Friends

I have to think of the right way to say this so that it doesn't sound weird and get me into trouble.

Recently my friend had his first experience with drugs, pot to be specific. Everyone tries these things in their life I get it, but I also understand that drugs are illegal for a reason. Him and I have been going through some rough patches lately, and I don't think that he understands that I really do care about what he thinks of me and that I care about his well being. And no if he happens to be reading this, I'm not gay, and I'm not going to pull a MF (you know who that is lol).

Anyways I get that you want to try new things, expand your boundaries, whatever, but can you please try to do it in another way. These things are illegal for a reason you know, and I'm sure your counter argument is that you won't get hooked, or it's just once, but how do you think junkies started out? Do you think they planned on getting hooked on their respective drugs? I bet they didn't, and I bet you don't either.

You have a good life, why would you jeopardize that just so you can trip out for a few hours? You want to be a doctor. That's a competitive field you know. You have to keep your grades up. I'm sure you remember the stoner kid you always used to tell me about, who never tried and didn't care. Do you want to turn out like that?

I'm just scared for you is all. I'm being 120% genuine here. We've been friends since the crib for God's sake. I know it seems like we always have these arguments were we don't seem to talk for a while, and I know most of the time it's my fault. You put up with my shit, and for that I thank you. Now try to take my advice. Much love...

Why Do We Do It?

When you think about it, life is a lot like golf. Most of the time you suck at it, and you convince yourself that you'll never play again, because of this intense hate you've found for the game. But then you hit a shot that make the whole day of bad golf worth it. There is a saying: Those are the shots that keep you coming back to the game.

I think that this quote can be applied to life as well. If you really think about it, and are completely honest with yourself, you spend most of your life troubled. I mean let's face it the bad things are what make the whole experience. Would you want to spend your whole life having everything you every wanted? No, of course you don't, because then you would have nothing to be proud of, nothing that you accomplished, nothing you could look at and say to the guy next to you, "Do you see that? Well I made that." The struggles believe it or not are the selling points of life.

With all of the bad going on in life it's the good things that keep you going. They're the shots that keep ya comin' back for more. When life has got you down and you think that things will never look up, life tends to find a way to break the mean steak. It hand you something and says: "Here you go, you deserve this more than anyone else." Those are the moments we witness, when a grown man has faced adversity his whole life to the point of being emotionally immune. But when the nurse brings in his new born son he's brought to tears by the shear joy of this new life.

Now I do believe in a divine spirit, and I know a lot of people don't, but when you witness something like this it's hard to believe that there isn't something or someone up there smiling down on us.

My uncle who was in Vietnam, recently professed his love for his wife in front of an entire congregation at his church. I was lucky enough to have been there to see it. They say that the young men who were in Vietnam are now incapable of showing emotion, but they didn't see my uncle pouring his heart out in front of all of these people, weeping tears of joy. That day he brought all of the people there watching to tears with him, it was truly a spiritually eye opening event for me.

That's why we live our lives, for moments like that.

Find a Place With No Windows

I'm blogging right now during the most intense thunderstorm this year, and it's so cool!!!

I love thunderstorms so much. Ever since I was a kid, my family and I went out onto our porch when the sirens went off instead of heading for the basement like sane people do. I was scared a little when I was a kid, but I've grown to love them. On some occasions I even take walks in them. I almost always go drive in them, and it's always being a dream of mine to see a tornado in real life. I think they're fascinating, and I hope to see a lot of them in my life time, or just one, depending on how the first encounter goes.

I don't know what it is about them I like so much. I think it goes with the whole adrenaline thing, I get such a rush being in the middle of a storm that I've become addicted to them.

I'm seriously having a hard time finishing this one because the storm is being so distracting , every lighting strike is another reason for me to stop blogging and to start watching the storm again. this is truly the meaning of getting high on life.

Where Will Earth Be?

Where will Earth be when humans all die off? Or when we all decide to up and leave the planet? Scientists are always talking about the ecosystem and how it can be severely damaged if one element is removed, but what about humans? Where do we fit in the delicate balance of nature? We just seem to be messing things up. We're guests on this beautiful planet and we're trashing it. All of these things that are happening, all the natural disasters, are because of us. Scientists are talking about how human technology in the twentieth century sped up the natural cycle so much that now the planet is in chaos.

