Yearly Archives: 2012

At least 27 people, including 18 children were killed on Friday when a shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, CBS News reported, citing unnamed officials.

If confirmed, it would be one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

The holiday season tragedy follows a series of shooting rampages in the U.S. this year that have killed multiple victims, and it was certain to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.

The Principal and school Psychologist were among the dead, CNN said. Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots with some saying as many as 100 were fired.

The suspected shooter, 24, was armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet-proof vest, WABC reported.

There were unconfirmed reports of a second shooter.

Another person was being held in police custody after he was detained in the woods near the school wearing camouflage pants, CBS reported.

Sandy Hook Elementary School teaches children from kindergarten through fourth grade - roughly ages 5 to 10.

``It was horrendous,’’ said parent Brenda Lebinski, who rushed to the school where her daughter is in the third grade.

``Everyone was in hysterics - parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don't know if they were shot, but they were bloodied.’’

Television images showed police and ambulances at the scene, and parents rushing toward the school. Parents were seen reuniting with their children and taking them home.

``This is going to be bad,’’ a state official told Reuters, requesting anonymity because the scope of the tragedy remained uncertain.

President Barack Obama was notified and would receive regular updates throughout the day, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

``We're still waiting for more information about the incident in Connecticut,’’ Carney said when asked about the president's reaction to it.

Carney called the event ``tragic’’ and said there would be time later for a discussion of policy implications.

Obama remains committed to trying to renew a ban on assault weapons, Carney said.

All Newtown schools were placed in lockdown after the shooting, the Newtown Public School District said.

Lebinski said a mother who was at the school during the shooting told her a "masked man" entered the principal's office and may have shot the principal.

He said the principal was "severely injured."

Lebinski's daughter's teacher "immediately locked the door to the classroom and put all the kids in the corner of the room."

Danbury Hospital, about 18 km west of the school, had received three patients from the scene, a hospital spokeswoman told NBC Connecticut.

The mayor of Danbury, Mark Boughton, told MSNBC: ``They are very serious injuries.’’

A girl interviewed by NBC Connecticut described hearing seven loud "booms" as she was in gym class. Other children began crying and teachers moved the students to a nearby office,’’ she said.

``A police officer came in and told us to run outside and so we did,’’ the unidentified girl said on camera.

One child was carried from Sandy Hook Elementary School by a police officer, and the child appeared to have been wounded, the town's weekly newspaper, the Newtown Bee, said on its website.

Connecticut State Police said their officers were at the scene with local police but provided no additional details. The emergency call to police occurred at 9:41 a.m., state police said.

Sandy Hook is one of four elementary schools in the district.

The U.S. has experienced a number of mass shooting rampages this year, most recently in Oregon, where a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall on Tuesday, killing two people and then himself.

The deadliest attack came in July at a midnight screening of a Batman film in Colorado that killed 12 people and wounded 58.

Hajiya Zanaib Kuchi, the Minister of State for Power, on Friday said that the Federal Ministry of Power would be restructured in 2013 to deal with the inevitable challenges facing the sector Kuchi, who made this known at the 4th Quarterly Power Summit ...

The Senate on Friday said it adopted the death penalty as punishment for acts of terrorism due to Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances. The National Assembly at its sitting on Thursday approved the death penalty for acts of terrorism in Nigeria follo...

The police on Friday arraigned six persons before an Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court for allegedly beating a pregnant woman, Favour Michael, at Wuse Market, Abuja. The accused persons are Hashimu Sani, Idris Garba, Adamu Auwal, Sabiu Idris, Abuba...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) may issue new arrest warrants against rebel commanders and government functionaries for blocking aid to Sudan's troubled Darfur, Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.

In an address to the UN Security Council, the Prosecutor said Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir continued to authorise more attacks and new crimes were being committed while the Council remained inactive on the same.

``This Council should be even more concerned about the situation in Darfur, given that crimes continue to be committed, including by those already indicted by the Court,’’ Bensouda said.

``The question that remains to be answered is how many more civilians must be killed, injured and displaced for this Council to be spurred into doing its part?’’

