UF/UF 169: Trump’s Last Hope?

Aug19 by fmlinardo

hicks

Help us Hope, you’re our only… well you get the idea.

Meet the new Communication Director in the Trump Administration. Hope Hicks is the next loyalist on the block.

Does she have what it takes to stick around? Will she get too much press and be bounced by dinner?

For those answers, a new segment called That’s Just Dumb, and a great Top 5 list, all you gotta do is click.

Oh by the way, Steve Bannon got fired just as we were taping. Apparently he no longer has hope.

Click.

UF/UF 169: Trump’s Last Hope?

Or come find us like this:

Go to iTunes and subscribe to Unfiltered Unfettered, and tell your friends if you have any.

You’re Welcome America!

Lions, puppies, and babies

Jul29 by whatshupp

So a hunter killed a lion in Africa, and people are going crazy. Just to be clear, I’m not a fan of it. It does seem sad. During the day, I’ve seen it pasted all over the news and social media. People are outraged. They want to hurt this man. They want to destroy his career and ruin his life.

cecil

At least there’s outrage over your death, Cecil

Rough start, but you’ll be well taken care of now, little dude. They’ll probably do a news update on you in a year or two. Good luck.

Locally, an abandoned puppy was found outside of a thrift shop. The puppy, about a month old, was in pretty bad shape. The local news reported that they wanted to find this evil, terrible person who would leave this puppy in a cardboard box and abandon it. A local shelter has taken the puppy in, named it Francis, and it seems to be doing better. Locally, people are pretty angry about it. I’m glad the puppy is doing well.

Back to Cecil, the lion. Let’s face it, people have never heard of this lion before this happened. He was on the front page of the CNN website. Even as I speak, it’s still the second header story on CNN. People are out of their minds over it, calling the hunter a “poor excuse for a human being” “A killer” and “Satan.” There are death threats, with celebrities throwing in their idiot two cents. Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy, (who once bit the head off of a live bat during a concert) said she “hoped that Palmer (the hunter) “loses his home, his practice and his money…”

Meanwhile, the barbarity of Planned Parenthood executives talking about fully-formed fetuses as if they are cuts of meat in a butcher shop doesn’t even get a notice. No story on CNN. No outrage on Facebook. No death threats. No wishes of loss of careers, or promises to “Put their head on a trophy wall.”

I watched the movie “300” in the theatre. I remember the scene where they showed the Spartans tossing the deformed babies over a cliff, because they only kept babies that had no deformities. I remember that people in the theatre gasped. I don’t know how we’re different. We don’t even give them that chance.

fetus_1396774878_540x540

Sorry little baby. There will be no outrage over your death, only a few will weep for you

I don’t care what your opinion of abortion is. I don’t care about trimesters. I don’t care about the legality of how they got the tape. (in other instances, people never care about how recordings are made, except now). I don’t care about your politics. I don’t care if you want to make some argument about ‘choice.’ I don’t care what news channel you watch. Here’s what I know. It’s barbaric.

I think a couple of hundred years from now people will look back at abortion the same way we look back at slavery, in that, they’ll say “how could they not know that was wrong? How could they not know the terrible impact that practice was having on their society and the valuation of human life? How could they not know how truly barbaric that was.

Anyways, it made me cry today. That people would be outraged over a lion they never heard of and not give a fuck that babies’ limbs and organs are being butchered and sold like used parts. It’s like a Stephen King novel you don’t want to be in.

What kind of a fucking world do we live in.

It is what it is

Mar8 by whatshupp

It seems obvious to me. Apparently, though, not to our current administration. I don’t fully understand why the current administration refuses to identify Islamic terrorists as such. Ok, maybe I do but just think it’s dumb. Worse, I see a growing percentage of our liberal population wanting to pick up that banner. After a recent Isis beheading, a social media response I read said “THIS IS NOT ISLAM” from someone who I really question how much they know about Islam. I’ve recently seen a series of things on social media from liberals separating these acts from Islam. Honestly, I don’t know that they’re liberals but it seems you’d have to be one to think that. Ok, so outside of someone’s desperate attempt to support the Obama administration, why go for this narrative? I tend to concur with Adam Carolla’s view “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but it seems all terrorists are Muslims.” Sure, you can throw Oklahoma City and the Atlanta Olympics at me, but what else? It seems the exceptions prove the rule. Anyway, this is not an attempt to start an argument, but rather, what I found out after a half-hour of Googling the subject. I’ve not seen any logical arguments for why it’s not, but here’s some references for why it is. If you don’t click on any other reference, scroll down and read the one from the Atlantic.

We all know what the Taliban has done. Shooting women in the back of the head in soccer stadiums for infidelity, destroying all other forms of religion,

From the BBC on the Taliban

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718

It is commonly believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries – mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia – which preached a hard line form of Sunni Islam.

