A confidential, nationwide list of 24,500 teachers who have been punished for a wide array of offenses was made available to the public Friday by a Florida newspaper.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune created a searchable database of the teachers' names after waiting for years to gain access to the list. The paper began seeking the material as part of its earlier reporting on teacher sexual misconduct in Florida. It obtained the list from the Florida Department of Education.
The list, gathered and maintained by the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, does not provide any information on why any of the teachers were disciplined. Sexual misconduct, financial misconduct, criminal convictions and other misbehavior all can bring disciplinary actions against teacher licenses.
A nationwide Associated Press investigation earlier this year sought five years of state disciplinary actions against teachers and the reasons behind them. In the years the AP studied, 2001 to 2005, roughly one-quarter of all disciplinary actions against teachers involved sexual misconduct.
The AP's seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The association's list is the only nationwide effort by school systems to track teachers who get into trouble, but the association does not make the information available to the public. The group is a voluntary, nonprofit organization of state education agencies.
The database is made available to other state education agencies to provide a warning to states about teachers with past problems. NASDTEC has no ability to force education officials to list all the teachers who have gotten in trouble in their states. The list also does not provide details on what teachers got in trouble for, and leaves it to states or hiring school districts to dig for more information.
Roy Einreinhofer, NASDTEC's executive director, said the agreement with states that allows for the collection of the names of disciplined teachers is based on a promise that the list will be kept confidential. He opposed the newspaper's decision to publish the names.
"We've heard from some states that this violates their state law," he said. "It could very well cause the end of it. That's why we're so vitally concerned about it."
The list made available to the newspaper was incomplete, Einreinhofer said. The complete database includes roughly 37,000 names. About 4,000 Florida teachers were not included because of the way the state agency saves the data, the newspaper said. Einreinhofer said he couldn't explain why the other 8,500 were missing.
The list goes back 20 years and states could have included disciplinary actions dating farther back.
Robert Shoop, a Kansas State University professor who has studied teacher sexual misconduct and has called for tougher oversight and more openness by administrators, said a current list of problem teachers should be gathered by each state and made public to better protect students.
"Clearly the public does have a right to know and they should have access," he said.
The newspaper's Web site allows readers to type in a name and state to determine whether a person is in the database. The list provides no other information than a date of birth to confirm an identity.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has emerged as the top candidate in the vote for the national executive committee (NEC) of South Africa's governing party.
African National Congress (ANC) members voted in the 80-member NEC after sacked Deputy President Jacob Zuma defeated President Thabo Mbeki as party leader. Some of Mr Mbeki's closest allies failed to make it onto the NEC.
In his first public comments since his defeat, Mr Mbeki said he did not plan to step down early as president. "I would expect the government to serve its term until the elections in 2009," Mr Mbeki said at a news conference at government headquarters in Pretoria.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 13:21 ||
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#1
A South Africa run by Jacob Zuma and Winnie Mandela... Gawd...
By the time that duo is finished, people will look back at MBeki's presidency as a period of enlightenment.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 13:44 Comments ||
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#2
Shares in the Jo'burg used Michelin and lighter fluid markets opened way, way up on the news...
Saudi authorities will deport 246 mostly Pakistani truck drivers from the kingdom after they took part in an illegal 10-day strike, Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan reported on Thursday. The drivers, who worked for Saudi transport firm Al-Bassami, the largest in the Gulf, were part of around 300 strikers protesting over pay, the newspaper said. Some staff returned to work after the military intervened.
Company chairman Mohammed bin Mohei al-Bassami branded the strike a conspiracy saying it had cost the company 15 million riyals (4 million dollars). The newspaper quoted driver Naim Khan as claiming the firm acted illegally and withheld workers salaries but Bassami said staff were treated in line with their legal rights.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Heh, heh. Great picture Fred. Where and when did this little problem occur ?
#3
Iceriggger, gonna need a new keyboard! Is this going to happen in Houston now 5 times aday?
Saudi authorities will deport 246 mostly Pakistani truck drivers from the kingdom after they took part in an illegal 10-day strike
What say you Writer's Union et all; is this what you really want?
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's nephew and a detained former state minister for amassing wealth beyond known sources of income and concealing information about it.
The commission in the last couple of days also approved filing cases on the same charges against former state minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir's wife Sitara Alamgir, former superintendent of police Mojibul Haque, his wife Shahida Haque and son Shahidul Haque.
Yesterday's cases were filed under sections 26 (2) and 27 (1) of the ACC Act and 15 d (5) of the emergency power rules.
