From:   Top5 Productions
Date:   December 05, 1999 17:51 PST
Subject:   The Daily Probe -- December 6, 1999

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    [ Copyright 1999 by Chris White     in-@dailyprobe.com ]
        

                          December 6, 1999

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[                          DOMESTIC NEWS                          ]
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            McCAIN EXCUSES SELF WHILE HE KISSES THE SKY

WASHINGTON DC (DPI) - The warnings of GOP Senate Leader Trent Lott
(The Creature - MS) and George W. Bush's staff came true this
weekend when Sen. John McCain (Cagey - AZ) went berserk on Meet
the Press, screaming that "the special interests are all over
politics! Get these lobbyists off of me!" Host Tim Russert tried
to calm the Senator down, but McCain launched into a lengthy
diatribe about how well-placed elected officials and financiers
in Texas, New Hampshire, and around the country were organizing
a "campaign" to keep him from getting the GOP nomination. McCain's
paranoid rant went on for several minutes, while Russert polished
off a large basket of buffalo wings. Later, former Senate colleague,
Bill Bradley, was brought in to talk McCain down, but within minutes
he was claiming a campaign organized out of Tennessee was out to
get him too -- this despite the fact that the only torture Bradley
ever had to endure was the ten years he was forced to wear baggy,
orange short-pants.

Russert then brought out James Carville and Mary Matalin to calm
both McCain and Bradley down. Carville claimed that the rest of
the country had conspired to talk funny and make him look odd,
while Matalin interrupted to ask "am I the deaf actress or the
political advisor? I can never remember." McCain initially refused
to climb off Russert's desk until someone removed the giant frog
from the studio, but was right as rain as soon as Carville left to
take Matalin away for DNA testing.

- Reported by Jonathan Colan

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                     COMPANY ISSUES TOY RECALL

HOUSTON, TX (DPI) - Toy giant HazPro has grudgingly issued a recall
of its Bonanza Map toy. The Bonanza Map is an authentic reproduction
of a map of Nevada circa 1873. It combines an antique look-and-feel
with high-tech electronics and movie-quality incendiaries. The rich,
thick parchment map just lays there when folded for storage. However,
when the user unfolds the map, an embedded microchip emits the famous
Bonanza theme and four seconds later the map bursts violently into
flame starting at the center, with the yellow flames moving rapidly
outward until the entire map is consumed. The recall was prompted
by reports of consumers, both children and adults, setting them-
selves, their vehicles, their homes, and even whole forests ablaze
while playing with the map. HazPro chairman Eimrich Sosume said at
a press conference, "I wish people could follow instructions. The
Bonanza Map is clearly labeled in English and several Third World
languages as 'guaranteed to burn vigorously when unfolded.' What
do you expect when you open a flaming musical map--Peter Pan and
Tinkerbell? We tested that concept and it just fell flat. This toy
is safe when used properly. I guess we'll just have to warehouse it
until the public IQ gets a few points higher. This recall is going
to kill HazPro's Christmas sales." A class action lawsuit has been
filed against HazPro on behalf of several thousand people claiming
damages for loss of eyebrows and armhairs as well as outright
destruction of personal property. The claimants also seek punitive
damages for traumatization and continued adverse reactions to the
Bonanza theme music, which you don't think you hear a lot until
you have been conditioned to scream and wet yourself when you do
hear it.

In related news, HazPro announced that it would try to salvage the
Christmas sales season with the early release of its Li'l Mission
cassette tapes. Mr. Sosume enthusiastically described the new toy.
"Li'l Mission is big big fun. What kid doesn't want to play secret
agent? Each tape gives the kid a secret mission to perform. It comes
with a dossier with top secret photos and documents. Best of all,
five seconds after the mission briefing, the tape bursts into...
um...Peter Pan and Tinkerbell! Yeah, that's it: Peter Pan and
Tinkerbell."

- Reported by Chris Jones

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                  SALVATION ARMY REINSTATES DRAFT;
               VOWS CONSCRIPTION IF QUOTAS AREN'T MET

BOSTON, MA (DPI) - General of the Salvation Army Simon Sulla
announced plans today to immediately begin the lottery process to
draft from the pool of those registered with Selective Service for
duty in the Salvation Army. "If the recruits whose numbers are
selected do not report to our processing stations located immediately
outside of better department stores everywhere, we will not hesitate
to build the fighting force we need by conscription," General Sulla
said. He continued to build a case for his unprecedented Salvation
Army build up by adding, "In case you haven't noticed, we're at war
here people. The Red Cross has mounted several border incursions,
capturing thousands of our religiously bankrupt and spiritually
damned wards. FEMA has massed hundreds of low-level bureaucrats
along our southern border. Guerilla do-gooders have infiltrated
our vast network of soup kitchens, replacing our famous watery
cabbage soup with soups that eat like a meal. I have called the
Salvation Army to arms and I ask the needy and indigent everywhere
to resist this renegade aid and continue to suffer until our
fighting force is recruited, trained, equipped, a battle plan
is drawn up, and this open rebellion is quelled."

As protest against the drafting of America's youth grows, the
Selective Service remains powerless to stop what would appear to
be a misappropriation of power. "Well, they *are* an army.
They do have uniforms. We checked the statute; those seem to be
the only two criteria needed to start the lottery process. Until
we can address this gaping loophole, we're asking everyone whose
number is selected to report to the processing stations for duty
in the Salvation Army. We're pretty sure we'll be able to get you
all out and back home before you see any bell-ringing action."

- Reported by Martell Stroup

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                           MOTH'S DIARY
                           ------------

Sunday 5th December

In New Orleans for a conference of snuff-box collectors. I must
say, it does help to travel with servants. At about 11 in the ante
meridian, my man Booth shimmers up to the hotel bed with a samovar
of the blended best, a beaker of fresh-squeezed, and a tower of
toast, among other beneficent treats. 'I say, Booth,' I say,
toothing down a triangle of marmaladed wonder as he rotates the
Rubi until a fine coating of pepper lays over the sliced, fried
boudin. 'This is cracking good toast!' He murmurs, pleased.
I complain to him about Bourbon Street. 'It's all changed, Booth,'
I tell him. 'Not like when we were in Her Majesty's Navy at all.'
'No, sir?' 'No, nothing like it. It would be impossible to find
a good transvestite or dog-and-pony show in today's French Quarter,
much less a grand girl who can link her ankles behind her head and
vault a ping-pong ball into the stratosphere. The place has
cheapened considerably, and we are all very much diminished as a
result.' 'I'm sure you're in the right of it, sir.' 'Now, please,
leave me, Booth,' I said, turning away from him to conceal a fresh
tear plopping down my cheek. 'I wish to be alone with my memories.'

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[                   Copyright 1999, Chris White                   ]
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