How often do you plan a fun-filled weekend getaway that your entire family goes on? We are heading to The Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky. My brother, Jerry and his family are already there, as is my sister, Alice and her family. Heading out today will be my older brother, Adam with his family and me with mine.

So, look out Sandusky, Ohio in a short while you shall be Poletown! We are doing this to celebrate Mother's Day and for us Mother's Day is less about gifts and more about spending real quality time with your kids. So, this year, the kids get the gift and we get to enjoy splashing, water slides and resort life!

Not a bad way to honor your mother and be honored as a mother.

Glenn sacks is at it again. This time he takes GREAT UMBRAGE with women that expect the father of their young children to make with some gifts for Mother's Day. In one case, a divorced woman with a 4 year old daughter sent her ex-husband an email from the daughter.

“‘Hi Daddy,’ I typed, as my daughter was fast asleep. ‘Mommy has been talking about Mother’s Day. I only have 143 pennies in my piggy bank. She’s the best mommy ever. She’s been pretty exhausted. I’d like to get her something nice. Can you help? Love you.'“It was a slightly pathetic, but possibly cute, way of reminding my daughter’s father about Mother’s Day."

What does Mr. Sacks think about this: "I love that–mom is so entitled to even more of dad’s money that she brags in the national media about using her four-year-old’s identity to deceive her ex. She feels the need to “remind my daughter’s father about Mother’s Day,” as if it’s his problem."

I get that this dude is all about protecting father's rights. It's a cause that I have always supported. BUT...this is just ridiculous and frankly makes him seem like an obtuse kook! To suggest that this woman DECEIVED her ex-husband is unbelievable. IS he suggesting that the father is so fucking stupid, so dangerously naive that he believed a 4 year old child could have penned such an email. Using good grammar, spelling, caps and punctuation? If so, then that is a father that needs adult supervision and regular instructions on how to inhale and exhale, so he doesn't pass out from lack of air every few minutes. This isn't about being entitled to HIS MONEY, it's about recognition of all a mother does.

I'd bet my last dollar that she wouldn't need a reminder to take her daughter to the store to purchase a trinket for her daddy. Clearly, they are on good terms or she wouldn't have sent the email and he wouldn't have sent her to a spa!

There are many injustices in this world, Mr. Sacks. This isn't one of them. This just makes you look like a bitter and angry woman-hater. A Masculinist? Whatever. Keep fighting the good fight and all that but you keep crying over innocuous bullshit like this and people will start thinking you and even your cause are nothing more than big jokes.

I love this song. And Jordin sounds great with Chris Brown!

Despite the pronouncements from the media punditry Hillary will not drop out of the race. That's what I like about her. Would this race be Obama's if Florida and Michigan were counted as they should be?

She's losing on a technicality that isn't even her fault. You know this race is crazy when we start wondering what will happen in West Virginia and Montana... Wow, just wow.

Anyway, I'm glad she won't drop out. It's not like she's being blown out. This is a close race and she has every reason to want to wait until the Democratic process [i.e. people voting] is complete. Marc Ambinder has written 7 Reasons for Hillary to Stay in the Race. Being a Michigander, I'm partial to reason number 1:

Do you know someone with Cancer? Have you yourself survived it? Did you ever lose someone you love to Cancer?

I did. In 2001, I lost my father to Cancer when he was only 64 years old. Because this issue is personal for me and I'll bet personal for many of you, I am walking in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Why am I telling you this? Because I was hoping that someone reading this blog might just be inspired to donate some money to this very worthy cause. My team is very appropriately named Girls with Curves. If you want to help out, please click the link!

I have a few. One of my biggest pet peeves is refusal to take responsibility for your actions.

Nobody likes to accept blame but there comes a time in your life when you have to be an adult and say - I fucked up. Or it's my fault. People that have a chronic inability to say those words will spend days, weeks and yes, even years blaming everyone or everything ELSE but themselves for their woes.

We have no fault insurance but rarely have I ever seen a no fault car wreck. Yes, they call them accidents but someone is responsible for the wreck. Trees don't uproot and jump in front of cars unless a tornado is afoot. If you have a head on collision...someone clearly fucked up.

Sometimes things happen but more often than not someone or many someones made them happen... It's high time people "man up" and accept the blame for their mistakes. And yes, this includes Presidents, Senators and Congresscritters. Everyone.

Stop passing the buck, stop playing helpless victim, just stop already! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, accept responsibility for yourself and move forward.

Another pet peeve of mine... "Change" left in the toilet. How hard is it to wait 10 seconds to make sure that a 2nd or even 3rd flush isn't needed? If I want to know whether or not you ate corn for dinner, I'll ask. I don't need visual aids.

I was gonna talk about poor Eight Belles being euthanized at the Kentucky Derby but I hate beating a dead horse.

So, instead I'll say Rev Wright may finally be the death of Obama's campaign. We shall see tonight - if Obama tanks in NC.

RIP Eight Belles...

Clinton is sure to win in Indiana and my guess is that she will win that state by nearly 10 points.

