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In: 2016, Foreign friends, things, University of York, world matters

全く思いがけない英国民のEU離脱の選択には本当にびっくりした。こんなことを1/2で決める国民投票にかけて決定するのは、どうなのだろうか。投票前、投票後の論評はさまざまあるが、よく知っている英国人の反応に私が反応したものをとりあえず集めてみた。

 

Roger Mac Ginty
24 June at 05:28 ·
The fuckwits have actually gone and done it. Posh boy David Cameron calls an unnecessary referendum on EU membership. Loses it, causes economic disaster and anti-immigrant tension. And still remains an incredibly rich man. The rest of us face recession, job losses, further cuts to public services and a new government led by racists. Thanks Dave.

Roger Mac Ginty
24 June at 17:06 ·
Looking towards Europe  ⇒

Frola2

Roger Mac Ginty
24 June at 13:54 ·
The People’s Republic of Tweedyland declares itself pro-European(and far beyond), pro-migration, and pro-love.
Mat Whatley

11 hrs ·（6/24）Mat Whatley's profile photo

 Quite a shock. But it is done. Now is the time for cool heads and good careful diplomacy. Milk spilt. Now Britain needs to get on with sporting all this out. Make a plan. Not the first time political leadership is required to get the country behind a plan, a direction. Churchill had. a similar problem when substantial part of the country in 1939 did not actually believe in a war with Germany. He managed to unite the country in one clear direction.

Meanwhile the spotlight is also on the EU. They must come to terms with the many and various reasons why the Brits have node thus extraordinary decision. They must soul search. It is not only the swivel eyed loons of Britain who can see fundamental problems with the nature of the EU.

Other European countries will watch how the EU handles Britain now. A senior member of the EU. Paid its dues. Followed the rules. Contributed in enormous and various ways. Shouldered fair share of the burden. Now the EU should say thank you for all you have done. Sorry to see you go. Wish us luck. Help create a better future for all concerned. Anything less will be noticed with concer by eurosceptics in Holland and other countries, and will add oil to their flames.

 

Fay Ballard  Fay Ballard's profile photo

24 June at 16:32 ·

 Devastated. The most charitable thing I can say about people who voted to leave is that they have no idea what they have just done. This is not just Cameron’s failure, but a failure of the UK political leadership (over decades) to make people understand what the EU is and how the UK benefits. Despite holding a UK passport I have never felt British, but I have always felt European. My Irish passport means I can continue to be European, and so can my daughter. But it’s small comfort this morning.

 

Ian Bostridgeさんcurrent image of winter journey5は、ご自分のFaceBookカバーまでも変えてしまいました。「リキ」入ってます！私は、このIanさんのコメントにいちばん同意しました。

Ian Bostridge I didn’t have this contest. It was ha(r?)d for me. Imposed by a party with a small minority of the vote in order to solve their parochial　（［視野］の狭い） problems and won by a smaller margin than they are demanding of trade union ballots. No other country in the civilised world would make such a major constitutional change in such a cavalier（むとんちゃくな,傲慢な） way. And it is not at all clear what the question answered means.

Ian Bostridge updated their cover photo.

Yesterday at 14:36 ·（6/24）
Ians facebook cover

 

こちらはHalf-Joke
Roger Mac Ginty
24 June at 08:17 ·
7AM emergency phone call from Professor Alp Ozerdem:
Alp: This is disastrous
Me: Yep, truly catastrophic
Alp: I really wonder about staying in the country
Me: At least I have an Irish passport
Alp: Can I marry you?
Me: er … well we can’t have two no votes in one day …. so Yes.
Alp: Great! And I am sure Mrs Mac Ginty won’t mind
Me: Oh yes …. Mrs Mac Ginty ….

 

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英国では自分の選択がとんでもない間違いだったことに終わってから気づいた人が大勢いるらしい、ありがちなこと。

25 June 2016 at 8:09am

More than two million sign petition for second referendum

The government petition page was crashed by demand from pro-EU campaigners
The government petition page was crashed by demand from pro-EU campaigners Credit: PA

More than two million people have signed a parliamentary petition calling for a second referendum of the UK’s membership of the EU.

An unprecedented surge of people trying to access the page briefly caused the official petition website to crash as many Britons shocked by the referendum result tried to engineer a re-run.

By Saturday morning more than one million people had signed – more than ten times the figure at which an issue is formally considered for a debate in parliament.

The government will consider debating any petition that gets over 100,000 signatures
The government will consider debating any petition that gets over 100,000 signaturesCredit: petition.parliament.uk

The petition, set up by William Oliver Healey, states: “We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the Remain or Leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout less than 75%, there should be another referendum.”

On Thursday 51.9% of votes were cast to leave the EU, versus 48.1% for remaining part of the bloc.

Meanwhile over 130,000 people signed a petition calling on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to declare the capital independent from the UK and apply to join the European Union.

