What Branch Is The Best?

Everybody has their ideas on what branch of the military is the best. Most people say the Marines. I have even heard a few people say the Army. Navy? Air Force? Coast Guard? So which one is the best? Which one is the hardest?

Now I can't speak about any other service except for the Marines. Why? Because I am a Marine! I served with the Marine Corps from 1996-2000, and I can personally tell you that being a Marine isn't easy! It can be fun, but it's extremely challenging! It's hard work and you must have tons of dedication to get the job done.  I'm sure that this is the case in most branches, however, the Marines are just hardcore. So let me say up front that I believe that the Marines are the best branch to be in if you have a pure desire to serve in the military.  It's also the hardest branch to be in. It may not be the hardest branch to get into, but by far, it is the hardest branch to serve in compared to other branches. There is a reason that they say that the Marines are "The Few".  It's the smallest branch of any service.  Well, out of the four main branches.  

Technically, there are seven branches of the military.  Most people have only heard of four, with a select few hearing of five.  Those branches are:

1.) The Unites States Army

2.) The Unites States Marine Corps

3.) The United States Navy

4.) The Unites States Air Force

5.) The Unites States Coast Guard

6.) The Unites States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

7.) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps

The first four are the most common and almost everybody has heard of them.  The fifth is also a major player in the military, but most people think that they Coast Guard is some sort of police force rather than an actual military branch.  The last two are relatively unknown but are also part of the military.  The last two do not empower enlisted personal, rather both branches are strictly officer only services.  It's one thing to note that all branches are considered "uniformed services", however, only the first five are considered "armed services" while the last two are considered "non-combatants".  Also, the sixth service can actually be called to serve as part of the armed forces if directed by the President of the United States.

So back to the Marines.  It's my personal belief that the Marines are the hardest branch of military service to be a part of.  Like I said before, there is a reason that they call the Marines "The Few".  When you go to boot camp, it's hard.  Probably one of the hardest things that you will ever do in your life.  And if things get too hard and you think that you can just quit, think again.  Within the first few days at boot camp your going to take a physical fitness test that will determine if you are even ready to begin bootcamp.  Fail that and you'll be in boot camp for about another 3 weeks minimum, or until you can pass the fitness test.  Only then will your training begin.  If at any point during your training you don't make it, you get "recycled".  That basically means that you must be dropped from your current platoon and shipped to another platoon to begin your training all over again until you pass the requirements.  This will go on over and over until you pass.

Like I have said, the training is hard.  Very hard.  When I was in boot camp, we started out with about 120 recruits and ended up with about 90.  We dropped about 40 and then picked up about 10 from other places like the physical conditioning platoon.  When you have about 40 people who simple can't make it, I'd say that should show you how tough it can be!

If you make it through boot camp, it's off to the School of Infantry if your a grunt, or the Marine Combat Training if you have another job specialty.  Then your off to your Marine Occupational Speciality School to learn your job.  Then and only then do you go to the Fleet Marine Force.  Make it through all of that an you still have tons of training to do.  About 3.5 years worth.  Whether it's physical fitness or job training, you have tons to do, and it's never easy.  Marines train day in and day out.  They never quit.  Marines train so hard that they are ready for anything in a moments notice!  There is a reason that Marines are First to Fight!  Marines are sent first because they know what they are doing.  It's not to say that other branches don't, but Marines train harder than any other branch, therefore they go first.  They are more prepared to fight than any other branch!

So that's my opinion.  Do you see it any different?  If so then please let me know.  Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts!

To Bend Or To Break

Rules.  Everybody has them.  We all follow them.  Well, most of the time anyways.  Rules are set up to keep order, to keep people safe, to reduce chaos, and a number of other situations, but sometimes rules are meant to be broken.  If not broken, maybe bent just a little.

So I hear of this story of Erik Fagan and Daniel McIntosh, two students that go to Gonzaga University that pulled a gun on an intruder to make him leave because he was trying to break into their apartment while they were there.

The story unfolds like this.  A homeless man comes to their door.  Fagan answers the door and the man asks for money but Fagan refuses to give the man any money, instead offering the man a blanket and a can of food.  The man insists that he needs money but Fagan still refuses to hand over any cash.  That's when the man became agitated and combative.  Then the man tries to force his way into the two students apartment.  That's when Fagan called for McIntosh to come help him with the man to try and get him to leave.

McIntosh comes to the rescue, only he was not alone.  McIntosh brought his 10mm Glock along for the ride.  McIntosh admits he pointed the gun at the man.  McIntosh is quoted as saying, "I draw on him.  As soon as he sees me, he decides he doesn't want to deal with me.  So he takes off."