The Taliban’s promise – in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan – was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power.

In both countries they introduced or supported Islamic punishments – such as public executions of convicted murderers and adulterers and amputations of those found guilty of theft.

Men were required to grow beards and women had to wear the all-covering burka.

The Taliban banned television, music and cinema and disapproved of girls aged 10 and over from going to school.

It is commonly believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries – mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia – which preached a hard line form of Sunni Islam

Al Qaeda

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/alqaeda.html

In approximately 1989, bin Laden and co-defendant Muhammad Atef founded “Al Qaeda,” ” an international terrorist group … which was dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence.”

“One of the principal goals of Al Qaeda was to drive the United States armed forces out of Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere on the Saudi Arabian peninsula) and Somalia by violence.”

After the attack on Charlie Hebdo, some information on the response of British Muslims. Why? Because it starts to get at the core of the issue.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11434695/Over-a-quarter-of-British-Muslims-have-sympathy-for-the-Charlie-Hebdo-terrorists.-That-is-far-too-many.html

This morning the BBC published detail of a major poll of the attitudes of Britain’s Muslims. The headline on the front of the BBC website linking to the research states: “Muslims ‘oppose cartoon reprisals’”. This of course relates to attitudes within the Muslim community towards the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks.

It’s a reassuring headline. It’s also wrong. Many Muslims – a majority – do indeed utterly oppose the murderous killings in Paris. But a very, very large number of Muslims don’t. Presented with the statement “I have some sympathy for the motives behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris”, 27 seven percent agreed with the statement. A further 2 per cent refused to answer the question. And an additional eight percent said they were unsure whether they had some sympathy or not.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/many-british-muslims-put-islam-first/

Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law.

Sixty-eight percent support the arrest and prosecution of those British people who “Insult Islam.” When asked if freed speech should be protected, even if it offends religious groups, 62 percent of British Muslims say No, it should not.

Just for more perspective, here’s the story of an Islamic cleric arrested in Norway for comments in support of terrorists.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/norway-arrests-radical-islamic-preacher-who-praised-charlie-hebdo-killers/

A radical Islamic preacher has been arrested in Norway after praising last month’s deadly attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly in Paris, police said Friday.

The Iraqi Kurd preacher known as Mullah Krekar said in a television interview broadcast on Wednesday that “those who draw caricatures of Mohammed must die”.

Krekar, who was only freed from prison late last month, was arrested Thursday night on accusations of inciting crime, police said.

“I am obviously happy with what happened in Paris,” the 58-year-old said in the interview with Norwegian channel NRK.

A little on Boko Haram

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501

Nigeria’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram – which has caused havoc in Africa’s most populous country through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions – is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.

Its followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: “Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors.”

Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it “haram”, or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.

This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.

Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president – and it has extended its military campaign by targeting neighbouring states.

A story on ISIS from the Atlantic. Again, if you don’t click on any other reference, check this one out.

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

What is the Islamic State?

Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.

The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.

But pretending that it isn’t actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combatted, has already led the United States to underestimate it and back foolish schemes to counter it. We’ll need to get acquainted with the Islamic State’s intellectual genealogy if we are to react in a way that will not strengthen it, but instead help it self-immolate in its own excessive zeal.

Finally, In a speech recently in his own county, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said this:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/06/africa/egypt-president-speech/

“I say and repeat, again, that we are in need of a religious revolution. You imams are responsible before Allah. The entire world is waiting on you. The entire world is waiting for your word … because the Islamic world is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost. And it is being lost by our own hands,” el-Sisi said.

“We need a revolution of the self, a revolution of consciousness and ethics to rebuild the Egyptian person — a person that our country will need in the near future,” the President said.

“It’s inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred should cause the entire Islamic world to be a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world.”

Apparently the President of Egypt thinks Islam has something to do with it

My boss has a sign on her door. It says “Don’t come in here with a problem unless you’ve got a solution.” Well, I don’t have a solution. But my idea is to at least start by recognizing something for what it is.

Ok, so, there you go. Make your own conclusions. But, before you go screaming “this isn’t Islam,” spend a 1/2 hour Googling some shit, eh? Me, I think Islam has something to do with it.

Sometimes reality makes no sense.

Oct18 by fmlinardo

It’s a rare day when parenting and election politics intersect so clearly. My friends we are in rare days. The governor’s race in Texas just waded uterus deep into the discussion over when life begins, when it’s ok to end it, and baby clothes.

Yeah that’s right, baby clothes. I could try and describe it to you but a picture in this case is worth well over a thousand words.

Ladies and gentlemen, the face of absolute evil.

