North Korean Leader "Just Kidding"

In an unexpected about-face, bellicose dictator Kim Jong Un today stated that, in reference to his recent threats to South Korea and the United States, that he was " ...  just kidding."  The announcement, that was made during the calisthenic portion of Korean TV's Morning Doctrine Correctness program, came as a shock to North Korea-watchers, including President Donald J. Trump and members of his administration. "This guy, he's really REALLY getting on my nerves," quipped the president in a surprise news conference at Mar-A-Lago, the unofficial second-Camp David preferred by Trump and all golf-loving leaders of state. "I mean, what's the deal? He's kidding? Do North Koreans kid? Who knew that they kidded?"

In another change of direction, the American president indicated a new, Twitter-friendly policy to inform and guide future relations with the less than stable government in Pyongyang: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, and we'll mushroom cloud you back to the Stone Age." Further requests for clarification were offered by White House head of communications Sean Spicer. "The president means what he says; he says a lot of things, and some of those things are said in such a way so as to have the air of credibility, or even truth. What he means is--BOOM!"

ISIS Leaders Befuddled by Name Controversy

In the brutal conquest and occupation of large swaths of Iraq and Syria, battalion leader Asir al-Hasim and his compatriots have faced one enormous challenge after another, but this week saw the most central question of the new regime's existence thrust to the fore: by what name shall the bloodthirsty murderers be known?  Asir has his preference, his superiors have another, and among the ranks the debate rages on: are we ISIS, ISIL, or, as some have proffered, ISILIS?  Further favorites include EYESILL, SILLYEYE, ICE-ILL, SLICE-ISS, and even ASS-ICE.  Sources close to this reporter have lengthened the list to include ICE-ICE-CRAZY, ILL-KILL, and the unlikely ICICLE.

His facial features concealed beneath the traditional balaclava, Asir spoke through an interpreter on the intensity and importance of the controversy.  "The cringing dogs who offer these stupid acronyms like "ICE-KILL" or "ICE CREAM"--it's outrageous!  The blood of a thousand martyrs cries out for justice!  And besides, it's really tough to make these cool-sounding abbreviations into real titles.  Some ass has suggested ISIC: The Iraqi State in Cleveland!  I mean, we haven't even conquered these dry-dirt, piece of crap countries yet!  And who the hell wants to head up the religious re-education of Cleveland--not me, that's for sure!"

47% of Americans Like Romney Comment 100%

Contrary to the commonly held belief that presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's recent remarks regarding the "47%" have been poorly received by those at the lower end of the economic spectrum, a Times-Newsweek poll now indicates quite the opposite.  According to the 1, 058 people polled, an astounding 100% "Strongly Agree" that almost half of the nation's population pay no federal income tax and expect "handouts," as Governor Romney puts it. 

The survey was conducted in  New York City on Thursday, garnering the opinions of homeless streetpersons, stewbums, winos, junkies, and the mentally unbalanced.  Jack "Night Train" Finnerty, a "resident" of Central Park, enthused over what he termed "the straight word" as he sipped his breakfast of rotgut gin from a discarded McDonald's coffee cup: "You know, the governor, he's right.  Goddamn it, he's right!  He's right!  Real right!"

Janet Maslin, a former cocktail waitress who now resides in a unused refrigerator carton on the Lower East Side, said that Romney "understands the common person.  His perception of the early twenty-first century zeitgeist is flawlessly accurate, and, what's more, he's extremely good looking."

Further evidence of support for the Republican nominee was offered by a street dweller known only as "Scrappy", a man of indeterminate age and piquant aroma, near the Times Square tourist area.  "Zabbba zeeba, Ngggg im Allllufferna," he quipped as passersby deliberately avoided eye contact.

Thanksgiving Feasts to Feature Non-Food Items

As the nation's economy stalls and concerns mount, tables set for this year's Thanksgiving celebration may include articles not common in seasons past.  With the high price of food and an obese population come many changes, according to health experts, and for the first time feast foods for Americans may include items not normally considered food, or, for that matter, edible. 

Pam Grizzard, senior spokesperson for the National Council on Nutrition and Obesity, cited a report released last week by the Surgeon General of the United States that concluded non-traditional "foods" might be a health-conscious and economically viable addition to this Thanksgiving's bill of fare.  "Low in fat but containing trace amounts of protein, shoe leather is poised to make a big comeback, well known during its heyday in the Great Depression,"  Grizzard quipped.  "And, as you know, what we eat needs to be appetizing, so we're anticipating a big surge in wax fruit sales this year," she said.  Also slated for places of prominence at the annual eat-in are nutrient-rich items like tree bark, topsoil, pencil shavings, and small rocks.

