Posted by: Pat Patterson | November 12, 2008

Jody Hudson 1949-2008

Jody Hudson, the owner of this blog, passed away earlier this week.  He was 59.

Jody was beloved by his family, his friends, and his community.  His community far exceeded the borders of Sussex County. 

Jody was the reason for not only this blog, but for my involvement in it, and for my involvement and interest in some of the goings-on in Sussex County.  And for that, I owe him a debt of gratitude.

To carry on the legacy of Jody Hudson and the breadth of knowledge he has bestowed on this blog, I have decided not to close this blog down.  However, this will be the last post.

Posted by: Pat Patterson | November 4, 2008

Vote today !

The title says it all…

Posted by: Pat Patterson | October 16, 2008

The REAL issues this presidential election season

I listened to the majority of all three presidential candidate debates with the two major party candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, and the vice presidential candidate debate between the two major party candidates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. There was a lot of rhetoric put on the table, but there were some things missing…

The issues.

All four people seemed to overlook the issues that face us this day and age. I haven’t overlooked them, and want to bring you my takes on these issues and introduce a candidate who will probably not win the election, but who stands by my views – or at least who closely stands by my views…

Taxes – The IRS is a joke. Jesus said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21), but 28% of my income, plus more to my state and city ? I understand the taking of taxes for city and state services, but my federal taxes go for who knows what ? Here are some of the things that my taxes went to recently…

1. Hurricane Katrina relief – part of my tax dollars went to the debit cards that were handed out to the victims of the massive hurricane in 2005, which in turn many went into the black market and were “flipped” for drugs. Others went for 1080p TVs, and other such things. How should that have been handled ? Bring your estimates, and we’ll cover them. You’re not getting the money, but you will get a voucher, not a MasterCard. The states of Mississippi and Louisiana should have done more to aid and comfort their people than they did.

2. The relief of just about every country out there who has a natural disaster (many of those countries don’t think much of us to begin with).

3. The bail out of the banks. One question…but a just suppose first. Just suppose I had opened up a restaurant, and the restaurant failed. Should I count on the government to bail my restaurant out in order that I stay in business ? And even if I did, they would shoot me down. Perhaps some of these banks that frivilously gave away these loans should just be left to fail. Make it harder to get a loan, like it was hard for me to get my first car loan in 1995 (I had sterling credit, just having paid off all my debts, but still had to have a co-signer for a $9000 car).

The IRS should be dissolved.

Immigration – Our immigration laws are ridiculous. Say a Mexican girl, 8.99 months pregnant, sneaks across the border. The INS catches up with her, is delivering her back to Mexico, and en route she has her baby in the back of the INS truck. Guess what ? That baby is a U.S. citizen, with full benefits. She can now sponsor her mother to stay in the U.S. And guess who is paying the tab ? You and me. That, plus the pre 9/11 “import” of those who destroyed the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon, not to overlook those who hijacked the plane that crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania. We need to close our borders, yesterday.

Gun control – “Two shotguns and 20 rounds in every gun cabinet.” I know, I know…”But what about the people that have criminal backgrounds ?” I have a news break for you…an ex-con is not going to walk into Bob’s Gun Shop (with apologies to Bob’s Gun Shop, if it really exists) and buy a gun. The only people that go to gun shops and gun shows are your collectors and legitimate people. Unfortunately, those who have no business owning guns are going to get them from the black market. We are guaranteed the right to bear arms by the Second Amendment of the Constitution, and those right should not be infringed upon.. Both the major candidates want to limit your Second Amendment rights. Fear the government that fears you and your firearms.

The United Nations – What has the U.N. done for us lately ? When we defeated the Taliban and deposed Saddam Hussein, we were on our own. The UN wanted nothing to do with it. Hans Blix lied, saying there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Try again, Hans. So, we took care of business, and THEN the UN wanted a piece of the pie. The UN is an ultra-liberal organization that the U.S. needs to cede from.

Health Care – The FDA has banned the use of numerous helpful products and treatments. Many folks have to travel to other countries to get these treatments. There is no constitutional provision to limit healthcare to the people. Allow the research companies to do their research, be forthright in the pros and cons of treatments, and allow the people to make their own minds up. Why let the government decide for us what is good for us and what isn’t ? And shouldn’t doctors and hospitals be accountable to the patient, not to the government and the insurance companies ? Who knows better if a patient is well enough to go home, the patient’s doctor, or the patient’s HMO ? Socialized medicine is and should not be an option. Socialized medicine would compromise the quality of care. That, plus with the rising cost of malpractice insurance, there are many doctors moving, bowing out of practice, or going in to other fields. How much thinner would the pool be if people stopped going to med school all together because there’s little benefit afterwards ? Plus, I understand all the costs involved with the research and development of medications…but some of these costs for prescription drugs are astronomical. And, the government subsidizes some of these to boot !!!

The so-called New World Order – Bill Clinton screwed us royally when he signed the North America Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. This paved the way for numerous companies to move to Mexico, where wages and the costs of doing business are ridiculously low. But of course, rememebr you get what you pay for.

