Father’s Day Gift Ideas

June 14, 2013 by 7 Comments

Here’s some gift ideas for the father in your life.  Some are practical and some are for those that like to really treat that special father/man in their life.  Enjoy!

A Coach baseball glove??  What’s your thoughts on this one?

I would like to have this for my own iPhone.
 Source: Cafe Mocha Reflections via REI on Pinterest
I thought this would be good for the jogger/walker or anyone that likes to use a water bottle.  See the slot for your phone?
Source: Cafe Mocha Reflections via
Dad could use a good pair of sneakers
A nice little sweet treat to go with the coffee on Sunday morning.
Happy Father’s Day to all dads!  
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Women In Combat The Conclusion

February 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Part 3. Me and Mine
Part 2 discussed whether equality should equate to a single standard.  In this piece I want to share my position.  Many people have made reference to a false equivalence where black soldiers were not considered equal to white soldiers during the forming of our modern military.  That black soldiers could not perform the same as white soldiers was a perception not rooted in science but in racial prejudice.  The color of skin does not equate to the anatomical limitation of women serving in some Combat jobs.  Scientifically, women are physically less developed than men, and our belief that women cannot be in the Infantry is rooted in sexual bias.  Attacking the problem from a scientific position allows us to draw a decision based on rational thinking despite our emotion prejudices. 

There are more examples and I’ve asked a lot of questions that I’ve asked you to consider.  My position is as follows:
- Can women serve in Combat roles?  Yes, because they already do.
- Can women serve in the Infantry?  Yes, we can place anyone anywhere but we must understand that to do so will mean we have to accept the pain and horror that will come with the decades long transition; claims of unfairness, increased sexual assaults, psychology of women wounded in battle (a path we’re already moving down), the stigma that most women do not measure up, and the increase in frequency and severity of female injuries. 
- Should we place women in the Infantry?  I don’t know.  In time we could morph our military into a ‘Starship Trooper’ paradigm where men and women are in the Infantry, sharing the same showers and it’s no big deal but we’re not there yet. 
- Do ‘I’ want women in the Infantry?  Unequivocally ‘NO’.  I was raised mostly by my single mother.  I grew up feeling the responsibility and burden of having to be the man in the house and protect my mother.  As a male chauvinist, I would never want to put a woman in the Infantry.  Let’s not be politically correct, Infantrymen are specifically trained to do nothing but kill.  Even under the umbrella of protecting, we focus our defensive plans around repelling enemy actions.  The mission of the Marine Corps Infantry is ‘To locate, close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver and repel the enemies’ assault through fire and close combat’.  We have but one purpose.

In closing, I would open up to you and say that I have 3 daughters.  I will teach them to be strong, to know their strengths and improve on their weaknesses.  To demand respect and give respect when and where it is earned. If they ask me if they should join the Infantry I will relay to them all that I have shared with you before telling them ‘we all have a purpose and responsibility in life.  Most people never learn what their purpose is and very few want to take responsibility.  A trained, full time, killer is not what I want my daughters to become.  Haven’t women shouldered the burden of men’s lack of responsibility and failures long enough? It’s your life.  Just know you are going down a path filled with pain, misery, stress, and danger from friends and enemies like you’ve never known.  I’ve taught you to be strong but you’re far stronger than you know.  No matter what you decide just know that God and I are always with you.  Daddy loves you so go kick some @$$.’

 

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Eddie Wheeler is a Major in the United States Marine Corps, who enjoys sports and spending time with his family.

 

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Women In Combat II

January 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Part 2 ~ Does Equality Mean One Standard.
In Part 1 I wondered if filling combat jobs is really what women wanted.  In Part 2 I am of the mindset that this conversation is not adequately framed to provide the appropriate discussion on the subject.  The question is not whether women should be allowed to serve in Combat jobs because when Combat comes calling either you get your @$$ to work and fight or you run or you die.  To me the question is whether women should be allowed to serve in the Infantry or Infantry related jobs.  I say ‘No’ until someone can practically explain to me how we implement this decision.  I’m over 6 feet tall and weigh approximately 225 pounds.  Over my career I’ve been at the top or near the top of all physical fitness requirements the Marine Corps demanded of me.  I’ve served in the Infantry and I can tell you there were a lot of men that could not handle the job; and yet they had no option.  I accept and believe the premise that there are a few women that can handle the job.  The issue is whether this is what’s best for the military.  How do a handful of women, in a group of a thousand men handle themselves, and how do the services treat them?  What are the negative impacts brought about by taking this action?  Have women’s demand for equality outpaced practicality?  War actually has only one standard, and if you say there will be only one standard for service members, then you must remove the Gender adjustments applied to physical training.  Using the current ‘male’ standard would most assuredly mean, in my opinion, almost 90% of women might fail physical fitness requirements for most Infantry type jobs.  So what do we do?  Raise the current physical standard for women or drop the current standard for men?  Do we set women up for physical and career failure or degrade the Infantry’s combat effectiveness by lessening the requirements.  In either scenario War and Combat do not care because they have only one standard.  Remember, some men cannot keep this standard and we have been bred since the beginning of time to go to war.

