Brand X profile picture

Brand X

No better friend. No worse enemy.

About Me

"That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it..." -- The Declaration of Independence
Former USMC, registered Republican (No, I don't tow the party line), once-certified bullet sponge and hired goon for US corporate interests, now shameless corporate slave, political science major, and ocassionally intellectually prostitute myself as a freelance writer/political something-or-other.
Currently moonlighting as a military analyst specializing in assymetric warfare/counter-insurgency and a penniless mendicant the rest of the time. I'm an easy-going, sarcastic, cynical bastard, eccentric romantic, and monopoly/chess freak. Hey, the great Cyrano de Bergerac was a violent, sociopathic psycophant, and drunkard with a peculiar gift for exquisite poetry and astounding prose. Perhaps romance is merely a psychosis of the mind and a paralysis of the heart; emotionally instantaneous and physiologically overwhelming.
I spent a somewhat disillusioning military career perpetuating deception and untruths for my country; serving a military-industrial complex that had become devoid of conscience, absent of accountability and disturbingly mercenary. Now, I've dedicated my time to the exposition of these lies and the corrupt policies that have led us into numerous and unecessary wars. Yep, payback's a bitch, Kiddos.
I'm generally a very laid-back and out-going kind of guy. I can be quite passionate about things that I truly believe in and if you get me into a heated debate, sparks are going to fly. Like the rest of my fellow cave dwellers and primates, I'm a big football fan whether it be the NFL or NCAA. If you can't find me on the weekends during football season, chances are I'm watching the games.
I am a very independent person who enjoys the company of friends, but also likes his alone time to just think and contemplate. I have a profound love for literature, mythology, history, and independent or foreign film. I'm a huge bookworm and you'll normally find me reading three or four books at a time. I enjoy deep thought-provoking conversations whether it be on current affairs, theology, conspiracy theory, geo-politics or the intricacies of crackerjack box toys.
Lately, I've learned that life isn't always as complex as we seem to think it is. Just apply the principle of Occam's Razor and most things can be broken down into their simplest forms. I've realized that I haven't been taking enough risks lately. Need to throw caution to the wind and stop standing around waiting for Shrodinger's cat to kick down the door with all the answers. We're slowly turning into Pavlov's dogs; content, complacent in our daily routine, unblinkingly unquestioning automatons of an over-bred society ruled by an intellectual conformity imposed by the elite few and falling fast into a Nietzscheien decadence.
Maybe it's time to question rule and authority. Break the ties that bind and forsake the oaths of yesteryear. There is a revolution stirring in the hearts and minds of the collective world soul. What are we going to do about it? Isn't that the question? Perhaps, we'll find an answer. Perhaps, tomorrow or today or yesterday. All the world's, afterall, a stage or so it's said to be.
Need to rant and rave, but have nobody that will listen without having to be put on 24 hour suicide-watch afterwards? Go ahead and hit me up. This six-degrees of separation thing is like the crack of Alighieri's virtual purgatorio, once you get a little whiff, it's off to nose-candy city and beyond the 9th level in a bloody handbasket.
"Misunderstanding breeds distrust...Koyaanisqatsi."
"There are no compacts between lions and men, and wolves and lambs have no concord..." - Homer
"You can't know the vulgarity of war until you've been there, until you've been splattered with your friend's blood." - Anonymous
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - President Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 16, 1953
"I put my hand on her chest to stop the streaming blood. She told me that she could not breathe, her body trembled and she closed her eyes," said Ra'd Abu Saif of his 12-year-old daughter Safa's last moments after she was shot by an Israeli sniper.
"Only the dead have seen the end of war" - Plato
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Teddy Roosevelt
"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." - President Harry S. Truman.
"Guarded within the old red wall's embrace, Marshalled like soldiers in gay company, The tulips stand arrayed. Here infantry Wheels out into the sunlight. What bold grace Sets off their tunics, white with crimson lace! Here are platoons of gold-frocked cavalry, With scarlet sabres tossing in the eye Of purple batteries, every gun in place. Forward they come, with flaunting colours spread, With torches burning, stepping out in time To some quick, unheard march. Our ears are dead, We cannot catch the tune. In pantomime Parades that army. With our utmost powers We hear the wind stream through a bed of flowers."
- Amy Lowell
"Hopeful hearts will find forever / roses beneath the snow,"
"Be polite, be professional, have a plan to kill everyone you meet." - 3/11, USMC
Joke of the Day:
A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off - go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."
From a hilarious scene in Family Guy:Ronald Reagan: Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall, tear it down! (Reagan starts punching the wall of a McDonald's) Ronald Reagan: Reagan Smash! Reagan Smash! Mcdonald's Employee #1: What's that? Mcdonald's Employee #2: Oh it's just Reagan. Just leave him alone, he'll tire himself out. (Reagan lies down on the sidewalk) Ronald Reagan: Reagan sleepy ...
Okay, seeing as you've consistently abused my patience and tolerance. Bands, Promoters, Psychos, Web Cam Chicks, Hackers, etc. Do us both a favour and do not email me. The answer will be a resounding No Thank you and you will be subsequently blocked, reported, eviscerated, hacked into a million pieces, etc. Thank you. This has been a Public Service Announcement. ;)

