1st April 2009 – Obama comes to London

“Clinton and bush” – work it out yourself.

Too true!

Two friends, named Harry and George, go on a trip to Europe, where they have a great time. When they get back, Harry meets up with his pal Phil to tell him all about it.

One of the first places we went to was the leaning tower of Pisa. It was really neat.

Cool. Did you go up inside it?

No, we couldn’t, since George is a cripple. But we did go to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. That was really neat.

Cool. Did you go up inside it?

No, we couldn’t, since George is a cripple. But we did go to visit Big Ben in London.

Cool. Did you go up inside it?

No, we couldn’t, since George is a cripple. But we did attend mass at the Vatican.

Really? What happened?

Well, the Pope made the sign of the cross, and George dropped his right crutch, and he dropped his left crutch.

Cool. What happened then?

George fell on his ass. He’s a cripple, you know.

The big talk at major american Banks in London this week has been all about the Millennium, and just how much is likely to be on offer for working it. The word from the States is what one would expect from a fair and decent employer, who appreciates the enormous sacrifice that people are being asked to make, and the immense responsibility that systems support on this momentous occasion represents: in short, you’ll do whatever we ask for your standard hourly rate, or face immediate termination. Seems that someone has cottoned onto the contracting market being tighter than a gnat’s chuff these days, and is playing hard-ball. Couple that with IR35, and you may see a new BBC wildlife series next year: “Walking with Contractors” – amazing special effects recreate a lost age, when the mighty contractors ruled the employment market, their enormous pay-cheques dwarfing the tiny, shrew-like permies, who were forced to crouch in their burrows by day. With the aid of the latest, computer-generated graphics, every aspect of these incredible creatures and their bizarre life-styles can be seen for the first time … etc … etc …