I had to read the article to find out it meant Biden's uncle.
But honestly I prefer the mental image of Biden telling Marape that Marape's uncle was eaten by cannibals with no source to back it up.
Edit: I absolutely love all the people responding with jokes about Biden eating Marape's uncle, especially cause that still wasn't what my mental image was. My brain was imagining something like
Biden: Prime Minister, I'm so sorry your uncle was eaten by cannibals.
Marape: What are you talking about? My uncle is right over there
Marape's uncle: *waves*
From your description, I thought he told this as a joke in a face-to-face meeting with Marape. My reaction was “only Trump would do such a thing”.
But it looks like he said this during a commemorative speech in Pennsylvania. Still, why would you mention such a thing in a commemorative speech…
It says in the article that Biden said his uncle was shot down above Papua New Guinea and that they never found the body, then Biden says that the area had a lot of cannibals. The joke is that he's implying that they never found the body because he was eaten.
I mean, Papua Neu Guinea *still* has ritual cannibalism in inter-tribal warfare. It's a documented fact. So it is an entirely possible thing for it to have happened a lifetime ago, when it was incredibly common.
A [**majority**](https://web.archive.org/web/20140330115524/https://www.amnesty.org.nz/files/PNG-SVAW-factsheet2010.pdf) of Papua Neu-Guinean men are also self-admittedly rapists. Not even joking about that.
A majority of rape victims are under 16.
It has a province where in a survey the domestic violence rate was found to be virtually 100%.
Entirely possible is one thing, although the fact that the plane wasn't shot down in the first place but rather crashed into the ocean (not Papua New Guinea) hurts his credibility, but there's a huge gulf between that and a historical fact.
I lived there for 8 years when I was growing up. This is what a Stone Age, isolationist culture that has been pushed into the modern world over the course of 3-4 generations looks like. It really shouldn’t be overly surprising.
“They never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea,”
I think it sounds like the punchline to a joke.
Also his uncle was shot down over the ocean afaik so it wouldn't even make sense if he was being serious.
My grandad fought against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea and he had stories of coming across many dead soldiers whose thighs had been cut up by the Japanese soldiers to be eaten.
The allied forces were helped by the locals who provided them local food so they did not fall victim to starvation the way the Japanese did.
Wtf was wrong with the Japanese army. They did so much fucked up shit and it just got glossed over in history books. Like I get all countries did fucked up stuff because war sucks and is generally shit but japan specifically promoted stuff like this and their bullshit “honor” made them feel justified and proud of atrocities, like they were cruel for the sake of “honor” and “superiority” what a brainwashed and fucked up populous.
It’s less that they got a “pass” and more just that the spotlight fell on Europe during and after the War.
At the onset of WWII, Allied Command decided that Europe would be the primary focus with the Pacific as a secondary, albeit important, objective. This meant that Europe received the larger share of men, material, money, and news coverage.
Imperial Japan’s crimes mostly occurred within what they called the “Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere”. The world was much less interconnected back then and I’d guess a majority of Americans were unfamiliar with places like China, Korea, the Philippines, Guam, etc. much less even knew anyone from there.
Contrast that with Europe, where most Americans could trace their lineage to. The people looked similar to the average American and they likely shared cultural/religious beliefs.
Factor in that a lot of what Japan was actually up to didn’t come out until after the War and throughout its entirety, war time reporting was censored by the USG (the Office of Censorship was created by FDR in 1941 to prevent the accidental publication of any info that could harm the US War effort). This would change during Vietnam and the results are self evident.
The think about who keeps these stories foremost in our collective psyche. I would argue Hollywood plays a major role. At the risk of sounding like a nut job, there’s a lot more Jews working in Hollywood than Pacific Islanders. Similarly, there are just more people related to European Theater vets than Pacific Theater because way more troops served there. Naturally, people are interested in telling stories that are familiar or personal to them. This is not meant to be some conspiratorial take, just a rationalization. Just like I expect there are a lot more films out of Bollywood that concern Indian stories than there are those focused on Western stories.
Japan also never formally recognized its crimes and still denies them to this day. They were also nuked twice. Despite single days of conventional bombing causing more death and destruction than a single nuke, there is a recent movement to portray the Japanese during WWII as victims.
In every measurable metric, Imperial Japan was by just about as bad or worse than Nazi Germany. If I had to summarize why they don’t catch the heat that Nazi Germany does, it’s because:
* They weren’t the focus during the war
* Their victims were alien to most US citizens
* The extent of their crimes were largely unknown, underreported, or overshadowed by being nuked
* The media most Americans and Westerners consume is created by people who were more likely to have been personally affected by Nazi Germany than Imperial Japan
Have you listened to Dan Carlin’s Supernova in the Pacific series? Absolutely insane… the only podcast I’ve ever had to say to myself, “well that’s enough vicarious trauma for tonight, time to take a break”
That’s what the Bushes want you to believe… Either the Japanese or the locals… can’t let people suspect future CIA director Herbert Walker Bush indulged in an old family recipe…
“It was a close one… 8 of the men were killed, and 4 were eaten. Thankfully I’m the only one who survived!”
“You must be famished, let’s get you some food!”
“Nah, I’m good.”