My Interests

AKS-74, SR-25 SD, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs III, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike, Battlefield: Modern Combat (Xbox Live Clan: Black Sun Underground), Burnout Revenge, Full Spectrum Warrior, BATTLEFIELD 2 (PC) (Username: "0331"), Battlefield Vietnam, Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising, The Sims 2, America's Army, HALO 2, XBOX LIVE, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, Age of Empires DS, Trauma Center DS, asymetrical warfare, combat arms, low intensity conflict resolution, military analysis, geo-politics, sushi, snowboarding, scotch, tilting belligerent windmills, mixed martial arts, writing, mountain biking, military strategy, tattoos, brazilian jiu-jitsu, swords, PS2, chess, classic literature, working out, geo-politics, lockpicks, can-openers, little wind-up toys, blossom, bubbles, and buttercup

I'd like to meet:

Perception, like the various facets of market capitalism is never static, but always in a constant state of flux. "If you could gaze into Alice's looking glass, what would you see? The reflection or the reality?"

Can you keep the textual innuendo flowing and the verbal sparring going at an unrelentlessly frenetic pace? J/K. I won't quiz you on the intricacies of aristotlean true/false dichotomy vs korbyzinskian quantum mechanics or expect inane hippopotomonstrosesquipidelian philosophizing, but being able to have a decent conversation is always a nice thing to work with.

Should I, perhaps, follow in the path of my cave-dwelling counterparts and list highly unrealistic expectations about the type of "Ms. Right" I'd like to meet such as "I'm looking for a hot blonde with the IQ of Sir Isaac Newton, heaving bosoms the size of bowling balls, and a majority stake in Glenfiddich or Anheuser-Busch Corp?" Only in Thomas Moore's Utopia, perhaps. But then she's probably looking for Disney's "Prince Charming." So we're equally screwed.

Just kidding! Actually, I'm really just looking to meet new people and make new friends with similiar interests and ideas.

Everybody and anybody's welcome to add my ugly mug to thier list 'O friendlies. Always up for making a new friend and/or new drinkin buddies. Pardon if I don't reply to messages straight away. Work work and more work up ye ole' Yin Yang. Y'all know the deal. Adios. 'migos!

Nous qui sommes sur le point de mourrir, nous vous saluons. Grle Caesar.

Because it's for a worthy cause, I'm going to include this permanently in my profile. My thanks to everyone who participates.

Animal Rescue League Request:

This seems pretty simple.... Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in need" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors & advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. Here's the Website! Pass it along to people you know. The address is:.. theanimalrescuesite.com

............................................................ ...............

T. Brad's Comedy Cures Donation Page

The International Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Save The World - One Click At A Time!


On each of these websites, you can click a button to support the cause -- each click creates funding, and costs you nothing! Bookmark these sites, and click once a day!

Click here to post this on your page or 'blog

Music:

NIN, the Doors, Stravinsky, Robert Johnson, Rage Against the Machine, Miles Davis, Pete Yorn, Emminem, Bache, Django Rheinhart, Nirvana, Diana Krall, Linkin Park, Chopin, Danzig, Coldplay, DMX, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Sublime, Vivaldi, Bob Dylan, Puddle of Mudd, Ledbelly, Lori Anderson, Pantera, Muddy Waters, Enya, Radiohead, Joe Hisashi, Coltrane, Sinatra, White Zombie, Meiko Kaji, Type O Negative, Tomoyasu Hotei, Taming Ingrid, Colleen Grace, Jack Johnson, Anna Nalick, Bic Runga

Movies:

V For Vendetta, Dark City, Full Metal Jacket, Secretary, The Matrix, Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai, Kikujiro, Fight Club, Grave of the Fireflies, Punch-Drunk Love, Hero, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Fallen Angels, Heat, Gia, Amelie, Spirited Away, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, Underworld, City of Lost Children, Reservoir Dogs, Blackhawk Down, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Solaris, Reservoir Dogs, Shaolin Soccer, Bridge Too Far, Iron Giant, Lord of the Rings, Chunking Express, Oceans 11, Finding Nemo, Casino, The Longest Day, My Friend Totoro, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Housekeeper, Kill Bill, 28 Days Later, To Kill a Mockingbird, Musa: The Warrior, Ringu, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Yojimbo, Man Bites Dog, Lost in Translation, El Dorado, Flesh Gordon, A Bridge Too Far, Ghost in The Shell, Swimming Pool, American Splendor, The Road Home, Goonies, Farewell My Concubine, King of Masks, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Barbarella, City of God, Samurai Fiction, The Triplettes of Bellville, Delicatessen, Akira, Macross: Do You Remember Love, Raise The Red Lantern, Sin City,The Way Home, Once Upon a Time in the West, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Promise, Curse of The Golden Flower, Infernal Affairs, The Repo-man, What Dreams May Come, L'Homme Du Train, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Metropolis, Equilibrium, Innocence, Winged Migration, Happy Tree Friends

