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Brexit: A Photo Essay

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楼主
发表于 12-28-2019 12:58:12 | 只看该作者 |只看大图 回帖奖励 |倒序浏览 |阅读模式
本帖最后由 choi 于 12-28-2019 13:19 编辑

Christoph Niemann, The Breakup; When my editors at the magazine asked me to investigate just what is going on with the European Union, the obvious place to start was the country that has voted to leave it. New York Times Magazine, Oct 27, 2019.
https://www.nytimes.com/interact ... rchResultPosition=1

Note”
(a)
(i) Christoph Niemann
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Niemann
(born in 1970 in Germany as German; "he moved to New York City in 1997. After 11 years in New York City, he moved to Berlin with his wife, Lisa, and their three sons"/ an illustrator)
(ii) The German surname Niemann is "North German form of Neumann, from Middle Low German nie + man." Dictionary of American Family Names, by Oxford University Press.

(b) "House of Commons Chamber * * * The red lines on the green carpet are said to be two sword lengths apart, dating back to a time when such a design was a physical necessity.  From there [House of Commons Chamber], I pass through the Churchill's Arch, whicch connects the House of Commons to the main lobby. It still shows the damage from German air raids during World War II."
(i) red lines
(A) House of Commons of the United Kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho ... _the_United_Kingdom
("Members of the Government sit on the benches on the Speaker's right, whilst members of the Opposition occupy the benches on the Speaker's left. In front of each set of benches a red line is drawn, which members are traditionally not allowed to cross during debates. Government ministers and the leader of the Opposition and the Shadow Cabinet sit on the front rows, and are known as frontbenchers. Other members of parliament, in contrast, are known as backbenchers. Not all Members of Parliament can fit into the Chamber at the same time, as it only has space to seat approximately two thirds of the Members") (italics original)

A photo in this Wiki page shows the red lines, whose caption reads: "The modern chamber, which opened following post-war reconstruction in 1950." Looking at the illustrations in this Wiki page, apparently House of Commons packed in more members with time, the central free space becomes much smaller.
(B) Rules and traditions of Parliament
https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/customs/
("The origins of Parliament go back to the 13th century, so there are many rules, customs and traditions that help explain its workings [which is subtitle]. * * * Members may speak only from where they were called, which must be within the House. They may not speak from the floor of the House between the red lines (traditional supposed to be two sword-lengths apart). Also, the Speaker will not call a Member in the gallery if there is room downstairs. Members must stand whilst speaking but if they are unable to do so they are allowed to address the House seated")
(C) I conducted an extensive research (to wit, googling) and found nothing about when the red lines started. I began having doubts:
• The two red lines are 2.5 meters (8 feet 2 in) apart. In light of relatively recent metrication in United Kingdom, the current set of red lines must be painted after 1965.  (I am clueless about existence of red lines in ancient times. All online references talks about modern red lines, 25 m apart.).

Will Dahlgreen, Britain's Metric Muddle Not Changing Any Time Soon; For some things we use metric measurements and other things we use imperial - and in most areas the younger generations are just as confused. YouGov, June 20, 2015
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/life ... tains-metric-muddle
("In Britain, metrication was formally endorsed by the government in 1965, but the imperial system is still commonly used")

In the bottom of the home page of YouGov is a heading "COMPANY," which displays menu "About YouGov.” Click the latter shows: "YouGov is an international research data and analytics group headquartered in London."
• Palace of Westminster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster
(The current building was built after a 1834 fire destroyed the old one)

Quote: "The two red lines on the floor of the House of Commons are 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in)[51] apart, which, by apocryphal tradition, is intended to be just over two sword-lengths. It is said that the original purpose of this was to prevent disputes in the House from degenerating into duels. However, there is no record of a time when Members of Parliament were allowed to bring swords into the Chamber; historically only the Serjeant at Arms has been allowed to carry a sword as a symbol of their role in Parliament, plus Black Rod when summoning the Commons to the Lords, and there are loops of pink ribbon in the Members' cloakroom for MPs to hang up their swords before entering the Chamber. In the days when gentlemen carried swords, there were no lines in the Chamber.[134][135] Protocol dictates that MPs may not cross these lines when speaking; a Member of Parliament who violates this convention will be lambasted by opposition Members."

# serjeant-at-arm (n; North American sergeant-at-arms)
https://www.lexico.com/definition/serjeant-at-arms
# serjeant (n; etymology: "Middle English variant (commonly used in legal contexts) of sergeant"):
https://www.lexico.com/definition/serjeant

This item says that in UK, spelling of sergeant is also used.
# sergeant (n; etymology: "Middle English from Old French sergent, from Latin servient- 'serving,' from the verb servire [serve]")"
https://www.lexico.com/definition/sergeant
(ii)
(A) The Story of Churchill's Arch, International Churchill Society (ICS), undated
https://winstonchurchill.org/the ... of-churchills-arch/
("In 1940, Churchill was worried that the Chambers might be bombed while the Houses were 'sitting' and between 1940 and 1941, both Houses of Parliament took place in Church House in Westminster. * * * The Commons Chamber was bombed and the roof of Westminster Hall was set on fire. The fire service said it'd be impossible to save both, so it was decided to concentrate on saving the Hall. The Commons Chamber was entirely destroyed by the bomb and resulting fire which spread to the Members' Lobby * * * Churchill, as Prime Minister, made a plea for the bomb-damaged archway from Members Lobby into the Chamber to be retained as a reminder for future generations. The archway duly remains today and is known as the Churchill Arch. The statue of Churchill by Oscar Nemon has been placed in Members Lobby outside the arch in recognition of this")

