These voyeuristic photos show a different side to Britain's capital.
Google's Latest Efforts Test the Open Waters
Wired News - USA
By Bryan Gardiner 11.09.07 | 6:30 PM In the span of just two weeks, Google has launched two major open source efforts with a ragtag group of partners, ...
Landlady Ordered to Repay Rent Over Voyeuristic Mirror
A court in Munich has ordered a landlady to repay a lodger's rent because there was a one-way -- or see-through -- mirror in his bathroom. The presence of the mirror violated the man's rights to privacy, the court said.
In a verdict announced this week, the court said the man's privacy rights were violated.
The lodger moved into the woman's apartment in October 2005, along with two fellow students. They left four months later after discovering the voyeuristic mirror in their bathroom.
Behind the mirror, police found a small chamber filled with pornographic magazines and videos.
Hair-splitting
The students demanded reimbursement of their rent totaling 864
euros ($1,175 dollars), but the landlady refused on the grounds that only the bathroom was affected and not the other rooms they used.
She offered to repay a portion of the rent, but this was rejected by the students, who took her to court.
The first student won his case. The court still has to decide on the others.
Police were unable to determine who was responsible for installing
the offending mirror.
The lodger moved into the woman's apartment in October 2005, along with two fellow students. They left four months later after discovering the voyeuristic mirror in their bathroom.
Behind the mirror, police found a small chamber filled with pornographic magazines and videos.
Hair-splitting
The students demanded reimbursement of their rent totaling 864
euros ($1,175 dollars), but the landlady refused on the grounds that only the bathroom was affected and not the other rooms they used.
She offered to repay a portion of the rent, but this was rejected by the students, who took her to court.
The first student won his case. The court still has to decide on the others.
Police were unable to determine who was responsible for installing
the offending mirror.
Chinese Set Up Logistic Airport Hub in East Germany
What do the Chinese want with an abandoned airport in Mecklenburg- Western
Pommerania?
The DW-WORLD Article
• Guide to Retirement: Baby boomers have begun to reach retirement age. The good life may be within reach, but the financial logistics still require careful planning. Visit The Guide to Retirement for a step-by-step guide to the golden years.
Well-heeled protests hit Shanghai
By Quentin Sommerville
BBC News, Shanghai
China's new middle class usually tends to stay out of politics
Rarely have protests in China been so well organised, or the protesters so well-dressed.
The residents of Pingyang district, in the south of the city, say their health is at risk and their homes will become worthless if a planned extension to Shanghai's futuristic maglev railway goes ahead.
They are part of China's new middle class. Many of them bought their first homes here, capitalising on China's new economic freedoms.
The government is considering a 30km (19-mile) extension to its showpiece magnetic levitation train. The train, which floats on magnets, is the fastest commercial train service in the world, travelling at 430km/h (267mph).
But local residents along the route - including those in Pingyang - say the electro-magnetic field is dangerous and that their homes are now impossible to sell.
"Real estate agents won't come near now; we'll lose everything if this goes ahead," said one woman who did not wish to give her name for fear of official reprisal.
"We're prepared to take the risk, because our health, and a safe living environment, is more important," she said.
'White elephant'
The maglev is a controversial project.
The original $1.4bn (£715m) line runs from Shanghai's international airport to the outskirts of the city.
Despite its incredible speed, it is poorly connected to the rest of the transport network and it is often quicker to travel by taxi than use the maglev.
Critics say the project is a white elephant and the government would be better spending its money on improving the city's ageing fleet of buses.
China is a country with little patience for dissent. But in a little over a week, Pingyang residents and their neighbours have marched through the city, chanting and waving slogans.
At the weekend many hundreds of them took their complaints to Shanghai's city hall - the seat of communist power.
Dragged and shoved
The largely middle class protesters are keen to downplay any political aspect of their defiance. They insist on calling their well-organised marches "going for a walk" events.
Protests in China usually come from the landless and the poor. It is rare for China's newly rich middle class to take to the streets. Many have struck a bargain: in exchange for their new wealth, they stay out of politics.
These protests are organised using email and text messages
Largely ignored by official state media, the protesters are using their sophisticated organisational skills to grab what attention they can.
Within minutes of our arrival in the neighbourhood, a couple of hundred people had gathered, marshalled by text message and email.
And although the "walks" are centred on a single issue, they are unmistakable acts of defiance.
