*---* HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINISTER BABIES *---* Once there was a mighty kingdom ruled by a wise king. The people were happy jolly and frolicsome. They were even more happy because the king's jester put on big shows which everyone got into for free. One day the king realized that the jester's shows were using up all the money in the treasury. Taxes were having to be raised, and inflation was getting too high for comfort. The king hinted to his good friend the jester to spend less on the shows, and the jester, being friendly but not used to handling money, saw the problem and cut down spending. In a speech to his people, the king announced to the kingdom that their economy was fine as he had ironed out a few problems. The jester wasn't sure quite what to make of the speech, so he went to ask the king the next day. The king had drunk 3 yards of ale after the speech and was feeling the worse for it that morning. When the jester asked him exactly what he meant, the usually quiet king snapped at him for once. Hurt, the jester walked out of the castle and kept to his jesters house for a while. After that, he caught a galleon and moved to a faraway island. The people were still pleasant, but lacked a certain vitality that they had before. When millions of refugees arrived, this mood immersed them too, and soon the once jolly kingdom was like all the others on that continent. Pat Errington, pat@twopounds.u-net.com Lance Woodman, lance@twopounds.u-net.com James Errington, james@twopounds.u-net.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +---+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+