BlackFive

Kat Croft befriended a Marine Raider.  After his death, she was witness to the way his brothers in arms welcomed him home from war and honored his memory.  She has decided she would like to try to capture the story on film, and is seeking a very modest budget of $15,000 for production.  She has raised more than a third of this money already.

If any of you would like to support her efforts, please follow the link above. 

If you like the brand of completely inappropriate veteran humor seen regularly in Ranger UP's videos or Mat Best's fake rap battles, you will love the opportunity to help them make a movie. 

With Dakota Meyer.  And Tim Kennedy. 

BLACKFIVE has been asked to help get the word out on a new film premiering next week by Sebasian Junger- if you recall, his last film Restrepo was a hit- covering the battle in Afghanistan by the 2/503d of the 173 ABN BDE.  

The film is premiering next week- and B5 readers will have an EXCLUSIVE opportunity to get tickets to it in NYC.  More on this soon!

But I'm here to tell you about the Denver premier- where Sebastian will appear at the Denver Film Society's opening of the film.  DFS, along with VFW Post 1 (as in, THE first VFW post) along with BLACKFIVE are hosting a special event.  BLACKFIVE will sponsor a social following the film, and I will get to interview Sebastian along with several members of the 173d who will be there.

If you are in Denver or vicinity, COME ON OUT.  Here are the links to details, and a bit about the film.  I'll post more on this as we get closer- but spread the word.  Here is another film on the heroics of the 503d as they faced some of the most intense combat in Afghanistan.

From the release material:  "KORENGAL follows Junger’s Oscar-nominated film, Restrepo, which he made with the late Tim Hetherington. This feature length documentary follows a platoon of men as they fight in Afghanistan's famed Korengal Valley, often called, "the valley of death."  KORENGAL takes a less kinetic, and more visceral look at war, and listens to the thoughts of the men who fight it. The film captures the confusion of war, and the courage and strength of the men, who, like all troops find themselves facing overwhelming danger. The emotions are often conflicting: as one soldier mourns the loss of a friend in combat, another doesn't hesitate to say he would go back to the front in a minute. While the firefights are fierce, there are long periods of waiting for the uncertain. KORENGAL captures the soldier's thoughts on service, war, combat, and brotherhood. KORENGAL is what war feels like. The film was shot by Junger and Hetherington on location in the Korengal Valley. Additional footage was filmed in Vincenza Italy at the unit base of the 2-503, Battle Company, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

“Tim and I had always envisioned this film project to unfold in two parts. The world has seen the first part of this work, RESTREPO. But when Tim was tragically killed while covering the civil war in Libya three years ago, I was left on my own to finish the project. I re-enlisted the other two members of our RESTREPO team and we went back to work. The result, KORENGAL — which together with RESTREPO completes our vision – is exactly what Tim and I had discussed years earlier,” said filmmaker Sebastian Junger.

“As with RESTREPO,” Junger added, “we paid for the entire production ourselves, which gave us complete control of what the film would be. RESTREPO was intended to be a way for civilians to experience what combat feels like. We wanted KORENGAL to be very different. This film strives to impart understanding of the inner psychology of the soldier, rather than being intentionally experiential. How does fear work? What do courage and guilt mean? What is it like to come home from war? Why do so many soldiers miss being at war once they’re home?”

The film debuted at the Little Rock Film Festival, and will premiere in NYC on May 30. A national roll out has been planned for late June through early August."

Here is the FACEBOOK link:  https://www.facebook.com/korengalthemovie

And, the Denver Film Society announcement:  http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=26569

I hope to see you there!  Much more to follow!

It's been a while since I've been able to post something here that wouldn't get me in possible trouble (Jimbo, I'm not) but tonite, after getting an email from my local Scouting's CEO, I had to vent.

As an Eagle Scout, as a former Unit Commissioner, as someone who has volunteered countless hours mentoring and leading our young men in Scouting, I feel we are finally facing something that threatens the existance of Scouting, and the beliefs of a majority of those involved in it- whether they be leaders or young men.

This, this is what I received:

Currently, the BSA is discussing potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation. This would mean there would no longer be any national policy regarding sexual orientation, and the chartered organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with each organization’s mission, principles, or religious beliefs. BSA members and parents would be able to choose a local unit that best meets the needs of their families.  

The policy change under discussion would allow the religious, civic, or educational organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting to determine how to address this issue. The Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents. Under this proposed policy, the BSA would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization’s mission, principles, or religious beliefs.

 Under attack are the very morals that are the bedrock of what Scouting develops.  I'm no homophobe, nor am I one to go checking peoples bedrooms.  Thusly, I also don't believe in forcing anothers morality upon anyone else.  I certainly don't go around preaching my beliefs or expecting you to adopt or conform to them.  But that is EXACTLY what the Homosexual police are foisting upon us- demanding that those in Scouting bend to their beliefs.  Or lack of their 'morality' (depending on your religious point of view). 

