Don't Spend It All at Once

Armaments, universal debt and planned obsolescence
-- those are the three pillars of Western prosperity
--Aldous Huxley
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Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and to all the people who have helped a child and to anyone who has helped midwife anyone -- yer all mums to me.

Tangentially related is the above coupon for a free meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Note the caveat: "Not valid on Mother's Day." Please keep this in mind as you consider taking your mother out, and marry that to this week's news that the economy's looking up (despite the fact that least one of every ten people you meet is out of work.)

Think about those folks who might've thought to take their mom to KFC to celebrate her day. Only they won't be able to use their coupons for awhile anyway, as so many people tried to cash in on their free meal that KFC corporate was forced to rescind the free meal program.

There were hour-plus waiting lines at several KFC's nationwide this week, and police had to set up a cordon in Greensville, S.C. Coupon holders now must go through some arcane application process to gain a second voucher, but hey -- this time with a free Pepsi, too.

We all know the routine: Make the process arduous enough, and you will force an attrition rate. It is much like the food stamp program. The application process is so prohibitive for many without cars and petrol that they just scrap the whole idea, either relying on the kindness of family and friends, food banks, or just going hungry.

Voila! The states declare a great victory as they saw ever-decreasing food stamp rolls.

Today's Wall Street Journal gave notice on their front page to the statistic that "17% of children under 5 may go hungry." I don't know about those over five, but I do not think it magically gets better for them. The New York Times' Bob Herbert sets the figure at a round 20% (Far From Over). So one in five kids you pass probably has a rumbly tummy.

Sorry I haven't more chummy mum's day news, but that's not what we're here for. We'll gladly report the happy when we see it.