The spirit of Christmas Present materialized in the wake of the sensational success of 'A Christmas Carol'. Britain which, despite French whinging, was - in 1843 - the world's superdooperpower, had been struggling with Christmas traditions and what-not for years. Dickens's simple short story of a tyrannical, lonely employer mirrored against his put-upon employee (the latter having a loving,…
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The scene - a church graveyard in Middle England. A respectable crowd, trussed-up in winter clothes, surrounds an open grave. As the coffin is lowered into the gaping hole, the priest declares: 'The Mother of Parliaments gave, and the Mother of Parliaments hath taken away.' A sharply dressed gentleman throws the first clod of earth onto the…
Cry for Argentina
Any professional Opinion Letter writer knows that the invention of the footnote was a godsend. Enabling the eternally cautious tax lawyer or accountant to throw caution to the wind in the main body of his document, the footnote can be stuffed with endless bits of what the paying client calls 'fudge' and the expert refers to…
Tax Break 