Television:

The Simpsons, Family Guy, History Channel, Food Network, Cartoon Network, SCRUBS, PBS, BBC, CSPAN, ESPN, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

Books:

The Rebel [camus], Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies [diamond], On War [von clausewitz], On Guerrilla Warfare [moa tse tung], The Little Prince [antoine de saint-exupery], The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance [petroski], Winters Tale [helprin], Sophie's World [gaardar], A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam [sheehan], The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich [shirer], The Adventures of Paddington Bear [bond], Ecce Homo [nietzsche], The Divine Comedy [alighieri], Grapes of Wrath [steinbeck], Paradise Lost [milton], Wealth of Nations [smith], Book of the Five Rings [musashi], The Peloponnesian War [Thucydides], The Hero With a Thousand Faces [campbell], The Illiad of Homer [lattimore], 1984 [orwell], The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare [poole], Choose Your Own Adventure Books [can't get enough of these damned things], Tristram Shandy [sterne], Don Quixote [cervantes], The Prince [machiavelli], Fortunate Son [puller, jr], The Old Man in the Sea [hemingway], Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance [persig], Strategy [liddell hart], A History of Japan [henshall], War is a Racket [butler], Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace [vidal], Candide [voltaire], The Secret Life of Lobsters [corson], Jarhead [swofford], Man's Search for Meaning [frankl], The Silmarillion [tolkien], The Worm Oroborus [eddison], Morte du Arthur [mallory], Steel My Soldier's Hearts [hackworth], The Conquest of Gual [caesar], The Tiger's Way: A U.S. Private's Best Chance for Survival [poole], Phantom Soldier: The Enemy's Answer to U.S. Firepower [poole], Tactics of the Crescent Moon: Militant Muslim Combat Methods [poole], Usagi Yojimbo [sakai], One More Bridge to Cross: Lowering the Cost of War [poole], One Hundred Years of Solitude [gabriel garcia marquez], From the Dust Returned [bradbury], Ladder Theory: The Fundamentals of Human Attraction [lynn] , The Onion, lord byron, keats, blake, lovelace, rumi, frost, yeats, emmerson, thoreau, de paret, khayam, hafiz, attar, saadi

Heroes:

LtGen Lewis B. Puller, Col David Hackworth , Capt B. H. Liddell Hart, MajGen Smedley D. Butler, USMC . All those who dare to dream. And of course, my Dad, who as an officer, spent 3 aggravating years a POW in Vietnam and especially my Mom for getting him out and doing her best to raise three very incorrigible kids in a new country far from home.
My Lake Isle of Innisfree [life's lessons]:
Like the wind in the meadows and the whisper of the reeds in the early morning mist, my life has seemed to pass me by and here I stand upon its tranquil shore wondering what brought me here to this place where I now reside. It's strange and beautiful how we change and grow with each passing of the day. something new and something old entwined in soft quiet symbiosis like the cool copper of an oroborean serpent. I look back and see a young boy staring out into the endless abyss of raven night; naive and yearning for the stars just beyond his reach. the innocence. the idealism of youth. beautiful and pure as the snow on the sleepy tundra beneath the arctic sky. How soon we forget the simplicity of life as it once was before the cynicisms of experience and lessons of age overtake us. then it is at the twilight of our lives that we yearn once more for that which the child had seen with eyes unclouded by the disappointments of misspent youth and lost love. It has been a long journey through the years of my life and I realise now that I have only yet begun but the first leg of this wonderous road to the understanding of who I am, what I was and will become. I've learned so much in these past few years of my life. Again I yearn to see the world as the child sees the flowers in the garden and the vibrance of the leaves in the autumn wind twirling softly down into the the waiting arms of the gentle earth below. Life is simplicity for those whose eyes have learned to look past the clouded sky and dark abysses that it may bring. for every scratch and every scrape will heal with the passage of time. for every loss there is something found and every friend and love that's passed us by will find another into the sunlight of our hearts as warm as the next. cherish that which you have and live with all the passion of that child who once long ago ran through the woods and the meadows with the reckless abandon of the innocence of youth. and in the twilight of your days there will be no regret, but for not having had more days to spend.
Q & A:
My fashion sense can best be described as... haphazard/wreckless
My sense of humor tends toward... deranged/disturbing
My creative side is... certifiable
When it comes to parties, I'd best be described as... forward
With free time on a day off, I would most enjoy... reading a good book or chasing tree squirrels in the park
When it comes to television, I... brake for the Food Network
When it comes to work, I... need a saloon door for my cubicle
When it comes to religion, I... narrowly avoid being burnt at the stake
My political views lean toward... compassionate conservative right-wing national socialist communism
When it comes to money, I am... the prodigal son
When I'm meeting friends, I am generally... a happy camper
My favorite types of music are... varied, various, multitudinous, everything under the sun, moon, stars, curtains, stairs, etc.
When it comes to pets, I... had an antfarm once. I tell everybody they're in a state of indefinite suspended animation. alright, the little buggers are dead as doornails.
Turn ons... intelligence, wit, intelligence...
Turn offs... materialistic individuals who affect my chi in a negative counter-productive manner
Favorite Social Events... dunno. .when are you bastages gonna invite me to something, eh?
Conversation Starters... Hi, that's a fine peice of brocolli you've got stuck in your teeth. Is that like the size of a small pony or what?...
Favorite Quote... "Confirm Subscribe to Blog: You cannot subscribe to your own blog."
You would never guess that I... am a knuckle-draggin neanderthal. Okay, nevermind, good guess...
B Bashful
R Radical
A Adventurous
N Neat
D Dangerous
O Orderly
N Nerdy
Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."
-- The Declaration of Independence
awe·some·ness Pronunciation [aw-suhm-ness] –adjective 1. inspiring awe: more so than just awesome. 2. showing or characterized by insane levels of awesome. 3. Slang. Insanely impressive: That new white convertible is made of awesomeness.

