Police Science Institute: July 2013

Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Private investigator asks for pardon in 1986 Paris murders

A private investigator wants Governor Pat Quinn to pardon two men imprisoned for years for a double-murder in Paris, Illinois.
Both Randy Steidl and Herb Whitlock spent more than a decade behind bars for the 1986 stabbing deaths of Dyke and Karen Rhoads. But both men were released based on a lack of evidence, and they both made settlements with the city of Paris and Edgar County for millions of dollars.

Despite their release, investigator Bill Clutter says the criminal history causes problems when they’re applying for jobs.
Read more at : http://peoriapublicradio.org/post/private-investigator-asks-pardon-1986-paris-murders

Private Investigators Face Risks in China

The police detention this month of a British private investigator here amid a pharmaceutical bribery probe highlights the growing risks for private gumshoes tracking fraud in the world's No. 2 economy.
Shanghai police detained a prominent commercial sleuth, Briton Peter Humphrey of ChinaWhys Co., according to the British government. Authorities won't say why he is being held, and he isn't reachable. In China, a detained person isn't necessarily a criminal suspect.
Read more at : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323971204578629511362589362.html

Secret list of firms that used private investigators should be published, say MPs

MPs have intensified the pressure to publish a confidential list of companies that used private investigators suspected of hacking and other alleged unethical information-gathering practices.
The Commons home affairs committee revealed on Wednesday that law firms and insurance companies were among those on a list compiled by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) that has remained unpublished for several years.
Read more at : http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/jul/31/soca-secret-list-companies-hacking

Law firms linked to convicted private investigators

The Home Affairs Select Committee published a breakdown of the clients but did not name them individually.
The four rogue investigators concerned were given jail sentences last year.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said he wanted to name the clients when the committee published its final report.
Read more at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23512840

Former Cheshire Police Officers Set Up Private Investigation Firm

Between them they have more than 150 years of policing experience, and say they could be the missing link when a police investigation does not provide the desired answers.

Peter said: “Our team of experts could be utilised in so many ways such as gathering evidence for vehicle accidents.

“Or if you’ve been a victim of crime we can carry out local enquiries in order to gather further evidence which may have been missed by the police. We then pass it on to assist with their enquiries and perhaps even identify an offender or assist in an eventual prosecution.”

Read more at : http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/former-cheshire-police-officers-set-up-private-investigation-firm-293765.htm

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Can California high schools ride the wave of online education?

The latest craze making its way through the California public university system is the growing use of online education.
Recently, Gov. Brown budgeted millions of dollars to the California State University system to advance online instruction in lower-level classes. The rationale from the governor has been to increase course offerings to students who need remedial and general education classes to expedite the completion of their bachelor's degree.
Read more at : http://www.opednews.com/articles/Can-California-high-school-by-Ali-Hangan-130727-605.html

Online class pilot project is educational

An experiment using online classes to help struggling students in math got off to a rough start. But it's wise to learn from the pilot project, not to prematurely declare it a failure.
"San Jose State's big experiment with massive online courses fails massively," one headline read. Others had a similar theme. This rush to judgment was based on basic misunderstanding about the design of the experiment. This project still deserves a chance.
Read more at : http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/07/29/3134301/online-class-pilot-project-educational.html

Rebooting online education

The disappointing results from San Jose State's experiment with online courses shouldn't be interpreted to mean that such courses can't help students. But the classes the university offered in collaboration with online provider Udacity were practically a model of how to do online education badly: rushed into existence and sloppily overseen. No one was even aware that some students who had signed up for the classes lacked reliable access to computers. The one thing the college did well was monitor the results of the three pilot courses and call a timeout when failure rates proved unacceptably high.
Read more at : http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-udacity-online-education-20130723,0,3407868.story

Online education can be good or cheap, but not both

During his recent economic address at Knox College, President Barack Obama briefly referenced the promise of online learning. Specifically, he celebrated the fact that some colleges are “blending teaching with online learning to help students master material and earn credits in less time,” a development that holds great potential to contain the rising cost of higher education. Yet this potential is still a long way from being realized, as demonstrated by a recent hiccup at California’s San Jose State University.
Read more at : http://blogs.reuters.com/reihan-salam/2013/07/26/online-education-can-be-good-or-cheap-but-not-both/

Unequal Classrooms: What Online Education Cannot Teach

Students at CUNY, where I teach, are often the first in their families to attend college, recent immigrants, or from low-income families, and sometimes all three. As a philosophy professor, I often require that my students defend a position in front of the classroom. For many, this is the first time they have spoken in front of a crowd of students from differing socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. The experience is terrifying, but as one Latina student told me, even though her face still “lights up red” when she speaks, she is now able to raise her hand and contribute to class discussions. By the time that student graduates and walks into her first job interview, she will have learned to manage her fear of speaking her mind.
Read more at : http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/07/29/unequal-classrooms-what-online-education-cannot-teach/

Monday, 29 July 2013

Law to control private investigators may order them to take training test

New legislation to regulate the private investigation industry is to be announced this week amid growing concerns about illegal activity.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will bring forward plans for the compulsory licensing of private detectives in a move to drive out underhand practices.
Read more at : http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/crime/article3827969.ece

Private Detectives Offer Online Dating Background Checks

Brian O’Shea has a story he likes to tell: an Arlington woman met a guy online, and they hit it off. Eventually things were going well enough for them to meet in person, and when she gets to his house, a middle-aged woman answers. It turns out, the woman at the door was her online beau’s mother.
He was 13.

These are the perils of online dating O’Shea is trying to prevent. O’Shea is a private investigator with Striker-Pierce, which started offering comprehensive online dating background checks in November. Before launching the service, O’Shea researched the background checks several online dating sites were offering and found they didn’t go very far.
Read more at : http://www.arlnow.com/2013/07/26/private-detectives-offer-online-dating-background-checks/

Leveson inquiry lawyer Mark Lewis used ex-con private investigator

A lawyer at the centre of the inquiry into newspaper ethics once used a private investigator who had been jailed for helping a murder suspect on the run.
Solicitor Mark Lewis represented the parents of murdered Milly Dowler, 13, and around 100 other victims whose phones had been hacked by the now defunct News of the World.
But it was revealed yesterday that he introduced private eye Christopher More to a client needing help.
More flew to Spain with a suitcase of clothes and £2,000 cash after his son fled there.
The son, still on the run, was wanted in connection with the torture and murder of a man over an alleged drug deal.
More, 70, was jailed for nine months in 2004 after admitting aiding his son.
Read more at : http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/leveson-inquiry-lawyer-mark-lewis-2014441?tabPane=Comments

