Bruce The Psychic Guy

4:14pm: the happening world / que viva obama

From Yid With Lid, Friday, November 13, 2009:

Napolitano Announces Obama Plans to Give Amnesty to Illegal Aliens

This afternoon Department of Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano announced that President Obama Plans push for “immigration reform” by giving the estimated 14 million people who are in the United States illegally “fair pathway to earned legal status.” ...

“A tough and fair pathway to earned legal status will mandate that illegal immigrants meet a number of requirements—including registering, paying a fine, passing a criminal background check, fully paying all taxes and learning English,” Napolitano said Friday at a panel discussion at the liberal Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

“These are substantial requirements that will make sure this population gets right with the law,” Napolitano said. “It will help fix our broken system.”

Napolitano said the Obama administration is working to end the recession and put Americans back to work but said giving legal status to illegal aliens will “strengthen our economy.”

Hey, Obama voters, when one of these guys shoots you, robs you, or takes your job, just remember: you asked for it.

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12:14am: the happening world / p.c. kills

In today's WorldNet Daily, columnist David Kupelian asks:

Why, after a Muslim commits a terrorist act, do authorities always announce almost instantaneously—before they could possibly know—that the attack was not terror-related?

Why do the news media always torture themselves and their readers with the most wildly improbable explanations in their attempts to avoid the obvious truth?

[ ... ]

Everyone attributes it to “political correctness,” but I think it’s time to move beyond that shallow, passé, near-meaningless phrase.

Do we dare admit what is really at play here? The truth is actually very simple.

We are afraid of Islam. We are intimidated by Islam. And because we are afraid of and intimidated by Islam, Islam is changing us—in two distinct and profound ways.

(  ...  )

And yet there were warning signs, such that were we not blinded by our fears and cowardice, we would not merely have seen them, we would have acted on them—and prevented last week’s terrorist attack.

According to the London Telegraph, in an article headlined, “Fort Hood gunman had told U.S. military colleagues that infidels should have their throats cut”:

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 at America’s Fort Hood military base, once gave a lecture to other doctors in which he said non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.

He also told colleagues at America’s top military hospital that non-Muslims were infidels condemned to hell who should be set on fire.

Hasan made these incendiary jihadist comments “in front of dozens of other doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington, D.C.” during a talk on the Quran, according to the report.

And how did his fellow doctors respond?

Although they were horrified, “One Army doctor who knew him said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim soldier had stopped fellow officers from filing formal complaints,” reported the Telegraph.

Are you with me? “A fear of appearing discriminatory” caused 51 brave American soldiers to be shot by an Islamist monster, 13 fatally.

Yes, yes, I know, I'm a racist, extremist, hater “Islamophobe”, etc, Fine. Whatever. Mea culpa.

But still, you have to wonder: who will be the unlucky victims the next time some "quiet, hardworking American Muslim" decides to use a gun to earn his 72?

The next time, it could be you or me.


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5:47pm: the happening world / of the people, by the people, for the people

Yeah, letting the common man have a say in government... that was a great idea.

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2:16pm: the bitpig rant / church and state

New rant over at the blog. Worth a free minute or two if you're into that sort of thing.

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3:03pm: the happening world / LA LA LA ISLAM IS RELIGION OF PEACE LA LA LA

The BBC's Gavin Lee interviews 'Duane' at the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen the day after the killings at Fort Hood:

Duane: I'm not going to condemn him for what he did. I don't know why he did it. I will not, absolutely not, condemn him for what he had done though. If he had done it for selfish reasons I still will not condemn him. He's my brother in the end. I will never condemn him.

Gavin Lee: There might be a lot of people shocked to hear you say that.

Duane: Well, that's the way it is. I don't speak for the community here but me personally I will not condemn him.

Gavin Lee: What are your thoughts towards those that were victims in this?

Duane: They were, in the end, they were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims. I honestly have no pity for them. It's just like the majority of the people that will hear this, after five or six minutes they'll be shocked, after that they'll forget about them and go on their day.

"Most Muslims are peace-loving people who would never dream of committing a terrorist act". Yeah, right.

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8:05pm: the happening world / la la la nothing to do with religion la la la

From today's: [UK] Telegraph:

Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists

Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001. Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year.

The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations. Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday's horrific shooting spree.

LA LA LA NOTHING TO DO WITH ISLAM LA LA LA

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10:21am: the happening world / mecker mucker

From today's Frontpage Magazine interview:

The murders by Malik Nadal Hasan at Ft. Hood, TX are not a "lone wolf incident" as being described by most media organizations. Hasan had been taught the ideology that is being advocated by hundreds of Islamic scholars and Imams in the U.S. We as a country can continue to deny there are numerous Islamic leaders and their supporting organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MSA, and MANA, to name a few, who advocate killing innocent men, women, and children whom they allege "oppress Islam."

