More Wins

I received 2 winning emails Sunday from blog contests I had entered. The first was an audio book of Little Pink House by Jeff Benedict from A Bookworm's World . This is a true story about a woman fighting to save her house from condemnation by the process of emminent domain. The woman had been through 2 divorces, her kids were grown, and she was going back to school to be a nurse. She bought a small house and invested time and money in it to make it her own. Along comes a big company who wants to expand and the city decides to offer some property which includes her home. She decides to fight and the court battle goes on for 10 years. Can you imagine what that must have cost? If someone owns a farm, home, business, or whatever, the government should not be allowed to step in and take it just so a big company can build there or a road can go through even if they pay fair market value. You can't put a price on people's memories or sweat equity. Last year there was a story on the local news about Vedic City in southeast Iowa. They decided they wanted to expand their city limits and to do so they wanted to take a farm that had been in a family for 100 years. I know the family was fighting it but I never heard the outcome; I certainly don't think it's right. I've seen little businesses torn down so a larger chain grocery store or a mall can be built. I've always thought emminent domain (the process where government can take your property for the supposed good of the majority) was wrong and I'm looking forward to hearing this woman's story.

The second win was The American Journey of Barack Obama from The Editors of Life Magazine and I won it from Literary Menagerie . Even with all the pre- and post-election publicity, I can't say I really know that much about Mr. Obama. I'm think this will be an interesting book and one that I'll definitely share with others.