Some people say that all of these things happening are just part of the natural cycle that has been going on since the Earth took its present shape, and maybe they're right too, who knows? All I know is, humans aren't going to be around forever. Species die out everyday, it's the way of life, and we spend so much of our time trying to save all of the dying species, but what about us? Our population may be growing, but for how much longer. The Earth is only so big. You can only fill a balloon with so much air before it bursts. Well that's what we're doing right now, filling the Earth with so many humans and the other animals that we're saving that it's bound to burst.

It's not a question of if, it's a question of when, seriously you guys, the planet can only take so much and when we die, things will go back to normal again. The Earth will grow over our structures and paved roads, hiding them as if in shame. The Earth is ashamed of us. We've over stayed our welcome and now it's time to leave or be fumigated. The choice is ours, but seeing as how we're a stubborn race, I'm going to go with the latter.

Happy doomsday everyone=)

What's Wrong With Us?

You can't go a week without hearing about one, I'm talking about lawsuits. These days it's our answer to everything. My little girl was made fun of on the playground, I'll sue the school for not being strict enough on bullies. I put my kid on the back of my motorcycle and he fell off and died, since there wasn't a warning on the bike saying he could fall off I'll sue the dealership. People think that money somehow fills all voids, but it doesn't. I'm sorry, but if your kid dies because you were stupid enough to take him out on it in the first place, and you sue the dealership, it's not for "damages," it's you trying to drown your guilt in money, because you know that you shouldn't have taken him out on the damn thing in the first place, he was too young!!!

I'm sure I'm offending a ton of people by writing this but come on, it has to be said. It's our answer to absolutely everything, sue, sue, sue. We're trigger happy, money lovers. I understand that you're sad or mad or whatever it is when you sue, but what you don't think about is that you could be potentially ruining someone else's life. Is that really what you want? Your life temporarily inconvenienced, so you want to ruin someone else's life to make up for that?

All I'm saying is that it's getting ridiculous. For the stupidest things too. I heard one where a woman sued a furniture store because she broke her ankle when she tripped over her own son who was running through the store. She was awarded $780,000.

Get a life. People like that deserve to be shot.

One Giant Puzzle

Society is one giant puzzle, and all of the people are the pieces. I always thought that I was lucky because I knew what I wanted to do when I got older. You see, when I was in seventh grade I broke my neck, and because of that and because of all the things I went through during that time I decided to become a physical therapist. Until recently I had no reason to waver from the path I was on.

Things began to change for me, all of my ideals were being challenged and I didn't know what to think any more. I starting reading, but not the kind of reading I was used to. I was reading magazine articles, books and and other things about current events so that I could begin to shape the person I'm going to become.

I guess you could trace it back to the election. I wasn't old enough to vote, but I was taking an interest in the campaigns of all the major candidates. My parents disagree on the political playing field. My mom is a right wing conservative, while my dad is an independent who tends to side with the liberal agenda. Now before this election I really had no reason to be interested in politics, because, well let's face it when you're that young you have better things to do. Well this election was different, i wanted to have an opinion, I wanted to get involved, but where could I get one? I could go with my dad I thought, but that just didn't appeal to me so I decided to form my own opinion completely free of both parents.

That's when it happened I guess. I would read an article about what one candidate thought on an issue, and I would click on the various links and read those articles as well. It turned into one giant mold that I was trying to fill with all of my ideals and to eventually become my own person.

It sounds like a cliché, that everyone wants to know where they fit in the world, but I've come to realize that it's a big question you have to ask yourself when you're ready to experience the world. Who am I and where do I fit in the world?

I'm still searching for my future self, I'm going to take it one book, article, and lecture at a time until I meet the man I will become. It's something that I feel very strongly about, and I want to know if any one else is going through what I am, comment if you are.

One Bullet Away

Nathaniel Fick was in the Marine Corps, during which time he was stationed in both Afghanistan and Iraq. In his book, One Bullet Away, Fick tells us about all of the things he experienced as a Marine officer.

Fick went to college before joining the Corps, a situation that people don't really consider. People think that the military is a way for young punks to straighten out their troubled lives, they rarely if ever consider the possibility of a college graduate student being in the military. Well Fick tells us that his decision wasn't all that hard to make. He remembered a time when his house was broken into when he was standing right there, and the burglars just looked at him and laughed when he tried to stop them. He says that he'll never forget the look his dad gave him. He joined the Marines to become a man,to discover who he was.

He takes us through the training he had to do to become an officer. To become an officer is a little different than becoming an enlisted Marine. First off the requirements are a lot more strict, the military doesn't want it's enlisted men to be in the hands of a bunch of dumbasses. Second the training is different. They learn how to lead men. Enlisted men spend their training being taught to follow orders and obey their seniors, not so with the officers. Yes they are taught to follow the orders of their seniors, but they are also taught to give orders, how to get the respect of their men, and to stay calm in the face of danger to give them confidence.

