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A Road Trip That Takes The Cake

M

usic, we are told, is the food
of love. Poetry, it is said, feeds
the soul.
With statistics about the obesity plagu-
ing our country, food itself is the bane of
many Americans’ existence. Is it any won-
der then that many of our cities have food-
related names?
Here are some stops
you could make in a
culinary tour of the
country.
Start off with break-
fast in Two Egg, Fla. It is
a small town in Jackson
County that suppos-
edly traces its name to
Sy Manello
the days when farm
Editorial
produce was traded
Assistant
for supplies from local
stores. Go from there to
Toast, N.C., a town that boasts a population
of 1,450.
Lunch could be in Sandwich, Mass. It is
Cape Cod’s oldest town and one of the old-
est in the U.S. Consider a side order from

Burnt Corn, Ala. It was named after the
Battle of Burnt Corn in 1813.
Tea time, though basically an English
tradition, could be enjoyed American-style
in Hot Coffee, Miss. It supposedly got its
name from an inn (1870) that sold coffee
to travelers. If you prefer, you can stop in
Tea, S.D., a suburban town of some 4,000.
Do not forget to look in at Cookietown,
Okla., named after a business owned by M.
Cornelius in the early 20th century.
If you are looking for a snack before
dinner or later in the evening, you may
want to consider Popcorn, Ind., home to a
famous popcorn brand.
The all-important evening meal
might include a visit to Chicken, Alaska.
This rural town was originally named
Ptarmigan, after the state bird. Proving too
difficult to spell, the name was changed to
Chicken, which apparently bears a large
resemblance to the ptarmigan. (That’s a
change from “It tastes like chicken.”) Of
course, you may want to opt for Turkey,
Texas. No, it is not named with any former
political leaders in mind. Rather it is the

home of American swing musician Bob
Willis.
Cap off your meal with a stop in Pie
Town, N.M. Every year there is a pie fes-
tival. The town is home to two eateries:
Good Pie Cafe and Pie-O-Neer. The town
was so named because of the love of pies
by World War I veteran Clyde Norman,
who became known regionally for baking
great apple pies.
If you are truly hungry for travel, you
now know of some stops to make; let them
be food for thought.

*

editorial

Obama Comes Up Short On BDS

P

resident Barack Obama signed
into law a trade bill defending
Israel from the international
boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS)
campaign. However, he vowed not to
enforce provisions that apply to Israeli
settlements in the West Bank.
While not surprising, the U.S. presi-
dent’s stance ignores Israel’s historic
ties to the biblical regions of Judea and
Samaria, which make up the West Bank.
On Feb. 24, the president signed
the Trade Facilitation and Trade
Enforcement Act of 2015. It strives to
ensure U.S. trade is competitive and free
from unfair obstacles.
One segment of the law prevents
involvement with businesses aligned
with the BDS movement against Israel.
In this context, the law rightfully
extends to boycotts against businesses
in not only Israel, but also “Israeli-
controlled territories” such as the West
Bank. At issue is protecting the legiti-
mate interests of Israeli free enterprise;
Jewish settlements that carry Jerusalem’s
imprimatur, and thus aren’t deemed ille-

gal, qualify for such protection.
In his 616-word signing statement,
Obama said he strongly opposes the
BDS movement “and sanctions target-
ing the State of Israel.” But, he added, he
opposes “conflating Israel and Israeli-
controlled territories” on the grounds it
is “contrary to longstanding bipartisan
United States policy, including with
regard to the treatment of settlements.”
Obama asserted he wouldn’t recog-
nize that part of the law he felt con-
flicted with U.S. foreign policy and thus
would interfere “with my constitutional
authority to conduct diplomacy.” He
believes the settlements present a bar-
rier to a two-state solution to the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
The president, contrary to the U.S.
Congress, has singled out Israeli eco-
nomic productivity in the West Bank
— and by virtue of that, has given legiti-
macy to a boycott of the settlements.

THE BACKLIGHTING
Historically, Jews consider the West
Bank as well as the Arab-dominated

President Obama

eastern sector of Jerusalem part of
Eretz Yisrael, the biblical Land of Israel.
Israel took control of the West Bank
from Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967
although never formally annexed it. The
Palestinian Authority (P.A.), which grew
out of the 1990s Oslo Accords, governs
the West Bank’s Arab sectors.
The West Bank remains disputed
pending a directly negotiated peace
agreement between Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organization. The
PLO is the umbrella negotiating orga-
nization for Fatah, the Ramallah-based
political group that heads the P.A. and
eyes a unifying Palestinian state in the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip with east
Jerusalem as its capital.
Notably, the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a key
Washington lobbyist on Israel’s behalf,

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continued on page 6

March 10 • 2016

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