Traditional Mother's Day Open Thread

Happy Mother's Day!

Comments

[Jack is Back!]

To all the mother's out there.

This is your day. Seize it!

Go to the spa, spend freely, drink champagne, sabotage the satellite dish, pick the roses, buy candles, lay outside, soak up the sun, be lazy, buy a diamond and just keep loving us like you have for a lifetime.

Happy Mother's Day!

[bunky]

Moms rule

[Pagar]

Happy Mother's Day!

[Pofarmer]

Yes, now I need to get my wife something while she's at work today.

But, heh, I did make omlets this morning.

[Aaron Wong]

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a mother's day letter to help get you started!

http://www.lookingformylife.com/home/2010/5/9/dear-mom-a-mothers-day-letter.html

[rse]

Happy Mother's Day!

Flowers, champagne and good weather.

The idea of Joe Biden in Brussels and not invited to Red Square is astounding.

Guess that look Medvedev gave BO a while back really did show how they regard our current leadership.

LUN

["Profesor" Gochez]

Feliz Dia de las Madres!

Now join me, amigos, in defeating the white man who stole our land!

[Jack is Back!]

Reading rse's link to AT, I am struck with the question - outside of certain Hyde Park denizens, does Obami have any "special relationships"?

[Rocco]

Happy Mother's Day to all our JOM MOMS

[Melinda Romanoff]

Happy Mother's day to all the momx of JOM!

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 12 at Raz. And Happy Mother's Day.

[MarkO]

Happy Mother's Day to all.

[Pagar]

"does Obami have ANY "special relationships"?"

Looks like he does!

[matt]

what Jack said!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you.....

[rse]

Here's hoping that this year there will be no homage to Michelle's arms.

[centralcal]

Jane has posted Installment No. 2 of her Portugal travels.

After not getting arrested (sorry, you'll have to read her post), she and Caro take a tour bus, which they ditch and continue on foot. Jane is surprised by the state of disrepair much of the city is in and mentions footbridges with gaping holes and no warning signs for those walking on them.

Anyway, I decided to bing for some images of Lisbon and the 3rd photo right at the top of the results shows that perhaps they were wise to get off the tour bus. There are holes and there are HOLES.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Now join me, amigos, in defeating the white man who stole our land!

Tu madre, cabrón.

[centralcal]

Now, now, Pagar, Obama does have special relationships in Chicagoland, too!

Very special relationships.

I was surprised in looking at photos of Dr. Whitaker how much he looks like he could be the younger brother of Rev. G.D. Amerikka.

[nathan hale]

Happy mother's day, all, wow that's one heck of a pothole there, one if reminded when in Lisbon, of Candide, and the 'media's 'best of
all of possible worlds' attitude

[Rick Ballard]

Happy Mother's Day!

[jimmyk]

Yes, now I need to get my wife something while she's at work today.

But, heh, I did make omlets this morning.

Po, that is exactly my situation (both the omelets and needing to get a gift while she's at work). Any good gift ideas?

[Pagar]

How glad I am that Mother did not live to experience This.

"Want to say grace before a meal? Not so fast. That is the message given to some senior citizens at a nursing home."

I can not imagine my Mother not saying grace before a meal.

[JM Hanes]

As a mother, I'd like to thank the fathers out there! And as a mother, I'd like to wish Michelle Obama a Happy Mother's Day too. From everything I've seen, I think that's one place she has earned her stripes.

[Janet]

Happy Mother's Day

Pagar, I noticed Obama didn't mind being photographed with Chavez...unlike Netanyahu.

[Clarice]

Could you link to You, Too..I forgot to bookmark it? Thanks.

[Pagar]

http://youtoocongress.com/

You Too

[Pagar]

As the hours of darkness Approach.

"Breaking News: Angela Merkel Coalition Loses Majority In German State Vote According To Exit Polls"

"German Finance Minister Rushed To Hospital On Eve Of Last Greek Bailout "

"the whole world is watching with baited breath to see what happens in Europe before 6pm eastern tonight."

