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Those latex gloves Transportation Security Administration agents wear while giving airline passengers those infamous full-body pat-downs apparently aren't there for the safety and security of passengers – only the TSA agents. That's the word being discussed on dozens of online forums and postings after it was noted that the agents wear the same gloves to pat down dozens, perhaps hundreds, of passengers, not changing them even though the Centers for Disease Control in its online writings has emphasized the important of clean hands to prevent the exchange of loathsome afflictions. "Herpes via latex glove ... ewwww," wrote one participant on...

You may have heard of the Shanghainese hairy crabs or Chinese mitten crabs, so called because of the furry growth on their pincers and legs, but not many Malaysian diners would be familiar with their exquisite taste. IN Shanghainese cuisine, steamed hairy crabs are a seasonal delicacy to be savoured in autumn and winter, starting around late September. But the best specimens are harvested from two famous lakes – Lake Tai and Lake Yangcheng – in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, from September till December. Due to the relative proximity of the two lakes to Shanghai, the crabs are identified or “branded”...

SYDNEY – In the world of fiddler crabs, the best form of protection for females is, apparently, having sex with the neighbors, according to an Australian study published Wednesday. Researchers from The Australian National University in Canberra found male fiddler crabs will happily defend a nearby female against intruders — partly because the females will dole out sex in return. "The fact that the neighbor comes over and helps to defend another territorial individual is pretty unusual," said Michael Jennions, who helped conduct the study, the results of which were published in the journal Biology Letters. "This study shows, for...

SCIENTISTS have found that - just like some people - fiddler crabs will exchange favours for sex. Male crabs will protect a female neighbour but do so partly in exchange for sex. Australian National University researchers Richard Milner, Michael Jennions and Patricia Blackwell in a study published in Biology Letters looked at how female crabs - those without the large claw - go about protecting their territories, The Courier-Mail reports. They found sexual offerings lead to neighbourhood coalitions, where a male crab protected females from homeless males seeking territory. The males' giant claw is the largest weapon relative to body...

The patches of dense hair, located near the white-tipped pincers, earned the Chinese mitten crab its deceptively benign name. But there is nothing soft or comforting about these invasive Asian critters, and lately that have taken a sudden shine to New Jersey waters. While long treasured as a culinary delight in their native East Asia, the crabs have become a scourge to most everyone else. In Europe, they have eroded estuaries by burrowing into earthen dams and river banks. In California, the only state where they have gained a major foothold so far, mitten tribes have exploded into a major...

A favored method of preparing fresh crabs is to simply boil them alive. A longstanding related question: Do they feel pain? Yes, researchers now say. Not only do crabs suffer pain, a new study found, but they retain a memory of it (assuming they aren't already dead on your dinner plate). The scientists say its time for new laws to consider the suffering of all crustaceans. The study involved using wires to deliver shocks to the bellies of hermit crabs, which, being hermits, often take up residence in left-behind mollusc shells. The crabs that were shocked scampered out of their...

The species of crab which is wreaking havoc in the Thames could soon be under control - and in our tummies. Scientists have deemed the river's Chinese mitten crab population fit for human consumption. They believe that catching the pest and selling it in restaurants and shops could be a viable way of controlling its numbers. The crab, named for its bristled claws which resemble mittens, has been colonising the Thames and other rivers around England. It burrows into and destroys fragile riverbanks, preys on other species and competes with native animals such as crayfish. The idea of harvesting the...

McALLEN - Ever on the lookout for drugs, guns and money, customs agents at a Hidalgo County international bridge crossing busted 191 units of an unusual sort of contraband -- hermit crabs. A 49-year-old Mexican citizen from McKinney, Texas, was crossing back into the United States at the Hidalgo Port of Entry when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found a box full of live hermit crabs inside his vehicle and another bag of the crabs in the trunk,..

It lurked in the wreck of an old battleship 160ft below the surface – a true monster of the deep. Diver Paul Worsley could hardly believe the size of the giant crab he found in Lyme Bay, off the Dorset coast. Careful to avoid its fearsome claws, he managed to get it into a bag and raise it to the surface. For his efforts, he can congratulate himself on capturing what experts believe is the biggest edible crab ever landed. It weighed 17lb and had a shell width of 12in while each of its massive claws was as big as...

