FLORIDA: Teacher Suspended For Making Anti-Gay Comments On Facebook

Anti-gay groups have a new martyr in a Florida public school teacher who is being investigated for posting anti-gay comments on his Facebook page.

Lake County Schools Communications Officer Chris Patton said school officials received a complaint Tuesday about the content on Mount Dora High School teacher Jerry Buell's personal Facebook page, as well as copies of the posts. Buell's page has since been taken down, but CNN affiliate Central Florida News 13 reported that a status post on it said, "I'm watching the news, eating dinner, when the story about the New York okaying same sex unions came on and I almost threw up." Patton would not confirm the content of the post, but he said Lake County officials are taking the matter very seriously. "We began to review the code of ethics violations immediately and yesterday afternoon temporarily reassigned the teacher pending the outcome of the investigation," Patton told CNN Thursday.

According to school administrators, teachers are strongly cautioned about their usage of social media. Several Facebook pages in support of Buell have sprung up.

OED Adds 400 Words

The Oxford English Dictionary reports adding 400 new entries for 2011.

Since the publication of its first edition in 1911, the revolutionary Concise Oxford Dictionary has remained in print and gained fame around the world over the course of eleven editions. This month heralds the publication of the centenary edition: the new 12th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary contains some 400 new entries, including cyberbullying, domestic goddess, gastric band, sexting, slow food, and textspeak. These additions are just carrying on the tradition of a dictionary that has always sought to be progressive and up to date.

Also new this year: retweet, mankini, and woot.