[peter]

God Bless All of the Mothers Out There. And in the coming years, may more of them be married to the fathers of their kids. Truly alarming stats these days about the percentage of illegitimate births. Thank you, very much LBJ. Great legacy you left behind.

[Clarice]

Thanks,pagar.
Yes, peter..41% of American babies born to single moms last year.
Awful.
And then the yappers will moan about children living in poverty and unequal results in education--as if none of this mattered or any society has ever long survived with this kind of social breakdown.

[Captain Hate]

Thank you, very much LBJ. Great legacy you left behind.

I remember when Moynihan was roundly pilloried for suggesting what the consequences would be and thought "Something is rotten in Libville."

[Badmintoning hatches.]

It should be an interesting evening, Pagar.
===================

[He makes me sick.]

Serve him apple pie at a baseball game on Mother's Day, and watch him put it on his lapel.
=================

[Porchlight]

Happy Mothers' Day JOM!

[Porchlight]

41% of American babies born to single moms last year.

And we have a President to match. Well, according to his wife, anyway.

[If Europe melts though, silver vaporizing will be a will o' the wisp.]

Hey, speaking of Mother Morgan, we could use a silver thread among the gold.
==============

[nathan hale]

How do you lose your majority, if you tie in a provincial election

[anduril]

Links I liked at RCP:

Fareed Zakaria
Terrorism’s Supermarket

Why Pakistan keeps exporting jihad.

from its founding, the Pakistani government has supported and encouraged jihadi groups, creating an atmosphere that has allowed them to flourish.

...

Consider the tribal area where Faisal Shahzad is said to have trained on his visits to Pakistan: North Waziristan, where the deadliest groups that attack Afghans, Indians, and Westerners hole up. Although last year the Pakistani military took the fight to South Waziristan, a haven for groups that have launched attacks inside Pakistan, the generals have refused to go into the North, despite repeated entreaties from the United States and NATO. As far as the Pakistani military is concerned, there's always a compelling reason why now isn't the right time to go there. And the respected Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, an expert on the Afghan insurgency, recently reported that Pakistan continues to have influence with the Afghan Taliban and is using that leverage to force the Kabul government do its bidding rather than to broker a peace between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

IOW, when we leave, we'll be back to pre 9/11 in Afghanistan.

The Times Square bomb failed. What will we do when the next bomb works?

By Richard A. Clarke

The unfortunate fact is that such cases represent a kind of terrorism that is virtually impossible to disrupt. These attempts will continue, and from time to time one of them will succeed, with many dead and injured. The more relevant question, therefore, is: How will we respond when that car bomb does go off?

The reason such attacks are hard to stop is rooted in the identity of the attackers. They often seem to be successful or well-educated members of society, uninvolved in any form of radicalism. But then, the drip-drip of terrorist propaganda -- either on the Internet or circulated through friends -- has its effect. They quietly make contact with radical groups overseas, perhaps even traveling abroad for training and indoctrination. They throw away the life they have made in the West and agree to stage an attack. Faisal Shahzad, the alleged Times Square terrorist, fits that profile, as have others in the United States and Europe.

For U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities, these newly minted terrorists are the hardest to stop.

And why is it that we need those people here?

Race and Resentment
By Thomas Sowell

When we have that national conversation on race, could we please start here?

Happy Mothers Day!

[daddy]

Fun watching baseball this Mother's Day;

The gorgeous green of the infields,
The smell of new mown grass,
The vendors selling beer and peanuts,
The sound of ball smacking leather,
The PINK Baseball bats being used by the losing Cub's...

[Extraneus]

I remember when Moynihan was roundly pilloried for suggesting what the consequences would be and thought "Something is rotten in Libville."

Yeah, me too, Captain, and since he didn't say anything that wasn't obvious to everyone, the pillorying was for saying it, not for what he said. They know, and they knew it then.

