Crab rape – or crustacean coercion?
"Come up and see my etchings?" the young rake begs the doe-eyed object of his dastardly affections. But, "Come over and check out my cool digs," – that's in the sand – says the would-be banana fiddler crab rapist who is determined, one way or another, to pass on his genes for the greater glory of future generations.
Check out this video to see the crusty devils flashing oversized, yellow claws to lure hapless victims, seemingly making light of their nefarious plans:
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According to this UPI article:
For banana fiddler crabs, Uca mjoebergi, coerced copulation is a fact of life. New research shows some male crabs ensure offspring by cornering mates in small burrows.
Not all fiddler crab sex is non-consensual. Males court and compete for females, pitting their size, coloration and claw-waving abilities against one another in hopes of winning a would-be mate's affection. A female might consider as many as 20 males before making a decision.
Sometimes, however, a female's hand – or claw – is forced.
Scientists first realized females might be coerced into mating after noticing males often step aside as a potential pair enter a burrow, allowing the female to go first. This often backfires, as females sometimes walk away.
So why take the risk?
As researchers found out, the payoff is a greater chance of reproduction. Females that enter burrows first were more likely to mate with a male and lay eggs than those that entered second. Researchers say this suggests some females are forced into sex.
Researchers published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE.
"Mate-searching female fiddler crabs are fussy about the quality of a male's burrow, so they enter it to check its suitability as an incubation site before selecting the male as a mate," study co-author Patricia Backwell, a researcher at the Australian National University, said in a news release. "Some males trap the female inside the burrow, coercing them to mate."
Now, while UPI reports about this demonstrably ticklish situation of consent, the same wrapped in the highly subjective realm of the inspection premise, one must consider the other side. What exactly are the female crabs thinking when entertaining such an invitation? They did, by entering the lair first, quite literally, lead the male crabs on.
I hate to think what we'll discover about birds and bees!
Casper the friendly – hoax?
"The Conjuring 2", the second in what many hope will be an ongoing series of films that document the real life cases of Lorraine and Ed Warren, paranormal investigators, didn't just slam the competition with its $39 million dollar opening weekend. Apparently, it slammed the audience with an assault of real life demons.
The story begins with the usual rumors of strange happenings during the shooting of the film. Much like the "Exorcist" of cinematic horror fame and "Poltergeist," the cast of The Conjuring 2 is said to have brushed with the truly supernatural or, at the very least, inexplicable. This despite the production company having engaged the aid of a Catholic exorcist to rid the set of any and all unwanted entities.
According to WeekinWeird, "Patrick Wilson, who plays the on-screen version of the late ghost buster Ed Warren, told reporters that the set was plagued by some pretty bizarre paranormal activity, the most compelling of which included heavy drapes that were filmed shaking violently on more than one occasion."
Now, new reports are indicating that an Indian man has died after viewing the picture.
The New Indian Express reports:
A 65-year-old man died on Thursday night while watching horror movie, The Conjuring 2 in a cinema theatre in Tiruvannamalai Town. As reported by a leading daily, the old man who is a native of Andhra had gone to watch the night show accompanied by one more person in Sri Balasubramaniar Cinemas in the town. During the climax scene, he complained of chest pain after which he fainted and was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.
The hospital staff asked the other person to take the body to the Tiruvannamalai Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem. But, he seems to have disappeared with the body. The police are still inquiring about the body.
Another victim, a young Malay woman, in the video below, is said to have become possessed according to the website Damn!. You decide.
Faked? Possibly. Creepy? Um - yah! Some patrons of the theater in question didn't waste time discerning even when the lights were turned up, but sought safer spaces.
You may want to rethink this week's night at the movies!
Mourning the loss of a stranger
200 strangers attended the funeral of a WWII homeless vet with no family:
According to Today, "When an Army major learned that only four people were attending a funeral for a World War II homeless veteran, she not only decided to attend – she took action. 'In the military, we don't serve alone, therefore we should not die alone,' Maj. Jaspen Boothe said."
She was invited to attend the funeral of Serina Vine by William Jones, a retired Marine who works at Quantico National Cemetery, and on June 7, he recited Boothe's words in front of 200 strangers.
But Boothe, a formerly homeless vet (her home was lost in Hurricane Katrina) who now runs a nonprofit for homeless female vets called Final Salute, didn't just accept the invitation; she posted in every veterans group she could think of, and asked people to attend Vine's funeral.
"I was thinking my efforts would make maybe 20 to 30 people show up, but when I arrived, there were hundreds of cars lined up," Boothe, 38, told Today.
The 91-year-old Vine served in the Navy from 1946-47, graduated from UC Berkeley in 1954, spoke three languages and went to church every Sunday, her caretakers at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Community Living Center testified.
Meanwhile, Boothe and the veteran's community testified to unmitigated solidarity.
"I meant what I said when William reached out to me about the military being a family," Boothe said. "We're not separated by race or religion, we're bound through our service and sacrifice."