Assistant Director Taufiqul Islam filed the case against Khaleda' nephew Shahrin Islam Tuhin with Gulshan Police Station accusing him of illegally accumulating Tk 2.9 crore and concealing information about Tk 1.43 crore wealth.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2007 00:00 ||
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December 21, 2007: The Japanese Minister of Defense is calling for efforts to work out the military and legal issues that would result if Japanese were attacked by extraterrestrials. Two members of the Japanese cabinet have expressed personal beliefs in the existence of extraterrestrials out there, somewhere. Because of Japans 1947 constitution, there are restrictions on what actions the military can take. Basically, the Japanese military is, technically, a purely defensive force. But an extraterrestrial invasion might play out in ways that would find the Japanese military prevented, by lawyers, from moving against an extraterrestrial menace.
#4
I can't believe it, the Japanese actualy believe their own crappy Science Fiction Movies?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/21/2007 14:38 Comments ||
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#5
This is somewhat interesting, in that the notion of Gaijin would also apply to ET. Hmmm, maybe a little fun with translation and a back door to update the constitution. Ok conspiracy mode off.
#6
Maybe bombay is on to something. Might just be another way to try and get a change to the constitution.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/21/2007 16:39 Comments ||
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#7
"Prevented by lawyers from moving against an [ET] menace" > OH OH, LAWYERS, Politicos, etal. - THE ONLY THING THAT CAN DEFEAT GODZIRRA/GOJIRA. MOTHRA, ... @CYCLONS, etc.
WOLFEBORO, N.H. - Former President Clinton says his wife is a "world-class genius" when it comes to improving the lives of others.
Clinton stuck mostly to familiar themes in two hour-long appearances Thursday, describing at length what he views as the nation's biggest challenges. Nearly 15 minutes into his first speech, he added almost as an afterthought that "everything I'm saying here is my wife's position, not just mine." Has he ever had any other opinion (except for interns that is...)
#4
someone told me the other day that the inquirer was bought by clinton friends (unverified/able by me)..and big willy style - the only fire he has put out (wait, too early for that).
As for me, just about ready to write in Bruce Willis since chuck has betrayed me.
hillarity, she is no gen'us. Mark Twain was a genius, da Vinci was a genius. she, well what you see is what happens when someone focuses on one thing for 20 years and expects to get it. Ever see a grown woman through a temper-tantrum? Buckle up.
#18
I'm with Bill on this. Give the girl a white cat and a secret lair and you've got yourself a USDA certified Blofeld-class Evil Genius on your hands.
#19
I think I know what is happening. Forever, Hillary was MSM's darling. Even through all the debates until recently. Then serious polls were taken and MSM began to realize, she isn't anyone elses darling. Because, always I've never really heard anyone say they like that woman. And now that the primaries are almost here, MSM is just finding that out themselves.
Bill and Hill are just now realizing that too, and trying to pull out all the stops.
Twice in the past two years, Alaska lawmakers lost congressional earmarks to build two "bridges to nowhere" costing hundreds of millions of dollars after Congress was embarrassed by public complaints over the pet projects hidden in annual spending bills.
This year, Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, who are Alaska Republicans, found another way to move cash to their state: Stevens secured more than $20 million for an "expeditionary craft" that will connect Anchorage with the windblown rural peninsula of Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Now what Alaska has, budget watchdogs contend, is a ferry to nowhere. At least it's cheaper than the bridge.
ABC News has learned that the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has registered the names of two Web sites with the express goal of attacking her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
It's the first time this election cycle a presidential campaign has launched a Web site with the express purpose of of launching serious criticisms on a rival. Votingpresent.com and Votingpresent.org are domains hosted by the same IP address as official Clinton Web sites, such TheHillaryIKnow.com, which was launched with much fanfare this week.
The Clinton campaign intends to use these new Web sites to paint Obama as cowardly. Clinton has attacked Obama for having occasionally voted "present" as an Illinois state legislator when it came to contentious legislation. It was a legislative maneuver that was sometimes part of a plan by Democrats to give cover to vulnerable colleagues, though in some instances it appears that Obama voted present to avoid taking a position with some political risk -- such as with a bill that would have allowed children as young as 15 who committed crimes with firearms on or near school property to be prosecuted as adults.
The Obama campaign referred to the websites as "politically motivated attacks in the eleventh hour of a closely contested campaign" and defended Obama's "present" votes.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Hyderabad: Indian Space Research organization (ISRO), the country's premier centre for research and development in the field of space science and technology, will soon launch a satellite called Carto-2A to assist Cartography applications including remote sensing, ground water development etc.
Speaking at the launch of India's first students' chapter of Astronautical Society of India, ISRO Deputy Director R K Rajangam said, "The satellite will reach the earth's orbit by the end of January 2008 or the first week of February".
Rajangam added, "Any object wanting to be seen from less than one metre will find an application in the Carto-2A satellite. This would be particularly useful in infrastructure development of urban areas etc. The satellite will be launched using the PSLV launch vehicle."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 14:08 ||
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It is TechSAR aka Polaris - the first Israeli Synthetic Aperture Radar bird.