Police investigate mysterious CharlotteFakes Twitter account exposing private emails of PR guru Jack Irvine amid Rangers crisis

Police are investigating a Twitter account which has been releasing a wave of private correspondences between some of the major players in the long-running crisis surrounding Rangers Football Club, including PR guru and Media House founder Jack Irvine. For several months, the @CharlotteFakes account has been revealing private email and audio conversations between some of the key figures in the drama engulfing the club, including Irvine, former club owner Craig Whyte – who led the club’s descent into liquidation – and Charles Green, the chief executive of the entity created from the assets of the liquidated club. The account has acquired more than 13,000 followers.
Read more at : http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/07/25/police-investigate-mysterious-charlottefakes-twitter-account-exposing-private-emails

Private Investigator Plymouth Gives Information Regarding Parental Internet Monitoring Services

According to the Guardian report dated 22 July 2013: UK government to ‘drain the market’ of online child sex abuse, David Cameron plans to launch a campaign that will pursue both publishers and those who access sexual abuse images. All new computers sold would have filters set to set which means that people will need to opt in to access pornography not the other way around. Talking with Jane Garvey on BBC Radio 47’s Women’s Hour, the Prime Minister said:
“There is a triangle. We have to stop the people putting up the images, stop those accessing it and ask the internet companies to do better in stopping access to them.”
Read more at : http://www.watchlistnews.com/2013/07/23/private-investigator-plymouth-gives-information-regarding-parental-internet-monitoring-services-in-light-of-guardian-report-uk-government-to-drain-the-market-of-online-child-sex-abu/

Friday, 26 July 2013

A former Syracuse private investigator who once claimed he was rescued by aliens was arrested last week on charges of possessing three illegal handguns in his home.

Former Syracuse private investigator Noah FelicePolice mugshot

Noah Felice, 61, of 5421 Springview Drive, Manlius, was arrested Thursday after Onondaga County sheriff's deputies found three handguns, two of them loaded, when they executed a search warrant at his home, sheriff's Deputy Herb Wiggins said.

Felice's pistol permit was permanently revoked in 2010 when he was convicted of lying on his permit application by saying he did not have a criminal record.
Read more at : http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/ex-pi_arrested_on_illegal_gun_possession_charge.html

Private investigator shares insight on death of Stephen Rakes

There are still more questions than answers about the death of former Bulger witness Stephen Rakes nearly a week after his body was found.
FOX 25's Jarrod Holbrook sat down with private investigator Tom Shamshak Monday to shed some light on what may have happened. Shamshak is a former police chief with more than 30 years of investigative experience.
"It's an unusual case, given the notoriety of his role in the notorious case of 'Whitey' Bulger," said Shamsak.
Shamshak tells FOX 25 the details surrounding Rakes' death are suspicious. FOX 25 has discovered that police agree.

Private investigator shares his ideas on what happened to missing 19-year-old

On the night she disappeared, Taylor Robinson was most likely confronted by someone she had a long and significant relationship with, someone who knew where she worked as a private health-care provider in the evening, someone she would have been comfortable meeting outside the house, in the middle of the night, in her bare feet.
Read more at : http://www.ohio.com/news/private-investigator-shares-his-ideas-on-what-happened-to-missing-19-year-old-1.415814

Bob Nygaard: Boca Raton private investigator says south Florida is a hotbed for fake fortune tellers

Bob Nygaard of Boca Raton is one of a few private investigators around the country that specializes in finding fake fortune tellers.

He says South Florida is a hot bed for the people he calls scammers who take advantage of unsuspecting victims.

"This is organized crime and there is a network all over the country. It's been going on for centuries and is passed down from generation to generation. The mothers teach their daughters," Nygaard said

Private investigator tells Gwaro jury that witnesses ‘didn’t want to help that guy’

A private investigator hired by a defense attorney for Eric Gwaro, a Scarborough man on trial for allegedly punching and stomping a Portland woman last year, told jurors on Thursday that key witnesses presented by the prosecution told him they “didn’t want to help that guy.”
Investigator Joseph T. Thornton was hired by attorney Daniel Lilley in his defense of Gwaro, 28, who faces charges of Class A attempted murder, Class A elevated aggravated assault, Class B aggravated assault and Class E violating conditions of release in relation to what police described as a brutal beating of then-25-year-old Sherri York in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, 2012.
Read more at : http://bangordailynews.com/2013/07/25/news/portland/private-investigator-tells-gwaro-jury-that-witnesses-didnt-want-to-help-that-guy/?ref=latest

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Homeland Security official probed over questionable visa

The report said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been nominated as an interim replacement for departing DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, was cited in a DHS inspector general’s (IG) report for allegedly helping a Chinese executive get an international investment visa.

Homeland Security is killing immigration reform push

The Department of Homeland Security doesn’t know or doesn’t want us to know how effective its border-security efforts are.
This lack of information is a colossal failure that makes achieving comprehensive immigration reform even tougher.

With Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano leaving, the information gap could be compounded with an accountability gap. Secretary or no secretary, President Barack Obama needs to lean on the DHS to fix this now.
Read more at : http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/articles/20130723dhs-hinders-reform-push.html

Obama Pick for #2 Homeland Security Job Under Investigation

President Barack Obama's choice to be the No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department is under investigation for his role in helping a company run by a brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Associated Press has learned.

Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is being investigated for his role in helping the company secure an international investor visa for a Chinese executive, according to congressional officials briefed on the investigation. The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details of the investigation.

APNewsBreak: Official tabbed for No. 2 Homeland Security post under investigation by watchdog

President Barack Obama’s choice to be the No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department is under investigation for his role in helping a company run by a brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Associated Press has learned.

Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is being investigated for his role in helping the company secure an international investor visa for a Chinese executive, according to congressional officials briefed on the investigation. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details of the investigation.
REad more at : http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ap-newsbreak-homeland-security-official-nominated-for-no-2-post-probed-by-internal-watchdog/2013/07/23/ce79766e-f3aa-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story.html

Homeland Security's Future Home: A Former Mental Hospital

Chris Mills frequently gives tours of St. Elizabeths Hospital, a former mental institution where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is building a $4.5 billion headquarters. It’s the largest construction project in the District of Columbia since the Pentagon was completed in 1943. So there’s a lot of ground to cover. Mills prefers to chauffeur his guests around the place in a golf cart.
Read more at : http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-25/homeland-securitys-future-home-a-former-mental-hospital

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

Arrested Vatican prelate acted as private banker - Italian investigators

ROME - A senior Catholic prelate arrested last month used his influence at the Vatican to provide private, illegal financial services for rich friends, Italian investigators say in a judicial document.

