2010年2月23日 星期二
Punk is a state of mind
2010年2月20日 星期六
CUTS THREATEN LIFELINE FROM FOREIGN STUDENTS
政府拨款减少影响英国大学收入
Britain's reputation as a global education powerhouse could be threatened by a squeeze on government funding, a Financial Times survey suggests.
That in turn could deepen the sector's woes by making it harder to recruit foreign students who are a big moneyspinner for cash-strapped institutions, say vice-chancellors at a cross-section of UK universities.
Tim Wheeler, vice-chancellor of Chester University, which is competing for more foreign students, said: “There is a lot of recent adverse [press] coverage about cutbacks in English universities and it has certainly played into the hands of the American, Australian and Canadian universities.” All three countries vie with England in the battle for international students.
Paul O'Prey, vice-chancellor of Roehampton University, said Britain was “uniquely well placed” to attract foreign students but “the real risk is that the messages about universities in the media could create damage abroad”. He said: “I think people have to be careful about not talking down
one of the major export success of the UK.”Simon Gaskell, principal of Queen Mary, University of London, said: “I think it's going to be very difficult, but not impossible, for individual institutions to continue to transmit a very positive message about their own higher education and research provision, when the UK is apparently devaluing the importance it attaches to higher education.” News of the funding cuts sent a “pretty stark” message abroad.International scholars – those from outside the European Union – are particularly important because they can be charged a market rate. Fees for EU undergraduates, by contrast, are capped at £3,225 a year, though postgraduate fees are not regulated.
The government also considers income from foreign students to be increasingly important to the economy. Gordon Brown said this month that “education will be perhaps our biggest export in 20 years” and cited universities specifically.
The survey of more than 21 universities found that 17 planned to recruit more international students to offset the funding cuts.
Moreover, 12 said they would increase the fees charged to unregulated students, while many others were actively considering it. Many aimed to exploit the weak pound by raising fees by up to 10 per cent.
Graham Henderson, vice-chancellor and chief executive of Teesside University, said he planned to continue to develop the university, but increasing full-cost international student numbers were essential to this. He hoped to increase the number of international students by 50 per cent over the next two years to 1,500.
Prof O'Prey of Roehampton said overseas revenue was crucial to maintaining growth. “Where else is growth coming from? If universities are going to survive this recession they have to find ways of growing non-regulated, non-governmental income.”
Universities will receive £4.7bn for teaching in 2010-11 from the government-funded Higher Education Funding Council for England, a 1.6 per cent decrease in real terms after allowing for 2 per cent inflation. However, most institutions surveyed are preparing for an overall 15 to 20 per cent cut in government funding over the next three years.
Several smaller universities said they were considering mergers. Many institutions expected to reduce staff numbers to meet the reduction in revenue.
倫敦樂團
公民RSS－倫敦逾萬團 東京三百家
●英國
搖滾文化深厚多元的英國，也擁有活躍的樂團表演風氣，據統計，光是倫敦一地，每晚就有超過一萬個樂團，在不同地點表演。然而，一般的Pub大多為喝酒聊天的場地，並無樂團表演，只有部分Rock Pub會提供演出場地。
相對而言，英國有各式的演唱展演，通稱為Music Venue，這些場所大多不販售酒精飲料，甚至只有自動販賣機，只能單純聆聽音樂表演，最具代表性的是倫敦100 Club。
除此，英國小自社區中心、大到音樂廳都是樂團表演的樂園，例如電子嘻哈搖滾樂團Asian Dub Foundation，就在倫敦的社區音樂中心崛起茁壯。
2010年2月19日 星期五
soap operas made me
Spotlight:
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| 'EastEnders' Cast |
Quote:
2010年2月18日 星期四
Abbey Road
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|---|---|
| The iconic Abbey Road street sign | |
| Location | St. John's Wood, London, UK |
| Length (mi) | 1.3 miles (2.1 km) |
| Direction | North-west |
| Start | Quex Road, Kilburn |
| End | Grove End Road, St. John's Wood |
| Landmarks | Abbey Road Studios; Abbey Road zebra crossing |
Abbey Road is a thoroughfare located in the borough of Camden and the City of Westminster in London running roughly northwest to southeast through St. John's Wood, near Lord's Cricket Ground. It is part of the B507.
The north-western end of Abbey Road begins in Kilburn, at the intersection of Quex Road and West End Lane; it continues south-east for roughly a mile, crossing Belsize Road, Boundary Road, and Marlborough Place, ending at the intersection of Grove End Road and Garden Road.
The Abbey National Building Society (later the Abbey) was founded in 1874 as The Abbey Road & St John's Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society in a Baptist church on Abbey Road.