Another point to address is how do we assign women to these jobs?  Everyone keeps saying a woman should be allowed to enter if they want to.  A lot of men don’t want to go into the Infantry but the service forces them to.  Do we apply the same standard to women?  If we say ‘yes’ then I would surmise we should expect a huge increase in claims from both sexes of unfair treatment by women who were ‘forced’ to serve in the Infantry.  What we currently do with Infantrymen who aren’t performing is training them harder.  So, now we’ve increased the rate of injuries; bone fractures, muscles tears, back problems, estrogen and fertility concerns.  Is the Service (society) going to tell women they are being assigned to the Infantry and may run the risk of having fertility complications?  Keeping a military ‘Can Do’ attitude, I say we can do that but when a woman says ‘I’d like to have children someday so I’d like to go into another job’ how do we respond. Should it not be with the one standard and an ‘oh well, suck it up.  You’re in the Infantry now girl!’  That’s what we might do and say to a man so why not same to a woman.  Remember, equality at all cost.  War is not for the weak.

 

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Eddie Wheeler is a Major in the United States Marine Corps, who enjoys sports and spending time with his family.

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Women In Combat

January 28, 2013 by 10 Comments

Today we have a guest blogger who is an Officer in the United States Marine Corps.   This is part one of a three part series on his view about women in combat.

 

Source: tv.msnbc.com

 

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. One of the latest hot topics is should women be placed in combat jobs. I would like to address my thoughts in a 3 part series where I hope to guide you down the path of my thoughts and experiences.

Part 1 ~ Is This Really What You Want.

Let me set the context of my argument by saying I am a man who has served in the United States Marine Corps since 1990. I have served in the Infantry during my Enlisted (rank) years before receiving my commission as an Officer.

In my lifetime I have been close enough to have been touched by the Vietnam War and deployed repeatedly to Iraq in our recent War on terror. Through time, experience, education and, what I consider, spiritual enlightenment, I’ve come to my present position regarding ‘Women Serving In Combat roles’.

During my generation of war (Iraq/Afghanistan) women have always served in combat.  The jobs involving logistics (transportation, supply, support, etc) have historically been filled by women.  Being placed in this job field often means women run the repeated risk of being ambushed during vehicle convoys and on military bases where we believe we are safest.  A question was once posed as to whether women could/should be fighter pilots and for years the ‘good ole males’ said ‘No’ mainly because we wanted to maintain the status quo and keep this gloried job to ourselves.  Time and education demonstrated women could perform equally to the task of flying whether it be cargo, support or attack aircraft.  The inclusion of women busted this myth and we now reap the fruits of our enlightenment.  So I think one question could be should women serve on the Front Line?  The ‘Front Line’ has changed over the years as combat has transitioned from symmetrical to asymmetrical.  No longer do we sit on one side of the street and attack the enemy on the other side.  In today’s warfare the Front Lines are all around us so being way behind the front line, where women have historically served, is a matter of perspective.  The ‘rear area’ can mean you simply reside in the heart of the combat zone because the Front Line is all around you.  Nurses, cooks, mechanics, military police, even clerks can find themselves in a combat situation at a moment’s notice.  The Marine Corps standard is ‘Every Marine a Rifle’ speaks to our mindset that at any moment we (male and female) can be called into action to serve on some front line; be it to retrieve a fallen comrade on the field of battle or defending your compound or Forward Operating Base.  Every female Marine must be prepared to stand up and take charge during the chaos of war.  For you see, the Gods of War and Combat knows no gender; nor do they care.  As a society have we grown weak when it comes to waging war?  Let us not forget that combat is savage, brutal and a Combatant’s sole purpose is to “kill” the enemy in the most efficient manner that will allow him(her) to move on to the next objective.  Sometimes efficiency comes in the form of a missile or rocket, bombs and bullets. And sometimes it comes in the savagery spawned from thrusting a knife into the body of your enemy or strangling him ‘or her’ until life no long exists.  To truly move forward in this conversation we must face ourselves in the mirror.  Is this what women are saying they want?

