Microsoft rolls out the next version of windows, 8.1, at its annual Build developers conference today. It's a big deal. Windows 8 was a crazy ambitious step, what follows is just as important. This is what Microsoft's taken from your months of feedback (or just, yelling).
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By Corrie MacLaggan
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - State Senator Wendy Davis, the woman whose 10-hour speech captured national attention and single-handedly slowed the Texas Republican drive to restrict abortion, has overcome long odds before in her life.
While her defiance of the mostly male Texas Republicans may ultimately fail if Governor Rick Perry calls another special session of the legislature, the gambit has propelled her to stardom in a Texas Democratic party that has not won a statewide office in two decades.
She was already considered a possible future candidate for governor before she stood in the Legislature on Tuesday to begin a talk-a-thon that stalled the abortion plan.
Her filibuster was streamed live on websites across the country, transforming her into an attractive and articulate symbol for abortion rights and women's groups fighting to limit restrictions on legal abortion in the United States.
The Texas law would ban abortion after 20 weeks pregnancy, with few exceptions, and impose a host of other restrictions.
"We always knew she's a rock star, it's just now I think the rest of the country knows it, too," said fellow Democratic state Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio.
Part of Davis' appeal is a personal story that took her from an underprivileged background and living in a trailer park with a young daughter, to the Capitol Dome in Austin.
Davis, 50, started working at age 14 to help support her single mother and by 19 was a single mother herself, according to her campaign website. She studied at a community college and went on to graduate from Texas Christian University and Harvard Law School.
During the filibuster, she spoke in personal terms of how the local Planned Parenthood clinic was her health refuge in those early years.
She served for nine years on the Fort Worth city council and was elected to the state Senate in 2008, upsetting a longtime incumbent. Despite a Republican redrawing of election lines last year, she was narrowly reelected.
Davis has used the filibuster to frustrate majority Republicans before, temporarily blocking approval of cuts in education funding in 2011.
A June poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune showed that 58 percent of registered voters in the state had no opinion about Davis. That has almost certainly changed.
"She's definitely received a lot of attention over the past 24 hours, just really an unimaginable amount," said Austin-based Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak. "That translates into an ability to raise money and an online army that no Democrat in Texas had 24 hours ago."
With a rising Hispanic population, Democrats in the nation's second most populous state hope they can eventually turn Texas a shade of Democratic blue.
But Mackowiak doubts Davis could win a statewide office in Texas in 2014, because he said a successful statewide Democrat would need to be more moderate and business-friendly.
Perry, the longest serving governor in the nation, is expected to announce soon whether he will seek reelection.
"In the heat of the moment right now, certainly there are a lot of people that just want her to call a press conference and declare her candidacy for the governorship," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. "But I think it will take more careful consideration than that."
(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Greg McCune and Chris Reese)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defiant-texas-state-senator-davis-overcome-long-odds-203622630.html
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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? A suicide bomber blew himself up near the headquarters of Syria's Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus' Old City, killing at least four people Thursday, minutes after the patriarch had entered the cathedral, state-run TV and a church official said.
The blast in the ancient quarter of narrow streets and historic buildings was the first reported suicide attack of the Syrian civil war inside the Old City, although other such bombs have struck the capital of Damascus during the conflict.
The blast struck in the vicinity of the Virgin Mary Cathedral in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Bab Sharqi, the broadcast said, although it was not clear if the church was the attacker's target.
Several people also were wounded, the TV said.
SANA, Syria's state-run news agency, said a nearby clinic run by a Muslim charity appeared to be the target. That was also the view of Bishop Ghattas Hazim, who spoke to The Associated Press from Lebanon.
Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Damascus, said the target of the attack appeared to be a nearby post of the National Defense Forces, a paramilitary force fighting the rebels who are trying to topple President Bashar Assad.
Residents also disagreed about the target, with some saying the bomber may have detonated the explosives prematurely. Pro-government gunmen were seen roaming the streets afterward.