[jimmyk]

The unfortunate fact is that such cases represent a kind of terrorism that is virtually impossible to disrupt. These attempts will continue, and from time to time one of them will succeed, with many dead and injured. The more relevant question, therefore, is: How will we respond when that car bomb does go off?

I get a bit tired of this line that because we can't stop 100% of these attacks, we therefore shouldn't focus on preventing them. Stopping 99.9% of them is a lot better than stopping 99% of them. So it matters how we do it.

I thought Ann Coulter was in top form with all of this:

...it would be a little easier for the rest of us not to live in fear if the president's entire national security strategy didn't depend on average citizens happening to notice a smoldering SUV in Times Square or smoke coming from a fellow airline passenger's crotch.

...the federal government's crack "no-fly" list failed to stop Shahzad from boarding a plane to Dubai.

To be fair, at Emirates Airlines, being on a "no-fly" list makes you eligible for pre-boarding.

[Clarice]

Holder says the Times Sq failed bombing was the work of the Taliban in Pakistan and that he is seeking Congressional revision of the public safety exemption to the Miranda rule. What next? Another dealy in closing Gitmo.

Even clowns have to face reality now and then.

Top Obama administration officials jettisoned the theory that the Times Square terror suspect acted alone on Sunday, revealing that the Taliban in Pakistan — known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan — hatched and bankrolled the failed plot.

Eric Holder, making his first Sunday shows appearance as Attorney General, told ABC’s Jake Tapper on “This Week” that investigators have “now developed evidence that show that the Pakistani Taliban was behind” last weekend’s attempted bombing of Times Square.

“We know that they helped facilitate it,” Holder said. “We know that they helped finance it, and that he [suspected bomber Faisal Shahzad] was working at their direction.”

Holder also said for the first time that the administration is open to modifying the Miranda rules that protect criminal suspects in custody, and will work with Congress to revise its public safety exemption, which allows for delaying the warnings in the event a suspect has knowledge of an immediate danger to the public, to adapt to an age of terrorism.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36965.html#ixzz0nSecPlAj>Yu don't say

[Extraneus]

Is there any doubt what will happen if terrorist attack succeeds during this administration?

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

[anduril]

To be fair, at Emirates Airlines, being on a "no-fly" list makes you eligible for pre-boarding.

She does have a certain flair, doesn't she?

BTW, news accounts seemed to indicate that there have been compliance problems in the past with Emirates Airlines. Just sayin'.

[jimmyk]

Holder also said for the first time that the administration is open to modifying the Miranda rules that protect criminal suspects in custody, and will work with Congress to revise its public safety exemption, which allows for delaying the warnings in the event a suspect has knowledge of an immediate danger to the public, to adapt to an age of terrorism.

And he apologized on behalf of the President for all the attacks on George Bush's handling of the war and terror, which he now acknowledged was the correct approach all along. "We're learning on the job," Holder said. "It turns out we could have just adopted the Bush approach right from the get-go, but we wanted to find out for ourselves, even if a few people had to die in the interim." [/writer's embellishment]

[anduril]

I get a bit tired of this line that because we can't stop 100% of these attacks, we therefore shouldn't focus on preventing them.

Agree entirely. He's asking a necessary question, and he's not saying to forget about prevention, but he needs to reaffirm the importance of prevention. If you don't you get the tone wrong and send the wrong message. It would also be nice to have our security people speaking out about shortcomings and ways to approve. We've had very little constructive of that sort--mostly just political maneuvering.

[Clarice]

There was a report that LE had notified a number of airlines personally about Shazam. If Emirates airlines was known to be problematic, one would have thought they'd have been on that phone list, but they weren't.

[MarkO]

Just to keep you up to date: Iran will get the bomb and the terrorists will kill many more Americans. Lower your expectations. Obama is far too unqualified to maintain any reasonable degree of safety.

Happy Mother's Day indeed.

[anduril]

Thank you, very much LBJ. Great legacy you left behind.