North Carolina has been Obama's to count on for a while. Now we shall see what if any trouble came his way via Rev. Jeremiah "Imus" Wright.

My guess is that Clinton will snatch victory in NC, shocking everyone and then the imploding Obama camp will claim that NC isn't important.

So, what happens if Hillary wins NC? Even if she barely wins it will be the elephant in the room for the Obamatrons. They will no longer be able to ignore the fact that Obama is in trouble and maybe they will start playing nice with Hillary. I say maybe but likely not. Once you are drinking that much koolaid it's hard to stop.

What happens to Obama if he can't pull out a victory in NC?

Are you shocked? I thought they were all done but NO! Not only that but they have a blog. Guess who will be guest blogging for them on Friday? Our very own Mark Adams will be doing it via American Street.

So keep your eyes open and go give Mark some love...

Before I ever listened to anything Bill Kristol said...

That reversal of a three-point McCain lead to a six-point deficit for the McCain ticket suggests what might happen (a) when the Democrats unite, and (b) if McCain were to choose a conventional running mate, who, as it were, reinforced the Republican brand for the ticket. As the McCain aide put it, this is what will happen if we run a traditional campaign; our numbers will gradually regress toward the (losing) generic Republican number.

Maybe that’s why, in separate conversations last week, no fewer than four McCain staffers and advisers mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick the 36-year-old Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal. They’re tempted by the idea of picking someone so young, with real accomplishments and a strong reformist streak.

It might also be a way to confront the issue of McCain’s age (71), which private polls and focus groups suggest could be a real problem. A Jindal pick would implicitly acknowledge the questions and raise the ante. The message would be: “You want generational change? You can get it with McCain-Jindal — without risking a liberal and inexperienced Obama as commander in chief.” I would add that it was after McCain spent considerable time with Jindal in New Orleans recently, and reportedly found him, as he has before, personally engaging and intellectually impressive, that the campaign’s informal name-dropping of Jindal began.

I'm not saying that choosing Jindal is a bad idea. I'm saying that Bill Kristol is usually wrong, so I won't start pricing McCain-Jindal bumper stickers and t-shirts...

I'm really hoping that McCain pick a good running-mate and not a typical one. I really like the idea of Joe Lieberman. But he's old too...

My Melody Of Love[lyrics]

Thank you, Mr. President!

I had no idea that these were tough economic times! It takes 92 bucks to fill my Buick Regal a week. The unemployment rate is almost 10% in Michigan. But if you hadn't come by these "reports" about the "economic indicators" indicating bad times - I'd have NO EFFING CLUE we were headed for trouble. Headed for trouble?

I take back what I said about the $1000/hour hooker Spitzer was seeing. Clearly, she had the economic indicators earlier than the White House and adjusted her rates so she could gas up her SUV.

Dolts!

DC Madam found dead of an apparent suicide. But was it suicide?

A woman convicted two weeks ago of running a Washington call-girl ring that catered to the capital’s power elite was found dead here Thursday, and the authorities said she had apparently hanged herself.

The body of the woman, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, was found in a shed at her mother’s home here about 20 miles northwest of Tampa. The police said Ms. Palfrey had left a notebook containing at least two suicide notes and other messages to her family, but they did not give additional details.

When you are servicing powerful Washingtonians, it isn't rocket science to think that getting caught could get you killed. This woman could have easily made millions with a tell-all book and destroyed many careers. So, did she do it? Did she really hang herself or did someone make it look that way?

Liberal favorite James Wolcott writes about the split within the Democratic Party when it comes to Hillary and Obama.

I'm going to employ the technique called "distancing myself" that politicians like Obama are using.

I'd like to "distance myself" from my former spouse. That means I will not be "asked about him."

I'm going to "distance myself" from all of my debts. I told Chase and the IRS that I strongly wished to "no longer be associated with them" nor "asked about them."

I'm going to "distance myself" from my age. Birthdays are done. I strongly wished to "no longer be associated with them" nor "asked about them."

Thanks to: Ace for the idea!

Relationship advice from Illinois Senator Barack Obama

I can honestly say that I finally found something that Barack Obama and I agree on. Finally, the man is OUTRAGED by Rev. Wright.

Laboring to contain damage to his presidential candidacy, Obama said Wright's recent appearances had left him angry and sad. He accused his spiritual mentor of exploiting racism and "giving comfort to those who prey on hate" at a time when the Illinois Democrat is vowing to bring the nation together. And he strongly took issue with some of the pastor's more controversial remarks.

"When he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st centuries, when he equates the United States' wartime efforts with terrorism -- there are no excuses," Obama said. "They offend me. They rightly offend all Americans."

Wright is exploiting racism and I've been saying that from the very beginning. Giving comfort to those that prey on hate... That's as close as you can get to calling someone a traitor and I don't mean traitor to the country. In this case, Rev. Wright is betraying Obama's cause and his trust.

Wright stands by his racially charged remarks. I'm pretty sure Obama is wishing that the Rev. Wright issue would just fade away; but it looks to me that Rev. Wright is angling to be the next Al Sharpton.