After completing training Fick was deployed on what was basically a practice tour. He sails with a company of men to get accumulated to commanding. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 happened during his deployment in the South Pacific, and his company was used as the first troops into Afghanistan so America could extract her revenge. He describes being proud that he was the one who got to retaliate against these men in the place of every American. He spent the remainder of his deployment on the ground in Afghanistan and when he returned home he transferred to First Recon.

The majority of his book is based on his experiences while commanding in First Reconnaissance division. He conveys the stupidity of the way things were handled, the incompetence of the senior officers, and the overall experience of combat. Most of the problem lay in that the senior officers were there. Normally in Recon the highest ranking man on the ground are the sergeants, these teams within the platoons are trained and able to function as independent killing machines, and when you throw the seniors in there with them it inhibits the ability of the team.

Fick gives us all of the details of combat and of his experiences in Iraq, good and bad. It's an excellent book and I recommend it to all who want to learn more about what we're doing over there. He lays out the military hierarchy in a way that is easily understood by even those who are completely ignorant of the military. Have fun reading it!

Calm Before The Storm

The storm is coming people. Relatively speaking this is a quiet time historically. Forget that there is a war going on (get used to it, the U.S. will be in a war until she dies), and think for a moment. In the past the nation has always been more or less a constant progressive position. Not a decade went by where there wasn't something the public was willing to fight and die for, but for the past twenty years or so all has been quiet. Do not be fooled, I believe the fire of change is simmering beneath the surface of the youth waiting to break free and change the world.

Things are going to change believe me, and I plan on playing a key part in whatever it is. Maybe it'll be the war. People will get absolutely tired of our soldiers dying and fight the government with every last breath to end it. Maybe it'll be the economy. Picture the entire nation boycotting big corporations, not spending a dime of their money at monopoly stores, and instead buying from the little guy.

Somewhere, someone has a new idea on the way the country needs to be run. I mean you can't even comprehend what this person is thinking because it's just so revolutionary that it's going to shake the country all the way down to the foundation. Capitalism will be utterly destroyed by this new form of government designed to give everyone a fair chance or whatever it's going to do.

The school system too. What are we going to do about it? It can't stay the way it is. Today's school system was established back during the industrial revolution. Well we as a nation are far more than an industrial society today, so the schools will catch up or be forced by change to catch up. What do our schools do? They teach us how to take tests. Having book smarts is good and all, but what are we gonna do when out in the real world everything our books told us when we were in school is wrong? We'll be totally screwed. Because very rarely is anything that is taught in a book what ends up translating into reality.

Whatever it is I hope it's big, and shakes up the establishment. The baby boomer generation that dug the grave we're now sitting in needs to be dethroned, and it's not even a question of if, it's a question of when. We've been calm and quiet for long enough, it's time for a progressive revolution.

Why Americans Fail

Americans love to eat. McDonald's hamburgers have taken the place of the bald eagle as the nation's mascot. When I was in New York, I couldn't walk four blocks without seeing a McDonald's. We have created a system of excess. A system so large that even our lower classes have sunken into obesity. We eat our to our hearts content while an ocean away we have children dying everyday do to malnourishment. I know, change the record right. Everyone has heard this so many times they've become numb to it, and that's unfortunate. Even more unfortunate is that the problem is not likely to be fixed.

The population is growing, while food production is staying at a constant rate, in some places even being downsized. Does anyone else see a problem with this? If we don't do something, and fast the problem will just spread to include, not only third world countries, but the leading nations as well. When people are finally starving in America do you think we'll notice it then? No, because here's a news flash: PEOPLE ARE STARVING IN AMERICA!!!

Our system of excess creates problems at home as well. Do you think that in third world countries they have teens with eating disorders? Hell no they don't because kids over there would give almost anything to eat as much as we do. We have all of these disorders and diseases that are only found in countries where luxuries are easy to come by. So while we're over here wallowing in our money and food thinking we have it made, we don't really. Our country is just as bad as some of those third world countries, we just have different problems that need fixing. But do we fix them? Of course not we just keep feeding our problems so they get bigger and bigger until eventually they'll become uncontrollable, and wreak havoc on our society. I just hope I'm not around when that day comes.

What a country we live in huh?

