#controversial stuff

[kennel-cage]

Being a dog fucking sucks. I cant let myself be an animal around my partner without fantasize about mounting and fucking him. I hate being around other dogs because I get anxious and possessive of my partner and I have to leave. Grr.

[zetageist]

Ethics and Ownership of Human Remains

This is an excerpt from a essay on the ethics of private ownership of human remains not for educational, conservation ship, or cultural practices.

The ethical dilemmas surrounding ownership of human remains primarily stem from the lack of informed consent and the exploitation of marginalized communities. Remains were collected from grave robbing or exploited poor families who could not afford to bury their deceased loved ones, usually under the guise of scientific inquiry to further our understanding of the human condition (Potter 2023). One major institution, the National Museum of Natural History, holds over 30,000 human remains, many of which lack clear documentation of their origins (Potter 2023). Poor record keeping and high personnel turnover contribute to the difficulty of addressing the origins of these remains, complicating efforts to ensure ethical stewardship (Licata et al. 2020).

While some of these specimens can be repatriated to living descendants through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), others, regardless of ancestry, will eventually be de-accessioned from institutions and change ownership through various means. For those who do not want skeletal specimens second hand, a thriving online market persists. Websites like Skulls Unlimited and JonsBones will sell to anyone while other platforms like eBay and Instagram host anonymous sales or advertisements of online stores to buy skeletal material, ranging from teaching specimens to “tribal” artifacts (Licata et al. 2020). Skulls Unlimited claims “commitment to ethical sourcing” but does not specify if this applies to their human or animal collections and does not go into further detail on their products’ respective pages. JonsBones admonishes the notion of ethical sourcing as being too vague of a concept, so they invented their own vague concept of “responsible sourcing”. It is somehow better because “our bones are certified bones from the medical trade.” (Ferry, Jon). If this is the same “medical trade” that benefited from 18th and 19th century antiquarianism, grave robbing, and before India’s ban of trading human remains is unclear.

What happens to these remains once in the hands of private ownership is dubious at best. Some people collect “oddities” that range from skeletal remains belonging to humans, non-humans, to the stereotypical specimen in a jar of formaldehyde for their display. This ethically dubious enterprise does not stop at home and office décor. Simply searching the terms “real human bone jewelry” or a similar combination, will lead to online stores selling such items. Curiosities from the 5th Corner, sells a variety of items made from modified human remains, allegedly from remains “over 100 years old”. However, if institutions like the National Museum of Natural History or numerous universities have trouble keeping track of their specimens’ provenance, why should I trust this website? Not to mention remains this old, if they are, should be in an archaeological collection supervised and conserved by competent professionals educated and trained to do so.

There is no shortage of cadaver capers. Southern Nevada Donor Services offers free cremation for families in exchange for donating their deceased loved one under the guise of “advanced medical studies.” However, in 2015 complaints of smells, bloody boxes in dumpsters, and one employee thawing out a frozen human torso with a garden hose (Grow and Shiffman, 2017) reveals the heinous origin of some of these contemporary skeletons.

A recurring theme of apathy stands at the forefront of this issue. These sellers all push a specific narrative to justify their businesses. Curiosities from the 5th Corner responds to the question of if this practice is disrespectful with: “My personal opinion is that you can only disrespect the living.” I find this disingenuous as with the rest of the FAQ this quote is taken from. A similar store, Death Isn’t the End, discusses the origin of their skeletons and other opinions; “I have come across skulls over the years that have been grossly mistreated and damaged, whether it be from accidental drops, occult type ceremony or even malicious intent. These pieces are sometimes very old or some are new and vary in history from museum or private collections to medical schools or colleges and high school science classes and they always made me sad for the destruction of a wonderful thing and for the disrespect of the person it once was.” Somehow creating jewelry from these acquired specimens isn’t a destructive nor disrespectful process, but the most revealing and audacious quote in their about me page is: “I felt that I had found a way to take this neglected and broken skull and give it back respect.”

JonsBones takes this presumptuous attitude farther by disguising their enterprise as educational and equitable because “not everyone has the same access to museums, medical collections, or artifacts that explain and cultivate the science behind bones” and “we actively bridge the gap between the anthropological community and the general public to make osteology more approachable.” The applied anthropological thing to do, in my undergrad opinion, is to indeed give equitable access. However, JonsBones is a store that sells items at price tags equitable only to the wealthy, a demographic that has no shortage of educational access. Certainly, with the profits gained from sales of these items and admission to The Bone Museum, JonsBones could donate to chronically underfunded school districts or fund scholarships for students pursuing biological anthropology, forensics, and fields that utilize human osteology. Unfortunately, this will not happen because it is more profitable to sell and display “responsibly sourced” human remains.

To respond to Curiosities from the 5th Corner’s opinion, this does disrespect the living. It disrespects living descendants, marginalized populations, and continues to feed a market with already dubious tactics and precarious origins as discussed previously. In a majority capitalist world that pushes boundaries in the pursuit of profit with little to no oversight, the commodification of the human body will not stop with one’s bones at the end of a natural lifespan. This fact has already played out historically with the 19th century duo William Burke and William Hare who murdered an estimated sixteen people to sell their bodies to Dr. Robert Knox’s anatomy school (University of Edinburgh).

