Another Morbid Mess at the Embattled Mütter Museum

A collection of skulls at the Mutter Museum, site of a controversy over human remains (Getty Images)

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Another Morbid Mess at the Embattled Mütter Museum

Much has been said over the last several months about the controversy over human remains at the Mütter Museum. (In fact, we recently published this Malcolm Burnley feature article about it.) This controversy over human remains is not a local problem. Museums the world over are grappling with ethical issues about how human remains are displayed, how they were procured in the first place, and even whether museums have the right to keep those remains in their collections. But this is a particularly significant and essentially existential problem for the Mütter Museum, which is all about anatomical and pathological specimens. Who would go there if not for the stuff on display? Not me!

But now there’s a new issue brewing that’s related to the aforementioned tumult. Some people really love the Mütter Museum, so much so that they want their own remains to be displayed at the Mütter once they’ve left this world for whatever awaits. These Mütter Museum fans wrote instructions in their wills. They allocated the funds to cover the various procedures needed to get their remains suitable for public display. They talked to their doctors and to the museum to make sure everybody was on the same page. But now that the Mütter Museum has thrown the rule book out the window and is trying to establish new policies regarding human remains, the future of these donors is in, well, limbo.

Rosa Cartagena and Rita Giordano have all the macabre details over at the Inquirer.

Pennsylvanians Are Not Very (Financially) Supportive of Their Adult Children

According to this new ranking in USA Today, Pennsylvania parents are among the least financially supportive of all parents in the United States when it comes to their adult children.

The publication surveyed 5,000 parents and took into account how much money parents were giving their adult children each month as well as other factors to come up with a “support score.” And Pennsylvania’s support score was the second lowest in the country, bested only by North Carolina. If you’re a teenager reading this and are horrified at your prospects of having parental support once you age out, you might want to convince your folks to relocate across the bridge. New Jersey has the second highest support score in the country. And gas is cheaper!

Local Talent

One-time Philadelphian but honorary lifetime Philadelphian Sylvester Stallone will be in town this Sunday as a promo for the newish “Rocky Shop” next to the Rocky statue. The shop, which opened in October, is where you can go to buy all the Rocky merch a person could possibly want.

Jeffrey Lurie with Sylvester Stallone at an Eagles game in 2006 (Getty Images)

Note to the Eagles: You might want to get in touch with Sly and invite him to join Bradley and Jeffrey in the box at Sunday’s game against the 49ers. (Bradley told Howard Stern on Monday that he’ll be at the game.)

By the Numbers

135 minutes: Amount of time you might expect a visit to the ER at Roxborough Memorial Hospital to take, according to this new study of median ER visit durations. Roxborough’s visits are the fastest in the region. Fancy a long visit? Head to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery County, Riddle Memorial Hospital in Delaware County, Chester County Hospital in Chester, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Health’s Northeast Philadelphia, the five hospitals with the longest ER visits.

$47,000: What the former treasurer of the booster club for Garnet Valley High School’s cheerleading squad is accused of stealing from the group. That’s a lot of pom-poms.

42: With Monday’s latest acquisition, number of guns confiscated at Philadelphia International Airport TSA checkpoints so far this year. There were “only” 20 in all of 2019. For more on this growing trend, read here.

And from the Back-in-Business Sports Desk …

Just had to share this. We all love the Birds, but hey, they’re football players, not spellmeisters, right?

Skoy cull? Scoo Cool?@Xfinity | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/knjvmwO0Ym

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 25, 2023

Wondering what’s on tap for tonight? Finally, we’ve got something to tell you! The Sixers are in NOLA to play Zion Williamson and the Pelicans, with tip-off at 8 p.m. The big man’s been big this year:

Zion Williamson snatched that basketball away from James Harden. Sheesh. pic.twitter.com/vlJPlskyWt

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) November 25, 2023

Kids today. No respect, amirite?

What About in College Hoops?

We got you covered. Two City 6 matchups are on the schedule: St. Joe’s vs. Villanova at 6:30, and La Salle at Temple at 7 p.m. Also starting at 7 is Drexel at Lafayette.

Any News on the Injury Front?

We got that, too. Kelly Oubre Jr. could be back with the Sixers following his mysterious broken-rib injury as soon as Friday night, against the Celtics. And Lane Johnson says he’ll return to the Eagles’ offensive line for Sunday’s game:

Lane Johnson told me that he's feeling good and he feels like he will be ready for this Sunday's game against the 49ers. He said he popped some scar tissue in his groin from last year, which is why he was not active against the Bills.

— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) November 28, 2023

Go Birds!

How About College Football?

Yeah, sad news. Temple sophomore QB E.J. Warner, son of Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and setter of numerous program records, was the saving grace of the team for the past two years, ever since he won the starter gig two games into his freshman season. He’s announced he’s entering the transfer portal. Bummer. This really fine article on Temple’s athletics situation by two students, Samuel O’Neil and Declan Landis, has an overview of what’s helping and hurting the school.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.