How many more incidents similar to this that have been occurring in America does it take before even the media wants to report the truth? Politicians will always say or do whatever will get them their next vote in an upcoming election, but there was a time in our history when journalists reported everything and were not concerned with "political correctness."

This type of journalistic reporting is dangerous and in itself is a national security issue. Journalists and their affiliated news organization are so afraid of being labeled or sued by organizations such as CAIR that they will withhold the truth from the American people. In part, the murders of innocent people are partly the fault of such journalists and politicians who support organizations such as CAIR.

My team and I have conducted first-hand research at over 200 Islamic Centers in the U.S., and in various Islamic organizations such as CAIR. There is one common denominator: There is an open hatred being advocated by Islamic scholars toward Christians, Jews, and Muslims who do not adhere to ‘all aspects’ of Sharia law (Islamic law).

The materials being distributed by these scholars are very clear in their message: violence against anyone who “oppresses” Islam is justified. It makes them subject to the punishment of death.

– Dave Gaubatz, federal agent, co-author (with Paul Sperry) of Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America.

Call me a bigot if you like. But next time, it may be your loved ones -- or you -- who gets to find out the price of tolerance.

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10:26pm: the happening world / the time has come to crown the new rap king

Possibly the only truly great rap song ever made.



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3:49pm: the bitpig rant / diversity for thee, not me

New rant up over at my blog. It will piss you off. Please read it.

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10:18pm: the happening world / talent

Alyssa Monks is an artist. To be specific, she's a painter in oils.

A PAINTER

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12:22am: context / the uncompromising eye

Amid Amidi at Cartoon Brew, 9 October:

Recently I revisited The Visual Craft of William Golden, a book published in the early-Sixties about the legendary CBS creative director. There is an essay in the book by CBS exec John Cowden that sheds light on Golden’s artistic integrity, and helps to explain why the advertising work created under his guidance remains to this day the strongest body of advertising ever created for a TV network.

Golden’s world revolved around graphic design, illustration and advertising, but I find his experiences to be relevant to creative people working in any commercial field, and especially animation. For example, Cowden recounted how Golden was offered a promotion from creative director to an upper management position. Golden flatly turned down the offer, Cowden wrote:

Many years ago, when he was offered the title of Vice President in charge of Advertising and Sales Promotion, he said no thanks. His reasons were significant—and characteristic. He said the stripes would be bars…that they would force him to become a “company man”…to take the so-called “broad view” at the expense of principle.

Bill preferred to keep his independence and to preserve his inalienable right to shout—when the occasion demanded—that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes. In any case, he said he didn’t want to go to meetings, or be snowed under by administrative duties. I mention this because it reveals how Bill was willing to sacrifice anything—including his own advancement—if he felt it stood in the way of better design and advertising.

The story, incidentally, has an ironic but delightful ending. In scorning the conventional status symbols, Bill won far more. By turning down a vice presidency, he eventually gained a respect and status that outranked any vice president in the company.

Contrast Golden’s unwavering integrity to all of the animation artists in recent years who have moved into high-profile executive and management positions. In every case—with the notable exception of John Lasseter [OSCAR®-winning director and screenwriter, now chief creative officer of both Pixar and Disney animation studios-- Ed.], these artists have unwittingly weakened their creative influence and become part of the problem by entrenching themselves within broken production systems.

Golden, who refused to become a part of upper management, also had his own ways of dealing with clueless business people. Again, from Cowden’s essay:

This integrity and pride in craft were also apparent in his willingness to lay his job on the line if anyone tried to invade his special area of responsibility. I remember a layout for a rate card he once submitted to his superior—the President of the Division. It came back by messenger with a note saying “I don’t like it very much. Let’s discuss.” Bill’s answer was simply to scotchtape a drawing pencil to the corner of a large layout pad and send it back with this message scribbled across the top sheet: “Let’s not. Why don’t you make a better one.” There was no reply. The rate card was produced as originally designed.

***

Please link to read the complete article.

William Golden was the creative director at CBS during its glory years. He created the CBS "look", including the famous Eye, and with it the entire field known today as "corporate identity".

I have no idea what William Golden's politics were, and I don't really care. However, as a former advertising art director myself, I find his work and his story to be equally compelling. Suffice it to say that a guy like Golden would never survive in today's corporate world, where refusing to grovel before the Front-Office Scum is a guaranteed way to end up with the contents of your desk in a box by the end of the workday. William Golden did not take crap from bean-counters, marketing pimps, or stuffed-shirt MBA jockeys. He was a designer and did not tolerate Money Men who insisted they knew more than he did about his field. He could and did put his career on the line many times rather than permit non-designers from "corporate leadership" to interfere with his craft.

William Golden died in 1959 at the age of 48 -- far too early. We won't see his like again. There were men in those days.

