Founders Values Monthly Meeting will cover Delaware's Cap and Trade system

Founders Values is a local educational group that meets every month at the Newark Senior Center to discuss the history of our nation, current events and the original principles on which our nation was founded.  Their monthly meeting is usually held the 4th Wednesday of each month and this month that falls on the 26th.  Folks, if you live in PA, MD, NJ and you can get to Newark, you should hear the presentation that will be given on the 26th by John Nichols and Dr. David Legates, a respected climatologist from the University of Delaware.  The event is free and open to the public.

Whether you AGREE with climate change or DISAGREE with it, this is a meeting whose main topic matters to the entire region.  Are you aware that there is an 11 state Cap and Trade system in our region (PA is NOT currently a part of this but is considering joining)?  Do you know the difference between deregulation and decoupling?  Do you understand Renewable Energy Credits?  If your answer to any of these is no or if you know that you need more information on these topics.  Please carve out the time to head to Newark, Delaware for the Founders Values meeting at the Newark Senior Center on Wednesday January 26th at 6:30PM.  I promise, it will be worth your time. 

2010 Year in review

I'm going to throw out my opinions of the top stories this year in different categories.  Let me know what you think. 

Top Political Story
Christine O'Donnell defeats Mike Castle - This is my top political story of 2010 not because I was a part of it but because there is no other political story in the entire region that comes close.  Christie in New Jersey was in 2009 and the PA Republican conversion didn't catch enough steam.  Christine was THE story for the better part of a month after her defeat of Mike Castle and CNN even hosted a DE Senate debate live and broadcast it nationally (well, most of it anyway).  It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer!  Christine's upset of Castle made the political leadership in DE shit bricks.  She beat a 41 yr career politician who had never lost an election before and who was a 17 yr incumbent Congressman.  She beat him despite him having the backing of the Republican elites and despite a HUGE financial disparity.  She also beat him despite the fact that he refused to debate her and instead spent the entire primary smearing her and trying to destroy her character but staying totally away from any issue.

Runner Ups

GOP wave retakes House and almost nets Senate - Huge national story on November 3rd but not entirely unexpected except by the status quo political establishment.  Plus it missed Delaware BADLY. 

PA goes Republican - Pennsylvania handed many elected offices to Republicans including U.S. Senator (formerly held by Democrat/Republican Arlen Specter) Pat Toomey, Governor Tom Corbitt and 12 of the state's 19 House seats.


Top Sports Story
Michael Vick's resurgence - Vick gave ME a reason to watch the Eagles this year.  I was going to spend the football season with Sundays free but Vick ruined that for my family.  When the Eagles announced that Kevin Kolb would be the starter and Vick the backup before the season I knew it wasn't worth carving out that time to watch the Birds go 6-10 at best.  But when Vick filled in for Kolb after an injury and was playing out of his mind, it made me change my mind about watching the games.  Vick's comeback from 18 months in Ft. Leavenworth prison for dog fighting has been nothing short of amazing.  Morally, Vick has shown real remorse and a change in his behavior that in itself warrants applause.  In football sense, Vick has come back from 2 years off an blossomed into arguably the leagues best QB.  He is a Pro-Bowl starter, has the 2nd highest QB rating in the NFC and leads NFL QB's in rushing in addition to leading the Eagles to a 10-5 record and making them one of the most feared offenses in the NFL.

Runner Ups

Phils sign Cliff Lee (again) - The creation of perhaps the most feared regular season pitching rotation in the history of baseball comes in a VERY close second to Vick.  The formation of R2C2 (Halladay, Oswald, Lee, Hamels) is almost incomprehensible.  I almost feel sorry for the Mets, Nats and Marlins (not the Braves, they had a similar rotation in the 90's so here is some payback) but then again, I'm excited because the Phillies are (barring injuries) virtually assured of another consecutive NL East title.  100 wins?  4 20 game winners?  What kind of records can these 4 set this year?  Time will tell.

Washington gets Philly leftovers - First they got McNabb in a trade many thought could send the Skins to the Super Bowl and the Birds to the basement and that became a bust and then some when McNabb was benched in week 14 in favor of Rex Grossman of all people.  Then the Nats scored Free Agent Jayson Werth from the Phils (which will net the Phils a high compensatory pick, thanks Washington!) and freed the Phils up in the salary market to sign Cliff Lee while replacing Werth's right handed bat with Ben Francisco.

Person of the Year
The American People - Since TIME won't recognize you for your efforts, I will.  You stood up and made your voices heard.  Yes, even the liberals and progressives among us, stood up in record numbers (in Delaware especially) to vote.  Most of us, voted our principles and more now than ever before, you voted with real knowledge of the candidates.  Locally there are more asleep than awake but the numbers are switching.  This is a state where Castle, Carper and Biden have gotten themselves elected year after year so it's really a surprise that common sense candidates like O'Donnell and Urquhart won their primaries.  Yes, the people of America resoundingly awoke in 2010 and all appearances are that it will continue.

Runner Ups
Glenn Beck - Beck organized the Restoring Honor 8/28 event that drew between 500,000 and 700,000 people from across the world to Washington, D.C.  He has inspired millions of Americans to stand up for what they believe in and has been an educational resource for even more.  With that said, Mr. Beck would agree that without YOU the people, he the entertainer, radio/TV host, educator and author is nothing.

Sarah Palin - Sarah Palin has written books, appeared on Fox News, spoken at events around the country, had her own reality show and picked winners and losers in political races around the country.  She's been a force for the limited government conservative movement.  She too would point out you all as the real people of the year.

