In a year chockfull of fabricated "holidays," even a cynic like me can appreciate Mother's Day. In spite of the gross promotion and advertising of the "special day," the intent behind it is commendable. It reminds us to appreciate our first best friend and protector.  A mother is someone who loves you when unlike any other person will and when no one else does.  She holds a place in our hearts and our lives that cannot be replaced by anyone real or imagined. If you are lucky enough to have a resilient mother or mother figure in your life, then you are truly blessed.

Read more The N Word in next week's Creative Loafing. 

Normally there aren't many people rushing out to the polls this time of year. But with the eyes of the nation on North Carolina's Democratic primary, it seems as if voters have stepped up to the ballot.

Driving around Charlotte on this primary afternoon, I saw a lot of people pulling into polling places. But that steady stream of people going in to vote a little before lunch time was nothing compared to the scene that a volunteer described at PCT. 124 (Hickory Grove Elementary School).

This morning, she says, the line for voters wound around the building and up the street.  She expects the same thing around 5 p.m. when people start to get off from work.

You have to wonder how many people actually know who they're voting for in the local races? All of the attention on the Democratic side has been on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Who are these people running for governor, judges and state representatives? Trust me, their volunteers, who are positioned right outside of the polling places are happy to fill your hands with fliers telling you who they are. It's kind of annoying, but I guess everybody wants their candidate to win.

Polls close tonight at 7:30 p.m. Have you voted yet? Tell us about your experiences.

Sen. John McCain was in town yesterday, preaching to the conservative Chamber choir about appointing rightwing judges and the like. I bet nearly everyone in that meeting, at one point or another, has used the phrase "support the troops," so maybe one of them should have asked Senator War Hero why he's been such a hypocrite when it comes to helping Iraq war vets.

Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has proposed expanding education benefits for men and women who have served in the military since Sept. 11, 2001, ensuring that those soldiers' college education would be taken care of by a grateful nation. Webb's proposed legislation is being called a new GI  Bill, referring to the benefits given to returning World War II vets. Webb has garnered a bipartisan list of co-sponsors in the Senate, including Republicans John Warner and Chuck Hagel, both of whom are veterans of wartime service.

Who could possibly be against such a gesture of gratitude? Well, would you believe Mr. War Hero himself? Yep, John McCain. He's against the bill because, he says, he's taking his lead from Defense Secretary Gates — who, of course, takes his lead from President Bush, who thinks the bill is too generous.  In other words, according to McCain and Bush, it's perfectly OK to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on an ill-conceived invasion and occupation of Iraq that could have been planned and managed better by the Three Stooges; but handing over $2.5 billion to $4 billion per year as a genuine investment that would boost returning vets' education — and would be no more than the deserving WWII vets received — is just too much money.

And so, as we've become sickeningly used to by now (think of inadequately armored humvees, for instance), the loudest war cheerleaders are the first to forget all about "supporting our troops" when it really matters.

If you're one of those Hillary or Obama supporters who says you'll vote for McCain if your candidate doesn't win the nomination, maybe you should think again. At the very least.

The Southern Piedmont Central Labor Council plans to protest -- er, welcome John McCain "union style" -- outside the presidential candidate's reception today at the The Westin on College Street, according to an e-mail. Others liberal/progressive groups plan to be there as well.

I missed Barack Obama's visit this weekend, but I can't recall protests at his appearance at CPCC or Hillary Clinton's rally at the Charlotte Bobcats Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Detroit Free Press has published the text messages that the mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, were sending to each other--on city owned phones--and they are steamy. They also show that both of them lied on the stand during those police officers' lawsuit against the city.

It's good reading, shows just how desperate Beatty was for this married man and how stupid he is for not getting a damned Tracphone for he and his girlfriend. But this really sucks for the city of Detroit. I can't imagine any business that would want to come into this hurting city while this sex scandal is going on. Can you imagine being a Detroiter having to hear people talk about the oversexed mayor all the time? Does anyone even care that the Pistons are beating up on the Orlando Magic?

It's kind of hard to care about basketball, though. Especially when there are messages on the internet like:

September 15, 2002: Beatty to Mayor: "I really wanted to give you some good head this morning and I didn't know how to ask you to let me do it. I have wanted to since Friday night when you asked me at the club."

Mayor to Beatty: "Damn. I just got out of the shower and looked at my two way. Next time, tell me to sit down, shut up and do your thing! I'm fucked up now!"

And this is the man leading a major city? Charlotte city leaders probably have skeletons like every other human being, but it's good to know they are smart enough to do their dirt on their own dime and not city phones and pagers.

Want to read it all?

Check out www.freep.com.

[voiceover:]

John McCain says he was "very honored by Pastor Hagee's endorsement" even though Hagee is a confirmed hatemonger.

[videos of Hagee:]

"Only a Spirit-filled woman can submit to her husband's lead. It is the natural desire of a woman to lead through feminine manipulation of the man."

"Fallen women will try to dominate a marriage. The man has the God-given role to be the loving leader of the home."

"I believe that Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans ... I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and ... the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, God brings punishment."

"It is impossible to call yourself a Christian and defend homosexuality."

"[Gay marriage] will open the door to incest, to polygamy, and every conceivable marriage arrangement demented minds can possibly conceive."

[voiceover:]

John McCain has called Rev. Rod Parsley "a spiritual adviser," even though Parsley equates Planned Parenthood with the Ku Klux Klan and claims the U.S. government is in cahoots with the family planning group to bring about "black genocide." Parsley also routinely spouts things like this . . .

[videos of Parsley:]

"The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion (Islam) destroyed."

"Gay sexuality inevitably involves brutal physical abusiveness."

"Only 1 percent of the homosexual population in America will die of old age."

[Photos of Pat McCrory and Fred Smith]

[voiceover:]

Republican gubernatorial candidates Pat McCrory and Fred Smith support John McCain's bid for the presidency. Do they want to see bigots like Hagee and Parsley strutting around the White House as spiritual advisors? Call McCrory and Smith and ask them why they support someone with such extremist supporters. McCrory and Smith: TOO EXTREME for the good people of North Carolina.

Some blacks may sit out if Obama loses nomination: When November rolls around some black voters are making it known that they will abstain from voting if Barack Obama is denied the Democratic presidential nomination.

Full story: Charlotte.com

UNC suspect guilty of parole violation: Damario Atwater, 21, accused of the murder of the UNC student leader Eve Carson, pleaded guilty on May 2 to violating his probation on break-in and gun chargers. Atwater's lawyer told the judge,his client did not know he was on probation at the time of Carson's death. State probation officials have acknowledged that they neglected their duties when it came to the supervision of Atwater during that time period.

Full story: Charlotte.com

Crackdown leads to drop in illegal immigration: The migrant smugglers business is struggling when it comes to finding illegal immigrant clients at border-town shelters. A U.S. crackdown has resulted in the longest and greatest drop in illegal migration from Mexico since the World Trade Center attacks. The U.S. economic slump, tighter security and very costly and physically strenuous travels have caused illegal migrants to give up sooner or even opt not to take the journey across the border at all.

Full story: MSNBC.com