Why Our Government Fails

Why do people work? You could argue for any number of reasons, but bottom line is, people work for money. I work for money, my parents work for money, and most of my friends work for money. Now when you work for money it's not unreasonable to think its yours, right? Wrong. The money that you have in your possession at the moment is considered the governments, you're just borrowing it for the time being. I don't know about you but this is starting to sound a little like Communism. You don't think so? Well what is Communism? A communist government owns everything in the country, from the cars to the businesses.

In America we're under the false notion that we lead lives that belong to us. The government controls everything we do whether you want to believe it or not. The penalty for defacing money in the U.S. can range from a fine to a lengthy term in prison. Defacing government property it's called. Sure the money is yours until you damage it, and then the government can send you to prison for five years. Yea, I know, ridiculous right? Isn't freedom wonderful.

Another example. The house you live in. Is technically yours, until the government decides it needs to build a highway through your bedroom, and then all they have to do is pay you the minimum market worth and it's all theirs. Picture waking up one day, and there's a government official at your door with a check. Sure they'll give you time to "think" about it, but the house is theirs don't fight it.

Communism and Capitalism are cousins. They might not be very close cousins, but don't let the checks and balances fool you. All forms of governments are related in some way. What the world needs is a totally new idea on how to run things, because let's face it things aren't really working out. However, no need to worry, we're all the property of the U.S. government for the moment. Have fun living your "free" lives.

Have You Ever Noticed?

Have you ever stayed awake all night? I assume if you have that it was with a friend. Well when you were staying up with that friend did you just sit down and talk? Because I've noticed that when I'm sleep deprived I turn into a philosopher. I don't know why, whenever I try to be after a good nights sleep I end up feeling stupid. Why?!?!

I think the answer lies in the way our brains work. I don't pretend to be an expert on the workings of the human brain, but seeing how I have one, I think I'm allowed to speculate. I think that when you're tired your brain actually thinks more clearly because it isn't overloaded with all of the activity of the day. Your brain and your body are at ease. When you're tired I think that your brain is closer to the dream world than it is to reality, and this translates into seeing into the "great mysterious beyond," where all of the secrets of the universe are revealed.

It's not just while you're talking with your friends either. I've found that I write better blogs while I'm tired. Some of them plain suck but others have a sort of mysterious quality to them, like, what was I thinking about when I wrote this blog? It truly is a mystery that's worth studying. Maybe my boy Fred could add his input on the matter.

Plastic

It caused the Great Depression and it's causing the same problems today. Over extension of credit always leads to problems. In times of prosperity credit is handed out like it's going out of style, but when the people who get that credit fail to pay it back it causes problems.

Isn't the point of studying history so that we can learn from our mistakes? The answer apparently is no. I guess we know better now so it's going to be different. It won't happen like it did back then. WRONG! It is happening, okay so maybe not as severe but it's happening. The credit crunch. What do you think that is? It's from the banks over extending credit to people who were unable to pay it back, and when it happened in mass, we were screwed.

The idea of credit is a good one, in theory, but when put into practice it will cause nothing but problems. People get carried away with money, it's a certain feeling of pride when you can buy anything you like. It's when people forget that they'll eventually have to pay for that huge screen TV or that new hot tub that the problems start.

Another problem is in the way our country works, the way capitalism works. People's homes can be foreclosed, while the government owes them more than enough money than is there debt. Absolutely ridiculous the way the little guy gets screwed. What people owe the government is interested, so they end up paying more than the initial amount. But what the government owes is taxed and is not interested, so the people more or less end up getting less than what is owed to them. Just add it to the list of things wrong with society.

What is Racism?

Racism is a problem that has plagued humanity for a very long time. But why do we as humans hold this hatred of another race? I think that racism was born from war, another flaw of humanity. Back in some time there was a war going on, a huge war that consumed many people. The people of this war hated the other side so much that as the war raged on their hatred became so deep it was impossible to let go of. When this war was over the feelings remained, but as time went on the hatred for the other side slowly migrated from one people to another. It had been so much a part of their lives that they didn't know haw to live without it.

So they passed down their hatred to their kids and they passed it down in turn to there kids. This is how it became such a problem. But the solution to racism started to show itself as well. Those who were able to give up their hate mixed into other societies and cultures, distorting the line between different races of people.

Some day, I hope there will no longer be a line. That all faces will become one. I think that's what we're starting to see today. Racism still exists, but it's slowly dying, some where along the way parents stopped teaching it to their children who then went on to distort the line between races.

Another thing that could happen, is, the amount of radiation in the atmosphere, slowly but surely turns everyone on Earths skin into a glowing green color.Once everyone is green how will people distinguish between races? They won't so HA! There's a perfect solution.