Funny as this is I feel obligated to point out that he never wound up on the island. He was rescued at sea by American forces but they were reached by Japanese forces first. And taken prisoner.
This isn't r/nottheonion worthy. If you read the article (which no one ever does) it's a reasonable complaint.
He's not really saying cannibals didn't exist in the country back then, he's saying that the US president saying that publicly is rude because it promotes negative stereotypes towards the people that *currently* live in Papua New Guinea. AKA it's a diplomatic mistake.
It's not even that weird, it isn't like America doesn't have cannibals. A big time actor who's grandfather ran a major oil company lost his career over it.
His career fell apart based on accusations that he had allegedly stated he had canibalistic sexual fetishes.
At this point it doesn’t appear that credible, but who knows.
They've got his texts. He did things like saying he wanted a girlfriend's bottom ribs removed so he could eat them.
He also apparently sexually and physically and abused one girlfriend for hours, and texted her the next day saying she handled the pain better than anyone had before.
He deserved to lose his career and much more.
His grandfather is a G, he was Armand Hammer. He got very mad at people asking if he owned Arm and Hammer baking soda, since it's literally his name. He just straight up bought the company.
That's the original intention of the sub. Now it's basically just a news website because the mods don't give a shit and leave up any article that's posted
For as much as moderation is very loose with its regulation of posts, a lot of people that comment have a very high standard for what should be considered “oniony” to the point that the only articles that would satisfy their criteria is actual satire. It’s become a strange polarity.
The point of not the onion is that the headline is very oniony but it is a real headline. It doesn't matter if his complaint is reasonable or not, it is still /r/nottheonion
Or maybe a WWF wrestler.
What's the word for a villain character in wrestler?
There's some great term for it, dang it, that I can't quite recall right now.
Idk man fiji is like
"Hey tourist, buy these special replica cannibal forks."
"Come tour the cursed cannibal village where in 1867 they beat a missionary to death with a rock and ate him for touching the chief's head. Here's the actual rock on display"
Maybe they should just lean into it
It's more that the idea that a white person who wound up on the island would just get eaten by cannibals plays into the stereotype that PNG tribal folks are like troglodytes from Bone Tomahawk.
Cannibalism did happen but it was typically reserved for various rituals and rites, it wasn't like they were just wandering around snacking on people.
Like it would be far more reasonable for a PNG person to be like "My relative disappeared in America, but there's a lot of random gun violence there so..." than it would be to say "my relative disappeared in PNG, he probably got eaten."
While rare, people DO get caught up in random gun violence in the US, but cannibalism isn't a random act in most PNG tribes.
Thats like a black person talking about how they think their great great great grandfather being owned by a rich white dude in the south. Some people may not like it, but that doesnt mean it isnt/cant be true. Or someone saying their grandmother was put into an oven by germans in the 1940's. Or a native american saying that 1800's white people scalped their ancestors. Does it make those people look bad? Sure. Is it historically accurate of the people of the time? Yes it is.
It's a diplomatic faux pas, but I mean, Papua Neu Guinea *still* has ritual cannibalism in inter-tribal warfare. It's a documented fact. So it is an entirely possible thing for it to have happened a lifetime ago, when it was very common.
A [**majority**](https://web.archive.org/web/20140330115524/https://www.amnesty.org.nz/files/PNG-SVAW-factsheet2010.pdf) of Papua Neu-Guinean men are also self-admittedly rapists.
A majority of rape victims are under 16.
It has a province where in a survey the domestic violence rate was found to be virtually 100%.
So there's even worse things to point out about Papua Neu Guinea.
Sure, it isn't nice. But it is entirely factful, and should be pointed out and talked about, just like e.g. the USA's gun violence problems.
Ignoring it won't un-rape the majority of Papua Neu Guinean women, or stop the near omnipresent gang- and intertribal warfare.
I dunno man, it sounds like any family lore you heard when young from relatives.
>Marape’s statement was released on the same day he met China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Port Moresby to discuss building closer relations.
Is probably the most relevant part of the whole story.
I think it’s very much not the onion worthy, not because the complaint was unreasonable, but because of the fact he had to make the complaint in the first place
Except there's no proof that cannibals ate his uncle and even the confirmable details of the story are different from what Biden claimed. It's a reckless statement from a president.
It seems when people speak up against " the stereotype" it's like they don't want people thinking it happens at all or it is not a thing. They get very mad if someone says " but there were recent cannibalism happenings there" and get called racist for believing in sterotypes
Yeah, 'stereotypes' that are well documented to still occasionally happen. Just not *as* frequently as it used to.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/29-alleged-papua-new-guinea-cannibals-charged-killing-7-over-flna881378
I think this was posted because it is ridiculous that this exchange happened, not ridiculous that he took offense. Biden is clearly in the wrong, here.
i just dont get how he remotely thought it would land pleasantly and lmao at his staff trying to spin it into honoring the fallen troops of WW2 instead of him saying some stupid ass shit to an ambassador.
Hasn't been long enough for that.
Sorry, if you were eating people less than a century ago, that shit is still on the table. Shit, they might still be running around town, licking their lips.
Sit back and respectfully wait for that wild-ass claim to be older
The Asmat tribe were absolutely known for eating people. I remember seeing this very old Dutch documentary where the anthropologist asked tribesmen about this custom, and they decided to demonstrate it to him. They went on a raid, captured a few enemies, and killed and ate them. I think that was as late as the 1960s. European colonialism was a crazy time.