EMI's Abbey Road Studios are located at the south-eastern end, at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood. The Beatles and many other famous popular music performers have recorded at this studio, and The Beatles named their final 1969 studio LP Abbey Road. The album's cover photograph shows the four group members walking across the zebra crossing located just outside the studio entrance. As a result of its association with The Beatles, since 1970 this section of Abbey Road has been featured on the London tourism circuit.
The crossing featured on the Beatles cover, as well as the crossing directly north of it, have become popular photo-opportunity areas, despite the road still being a busy thoroughfare for traffic. The iconic Beatles album cover has been parodied many times over the years on the crossing.
The tin street sign (pictured above) on the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road was recently removed as well. The street sign is now mounted high on the building on the corner, to save the local council the expense of cleaning and replacing the sign, which was frequently defaced and stolen. The council repaints the wall next to the crossing every three months to cover fans' graffiti.[1]
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2010年2月17日 星期三
What’s Hot on This BBC Podcast? The Siege of Munster
What’s Hot on This BBC Podcast? The Siege of Munster (1534-35)
The Frankfurt School of philosophers emigrated from Nazi Germany and became dyspeptic critics of American culture. Several landed in Southern California where they were disturbed by the consumer culture and the gospel of relentless cheeriness. Depressive by nature, they focused on the disappointments and venality that surrounded them and how unnecessary it all was. It could be paradise, Theodor Adorno complained, but it was only California.
These gloomy Germans were the subject of a recent edition of “In Our Time,” a popular BBC Radio 4 program that is gaining fans in the United States through its free podcast, which is available on iTunes. It is hard to imagine a mainstream American radio show devoting a full episode to the Frankfurt School, but for “In Our Time,” that was relatively light fare.
Recently, the show has delved into the 1692 Glencoe Massacre in Scotland and aired a four-part series on the Royal Society, a scholarly institution celebrating its 350th anniversary. It made the episode on “Silas Marner,” George Eliot’s 1861 novel, seem frivolous.
There is a lot of talk about how the Internet is driving culture ever lower, but it also makes a wealth of serious thinking available. From the comfort of home, one can download free audio books by authors like Jane Austen and Joseph Conrad and free podcasts of university lectures (openculture.com has an assortment of both).
“In Our Time,” a program on “the history of ideas,” is in a class of its own. Each week the host, Melvyn Bragg — a BBC veteran, whose Life Peerage makes him Lord Bragg of Wigton — offers a panel of academic experts, with Oxford and Cambridge heavily represented. The guests have titles like “associate professor in philosophy and senior fellow in the public understanding of philosophy at the University of Warwick.” They talk about arcane topics from history, literature, science and philosophy, throwing off casual asides on subjects like Sigmund Freud’s theory of “gain through illness” — the idea that people become neurotic because it is useful to them.
Mr. Bragg doesn’t spare the stage directions: Would you please tell us about this? And We’ll Get to That Later. But his careful questioning and quick wit underlie the brilliance of “In Our Time” — its ability to draw in listeners on subjects that they would not expect themselves to care much about, or perhaps even to be able to tolerate.
I convinced a friend to start downloading the program when I mentioned an interesting discussion of logical positivism. The next time I saw her, she told me that she was hooked and that a new episode on the Siege of Munster — which had popped up on my iPhone, but which I had not rushed to hear — was surprisingly fascinating.
Intellectuals also talk about ideas on a second BBC Radio 4 program called “Thinking Allowed,” but its focus is “new research on how society works.” The host, Laurie Taylor, interviews professors and authors on subjects that are contemporary and often a bit whimsical. There have been episodes on acquaintances — people somewhere between strangers and friends — and a phenomenon described as “laddish masculinity in higher education.”
The discussions often involve scholarly inquiry into the minutiae of everyday life, with special attention to the role of social class — a subject rarely discussed in the American news media. On one, an inquiry into the sociology of car behavior suggested that when two middle-class couples ride in a car, the owners of the car are likely to sit in the front, with the second couple in the back. When two working-class couples go for a drive, the men are likely to sit in the front and the women in the back.
Making abstruse subjects accessible to nonexperts can be a challenge, something Mr. Bragg, a self-proclaimed nonexpert, appreciates. “Thank you very much, indeed, for bringing that down to us,” he told the panel at the end of the show on logical positivism.
After a brief pause, he announced the following week’s topic: “The Ediacara Biota, pre-Cambrian life forms, which vanished 542 million years ago — were they the earliest form of life?”
全身掃描或違人權法
星洲日報
（英國‧倫敦）英國平等與人權委員會（EHRC）今日（週二，
2010年2月9日 星期二
Met Commander Ali Dizaei jailed for corruption
Met Commander Ali Dizaei jailed for corruption
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Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei has been sentenced to four years for assaulting and falsely arresting a man in a dispute over £600.
