Kitsuma, I am glad that you, your family, and property weathered the hurricane with minimal impact. Prior preparation almost always leads to manageable outcomes. Congrats to you for being properly prepared.
Members of my extended family in E TN were also well prepared and avoided catastrophic damage. They, like you, emerged from the storm to render aid and comfort to their neighbors and community. As owners of restaurants in Bristol and Johnson City they donated food for those that lost everything, the 1st responders, local volunteers, FEMA personnel, and the National Guard. For this they seek no publicity or internet adulation. They did it because they are good people and it is the right thing to do.
This brings me to the questions you have regarding the Ryan podcast guests and their self congratulatory stories of daring do and heroism. Ryan has addressed the most obvious and verifiable lies by making his mea culpa video and subsequently editing obvious lies out of the video that remains up today. The C17 story was not just one lie but a web of lies and fabrications. Not a mistake but a verifiable lies per Shawn Ryan!
Are any of the elements of the rest of their stories true? Yes, mixed with fabrications, innuendo and out right lies. That is the magic of the fabulist, they include just enough truth to seem credible, then form a narrative to suit their objectives. Jonathon's original viral video used the same ploys. Sorting thru the BS in the videos is akin to picking fly shit out of pepper, not really worth the effort, so throw it all away.
Another problem that I have with the interview is their recklessness in throwing the rescue helicopter pilot under the bus. Describing the heroic actions of the pilot, that are clearly violations of safety of flight requirements places the pilot in a precarious spot for no good reason. If he did perform the maneuvers, good for him because some situations require immediate action, but to protect the pilot from bureaucrats, they do not need to be publicized.
What do I believe to be the pod cast guest's motives? Certainly not helping mankind thru altruistic actions. This, too me, is verified but the butt hurt reaction they had to someone else claiming credit for saving a young baby. Why would getting credit matter so much that it triggered the rant video?
I suspect their motives are self aggrandizement, reliving the old "operator" days (real or imagined), monetization of videos, and fund raising for the Aerial Recovery non profit.
Nonprofit Organization Employing Veterans for Disaster Relief and Combatting Trafficking | Aerial Recovery | Aerial Recovery
Aerial Recovery 2023 Qualified audit report: (Red Flag) https://aerialrecovery.org/storage/2...2023-Audit.pdf
Aerial Recovery 2023 990 Tax Filing. (Stop Sign!)
https://aerialrecovery.org/storage/2...l-Recovery.pdf
$3, 000,000 in contributions and grants, $797,441 in salaries and benefits to employees. $2,000,000 paid to sub contractors (people like the guests on the Ryan podcast). Form 990 Section 4a,4b, and 4c for details.
Believe these people if you are comfortable with their stories, contribute to Aerial Recovery if you believe in the mission and trust that they are carrying it out.
I'll pass on both.
So, THIS is how it's done: https://www.realclearinvestigations....s_1065396.html
And this: https://x.com/iamyesyouareno/status/1846495614302904449When the FBI originally released the “final” crime data for 2022 in September 2023, it reported that the nation’s violent crime rate fell by 2.1%. This quickly became, and remains, a Democratic Party talking point to counter Donald Trump’s claims of soaring crime.
But the FBI has quietly revised those numbers, releasing new data that shows violent crime increased in 2022 by 4.5%. The new data includes thousands more murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.
The Bureau – which has been at the center of partisan storms – made no mention of these revisions in its September 2024 press release.
$6,000 per each black or Indian student, $4,000 per Hispanic student, and $0 for White and Asian students.
This is actual systemic racism.