Hey, you - vote.

Yeah, you - do it. Vote. It's good for you.

If you're in MN and are unsure of who to vote for, you can go

here for more info (thanks to our pals at A.S.S. for that link).

Seriously, it'll only take you a few minutes, and you'll feel better for it. It is your constitutional right, after all.

So do it.

It's back! Bands You Should Love, Vol. 2

This time the band in question is Metric.

They're a swell band out of Ontario, Canada. You've got smart, hook-driven music, good lyrics with a mix of the personal and the political/topical, good instrumentation and musicianship, and a singer with a swell voice.

Like everyone else on the planet, they also have a MySpace Page, though there's a fair amount of content on their official web page, above.

It's good stuff, and is thus a band that you, loyal HSO-ers, should love.

Um, no.

Last week in Cincinnati, OH., a 14-year-old boy decided to steal a car that had been left unattended as it was warming up. Anyone who knows (or has been) a 14-year-old boy knows that this sort of decision-making is not uncommon for the species.

Well, the owner of the car decided that the way to handle this was to shoot the kid dead.

WTF? W?T?F? Worse yet, public opinion in the area was that the kid was a "thug" and had it coming to him.

Gee, do you suppose that the fact he was black and had a "funny" name might have had something to do with that opinion? Maybe just a little?

Not cool.