Brussels sprouts are the ultimate passion food. You either love them or hate them. I last gobbled one down 41 years, 2 months 3 weeks and 1 day ago. Condemned to a childhood of Friday night dinners with the accursed things, I eventually developed a technique of swallowing them whole. Since my marriage raw sprouts have…
French toast
The French are the masters of indignation. Staring at an offender from the top of his Gallic aquiline nose, a Frenchman can turn any opponent to blancmange faster than a speeding escargot. You don't cross the French. Marking Bastille Day last weekend with a cafe-au-lait and croissant in the comfort of my salon, my mind wandered back to…
Tax and the C.T.
Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" was an unlikely international bestseller. The Louvre, the Vatican and a French Church would hardly be expected to be up there amongst the 1001 places Joe Sixpack must visit before he dies. However, looking at what it did for interest in religion, can you imagine what a boon it…
Rocket tax
At the dawn of my career when I would flit from audit client to audit client, red and green pens at the ready, every accounting department would resonate at least once each day to the gravelly voice of Bonnie Tyler singing "Every now and then I fall apart". Well, last week scientists finally proved (almost) that she was…
Did you hear the one about…..?
Comedians fear the moment in their careers when they lose their timing. Evidently not the Cypriots. This week Cyprus proudly assumes the six month rotating presidency of the EU. Last week, after knocking on the doors of friends and distant neighbours to see if they could spare a dime, they finally asked the EU for a…
Tax Break 