Union Peacemaker

Time for Tea

2010-11-15T16:26:00.001-06:00

I am a staunch Republican. I am a purist as far as conservative political thought goes. However, I am not so ignorant to believe that one can get things done by not compromising. Thus, I believe that the Tea Party is a threat to the Republican establishment.
When Clinton was president he tried to push health care reform to only be shut down by the Republicans who came into power. The weeks following lead to gridlock. It lead to a complete government shutdown. Many federal employees were laid off, public facilities were de-funded, national parks were shut down and so on. The Republicans at the time decided to be the party of "no." They decided to write off any spending bill that came across their desk. They had an opportunity to get things done and establish a new view of the Republican party. But instead they cut off cross talk. No compromise. This lead to Clinton coming out smelling like Roses. The Republicans looked like a party who couldn't get anything done. History repeats itself.
Now that Republicans are back in power in the House the same situation may happen again. However, the Republican veterans like Mitch Mconnel and John Boehner know how politics works. They know that in order to accomplish the best for the American people they need to compromise with the man who wield s the veto pen. The Tea Party threatens progress. They will force Congress into a gridlock if they do not learn how it works on capitol hill. I whole heartedly agree with everything that a Tea Party Republican believes. However, I am a realist and I do know that you may have to vote for a spending bill in order to accomplish the greater good.
This does not mean that one has to compromise their beliefs. Quite the opposite. For every spending bill demand that there must be equal cuts. Compromise does not mean giving in. It means doing the best for the people you represent. Boehner has a bill that currently calls for permanent ban on earmarks. President Obama agrees that earmarks must be significantly reduced and regulated but a ban would hurt some state projects. This is a perfect time for the Tea Party to get with Boehner and find a compromise to limit this waisted spending.
I wish I could live in a world where every conservative principle that I and the Tea Party stands for governs. But I am a realist not an idealist. I know that it is not possible; our country is too big with too many competing thoughts. I hope the best for the country and hope the Tea Party learns how politics work on Capitol Hill.

I can already hear the counter arguments: politics as usual is what is wrong with Congress in the first place. True and I would love to see a change, but the Tea Party is not strong enough to change it just yet. Maybe in a couple of election cycles, but not yet. If the Tea Party Republicans plan to say No like they said in the 2010 elections then that could pose a threat to establishment Republicans (who far outnumber and have more votes) by not getting anything done and gridlocking. Worst yet (and I think the Tea Party and every other Republican can agree) this will make Obama come out smelling like a Rose like Clinton did years before.

"Love Like the New Testament, Fight Like the Old."
Alfred L. C.

Pick Two, Any Two

2010-11-15T14:53:00.000-06:00

Anyone out there?

8 days and no posts...so I'm going to fix that by asking a question:

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only choose 2 food items to have with you, which items would you choose?

[I'll comment back tomorrow with my choices.]

<3 The Bootcut Femme - contributing writer

We could have had a new crime fighting hero

2010-11-07T11:30:00.000-06:00

A radioactive rabbit was found near the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state. I repeat, a radioactive rabbit. The rabbit "sipped some water left from the recent demolition of a Cold War-era building used in the production of nulcear weapons."

The sad part of the story? They disposed of the rabbit as atomic waste. WTF?! This little guy could have been the new Ninja Turtles! Think about it. A cute little bunny one second, reeling in the bad guys with it's cuteness. Then, BAM, it takes the bad guy down with a bearded sledgehamer. But no, officials had to be all safe and shit and dispose him.

Read the full story here.

You can get arrested via YouTube now?

2010-11-04T14:05:00.003-05:00

As I was sitting on the crapper reading the local news on my mobile device, I came across this story: 'YouTube videos lead to arrest of seven people'. I ~~nearly~~ shat ~~my pants~~ when I read that. So you can now get arrested because of a YouTube video? According to the report, the police "received information on Monday about two large fights that occurred on Oct. 27 and 28." This is where the situation gets to me. Did the police actively go out searching YouTube videos for proof of the fight? Were they informed of the video posted online? Or did they just happen upon it? The post says the officers "found" the video, so that leads me to believe they went out to search for the video.

The video was obviously taken by somebody who was not actively involved in the fight (I'm guessing. I tried to find it online but couldn't find it). Now if the video was posted by somebody who was involved then I'd say they are pretty dumb for posting the evidence online themselves and they should get caught. But let's assume it was posted by a 3rd party not actively involved in the fight. Is searching YouTube for evidence legit? Yes, it's public and yes it's solid evidence of the fight, but it just doesn't seem right to me. Next thing you know, people will be getting arrested for updating their Facebook or Twitter status.

