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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who are spanked when they misbehave are more likely to be anxious and aggressive than children who are disciplined in nonphysical ways, research shows. This is true even if spanking is the "cultural norm." Whether parents should spank their children or use other forms of physical discipline is controversial. Some experts argue that children should not be spanked when they act out citing evidence that it leads to more, rather than fewer, behavior problems and it could escalate into physical abuse. There are data to support this argument. Other experts, however, argue that the...

The Embassy of Venezuela in Mexico has been shown, by very different sectors in that country and in Mexico, to be an instrument of the ideological propaganda and political expansion of the personal interests of Hugo Chávez. Observations of interventionism include giving electoral support to the PRD [Democratic Revolutionary Party of Mexico], even "espionage," as well as a presumed importation of high caliber weapons and contacts with the FARC, ETA and Al Qaeda. Mexico City | Tuesday, 15 November 2005 | Vladimir Villegas is a person of Euro-African heritage showing a good sense of humor and charisma. Tall, robust, sporting...

You know things are really getting out of hand when TV hostess Oprah Winfrey decides to go jihad. Yes, Oprah, the waddling guru of the bored middle-class at-home housewives, has repeatedly taken time off from teaching her followers about closet organization and thigh reduction, in order to promote the Palestinian cause. She has run one-sided articles about the Middle East conflict on her show and and in her O Magazine. Whenever the subject of terrorism is broached on her show, Oprah studiously avoids allowing anyone to link it to Palestinians or the Hizbollah. She interviewed mothers of suicide bombers who...

China | North East Source: Times of India NEW DELHI: Hardly a month after India and China signed a landmark agreement to settle their border dispute, a Chinese Army patrol has intruded deep into Indian territory and stayed there for close to 24 hours before withdrawing on May 10. The border violation took place in Asafila area of the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. This is the same area where on June 26, 2003, a Chinese Army team had intruded into India, stripped Indian intelligence officials of personal weapons and held them hostage for several hours.Chinese army intrudes into...

SALT LAKE CITY - Meanness in girls can start when they still are toddlers, a Brigham Young University study found. It found that girls as young as 3 or 4 will use manipulation and peer pressure to get what they want. "It could range from leaving someone out to telling their friends not to play with someone to saying, 'I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party,'" said Craig Hart, study co-author and professor of marriage, family and human development at BYU. "Some kids are really adept at being mean and nasty." They regularly exclude others and threaten...

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- The shooting last week of a Texas high school football coach -- allegedly by a player's father -- was just the latest and most extreme example of the threats and assaults that teachers around the country say they are increasingly being subjected to by parents.... "You listen to the talk show hosts on the radio, you watch the confrontational programs on TV. We're all more sharp and pointed and critical and demanding of each other," district spokeswoman Mary Waggoner said.

The more television 4-year-old children watch the more likely they are to become bullies later on in school, a U.S. study said Monday. At the same time, children whose parents read to them, take them on outings and just generally pay attention to them are less likely to become bullies, said the report from the University of Washington. Bullying can now be added "to the list of potential negative consequences of excessive television viewing along with obesity, inattention and other types of aggression," said Frederick Zimmerman who led the research. "Our findings suggest some steps that can be taken with...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - How long a man's second finger is relative to his fourth finger appears to predict whether he is prone to be physically aggressive toward others, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. But it's not finger length that causes aggression, study author Allison A. Bailey warned in an interview. She explained that the important factor is the male hormone testosterone. Fetuses are exposed to various levels of this hormone in the womb, and research shows that men who were exposed to higher levels tend to have shorter second...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - How long a man's second finger is relative to his fourth finger appears to predict whether he is prone to be physically aggressive toward others, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. But it's not finger length that causes aggression, study author Allison A. Bailey warned in an interview. She explained that the important factor is the male hormone testosterone. Fetuses are exposed to various levels of this hormone in the womb, and research shows that men who were exposed to higher levels tend to have shorter second...

A company selected to build a toll road from Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio has a reputation for aggressively collecting money from motorists, treating customers poorly and frequently raising tolls without public input. Those are among the complaints lodged against Cintra -- selected in December to build the first leg of the Trans-Texas Corridor -- by motorists on the company's toll roads in Toronto and Chicago. Across North America, private companies such as Cintra are spending billions of dollars to build roads in exchange for the right to collect tolls for 50 to 100 years -- relieving taxpayers of the...

My beautiful German Shepherd has become more agressive lately and the time to decide his future is upon us before something happens to us or someone else. We got him from a breeder of Schuntzhund shepherds. We took him to some training until we decided he was to inclined to be aggressive and that Schuntzhund training was not what he needed. His breeder even told us she knew he would bite (saw it in him as a puppy -- but big money made her not mention it to us apparently--that was the last time we took him to Schuntzhund --...

WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - It may be wise to check out a stranger's ears before picking a fight, U.S. researchers advised on Monday. They found that women and men with asymmetrical extremities -- ears, fingers or feet of different sizes or shapes -- were more likely to react aggressively when annoyed or provoked. This could make sense, the team at Ohio State University said. Factors such as smoking or drinking during a pregnancy could stress a fetus in various ways, causing not only slight physical imperfections but also poorer impulse control. "Stressors during pregnancy may lead to asymmetrical body...

Scientists yesterday raised the prospect of drugs being developed to treat violent behaviour. As experts gathered in London for a conference to discuss the role that genes play in aggression, Donald Pfaff of Rockefeller University said there was enough known about how genes influence behaviour in animals to consider designing human medicines to fight the rising tide of antisocial behaviour. "One question we're looking at is opportunities for pharmacogenomics," Professor Pfaff said. "The use of cleverly designed drugs to control inappropriate aggression and violence [could] bring that individual into a range where normal social controls, including a good family environment...

[ Telephone Interview with Major Kazim Muhammad Zayir, in Baghdad, by Anchorwoman Lina Zahr al-Din, in the Doha Studios --Live] [FBIS Report] Doha Al-Jazirah Television in Arabic at 0819 GMT on 13 August carries live a three-minute telephone interview with Major Kazim Muhammad Zayir, in Baghdad, by anchorwoman Lina Zahr al-Din, in the Doha studio. Asked to verify reports that Al-Sadr City's police have detached themselves from the Baghdad Police, he says:" Al-Sadr City's Police declare their solidarity with our great people and the city's residents. We condemn the aggression by the US forces and their collaborating allies in the...

Scientists find genetic link to bad behaviour By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent (Filed: 20/07/2004) The throw of the genetic dice helps to determine whether you see the world with pent up anger or placidly turn the other cheek, a study suggests. Researchers have found evidence that some people inherit a genetic make-up that makes them more prone to aggression and violence. However, the "bad behaviour gene" is activated only if people were neglected or abused as children, scientists say. The findings add to the growing evidence that the "nature versus nuture" debate is far too simplistic. Behaviour is actually influenced...

After two decades of study and debate, a learned group of international law scholars, human rights activists and renegade priests has discovered the most effective way to end war: require every nation to obtain permission before invading another country. IC is proud to present this draft copy of their proposal...Instigation of Hostilities Permission SlipIf you have plans to instigate hostilities, you MUST fill out this form in its entirety and return to Kofi Annan, United Nations, New York, NY 10017. You may also fill out this form online, but the UN will not responsible for any deaths or injuries that...

Rachel Simmons, author of two books on female bullying, has a confession to make -- she was once a bully herself. Appearing at Seattle Girls' School yesterday during a cross-country tour promoting her new book, the 29-year-old Brooklynite came clean to a group of about 100 middle-schoolers. Simmons told them about her best childhood friend. The pair were inseparable until ninth grade, when Simmons joined the popular clique and, at the whim of its leader, turned on her girlfriend. Without explanation, the group stopped talking to the girl, who was devastated. "She eventually left the school and she never came...

Alexander Wise knows better than most Americans the damage a one-sided account of an important event in the life of this nation can cause. Wise is president of the Tredegar National Civil War Foundation, a non-profit group that has hatched a good idea. Next year, the organization will break ground for a Civil War museum in Richmond, Va., that will tell the story of that bloody conflict from three perspectives: those of the Union, the Confederacy and blacks."There's no place in America that tells the whole story," Wise said. "I don't think you can understand any story unless you look...

h1>'Constantly Increasing Common Ground': Hu's Speech To Australian Parliament October 24, 2003This is the transcript of the Address to a Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament by the President of China, Hu Jintao. Listen to President Hu Jintao's SpeechText and Audio of John Howard's Speech of WelcomeText and Audio of Simon Crean's Speech The Honourable Neil Andrew, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honourable Paul Calvert, President of the Senate, the Honourable Prime Minister John Howard, distinguished members of the federal parliament of Australia, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am delighted to meet with you today, and address such a...

Too much coffee can induce aggression and paranoia By Roger Dobson 26 October 2003 People who drink too much coffee are at risk of caffeine psychosis, according to a new report. It found that too much caffeine can lead to marked changes in personality and make drinkers more aggressive, anxious and temperamental. "Caffeinism" puts sufferers at further risk of anxiety neurosis, irregular heart beats, insomnia, muscle twitches, and nervous irritability. The warning comes a week after Tony Blair suffered an irregular heart beat, which he reportedly blamed on too much strong continental coffee at the European Union summit in Brussels....