Friday, June 28, 2013

China official in sex case gets prison for bribery

FILE - In this June 19, 2013 file photo, Lei Zhengfu, center, former Communist Party chief of Chongqing city's Beibei district, who was involved in a sex tape scandal, attends his trial on corruption charges, in a court in southwestern China's Chongqing city. The former Chinese official at the center of a sex scandal has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday, June 28, 2013 for taking bribes of more than 3 million yuan ($510,000). (AP Photo, File) CHINA OUT

BEIJING (AP) ? A former Chinese official at the center of a sex tape scandal was convicted of taking more than 3.1 million yuan ($500,000) in bribes and sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday, at a time when China's new generation of leadership has vowed to crack down on widespread graft.

Lei Zhengfu, former party chief of a district in the south-central metropolis of Chongqing, did not say whether he would appeal the verdict by the city's No. 1 Intermediate Court, according to state media. His punishment also includes confiscation of personal assets of 300,000 yuan ($48,000).

Lei's case has riveted the public since video clips went viral of the portly 55-year-old having sex with a 25-year-old woman hired by property developers, allegedly in an elaborate extortion scheme. As more lurid details emerged, the scandal has exposed the shady intertwining of sex, money and power.

The sex extortion scheme has ensnarled at least 20 other party cadres, but Lei appears to have been singled out ? partly because he has been especially vulnerable to public derision. Lei's receding hairline, pop eyes, bushy eyebrows and wide jowls provided a caricature for public corruption and moral degradation widely detested by the public.

Beijing Institute of Technology law professor Xu Xin said the sentence was more severe than those in earlier corruption cases involving similar amounts of bribes.

"Maybe because of the case's social impact, the court has chosen to be on the harsh end with its sentence," he said.

When blackmailed with the sex video, Lei asked another property developer who had benefited from his patronage to pay hush money of 3 million yuan. Lei argued that the money was a loan, but prosecutors said the money ? which was not fully repaid ? amounted to a bribe.

Prosecutors also said Lei took two other bribes ? one of $10,000 and another of 100,000 yuan ($16,000) ? in return for favors granted through his government position, but it is Lei's sex scandal and the scheme behind it that have captivated member of the Chinese public, who are disgusted by what they see as the moral degradation of those in power.

In a separate case, a district court on Friday afternoon sentenced Xiao Ye, the man convicted of masterminding the extortion scheme, to 10 years in prison.

The woman in the sex tape, Zhao Hongxia, was given a two-year sentence that was suspended for two years and could eventually be reduced. The official People's Court Daily said Xiao plans to make an appeal but Zhao does not.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-official-sex-case-gets-prison-bribery-040755134.html

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Obama To Lay Out Broad Plan To Address Climate Change

The Capitol dome is seen behind the Capitol Power Plant, which provides power to buildings in the Capitol complex in Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

The Capitol dome is seen behind the Capitol Power Plant, which provides power to buildings in the Capitol complex in Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

President Obama is expected to announce a sweeping plan to address climate change this afternoon.

Read the plan and a White House fact sheet.

The president has framed this issue as a moral responsibility, to leave the Earth in good shape for generations to come. But the nitty-gritty of any serious plan to address this problem is also a challenge, because it means gradually moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy supplies ? and that means there will be economic winners and losers.

Winners include companies that produce clean energy ? wind, solar and geothermal energy. That energy will be more in demand, and the administration intends to expand access to public lands, where companies can build windmills and solar facilities.

Public health is also a winner, because the plan would pressure coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions. Those plants not only produce carbon dioxide, but they are major sources of mercury, radioactive particles and chemicals that contribute to asthma.

Losers under this plan would eventually be coal mining companies and utilities that burn a lot of coal. That's because ? for the first time ? the government plans to limit how much carbon dioxide existing power plants can put into the air. It's a key element of the new plan, but it's also unclear just what form it will take. Those limits are supposed to be negotiated over the coming year, with input from industry as well as the states. The president's 21-page plan calls for them to be finalized in 2015, according to administration officials.

If those limits are aggressive, they could drive up electricity prices. But if the limits are too relaxed, they won't have much of an effect on emissions.

