Logically, I know, of course, that this is just a robot, but something about it strikes me emotionally as being *very wrong*.

That said, if it was mine, I'd probably put some sort of head on it, maybe like a fly, along with a lot of shaggy, matted fur, a long slimy pink probiscus, some folded wings and ride it through a small village, just to freak out the locals. Or maybe get that Argentinian Gnome to ride it.
Yeah. That would be cool...

Again, not trying to defend their actions, but I have to say I am a bit disturbed that people really think the worst thing to happen at Abu Gharib was the American occupation of it.

Nothing like this should have ever been done by Americans. When the German concentration camps were liberated in 1945, they didn't fill them up again and beat the hell out of people, did they?

No matter how people try to justify this, it's wrong and should be accounted for completely.

I'm assuming that this is the method George Costanza's electrician used to transport the Frogger machine.

Not exactly unique. In Japan, most convenience stores have orange paint-filled baseballs that can be thrown at shoplifters or robbers, so that they can be easily identified later.

The technique was developed in 1968, after the Tokyo University student uprisings, where police, wanting to later identify students, many of whom were wearing allergy/cold/surgical masks, would throw eggs at rioters.

...and draw your own. But then you would need two sharpies...

Yeah, SO simple, isn't it?
You just need a second sharpie. And then a third to draw upon the second. A fourth to draw upon the third and so on.

An endless, sickening, never-ending cycle...

Just buy the damn things pre-printed and avoid the suffering.

The singer is Joe Raposo.

Ever see Morgan Freeman on "The Electric Company" as a streetwise hepcat, addicted to reading?
"Easy Reader, that's my name... unh, unh, unh..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u8MY7PjSXU

I fully expect to have friends back in the states ask me if this sort of thing is really common over here.

It's just art. Silly, inventive, conceptual art. Nobody will *ever* wear one of these with the idea of protecting themselves from non-existant crime.

I cringe whenever I read the words "All the rage in Japan...," knowing that people are going to latch on to those silly, oddball concepts and use them as a basis for their image of Japan.

It's a bit as though Japanese were reporting that westerners commonly keep crucifixes in jars of urine.