Soldiers of Fortune

I read a captivating article in this months edition of Rolling Stone magazine about mercenaries. It profiled a group of privately employed individuals who fulfill security contracts in Baghdad and southern Iraq. These men are paid exhorbant sums of money (up to $20,000 monthly) for their services, regularly use black market weapons outlawed by the U.N., and generally cruise Baghdad with a "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" attitude. Having read many copies of "Soldier of Fortune Magazine" while standing at the local Winn-Dixie magazine rack as a prepubescent youngster, this came as a somewhat interesting shock to me. Old dreams of soldiering, "taking back" hills and valleys that never were mine to begin with, and the overall concept and mystique of "Special Forces" have since been running through my mind. Although I doubt that the current situation in Iraq mirrors the image of enviable position of Vietnam Max Fischer that I have in my head, (Hello, Esposito. - Will you marry me, Le-chahn ? - You bet I will. ...") it still brings a certain rush of adrenaline down my spine. This caused me to consider other (G-rated) childhood adventure fantasies that I have not yet fulfilled. These of course include pirate, Money Pit mystery solver, "internationally known" writer, detective, etc.... as well as a few teenage and college career goals: lottery winner, hidden trust fund recipient, drug lord, rancher... To tie it all together, what are some other misplaced dreams that may have gotten moved aside in the chaos of daily living and reality? Also, do any of them still exert that regular "pull" on your more rational side?

The Ethical Alternative 

Nixon Picture

I've been following the upcoming election rather closely lately. I got rather upset over a "debate" I was involved in recently, and I thought of this idea..... why not offer voters the opportunity to choose a man who not only lied to voters, but tried to subvert the entire electoral process?! So go ahead and write in Nixon / Agnew for President / Vice President in Fall of '72 - I mean, '04.

p.s. I made the image myself, from an old nixon / agnew bumper sticker pic I found. Considering my inability to manipulate images like this in the past, I'm rather pleased.

Also makes a great T-shirt, especially appealing to those who are intrigued by Nixon. (like me)

Pieces of skull

I recently tried to place myself within the confines Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. While I feel that my physiological and safety needs have been met, I can't say that I was as sure about my affiliation and esteem levels. Overall, I think that I hover between these areas. I don't kid myself about self-actualization. I'm nowhere near it. However, much of what I think about Maslow stems from a fundamental understanding of semantics. What is self-actualization and just when does it start to become approachable? It seems to me that most text and reference works portray self-actualization to be as easily attainable as the basic needs before it, a point I strongly disagree on.

I seem to have replaced the desire to actualize with a desire to loathe and destruct. My potential hasn't been reached yet, and I'm not holding out too much hope that it will in the future. I wish people used mottos more often. Mottos can give a lot of insight into how people think or feel. I've had several personal mottos. For about a month now, I've tried to make mine "Let It Be". Alternatives could be: Let sleeping dogs lie. That's water under the bridge. Be comfortable with who and where you are. The preceding idea is one that I am considerably preoccupied with.

Here's a link to a pretty thorough Maslow introduction, if you're interested or would like a refresher: http://web.utk.edu/~gwynne/maslow.HTM

Yo to you

and there was light.