They say Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, who is the target of two Italian investigations and had accounts at the Vatican bank, engaged in "totally private, illegal activity which was also aimed at serving outsiders".

Scarano was arrested in Rome on June 28 along with a self-styled financier and a member of Italy's secret services and formally accused of taking part in a plot to smuggle 20 million euros ($26.28 million) into Italy from Switzerland. .
Read more at :http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/318520/economy/moneyandbanking/arrested-vatican-prelate-acted-as-private-banker-italian-investigators

Unlicensed private investigator must pay $17,500

A Windsor woman who claimed to be a private investigator but who sometimes took money without providing significant results has been ordered to pay $17,500 as a result.
Shannon Turner had parted ways with her lawyer and did not show up in court for her two-day trial this week that ended with her conviction Tuesday in provincial offences court under the Private Investigators and Security Guards Act.
Read more at : http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/07/18/fake-private-investigator-must-pay-17500/

Private Investigators Dudley Give Information Regarding Investigation Services in Light of BBC News Report: Fake MOT Website Warning for Northern Ireland Motorists

According to BBC News report dated 23 July 2013: Fake MOT website warning for Northern Ireland motorists, unofficial website is charging £45 to book an MOT when current cost is only £30.50. The site, using the same name as the official site has been reported to Trading Standards Service to investigate.
Mr Mark H Durkan, Stormont’s Environmental Minister said:
"We have been made aware of a website which has been set up to take MOT bookings, charging customers a service fee of £15.00.”

Private Investigators Dudley is often recruited to investigate bogus websites and have had huge success in finding the identity of rouge traders. Using tried and tested investigative methods such as companies’ house enquiries.
Read more at : http://www.watchlistnews.com/2013/07/24/private-investigators-dudley-give-information-regarding-investigation-services-in-light-of-bbc-news-report-fake-mot-website-warning-for-northern-ireland-motorists/

Retired teachers take on new careers as private investigators

That's an unusual turn for David and Lisa Brewster, career educators who spent decades as the linchpins of success for young people.
But in their retirement from public education, they now have tackled a serious and somber slice of life by starting their own business: Eastern Carolina Investigations.
Read more at : http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130720/ARTICLES/130729998?tc=ar

Corporate work for private investigators on the rise

JAMES Bond is someone that all of us can recognise immediately. A fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, Bond has been the inspiration for many young boys and girls who wanted to venture into the world of investigation.
He is cocky, swaggering, confident, dark, dangerous, and unstoppable while carrying out his duties for queen and country.
The closest most Malaysians can get to Bond are private investigators.
Read more at : http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/SME/2013/07/24/Case-closed-Corporate-work-for-private-investigators-on-the-rise.aspx

Saturday, 20 July 2013

Tapping The Online Education Market in China

New York, NY, Point Roberts, WA - July 15, 2013 (www.investorideas.com newswire) Investorideas.com staff: Investorideas.com, an investor research portal specializing in sector research for independent investors issues a sector snapshot of the online China education market and some of the publicly traded companies going after market share.

Read more at : http://www.investorideas.com/news/2013/china/07151.asp

The attack of the MOOCs

DOTCOM mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.
Read more at : http://www.economist.com/news/business/21582001-army-new-online-courses-scaring-wits-out-traditional-universities-can-they

Online Education in China: Options for Moving Forward

Education has always been a strong focus for China, coming from a culture that promotes the virtues of hard work and good study. With the advances in technologies and the growing motivation for students to pursue higher education, China has the resources and the drive to incorporate online learning into its college education programs.
However, China’s need for educational reform is impeding its ability to easily adapt its college courses to the online community. Though in the past China has placed as the top country in international standardized testing, its education is geared more towards memorization and not toward interactive learning and problem-solving—the major characteristics of online education courses.
Read more at : http://www.bloggernews.net/129957

Jordanian education leader pioneers online university, Arabic web encyclopedia

Amid recent buzz about higher education going online, one of Jordan’s leading education institutions has launched an online education portal to serve a global audience.

As the founder and Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), H.E. Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh has worked since 1972 to provide professional and educational services from around 80 offices around the globe. TAGUINI, which he launched this January, is his latest foray into the “future of higher education”, an online university that “uses partnership as its modus operandi – comprised of a network of universities, non-governmental organizations, training institutions, and language schools - to deliver comprehensive education to a global student body.”
Read more at : http://www.wamda.com/2013/07/jordanian-education-leader-pioneers-online-university-arabic-encyclopedia

Friday, 19 July 2013

UC Regents Encourage Online Education Progress

The University of California Board of Regents assured attendants that quality would not be sacrificed for cost savings in regard to online courses during their meeting at UC San Francisco on July 18. Provost and Executive Vice President Aimee Dorr presented her update on the UC’s online education efforts to the Regents. Dorr explained how the Committee on Educational Policy intends to use the $10 million reserved in the budget specifically for online education. Dorr plans to use a portion of the funding to begin the Innovative Learning Technologies Initiative (ILTI). According to her report, this initiative would “provide funds for development and enhancement of online courses and online components for hybrid courses,” as well as “flipped courses” where the lecture content is received online and professors cover homework and problem sets in class.
See more at: http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2013/07/uc-regents-encourage-online-education-progress

Driving Globalization in Education Through Learning Management Systems

Digitization has opened up the borders of education. Almost anyone can enroll in any course of choice offered from any university in the world. The world’s most prestigious institutions are opening up to the idea of virtual course delivery, to the idea of generating new revenue streams through digital education. This expansion doesn’t have to come at the cost of lower quality or making their brand less sought after. Institutes can still differentiate themselves with the depth and the uniqueness of the courses on offer. Online education creates the opportunity to take education to the masses, especially in the emerging economies where there is more of a need to work alongside study there is shortage of teachers and quality study material.

Read more at : http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/driving-globalization-in-education-through-learning-management-systems/

Education online: The virtual lab

The academic world is in upheaval over MOOCs: massive open online courses that make university lectures available to tens of thousands of students at a time. For roughly a year, universities around the world have been rushing to partner with the major MOOC companies in a move that many believe could revolutionize higher education.