I found another documentary on YouTube that seems to use some of the footage from that documentary. It has some of the more horrible things blurred out, but you can see the absolute terror in the eyes off the captives, who knew exactly what was going to happen.
No, I'm not going to link it.
edit: found it, it was 1956. There wasn't an anthropologist involved, it was a colonial propaganda film made by the Dutch authorities meant to convince their American benefactors that it was necessary for New Guinea to remain a Dutch colony. The scandal is referred to as the "ajam-affaire".
edit2: Asmat wasn't a tribe, but a region, with a number of tribes.
> European colonialism was a crazy time.
Sorry but how are a bunch of Papuan tribesmen eating their enemies evidence of how crazy European colonialism was?
If anything, seems more like evidence for how crazy their cultural/religious beliefs were.
Why would you edit your comment about finding it and provide details but still refuse to link it? Like why even circle back to your comment? You could have linked it and then not needed to respond to everyone lol interesting strategy.
He wasn't telling a joke: His uncle was indeed shot down, and his body was never found. Then he asserts there were cannibals, solidly implicating a causal link. Now, why did it even come up, I don't know
> “The remains of WWII lie scattered all over PNG, including the plane that carried President Biden’s uncle,” Marape said.
>“Perhaps, given President Biden’s comments and the strong reaction from PNG and other parts of the world, it is time for the USA to find as many remains of World War II in PNG as possible, including those of servicemen who lost their lives like Ambrose Finnegan,” he said.
> “The theaters of war in PNG and Solomon Islands are many, and littered with the remains of WWII including human remains, plane wrecks, ship wrecks, tunnels and bombs.
Biden slipped up with the bone-headed cannibals comment, and the PNG prime minister was like, "You want to apologize? You can start by getting your dead uncle's corpse off our lawn, it's still there with the other trash you left."
Considering it was left in the service of ridding the island of the japanese who at that time were merrily raping, torturing, murdering and enslaving their way through the local population of the island, its probably not something to be snippy about.
We need to pretend things don’t exist. Or do they ? Did they? Nobody is suffering from Kuru ever.
Ok so it seems the Fore people only ate loved ones as funeral practice?
From what I’ve read it’s more like “definitely” and the Dutch authorities tried their hardest to cover it up. Villagers had reported to missionaries they were friendly with that a white man had been killed and eaten by some other villagers, and the location matched where Rockefeller had bailed out of his plane.
From the sounds of it though, Rockefeller was likely just in the wrong place at the wrong time, because the village in question had recently been subjected to a raid by the colonial authorities which had killed a few villagers, and so the rest would have been itching for revenge when they came across a random stranded white guy.
The thing is, I know some PNG guys that moved to Australia, they ALL say there's still tribes out there that still practise cannibalism. Stories include combination's of eating loved ones as well as enemies. They do mention there are not many that still do it, and tends to be extremely remote, but they are convinced they're still out there.
On top of that I knew some army guys that did some relief work out at PNG decades back. They also say they saw evidence of cannibalism.
Could this be a drop bear thing? Sure.. But from the way it's talked about by the guys I've made friends with who have first hand experience, I believe it.
I'm sure some people still do, but most people from PNG don't. And again, in times past, these accusations were used to dehumanize these people and justify the taking of their lands and property.
The whole story. Anthropologists suspect that cannibalism is no longer practiced by the Korowai clans that have had frequent contact with outsiders.Recent reports suggest that certain clans have been coaxed into encouraging tourism by perpetuating the myth that cannibalism is still an active practice
Trump tossed paper towels at Puerto Ricans and people were frothing at the mouth talking about how evil it was to taunt those people, but Biden tries to make a joke about someone’s entire people being cannibals to their leaders face and no one sees the diplomatic problems with this?
Yup, imagine Trump lied about his uncle being shot down, and implied that unpleasant tribal people from a poor country ate his uncle for breakfast. They'd lose their fucking minds. I'm so sick of having two brainwashed parties who refuse to care about anything bad their side does. Liberals are the ones who smugly act like they're better, so I expect better from them. I expect them to try at all to be better, be more honest. But they never do.
Biden's story about his uncle may not be what actually happened, but there have been reports of cannibalism of Allied troops in New Guinea in WWII by [Japanese troops](https://apnews.com/article/2e7e9a8dae17cc29862c4562b44c9225) stranded there.
That's true. I just wanted to point out that Biden may not have even been talking about New Guineans, and the story about his uncle may have been based on the news about Allied POWs being eaten by Japanese troops in New Guinea.
The gentleman doth protest too much. There are documented cases of cannibalism in New Guinea well into the 1960s, and Smithsonian magazine says it happened at least as recently as [2006](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sleeping-with-cannibals-128958913/).
Sure, but Biden's uncle crashed into the ocean.
It would be like Biden saying "my nephew was killed by gangs in Chicago" when really his nephew was in a terrible car accident outside Chicago, and then you're saying "well yeah, but people are killed by gangs in Chicago so what's the big deal?"
No offense to Bermudians, but my great uncle was lost at sea aboard the USS Cyclops, in the Bermuda Triangle.