Israel has decided to launch its next spy satellite aboard Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rather than on its own indigenous Shavit rocket,
The TecSAR like Israels Ofeq series of spy satellites will pass over specific target areas once every 90 minutes or so. But because the satellites SAR payload is capable of providing high-resolution imagery during the day, at night and in all weather conditions, it will provide double the amount of usable intelligence within a 24-hour, since the Ofeqs electro-optical camera cannot capture imagery at night or through clouds and other climatic obstacles.
Middle of next year ISRO will launch Tauvex.
TAUVEX is an Indo-Israeli Ultraviolet Imaging Experiment that will image large parts of the sky in the wavelength region between 1400 and 3200 Å. The instrument consists of three equivalent 20-cm UV imaging telescopes with a choice of filters for each telescope. Each telescope has a field of view of about 54' and a spatial resolution of about 6" to 10", depending on the wavelength. TAUVEX will be launched into a geostationary orbit as part of ISRO's GSAT-4 mission.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 18:12 Comments ||
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#3
TechSAR was supposed to be launched in November. There seems to have been technical problems with the launcher. According to reports the vehicle was destacked.
One news report (denied by both Israel and India) claimed US pressure to stop the launch.
With ISRO stating a launch window, looks like it is now on.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 18:15 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI - An Indian court on Thursday ordered police to complete a probe into charges that a bribe was paid in a multi-billion dollar deal to buy Scorpene submarines from a French defence firm.
The Delhi High Court told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complete its inquiry within three months and report back to a two-judge bench. The judges also told the CBI to press criminal charges against accused persons if it could establish an offence had been committed in the 2.4 billion euro (three billion dollar) deal. In case CBI decides to close the case after the inquiry then it will have to satisfy the court that there was no evidence of kickbacks involved in the deal, judges T. S. Thakur and Veena Birbal said.
The order came a month after an Indian pressure group -- the Centre for Public Interest Litigation -- alleged New Delhi was shielding Indian middlemen who took commissions from French defence giant Thales, which owns Armaris, to clinch the deal.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Had to look it up. (Probably better resources out there than wike)
And I know France is getting up from the mat (thank you, much easier to like and respect those who like and protect themselves), but still can't quite get the 'yellow submarine' song out my head.
#2
Possible opportunity for the German HDW. The Indian Navy just loves the German subs that were assembled in Mumbai. Far superior to the Russian boats.
HDW will have to recruit a new Indian workforce though... a lot of skilled sub welders ended up in the Gulf welding water tanks for rich Arabs.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 13:57 Comments ||
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#3
French army chief Bruno Cuche (C) inspects the guard of honour during his ceremonial reception in New Delhi.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/21/2007 14:02 Comments ||
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#4
Are the Russian subs still that bad these days?
Three mainstream political parties have reached an electoral alliance in Nowshera district for two National Assembly and five provincial assembly seats, local party leaders said. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) made public their seat adjustment formula. Explaining the modus vivendi, local leaders of the three parties told Daily Times on Thursday that the JUI-F and the PPP-S would support Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the PML-N candidate and partys provincial president on PF-12, Nowshera-I constituency. Besides Jhagra, Awami National Partys (ANP) Mian Iftikhar Hussain, PPPPs Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)s Khaliqur Rehman are also vying for the same seat. In the NA-5 (Nowshera-I) constituency, the PPP-S and PML-N would support JUI-F aspirant Mufti Mohammad Sajjad against former MPA Muhammad Tariq Khattak of the PPPP, Tariq Hameed Khattak of the ANP and Mian Yahya Shah Kakakhel of the PML-Q. ANPs Tariq Hameed is believed to be enjoying more support among the electorates than his other rivals.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmerts residence is being outfitted with a bunker that can withstand a nuclear or chemical attack, an Israeli daily reported Thursday. Workers at Olmerts official Jerusalem residence are thickening walls, digging, and installing air purification equipment capable of countering chemical agents, according to the report in the mass circulation Yediot Ahronot.
Olmerts office issued a statement strongly denying the report, calling it unfounded and misleading. The statement said workers are merely adding a safe room, a room with thick concrete walls and metal-shuttered windows that is a feature of many Israeli buildings. Israeli construction codes require such rooms to protect residents in case of rocket attacks. No atomic bunker is being constructed at the prime ministers official residence, or a bunker equipped with special filters or any special equipment, the statement said.
