一手持三叉戟，一手拿橄欖枝的女神不列顛尼亞（Britannia）2,000年前在羅馬統治時代曾封為英國的象徵和佑護神，出現在硬幣上。 1672年她在英王查理斯二世（King Charles II）復辟君主制後也跟著光復原位，之後三百多年來幾乎不間斷地顯現在至少一種面值貨幣的背面。
公眾參與新設計
皇家造幣廠2005年曾為徵集新硬幣設計圖案宣佈舉行競賽，鼓勵公眾參與，並允諾被選中圖案的設計者將得到30,000英鎊獎金。
財政部一名發言人說，新的圖案會保留英國傳統的民族和歷史徽記。“硬幣發行後人們就會看到，選中的設計都秉承了英國硬幣的最優秀傳統，也符合政府要頌揚英國傳統的願望。”
財政部也表示，不列顛尼亞女神的傳統形象在將來發行硬幣上還會再現。
英國硬幣的正面都是在位君主頭像。過去50多年在位的伊莉莎白二世頭像隨著她年齡增高已經更換三次。
紐約時報的書評 不過我們可以從末段的"體驗"中了解社會與階層生活如 lunch和dinner的"演變" 此說法可參考
「到葉門釣鮭魚」SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN
才知道 P45In the
The "P" code refers to documents in the
In the Republic of Ireland, P45 is also used as a reference to a form with the same function, as the administrative procedures in this area are similar. However, the form itself is different in design from the UK version.
Colloquially the term is used to describe somebody being fired. For instance: "After a series of defeats, the manager was eventually handed his P45."[citation needed] On June 27,
| “ | I received the following communication by urgent letter yesterday: “Details of employee leaving work: Surname Blair. First name T”— “This form is important to you. Take good care of it. P45.” | „ |
| —Tony Blair, Official Report (Hansard) | ||
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 英国著名的茶船卡蒂萨克号（Cutty Sark）曾经是往来远东和欧洲之间最快的帆船。在去年，这艘已经成为伦敦观光点的帆船在维修过程中发生大火。 | ||
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古帆船修复完毕后将在这样的一个展览馆中展出，让游人参观。 | ||
Spotlight
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| The Cutty Sark | |
| View Poster |
Quote
March 2008
6 x 9, 238 pp., 30 illus.
$18.00/£11.95 (PAPER)
ISBN-10:
0-262-68170-6
ISBN-13:
978-0-262-68170-4
Table of Contents and Sample Chapters| Acknowledgments | ix | |
| 1 | Technology, Culture, and the Politics of the Bicycle Sample Chapter - Download PDF (148 KB) | 1 |
| 2 | The Emergence of the British Bicycle Industry | 29 |
| 3 | Modernization, Competition, and Collaboration in the Sociotechnical Frameof British Mass Cycle Production | 41 |
| 4 | Working for Raleigh: Sociotechnical Change and the Relations of Production | 75 |
| 5 | The Destabilizing of Mass Production: Technological, Organizational, andIndustrial Change | 95 |
| 6 | The Global Flexibilization of the Bicycle | 119 |
| Up the Velorution: Toward a Sociotechnical Frame of the Sustainable Bicycle | 155 | |
| Epilogue | 181 | |
| Appendix A : Interviewees | 185 | |
| Appendix B: Documentary Sources | 187 | |
| Appendix C: Significant Events and Artifacts in the History of the Raleigh Cycle Company | 193 | |
| Notes | 197 | |
| Bibliography | 207 | |
| Index | ||
消費模式差異
多份報章都報道了全國統計局最新公布的國民消費調查結果。《衛報》列表顯示50年前同今天英國人消費模式的差異。
五十年前，人們每周的消費中最大筆開支用於房屋，第二是煙草，第三是出外吃飯，第四是汽車﹔今天人們的最大筆開支用於支付房屋貸款利息，第二大是租金，第三大是汽車燃料，第四是地方稅。
五十年前，人們收入的33%用於食物，16%用於其他貨物及服務﹔今天人們花29%用於其他貨物及服務，19%用於房屋。
Spending on food and drink as a proportion of total expenditure has dropped. Photograph: David Sillitoe
The proportion of a UK household's budget that goes on keeping a roof over the family's head has more than doubled in the past 50 years, according to official figures released today.
Housing costs such as mortgage interest and rent now take up the biggest slice of the weekly budget - an average 19% compared with 9% in 1957, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Meanwhile, spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks has dropped sharply from 33% of a weekly household budget in 1957 to just 15% last year.
The figures are published in the ONS's latest Family Expenditure Survey, which has now been running for 50 years, and are based on a survey of nearly 7,000 households in 2006.
They show that the average family spent £456 a week, with £143 going on housing and related costs, including council tax and home improvements.
The average total weekly household expenditure was highest among households of three or more adults and children, and amounted to £700 a week.