Overall, the president is striving to reach an emissions-reduction goal he laid out at the 2009 United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen: to reduce U.S. emissions by 17 percent, relative to our 2005 emissions, by the year 2020. The nation is not currently on track to meet the goal, despite some aggressive fuel-efficiency standards for new cars and a big expansion of renewable energy supplies during President Obama's first term. This new climate policy is intended to close the gap.

The plan also calls for the government to keep working internationally to reduce emissions, since climate change requires a global response. And even with a good international effort, some climate change is already inevitable. So the White House policy calls on efforts to adapt to a world with more extreme weather events.

For example, new standards for roads would assure that they are built high above flood levels. Farmers would be provided with ways to adapt to more drought conditions. And local governments would get assistance to help them plan for extreme weather.

All of these proposals can be enacted without action on Capitol Hill. That's deliberate. Many Republicans in congress reject the judgment of the National Academy of Sciences and other authorities who say climate change is a real concern.

Take me back to the top of this post.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/25/195466923/obama-to-lay-out-broad-plan-to-address-climate-change?ft=1&f=1007

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Republicans disrupt Texas state Democrat's filibuster over abortion bill

(Reuters) - A Texas state Democrat who spoke for several hours on Tuesday in a bid to block a Republican drive for sweeping new abortion restrictions may be thwarted by Republicans who said she violated rules governing the stalling tactic.

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis sought to derail a proposal that included a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy by speaking until midnight (1 a.m. EDT), when a 30-day special session expires.

Davis, who began her verbal diatribe at roughly 11:15 a.m. local time, was prevented by procedural rules from deviating off topic or taking a break by eating, leaning against her desk, sitting down or using the rest room.

Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, the Senate president, suspended the filibuster after ruling that Davis meandered off topic.

(This story corrects the grammar in the headline)

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republican-disrupt-texas-state-democrats-filibuster-over-abortion-043413723.html

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Brazil leader breaks silence about protests

A riot police officer uses his front teeth to hold onto to a non-lethal grenade during an anti-government protest near the Cidade de Deus, or City of God slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. City centers around Brazil were still smoldering on Friday after 1 million protesters took to the streets amid growing calls on social media for a general strike next week. While most protesters were peaceful, some small groups clashed violently with police, who responded in some cases with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A riot police officer uses his front teeth to hold onto to a non-lethal grenade during an anti-government protest near the Cidade de Deus, or City of God slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. City centers around Brazil were still smoldering on Friday after 1 million protesters took to the streets amid growing calls on social media for a general strike next week. While most protesters were peaceful, some small groups clashed violently with police, who responded in some cases with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A message by Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is broadcast live at the bus station in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. The Brazilian ended her near-silence about more than a week of massive, violent protests, saying in a prime time TV broadcast Friday that peaceful demonstrations were part of a strong democracy but that violence could not be tolerated. She promised to make improvements to public services, but said it couldn't be done overnight. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People shout slogans during an anti-government protest at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. The country's president, who is a former leftist guerrilla, has done little more than show brief support for the protesters since the demonstrations began a week ago. That's brought criticism that she has allowed the situation to spiral out of control. Rousseff was to meet Friday, with bishops from the Catholic Church about the possible impact of the protests on a papal visit that is still scheduled next month. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

People march during an anti-government protest at Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. Demonstrations began as an outcry against a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Brazil's largest cities, but have continued even after announcements that the increases would be rescinded. Protesters have expressed frustration with corruption and what they say are high taxes and poor public services. They've demanded everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public dollars spent on stadiums before the World Cup and the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Residents of the Ipanema neighborhood shout during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. Demonstrations began as an outcry against a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Brazil's largest cities, but have continued even after announcements that the increases would be rescinded. Protesters have expressed frustration with corruption and what they say are high taxes and poor public services. They've demanded everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public dollars spent on stadiums before the World Cup and the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

(AP) ? Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to battle corruption while improving government services as she acknowledged the anger that has led to vast, sometimes violent protests across Latin America's largest country.

Friday's nationally broadcast 10-minute address ended Rousseff's much-criticized silence in the face of demonstrations that have roiled the nation for more than a week, and were projected to continue on Saturday.

She said she planned to soon meet with leaders of the protest movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained unclear who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of demonstrators taking to the streets, venting anger over a range of grievances, including woeful public services despite a high tax burden.

Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for public transportation in cities. Officials in many cities have already backed down from the hike in bus and subway fares that set off the protests. She also reiterated her backing for a plan before congress to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and a promise she made earlier to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack physicians.

"I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to wrongdoing," Rousseff said in reference to complaints of deep corruption in Brazilian politics, which is emerging as a focal point of the protests. "It's citizenship and not economic power that must be heard first."

The leader is a Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and tortured by the junta, and she pointedly referred to earlier sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship.

"My generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be heard," Rousseff said. "Many were persecuted, tortured and many died for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some troublemakers."

Edvaldo Chaves, a 61-year-old doorman in Rio's upscale Flamengo neighborhood, said he found the speech convincing.

"I thought she seemed calm and cool. Plus, because she was a guerrilla and was in exile, she talks about the issue of protests convincingly," Chaves said. "I think things are going to calm down. We'll probably keep seeing people in the streets but probably small numbers now."

But Bruna Romao, an 18-year-old store clerk in Sao Paulo, said Rousseff's words probably wouldn't have an impact.

"Brazilians are passionate," she said. "We boil over quickly but also cool down fast. But this time it's different, people are in full revolt. I don't see things calming down anytime soon."

Some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets nationwide Thursday night to denounce everything from poor public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

The protests continued Friday, as about 1,000 people marched in western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading a $250 million arts center that remains empty after several years of construction. Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they were pelted with rocks. Police said some in the crowd were armed and firing at officers.

Other protests broke out in in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo, where traffic was paralyzed but no violence was reported, and in Fortaleza in the country's northeast. Demonstrators were calling for more mobilizations in 10 cities on Saturday.

With Pope Francis scheduled to visit Brazil next month, the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops issued a statement expressing "solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain peaceful."

"This is a phenomenon involving the Brazilian people and the awakening of a new consciousness," the Catholic leaders said in the statement. "The protests show all of us that we cannot live in a country with so much inequality."

Rousseff had never held elected office before she became president in 2011 and remains clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. A career technocrat and economist, she was helped into the presidency by her mentor, the tremendously popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Marlise Matos, a political science professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said before Rousseff spoke that officials need to take stronger action.

"The government has to respond, even if the agenda seems unclear and wide open," she said. "It should be the president herself who should come out and provide a response. But I think the government is still making strategic calculations to decide how to respond. What I'd like to see as a response is a call for a referendum on political reform. Let the people decide what kind of political and electoral system we have."

Social media and mass emails were buzzing with calls for a general strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing about such an action, though they do support the protests.

A Thursday night march in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union presence, as a drum corps led members wearing matching shirts down the city's main avenue. Many protesters have called for a movement with no ties to political parties or unions, which are widely considered corrupt here.

The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in attendance.

Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Rousseff next year's elections. Even as recently as last week, Rousseff had enjoyed a 74 percent approval rating in a poll by the business group the National Transport Confederation.

"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favor of the protests is not helping her cause," Cardozo said. "People want to see real action, real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of delivering."

___

Barchfield reported from Rio de Janeiro and Brooks from Sao Paulo. Associated Press writers Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Jack Chang in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-22-Brazil-Protests/id-01dcaabbf3504e8ea3ad00289f095c9c

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Massive protests hit Brazil's cities

Protesters gesture to riot police as they stand in front of a burning barricade during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, June 20, 2013. More than half a million ... more?Protesters gesture to riot police as they stand in front of a burning barricade during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, June 20, 2013. More than half a million Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 80 Brazilian cities Thursday in demonstrations that saw violent clashes and renewed calls for an end to government corruption and demands for better public services. Riot police battled protesters in at least five cities, with some of the most intense clashes happening in Rio de Janeiro, where an estimated 300,000 demonstrators swarmed into the seaside city's central area. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) less?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/massive-protests-hit-brazil-s-cities-slideshow/

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Royal Navy makes traditional toasts gender neutral

LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Royal Navy says it is dropping the traditional sailors' toast to "our wives and sweethearts," replacing the timeworn language with a gender-neutral reference to "our families."

In a statement, the military said the Saturday night toast was being updated to "reflect cultural changes" in the navy, which has included female sailors for more than two decades.

The practice of toasting "our wives and sweethearts" ? occasionally followed with a bawdy "May they never meet!" ? has long been a part of naval culture and is one of the seven traditional toasts delivered over dinner for each day of the week.

