Dining with Alasandra

We went to The Olive Garden in D'Iberville for Hubby's birthday. The service was excellent and the place was packed but the food is only mediocre. I much prefer Capone's. I got the Venetian Apricot Chicken a grilled chicken breast in an apricot citrus sauce, served with broccoli, asparagus and diced tomatoes. The chicken breast OK and I did like the sauce but the broccoli and asparagus were tough. The salad it was served with was disappointing, but on the plus side they did keep us supplied with warm bread sticks.

Thirteen Books I read Recently

Thirteen Books I Read Recently

1. Blasphemy by Douglas Preston ~ A bunch of Christian Fundamentalist create a mob intent on destroying Isabella (the most expensive machine ever built) and killing the scientist. With the help of some American Indians most of the scientist are able to escape.
   
2. The Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - Palmer Lloyd is willing to pay anything to have the red meteor as part of his museum collection. He hires Eli Glinn to bring the meteor to New York. Unable to admit defeat Glinn will risk everything to complete his mission. Then McFarlane one of the few survivors of the ill fated expedition will discover that it wasn't a meteor at all............. (I sense a possible sequel)
   
3. Smash Cut by Sandra Brown - A real page turner. Paul Wheeler was gunned down in an elevator who hired the killer? His nephew who expected to inherit his fortune or the lovely young lady he was spending his time with.
   
4. Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen ~ When Tavak is trapped in an Egyptian tomb he emails the only person who can help computer whiz Rachel Kirby. Can the dynamic duo find Peseshet's tomb before the bad guys do.
   
5. Deadlock by Iris Johansen ~When Emily Hudson is kidnapped only one man can save her. Can he win her heart too?
   
6. The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson - The first in the Repairman Jack series. He is awesome, I am looking forward to reading more. Jack wins back his girlfriend by saving her daughter from an ancient curse.
   
7. Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell - How the English won against all odds at Agincourt thanks to the archers.
   
8. The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child - The immured anchorite sends the Agozyen out into the world in order to find the next Rinpoche. Pendergast must return the Agozyen to the monastery before the world is destroyed, and thanks to Constance Greene's secret when all appears lost Pendergast will receive help for an unlikely source.
   
9. Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & Richard Dilallo - I didn't care for this book.
   
10. Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincol Child ~ Sir William Macallan designed "The Water Pit" a deadly vault to hold the pirate Edward Ockham's treasure on Ragged Island. 30 years ago Malin Hatch's brother died on Ragged Island, his body was never recovered. Now Captain Neidelman is offering Malin a chance to recover his brother's body if he will allow the treasure hunter access to Ragged Island. But what if St. Michael's Sword is deadly to posses? Will anyone escape from Ragged Island alive?
    
11. Thunderhead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child ~ This is the novel in which Nora meets Smithback for the first time. Nora receives a letter from her Father 16 years after his death telling of a lost Anasazi city he discovered. With the backing of Ernest Goddard she assembles an archaeological team and heads off into the wild to hunt for it. But the city turns out to hold a deadly secret.
    
12. The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra ~ Great Book!!!!!! " A religion of love has moved alarmingly in the direction of hatred, although outright hatred may not be preached from the pulpit. What is preached is self-righteous intolerance."
    
13. Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston - Sally & Tom Broadbent (from The Codex) are featured. While riding in the desert Tom hears gunshots and finds Stem Weathers shot in the back. With his dying breath Stem begs Tom to take his notebook to his daughter Robbie . Hoping to find a clue to Stem's identity in the notebook Tom takes it to ex-CIA agent Wyman Ford to decode. They then begin to search for the T-REX the code reveals but can they manage to stay alive with Stem Weathers' murder after them as well as a rogue government agency that wants them dead.
    
    
 

Dining with Alasandra

It's been a long time since I have done a restaurant  review so I am going to mention two new places in Ocean Springs I have been too.

Capone's serves authentic Sicilian Italian Food. Drawbacks the place is hard to find and they only take cash. On the upside, an upscale decor and delicious food. I had the Eggplant Parmesan, served with salad & bread sticks. I choose the Gorgonzola Dressing to go with the salad and to be honest I would have been happy with just the salad and the bread sticks.

Shady's - I love their outdoor dining area. I had the Giggling Grouper Sandwich. I choose to have it grilled. It's served on a wheat roll with lettuce, tomato & creole mayo. Comes with homemade slaw. Very filling and delicious.