The two men call the local police and the university police.  The police take a report and a short time later, the man is caught.  So who was this man?  Turns out his name is John M. Taylor and he's a six time felon.  Although police have not fully revealed all of this mans crimes, they did say that some of his crimes have included riot with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful imprisonment.  Oh and by the way, Taylor did have an arrest warrant from the State Department of Correction, typically meaning that he violated his terms of release.  Yep, he's been to jail before.  He's probably somebody that you wouldn't want to get involved with.

So what's wrong with what these students did?  Well, the problem is that they had guns.  But wait, we at least know that Fagan has a concealed handgun license.  I assume that MCIntosh does too since he wasn't arrested, but maybe that has to do with home invasion laws, although I'm not 100% sure on that.  The real problem is that they were living in off site campus apartments and had guns in those apartments.  Gonzaga strictly forbids firearms upon campus property.  Regardless of their intentions to ward off a six time felon and a home invasion, university officials say that they students should not of had the firearms in the first place.  While it may be true, personally I do not see a problem with it.  Technically, by having a concealed handgun license, they were following the law, just not following campus rules.  Because of this Ganzaga is considering expulsion for the two students, but for now they have only been suspended.  Gonzaga is also using this incident to re-examine it policy on firearms.

Here's my thought.  I personally think that Gonzaga should allow firearms on campus apartments.  Tons of students love to go hunting and do other activities with guns.  As long as the person has a concealed handgun permit and no criminal history what so ever, then I think that this should be allowed.  Who actually knows what would or could have happened to these students if they didn't actually have a firearm.

Why The Kids?

I have never understood why there are people out there that kill children. Children are innocent, but what makes people decide that they deserve to die? What gets me is when people kill children and say that they were just getting back at their ex girlfriend or whoever! But why? Why the kids? I just wanna pull my hair out just trying to figure out what goes through these people's minds that makes them think that children deserve the wrath of death because your mad, not at them, but at someone else!  Seriously?  If some guy is so pissed off at their girlfriend that they decide to take a gun and blow them to pieces, although I don't agree that killing them is the right thing to do, believe it or not, I can actually understand that!  However when someone simply gets so mad at someone else and then decides that the best way to get back at them is to kill their children, that's when I scratch my head and just wanna beat my own self senseless trying to figure out what in the hell these people are thinking!  I will NEVER understand how people can take their frustrations out on innocent children.  Children are so innocent.  They are defenseless and they have nothing to do with other peoples problems.

I hear more and more about these type of killings as time goes on and I simply don't understand it!  

Anyways, I guess this is more of a rant than anything!  I'm just trying to understand things that I never will!

Medical Malpractice???

So every time I watch TV, during the commercials, there are groups of lawyers advertising some sort of, what they believe to be, medical malpractice.  They say things like, "If you ever took "this" and then developed "this" you could be entitled to a large settlement.  Call us now!"  Or they say, "If you ever had surgery for "this" and they used "this" and you developed "this" you could be entitled to a large settlement" Call us now!"

My big problem with this type of class action lawsuit is that I personally believe that it should be illegal to sue someone or a corporation for these types of "medical malpractices".  Honestly, I don't believe that it's medical malpractice at all.  In most cases, the commercials that I see are lawyers suing over things that were considered safe maybe 20, 30, or even 40 years ago that now in todays society are considered unsafe.  For example, 40 years ago asbestos was considered safe because at the time they didn't have the same technology as we do today.  Today we now know that asbestos can lead to cancer, but back then we didn't know.  Same thing with lead based paint.  Lead based paint was considered safe back in the 60's, but today we now know that it's unsafe and can also lead to cancer if inhaled.  In fact, lead based paint was so popular that most houses build before 1970 have lead based paint in them.  Back in the 60's, we didn't know the effects that lead based paint had on humans as we know today.

This is where I have a major problem with lawyers trying to sue corporations and people over things that are today considered unsafe, but 40 or 50 years ago were considered safe.  It would be different if back then we knew all the things that we know today about some things like asbestos and lead, but the truth is that we didn't know back then what we now know today.  When I see a commercial for a lawyer that says, "If you were exposed to asbestos in the 60's and you have recently developed cancer, you may be entitled to a large settlement.  Call us now."  It just doesn't make sense to me that we sue someone or a corporation or whatever over something that is now considered unsafe, yet back then was considered safe.  Like I said, technology back then was limited to what we knew at the time and what we considered safe.  There might be some things that we use today that we consider safe that in 20 years might be considered unsafe but right now, using the technology that we have, we consider them to be safe.  Does that make sense?

