Free Republic

Around the mid-Eighties there was an animated series based on the beloved Berenstain Bears children's books. The show ran on Saturday mornings on CBS. It was pretty good as I seem to recall. And often quite humorous.Well, the other day one of the episodes sprang to mind as I was reading the news about the latest attempt to avoid a government shutdown. It involved the Bear kiddies learning all about money. How those little green pieces of paper don't have value on their own. Instead they must be backed up by something with real tangible worth. In the bears' world...

A book from the iconic series has been rushed into the chain's kids meals -- which prompted a curt response from the series' copyright holder. Chick-fil-A has replaced its kids' meal prize, but has yet to sweep away the controversy. The chain last week pulled the Jim Henson Company-produced finger puppets that were being placed in childrens' meals, officially citing safety concerns; the move, however, was largely viewed as retribution for the puppet and production studio's very public rebuke of the fast food chain's president, Dan Cathy, confirmation that his restaurant donated to religious organizations that fight against gay marriage....

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Stan Berenstain, who with his wife created the popular children's books about the Berenstain Bears, has died. He was 82 and lived in Bucks County. He died in Pennsylvania on Saturday, said Audra Boltion, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins Children's Books in New York. In more than 200 books, the Berenstain Bears, written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain, helped children for 40 years cope with trips to the dentist, eating junk food and cleaning their messy rooms. The first Berenstain Bears book, "The Great Honey Hunt," was published in 1962. The couple developed the series...