PYF unnerving article or story: Why is everything always so fucking weird - The Something Awful Forums

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The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > PYF unnerving article or story: Why is everything always so fucking weird

Nckdictator: Sep 8, 2006; Just..someone

Crossposting from the headline thread.

http://www.thomas-morris.uk/glass-half-empty/

quote:

"While recently on a visit to Canton, I derived the history of the following case from the notes and verbal explanations of the Rev. Peter Parker, M. D., chief of the Ophthalmic Hospital, &c., under whose notice they fell. The case affords us a glance at the debauchery practiced by a portion of the Chinese population about Canton.

In the evening of the 1st of March, 1848, a young man, very respectable in appearance, solicited Dr. Parker�s aid for his father, whom he had brought to the hospital. With many expressions, indicative of his sense of shame and mortification, he related that Loo, his father, then sixty years of age, had spent the preceding night in one of the �flower-boats,� or floating brothels, on the river, with a prostitute. Under the insane excitement or intoxication produced by the combined influence of drinking spirituous liquors and smoking opium, the lecherous sufferer, in mischievous frolic, forced a glass goblet�size: diameter of brim, 2 5/8 inches; height, 3 1/2 inches; diameter of base, 1 7/8 inches�into the vagina of the companion of his sports.

In the course of the night Loo fell into a state of unconsciousness, when the woman sought her revenge. She carefully insinuated the base of the goblet within his anus, and then placing the end of her opium-pipe�a cylinder about an inch in diameter, and a foot and a half in length�at the bottom of the goblet on the inside, suddenly pushed it into the rectum, entirely above the sphincter. Twenty-four hours had elapsed since its introduction. An angle of about a half inch of the rolled lip of the glass had been broken out by efforts made by friends to remove it.

On examination, the glass was found firmly fixed in its position; it was very difficult to pass the extremity of the finger beyond its lip, betwixt its outside and the rectum. In Dr. Parker�s opinion, it was impossible to extract it entire: and, therefore, though anticipating difficulty and danger in the operation, he determined to break it down. By means of forceps, such as are used by obstetricians in breaking up the foetal cranium, commencing on the side nearest the pubis, he broke up the goblet, and extracted it piece by piece, carefully guarding the parts by folds of cotton cloth as he proceeded, and removing the small sharp fragments which fell with a teaspoon.

After the bowl, or bell portion was removed, the most difficult part of the operation remained to be performed, for the hemorrhage was free, and the base of the goblet, with the sharp points of the sessile stem, resulting from the fracture, was high up in the rectum, and firmly embraced in a transverse position. Assisted by the bearing down of the patient, the edge of the base was reached by the point of a finger, and with difficulty turned edgewise, guarding against fractured points by pledgets [cushions of cloth]; then, by pressing the smooth side, or bottom of the glass, against the rectum, it was at last extracted. Remaining fragments were sought for, and the intestine thoroughly washed out. To arrest the hemorrhage, which was considerable, strong solutions of sulphate of copper and of alum were injected, and temporarily confined in the rectum, by pressing a sponge against the anus. For a time the bleeding ceased; but during the night several ounces of coagulated blood were evacuated; afterwards, there was no more hemorrhage.

The operation occupied an hour and a half. An opiate was administered, and the patient placed in bed. The general treatment consisted in rest, laxatives, and light diet; the rectum was occasionally injected with tepid water, and solutions of nitrate of silver. On the fourteenth day the case was discharged cured.

A young man, native of Canton, applied to Dr. Parker for relief. He had been married about eight months. On the nuptial night, he met with insurmountable difficulty in his attempt to establish sexual intercourse with his bride, and in an effort, on that occasion, sustained a severe, and most probably, irreparable injury, which caused great pain.

Since that night, erection of the penis is limited to about a half an inch of its root, the extremity of the organ, with its glans, hanging flaccid. On examination, a well-defined, transverse space, through the corpora cavernosa, about a half inch from the pubis, the site of fracture, was found to separate the penis into two parts.

