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Monday, December 3, 2007

Sesame Street: "Adults Only" and Not for Children

An Australian newspaper reports that classic episodes of Sesame Street on DVD are now labeled "adult only" because they are not suiting the needs of today's generation of preschool children. The Cookie Monster is viewed as vile and rotten for his promotion of bad habits (like devouring cookies) that may encourage obesity in young children. Alistair Cookie is "smoking a pipe" and "eats" it (horrors!). And the klutzy Mr. Snuffleupagus epitomizes delusional behavior. Oh, and let's not forget that Oscar the Grouch is terrible for children because of his "blatant bad manners and questionable [physical] hygiene."

Here's an excerpt of the piece in question:

The 'tut-tut' police keep us on the street and narrow

Melissa Kent
December 2, 2007
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SESAME Street is now brought to you by the letter P and the letter C — for political correctness, that is.

The fun police have slapped an "adults only" warning on a new DVD of classic episodes, which featured a world in which children played in the street, a monster gorged on cookies and a bad-tempered puppet lived in a bin.

The episodes, made between 1969 and 1974, have been released in the US with the caution: "These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child."

Topping the list of furry villains is the Cookie Monster, whose penchant for devouring cookies and the odd plate or two is no longer deemed appropriate behaviour for modern children.

His alter ego, Alistair Cookie, host of MonsterPiece Theatre, "modelled the wrong behaviour" by smoking a pipe and eating it, according to Sesame Street producer Carol-Lynn Parente.

Back then, Big Bird's bumbling friend Mr Snuffleupagus was still imaginary, which might encourage "delusion behaviour". And trash-loving Oscar the Grouch has been targetted for his blatant bad manners and questionable hygiene.

"We might not be able to create a character like Oscar today," Parente told The New York Times.

Like the whitewashing of Enid Blyton books, the move has sparked howls of protest and charges of political correctness sucking the fun out of childhood.

Children's book author Andy Griffiths, creator of the popular "Bum" series, said children loved dark, mischievous characters such as those who lived on Sesame Street.

"Kids love seeing their primal desires acted out in the form of things like gluttony or violence, and literature or TV is a place they can safely experience these desires," he said.

"I think it's an entirely healthy and appropriate thing for a children's TV program to be doing."

7-Month-Pregnant Woman Tasered by Cops, Thrown on Ground

And she gets no medical help from the authorities either.

Ron Paul Supporters Taking the Streets of Manchester, New Hampshire

Ron Paul supporters are out on the streets of Manchester, New Hampshire, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Here's an excerpt of the piece:

Adroit online, Ron Paul backers hit the streets of N.H.
'Paulites' see the first primary state as fertile ground for their candidate's iconoclastic political views.
By Ari Pinkus | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Manchester, N.H.

They're coming from Miami and Seattle, from the "big sky" state of Montana, and from close to home here in New Hampshire. They're coming to help political iconoclast Ron Paul get elected president – many as campaign first-timers who, characteristically independent, may not even feel obliged to tell the Paul camp what exactly they're planning to do on the candidate's behalf.

The Paulites' push for old-style, on-the-ground politicking in New Hampshire, coming just five weeks before the primary, marks a change for a support network that has always relied on websites and online fundraising. They're here now because they see the Granite State – with its reputation as antitax, anti-big government, and pro-individual freedom – as especially fertile ground for a libertarian-leaning Republican candidate like Mr. Paul.

"New Hampshire is really important because it's the first primary and it sends a message to other states about who's viable and who the leading candidates are. There was all this Internet enthusiasm, but we didn't have enough boots on the ground," says Vijay Boyapati, a Google engineer who recently left the Seattle firm to work on Paul's campaign.

Mr. Boyapati arrived Saturday in Manchester, N.H., to head up a project of his own invention: Operation Live Free or Die, named after the state motto. His aim is to bring 1,000 volunteers to New Hampshire to canvass for Paul. He calculates that if each volunteer, working seven to eight hours a day, meets 100 people daily, then the project can reach out personally to almost all 100,000 residents of Manchester before the Jan. 8 primary.

Then there's Linda Lagana of Merrimack, N.H. Using her graphic-design talent and a small print shop, she has been creating Paul-for-president ads and fliers for months on the cheap. Her materials have ended up in the hands of voters across the state – and are even preferred to official campaign literature. Her highest-profile project so far: designing an advertisement published in USA Today the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Trevor Lyman, an online music promoter, already helped raise $4.2 million for Paul in a one-day Internet event Nov. 5. Two weeks ago he moved from Miami to Manchester, where he lives in a "frat house" with seven bedrooms, he says. He spends his days and nights working on other "money bomb" campaigns for the GOP candidate. At 37, Mr. Lyman plans to cast his first vote ever – for Paul on Jan. 8.

Barry Goldwater, Jr. on Ron Paul

U.S. Police Protect Themselves from a Handcuffed Woman

U.S. Forces "Liberate" A Poor Man's Car

Ron Paul and the Mainstream Media (MSM)

"Two Media Myths of Campaign Coverage Debunked," by Cenk Uygur.

Gulf States May Sever Ties to Dollar

The demonetizing dollar is having a depreciating effect on foreign economies -- an effect that the Fed and its cronies like Greenspan and Bernanke intended and even anticipated.

It has gotten to the point where dependent countries that can't end their reliance on the self-inflating U.S. dollar can't withstand it.

The Huckster: I'm God's Candidate

The Huckster himself thinks the Man Above has chosen him as his candidate for 2008. Here's an excerpt of what was reported on Bluzzflash.com:

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

Mark Karlin, Editor and Publisher, BuzzFlash.com

December 1, 2007

We received a memo from Liberty "Falwell" University on November 30th, signed by Jonathan Falwell, son of the recently deceased Jerry -- and now overseer of the vast Liberty University/Moral Majority corporate empire.

According to Jonathan Falwell, presidential aspirant Mike Huckabee believes that it is God, not himself, who is behind his rise in the polls: "Mr. Huckabee also said that Divine providence was responsible for his recent surge in the polls in Iowa, as he noted that he is the candidate with much less capital firepower than his rivals."

Former Arkansas Governor Huckabee made his comments during a recent visit to the "hallowed" grounds of the Liberty University campus.

Huckabee mightily impressed "Falwell the Second" when he also "identified the 'fanatic religious zealotry' of Islamo-fascism as a 'real threat' that must be confronted to protect the American way of life."

Heck, if you replaced the phrase "Islamo-fascism" with "Christian fundamentalism" you would arrive at the same threat to American society!


Can we say.....loopy?

Ron Paul Supporters Take No Warmongering Crap

Neo-con loser and twit Jim Gilmore has a surprise on his plate, waiting for him.

Welcome Back, Don Imus

Imus is now back on the air on WABC, other radio stations, and even satellite TV. The great thing is that he said, "Nothing has changed: Cheney is still a war criminal, and Hillary is still Satan."

GOP Party Hacks Still Lying About Ron Paul Supporters

The funny thing is, there were no Ron Paul supporters being bused to the Virginia strawpoll. That's because that putrid tactic is only carried out by the Romney and Giuliani sycophants.

Bow Down to Me, (You) Insect