Cap Phantom

The individuals who are in the military are always in the process of serving the nation and protecting its interest. With the menace of terrorism striking every nation, they have seldom time for them or their family. They too have to take care of their near and dear ones. With such a busy schedule and moving along the whole nation, we can imagine that it becomes difficult for them to manage their finances. In recognition of their deeds, lenders are offering financial assistance in the form of military loans.

Military loans are a special financial loan scheme meant for the individuals serving in the defence sector. The loans are designed to help the person to fulfill their various needs such as paying off education fees, medical bills, home renovation, going for a vacation etc. Designed specifically for the defence personnel, the loans are offered at lower interest rates with easy terms and conditions.

As the borrowers are from the military, the interest rates for the Military Loans are drastically reduced. As the borrower is having a government job with a stable flow of monthly income coupled with certain privileges, the rates are lowered. To further achieve, the low interest rate, individuals can take the help of designated military loan consultant. The consultant will contact the lenders and banking institutions that provides loan at low interest rates. After going through the various interest rates, the loan can be availed at low rate of interest.

There are certain provisions to be fulfilled before availing military loans. The borrower needs to provide documents like ETS, bank account statements and salary details to the respective lender. If the concerned borrower is serving in a foreign country, they too can avail military loans.

Before obtaining military loans, the borrower should evaluate the amount required to meet his personal needs. The availed amount should be such that the borrower can easily pay back the loan within the stipulated time period.

There are several types of gun holsters in the world today. It seems like the vast majority of people today own a gun for one reason or another. For the most part, people buy a gun to protect themselves because the world is getting unsafer everyday. What a funny concept right? Buy a gun because the reality of the world is that it is getting more dangerous all the time. For those people that have a gun, considering a holster is a great idea in order to carry your firearm around in a safe manner. One of the best holsters is the military holster.

A military holster is superb because they have a number of benefits. Some of the benefits include that it can easy be converted to a shoulder or a chest holster. Normally you attach it to your hip. It has a nice easy open flap that allows for convenient access. It comes in multiple colors, designs, and materials. It is waterproof and it has a quick lock system in case you need to rip the military holster off your belt. Those are to name just a few of the benefits that a military holster provides but there are countless more. If you are in the market for a military holster, you can find one easily.

The Internet is the best spot for a military holster. Shop around and mix and match different types of military holsters to find the best one for you. If you don´t like the Internet, you can check out a gun shop or outdoor store and they might carry some for you to purchase. Wherever you look, try and get a military holster you are comfortable with. Guns can be fun but they are dangerous. Military holsters will make it safer to have a gun.

Q: What was the legal framework for the use of force?

A: Even where resort to force is justified, as it was for Israel in responding to heightened attacks by Hamas, customary law limits the manner in which a state can exercise force. The principle of distinction and the principle of proportionality are both designed to protect civilians, while taking into account the military necessities and the exigencies of the situation

Civilian casualties in an armed conflict does not in and of itself establish any violation of international law. The critical but often omitted link in determining the legality of an attack is whether the attacking forces sought to observe the rules of the Law of Armed Conflict, particularly the principles of distinction and proportionality. The IDF made extensive efforts to comply with these principles while Hamas made no attempt to comply with them.

Q: What are the principles of the Law of Armed Conflict that Israel adhered to – and Hamas did not?

A: The first core principle of the Law of Armed Conflict is that the parties to the conflict distinguish, at all times, between the civilian population and combatants.

It is unlawful to deliberately make civilians the object of attack. The principle of distinction does not forbid the targeting of combatants, nor the targeting of civilians who take a direct part in the hostilities. This principle addresses only deliberate targeting of civilians, not incidental harm to civilians in the course of striking at legitimate military objectives. The presence of civilians at a site (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) does not by itself forbid an attack on an otherwise legitimate military target. The expected presence of civilians, though, does impact the analysis of the proportionality of an attack.

Everyone is aware of the dedication and the sacrifices made by military personnel in the services provided to their country. But, do we do something to uplift the quality of their life? Though we place them on a pedestal, sing laurels about them and provide tributes to their service not much is being done to actually help them better their individual personal and family lives. Keeping that in focus a special program called Armed Forces Loan Forgiveness Program was started after 11 September 2001.

This program is mainly focused on providing relief to a tune of $2,500 to people who have been in active service between 11 September 2001 and 30 June 2008. This is applicable to student loans and can be availed only once. This is totally a private funded program and does not involve the government in any manner. It is run by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEEA) that oversees the entire functioning of the program. Also, there is no burden on the taxpayers to fund the program in any manner.

Apart from the eligibility criteria for the personnel to be in active duty between the stipulated periods mentioned, there are other criteria that need to be fulfilled to be able to avail the loan forgiveness program. Only loans such as AES, Consolidation, HEAL, Keystone EXTRA, SLS and Stafford are eligible for participation to this program. The loan payments should not be in default and be paid correctly till the current date. Only loans provided before the deadline i.e. June 30 is eligible.

Last but not the least the military personnel should have a connection to Pennsylvania to be eligible for the loan forgiveness program. For this, the person should be either a resident of the state presently or should have had their education in Pennsylvania before joining up the armed forces or should have been in the state when they entered the armed forces. For non-residents to be eligible is only possible if they had their education at a state college and joined the military right after their education. If the concerned military personnel match up with all these eligibility criteria, then they can get loan forgiveness through this program.

The entire process of applying has been simplified and made easy. The interested personnel can get the form by going online and visiting the PHEAA site at www.pheaa.org and downloading it. After completing the form it can be forwarded to the PHEAA office at the following address: AES Loan Forgiveness Group, Post Office Box 2461, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-2461. The interested persons can also access a helpline by using the number 1-800-233-0557. The applications should reach the office before 31 December 2008 to be eligible for the program.

Even though $2500 is not a substantially high amount in today’s times, something is definitely better than nothing to help our military personnel tide over their financial difficulties. For this reason, many of our military personnel are utilizing this program to help them reduce their burden of never ending financial commitments in life.

Happy Birthday U.S.A.
By Coach John Daly
July 4, 2009

What a great start to the day, here on our nation’s birthday.

First of all, the sun is out. Here in Michigan that’s a big deal, especially the way June ended, where for a few days it felt like summer was over and fall had arrived. I think summer is back, which is a very good thing.

On a day that we celebrate our nation’s 233rd birthday it’s nice to see people flying the American flag out on a day like today. When I grew up, it was rare to not see a flag out in front of the homes. It’s something that many people might not think as being a big deal today, but I’m glad to see many people still getting ‘ol glory out in front of their homes. It would be nice to see this happen a little more often, not just on holidays.

I’m also reminded about our nation’s birthday, the 4th of July, the history of our country and the prominent role that our military played in all of it. I’m watching the ATT Golf Tournament sponsored by Tiger Woods held at the Congressional course in Washington D.C. The military is honored throughout this tournament. The stories from them, the interaction with them and the PGA professionals along with having this tournament in their honor, just goes to show how we should not forget them and what they have done for our country.

We need to remember their service from what’s going on now in the world all the way back to when our country started. Our country has a lot of history that we cannot forget. All the work our forefathers did; the risks they took putting everything on the line to help make our country the longest form of government that the world has ever seen. It’s not perfect and there are things that are wrong with it - but it’s still the best in the world.

What can we do to keep this greatness going? What are your thoughts on this? Is our country ok going in the direction we are going? Do we need to remember lessons from the past? I know politics gets into this topic a lot.

What do you think? I’d be interested on your thoughts.  

Copyright Coach John Daly, 2009
http://www.coachingtoexpectsuccess.com