But for many people working in education, MOOCs do not yet take the revolution far enough. Online lectures by video are fine for conveying facts, formulas and concepts, but by themselves they cannot help anyone learn how to put those ideas into practice. Nor can they give students experience in planning an experiment and analysing data, participating in a team, operating a pipette or microscope, persevering in the face of setbacks or exercising any of the other practical and social skills essential for success in science¹. “You only understand something when you know how to do it,” says Chris Dede, who studies simulations for education at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “And that's not possible to abstract in a lecture.”
Read more at : http://www.nature.com/news/education-online-the-virtual-lab-1.13383

New Team Will Power BU’s Online Education

A faculty-led team, helmed by a School of Management expert on information technology, will guide BU across the new terrain of enhanced online education.
Chrysanthos Dellarocas, an SMG professor and chairman of information systems, will lead the new Digital Learning Initiative (DLI). The DLI will develop online courses called MOOCs (massive open online courses), which will be available to people around the world whether or not they are matriculated BU students.
Read more at : http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/new-team-will-power-bu-online-education/

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

For investigating private intelligence practices, American journalist faces 105 years in prison

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the charges currently facing the American investigative journalist, Barrett Brown, who has written for The Guardian and Vanity Fair. Brown, 31, had been investigating before his arrest, in September 2012, the contents of over five million internal emails released through a hack on the private intelligence company, Stratfor, which were later published by WikiLeaks. Brown is currently in federal custody, facing charges that add up to 105 years in prison. His trial should start next September.

"Barrett Brown is not a hacker, he is not a criminal" stated Reporters Without Borders General Secretary, Christophe Deloire, "He did not infiltrate any systems, nor did he appear to have the technical expertise to do so. Above all, Barrett was an investigative journalist who was merely doing his professional duty by looking into the Stratfor emails, an affair of public interest. The sentence of 105 years in prison that he is facing is absurd and dangerous, given that Jeremy Hammond who pleaded guilty for the actual hack on Stratfor is only facing a maximum of 10 years in prison. Threatening a journalist with a possible century-long jail sentence is a scary prospect for journalists investigating the intelligence government contractor industry".
Read more at : http://yubanet.com/usa/For-investigating-private-intelligence-practices-American-journalist-faces-105-years-in-prison.php#.UeZGXqxVaSo

New Law Regulates Private Investigators in Alabama

In the past, anyone in Alabama could call themselves a “private investigator.” However, things have changed with a new licensing process and a state regulatory board.

Senate Bill 172 was passed on the final day of the legislative session, and Governor Robert Bentley swiftly signed it into law. 48 other states have passed similar laws requiring private investigators to be licensed and giving consumers an outlet to voice complaints.
Read more at : http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/new-law-regulates-private-investigators-in-alabama-281201.htm

Lawyer kick-started massive HOA probe with private investigation

A prominent construction defect attorney was the driving force behind the long-running federal investigation into the scheme to take over valley homeowners associations, according to a copy of an FBI affidavit obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Scott Canepa brought information to FBI agents and Las Vegas police assigned to a joint public corruption task force in November 2007 about an investigation his firm conducted into the scheme, hatched by then-construction company boss Leon Benzer, the affidavit says.
Read more at : http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/lawyer-kick-started-massive-hoa-probe-private-investigation

STF Rescues 8 Kidnapped Victims, Arrests Gang Leader

The Special Task Force saddled with the responsibility of maintaining peace in Plateau State said it has rescue eight persons who were kidnapped at various locations by some criminals in a hotel in Jos North local government area of the state.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday, signed by the media officer of the STF, Captain Salisu Mustapha, in Jos.

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Soldiers Rescue Kidnapped Victims From Hotel In Jos

A statement by STF’s spokesperson, Captain Salisu Mustapha, revealed that the security agents carried out a raid at Chiwana hotel located in Zinaria layout of Jos north local government area, where the kidnappers were apprehended with victims kept in one of the hotel rooms.
According to the statement, the suspected kidnappers contacted families of the victims and requested for various sums of money as ransom.
Read more at : http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/07/13/soldiers-rescue-kidnapped-victims-from-hotel-in-jos/

Online course will let students give money away

A free online course that starts Monday will offer students the chance to learn about giving from Warren Buffett and help decide how to spend more than $100,000 of his sister’s money.

More than 4,000 people have already signed up for the course that will also feature philanthropic advice from baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. and the founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner and journalist Soledad O'Brien are other featured guests. The amount being given away could grow if more students sign up.

Online Education Startup Coursera Raises $43 Million

Forget about teacher’s pet. Online education company Coursera is fast becoming an investor’s pet with a new $43 million round of funding.
Coursera, which provides hundreds of courses online, said Wednesday it raised the Series B financing from new investors Laureate Education Inc., the World Bank’s investment arm, LearnCapital Venture Partners, GSV Capital and venture capitalist Yuri Milner. Previous investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates, which invested $16 million in Coursera last year, boosted their stakes in the latest round.
Read more at : http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/07/10/online-education-startup-coursera-raises-another-43-million/

Provost Vincent Price to represent Penn at online education lab

In less than two weeks, Provost Vincent Price will represent the University of Pennsylvania at a discussion with other universities’ administrators about the future of online education.

At the Presidential Innovation Lab, hosted by the American Council on Education, Price and 13 other university presidents will discuss ways of addressing problems facing the new online course market inspired by the “disruptive potential of [these] new educational technologies.”
Read more at : http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/07/provost-price-to-attend-online-education-lab

ACLS Online Renewal Course from United Medical Education Now Features Newly-Updated Course Materials

In addition, in order to help students obtain their ACLS online recertification, and/or BLS and PALS certification online, new practice courses are now available. For people who wish to earn their ACLS, BLS or PALS online recertification, United Medical Education's website is a one-stop shop.

ACLS, BLS and PALS online recertification can all easily be completed through United Medical Education's website. The company's convenient and top-notch automated online testing and delivery system means that students do not have to go through a waiting period in order to complete their courses. In most cases, students can register for, take the required test and receive their certificate all within two hours.
Read more at : http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/acls-online-renewal-course-from-united-medical-education-now-features-newly-updated-course-materials-215549081.html

Online Tool Helps Doctors Engage Parents on Learning Disabilities

The National Center for Learning Disabilities recently launched a website intended to help doctors and other pediatric health-care professionals talk to parents about specific learning disabilities.