Protesters have been trying to roll back the decision for Brexit
Protesters have been trying to roll back the decision for Brexit Credit: PA

However elections professor John Curtice said such online campaigns had no chance of success and that a million supporters was “chicken feed” compared to the seventeen million who backed Brexit in the referendum.　（以下略）

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感情的だが、将来の政治の舞台で Trump とBoris Johnsonが並ぶのは見たくない。そう思う人が多いらしい。Johnson&Trump
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米国に「Barack Obama」さんという人がいることは、あの方が大統領になる8年前から知っていた。バーモント州の友人から「将来大統領になるべきすばらしい政治家がいる。」と聞いていたから。どんな人か興味をもっていたが、8年後、米国の良識ある人が彼を大統領に選んだ。

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN - MAY 27: U.S. President Barack Obama gives a speech during his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, 2016 in Hiroshima, Japan. It is the first time U.S. President makes an official visit to Hiroshima, the site where the atomic bomb was dropped in the end of World War II on August 6, 1945. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN – MAY 27: U.S. President Barack Obama gives a speech during his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, 2016 　　Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)　HPページより

 

でも、彼の大統領としての道のりは厳しかった。いちばんの理由は前任者の失政から仕事を始めるしかなかったこと。彼は苦しかったはずだが、彼なりに理想を忘れまいと努力したと思う。

今回の広島での行動も、その証左として、世界の歴史の中に、そして人々の心の中に記憶されることと思う。いろいろ足りないことや不満足に思う人はいると思うが、それでも、与えられた状況の中で精一杯の一歩を踏み出す強さと潔さが光った。

Obama with Mr Mori2　Obama with Mr Mori

広島では、まず原爆資料館を訪れ、原爆慰霊碑と原爆ドームの前で深く息をし、頭を垂れた。被爆者との会話でもオバマ大統領のこころからの気持ちが表情に表れていて清々しかった。オバマさんは大統領の今よりもこれから活躍の場があるだろうと思う。

今はまだ、岩国基地では大統領として米兵を励ます演説をし、傍らにはいつも「核」のスイッチが入ったブリーフケースをもつ部下が陰のように付いているという矛盾の中にいるのだ。

＜大統領スピーチ最後の部分＞

And perhaps above all, we must reimagine our connection to one another as members of one human race.  For this, too, is what makes our species unique.  We’re not bound by genetic code to repeat the mistakes of the past.  We can learn.  We can choose. We can tell our children a different story –- one that describes a common humanity; one that makes war less likely and cruelty less easily accepted.

We see these stories in the hibakusha –- the woman who forgave a pilot who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb, because she recognized that what she really hated was war itself; the man who sought out families of Americans killed here, because he believed their loss was equal to his own.

My own nation’s story began with simple words:  All men are created equal, and endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Realizing that ideal has never been easy, even within our own borders, even among our own citizens.　　　*******

The world was forever changed here.  But today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace.  What a precious thing that is.  It is worth protecting, and then extending to every child.  That is the future we can choose -– a future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening. (全文はこちら） (HPによる日本語訳)

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

10年ほど前、バーモント州の山の中にある（といってもバーモントは全部山の中のようなもの！）小さい小学校に行った時、廊下のディスプレーに、広島の禎子さんの展示があったことを思い出す。アメリカの良識ある人は、原爆の悲惨さ、残虐さを、もしかして私たち日本人よりもきちんと記憶しようとしている。

日本の小学校でいま、禎子さんや原爆の展示をしようとしたら果たしてどのようなことになるのだろうか？実現できるのだろうか？こころもとない限りだ。

DSCF6253

その展示のあった公立小学校（2007）

  DSCF6314　A scenery of Vermont

 

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

オバマ大統領広島訪問についての記事

WP & Reuters： 71 years after the first atomic strike,

NYT： President Obama Visits Hiroshima

BBC： Hiroshima memory must never fade,

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2014年12月02日火曜日

 「天皇の年頭の”感想”」
安倍首相の言動があまりにも独りよがりで危険なので、良識ある人は眉をひそめ、志なきひとたち（企業家やこの世の利益を収奪している人）の言動を嘆く。そのためこのところ、特に光るのがこの１～２年の天皇・皇后の、教養と良識ある凛とした立ち位置だ。天皇の年頭の感想で「満州事変」について述べたのには、こちらの方がその勇気に驚き、感動すら覚えた。天皇は普通の常識と歴史認識をもって思料したことを述べただけで、特筆すべきことではないのに、それが驚きに思えるほど、世のなかが右傾化しているように思える。

だれでもちょっと立ち止まって考えてみれば、小さい、かわいい子どもたち、孫たちが将来恐ろしい戦争に怖れおののく世を、誰が望むだろうか。戦後70年にあたりよく考えていきたいと思う。

宮内庁のwebsiteに掲載されている「天皇陛下のご感想（新年に当たり）」はこちら
（英文 His Majesty the Emperor’s New Year Thoughts はこちら

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　shosoinGyobutu.png　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　宮内庁ウェブに掲載されている「正倉院御物」の写真（一部）より
昨年の美智子皇后は、ご自身のお誕生日にちなんで、かなり意識的に「A級戦犯」についてコメントした。こちらも「えっ、何と過激な、勇気あるお言葉！」と驚いた。これは明らかに安倍総理あてたメッセージだった。政治的発言ができないのをご承知で、自分の権限の範囲で、それを逆に利用して憲法とその平和主義の本旨を国民に思い起こしてほしいと、人生を賭けて発言を続けているのだと思う。