The always enjoyable Shankar Vedantam has unearthed some new research suggesting that the most aggressive drivers are those who have lots of bumper stickers and other “territorial markers”:

It does not seem to matter whether the messages on the stickers are about peace and love—“Visualize World Peace,“ “My Kid Is an Honor Student”—or angry and in your face—“Don’t Mess With Texas,“ “My Kid Beat Up Your Honor Student.“

[snip]

Szlemko and his colleagues at Fort Collins found that people who personalize their cars acknowledge that they are aggressive drivers, but usually do not realize that they are reporting much higher levels of aggression than people whose cars do not have visible markers on their vehicles.

Drivers who do not personalize their cars get angry, too, Szlemko and his colleagues concluded in a paper they recently published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, but they don’t act out their anger. They fume, mentally call the other driver a jerk, and move on.

“The more markers a car has, the more aggressively the person tends to drive when provoked,“ Szlemko said. “Just the presence of territory markers predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver.“

Speaking of superficial images…

“While the crowd was indeed diverse, some students at the event questioned the practices of Mrs. Obama’s event coordinators, who handpicked the crowd sitting behind Mrs. Obama. The Tartan’s correspondents observed one event coordinator say to another, “Get me more white people, we need more white people.” To an Asian girl sitting in the back row, one coordinator said, “We’re moving you, sorry. It’s going to look so pretty, though.”

I’m sure they did look pretty! But wait! We celebrate diversity yes….except when diversity could lose us a vote or two…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/ap_on_el_pr/obama_muslims_1

And remember, the democrats have set forth strict guidelines mandating the racial and gender makeup of those attending their convention.

I would really, really like to crack open one of their heads and poke around inside just to see what such a shallow, synthetic freak world is like. It’s one thing to be a fool. It’s completely different to WANT to be fooled…and be proud of it.

Oh…and save the EARTH!

Nobody said there was anything “wrong” about it, just like there’s nothing “wrong” with picking your nose in public. Just as there’s nothing wrong with criticising those who do both.

As for indians, they wore feathers to signify earned status…like WW2 vets who’ve actually done something to be proud of. Getting caught wearing unearned feathers would be considered just as shameful and pathetic as pretending to be a vet.

Indians also painted themselves up with war paint in order to strike fear into their adversarys. I call it the “puffer fish” complex. Make yourself look mean and intimidating and you may just bluff your way out of conflict. This is what bikers and thug gangstas and punk rockers all dabble in, which is why the guy to really look out for is the nondescript quiet fella off to the side. His sense of self is in his head, not draped across his bumper or back.

I don’t see anything the least bit wrong with bumper stickers. I don’t have any because I don’t want to look at idiotic slogans every day, but I only see them as personalizing an otherwise impersonal and stifling universe. Harmless. Cute.

Did American Indians wear feathers in their hair because they have inferiority issues ? I don’t think so.

What about the huge, nay enormous, popularity of personalized license plates ? Is a plate advertising a WWII vet something to be ashamed of ? I think not.

What about bumper stickers honoring Iraq vets, lapel pin flags, body tattoos, or breast cancer cures ?  Often criticized but seems harmless to me.

It could well be true that folks who emblazon their bumper with a message are willing to go to the mats to defend it. So what ?  You got a problem with that ?

(he says with a grin)

I myself refuse to take my bumpernutz off the hitch; a badge of moral superiority and good taste to those less blessed with cultured refinement, and an object of great personal pride and satisfaction. I have a bathtub in my backyard. Not as a planter. Just a tub.

I never mark territory with a goofy sticker; prefer to lift up my leg and scent mark your tires with urine to mark territory.

Bumper stickers are like tatoos and body piercings. It’s often the only way insignificant people can draw attention to themselves. Of course, people who need to draw attention to themselves are often suffering from serious inferiority issues, self absorbed and hyper sensitive to what they believe are insults…vehicular or otherwise.

Just like emblazoned T-shirts. “Born to be a Bad Ass”; “Live to Ride, Ride to Live” (Harley Davidson), etc. And, my all-time favorite: The Huge Green Marijuana Leaf! (Arrest me—Please! I like pot, want you to know it & in fact have some on me now).

Sure, these signs say a lot about the person’s insecurities.

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