• Church House, Westminster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_House,_Westminster
• ICS is introduced at the left lower corner of this Web page.
• Oscar Nemon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Nemon
(1906 – 1985; born Oscar Neumann in present-day Croatia (then as Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in ustro-Hungarian Empire)

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Croatia-Slavonia
(1868-1918; "was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868. * * * The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was ruled by the Habsburg Emperor of Austria under his title as King of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia [ie, the kingdom did not have its own king]")
• Search images.google.com with (churchill's arch bombed) -- no quotation marks.
(iii) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#Layout
(section 3 Interior, section 3.1 Layout
(A) A blueprint with the caption: "Layout of the principal floor (north is to the right)."  
In the center of blueprint is an octagonal "Central Hall," to its right (north, in fact) are, in that order,  Commons Corridor, Commons Lobby, and House of Commons.
(B) The "Westminster Hall" mentioned in (b)(ii)(A) is not "Central Hall." In this layout, Westminster Hall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pa ... er#Westminster_Hall
is located at the top.
(C) Westminster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster
("The name Westminster (Old English: Westmynstre) originated from the informal description of the abbey church and royal peculiar of St Peter's (Westminster Abbey), literally West of the City of London (indeed, until the Reformation there was a reference to the 'East Minster' at Minories (Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate) east of the City) (footnote omitted)
(iv)
(A) Fred Glueckstein, Moulders of Greatness: Winston Churchill and Oscar Nemon. The Churchill Project, Hillsdale College, Aug 28, 2019
https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/nemon-sculpture/

Quote:

"The Members' Lobby in the Palace of Westminster is a gathering place for members of the House of Commons when not on the floor. Next to the main doors on either end of the Lobby are four bronze statues. They portray four prime ministers, including David Lloyd George, Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher. The fourth and most prominent is Sir Winston Churchill, sculpted by Oscar Nemon. This life-size bronze portrays the Prime Minister striding through the rubble of war-damaged London, hands on hips.

"The young Queen asked Churchill to select the sculptor. Churchill chose Nemon and, in November 1952, gave the sculptor two separate sittings. He was, however, an unpredictable sitter.

"Artist to Artist [which is sectional heading]: While Nemon was sculpting Churchill, the PM decided to sculpt the sculptor. Today, a small sculpted head of Oscar Nemon [photo] is in Churchill's studio at Chartwell. * * *

• Hillsdale College
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsdale_College
(founded in 1844 by Free-Will Baptists; private; in Hillsdale, Michigan)
• mould (vt; US mold; ultimately from Latin [noun masculine] modulus [module]): "form (an object) out of malleable material"
https://www.lexico.com/definition/mould
• Chartwell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartwell
("The earliest recorded mention of the land dates to 1362 when it was sold by a William At-Well. The origin of the name is the Chart Well, a spring to the north of the current house, Chart being an Old English word for rough ground") (citations omitted)
(B) The Members' Lobby and Churchill arch
https://www.parliament.uk/about/ ... bby-churchill-arch/
("The Members' Lobby was designed to be the working ante-room to the Commons Chamber")

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沙发
 楼主| 发表于 12-28-2019 13:00:10 | 只看该作者
本帖最后由 choi 于 12-29-2019 13:17 编辑

(c) "The predecessor to the EU was founded bin 1957 as an economic partnership among France, Italy, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. * * * In 1973, with de Gaulle out of power, Britain finally joined the European partnership."
(i) European Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union
("In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union")
(ii) Charles de Gaulle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle
(1890 – 1970; president of France 1959 – 1969; de Gaulle founded Fifth Republic in 1958, when Algiers crisis of 1958 triggered the collapse of the French Fourth Republic)  

Quote: "In December, [1958,] de Gaulle was elected President by the electoral college with 78% of the vote, and inaugurated in January 1959. * * * In December 1965, de Gaulle returned as president for a second seven-year term. * * * De Gaulle resigned the presidency at noon, 28 April 1969, following the rejection of his proposed reform of the Senate and local governments in a nationwide referendum.

