No Asians

In this clip from news archives, an Australian man is confronted by a news anchor about his racism towards Asians. The kicker is at the end.



"Agents," not Asians, are the "mob of bloody crooks."

dont txt me bro!

I thought this article from Slashdot was pretty interesting. Apparently, per megabyte, sending SMS (text messages) to your friends and family is four times more expensive than sending and receiving data from the Hubble telescope. It's not exactly a scientifically correct research paper, but it probably rings true (no pun intended) to anyone who's been pissed about a high cell phone bill.

Florida Senator to Castrate Automobiles

From Reuters:

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Senate lawmakers in Florida have voted to ban the fake bull testicles that dangle from the trailer hitches of many trucks and cars throughout the state.

You've probably seen these. Academically challenged individuals often add these chrome cajones to their trucks, along with other hillbilly accoutrement such as confederate flag window decals, motorboat propellers, and the ever popular faux bullet holes.

Republican Sen. Cary Baker, a gun shop owner from Eustis, Florida, called the adornments offensive and proposed the ban. Motorists would be fined $60 for displaying the novelty items, which are known by brand names like "Truck Nutz" and resemble the south end of a bull moving north.

Is this really all Sen. Baker feels is wrong with the state of Florida? Obviously a man with a lot of time on his hands. Hey Baker, you can have my chrome testicles when you pry them from my cold, dead hands!

Critics of the ban included the Senate Rules Chairman, Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican whose truck sported a pair until his wife protested.

He seems like a good husband. A real role model for Floridians.

Florida, you are such a classy state. Please don't ever change.

Taiwan Gets Nuclear Weapons Parts. Guess Who Sent Them.

From the China Post:

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department announced Tuesday that the United States mistakenly shipped to Taiwan four electrical fuses designed for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles but has since recovered them.

Awesome. We spend billions upon billions every year on defense, and this is what we get. Not only are we just shipping out DIY nuke hobby kits to people who don't even want them, but we're sending them to nations whose sovereignty and well being are already at stake (and where I incidentally live, also.)

The error is particularly disturbing, officials said, because of its indirect link to nuclear weaponry and because of the sensitivity of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which China regularly denounces as provocative. The Defense Department said an investigation of the incident is under way.

And this is hot on the heels of another fuck up:

Last August an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown across several states. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

How does this happen? I can understand a clerical error that results in a crate of red pens being delivered to a DOD office instead of a crate of blue pens, but nuclear weapons?! I'm not crazy about my tax dollars being spent on nukes in the first place, but now that I see how wasteful and careless the government is with them, I'm becoming especially opposed to the idea.

China doesn't like its products to be copied, Rest of world rolls its eyes

I saw this article online today and it made me chuckle.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Supposedly ancient Chinese terracotta warriors on show at a German museum are fakes, China confirmed Thursday, condemning the organizers for cheating the public.

The Hamburg Museum of Ethnology has offered refunds to about 10,000 visitors who have already viewed the "Power in Death" exhibition since it opened on November 25 as police probed the authenticity of the warriors.

The display of eight clay warrior figures, two horses and 60 smaller objects has remained open, with a sign stating that its authenticity was in dispute.

The cultural heritage administration in Shaanxi province, home to the 2,000-year-old clay army, said it had been "outraged" because it had not sent any original terracotta warriors to Germany recently.

Oh, boo hoo. So someone in Germany didn't do their homework, and the Chinese are upset because people are paying to see terracotta soldiers that aren't authentic.

The hypocrisy here is staggering. China, perhaps the world's worst offender when it comes to breaking copyright laws and respecting patents, is accusing another nation of ripping off its ancient artwork. Western film and music companies, clothing designers, electronics manufacturers, and countless other industries are losing millions a day to Chinese copycats, and they are raising a stink over eight statues that may or may not be fake.

I hope bloggers in China can see past this blatant attempt at anti-Western propaganda and expose their readers to the truth. Probably not, though.

Grand Theft Auto: Taipei

I found this video of a police chase through Taipei and I thought I'd share.



It reminded me a lot of Grand Theft Auto on Playstation. The police chased this guy for miles and miles, had him in stopped traffic at least twice, and didn't break the window and drag him out. The chase went from city, to highway, back to city. They shot out his tires, but kept letting him drive. Every time he slowed down, they'd fire a volley of shots into this seemingly invincible Honda Hybrid (they build 'em tough in Japan.) Meanwhile the number of police cars (and scooters, ha!) kept multiplying until I figured the only logical next step would be to get a helicopter in on the action.

For those of you who can't stomach violence (or police inadequacy) they do eventually shoot and kill the guy at the end, but it took them long enough.

Japanese War Criminals Alive and Kicking

Someone linked me to an article recently that describes the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII. Such horrendous acts as blowing up Red Cross and merchant vessels and then slaughtering or torturing any floating survivors, cruel medical experiments, and methods of execution ranging from beheading to sledge hammer to the head to burying alive and crucifixion.

British Historian Mark Felton has written a book documenting the horrors of these acts, Slaughter At Sea: The Story Of Japan's Naval War Crimes.

From the article:

According to Felton, officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy ordered the deliberately sadistic murders of more than 20,000 Allied seamen and countless civilians in cold-blooded defiance of the Geneva Convention.

"Many of the Japanese sailors who committed such terrible deeds are still alive today," he said.

"No one and nothing has bothered these men in six decades. There is only one documented case of a German U-boat skipper being responsible for cold-blooded murder of survivors. In the Japanese Imperial Navy, it was official orders."

Imperial soldiers at work exterminating Allies

What bothers me is that even 60 years later, and after overwhelming historical evidence and eyewitness testimony, the Japanese government refuses to formally apologize for war crimes and does nothing to prosecute those responsible for them. Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe refused to admit that the Imperial Army and its contractors kidnapped women from Korea and China and forced them into sexual servitude, and the true nature of the evil and hatred that existed in Japanese society during the time of the Empire is totally diluted or ignored in modern Japanese education.

As much shame and embarrassment as it may cause the Japanese to admit wrongdoing, it must be done if they are ever to be taken seriously as a peaceful nation or are given any of their military power back.

When bad pets go bad, dang!

I've seen this photo before, but I've never read the full back story.

May 18, 2007—A saltwater crocodile holds the forearm of a veterinarian following a grisly attack at Taiwan's Shoushan Zoo in April.

Good God. Remind me to go to the aquarium if I ever feel the need to see Taiwan's imported wildlife.

WTF Japan?

The folks over at cNet's Crave blog have posted a promo video for Sony's new executive tech toy, the 'Rolly'. It's exact functions and purpose are still open to speculation, as Sony hasn't released much but a teaser video, but it appears to be some kind of rolling, flashing, spinning football shaped thing that 'dances' along to music, and possibly does other stuff too. Here's the video, which I actually find quite funny.



My only question is "why?" Why does the world need this? At least their robotic dog could serve as a poop free companion to those who for whatever reason can't get a real pooch. All I can imagine this thing doing is rolling around your house, freaking out your cat, and perhaps getting into a fight with your Roomba. Actually, since Battle Bots went off the air, I've been jonseing for a good robot v. robot deathmatch. Let's see what you got, Sony.

Crave also reports that Taiwanese laptop manufacturer Acer is set to buy Gateway, which will make the company the world's third largest PC maker. Pretty cool, nice going Taiwan.