Ladies and gentlemen, the face of absolute evil.

If you’re still a little unsure of what you’re looking at and why it’s important and at the same time evil and moronic, let me help.

^^^^ Smuggy McSmuggerpants there is Texas State Senator Wendy Davis. She is the Democratic nominee for Governor of Texas. Governor Rick Perry is term limited so the seat is open. Thank god she does have a challenger, Republican Greg Abbott, a wheel chair bound paraplegic. He has a sizable lead on Ms Davis.

Wendy became infamous for staging an 11 hour filibuster in the Texas Senate in an attempt to block Texas Senate Bill 5. The bill would, among other things, limit the murdering of unborn babies to less than 20 weeks, and force doctors who perform abortions to actually be doctors and have admitting rights at the closest hospital. That last part was an attempt to stop situations like what happened to innocent babies at the hands of the Philadelphia murderer Kermit Gosnell, who was found guilty of murdering over 20 babies 24 weeks or older by cutting their spinal cords in the neck in his Philadelphia abortion mill. Let that sink in, 24 weeks or older. My daughter was born at 25 weeks, 1lb 12oz, and survived.

Gosnell was killing live babies by any standard. Here’s the link but I caution you, it’s graphic and nightmarish. House of Horrors So ghoulish was the trial, the assistant prosecutor cried openly when the jury found Gosnell guilty on all counts. Texas Bill 5 sought to prevent horror shows like Gosnell from happening in Texas. Wendy Davis took to the Senate floor in her now famous pink Nikes to block that bill, adamant that the women of Texas have the freedom to abort babies after 20 weeks in the womb. The main thrust of her argument, those fetuses can’t feel pain.

Right so because they might not feel pain, which is a load of crap anyway, the babies should be candidates for murder like any other person unable to feel pain. Uh….. Say Wendy…. your opponent in this here governor’s race, isn’t he unable to feel pain from the neck down? Is that how you are going to erase that 14pt lead he has on you? But lets leave that irony for another day. There’s a bigger irony filling the windshield at the moment.

I mean for starters, what would any of her constituents do with a onesie? Those are for babies that actually are, ya know, allowed to live. How could she expect to raise a generation of Wendy Davis Democrats when she wants the freedom to murder the next generation? Who approved that sale item on her page? Is some intern not paying attention? Has she been hacked? I asked Frank what he thought must have happened:

I got nothing bro.

I got nothing bro.

Thanks a ton Frank.

Yeah that’s it, her web site was hacked. Has to be. How else could she explain selling a onesie after she became famous for advocating the murder of unborn babies in the third trimester? Yeah folks, Wendy is ok with killing babies after 24 weeks. She would call it late term abortion. And she wants to sell you this onesie to commemorate the event

Anyone with a .1% brain function knows a baby who makes it to 24 weeks is alive. There is no argument there. Know why? There are neonatale intensive care units across the counrty full of living babies born at 24 weeks or later. In fact those NICUs proabably have several babies born weeks earlier than that; babies who will survive and live normal lives.

How do I know that? I spent 5 months in the NICU at the University of Tennessee and saw it for myself. Oh and one other reason, well maybe two:

"Hey Wendy, I got your late term abortion right here!" BOOM!

“Hey Wendy, I got your late term abortion right here!” BOOM!

Thank you Lord that Wendy Davis is not my state senator!

Thank you Lord that Wendy Davis is not my state senator!

Anne Marie Linardo 25 weeks, 1 pound 12 ounces. L to R: Flipping off Wendy Davis from her hospital room at what should have been 35 weeks in the womb and starting pre-school, or as she calls it spree school, this year at the ripe old age of two.

Wendy Davis onsies…Sometimes humanity just makes me cry.

Sometimes.

Soccer Moms really don’t heart firemen

Jul20 by whatshupp

Everybody loves firemen. That’s what they say, anyway. I see the bumper stickers all the time. I’m not really sure I believe it, though. Or, at least I think there’s a certain time when some people don’t love firemen. It’s when the firemen are in their truck with the sirens on going to a fire. Lots of people don’t like to pull over anymore.

I’m driving down one of our main roads here in Knoxville the other day, yes, actually our main, main road, which any Knoxvillian would tell you is Kingston Pike, and coming from the opposite direction I hear the siren and see the fire truck. So, I do what I always have done, start to pull over. I always have this idea that fire trucks with their sirens on could be going someplace they need to get to fast, like a fire.

Now, the fire truck is fairly close at this point, it’s not a couple blocks away, it’s bearing down in front of us. Behind me, I notice a vehicle actually trying to get around me. I know people don’t pull over for fire trucks anymore. But, the vehicle behind me is actually angling to get around. Then I notice that it’s my vehicular nemesis, a soccer mom with a cell phone in a mini-van.