I agree about the awfulness of it all, but let's lay the blame where it belongs. How many of us speak out when we may have the opportunity, for fear of offending? Even I have a mixed record on that. Yes, you read that right--even I do, because I'm perhaps less bashful than most in that regard. Even more to the point, where have those who are paid to give moral direction been while all this has been developing? When was the last time most of us have heard a sermon/homily about this? How many of us patronize movies/TV shows that normalize socially destructive behavior? It's not easy, but no one said it would be, either.

[daddy]

Mount Redoubt has a gorgeous plume this Mother's Day against a beautiful blue sky, which unfortunately doesn't come across very well in this ">http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/Redoubt_-_DFR.php"> current webcam shot, but is a nice excuse for a Mother Nature's Day Update.

The ash cloud from the Iceland boomer has now ">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_iceland_volcano"> closed Portugals Airports. (Uh oh Jane and Caro).

This story from last week says ">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627594.300-rumbles-hint-that-mount-fuji-is-getting-angry.html"> Mount Fuji is acting up, portending the first decent 'kaboom' over Tokyo since the 1700's.

Earthquake wise, old Gaia rumbled of another 7.4 last night in Aceh, Indonesia, but DoT's ">http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/special/California_Nevada.php"> California is back to less than a thousand quakes a week (since the big Matamoros shaker a few weeks back), and up here we're just clipping along at our usual rate of ">http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/special/Alaska.php"> 300 temblors a week.

[cathyf]

Five more loads of laundry to go! (Happy Mothers Day to me... :-) )

[daddy]

Anybody know how to politely demand some pix of little Porch from our favorite new Mom, Porchlight?

[Eric holds her Chandler handles her]

Quakers and shakers.

Excellence, delivered.

[jimmyk]

There was a report that LE had notified a number of airlines

Ok, I give up. Who/what's LE?

[Clarice]

Happy Laundry Day, cathyf

[Rick Ballard]

Law Enforcement

Any bets on the EUnuchs achieving peace in our time prior to Asia opening?

[PD]

If Obama doesn't know how to work an iPod and thinks they're distractions, why'd he think it was such a great gift for the Queen?

[Captain Hate]

FYI cathyf, I do the laundry in the Hate household.

[Clarice]

Rick, I wouldn't bet on it.

[Pagar]

Making hiring decisions Easy

"The problem with having a professional liar come speak at Commencement is that doing so has just destroyed the very reason you went to be "educated" - unless, of course, you went to college to learn how to lie effectively."

Reference Rick's question: Will the EUnuchs achieve any
thing, period?

[Melinda Romanoff]

5 Myths of The Greek Crisis, by the Rogoffs, in the WaPo.

Nice and concise.

[Extraneus]

Seriously, for every problem or crisis, The Obama left's solution is for government to amass more power. Unemployment, health care, it doesn't matter. Never a real solution, never even any real concern, only an opportunity for government to take more power and limit freedom. (Does anyone think the left really believes in Keynsian economics?)

I'd bet the statist plans are already drawn up for their response to a successful terror attack. The bigger the attack, the better the opportunity. Internet? National ID? Gun control? (Did Shahzad use a gun?) If it happens, we should be prepared for an immense power grab. Surely they were jealous of the opportunities that Bush had after 9/11.

[Threadkiller]

">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100509/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_times_square_probe"> White House says Pakistan Taliban behind NY bomb

Do you think Obama will keep his campaign promise?

"Obama said if elected in November 2008 he would be willing to attack inside Pakistan with or without approval from the Pakistani government,..."

Tough talk on Pakistan from Obama

Bryan

[Threadkiller]

Oops.

Happy Mothers Day!

Bryan.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

I'm sure there will be an announcement. Maastricht and Basel II will be further abrogated and their will be a "commitment" of €500 billion or so. It will have precisely the same effect as the "peace in our times" pronouncements of the previous three Sundays.

I don't think they'll make the Asian market opening though. They will bookend "too little" with "too late". Again.

