I am a Harry Potter addict...

They say the way to address addiction is to admit you have a problem...

My name is Lin, and I am a Harry Potter addict.

I was one of the masses of people who stood in line at midnight Friday night to buy the new Harry Potter book.

I began reading in the car on the way home. Did I mention I was driving? (Just kidding on that one.)

I continued reading well past 1:30 a.m., and only stopped because I knew I had to actually be awake and functional later in the day.

I slept less than five hours, then promptly got up and continued reading (after starting a pot of coffee, of course).

I forwent (forgoed? forgot? for...?) my morning exercise routine and plopped myself on the couch with the aforementioned book and coffee for four solid hours. (Wow, lots of "for/fore/four" words in that sentence!)

I woke the boys up, made sure they were alive and breathing and getting ready for their Saturday morning bowling league, and continued reading.

I took them to bowling, sat at the back of their lane, yet did not see one iota of their games. Yep, reading.

I came home, ate lunch, got things together for our family fishing trip tomorrow (with many pulls toward HP along the way, but I was strong and resisted until all the preparations were completed), and sat down once more with Harry.

I finished the book in slightly more than 14 hours, start to finish, including the breaks noted.

I cried four times during the book, including the last two pages.

And now, I am having withdrawals.

I think I'll read it again.

LIN STEELE

You're a dangerous man, Mr. Wood

David Wood defines "amnesty" as letting a lawbreaker off the hook (PVT, 7/20/07). You're right, Mr. Wood, but I'm a bit confused.

My writing was directed to the Senate's act of defeating the Immigration Reform bill, thereby letting persons unlawfully present in the USA remain untouched -- that is amnesty. Your writing was an angry, emotional, rambling outburst that did not suggest any practical means of solving this problem!

You recommend using the military to solve this problem, even suggesting that we behave like Nazis and you find it "appalling..." that we would send them home rather than killing them. You state the the only solution is "revolution." You are a dangerous man, Mr. Wood.

What you propose is blatantly against the law. The U.S. Constitution prohibits government action without "due process," meaning that, at a minimum, each person would have to be given proper notice and a public hearing before a tribunal before execution of sentence.

If we discard this principle, then your neck is likely to be the next one on the chopping block.

You propose to solve the problem by invading Mexico because that country is corrupt.

Where have you been for the last few years, Mr. Wood? Don't you read the headlines in the PVT or the Review-Journal or watch television newscasts? Moral depravity and political corruption are all around us, and your suggestions would destroy the rule of law and make it infinitely worse.

My proposals had a penalty in them and incorporated the idea that the penalty can't be so harsh or onerous that no one would step forward and sign up.

I have a long association with the immigration system dating back more than a half century. At one time I even worked for the former INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service].

The immigration law is badly broken but our senators prefer the status quo rather than face the wrath of the voters whom they have been lying to all these years.

There is a solution: The next time you're in the voting booth, vote against the incumbent senators and congressmen. Then write a letter and tell them you refuse to vote for men and women who are more interested in re-election than solving the problem.

On second thought, don't bother with the letters. Over the past few years I have written a half dozen letters to Sen. Reid and only one has even been acknowledged.

EDWARD B. JACKSON, ESQ.

Parade requires funds, info

This letter is in response to the letter written by Mr. Schultz regarding the Fall Festival parade and the possible charges that his group may incur.

Explanation is necessary, and I will attempt to answer all of his questions as follows:

There is a charge to participate in the parade for all entries. We have kept it a minimal price, starting at $20 for an individual entry. We then categorize and group other entries and charge a base price and add for extra walkers, cars, trailers etc.

The reason we charge is because the Fall Festival has to pay traffic control (mandated by NDOT) to monitor and set up the blockades for the parade. They charge at least $1700, and it goes up every year.

We also give awards for various entries including floats and horse entries. We have administrative costs associated with the parade, and all this adds up. There has always been a charge for entries for the Fall Festival parade, and this is to mitigate the cost it runs us to put it on.

We do not charge the high school band or any school and invite them every year to participate. We even invite schools outside of the area, but unfortunately, it is costly for them to drive up and provide insurance, and therefore they do not come.

We also do not charge the color guard, the ROTC and the police and fire departments.

We are pleased that the Model A's wish to participate and bring their friends from Las Vegas. However, yes, we will be charging them to participate.

Is $10 too much for these people with the fancy cars to pay?

At any rate, they could have contacted us, at least discussed it with the committee, the chairman or someone. We have a monthly meeting, and it is an open meeting at the town annex. Next meeting is Aug. 8 at 5 p.m.

No one will be counting heads, as Mr. Schultz asked, as we do rely on honesty to not take advantage of the parade and its community spirit.

Remember, this festival is to actually make money for the town and the parks and fairgrounds area and is conducted by volunteers.

We do, however, need to know how large your entry is for the staging area. Therefore, when you tell us 50 feet and you actually show up with a larger group, we probably did not leave enough staging area for you, and this complicates all of your neighboring entries.

Again, if there are questions, please feel free to contact the parade chairman at 751-5300 (Barbara), for information.

We encourage all to participate for the fun, camaraderie and community pride. All are welcome and we think that this year's masquerade theme will be exceptional. Hope to see you all there.

PAULA GLIDDEN

Fall Festival parade