The LD Navigator was created in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and funded through a grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The resource offers informational handouts that can be printed for parents; talking points for doctors to guide conversations about referrals and evaluation; screening questions for new patients; and information on federal and local laws that govern educational services for students with learning disabilities.
Read more at : http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2013/07/online_tool_helps_doctors_enga.html

Monday, 15 July 2013

Letters: Online education's place

While online classes, remedial and otherwise, have tremendous potential, the fact that about 80% of students enter California's community colleges deficient in English and math should set off alarms.
Graduation rates are indeed the prime measure of progress, but a high school education that doesn't educate just gives you a certificate that is not only worthless in the marketplace but devalues graduates who have earned their diplomas.
Read more at : http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-0711-thursday-online-education-20130711,0,3046712.story

Blackboard Co-Founders Says Online Education Set To Put Price Pressure On Traditional Schools

One of the early pioneers of online education, Blackboard co-founder Michael Chasen, was one of the speakers at Startup Festival in Montreal today, and while he’s focused on a new startup called SocialRadar that isn’t education-focused, but he still had lots to say about the future of the education industry. Massively open online courses (MOOCs) represent the biggest disruption in the education space since colleges and universities started getting online, he said, and that’s going to mean a lot of upheaval to come.
Chasen said that the changes he’s seeing now in the industry remind him of those that were going on at the time that he started Blackboard, when colleges were realizing for the first time that putting course materials and course management tools online made a lot of sense. Change was happening fast and haphazardly, and the results weren’t necessarily clear at the time. With MOOCs provided by startups like Udemy, Coursera and more, there’s a chance to flip everything on its head again.
Read more at : http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/11/blackboard-co-founders-says-online-education-set-to-put-price-pressure-on-traditional-schools/

Online Education a New Frontier in China

In a country as obsessed with education as China, it makes sense that online teaching has huge potential.
Wealthy Chinese spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to send their children abroad for what they perceive as a better education. And China's scale means online-education companies can serve vast audiences, justifying up-front investments.
Read more at : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324879504578599083482117730.html

Free online MIT courses are an education revolution

You run edX. What exactly is it?
EdX is a massive open online course (MOOC) venture founded last year by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We offer free online courses from some of the best universities in the world. EdX has a million students and we're only one year old.

Many universities now offer free online courses. What is driving the trend?
The MOOC movement is democratising education. In the past, top universities had this funnel and admitted only the top few per cent of applicants. From the get-go, a lot of students without the right economic or language background were not able to get in. We're flipping the funnel. We're saying everybody can try. If you can cut it, we'll give you a certificate of mastery.

Coursera, an Online Education Company, Raises Another $43 Million

Coursera, a year-old company offering free online courses, has raised another $43 million in venture capital from investors active in both domestic and international education.
The new investors include the International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, and Laureate Education, an international higher education company with dozens of profit-making universities around the world, as well as GSV Capital, Learn Capital and Yuri Milner, an individual entrepreneur.
Read more at : http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/coursera-an-online-education-company-raises-another-43-million/

Friday, 12 July 2013

Smart Justice seeks Spokane criminal justice reform

A group pushing for criminal justice reform in Spokane called for moving tax money from pretrial lockup to programs that help offenders turn their lives around.
Smart Justice leaders outlined their recommendations Monday to the Spokane Regional Criminal Justice Commission, a panel appointed last fall to come up with solutions to escalating crime and jail crowding.
“We want to shift resources away from pretrial warehousing,” said attorney Breean Beggs, of Smart Justice. “The top goal should be increasing problem-solving in the courts.”
Read more at : http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/jul/09/smart-justice-seeks-spokane-criminal-justice/

Texas Senate to vote on roads, criminal justice

The Texas Senate is expected vote Thursday on key road building and criminal justice measures that have been overshadowed by the intense debate over abortion.

State lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment that would pump billions into road building from the state's cash reserve fund. That fund is supported by oil and gas severance taxes. If approved by the Senate and House, the measure would go to voters statewide in November.
Read more at : http://www.caller.com/news/2013/jul/11/texas-senate-vote-roads-criminal-justice-thursday/

U.K. Opts Out of EU Criminal Justice Powers

The U.K. government plans to reduce the number of European Union criminal justice and policing powers that it follows to those its deems to be in its national interest, part of a wider agenda to wrest back control of its affairs from European institutions.

But Home Secretary Theresa May said Tuesday that the U.K. intended to remain signed up to the European arrest warrant—one of the most contentious among the cross-border powers in question—although it would be reformed to exclude suspects of minor crimes.
Read more at : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323823004578595574219964126.html

State Senate Approves Roads & Criminal Justice

The Texas Legislature has approved a mandatory sentence for 17-year-olds who commit capital crimes to life in prison with parole possible after 40 years.
Both the Senate and House passed the bill Thursday. The measure now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for signature.
Seventeen-year-olds are considered adults in Texas, and the previous law mandated that those convicted of killing someone while committing a felony must spend their life in prison.

But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to sentence a minor to life in prison.
Read more at : http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/07/12/state-senate-approves-roads-criminal-justice/

DOJ Says Soaring Prison Costs Hurt Criminal Justice System, Calls For Sentencing Reform

There will be fewer federal prosecutors and FBI agents available to bring charges and investigate federal crimes, and less money to support drug treatment programs, unless the U.S. curbs federal prison spending, the Justice Department told the U.S. Sentencing Commission on Thursday.

For at least the past decade, expanding prison and detention spending has been “crowding out” other criminal justice priorities, wrote DOJ Office of Policy and Legislation Director Jonathan J. Wroblewski in the department's annual letter to the commission. With federal budget cuts placing further constraints on spending, he wrote, the government faces a stark choice: "control federal prison spending or see significant reductions in the resources available for all non-prison criminal justice areas.”
Read more at : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/federal-sentencing-reform_n_3581546.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Met 'knew gangs hired private investigators to intimidate witnesses in major trials'

Details of the threat posed to Scotland Yard’s witness protection programme were allegedly included in a secret 2008 report by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) leaked to The Independent.
The Metropolitan Police were made aware of the matter by an informant but did not arrest or charge those suspected of “actively working” on witnesses to withdraw damaging allegations, the newspaper reported.
Read more at : http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-knew-gangs-hired-private-investigators-to-intimidate-witnesses-in-major-trials-8673902.html

For L.A. investigator, exposing kosher meat fraud was a ‘mitzvah’

A semi-automatic weapon sits propped beside the front door of the ranch-style home that Eric Agaki shares with his wife, a couple of goats, some chickens and a horse. Only it’s not the real thing.
“That’s an air gun for raccoons,” Agaki says. “For intruders I’ve got other things.”

Agaki, 41, is particularly concerned with home security, and with good reason. A private investigator for the past 10 years, Agaki has put murderers in jail and staked out hundreds of spouses suspected of extramarital affairs.
Read more at : http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/for_l.a._investigator_exposing_kosher_meat_fraud_was_a_mitzvah

Investigating the investigators

With nearly £1bn lost to fraudsters every year, the insurance industry is fighting back. But while the use of private investigators is one of the sector’s tools in the battle against fraud, this practice is currently the subject of further investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The FCA’s investigation, which began in March, seeks to understand how insurers use private investigators and whether there are sufficient controls in place. Although it is in the process of gathering information from insurers, it has not ruled out using its regulatory clout if it finds evidence of bad practice.

