[ted id=1391]
Author: jennifer
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Safe Journey
There is a park bench in Manhattan that quietly wonders where his faithful friend is.
This bench on 6th Avenue between Spring and Prince in Father Fagan Park that for nearly 50 years welcomed this friend his family and friends, hearing hundreds of stories. This bench wishes his friend a safe journey. Godspeed.
Some day soon we will be sharing stories again, on another bench in a different place and time. We may not recognize each other, but we will feel the warm comfort of familiarity on a bench, on an avenue, between two streets in a park where stories are told.
I love you dear Uncle and miss you.
Categories
Prior to 1954….
Are we better today then before 1954? I wish I had the resources and researchers to do the numbers and find out if we were.
“I was having dinner with my 82-year old mom last night and we got to talking politics. Tis the season, after all. I don’t remember exactly how this came up, but I think it was in the context of the Republican apoplexy over Democrats dropping reference to God in their party platform and Romney pledging to keep the word God on our coins (’cause I guess that’s a key element of his Jobs Program, or something). My mom said she remembered that as a young girl, the Pledge of Allegiance they recited everyday in school was simply, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” No mention of God anywhere.
My mom my be old, but she’s not senile, so I assumed her memory was accurate. Still I decided to Fact Check this morning (it’s all the rage these days). A simple search of the tubes confirmed that the words “under God” weren’t added to the Pledge until June, 1954 by a Joint Resolution of Congress.
But just as interesting, if not more so, was the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written back in 1892 by an avowed Christian Socialist who thought Capitalism was “idolatrous and rooted in greed”. That’s right, our nation’s Pledge was written by a stinkin’ Socialist. How’s that for insidious? I don’t suppose too many of our Republican friends know this, or I think we’d be seeing a mass epidemic of spontaneous cranial implosions on the streets by now.
Do you think we should tell them and enjoy the ensuing meltdown, or just smile with smug satisfaction every time we see a Republican reciting the Pledge?”
My Mom, someone I consider very religious says, I got along very well before 1954. So that says to me or makes me think, is this our problem?
Did we hate as we do today? Did we take life for granted as we do today? Do many of us live at a pace that tramples and gives no consideration to those around us? Are we accountable for our contribution to the emotional wake we leave? Did we have easy access to machines that can kill hundreds of people or children just going about their day? Did we individually think that our way was the only way, my way or the highway?
I said it in my last post and will repeat it.
I don’t believe that we need God in the schools for us to be the good descent caring human beings. We are stronger and better than that. Be accountable at home; take care of your own house. We have to be responsible for our families and ourselves in terms of goodness, spirituality and religion. That responsibility lies nowhere else.
Categories
What if we tried?
I don’t believe that my neighbor, Dad, Uncle, Brother or any American has any need for a semi-automatic assault rifle. That type of weapon is for the military. I don’t want to take your damn gun away. I’m not even going to try to pry it out of your cold dead hands. But I ask. Do we really need machines that can shoot hundreds of bullets and be able to buy thousands of round of ammunition unchecked?
Senator Chuck Shumer said it Sunday morning no amendment is absolute. A friend commented on a Facebook post weeks ago, “there are no absolutes”. It seems that from the Bible on we individually interpret words to meet or match what we want, or to create absolutes. If we are to take words and use them for laws and legislation for the entire county to abide by, what if we try to interpret words in an effort to save lives? Or interpret words that support more than our own personal needs, wants or agendas. Words and ideas that support the needs of an ever changing world and society. Not just with some control on what kind of gun or how much ammunition one can get, but how we collectively treat or speak to each other about our differences. They are only going to grow.
I do believe that we have to try something. To not is to fail everything we are, everything we have or hope to be.
If you must have a gun, lock it, lock it and lock it UP! Especially if you have children that require extra attention and care. In that case, maybe having a gun in the house isn’t a good idea and it should be stored elsewhere. At least so you know or until you are sure it won’t be turned against you or very innocent undeserving men, women and children.
I don’t believe that we need God in the schools for us to be the good descent caring human beings. We are stronger and better than that. Be accountable at home; take care of your own house. We have to be responsible for our families and ourselves in terms of goodness, spirituality and religion. That responsibility lies nowhere else.