No attempt was made to remedy this serious misfortune.

# ? Oct 28, 2015 20:05

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# ? May 16, 2024 17:04

Gibfender: Apr 15, 2007; Electricity In Our Homes

Epiphyte posted:

gently caress..... that is a rough read

Fun little tidbit from the official report, summarising witness testimony:

quote:

They sat on top of the canopy at first but were able to crawl into the raft after a while. They also managed to raise the canopy and close the openings. There was a light in the raft. They helped each other to bail out the water with a plastic bailer and after a while they found a plastic bag containing another bailer and a hand torch. They were, however, unable to open this bag because their hands were frozen. One of them tried in vain to open it with his mouth but had to give up after losing some teeth.

# ? Oct 29, 2015 00:33

Chillbro Baggins: Oct 8, 2004; Bad Angus! Bad!

Artemis J Brassnuts posted:

I'm generally not one to mock people's fears, but really? It's a lake; it's not like it can sneak up on you when you're in bed and make you slightly more wet than you were expecting to be.

My father is still mildly apprehensive when cresting a hill in a car, because one time when he was a kid on a family trip, they were going somewhere, and his parents either didn't hear or had forgotten that a new dam had been built, and the former through road they were on now ended in a boat ramp. So yes, apparently lakes can sneak up on you.

Infyrno posted:

So they would be aimed at a fixed point, and fired so the plane would be going up or down right at the exact time the missile crosses that area, hopefully getting a hit? That's interesting for a cheap way to do that it seems pretty good. You would need to keep changing it as the enemy would change the direction/speed, but that's not a huge deal, you could even set it up to change on its own after so long or depending on how sophisticated the audio reading is it could change on each shot. The more it can do that though the more it costs.

SA-7 is a passive IR homing missile. Point it at the approach path, have it fired by an audio trigger, it goes toward the hottest thing it sees, most likely the engine of the incoming jet.

# ? Oct 29, 2015 08:32

I brought my Drake: Jul 10, 2014; These high-G injections have some serious side effects after pulling so many jumps.

Speaking of lakes,

http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/Locations/Lakes/DaleHollowLake/History/WillowGrove.aspx

quote:

And then it happened. The year was 1942. The once cheerful and quaint valley town of Willow Grove was now forlorn and solemn. Aside from the sad sights of the town�s men marching off to World War II, the residents faced a horrific and depressing dilemma. The government was forcing the families and friends of this closely-knit community to move away. The United States government was buying their property. It was demolishing their homes and businesses�to build a dam. The farm fields tilled by their forefathers were now dozed clean of fences and barns. The ever incessant sounds of chainsaws hummed day in and day out. Bonfires were kindled in every field and the loud claps of dynamite shook the earth. And the beautiful little valley town of Willow Grove now looked like a war zone.

# ? Oct 29, 2015 09:37

Splash Attack: Mar 23, 2008; Yeahhh!
I am GHOS!!
Haaaaaa Ha Ha Ha!!

I'm several pages late to the Falun Dafa/Falun Gong talk, but my uncle is a practitioner of it and is actually fairly prominent in the movement within the area (he's usually their TV spokesman, acted as a anchor on their news show). He is really super into it, even though the rest of the extended family doesn't exactly approve of it (I know my parents don't, at least because of how much money he's given to them that they feel should go to his family, and his dad absolutely hated it), and I remember he joined it when I was really young - somewhere in the mid-90s. I don't remember or know the exact details, but he apparently had some health issues, which all got fixed once he started practicing Falun Gong. I remember being about seven or eight and sent to my aunt and uncle's house when my parents wanted time off and my uncle would be meditating in his living room in front of a shrine to some chinese dude I didn't know. It's not up there anymore, but I think he might have moved it somewhere else once his kids were born.