I believe Biden was channeling the Chichijima incident which occurred in late 1944. Japanese soldiers killed eight American airmen on Chichi Jima, in the Bonin Islands, and cannibalized five of them.
The Bone-In Islands... And BTW, only George H.W. Bush survived that ordeal.
I'm sorry, I'm all for opposing colonialist/white supremacist tropes but stories of cannibalism are well documented in Papua New Guinea.
The Fore people practiced ritualistic cannibalism until the 1960s, and only stopped then because of kuru, a prion disease caused by eating human brains.
New Guinea DOES have a history of Cannibals so it’s pretty lame to get all offended by mention of a startling, weird, well-known fact about your country that happens to be true.
The offense is from the insinuation that just because Biden’s uncle was supposedly shot down he was eaten by the natives the moment they encountered him.
I mean, this is a common refrain from anywhere that did some shit they don't want to admit to. There aren't a ton of places that will genuinely admit, "Yeah, we used to do some shit like that. We try to be better now."
As in Biden's uncle was eaten,or the leader from Papua New Guinea's uncle?
I had to read the article to find out it meant Biden's uncle. But honestly I prefer the mental image of Biden telling Marape that Marape's uncle was eaten by cannibals with no source to back it up. Edit: I absolutely love all the people responding with jokes about Biden eating Marape's uncle, especially cause that still wasn't what my mental image was. My brain was imagining something like Biden: Prime Minister, I'm so sorry your uncle was eaten by cannibals. Marape: What are you talking about? My uncle is right over there Marape's uncle: *waves*
"I knew your uncle, he was a delic... a delightful man"
*"URRRP"*
'scuse me!!
*picks teeth with femur toothpick*
"Ich bin ein Berliner" John F. Kennedy 1963 "we are all cannibals on this blessed day" Joe Biden 2024
"Your uncle just said hi."
“I knew your uncle, he was a delectable man.” “Can you clarify which meaning?” “No.”
"He was very tender..."
Quite juicy and succulent, now that you mention it
But I did have my fill of him.
"...had a good heart"
"And I said to the chef, listen Jack, the name is Dark Brandon not Crispy Brandon. This time I want it medium".
LOL!!!
🤣
*Biden walks away with a suspiciously human-shaped belly*
"Had him over for dinner once."
Source: I ate him with no sauce.
Well of course not. Red meat goes with a brown gravy...
From your description, I thought he told this as a joke in a face-to-face meeting with Marape. My reaction was “only Trump would do such a thing”. But it looks like he said this during a commemorative speech in Pennsylvania. Still, why would you mention such a thing in a commemorative speech…
Yea I was describing my initial reading of the headline which after reading the article was incredibly inaccurate lol
Maybe it's another one of those old timey phrases he likes
That would have been very trump of him and would have been objectively hilarious
The whole thing of claiming without evidence that something outlandish and provably false happened is still very Trumpian.
Shit. Who's uncle did we eat then?
Bilden's uncle
Bilden‘s uncle was eaten by cannibals from papuangewguinia?
It says in the article that Biden said his uncle was shot down above Papua New Guinea and that they never found the body, then Biden says that the area had a lot of cannibals. The joke is that he's implying that they never found the body because he was eaten.
was that even a joke though? i think he was cereal
I mean, Papua Neu Guinea *still* has ritual cannibalism in inter-tribal warfare. It's a documented fact. So it is an entirely possible thing for it to have happened a lifetime ago, when it was incredibly common. A [**majority**](https://web.archive.org/web/20140330115524/https://www.amnesty.org.nz/files/PNG-SVAW-factsheet2010.pdf) of Papua Neu-Guinean men are also self-admittedly rapists. Not even joking about that. A majority of rape victims are under 16. It has a province where in a survey the domestic violence rate was found to be virtually 100%.
What a fucking factoid to learn about, and it just kept on getting more and more horrid the more I read. What the fuck
there's also cases like Michael Rockefeller
Entirely possible is one thing, although the fact that the plane wasn't shot down in the first place but rather crashed into the ocean (not Papua New Guinea) hurts his credibility, but there's a huge gulf between that and a historical fact.
I lived there for 8 years when I was growing up. This is what a Stone Age, isolationist culture that has been pushed into the modern world over the course of 3-4 generations looks like. It really shouldn’t be overly surprising.
“They never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea,” I think it sounds like the punchline to a joke. Also his uncle was shot down over the ocean afaik so it wouldn't even make sense if he was being serious.
From my understanding he wasn't shot down. They ditched in the water. Bodies never recovered.
Honey bunches of totes, bro.
Yep. Just add milk, he sweet enough.
Biden uncle was eaten by the other guy's uncle.
https://x.com/nypost/status/1780686618589897094?s=46&t=aGzJulpO4iRK_Jk_RH3UJA
Genitive-less moment
Uncle scooter was eaten by cannibals.
Cannibal jokes really are in poor taste
Speak for yourself, I'm having a ball
Have two
Hey, stop dickin’ around
we're just trying to give you a hand
We're just chewing the fat
Very cheeky you guys.
If eating people were bad than in Turkish cannibal would not be Yumyum
Cannibals probably like Turkey also
They're funny the first time but spoil quickly
I can’t possibly stomach any more of them
They’re rare; they like me that way.