At the other end of the scale, one-person retired households mainly dependent on the state pension reported spending £138 a week.
After housing costs, transport took up the lion's share of the average household budget, clocking in at £62 a week.
This included £23.40 on the purchase of vehicles, £28.60 on operational costs such as petrol, repairs and servicing, and £10 on public transport such as rail, tube and bus fares.
Spending on recreation and culture, which includes purchasing books and TVs, as well as package holidays, came next at £58 a week.
Food and non-alcoholic drink purchases contributed £47 to weekly household expenditure, of which £12.50 went on meat, £3.60 on fresh vegetables and £2.90 on fresh fruit.
Comparing the figures for 2006 with those for 1957, it seems greater disposable income has pushed up spending on leisure goods and services, with the average outlay on them rising from 9% to 19%.
"Expenditure on leisure remained fairly stable until 1977. From 1977 until 2006 the expenditure has increased at a greater rate than in the 20 years between 1957 and 1977," said the report.
A fall in the number of smokers has meant a big drop off in spending on tobacco, from 6% of weekly spending in 1957 to just 1% now, but spending on alcoholic drinks has remained unchanged at 3% of the average weekly household budget.
Spending on motoring and travel costs has risen from 8% to 16% over the same period.
Clothing and footwear take a smaller cut of the average household budget, down from 10% in 1957 to just 5%.
The report also includes lists of the top 50 spending categories in 1957 and 2006, although these are not directly comparable because of a change in the assessment criteria.
In 1957 the top 50 included 20 items of food and drink including fresh milk, beef and veal, mutton and lamb, and sugar.
In the latest report, the top 50 items as a proportion of household spending include just 10 food and drink items, among them takeaway and snack food.
Fresh vegetables did not appear at all in 1957, but are now ranked in 34th place.
| 伦敦的叫卖声 |
| 作者：（英）阿秋生 等著，刘炳善 译 |
| 出版社：上海译文出版社 |
| 出版时间：2006-12-1 |
Life of Addison, 1672–1719 by Samuel Johnson
Life of
SACD  | The Cries Of London: Hillier / Theatre Of Voices Fretwork |
Morning
Joseph Addison, from The Spectator, No. 251
The Spectator, a popular series of periodical essays that appeared daily (except Sundays) in 1711–12 and 1714, was written by Addison and Richard Steele. In addition to influential social and literary criticism, it popularized current philosophical and scientific notions, set standards of taste and manners, and appealed to city readers (and readers who followed city fashions) by providing vivid descriptions of the life of the town.
[The Cries of London]
There is nothing which more astonishes a Foreigner and frights a Country Squire, than the Cries of London. My good Friend, Sir Roger, often declares that he cannot get them out of his Head, or go to sleep for them the first Week that he is in Town. On the contrary, Will. Honeycomb calls them the Ramage de la Ville, >> Ramage de la Ville: Warbling of the town.');" onclick="return overlib('Ramage de la Ville: Warbling of the town.', STICKY, CAPTION, 'Note:');" onmouseout="return nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">note 1 and prefers them to the Sounds of Larks and Nightingales, with all the Musick of the Fields and Woods. * * *
The Cries of London may be divided into Vocal and Instrumental. As for the latter, they are at present under a very great Disorder. A Freeman of London has the Privilege of disturbing a whole Street for an hour together, with the twancking of a Brass Kettle or a Frying-Pan. The Watchman's Thump >> note 2 at Midnight startles us in our Beds, as much as the breaking in of a Thief. * * *
Vocal Cries are of a much larger Extent, and indeed so full of Incongruities and Barbarisms, that we appear a distracted City, to Foreigners, who do not comprehend the Meaning of such Enormous Outcries. Milk is generally sold in a Note above Elah, >> Elah: The highest note of the musical scale.');" onclick="return overlib('Elah: The highest note of the musical scale.', STICKY, CAPTION, 'Note:');" onmouseout="return nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">note 3 and in Sounds so exceedingly shrill, that it often sets our Teeth an edge. The Chimney Sweeper is confined to no certain pitch; he sometimes utters himself in the deepest Base, and sometimes in the lowest Note of the Gamut. The same Observation might be made on the Retailers of Small-cole, not to mention broken Glasses or Brick-dust. * * *
Some of these last-mentioned Musicians are so very loud in the Sale of these trifling Manufactures, that an honest Splenetick Gentleman of my Acquaintance bargained with one of them never to come into the Street where he lived; But what was the effect of this Contract? why, the whole Tribe of Cardmatch-makers which frequent that Quarter, passed by his Door the very next Day, in hopes of being bought off after the same manner.
Queen Elizabeth II after the ceremonial opening session of Parliament in November 2006.
LONDON — It was a lofty idea: formulate a British “statement of values” defining what it means to be British, much the way a document like the Declaration of Independence sets out the ideals that help explain what it means to be American.
