Edward Funderburk. 101st Airborne Veteran. Severe tree damage to his home in Asheville three weeks ago during #HurricaneHelene. Today, @USArmy National Guard personnel and #SavageFreedomsReliefOperations volunteers showed up with tools in hand and love in their hearts. This is what America First looks like.
Amigos, your help has been amazing. We only have 15 dogs left that still need placement! Please PLEASE contact [email protected] if you can help or know of anyone who can place these last 15 dogs 🙏🏽🙏🏽
Please help if you can or know of anyone that may be able to help. If anyone would like to donate and help this major undertaking happen, please go to the group efforts Go Fund Me page
https://t.co/GjEqFbDO8w
SOUND OF FREEDOM - the true story.
Mexican filmmaker Eduardo Verastegui and his childhood friend Alejandro Monteverde, the writer and director of the film "Sound of Freedom," have dedicated the past eight years of their lives to combating child trafficking and sex slavery. After learning about the alarming prevalence of this issue in the United States, and that Americans were the leading consumer of trafficked children, with Mexico having the highest number of victims, Verastegui and Monteverde felt compelled to take action. They believed that film had the power to raise awareness and bring an end to the exploitation of innocent children who were being abducted and sold for sexual exploitation.
The duo drew inspiration from the remarkable true story of Tim Ballard, a hero who risked everything to rescue children and fight against child trafficking cartels and the pedophiles they support. Monteverde, in particular, had a personal connection to this mission, as his own family had fallen victim to these criminals. His father and brother were kidnapped and tragically murdered, further fueling their determination to create a movie that could make a lasting impact on families affected by such heinous crimes.
Their journey was far from easy. Along the way, Verastegui and Monteverde encountered numerous obstacles and faced moments when it seemed like their movie would never see the light of day. Industry insiders dismissed their project, major studios refused to fund it, and they couldn't convince a distributor to release their movie, despite the quality of the film and its ultra-high scores with test audiences. Moreover, pro-pedofile and childbtrafficking deniers spread false information about the film, attempting to discredit the movie and its mission to rescue children from slavery.
Despite these setbacks, the filmmakers remained resilient. When faced with the lack of distribution and funds to market the movie, they turned to prayer for guidance. Their prayers were answered when Angel Studios, an organization that distributes independent films, offered to distribute "Sound of Freedom." With a modest budget of $15 million, Verastegui and Monteverde made the bold decision to release the film in theaters on July 4th, the same day that one of the children in the story was rescued.
Everyone called them "crazy" for releasing their small film during the most competitive summer season, when the blockbusters dominate the theaters and absorb all the movie-goers with their bloated marketing budgets.
Against all odds, "Sound of Freedom" emerged as the number one movie in America on July 4th.
Surpassing "Indiana Jones," which had a significantly larger number of theaters, the independent film generated a remarkable $14 million in just one day, many 30% more than Disneys $300M summer blockbuster. Within the next seven days, it generated over $50 million, surpassing all industry projections. To date, the film has generated nearly $100 million at the box office and has been seen by close to 10 million people, all of whom have become advocates in the fight against traffickers and pedophiles.
The impact of the film goes beyond box office success. Reports from exhibitors indicate that audiences have been giving spontaneous standing ovations at the end of screenings, a response rarely seen before. "Sound of Freedom" has earned a perfect 100% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the top-rated movie of the year. It is the first box office hit to achieve this perfect rating, with an A+ CinemaScore and an 8.7 IMDb score, ranking it among the top 250 films of all time on the platform.
For Verastegui and Monteverde, the primary focus is not on reviews or box office numbers but on the impact the film has on people and the movement it creates. The film has already inspired viewers to help rescue over 6,000 children prior to its release, and filmmakers hope that its broad success and reach will lead to the liberation of millions more
After two flight cancellations, I finally made it to my departure gate 26 hours later. Gate staff just announced the flight has been delayed for at least two more hours. I’ve got some time on my hands and I’m annoyed, so here goes.
The U.S. air travel system is at its worst point in memory. What happened?
The pandemic response cut demand, this resulted in layoffs and early retirement of air traffic controllers, pilots, ground staff, etc.
Vaccine mandates further depleted an already tight labor force. Some were fired, others injured.
When travel demand returned, it did so with a vengeance. Demand is higher than pre-pandemic.
Voila, labor shortage. There’s a shortfall of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. Training stopped during Covid so getting new people will take time.
It takes three years to train an ATC. Mandatory retirement age is at 56, and the FAA won’t hire anyone over 31 because they want new hires to have at least 25 years of career ahead of them.
So we’re stuck with the task of trying to recruiting and train thousands of zoomers to take on an extremely high-stress high-competency job for modest wages and social cachet.
In the meantime, the staffing shortages are leading to increased workload and therefore burnout of existing air traffic controllers. We’re losing competent people quicker than we’re adding new ones, intensifying the downward spiral.
IT is another issue. The computer systems are old, which is good because they hail from an era when tech was simple and worked, but are archaic and foreign to contemporary tech workers. So this will be updated, and the new software will almost certainly be extremely glitchy, which will delay implementation. The time to get the software to actually work will take about 10-15 years at current government software development pace.
The Department of Transportation led by Pete Buttigieg prioritizes ideological initiatives like “expanding transportation equity” and “addressing climate” over maintaining the fundamental transportation infrastructure that we all depend on. We really are living out Atlas Shrugged.
I love her ! Amazing and now every mother, father and those who love their children follow her lead … we are a force to be reckoned with … we are awake 👇 watch below
Spontaneous Church in Wilmington, NC on the pier!
Mannn! There is NOTHING like that Ole' timey sangin!!!
Help me show John, Peter, and Howard some love. They are legendary acapella singers.
Fishing 🎣 and singing!!
Move in a room with the Lord! 🎶 🎙️
Tweet this far and wide!!!