I also live in Chinatown and they have their people out on the corners promoting Falun Gong, usually by handing out pamphlets while practicing their meditation or something. They're not very popular with the locals, many who are older Chinese immigrants who still feel attached to China, and I've seen way too many heated streetcorner arguments. There was also a rumor a few years back that they were behind the hospitalization of another streetcorner protester because they wanted his spot, but that guy had been on that corner protesting the Chinese government for over 25 years so I'm not sure if old age just caught up to him.

It was kind of weird to find out as I got older that the weird religion my uncle was into was actually also a political movement that he was super into and traveled around the world for, in addition to helping draft up pro-Falun Gong city ordinances.

# ? Oct 29, 2015 11:25

a kitten: Aug 5, 2006

In 1957 a reptile expert is bitten by a snake, and keeps a journal about it.
As it's killing him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyjF2bNQOA

# ? Nov 2, 2015 02:20

Nth Doctor: Sep 7, 2010; Darkrai used Dream Eater!
It's super effective!

Cotard's Syndrome: basically it's the reverse of Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense.

# ? Nov 3, 2015 21:55

Sarcopenia: May 14, 2014

Drag queen Dorian Corey well known for teaching the public about the importance of reading in the 1990s documentary "Paris Is Burning" dies of complications from AIDS. They find a mummy in her closet.

quote:

HEADLINE: Inside Dorian's Closet: Wigs, Feather Boas, Mummified Body

BYLINE: By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: NEW YORK

Copyright 1993 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

BODY:
When famed drag queen Dorian Corey died earlier this year, he didn't leave any skeletons in the closet. He did, however, leave wigs, sequined dresses, feather boas - and the mummified body of a murder victim.

Friends of Corey found the body in October while rummaging through his Manhattan apartment after he died of AIDS. Two months later, investigators still can't explain how it got there.

"This remains a complete mystery," said Detective Louis Llanes, a police spokesman.

Corey, 56, was a veteran of the drag show circuit and star of the 1991 documentary "Paris Is Burning," which chronicled the lives of female impersonators. He died Aug. 29.

On Oct. 19, friends of Corey went to his fifth-floor apartment in Harlem to look through his expansive wardrobe, police said. They made their grisly discovery after coming across a heavy trunk.

Inside was a male body, tucked into a fetal position and wrapped in imitation leather.

Police soon determined the man died from a gunshot to the back of the head. But the body's dried and shriveled state made finding out who he was and when he died difficult.

Soaking the body in a special solution to loosen up the skin, investigators took a fingerprint they eventually matched with a name: Robert Wells.

Wells, who was last seen by his family in 1968, had a history of trouble with the law, including arrests for rape, burglary and assault, said Sgt. Mark Giffen, who is investigating the case.

Through other tests and evidence found in the trunk, investigators determined Wells was killed about 15 years ago, Giffen said.

But who pulled the trigger remains open to speculation.

A diary recovered from Corey's apartment did not contain a confession or any other clues, Llanes said.

Still, one rumor circulating in the transvestite community points to Corey. He supposedly left a note explaining he killed Wells in self-defense during a break-in, said Chi Chi Valenti, the producer of "Jackie 60," an underground club where Corey often performed.

"This only makes her more legendary," Valenti said of Corey.

Police said they found no note.

There is a NY Magazine article about it but I can't read it because my boyfriend has terrible add-ons on his computer.

https://books.google.com/books?id=O...20mummy&f=false

# ? Nov 5, 2015 00:42

Wiggy Marie: Jan 16, 2006; Meep!

outlier posted:

American hippopotamus, the unlikely story of two killers, several wars, grand impersonation, a decades-long rivalry and friendship, spies and the plan to populate America with hippos.

I spent the past two days reading this in between classes. If you skipped this link, give this story a shot. It's quite amazing. Thank you for sharing!

# ? Nov 5, 2015 02:54

Twatty Seahag: Dec 30, 2007

Nth Doctor posted:

Cotard's Syndrome: basically it's the reverse of Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense.