Most people have their online profiles set to private so employers can't see their drunk pictures, or so random people can't steal their information, or to just not get stalked. But now, it seems, you have to make your profile private to not get arrested (even though you should probably not put your illegal activities online). Although, most people do put illegal stuff on their Facebook page all the time. Think about underage drinking. How many people do you know have pictures of them drinking online? And how many of those people were underage at the time the picture was taken. If the police were to search through Facebook pictures, they could hand out a very large amount of MIPs.

-Billy Ray Tripp

EDIT: I think these are the videos. And I found another news source saying 13 people in total were arrested, including people watching.

EDIT 2: I change my mind after watching the videos. Clear the streets of these people.

EDIT 3: And they took the videos down. I knew I should have saved them...

Same Old Cynic

2010-11-03T13:03:00.001-05:00

The past midterm elections marked a historic pickup for the GOP. Now there is a "mandate" according to John Boehner. His speech last night was great but I thought I had heard it somewhere before. Oh yea, every two years when the other wins. I hate to be cynical and I'm glad the country became "redder" but I just can't help but notice every politician who wins claims it was a mandate from the people. Maybe people just hated the other dude. After all, we are only given two choices ultimately for to cast your vote Independent is just as good as using it to check your oil.

The winners claim that they are not going to the politics of old but are going to work for the people. Boy I hope that starts soon because for a long time they have been "working for the people." No matter, I am still glad that there has been a change in power in this country. The Republicans picked up the House and Democrats kept the Senate. With Obama's hands behind his back, Republicans and Democrats will most definitely have to work together. Moreover, the majority of Democrats left are most likely blue dogs who would be easily persuaded to vote Red.

Thanks to all those who voted. Now it is time to hold those newly elected or reelected accountable for EVERYTHING they do no matter their party.
--Alfred Lenard C.
pog mo thoin!

Results from the Polls in Louisiana

2010-11-02T22:47:00.005-05:00

Well...while I think voting is actually pretty fun, I don't think getting the results are quite as amusing. This is especially true when NO ONE I vote for wins. I guess I'm "another bright blue dot in a really red state" and that Louisiana just isn't ready to take a few steps toward the left.
The results I am most disappointed about are:

Vitter (R) - US Senate: He was re-elected, and well, from what I know of his politics and his voting record, he's not a proponent for women's rights. There's some shady stuff going on with him and the law too, which I'm not super thrilled about. Also, he's a republican. Period. No offense to republicans, but I want democrats in office. Whether they raise taxes or not, their views are much more in line with mine. I don't want to pay higher taxes, but I would if it meant more people who think like me in office.
Dardenne (R) - Lt. Governor: He was also re-elected. I don't have a problem with Dardenne (other than his attack ad against Fayard), so I guess what I'm disappointed in again is the lost opportunity to put a woman in that office, especially since Fayard is a young woman who could bring a new perspective, who is for same-sex marriage, and who, like me, is very interested in cutting down on the Louisiana government's wasteful spending habits. Also, she ran a clean campaign. Not once did I see an ad put out by her campaign committee that attacked Dardenne, which was quite a relief given that the status quo for this election was to run attack ad upon attack ad.

And as I just mentioned the attack ads, let's get some info regarding that:
An Uptick in Negativity: Last Few Weeks Provide Confirmation – 2010 Campaign Most Negative in Recent History
(Thanks to another blogger that I read over at In This Moment for the citation so I could check out some hard facts.)

Disappointment is the word for now.

-The Bootcut Femme - contributing writer

Election Ratings

2010-11-02T22:41:00.000-05:00

This is not a good argument why I didn't vote, but I think it's a decent point. This is a Google map showing the US election ratings. The darker the blue, the more likely Democrats will be elected. Similarly, the darker the red the more likely Republicans will be elected. Yellow means it's a tossup, and I'm guessing white either doesn't matter or they don't have any data.

Look at Louisiana. It looks pretty red to me. So I highly doubt my vote, despite who I would have actually voted for, would have made a big difference for Louisiana. Now maybe if I lived in Washington, Nevada, or any of the other yellow states I would have felt pretty bad for not voting because I could have made a difference in the outcome. I'm sure a lot of you want to strangle me for thinking this, but that's my stance on the topic.

-BRT

Quantity Over Quality

2010-11-02T13:12:00.002-05:00

I’m sure nobody has ever noticed this before, but depending on what size/box/bag of Cheez-Its you buy they often taste different between each other. To me the bigger the package the worse the actual crackers are inside. Now sometimes there are exceptions and I get a good big box of Cheez-Its, but the little bags always taste better to me. Maybe it’s just me and I eat way too many Cheez-Its.