(d) "To clear my mind, I head over to National Gallery to visit the work of Hans Holbein the Younger, born in 1497, my favorite German expat * * * and no visit to London is complete without saying hello to the mesmerizing duchess of Denmark."
(i) National Gallery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery
(1824- ; paintings)
(ii) Hans Holbein
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holbein

The German surname Holbein is "nickname for a bow-legged man, from Middle High German hol hollow + bein leg."  Dictionary of American Family Names.
(iii) Hans Holbein the Younger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holbein_the_Younger
(c 1497- 1543 (died in London); By 1536, Holbein was employed as the King's [Henry VIII's] Painter on an annual salary of 30 pounds—though he was never the highest-paid artist on the royal payroll. * * * grand portraits such as that of Christina of Denmark"/ section 4 Gallery: caption of a painting says in full: "Portrait of Christina of Denmark, c. 1538. Oil and tempera on oak, National Gallery, London")
(iv) Christina of Denmark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_of_Denmark
(1521 – 1590; married at age 12 to her first husband, Duke of Milan, of 39 years old -- marriage lasted a year when he died (1535); six years later (1541; she 19) she married future Duke of Lorraine; "At one occasion during the marriage, Christina referred to herself as the happiest woman in the world"/ The second husband died in 1545, after she produced a son with him; In "1552, France invaded the Duchy of Lorraine" and took her son away to be brought up in French court; "Christina received marriage proposals from King Henry of Navarre, Adolf of Holstein, the prince of Piedmont, and Albert of Brandenburg. The latter promised to recover the kingdom of her father for her. However, she refused to marry, and focused on negotiations with France to recover the custody of her son")  
(v) Portrait of Christina of Denmark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Christina_of_Denmark
("It shows the then sixteen-year-old Christina of Denmark, widowed Duchess of Milan. * * * Art historian Derek Wilson wrote that the portrait 'is the loveliest paintings of a woman [Holbein] ever painted, that is, it is one of the finest female portraits ever painted") (brackets original)
(A) "Derek Wilson is a renowned Tudor historian." Amazon.com.
(B) Derek Wilson is an Englishman living in London. His website:
http://www.derekwilson.com/history.php
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板凳
 楼主| 发表于 12-28-2019 13:02:22 | 只看该作者
(e) "The Union Jack was assigned by James VI but looks as if it were designed by the Earl of Sandwich. It's a brutal mash-ip of the three flags: * * * The Scots are on the bottom, the Irish are chopped up in between and -- surprise -- the English cross is placed all the way on top. * * * Great Britain is a bit of mini EU: a political construct tying together countries with different cultures * * * Their individualism is so strong that they compete as four separate national teams in international soccer tournaments"
(i) "The sandwich is named after its supposed inventor, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich."  en.wikipedia.org for Sandwich.
(A) The English (of Norman origin) surname Montague is "from a place La Manche in France, so named from Old French mont hill (see Mont 1) + agu pointed (Latin acutus, from [noun feminine] acus needle, point)."  Dictionary of American Family Names.
(B) Montague
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Montague
(C) Sandwich, Kent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich,_Kent
(map)
(ii) James VI and I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I
(1566 – 1625; "was King of Scotland as James VI [1567-1625] and King of England and [through personal union (see (d)(iii)(A) below), King of] Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns [1603-1625]")
(A) Queen Elizabeth I was the last sovereign of House of Tudor. Never married, she was childless. Next in line was James VI, of House of Stuart (since c 1150) in Scotland.  
(B) James IV of Scotland (1473 – 1513; reign 1488-1513) married in 1503 Margaret Tudor (he 30 years old and she 14; marriage lasted 10 years when he died), older sister by two years of the future Henry VIII. James V of Scotland, oldest son of James IV, succeeded. When James V died in 1542, his two legitimate older sons had died (illegitimate children can not inherit a throne or aristocratic titles under English laws) had died, so the infant daughter Mary (born six days prior to James V's death) became Queen of Scots. Mary and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, had one son -- the future James VI of Scotland. Her second husband was murdered, and Mary married the man who was thought to have murdered the second husband.
(iii) countries of the United Kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom
(section 1 Key Facts: including flags)
(A) Union Jack
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Jack
("The origins of the earlier flag of Great Britain [lacking Ireland flag] date back to 1606. James VI of Scotland had inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603 as James I [of ENGLAND] * * * The present design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801")

Norman conquest of England occurred in 1066, of Ireland in 1169–1175.  en.wikipedia.org for "Norman invasion of Ireland."  Although Ireland had been ruled from London ever since, Ireland's Union with Great Britain happened in 1801 to create United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

James VI and I ruled through personal union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_union
That is, Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland remained. The status quo continued until Kingdom of Great Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain
(1707 (under Queen Anne -- abolishing personal union) -1801)
(B) jack
https://www.etymonline.com/word/jack
("The jack of Union Jack is a nautical term for 'small flag at the bow of a ship' (1630s) and perhaps is from the word's secondary sense of 'smaller than normal size' ")
(iv) construct
(vt): "build <construct a bridge>"  merriam-webster.com.

(n): "1: a complicated idea created by making several simpler ideas fit together  <History is an ideological construct>
2: an [physical] object built from various parts"
https://www.macmillandictionary. ... merican/construct_2

Take notice that accent is placed differently for "construct" as a verb or a noun.  
(v)
(A) United Kingdom national football team
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un ... ional_football_team
(B) England national football team
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_national_football_team
("It competes in the three major international tournaments; the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. England, as a country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and therefore the national team does not compete at the Olympic Games")

list of members of the International Olympic Committee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li ... l_Olympic_Committee
(China, Great Britain and Chinese Taipei are members)
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