Category: Human Behavior

Mysterious gulf coast dolphin killings

On By A.P.In Crime, Dolphins, Gulf Coast, NatureLeave a comment

Conservation experts and federal agents say they’re looking into the violent deaths of several bottlenose dolphins along the northern Gulf Coast this year, including one that was shot and another that was stabbed with a screwdriver.

“I can’t explain why anyone would shoot a dolphin,” Jeff Radonski, a Florida-based special agent for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told CNN. Radonski said NOAA is investigating four of the six deaths reported since June.

Samia Ahmad, a spokeswoman for the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, said at least six dolphins had died as a result of foul play since January. In one case, a dolphin had its jaw cut off, she said.

In September, a dolphin that washed up on Elmer’s Island, Louisiana, had been shot. The bullet that killed it was found in its lung, NOAA reported. In June, a bottlenose was found in Perdido Bay, on the Florida-Alabama state line, with a screwdriver stuck in its head, the agency said.

Dolphins are covered by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a 1972 law that makes killing them punishable by fines of up to $20,000 and a year in prison. In at least two previous cases, fishing charter captains have been found guilty of shooting at dolphins that approached their boats or the fish their passengers had hooked, NOAA says.

NOAA spokeswoman Allison Garrett told CNN that the most recent prosecution involved a Panama City, Florida, man who was convicted of throwing pipe bombs at dolphins. He was sentenced to two years in prison in 2009 for violating the federal conservation law and for possessing an explosive device as a convicted felon.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/us/dolphin-deaths/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Hundreds Of Deer Mysteriously Jumping To Their Deaths Off Idaho Bridge

On By A.P.In Deer, Idaho, Nature, suicideLeave a comment

 

Idaho wildlife officials are puzzled as to why hundreds of deer have jumped off a bridge to their deaths.

Motorists tell officials they have witnessed deer jumping off High Bridge and plunging more than 100 feet to their deaths while they are driving by.

“I’ve seen it myself and some of our staff have seen it too,” Evin Oneale, a manager with the Idaho Fish and Game Development, told KBOI-TV.

Oneale believes that the deer are just trying to jump away from the oncoming cars.

“The first thing a deer is going to do is try and get away,” he told the station. “They jump over what they think is just into the barrow pit, but it’s a 120-foot fall to the river below.”

The station reports the Idaho Fish and Game, along with Idaho’s Department of Transportation, built an underpass for the animals back in 2010 in an effort to help curb the deer jumping. Officials say it has worked but warn motorists to slow down as to not startle the deer into jumping.

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2012/11/12/hundreds-of-deer-mysteriously-jumping-to-their-deaths-off-idaho-bridge/

Anti-computer virus software pioneer John McAfee wanted for murder in Belize

On By A.P.In anti-virus, Belize, computer virus, Crime, Human Behavior, John McAfee, Murder, SRWLeave a comment

 

Police in Belize want to question U.S. anti-computer virus software pioneer John McAfee in connection with the murder of a neighbor he had been quarrelling with, but they say he remains a person of interest at this time and is not a suspect.

McAfee, who invented the anti-virus software that bears his name, has homes and businesses in Belize, and is believed to have settled in the country sometime around 2010.

“He is a person of interest at this time,” said Marco Vidal, head of Belize’s police Gang Suppression Unit. “It goes a bit beyond that, not just being a neighbor.”

Police officers were looking for the software engineer, said Miguel Segura, the assistant commissioner of police.

Asked if McAfee was a suspect, he said: “At this point, no. Our job … is to get all the evidence beyond reasonable doubt that Mr A is the one that killed Mr B.”

“He (McAfee) … can assist the investigation, so there is no arrest warrant for the fellow,” added Segura, who heads the Criminal Investigation Branch.

McAfee’s neighbor, Gregory Viant Faull, a 52-year-old American, was found on Sunday lying dead in a pool of blood after apparently being shot in the head.

McAfee has been embroiled in controversy in Belize before.

His premises were raided in May after he was accused of holding firearms, though most were found to be licensed. The final outcome of the case is pending.

McAfee also owns a security company in Belize as well as several properties and an ecological enterprise.

Reuters was unable to contact McAfee on Monday.

Segura said McAfee had been at odds with Faull for some time. He accused his neighbor of poisoning his dogs earlier this year and filed an official complaint.

“There was some conflict there between (them) … prior to the death of the gentleman,” Segura said. “But those dogs didn’t have a post mortem to see if the toxicology would confirm what type of poison, if any.”

McAfee previously accused the police Gang Suppression Unit of killing his dogs during the May raid.

McAfee was one of Silicon Valley’s first entrepreneurs to amass a fortune by building a business off the Internet.

The former Lockheed systems consultant started McAfee Associates in 1989, initially distributing its anti-virus software as “shareware” on Internet bulletin boards.