The blast occurred nearly 15 minutes after John Yazigi, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, entered the church, but he was unhurt, according to Hazim, an aide.
A government official told the AP that the bomber was wearing a belt of explosives and blew himself up near the church. Both the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, and state TV said at least four people were killed. SANA said eight people were wounded.
An AP reporter who visited the area saw that the explosion occurred about 50 meters (yards) from the church and damaged several shops. An antiques shop suffered the worst damage, with its windows shattered and objects strewn about.
"I heard an explosion. Then glass started flying, and the place was full of dust," said shop owner Abdo Muqri, whose right arm and forehead were injured. "I was watching television inside. Had I been near the door, I would have been dead."
State-owned Al-Ikhbariya TV showed a body near the shop.
About three hours after the blast, two shells struck the area. A wounded man and woman were seen being rushed away.
Bab Sharqi and the nearby Bab Touma, two main areas of the Old City, were famous for their restaurants and cafes that used to be packed until late at night before the civil war began.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated this week that more than 100,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict more than two years ago. It began with peaceful protests against Assad's rule, then became an armed conflict after the regime used the army to crack down on dissent and some opposition supporters took up weapons to fight back.
Churches have been targeted before in the civil war, mostly in the central city of Homs and Syria's largest city of Aleppo in the north.
Yazigi divides his time between Damascus and the Balamand Monastery in northern Lebanon. Yazigi took the post of patriarch earlier this year replacing Ignatius Hazim, who died in December.
One of the gravest attacks against Christians came in April when two bishops, including Yazigi's brother, Boulos, were kidnapped in a rebel-held area in northern Syria. He is still missing.
Christians are one of the largest religious minorities in Syria, making up about 10 percent of the population of 23 million people. They have tried to stay on the sidelines of the conflict, although as Islamic militants have increasingly joined with the opposition, many Christians have been leaning toward the regime.
As the bloodshed has intensified, hopes for an international conference to try to reach a political settlement between the regime and opposition have faded. Washington and its allies have said they will help arm the rebels.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against shipping weapons to the rebels, telling parliament that in her view, "the risks would be incalculable."
She did not explain why, but critics fear that Western arms would only prolong the conflict without tipping the scales decisively. There are also concerns that the weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, could fall into the hands of Islamic extremists who might use them against Western targets.
"Whether it would be successful or not is a different question, but in my view the risks would be incalculable," Merkel said. "But I think everyone who has a heart understands the wish to stop the killing in Syria and to remove the Assad regime."
In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said that Russia has withdrawn all military personnel from its naval base in Syria and replaced them with civilian workers.
The ministry did not say when the switch at the base at Tartus took place or how many personnel were deployed there. The minor facility is Russia's only naval outpost outside the former Soviet Union and consists of several barracks and depots used to service Russian navy ships in the Mediterranean.
The ministry statement said that Tartus has continued to service the Russian navy ships.
The ministry didn't explain why it was replacing military personnel with civilians, but the move could be part of efforts by Moscow to portray itself as an objective mediator trying to broker peace talks in the civil war.
Russia has been Assad's main ally, shielding his regime from the U.N. Security Council's sanctions and continuing to provide it with weapons.
Moscow also has an unknown number of military advisers in Syria who help its military operate and maintain Soviet- and Russian-built weapons that make up the core of its arsenal.
___
Associated Press writers Robert H. Reid in Berlin and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-bomb-kills-4-syrian-capitals-old-city-193808345.html
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As babies, it doesn't take long for us to realize that?as fun as it is to grab on to everything within our reach?it's even more fun to chuck those things as far and as hard as we can. And now, thanks to a new study, we know the reason behind that delightfully destructive pitcher's instinct?and it all started with Homo erectus almost two million years ago.