Personally I believe that this type of lawsuit should be illegal simply because of the types of things that they are suing over.  We should not be allowed to sue corporations or people on things that are considered unsafe today that we thought were perfectly safe 20+ years ago.  It's wrong.  These people and corporations tried to keep there people safe with what they knew about these products back then even though it turns out that modern day technology says other wise.  I don't believe that these corporations intentionally exposed their workers or the public to something that they knew would cause cancer 20+ years down the line.  That's foolish.  It would be different if we knew back then that these products would have caused cancer, but the fact is that we didn't.

12 years ago I had hernia surgery.  They used a mesh fabric to put me back together.  If 20 years from now they find out that the mesh fabric they used is considered unsafe, I'm not going to sue the doctor or the hospital for putting in the wrong mesh simply because at the time the mesh that they used was considered safe.  I just think that it's wrong for lawyers to try and make a buck this way.  It's wrong, but the fact is that lawyers all across this great country of ours are suing people and corporations on things that are considered unsafe today that 20+ years ago were considered safe.  That's wrong.

The FDA thoroughly inspects all the medicines that the approve before allowing them to be put on the market using todays high standards.  This doesn't mean that 20 years from now they might find out that something they put out is considered unsafe.  Medicines get pulled all the time.  Why?  Because the FDA finds out that they were wrong about a certain medicine.  How do they know?  Because modern day technology tells them.  Technology grows at an extremely fast pace.  So something considered safe 5 years ago might be pulled because they find out something about that medicine today that they didn't know know 5 years ago.  So does that mean we should sue the FDA for putting this medicine out 5 years ago?  Absolutely not.  The FDA doesn't put out stuff that they know will harm the public.  

As technology grows we have a better understanding of what  products we should and shouldn't use.  This doesn't mean that we may be wrong about some things today as in years to come we might find out that we were actually were wrong.  For us to sue over things that we didn't know in years past is just plain wrong and shouldn't be allowed in todays society.  We are ruining people's lives and shutting down or severely hurting corporations that only were doing what they believed was in the best interest of their employees or the public back then.  We may have been wrong about some things back then, but it's even more wrong to try and make a buck from these people and corporations over things that were considered safe many years ago.

The 3-1-6

If you ask almost anybody what the most famous verse in the Bible is, they will tell you it's John 3:16. Believers, non-believers, and skeptics alike can tell you this. Used and quoted more than any other verse in the Bible, this verse basically sums up the entire Bible in only a few short words.

John 3:16 is also the favorite verse of Tim Tebow, quarterback of the New York Jets and former quarterback of the Denver Broncos. In college, Tim would write John 3:16 on his eye blacks. Tim has never been shy about letting people know that he is a christian. After each game, win or lose, he has always thanked Jesus Christ first and foremost! However, this really isn't about Tim Tebow, rather it's about his favorite verse in the entire Bible, John 3:16.

If you ask me if I believe in the Bible I would tell you yes. I grew up in church all my life. I believe in God not because someone told me that God is real, rather because I have a hard time believing that somehow this Earth and everything in it just came about by mere chance. I look at how this Earth rotates and gravity and how we seem to be constantly protected against disasters that could take place. I look at the human body and how it works and just tell myself that all this could not be by mere chance. I honestly believe that there is a greater power at work here on Earth. I believe in God because in my opinion, God is plainly seen. Not physically, but in everything he has created. But sometimes things happen that almost demand an explanation. I believe that sometimes sometimes God just makes his presents so obvious that it's almost undeniable that he does exist! One of these incidences came on January 8, 2012.

Now this is going to sound so crazy but everything I am going to say is true. It has been confirmed by major news outlets such as Fox News, ABC News, CNN and others as well as major sports outlets such as ESPN and the NFL. If you doubt me then go ahead and feel free to google it yourself.

January 8, 2012 was a NFL playoff game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburg Steelers. Tim Tebow was the quarterback for the the Broncos during this particular game. Remember though, this is not about Tim Tebow, but rather his favorite Bible verse, John 3:16. What's interesting about this game is how many times the numbers 316 come into play in this game. Let's take a look!

When Tim Tebow won the game against the Steelers it came 3 years and 16 hours after he won his college championship game with the Florida Gators. That's an interesting number. 316.

During the game against the Steelers, the turning point of the game happened on a play that, strangely enough, happened to be on 3rd and 16.

Tim Tebow just happened to throw for 316 total yards during the entire game. This is getting weird.

Tim Tebow's average yardage per throw was 31.6. But wait, it gets even weirder.

The Neilson ratings gave that particular game a total of 31.6 viewing audience.

