Benefit fraud is believed to cost the country £0.8 billion per year. 3000 benefit fraud officers are employed to tackle this problem. White collar fraud eg insider dealing, bribes, expenses fiddling is believed to cost the country £13 billion per year. The Financial Services Authority has had 1 successful prosecution in 10 years. If you…

We so often fail to live up to our own aspirations and standards. We can berate ourselves, feel useless and guilty. The Buddha said that this condition of falling short of goodness was an extremely meaningful part of the human condition [Pema Chodron, on True Happiness]. When we examine our own short comings, we develop…

I knew that this was an infamous case of antisemitism, but never knew any of the details, until In our Time (Radio4). Dreyfuss was from Alsace, and like others from that contested area, determinedly patriotic. He was one of a new generation of middle class citizens who rose through the ranks of the military on…

Banks have become casinos, trying to make money out of nothing, instead of a utility for handling people's money. Fixing this problem involves more regulation, apparently. But all you're doing is supervising the casino. Junior government officials do not have the capability or the authority to advise bankers paid multimillion pound salaries and bonuses against…

This is the new footbridge across the Clyde in Glasgow, connecting the city centre with the derelict warehouses of Tradeston. The original bridge design by Richard Rogers, called Neptune's Way, was abandoned when projected costs were far above the council's budget. Instead, this bridge was designed by the Danes, Dissing and Weitling, associates of Arne…

Although the credit crunch was triggered by subprime mortgage lending, Jeff Rubin (former chief economist for a Canadian bank) thinks at the root of it, the problem is oil. He points out that not only are the Middle Eastern oilfields depleted, but the OPEC countries themselves are consuming more and more of it themselves. Oil…

The Scottish Government in 2003 outlined the most progressive housing legislation in the world when it promised to eradicate all unintentional homelessness by 2012. One of the main issues was the allocation of housing applications as priority or non-priority; families with children always fell into the priority group, which now makes up 83% of applications.…

Went with Reu for a boy's day out to the Clydebank Titan crane. There are 5 of these huge cranes on the Clyde, this was the first, built in 1907. It stands 150ft high, and could lift 200 tons. Very slowly. Amazingly, it was electric, whereas other such cranes were steam powered, which meant that…

"I have to say I liked the idea of Limbo… for the vision it afforded of Aristotle and the Buddha conversing with tiny, half-naked bushmen but mostly, if I am honest, because I thought there might (unlike in Heaven) be animals in that other world I had come to see as an endless expanse of…

IMG_4378 We took a boat trip from Carvoeiro to see the caves. Beautiful, colourful beach and village but felt extremely self-conscious getting on to the boat while all the bronzed (local?) sunbathers watched us in our straw hats and T shirts. "Ooh, look at the WHITE people!" Jennifer said. Went to the market at Albufeira,…