Neil Roach, lead author of the study and professor at George Washington University, is no stranger to the study of throwing mechanics. Previously, though, his test subjects included retired Hollywood chimpanzees, and he ultimately found that, though these star chimps could toss with some accuracy, they were severely lacking in power. Thanks to their high shoulders, chimps are stuck with throwing 20mph underhand balls at best. So this time, wanting to see why that evolutionary divide might have occurred, Roach and his colleagues used motion capture technology and 20 (human) members of Harvard's baseball team to construct 3D representations of every leg, hip, torso, elbow, and shoulder movement behind a fastball.
Ultimately, Roach discovered that the trick behind our speedy toss is the elastic energy produced in our shoulder rotation?the fastest motion a human body is capable of. As Discover Magazine notes:
Professional pitchers can reach a rotation of 9,000 degrees per second. At that speed, if the arm could rotate a full 360 degrees it would complete 25 rotations in one second.
A fact that may be a fun little bonus for us, but for our ancestors, the ability to throw with force could have meant the difference between life and death. Stronger throws allowed easier hunting, which meant more food and a better chance of survival.
There are three upper body anatomical shifts, in particular, that allow our faster throws, and using fossil records, the researchers were able to determine that we started evolving towards this more advantageous ability around two million years ago. Of course, evidence regarding ancient humans' hunting practices is limited, but with the facts we do have, it seems highly likely that baseball's biggest stars owe it all to good ol' Homo erectus. [Nature via Discover Magazine]
Top image of pre-haircut Tim Lincecum from here.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-evolution-gave-humans-the-ability-to-throw-a-fastba-597597447
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13 hours ago
There are times in your life when career changes just have to be made -- and Steve Carell, who left "The Office" to pursue a film career, knows all about that. And in "Despicable Me 2," he returns as former evildoer Gru, who has left the bad guy biz to look after three young girls and make "terrible" jams and jellies, as the actor explained to TODAY's Savannah Guthrie Wednesday.
"(Gru) needed to shake it up," said Carell. "He's sort of at a career impasse. He can't be a villain any more because he's got these three little girls to take care of now. He has a lot on his plate right now."
The funnyman said he actually empathized with some of what Gru is going through -- one of the daughters in the movie is hitting her teen years and finding an interest in boys, while in real life Carell says he's bracing for when those emotions well up in his real-life 12-year-old daughter.
"There's that anticipation of 'Am I going to be an overprotective dad?'" he wondered. "I will roll with it. I hope I'm a cool dad."
"Despicable Me 2" opens in theaters on July 3.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/despicable-mes-steve-carell-i-hope-im-cool-dad-6C10455619
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Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
Share ] Contact: Brigitte Le Magueresse Battistoni
brigitte.lemagueresse@inserm.fr
INSERM (Institut national de la sant et de la recherche mdicale)
In order to get a better understanding of these effects, researchers from the Inserm cardiovascular, metabolism, diabetology and nutrition unit (U1060 Laboratoire de recherche en cardiovasculaire, mtabolisme, diabtologie et nutrition Inserm/Inra/Universit Lyon 1) introduced a "cocktail" of contaminants mixed with low doses of dioxin, PCB, bisphenol A and phtalates into the feeding of mice that had already been rendered obese by a high-fat diet.
The results show that metabolic changes occur in these mice, but that the effects differ depending on the gender. Females appeared to be more affected. Their obesity-induced glucose intolerance worsened and their estrogen pathway was altered.
These works have been published in the review Faseb Journal.
Obesity is a major public health problem because it is a risk factor in the development of metabolic complications (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc.). It is a multi-factorial disorder. In addition to genetic predispositions and a life style that combines overeating with lack of exercise, there is a great volume of proof to suggest that contaminants, particularly in the food we eat, are responsible for the obesity epidemic and the resulting metabolic changes.
Researchers have put forward the hypothesis that contaminants in food could worsen certain metabolic problems already caused by eating an over-rich or a high-fat diet.
In this study, the researchers fed mice a high-fat diet (already a health risk), to which low doses of contaminants had been added. They were given this diet throughout their lives. Their mother had been nourished with this diet prior to their birth and during the gestation and lactation periods. Therefore, they suffered chronic exposure to this diet.
