SPECIAL REPORT ON NEWTOWN SCHOOL MASSACRE

Sunday Night's Interfaith Memorial

President Obama spoke at an interfaith memorial last night (December 16th) in Newtown, Connecticut, for the 26 people killed in a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school two days earlier, 20 of whom were children six and seven years old, by 20-year-old Adam Lanza,
who also killed his mother before the rampage and then committed suicide as police closed in at the school. Ahead of the president, local clergy members representing various faiths spoke and prayed, as did First Selectman Patricia Llodra, who represents Newtown, and Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy. The president spoke about this being the fourth such mass shooting tragedy since he took office, and said he would use, quote, "whatever power" has has to prevent it from happening again.  Obama, who'd met privately with the families of the victims and emergency personnel before the service, contended that as a nation, we aren't doing
enough to keep our children safe and action must be taken, asking, "What choice do we have?" While not saying specifically what he'd push to do, it's assumed part of that will involve taking on the highly contentious issue of gun control. The most poignant and moving part of Obama's speech, however, was at the end, when he read the first names of the children who were killed, while cries and sobs were heard in the in the auditorium at Newtown High
School, where the memorial was held. Obama himself had been visibly emotional
when speaking about the massacre on Friday, the day it happened, which Governor
Malloy said at the memorial last night Obama had told him was the most difficult day of his presidency.

The Victims and Survivors

The 26 victims killed at the school were all shot multiple times with a high-powered
Bushmaster rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16, with ammunition used that's designed to break up inside the body and inflict the maximum amount of damage. All six of the adults were women, and 12 girls and eight boys were killed. Lanza's mother was shot four times in the head, found dead in the home she shared with her son. There were many stories of what District Superintendent Janet Robinson called "incredible acts of heroism" at the school, among both staffers who survived and those who didn't. Principal Dawn Hochsprung was killed as she lunged at Lanza after he shot out a window to get into the school, and school psychologist Mary Sherlach died as she also tried to stop the killer. Teacher Victoria Soto has been hailed as a hero who died while trying to shield her students, and many stories
were told of teachers who locked their doors and ordered children to huddle in a corner or hide in closets as they heard the shots.

Those killed and their ages:

• Adults:
       Dawn Hochsprung, 47; Mary Sherlach, 56; Victoria Soto, 27; Anne Marie
       Murphy, 52; Lauren Rousseau, 30; Rachel DaVino, 29
• Children: Charlotte Bacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine
       Gay, 7; Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Madeleine F. Hsu, 6;
       Catherine V. Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James
       Mattioli, 6; Grace McDonnell, 7; Emilie Parker, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah
       Pozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6;
       Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison N. Wyatt, 6

LINK to AP "portraits" of some of the victims: http://tinyurl.com/c8g4pnb

Recent VIDEO of victim Ana Marquez-Greene, released by her family:

As for the children who survived the shooting, it's not known when, if ever, Sandy
Hook Elementary will re-open. Still unclear is when they'll return to class, although reports are it might be later this week, but when they do, it will be in the neighboring town of Monroe, which has offered the use of school which is currently vacant, but in good condition. The traumatized children and staff will almost certainly need some help in dealing with the tragedy, as will the families of victims and survivors, and even residents of the town of
27,000. Several agencies are already on the ground and offering assistance, and
are accepting donations.

• Save the Children -- Has opened a Child Friendly Space in Newtown, where children can play, socialize and begin      to recover while their parents get counseling, support and other services.
       Donations: http://tinyurl.com/ak34uyv
      
• United Way of Western Connecticut and Newtown Savings Bank to set up the
       Sandy Hook School Support Fund, which will provide support services to
       those affected. Donations:
       https://newtown.uwwesternct.org/
      
• Newtown Youth and Family Services -- Non-profit mental health clinic which has
       been providing grief counseling. Donations: http://www.newtownyouthandfamilyservices.org/donate.php

Gunman Adam Lanza

Authorities revealed on Sunday that the massacre could have been much worse than the horror it was, saying that Adam Lanza had been carrying enough ammunition in multiple,
high-capacity clips to kill scores more people. Along with the Bushmaster military-style rifle that he used to kill all his victims, the gunman also had two semi-automatic pistols, one of which he used to fatally shoot himself in the head after his 10-minute shooting spree as police began to arrive at the school. He began his rampage at the home where he lived with his mother, Nancy Lanza, by killing her, shooting her four times in the head, and then took the
weapons that she owned and drove to the school and began the massacre after
getting inside the locked building by shooting out a window.

