> Hartlepool caused the biggest upset when the town voted-in the football > mascot H'Angus the Monkey as mayor.
This story makes good news for several reasons: 1. Directly elected mayors are a recent innovation. Some people criticised the idea on the grounds that silly candidates would get in. And there is no presidential tradition in Britain. You can't get much sillier or ego-centric than a monkey mayor. 2. The football mascot has been in the news for his behaviour at football matches including simulated sex with stewards. 3. Hartlepool is the constituency of Peter Mandelson MP who is often in the news and is a close friend of the Prime Minister Tony Blair. 4. The link between monkeys and Hartlepool is not just accidental. A French ship was wrecked off the coast and the story is that a monkey escaped from the ship. The local people (never having seen a Frenchman before) set up a trial and hanged it as a spy. There are lots of jokes about it. An alternative version points out that 'powder-monkey' was the name given to boys who assisted on warships. -- Terry Simpson Human Factors Consultant [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.connected-systems.com Phone: +44 7850 511794
