Things are a little different down there

Janes pokes fun at Sesame Street’s announcement that they will be adding a HIV-positive muppet to the famous cast:
Seasme(sic) Street is introducing a HIV+ woman character to its cast named “Krack Whore”. My sources tell me she will be discovered living in a dumpster not far from Oscar the Grouch’s and will pass on useful information to children such as which condoms can be recycled, how to identify which cops will cut you slack for favours, how to make a shiv from a coat hanger and a discarded broom handle, and how to find the best needle exchange program in the neighbourhood.
This is all very ha-ha-look-at-the-silly-liberals, until you notice that the character is being introduced only on the South African version of the program, where nearly 12% of the population is infected.
I think you can make legitimate arguments pro- and anti- this move, but personally, I don’t think it deserves mockery. But hey, maybe I’ve just got a deficent sense of humor when it comes to a continent where millions of people will die if they don’t get better education on what they’re doing wrong.
Addendum: I’d be less grumpy about this if I didn’t also see outfits like MSNBC making their Question of the Day “SHOULD KIDS LEARN ABOUT HIV ON SESAME STREET?” without bothering to provide any mention that the kids in question are South African kids.
Strong work, guys; hope you get some nice sensational reactions. Shame about the whole misleading the public you’re supposed to be informing thing, but hey, win some, lose some.
Correction Mmmm. Waiter! One order of crow, please. Moe of Occam’s toothbrush correctly points out that the stories do in fact say discussions are underway for bringing the character to other countries, including the U.S. I could have sworn I read the opposite this morning, but clearly I was hallucinating.
As they say in the pro business, “TTLB apologies for the error.” My bad.