Southwark Crown Court was told Waad Al-Baghdadi was arrested by Dizaei in a row over work on the officer's website.
Dizaei, 47, was convicted of both misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said he was guilty of a "wholesale abuse of power" motivated by self-interest and pride.
Dizaei was ordered to spend two years in prison and two years on licence.
Mr Justice Simon said the sentence included a deterrent element "to send a clear message that police officers of whatever rank are not above the law".
The judge told Dizaei: "You knew how the system worked and you thought you would never be discovered.
"You crossed that line and now stand convicted of these offences."
Commenting after the verdict, Mr Al-Baghdadi said: "I would like to thank all those who listened to me after I made my complaint, in particular the jury who have delivered justice and found Ali Dizaei guilty."
Speaking after the trial, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "It is extremely disappointing and concerning that this very senior officer has been found guilty of abusing his position and power.
 Mr Al-Baghdadi wanted payment for working on the officer's website |
"He has breached that trust and damaged not only his own reputation but that of the entire police service."
Speaking outside court, Gaon Hart, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Mr Dizaei's corruption, which would have been deplorable in any police officer, was all the more so given his position as a highly-ranked police commander.
"The public should have confidence that we will pursue anyone, regardless of their position, where there is evidence that they have committed serious offences of corruption."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said "criminals in uniform like Dizaei" were the greatest threat to the reputation of the police.
The dispute between the men came to a head when Mr Al-Baghdadi, 24, demanded payment from Britain's most senior Asian officer for work on his personal website, alidizaei.com.
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Dizaei and Mr Al-Baghdadi at a police station
Mr Al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi national who has lived in the UK since 2003, told the court he confronted the police officer after seeing him drunk and dancing at the Persian Yas restaurant in Kensington, west London, in July 2008.
Dizaei then produced handcuffs and arrested him.
A police doctor told the court that injuries Dizaei claimed had been caused by Mr Al-Baghdadi were probably self-inflicted.
The court also heard that Dizaei, who had a 24-year police career in the UK, claimed to have received threatening voicemails and text messages from Mr Al-Baghdadi before the incident, but had "accidentally" deleted them.
Mr Al-Baghdadi said he was left "scared" and "shocked" after the incident.
During the trial he likened the "bully" Dizaei to the movie gangster Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino in the film Scarface.
Mr Wright said once Dizaei realised inconsistencies in his account had been uncovered by detectives he attempted to get the case dropped.
Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version
CPS spokesman Gaon Hart: "Dizaei abused his position as a senior police officer"
Dizaei is a former president of the Metropolitan Black Police Association.
He had emerged unscathed from a series of earlier inquiries, including a multimillion-pound undercover operation examining claims of corruption, fraud and dishonesty.
He has been suspended on full pay since September 2008, but now stands to be sacked from the Metropolitan Police.
Responding to the verdict, Nick Hardwick of the IPCC said: "He [Dizaei] went on to lie about what had happened and, if he had been successful, Mr Al-Baghdadi may have been sent to prison.
"Dizaei behaved like a bully and the only way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them.
"Corruption comes in many forms and remains a threat to the police service. It requires constant vigilance to fight it."
Last November Dizaei was cleared of misusing his corporate credit card.
He had been accused of spending more than £5,000 on clothes and perfume during a trip to the US but an inquiry by Dorset Chief Constable Martin Baker found no evidence of wrongdoing.
倫敦首都警察指揮官阿里．迪亞（Ali Dizaei）因在一起由私人利益衝突所引發的爭執中攻擊以及非法逮捕另一名男子而獲刑4年。而令人難以理解的是，讓這位高級官員24年的警界生涯一夜之間終止的爭執竟是為了區區600英鎊。英 國南華克刑事法庭近日作出裁決，年已47歲的警察官迪亞因失職以及妨礙司法公正被正式定罪，被判入獄兩年，監外服刑兩年。法庭外，英國皇家檢查院的加翁． 哈特（Gaon Hart）說：【錄音】「 迪亞的腐敗行為對於任何一位警務人員都是可悲的，更何況他是一位高階層的警察指揮官。公眾應該對我們有信心，只要有證據，我們絕不會放過任何一個犯罪的 人，無論這個人的職位是什麼。」
倫敦警署局長保羅．斯蒂芬森(Paul Stephenson)在發言中表示，一位高級官員反而卻因濫用職權而定罪，這件事讓人深感遺憾和痛心。他違背了信任，不僅毀掉了自己的聲望，還影響了整 個警隊服務的信譽。負責此次判決的法官西蒙（Simon）表示，此案的判決結果同時也清楚地向大眾發出了一個警告，即不管多大官銜的警務人員都不能凌駕於 法律之上。
此次事件的另一位當事人巴格達迪來自伊拉克，自2003年起居住英國，是位網頁設計師。他曾為迪亞設計網站用以展示迪亞的事業歷程以及他參與的相關媒體採訪和演講。但事後，迪亞並未付清600鎊的佣金。
希望之聲國際廣播電台記者卓歆、昕毅綜合報道。2010年2月2日 星期二
Dictionary of an attorney general
The Guardian
The inquiry was drawn into a detailed discussion on a number of key words and phrases which played central role in Lord Goldsmith's argument that there was ...