The Tuesday night toast to "our men" has also been updated to "our sailors," according to the statement released Saturday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/royal-navy-makes-traditional-toasts-gender-neutral-125309294.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

We Are All Someone Else?s Fleas

Fernando Torres of Spain competes with Jonathan Tehau of Tahiti during the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 Group B match between Spain and Tahiti at the Maracana Stadium on June 20, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fernando Torres of Spain competes with Jonathan Tehau of Tahiti during a FIFA Confederations Cup group match on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

It would have annoyed Jonathan Swift to know that posterity would think of him as an Irish writer, since he considered himself thoroughly English. Born in Ireland to English parents, brought up in Ireland and educated in England, it was his bad luck to be an outsider in both countries: an Irishman in England and an Englishman in Ireland. Forced to settle for a clerical post in Dublin, which he saw as a provincial backwater, Swift had plenty of time to brood on perspective. In 1726, he published the perspective-shifting masterpiece by which he is remembered, Gulliver?s Travels.?

In brief: Dr. Lemuel Gulliver voyages to the South Seas. He is shipwrecked and washes up on the island of Lilliput, which turns out to be populated by tiny people whose affairs Gulliver regards with amused condescension. Later he again blunders off course and winds up in Brobdingnag, land of the giants, where he is reduced to the status of a performing monkey at the court.?

Swift gives the location of Lilliput as somewhere near Van Diemen?s Land, which is modern Tasmania. Brobdingnag is in the Pacific, 500 leagues east of Indonesia.?

Both countries would today be members of the Oceania Football Confederation.?

Oceania is characterized by immense watery expanses and stupendous gulfs in footballing ability that could not be much wider if Lilliput and Brobdingnag were actual members. It is the home of the double-digit score line, a land where drubbings are commonplace.

In the rest of the world, such massive margins of victory are extremely rare. Inventing the sport gave England a 50-year head start in international football, but they?ve still only won by scoring 10 or more goals five times in 141 years. Before Thursday?s 10?0 win against Tahiti, Spain had done it twice in 93 years.

Tahiti have done it 14 times. Last year they crushed Samoa 10?1 on their way to winning the Oceania Nations Cup, running in four goals in the last 15 minutes. Half the nations of Oceania have at some point writhed under the Tahitian lash. Guam, 14?0. Micronesia, 17?0. American Samoa, 18?0. The Cook Islands, 30?0.

To put Tahiti?s 14 double-digit wins in perspective, the regional superpower, Australia, managed only 10 such results before becoming exasperated with the low standard of competition and applying for a transfer to the Asian Football Confederation.?

Among the big beasts of the Confederations Cup, Tahiti are kittens?but back home that kitten is a bloodthirsty monster that toys with its prey before exterminating it. Having beaten up on so many smaller teams themselves, Tahiti knew what fate might await them at the Maracana.?

When Gulliver is in Lilliput, he feels a great responsibility not to injure or offend his tiny hosts by throwing his gigantic weight around. Some felt that the Spanish national team were confronted with a similar dilemma.

Spain were the world champions and the greatest international team to play the game. Tahiti had one full-time professional player. Would Spain risk looking ungentlemanly?even ridiculous?if they set about Tahiti with all the strength at their disposal?

The question suggests an unfamiliarity with the peculiar ethics of football. The Spanish internationals mostly play for the two giant clubs that dominate one of the world?s most unfair leagues. They know that soccer is a jungle where the strong crush the weak. The ?mercy rules? common in American kids? sports are alien to the spirit of the game. Mercy in that context means pity, and pity is contempt in disguise. Teams often ease off on a beaten opponent to conserve their own energies, but there?s no law of sportsmanship that says they have a duty to preserve the opponent?s honor?that?s the opponent?s job.

Collectively, Spain?s goal was to defend their own prestige, and that meant beating Tahiti by at least as wide a margin as Nigeria had in the last game. Individually, the Spanish attackers knew that here was a chance to pad their international stats. When they count up your goals at the end of your career, nobody will complain that a chunk of them were scored against Tahiti. There was also personal pride at stake?no Spanish forward wants to walk off the field having failed to score against a team of delivery men and PE teachers.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2013/06/spain_tahiti_confederations_cup_2013_spain_s_10_0_victory_reveals_that_we.html

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Friday, June 21, 2013

Supreme Court 2013: The Year in Review

164536506 Marriage equality supporters take part in a march and rally ahead of Supreme Court arguments on legalizing same-sex marriage in New York on March 24, 2013.?

Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

It?s such an amazing pleasure and privilege to dive into this year?s Supreme Court rulings with you. This is a venerable Slate tradition, begun by the amazing Dahlia Lithwick with (of course) you, Walter. The rest of us late-comers will do our best to uphold it. Today, the court didn?t do anything blockbuster. So that gives us a chance to look back before we get to chew over the decisions on affirmative action, the Voting Rights Act, and gay marriage next week.

I want to start by zooming back a whole year, to the end of the 2012 term. The climactic moment last June in which Chief Justice John Roberts swooped in to save Obamacare led to a lot of wondering about his intentions. Basically it came down to this: Had George W. Bush?s steely man of the right?his perfect choice for chief?gone soft? In casting the fifth vote to uphold Obamacare, was Roberts taking a first step down a sinister sinistra (leftward) path? Could he become the latest conservative to come down with the dreaded curse of late-blooming liberal-ish tendencies? My own feeling was and remains: no way. Much more evidence shows Roberts as a chief who is moving the court to the right in careful, deliberate increments. He is playing the long game. This term, so far, his most revealing moment came in City of Arlington v. FCC. It?s a kind of obscure case about the Federal Communications Commission?s power over the location of cellphone towers, but Roberts used it to rail against the size of the federal bureaucracy, ?poking into every nook and cranny of daily life,? and also to fight with Scalia over how best to dismantle it, as Doug Kendall explained in Slate. The two justices share the same end. Still, Is Roberts v. Scalia a real thing?a sign of a meaningful and potentially lasting conservative schism? Or is that just a lullaby actual liberals sing to themselves?

Speaking of Scalia, what did you make of his impassioned cry for civil liberties in Maryland v. King? In that one, five justices (the other conservatives plus Stephen Breyer) ruled that states can collect DNA from everyone who gets arrested for a serious crime. Scalia dissented, warning of worse to come: ?Make no mistake about it: As an entirely predictable consequence of today?s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason.? This is the kind of just-you-wait prediction he made 10 years ago to warn that preventing the states from criminalizing sodomy would one day lead to gay marriage. Next week, we will find out if he was right about that. Either way, what do you think of dire prediction as a rhetorical strategy?

And what about the court?s decision against gene patenting? I bought the distinction Justice Clarence Thomas made, for a unanimous court, between naturally occurring DNA (no patenting allowed) and synthetic DNA. But people who know much more about biotech than me said it?s meaningless and anachronistic. Did the court blow it, or does this argument reflect an inevitable gap in approach and understanding between law and science?

I also want to know what you make of this term?s business decisions. Dick, you and Lee Epstein and Bill Landes have crunched numbers that convinced me that the court is even more pro-business than I thought before. Which is saying something. How do this term?s rulings add to, or change, that picture?

Next week, we will of course talk about the court?s take on race in Ameica and whether it means life or death of the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action. Any predictions? I will say that as a gay-rights supporter, I?m feeling optimistic about both of the gay-marriage cases. I think the court will strike down the part of the Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for purposes of receiving federal benefits. And I think it will also find a way to get rid of California?s gay marriage ban, without foisting gay marriage on the rest of the states that have yet to vote for it.

For me, the term?s braiding of race and sexuality raises deep questions about timing. Are we about to see the Voting Rights Act, and affirmative action, go down because the court?s conservatives are just tired of seeing race as a defining factor in American life?and think the country is, too? And are we about to see the court make a welcoming overture toward gay marriage because that is the civil rights issue whose time has come? I want to know what you all think, and I also want us to keep an eye on these questions: Which justice has or will surprise you this term, by doing what? Which decision will seem the most off base, when we look back on the year? What will we remember most vividly?

For me, the answer to that last one is the sea of gay marriage supporters on the court?s front steps. I saw opponents, too, yes, but mostly I stopped and marveled at a stand for equality the like of which I would never have imagined as a teenager, or even 20 years ago. It felt like history.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_breakfast_table/features/2013/supreme_court_2013/gay_marriage_voting_rights_affirmative_action_how_will_the_supreme_court.html

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