The Rev. Dwight Hopkins of the University of Chicago Divinity School said he has known Wright for a number of years. Though Wright was "speaking about his own experiences . . . I also think he spoke as a representative of a lot of black churches in America" who view the criticism of him as a collective attack.

Yes, and that is what has so many people upset. Many people in the black community feel like any attack on Wright is an attack on them. On the flip side, many whites feel that Rev. Wright's statements are an attack on them and that Obama may be playing politician by "distancing" himself but that he agrees with Wright. Hard to know for sure and that lack of trust is translating into trouble for Obama's message of bridging any divides, about hope and change, etc. It will make it more difficult for Obama to wrest away disaffected white working-class voters from Hillary Clinton.

But the Rev. Eugene Rivers, a Boston community activist, was less impressed. Though he called Wright "a good man" who has done lots of good in his 40 years in the ministry, Rivers said his speaking tour "has had the unintended consequence of throwing Senator Obama's campaign under the bus." Obama, Rivers said, has tried to be loyal by not disowning Wright, but Wright's decision to speak out is undermining Obama's message of unity.

Yes, he is making it harder for Obama and he doesn't seem to care. So I ask, is Wright just a guy looking to make himself famous or is he really concerned about bridging the divide between whites and blacks that he himself has helped widen?

By: Mr. Wonderful

My parents did me a disservice. I grew up in a time when children where scolded and sometimes spanked for misbehaving. What this did was teach us respect, cause and effect and personal responsibility. If mom and dad were really concerned about my well being, they would’ve spoiled me … the way many parents spoil their children these days.

I now realize that lack of deserved discipline does not necessarily lead to undesired behavior in children. And that’s made me ponder the huge disadvantage my parents shackled me with, especially after I was spanked for setting the bushes in front of the house on fire at the age of 12. Hence, I’ve developed my “Six Rules of Modern Parenting,” which are designed to not only undue the damage of countless numbers of years of children being spanked by cruel and vicious parents, but to also act as a guide for today’s parents and those considering becoming parents. After all, children truly are the future, so let’s start teaching them and let them lead the way!

Today is QOAE's 4th blogversary!

So, you can use this space to badmouth me, Mr. Wonderful, the blog or whatever you feel like ranting on about. I will be spending the day celebrating my 40th with family, friends and someone very Wonderful.

Enjoy your day!

This was a special day in the history of the universe. For on this day, the Queen of All Evil, Rosemary Kondraciuk was born. Today, we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of this momentous occasion. Stolat Rosemary.

And if they did tell him not to go...he'd start crying about being bullied by Bush

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday refuted a statement by former president Jimmy Carter that no one in the U.S. government told him not to go on a trip to the Middle East, where he met with the leadership of the militant group Hamas.

"I just don't want there to be any confusion," Rice told reporters outside an international meeting on Iraq she is attending here. "The United States is not going to deal with Hamas, and we certainly told President Carter that meeting with Hamas was not going to help" the situation in the Middle East.

Carter has said he met with Assistant Secretary of State C. David Welch, who indicated that the trip was not advisable but did not tell him not to go.

Aren't there houses to build? Does he really need to go bopping about the Middle East talking to terrorists and trying to cut peace deals? Didn't he used to have a job that was like that a long time ago? Oh right, he did and he SUCKED AT IT!

Move on, Jimmah! The United States doesn't negotiate with terrorists. That's like a policy or something...

As of this reporting, with 83% of precincts in Clinton has beaten Obama by a 10 point margin. And she will gain a majority of the 158 delegates.

No surprise here.

By Matoko Chan over Ben Stein's Intelligent Design movie Expelled Exposed. She totally called the Professor a Theocon shill. He whined but she handed him his ass on this one. (I also added her blog to the blogroll. Very overdue linkage on my part)

Give her a round of applause!

I just read an interesting idea on how to fix our public school system over at Over at Adam's Wall.

We need to stop funding schools and start funding children. We are spending about $10,000 per student nationwide. You give that money to the parents in the form of a voucher and the parents are free to put their kids into whatever type of school they believe will do the best job educating them.

All kids learn differently so why are we trying to find a one size fits all version of a school for every child. It makes no sense what so ever.

Now, I know it’s not practical to send every kid from all of the inner city high schools to 1 or 2 really goods schools in the suburbs that may be 30 miles away. Some parents still wouldn’t be able to send their kids to a better school because they don’t have the means to transport them to a school so far away.

We need to stop looking at schools as buildings. Schools should just be a collection of teachers. Think of a school building as something similar to a mall. Where different schools can setup shop in the same building.

You should read the whole thing. Considering the state our school system is in and the fact that more money is never enough, it's nice to see someone come up with a way besides just saying "vouchers" to address the problem.

Obama says McCain would be better than Bush.

Odd thing to say when he's been going around equating McCain to Bush. It's almost like he saying that his earlier criticisms about McCain...aren't true. Could it be that Obama has no ability to discern? Or did he just get slip and speak the truth?

I've been busy with life and stuff. Anything important happen?