The letters in Japanese that are usually spelled with an R in roman letters represent a phoneme that English doesn’t have; it’s in between r, l, and d. VAs whose native language does not include this phoneme may find it difficult to make that sound because of lack of practice, and because they consciously or unconsciously approximate it with the nearest phonemes that they’re used to.
It’s also helpful to understand when you’re not completely powerless, rather than confusing complacency for inevitability.
I suppose you’re right. We are powerless and griping on the internet is the only catharsis available to us!
I agree, but I also think we need to be aware of what we agree to when entering service agreements. Certainly for something like an ISP for which there is often a monopoly there may not be much of a choice, but even when you do have a choice, how often do you actually read what you’re agreeing to? We have the option to try to vote with our wallets, but instead we’ve collectively just continued to sign up for services that have arbitration agreements. If companies see only token resistance to such contracts then they’re not going to be deterred.
It’s legal because people agree to it as part of entering a contract. And as scummy as you or I may believe it to be, people still enter into such contracts, and courts have not ruled them unconscionable.
You have leaves in your list, too!