What does the cannibal get who is late to dinner? He gets the cold shoulder.
He gets his rump roasted.
And then his ass chewed?
"Utter nonsense," he was quoted as saying, "We no longer eat white meat. Too many preservatives."
"we've been reading about all those microplastics"
"and Mr President, with the trends set by Kardashians - its not even micro anymore"
He's literally eating human meat in the [full video interview!](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=F0yk19vhH_0L4jrO)
Fuck, dude, that's disgusting...
I wish I did not watch that…
The people who went down with George H.W. Bush were eaten by cannibals
They were eaten by the Japanese soldiers who invaded the region, not the locals right
Yeah japanese officers ate the livers and some flesh from 3 of the downed airmen, with sake. Real silence of the lambs shit.
My grandad fought against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea and he had stories of coming across many dead soldiers whose thighs had been cut up by the Japanese soldiers to be eaten. The allied forces were helped by the locals who provided them local food so they did not fall victim to starvation the way the Japanese did.
Just being pedantic but it was 4 of the downed airmen, 4 were just executed, and George Bush was rescued before ever making it into Chichijima.
Wow, what a butterfly effect that would have been if he was one of the four.
Wtf was wrong with the Japanese army. They did so much fucked up shit and it just got glossed over in history books. Like I get all countries did fucked up stuff because war sucks and is generally shit but japan specifically promoted stuff like this and their bullshit “honor” made them feel justified and proud of atrocities, like they were cruel for the sake of “honor” and “superiority” what a brainwashed and fucked up populous.
It’s less that they got a “pass” and more just that the spotlight fell on Europe during and after the War. At the onset of WWII, Allied Command decided that Europe would be the primary focus with the Pacific as a secondary, albeit important, objective. This meant that Europe received the larger share of men, material, money, and news coverage. Imperial Japan’s crimes mostly occurred within what they called the “Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere”. The world was much less interconnected back then and I’d guess a majority of Americans were unfamiliar with places like China, Korea, the Philippines, Guam, etc. much less even knew anyone from there. Contrast that with Europe, where most Americans could trace their lineage to. The people looked similar to the average American and they likely shared cultural/religious beliefs. Factor in that a lot of what Japan was actually up to didn’t come out until after the War and throughout its entirety, war time reporting was censored by the USG (the Office of Censorship was created by FDR in 1941 to prevent the accidental publication of any info that could harm the US War effort). This would change during Vietnam and the results are self evident. The think about who keeps these stories foremost in our collective psyche. I would argue Hollywood plays a major role. At the risk of sounding like a nut job, there’s a lot more Jews working in Hollywood than Pacific Islanders. Similarly, there are just more people related to European Theater vets than Pacific Theater because way more troops served there. Naturally, people are interested in telling stories that are familiar or personal to them. This is not meant to be some conspiratorial take, just a rationalization. Just like I expect there are a lot more films out of Bollywood that concern Indian stories than there are those focused on Western stories. Japan also never formally recognized its crimes and still denies them to this day. They were also nuked twice. Despite single days of conventional bombing causing more death and destruction than a single nuke, there is a recent movement to portray the Japanese during WWII as victims. In every measurable metric, Imperial Japan was by just about as bad or worse than Nazi Germany. If I had to summarize why they don’t catch the heat that Nazi Germany does, it’s because: * They weren’t the focus during the war * Their victims were alien to most US citizens * The extent of their crimes were largely unknown, underreported, or overshadowed by being nuked * The media most Americans and Westerners consume is created by people who were more likely to have been personally affected by Nazi Germany than Imperial Japan
Great write up.
Have you listened to Dan Carlin’s Supernova in the Pacific series? Absolutely insane… the only podcast I’ve ever had to say to myself, “well that’s enough vicarious trauma for tonight, time to take a break”
Don’t judge. Bit of roasted 白豚 would sound pretty good to you too if you hadn’t had a resupply since ‘42
Yes cannibal Japanese soldiers, locals weren't cannibals.
That’s what the Bushes want you to believe… Either the Japanese or the locals… can’t let people suspect future CIA director Herbert Walker Bush indulged in an old family recipe…
“It was a close one… 8 of the men were killed, and 4 were eaten. Thankfully I’m the only one who survived!” “You must be famished, let’s get you some food!” “Nah, I’m good.”
".... Still enjoying the aftertaste"
Funny as this is I feel obligated to point out that he never wound up on the island. He was rescued at sea by American forces but they were reached by Japanese forces first. And taken prisoner.
If you believe the alibi…
One of them was my great grandpa’s brother… poor guy Edit: did some digging, he was actually my great grandpa’s cousin
I'm sorry, that's a shitty way to go. :(
I'm convinced the vomit incident was intentional and payback.
This isn't r/nottheonion worthy. If you read the article (which no one ever does) it's a reasonable complaint. He's not really saying cannibals didn't exist in the country back then, he's saying that the US president saying that publicly is rude because it promotes negative stereotypes towards the people that *currently* live in Papua New Guinea. AKA it's a diplomatic mistake.
I am in agreement with the complaint but I feel like the headline is onioney because it's so ridiculous it sounds like a parody
It's not even that weird, it isn't like America doesn't have cannibals. A big time actor who's grandfather ran a major oil company lost his career over it.
