You ever have one of those moments where you suddenly feel less alone in the world? A man in Singapore was sentenced to 14 years in jail and ordered caned 18 times after smelling women’s armpits. The victims…23 females from girls as young as nine to women in their 50’s.

My hero.

So, on to the good part, via Fleshbot comes this armpit fetish roundup:

· Girlpits Underarm Fetish Forum (girlpits.com; registration required to view galleries
· The world’s ArmPit Fetish site (armpits-fetish.com)
· Armpit Sex (armpit-sex.com)
· FEMALE CELEBRITY ARMPITS! (geocities.com)
· “Celebrity Armpits! Check them out …” (forums.superiorpics.com)

A grim, amazing bit of reporting, about a life that’s almost too hard to imagine:

Samuel Mluge steps outside his office and scans the sidewalk. His pale blue eyes dart back and forth, back and forth, trying to focus. The sun used to be his main enemy, but now he has others. Mr. Mluge is an albino, and in Tanzania now there is a price for his pinkish skin. “I feel like I am being hunted,” he said.

Discrimination against albinos is a serious problem throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but recently in Tanzania it has taken a wicked twist: at least 19 albinos, including children, have been killed and mutilated in the past year, victims of what Tanzanian officials say is a growing criminal trade in albino body parts.

Many people in Tanzania — and across Africa, for that matter — believe albinos have magical powers. They stand out, often the lone white face in a black crowd, a result of a genetic condition that impairs normal skin pigmentation and strikes about 1 in 3,000 people here. Tanzanian officials say witch doctors are now marketing albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that are promised to make people rich.

Image: Guillaume Bonn/NYT

Some amazing pics from Brent Stirton, who documented the search party for four mountain gorillas killed in Eastern Congo last year. One of them was a silverback alpha male, the leader of the group, who was shot.

via we make money not art

The BBC reports:

The police in Canada have a gruesome mystery to puzzle over as after a human foot was found washed up on a beach near the west-coast city of Vancouver. It is the fourth such foot to be found on beaches in the area in the past eight months. All four of the feet were wearing socks and running shoes and all four had been in the sea for some time.

Oh, Can-ah-dah! We stand our guard for thee!

A guide to the artists shortlisted for the 2008 Turner Award.

What ever happened to Mr Gay UK, 1993? Oh yeah, he’s been eating people.

The Vatican says it’s okay to believe in aliens. (What would an Alien Jesus look like?)

A documentary called Cannibal Tours, which follows a bunch of tourists journeying into a fake Heart of Darkness.

An Aussie, busted for buckling up his case of beer and leaving his kid unstrapped.

In Japan, eating innocent people can make you a star.

Image: Cathy Wilkes, one of the new Turner Prize finalists.

YES:

Three Kingwood teens have been arrested and accused of digging up a secluded grave and removing a skull in Humble. According to court documents, they removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a “bong,” to smoke marijuana.

And it’s not even an isolated incident!

The Guardian reports that a man was stabbed while waiting in line to buy Grand Theft Auto this morning. It’s not so much the “art imitates life” story line that’s interesting; it’s that the other people in line just assumed it was some viral marketing tactic. To be honest, I’d have probably thought the same thing.

“Broker” is a stroke of genius btw. And how about a listen to Studio B ElectroChoc on the radio?

Australia has this kid. But we got Latarian. (”My fren. Smokes. Wif cigarettes.” His friend is seven.)

From Buzzfeed, which rounded up the best links:

A group of private investigators say they’re able to link up dozens of seemingly unrelated deaths of college men through a common clue: Smiley faces found near where the drowned bodies were found. The deaths (murders?) all share common traits: Well-liked, athletic college guys who drowned mysteriously, usually disappearing after a night of drinking. The drownings are usually chalked up as accidents, but two former New York cops say they’ve found links that make them look more like murders, and they hypothesize that a sinister group of killers is behind them all.

Man, what is it with the Germanic countries. Probably the most horrifying story ever:

Austrian police have arrested a 73-year-old man who they say kept his daughter locked in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, three of whom never emerged into daylight from their prison until now.

Remember that story of the German penis-eating cannibal?

Image: Todd Hido, from his ongoing houses at night series.

UPDATE: The Times has a longer report up now.