Investigators have said they believe Lanza attended Sandy Hook many years ago, but don't know why he went there Friday. Contrary to early reports, education officials haven't found any link between Lanza's mother and the school. Lanza didn't leave behind any note or manifesto explaining his actions, and reportedly smashed his computers. However, state
police Lieutenant Paul Vance said, quote, "very good evidence," had been found, and the computers have been taken to computer forensic experts in hopes information can be salvaged from the hard drives.

Lanza was described as having been an intelligent, but painfully awkward, student,
who seemed to have no close friends. It was reported that he'd been diagnosed with Asperger's, which is a mild form of autism characterized by social awkwardness. However, there is no evidence of a link between the condition and violent behavior, according to experts. Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, who was divorced from Adam and his brother Ryan's mother Nancy, issued a statement on behalf of his family that said, "No words can truly express how heartbroken we are. We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever
answers we can. We too are asking why."

Additional Information:

The Newtown massacre is the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind only the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and them himself. In the past two decades, only the Virginia Tech massacre and the mass
killings of 77 people in Norway last year had greater death tolls.

The American Psychological Association is offering some information on its website
about how to deal with your own anxiety and talk to your children about the Newtown massacre. LINK: http://www.apa.org/school-shooting.aspx.
Advice can also be found on the PBS Parents website: http://tinyurl.com/atm5ras and that
of the National Association of School Psychologists: http://www.nasponline.org/.

IN OTHER NEWS:

DEMS CALL FOR COMMISSION, ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: In the wake of the Newtown school massacre, some Democratic lawmakers and independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut called for a national commission to be established to examine mass shootings in the U.S., and for a ban on military-style assault weapons. Lieberman said before last night's (December 16th) vigil in Newtown, "Assault weapons were developed for the U.S. military, not commercial gun manufacturers," and said a national commission needs to be set up to look
at gun laws and loopholes, as well as the nation's mental health system and the
role that violent video games and movies might play in shootings. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an outspoken activist for stricter gun laws, called on President Obama to take action, saying, "It's time for the president, I think, to stand up and lead and tell this country what we should do -- not go to Congress and say, 'What do you guys want to do?'"

Gun rights activists have largely remained silent since the massacre, with the
hosts of the NBC and CBS morning shows saying all the pro-gun senators they
invited to appear on their Sunday shows declined. The only one who did speak
out was Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, who defended the sale of assault
weapons and said on Fox News Sunday that the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who died trying to stop the killer, should have been armed. He said, "I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn't
have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands. But she takes him out,
takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids."

SCHOOLS ACROSS NATION INCREASING SECURITY: Schools across the country are increasing security as a result of the Newtown massacre, asking police departments to
increase patrols and sending messages to parents outlining safety plans that they assured them are regularly reviewed and rehearsed. Schools will also have guidance counselors available as students return to classes today (September 17th) for the first time since the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings, and many will also be holding a moment of silence today will fly flags at half-staff.

MOVEMENT SEEN ON FISCAL CLIFF: There has finally been some movement in the fiscal cliff talks, with House Speaker John Boehner on Friday (December 14th) reportedly offering $1 trillion in higher tax revenue over 10 years and an increase in the top tax rate on people making more than $1 million a year to the Clinton-era rate.  He's also offering a large enough raise in the debt ceiling to fund the government for one year before the issue must be revisited. All this, however, is on the condition that President Obama agree to $1 trillion in spending cuts from benefit programs like Medicare. There is a lot of work still to be done, as this won't be what the final deal will look like, but the White House and congressional aides were said to have worked through the weekend after Boehner made his proposal.

FIRST ROUND OF VOTING HELD IN EGYPT ON DRAFT CONSTITUTION: The first round of voting on Egypt's controversial draft constitution was held on Saturday (December 15th), with opponents and rights activists saying it was marred by widespread violations, including attempts to suppress the votes of charter opponents, particularly women and Christians. But the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Islamist President Mohammed Morsi comes, said the constitution was on the way to approval.  The voting took place in 10 of Egypt's 27 provinces, and had a low turnout of just 34 percent. Preliminary results showed the constitution backed by 55.8 percent, with the strongest "no" vote in the capital city of Cairo, at 68 percent. The second and final round will be held next weekend. Huge demonstrations have been held in the
streets of Egypt for weeks, in part over the constitution, which was hastily created and rush through to a referendum by Morsi and his Islamist allies despite opposition.

CLINTON SUFFERED CONCUSSION AFTER FAINTING: The State Department revealed over the weekend that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sustained a concussion last week after becoming extremely dehydrated and fainting while suffering from a stomach virus. Clinton was said to be recovering at home and has been advised by her doctors to avoid strenuous activity and cancel all work events for the next week. Clinton had been scheduled to testify this week before two congressional panels looking into the deadly September attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Testifying in her place will be senior State Department officials William Burns and Thomas Nides.

