Wiener Boy eats Coney Island

The Economist has a story this week about Takeru The Tsunami Kobayashi, the man who ate 50 1/2 hot-dogs in 12 minutes. I read this story as I was watching "American Eats: History on a Bun" on the History Channel that colourfully told the history and stories behind such all-American foods like Jell-O, hamburgers, pizza and the democratic hot-dog. I am amazed that any human could consume 50.5 hot-dogs in 12 minutes. If I eat just a little too much my stomach becomes very uncomfortable so I cannot fathom just how painful 50+ hot-dogs must be without a Roman incident.

What an unusual story for the Economist to print considering how grotesque this contest seems in a world where starvation still exists and running it alongside the The Future of AIDS where more people die every day from AIDS than all of the victims of 9-11.

Why is this entertainment?