Sounding Off

Stuff like this is why I dislike Apple. As if their litigious spree on Android handset manufacturers wasn't enough ("Your device is rectangular? We invented the rectangle so you'll have to pay up."), now they're going after a family-run café.

I'm surprised I haven't been served a court injunction for looking like a human, a design Apple trademarked with their "Steve Jobs" product line.

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Okay, next up is this idiocy about supposedly "racist" Halloween costumes. The idea is, if you're a white person, you're not allowed to dress up as a black basketball player. Better not dress up as a mummy either, because that's probably going to be considered insensitive to the Egyptians. 

The very notion that these people are implying that dressing up as someone or something from outside one's own ethnicity is insulting in itself. It suggests that dressing up as a ninja is somehow different from dressing up as a cowboy. Ever hear of anyone putting up a fuss because an Asian person dressing up as a cowboy is promoting a culturally insensitive stereotype?

As a Japanese person, I don't care if some non-Japanese person decides to dress up as a geisha, ninja, sumo wrestler, or anime character. 

Think about it. If you say, "I bet Italians would find your Super Mario costume offensive" when in fact Italians don't feel that way at all, doesn't that imply that you're the one that is holding some sort of prejudiced view?

Well, at least we got a new meme out of this mess.

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Next: PETA filing a frivolous lawsuit against Sea World as a publicity stunt. This is time, energy, and money that could be doing something productive, but instead we have to deal with this inane nonsense. They could spend their money feeding the hungry in Africa, but instead they have chosen to do this. Members of the judicial system will spend many hours of their time on the case when surely they have better things to do.

Imagine if PETA got its way here. You can say goodbye to your pet dog and cat, that's for sure. Everyone would have to let them free, and they'd all have nowhere to go and nothing to eat. How's that for ethical treatment of animals?

I love animals just as much as the next person, but the world would unquestionably be a better place without PETA.

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Occupy [place]. I don't even know where to start with this one, so I'm just going to post this.

Oh, and this too.

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In conclusion... I've had a rough couple of days. I can't say things are going terribly well at the moment.

On Cell Phone Service

The first result is from my home in southern Orange County, CA. Orange County has a population of just over 3 million.
The second result is from somewhere around here in Inyo County, CA. Inyo County has a population of 18,546. If Inyo County were a city in Orange County, it would be ranked fifth from the bottom in terms of population. Inyo County is pretty huge: it is the second largest county in California and the tenth largest in the US. This makes the population density especially low, at 1.8 people/square mile.

Now, I'm not saying it's a bad thing that I get good data reception even in the remotest of places. My issue is with the fact that I get almost no reception at home, in a fairly populated area. It's not just data, the problem is with voice as well. Get with it, Verizon.

Heap Of Rust

Redefining the phrase "rust bucket" is this 1967 Jaguar E-Type.

The whole car appears to be held together by some straps. It doesn't even have a floor, which means it's worse than a rust bucket. I mean, a bottomless bucket is pretty useless. 

And they want $18,950 for this? Run. Run like hell.

Appalling

Uh, not acceptable. Seriously?

This kind of shit is exactly why some Japanese people hold a bit of resentment toward Koreans. I don't meant to generalize an entire nation based on the action of a few, but you can bet if a Japanese person similarly insulted Koreans, there would be massive protests in front of the embassy in Seoul.