Ha ha, remember that brain piercing story from the other day that seemed more than a little far-fetched and which Ferg‘s medical connection thoroughly debunked? Well, Master Piercer Elayne Angel (and wife of Buck Angel) wrote in to offer her own input (it’s bogus!), including a link to this site — it’s written in Portuguese (and the translation is mostly just a reiteration of initial blog post on the subject), but it includes this abjectly terrifying Photoshoppery:

Photo source: Vida Universitaria

Guhhh. I hate the Internet.

In other news, astute reader Lynette writes in to touch on the plight of our friends Bambang and Nanang, the victims of a practical joke that led to them tattooing their faces. Lynette … is not sympathetic:

I know S.E. Asia’s culture and politics well (my extended family are from Malaysia which is next door to Indonesia) and [to be honest] don’t feel in the slightest bit sorry for them …

Putting aside the beliefs in mystics/ghosts/spirits (something which exists mostly in rural areas of these nations, the urban areas are more high tech than the UK!), these scum were applying for “jobs” that would have involved spying on their own people and reporting back to the Indonesian security forces.

This could easily result in the village being stormed by cops/soldiers on “suspicion” of drug dealing/smuggling etc. When this happens, it isn’t like the politically correct West where people are [released] on bail and the worst what may happen is they get evicted or ASBOs. When the village is stormed, the menfolk (other than the spies/grass) are separated and executed (if they are lucky they are just shot, if not they are tortured), the women are used for the sex industry/forced breeding (i.e. rape) and the children are sold to rich families and the money taken by the government/soldiers.

Then the houses are bulldozed or lit on fire and the area cleared for logging or palm oil plantations (the government/soldiers’/cops’ families get the building jobs, etc.). This happens all across S.E. Asia and is rarely reported other than by activist groups and is covered up by the West, as it’s how we get our cheap furniture and “green” biodiesel.

This wasn’t a joke: it was a way of weeding out grasses/untrustworthy scum, and to deter people from taking these “jobs.”

Yowza. I can’t personally confirm these allegations, but that’s pretty damning if true. Anybody else from the Indonesia/Malaysia area that can back this up?

And lastly, we’ve just put up the latest of dreamy Paul King’s piercing history articles — this time, it’s labrets and lip piercings! Clicky below for the piece: