Lifestyle topics
It looks as if the name “HSBC” (the only truly international bank) will disappear in the UK, and the old name, Midland Bank, will be used again in bank branches all over Britain. I have two reasons for interest in the decision of HSBC to take the bank HQ back to China and re-brand its …
“An employee was recently fired by his company for tweeting a tasteless joke about running over a cyclist. Surely what we do or say in our private lives is no business of our employers? Many like to think so, yet the days when we could draw a strict line between the professional and the personal …
There is a debate going on about the preferred qualifications of teachers. Should the primary qualification be a Master’s Degree, or even a PhD, or should teachers be identified for their experience, skills of communication, love of their subject and enthusiasm? It must be natural for head teachers to treat a further degree as a …
Green roofs are popular in Germany and Australia, and in Canada Toronto adopted a by-law in 2009 mandating them in industrial and residential buildings. Now, under a new law, rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels. Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce …
Ten years ago 1 in 2500 people were estimated to be gluten intolerant. Today, that figure is 1 out of 133. We seldom heard of gluten allergy until about twenty years ago; now one frequently has to cater to guests who have the problem. Why now? It turns out that a large number of wheat …