To be seen at the races at Ascot is undeniably a British tradition. Summing up national values, though, appears debatable.
Because of the peculiarities of its long history, Britain has in modern times never felt the need for such a statement. But in an era of decentralized government and citizens who tend to define themselves less by their similarities than by differences of region, ethnicity or religion, the government felt that the time was ripe for one.
The proposal, part of a package of British-pride-bolstering measures announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s new government over the summer, raised a host of tricky questions. What does it mean to be British? How do you express it in a country that believes self-promotion to be embarrassing? And how do you deal with a defining trait of the people you are trying to define: their habit of making fun of worthy government proposals?
Detractors spread the rumor that the government was looking not for a considered statement, but for a snappy, pithy “liberté, égalité, fraternité”-style slogan that it could plaster across government buildings in a kind of branding exercise.
Nor did it help when The Times of London cynically sponsored a British motto-writing contest for its readers.
The readers’ suggestions included “Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco” (Asbo stands for “anti-social behavior order,” a law-enforcement tool, while Tesco is a ubiquitous supermarket chain); “Once Mighty Empire, Slightly Used”; “At Least We’re Not French”; and “We Apologize for the Inconvenience.” The winner, favored by 20.9 percent of the readers, was “No Motto Please, We’re British.”
“The point I was making is, this idea of a statement of Britishness; I cannot think of anything less British than that,” said 25-year-old David Bishop, author of the winning motto.
In the House of Lords, there was a surreal debate on the nonmotto, even after Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, an official in the Ministry of Justice, said flatly that there were no plans to have one.
“I do not think I will go down that route,” he said. “But I will say that the motto of Birmingham City Football Club is ‘Keep right on ’til the end of the road.’ ”
The Earl of Mar and Kellie then suggested that the British could use the Scottish motto “Nemo me impune lacessit,” which he translated from the Latin as “Do not sit on a thistle.” (Actually, it means “no one attacks me with impunity.”) Lord Faulkner of Worcester offered “Play up, and play the game,” a line from a Victorian-era poem comparing conduct on the battlefield to conduct on the cricket field. And Earl Ferrers said that if it proved too difficult to come up with a British-wide motto, the House of Lords could perhaps use its own: “Questions and answers ought to be short.”
Part of the trouble with the whole exercise is that Britain never really began as a country, but rather “just evolved endlessly through time,” said Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at Oxford.
“In the past, Britain was something that just happened,” he said. “You didn’t have to think about it. No one’s ever sat down and thought about what it means to be British.”
On the contrary, said Michael Wills, the Ministry of Justice official in charge of the statement-of-values exercise. “It’s absolute historical nonsense,” he said in an interview. “There’s been an intense preoccupation with what it means to be British from the 17th century onwards.” After a long period of post-imperial transition, economic decline and loss of heart in the second half of the last century, he said, Britain has a new confidence and robustness and is ready to say so.
“People are proud of being British,” he said. “When you ask people, ‘What does it mean to be British?’ they want to talk about it.”
The government’s plans also include coming up with a definition of British citizenship; formulating a “bill of rights and duties” for citizens; and even considering writing down a constitution (it is currently unwritten, an accrual of precedents). There is also talk of a “British Day,” similar to Independence Day; a “museum of Britishness”; and a revisiting of the national anthem, “God Save the Queen,” one of whose later verses advocates annihilating the “rebellious Scots,” which is not very nice to the Scottish.
The Scottish, who were empowered by the Labor Party to set up their own Parliament and take more control of their destiny, are feeling particularly un-British these days and in any case have never really liked the song.
“It’s surprising that it’s taken them 250 years to realize that it’s not inclusive,” Brian Adam, a member of the Scottish Parliament, said last month. “I personally am more happy with ‘Flower of Scotland.’ ”
The historian Tristram Hunt said that such grand gestures would not sit easily with many Britons, anyway. “I personally think it’s based on a misreading of the British character,” he said. “Part of the attraction of Britain is the space it gives people to pursue their own agendas and identities.”
In advocating the proposals, Prime Minister Brown, a Scot himself, has been influenced by the United States, with its melting-pot philosophy and strong sense of national identity, and by the ideas of Sir Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi of Britain. Sir Jonathan believes that while Britain was once like a country house — everyone was a guest, and everyone felt a sense of belonging — now people are treating it like a hotel, checking in and out and hunting for bargains. Instead, he has said, it should be a community that people build together.
As for the statement of values, Mr. Wills of the Justice Ministry said that the government would soon hold “an extensive and intensive” period of consultation with regular people on what being British means to them. After that, it will convene a “citizens’ summit” of 500 to 1,000 people who will deliberate on the matter. The final decision on the statement will be made by Parliament.
But the government has its work cut out for it, if the sort-of debate in the House of Lords is anything to go by.