Test it out though, if you want to. The quality of the cracker degrades as the packaging gets larger. So the preference of packaging I prefer is (listed best to worst quality)

Bags (10)
Mini Box (7.5)
Regular Size Box (5.5)
Family Size Box (3.5)
3lb Box (1.5)

I even made a handy chart for you. Feel free to print it out and take it with you so you know which size Cheez-It package to get the next time you go shopping for a snack. The taste ranges from a 1.5 (bad) to a perfect 10 (very good).

Sunshine Chees-It Cheese Crackers Thirty Six 1.5 Ounce Snack Pack Bags

New Contributing Writer: The Far Left Lesbian

2010-11-02T12:30:00.001-05:00

I have a real blog in which I write real things about my real life, but this is a fun blog which I decided to join to contribute a differing view from the ones already represented by the other contributors. As the title of this post might suggest, I'm a gay female with views usually leaning left - far left.

I am pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, GObama, a feminist, and a plethora of other things that don't really have a concise label.

So...having introduced myself a tiny bit, I'm going to keep the rest of my first post in theme with today's other posts.

GO VOTE! (Just...not Vitter. Please.)

<3 The Bootcut Femme - contributing writer

Go and Vote With Honor

2010-11-02T12:08:00.001-05:00

Today is a historical time as is every midterm election when the sitting president's approval rating is under 50%. I will not endorse a candidate or party here; I will leave that up to our contributing writers. Go and vote. Our voter turnout is ridiculous. We live in the freest nation in the world and we don't even elect our own leaders. A very small part of the population turns out and votes. Where is your voice? If you don't vote then you better not dare bitch about the economic climate. In my daily life, I find the people who complain the most about welfare, healthcare and social issues are the same damn people who sit at home on Election Day.

Democrats are slated to lose many seats in both the Senate and Congress. I don't care what your party affiliation is; go out and vote. If we can really boost our voter turnout then we can see what kind of people America is really comprised of. (I have my own opinions but I'll hold). This way people may stop bickering and arguing about how they believe "The country thinks." So many times I hear politicians say "This is what Americans want!" Can you (the person who didn't vote) honestly answer that politician and say, "Why yes, that is what I want." Maybe, but more often than not that politician is representing people with polar opposite beliefs than you. What do you say now? "No that is not what I want"? Sorry too late, you already didn't vote. Epic fail on the Americans that are able and don't vote. When I say able I mean cognitively and physically (There are many many people that shouldn't vote).

With all that GO and VOTE DAMMIT!!! (preferably those with Rs behind there name...oops I endorsed a side. It'll never happen again)

---Alfred

Hunting Season is a here!

2010-11-02T11:53:00.002-05:00

It's time! Bow season started a month ago. Primitive and still hunt start soon too. Go out and hang with mom nature for a while and bag a buck, duck or turkey. Remember, you don't have to own a lease to go hunting. There are many a WMA (Wildlife Management Area) around the state. One of the most notable is Kisatchie National Forest in North Louisiana. If you are reading this from out of state, check your state's department of Wildlife and Fisheries for the nearest WMA. For you Louisiana readers:
http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/news/32988

Good Hunting! - Alfred

Happy Election Day

2010-11-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

It's Election Day today. It is every American's civic duty to go out and vote, especially in these tough times. We need to pick the best of the best to lead us. Being the apolitical side to this personality, however, means I will not be voting today. Mainly since I have no idea what the candidates stand for. I could research everything they support, but that would take too much time and effort. Instead, I will be "voting" for something else: Windows. See, the new mobile operating system from Microsoft is making it's retail debut in the US next Monday. I fully support Windows in what it stands for, so I will be purchasing a shiny new Windows Phone 7 device. The Samsung Focus to be exact. No, purchasing this does not make my country better. No, it will not stop bullying or any of the other controversial stuff seen on the news. But it does take something away from Apple. 1 less iPhone user in the world. And I cannot wait for that day to come.

It may be sad that I care more about taking Apple down than voting, but it's something I really do care about. I'll leave the political stuff to people who care about politics.

-BRT

Contributing writers...

2010-11-02T11:20:00.001-05:00

If you would like to be a contributing writer for the Union Peacemaker, you can email us at farcola@gmail.com a sample of your writing and your contact info. (No phone numbers or address just email). Writing sample should be at least 150 words. Pick any relevant subject, which is pretty much anything here.

Welcome...

2010-11-02T10:59:00.001-05:00

Union Peacemakers is dedicated to brining you information on a plethora of subjects. Our team is ONE strange dude with two personalities. One side of his brain builds computers while the other one blows them up. One personality is apolitical and the other a zealot. The left personality is named Billy Ray Tripp and the right personality is named Alfred Lenard Christensen. If you come here to be informed, I'm sorry, this split personality is dedicated to misinformation and entertainment. If you've come here to be enlightened perhaps we can accomplish that. Hate us, Love us just read this damn blog.