I used to work for a kidney transplant program and one of our patients had this. Her renal failure convinced her that her body was decaying.

# ? Nov 5, 2015 03:22

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

Wiggy Marie posted:

I spent the past two days reading this in between classes. If you skipped this link, give this story a shot. It's quite amazing. Thank you for sharing!

This podcast about it isn't too bad either.

http://www.missedinhistory.com/blog/missed-in-history-hippo-ranching-part-1/

http://www.missedinhistory.com/blog/missed-in-history-hippo-ranching-part-2/

# ? Nov 5, 2015 03:40

nonathlon: Jul 9, 2004; And yet, somehow, now it's my fault ...

Wiggy Marie posted:

I spent the past two days reading this in between classes. If you skipped this link, give this story a shot. It's quite amazing. Thank you for sharing!

Pleasure. It's long but one of those incredible stories that just gets wilder and wilder as it goes along. I particularly like the Black Panther marking his spy message with a rubber stamp of a leaping black panther.

# ? Nov 5, 2015 12:10

Wiggy Marie: Jan 16, 2006; Meep!

outlier posted:

Pleasure. It's long but one of those incredible stories that just gets wilder and wilder as it goes along. I particularly like the Black Panther marking his spy message with a rubber stamp of a leaping black panther.

There were a few times where I said "Oh come ON!" and had to stop reading for a few moments to gather my incredulous thoughts. It's particularly interesting from a modern biology standpoint, as a plan like that would never fly because of the potential of introducing an invasive non-native species to the land. The article takes a weird angle, considering it's modern - essentially promoting the failure of this idea as a sign of the failure of the American Dream (TM).

The moment where I had to take the longest pause, though, was when Dude #2 got up after 7 months of faking full lower body paralysis and escaped via a series of insane physically demanding feats. Now that's dedication.

Spoiled because you really should read this article, everyone.

# ? Nov 5, 2015 19:03

Nckdictator: Sep 8, 2006; Just..someone

http://www.thomas-morris.uk/worms-on-the-pillow/

Pretend I bolded the whole thing.

quote:

She came to my establishment, as it were, determined not to be recognised, wrapped up in a shawl, veil, &c., and merely asked for a sulphur fumigating bath. She never said who she was, nor did she name any medical gentleman that had recommended her to take the fumigation. She merely told the female attendant that she had been under the treatment of the first medical authorities of the west-end of London; � that they had done her no good, and that she was determined of her own accord to try the sulphur fumigations, and did not say what was the nature of her malady. On the evening of the day that she took her first fumigating bath, the attendant (a more than usually clever, experienced woman) came to me, saying she had that day had a very curious and not pleasant case�that the patient was all over worms, and that she saw them creeping from the patient�s forehead and face whilst she was in the bath. I answered abruptly, by telling her not to talk such nonsense; she, however, seemed to maintain that she was right.

On coming out of the fourth fumigation, there was such a very, very numerous escape of worms, that the attendant again became uneasy, and I suppose some discussion took place between her and the patient. The result was, that the latter sent me word �that, as I would not believe, I might come down and judge for myself.� I did so, and never was more surprised; there stood the patient en chemise. I was cautioned as I entered the room not to tread on the worms, and at once saw a round ring of pinkish-white on the floor; these were worms which had fallen from under the chemise, and had not been swept up, in order that I might see them. The lady�s head, face, and chest, were covered with the shawl and veil; she seemed afraid of being recognised. On removing part of the veil from the forehead, then wreaking with perspiration, I saw little red points sticking out from the skin at right angles, and whilst looking at them some seemed to retract themselves, others evidently were getting longer, and became a quarter of an inch and more in length, and then fell on the chest and to the floor, as others had done.