If you are of that persuasion, you are more than welcome to form your own group, and enjoin those that believe as you do.  NO one is preventing you from forming the Homo Scouts or whatever you want to call them; Free Scouting, Rainbow Boys, I don't care.  That's up to you.  But I do expect that you respect MY ideals as much as you want me to respect yours.  Period.  You know why you don't do this on your own?  Because so few people believe as you do that it would not stand.  It would not be able to maintain itself outside your own cloistered, insulated areas. 

If Scouting adopts this, I am of the mind to rescind and turn in my Eagle.  I will pull family members from the organization.  I will cease all donations to the organization.  There have been exactly TWO organizations that I donated to exclusively- Scouting and The Salvation Army.  When United Way ceased giving donations nationally to Scouting, I ceased dontating and volunteering for UW (I also ceased giving to the CFC due to its funding of charities I wholly do no believe in.)  While Scouting formed my abilities and made me as successful as I am, bending the Scouts of today and tomorrow threatens everything we stand for. 

One thing I need to address: Scouts are a PRIVATE organization.  They are NOT a public entity, and they are not supported by the government.  So why should we bend our rules to outsiders?  Why do outsiders wish to so vehemently protest ANY rule of a private organization?  What is next- that the Legion or VFW will now have to allow ANYONE who served in a uniform to join?  I'm going to demand participation in the FOP- even though I've never been a cop.  I just feel like joining, and they are discriminating against me.  This push against Scouts has something far more nefarious to it- I just don't know what it is, yet.

Scouts do not discriminate; we are taught tolerance.  We are expected to help one another, and that we do very very well.  I grew up in Scouting with people of many religions, creeds, races, beliefs.  I expect that a good many of those I grew up with were gay.  I never cared- we were too busy having fun to worry about it, and at the younger ages, really didn't have a NEED to know.  But outside organizations, hell-bent on forcing THEIR agenda down our throats in such a permissive environment, think that we need to be forced to understand and accept their 'beliefs' and lifestyles.  I vehemently disagree.

I understand that in the above statement from the CEO that they are not forcing everyone to abide; they are leaving it up to local charters to establish it.  What you may not understand is that this is just language to have so that local funding organizations, who contribute a great deal of money to these charters, will have the final say- not National Scouting.  This is a complete cop-out.  If you look at what has happened to Scouting over the last few decades is that they have been forcing Scouts out of what has established their 'base'- churches, synagogs, temples, meeting houses, EVEN SCHOOLS.  They have forced Scouting into a corner; and don't tell me its about 'catching up to the 20th century' either.  This is all about taking the Man out of being a man. 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell worked for the military.  It was similar in the Scouts- keep your private self to yourself, you were fine. 

Scouting builds leaders, men, and families.  I see this as another attack on the foundation of the Family in American society.  Many of our leaders that we have looked up to have been Eagle Scouts, and proud of it- Pres Ford, Ross Perot, Michael Moore (yes, that one), Rick Perry, Steven Spielberg, Neil Armstrong, Samuel Pierce, Togo West, Gary Locke.  This list is VERY long and varied. It doesn't appear that any of them have been in any way harmed with the way Scouting is now.  And I can GUARANTEE that Scouting helped shape exactly who and what they became.  I have been offered good jobs soley on the fact that I am an Eagle; they based the offer on this alone, no other skill or experience of me.  It is a key indicator of successful men- there are quite a few successful men without Eagle, but very few Eagles who were or are not successful.  Scouting's goal is to build boys into men, and to offer the opportunity to every boy to become an Eagle if they are willing to work for it. 

The CEO tells us to write them here ([email protected]) to tell them our opinion.  Ok, I'm sharing that here so you too can do so.  Here is the phone number they asked us to call:  972.580.2000.  Fine. I'll do that one too.

Tolerance is essential; understanding is growth; submissiveness brings tyranny.

Many of you are probably aware of the recent story out of London, in which an Australian radio team pranked a hospital into giving out information about the royal pregnancy.  The nurse who gave out the information apparently committed suicide in shame.  

Today Richard Dawkins, a smart man who makes a habit of saying dumb things, gave his opinion on the matter.  Because of his importance, it became the 'Quote of the Day' for a major British paper.

'Stop the witch hunt. Like Bradley Manning, the Australian hospital hoaxers have been punished enough'

You guys can do what you like with your radio hosts, but -- assuming he is found guilty via due process -- Bradley Manning has not yet begun to be punished enough.  That's a mode of thinking that just needs to stop now.  He stands accused of betraying his brothers to their enemies.  