REPORTS: OBAMA TO NOMINATE KERRY FOR SECRETARY OF STATE: CNN and ABC News both reported on Saturday (December 15th) that President Obama will
nominate Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts to be the next secretary of state,
replacing Hillary Clinton, who's expected to step down soon. ABC said Kerry's nomination hadn't been announced yet because of the need to finalize the process and out of respect for the national mourning over the Newtown school massacre. However, the nomination
could be made public as early as this week. Kerry is the chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and was the losing 2004 Democratic presidential
candidate. His expected nomination comes after his main competition for the
job, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, withdrew her name from consideration amid ongoing opposition to her getting the position among some Republican senators. The senators, led by John McCain of Arizona, said they were concerned about her saying on the Sunday news shows just days after the Benghazi, Libya, attack on our consulate that it was believed to have started spontaneously as the result of a demonstration against
an anti-Islam video. It's now believed instead that it was the planned work of al-Qaida-affiliated militants. Rice was delivering the best assessment of the intelligence community at the time.

POLL: MORE SCIENCE DOUBTERS NOW BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING: A new Associated Press-GfK poll found that a growing number of Americans now believe global warming is real, will become a serious problem and the U.S. government should do something about it.  Overall, 78 percent said they believe temperatures are rising, up from 75
percent three years earlier; 80 percent said climate change will be a problem for the U.S. if nothing is done, up from 73 percent; and 57 percent said the federal government should do a great deal or quite a bit about it, up from 52 percent. But while the numbers are up, global warming belief has fluctuated over the years, between about 70 and 85 percent, with the highest percentage believing in the wake of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. What is different this year, however, is that a significant change was seen among people who don't trust
scientists much, but still believe climate change is happening. Within that group, 61 percent now say temperatures have been rising over the past 100 years, up from 47 percent in 2009. Stanford University social psychologist and pollster Jon Krosnick said of this change, "They don't believe what the scientists say, they believe what the thermometers say. Events are helping these people see what scientists thought they had been seeing all along."

GOOGLE HAS SEARCH RESULTS SURPRISE FOR TYPING IN 'FESTIVUS': Google,
which is known for hiding visual messages in its search when certain keywords are used, has a Festivus surprise for users of its search engine. Mashable.com reports that people who do a search on "Festivus" -- the made-up holiday from TV's Seinfeld -- will see a surprise on their screen. (Psst -- it's a Festivus pole on the left-hand side of the page.) Festivus was
created by Seinfeld character George Costanza's father. It falls on December 23rd, and is celebrated with an aluminum pole instead of a Christmas tree, and with traditions including an "airing of grievances," and "feats of strength," which involves wrestling.

MOMENTS OF SILENCE AT NFL GAMES FOR NEWTOWN VICTIMS: Moments of silence were held before all of the NFL games Sunday (December 16th) for the victims of the Newtown school massacre. The New England Patriots, which is the closest team to Newtown that played at home yesterday, wore a helmet sticker with the city seal and a black ribbon on it. Their cheerleaders and mascot also wore black armbands, and 26 flares were sent into the air before the game. The New York Giants, a team that's also popular in the Newtown area, wore helmet decals with the Sandy Hook Elementary School's initials. Additionally, after Giants player Victor Cruz learned that he was the favorite player of six-year-old victim Jack Pinto, he wrote, "R.I.P. Jack Pinto," "Jack Pinto, my hero" and "This one is for you" on his shoes for yesterday's game against the Atlanta Falcons. Cruz also said he called Pinto's family, and was told they planned to bury him in one of Cruz's Number 80 jerseys.

NFL SCORES -- WEEK 15: Here are the results of this weekend's National Football League Games (Home teams are listed in italics):

• Atlanta Falcons 34, New York Giants 0
• Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago Bears 13
• Washington Redskins 38, Cleveland Browns 21
• Minnesota Vikings 36, St. Louis Rams 2
• Miami Dolphins 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 3
• New Orleans Saints 41, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
• Denver Broncos 34, Baltimore Ravens 17
• Houston Texans 29, Indianapolis Colts 17
• Seattle Seahawks 50, Buffalo Bills 17
• Arizona Cardinals 38, Detroit Lions 10
• Carolina Panthers 31, San Diego Chargers 7
• Dallas Cowboys 27, Pittsburgh Steelers, 24 (OT)
• Oakland Raiders 15, Kansas City hiefs 0
• San Francisco 49ers 41, New England Patriots 34