Two environmentally persistent contaminants (dioxin and PCB) and two non-persistent contaminants (phtalate and bisphenol A) were added to the high-fat (obesogenic) diet of the mice. The doses given were low, normally considered not to have any health impacts. These products were chosen because they are present in human food and because they are known to trigger endocrine disruption. In parallel, a control group of mice was fed with the same obesogenic diet, but without added contaminants.
The researchers then ran glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity tests. They measured the livers for lipid accumulation and the expression of certain genes that play key roles in the metabolism of the adult mice.
The results show that the effects are highly dependent on the gender of the animal.
Male and female: different effects
In the females fed with a high-fat diet, the addition of contaminants worsened the glucose intolerance and altered the estrogen pathway. In males, it altered the cholesterol and lipid metabolism. There was no change in weight between the exposed mice and the unexposed mice.
The researchers pursued the hypothesis that there was a connection between the observed glucose intolerance and the alteration in the estrogen signaling in exposed females. It is well known that estrogens protect against metabolic disorders. In other words, these works suggest that in obese females, exposure to food contaminants could lower the protection level that estrogens provide against metabolic disorders.
"With this study, we have succeeded in providing proof-of-concept that low doses of contaminants, even at levels normally considered to be without health impacts in humans, do in fact affect humans when subjected to chronic exposure, and when the contaminants are combined with a high-calorie diet" points out Brigitte Le Magueresse Battistoni.
###
This study was carried out as part of research programmes supported by the Institut Benjamin Delessert (2010), the ANSES (EST-2010/2/2007) and the EFSD (programme 2011) and by Brigitte Le Magueresse-Battistoni and Danielle Naville, 2 researchers who work for team 1 of the CarMeN Unit run by Hubert Vidal.
Sources
Low-dose food contaminants trigger sex-specific, hepatic metabolic changes in the progeny of obese mice.
Naville D, Pinteur C, Vega N, Menade Y, Vigier M, Le Bourdais A, Labaronne E, Debard C, Luquain-Costaz C, Bgeot M, Vidal H, Le Magueresse-Battistoni B.
FASEB J. 2013 Jun http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1096/fj.13-231670
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 27-Jun-2013 Share ] Contact: Brigitte Le Magueresse Battistoni
brigitte.lemagueresse@inserm.fr
INSERM (Institut national de la sant et de la recherche mdicale)
In order to get a better understanding of these effects, researchers from the Inserm cardiovascular, metabolism, diabetology and nutrition unit (U1060 Laboratoire de recherche en cardiovasculaire, mtabolisme, diabtologie et nutrition Inserm/Inra/Universit Lyon 1) introduced a "cocktail" of contaminants mixed with low doses of dioxin, PCB, bisphenol A and phtalates into the feeding of mice that had already been rendered obese by a high-fat diet.
The results show that metabolic changes occur in these mice, but that the effects differ depending on the gender. Females appeared to be more affected. Their obesity-induced glucose intolerance worsened and their estrogen pathway was altered.
These works have been published in the review Faseb Journal.
Obesity is a major public health problem because it is a risk factor in the development of metabolic complications (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc.). It is a multi-factorial disorder. In addition to genetic predispositions and a life style that combines overeating with lack of exercise, there is a great volume of proof to suggest that contaminants, particularly in the food we eat, are responsible for the obesity epidemic and the resulting metabolic changes.
Researchers have put forward the hypothesis that contaminants in food could worsen certain metabolic problems already caused by eating an over-rich or a high-fat diet.
In this study, the researchers fed mice a high-fat diet (already a health risk), to which low doses of contaminants had been added. They were given this diet throughout their lives. Their mother had been nourished with this diet prior to their birth and during the gestation and lactation periods. Therefore, they suffered chronic exposure to this diet.
Two environmentally persistent contaminants (dioxin and PCB) and two non-persistent contaminants (phtalate and bisphenol A) were added to the high-fat (obesogenic) diet of the mice. The doses given were low, normally considered not to have any health impacts. These products were chosen because they are present in human food and because they are known to trigger endocrine disruption. In parallel, a control group of mice was fed with the same obesogenic diet, but without added contaminants.