 

 

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Eddie Wheeler is a Major in the United States Marine Corps, who enjoys sports and spending time with his family.

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Who Is They?

May 25, 2012 by 6 Comments
I’m usually a pretty easy going person and can get along with practically anyone.  But you know who I’m annoyed with now, more than ever??  It’s THEY.  Who is THEY and why do they get such a wide berth to steer popular opinion, medical stances, politics, fashion, etc.?  There are way more topics that THEY have some sway in but I don’t have the life expectancy to list them all. 
I literally cringe whenever I hear quotes attributed to they.  You know.. “they say, for my height I should weigh xxx lbs.” (yes that was three digits).  Is that right?  They?  Who is THEY?  Where does THEY live?  THEY must be smart as hell.  Do they acknowledge that everyone’s body type or body mass is different?  That there can be 10 people the same height that are simply made differently..
- perfectly proportioned from head to toe
- thick legs and narrow upper body
- thick body and lil’ bird legs
- requires two double burgers before they’d even qualify for anorexia-skinny
- all stomach
- skinny everything and big boobs
- pear shaped
- steroid body
It goes on and on.  Are you comfortable with your weight?  Are you healthy?  If the answer is yes, then turn off the they-o-meter and move on.
Another one is “they say don’t eat pork” or “they say don’t eat ______________ (fill in your own phobia)”.  My personal opinion is most things are OK in moderation unless there is a medical reason why you can’t eat something.  Yes, 8 slices of bacon every morning, sausage pizza and pulled pork sandwiches for lunch and pork chops for dinner 3 times a week for years IS overdoing the pork.  But you can also overdo SALAD if you are having a free for all at the salad buffet.  A six pound salad is still six pounds of food to ingest.
I guess the bottom line here is ‘think for yourself’.  Don’t blindly subscribe to the ‘THEY say..’ RSS feeds.  Do your own research and background checks and make decisions that are a fit for you.  You ever sit behind a car at red light and just drive whenever they start driving without seeing for yourself if the light was green?  Same thing.  That other driver could be texting, have a death wish or simply can’t drive.  Shake the sheep mentality and tell THEY to step off.  You can do it but THEY may think you’re tripping.
V Ray is a guest blogger to this site…I like a male opinion, plus he’s a good friend of mine.  Thanks V Ray!
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Love Yourself

March 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Women are their own worst critics.

My moms is 82 years old and the lil’ tiny, classic old lady.  That church mother, in everybody’s business kinda old lady.  We were talking the other day and she’s like.. “I’m trying to lose these 10 pounds”.  Really?  At 82? Then what?

I told her I thought by her age she’d be content with herself or at least accept how you are and focus on other things in life, like..grand kids, bingo or comfortable shoes. I know that society and the media set women up psychologically to measure themselves by every video vixen, granola bar commercial or swimsuit model out there but do you ever see yourself turning the corner and just saying ‘F’ it, this is me.  This is how God made me. I love me.

I’m not advocating an unhealthy lifestyle and I’m definitely one for refining yourself and improving (via college, home ownership, etc.) but can’t women love themselves for who they are?  How do you expect a man to accept you for who/what you are if you don’t?  How can you truly bond with other women and have a true sisterhood when women hate on each other so much?  Partly because of self-loathing would you not want to see someone else enjoying being themselves. 

Hell, I say if you’re a big girl, get u some big clothes and a comfy car and go on to the spa and pamper yourself!! If you’re skinny with a high booty, get you some long shirts and some flats and get on out to the Anthony Hamilton concert and enjoy yourself!!  All I’m saying is don’t focus on the world and trying to find your place in it.  Focus on you and let the world catch up.  And if they don’t, it’s their loss..

V Ray

 

 

V Ray is a modern-day renaissance man, trying to keep a hand in all things creative from music to writing, art to video production.  He’s been performing and touring since he was  about 14 years old and has shared the stage with a number of artists, unknown to legendary.  He absolutely LOVES kids and if he wasn’t totally smitten with creative ‘everything’ he would love to have a school for pre-K to elementary school-aged kids. He has been married almost 25 years and has one son.


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