The ICC Prosecutor said she was more concerned about the continuing pattern of attacks by the government in its efforts to quell what it considers to be a rebellion.

``I have indicated specific incidents of concern and which seem to represent an ongoing pattern of crimes committed pursuant to the Government-avowed goal of stopping the rebellion in Darfur,’’ the Prosecutor said.

ICC Judges ruled in 2010 that genocide was being committed under the watch of the international community and indicted Al Bashir on accusations of harbouring an elaborate plan to exterminate the Zaghawa tribe in Darfur.

Among indicted include Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who reported to then Minister of State for the Interior Ahmed Harun, who himself reported to then Minister of the Interior Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein.

``Their responsibility is not a mere consequence of their official roles.

``In all of these cases there are witnesses that describe in detail their active participation in the strategy to commit crimes as well as in the execution of that strategy,’’ Bensouda said.

The Prosecutor says she will consider whether further investigations and additional applications for arrest warrants are necessary to address ongoing crimes, including those undertaken with the aim of thwarting delivery of humanitarian aid.

The recent attacks on the AU.-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) peacekeepers as well as bombardments and other direct attacks on civilian populations are also being considered.
(PANA/NAN)

When a person lies, they experience a “Pinocchio effect,” which is an increase in the temperature around the nose and in the orbital muscle in the inner corner of the eye. When we perform a considerable mental effort our face temperature drops, and when we have an anxiety attack our face temperature rises.

Researchers from the University of Granada, Emilio Gómez Milán and Elvira Salazar López have been pioneers in applying thermography to the field of Psychology, and they have obtained very innovative and interesting results.

Thus, sexual excitement and desire can be identified in men and women using thermography, since they induce an increase in chest and genital temperature. This study demonstrates that -in physiological terms- men and women get excited at the same time, even although women say they are not excited or only slightly excited.

They said they have discovered that when a mental effort is made performing difficult tasks, being interrogated on a specific event or lying the face temperature changes.

When we lie on our feelings, the temperature around our nose raises and a brain element called “insula” is activated. The insula is a component of the brain reward system, and only activates when we experience real feelings (called “qualias”).

The insula is involved in the detection and regulation of body temperature. Therefore, there is a strong negative correlation between insula activity and temperature increase: the more active the insule (the greater the feeling) the lower the temperature change, and viceversa, the researchers’ state.

Researchers also determined the thermal footprint of aerobic exercise and different dance modalities such as ballet when a person is dancing flamenco the temperature in their buttocks drops and increases in their forearms. That is the thermal footprint of flamenco, and each dance modality has a specific thermal footprint, he explains.

The researchers have demonstrated that temperature asymmetries in both sides of the body and local temperature changes are associated with the physical, mental and emotional status of the subject. The thermogram is a somatic marker of subjective or mental states and allows us see what a person is feeling or thinking, he states.
A new study shows a link between your nose and lying. Much like Pinocchio.

—Dailymail Londo

Strong Sense Of Smell Linked To A Happy, Lasting Relationship
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But it seems that finding the perfect mate has less to do with how they look, and more to do with whether they get up your nose.

Researchers have found that a good sense of smell is key to successful, lasting relationships. They analysed data from men and women born with no sense of smell, known as anosmiacs, and compared the results with healthy individuals.

They discovered that a faulty sense of smell can led to insecurity and problems socialising and finding love for both sexes, although men were particularly affected.

On average men born without a sense of smell had two sexual partners, compared to ten for a normal male.

Although it didn’t affect the number of relationships for women – both types’ averaged four lovers – those without a sense of smell were 20 per cent more insecure about their partnerships, according to the research, published in the journal Biological Psychology.

Thomas Hummel, of Dresden University’s Smell and Taste Clinic, said, “In general, those with anosmia don’t know whether they have bad breath, stinky armpits, are drinking rotten milk or living in fishy-smelling apartments.

“Constantly wondering whether you smell bad makes a person insecure, and that could spill over into the person’s love life.”

Smell has long been portrayed as a trigger for arousal in men in a number of films, including Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman, where lead character Colonel Frank Slade can name or describe the appearance of women by their perfume alone.