The researchers then ran glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity tests. They measured the livers for lipid accumulation and the expression of certain genes that play key roles in the metabolism of the adult mice.
The results show that the effects are highly dependent on the gender of the animal.
Male and female: different effects
In the females fed with a high-fat diet, the addition of contaminants worsened the glucose intolerance and altered the estrogen pathway. In males, it altered the cholesterol and lipid metabolism. There was no change in weight between the exposed mice and the unexposed mice.
The researchers pursued the hypothesis that there was a connection between the observed glucose intolerance and the alteration in the estrogen signaling in exposed females. It is well known that estrogens protect against metabolic disorders. In other words, these works suggest that in obese females, exposure to food contaminants could lower the protection level that estrogens provide against metabolic disorders.
"With this study, we have succeeded in providing proof-of-concept that low doses of contaminants, even at levels normally considered to be without health impacts in humans, do in fact affect humans when subjected to chronic exposure, and when the contaminants are combined with a high-calorie diet" points out Brigitte Le Magueresse Battistoni.
###
This study was carried out as part of research programmes supported by the Institut Benjamin Delessert (2010), the ANSES (EST-2010/2/2007) and the EFSD (programme 2011) and by Brigitte Le Magueresse-Battistoni and Danielle Naville, 2 researchers who work for team 1 of the CarMeN Unit run by Hubert Vidal.
Sources
Low-dose food contaminants trigger sex-specific, hepatic metabolic changes in the progeny of obese mice.
Naville D, Pinteur C, Vega N, Menade Y, Vigier M, Le Bourdais A, Labaronne E, Debard C, Luquain-Costaz C, Bgeot M, Vidal H, Le Magueresse-Battistoni B.
FASEB J. 2013 Jun http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1096/fj.13-231670
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/ind-fcw062713.php
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House Speaker John Boehner spent at least $2.3 million to defend the federal law banning same-sex marriage -- a cause dear to the Republican base -- but you couldn't tell from his muted reaction when the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down.
?While I am obviously disappointed in the ruling, it is always critical that we protect our system of checks and balances,? Boehner said Wednesday in a statement. The day before, he didn?t respond at all to the court?s blow to the Voting Rights Act, even though the decision could protect the Republican majority in Congress for years to come.
Boehner?s cautious positioning reflects the squeeze both court rulings put on a Republican Party torn between its traditional values and a desire to modernize and expand before the 2014 and 2016 elections. Crusading against gay marriage, a timeworn Republican strategy to rally social conservatives, is out of step with polls that show increasing support for gay marriage, particularly among young voters. ?The court also put congressional Republicans on the spot by demanding a rewrite of the landmark law protecting minority voting rights, setting up potentially awkward battles with African-American and Hispanic leaders that would reprise the rallying cry in those communities last year over voter ID laws.
?The politics on these issues are changing, and it?s smart to be careful,? said Republican consultant John Feehery, a former adviser to House leadership. ?Years ago, gay marriage was something that you were able to rile the base with and it became part of an electoral strategy, but opinion seems to be evolving pretty quickly. The Voting Rights Act is also a combustible issue, and there are risks for getting involved.?
That?s exactly why the Democratic Party is flogging both court rulings. Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Wednesday that the gay marriage ruling ?shows how extreme and intolerance House Republicans really are.? Democratic gubernatorial candidates from Barbara Buono in New Jersey to Terry McAuliffe in Virginia also picked fights with their Republican opponents over the court rulings. Gov. ?Chris Christie is still blocking marriage equality. He is trying to be more conservative than Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and the rest of the Tea Party,? Buono?s daughter said in a fundraising appeal. Similar requests from Democratic candidates and groups are coming rapid fire this week, calling for checks to fund historic battles for marriage equality and voting rights.
