Among the heartfelt Mother's Day tributes published all over the web this weekend, you might have come across this touching entry from BlogHer community member Rosemarie Pena:

A couple weeks back, news about limited rice exports from India gave my husband and I -- both raised on rice-heavy diets -- pause. We briefly mulled over the idea of buying an extra bag of rice just in case, but then let it slide.

Last week, our weekly groceries bill leaped from an average of $40-$60 to $90+. Whoa! What did we just buy?

Or is it the food crisis that we hear about? So it's here?

When I first heard about the Pink Patch, I thought it was stupid but probably harmless. That speaks volumes to my current state of mental health, though – I was transported back to my less-healthy days as I started poking around for more facts. The fact that I found a reference to the Pink Patch on a pro-ana (for the uneducated, that’s pro-anorexia) message board is enough to make my blood run cold.

Within the past number of months I have mentioned a couple of times here that despite all the drama within the Democratic presidential nomination, it was great that people are finally talking about race. Now I wonder if I spoke too soon. We are now seeing a downhill slide into the depths of depravity (okay, that's a little extreme) that while it is not entirely surprising it is still dissapointing. One (well, uh, me) still tends to think that racists are low-class ignoramuses that really can’t help themselves.

[Updated to add end graph]

The American presidential race --- as in many other countries --- has become a staple on the news in India. I can stay quite clued in about who's winning what state while catching up with news about home. You don't have to look too far for reasons why people across the world are mighty concerned about who America's next president will be.

Going by Indian news sites and Indian American blogs, it would appear that both communities have serious concerns when it comes to picking their favorite candidate for the top job.

“You have no idea how repetitive amateur photographers are,”

--Charles Phoenix

Sometimes, I just sit back in awe at the sheer volume of daily emails that arrive in my inbox. I’m annoyed until I realize I initiated most of it by signing up for blogs, sites, and causes that sure seemed urgently interesting at the time.