Potentially Dangerous Monkeys: Not A Rock Group

TSA employees get special training in how to search service monkeys, including looking in their monkey diapers. I feel safer already.

Liberty Vs. Security

US Rep Tom Coburn is a staunch conservative who (gasp!) has drawn attention for refusing to vilify his opponents and telling constituents not to believe television news. I tell my friends that with me, "you get all of the right-wing, none of the snark."

So the words "socialism" and "socialist" inspire harsh feelings within political debate. So Dick Armey puts it this way: the next election is about liberty vs cradle-to-grave entitlement.

And John Stossel, in his defense of libertarianism, explores the end of entitlement:

"The number of people who will suffer is likely to be very small. Private charity ... will provide support for the vast majority who would be poor in the absence of some kind of support. When government does it, it creates an air of entitlement that leads to more demand for redistribution, till everyone becomes a ward of the state."

I support organizations that work with the poor. But even government employees who work compassionately in the realm of assisting the poor will tell you that this sense of entitlement exists. Just ask the person working in housing assistance who gets a call from a family living in government-providing housing complaining about the color the carpet.

Ames resident Neva Morris, oldest person in U.S., has died

Ms. Morris died this morning at her care center here in Ames. She was born on Aug. 3, 1895. She was married in 1914, and lived in Ames for her entire life.

Too sweet for me!

As you're coming down off of your Easter sugar high, here are a couple of articles to check out.

First, a piece from the London Sunday Times, about the backlash against cutesy cupcakes. I kind of missed out on the over-the-top cupcake trend, but apparently these confections have been all the rage in big city bakeries. Laura Atkinson has had enough:

What started off as a cute retro trend, however, has grown into a (double-vanilla, red-velvet-flavoured) monster. You can now buy into the experience completely, with cupcake jewellery, a television show (Cupcake Wars) and even a cupcake-scented antibacterial hand sanitiser. Oh, and men, you’re catered for too: dudeswithbeardseatingcupcakes.tumblr.com features — yes, you guessed it — dudes with beards eating cupcakes. It’s enough to leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Second, Nicole Ferraro takes on "Public Smooching" in the New York Times Complaint Box:

I have news for you, canoodling commuters: These are subways, not private gondolas. Consider the probability that the spot where you are kissing each other was just inhabited by snot-faced children and several people with swine flu.

But if all this sweetness just leaves you hungry for more, try out the "Make Your Own Girl Scout Cookies" page at Chow.com. And yes, that photo above is me, making Peeps Brûlée.

A bit of Iowa-love, from Althouse

We enjoy Ann Althouse's blog. Ann Althouse enjoys Iowa's welcoming, clean, WIFI-ready, free-map-distributing rest stops (I wholeheartedly agree with her!).

"Clash of 'Clash of the Titans': When Titans Clash"

How could anyone resist a blog post with a title like that one, by David Itzkoff in today's New York Times? And a first line, italicized: Warning: This post may contain spoilers and/or the Kraken. Itzkoff provides a Medusa-head-to-Medusa-head comparison between the 1981 classic and the current remake, including the following:

STATUS OF THE KRAKEN AT ROUGHLY THREE-FOURTHS OF THE WAY INTO THE FILM
Then: Released.
Now: Released.
Advantage: Draw

NUMBER OF CLASH SONGS USED
Then: 0
Now: 0
Advantage: Draw

IS THERE A SCENE IN WHICH A GUY GETS KNOCKED OVER BY A TIDAL WAVE AND YOU CAN SEE HE’S WEARING MODERN-DAY RUNNING SHORTS UNDERNEATH HIS ROBE?
Then: Yes.
Now: We didn’t see one.
Advantage: Then

The paper of record's full review is here (the plot is summarized thusly: "[T]here are titans, they clash....The finale, which lurches among locations, destroys all notion of time, space, sense.")

But all the Kraken-releasing fun won't lure me to the movie. I get sick in 3D films. Apparently, so do other people. I agree with Mary Elizabeth Williams, in Salon:

[I]f you want to spend 20 bucks to see Liam Neeson release the Kraken right into your lap, I say, knock yourself out. I’d just like the option of seeing that too -- in a format that won’t make me throw up.

Jeff and the kids love immersive movies...Avatar, even the goofy 3D ones you can watch on the basement bigscreen with cardboard glasses. Me, I'll stick to two dimensions and a plot, thank you very much!

Why do I watch this stuff?

Via Jezebel, the cat-litter commercial to end all cat-litter commercials. Just thank your lucky stars it's not 3D...because otherwise that gigantic cat in the background and the eye-stealing crab would be scarier than the Kraken.

Actually, it's a bit cute:

Release The Kraken!

I've been driving Tara crazy (lately) by randomly shouting "release the Kraken!" as I roam the house the last few weeks. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of a cheesy, 3-D remake of the classic, cheesy "Clash Of The Titans."

I can only hope that watching the film is as much fun as reading Roger Ebert's (three-star) review:

I was prepared to take notes during "Clash of the Titans" but only wrote down a single one: "Release the Kraken!" — Conan O'Brien. I know I was intended to be terrified by the release of the Kraken, but all I could think of was O'Brien shouting "Release the bear!" and then some guy in a bear suit runs out and sits on the lap of a guest.

...I like this kind of stuff. I don't say it's good cinema, although I recognize the craftsmanship that went into it. I don't say it's good acting, when the men have so much facial hair they all look like Liam Neeson. I like the energy, the imagination, the silliness. I even like the one guy who doesn't have a beard.