After Lord Hunt’s assurances that the government had no plans for a motto and his colleagues’ insistence on discussing one anyway, Lord Conwy had a thought. Why, he asked, could they not just use the French “Dieu et mon droit,” which means “God and my right?”
Lord Hunt replied: “As the noble lord will know, that represents the divine right of kings. While it is of course a well-known phrase, one would need to reflect on whether that would be entirely relevant to a motto that we are not going to have.”
 | |
 |
On 29 November 2007, Peter Hain MP informed the Electoral Commission that he had not fully reported to the Commission donations he had received for his Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.
Mr Hain has since met with the Commission and provided additional information about donations he received. The Electoral Commission has undertaken a thorough review of this information.
Following discussions with the Metropolitan Police Service and the Crown Prosecution Service, the Electoral Commission has now referred matters to the Metropolitan Police for them to consider whether an investigation should commence.
英國選舉委員會  海因未能當選工黨副主席 |
面對警方對競選捐款的調查，英國就業與養老金大臣彼得﹒海因今天宣布辭去內閣職務。
海因是英國首相布朗任期之內辭職的第一名內閣大臣。
去年11月，海因（亦有媒體譯作韓培德）承認，在競選工黨副主席時拿到的大約20萬美元的捐款未能全盤申報。
海因解釋說，他忙于內閣工作，未能對競選捐款給與密切關注。
這個辯解給海因換來了一個喘息的機會。此后，議會和選舉委員會對海因捐款事件展開了調查。
參加競選工黨副主席的共有六名候選人，海因獲得的選票名列第五。
今天，英國選舉委員會決定，將把海因沒有及時申報競選捐款一事提交警方調查。海因不久后便發表聲明，宣布辭去內閣大臣職務。
海因同時還說，他對過去發生的事情表示“遺憾”，但是，他犯了一個"單純的錯誤"，他希望辭職之后能有機會澄清自己的聲譽。
首相布朗已經接受了海因的辭呈。現任文化大臣、今年只有37歲的珀乃爾將接任工作與養老金大臣一職。
BBC記者格雷姆利說，工黨政府一向引以為榮，自己曾經引入保証政黨籌資透明度的專門法律。
格雷姆利認為，盡管海因堅持表示將証明自己的清白，但是，他是首相布朗任期內辭職的第一名大臣，對于布朗來說，這不僅會讓他尷尬，還將給他帶來挫折。
.....2007)十二月的倫敦，滿城爭說這個英國最美的車站 ── 聖潘克斯車站(St Pancras Station)她是連接英格蘭與歐洲大陸的歐洲之星新起點，經過七年整修、花費八億英鎊(約五百億元台幣)，自去年十一月中旬正式重新啟用。穿過英吉利 海峽，倫敦到巴黎的行車時間一舉縮短為兩小時十五分鐘，到布魯塞爾，更僅需一小時五十分。
Wikipedia article "St Pancras railway station".
不過，速度與美麗，只是聖潘克斯車站更新案最表面的意義。
這座維多利亞哥德式建築的車站，於一八六八年興建完成之際，正呼應了英國在工業革命時期的意氣風發。然而，歷史的驕傲也可能是一種負擔，上百年的鐵道系統，等於埋下了錯綜複雜的重重弊病。
用計劃與配套向前進步
過去歐洲之星高速鐵路英國段自開通以來，一直是以泰晤士河南岸的滑鐵盧車站(Waterloo Station)為起點，然而因為英國的鐵路建設一直沒有更新，所謂的高速列車進入英國後，就要被迫使用國內慢速鐵路網，到了倫敦周圍，車速更是大打折扣。