On Saturday, dozens of demonstrators were detained by police. The next day others were dragged and shoved when they took their protest to a busy shopping street.
Residents in the areas affected by the planned extension complain that local officials and police are trying to intimidate them, and that the government has set up video cameras to monitor activities in their neighbourhood.
Boundaries tested
The protests are the biggest Shanghai has seen since the anti-Japanese protests of 2005.
Then, thousands of people, many of them students, demonstrated against Japan's perceived failure to apologise for its war record. However, those demonstrations, unlike the maglev protests, had tacit government approval.
How can we go through official channels? There is no proper process
Protester
Around the Pingyang neighbourhood, police had come and removed their anti-maglev banners, replacing them with official looking slogans that instructed them to make their protests "through proper channels".
But China is a country where laws are still being written and where there are few checks and balances against the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party.
"The email address they have given us isn't even a government address, it's a private email. So how can we go through official channels? There is no proper process," explained one man.
Others complained that the consultation period for the train line had been too short or lacked transparency.
The government says it will meet representatives from the neighbourhoods and that a final decision has yet to be taken on the project. As well as the email address, it has also set up a hotline to listen to people's complaints.
Protesters' victory
The Shanghai protesters have taken comfort from other public protests in China. Last June, protests in Xiamen, Fujian province, are believed to have led the local government to drop plans to build a chemical plant, because of health risks.
The Xiamen decision has been hailed as a victory for people power in China and has featured widely in state media.
The local residents in Pingyang are putting their faith in this new "listening communism" - one that promises to be more responsive and less corrupt by paying attention to people's complaints.
"We love our government, we just want them to listen, and we'll keep marching until they do," a local resident said.
German Trains Going Full Steam in Bid For Investors
The German Government is planning to privatize the country's railway, the
Deutsche Bahn, by the end of the year.
The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/
Well-heeled protests hit Shanghai
By Quentin Sommerville
BBC News, Shanghai |
China's new middle class usually tends to stay out of politics
|
The residents of Pingyang district, in the south of the city, say their health is at risk and their homes will become worthless if a planned extension to Shanghai's futuristic maglev railway goes ahead.
They are part of China's new middle class. Many of them bought their first homes here, capitalising on China's new economic freedoms.
The government is considering a 30km (19-mile) extension to its showpiece magnetic levitation train. The train, which floats on magnets, is the fastest commercial train service in the world, travelling at 430km/h (267mph).
But local residents along the route - including those in Pingyang - say the electro-magnetic field is dangerous and that their homes are now impossible to sell.
"Real estate agents won't come near now; we'll lose everything if this goes ahead," said one woman who did not wish to give her name for fear of official reprisal.
"We're prepared to take the risk, because our health, and a safe living environment, is more important," she said.
'White elephant'
The maglev is a controversial project.
The original $1.4bn (£715m) line runs from Shanghai's international airport to the outskirts of the city.
| |
Critics say the project is a white elephant and the government would be better spending its money on improving the city's ageing fleet of buses.
China is a country with little patience for dissent. But in a little over a week, Pingyang residents and their neighbours have marched through the city, chanting and waving slogans.
At the weekend many hundreds of them took their complaints to Shanghai's city hall - the seat of communist power.
Dragged and shoved
The largely middle class protesters are keen to downplay any political aspect of their defiance. They insist on calling their well-organised marches "going for a walk" events.
Protests in China usually come from the landless and the poor. It is rare for China's newly rich middle class to take to the streets. Many have struck a bargain: in exchange for their new wealth, they stay out of politics.
These protests are organised using email and text messages
|
Within minutes of our arrival in the neighbourhood, a couple of hundred people had gathered, marshalled by text message and email.
And although the "walks" are centred on a single issue, they are unmistakable acts of defiance.
On Saturday, dozens of demonstrators were detained by police. The next day others were dragged and shoved when they took their protest to a busy shopping street.
Residents in the areas affected by the planned extension complain that local officials and police are trying to intimidate them, and that the government has set up video cameras to monitor activities in their neighbourhood.
Boundaries tested
The protests are the biggest Shanghai has seen since the anti-Japanese protests of 2005.
Then, thousands of people, many of them students, demonstrated against Japan's perceived failure to apologise for its war record. However, those demonstrations, unlike the maglev protests, had tacit government approval.
| How can we go through official channels? There is no proper process
Protester
|
But China is a country where laws are still being written and where there are few checks and balances against the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party.