Coupled with ongoing debates over immigration and abortion, the court rulings mark a return to the culture wars that could hamstring Republican outreach to women, young voters and minorities in the wake of the 2012 election. Recent skirmishes include a House vote banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, another House vote rejecting President Obama?s policy to halt deportations of illegal immigrants brought here as children, and this week, an explosive filibuster of a bill backed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas to regulate abortion clinics. Democratic attacks portray these efforts to block immigration reform or limit abortion as proof of the GOP?s hostility toward minorities and ?war on women.?
Many Republicans are eager for the national debate to return to President Obama?s spending and health care law -- which fueled historic GOP gains in 2010 -- and away from issues that pit the party against demographic tides and public opinion.
?At some point our party has got to come to grip with fact that the world is moving on and being bound by old theories and traditions is not healthy for the future of the party or their candidates,? said Republican strategist Rich Galen, who was among dozens of prominent members of his party who signed a pro-gay marriage legal brief. ??If young people see the masters in Washington use the issue to gin up the conservative right, they may just roll their eyes. I think this is a good test for the Republican Party to see how it wants to be seen in the 21st century.?
Withstanding pressure from the right wing of the party will be the first trial. Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, called Wednesday for federal legislation to reinstate a same-sex marriage ban. He noted that many of the more than 30 state bans have passed with healthy margins.
?Republicans shouldn?t be trying to disassociate themselves from marriage ? they should be hugging it tighter,? Reed said. ?It serves to engender greater intensity and enthusiasm at the grassroots level among faith-based activists and voters. I don?t think this is a hard call for the Republican Party.?
Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a staunch conservative and Boehner nemesis, is ready to lead the charge for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. But the message from Boehner and other Republican leaders on Wednesday was clear: leave the issue to the states. ?The states will now decide this issue through the democratic process,? said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 vice presidential nominee.
That stance marks a dramatic shift from just six years ago, when former President George W. Bush pushed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Even Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential presidential contender who recently said he opposed laws banning anti-gay workplace discrimination, urged states to pick up the issue.
?I appreciate that many Americans? attitude towards same-sex marriage have changed in recent years,? he said in a statement. ?I respect the rights of states to allow same-sex marriages, even though I disagree with them. But I also expect that the decisions made by states like Florida to define marriage as between one man and one woman will also be respected.?
The measured reaction from Rubio and other prominent Republicans contrasted with the unabashed outrage expressed by Democrats to the voting rights decision. ?SCOTUS took a step backward on voting rights, on civil rights, & on justice for all,? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wrote on Twitter. ?The decision is a cue for Congress to strengthen? the law. Democrats could benefit politically from taking on the issue: some of the most closely watched Senate race in 2014 are in Southern states where African-American turnout ? typically light in mid-term elections -- will be pivotal.
?The voter ID laws definitely made Republicans look bad, and if they refuse to do something on the Voting Rights Act, Democrats are going to use that to their advantage,? said Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, director of social policy and politics at Third Way, a non-partisan think tank.
In the Virginia governor?s race, Democratic nominee McAuliffe pounced this week on his opponent?s positions on voting rights and gay marriage. Ginning up turnout of the Democratic base is key for McAuliffe to beat Republican Ken Cuccinelli in an off-year election. "Unlike my opponent, I believe that,?while we have made progress, protections are still necessary to ensure that Virginians are allowed to exercise their right to vote without the risk of disenfranchisement,? McAuliffe said in a statement.?
The Voting Rights Act requires several states, mostly in the south, to get federal approval before changing electoral practices. Cuccinelli emphasized that ?every person?s vote counts? but added, ?I do not believe we have the institutional bigotry like we had before.? His senior advisor, Chris LaCivita warned that McAuliffe should tread carefully. ?Any attempt to use it in the context that implies race or that implies not everyone would have right to vote would be viewed as over the top, insulting to Virginians and will backfire,? he said.
This week has shown, however, the Democratic impulse to hammer Republicans over minority voting rights and gay marriage, is a powerful one.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-rulings-gay-marriage-voting-rights-test-gop-060027626.html
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