但隨著聖潘克斯車站的整修完工、搭配耗資六十八億英鎊(近四千三百億元台幣)橫貫倫敦地底的高速鐵路隧道開通，這個百年來最重大的交通建 設，不但讓英國正式加入歐洲高鐵的版圖，也直接帶動了同一區域由英國當代最富盛名的建築師諾曼．佛斯特(Norman Forster)所規劃的國王十字區更新案(King`s Cross Regeneration)。
這個事關六十七英畝(相當於三十八個足球場大小)、原本是鐵道工業廢棄區的地段，可望在未來二十年內，藉由一連串的更新，為倫敦市中心，提供大量的商業、住宅與公共空間用地。
「我們要確保所做的每一件事，都以大眾交通運輸為基礎，」「設計倫敦」(Design for London 倫敦設計總成 Design for London to support the delivery of well-designed
projects across London ) 總監畢夏(Peter Bishop)指出，倫敦將從現有的七百多萬人，在二十年之間再成長一百萬人。迫切要解決的，就是交通、居住、生活品質和就業議題。
「設計倫敦」是倫敦市長李文斯頓(Ken Livingstone)一年前特別設立的單位，目的就是要集中倫敦所有都市設計的資源，廣納意見、運籌協調。而「設計倫敦」機構的成立，一方面暗示著面對城市競爭的大局面，即使強壯如倫敦，也不敢不加緊腳步。另一方面，也見證了英國人注重計劃、強調全盤配套，與整體美觀的前瞻做法。
如火如荼地更新與翻轉
倫敦未來二十年的都市更新正如火如荼地推行，往內，倫敦的心臟有國王十字區的再次翻轉；往外，倫敦的指尖正藉由「泰晤士河口計劃」(Thames Gateway Project 「泰晤士河出入口計劃」)展開歐洲最大規模、綿延四十英哩(約六十四公里)的更新擴展。
為了從過去的工業之城、貿易之都，回應新世紀的知識經濟、創意服務需求，倫敦這個千年古城，再一次正在變身。
站在泰晤士河南岸、最受觀光客喜愛的泰德當代美術館(Tate Modern Museum)前往北眺，最惹眼的不是聖保羅大教堂的圓頂，而是一台又一台與天爭高的高架起重機。
兩千年的歷史、五百年未受戰火蹂躪，使倫敦深深刻印著珍貴的文化痕跡。過去，倫敦建築的總體格局以保持原有街區風貌為核心，很少允許在市區興建高樓，潛意識裡甚至是有著反對高樓建築的強烈色彩。
作為世界級的金融中心，僅管紐約與東京的建築早已爭相往上竄，但倫敦始終有所保留。然而，是否能為金融業提供足夠的辦公大樓，畢竟攸關倫敦的領先地位，再加上看到近年來上海、杜拜一整片、一整片建築拔地而起的強悍氣勢，倫敦不免也開始心急了起來。
二○○○年上任的市長李文斯頓就一反過往，轉而支持倫敦的高樓建築計劃，對過去為了保護聖保羅大教堂到國會大廈一帶乾淨天際線的做法，也開始有了討論。為了舒緩辦公大樓的需求，倫敦公、私單位已有默契地放鬆市中心的開發控制標準，允許更多的高樓建築出現。
綠色環境將是城市的夢想
除了變高，倫敦也要變綠。
倫敦的大公園，向來是繁忙都會裡最令人流連的一道風景。若以市中心最熱鬧的皮卡迪里廣場(Piccadilly Circus)為中心，方圓三英哩之內，就有大小公園八十處，整個綠地覆蓋市區的面積約四分之一。
「未來我們還將花上二、 三十年時間，把市中心零碎的溼地、綠地綴連起來，再加上市中心外圍的環城綠帶(green belt)，」為了精密計算人均公共綠地、人均公園面積等自然地景分布，畢夏遞出一本專門探討東倫敦綠地網絡的手冊，上面滿是該如何補救某些地區綠地缺乏 的方法。
而這本手冊裡，當然也包括了自行車的行徑路線規劃。(本文兩句以"而開始之句子....)
入冬的聖詹姆士公園(St James Park)依然有著翠嫩的青草地，只不過，在白楊樹旁跑上跑下的松鼠們，這幾年變得愈來愈靈巧，全都是因為得隨時閃躲日漸增多的自行車騎士。
「騎自行車上班」的風潮彷彿像春風般吹過了倫敦的大街小巷，就這麼流行了起來。即使是在接近零下的溫度，也還是會有一身勁裝的自行車騎士，飛快騎過，在街 頭引起觀光客的側目。另一方面，為了解決交通和空氣污染問題，從二○○三年起，倫敦市中心的部份區域開始在周一至周五徵收「塞車稅」 (congestion fee)。凡是在規定時間內開車入城的，每天得交八英鎊(約五百元台幣)。
去年二月，倫敦交通署進一步擴大收費範圍，並且著手改革原有的收費政策，打算將費用與汽車廢氣排放量掛?，進而把塞車稅變成一種環境稅或污染稅。今年二月，倫敦甚至還規劃了新的「低排放區」計劃，要透過高收費的方式限制排氣量超高的汽車駛入倫敦。
平時搭地鐵上班的市長李文斯頓對媒體表示，如果計劃得以成功實施，到了二○一二年，整個倫敦地區的汽車廢氣排放量，將可減少一六％。更值得注意的是，根據民調顯示，有七五％的民眾支持這項首創的劃定「低排放區」做法。
倫敦人正用不同的方式回應「永續城市」這個當紅概念。
倫敦金融市的永續發展部總監米爾斯(Simon Mills)，最近剛談成了一項「倫敦協定」(London Accord)，「我們說服像JP Morgan、Credit Swiss等二十二個國際大金融機構，請他們根據普林斯頓大學所選出的十六個能夠節能、減低二氧化碳排放量的科技領域，分別去研究該領域應如何投資。」
HC案: London Accord翻譯成「倫敦協定」有可能錯誤 因為這是一協助投資人決策之研究項目 或許可解釋為「倫敦永續諧和投資咨詢」....