The inquiry was drawn into a detailed discussion on a number of key words and phrases which played central role in Lord Goldsmith's argument that there was a legal basis for the war.
'The revival argument'
Whether UN security council resolution 1441 triggered the authority contained in earlier UN resolutions, including resolution 678 passed in 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. If that authority was revived, then the use of force would be lawful to "restore international peace and security in the area".
'A material breach'
The key test, potentially triggering revival and authorising military action. Whether Iraq was in "material breach" of resolution 1441 was a question of fact, Goldsmith said, and a decision for his "clients, notably Tony Blair. If such a breach were found it could terminate the ceasefire and revive the authorisation for the use of force.
'Consider' v 'decide'
Terms referring to any role the security council would have before an invasion. "Consider" was the term was preferred by the US and the UK on the basis that if Saddam Hussein was in material breach, the security council would not necessarily get the final say on whether there should be military action. Instead there would merely get the chance to "consider" it. The much stronger term pushed by France and other countries and in effect by senior legal advisers in the Foreign Office is "decide", effectively giving the security council a veto over further military action. George Bush had made it clear the US drew a "red line" over that possibility.
'A reasonable case'
The criterion on which Goldsmith based his advice that the war was lawful, based on jurisprudence from the Nato military action in Kosovo, where it was held that the legal test was whether there was a "reasonable case".
At one point Goldsmith described it as a case "you are content to argue if it came to court it would have a reasonable chance of success." He added: "It is not making the judgment whether it is right or wrong."
'Serious consequences'
The usual code for the use of military force by UN member states is that they are entitled to use "all necessary means" to respond to state actions which violate previous resolutions. But resolution 1441 states that a failure by Iraq to comply with the terms would have "serious consequences" instead. Goldsmith insists that despite the negotiations over the use of the two terms, he understood the two phrases to be "saying the same thing".
2010年2月1日 星期一
Royal Society
350年歷史的英國皇家學會
http://www.cdnews.com.tw 2010-02-01 21:18:19
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法新社倫敦1日電，位於倫敦的英國皇家學會（Royal Society）建立至今已有350年歷史，奠定了現代科學基石，例如倡導以實驗證明事實、建立「同儕評鑑」（peer review）原則，乃至強調客觀的學會座右銘「勿信傳言」，都是至今現代科學遵循的研究準則。
英國皇家學會早期的知名學者，包括牛頓（Isaac Newton）、達爾文（Charles Darwin）、愛因斯坦（Albert Einstein）、法拉第（Michael Faraday）、波義耳 (Robert Boyle)、瓦特（James Watt）與佛萊明（Alexander Fleming）等人。
當代著名學者包括演化生物學家理查德‧道金斯（Richard Dawkins）、理論物理學家史蒂芬．霍金（Stephen Hawking）、全球資訊網（World Wide Web）發明人柏內茲李（Tim Berners-Lee）以及超過130位的外國人士，包括48位以上的諾貝爾獎得主。
最近出版皇家學會歷史的作家布里森（Bill Bryson）表示，這些人的頭腦「經由改變我們對世界的理解，改變了世界」。
他說，皇家學會的最大成就，就是激發創意，並為追求更完美，不管階級、財富和國籍，將全世界最好的頭腦集中在一起。
布里森說：「身為學會的一份子，就是一項卓越成就。」他說：「皇家學會不僅是一所最受人敬重的學會，也是一所最完美的俱樂部。」
學會在1660年成立之初，一群學者在著名哲學家法蘭西斯．培根（Francis Bacon）主張有計劃、有系統的研究自然世界激勵下，成立了「一所倡導物理數學實驗知識的學院」。
儘管在一切以智識為基本的今日文化時代，皇家學會的成立構想，並不能被視為是一種革命性的運動，但當時仍是一個充斥迷信的黑暗混沌時代。
就在學會成立之前不到20年的時候，英格蘭才通過一項允許處死女巫的法令。當時醫師也相信割開一個人的靜脈放血，可以使人體的四種「體液」達到平衡。當時深信人體是由血液、黏液、黃膽汁和黑膽汁四種液體組成。