Hey, I know getting little Trevor to soccer practice is important, or if little Nichole is late to her dance lesson there will be hell to pay. I understand you’re doing the most important thing in the world, suburban soccer-mom shit, and you will not be denied. But it could be someone’s house burning down.

I’ll tell you, I’d rather be in a jail cell with Hannibal Lecter than see a soccer mom with a cell phone in a mini-van. I’ve nearly been run over, run into, pulled over on, I’ve waited through lights just to find out I’m behind a soccer mom not paying attention talking on the phone. Always with that damn cell phone pasted to their face. And they are mean.

This particular one must have been the Dick Cheney of soccer moms. People are slowing down or stopping in the left lane, I’m blocking her path to acceleration in the right lane. When she realized she couldn’t get around me because of cars in the other lane, she turned her hateful gaze my way. We locked eyes in the mirror, at which point I put up my hands and mouthed “Hey, it’s a FIRE TRUCK.” I wish I would have just avoided the confrontation. She, looking back at me, holding that cell phone tightly to her face, never broke a word in her conversation, never missed a beat, but I saw her eyes squint manically behind her gold-rimmed amber-lensed suburban mom frames, and sneer at me in such a way that gave me a chill of fear down my spine. If I’d have seen that door open, I’d have bolted like a frightened antelope in the Serengeti, because I know I’d be no match for her in a bitchy slap-fight.

So, how many oatmeal-raisin recipes can you swap before you run out of things to say? How much can you talk about little Caleb’s problems in first grade (that are the teachers fault) before there’s nothing left to say? How big of a hurry do you have to be in to not pull over the suburban “Millennium Falcon” when you hear a siren?

Well, we just don’t pull over for fire trucks anymore. Soccer moms may be the worst offenders, but they’re certainly not the only ones. It seems no one wants to stop. Sure, I know we are all busy with our first world problems. I guess it’s only an emergency if it’s you.

You don’t really heart firemen after all, do you?

Damn you Hobby Lobby, see what you could’ve done

Make a run to the border, Mr. President, you can get fourth meal after shooting pool

Jul11 by whatshupp

The border, that is.

Presidents visit disaster sites. It’s one of the things they do. Do they accomplish anything, physically? Of course not, that’s not why they’re there. They’re there for several reasons that all serve one purpose. Is it symbolic? Of course. Does it matter? Of course it does.

Clinton visited Arkadelphia, Ark., after a tornado
Clinton visited Del City, Ok., after the horrific tornado in Moore Ok.
Bush visited New Orleans and Biloxi after hurricane Katrina.
Bush went t0 Americus, Georgia, after a tornado ripped through that town.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush visited Galveston, Texas after hurricane Ike.
President Obama visited fire-damaged homes in Mountain Shadow of Colorado Springs, Col. after wildfires there.
President Obama visited New Jersey after hurricane Sandy.
Of course, who can forget when George W. Bush visited Ground Zero after 9/11. Regardless about what you think of the rest of his presidency, those words spoken that day lifted us and gave us hope.

The list would go on and on. I know this is different, but it’s a crisis, and people are suffering.

I remember the picture of George W. Bush in the plane after hurricane Katrina, looking out the window, and how much grief he took for that picture. People said it showed him being disconnected and aloof. That mattered to people, and he even visited the place later.

They visit these places because they are the leaders of our country. It shows interest, engagement, involvement. It shows people that they are there, ready to lead and help the country work through the problems. To some, it provides solace, to others it shows the commitment of the government that the leader is there, interested and ready to play a part in the solution. No one thinks he’s going to start digging ditches or picking up boards.

Some of those in your own party have practically begged you to go.

Your speech about it basically amounted to “Tell Congress to approve the money and this goes away.” Really? You simply want 3.8 billion dollars, and you won’t take a few hours to even visit? Well, I have no trust that you even have a clue how to go about it. Your administration has shown no administrative skill in problem solving to this point.

A huge humanitarian crisis, and he won’t go. In his comments about it, he says “it’s not about a photo op.” Well, Mr. President, yes it is, that’s a big part of it. And this is coming from a President who’s never, ever, shied away from a photo op. He appears on TV more than “Law and Order.” All this on top of the fact that You’re In the State Fundraising!! Yes, you’re right there, dude. A couple hours away. You know, playing pool, having fun. Take a couple of hours and show the rest of the country you give a damn. People are suffering.

His failure to go there is duplicitous. I don’t know how or why, but I know it when I see it.

It’s called leadership. Show some.

people crossing the river

Mr. President, this isn’t the community pool. It’s people in the middle of a humanitarian crisis. Maybe you could be interested.

On the other hand, why would you start now.