I read a lot. I read a lot of opinions. And I read the comments, probably a mistake. Some make me cry, some make me sick and some just PISS me off. But mostly the level of hate that we humans throw at each other, at people we don’t even know. What people save and pull from the past in terms of the negative truly surprises me. Like some how what someone did or said months or years ago is still true today. To take something out of context is just wrong and deceitful. And serves no one.
This world that I am living in and navigating this lifetime, shifts and changes as quickly as the seconds tick away. So to hold true or as truth something that was said or done in the past is only done in an effort to oppress and keep us in the past. Leaving no effort to move forward.
I’m only one person and I’m not in a position to make changes, nor should I be. But I can speak for what I hope in a calmer, more peaceful, gentler world.
What if we tried to be better and consider this ever changing world we live in and the people that share it with us?
Categories
Some Control?
There is a 2nd Amendment, yes. All the other amendments are read and viewed expensively and not through …(the site of a gun) … No amendment is absolute.
1st amendment, you can’t scream “fire” in a crowded movie theater. There are limits on liable and pornography.
Is there a middle? At least maybe an attempt to see if a change could help? A ban or limit on assault weapons and limit the size of the clip. Isn’t there something, anything we can do to try to limit access to those with mental issues?
BTW – This is only part of the conversation that needs to happen. But no Republican was available for this conversation this morning on Face the Nation.
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H. Jackson Brown Jr. said, “Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.”
I think of my Mom and Dad everyday in terms of this and hope to live up to the standard of fairness and integrity that they live every day. By example, they taught me to think for myself, be fair, be kind, before it was even a thing to conserve, keep an open mind and question everything. And that no thing you can have or achieve is worthwhile at the detriment of any other being.
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I Am Not Misinformed!
Okay, I’m going to rant a bit! Imagine this writing in all caps…my bark is always worse then my bit. Maybe….
I refuse to claim the title, directly or indirectly of misinformed. Or it being “my fault” that President Obama was re-elected. And most certainly will not accept that I or anyone who voted for President Obama is part of the “dumbing down of America”!
Come on people! Wake up to the evolving ever changing (thank God) world that we live in. Where because of the nature of a country that offers life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, by that statement alone opens doors and yes boarders.
And I refuse to slap a title onto anyone who voted differently that I did. I wish I were that smart. I take that back. I don’t ever want to be or even think that I am that smart, that I can assume that anyone made a misinformed decision because it was different from mine.
I read my eye’s dry most days. A luxury of unemployment. (she says in gest) If only there was a news outlet on television that I could watch that would give me “the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help them God” reporting. One station just talks, one just shows the clips that justify what they want to be the truth, another show shows context but it’s a comedy show.
If the media took an entire statement, start to end and actually analyzed what was said and then was actually given the opportunity to ask questions of the statement and have reasonable expectation that they would actually get an answer. Then we might have something.
I try to read and when I do listen to people, I listen to those who have some sort of background the allows me some level of confidence that they freaking know how to speak on the subject of what they are talking about. And that it’s not based on their own fear of change or personal ideology that in no way supports the nature of this diverse county. I refuse to listen to those in the media who pontificate and spew hatred and fear with no facts or information to back it up their words.
I’m not the smartest person in the room, nor will I ever be. But I am smart enough to know where to find information to make my own informed and God given right to a decision.
Some of the places I go to read and try to understand;
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://online.wsj.com/home-page
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ (because it pulls from everywhere)\
http://thehill.com/
http://www.ap.org/
http://www.economist.com/
I watch;
http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/
http://www.thedailyshow.com/ (cause I need a laugh and he gives context that I can then go check)
I try to watch;
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/
http://www.cbsnews.com/face-the-nation/
I do not watch shows that base their opinion on the hatred or the demonization of anyone, official or otherwise. I have tried to watch or listen. I can’t stomach it just like I can’t stomach what I’ve been reading this week from people who I believe to be loving and caring individuals. We may have differing opinions, but the lack of respect for those difference to me is destructive.
I will also not blame any “one” person for where we are because I do not believe that any “ONE” person has that much power and singlehandedly got us to this point. That is just being narrow minded and not open to the entire conversation.
Do we not have a House of Representative? Do we not have Congress? The guilt for blame is wide spread and hits more people than I have the time to or care to mention.
What is it you all want? A dictatorship? A county run by one person and one agenda? That is not what we have and certainly what we will ever have as long as the democracy that was created for us years ago is allowed to continue. Please?