讓環保議題與投資利益相符合，是米爾斯的部門所想出來的點子。倫敦金融市除了引領世界碳交易的進行，最終還不忘導引市場力量來研究抗暖化議題。
金絲雀碼頭的翻身傳奇
不過，在迎向新轉變的挑戰中，倫敦當然不是沒有跌過跤。
搭地鐵來到朱比力線(Jubilee Line)的金絲雀碼頭站(Canary Wharf Station)，售票大廳懸掛的巨幅彩色廣告與周圍未加裝飾的水泥柱面形成鮮明對比。走過光亮的花崗岩地面、登上三層樓高的手扶梯，迎面而來的是充滿現代感的車站出口。
一出站，路透社的玻璃帷幕大樓倒映著泰晤士河水的波光，廣場上的遊客手中提滿了大包小包的聖誕節禮物。很難想像，十幾年前這裡不過是個有著高聳大廈與稀少人煙的空城。
金絲雀碼頭是人們津津樂道的倫敦都市更新案例，從失敗到再起，成了世界各城市競相研究的話題。位於倫敦東南的金絲雀碼頭更新開發計劃，從一 九八○年代展開，期間曾因歐洲經濟不景氣、大眾運輸系統不足、地方勞動力未能同步升級等因素，成了英國都更的失敗象徵。直到倫敦不動產市場回溫、朱比力線 地鐵延伸、政府持續支持開發並引進國際人才，才終於讓金絲雀碼頭急起直追，在國際級金融集團紛紛進駐後，成為倫敦都更代表作。
經此一役，倫敦在城市發展的更新計劃上，有了更明確的行動方針。
「過去的經驗讓我們認知，人、經濟、基礎建設和國際行銷，是倫敦城市發展與更新的四大主軸，」倫敦發展署(London Development Agency 前文為"部" )策略與政策總監麥德沃(Tony Medawar)指出。
貧富差距暗藏隱憂
為了明確了解倫敦的優劣勢，倫敦發展署每六個月會發表一份報告，裡面詳細追?各種經濟數字。「事實證明，倫敦要面對的最大挑戰，是『就業 率』。」麥德沃單刀直入，迅速切進倫敦成長翻轉的要害。坐在大片落地玻璃窗引進天光的敞亮辦公室裡，麥德沃毫不避諱地說，「別看倫敦如此光鮮亮麗，國際人 才滿街都是，但就業率卻比英格蘭任何地區都低，有些社區甚至是令人想像不到的低，永遠都是紅字。」
或許是移民社會的語言障礙，或許是托育機制的不夠完備，但就業率問題的背後，隨之而來的是貧富差距。ＢＢＣ記者(應寫出姓名)曾經形容，從倫敦西邊的Ｗ５(郵遞區號)走到Ｗ７，大約半個多小時就足夠，但其間的貧富差距，恐怕奮鬥大半生也難以彌補。
「所以我們現在對每個更新區的想像，一定會先考量勞動力是否能夠同步升級，以人力技能的訓練為優先，」倫敦發展署都市更新資深經理侯考芙 (Rosie Holcroft)認為，城市轉型不單是公共空間、交通建設等硬體規劃，本地勞動力是否能夠跟上產業結構的變化，是另一個根本的挑戰。
前國際都市發展協會主席、英國社區暨地方政府部地區建設業務總司長蒙哥莫利(Joe Montgomery)則拿著剛出爐的「泰晤士河口計劃書」(The Delivery Plan for Thames Gateway HC案:漏一字應為"泰晤士河出入口落實計劃書")指出，在這項包含二○一二倫敦奧運村開發方案的歐洲最大都更計劃中，有三大要素貫穿其中：一是經濟競爭力、一是生活品質、另一個就是回應 氣候變遷的環境議題。
「我們從來不覺得倫敦是一個『大城市』，但競爭者很多，都在準備擊敗我們，」蒙哥莫利謹慎地說。
談到倫敦該如何更上一層樓，所有的人都務實到巴不得拿出幾本書來佐證自己的論述。
原來，不用等到二○一二奧運年，倫敦早已把自己放在世界的天秤上，秤了一遍又一遍。
【天下雜誌389期 新世界之都 倫敦】
2007先從今天BBC的一則翻譯新聞說起
"
《泰晤士報》引述英國情報部門的監督機構 通信截聽委員會 的報告指出，在過去一年，英國的特務組織和其他司法部門等共發出了45萬次申請，要求截查境內人士的電子郵件、電話和郵件等。
通信截聽委員會負責人 托馬斯指出，從2005年到2006年間，有關的截查發生了4000起錯誤，這一數字是 高得不能接受的 。
另一方面，英國首相布萊爾承認，申領身份證人士的指紋可能被當局檢查，以確定是否涉及該國近100萬起未被偵破的罪案。
人權組織形容這兩起事件是 蔑視人們隱私的做法 。
不過內政部表示，由於以往沒有公布過有關截查通信的數字，所以不能說 通信截聽委員會 的報告表明，當局收集信息數據的數字大量增加。
《獨立報》報道，英國各大銀行將公布破紀錄的業績，在去年 非法 收取47億英鎊款項，感謝顧客們的反抗，現在是銀行 清還款項 的時候。
《獨立報》頭版標題呼籲銀行客戶取回屬於自己的金錢。
英國一個消費者權益互聯網站利用各大銀行將在未來兩星期公布業績的時候，呼籲人們進行大規模的投訴，要求銀行償還 非法 收取的透支罰款。
消費者權益組織《Which》估計，僅是去年，銀行業收取的未經授權透支罰款就達到47億英鎊。 "
我的目的要介紹約略相對於台灣消費者文教基金會刊物的Which?