The Protective Group Supports Decision to Use Private Investigator in Susan Powell Missing Person Case

On June 22, leading security company, The Protective Group, comments on an article published by Fox News regarding a missing persons case involving Utah mother Susan Powell and how her father is using a private investigator to continue the unsolved case.
According to the article published by Fox News, Susan Powell disappeared four years ago in 2009. While police believed Powell’s husband and his brother were involved in her disappearance, the article says authorities never had enough evidence to charge the brothers. Within the past year, both brothers committed suicide and police decided to close the case.

NRL hires private investigator to probe assault allegations against State of Origin player Ben Te'o

Private investigator Garry Sweet's company Australian National Security Investigations and Collections has made a Right to Information request for the police report - including notebook entries - into the alleged assault of Katie Lewis on April 21.
Mr Sweet directed more than 1200 security staff in war-torn Afghanistan, while overviewing terrorism, theft, fraud and drug operations as national investigations manager.
Read more at : http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/nrl-hires-private-investigator-to-probe-assault-allegations-against-state-of-origin-player-ben-te8217o/story-fnihsrf2-1226668975647

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Private eye harassing MP: Labor

The Barnett Government has spent $5300 on a private investigator to weed out the source of a departmental leak which embarrassed a minister during the March election campaign.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan today said one of his MPs – Chris Tallentire – had been harassed by the private investigator, whose engagement would be expected in a “police state” rather than a western democracy.
Environment Minister Albert Jacob confirmed to Parliament late last week that Joe Baskwell of Australia Wide Investigations Pty Ltd had been hired by the Department of Environment and Conservation to investigate the alleged unauthorised release of documents.
Read more at : http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/17626487/private-detective-harassing-mp-labor/

Leaders eager to distance themselves from rogue investigator allegations

Insurance industry leaders have distanced themselves from allegations emanating from a law enforcement agency report that stated insurance companies hired rogue private investigators in a bid to dispute claims.

This follows the leak of a report, commissioned by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in 2008, to The Independent, which was submitted as evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, and has sparked demands from the Home Affairs Select Committee for the names of implicated firms to be released to members of parliament.

Tel Aviv hired private eyes to investigate 13,000 residents who owe it money

The Tel Aviv municipality has contracted private investigators to probe into the business and personal affairs of more than 13,000 people who owe the city money over the past two years. These agencies provide the city with personal details of the debtors, but also with information about their spouses, family members and people they do business with, according to one agency’s reports.

Opposition councillor Sharon Luzon, of the City For All faction, accuses the municipality of infringing on its residents’ privacy and spying on them.
“This is a grave, disproportionate violation of privacy, not only of the people involved but of their family members and others, whose personal details were exposed,” Luzon says.
Read more at : http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/tel-aviv-hired-private-eyes-to-investigate-13-000-residents-who-owe-it-money.premium-1.533929

Private Investigator Bath Give Information about Missing Persons Services in Light of Recent BBC News Report

Private Investigator Bath give information about missing persons services in light of recent BBC News report by Julie Cush dated 3 July 2013: Appeal over 1,000 unidentified bodies on missing persons website.
According to the BBC News report by Julie Cush dated 3 July 2013: Appeal over 1,000 unidentified bodies on missing persons website, last year a website featuring facial reconstructions was launched in the hope of solving them. The BBC News report goes into detail about some cases that have not been solved, including the oldest case of a body that was washed up in 1970 at Redcar.
Read more at : http://www.watchlistnews.com/2013/07/07/private-investigator-bath-give-information-about-missing-persons-services-in-light-of-recent-bbc-news-report-appeal-over-1000-unidentified-bodies-on-missing-persons-website/

Private investigators deny planting bug in Ecuador’s embassy

Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said he had “reason to believe” the device found in the building where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is hiding was planted by The Surveillance Group Ltd.
But CEO of the Worcester-based firm Tim Young said: “This is completely untrue. The Surveillance Group do not and have never been engaged in any activities of this nature.
Read more at : http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/private-investigators-deny-planting-bug-in-ecuadors-embassy-8687396.html

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Anti-terror cooperation

Last week's terrorist attack in the Xin-jiang Uygur autonomous region is ready proof that the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism have once again raised their ugly heads in the region.
Terrorism is not a homegrown problem in Xinjiang, and there has been concern about foreign infiltration for years. Media reports offer clues that there was foreign involvement in the latest attack, so wider and more intensified international cooperation is undoubtedly needed to root out the three evils.
A member of the "East Turkistan" movement allegedly participated in last week's attack after returning from fighting in Syria. In recent years, Chinese national security authorities have repeatedly warned that the flow of "East Turkistan" members from outside the country to Xinjiang posed a threat to local stability.
Read more at : http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-07/03/content_16712393.htm

Anti-terrorism effort takes toll

In the wake of Monday's festivities in Diefenbaker Park, it is chilling to consider what sort of harm could be dealt to a peaceful nation such as Canada by the malevolence exposed in British Columbia this week.
The RCMP announced Tuesday that they had arrested two Canadian-born, self-radicalized terrorist suspects who they believe were bent on causing death and mayhem at the Canada Day celebrations in Victoria.

Many will have breathed a sigh of relief to learn that authorities had the two suspects under surveillance for months, that the suspects' bombs "were completely under (police) control, they were inert, and at no time represented a threat to public safety," as RCMP commissioner Wayne Rideout explained, and that Canadians are being protected by the Mountie-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team that has the technology and authority to track such persons.

Canada's top anti-terrorism official quits

Canada's top anti-terrorism official Vic Toews resigned on Monday, saying he was quitting politics ahead of an expected cabinet reshuffle this month.
"It takes a great deal of deliberation on the part of those who decide to enter politics," Public Safety Minister Toews said in a statement.

"It takes an even greater amount of consideration and effort to step out of office when one still enjoys the support of those who elected them. However, for me, the time has come to step aside and begin the next chapter of my life."
Read more at : http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130708/canadas-top-anti-terrorism-official-quits

Higher Education Needs Privacy Officers and Privacy/Security Training

In 2007, Seung Cho, a student at Virginia Tech, killed 32 students and faculty and wounded 17. He then committed suicide.
One of the most troublesome things about this incident was that it might have been prevented if school officials and employees had a better grasp of privacy law. Appointed by the state governor, the Virginia Tech Review Panel issued an extensive report revealing that several University officials and employees knew about Cho’s mental instability but failed to share what they knew with each other. And nobody ever told Cho’s parents about his problems, his stalking of a female student, and his dark writings and erratic behavior. Cho’s parents said that if they had known, they would have taken him home and made him go to therapy. This is what they did when Cho had problems in high school.
Read more at : http://www.linkedin.com/influencers/20130709071722-2259773-higher-education-needs-privacy-officers-and-privacy-security-training

Taiwan’s “All-Volunteer” Military: Vision or Nightmare?

