Facebook same-sex marriage campaign goes viral, draws interest from celebrities

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A Facebook same-sex marriage campaign has been buzzing a lot on the internet.

Facebook same-sex marriage campaigns have gone on before, but a new one is causing quite a bit of buzz. On Tuesday (March 26) the Facebook page for the Human Rights Campaign started advertising the use of a new avatar for Facebook users to show their support of the cause. Many users across the globe took notice and began changing their profile photos to an equals sign with a red background.

With oral arguments taking place in the Supreme Court on Prop. 8, support was requested of as many Americans as possible. The response across Facebook became noteworthy very quickly, with many national media reporters taking notice. Yahoo! started reporting on it later in the day on Tuesday, as did CNN and MSN as the news spread.

Seeing the reaction to the Facebook same-sex marriage campaign, the people behind the Human Rights Campaign posted a message of thanks to the site. That message stated, “Thank you so much for changing your profile photos to our special red HRC logo in support of all loving gay and lesbian couples!”

Many celebrities even got in on the action, with Beyonce Knowles taking to Twitter to announce her support. She stated, “If you like it, you should be able to put a ring on it.” She then added the hash tag #MarriageEquality after her post. She wasn’t the only one to post a message on Twitter or Facebook in support of the cause and she probably won’t be the last this week.

When it comes to Facebook same-sex marriage campaigns this one went viral much quicker than some in the past and it certainly has caused a lot of people to take notice.

Police want to rewrite camping rules to keep Occupy Dallas from happening again

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Patrick T. Fallon/Staff Photographer
Police officers descended upon the Occupy Dallas campsite across from City Hall in 2011 with orders for protesters to move. City Hall would be listed as a place where camping is prohibited under a police proposal.

By ROBERT WILONSKY

Staff Writer

rwilonsky@dallasnews.com

Published: 24 March 2013 10:15 PM

It may become a lot harder to Occupy Dallas.

A proposal to tighten regulations prohibiting camping on public property will go before a City Council committee Monday.

In the fall of 2011, protesters from the Occupy Dallas movement set up camp in Pioneer Plaza.

The city soon moved the group to the lot behind Dallas City Hall, where a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted. Dallas officials also complained of overflowing trash and human waste at the camp, and code compliance officials said that the protesters’ open flames posed a threat to the tent city.

In mid-November, police officers descended upon the campsite with orders for protesters to move.

The Dallas Police Department is proposing that the city rewrite the code prohibiting camping on public property to keep similar situations from escalating in the same way.

On Monday, Assistant Chief Tom Lawrence will make the case for changing the city ordinance that prohibits overnight camping on public park property without a permit, but provides only limited regulation of camping on city owned or controlled property.

The Occupy Dallas situation taught police that “enforcement tools to manage camping are limited” and that “an atmosphere for increased crime can be created,” a police briefing says.

The briefing, which will be presented to the Public Safety Committee, calls for a complete overhaul of the ordinance. The proposal states where camping is prohibited — including Dallas City Hall and outside the Dallas Convention Center — and defines what a “temporary shelter” is — “a tent or other portable or impermanent structure in or under which a person can be sheltered from the elements.”

The rewrite states that camping on city-owned or controlled property is allowed only with a permit. Those in violation must receive oral or written notice and be given an hour to remove personal property. After that, officials will remove it.

Seattle teacher revolt: Boycott of standardized tests begun by Seattle teachers

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Crossposted with permission

Matthew Thunney: Seattle Examiner:

A Seattle teacher revolt against standardized tests has finally achieved national attention. The Seattle teachers’ revolt has actually been going on for a while now, but reached a wider audience in a report by Yahoo! from Sunday (March 3). At the heart of the story is the growing movement to protest these standardized tests, spurred on by teachers that began a boycott back in January.

These standardized tests have become a very prominent part of the public education system over the last 10 years and it has led to many teachers simply “teaching to the test.” As stated in the report, one of the big problems of this testing system is that is has shown a lot of achievement gaps. Those gaps appear along racial and economic lines, raising serious questions about how well the tests are actually preparing students.

As reported back in early February, this Seattle teacher revolt has divided teachers and administrators. Teachers at Garfield high schools boycotted the tests until Seattle Superintendent Jose Banda forced school principals and assistant principals to issue the tests to the students. The thoughts expressed at the time were that the teachers needed to follow district policy.

As for how the teachers felt about the test, Garfield history teacher Jesse Hagopian stated that the decision by Banda was, “a callous disregard for the will of the educational community that makes up Garfield.” Many of the teachers simply felt (and probably still feel) that the test wasn’t providing value to the students.

This Seattle teacher revolt is now receiving national media attention and it might just shine light on the situation that teachers had been hoping to receive.