Wikipedia中只有英文的介紹
讀者或許可以觀摩其網站
Which? is a subscription-only magazine and website run by Which? Ltd (formerly known as the Consumers' Association, which is still the official name of the charity). Based in the United Kingdom, it engages in advocacy campaigns on various consumer protection issues and aims to promote informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services, by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, and raising awareness of consumer rights. It maintains its independence by not accepting advertising or freebies; everything bought for testing is paid for at full price. Which? is funded entirely by its subscribers and has no shareholders.
Which? carries out systematic testing of consumer products and financial services, the results of which are published in reports in the magazine. The Which? 'Best Buy' label is well-known and respected by industry and consumers. Tests are carried out on consumer items like electrical goods, cars, and computers, as well as health and financial services, and supermarkets. Testing highlights issues such as reliability and value-for-money.
The magazine also raises awareness of trading it believes goes against the interests of consumers. It offers advice on consumers' legal rights and reports on legal cases where it has fought for members' rights. In the May, 2003 issue, for example, the back page featured a couple who won compensation from their credit card firm after purchasing a poor holiday. Another case featured was a life assurance company which had not maintained customer records properly and was forced to pay compensation. Which? also communicates regularly with the OFT and recently brought a 'supercomplaint' against private dentists in the UK. However, Which? has been criticised for its use of junk mail prize draws, similar to Reader's Digest, to gain additional subscribers. It is moving away from this area[citation needed].
Which? Ltd produces several other specialist publications apart from the main Which? magazine. These include Holiday Which?, Computing Which? and Gardening Which. It also publishes several books including the annual Good Food Guide and Giving and Inheriting.
Thomas Rowlandson (July 14, 1756 – April 22, 1827) was an English caricaturist.
He was born in Old Jewry, in the City of London, the son of a tradesman or city merchant. On leaving school he became a student at the Royal Academy. At the age of sixteen, he lived and studied for a time in Paris, and he later made frequent tours to the Continent, enriching his portfolios with numerous jottings of life and character. In 1775 he exhibited a drawing of Delilah visiting Samson in Prison, and in the following years he was represented by various portraits and landscapes. He was spoken of as a promising student; and had he continued his early application he would have made his mark as a painter. But by the death of his aunt, a French lady, he inherited £7,000, plunged into the dissipations of the town and was known to sit at the gaming-table for thirty-six hours at a stretch.
In time poverty overtook him; and the friendship and example of James Gillray and Henry William Bunbury seem to have suggested caricature as a means of filling an empty purse. His drawing of Vauxhall, shown in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1784, had been engraved by Pollard, and the print was a success. Rowlandson was largely employed by Rudolph Ackermann, the art publisher, who in 1809--issued in his Poetical Magazine The Schoolmaster’s Tour--a series of plates with illustrative verses by Dr. William Combe. They were the most popular of the artist’s works. Again engraved by Rowlandson himself in 1812, and issued under the title of the Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, they had attained a fifth edition by 1813, and were followed in 1820 by Dr Syntax in Search of Consolation, and in 1821 by the Third Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of a Wife.
He also produced a body of erotic prints and woodcuts, many of which would be considered pornographic today.
The same collaboration of designer, author and publisher appeared in the English Dance of Death, issued in 1814-16, one of the most admirable of Rowlandson’s series, and in the Dance of Life, 1822. Rowlandson also illustrated Smollett, Goldsmith and Sterne, and his designs will be found in The Spirit of the Public Journals (1825), The English Spy (1825), and The Humourist (1831). He died in London, after a prolonged illness, on 22 April 1827.
Rowlandson’s designs were usually done in outline with the reed-pen, and delicately washed with colour. They were then etched by the artist on the copper, and afterwards aquatinted --usually by a professional engraver, the impressions being finally coloured by hand. As a designer he was characterized by the utmost facility and ease of draughtsmanship, and the quality of his art suffered from this haste and over-production. He dealt less frequently with politics than his fierce contemporary, Gillray, but commonly touching, in a rather gentle spirit, the various aspects and incidents of social life. His most artistic work is to be found among the more careful drawings of his earlier period; but even among the exaggerated caricature of his later time we find hints that this master of the humorous might have attained to the beautiful had he so willed.
