he Bornean junk monkey, Stevensons' slug, Malaysian sitting bird and the world's largest species of blind sea trout are in grave danger of extinction, the World Conservation Union warned an assemblage of world leaders on Tuesday to the sound of one tiny violin playing sarcastically. Also among the newly-threatened species nobody has ever heard of are the shovelnosed arctic frog, the smoke weasel, the Andean left-handed dolphin and the three-toed nervous elephant of lower Peru.

All are among 13,279 varieties critically endangered and possibly-imaginary animal, plant and water life precious to bleeding-heart liberals the world over. Many are new to this year's edition of the group's list, a yearly "wake-up call to the world" that unless serious changes are made to environmental policy, the earth's biodiversity might one day shrink to comprehensible levels.

This year's list, like all that came before it, has drawn a collective boo-hoo from the planet's human inhabitants.

"Excuse me, but what has the Columbian rice shrew ever done for me or my family?" questioned an indignant Don Cloyd from Williamsburg, Virginia. "My uncle lost a logging job because of some stupid owl that didn't want to live at a box at the zoo or something, so sorry if that ruined it for all the other creatures out there, but I still say animals that don't taste good can kiss my ass."

Various world leaders questioned about the organization's list issued similar mock-sincere statements, vowing to halt all future economic progress in order to make the world safe for such hilariously improbable creatures as the Chilean trouser trout and the loud Spanish jackass.

Over 762 animals have gone extinct worldwide since various governments and the NRA began keeping records in the 1600's. Among the beautiful creatures the earth will never again know are the Tittleosen snot sloth, the North American windshield sparrow and the sickly cave bear of Nepal.

Perhaps the most stirring symbol for lost species is the majestic dodo, a once-useless bird that wobbled off into the history books in the early 17th century when Dutch sailors visiting islands in the Indian Ocean discovered the birds, whose strange compulsion to hop into cooking pots and offer themselves up for soups and other entrees led quickly to their extinction.

According to the WCU, thousands more creatures will join these ranks shortly if steps are not taken to slow the destruction of their native habitats in industrialized and developing nations. Saddest of all may be the possible fate of the Scottish brownie hound, once numbering in the thousands but now thought to be down to the last one and a half specimens in existence. Even that shocking number is sinking fast as scientists are unsure of how long you can keep half a dog alive in a cooler full of ice.

In delivering the study to world leaders, WCU Director General Achim Steiner also pointed out the success of recent efforts to save formerly endangered species such as Arabian oryx and the white rhino, news which inspired several unimpressed heads of state to mouth the word "super" while mimicking the jerk-off motion with their hands.

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"As an idealistic young man, I came up with a plan for America. Most politically-active young Americans have ideas on how to improve their country. You did, didn't you? Well, hooray for you. I actually wrote it down.

The first part of my plan was to collect all the food into one big pot and make a gigantic soup. Some might call this mad, but it helped Chef Boyardee feed all of Italy and, by golly, it would feed all of America as well. The only problem would be lining everybody up in multiple lines with their bowls in hand and sending them through to fill up once and making sure everybody got at least one bowlful before we started giving out seconds. I guess we'd have to be on the honor system that nobody went back for seconds before everyone else was fed.

The second part of my plan was that everyone in America get a nice little shop. It would have to be carefully discussed and worked out so that everyone had a shop that everyone else would want to shop at, and that we have enough shops of things we actually need, balancing out the supply and demand. There's no point having 10,000 balloon shops in the greater St. Louis area and no food shops. I seriously doubt there is that big a need for balloons in St. Louis while there is obviously a need for food.

The third part of my plan was to establish a system of leadership with no incentives at all. With the political power structure in this country, as well as all the money involved, people will say and do anything to get elected. To take that away, my idea was to have every politician be kicked in the groin—or failing that, smacked with an aluminum bat across the face—to take away the incentive to the job. This way only the people who really wanted to help the country, or enjoyed being brutalized, would become a politician.

It became quite obvious at some point that I was beginning to feel the effects of my homemade gin and that the brilliant ideas I was writing down would look like stupid drug-fueled thoughts scribbled on paper by the morning time. I wadded them and burned them all in hopes of forgetting. But I'll always have my memories."

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Anyone who knows anything about me (kids with book reports: attention) knows I have two mortal enemies: Lindsay Wagner and computers. Of course, one is a dumb electronic appliance and my fear and hatred is just an irrational phobia; and then there's computers, and my job forces me to learn to work with them.

It's still no excuse for the teamster-like attitude of my computer. This computer wouldn't work if I threatened to replace it with cheap foreign labor. It starts slow, it runs slow, it even turns off slow. And let's not get started about the mail—actually, let's do; my column needs filling up this week.

All I can say is they've hired a real slacker to deliver my e-mail, 'cause I'm the last to hear about anything in this office. I never get any memos, no electronic Christmas cards, I never even get any of Rok Finger's daily barrage of ethnic jokes. Either I'm the biggest outsider in the commune offices (and with Bludney Pludd around that role's already taken) or I've got the world's worst e-mail delivery system.

Come to think of it, I've never even received my welcome e-mail from that Bago guy. Just how long has this electronic Ferris Bueller been pulling a fast one on me? For all I know he could've unplugged the connection to all the other computers on the first day and the dildo has been loafing ever since.

I'd like to teach that biatch a lesson. I should see if there's some kind of program for doing that—send in some sort of hellfire-spitting preacher of the Internet world to punish him for disregarding my mail. A computer virus or something that acts like the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket on big puss internet couriers. I'd like to see that smooth jackass piss his electronic self when that program storms in all, "What is your major malfunction, Private Clarissa Coleman's E-mailman? I've shit things with more gumption, numbnuts!"

Boy, I'm excited about it the more I consider it. There must be some kind of program out there like that. Some kind of Equalizer-type computer software that settles things up even with asshole electronics, and keeps it all on the down-low. I asked around the commune who I would speak to about that, our tech support people, but everyone acts like I'm joking and keeps saying they want to see where I'm going with it. Maybe I'll have to place an add in a newspaper or magazine—that's what you had to do for the A-Team.

I'm not an idiot, you know. Just to make that clear. I know there's not really a little guy inside the computer with a college dorm-style apartment, just lying around, drinking beer and watching Software Gone Wild instead of delivering my e-mail. It's all real complicated computer shit I can't possibly fathom, so I translate in my own terms when talking to you. It's like the ending of Stephen King's It, when It was so completely cool and amazing you can't possibly really see it, especially not in a made-for-TV movie, so they just cheap out and make it a big spider. Man, that was suck-city.

It's real important that I start getting my e-mail. Not only do I have fans out there who want to contact me, and I'm not about to give my address out to such knobs, but I also have this big new show about to start and I'll need every possible communiqué possible. Not only for my own satisfaction, but to make sure I can fire off complaints and suggestions for script changes, all of that stuff, to the producers. So that guy needs to get off his metaphysical ass or get replaced real fast.

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