[Clarice]

Blame it on the UK hung Parliament or sunspots or something. Reuters surely will.

[Extraneus]

More on that Obama commencement speech.

Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation," Obama said.

Did any of the students believe that bs about not being able to work an iPod, never mind the fact that everyone has been "emancipated" since at least 1865? His attempts at deprecating humor provide real deprecating humor.

[PD]

Dunno whether the students believe him, but it's easy to demonstrate that he's a liar, unless he wears his iPod just for show.

[maryrose]

Happy Mother's Day to all. After brunch at a very crowded Cheesecake Factory I retired to the Adirondack chair in the backyard to feel the sun on my face.As to Bennet and to the soon irrelavent Crist in Florida-stop embracing the Messiah Obummer and start finding jobs for your constituents.

[Extraneus]

I think Clarice is right that these fools are creating an un-PC generation. Kids have pretty good bs detectors.

[Captain Hate]

"some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction,"

A malapropism is born. Where's that idiot Medved to tell me what a great orator he is?

[Janet]

Like Ann says, Everything is a Fraud.

Anybody know how to politely demand some pix of little Porch from our favorite new Mom, Porchlight?

...and daddy, are you on Facebook? Porchlight put up a lot of pictures of little Robert...what a blessing.

[nathan hale]

So, how does he get those addresses up on Youtube, after all. His teleprompter has no clue about the audience he is addressing

[bunky]

hillary is a superhero

[nathan hale]

For that matter what about the Ipod loaded with his own speeches he gave the queen

[cathyf]

So if the queen had said, "Hey, I've always wanted one of these, show me how to work it..." then Obama would have been hosed?

[Extraneus]

From Rasmussen via Drudge, Dan Coats surges to a 51 to 36 lead in Indiana.

In surveys since Democratic Senator Evan Bayh’s surprise announcement that he would not seek reelection, Coat’s support in match-ups with Ellsworth has grown from 46% in February to 54% last month. Ellsworth’s support in those same surveys has remained in the narrow range of 32% to 34%.

Ellsworth voted in favor of the recently-passed national health care plan, but 59% of Indiana voters favor repeal of that plan. The Indiana finding includes 48% who Strongly Favor repeal. Thirty-eight percent (38%) oppose repeal, with 26% who Strongly Oppose it. Those figures are similar to the national average.

[bgates]

iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work

It's such an embarrassment to have a tired, old, out-of-touch codger like McCain as President. He almost sounds proud of his ignorance.

To think we could have had a tech-savvy, race-reconciling, net-spending-cutting, Israel-supporting, terrorist-fighting patriot as President, and instead we're stuck with this guy. What a disappointment.

[Extraneus]

Heh. Good point.

Why Doesn't McCain Use a Computer?

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., introduced a new TV ad his week that paints Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as out of touch for being, when it comes to technology, shall we say a touch "old-school."

"1982, John McCain goes to Washington," the narrator says. "Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't. He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors 200 billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class. After one president who was out of touch, we just can't afford more of the same."

[nathan hale]

He really is giving the memory hole people at Minitrue a lot to work with

[Rick Ballard]

"Blame it on the UK hung Parliament or sunspots or something. Reuters surely will."

Close. Article 122

The EU is invoking the "exceptional circumstances" clause of Article 122 of the Lisbon Treaty, arguing that the euro is subject to an "organized worldwide attack".

Tick-tock from The Economist

I define "organized worldwide attack" as "reaction by the sentient segment of the human population" but that might be a bit too restrictive.

I wonder if Aticle 122 was derived from Catch 22?

[Janet]

LUN is a link to Nashville Flood Relief T-shirts....just one little way to do "something".

[anduril]

On Sunday mornings before church my wife and I go for a nice long walk. Halfway through we stop at a Starbucks. This morning my wife noticed a guy with a T-shirt that said "DLI" on the front (Defense Language Institute). So I walked over to read what it said on his back: "We learn Arabic so you won't have to." I liked that.

[DLSC]

Queens? We have no interest.......