Christine O'Donnell - Christine inspired many regular Delawareans (and Americans across the country) who otherwise would have stayed uninvolved and gave voice to the conservative base of Delaware's Republican Party.  She brought out a record number of Republican voters to vote for (and against) her in September and made a national name for herself by pointing out that the phrase "Separation of Church and State" does not appear in the Constitution.  In the end, it took YOU to make Christine a household name.

Angela Merkel - Angela set the European world on fire but her words were hardly covered in the American press.  She announced to the EU that indeed, multiculturalism is dead in Germany.  She took a stand against ceding anymore of Germany's national identity to radical Islam and the terrorists who seek to alter and abolish all that makes Germany...well Germany.  She also had the gall to point out that the Obama administration is spending FAR too much money and is devaluing out own currency.  Now if only Obama could sit down with her for a while.

Chris Christie - Gov. Christie was elected in 2009 and that is why he didn't get closer to the top.  In 2010 he challenged the powerful unions in New Jersey and won.  He went after the public employee unions and is especially feared/hated by the servants of Satan themselves (the NJ teachers union).  This alone makes me want to put him higher on the list and maybe he should be but the others are pretty damn good too.

Top Video Game Released
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - I own it, which gives it higher marks and let's be honest, Blizzard has cornered the market on MMO's.  People can whine and bitch about Star Wars and other such games but since the days of Diablo and Warcraft, Blizzard has been making top flight games.  Cataclysm adds a new design to Azeroth and I don't even mind the fact that I basically had to throw away all of the old "Epic" gear that I had for Greens and Blues.

Runner Ups
Call of Duty: Black Ops - I don't have it but DAMN i want it.  I'm not big into the whole zombie Nazi angle but I really want it more for the multi player.  Everyone that I know who has played it is loving it.

Medal of Honor: Limited Edition - Also known as the other FPS (1st person shooter) next to Call of Duty.  MoH was released first and it gave FPS fiends a few months of multi player madness.  The story mode was a cakewalk but the multi player mode takes some skill.Awesome game.

Madden 10 - Madden is ALWAYS on the list.  It's cornered the NFL market and come on, every year it gets more like you're moving ACTUAL people on the screen instead of bits and bytes.  Another solid offering from the industry masters.

Need for Speed - Need for Speed's latest edition was really a remake of the original with a twist.  Instead of just driving exotic cars like Lamborghini's and Macleran's (as if that where bottom barrel) now you can drive them as the police.  Yes, that's right, now you aren't just being chased by the cops, you can BE the cops.

December 7th is unique in Delaware

People all over the country know December 7th as "A day that will live in infamy" but for Delaware, today is a day that is both bitter and sweet. 154 years before Japan launched a surprise attack against the Hawaiian Naval base at Pearl Harbor which brought America fully into WWII, Delaware became the first state to ratify a revolutionary new concept of Federalism and create the first true representative republic in more than a thousand years. Delaware got it's nickname on this day and "The First State" was born on December 7th, 1787.

Delaware was quite prominent in colonial times despite it's small size and the youth of the colony. Delaware had been part of Pennsylvania up until only a few years before Americans declared their independence from Britain.  Delaware had been known as "The Lower Counties" since 1682 when the Duke of York passed his ownership to William Penn in an effort to ensure that Maryland did not gain the territory. By 1704 the colony of Pennsylvania had grown so large that "The Lower Counties" were impeding political decisions.  At that time the "Lower Counties" and Pennsylvania decided to meet separately and while Penn retained control of the Governor of the territory (which was also the Pennsylvania Governor, FYI: John Dickinson was a native of Kent County Delaware) the legislature was free to make its own decisions.  A dispute over colonial boundaries and the desire of the "Lower Counties" to govern themselves was settled by the people of Delaware on June 15th, 1776 when the General Assembly was convinced by Thomas McKean and Caesar Rodney to vote for independence from Britain and Pennsylvania at the same time!  The rest of the colonies would follow Delaware's lead 2 weeks later when they voted in Philadelphia on July 2nd to adopt the "Declaration of Independence".

Delaware would later contribute one of the premier regiments in the Continental Army.  They were called the "Delaware Blues" and nicknamed the "Blue Hen Chickens" because their tenacity matched that of the gamecocks that the soldiers used in off duty cock fights.  The regiment survived nearly the entire Revolution and fought in almost every battle.  Also, the Battle of Cooch's Bridge (the only Revolutionary War battle fought in Delaware) is believed to be the first time that the Stars and Stripes was flown in battle.

After the Revolutionary War, John Dickinson served as Delaware's first President and signed the Articles of Confederation as a representative from Delaware.  Later, Dickinson was pressed into service by Delaware once again to join  Gunning Bedford, Jr., Richard Bassett, George Read, and Jacob Broom in Annapolis at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.  Dickinson fought to ensure that every state, regardless of size, had a equal vote in the new government.  The Great Compromise (also known as the Connecticuit Compromise) assured Dickinson's desire and the ratification of the Constitution by the Delaware legislature.  Dickinson then supported a strong central government and he even wrote a series of 9 essays under the pen name Fabius supporting the new government.

Thus Delaware was born.  154 years later, the Japanese would strike a deep blow at Pearl Harbor and Dec. 7th would become Pearl Harbor Day in remembrance of the thousands of sailors, airmen and Marines who lost their lives on that day.  Still, in Delaware the date is remembered as "Delaware Day" or "Ratification Day" which makes Delaware able to celebrate the formation of of the United States of America on the same day that they commemorate the deaths of those who defended the nation.