Education – This should be left to the states to deal with, not the federal government.

Jobs – The way to protect American jobs is by raising tariffs on imported goods. The amount of the tariff would be the difference between what the foreign-made item costs plus the difference in what the same item would cost to be made in America. So, if this widget costs $20 to make in America, but only $7 to make in Country X, the tariff would be $13 per widget. Protect jobs and raise revenue !

National Defense – We should have armed forces that are the baddest forces anywhere. Plus, we should only deploy them under a declaration of war. Supporting the troops should never be an option…it should just happen.

Sanctity of Life – Many abortion clinics are federally-subsidized and/or funded. Another waste of not just life, but of tax dollars. You can argue “rape or incest,” but I’m going to make a first-hand argument. I have a relative who was conceived by a rape. The mother, who has cerebral palsy, was raped. Her legal guardians, her parents, had her have the baby and raised her. Is it the baby’s fault ? No. There are alternatives. I can think of many people off the top of my head who would be willing to adopt a baby. For every “baby factory,” there are probably one or two couples who wish to have a child but can’t have one of their own. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a bill that would protect the sanctity of life and would single-handedly overturn Roe v. Wade.

Former Border Patrol Agents Compean and Ramos – These two border agents were arrested, tried, and convicted on trumped-up charges for DOING THEIR JOBS. A Mexican was importing marijuana into the U.S. They found it, and the smuggler ran. He was apprehended after being shot in the buttocks by the two. They stopped the import of over 700 pounds of marijuana and caught the perpetrator. So what happened ? The “powers that be” found a procedural error in what they did that day, arrested Ramos and Compean, tried them (giving the perpetrator FULL IMMUNITY to testify against the pair), convicted them…and sentenced them to 11 and 12 years in federal prison. President Bush should pardon them, at the latest upon his departure from office. They never should have been arrested in the first place, but honored for taking 700 pounds of marijuana off the streets of the U.S.

I’m really tired of hearing why not to vote for someone. Obama’s pastor, involvement with ACORN and association with a former urban terrorist. McCain’s old and out of touch. WHO CARES ? Let’s deal with the above.

That’s why I cast my vote for Chuck Baldwin. Chuck is a pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, and is host of a talk radio program. He is a member of the Constitution Party, which stands for the above issues, including protecting your Second Amendment rights that both Obama and McCain want to regulate and/or want to take away. And I realize that Chuck will likely not win the election, as he is only on the ballot in 37 states (including Ohio).

I want to take this opportunity to endorse Chuck Baldwin and his running mate, Darrell Castle, for president and vice president, and I hope this article tells you why.

Posted by: Pat Patterson | September 29, 2008

October Calendar of Events Posted

If you click here, you will be taken to the Delaware Beach Board, and more specifically to the October calendar of events for the Sussex County area.

Three big events coming up in October…

1. Sea Witch Festival

2. Punkin’ Chunkin’

3. Greyhounds Reach The Beach

Posted by: Pat Patterson | August 24, 2008

University of Delaware Blue Hens 2008 Football Schedule

The University of Delaware football team is coming off a season that saw them in the Football Championship Subdivision championship game, where they fell short to Appalachian State (the same Appalachian State that knocked off Michigan at the Big House). The Hens also had a first…a player taken in the NFL’s first round (QB Joe Flacco, by the Baltimore Ravens).

Here is their schedule for this year…

Aug. 30 at Maryland
Sept. 13 West Chester
Sept. 20 at Furman
Sept. 27 Albany
Oct. 4 at Massachusetts
Oct. 11 Maine
Oct. 18 William & Mary
Oct. 25 at Hofstra
Nov. 1 at James Madison
Nov. 8 Towson
Nov. 15 at Richmond
Nov. 22 Villanova

Posted by: Pat Patterson | August 24, 2008

Cape Henlopen Vikings 2008 Football Schedule

The Cape Henlopen Vikings are coming off a 5-5 campaign in 2007, after a slow start and a strong finish. Here is their 2008 slate…

9/5 INDIAN RIVER
9/12 DELMAR
9/19 at Milford
9/26 SUSSEX TECH
10/3 CAESAR RODNEY
10/10 ST. MARK’S
10/17 POLYTECH
10/24 at Sussex Central
10/31 at Dover
11/7 SMYRNA

Posted by: Pat Patterson | August 23, 2008

Obama taps Delawarean as running mate

At 3 am this morning, the message was sent to all those that get Barack Obama’s text messages on their cell phones…his running mate in the presidential election will be Joe Biden, the Democratic senator from Delaware. You know, the guy they named the Biden Center at Henlopen State Park for. Beau’s dad. Yeah, that guy.

But, uh, didn’t he say he didn’t want to do it ? That’s what he said on one of the Sunday news shows last week (I think it was Meet The Press), was it not ?

Besides, didn’t Biden have a little issue with plagarism a few years back ? I think he not only invented the internet, but also was the one that said, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

The Barack Obama/Joe Biden presidential ticket…just another reason to back the Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle ticket.