I then held aside more of the veil from the face, ear, and neck; there was the same appearance of little pink thread-like worms, as thick as they could cluster, elongating themselves to get out of the skin, and then falling, as from the forehead, on the floor. Many of them seemed to give a sort of jump or jerk before they could escape and fall from the person. The lady became more emboldened, and I was allowed to remove the shawl from the neck and chest, and afterwards from the arms, legs, &c.; but from all parts of the person these worms were sticking out, stretching themselves, and then with a positive jump escaping from the skin to the distance of six or eight inches, occasioning me to stand at a distance, in order that they might not fall or spring on to myself.

They were annular and transparent, with red heads, and the tail part was larger than the head part. They lived only a few minutes after escaping from the skin, wriggling themselves as worms do, and almost invariably curled themselves into a. crescent or horse-shoe form, then, takin a spring to many inches distance, fell quite straight and dead, and the red heads in that short time would become dark-brown, approaching black in colour. The napkin with which I had wiped the parts of the person I placed on a table, and having occasion to take it up again from its folds, the table under it was covered with these worms. I gathered about two or three tablespoonfuls of them.

The lady whose case is just related was very desirous of getting rid of her odious complaint, as she called it; it was a sad source of annoyance to her husband, as the worms were constantly escaping on to the pillows and sheets, and had been so doing for more than two years.

She attributed, as the cause of the complaint, her having fallen asleep in the air, near some stagnant water, and on waking found her mouth and nose full, as she said, of young gnats. I suppose she got well, for after a few more baths I never heard anything more of her, which I judge I should have done had she not got well, for certain it is, she found a direct and powerful remedy in the use of the fumigations for dislodging these worms, not in hundreds, but I may safely say in thousands.

Nckdictator has a new favorite as of 05:34 on Nov 6, 2015

# ? Nov 6, 2015 05:24

Junius: May 14, 2006; Thank you, entertainment committee.

:barf:

And so this isn't a single smilie response...

:barf:

:barf:

:barf:

:barf:

# ? Nov 8, 2015 00:02

Wiggy Marie: Jan 16, 2006; Meep!

I like how the driving concern was "they get all in the bed" and not "oh god worms in my skin!!!" Says a lot about how normalized it was for her.

# ? Nov 8, 2015 02:00

RNG: Jul 9, 2009

Wiggy Marie posted:

I like how the driving concern was "they get all in the bed" and not "oh god worms in my skin!!!" Says a lot about how normalized it was for her.

It's kind of horrible the stuff that people had to deal with that a week or two of antibiotics might cure today. Reminds me of that scene in one of the Star Trek movies where Spock McCoy sees someone who needs kidney dialysis, says, "What is this, the dark ages?" and treats her with a single jellybean.

# ? Nov 8, 2015 03:33

LUBE UP YOUR BUTT: Jun 30, 2008

what the hell kind of condition was that

# ? Nov 8, 2015 10:33

Khazar-khum: Oct 22, 2008; Cat Army
2nd Battalion

blackmarketlimb posted:

Sometimes, I think the old legends about this land being cursed may have had a ring of truth to them. There's something in the water here that makes people off. Rural America is very same-y, but I've never been anyplace where people were quite as vicious and ready to fall to racism, senseless brutality, and just flat out weird bullshit that happens here.

I can tell you never lived in Silicon Valley/ The Bay Area. The most bigoted, racist place I've been-- and I've been in rural Iowa, Texas, and Tennessee.

# ? Nov 8, 2015 10:58

Artemis J Brassnuts: Jan 2, 2009; I regret😢 to inform📢 I am the most sexually🍆 vanilla 🍦straight 📏 dude😰 on the planet🌎

Khazar-khum posted:

I can tell you never lived in Silicon Valley/ The Bay Area. The most bigoted, racist place I've been-- and I've been in rural Iowa, Texas, and Tennessee.

Yes but it's more of the "stay on your side of the bridge" racism and less of the "I'll give you a hunnert-yard start" racism.

# ? Nov 9, 2015 06:55

AnonSpore: Jan 19, 2012; "I didn't see the part where he develops as a character so I guess he never developed as a character"

Wiggy Marie posted:

I like how the driving concern was "they get all in the bed" and not "oh god worms in my skin!!!" Says a lot about how normalized it was for her.