Tonight's Monday Night Football game on ESPN:

• New York Jets at Tennessee Titans (8:30 p.m. ET)

JACK HITE DROPS OUT OF SCORING ‘THE LONE RANGER’: Jack White has dropped out of writing the score for he Lone Ranger, the Disney big-screen version of the classic Western
tale starring Armie Hammer in he title role and Johnny Depp s Tonto. White has been replaced by Hans Zmmer, whose recent work includes scores for Inception and The ark Knight Rises. Disney issued a statement saying, "Oscar winner Hans Zimmer . . . has signed on to compose the score for The Lone Ranger. Jack White, who had originally been contemplated to score and has contributed several pieces of music to the production, was logistically unavailable due to scheduling conflicts that arose when the film's release moved to July of 2013."

• While it sounds as if we'll still hear some music from White on the soundtrack, the film was initially supposed to feature his first full score for a movie.

SLASH CONFIRMS PARTICIPATION IN VIDEO GAME: Slash has confirmed his participation in the upcoming "Band Fuse: Rock Legends" video game. He confirmed the video game on Twitter.  The new game is reportedly like Rock Band and Guitar Hero however, the problem with those games was that according to actual Rock and Roll legends, they did
not properly exemplify the real experience of playing in a rock band.  Reportedly, Band Fuse: Rock Legends is set to break that mold.

Reportedly, between one and four players can take part at the same time and play along to
the music as it would typically be read by musicians as they learned themselves. Slash said, "Hands down, best guitar game."

• Slash, Zakk Wylde and Bootsy Collins have reportedly filmed their own tutorials within the game to teach players how to play certain tracks.
• The game reportedly features 55 songs and includes acts like Rush, Pantera, Pearl Jam and Jane's Addition.
• Band Fuse: Rock Legends will be available on Xbox and Playstation 3, this coming spring.

STUDIO VERSION OF NIRVANA/ PAUL MccARTNEY SONG RELEASED: The
studio version of "Cut Me Some Slack," the song debuted by Paul McCartney and the surviving
members of Nirvana last Wednesday night (December 12th) at the 12-12-12 benefit concert in New York, has been released on iTunes. The surprise collaboration was recorded for Nirvana drummer/Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl's upcoming documentary Sound City, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January before rolling out via Blu-ray, DVD and VOD on February 1st.

• The raw-sounding track comes across as heavier than what one might expect to hear from McCartney, but Grohl told Pulse of Radio a while back that Nirvana liked to rock as hard as any other band: "There was a lot of that crazy, heavy element in Nirvana. You know, the one thing that Nirvana was against was just the bulls**t."
      
• McCartney, Grohl, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Nirvana/Foo
       Fighters guitarist Pat Smear premiered the song live during the all-star charity concert, which was organized to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
• Grohl, Novoselic and Smear have not performed together onstage since the last Nirvana tour in 1994, before the death of band leader Kurt Cobain.
• The former Beatle said he had no idea that he was jamming with
       three-quarters of Nirvana during the recording session, explaining,
       "I didn't really know who they were. They are saying how good it is
       to be back together. I said, 'Whoa? You guys haven't played together for
       all that time?' And somebody whispered to me, 'That's Nirvana. You're
       Kurt.' I couldn't believe it."
• The soundtrack to the documentary, which chronicles the history of a legendary Los Angeles recording studio, will be released on March 12th.
• The 11-song soundtrack contains a number of blockbuster collaborations involving Grohl, the other members of Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks, Trent Reznor, Josh Homme, Rick Springfield, Corey Taylor and more.

CHECK IT OUT: Listen to the studio version of "Cut Me Some Slack" at http://tinyurl.com

MARILYN MANSON’S SURGERY: Marilyn Manson underwent a medical procedure at a hospital in Switzerland to reattach his ear, following a fight in which he claims he was hit by a glass table. Manson, who is touring Europe with Rob Zombie, did not go into detail about the incident, but posted at Twitter: ""I was hit by a glass table in a dangerous fight. I was
however, the victor but had to have 24 stitches to keep my ear from becoming
Van Goth." The shock-rocker posted a photo of the ear, covered in medical
tape, which can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/c33ja6e

RANDY BLYTHE’S TRIAL: A court in Prague, the Czech Republic, has set February 4th as the trial date of Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe, who is charged with manslaughter in the 2010 death of a fan who died from injuries he allegedly received at a Lamb Of God concert in Prague. Blythe spent five weeks in prison after being arrested and charged in Prague last summer, and could face five to 10 years in prison if he is convicted. Blythe, who has proclaimed his innocence, has said he will return to Prague and stand trial.