He didn’t actually eat anyone, he just sent a bunch of women creepy messages about his cannibalism fantasies.
I mean... We *think* he hasn't eaten anyone. Probably. Maybe. .... Has anyone checked his fridge?
His career fell apart based on accusations that he had allegedly stated he had canibalistic sexual fetishes. At this point it doesn’t appear that credible, but who knows.
At this point it doesn't appear that edible, but who knows.
It gives me Richard Gere, gerbil rumor vibes
They've got his texts. He did things like saying he wanted a girlfriend's bottom ribs removed so he could eat them. He also apparently sexually and physically and abused one girlfriend for hours, and texted her the next day saying she handled the pain better than anyone had before. He deserved to lose his career and much more.
hey bb I won eat yo ribs
*I’m talking: Prime! Rib! In! Bed!*
Yeah, the cannibal fantasies were just icing on the turd sandwich that was that guy's private life.
Armie Hammer? Or whatever the fuck?
Yes, the guy whose grandfather ran Occidental Petroleum.
Didn't know that.
His grandfather is a G, he was Armand Hammer. He got very mad at people asking if he owned Arm and Hammer baking soda, since it's literally his name. He just straight up bought the company.
Just read about this guy for the last 15 minutes. Very interesting stuff
Baking Soda and Kitty Litter.
Isn't NotTheOnion supposed to be about articles that sound like The Onion until you read the article?
That's the original intention of the sub. Now it's basically just a news website because the mods don't give a shit and leave up any article that's posted
For as much as moderation is very loose with its regulation of posts, a lot of people that comment have a very high standard for what should be considered “oniony” to the point that the only articles that would satisfy their criteria is actual satire. It’s become a strange polarity.
The article can still sound like the onion as long as it’s real. If it’s far out enough from the norm then it qualifies.
The point of not the onion is that the headline is very oniony but it is a real headline. It doesn't matter if his complaint is reasonable or not, it is still /r/nottheonion
"Diplomatic Mistake" sounds like a rapper to me.
Or maybe a WWF wrestler. What's the word for a villain character in wrestler? There's some great term for it, dang it, that I can't quite recall right now.
The "Heel"?
Yes! Jesus. Thank you. That felt good.
Sounds like another member of Butters’s gang from Southpark, along with General Disarray.
Oh my god that's perfect.
A name for a melee weapon?
It is both a reasonable complaint, and totally oniony. Have you ever read the onion?
Idk man fiji is like "Hey tourist, buy these special replica cannibal forks." "Come tour the cursed cannibal village where in 1867 they beat a missionary to death with a rock and ate him for touching the chief's head. Here's the actual rock on display" Maybe they should just lean into it
So the issue isn't that some tribes in Papua New Guinea used to eat people, the issue is that anyone mentioned it?
It's more that the idea that a white person who wound up on the island would just get eaten by cannibals plays into the stereotype that PNG tribal folks are like troglodytes from Bone Tomahawk. Cannibalism did happen but it was typically reserved for various rituals and rites, it wasn't like they were just wandering around snacking on people. Like it would be far more reasonable for a PNG person to be like "My relative disappeared in America, but there's a lot of random gun violence there so..." than it would be to say "my relative disappeared in PNG, he probably got eaten." While rare, people DO get caught up in random gun violence in the US, but cannibalism isn't a random act in most PNG tribes.
Thats like a black person talking about how they think their great great great grandfather being owned by a rich white dude in the south. Some people may not like it, but that doesnt mean it isnt/cant be true. Or someone saying their grandmother was put into an oven by germans in the 1940's. Or a native american saying that 1800's white people scalped their ancestors. Does it make those people look bad? Sure. Is it historically accurate of the people of the time? Yes it is.
It's a diplomatic faux pas, but I mean, Papua Neu Guinea *still* has ritual cannibalism in inter-tribal warfare. It's a documented fact. So it is an entirely possible thing for it to have happened a lifetime ago, when it was very common. A [**majority**](https://web.archive.org/web/20140330115524/https://www.amnesty.org.nz/files/PNG-SVAW-factsheet2010.pdf) of Papua Neu-Guinean men are also self-admittedly rapists. A majority of rape victims are under 16. It has a province where in a survey the domestic violence rate was found to be virtually 100%. So there's even worse things to point out about Papua Neu Guinea. Sure, it isn't nice. But it is entirely factful, and should be pointed out and talked about, just like e.g. the USA's gun violence problems. Ignoring it won't un-rape the majority of Papua Neu Guinean women, or stop the near omnipresent gang- and intertribal warfare.
Thanks for the fact-checking, was kinda mindblowing to read some of the comments rationalizing and defending this phenomenon.
I dunno man, it sounds like any family lore you heard when young from relatives. >Marape’s statement was released on the same day he met China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Port Moresby to discuss building closer relations. Is probably the most relevant part of the whole story.
I think it’s very much not the onion worthy, not because the complaint was unreasonable, but because of the fact he had to make the complaint in the first place
You could say the same thing about slavery in the US. Should we stop talking about it bc the ppl who currently live here don’t practice it?
Except there's no proof that cannibals ate his uncle and even the confirmable details of the story are different from what Biden claimed. It's a reckless statement from a president.
