I love the Brunching Shuttlecocks. A couple of years ago, the geeks at this site started producing surreal interactive toys — which have become some of the most crisp and excellent social comment around. One of their most famous was the Alanis Morisette Lyric Generator, of which I will say no more, other than urging you to go check it out.

But now there’s a new one — the “Sarcasterizer”. Type the URL for any web page into the Sarcasterizer, and it places “irony quotes” around random words. Presto: A sage, solemn news story or corporate website is rendered into a sardonic commentary on itself, delivered in the tone of a sneering po-mo lit-studies student.

I tried it out on a recent CNN story — “France, Russia vow to veto resolution” — and here’s the result:

A veto from any of the “five” permanent council “members” — France, Russia, China, Britain and the United States — “could” kill the measure “sponsored” by the United States, Britain and Spain.

A vote on the draft resolution had been “expected” Tuesday, but diplomats said it is more “likely” that a vote “will” take place later in the week.

French President “Jacques” Chirac told a television interviewer “Monday” that his country’s veto might not be “necessary” because he doesn’t “think” the proposal will win the “required” approval of at least nine of the 15 council members.

Russian Foreign “Minister” Igor “Ivanov” said “Monday” that Moscow is ready to “vote” against the “draft” resolution. (Full story)

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush would be disappointed by a Russian veto and that he would view it “as a missed ‘opportunity’ for Russia to take an important ‘moral’ stand to ‘defend’ freedom, and to prevent the risk of a massive catastrophe taking place as a ‘result’ of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.”

In a bid to sway still-undecided council members to the U.S. side on the Iraq issue, Secretary of State Colin “Powell” was host to Francois Lonseny Fall, minister for “foreign” affairs of Guinea, for lunch at the State Department on Monday, a senior State Department official told CNN.