- April 2003 -

Sunday 4\27\03 - 10:14 PM GMT
Smith all smiles
The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith was all smiles today from the moment he awoke until he retired for the night. Everyone he met was greeted with a grin, and his upbeat demeanor caught many of his associates off-guard. By day's end, his constantly beaming visage had polarized onlookers. "That guy is really starting to creep me out," said Betty, 25. "Is he selling something?" asked Dan, 29, "he must be selling something." Others disagreed: "No," said William, 28, "I think he's just happy."

Wednesday 4\23\03 - 11:09 AM GMT
Cure worse than the disease
At a somber press conference today, top US scientists announced that a cure for the deadly SARS virus has been found, but also that the cure is far, far worse than the disease. Spokesperson and former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop explained: "Without our treatment, there is a decent chance that a young and otherwise healthy SARS victim will recover. But after ingesting this newly developed serum, the patient, though fully and immediately cured of SARS, will quickly devolve into a mutant zombie killing-machine that can respawn asexually."

Saturday 4\19\033 - 6:30AM GMT
Sharing now illegal
In what is being hailed as a great victory for the Recording Industry Association of America, all forms of sharing have been declared illegal today by the US Supreme Court. The sweeping landmark decision effectively outlaws everything from controversial internet song-swapping, to letting a friend borrow your comb. "When you buy something, it is yours and nobody else's," said RIAA head Hilary Rosen. "Even if you like someone and they ask very politely, under no circumstances should anything be shared with anyone. This is the moral standard we have upheld today, and can proudly pass on to our children's generation."

Tuesday 4\15\03 - 1:58 PM GMT
Foreseeable future to end soon
According to experts, the the foreseeable future will end on June 16, 2003. On that date, all previous plans and prospective outlooks that have invoked the phrase "for the foreseeable future" will become effectively moot, and according to noted chronologist Timothy Etravel, "all bets will be off." The foreseeable future began on February 3, 1999. "Even back then, we knew it would only last about four years," said Etravel, "yet it still comes as a bit of a shock to us now to realize how close we are to the end." Looking ahead, Etravel advised, "there is no real reason to worry. Everything should be continuing on pretty much as normal, at least, that is, for the foreseeable future."

Friday 4\11\03 - 7:29 PM GMT
Attack on Iraq: a game or not?
With the fall of Baghdad to US forces, Iraq's UN ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri declared on Wednesday that "the game is over". Asked to respond to Al-Douri's comment, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said: "Well, I would say it wasn't a game, first." Then today the US Defense Department issued a custom deck of playing cards to thousands of US troops in Iraq, each card bearing the face of an Iraqi senior official the US wants pursued, captured, or killed. Commented one US defense official, "Clearly this is one game in which we will end up holding the ace of spades."

Wednesday 4\9\03 - 3:33 PM GMT
Pope declares childbirth immoral
Reversing the Vatican's long-held stance against all artificial forms of birth-control, Pope John Paul II today publicly denounced the practice of human reproduction. "To bring a new child into this morally-deprived world is in itself a morally-drepived act," said the aging pontiff. "If we all stop having children starting today, we can bring about the end of this sinful race within one hundred and twenty years." The pope went on to explain that the church's former pro-procreation stance had been based on a misinterpretation of scripture. "The 'go forth and multiply' command was given to Noah and his three sons -- not to everybody. Sorry for the confusion."

Saturday 4\5\03 - 9:49 PM GMT
Smith purchases death bed
While furniture shopping for his new home today, Rev. Smith made what may well be one of the most significant furniture-related purchases of his life: his death bed. "As soon as I saw it," said a still-excited Smith, "I knew this would be the bed I would die in." Smith went on to show off the many finer points of the bed. "It's a Cal-King, which means they'll be plenty of room for people to sit at my bedside and mourn," said Smith. "Plus it's longer than a traditional king-size, so I can really stretch out." Though Smith does not foresee his own death anytime in the near future, he takes great comfort by the fact that when it comes, he "will be enjoying the unparalleled luxury of the CloudNine® patented Sleep System DeluxeT."

Tuesday 4\1\03 - 2:21 AM GMT
US anti-Freedom sentiment grows
Beginning with newly rechristened "Freedom Fries" in the US House of Representatives cafeteria, a wave of anti-Freedomism has swept across the nation in response to that country's lack of support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. On Monday, the US government ordered all globes and world maps to be recalled so that the country of Freedom can re-labelled. "We choose to take the high road in this matter," commented US president Bush, "It is only by changing what we call those naysaying foreigners that we can maturely teach them a lesson. If the people of Freedom are going to be anti-US, then you can bet the people of the US will just as surely be anti-Freedom."