"The email address they have given us isn't even a government address, it's a private email. So how can we go through official channels? There is no proper process," explained one man.
Others complained that the consultation period for the train line had been too short or lacked transparency.
The government says it will meet representatives from the neighbourhoods and that a final decision has yet to be taken on the project. As well as the email address, it has also set up a hotline to listen to people's complaints.
Protesters' victory
The Shanghai protesters have taken comfort from other public protests in China. Last June, protests in Xiamen, Fujian province, are believed to have led the local government to drop plans to build a chemical plant, because of health risks.
The Xiamen decision has been hailed as a victory for people power in China and has featured widely in state media.
The local residents in Pingyang are putting their faith in this new "listening communism" - one that promises to be more responsive and less corrupt by paying attention to people's complaints.
"We love our government, we just want them to listen, and we'll keep marching until they do," a local resident said.
German Trains Going Full Steam in Bid For Investors
The German Government is planning to privatize the country's railway, the
Deutsche Bahn, by the end of the year.
The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/
full steam ahead
with all your energy and enthusiasm:
Now that problem is out of the way, it's full steam ahead to get the job finished.
well-heeled
adjective INFORMAL
rich:
His family was very well-heeled.
well-heeled
plural noun
rich people:
The shop attracted a loyal following among the well-heeled.
2 [C or U] when you feel better after feeling sad or worried, or something that makes you feel better in this way:
I know she goes out a lot at night, but I draw/take comfort from the fact that she's always with friends.
through and through
In every part or aspect, throughout. For example, I was wet through and through, or He was a success through and through. This idiom originally was used to indicate literally penetration, as by a sword. The figurative usage was first recorded in 1410.
logistics Show phonetics
plural noun
the careful organization of a complicated activity so that it happens in a successful and effective way:
We need to look at the logistics of the whole aid operation.
adjective (ALSO logistical)
logistic support/problems
adverb
logistics
n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
- The aspect of military operations that deals with the procurement, distribution, maintenance, and replacement of materiel and personnel.
- The management of the details of an operation.
[French logistiques, from logistique, logic (perhaps influenced by loger, to quarter), from Medieval Latin logisticus, of calculation. See logistic.]
Investment Dictionary: Logistics
The overall management of the way resources are moved to the areas where they are required.
Investopedia Says:
This term originated in a military context, referring to how personnel acquire, transport and store supplies and equipment. In the business community, the term is used to refer to how resources are acquired, transported and stored along the supply chain. By having an efficient supply chain and proper logistical procedures, a company can cut costs and increase efficiency.
ロジスティックス 【logistics】with all your energy and enthusiasm:
Now that problem is out of the way, it's full steam ahead to get the job finished.
well-heeled
adjective INFORMAL
rich:
His family was very well-heeled.
well-heeled
plural noun
rich people:
The shop attracted a loyal following among the well-heeled.
2 [C or U] when you feel better after feeling sad or worried, or something that makes you feel better in this way:
I know she goes out a lot at night, but I draw/take comfort from the fact that she's always with friends.
through and through
In every part or aspect, throughout. For example, I was wet through and through, or He was a success through and through. This idiom originally was used to indicate literally penetration, as by a sword. The figurative usage was first recorded in 1410.
企業で，原材料の調達から生産・在庫・販売に至る物的流通の管理活動。
━━ n. 【軍】兵站(へいたん)術（学）; ロジスティックス ((物資の大量輸送（システム）)).
voyeur Show phoneticsnoun [C] DISAPPROVING
a person who gets sexual pleasure from secretly watching other people in sexual situations, or (more generally) a person who watches other people's private lives:
I felt like a voyeur visiting the war zone and seeing badly injured people being dragged from their bomb-shattered homes.
voyeurism Show phonetics
noun [U] DISAPPROVING
voyeuristic Show phonetics
adjective DISAPPROVING
To be voyeuristic is to be sexually excited by watching others. Peeping Toms are voyeuristic. A voyeur is a word for a Peeping Tom, someone who likes to watch people who are engaging in private activities.
voyeuristic
ADJECTIVE
Derivatives
ragtag Show phonetics
adjective
untidy and not similar or organized:
The village was guarded by a ragtag group of soldiers.
He arrived with a ragtag collection of friends.rag·tag (răg'tăg')
adj.
- Shaggy or unkempt; ragged.
- Diverse and disorderly in appearance or composition: “They're a small ragtag army of racketeers, bandits, and murderers” (Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.).
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