Why did the fluffball chicken cross the road?

If your definition of cute includes Barack Obama and small children, go read Margaret Talev's report of Obama's visit with DC kids: "he asked a kid who wants a cell phone, 'Who you gonna call?' Kid: 'Everyone.' POTUS: 'Like who?'"

Jim Windolf skewers Cute Culture: "It privileges the inner child, who, necessarily, has awful taste."

It appears that the website Cute Overload is becoming a plushie-fueled media empire, judging by the story in the Times this morning. The Cute Overload calendar sold out on Amazon within 24 hours, advertising to its overwhelmingly female audience can cost $2,000 per week and the site claims 88,000 unique visitors daily, "about the same as the political gossip blog Wonkette." The Times says the site is a respite from the "vicious gossip" elsewhere (ahem) but really it's pretty much a respite from anything, up to and including all the bad news in the morning newspaper. It won't be long before a bitter laid-off reporter points the finger at Overload and all the other LOL-ish animal internet media for taking away his livelihood. And then perhaps he'll make it his mission to uncover the hidden truth about why Winston is such an angry widdle kitteh! [Times]

Kittens: they just won't go away. You must look at them! They and their assorted cute friends—puppies, monkeys, duckies, hippopotami—have taken over the internet, and have already become a leading addiction among men and women alike. Cute cravings must be fed, productivity be damned. A baby bear licking a swan! A parakeet wearing a tutu! A kitten roller skating on the back of a pink stingray! The Observer predicts a "cuteness surge." This will be our downfall. Our supposedly sophisticated elites have allowed their cutie wootie nom nom nuzzle muzzle urges to become their drug, their porn, their shame:

Perpetually cute actress Amy Adams took a break from being the cute one while out walking her brand new puppies in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon. Adams told the photographer that it felt refreshing to be stopped by children because of her puppies for once, rather than for the usual reasons (which, duh, is because she was in Enchanted). Adams said that her new puppies also distract people from the unflattering haircut she's sporting. "It's for a role," she explained.

When we first saw this picture on Cute Overload we were like, "nah." And then we looked at this picture of everyone's favorite embattled former child star and started to see a resemblance. We think this is such an important issue that it should be put to a vote.