Conservative or Republican ideas or ideology have never set well with me. I don’t think that we, by any stretch of any means live in a black and white world. In my opinion Conservatives and the Republican party want a black and white, cut and dried nice little tidy world. We don’t live in a just black and white (literally or figuratively) or tidy world. Change is painful, but always necessary.
It’s not easy. We have to work for it like everything else in our lives. I am that large percentage of the “unmarried woman” who voted for Obama. I have never had or have been in a two-income family or household. Or had a second income to help me through three stents of unemployment. I have family and friends who have graciously helped, but I am in this game all by myself. I am also an uninsured unmarried woman. Because ten years ago I accepted a referral from my MD for a therapist. I’m not insurable. Not crazy or unstable. Very stable I think, considering. Just not enough to be insured. Not something I care to be at the age of 52, uninsured that is.
But I digress.
I can go out and find hundreds of video and words to support my convictions just like the ones I have seen and watched all over Facebook since Tuesday. Video’s, real or otherwise of people taking advantage of systems. People saying incredibly stupid and yes misinformed things.
OF COURSE THAT is what you will find. How about making your point with real ideas of how to change things. How systems can be better monitored instead of blaming one man for everything.
But I choose to find out as much as I can, to read both sides of what is really going on and stay away from any thing that sounds like, looks like or feels like that in four years we will somehow this country will be down the drain.
We don’t talk about the issues we point fingers and blame others for not playing the game the way we want it played. We don’t debate the issues in true debate format so that actual thoughts and ideas can be explained or even completed. We don’t answer hard questions because deep down when we get to what we really for a real solution, the answer is the same and that scares the crap out of us. Really? We believe and want the same thing? I believe that we do, that we all have rights and liberties that we don’t want taken away or changed.
Well guess what folks. The world is changing and we have to let some of it go. I don’t see anything but love in the changes that I see for this country. God forbid that we have a government that projects us from terrorists and financial failure and allows us to live in love and safety.
Why do we vote? We vote because we believe in the system that has been handed down to us for generations. There isn’t a right or wrong an informed or misinformed party. And I am up to my eye balls freaking tired of seeing it and hearing it.
There. I think I’m done.
Categories
Choice (2)
Why I Am Pro-Life By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
HARD-LINE conservatives have gone to new extremes lately in opposing abortion. Last week, Richard Mourdock, the Tea Party-backed Republican Senate candidate in Indiana, declared during a debate that he was against abortion even in the event of rape because after much thought he “came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” That came on the heels of the Tea Party-backed Republican Representative Joe Walsh of Illinois saying after a recent debate that he opposed abortion even in cases where the life of the mother is in danger, because “with modern technology and science, you can’t find one instance” in which a woman would not survive without an abortion. “Health of the mother has become a tool for abortions anytime, for any reason,” Walsh said. That came in the wake of the Senate hopeful in Missouri, Representative Todd Akin, remarking that pregnancy as a result of “legitimate rape” is rare because “the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down.”
These were not slips of the tongue. These are the authentic voices of an ever-more-assertive far-right Republican base that is intent on using uncompromising positions on abortion to not only unseat more centrist Republicans — Mourdock defeated the moderate Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana in the primary — but to overturn the mainstream consensus in America on this issue. That consensus says that those who choose to oppose abortion in their own lives for reasons of faith or philosophy should be respected, but those women who want to make a different personal choice over what happens with their own bodies should be respected, and have the legal protection to do so, as well.
In my world, you don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and be against common-sense gun control — like banning public access to the kind of semiautomatic assault rifle, designed for warfare, that was used recently in a Colorado theater. You don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and want to shut down the Environmental Protection Agency, which ensures clean air and clean water, prevents childhood asthma, preserves biodiversity and combats climate change that could disrupt every life on the planet. You don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and oppose programs like Head Start that provide basic education, health and nutrition for the most disadvantaged children. You can call yourself a “pro-conception-to-birth, indifferent-to-life conservative.” I will never refer to someone who pickets Planned Parenthood but lobbies against common-sense gun laws as “pro-life.”
“Pro-life” can mean only one thing: “respect for the sanctity of life.” And there is no way that respect for the sanctity of life can mean we are obligated to protect every fertilized egg in a woman’s body, no matter how that egg got fertilized, but we are not obligated to protect every living person from being shot with a concealed automatic weapon. I have no respect for someone who relies on voodoo science to declare that a woman’s body can distinguish a “legitimate” rape, but then declares — when 99 percent of all climate scientists conclude that climate change poses a danger to the sanctity of all life on the planet — that global warming is just a hoax.