She had a husband who from the doctor's account was basically like "For God's sake Martha these worms on the pillow have got to stop, I've been putting up with your worms for years but no more"

# ? Nov 9, 2015 18:50

Invisble Manuel: Nov 4, 2009

"Sometimes Toes Spontaneously Fall Off and Nobody Knows Why"

http://gizmodo.com/sometimes-toes-spontaneously-fall-off-and-nobody-knows-1740142019

# ? Nov 9, 2015 19:18

Aesop Poprock: Oct 21, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Invisble Manuel posted:

"Sometimes Toes Spontaneously Fall Off and Nobody Knows Why"

http://gizmodo.com/sometimes-toes-spontaneously-fall-off-and-nobody-knows-1740142019

I like how an article about doctors having no clue why something happens is being contributed to by a Dr. Zoidberg at the bottom

# ? Nov 9, 2015 19:32

Crow Jane: Oct 18, 2012; nothin' wrong with a lady drinkin' alone in her room

This could easily also go in the badass thread:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese_people

Basically, there's a small group of extremely primitive people living on a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. They've been to be there for hundreds of years, but almost nothing is known about them because they're very loving hostile and have met all attempts at contact with volleys of arrows. Their language, from what little could be heard, is completely unlike any from the surrounding area, and though there hasn't been any observed use of fire on the island, the Sentinelese have been seen making extremely effective weapons out of metallic debris that wakes up on the island.

The Indian government stopped trying to make official contact in the mid-90s, both because all previous attempts had ended disastrously and because they were concerned about introducing new diseases to the island. A helicopter was sent to check on them after the 2004 tsunami, and was meet with volleys of arrows; from what little the pilot could observe before having to retreat, the island and it's people had made it through completely unscathed. A few years later, the tribe killed a couple of poachers who were on the island illegally, and any attempts at retrieving the bodies were, again, met with arrows. Since then, there have just been occasional welfare checks, albeit from a great distance.

The idea of there being an almost completely unknown culture in the modern world, relatively close to so many heavily populated areas, is just kind of mind-blowing to me. Their hostility has apparently served them pretty well over the years.

edit:gently caress me, I'm still figuring out my tablet, and somehow managed to attach an accidental screenshot I had taken. It's a png file, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get rid of it. I would love to if anyone knows how.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Crow Jane has a new favorite as of 04:35 on Nov 11, 2015

# ? Nov 11, 2015 04:26

Zero One: Dec 30, 2004; HAIL TO THE VICTORS!

Mysterious attachments. Very unnerving.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 04:49

squeegee: Jul 22, 2001; Bright as the sun.

Crow Jane posted:

This could easily also go in the badass thread:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese_people

there hasn't been any observed use of fire on the island

Small correction: it is believed the Sentinelese don't know how to make fire, but it has been observed that they keep embers from lightning strikes burning in hollow trees.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 10:12

Chichevache: Feb 17, 2010; One of the funniest posters in GIP.

Just not intentionally.

squeegee posted:

Small correction: it is believed the Sentinelese don't know how to make fire, but it has been observed that they keep embers from lightning strikes burning in hollow trees.

I can't believe a plastic Bic hasn't washed up on shore yet.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 10:24

I AM GRANDO: Aug 20, 2006

They were in contact with other island people who had been contacted, I thought.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 10:42

Comrade Koba: Jul 2, 2007

Crow Jane posted:

This could easily also go in the badass thread:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese_people

This article is pretty much a must-read if you're the least bit interested in the Sentinelese:

The Last Island of the Savages

# ? Nov 11, 2015 11:35

Lampsacus: Oct 21, 2008

Gibfender posted:

Really good long form article on this disaster:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/a-sea-story/302940/

Adding to the chorus but holy heck read this link. It's unnerving. Have they made this into a television film yet? Can they please not because I don't want it to exist.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 13:05

Comrade Koba: Jul 2, 2007

Lampsacus posted:

Have they made this into a television film yet? Can they please not because I don't want it to exist.