The total time the Steelers had the ball the entire game was 31 minutes, 6 seconds.

Finally, the grand finally of entire game was when Demaryius Thomas caught the pass by Tim Tebow to win the game. It's not the pass or the catch that's so amazing. It's that Demaryius Thomas' birthday just happens to be on December 25th, the same date as Christians celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Now you can look at these stats and say that they are merely just coincidence, however I'm not so sure. The numbers 316 appeared in the game over and over. That's just so strange to me. Then the winning touchdown just happens to be caught by a guy who just happens to have the same birthday as Jesus. Take it how you will, but as for me I honestly believe that God inserted himself into the game. For what reason, I'm not sure, but maybe, just maybe, just to let us know that he is still here and he is in total control.

Why Divorce?

Have you ever just sat back and thought, what would the world be like if everybody just got along? If people never got divorces and just worked out their differences! How would this effect our children today? What would they be like if they didn't come from a broken home? After all, it seems that when I watch a show on TV and the people have problems, it seems like
almost always that they blame it on the parents. So what if the people came from perfect homes? What then? Would they be perfect citizens walking around with Ph.D's or would they still be jerks? Or maybe they would just be your average Joe! Who knows, but let's look back at the parents.

It's been said that children as well as teens look to their parents as roll models. If you look at your kids, or someone who has them, you can see that the children want to be involved with their parents! Children want to do what their Father's do, and do what their Mother's do. Let's say that Daddy is in the Military, there is a real good chance that son or daughter is going to want to be in the military too! This isn't to say that their choice in careers won't change by the time that they graduate high school, but it is saying that for a good chunk of their life, they are going to want to be what their Father or Mother is as far as a career.

However the real question to me is why are people divorcing in the first place? You see, when you married you made a vow! Everybody make them! Most people follow a set of vows that says they will stick with their partner through thick and thin! They make a lifelong commitment to be with their spouse "until death do they part" meaning that only death will separate them! Nothing else will come between them. Not health issues or finance issues or any other kind of issue. No matter what the circumstance, they vow to stick with each other. In most marriages this is sworn on a Bible. Basically it means that the marriage vows that each person takes is not sworn to each other. The wife doesn't swear to her husband that she will stick with him through thick and thin, nor does the husband swear that he will stick with his wife through thick and thin. Rather both of them swear to God, the creator of this universe, that they will stick with their spouse through thick and thin. When they do get divorced they have broken the commitment that they make with God, not with each other. And let's face it, if your a Christian you know that God hates divorce. Malachi 2:16 says, “The man who hates and divorces his wife, ” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. Basically it says that you should stick with your spouse no matter what because divorce does more harm than good. You might think your getting away, but your not. The pain is very real and when you divorce it makes it that much worse.

There are tons of reasons that people divorce, but the number one reason always seems to be the same and that is finances. People divorce over money, or lack there of, more than any other reason. But is money a real reason to divorce? No. We all have struggles in this life that we have. If you can find one person in this world that has had the perfect life then you are fooling yourself because there is not one person in this world who has not had it hard in their life at some point. We all struggle in life, but if your married you struggle together. Listen, I would rather struggle with my wife than struggle alone. At least if my wife and I struggle together I have someone who knows how I feel and I have a shoulder to cry on. Being alone is just no fun in my opinion.

If there is one thing that I have found out in life it's that the Bible has the answer to literally everything in life. No matter what I am going through I can look to God and find help. God wants to help you and he will if you are willing to let him. So if you are struggling in the divorce area, get help. I would encourage anybody thinking about divorce to get help from a local church. Get counseling from a church not some guy who is going to charge you $200 bucks an hour for his opinion. Get help from God. He deeply cares for you and desperately wants to help you.

People Not So Sugar Sweet to Sugarland

I have yet to figure out why people sue each other here in this country.  I can understand suing someone for really screwing you out of your money or for being coned or something like that, but for no reason makes no sense what so ever.

It's sad for me to see that the band Sugarland is being sued by some of the victims families that died or got injured in last years Indiana State Fair.  It doesn't even make sense to me that people would even think to sue Sugarland.  They had nothing to do with this incident.  They just happened to be there.  If Sugarland knew in advance that the stage was going to collapse and didn't tell anybody, or if they had built the stage themselves, then it might be worth suing them, but not for things that were beyond their control.

It's sad that people want to point fingers and blame everyone.  However, an attorney representing one of the victims in the lawsuit(no name given) said the band was trying to “pass the blame.”  Basically, this attorney is saying that it is Sugarlands fault.  So, so sad that even lawyers are blaming Sugarland for a simply buck!