Category: Human Behavior

Family sues after gravediggers ‘jumped on 91-year-old’s casket to squeeze it into hole that was too small’

On By A.P.In Empathy, FuneralsLeave a comment

 

Gravediggers jumped up and down on the coffin of an elderly woman to force it into a tight hole as her family looked on in horror, it has been claimed.

The workers at a Roman Catholic cemetery near Pittsburgh are also accused of poking the coffin with poles.

They are alleged to have carried jumped on 91-year-old Agnes Zimmick’s coffin after her funeral of on December 1, 2009.

Mr Zimmick’s family are now suing the Pittsburgh diocese and its Catholic Cemeteries Association.

Mrs Zimmic’s son, Theodore Zimmick, his daughter Lisa Carey, and granddaughter, Shannon Soxman complained after seeing ‘jumps and shoves’ on the coffin.

‘Frankly, it’s shocking this happened at a Catholic cemetery,’ the family’s lawyer, Richard Sandow told the the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

‘You’re not dealing with lumber. You’re dealing with the deceased. There were many jumps, shoves and stomps.’

Mrs Zimmick’s body was taken to the cemetery on December 1 after a Mass of Christian Burial which had been attended by the family.

After the funeral service, the family said they went to visit the graves of other family members, and then saw workers stamping and walking on the coffin and otherwise jamming it into the grave.

Annabelle McGannon, executive director of the US cemeteries association, says the family’s claims have been investigated and are ‘unfounded.’

She said: ‘The family filed a complaint and we investigated it thoroughly. We are confident after our investigation that the allegations are unfounded.

‘Beyond that, it’s our policy not to comment on issues in litigation.’

The 14-page lawsuit was filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. The family are seeking compensation for emotional distress and ‘tortious interference with dead bodies.’

Mr Sandow said the family do not want other grieving relatives to go through the same experience.

‘No member of the church was supervising the burial. It’s disappointing,’ Sandow said. ‘Her body is supposed to be handled appropriately.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067775/Family-sues-gravediggers-jumped-91-year-olds-casket-squeeze-hole-small.html#ixzz1g3feQYcA

New Study Identifies Empathy in Rats

On By A.P.In Empathy, Nature, Rat, Science, The Brain, Uncategorized1 Comment

The act of helping others out of empathy has long been associated strictly with humans and other primates, but new research shows that rats exhibit this prosocial behavior as well.
In the new study, laboratory rats repeatedly freed their cage-mates from containers, even though there was no clear reward for doing so. The rodents didn’t bother opening empty containers or those holding stuffed rats.

 
To the researchers’ surprise, when presented with both a rat-holding container and a one containing chocolate — the rats’ favorite snack — the rodents not only chose to open both containers, but also to share the treats they liberated.
 
Peggy Mason, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago and lead author of the new study, says that the research shows that our empathy and impulse to help others are common across other mammals.
 
“Helping is our evolutionary inheritance,” Mason told LiveScience. “Our study suggests that we don’t have to cognitively decide to help an individual in distress; rather, we just have to let our animal selves express themselves.”
 
Empathetic rats
In previous studies, researchers found that rodents show the simplest form of empathy, called emotional contagion — a phenomenon where one individual’s emotions spread to others nearby. For example, a crying baby will trigger the other babies in a room to cry as well. Likewise, rats will become distressed when they see other rats in distress, or they will display pain behavior if they see other rats in pain.
 
For the new study, Mason and her colleagues wanted to see if rats could go beyond emotional contagion and actively help other rats in distress. To do so, the rats would have to suppress their natural responses to the “emotions” of other rats, the result of emotional contagion. “They have to down-regulate their natural reaction to freeze in fear in order to actively help the other rat,” Mason explained.
 
The researchers began their study by housing rats in pairs for two weeks, allowing the rodents to create a bond with one another. In each test session, they placed a rat pair into a walled arena; one rat was allowed to roam free while the other was locked in a closed, transparent tube that could only be opened from the outside.
 
The free rat was initially wary of the container in the middle of the arena, but once it got over the fear it picked up from its cage-mate, it slowly began to test out the cage. After an average seven days of daily experiments, the free rat learned it could release its friend by nudging the container door open. Over time, the rat began releasing its cage-mate almost immediately after being placed into the arena.
 
“When the free rat opens the door, he knows exactly what he’s doing — he knows that the trapped rat is going to get free,” Mason said. “It’s deliberate, purposeful, helping behavior.”
 