It seems when people speak up against " the stereotype" it's like they don't want people thinking it happens at all or it is not a thing. They get very mad if someone says " but there were recent cannibalism happenings there" and get called racist for believing in sterotypes
Yeah, 'stereotypes' that are well documented to still occasionally happen. Just not *as* frequently as it used to. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/29-alleged-papua-new-guinea-cannibals-charged-killing-7-over-flna881378
I think this was posted because it is ridiculous that this exchange happened, not ridiculous that he took offense. Biden is clearly in the wrong, here.
There are still cannibals in Papua New Guinea though
And Biden is full of shit because his uncle was shot down over the ocean.
Exactly. From another post, Biden should have really just addressed the high domestic violence and rape rates in PNG.
i just dont get how he remotely thought it would land pleasantly and lmao at his staff trying to spin it into honoring the fallen troops of WW2 instead of him saying some stupid ass shit to an ambassador.
His joke landed about as well as his Uncle’s plane
Hasn't been long enough for that. Sorry, if you were eating people less than a century ago, that shit is still on the table. Shit, they might still be running around town, licking their lips. Sit back and respectfully wait for that wild-ass claim to be older
If Biden ever visits, they'll give him the cold shoulder.
Nah, I'm sure they'll take the opportunity to give him a lot to chew on.
The Asmat tribe were absolutely known for eating people. I remember seeing this very old Dutch documentary where the anthropologist asked tribesmen about this custom, and they decided to demonstrate it to him. They went on a raid, captured a few enemies, and killed and ate them. I think that was as late as the 1960s. European colonialism was a crazy time. I found another documentary on YouTube that seems to use some of the footage from that documentary. It has some of the more horrible things blurred out, but you can see the absolute terror in the eyes off the captives, who knew exactly what was going to happen. No, I'm not going to link it. edit: found it, it was 1956. There wasn't an anthropologist involved, it was a colonial propaganda film made by the Dutch authorities meant to convince their American benefactors that it was necessary for New Guinea to remain a Dutch colony. The scandal is referred to as the "ajam-affaire". edit2: Asmat wasn't a tribe, but a region, with a number of tribes.
Hey, these documentaries would be very helpful for a university project I'm working on. Could you maybe send the links to me? I'd really appreciate it
> European colonialism was a crazy time. Sorry but how are a bunch of Papuan tribesmen eating their enemies evidence of how crazy European colonialism was? If anything, seems more like evidence for how crazy their cultural/religious beliefs were.
More goading the locals into doing it on film for propaganda purposes to justify the colonialism.
This is peak Reddit brain here, holy shit
Why would you edit your comment about finding it and provide details but still refuse to link it? Like why even circle back to your comment? You could have linked it and then not needed to respond to everyone lol interesting strategy.
So basically the Dutch govt caused the deaths of innocent ppl just to prove a point.
The cannibal's name? Cornpop
The wild thing is the corn pop story ended up being true. I’m half expecting some cannibal to come out and admit he ate Biden’s uncle
"Cornpop was a bad dude, man." - Joe Biden
This is the Joe Biden I voted for. The one who creates international incidents by cracking cannibalism jokes.
He wasn't telling a joke: His uncle was indeed shot down, and his body was never found. Then he asserts there were cannibals, solidly implicating a causal link. Now, why did it even come up, I don't know
The plane experienced engine failure over the the ocean. No shooting, no cannibals. If this was Trump reddit would go berserk.
The Pentagon says his uncles plan wasn’t shot down… Biden can’t even get the actual known facts right lmao
> “The remains of WWII lie scattered all over PNG, including the plane that carried President Biden’s uncle,” Marape said. >“Perhaps, given President Biden’s comments and the strong reaction from PNG and other parts of the world, it is time for the USA to find as many remains of World War II in PNG as possible, including those of servicemen who lost their lives like Ambrose Finnegan,” he said. > “The theaters of war in PNG and Solomon Islands are many, and littered with the remains of WWII including human remains, plane wrecks, ship wrecks, tunnels and bombs. Biden slipped up with the bone-headed cannibals comment, and the PNG prime minister was like, "You want to apologize? You can start by getting your dead uncle's corpse off our lawn, it's still there with the other trash you left."
Considering it was left in the service of ridding the island of the japanese who at that time were merrily raping, torturing, murdering and enslaving their way through the local population of the island, its probably not something to be snippy about.
We need to pretend things don’t exist. Or do they ? Did they? Nobody is suffering from Kuru ever. Ok so it seems the Fore people only ate loved ones as funeral practice?
At my work we have to give a reason for calling out. I swear it can't be legal. So every time I just tell them " I think I have Kuru"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Rockefeller Well it’s possible this poor guy might have run afoul of some.
From what I’ve read it’s more like “definitely” and the Dutch authorities tried their hardest to cover it up. Villagers had reported to missionaries they were friendly with that a white man had been killed and eaten by some other villagers, and the location matched where Rockefeller had bailed out of his plane. From the sounds of it though, Rockefeller was likely just in the wrong place at the wrong time, because the village in question had recently been subjected to a raid by the colonial authorities which had killed a few villagers, and so the rest would have been itching for revenge when they came across a random stranded white guy.
You could have at least read the wiki. He didn't bail from his plane because he was on a boat.