As the young soldiers lined up along the coast at the crack of dawn, moments before rocket systems, main battle tanks and combat aircraft pulverized imaginary targets out at sea as part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, it was impossible not to wonder how Taiwan’s military would fare in the advent of a real invasion by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Would they offer stiff resistance, fight bravely and efficiently, or would they surrender in the face of a much more powerful and zealous adversary?
According to the Taiwanese government, force modernization — a leaner, smaller, more professional and tech-savvy military — is the answer to the country’s future defense needs. The main pillar of this transformation is Taipei’s multi-year program to drop mandatory military service and shift to an all-volunteer force (AVF). Under current plans, by early 2015 the armed forces should be composed of 176,000 volunteers, from the 235,000 volunteers and conscripts at present, for a total active duty force of 215,000 (from 270,000).
Read more at : http://thediplomat.com/2013/07/09/taiwans-all-volunteer-military-vision-or-nightmare/

Monday, 8 July 2013

New Lloyd Irvin Training Course Shows Businesses How to Benefit from Online Banner Advertising

The course includes tips on how to use online banner advertising to reach more ideal customers and prospects.

Lloyd believes many business owners and online marketers are missing out on the potential of banner advertising and that those who learn about it can enjoy a significant advantage.

He comments:

"One of the keys to attracting more customers to your business is driving more traffic to your website and I've found that online banner advertising has proven to be very effective for doing this in many different markets."

The way online banners work is that you pay a fee to display a graphical ad on another website with a link back to your site.

Online program gives vets basic training – in business

After years of being told what to do, when to do it and how to do it, millions of veterans like Don Allen have dived into the deep waters of small-business ownership.

Allen, 64, president and owner of Energy Masters in Swartz Creek, wishes the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center's Venture Plan Online classes had been around to provide some entrepreneurial marching orders before he opened his energy consulting business several years ago.

"When I first went into the business, I just ran down to the end of the dock and dove in," said the U.S. Air Force veteran, who served from 1967 through 1973.
Read more at : http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130707/NEWS/307079996/online-program-gives-vets-basic-training-in-business

CSTO’s Antiterrorism Exercise Kobalt 2013 to Go Active on 11 July

MOSCOW, 5 July (BelTA) – The active phase of the antiterrorism exercise Kobalt 2013 of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will take place on 11 July. CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordiuzha, Deputy Interior Minister of Russia, chief of the Russian Interior Ministry’s internal troops Nikolai Rogozhkin, and representatives of the interior ministries of CSTO member states will take part in the exercise, CSTO Press Secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov told BelTA.

The tactical exercise Kobalt 2013 for special operations units detached by the interior ministries of the CSTO member states to be part of the special operations forces of the CSTO collective rapid response forces is taking place in Russia’s Rostov Oblast on 4-12 July. The exercise is designed to practice the application of law enforcement units and means as part of the CSTO collective rapid response forces for the sake of disarming and eradicating illegal armed units and suppressing the operation of terrorist groups.
Read more at : http://news.belta.by/en/news/society?id=720331

Australian Army's Blackhawk anti-terrorism training hits Newcastle

But, thankfully, pilots from the army’s 6th Aviation Regiment are at the controls of this beast as it slices through the air above Newcastle.
The Blackhawk helicopter, nicknamed Armageddon by its crew, is one of several taking part in airborne exercises above the steel city over the next fortnight as troops simulate counter-terrorism operations in urban terrain and at sea.
Read more at : http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/australian-armys-blackhawk-anti-terrorism-training-hits-newcastle/story-fni0cx12-1226665132482

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training Held in Guam and the CNMI

Guam - The State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) Program has been successfully completed on Guam and in Saipan.

A release from U.S. Attorney Alicia Limtiaco states that after a eyar of planning, the program was presented by the the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) ProgramU.S. Attorney’s Office for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, the Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Joint Task Force-Homeland Defense.
Read more at : http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35384:state-and-local-anti-terrorism-training-held-in-guam-and-the-cnmi&catid=45:guam-news&Itemid=156

Friday, 5 July 2013

Why the idea of online ventures ‘democratising education’ is total BS

people can get through online courses, many of them free, some of them from top schools.
It’s a disruptive trend. No, it’s not.
The top schools won’t be disrupted, even most other schools won’t be affected by free online education.
Even if you could sit in on any lecture at any top school, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, etc, it wouldn’t help you much at all. Students will still be competing to get into those top schools, happy to mortgage their, and their parents’ futures, to pay to get into those top schools.
Because it’s not about the education you get it’s about the contacts you make. It’s about joining a privileged group that takes care of its own throughout the rest of your life. The alumni associations and the other relationships you make are worth far more than the cost or even the quality of the education. It’s not about knowing your subject, it’s about who you know.
Read more at : http://memeburn.com/2013/07/why-the-idea-of-online-ventures-democratising-education-is-total-bs/

Kaplan bets on 10 online learning startups

When his middle son was struggling to learn how to read, Matthew Gross found teachers and school administrators didn't have the tools to help the second grader improve. One even suggested he might be forever destined to be a poor reader, a verdict Mr. Gross rejected.
"They admitted they didn't have bullets in their ammunition cache to accelerate his learning," said Mr. Gross, a one-time Teach for America teacher and former executive director of the New York State Regents Research Fund. "[They were telling him], 'You're never going to be part of the conversation.' That's wrong."
Read more at : http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130703/TECHNOLOGY/130709962

Duke's future in online education still in limbo

After faculty voted to reject online courses for credit, the specifics of Duke’s future in online education remain unresolved.

Following the Arts and Sciences Council’s April 25 vote, the University withdrew from a contract with Internet education company 2U and left Semester Online, a consortium of universities offering courses via the 2U platform. But the faculty’s decision not to participate in the program does not indicate a stop to the University’s involvement with online education—far from it, say faculty and administrators

Schools readying for online education expansion

A new law aims to offer more online classes to Florida students than ever before, but making sure it works as intended will take lots of time and planning, school officials say.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law July 1, allowing more out-of-state digital learning companies to partner with developing Florida online classes and requiring the Department of Education to research the effects. Now, the state has to figure out how to hold online teachers and curricula accountable.