 Licata, Marta et al. “Study, conservation and exhibition of human remains: the need of a bioethical perspective.” Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis vol. 91,4 e2020110. 7 Oct. 2020, doi:10.23750/abm.v91i4.9674

Potter, Lisa. “Ethical Considerations for Human Remains.” https://attheu.utah.edu, University of Utah, 15 May 2023, https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/ethical-considerations-for-human-remains/.

“Burke and Hare.” The University of Edinburgh, https://medicine-vet-medicine.ed.ac.uk/about/history/burke-and-hare. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

[maxfew]

probably an unpopular opinion but i don't really think any of these "cheating scandals" are fans' business, even if they are true. those are personal relationships that fans don't know the details of. none of us know what's going on behind closed doors. couples have disagreements and "take breaks" all the time. monogamy is common, but open relationships do exist. i don't condone cheating but i don't actually know these people or the details of their relationships, why should I be judging it lol

yup! carlos and isa have always been so private, anyways. like at the end of the day i don’t really care but it’s just funny to me how people get so invested with the personal lives of drivers they don’t even like 😭😭😭

[just-another-larrie]

Louis’ closet

I’m literally so bored of antis on twitter (or in general tbh).

Whenever we dare to say anything about larry, they always attack us with the same thing and have no arguments whatsoever.

“But he has said he’s straight, you’re invalidating his sexuality.”

They think that by repeating the same thing over and over again they’re gonna take away 10 YEARS of constant proofs and “coincidences” from us.

First of all, tell me how can I invalidate a straight person? don’t tell me that heterophobia is a thing now, please.

Second of all, they really don’t understand the complexity of the situation, do they?

Remember that Louis has been under not only a well known homophobic managment but also a homphobic record label ever since One Direction started as a band.

Plus, he was already considered an adult when he signed his contract, which means that he was the most vulnerable and they took advantage of that, so there’s really no way of telling what kind of horrible stuff that contract has made him do or say.

And also, people should already know that there’s a thing called media training, and almost every celebrity has gone through it. They teach you how to avoid certain questions and how to answer others, so it’s a fact that they make people lie most of the time.

Louis is not the only one who has control over his social media, his team and managment have to check whatever he posts and it has been like that since always; what i’m trying to say with this is that it wouldn’t be the first time something like the “bullshit” tweet has ever happened.

The fact that closeting someone on the public eye is illegal, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen; because let me tell you, it does happen, even in 2020, believe it or not.

We´re talking about the same managment and record label that has closeted at least other 5 famous artists; some of them for even more that 20 years. So it wouldn’t really be a stretch to think that it could happen again.

Besides, if the “rumors” were false, don’t you think he would just ignore it? Because rumors are always gonna be a part of a celebrity’s life. Why caring so much about one specific rumor and replying to larries on social media only to reasure that he’s straight? I mean... if it’s just a rumor, let it be just a rumor, right?

People need to stop choosing to believe certain stuff just to fit their narratives, they need to do serious research before talking about something controversial.

And antis really should stop saying the same thing over and over again without having a valid argument; it’s just getting boring.

[arepii]

You know what? I love Kohasen as much as the next guy, however, I don´t want it to be endgame. I want Sengen to be it. 

Not because I don´t like them together cause they fit together! But I just WANT, NEED a gay couple in a shonen manga. 

Not a gay couple that is stereotyped, not a gay couple where one of them dies. Not a gay couple where one turns evil. Not a gay couple where one is incredibly pinning and the other is making his best to keep him the fuck away.

I want a healthy, well developed, caring for each other, gay couple who can get into disagreements but finally stay together alive and happy in a market where none of this happens. 

It´s not a political statement, I´m selfish and wanna see something I could relate to the same way others can!

[thecomfortable]

I'm kinda glad I live in Australia. Our police force isn't actually that bad. They're nice. I trust them with my safety.

My mum always said to be nice and calm when taking to Policeman/woman, since they are people too. They have families.

Funny thing is, My Pop was part of the police force when he was younger and, upon watching the USA's police, was absolutely disgusted by their behaviour.

"You are never meant to shoot anyone, unless they are putting you, or most importantly, innocent people in danger and even then you are to ask them to put their firearm away before you commit to violence." My Pop after he heard the news that a black man, in America, had been shot in the back in front of his kids.

The police force are meant to protect us, which ours do! Its just so disgusting that the American government is corrupting the police force and basically encouraging them to commit violent acts.

[rose-wine-selfships]

I think aging up characters depends on the context. If an adult we're to see a check of character and age them up to romantically ship with them, that wouldn't be right. But if someone already romantically f/oed that character when they were younger and aged them up so that the character aged with them, then I'd say thats okay!

Yeah, I agree that a 20-something adult should not age up a 13 year old character to 18 or so. It would seem genuinely creepy and pedo-like behavior. Unless if the author/creator ages them up canonically to, for example, their 20’s-30’s and changes them with different adult perspectives/maturity, I’d say it’s ok. Other than that, no.

I think it’s ok for a 14 year old to have a 16 year old romantic f/o, and then age them up as you grow up in life. I think it would be interesting to imagine how your romantic f/o would mature with you throughout your life for each specific age. Thanks for the output dear anon! 🙏💕🌹🍷✨

[ichigokeks]

At this point I am only living for Maxence saving the Harry Potter universe after JK Rowling has almost wrecked everything