Great Letter to the Editor by Louis Fuchs

Blaming the deficit is disingenuous, at best
At Rep. Gene Taylor’s town hall meeting in Moss Point, there was a lot of loud and intimidating shouting against health care reform. I expected that. What surprised me was the amount of real anger expressed by many of the attendees, anger that went beyond the health care issue.

When Rep. Taylor tried to explain how the deficit progressed from where it was in the 1980s to where it is today, many in the crowd jeered and claimed that we’ve had problems for only the last six months. The crowd angrily demanded to know why Rep. Taylor voted for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and, before he could explain that he did so because she had promised to support his all-perils insurance proposal, they shouted him down.

Add in the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina and the severe recession, and you have a recipe for stress. Throw in some lies about “death panels,” and people can succumb to fear and anger.

The vested interests that stand to profit billions will do anything to destroy meaningful reform and preserve a system where they control the market.

Congress did not seem concerned about the deficit when they provided tax breaks to large corporations or when they were building F-22 fighter planes that the Defense Department did not want. Now, when we’re talking about providing adequate health care to all Americans, they are concerned about the deficit. They are disingenuous at best.


We have been trying to introduce health care legislation since the time of Teddy Roosevelt. It is time to finally do the right thing and make health care for all Americans a priority. Put it in the budget along with everything else. The people of this country will breathe a sigh of relief over not having to worry about whether they can see a doctor or not, whether an insurance company will deny coverage for a procedure they’ve already had, whether they will face bankruptcy and, finally, whether they will live or die at the hands of profit-seeking insurance companies.


LOUIS FUCHS
Diamondhead

Mississippi Gulf Coast:: Proposed highway route threatens homes

Mississippi Gulf Coast:: Proposed highway route threatens homes

The Supreme Court Decides the New Haven Firefighter Case

The test results should NOT have been thrown out and the WHITE and Hispanic applicants who scored highest should have gotten the job promotions. No one should be denied a promotion because their skin is the wrong color.

The Supreme Court Decides the New Haven Firefighter Case

The Court ruled 5-4 for the eighteen white (including one Hispanic) firefighter plaintiffs. The majority held that an employer can invoke fear of "disparate impact" litigation by minority applicants as a defense to a charge that discarding the results was itself an act of unlawful discrimination. However, the lead opinion written by Justice Kennedy announced that the defense is only available where the employer has a "strong basis in evidence" for fearing disparate impact liability. The majority further found that the record in Ricci did not meet this standard.

It looks as if the test results were thrown out to appease African American Rev Boise Kimber.

Alito’s opinion notes Kimber’s heavy hand

No stranger to local controversy, the (African American) Rev. Boise Kimber landed an unlikely national role Monday in dueling opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court, probing the extent to which the politically connected pastor may have influenced decision makers in the civil rights case of 20 (19 white and 1 Hispanic) city firefighters.

Kimber seems to have plenty of political clout.

Kimber Gets Off The (Towing) Hook

A politically connected marshal let a politically connected minister off the hook when the dreaded Plate Hunter came to snatch his car The Rev. Boise Kimber, a key mayoral ally and powerbroker in the city’s black community as well as a fire commissioner, was having a late dinner Wednesday evening at Portofino’s Restaurant and Bar on State Street. Meanwhile, the Lombard Motors towing crew prowled the streets to snatch the parked vehicles of scofflaws with unpaid parking tickets.

The Lombard crew had begun to position the flatbed for removal when out popped Kimber into the street.

“He engaged the tow truck agent and the marshal,” Piscitelli said. Kimber and Criscuolo exchanged words. Then Criscuolo reversed the towing order and let Kimber go free.

So apparently Kimber decided he wanted African-Americans who didn't do as well on the test as the White and Hispanic candidates to get the job and used his clout to get the test results thrown out.

Dining with Alasandra

For our 22nd anniversary we dined at Anthony's Under the Oaks in Ocean Springs. I had the grilled fish topped with crab-meat and asparagus, which was delicious. Hubby had the peppercorn steak (they held the peppercorns at his request) which he enjoyed. Both came with a salad and the remoulade sauce was delicious. Hubby who hardly ever eats dressing on his salad elected to have some. The entree also came with grilled vegetables and a stuffed potato which were scrumptious.



Afterwards we stopped by Coffee & More to pick up some chocolate mousse for dessert.