hose...

Truckload Of Toilets Overturns On Interstate POSTED: 6:04 am EDT June 21, 2005 UPDATED: 11:51 am EDT June 21, 2005 SHARONVILLE, Ohio -- A tractor-trailer carrying 16 tons of toilets overturned on the ramp from westbound Interstate 275 to southbound Interstate 75 overnight, News 5 reported. The driver, Roy Wilson, of Norwood, was cited for failing to control his vehicle. He suffered minor injuries. The ramp was closed for about four hours.

Finally, liberals have a slogan that A) rhymes and B) is actually true: "Newsweek Lied, People Died!" So you can imagine my surprise to find out conservatives are the only ones saying it. Where's the liberal outrage over the deaths of at least 17 innocent people, thanks to the bogus Newsweek report that American interrogators flushed copies of the Koran down the toilet? Where are the scores of foul-smelling leftist hippies screeching, "Newsweek Lied, People Died!?" Newsweek has since retracted the story after a 5 year-old child demonstrated for them the impossibility of flushing any kind of book down the...

Members of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Black Caucus have become seemingly desensitized to racial slurs. The Caucus did not even blink when the extreme Left’s new champion, Howard Dean, made prejudiced statements right before their very eyes. From Dean’s comments, it seems he believes that a Black person’s place is to be cleaning toilets at a hotel in which whites stay. According to the Washington Times, On Feb. 11, the day before he was elected party chief, Mr. Dean asked, at a meeting of the DNC Black Caucus, "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people...