Inspired Living
Are You Prepared to . . . Live?
By Jonathan Rosenblum

People of faith need more awareness of end-of-life issues

Reality Check
New Med-East forum is about more than just gas
By Zev Chafets

There is a new regional organization in the Middle East and, for once, that's good news

Ess, Ess/ Eat, Eat!
The Kosher Gourmet
By Bonnie S. Benwick

Spanish cooking at its best --- really tasty, beautiful, and so easy to make

[ W O R T H  1 0 0 0  W O R D S  ]

• Bart van Leeuwen

• A.F. Branco

• Bob Englehart

• Walt Handelsman

• Joe Heller

• Steve Kelley

• Rick McKee

• Dana Summers

• Dana Summers BONUS!

• Dave Whamond

• Michael Ramirez

[ T O D A Y  I N  H I S T O R Y ]

On this day in . . .

• 1791, the First Bank of the U.S. at Philadelphia became the first national bank chartered by Congress

• 1836, Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver

• 1837, the first practical electric motor in the US is patented by Thomas Davenport

• 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a REPUBLICAN from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress

• 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox

• 1919, Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax

• 1925, the diplomatic relations between Japan and the Soviet Union were established

• 1932, Adolf Hitler, ym"sh, obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichsprasident

• 1933, the USS Ranger (CV-4) is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier

• 1941, in occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis

• 1945, during World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany

• 1947, the State of Prussia ceases to exist

• 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends

• 1956, in his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces the actions of Joseph Stalin.

• 1957, the Supreme Court, in Butler v. Michigan, overturned a Michigan statute making it a misdemeanor to sell books containing obscene language that would tend to corrupt "the morals of youth."

• 1967, U.S. warships began shelling Vietnam

• 1969, Germany gives $5 million to a practitioner of that "religion of peace" as ransom for the passengers and crew of a hijacked jumbo jet

• 1980, the Suriname government ( elected after gaining independance from the Netherlands in 1975 ) was overthrown by a military coup which was initiated with the bombing of the police station from an army ship of the coast of the nations capital; Paramaribo

• 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president

• 1991, during the Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania. ALSO: The Warsaw Pact nations signed an agreement to dissolve their alliance after 36 years

• 1996, a practioner of that "religion of peace" blew himself up on a Jerusalem us, killing 25 people. He praised "Allah" before doing so

• 1997, documents revealed U.S. President Bill Clinton endorsed rewarding Democratic contributors with such perks as golf games with him or overnight stays in the White House

• 2005, Dennis Rader was arrested for the BTK ("bind, torture, kill") serial slayings that had terrorized Wichita, Kan. (Rader later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 life prison terms.) ALSO: A suicide bombing by a practitioner of that "religion of peace" killed four Israelis outside a Tel Aviv nightclub, shattering an informal truce

• 2007, Iran claimed to have fired its first rocket into space

• 2010, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was accused of alleged violation of congressional ethics rules. The House Ethics Committee cited Caribbean trips said to be funded by corporate interests

• 2011, Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters taking part in a "Day of Rage" demonstration, killing at least 29 people

• 2012, Yemen's new president, Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was sworn in with a promise to continue fighting al-Qaida, calling it "a religious and national duty." (Hadi resigned in 2015 after Houthi rebels seized control in the capital of Sanaa.)

• 2014, in a blunt warning to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, President Barack Obama threatened to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 if a crucial security pact wasn't signed. (U.S. and Afghan officials signed the pact in Sept. 2014.)

• 2018, China's official news agency said the country’s ruling Communist Party had proposed scrapping term limits for China's president, appearing to lay the groundwork for Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023. (China's rubber-stamp lawmakers approved that change on March 11.) ALSO: The board of directors of The Weinstein Company, co-founded by Harvey Weinstein, said the company would likely file for bankruptcy after last-ditch talks to sell its assets collapsed. (A private equity firm emerged in May as the winning bidder for the company.)

[ I N S I G H T ]

Victor Davis Hanson: The New Nihilism

News of the Weird: Promises, Promises | Great, Ahem, Art!

Argus Hamilton's Hypocrisy Report

• Some mock Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a cartoon character. Now she's getting the comicbok treatment --- as a superhero

• Lawyers call for guidance on interpreting emoji

• RACISM, RACISM EVERYWHERE: Broadcaster suspended after King Kong comment about college athlete

• A teen was told her MAGA hat violates school code. She's fighting back

• Charles Barkley's advice to Jussie Smollett: 'If you're going to break the law, do not write a check'

Garrison Keillor: It is a good and pleasant thing not to rant

Edward Jay Epstein: A Tale of Two Defectors

Cass R. Sunstein: I'm an avowed lib. But Justice Thomas has a point about free-speech law

John Kass: Did Jussie Smollett use the media, or was he created by it?

Bernard Goldberg: Being a Lib Journalist Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

Christine M. Flowers: Are political parties over?

Anne Applebaum: Are political parties over?

Dan Balz: Are Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders headed for a collision?

Cleve R. Wootson Jr. & Chelsea Janes: In Iowa, field of Dem presidential candidates splits into haves and have-nots

Megan McArdle: Why U.S. health-care reformers shouldn't use other countries as a model. Swiss miss, anyone?

Jeff Stein: Dem demands for race-based reparations no longer limited to fringe

David J. Lynch: Trump says he'll delay increase in tariffs on China, citing progress in trade talks

Nick Wadhams: Kim Jong Un's game plan ahead of Vietnam summit: Get Trump alone

George Will: The Supreme Court has a chance to clear up decades of confusion

• Dry Bones

• Mallard Filmore