Books to Movies

Books are a doorway. That doorway can take you anywhere you could possibly want to go and some places you might not want to go. The problem is, when some genius gets it into his head to turn that book from a doorway into a window about sixty feet wide. What I'm talking about, is when books are made into movies. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the film industry, it's just books are better left books. Books can just give you so much more. There's a huge difference in reading about every minute detail of the story, and losing the details because of what else is going on in the shot.

The only example that I can think of that is perfect for what I'm trying to say is Harry Potter. I've read all seven books and seen every movie up to this point, and with every movie I've been disappointed. The one Harry Potter movie that I thought came close enough to the book to pass, was The Chamber of Secrets.

The problem is partly in the length of the book. If you tried to put everything into a movie from what happens in The Goblet of Fire, you would have a movie that was a week long. Another problem facing film makers is funding. Granted the popularity of the series, it still costs a lot of money to employ all those people to build the set, man the equipment, and all the other stuff that goes on behind scenes. Add to that the money you have to spend on props and actors and you have yourself a pretty large bill.

A third problem that you might or might not think about, is deadline. I know it seems like they already take enough time to make, but when the person funding the movie says I want this movie done by this time, well it better be done or bye bye money.

I think until they come up with a way to fully immerse the viewer into the world of movies this problem will continue to plague the film industry, but I'm willing to wait.

Nuclear Payload

When the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it set in motion a fierce race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. to have weapons more superior than the other.

Whoever said that a little competition was good for you wasn't referring to the Cold War. Atmospheric tests of the Atom Bomb and soon after that, the Hydrogen Bomb released radiation into the air to drift where the wind took it. At the time we didn't know enough about radiation to be testing it in the atmosphere, but have no fear the government had the answer to that to. The U.S. government at the time was conducting secret experiments to test what radiation does to humans. They did this on people, often without having the consent of the victim.

The U.S. and Soviets competed for nuclear arms superiority until 1991 when a tense truce was reached. Since that time much has been done to disarm both nations and government run organisations are slowly dismantling the two nation's warheads.

Why do we feel the need to be armed with enough nuclear weapons to kill of the human race? That answer escapes me. Or maybe the answer to that question is above all our pay grades.

As of today the U.S. has more than 20,000 nukes, with half that number on hairline triggers, already pre targeted, fueled up, just waiting for the signal to fly their destructive path. All it would take is one accidental firing of a nuke from either side and within twenty-four hours, the world would be uninhabitable. Pretty scary when you think about it, but most people don't know any of this stuff. Ignorance is bliss right?

The War

The War in Iraq has been going on for the better part of a decade, or if you wanna get technical you could say for the better part of a few decades with small intermissions. It's been going on for so long that most people couldn't even tell you what we're fighting for anymore. The reason anyone even considered setting foot in the Middle East in the first place, is the huge oil field that lie beneath it's surface.

But in his infinite wisdom president Bush decided to give our occupation of this foreign country a noble name. The War On Terrorism. How valiant he made the invasion sound in the wake of 9/11 to get the support of the American people.

We let Bush get us so rooted in Iraq that now that a new president wants to pull us out he's finding it more difficult and facing criticism of his own. Well I for one am not happy, because not only are our troops still over there, they aren't always as protected as we would want them to be. Because this war has lasted so long the financial support that it had at the start has deteriorated. Add to that the growing recession and you find our troops a thousand miles up shit creek without a paddle.

Even at the start of the war some of our troops were going to Iraq ill equipped to fight a war. Their mode of transportation, Humvees with little or no armor, and with little hope of stopping a round from an AK, much less a direct hit from an RPG. We have to face the facts. When we sent our troops over there it was an act of retaliation. We didn't give them time to prepare properly for what they were to face, and the situation has hardly improved. In some cases, soldiers used scrapes of metal to add extra protection to the doors of their Humvees.

I'm sick of our our troops being neglected. It's time to either stop this war, or give them sufficient supplies to fight the enemy. If we don't there will be many more problems in the future.

Why We're All Doomed

More snow!!! You have got to be kidding me! I am so sick of winter that I might move to the equator. That's my brilliant solution. Last week I was outside almost everyday. It was great I thought that as soon as the ice melted on the lakes and I got some time I'd be on my way to do some fishing. But no... I've been forced to wait even longer, because some genius who decided to use oil for everything we do, use, or make, set in motion global warming.