Too late.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Storm

# ? Nov 11, 2015 13:09

Bloody Hedgehog: Dec 12, 2003; 💥💥🤯💥💥
Gotta nuke something

Chichevache posted:

I can't believe a plastic Bic hasn't washed up on shore yet.

Even if it had, and they figured out how to use it, something that can "conjure" fire so easily might've been viewed as some sort of lure into evil and disposed of.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 13:39

Chichevache: Feb 17, 2010; One of the funniest posters in GIP.

Just not intentionally.

Bloody Hedgehog posted:

Even if it had, and they figured out how to use it, something that can "conjure" fire so easily might've been viewed as some sort of lure into evil and disposed of.

cool

# ? Nov 11, 2015 13:51

Vladimir Poutine: Aug 13, 2012

http://www.samosapedia.com/e/kidneyvakkam

quote:

Kidneyvakkam
Noun.
Definition
The slang name of Villivakkam, a fisherfolk village in Chennai where many (some say most) of the women and many of the men have sold one of their kidneys. The money is most often used to pay off their husbands debts or to pay for their husbands drinking habits.
Villivakkam, or "Kidney Vakkam," as it has been known for decades, is Chennai's most important location for the lucrative organ trade. Hundreds of its residents have had their kidneys removed over the years, the long scar along one side of the waistline a permanent reminder of that sale.
Today, illegal kidney rings can be found across India, where 100,000 to 150,000 people suffer from renal failure every year and only 4,000 authorized transplants take place. Targeting inner-city slums and rural areas, middlemen and brokers seek out willing "donors," offering India's poor a quick way to escape financial debt or to bankroll a costly wedding for an eligible daughter.
Usage
If you ever need a kidney for a transplant go to Kidneyvakkam and you will find a willing donor.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/poverty-fuels-sale-of-kidneys/article1817373.ece

quote:

Poverty fuels sale of kidneys
CHENNAI: In every kidney commerce story, poverty turns up like a bad penny.

No longer than a month ago, despite the clampdown on kidney sale, the Directorate of Medical Education received a letter from a person imploring it to buy his kidney for just Rs.30, 000. The writer said the money would come handy for him to settle debts.

In September last year, a hand printed notice was nailed to the trunk of a tree roughly opposite a hospital in South Chennai. The note, written in Tamil, had a 30-year-old youth offering his `A-group kidney' for sale. When The Hindu spoke to the advertiser (the number was posted on the notice) he claimed he was selling his kidney to settle debts. He stressed that no broker was involved and that he could not think of any other way to get rid of his debts in a single go. Poverty, as much as the inability of supply to meet demand, fuels organ trade. Repeatedly, urban slums have been the target of brokers and middlemen seeking to keep up a steady supply of kidneys to hospitals in the State, especially in the metros.

Particularly, in Chennai, over the years, there have been frequent instances of the police stumbling on kidney-racket cases. Villivakkam was dubbed `Kidneyvakkam' when an expose in the late 1990s revealed that almost every house in the area had a member who had sold his or her kidney.

Even after selling their kidneys, the donors found they had not benefited substantially from the transaction. The study said participants admitted to worsening of their economic status: the average family income had declined over the period and the cash received had been spent speedily to settle debts and pay for food and clothing. At Ernavur, Thilagavathy, who sold her kidney in 2003, complained that she had become so weak after the operation that she had to give up selling fish, her family's only source of income. It is also the case with Rani Chellappan who donated her kidney and later suffered a fall, further debilitating her.

At a co-ordination meeting organised by the Government here in early March to chalk out a plan to eliminate kidney rackets, Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj acknowledged that 90 per cent of live-unrelated donors were living below the poverty line and selling the organ to settle debts.

