Alasandra's Reading List ~ May

1. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher - when Morgan is falsely accused of murder he turns to Harry for help. Unfortunately he brought a skinwalker to town with him.  When the skinwalker kidnaps Thomas Harry not only has to find a way to clear Morgan's name and uncover the traitor in the White Council before the Wardens execute them both he has to find a way to defeat the skinwalker and save Thomas.
2. Changes by Jim Butcher -  Harry finds out he has a daughter (Maggie - named after his Mother) who has been kidnapped by the Red Court of Vampires. He will make a deal with Mab to become the Winter Knight,  in order to save her. He discovers his Grandfather's identity and leads his friends into the battle of their lives.
3. Ghost Story by Jim Butcher - I don't want to give to much away but everyone thinks Harry is dead. His friends are in a pickle and Harry as a spirit is doing his utmost to help them but will it be enough. And is Harry really dead? 
4. Dark & Stormy Knights - a collection of short stories including Even Hand by Jim Butcher.
5. Mean Streets - a collection of short stories including Warrior by Jim Butcher. 
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I enjoyed this book a great deal, I actually got interested in it because of all the criticism of it in The Sun Herald and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the book. When Haymitch discovers Peeta's love for Katniss he devises a strategy that allows them both to survive the hunger games. The book ends with them returning home and Katniss being unsure of her feelings for Peeta and long time friend Gale.
7. No Good Deed by M.P. McDonald - I found the plot unbelievable, if my kid had been whisked off to some secret location and accused of being a terrorist I would be moving heave and earth to find out where he was and get him out so the fact that Mark's parents basically were content not to know puzzles me. Never really felt a connection with the characters. This was the first in the series and I probably will not be seeking out the others. (Read on my Kindle Fire)
8.   Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow -A collection of short stories including A Dresden Files Short Story Curses by Jim Butcher

Dorothy Lane Market

I was invited to attend Behind The Paw 2012 and our team building event was attending Dorothy Lane Market Cooking School. It was a great way to make new friends and get to know everyone you can read about it here.

TEAM MEAT won and I will attempt to give you the recipes we created.

Chicken Kebabs
chicken tenders
Herb de Provence
Rosemary
Truffle Salt
garlic
olive oil

Marinate chicken tenders in the other ingredients thread on kebabs like a worm and then grill.

Sliders
ground beef
DLM Grilling and Seasoning Rub
blue cheese
buns brushed with butter and garlic

Mix ground beef and seasoning rub form into patties grill place on bun when done and top with blue cheese.

I guess

I guess it is easy to claim that the majority of you constituents hold your views when you don't even bother to read their emails. I just received this from Congressman Palazzo.

May 18, 2012

 

 

 

Dear Mrs. Alawine:

 

Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts regarding H.R. 3803, the D.C. Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As your Congressman, I am committed to putting the needs of Mississippi families first and knowing your views and ideas on Federal legislation is critical in order to best represent you.  To this extent, your comments and ideas are always appreciated. 

 

As you may know, the District of Columbia, as our nation's capital city, receives most of its laws from the Congress of the United States.  Given the original jurisdiction for legislative matters in D.C., Representative Trent Franks (R-Arizona) introduced H.R. 3803 on January 23, 2012, to prohibit the performance of abortions beyond a period of gestation at which scientific and medical evidence shows the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain.  H.R. 3803 has been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee, as well as to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

 

This legislation is an important step toward protecting the lives of unborn children in our nation's capital.  Being a proud Pro-Life congressman, I certainly share your support for this legislation.  In fact, that is why I have signed on as a co-sponsor of this legislation, and while I do not serve on any of the committees to which it is currently referred, I look forward to supporting and voting for this legislation should it come to the floor of the House.

 

As I close, let me again thank you for contacting me and helping me to better understand the concerns of Mississippians. If there is any assistance I can provide or if you have additional thoughts and opinions, don't hesitate to contact me.  As a reminder, please visit my website www.palazzo.house.gov and sign up for our E-newsletter for updates on issues in legislation.

 

 

Sincerely,
 
Steven M. Palazzo
Member of Congress

Considering I am PRO-CHOICE and am disgusted by Congressman Palazzo's support of this bill his response to my email is irritating. Why bother to contact your Congressman with your views IF THE IDIOT ISN'T EVEN GOING TO BOTHER TO READ THEM, and will just assume that you agree with him.

Mother's Day @ Half Shell Oyster House

The service was slower then normal but there was a huge crowd. And the food was delicious. I had the Half Shell Benedict poached eggs topped with poached oysters with capers and artichokes topped with a delicious sauce. My only complaint is I didn't have an extra piece of bread to soak up the sauce with. I was so tempted to pull a Fenris and lick my plate clean the sauce was that good.  In fact if WLOX hadn't been there with a camera I would have probably went for it. It came with a side I choose cheesy grits. I do love grits and I can't cook them. Eldest even sprang for dessert I opted for the Chocolate Confusion, nothing confusing about it, it is delicious.

Why the Treaty of Tripoli is Important

NOWACKI’s letter is misleading. Nowhere in the Treaty of Paris does is state that the United States is a Christian Nation. In fact all the references to God that he blathers on about were part of King George’s title and were not used in reference to the United States.

One can only wonder why Fundamentalist Christians are so desperate to rewrite history. The most convincing evidence that our government did not ground itself upon Christianity comes from the United States Constitution. Nowhere in the Constitution do we have a single mention of Christianity, God, Jesus, or any Supreme Being. There are two references to religion in the Constitution and both are exclusionary; The 1st Amendment's says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. . ." and in Article VI, Section 3, ". . . no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." 

The Treaty of Tripoli is important because it provides a clear admission by the United States that our government did not found itself upon Christianity. Unlike the Declaration of Independence, this treaty represented U.S. law as all treaties do according to the Constitution (see Article VI, Sect. 2).  Although the Christian exclusionary wording in the Treaty of Tripoli only lasted for eight years and no longer has legal status, it clearly represented the feelings of our Founding Fathers.

As for the argument that the Constitution is based on Judeo-Christian laws according to Jefferson the Constitution was based on Saxon Common Law which predates Christianity by 200 years. 

The Founders of our nation were products of “The Age of Reason” they created a secular nation based on logic and rational thought not a country oppressed by religious superstition as Nowacki would have us believe.

History is Elementary has an excellent post on the subject A Christian Nation? Be Careful What You Preach

America is NOT a Christian Nation

Contrary to what some misguided letter writers in the Sun Herald have stated the Founding Fathers never intended for America to be a Christian Nation in fact they plainly stated in the Treaty of Tripoli Article 11 that it was not:

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

In fact some of the Founding Fathers were not Christians at all they were Deist. Deism or “the religion of nature” was a form of rational theology that emerged among “freethinking” Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries. Deists insisted that religious truth should be subject to the authority of human reason. They denied that the Bible was the revealed word of God, rejected scripture as a source of religious doctrine, and rejected all the supernatural elements of Christianity. The doctrines of original sin, the account of creation found in Genesis, and the divinity and resurrection of Christ were castigated as irrational beliefs unworthy of an enlightened age.

Benjamin Franklin (Deist) A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain

Ethan Allen (Deist) The Only Oracle of Man

Thomas Paine (Deist) Age of Reason

Thomas Jefferson (Deist)

Even those who espoused a Christian ideology often “were not all that enthusiastic about religion, certainly not about religious enthusiasm.” According to John Adams "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.”.

History is Elementary has an excellent post on the subject

A Christian Nation? Be Careful What You Preach