His work included a personification of the United Kingdom named John Bull who was developed from about 1790 in conjunction with other British satirical artists such as Gillray and George Cruikshank.
A distinctive style of satire used in caricature drawings emerged in England during the reign of George III. The freedom from censorship and the variety of publishers catering to people of different political and cultural views fueled this art. These etchings reproduced as single prints had the advantage of quick production and a price many could afford. The subject matter was often political in nature but many other subjects were addressed. Rowlandson's works addressed many subjects: fashion, theater, country life, religion, nautical themes, travel, and medicine and illness. The Dittrick Medical History Center has eight original prints of Rowlandson's caricature works, and a set of reproductions depicting medical themes. Doctors are usually portrayed as quacks, drunken sots, body snatchers, and money grubbers.
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Thomas Rowlandson: The Last Gasp: Toadstools Mistaken for Mushrooms. Pubished by Thomas Tegg ca.1800 | Thomas Rowlandson: Medical Dispatch or Doctor Double Dose Killing Two Birds With One Stone. Published by Thomas Tegg ca.1800 |
Rowlandson worked for many publishers throughout the years. He was employed at Rudolf Akermann's 'Repository of Arts' in 1798. Akermann sold designs for coaches, paintings, drawings, and materials for amatur artists, most of his clientele were well-heeled middle class. Ackermann was also a Loyalist. Rowlandson's work for him reflected those political and cultural values. During this same period Rowlandson was commissioned by Thomas Tegg to produce works to be sold at Tegg's 'Apollo Library' that catered to the lower sector of the booming caricature business. Colored etchings sold for one shilling, half the usual price. These works were often bawdy in nature and carelessly executed. Rowlandson also did work for Samuel Fores who was one of the top three dealers of high quality caricatures, the following prints are from a set of prints titled the Comforts of Bath (1798) published by Samuel Fores.
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Rowlandson often produced works for opposing points of view at the same time, like the pro-Pitt and pro-Fox etchings, or the Kings first attack of insanity. Collectors of etchings often bought from opposing viewpoints. So when we see doctors depicted very negatively in Rowlandsons prints, this may or may not have been his personal point of view. The medical profession was poorly regulated at this time, permitting quacks to erode public confidence in the profession. Rowlandson died in 1827, and by that time reform of the profession of medicine had begun. The old Poorhouse was being replaced by the newer type of teaching hospital, and modern ideas of public health were evolving. Caricaturists of the day raised the consciousness of the public, and perhaps helped fuel reform in many areas of society.
Sources:
Donald, Diana, The Age of Caricature: Satirical Prints in the Reign of George III, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996
Grego, Joseph, Rowladson the Caricaturist: A Sketch of his life, Times, and Contemporaries 2 Vols New York: J.W. Bouton, 1880
In Britain a unit of alcohol is defined as 10 millilitres (or approximately 8 grams) of ethanol (ethyl alcohol). It is used as a basis for guidelines on consumption of alcoholic beverages; the number of units contained in a typical drink is publicised and marked on bottles.
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The number of units of alcohol in a drink can be determined by multiplying the volume of the drink (in millilitres) by its percentage ABV, and dividing by 1000 (or litres × % abv).
Thus a pint (568ml) of beer at 4% ABV contains
In the metric system there is 1 unit per percentage point of ABV in 1 litre of a drink; e.g., 37.5 units in a litre of a typical whisky with 37.5 ABV.
It is often misleadingly stated that a unit is supplied by a small glass of wine, half a pint of beer, or a single measure of spirits.[1] Such statements are misleading because they do not reflect the large differences in strengths and measures of wines, beers and spirits.[2] [3]
Since 1995 the UK government has advised that regular consumption of between three and four units a day for men and between two and three units a day for women would not pose significant health risks, but that consistently drinking four or more units a day (men) or three or more units a day (women) is not advisable.[citation needed] Previously (from 1992 till 1995) the advice was that men should drink no more than 21 units per week, and women no more than 14.[citation needed] This was changed because a government study showed that many people were in effect "saving" up their units and "using" them at the end of the week,[citation needed]a phenomenon referred to as binge drinking. The difference between sexes is given due to the (typically) lower weight and water-to-body-mass-ratio of women.
It was claimed in October 2007 that these limits had been "plucked out of the air" and have no scientific basis.[4]
An international study (Kanis, 2005) of almost 6,000 men and 11,000 women found that persons who reported that they drank more than 2 units of alcohol a day had an increased risk of fractures compared to non-drinkers. For example, those who drank over 3 units a day had nearly twice the risk of a hip fracture.[5]