Of old, we'd have hung a man proved guilty of that.  It's not a mark of our sophistication that we won't do it today.  It's a mark of our decadence.  There's an old poem about a time 'when all men are paid for existing, and no man must pay for his sins.'  It is a poem that is perilously close to a prophecy.

Sitting here on a day off, just before making some dishes for my dinner with the locals.  Not been posting for a while due to my assignment, but I wanted to share some fun stuff so you could pass the time if the relatives are getting on your nerves.  Mine are far from here, but in my thoughts, and I'm thankful to have them in my life.

I'm thankful for my country, my chance to serve it, and to help my brothers over in harms way.  I am thankful each and every day for that chance and the opportunity to be a part of it all.

Now, some very funny videos that I'm thankful for.  Each of these remind me of a fun time growing up- wish they were all still with us.  Some are not----

A U.S. Navy Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL candidate signals during a simulated dive casualty drill during training at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Calif., April 26, 2012. Dive training is the second training phase that BUD/S candidates must complete. The Navy SEALs are the maritime component of special operations forces and are trained to conduct a variety of operations from the air, land and sea. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique M. Canales

I have watched with great interest what's going on around the country with these protests- and I'm sorry to say, I cannot, in any way shape or form, agree with anything these mis-guided, mis-directed, and lost 'kids' stand for.

They certainly don't represent anything me or my family has ever endured.  They do not come from anything like my background- not that that means as much, but these people obviously thought that by acting smarter than anyone brought them rights and priveleges no one else deserved. 

With that, and with the sites such as this one who are sharing who the REAL people of America are, I want to start something along the same lines.

The 1%ers. 

According to multiple sources, only around 1% of the population of the US has ever served in uniform- overall.  The percentage that has served in current conflicts is even smaller.  So how can these fools on Wall Street, or Main Street, or anywhere they are protesting, even imagine to represent us?  It's just not even feasible to contemplate.

Join me- in showing who the 1% are- who have been silent thru all of this.

Be- a 1%er

If there is any coherent message that can be gleaned from the Occupy Wall Street “movement”, it is that our system of public and higher education can now be declared a total and complete failure.  The fact that there exists no accountability at any level of our Education-Industrial Complex is perfectly clear for all to see.  It seems fair to say that responsibility for this can be laid squarely at the feet of the teacher’s unions and their members who have perpetuated an economic structure in education and a curricular agenda that has been allowed to defy gravity for 40 years.

If you aren’t able to wrap your mind around the pernicious influence of the teacher’s unions you need only to watch the utterly disheartening and yet essential film “Waiting for Superman”.  Spoiler Alert: Superman is not coming.  Suffice it to say that every time you hear education activists talk about spending money on children, they are lying through their teeth.  That money is for teachers; make no mistake.  Not only that, but they have consistently and effectively resisted any mechanism that is designed to improve teacher performance through adherence to absurdities like tenure, and by prohibiting merit pay structures through collective bargaining.  Put simply, they exist to ensure that government jobs once obtained are inviolate without any accounting for performance or competency.  That is not to say that there are no great teachers, just that even those teachers are influenced over time when it becomes apparent that their pay is completely detached from their effort and they can’t promote by any means other than seniority or advanced degrees.

So a child that makes it through that system without dropping out shows up on a college campus totally unprepared for collegiate level academics finds him/herself in a psych, sociology, history, or literature class where their glaring deficiencies aren’t as much of a hindrance as they would be in Chemistry, Calculus, or Physics.  Waiting for them there is a tenured hack with the full panoply of liberal/socialist agenda items infused into their course who sees his mission as one of evangelism rather than education.  The classes are easy and even inspiring as the ponytailed professor shovels decades old, discredited, leftist socio-racial-economic dogma onto the student’s plates and rewards them for vomiting it back to him with no thought or concern whether those ideas have any practical application whatsoever.

Upon graduation, the student is uneducated, believes things about economics that are false, tens of thousands of dollars in debt and completely unqualified for gainful employment anywhere to include flipping burgers.  This dreck is what has been spit out onto the streets of New York and elsewhere.  Few if any young people are fully prepared when they first strike out on their own, and the shock and struggle of those early years is what makes or breaks them in the future.  With this crop however, they come out of the education womb as fully formed degenerates, their professors having foreseen the challenges and rather than preparing them to face them, they prepared them with excuses for why they cannot be faced.

At the end of the day these young people have been destroyed, perhaps permanently, by adults whose only priority was a government paycheck and the privilege of suspending reality by living in the ivory tower.  They are pitiable creatures indeed, and the fact that they are out in public proclaiming their abject ignorance through the humiliating use of the “human microphone” ought to be to the eternal shame of those who have allowed and facilitated this disastrous system of failure inculcation we call education. 

Try...just, TRY to top this kind of ad....

Thanks to Hawaii 4-O....