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ACADEMY AWARD(S)®, OSCAR(S)®, OSCAR NIGHT® and OSCAR® statuette design mark are the registered trademarks and service marks, and the OSCAR® statuette the copyrighted property, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

3:58pm: special / suck it, bitches

Great news! I have just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Graphic Literature!

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12:32am: the happening world / your freedom has been a lie

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6:57pm: the happening world / amerika no manga ga unko desu

Kodansha to American manga creators: YOU SUCK. “It doesn’t really make sense to set up serialization magazines unless your aim is to generate new original series locally.”

In other words, “OEL manga isn't worth wasting our time on.”

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1:29am: the bitpig rant / haze gray and underway

New rant over at the blog: a look back at a dark time in my life. Maudlin crapola, ahoy!

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10:05pm: continuity / the blue light special rides again

New rant up at the blog. Also, major update to Webgraphics and Miscellany over at the Flickr site. Drop in and kill off a few rainy minutes, won't you?

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12:09am: special / never forget

***

Eight years ago today.

***

My 2009 commemorative poster.

For an 11" x 17" copy of this poster, PayPal US$5.00 + $3.00 shipping to me and I'll send it right along.

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11:39pm: Writer's Block: On the Airwaves
Practical information, public service announcements, "theater of the mind", separated by jazz interludes. No live mike.

5:38pm: the happening world / you damn right

President Obama gave an excellent speech today. I found his address to the Veteran of Foreign Wars Convention at the Phoenix Convention Center to be uncharacteristcally similar to several speeches given by the previous Commander In Chief (though much more smoothly delivered). While I disagree with what he had to say on a few points (cut funding for he ABL? WTF?) , I was in complete agreement with much of his message, such as his remarks on the war in Afghanistan:

The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight and we won't defeat it overnight. This will not be quick, nor easy. But we must never forget: This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is a -- this is fundamental to the defense of our people.

Damn right it is, Mr. President. And it's heartening to hear you say it out loud.

Kudos to president Obama for his tough and realistic words today.

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11:01pm: the bitpig rant / no such thing as trolling

As the true plans of the Forces of Evil and their political puppets in Washington begin to become clear, the average American appears to finally be getting it. The recent spectacle of our betters in Congress being shouted at by the rabble over the proposed Obamacare bill seems to have lit a fire under the body politic. Democracy in action, they say -- as if that were a good thing.

But even though I am adamantly opposed to the federal government's proposed takeover of my most intimate affairs, I'd like to state for the record that even though the rabble and I happen to agree on this issue, I am neither of them nor for them. They believe in democracy.

Democracy? I loathe it, along with all forms of representative government.

Why? Because of pity. I'll explain:

As the twilight of the Republic begins to fade and "night cometh", let us at long last be honest about our fellow Americans. The average Town Hall terror — like the average American — is a semi-literate moron. As are most people everywhere, they are herd animals, cattle, incapable of any real analytical thought or higher reasoning, mere beasts of the field, interested only in copulation (sex), fodder (Endless Breadsticks the Olive Garden!), and unsophisticated physical pleasure (sports). Given this undeniable reality, can any sane person seriously advocate government "by the people"? The American people are like most people everywhere: sheep. And they have no more business governing themselves than does any other flock of sheep. They need a Good Shepherd to guide them and protect them from predators. Unfortunately, our flock decided years ago that shepherds were unnecessary -- and without them became mere meat for the age of mass slaughter.

But over the years, the sheep have become capable of one thing: perceiving a threat if it gets close enough. And -- unfortunately for the current crew of Evil Shepherds in Washington -- even a herd of sheep as thick as ours can tell when they’re about to be fleeced (or in the case of the elderly and chronically ill, culled from the herd). Thus the bleats of the Golden Corral buffet gang down at the town hall. The American people may be stupid, but they’re not blind and deaf — and Congress just found that out.

In the end, however, sheep will be sheep -- passive creatures, with no real will of their own -- and soon enough the Evil Shepherds in Washington will use the power of their Magic Idiot Boxes to get them under control again. Then, like any flock sheep headed for slaughter, they'll settle down and fall in line. And then: THE HARVEST.

Their only hope is that a shepherd from the Forces of Good can gain control of them and stampede them over the Evil Shepherds first.

Now, don’t go looking at me. I’m a sheepdog who dislikes the company of sheep. And even though it is my duty as a sheepdog to protect them, in the end all I can do is bark a warning as the Shepherd gathers them in.

This is why I hate democracy: because sheep get the Shepherd they deserve -- and it's sad to watch them file one by one into his killing chute.

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8:15am: special/ hiroshima

\

69 years ago today.

""Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than 2,000 times the blast power of the British 'Grand Slam,' which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.

"The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid manyfold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production, and even more powerful forms are in development.