The term “pro-life” should be a shorthand for respect for the sanctity of life. But I will not let that label apply to people for whom sanctity for life begins at conception and ends at birth. What about the rest of life? Respect for the sanctity of life, if you believe that it begins at conception, cannot end at birth. That radical narrowing of our concern for the sanctity of life is leading to terrible distortions in our society.
Respect for life has to include respect for how that life is lived, enhanced and protected — not only at the moment of conception but afterward, in the course of that life. That’s why, for me, the most “pro-life” politician in America is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. While he supports a woman’s right to choose, he has also used his position to promote a whole set of policies that enhance everyone’s quality of life — from his ban on smoking in bars and city parks to reduce cancer, to his ban on the sale in New York City of giant sugary drinks to combat obesity and diabetes, to his requirement for posting calorie counts on menus in chain restaurants, to his push to reinstate the expired federal ban on assault weapons and other forms of common-sense gun control, to his support for early childhood education, to his support for mitigating disruptive climate change.
Now that is what I call “pro-life.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 28, 2012
A phrase in this version of the article has been changed to “every fertilized egg in a woman’s body” from “in a woman’s ovary.”
Categories
Choice
The question of “choice” is much bigger, much larger than the conversation around the issue of abortion. And I think, with all due respect, that it is a simpleminded to think that “choice” can be just about abortion.
As American’s we have many things that are a choice. Many things that can and could be taken away if we begin to relinquish our rights as they have been handed down.
What are choices? Where we live. Where we go to school. Our Doctor. Our Church. Our profession. Our elected officials. Some get to choose who they legally spend their lives with. It’s our choice to have children and raise them the way we believe that they should be raised. The right to bear arms.
Would you be willing to give up your gun to stop abortion? Each cause the end of a life.
Choice is not a simple idea or concept. It has deep roots that go beyond one persons, ideology or religion. The difference in what each of us believe is a choice does matter.
As Barry Schwartz says in the TED video below, “The way to maximize freedom is to maximize choice.”
Which to me means, that each and every time we are given the choice to choose, we have to think beyond ourselves and think of the potential ramification of that one choice. We choose to vote to not have a business open down the street from us because it’s a Gentleman’s Club. I don’t really want that in my neighborhood either, but to say no to that leave open the possibility that someone will say no to my choice to open, a bakery, let’s say in a community that has a high rate of obesity and diabetics. So some one takes their right to petition that I can’t open my business because it would be a bad addition to an already failing neighborhood.
Yes, the words “Pro-Choice” involve the ultimate beginning or end of a potential life. But to remove or end that choice is just the beginning. I’m not taking this lightly. Believe me. If you believe that allowing same sex couple to marry will lead to making it legal to marry your dog. Then I believe that taking away the woman’s choice to decide what is best for her could lead to me not being able to open a bakery anywhere I want. Or live where I want. Or choose my religion. The right to not have my house or person unreasonably searched. Or choose anything that today I probably take for granted is my right and will never be challenged because I’m an American citizen.
No one is standing in the way of those basic and what may seem as simple rights of being a citizen of theses Unites States. Which is why to start anywhere to allow the government or anyone to take away any right is the beginning of the end our rights as we know them.
I don’t know this of sure. But I would be hard pressed to say that they would stop at a woman’s right to choose.
What are our rights?
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
AMENDMENT XIPassed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.Note: Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 11.The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
AMENDMENT XIIPassed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
Note: A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 12th amendment.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. –]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
*Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.
AMENDMENT XIIIPassed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XIVPassed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
AMENDMENT XVPassed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XVIPassed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
AMENDMENT XVIIPassed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
AMENDMENT XVIIIPassed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.
Section 1.
After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2.
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XIXPassed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXPassed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.
Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
AMENDMENT XXIPassed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXIIPassed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXIIIPassed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXIVPassed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXVPassed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
Note: Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th amendment.
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
AMENDMENT XXVIPassed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXVIIOriginally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
Lastly, I hope this TED video is accessible, Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice.
Sorry can’t get the link to work. If you copy and paste this in a browser it should bring up the talk.