On the same day that Congress agreed to cut $39 billion in spending in an attempt to stave off national bankruptcy, it was announced that we would spend $20 million of your tax dollars to produce a Pakistani version of Sesame Street.
How do you say WTF in Urdu?
The BBC has the details:
In a new effort to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, USAID — the development arm of the US government — is donating $20m (£12m) to the country to create a local Urdu version of the show.
The project aims to boost education in Pakistan, where many children have no access to regular schooling.
The show is to be filmed in Lahore and aired later in the year.
“The programme is part of a series of ventures that is aimed at developing the educational infrastructure in the country,” Virginia Morgan, a spokesperson for USAID, told the BBC.
“Education is one of the vital sectors that need help in Pakistan.”
The show will be set in a village in Pakistan — rather than the streets of New York — with roadside tea shop and residents sitting on their verandas.
The remake will star a puppet called Rani, the six-year-old daughter of a peasant farmer, with pigtails and a school uniform, according to Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
We can’t wait to see the hilarious antics of Osama the Grouch, The Zionist Cookie Monster, Bert & Emir, and Kermit the Suicide Bomber.
Source: BBC
