Damn You, Tiny Penis!!!

I'm not too familiar with James Joyce - I was a history major in college, but I did frequent the bar downtown that bore his name. So it would not be surprising that Ulysses is unknown to me. And if I was to own iPad, it would still be a further mystery, due to Apple's censorship policies.

Decades ago, Ulysses was banned from publication in the United States because of a scene in which (central character) Leopold Bloom masturbates on a beach while fireworks burst nearby, which coincidentally is my plan for the upcoming 4th of July. The courts eventually decided the episode wasn’t obscene because it didn’t promote lust, because, well, think about it - a dude rubbing one out in the sand under explosions in the sky...there's more erotically charged material in a Macys sales ad. But now, a webcomic adaptation of the book by Rob Berry and Josh Levitas has been blocked from iPads and iPhones due to cartoon nudity.

Yep, that's what's causing the uproar...Buck Mulligan diving nude into the sea.

Sure, Apple's policy for the iPad/Phone about sexual content exists for obvious reasons, but this just doesn't hit the mark in my opinion. I think of the uproar from John Ashcroft about covering a statue of Lady Justice because of her bare bosom and wonder how incredibly sensitive some people must be to any part of anatomy (though it's clear they are too sensitive.)

Berry said, "While the first chapter of the book, the one now at iTunes, doesn't contain "offensive language" our comic does have frank nudity. Something we figured we might have to pixelate or cover with "fig leaves". But Apple's policy prohibits even that. So we were forced to either scrap the idea of moving to the tablet with Apple or re-design our pages.

I guess it shows how serious and important Apple views itself, because their definition of obscenity is more narrow than U.S. courts!