"It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East( ... )


Photo: Seizo Yamada (7 km northeast of Hiroshima)

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3:18am: continuity / never too late to hit the old restart



A sudden burst of creative energy and desire for new leaf-turning hit tonight. I feel better already!

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8:29am: the bitpig rant / a depression tale; or, my struggle

Twenty-three years ago this week, I walked out of Norfolk Naval Base a free man, Other Than Honorable discharge in my hand, thus ending one of the most ignominious of my many, many failures: my military career. Yet I was once a good sailor. How did I come to be "separated" from the Navy without honor?

Here's the story, and what I learned from it. Read it, then decide for yourself if I was a victim or a loser.

My story: I enlisted in the U.S. Navy during an extremely dark period in my life (details unimportant). Despite what you might think about me as a prospect for military service, I was actually pretty good at it. I had no real problems with the whole boot camp thing, and upon graduation I was commissioned a petty officer -- sort of like making Corporal right away after finishing Army boot camp. I was promoted to this non-commissioned officer rank right out of “A” School (Machinist Mate training school -- where you go to learn how to run and fix ship engines and associated equipment), and was on the fast track to a great career as a nuclear power worker -- one of the well-known Navy Nukes,the sons of Admiral Hyman Rickover of blessed memory.

Unfortunately, my nuclear power career was tragically cut short not long afterwards. It happened while I was in Nuke School (Naval Nuclear Power School, then located in Orlando, Florida). The stress levels, lack of sleep, and physical environment of Rickover Hall triggered in me a full-on case of what I can now see was clinical depression, complete with physical symptoms (shingles, among others), psychotic episodes, massive, massive alcohol abuse, the works. I called it the Fog -- a sort of inability to connect to anything, including reality. I was bad off, doing all kinds of crazy stuff — stuff that could have easily resulted in my death -- and no one noticed.

Instead, they waited until my grades dropped below the requisite levels, then flunked me out and sent me to the Fleet.

Aboard ship, I started off doing well — but soon enough the Fog began creeping in again. As any carrier sailor knows, the danger of having someone with a severe untreated psychiatric condition aboard ship is extreme — although I wasn’t capable of committing acts of deliberate violence against others, my growing inability to focus on (or often even understand) what was going on around me, combined with periodic out-of-my-freaking-mind episodes, could have gotten me (and many others) killed out there. I thank God that my guardian angel was on the job! Toward the end I was doing some truly strange things — a licensed psychiatrist would have diagnosed me correctly in about ten seconds. I was, frankly, nuts.

Finally, a concerned superior -- a truly compassionate person who was in charge of my work area -- sent me to sickbay for an evaluation. By that time I was no longer capable of standing watches; instead I would hide in the #4 shaft alley (one of the ship's four propeller shaft areas) for hours on end. I simply could not face or deal with reality any more; even the simplest tasks were confusing and incomprehensible to me. The Navy M.D. aboard ship classified me as a malingerer (i.e. a person trying to get out of hard work by pretending to be sick) with an attitude problem; he also gave me some ointment for a bad "fungal infection" (shingles, a depression-related skin condition) and transferred me to light duty in another department. By then I was barely rational and totally out of control. At the advice of my shipmates in my new work area (who were more than understanding, God bless them), I filed a lengthy request for a medical discharge, which request reads today as the rantings of a madman -- yet no one noticed. My request? Denied, of course!

Anyway, this process went on for months, until it finally came to a head not long after our combat deployment to the Gulf of Sidra in April of 1986. Upon our arrival in Naples, Italy shortly thereafter, I lost it completely, and ended up wandering Italy alone on a truly crazy trip with no destination in mind. Viva untreated depression! I eventually ran out of money and turned myself in to the Italian national police. They called the Navy, who sent me a train ticket -- and that journey ended in my arrest. They then court-martialed me, made me do a month in the brig (in solitary confinement — oh, that helped!), busted me four grades, sent me home, and gave me an Other Than Honorable discharge.

Don't worry -- there’s a happy ending. Years later, I finally received the psychiatric care I needed, and I’ve had a successful career and a happy family since then. But how different might my life have been, and how much more use might the Navy have gotten out of me, if I had been properly diagnosed by a licensed doctor of psychiatry during my time in the service!

WHAT I LEARNED: In my opinion, the government-run medical system which provides health care for U.S. military personnel leaves much to be desired, especially in the area of psychiatric care.

So I ask you: am I a victim of untreated mental illness, or just a loser who couldn't hack it, trying to use depression as an excuse to prop up my weak ego? You be the judge. I'm open to both conclusions.

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12:00am: special / usa ftw

EXTRA: The Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (LRO), currently orbiting the moon, has imaged five of the six Apollo landing sites. Want a squee?

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10:00am: the happening world / um err ehh

July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969

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