Yediot reported that the work at Olmerts residence follows the renovation of a bunker underneath the building housing his office, where Cabinet ministers are supposed to convene in case of an attack on Israels government center in Jerusalem. As part of the push to protect Israels leaders from a non-conventional attack, the paper wrote, Israel is also building a giant nuclear bunker in the hills several kilometers (miles) outside Jerusalem that will be accessible via a tunnel leading from government offices inside the city. The bunker is supposed to house the militarys headquarters and top government officials if the country comes under nuclear attack. Work on the bunker began several years ago and is expected to end in 2011, the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Work on the bunker began several years ago and is expected to end in 2011
Broncos kicker Jason Elam can handle pressure-packed field goals without even a hint of nerves. Composing himself to read the review of his first novel was a different story. Elam was jittery and tense. "I put on a thick skin thinking people would rip it apart," Elam said with a laugh.
But the 37-year-old kicker's first foray into the world of literary fiction has drawn positive reviews. Elam and Denver pastor Steve Yohn's first novel, "Monday Night Jihad," hit bookstores last week. The suspense thriller combines football, religion and a spy adventure in which the hero tries to thwart a terrorist plot. So far, the reviews have been glowing.
The main character in Elam's novel is Riley Covington, a bruising linebacker and Air Force lieutenant loosely based on former Broncos reserve Steve Russ, now an assistant coach at Syracuse University. Covington is an Air Force Academy graduate - just like Russ - who plays for the fictional Colorado Mustangs, a team in the Pro Football League. Following a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Covington, a third-round pick of the Mustangs, is living out his dream of playing professional football when he gets dragged back into his former life as a member of a special operations squad.
Continued on Page 49
#4
Well I guess kickers have to do something since they spend about all but about 2 minutes a game sitting on the bench.... better than knitting I guess.
#6
"The special forses guys exit the helicopter and, BOOM, they get the bad guys. The man on the left goes left, cuts back to the middle, and, BOOM, takes out the RPG gunner. The guy in the middle throws a great blocking position alawing the guy on the right to do a left hook and, BOOM, takes out the machinegunner." John Madden
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/21/2007 19:43 Comments ||
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#5
This must be a different class of reactor, as both Japan and South Africa have had steel dumpster sized reactors for at least a decade. I suspect that the others were decay reactors, so produced a lot less energy, but didn't need neutron dampening.
#8
200kw? No good. If I bypass the mains and fire up a couple 3-phase welders, a plasma cutter, the drill press, the brake lathe, the bench grinder, charge the electric forklift and crank the stereo (Brystons is draw the power) my neighbors gonna be mad about not being able to use hi new hot-rodded espresso machine.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/21/2007 13:17 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Saudi authorities will deport 246 mostly Pakistani truck drivers from the kingdom after they took part in an illegal 10-day strike, Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan reported on Thursday. The drivers, who worked for Saudi transport firm Al-Bassami, the largest in the Gulf, were part of around 300 strikers protesting over pay, the newspaper said. Some staff returned to work after the military intervened.
December 21, 2007: The Japanese Minister of Defense is calling for efforts to work out the military and legal issues that would result if Japanese were attacked by extraterrestrials. Two members of the Japanese cabinet have expressed personal beliefs in the existence of extraterrestrials out there, somewhere. Because of Japans 1947 constitution, there are restrictions on what actions the military can take. Basically, the Japanese military is, technically, a purely defensive force. But an extraterrestrial invasion might play out in ways that would find the Japanese military prevented, by lawyers, from moving against an extraterrestrial menace. 
WOLFEBORO, N.H. - Former President Clinton says his wife is a "world-class genius" when it comes to improving the lives of others.
ABC News has learned that the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has registered the names of two Web sites with the express goal of attacking her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. 
NEW DELHI - An Indian court on Thursday ordered police to complete a probe into charges that a bribe was paid in a multi-billion dollar deal to buy Scorpene submarines from a French defence firm.
Three mainstream political parties have reached an electoral alliance in Nowshera district for two National Assembly and five provincial assembly seats, local party leaders said. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) made public their seat adjustment formula. Explaining the modus vivendi, local leaders of the three parties told Daily Times on Thursday that the JUI-F and the PPP-S would support Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the PML-N candidate and partys provincial president on PF-12, Nowshera-I constituency. Besides Jhagra, Awami National Partys (ANP) Mian Iftikhar Hussain, PPPPs Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)s Khaliqur Rehman are also vying for the same seat. In the NA-5 (Nowshera-I) constituency, the PPP-S and PML-N would support JUI-F aspirant Mufti Mohammad Sajjad against former MPA Muhammad Tariq Khattak of the PPPP, Tariq Hameed Khattak of the ANP and Mian Yahya Shah Kakakhel of the PML-Q. ANPs Tariq Hameed is believed to be enjoying more support among the electorates than his other rivals.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmerts residence is being outfitted with a bunker that can withstand a nuclear or chemical attack, an Israeli daily reported Thursday. Workers at Olmerts official Jerusalem residence are thickening walls, digging, and installing air purification equipment capable of countering chemical agents, according to the report in the mass circulation Yediot Ahronot. 
