Free Republic

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned children should be banned from social media until they are 18 to avoid a 'distorted' sense of self in their developmental years. Murthy expressed that 13 is far too young for kids to be on sites, such as TikTok and Instagram. His warning came following the release of a study that suggested teenagers on social media will likely become 'hypersensitive' to criticism as adults. 'I believe 13 is too early,' Murthy told CNN Newsroom. 'And I think that it's a time, early adolescence, where kids are developing their identity, their sense of self...And the skewed...

Political analyst Meghan McCain, the daughter of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), responded on Monday to comments made by Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) about her father, calling them “bile trash.” “Everyone has been asking me for comment on this bile trash from Kari Lake,” wrote McCain over Twitter in response to an article discussing Lake’s remarks. Lake referred to McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee for president who died of cancer in 2018, as a “loser” at a campaign event on Friday. “We don’t have any McCain Republicans in here, do we?” former television anchor Lake asked the event’s...

Another Elmo outrage! "Bad Elmo" -- a costumed panhandler who has freaked out tourists on two coasts with his anti-Semitic rants -- was hauled into a Manhattan courtroom today for allegedly trying to extort $2 million from the Girl Scouts. Transient loon Dan Sandler, who also uses the name Adam Sandler, threatened to spread false rumors that the Girl Scouts of the USA arranged sexual encounters between underaged girls and adult men, prosecutors allege in the bizarre new extortion and harassment case. Even before today's indictment, Sandler, 50, had been a disturbing Internet sensation for his antics as Elmo. Last...

In the south African nation of Namibia, a bizarre muppet-like beast has been shot and killed. Unlike its distant relatives — the abominable snowman, bigfoot, and the chupacabra — this one has been caught on film. Locals in Namibia were escorting a shooting party through the country when they found the body of the strange muppet-like beast, and they picked it up and brought it back to the town with them, according to the Telegraph. Witnesses to the event said that locals saw the creature scavenging for food. One member of the shooting party shot and wounded the beast, and...

Bring your favorite puppet 11/3 to Lincoln Park, Washington DC at 10am ET with a march to Capitol Reflecting Pool by 1:00pm ET for rally.

The Obama administration has recruited yet another Sesame Street character to help push a policy initiative, this time new efforts to raise awareness about children's health and safety. In an obvious snub at Miss Piggy, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appeared earlier today with Elmo to launch a new public service announcement designed to encourage families with young children to protect themselves from swine flu. HHS will team up with Sesame Workshop and the Ad Council, which will distribute the PSAs to television stations nationwide. Elmo will appear with Sesame Street character Gordon to instructing children to wash...

German traffic police have been left looking like proper muppets by a British prankster. An Audi TT with British registration plates has been repeatedly caught speeding on roads in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth. But because continental speed cameras are set up for left-hand drive vehicles, the cameras keep missing the driver’s face. Instead, they keep capturing clear views of a manic Muppet-like toy which the cheeky Brit has propped up on his passenger seat. But police admit they are even baffled about the identity of the muppet.

Jim Henson's "Fraggle Rock" is coming to the big screen. The 1980s cult hit TV show is being developed by Ahmet Zappa -- younger son of Frank Zappa -- into a full-length live-action musical fantasy starring the classic characters. "(Zappa) recently created his own fantasy property ('Mighty McFearless'), and we had him in to talk about books and movies," said Lisa Henson, who serves as co-CEO of the Jim Henson Co. with her brother, Brian. "During that conversation, I had an intuition that he might be a 'Fraggle Rock' fan. He jumped out of his seat when he heard our...

The U.S. Congress has apparently hired Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (aka "Beaker" the Muppet) to help keep order in the balcony.

SEATTLE — When Boeing names an airplane design after a Muppet, it must be pretty different. Two small teams at the company are re-imagining the airplane in futuristic configurations that sprout wings, tails and engines in unexpected shapes and places. The research, illustrated in internal documents, aims in two directions: low-cost airplanes, and environment-friendly planes that will be quieter, use much less fuel and leave fewer pollutants in the upper atmosphere. In the latter category is the "Kermit Kruiser," a low-noise concept airplane with main wings radically swept forward rather than back, and sporting miniature wings on the front. Then...

November 27, 2002, 8:30 a.m. It’s a Very Un-Merry, Un-Muppet Christmas Movie The latest Muppets production. By Kevin M. Cherry The Muppets, in Jim Henson's words, "are sort of fuzzy, bright-colored, cute, lovable caricatures." They started out small and grew large. Today, they're best known from their movies, the classic television series that aired from 1976-81, and, of course, Sesame Street. Henson, who created the Muppets and was the driving force behind all their performances, died in 1990. It took the Muppeteers some time to regroup. The first full-length return was The Muppets' Christmas Carol (1992), an adaptation of the...

<p>Kami, a mustard-colored furry Muppet, likes nature, telling stories and collecting stuff. She also happens to be HIV-positive.</p> <p>To plaudits from education officials and AIDS activists, the producers of South Africa's version of Sesame Street on Tuesday unveiled the first Muppet infected with the virus that causes AIDS.</p>

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sep 17, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Kami, a mustard colored furry Muppet, likes nature, telling stories and collecting stuff. She also happens to be HIV-positive. To plaudits from education officials and AIDS activists, the producers of South Africa's version of Sesame Street on Tuesday unveiled the world's first Muppet infected with the virus that causes AIDS. "We are living in a society that is very stigmatizing and discriminatory," said Musa Njoko, an AIDS activist. The introduction of Kami "is going to create a culture of acceptance." That is exactly what the show's creators are...

HIV-Positive Muppet Coming to Sesame Street (CNSNews.com) - An HIV-positive Muppet is coming to Sesame Street, an adviser to the children's program said. Wire reports said Joel Schneider, the vice president and senior adviser to the Sesame Street Workshop, made the announcement Thursday at the 14th International AIDS Conference now underway in Barcelona, Spain. According to those reports, the HIV-positive Muppet will first appear on the South African version of Sesame Street, a program called "Takalani Sesame," in September. The character will be female, but other details, such as the name and color, are still being worked out. "This character...