Tidbits & Outrages

Washington Monthly, June, 2000

Representation without taxation

A study by the Internal Revenue Service finds that members of Congress and their staffs are $10.5 million in arrears on their income taxes.

Betty Crocker got 10 years

Police officers in Lexington, N.C. recently announced the department's "largest methamphetamine bust." Their suspect was held in jail for nearly two weeks before they discovered the "flour-looking substance" they seized was actually flour.

Bobby Knight, take note

After Ivory Coast's soccer team was eliminated from the African Nations Cup in January, the country's military ruler, Gen. Robert Guei, had the team arrested and put in a military prison for two days.

They prefer "Biped Companion"

A San Francisco-based animal activist group wants to ban the word "owner" from being, used tO describe people who have pets.

Next: "Ken the Intern"

Mattel Inc. has teamed up with The White House Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that promotes women candidates, to produce a "Barbie for President" doll.

People fake it all the time

In January, a New York state judge ruled after four hearings in three years that Krystyna Maliszewska, 51, of Brooklyn was not eligible for workers compensation because she had not provided the proper "medical evidence" that her leg had been amputated.

Why the British Empire fell

British Army Major David Senior, on trial for inflating ration claims for his men and pocketing the $30,000 surplus, defended himself by declaring he acted under the influence of too much tea.