Alasandra's Reading list ~ April

1. Siege of Darkness by R.A. Salvatore ~ Madam Baenre leads her drow army to Mithril Hall.
2. Free Fall by Fern Michaels - Yoko gets revenge on her Father before the Ladies of Pinewood are captured by the authorities. 
3. Witch & Wizard by James Patterson  (teen) - I highly recommend it for any of you who are looking for a gift for a pre-teen or young teen. Wisty and Whit Allgood are on the run from the evil regime. If they are caught they and their parents will be executed for being witches and wizards.
4. Vision in White by Nora Roberts -Seems like for a stuffy English Professor Carer Maguire has the right moves to win Mackenise Elliot's heart.
5. Passage to Dawn by R.A. Salvatore - Drizzt and Cattie-brie have made a life aboard the Sea Sprite, then a doppelganger turns their world upside down, when he attacks Captain Deudermont. The friends set out on a quest that leads to their returning to Icewind Dale where they are reunited with Bruenor and Regis. Together they must fight the Crystal Shard and Errtu, if they win Wulfgar will be restored to them. 
6. Harbingers by F. Paul Wilson -A spear has no branches. Can Jack stop the Ally from taking everyone he loves.
7. Bad Attitude by Sherrilyn Kenyon - BAD gets J.D. Steele out of prison to stop an assassin, but can he do it  when the assassin turns out to be a member of his family.
8. Bloodline by F. Paul Wilson - Jack discovers his possesses oDNA and must stop a killer who is determined to purify his bloodline and father the "Key to the Future". 

Giveaway @ Food As Art

I first meet Beth @ Beyond the Garden Gate when she threw a birthday party for Gracie. She is doing a giveaway on her Food As Art blog, click here to enter.

The prize is a lovely  13.5" platter by Johnson Brothers in Old Britain Castles pink. It's a $50 value, but is sold for $30 at CSN Stores.

I think it would look lovely in my dining room with my vintage pink candlesticks.

Great Letter to the Editor ~ Health Care Reform

Thank you, Mississippians, for making your voices heard

As a consumer health advocate who participated in the health care reform debate over the last year, I want to thank and commend the many Mississippians who stood up and made their voices heard. In the face of opposition and misinformation, our statewide network of supporters from all walks of life fought for health care reform, knowing what it would mean for Mississippi. We know our work is not done. We will continue to ensure that health care reform is implemented in our state.

The new law will help middle-class families by curbing costs and protecting them from crushing medical debt. It will help seniors caught in the prescription drug doughnut hole to finally afford medications they need. And Mississippians who don’t have health insurance will be able to access care.

We will continue to work on behalf of people across Mississippi, and to provide information to people seeking the truth about how the new law will affect them.

ROY MITCHELL
Executive director, Mississippi Health Advocacy Program Jackson

Board will not permit hog-dog trials

Good news for the neighbors, the dogs and the hogs. I just wish the Jackson County Planning Commission would put a stop to the go cart race track on Old Biloxi Road.
Board will not permit hog-dog trials - Featured Story - SunHerald.com

Great Letter to the Editor ~ Eminent domain is America’s version of ‘despotic power’

The Clarion-Ledger’s take on the proper use of eminent domain is not only mistaken, it’s frightening (“Mississippi voters should reject eminent domain petition,” reprinted in Other Voices in the Sun Herald on April 12). By cheerleading the government’s forcible acquisition of property to provide Mississippians “jobs and an opportunity to better themselves,” the editorial advocates for no limit on what courts have rightly called “the despotic power.”

Just as Justice O’Connor presciently forecast in her dissent in Kelo v. City of New London when she wrote “nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory,” under the Clarion-Ledger’s definition of public use, no one’s home or small business would be safe. Just ask our clients, the Archies, who almost lost their homestead in Canton for a Nissan factory. Ultimately, Nissan relented, showing once again that economic development and respect for property rights can coexist.

That a newspaper fails to recognize the consequences of its position is tragic. That it doesn’t want the citizens of Mississippi even to have a say in the matter is worse.

(The Institute for Justice litigated the eminent domain case on behalf of the Archie family in Canton and the Kelo eminent domain case before the Supreme Court.)

STEVEN ANDERSON
Institute for Justice Arlington, Va.

The Sun Herald Letters to The Editor April 16, 2010

Father wages court battle against funeral protests

Hundreds of grieving families have been targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church, which believes military deaths are the work of a wrathful God who punishes the United States for tolerating homosexuality.

The government should put a stop to this churches harassment, these families deserve the chance to grieve their loved ones in peace. I usually champion freedom of speech, and if they want to spew this filth in their own "church" or homes I support that BUT they should not be allowed to target grieving families at their loved ones funerals.

Father wages court battle against funeral protests - Nation Wire - SunHerald.com

Rotarians want USA

Members of the Pascagoula Rotary Club want the University of South Alabama to reconsider its decision about not moving to Mississippi.

Read the rest here