Stalin's last army: hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe - By Julius Strauss in Kirkenes, Northern Norway Millions of giant Pacific crabs, whose ancestors were brought to Europe by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, are marching south along Norway's coast, devouring everything in their path.The monster crabs, which can weigh up to 25lb and have a claw-span of more than three feet, are proving so resilient that scientists fear they could end up as far south as Gibraltar. Energised by a mysterious population explosion a decade ago, whole armies of the crustaceans - known as the...

It’s an invasive species problem that Alaska would love to have. Millions of snow crabs are on the march in the Barents Sea, and no one knows how they got there or what to do with them – yet. The Barents Sea, which straddles Norway and Russia, is the same source of all of that jumbo king crab – much of it caught illegally'a0– that wreaked havoc on Alaska’s market for the past couple of years. But unlike king crabs, which were purposely introduced by Russia into those waters in 1966, the opilio (snow) crab is a true invasive species....

Stalin's Last Army: Hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe - The Telegraph - UK ^ | February 28, 2004 | Julius Strauss Posted on 02/25/2007 5:02:02 PM PST by UnklGene Stalin's last army: hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe - By Julius Strauss in Kirkenes, Northern Norway Millions of giant Pacific crabs, whose ancestors were brought to Europe by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, are marching south along Norway's coast, devouring everything in their path.The monster crabs, which can weigh up to 25lb and have a claw-span of more than three feet,...

(TAIPEI, Taiwan) -- The Taipei customs yesterday confiscated three kilograms of hairy crabs illegally imported from China in an express package and will destroy the imports in accordance with the law, according to Cheng Hui-wen, director of the Bureau of Food Sanitation (BFS) under the Cabinet-level Department of Health. The package, imported under the name of "plastic products," bears a product origin of "Yang Cheng Lake," the exact production base of the famous Dazha crabs that are much sought-after by local gourmets, Cheng said. Cheng continued the illegally imported hairy crabs will be destroyed immediately, as they have yet to...

Environmentalists and fishermen in northern Norway are warning of a Russian invasion of alien crustaceans which are threatening to ruin the local sea fauna. They say the giant red king crab is spreading with alarming speed from Russian waters along the Norwegian coast, destroying everything in its wake. The crab has few natural enemies, and is considered to be an omnivore, digesting everything from cod larvae to other crabs. But it is also a sought-after delicacy. Lars Petter Oeye takes gourmet tourists on fjord crab safaris near the border with Russia, high up in Norway's Arctic north. Here, crabs are...

AUSTIN, Texas — Customers craving fresh crustaceans will have to look beyond Whole Foods Market Inc. after the natural-foods grocery chain decided Thursday to stop selling live lobsters and crabs on the grounds that it's inhumane. The Austin-based grocer spent seven months studying the sale of live lobsters from ship to supermarket aisle, trying to determine whether the creatures suffer along the way. In some stores, they experimented with "lobster condos," filling tanks with stacks of large pipes the critters can crawl inside. And they moved the tanks behind seafood counters and away from children's tapping fingers. Ultimately, Whole Foods...

Sinister secret of snail's escape By Richard Black Environment Correspondent, BBC News website Right-handed flame box crabs find left-handedness hard to swallow Snails with left-handed shells can have a big advantage in life - predators may find it impossible to eat them. That is the conclusion of research just published in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters. Scientists from the US examined whelks and cone shells preyed on by the crab Calappa flammea. They found the crab is unable to open left-handed shells because it only has a tool for peeling them on its right claw; so it discards them....

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. THEY are the known as the terminators of the world's waterways,which can devastate entire species of fish and shellfish in a few short months. Now an exotic Chinese crab which preys on British native species is on the verge of taking over the country's major waterways, environmental experts have warned. A study showed invading mitten crabs, which can grow to the size of a dinner plate, could threaten other marine life. Newcastle University researchers have warned there could be a population explosion of the creatures. The study authors predict the mitten...

Anti-American media (hero) Cindy Sheehan is taking her fixation with President Bush to new depths with her announcement that she will hold a President's Day protest in Houston outside the private residence of the parents of President Bush, targeting his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush.Sheehan gave this description of her upcoming media (stunt):For the love of God, can't you make him stop? Recently, it was revealed that George only interacts with four people: Laura, Condi, Karen Hughes and his mom. His mom, the Ice Queen who didn't want her "pretty mind" burdened with the images of flag draped coffins...

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...