Here's a theory that I've just run by some friends on both the right and left of the political spectrum: People who relate better to their father are more likely to turn out on the Right politically, where people who relate better to their mother are more likely to turn out on the Left politically. Now, this whole thing is speculation so far, but so far it seems fairly accurate. I think the reason behind this is that right-wing politics tend to be more paternal and left-wing politics more maternal. For example: in most families your dad is the one who is more likely to purchase firearms to defend the home, seek out and kick the ass of anyone who screws with his kids, completely freak out if you turn out gay, and expect you to be able to learn to handle your problems on your own. Your mother is probably more likely to not want you to leave the house when you become an adult, is more likely to baby you, would freak out if she knew there was a gun in the house, etc. So far this theory seems to apply to all of the few people I've run it by. I'm very interested in hearing if it applies to my readers as well. I encourage everyone who reads this page, including those of you who don't leave comments but who I assume are out there, to post your own political leanings in the comments section, along with whether you relate better to your father or mother.

On an interesting sidenote, my co-blogger Fectin pointed out that a lack of a good father figure and close ties to the mother are a common trait of fascist dictators. How that fits in with my theory I'll leave up to you.

UPDATE: Any readers who have a blog of your own, if you are so inclined, please post this theory on your own blog, along with a link or URL to your post in my COMMENTS, so that my theory can be better tested by reaching a wider audience.

Well, with half an hour left in MLK day, I thought I'd direct my readers to these great posts by Lee at Right-Thinking and Jason of the Kallini Brothers blog.

I'm thinking back right now on myself as a kid, and how much the story of Martin Luther King used to affect me. I literally got teary-eyed in the fifth grade when we had to do a song about MLK in my music class. Now I contrast this with what a cynical old fart I've become in the time since, thanks to politically motivated ass-pods who have bastardized and perverted the concepts of compassion and sacrifice to achieve a political agenda. Goddamn, I miss the blissful innocence of youth.

While we're on the topic, the local news was reporting on MLK day, and did some dumbass -- er, man-on-the-street interviews, and got people's reaction to a city government in our area staying open on MLK day, and the dumba -- men(and women)-on-the-street were bitching about how disrespectful it was for them to stay open. Yay, what better way to celebrate struggle and sacrifice than by staying home and watching day-time television! Fucking morons.

Okay, I'm trying to keep my blog alive here, but I haven't really had anything to say lately. I guess I'm a little bit burned out on politics to be honest. I still read my favorite political blogs every day, and I still follow this crap somewhat obsessively, I just don't have anything to say on these subjects. My new semester starts up on Tuesday, and I really don't feel like doing a damn thing in my final days off. Kinda like how I haven't done a damn thing since New Year's Eve (If Aaron of Free Will is reading this, I haven't forgotten about you, I'm just lazy as all hell).

Anyway, I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask my readers to leave links to posts on their own blogs that they want to draw readers attention to. Anything on your blog you'd like more people to see? Post the link in my COMMENTS section. Hell, it doesn't even have to be something on your blog, just anything you'd like to draw people's attention to on the internet. Something funny on a humor site, links to MP3s for an underground band that you think deserves attention, links to cheesecake pics, or whatever the hell you want. Also, feel free to leave recommendations for me as to how to improve my blog, or comment on aspects that you like or don't like, or questions about stupid stuff I do that you would like to know the reason behind, assuming there is one. Fectin, feel free to pitch in, since I haven't gotten any feedback from you in a while. I know someone out there has to have some complaints.

Alchemy for Dummies is the number one Google entry for "laser-guided shit-bombs." So, take that, internet!

Back when I was in junior high I really got into the band Green Day. In fact, if I remember right, they were the first band I ever bought an album by, and the first band I got into enough to actually spend my allowance on. They were also the first band I ever went to see live. They got me started listening to punk music, which is definitely my musical genre of choice. Recently I've been avoiding their albums like the plague, thanks to their new found leftism and Michael Moore worship. Now, I do listen to plenty of other leftist bands, like Bad Religion, the Dead Kennedy's, and the Dead Milkmen, but something about a non-political band having a sudden bullshit epiphany and taking a high dive into the shallow end of the uber-leftist kiddie pool just bugs the hell out of me. This holds especially true considering that I doubt there's been an album released in at least half a decade that is worth putting up with leftist bumper stickers converted into song lyrics. Anyway, I have not been following the music scene at all lately, so I hadn't really realized the depths to which the dunces in Green Day had sunk to (h/t Liberty Punk).

On the roof of a photographer's studio in a corner of Hollywood so drab it gives
Slugh a good name, the three members of Green Day are discussing whether or not
to desecrate the American flag. Singer Billie Joe Armstrong, who is dressed in
black shirt and skinny red tie, is cautious but keen, while bassis Mike Dirnt,
who is bleached blond and much more aloof, is keener still.
"It means nothing
to me," he sneers. "Let's burn the f*cking thing."
Only drummer Tre Cool, who
is normally the designated prankster of the three and who comes across like Bart
Simpson made flesh, offers the lone cautionary voice. "Isn't it, like,
illegal?"
It is reluctantly agreed that Cool has a point. It's all very well
being punk insurrectionists but there is an album to promote, and nobody wants
to face jail time. In the end, a compromise is reached. The matches stay intheir
box, and instead Armstrong spraypaints the word IDIOT across the flag in large
capital letters, grinning at this apparently considerable fate of derring-do.

I can not believe what complete assholes these guys are. Anybody who is familiar with the band's biography knows that they grew up in poverty, and went on to become multi-millionaires just by playing music. Had they been born in any other country in the world you bet your ass they'd still be on the streets, begging for a fucking handout. They make huge successes of themselves thanks to living in the only country in the world where the poor have that kind of upward mobility, and they spit on the sacrifices of others that gave them every goddamn thing they have. These fuckheads have the luxury to insulate themselves from reality, from the fact that everything they have is only theirs thanks to the previous generations who built this country up and the selfless acts of their fellow Americans who shed their blood to defend it. Fuck Green Day.

Of course, as this guy points out, "And, for what it's worth, you three idiots, it is NOT illegal to burn the flag. How can you guys even pretend to be intelligent and informed enough to tell other people how to vote when you don't even know that?"

From now on, when I need my fix of punk, I think I'll stick with The Vandals for the most part. Not only is their music great, but they're funny as hell, and they're Republicans! Of course, unlike their left-wing counterparts, they don't cram their politics down listeners throats, and their song lyrics are typically very light-hearted, lacking the sanctimonious self-aggrandizement that currently pollutes much of the punk scene.

Apparently animals were able to sense that the tsunami was coming, and fled to higher ground.

Thanks for warning the rest of us, assholes.