Back in the day, I was one of the kids who spent the week between Christmas and New Years' Day gluing flowers onto Tournament of Roses floats. The best place to be in those days was near the Dr. Pepper float, because they served hot Dr. Pepper with lemon to keep us warm in the decorating caverns. The flowers were locally grown from various farms around California, and the glue for them could get you high as a kite in about an hours' time.

Growing up in Glendale meant you knew at least one Rose Princess in your lifetime and considered the spectacle in next-door neighbor Pasadena to be as much yours as theirs. I've camped out overnight on Colorado Blvd, marched in the bicentennial parade, and never, ever miss it.

It has always been a huge corporate event. Even back when I worked on those floats it was the province of big corporations with a smattering of ingenuity from schools like Cal Poly. Though it was corporate, it was also local. Flowers came from local growers. Float decorators worked for local charities and youth groups. It was very much a California event.

Today, not so much. In a LA Times report about Honda being the first to use a hybrid motor to power their float, they note that today's Tournament of Roses is neither green nor local.

Leading Saturday's 122nd Tournament of Roses will be a 35-foot fairy tale castle called "A World of Dreams," the first float to be powered by fuel-efficient hybrid technology. And the pace car will be the fuel-sipping Honda CR-Z.

But behind the World of Dreams will be a whirl of planet-warming emissions: 46 floats powered by V-8 engines, some supplemented with gasoline-powered motors for moving parts, that are expected to burn through about 800 gallons of gasoline by the time they finish their 2.5-mph cruise along the 5.5-mile route. Mixed in are 80 auxiliary trucks, 145 fleet cars and dozens of law enforcement vehicles — all of them powered solely by old-fashioned fossil fuels.

Festooned to the floats are an estimated 20 million flowers transported from around the world in aircraft and trucks: orchids from Asia; dried everlasts from Africa; roses from Colombia and other South American countries; and tulips from Holland.

The reason for the foreign-grown flowers? Trade agreements, of course.

The exact "carbon footprint" of the parade and related festivities is difficult to calculate. But California growers are quick to point out that their home-grown ingredients have been forsaken for energy-intensive but still less expensive imports. Those flowers became increasingly available after 1991, when the United States struck a trade agreement with Colombia and Ecuador in an effort to curtail cultivation and processing of coca for cocaine. That gave cut-flower farmers and floral exporters duty-free access to the U.S. market, where 70% of flowers sold now hail from Colombia, according to the California Cut Flower Commission.

I don't think anyone could take all of the magic away from the Tournament of Roses for me. It's too much a part of my New Year's Day tradition, and always will be. But I live in a small city sandwiched between strawberry and flower farms and know what a price they pay when flowers are exported from other countries. That, and parade organizers' reluctance to make the shift to hybrid motor technology to power the floats makes the whole spectacle a little less impressive.

C'mon, Tournament organizers. Set the trends, don't buck 'em.

Happy Mother's Day to one and all. Not to be a downer, but I want you to take a moment and step away with me from the lovingly prepared breakfasts in bed, crayon-scribbled Mother's Day cards, bouquets of flowers and sweet kisses from your little ones and remember those mothers who are having to experience their Mother's Day without their child. The newly revamped BagNewsNotes (one of my favorite sites--do check them out) has a photoessay by Ashley Gilbertson called "Bedrooms of the Fallen" chronicling the bedrooms of fallen Iraq/Afghanistan service members. Gilbertson intended it to be a look at the lives of the service members themselves, but as I watched the video, I imagined the grieving mother, unable to take down those last connections to their son or daughter. Because to pack away that trophy or throw away that poster is to acknowledge the finality of that loss. One family has left their daughter's room basically intact for six years. Can you imagine the emptiness that mother must feel today? So for my fellow mommies, especially those grieving for their sons and daughters, I salute your strength, your resilience and the powerful love that still connects you.

On to the Sunday shows. For as pleased as I've been with Jake Tapper's hosting of This Week of late, I'm disappointed to see the booking of Rudy Giuliani today. What value could Mr. "A Noun, A Verb and 9/11" possibly bring to any discussion? At least he'll give Politifact lots to work with. The Times Square "bomber" (I'm loathe to give anyone that inept such an official-sounding title--a bag of fertilizer and some personal fireworks are hardly the tools of a serious terrorist) has caused the GOP to trot out the tired talking points of how Democrats are weak on terror--the fact that the bombing was thwarted and the terrorist arrested within 72 hours notwithstanding. So of course, the White House goes on defense, sending out counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, AG Eric Holder and Coast Guard commandant Thad Allen to argue that there really wasn't much more the White House could have done. "Holy Joe" Lieberman will cozy up to his neocon buddies on Fox News Sunday and Richard Shelby will be on Face the Nation and State of the Union to concern troll both the banking bill and homeland security. Not on the official schedule but possibly worth checking out: Howard Kurtz will have on Jon Meacham to discuss the Washington Post's decision to sell Newsweek.

ABC's "This Week" - Attorney General Eric Holder; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - John Brennan, President Barack Obama's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser; Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala.; Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Holder.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Joe Klein, Cynthia Tucker, Kathleen Parker, John Heilemann. Topics: Growing Outrage Over Immigrants Among Us/The Sale Of Newsweek: Is There No Hope For Old Media?

CNN's "State of the Union" - Brennan; Shelby; Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - To understand recent economic crises, Fareed talks with the foremost economic columnist in the world. Plus, we discuss terrorism and the Times Square plot with counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke. Later, how does a guy like Faisal Shahzad - with a good job, a wife, kids and a mortgage - get radicalized? Who is to blame? Bernard Henri Levy joins our panel.

"Fox News Sunday" - Brennan; Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

What's catching your eye this morning?

A thank you from Speaker Pelosi to everyone who joined the Daily Kos community in sending her flowers for her birthday. She kept some and sent the rest over to Walter Reed Medical center for the troops.

Happy Mother's Day

My mom passed away two years ago, but I still get to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. She always enjoyed receiving the flowers I sent her. I'll be calling my sister in a little while...

Nothing is too low for these people: "Imagine your child, spouse, sibling serving in the military to fill an obligation, yet not being happy about the situation in Iraq. The worst comes to pass, and after the funeral you stop to see the marker on the grave after it's put up -- to leave flowers -- or just to try to feel connected again in some way and...read on "