He took the company public in 1992 and left two years later following accusations that he had hyped the arrival of a virus known as Michelango, which turned out to be a dud, to scare computer users into buying his company’s products.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/john-mcafee-belize-murder_n_2119941.html

Thanks to SRW for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

Snuggery

On By A.P.In Cuddle Sutra, Human Behavior, snuggeryLeave a comment

 

She makes her clients acknowledge that no sex will be involved during the session (sexual arousal is fine), but for $60 anyone can snuggle up with 29-year-old Jackie Samuel for an entire hour.

“You feel more calm for days afterward,” said the Western New York native. “It has numerous health benefits.”

Indeed, The Snuggery’s website extols the “psychological and physical benefits of non-sexual touch,” which Samuel claims are “unquestionably supported” by science.

She isn’t technically licensed to do what she does — “I couldn’t find anybody else who was doing what I was doing,” she says — but Samuel is an expert in “Cuddle Sutra,” having mastered over 100 non-sexual positions.

And besides, do you really need to be trained on how to hold someone? “I would hope it’s something everybody knows how to do,” Samuel said. “I just think we kind of lose interest or the drive in our society.”

Samuel hopes to change that, making the world a gentler place, “one snuggle at a time.”

http://gawker.com/5925777/professional-cuddler-trying-to-earn-a-living-snuggling-with-people-for-money

Carlos Romero, Accused Of Donkey Sex, Lambastes Florida’s ‘Backwards’ Attitude Towards Animal Sex

On By A.P.In Carlos Romero, Donkey, Florida, Human Behavior, Marion County, Nature, zoophiliaLeave a comment

Regardless of what you think of Carlos Romero’s penchant for donkey sex, he certainly has courage in his convictions.

Romero, 31, was arrested Monday and charged with misdemeanor sexual activity with an animal, by officials in Ocala, Fla., but believes the real outrage is that the Sunshine State is “backwards” towards zoophilia.

The charges stem from an incident last month where a witness reportedly saw Romero with his pants down “up against the rear of the donkey,” TheSmokingGun.com reported.

Romero reportedly stepped away from the donkey and pulled up his pants when he saw the witness.

However, when Marion County detectives questioned him on Friday, he admitted that when the donkey is in heat, he will stand behind her, scratch her withers, and masturbate. He says he “likes the way her fur feels” on his privates,” according to WSTP-TV.

Romero told detectives he had done this five or six times and added that “Florida is a backwards state and people frown on zoophilia here,” according to the arrest report.

The victimized animal is a 21-month-old miniature donkey named Doodle he purchased two months ago, according to Ocala.com.

The animal has since been removed by animal control, much to Romero’s dismay.

I want my donkey back. There’s got to be due process here. I paid $500 for her,” Romero told a judge at the Marion County Jail Tuesday morning according to Ocala.com.

In a jailhouse interview, Romero told the website that he doesn’t “feel comfortable around people” and has “never been a people person.”

In addition, he says that animals “are usually there for you,” “do not seek other pleasures” and their feelings are “100 percent honest,” compared to humans who “stab you in the back, give you diseases, lie to you” and are “promiscuous.”

Romero told the website he’d been having sex with horses since he was 18, but didn’t feel Doodle was ready since “she’s blooming into maturity.”

At Romero’s first court appearance, Romero entered a plea of not guilty. Bail remained at $2,000, and his next court appearance on Oct. 9.

Bob Nelson, an overseer at the farm, said he has told sheriff’s deputies that he does not want Romero there.
“I don’t want to be associated with anyone like that,” Nelson told the website on Tuesday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/carlos-romero-donkey-sex_n_1894146.html

Montana Quietly Passed a Measure That Says Corporations Aren’t Humans

On By A.P.In corporation, Government, Montana, super PAC, Wealth and PowerLeave a comment

 

There’s one big, but overlooked, development from the election last night: In Montana, a referendum to state that corporations don’t have constitutional rights has unofficially passed by a 75 percent to 25 percent margin. Initiative number 166 stated that “corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights because they are not human beings,” and thus is a blow to the Citizen’s United ruling that helped make this presidential election the most expensive one ever.

Montana has been a leader in trying to buck Citizen’s United, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that equated money with free speech and allowed corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to campaigns through super PACs. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a ruling by the Montana Supreme Court that limited political spending in state and local elections. That ruling, which came without a hearing as liberal justices wanted, only strengthened Citizen’s United, but now Montana’s voting populace has fired back.

Montana has long had some of the country’s toughest campaign spending laws, which mostly crumbled under the Supreme Court. According to a nice background piece at CNN, the tradition has its roots in Montana’s mining industry, where copper barons used to buy off politicians in the 1800s. Because the sparsely-populated state is fueled by large mining operations, advocates worry that Citizen’s United will allow mining interests to take control of the state’s legislature yet again.