Scientists agree with Hawkings. The aliens are going to kill everyone.

LKJ

[Walter]

Happy Mothers' Day to all the fantastic women here who find time to enrich our lives as well as those of their families.

And a very special thanks to those who make it possible for us non-moms to find the time to Net-socialize.

[Clarice]

If you recall the reason McCain didn't use a computer is because he was so badly tortured by the Viet Cong he cannot manipulate his hands to type.
Not that smart ass Obama noticed.

[Clarice]

walter, it's always a treat to see you here.

[Rob Crawford]

I get a bit tired of this line that because we can't stop 100% of these attacks, we therefore shouldn't focus on preventing them. Stopping 99.9% of them is a lot better than stopping 99% of them. So it matters how we do it.

They had the same "argument" about ballistic missile defense: we can't stop them all, so why try to stop any of them? It made no sense when the price of NOT stopping each was possibly 10s of thousands of dead, and makes no sense when the possibility is hundreds of casualties.

Oh, and then you toss in their attitude towards other areas of life, and any possibility of them being intellectually coherent disappears. They have a bass-ackwards view of the purpose of government, determined to see it "protect" us from our own choices, while neutering its ability to protect us from others who intend to do us harm.

[nathan hale]

Steyn's weekend commentary in the OCR, refers to Mohsen Hamid's 'the reluctant fundamentalist,' as an analog to Effendi Shahzad. Of course we can always expect that Taquiyya might have been involved in the times
when he wasn 't readily considered a suspect, except for the JTTF in 2004.

[Clarice]

narciso??????

[Mad Jack]

Thanks Clarice. Sometimes I think I'm reading code. Glad to know I'm not alone.

[nathan hale]

What was confusing about that,

[Rick Ballard]

Thank goodness. The euro has been saved!

The IMF would contribute an additional sum of at least half of the EU's total contribution, or euro250 billion, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado said.

Lessee - the US furnishs 17% of the IMF budget and a euro cost a couple pennies less than $1.30...it's gonna cost US taxpayers less than $60 billion to save Europeans from having to give up their six week vacations and 36 hour work weeks.

That's a real steal.

[Thomas Collins]

Happy Mothers Day to all JOM moms and to all moms of JOMers.

See LUN for a short summary of how the growth of the administrative state, championed and facilitated by the progressive movement, makes a mockery of the governmental structure set forth in the US Constitution.

[Clarice]

ARGH--Rick--so they negotiated among themselves an said the IMF should kick in even more==$150 billion more.

[x men first class]

O never hated banks.

[Pagar]

"The Euro has been saved"

At least for today, tomorrow--who know?

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

I believe the new number is over and above My Big Fat Greek Bailout. There's a fair possibility that Obama's alligator mouth has far outrun his tweety bird ass on this one. I believe a bit of legislation must be passed before Turbo Timmy can write the IMF a check.

The Democrat sponsor of the Senate legislation which will have to match the more easily passed House version should sit next to Bennett of Utah. They can chat together about retirement plans as they watch the bill go down.

[Clarice]

Good point, Rick..

[jimmyk]

"My Big Fat Greek Bailout"

Love that. Meanwhile I'm scratching my head trying to figure out where these people think the free lunch is coming from. I guess they think they can paper over everything for a couple of years till they move on, and then watch the whole house of cards come tumbling down from a safe distance. No wonder gold is still $1200/ounce.

[Rick Ballard]

European Central Bank Begins Full Scale Monetization

jimmyk,

And the other shoe drops - what's the source of funds for the ECB purchases? They don't have access to Uncle Ben's printing presses - or do they?

The central bank also said that it will reactivate temporary liquidity swap lines with the Federal Reserve to resume U.S. dollar tenders at terms of 7 and 84 days.

Uncle Ben prints Bambibucks to loan to the ECB so they can buy total crap distressed bonds which will be used as collateral for the loans from Uncle Ben.

Very cool. Can I sign up for the program?