Today is May 13th. Happy Mothers’ Day to all you mothers out there, especially to both my own mother, and to my amazing wife. This holiday is a bit confusing to me though. I mean, how is it that all mothers are born on the same day? On this date in 1940, Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. In his speech, he famously said “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” It wasn’t true though, he also had some mints in his pocket. But Winston Churchill don’t share no mints. Also on this date, in 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip set sail for Australia with 11 ships full of convicts, eventually to establish the Botany Bay colony. Phillip died in 1814. His last words were “KHAAAAANNNNN!!!!!” And finally, in addition to being Mothers’ Day, today is also “National Frog Jumping Day,” when you celebrate frogs that jump. This is not to be confused with “International Toad Leaping Day”, when everyone takes turns jumping over them. Consider this an Open Thread.

WaPo ombudsman: Obama’s gay-marriage announcement influenced the timing of the Romney bully story | Newsbusters
(h/t @hotairblog) “Perhaps more shocking is that the Post shamelessly admits they timed this story precisely to echo on the day after President Obama’s big pro-gay announcement.”

This Is Not a Joke: Government Issues Study of a Study About Studies | The Note
“The Pentagon was inundated with so many studies in 2010 that it commissioned a study to determine how much it cost to produce all those studies. Now the Government Accountability Office has reviewed the Pentagon’s study and concluded in a report this week that it’s a flop.”

Newsweek: Obama ‘First Gay President’ | Big Journalism
This is also not a joke. “Today, Newsweek magazine released this week’s cover via Twitter: a hopey, changey Barack Obama staring into the future, his head swirled with a rainbow halo. The bold font title: ‘THE FIRST GAY PRESIDENT.’”

Wright: Obama Tried To Bribe Me To Keep Quiet In 2008 | Big Government
“According to Edward Klein in today’s New York Post, then-Senator Barack Obama’s political campaign tried, through back channels, to bribe Rev. Jeremiah Wright not to speak during the 2008 election cycle. The price: $150,000.”

Today’s Word of the Day comes via Thesaurus.com.
matrilineal (ma-truh-LIN-ee-uhl): adjective Inheriting or determining descent through the female line.