They start, usually, by saying that they've never written a letter like this before.

WHITEHOUSE: White House Forum on Health Reform

Would sending a letter like this simply spur antagonistic feelings that would lead them to provide an unfavorable reference?

FORBES: The Perfect Resignation Letter

It is a sign of how badly the bid team believe they have been damaged by events of the last month that a letter like this has been sent to Fifa.

BBC: England bid team write to Fifa ahead of 2018 Cup vote

Something like this has already befallen traditional letter writing, and this suggests a disturbing theory about Scorecard's eventual impact.

ECONOMIST: www.democracy.com

Yet even if this list reads like a national letter to Santa Claus, the package is still a giant step in the right direction.

ECONOMIST: China's fiscal stimulus

This week he devotes a lot of his letter to testimony that seems to prove that big banks like Citigroup ( C) and BAC were negligent and even willfully careless in underwriting subprime mortgages.

FORBES: A European Lynch Mob Is Coming For Bank of America