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May 25, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 22, 2012
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May 21, 2012
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Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
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The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
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Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
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The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
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May 14, 2012
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Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
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The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
April 20, 2010
/ 6 Iyar 5770
Won't anybody here read the Constitution?
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The House of Representatives takes up the legislation this week to grant voting rights to the residents of the District of Columbia, and among all the contentious voices there's none to speak up for the Constitution.
That's because the contending parties have devised a squalid little game of "you scratch my itch and I'll scratch where you itch." But granting the right to congressional representation for the District is a granting authority the Congress does not have, if words have meanings. The Constitution was deliberately written so that the common man could understand it without the mumbo-jumbo that lawyers invented to manipulate the law.
Article 1, Section 2: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." Congress, this makes plain and clear, is a legislative body made up of representatives of States, not of States and Districts (or townships and precincts). The capitalization of certain words, which seems so quaint to students of our present day, was hardly coincidental.
The 23d Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1961, grants the vote to qualified District residents in presidential elections, but there's nothing in XXIII about congressional elections. The right to representation in Congress is reserved for "States," and the District of Columbia is not a "State." What could be plainer than that?
But if you can't argue the facts, as every lawyer knows, you try tap dancing. Advocates for tap dancing around the Constitution have their arguments, some more artistic than others, composed mostly of feelings, sentiments and wet sensations. One overwrought Washington pastor, writing in The Washington Post, complains that the city was "months ahead of much of the nation in granting freedom to slaves" but "remains centuries behind in securing voting rights for our nearly 600,000 residents." For the sake of her parishoners we must pray the lady knows more about theology than she knows about history and how the world works. The city of Washington had no power to free the slaves; that was the work of President Lincoln and the federal government. But the emotion is pretty in certain ears, and for certain ears that's enough.
Wade Henderson, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, argues that District residents have no representation in Congress "even though we pay federal taxes, fight in wars and fulfill all other obligations of citizenship." This is of a piece with the slogan, "Taxation Without Representation" written on license tags, a lie that motorists must display on their cars and trucks, like it or not. It's a lie because District residents actually have 535 representatives in the House and Senate, duty bound to look after the District of Columbia. Whether these representatives always do their duty is certainly arguable.
The most cynical of the cynical advocates is Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passes on the qualifications of federal judges, and who might be chairman of the committee once more if the Republicans become a majority in the Senate again. Mr. Hatch wants to take home a little pork sausage to Utah, and he conspired in a deal to trade another House seat for Utah for his support in the scheme to treat the District "as if it were a state" and grant it a House seat. Mr. Hatch knows better. The Congress knows better. But greed and avarice trumps all on the Hill (as in a lot of other places).
The best hope for preventing this abuse of the Constitution lies in an amendment to the voting-rights legislation to preserve congressional oversight of the city council's gun laws. The gun-control nuts are so determined to disarm the law-abiding citizens of the District of Columbia that they are willing - eager, even - to give up the voting-rights legislation if it means the law-abiding citizens are deprived of their guns. The gun-control nuts, first among them the editorialists at The Washington Post, argue that getting to vote for president is not nearly as important as depriving good citizens of their right to own guns, and so kill the bill.
In a logical world, the benders and twisters of the Constitution would propose amending the Constitution to make of the District the 51st state and set out on the hard work of persuading 38 states to ratify it. Once they succeed the new state could write its own laws and try to slip them past the Supreme Court. The Constitution would be preserved and Orrin Hatch could find another pig for Utah.
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JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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