My Blog

30 May, 2008 - Iraqis say Marines handed out Christian coins

Let me just say this, Marine or no Marine, this moron should have been handed over to the Iraqis to deal with as they saw fit.  I know all you flag-waving fair-weather patriots will be unable to ...
Posted by Brand X on Fri, 30 May 2008 08:30:00 PST

Identity Theft & Fraud - Two Lives, One Social Security Number. Why Govt & IRS dont care.

Two lives, one Social Security numberPosted: Tuesday, May 27 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan Like arriving home to see a broken window, Holli knew something was wrong when she pulled up the st...
Posted by Brand X on Tue, 27 May 2008 10:21:00 PST

Chalabi-gate: None dare call it Treason. Neocons behind bars? In a perfect world...

May 28, 2004Chalabi-gate: None Dare Call It TreasonNeocons behind bars? Sounds good to me&. ..tr> by Justin Raimondo ...
Posted by Brand X on Thu, 15 May 2008 08:33:00 PST

02 April, 2008 - The Troubled Homecoming Of The Marlboro Marine: Rollingstone

The Troubled Homecoming Of The Marlboro Marine This is the face of the war in Iraq. The mind behind it will never be the same. ByJENNY ELISCUPosted Apr 03, 2008 11:39 AM Luis Sinco/LA Times Bl...
Posted by Brand X on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:18:00 PST

02 April, 2008 - The Myth of the Surge : Iraq five years after "Mission Accomplished!"

The Myth of the Surge Hoping to turn enemies into allies, U.S. forces are arming Iraqis who fought with the insurgents. But it’s already starting to backfire. A report from the front lines o...
Posted by Brand X on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:47:00 PST

26 Mar, 2008 - TIME: Iraq - Counting the Costs. The Real Meaning of 4,000 Dead.

The Real Meaning of 4,000 Dead Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008 By LIEUT. SEAN WALSH Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008 - The passing of the 4,000th ...
Posted by Brand X on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:30:00 PST

17 Mar, 2008 - Millions of Asian workers producing goods sold here are trapped in servitude.

Bottom of the Barrel Millions of Asian workers producing goods sold here are trapped in servitude. Photos: Mark Ralston / AFP-Getty Images (lef...
Posted by Brand X on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:32:00 PST

14 Mar, 2008 - McCain says al Qaeda might try to tip U.S. election

What?!  Is Karl Rove working for the McCain campaign now?  Seriously, how stupid does McCain think the American people are?  Oh, wait...we’ve been stuck in Iraq since 2003 with no...
Posted by Brand X on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:16:00 PST

15 Feb, 2008 - Study: Lack of MRAPs cost Marine lives

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer 58 minutes ago ...
Posted by Brand X on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:27:00 PST

04 Feb, 2008 - 9/11 Commission had to go through Bush advisor Karl Rove

9/11 Commission had to go through Bush advisor Karl RoveBy Max Holland Feb 04, 2008 - In a revelation bound to cast a pall over the 9/11 Commission, Philip Shenon will report in a forthcomi...
Posted by Brand X on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:52:00 PST