The researchers then conducted other tests to make sure empathy was the driving force in the rats’ behavior. In one experiment, they rigged the container so that opening the door would release the captive rat into a separate arena. The free rat repeatedly set its cage-mate free, even though there was no reward of social interaction afterwards. [Like Humans, Chimps Show Selfless Behaviors]
 
True motivations
While it appears that the rats are empathetic, questions about the rodents’ true motivations still remain.
 
“It is unclear whether the rats sympathize with the distress of their cage-mates, or simply feel better as they alleviate the perceived distress of others,” Jaak Panksepp, a psychologist and neuroscientist at Washington State University, wrote in an article accompanying the study.
 
Mason says they don’t yet know if the free rats are acting to relieve their own distress, the distress of their cage-mates, or a combination of both, but this is definitely a topic for further research. She’s also looking to study if the rats would behave the same way if they weren’t cage-mates, and she would like to tease out the brain areas and genes involved in the behavior.
 
But, she says, “We now have this incredibly controlled, reproducible paradigm.” Other scientists should be able to use the model they developed to see if empathy and prosocial behavior are present in other animals, she said.
 
The study was published today in the journal Science.
 
 

Man Tries to Mug Professional Fighter

On By A.P.In Crime, ViolenceLeave a comment

 

The life of a mugger is a risky one, and not just because you’ve chosen a career path that will most likely end when you get arrested and tossed in jail.  No, holding strangers up for their valuables may be hazardous because there’s always that chance that you’re going to pick the wrong victim to rob and end up on the receiving end of a few well-placed fists of steel belonging to an MMA fighter.

Pictured is the bruised and battered face of Anthony Miranda, a Chicagoan and the alleged mugger who chose the absolute worst person to try and hold up when he attempted to rob a gentleman known only as Justin from Des Plaines, who also happens to be a 6-foot-2, 250-pound MMA fighter.

The incident occurred in Chicago’s Southwest Side this past Friday night, when, while sitting in his car, Justin was approached by Miranda who asked the soon-to-be victim for a light for his cigarette.  Things turned felonious when Miranda allegedly pulled a gun and demanded cash, Justin’s phone and keys, and got intense when the $30 Justin gave him didn’t suffice, and Miranda ordered the MMA expert out of the car at gunpoint.

Right about then the tables were turned, and things went wrong for the 24-year-old Miranda.  Terribly, terribly wrong.

From the Chicago Sun Times…

Justin said he looked at the man facing him, pistol pointing at his chest, and was pretty certain he was about to take a bullet.

“I wasn’t scared because I’m trained,” Justin explained.

Justin then demonstrated to a reporter the sudden, rather effective maneuver that disarmed his attacker.

“The round went off,” Justin continued. “I put him down to the ground. He was fighting. He didn’t want to give up.”

But at the same time, Justin said: “He was begging me to let him go. He said he has a baby.”

Justin then kept his attacker collared until police arrived.

For the record, the round that went off ended up in Miranda’s lower leg.  So instead of a handful of cash and a cell phone, the mugger has a hole in his ankle, a total mess where his face used to be, and, if he keeps going the way he is, a kid that won’t have a father around to help raise him.

http://lastangryfan.com/2011/12/mugging-an-mma-fighter-ends-with-predictable-results-to-muggers-face/

Police in England Lure and Capture Wanted Criminal With Fake Promise of Free Beer

On By A.P.In CrimeLeave a comment

Undercover officers at Derbyshire police sent letters to dozens of people who had evaded arrest asking them to ring a marketing company to collect a free crate of beer.

A total of 19 suspects fell for the hoax and called the number on the letter, which put them through to police officers based at Chesterfield Police Station.

They were told that they needed to arrange a date and time for the free alcohol to be dropped off at an agreed address.

But instead of being handed free ale the wanted men found themselves confronted by police, handcuffed and under arrest.

Chief Inspector Graham McLaughlin, who is leading the sting known as Operation Rocky, said: “These suspects are people who have managed to evade arrest for some time so we have used different tactics to find them.

“It has been very cost effective as it can take a lot of time and money to track people down.

“We use a variety of methods to arrest those suspected of committing criminal offences and we will continue to use new tactics when necessary.”

Alleged offences committed by some of those arrested range from burglary and robbery to a serious sexual assault.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8883575/Police-trick-19-criminals-into-coming-forward-with-free-beer.html

60 Year Old Laura Chavez Stabs Her Boyfriend For Cheating, at Monopoly

On By A.P.In Crime, Human BehaviorLeave a comment

A New Mexico woman repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend after accusing him of cheating during a Monopoly game abotu 6 weeks ago.