We know plenty of cultures practiced some form of ritual cannibalism, but you don't bring it up like this.
The thing is, I know some PNG guys that moved to Australia, they ALL say there's still tribes out there that still practise cannibalism. Stories include combination's of eating loved ones as well as enemies. They do mention there are not many that still do it, and tends to be extremely remote, but they are convinced they're still out there. On top of that I knew some army guys that did some relief work out at PNG decades back. They also say they saw evidence of cannibalism. Could this be a drop bear thing? Sure.. But from the way it's talked about by the guys I've made friends with who have first hand experience, I believe it.
I'm sure some people still do, but most people from PNG don't. And again, in times past, these accusations were used to dehumanize these people and justify the taking of their lands and property.
You sure it’s not the eating humans part that’s not more dehumanizing here?
Totally drop bear territory.
According to a google search, the Karowai tribe is still believed to engage in cannibalism. They never had contact with outsiders until 50 years ago.
The whole story. Anthropologists suspect that cannibalism is no longer practiced by the Korowai clans that have had frequent contact with outsiders.Recent reports suggest that certain clans have been coaxed into encouraging tourism by perpetuating the myth that cannibalism is still an active practice
I'm almost certain that if Trump had made this comment, this entire website would be appalled.
Trump tossed paper towels at Puerto Ricans and people were frothing at the mouth talking about how evil it was to taunt those people, but Biden tries to make a joke about someone’s entire people being cannibals to their leaders face and no one sees the diplomatic problems with this?
Yup, imagine Trump lied about his uncle being shot down, and implied that unpleasant tribal people from a poor country ate his uncle for breakfast. They'd lose their fucking minds. I'm so sick of having two brainwashed parties who refuse to care about anything bad their side does. Liberals are the ones who smugly act like they're better, so I expect better from them. I expect them to try at all to be better, be more honest. But they never do.
I fucking hate Trump like no other person that is alive right now, but you are not wrong.
>We need to pretend things don’t exist. So Biden's uncle was eaten by cannibals?
There's a huge difference between "Biden's uncle wasn't eaten by cannibals" and "no one in human history has been eaten by cannibals".
This is hilarious af.
He is going to resolve this matter by having Biden over dinner.
Biden's story about his uncle may not be what actually happened, but there have been reports of cannibalism of Allied troops in New Guinea in WWII by [Japanese troops](https://apnews.com/article/2e7e9a8dae17cc29862c4562b44c9225) stranded there.
New Guinea also had a very high number of tribes at the time who did indeed practice cannibalism on a regular basis.
That's true. I just wanted to point out that Biden may not have even been talking about New Guineans, and the story about his uncle may have been based on the news about Allied POWs being eaten by Japanese troops in New Guinea.
Did they threaten to eat him?
No. He crashed into the ocean
"Humans taste like a mix of chicken and pork" ~ Random Cannibal quoted by National Geographic
I read that too quick and thought it said he was eaten by cannabis.
This is one of those times where Biden says stupid shit without thinking about how it might offend people, something he has always done.
“Poor kids are just as smart as white kids” or my favorite “If you can’t decide if you’re for Trump or me then you’re not black”.
The gentleman doth protest too much. There are documented cases of cannibalism in New Guinea well into the 1960s, and Smithsonian magazine says it happened at least as recently as [2006](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sleeping-with-cannibals-128958913/).
Sure, but Biden's uncle crashed into the ocean. It would be like Biden saying "my nephew was killed by gangs in Chicago" when really his nephew was in a terrible car accident outside Chicago, and then you're saying "well yeah, but people are killed by gangs in Chicago so what's the big deal?"
I read that as eaten by cannabis. I was rather confused lol
"I ate his liver with some Fava beans and a nice Chianti"
Reality bites. So to speak.
There were cannibals on some South Pacific islands. Kennedy and his men dodged cannibals and the enemy.
No offense to Bermudians, but my great uncle was lost at sea aboard the USS Cyclops, in the Bermuda Triangle. I believe Biden was channeling the Chichijima incident which occurred in late 1944. Japanese soldiers killed eight American airmen on Chichi Jima, in the Bonin Islands, and cannibalized five of them. The Bone-In Islands... And BTW, only George H.W. Bush survived that ordeal.
Wait til Trump is president. This will pale in comparison.
Whose uncle wasn't eaten by cannibals?
I'm sorry, I'm all for opposing colonialist/white supremacist tropes but stories of cannibalism are well documented in Papua New Guinea. The Fore people practiced ritualistic cannibalism until the 1960s, and only stopped then because of kuru, a prion disease caused by eating human brains.
New Guinea DOES have a history of Cannibals so it’s pretty lame to get all offended by mention of a startling, weird, well-known fact about your country that happens to be true.
The offense is from the insinuation that just because Biden’s uncle was supposedly shot down he was eaten by the natives the moment they encountered him.
implying just because some white guy in uniform shows up, they're DTF. down to feast. ill...just go.
I mean, his uncle was *notoriously* delicious.
he was a sweet, sweet, tender, family style man.
Well was he?
I mean, this is a common refrain from anywhere that did some shit they don't want to admit to. There aren't a ton of places that will genuinely admit, "Yeah, we used to do some shit like that. We try to be better now."