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Homeless stand in for lobbyists on Capitol Hill
Jul. 18th, 2009 | 11:35 pm
By Tara Palmeri
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Once he roamed the streets, moving from shelter to shelter. Now, Oliver Gomes rubs shoulders with Washington's elite.
Squatting next to a white wall outside a Senate hearing room recently with a cell phone glued to his ear, Gomes is being paid to hold a place in line for a lobbyist at a hearing on the climate-change bill.
Gomes -- 6 feet tall, with long curly hair pulled back, wearing a polo shirt and shorts -- is one of the contracted men and women holding places in line for this hearing. Many have been waiting since midnight to ensure their clients a seat.
By 9 a.m., more than 100 people are lined up for the hearing. Only 10 seats are available to the public, and the first 10 spots are held by line-standers. The rest are shut out.
( Read more )
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Once he roamed the streets, moving from shelter to shelter. Now, Oliver Gomes rubs shoulders with Washington's elite.
Squatting next to a white wall outside a Senate hearing room recently with a cell phone glued to his ear, Gomes is being paid to hold a place in line for a lobbyist at a hearing on the climate-change bill.
Gomes -- 6 feet tall, with long curly hair pulled back, wearing a polo shirt and shorts -- is one of the contracted men and women holding places in line for this hearing. Many have been waiting since midnight to ensure their clients a seat.
By 9 a.m., more than 100 people are lined up for the hearing. Only 10 seats are available to the public, and the first 10 spots are held by line-standers. The rest are shut out.
( Read more )
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Using Biology, Not Religion, to Argue Against Same-Sex Marriage
Oct. 11th, 2008 | 11:14 pm
By RAY RIVERA and CHRISTINE STUART
Patricia and Wesley Galloway could not have children of their own. Yet for them, the essence of marriage is rooted in procreation.
“It takes a man and a woman to create children and thus create a family,” Mrs. Galloway, 60, told a legislative panel in Connecticut last year as it was considering a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
The bill never went to a vote, but on Friday the Connecticut Supreme Court eliminated the need for a bill when it struck down the state’s civil union law and ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
The decision was cheered by gay couples who argued that civil unions, despite giving them the same rights as married couples, were something less than marriage. But it has caused consternation among opponents of gay marriage, many of whom, like the Galloways, say their objections are not based on religion or morality, but in nature.
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SOURCE
Yeah...I'm still voting no on Amendment 2.
Patricia and Wesley Galloway could not have children of their own. Yet for them, the essence of marriage is rooted in procreation.
“It takes a man and a woman to create children and thus create a family,” Mrs. Galloway, 60, told a legislative panel in Connecticut last year as it was considering a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
The bill never went to a vote, but on Friday the Connecticut Supreme Court eliminated the need for a bill when it struck down the state’s civil union law and ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
The decision was cheered by gay couples who argued that civil unions, despite giving them the same rights as married couples, were something less than marriage. But it has caused consternation among opponents of gay marriage, many of whom, like the Galloways, say their objections are not based on religion or morality, but in nature.
( Read more )
SOURCE
Yeah...I'm still voting no on Amendment 2.
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Metro Park Overflows With Obama Supporters
Sep. 20th, 2008 | 08:25 pm
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- At least 10,000 -- some who had waited for hours -- cheered when Sen. Barack Obama appeared before supporters at a "Change We Need" rally at Metropolitan Park Saturday afternoon. Up to 8,000 others were turned away after police said the park reached capacity 30 minutes before the program began.
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McCain made stops in the state's four largest cities, starting with a rally at the Veterans Memorial Arena (in Jacksonville) on Monday. And we all know how that rally went.
I was there and there were two planes with banners circling around the park. One had a banner that said "Florida is McCain and Palin country" and the other one said "Raising taxes is not patriotic." Naturally, the crowd booed and chanted "Obama, Obama".
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