Good news is hard to find coming out of Iraq. In fact, any news coming out of Iraq is hard to find because a good deal of the news is good and therefore is not news.

Dear Mr. Mullings:

County, Indiana tried to figure out how to steal the election for Obama, but what in the world did that first sentence mean?

ASPA - American Sentence Parsers Association.

You know the old saying, "No news is good news?"

Yes. We believe we may have heard, read, or seen that once or twice in our lifetimes.

Well, when it comes to Iraq, the saying is turned on its head: "Good news is no news."

Good one.

Word flashed across the Internet late yesterday afternoon that Iraqi forces had captured a guy named Abu Ayyub al-Masri in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Who is Abu Ayyub al-Masri?

Al-Masri is the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, is all. According to Al Jazeera: He is the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who was killed by a US air attack in 2006.

One of the first reporters to break the story was Fox's National Security reporter (and Mullfave) Catherine Herridge who correctly pointed out that it was Iraqi TV and the Iraqi government which had announced this - not the US military, which was being careful to distance itself from the report until independent confirmation could be obtained.

According to Reuters, "In late June 2006 the United States put a bounty of $5 million on al-Masri's head."

Given the current state of the US Dollar, that is now about $1.57 in 2008 dollars, but never mind.

Whether or not the Iraqis have the right guy, the broader point is that the central government is carrying the fight to the insurgents. If al-Masri wasn't snagged last night, he will be at some point.

While there are no straight lines in nature, the Iraqis are taking control of their country. Absent a unilateral departure of American and coalition forces (if-you-know-what-I-mean-and-I-think-you-do) Iraq will be a peaceful, successful, democratic ally of the West.

New Topic:

NOTE: The following actually had the approval of the Mullings Director of Standards & Practices!

What with this being Friday and all we, at Mullings Central, have a hard time being too serious for the entirety of the 750 word effort, therefore we bring to you the HEADLINE OF THE MILLENIUM!

I know the MILLENIUM is only about eight years in, but I'm telling you your great-great-great-great grandchildren will remember this one as the best headline.

From, of all sources the BBC … and I am not making this up:

Great Tits Cope Well with Warming

As you might well imagine, this headline got my attention. Beach Volleyball?

Hollywood starlets?

Discovery Health Plastic Surgery Channel?

Nah.

Turns out the Great Tit is a bird. A regular bird. It is a bird whose chicks eat caterpillars and with warmer weather there appear to be more caterpillars for the chicks to eat and, ergo, the Great Tit chicks are thriving.

Get me Al Gore on the phone.

A few words about Mothers' Day:

According to one site:

In the U.S. Mothers' Day is a holiday celebrated on second Sunday in May. It is a day when children honor their mothers with cards, gifts, and flowers.

And, for some of us, schlepping up the New Jersey Turnpike to Exit 8A.

Seriously, though, being a Mom is probably the hardest job in the world. No matter how old their children are, they are still the babies. They worry when they don't hear from them; they brag to their friends when they do; and they heave heavy sighs in between.

God bless them every one.