The goal is to improve education for all Florida students, said Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, one of the bill's sponsors.
Read more at : http://tbo.com/pinellas-county/schools-readying-for-online-education-expansion-20130704/

Why MOOCs Miss the Point With Online Learning

With the rising costs of college, many students find it difficult to obtain a quality, affordable education. In response, numerous higher education institutions are embracing online education as one way to create access for nontraditional students to achieve their dream of a college degree, regardless of financial means and life demands.
A recent article in The New Yorker speaks to online learning as a harbinger of higher education's future, which resonates for many in the college community. The problem, however, is that the article praises MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) as a gold standard for online learning.
Read more at : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayson-boyers/why-moocs-miss-the-point-_b_3542695.html

Thursday, 4 July 2013

Charter of aviation security advisory panel renewed and new members solicited

TSA has renewed the charter of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee and issued an invitation for individuals to volunteer to serve on this advisory panel.

In an announcement published in the Federal Register on June 11, TSA indicated that the advisory committee, which was established in 1989 in the wake of the crash and destruction of Pan American World Airways Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
Read more at : http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/30010?c=airport_aviation_security

Improved Security Will Boost Air Travel In Kano, Says FAAN

THE cause for low air passenger traffic at the airports, aside the poor infrastructural facilities, which is being tackled by the ongoing remodeling and commissioning of airports, has been attributed to the prevailing security problem, especially in the northern part of Nigeria.
Reacting to a newspaper report, Spokesman, of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Dati Yakubu, said some airports like Kano has been experiencing security, which has been responsible for its poor air traffic record.
Read more at : http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125913:improved-security-will-boost-air-travel-in-kano-says-faan&catid=31:business&Itemid=562

Morpho and BAC sign aviation security deal

The agreement was signed by Morpho chairman and chief executive Jean-Paul Jainsky and BAC aviation marketing manager Waleed Fakhro.
The MoU establishes the framework of a two-phase project involving Morpho's participation in the Bahrain International Airshow 2014 (BIAS 2014) and the operational testing and evaluation of aviation security solution MorphoPASS by BAC.
Morpho will showcase a selection of advanced security solutions during BIAS 2014.

The second phase of the project involves the deployment of a six-month pilot programme for the operational testing and evaluation of MorphoPASS, an integrated airport checkpoint solution, at Bahrain International Airport.

Read more at : http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=355993

Corporate Aviation Security via Four-Pronged Approach Announced by IMG, a Leading International Security Service

The Incident Management Group, Inc. (IMG), a leading international security service, is announcing the development of a simple four-pronged approach to corporate aviation security and executive protection. Many organizations, companies, and high-profile individuals have received credible threats from radical political groups, disgruntled employees, and mentally unstable individuals. Some defense contractors, have even been the target of terrorist plots. Many of these organizations have responded to these threats by reviewing their executive protection and corporate aviation security procedures.
Read more at : http://www.prweb.com/releases/Aviation/Security/prweb10861207.htm

Experts Seek Antidote to Aviation Security Challenges

STAKEHOLDERS in the aviation sector have expressed the need for the industry players to provide strong security measures, as well for travelling passengers to imbibe the culture of self-security, which would improve safety at the nation’s airports.
They concluded that terrorism threat had been potent and remains the greatest challenge to aviation safety and a source of worry to the world. Consequently, they tasked aviation security personnel to be more vigilant at all times as terrorists are evolving new ways of beating security.
The experts also advocated for inter-agency sharing of information at the airports, stating that the provision of several explosive detector equipment and body scanner machines at major airports would not achieve much without the cooperation of security operatives and the other stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry.
Read more at : http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125052:experts-seek-antidote-to-aviation-security-challenges&catid=32:business-travel&Itemid=563

Wednesday, 3 July 2013

Yolo Residents Learn About Criminal Justice

After a two-month course designed to teach residents about the criminal justice system, 29 people have graduated from this year's Yolo County Law Enforcement Citizens Academy, organizers said.

This was the second year of the academy, sponsored by the District Attorney's Office in partnership with the Sheriff's Department, Probation Department, police departments of Woodland, Davis, UCD, West Sacramento and Winters, and the California Highway Patrol.

Participants and organizers alike are calling the course a success. A graduation ceremony was held Thursday, June 13, at the Woodland Police Department.
Read more at : http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_23581898/yolo-residents-learn-about-criminal-justice

Westfield Pupils Learn About Criminal Justice System

A THIEF has received a four-month jail sentence for stealing a bicycle from Westfield Primary School – as Year Five pupils can tell you.
The court case – and the “theft” – were part of a York Children’s University programme organised for the school by undergraduates working with police, a magistrate and The Press’ court reporter, Megi Rychlikova.
Read more at : http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/education/10522614.Westfield_pipils_learn_about_criminal_justice_system/

Opinion: Children of Incarcerated Parents are 'Collateral Damage' of Criminal Justice System

Incarceration has a phenomenal effect on children whose family members are in prison. Studies suggest that girls with an incarcerated household member have sex at younger ages, are less likely to use contraceptives, have more sexual partners and are more likely to become pregnant before age 20. Other researchers report that high levels of incarceration affect the ability of African-American male adolescents to imagine their future, due to the absence of so many men as role models in their homes and neighborhood. Overall, research indicates that 23 percent of children with a father who has served time in jail or prison have been expelled or suspended from school. Parental incarceration is correlated with higher school dropout rates, lower academic achievement, greater involvement with juvenile justice and ultimately more involvement with the criminal justice system as offenders themselves.
Read more at : http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2013/07/opinion_children_of_incarcerat.html

Meet Anna Clark, Your New Criminal Justice Role Model

When people used to ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d often say I wanted to be a journalist, a novelist, an activist, and an educator. Obviously, that seems like way too many awesome gigs for one person to squeeze into one lifetime. That is, unless you’re Anna Clark. Clark calls herself “a progressive person interested in creative approaches to art and to justice work,” and she’s done a solid job of achieving just that.

Working as is an independent journalist, Clark manages to live professionally at the intersection of writing, activism, social justice, and education. Currently, Clark writes about “the stories tangled up with prisons, detention, and the criminal justice system.”

What Lessons Can Business Teach Criminal Justice? Invest in Research

After two decades of sustained crime reduction, violent crime rates increased in 2012. If we hope to reverse this trend, we can't simply replicate yesterday's strategies -- we must continue to innovate.

The past generation was arguably a golden era in criminal justice innovation. The management of police departments was revolutionized by Compstat. Thousands of addicted offenders avoided prison and got treatment thanks to drug courts. And DNA evidence helped rectify numerous miscarriages of justice.

Where will the Compstats of tomorrow come from? How will we find the next great ideas in criminal justice? The short answer: by investing in research.