JASON NEWSTED’S NEW PROJECT: Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted has announced that his new band, called Newsted, will release a four-song EP titled Metal exclusively through iTunes on January 8th, 2013. Newsted filmed a video for one of the songs this past Saturday (December 15th). Newsted, who has played in various bands since leaving Metallica in 2001, has said he is returning to his metal roots and plans to distribute his new music online.

DANE COOK SIGNS NBC DEAL: NBC has inked a deal with Dane Cook to develop a new starring vehicle for him on the network. His previous show, Next Caller, was not picked up the network for midseason.

HUGH GRANT AGREES WITH 'DAILY SHOW' DISS: Hugh Grant admitted to being crabby during a 2009 appearance on The Daily Show and tweeted that John Stewart was "correct to give me kicking." Stewart named Grant his least-favorite guest at a public appearance in New Jersey earlier in this month.

SALLY STRUTHERS PLEADS NOT GUILTY: Sally Struthers has pleaded not guilty for her DUI arrest in September. The 65-year-old actress will appear in court on February 13th for a bench trial.

SIMON COWELL WANTS RIHANNA ON 'X FACTOR': Following the announcement that L.A. Reid will be vacating his spot on the judging panel, Simon Cowell is reportedly trying to
recruit Rihanna to join the show. Simon is allegedly spending the holidays trying to persuade the superstar and is letting her choose if she wants to work on the American or UK version.

JANICE DICKINSON IS ENGAGED: Self-proclaimed supermodel Janice Dickinson is reportedly ready to marry for the fourth time. She has been spotted wearing a large diamond ring on her left hand while posing with her psychologist beau, Dr. Robert Gerner.

TRUCK DRIVER CITED FOR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: A man in Wichita, Kansas has to pay $274 after he received a citation for decorating his pickup truck with Christmas lights. David Hill said he spent 16 hours decorating the truck to draw attention to his charitable
organization, OneSpark -- a group with the aim of feeding and clothing the
homeless. Hill said of the ticketing officer, "I'm not saying he was right
or wrong. The bottom line is there's so many people in this town right now that
are hurting. And literally, there's been thousands of people that have taken
pictures with that truck and it's brought a smile to their face." Hill
plans to leave the lights on the truck in the hopes that people will become
aware of OneSpark's charitable efforts. Local police said the lights are an
issue of safety, explaining, "You're going to get the rubberneckers who
are going to be staring at the vehicle. They're going to have a collision or
rear end somebody because they're too busy looking at this car that's driving
down the road." (UPI)

MAN MISTAKES HOT IRON FOR PHONE: A man in Poland who was watching a boxing match on TV burned the side of his head when he accidentally picked up a hot iron when the phone rang, The 32-year-old, Tomasz Paczkowski, said, "I was really getting involved
in the boxing and was not really thinking about what I was doing. Suddenly the phone rang and I mucked things up: instead of grabbing the receiver I picked up the iron and put it to my ear." Paczkowski said next time he'll leave the TV off while ironing. (Breitbart.com)

WILL TWINKIES MAKE A COMEBACK?  Hostess Brands has reportedly received around two dozen bids from several companies interested in buying the maker of Twinkies. According to an anonymous source, Wal-Mart is one of those bidders, along with Alpha Baking Company and Grupo Bimbo SAB. Analysts predict that the sale may close by Valentine's Day, meaning Twinkies could be on the shelves again by Easter. (Bloomberg)

THE SURPISING FACTS ABOUT WOMEN'S BIKINI LINES: Sexuality researcher Debra Herbernick and her coauthors conducted a survey on American women between ages 18 and 68 about how they deal with their pubic hair and their sex lives. They found that women who shave or wax their pubic hair were more likely to have sex with a casual partner, had a greater interest in sex and had vaginal intercourse for longer on the day they removed their hair below the belt. About 2,400-women completed the survey. (BuzzFeed)

PEOPLE PREFER LEADERS WITH DEEP VOICES: In a study published in PLoS ONE, researchers recorded 10-men and 10-women saying the same phrase, and then altered the recordings to make the voices sound higher or lower. The altered recordings were played for a group of men and women who were told the speakers were running for a school board seat.
They found that men preferred lower voices in both male and female candidates
and women preferred other women with lower voices, but showed no preference
among the men. Study authors speculate that women may not care about the pitch
of the male voices because for stereotypically female jobs, women may actually
value men with feminine qualities like a higher voice. (BuzzFeed)

32 AWESOME LAST-MINUTE GIFT IDEAS: http://tinyurl.com/cltlpls