Posted by: Pat Patterson | July 23, 2008

No relief in site for fuel prices…or the economy

I posted some gas-saving tips in May on this blog. In looking at a Delaware gas price website, I can see that it looks as if we’re a few cents lower per gallon than you folks in Delaware are at this time.

Whereas $3.79 a gallon is not that hard to find here, it looks like you folks in Sussex County are saddled with some of the highest gas prices in the state of Delaware. If you frequently drive upstate, it looks like your best bet is to fuel in Smyrna at this time. In specifying Rehoboth Beach, it looks like the Safeway on Rt. 1 is the lowest reported at $3.93. The $3.90s seem to be the going rate in Sussex, with the Exxon station on Rt. 1 in Dewey is still over $4.00 a gallon.

Things are tough all over. With the price of everything going up and the size of our paychecks maintaining their previous levels (or, in some cases of salespeople, shrinking), there is easily more month than money in a lot of cases. I have even noticed the last couple weeks a dramatic slow down at the store I work at. Our sales last week were at a weak February level…in MID-JULY !!! Apparently, people aren’t travelling anymore, or in some cases already have. The stimulus checks are either spent or, in a lot of cases, banked.

And of course in an economy when it costs $75-100 on average to fill our gas tanks (even more, in some cases) and we’re only buying the necessities at the grocery (and other) stores, the housing market is doing anything but booming. I am noticing new developments being completed and new homes in some cases standing empty. I know Jody might be able to elaborate more on this, but that also is not looking good. Jody has shared with me that a number of his colleagues have left the real estate sales profession and have moved on to more theoretically productive work.

I talked to a restaurant worker the other day. He echoed many of the sentiments above as well. Since eating out is a luxury, that is often the first thing cut from a budget (even though I still try to frequent my favorite local restaurant at least once a week). So there are quite a few restaurants closing up as well.

The only thing I can think to say to you fairly-local-to-the-beach folks is this…pack up a picnic and go to the beach. Go surf fishing, boogie-boarding, or whatever be your pleasure. Enjoy the summer as you can…it won’t last forever (I hate to remind you that today is the 23rd of July). Do what you can do, but try to make some time for some low-cost fun this summer.

Posted by: Pat Patterson | June 3, 2008

June Calendar of Events Posted

If you click here, you will be redirected to the Delaware Beach Board’s calendar of events section, courtesy of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce and Southern Delaware Tourism.

Posted by: Pat Patterson | May 8, 2008

Gas goes up to $3.799 in northeast Ohio

Gasoline reached an all-time high yesterday, increasing at most stations to $3.799 per gallon. I observed said increase driving to work yesterday morning at the Speedway station at I-77 and Arlington Rd. in Green, Ohio. “Lucky” for me, I was able to catch some “cheap” $3.559 and beat the increase at the BP station at the next exit. A simple web search shows, at the Wawa station on Route 1 at Wolfe Neck Rd., was a “low” $3.619 per gallon, and apparently one of the lower prices in your area.

The thing that kills me is this…the prices increase by twenty-some-odd cents, and then roll back penny by penny. Also what kills me is how people blame the president for this. His hands are tied unless Congress acts, since the president (no matter who it is) cannot legislate or make law.

So as the average working guy (or gal) tolls away at work for their seemingly dwindling paychecks, prices for just about anything you can think of is on the rise. A simple trip to the grocery store will prove my point. A stinking loaf of bread is now well over a dollar ! Your formerly $1.50 jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce is now $1.86. My wife wanted a 97 cent bottle of mustard…problem is, the 97 cent bottle is now $1.50. The 66-cent pasta is now $1.06. I think I made my point. Everything is going up, except our paychecks. And it’s all due to the price of fuel.

What can you do to save fuel ? Here are a few tips…

1. Change your air filter every 10,000 miles. A constricted air filter can reduce the amount of air to go through it and (excuse the pun) suck those miles-per-gallon away.

2. Check your tires’ air pressure. Set them at manufacturer’s recommendations. You can normally find those recommendations inside the driver’s door. Also keep them rotated.

3. Get your injectors cleaned. A lot of auto service places now provide this service. Clogged injectors can rob you of fuel mileage. The bottles they sell at the parts stores are OK, but a professional cleaning also involves cleaning out the intake and vacuum lines.

4. Get your car aligned. Improperly aligned vehicles can also rob your fuel mileage.

5. Change your oil. Oil is not just about lubricating the moving metal parts of your engine, but it also contains additives that break down over time that, once broken down, can rob you of fuel mileage.

6. If you’re going to the store for just a few things and the store is a short distance, why not walk ? You’ll get a good workout and you won’t burn a penny’s worth of gas.

Doing all of the above at most places (except, obviously, #6) will run $150-$200, but if you drive as much as I do, you will easily recoup that within eight months to a year in fuel savings. For every time you fill the average gas tank, you’ll actually stretch out most of – if not a full – gallon of gas per fill-up. And with that price getting closer and closer to $4 per gallon, we could use all the help we can get.

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