It’s unclear right now what will happen next. While the initiative states that corporations are not human beings and thus don’t have constitutional rights — Citizen’s United was based on an interpretation of the First Amendment — any changes to spending rules in state and local elections are likely to wind up in the Supreme Court again, which may or may not prompt an actual review of Citizen’s United. (Some folks think that the Supreme Court is finally ready to take another look at what has become one of its most controversial rulings in ages, especially now that the election is over.) But one thing is for sure: In Montana, unlimited corporate spending on elections is resoundingly unpopular.

http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/11/7/montana-quietly-passed-a-measure-that-says-corporations-aren-t-humans–2

Thanks to Kebmodee for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

Brazilian woman sells virginity for $780,000

On By A.P.In Alexander Stepanov, Brazil, Catarina Migliorini, Japan, Justin Sisely, Natsu, Prostitution, Virgins WantedLeave a comment

A 20-year-old Brazilian woman has sold her virginity for $780,000 in an online auction to a Japanese man known simply as Natsu.

Catarina Migliorini’s virginity auction was organized by Virgins Wanted, the project of Australian filmmaker Justin Sisely.

Both Migliorini and a young male virgin, Alexander Stepanov, hocked their virginity online. Stepanov’s first time went to a buy identified as Nene B. from Brazil for a mere $3,000 US.

The auction had been live since Sept. 17, but until Wednesday – the last day of bidding – the highest bid for Migliorini had been $150,000. Natsu beat out five other high rollers who all bid in excess of $600,000 for the chance to bed the virgin.

Under the rules of the auction, Migliorini will be examined by a gynecologist and will “provide the winning bidder with medical evidence of her virginity.” Stepanov’s virginity cannot be medically proven, so he and two of his family members will give “statutory declarations to support his claim.”

Speaking last month with the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, Migliorini said she got involved with the project two years ago when she saw a story about an Australian filmmaker who was looking for a virgin. She claims she wants to open an NGO with her winnings and invest in a public-housing project for poor families in Santa Catarina, where she was born. But speaking with the Huffington Post recently, Sisely said he was skeptical of Migliorini’s purported good intentions.

“I was surprised she said that because in all my dealings with her, she made it clear that it was a business decision for her,” he said. “Now, given how big this story is in Brazil, she’s trapped. If she doesn’t give any money to charity, she’s going to look bad.”

The winning bidders must submit to a medical examination and a police check, and cannot be intoxicated during their time with the virgins. No kissing or fellatio is allowed, and although the virgins and the winners are to agree about the length and duration of the sex, “the minimum consummation time is one hour,” the rules state.

Migliorini, who said she doesn’t think of it as prostitution, said the sex will happen in a private airplane.

The Virgins Wanted website said only that “the sexual act will take place where it is not illegal.”

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2012/10/25/20307921.html

 

California woman breastfeeds her dog

On By A.P.In California, Dogs, Human Behavior, Nature, Terri Graham1 Comment

A California mom who couldn’t breastfeed her children says she gets maternal satisfaction by breastfeeding her pet dog.

In an interview with the U.K. edition of Closer magazine, Terri Graham, 44, said nursing her pug, Spider, makes her feel like a better mom.

She told the magazine she was devastated when she couldn’t breastfeed daughter Leesa, now 9, and son Lucas, now 2.

She said Spider developed a taste for her breast milk in 2010, after he licked the nipple of a bottle she had pumped to feed baby Lucas.

“People might say I’m a freak, but having Spider suckle on my boob means I finally feel complete and a better mother,” Lucas is quoted as saying in the article, which appears in the Oct. 20 issue of the magazine, under the heading “Outrageous Mum.”

And Spider gets something out of it, too, she said — nutrition and love.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2012/10/19/20294376.html

Slithering movie theater thief stole up to $70,000 per week

On By A.P.In Anthony Johnson, antisocial personality, Crime, Human Behavior, movie theater thief, PennsylvaniaLeave a comment

 

A Pennsylvania man was convicted of slithering around theater floors and stealing moviegoers’ wallets and purses.

Anthony Johnson, 49, may have taken as much as $70,000 per week, according to authorities. Along with his accomplices, Johnson used the stolen credit cards and IDs to secure cash advances at local casinos. They also purchased thousands of dollars worth of goods from area retailers.

An accomplice testified against Johnson and detailed how the thefts occurred. Because the crimes necessitated purses on the floor, Johnson and a female accomplice would often buy tickets to female-oriented films like “Eat, Pray, Love” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” The pair sat in seats that allowed them a clear view of where the female patrons stored their handbags.

According to courtroom testimony, once the lights went down and the movie started, “Johnson crawled on the floor, removed credit cards from the stored purses, and returned the wallet to the purses.” Johnson would then buy things like gift cards, iPods, and sunglasses and sell them at discounted prices. Johnson had equipment that he used to make fake IDs to match the credit cards.

Now the jig is up. Johnson will be sentenced on January 14. He faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the seven charges of stealing credit cards. He also faces additional years behind bars due to his identity theft convictions.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/slithering-theater-thief-convicted-faces-serious-jail-time-192450316.html