Teacher pleads for CCTV in classrooms

Cara Simpson
icCoventry
Sunday June 24, 2007

A TEACHER who was unfairly dismissed wants to see CCTV in classrooms - to protect teachers.

John Whitehead, aged 51, of Lime Tree Park, Coventry, was sacked from his job at Corley special school in 2004 because of claims he slammed a child's finger in a door.

Mr Whitehead, who had taught with an unblemished record for 24 years, was cleared of any wrong-doing by the police.

He took his case for unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal, which he won.

Governors at the school were criticised for the way they had handled the investigation into the incident and the way they had dealt with Mr Whitehead.

But the tribunal also felt Mr Whitehead should have handled the incident better, and therefore decided the compensation for losing his job should be cut by half.

But three years on, he is still involved in what he describes as a drawn-out legal battle with Coventry City Council, which he says refuses to offer him work, or give him references.

And even after signing up to 17 agencies, he has found it difficult to find teaching posts.

He has been forced to take any jobs going, including working as a chef, to make ends meet and pay mounting legal costs.

But although he now works part-time with disabled students at Henley College, the former senior manager's salary has plummeted from £36,000 a year to about £11,000. He has risked losing his house twice, and both he and his wife have received counselling for depression due to the trauma.

Now the father-of-two says he would like to see cameras installed in all classrooms to protect the rights of teachers wrongly accused of misconduct.

He said: "If CCTV was installed in classrooms it would solve a lot of problems."

He knows his plea will raise concerns over costs and loss of civil liberties. But he said: "Coventry City Council has spent well over £100,000 on my case. And what about my civil liberties? My career and my health have been taken away from me.

"Bankers and shop assistants work with CCTV around them all the time without any problems, so why shouldn't teachers?"

A city council spokeswoman said the council did not have the powers to install CCTV in schools and any decision would be up to an individual school.

FBI to restrict student freedoms

Press Esc
Sunday June 24, 2007

US university students will not be able to work late at the campus, travel abroad, show interest in their colleagues' work, have friends outside the United States, engage in independent research, or make extra money without the prior consent of the authorities, according to a set of guidelines given to administrators by the FBI.

Federal agents are visiting some of the New England's top universities, including MIT, Boston College, and the University of Massachusetts, to warn university heads about the dangers of foreign spies and terrorists stealing sensitive academic research.

FBI is offering to brief faculty, students and staff on what it calls "espionage indicators" aimed at identifying foreign agents.

Unexplained affluence, failing to report overseas travel, showing unusual interest in information outside the job scope, keeping unusual work hours, unreported contacts with foreign nationals, unreported contact with foreign government, military, or intelligence officials, attempting to gain new accesses without the need to know, and unexplained absences are all considered potential espionage indicators.

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to monitor their colleagues for signs of suspicious behaviour and report any concerns to the FBI or the military.

"What we're most concerned about are those things that are not classified being developed by MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], Worcester Polytech [Worcester Polytechnic Institute] and other universities," Warren Bamford, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, told the Boston Herald. "It's to make sure these institutions receive training...[on] what spies look for. There are hundreds of projects going on that could be useful to a foreign power."

"My understanding is that what the FBI is proposing is not illegal, but it does raise questions about the chilling effect in regard to academia,"Chris Ott, Communications Manager of the ACLU of Massachusetts told WSWS. "What will it mean about feeling free to pursue information? People on the campuses will be afraid to ask questions or take on the investigation of certain areas, say, for example, nuclear energy. "

University administrators have expressed their appreciation of FBI efforts.

"It was a very nice offer," Robert A. Weygand, vice president for administration and a former Rhode Island congressman told the Boston Herald. "We are taking it under consideration."

Last year the FBI initiated the College and University Security Effort (CAUSE), in order to establish an "alliance" between the Federal agency and academic institutions.

According to the FBI, through CAUSE, Special Agents in charge meet with the heads of local colleges to discuss national security issues and to share information and ideas.

Secret SAS mission to Somalia uncovers British terror cells

JASON LEWIS
UK Daily Mail
Sunday June 24, 2007

Terrorist sleeper cells said to be planning attacks in the UK have been unmasked after the bodies of Britons killed in US bombing raids in Somalia were identified by a top-secret SAS mission.

The four British men were among an estimated 400 people killed in a series of American air raids on Al Qaeda training camps in the war-torn East African state in January.

In March, British and US special-forces troops were secretly sent back into the region to take DNA samples from the exhumed remains of more than 50 of those killed during the attacks.

The joint SAS and Delta Force teams spent a number of days in the former Al Qaeda strongholds of Hayo and the island of Lamu, trying to identify foreign terrorists. They were armed with profiles of wanted terrorists they believed had been hiding and training in the area.

The wanted list included people who were tracked from America, the UK and other European countries - notably France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

The British and American teams are now playing a key role in the war against terror and take their orders directly from the CIA.

The DNA samples were processed on a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea and the results sent to the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Washington DC.

MI5 is understood to have used the samples to identify four British men killed in the US attacks. Their relatives and friends have now been put under covert surveillance in the hope of identifying further terror cells in the UK.

"This was a very successful operation and has provided key intelligence about terrorists still planning attacks in the UK and elsewhere in Europe', said a source.

"Up to four UK-based terror cells may have been disrupted or destroyed because of the air strikes, as well as cells based in other European countries."

The attacks were mounted from the neighbouring state of Djibouti, where 2,000 US troops were stationed. They had been waiting to join a push by the Somali government against the Islamic Courts regime in Mogadishu, which forcibly took over much of the country in 2006.

Last night a senior Whitehall source would not discuss the operation, but added: "It is well known that the Islamic Courts issued an open invitation to foreign jihadists to go to Somalia."

Intelligence reports had long suggested many Western Muslims had taken up the offer and were receiving military training in the region.

Three Britons were arrested in Kenya after fleeing the US air raids on Somalia. All were interrogated but were finally allowed to return to the UK.

One of the men, Reza Afsharzadagen, 25, from North London, says he was in Somalia teaching computer programming.

He claims to have been accused of terrorism and interviewed by MI5, but he has faced no charges on his return to Britain.

CHANGE Confronts John McCain

You Tube
Sunday June 24, 2007

John McCain visits St. Paul for a "photo-op"

McCain didn't realize what was on the signs, until after the first picture.