Squarepants Indicted in Ponzi Scheme Scandal

Spongebob Squarepants, beloved cartoon character and widely marketed merchandise icon, was indicted in New York Second Circuit Superior Court today on twelve charges of conspiracy, fraud, and attempts to perpetrate a confidence swindle in connection with an elaborate Ponzi scheme.  Squarepants, who has charmed millions of viewers worldwide with his inane antics and high-pitched laughter, apparently used his powers of persuasion and celebrity to lure unsuspecting investors into a multi-layered financial deal, soliciting, distributing, and misappropriating an estimated $117 million over an eighteen-month period.  Co-conspirators named in the indictment included Eugene Crabs, Spongebob's avaricious employer at Bikini Bottom's landmark fast-food restaurant, The Crusty Crab, and Plankton, rival restaurateur and known proprietary processes thief.  Plankton was convicted of multiple attempts to steal the secret formula of Crabs's industry-leading sandwich (known as the Crabby Patty) in 2008; in this instance, however, the competitors are alleged to have joined forces under the direction of the scheme's mastermind, Mr. Squarepants.

Squarepants is accused of offering lucrative stock deals to friends and family members and then subsequently drawing in acquaintances and foreign financiers in a complicated series of investments and payouts that allowed initial participants to profit from later ones.  Eventually, the circulating profits of non-existent shadow corporations ended up in the pockets of the Bikini Bottom conspirators, prosecutors say, leaving all those remaining in the venture bereft of hundreds of thousands, and, in some cases, millions of dollars.   District Attorney Lawrence Order informed reporters of the details of the indictment in a lengthy news conference generated by interest in the apparent downfall of the lovable spongeperson and his wilely confederates.  "No one, least of all longtime friends like [fellow Bikini Bottom residents] Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks, could believe the lengths to which Mr. Squarepants went to amass the huge profits he did by these illegal and immoral means.  Crabs and Plankton they understood; but good old Spongebob?  It is a sad and shocking situation."

Summer Solstice Worries Wiccans

The Summer Solstice, longest day of the calendar year, was indeed a long one for local Wiccan adherents, emphasizing as it did the nearly complete lack of fear generated by a faith that at one time struck at the heart of the American way of life.  Wicca, a nature-based belief system that holds the changes of the seasons sacred, in the past was often wrongly associated with witchcraft and Satanism.  But now, images of baby-murder, orgies of blood, and the obscene co-mingling of demon, beast, and shreiking psychopath are becoming a thing of the past.

"Those were the days," quipped Moonshine Wolfbane, the taken name of Dr. Morris Fishbein, a Trenton podiatrist and Wiccan chief priest.  "Used to be I got a little respect this time of year.  My patients sat quietly in the waiting room and never complained.  Used to get a lot of free perks--good table at restaurants, comps at the casinos ... no more."

Other Wiccans tell similar tales.  Rosemarie Vagnozzi, a Philadelphia PTA president and middle school soccer parent, also laments the passing of ignorant confusion and the advent of informed tolerance.  "It's just the modern world.  It's what's happening now; we just have to learn to deal with it."

Failed Apopcalypse Brings Dissapointment

As last night passed without apocalypse, scores of fundamentalist Christians were disheartened by the continued existence of Earth, anticipating instead the "end times" that would bring earthquake, flood, and the total destruction of the human race.  Interpreting several Biblical passages that they deemed proof of the planet's demise, believers worldwide readied themselves to die only to be thwarted in the day's final hours as it became clear no final horror was imminent.

"It's just not fair," commented Horace Dipschitz, founder and pastor of the Rapture or Bust Evangelistic Crusaders Congregation in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  "We have all been planning for this for some time and I have to say it's a big let down."  His feelings were echoed by other congregation members who were stunned by the total lack of painful death by fire, crushed bodies, mutilated corpses, and the explosions and pyrotechnics expected by today's discerning Rapturists and action-hero moviegoers.  "It was going to be totally wack," offered Lindsay Umbrellard, a sixteen-year-old junior at Muncie High School in Chattanooga.  "And now, I'm going to have to study for that stupid French final on Monday.  This totally sucks."