Some doctors who attended the meeting also highlighted the need to examine poverty as the other side of the coin. They also made the case for implementing poverty alleviation schemes in urban slums, besides providing "risk groups" with training in alternative vocations.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 14:12

squeegee: Jul 22, 2001; Bright as the sun.

Jack Gladney posted:

They were in contact with other island people who had been contacted, I thought.

They're thought to be culturally similar in some ways with the other Andaman island tribes (who have been contacted and in several cases completely wiped out) but they have not been in meaningful contact with them at any time in recent history. From what we know of their language it does not seem to be mutually intelligible with that of the other islanders.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 14:58

Stare-Out: Mar 11, 2010

Comrade Koba posted:

Too late.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Storm

A big surprise that Jutta Rabe was behind this, she's a huge piece of poo poo conspiracy nut.

# ? Nov 11, 2015 15:08

FourLeaf: Dec 2, 2011

Well, I watched the Happy Valley documentary about the Penn State sex abuse scandal and the degree of obsession some people have with FOOTBAAAALLLLLL is truly hosed up. Obviously they talk about the students rioting after Paterno got fired, but they interview one guy who says some really callous things. For example, how holding a vigil for the victims instead of the scheduled pre-game rally was "so fake" because "we should be getting ready to support the team." And during a group prayer on the field with both teams he's thinking, "ugh, get off the field, stop holding the hand of the Nebraska guy, and let's go play football."

And then he's super offended that when he shouted at a Nebraska player that he would go home in a hearse, a guy standing next to him was like "it's not about that today!" And his response is "I don't care what happened, this is Penn State, it's ALWAYS about that" Especially since they're playing Nebraska who Penn has a rivalry with, not Temple or some other pansy school. As if any of that poo poo matters.

Like god drat, there are things I love being a fan of, but I don't love them that much.

# ? Nov 12, 2015 08:45

theflyingorc: Jun 28, 2008; ANY GOOD OPINIONS THIS POSTER CLAIMS TO HAVE ARE JUST PROOF THAT BULLYING WORKS; Young Orc

FourLeaf posted:

Well, I watched the Happy Valley documentary about the Penn State sex abuse scandal and the degree of obsession some people have with FOOTBAAAALLLLLL is truly hosed up. Obviously they talk about the students rioting after Paterno got fired, but they interview one guy who says some really callous things. For example, how holding a vigil for the victims instead of the scheduled pre-game rally was "so fake" because "we should be getting ready to support the team." And during a group prayer on the field with both teams he's thinking, "ugh, get off the field, stop holding the hand of the Nebraska guy, and let's go play football."

And then he's super offended that when he shouted at a Nebraska player that he would go home in a hearse, a guy standing next to him was like "it's not about that today!" And his response is "I don't care what happened, this is Penn State, it's ALWAYS about that" Especially since they're playing Nebraska who Penn has a rivalry with, not Temple or some other pansy school. As if any of that poo poo matters.

Like god drat, there are things I love being a fan of, but I don't love them that much.

people get really weird when you attack things that they see as core to their identity

having a sports team be core to your identity is really stupid, though

# ? Nov 12, 2015 21:24

I AM GRANDO: Aug 20, 2006

Didn't some of them go after the kids who testified against Sandusky? Like, death threats over the phone and "I'm going to kill your daddy because of what you did" letters and other horrible things?

# ? Nov 12, 2015 21:35

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# ? May 16, 2024 17:04

FourLeaf: Dec 2, 2011

Jack Gladney posted:

Didn't some of them go after the kids who testified against Sandusky? Like, death threats over the phone and "I'm going to kill your daddy because of what you did" letters and other horrible things?

I don't know, but I could easily believe it. There was a part in the doc when a victim went to Paterno's funeral procession where there were cheering crowds, and it demoralized him horribly because he thought no one would believe them.

The film almost made it seem like they weren't going to be able to convict Sandusky until his adopted son went to the police and admitted he'd been abused too.

# ? Nov 12, 2015 22:30

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