We are so dependant on oil as an entire global society that even when we want to fix the Earth (NOW) we can't because oil has a strangle hole on us. If you think of the entire Global community as a person, the oil is the life blood. Now let's think, how do you remove the circulation system of a body without killing the individual? Can it even be done?

Option 1: We can wait until our blood runs dry. Pessimists say that it could happen as early as 2019, while optimists put the the date between 2030 and 2040. But even when you pick which one you want to believe you're still only a DECADE away from the guy who chose opposite you! If we let our supply of oil run out with out having a fall back or some form of fixing the problem, then the world will almost certainly be finished. Nations will turn against one another, unleashing their armies to destroy everything, or the U.S., Britain, and the Soviets will let fly their combined total of 20,000 nuclear missiles, destroying life as we know it.

Now I'd rather that not happen, so, Option 2: We start now, slowly replacing our life blood with another, just as nourishing substance. Methods to do this are already developed, the problem is cost. I don't know about any of you, but I don't like my government, in charge of ensuring my safety, putting a price on my life, but that's what they're doing. We need a change, and now.

Now I know that those who are in power are always criticized on what they do. It's easy for me, down here at the bottom to do, I'm not the one in charge of 300 million lives. Unfortunately for us this translates into option number one being the likely candidate for success. So good luck surviving nuclear destruction all, I'm going to Venus:)

Frazier International History Museum

Telling the history of the world through weapons. That's what the Frazier International History Museum does. I had the chance over spring break to visit the museum, and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the the idea of it sounded cool when my dad told me about it, but I didn't know if it was going to live up to my expectations.

It did however. The place is packed full of history like you wouldn't believe. If you go to their website, http://www.fraziermuseum.org/, you see that they have so many interesting and fascinating mementos from the past. One that I thought was pretty cool was their collection of Teddy Roosevelt's riffles, including his "Big Stick." They have George Washington's rifle, General Custer's colt, and another unnamed rifle that is five feet long, weighs forty pounds, and has to be operated by two men!

You start on the third floor beginning at the disappointingly small collection of Stone Age weapons. Then as you walk around you slowly work your way through time. When you have seen all there is to see on that floor, you simply walk down the stairs to continue your journey through history. And when done with that floor there is yet another for you to go through! Don't, however, let the mass of screaming elementary school kids distract you from this truly wonderful experience. I do advise, that before you go you do a quick brush up on your history so that you can impress the people you're with.

After you have been through the whole museum you can check out the gift shop. Where you can buy a wide variety of things, from swords to Harry Potter books. They have a collection of cologne dating back to the French Revolutionary that you can try on. Or if you like you can buy Thomas Paine's Common Sense, pretty sweet huh? Well that's all I got, if you want more you'll just have to go check it out for yourself.

Rog OUT!!

Generation Kill

Generation Kill is an 7 part HBO mini series that follows the first recon marines as they invade Iraq. Recon Marines are the best of the best. They're used in war to gather Intel on enemy positions and other missions where stealth is essential. On average the U.S. military spends a million dollars to train each recon Marine. Which is a huge jump from the $300,000 spent on the average grunt. The reason they spend so much more is that recon Marines have to be train in every field imaginable, from common fighting to diving and parachuting.

But in this war, the geniuses behind the planning decided to use First Recon Battalion as shock troops. This means that they were the first ground troops to enter Iraq at the start of the invasion. Is this starting to sound like a bad idea? Good.

The series is based on a novel by Evan Wright and is sort of a shot to the command of the Military. The series shows the stupidity of Bravo Company's commanding officers in their need to impress their superiors. It's really frustrating at times to be watching and know that they had to face some of the stuff they did. The extent of the stupidity ranges. In one episode it shows the Marines in light armoured Humvees strong pointing towns so units of tanks and other armoured units can roll through. One of the Marines commented: "Why should battalion send a five million dollar tank to be destroyed, when they can send us in our piece of shit Humvees?"

The series is all about their journey both physically and mentally through Iraq. You see how the war affects each of their personalities, and the actors do a great job of portraying these changes. But one thing that stays consistent through the whole thing is the brotherhood that has formed between these men. It left me yearning for that kind of bond, knowing that any one of the guys would give their life for you and you would do the same in return.

Here's a highlight real from Generation Kill




This war is far different from any war that has ever been fought. World War One start modern warfare and the War in Iraq has started the future of warfare. The Soldiers fighting in this war have been more prepared to kill the enemy. The art of war has been industrialized in the sense that our troops are semi-skilled workers to work the machines of death. I just hope that we don't get too carried away and lose sight of the reasons we fight.