Laura Chavez, 60, and her boyfriend were playing the popular board game at her Santa Fe apartment when the dispute occurred. Chavez, pictured above, admitted stabbing Clyde “Butch” Smith, with a kitchen knife.

Police reported that both Chavez and the 48-year-old Smith appeared to be intoxicated.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/assault/new-mexico-monopoly-stabbing-976532

Jasha Lottin, Oregon Woman, Took Nude Photos Inside Horse Carcass

On By A.P.In Human Behavior1 Comment

 

After caring for a 32-year-old horse in declining health, a woman identified by police as Jasha Lottin and her boyfriend, John Frost, put it down with a single gunshot from a large calibre rifle.

What they did next has sparked “extreme emotional reactions,” and even death threats.

“People are shocked … horrified. It’s extremely shocking,” Washington County Sgt. Dave Thompson told The Huffington Post.

Once the couple shot and gutted the horse, 21-year-old Lottin took off her clothing, climbed inside the carcass and took photos. After posting them online, the couple was met with an avalanche of criticism that lead to a police investigation for animal cruelty.

As well as photos of Lottin inside the horse’s body, there are many others, one of which appears to depict the couple posing with the animal’s heart.

The couple’s explanation for the photos — and later eating the animal? According to authorities at the department, the pair wanted to feel “one with the horse” and nature.

“This is definitely number one on the oddity list,” Thompson said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

According to the incident report obtained by The Huffington Post, detectives ruled no charges would be filed against the pair since nothing they did is technically illegal in the state of Oregon.

“The fact that this woman crawled into the horse between killing and eating does not constitute a crime,” Thompson said.

“If they had killed the horse just for the purpose of taking the photographs, then we would have had a case for animal cruelty,” he added

Lottin’s mother told KOIN that since the incident, they have received death threats and other hostile messages from people countrywide, accusing her daughter of everything from Satan worship to perversion.

According to Thompson, both Lottin and Frost have currently left the state temporarily. While there are strict U.S. laws against desecration of human bodies, actions with animal bodies have little to no regulation.

If you want to see some of the pictures, click here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/jasha-lottin-oregon-woman_n_1074050.html#s447777&title=WARNING_GRAPHIC_CONTENT

Man Tries to Remove Wart from his Finger with a Shotgun

On By A.P.In Human BehaviorLeave a comment

 

The wart on Sean Murphy’s left middle finger wouldn’t go away despite doctors and creams, so he attempted to blow it off with his shotgun.  Murphy pulled the trigger, and once the dust had settled, his entire middle finger was gone.

He was handed a sixteen-week prison sentence and 100 hours of community service for illegal possession of a firearm.

 Murphy stood by his decision, telling the Yorkshire Post: “The best thing is that the wart has gone. It was giving me a lot of trouble.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43423785

Chinese Butter Bridge

On By A.P.In Engineering, suicideLeave a comment

 

 

A thousand-foot-long bridge in southeast China has been coated in butter by authorities, in order to hinder suicide attempts and the traffic jams they cause. The result is surfaces too slippery to climb.

The bridge has been a favorite for some time among people looking to end it all, and officials did everything they could think of to discourage the practice. They put up fences, they positioned guards at each end, but ultimately nothing worked.

That’s when someone presumably discovered a mountain of butter sitting idle in a warehouse somewhere.

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/09/20/chinese-butter-bridge-hinders-jumpers/

 

 

Putting Ferrets Down Your Pants For Charity?

On By A.P.In Human BehaviorLeave a comment

 

Animal welfare groups in Britain say they are outraged by a school fundraising contest that involves placing ferrets down the trousers of competitors.

The charity “ferret legging” event is the idea of retired school headmaster Frank Bartlett, 67, who argued the competition would not harm the ferrets since they were docile, “would probably go to sleep,” and would be placed down baggy trousers, The Telegraph newspaper reported Saturday.

But animal welfare groups say the endurance contest, in which the winning competitor is the last one to release the ferret from his trousers, would cause the animals unnecessary stress and discomfort.

Bartlett said the “lighthearted” contest would cause no harm to the ferrets.

“The event is being undertaken by people who have been involved in ferret care and welfare for many years,” he said.

“We would never dream of doing anything that resulted in distress to any animal.”

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/05/16/Ferrets-down-trousers-draws-outrage/UPI-27291274041171/#ixzz1egvKZha3