Ellen and I were sitting in a riverside restaurant one evening in Vientiane, Laos when a misshapen beggar crawled up to us. I'd just given him some money when the waiter came by and chased him away. Well not exactly chased. When I got a better look at the poor fellow things weren't at all right. His lower torso, from the hips down looked as though it had somehow been placed on his body backwards. When the waiter came after him he crawled on his belly, fee...