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Somebody pass the butter. A recent Norwegian study reports that lobsters and crabs don't have the capacity to feel pain. And the animal rights nuts at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) -- who run a "lobster liberation" website -- must be steaming. Animal rights wackos have a long history of pursuing "lobster liberation." PETA's own website offers helpful "tips" on liberating lobsters from restaurants and supermarkets. It appears their pleas were taken to heart last year when PETA disciple and child actor Edward Furlong attempted to "liberate" a couple of lobsters from a Kentucky grocery store...

105-Pound Woman Wins Lobster-Eating Contest By Sara Leitch/Associated Press KENNEBUNK, Maine (AP) - America's top speed-eater wolfed down 38 lobsters in 12 minutes Saturday to win the World Lobster Eating Contest. Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., won $500 and a trophy belt for her efforts, consuming 9.76 pounds of lobster meat. Each contestant had a partner cracking the shells and pulling out the meat. Eleven competitors ate as many lobsters as they could in a 12-minute period, devouring a total of 300 pounds of the unshelled crustaceans. "I have a natural ability because of my stomach capacity," said Thomas, who...

Woman Eats 38 Lobsters in Eating Contest August 21, 2004 05:28 PM EDT KENNEBUNK, Maine - America's top speed-eater wolfed down 38 lobsters in 12 minutes Saturday to win the World Lobster Eating Contest. Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., won $500 and a trophy belt for her efforts, consuming 9.76 pounds of lobster meat. Each contestant had a partner cracking the shells and pulling out the meat. Eleven competitors ate as many lobsters as they could in a 12-minute period, devouring a total of 300 pounds. "I have a natural ability because of my stomach capacity," said Thomas, who weighs...

KEY WEST, Fla. - A woman who was upset about lobster divers in the canal behind her house in the Florida Keys was arrested after allegedly shooting at them with a handgun. Mary Alice Workman fired a shot near a pontoon boat Thursday as others warned divers participating in the state's annual two-day sport lobster hunt, witnesses told investigators. No one was injured. In a telephone interview Saturday with The Associated Press, Workman said she fired into the water and could see the bullet's downward path. "That's my canal, and they have no business in there," Workman said. "They was...

LONDON - Lobsters have long been known as solitary and territorial crustaceans — but timely and fashion conscious? Divers in northeast England were recently surprised to come across a giant lobster standing guard over a barnacle-encrusted watch at the bottom of a harbor. Maybe the lobster just knew a bargain: The watch was still ticking. The watch and its 2-foot-long guardian were found by divers doing maintenance work in Blyth harbor, officials said Thursday. "We're all highly experienced divers, and none of us has seen anything like this before," said Graham McDonnar, a member of the Lady Francis Dive Team....

BOSTON - Call it cryonics for crustaceans. A Connecticut company says its frozen lobsters sometimes come back to life when thawed. Trufresh began freezing lobsters with a technique it used for years on salmon after an offhand suggestion by some workers. It found that some lobsters revived after their subzero sojourns. Now, Trufresh is looking for partners to begin selling the lobsters commercially. The company was scheduled to attend the International Boston Seafood Show, which began Sunday, armed with video showing two undead lobsters squirming around after being frozen stiff in a minus-40 degree chemical brine for several minutes. Company...

Monster lobster dies before release By David Munson FRIENDSHIP LONG ISLAND (Feb 21, 2004): A last-ditch chance at freedom ended on a sad note Friday morning when a 14-pound lobster, affectionately dubbed Hercules, died on Friendship Long Island--just a few days after arriving from Washington state. Hercules poses with a more common two-pound lobster on Wednesday. (Images courtesy of Lobster Conservancy) Hercules has been the subject of considerable media attention in recent days. Estimated to be 40 or 50 years old, the lobster was purchased at a supermarket in Port Angeles, Wash. by eighth-grade teacher Melissa Withrow, whose class...

The American lobster fails to "get it on" with European female lobsters. This will probably save the European population of lobsters. Norwegian fishermen caught American lobsters within the Oslo fjord. Scientists who warned that the european species risked beeing jostled out because of the import of the American relative, now sound the all-clear according to TT (Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå). The courting of the American lobster male runs smooth, until it is time for the finale. Then the male suddenly becomes unsure - since he does not recognise the anatomy of the female lobster.

<p>IF YOU TOOK every failed, trendy educrat idea, packaged them in a school and put radical animal-rights activists in charge of it, you'd end up with something like the Humane Education Learning Community -- a K-6 charter school approved by Sacramento's San Juan Unified School District.</p>

A local man's bent for living la vida loca as a gay lobster has landed him in hot water in Provincetown, where steamed officials contend Mark Ceria is nothing more than a scavenger picking on tourists. Ceria, 50, a sculptor who calls himself ``Provincetown's first gay lobster,'' said he's been capering as a costumed crustacean since June, posing for snapshots in exchange for money ``to support my art.'' He feels no need to butter up his critics. ``People love me,'' he said yesterday after appearing in Orleans District Court as Mr. Lobster to plead not guilty to pot possession. ``The...

FBI agent pays fine in shooting into hotel coolerSito NegronLAS VEGAS SUNAn FBI agent who fired two rounds into a walk-in cooler at a Strip hotel in May has paid the Barbary Coast $12,517 for the damage and paid a $105 fine after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge, authorities said.John Hanson III still faces investigation by his agency, said Special Agent Todd Palmer, spokesman for the FBI Las Vegas office.Police reports indicate that Hanson, who was in Las Vegas to attend an accounting seminar, was caught on surveillance cameras firing his .45-caliber handgun into the walk-in cooler. No one...

The unusually paltry hauls that lobsterman Michael Marchetti began pulling from New England waters about three years ago were, he hoped, just temporary, a lingering effect of an oil spill that polluted southern New England waters in the mid-1990s. But his catch only got worse. Today, Marchetti and every lobsterman who fishes off southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island face an unexplained collapse of lobster stocks. A mysterious shell disease, warmer waters and overfishing are commonly cited causes for the nearly 50 percent drop in lobster landings in two years, but it's all still theory. The only certainty, Marchetti said, is...