Brexit: A Falling Star

Post-Brexit, a falling star.

Absolutely nothing to do with Brugge I know, but I am depressed with the dire news from the UK.

Two politicians, each unable to shed tribal afflitiations 

in favour of the national interest.

Parliament is unable to reach a majority decision on anything to do with Brexit and chaos looks to be reigning. It is almost as bad as the Trumpmania in the U.S. No one loves Theresa May’s agreement with the EU and so far, today, not even the typical British compromise [the usual solution that satisfies no one] is accepted. The P.M. makes noble speeches about the ‘good of the nation’ but still seems mysteriously in hock to the deluded far right of her party. Social anthropologist, Kate Fox, suggests that it is all part of the English DNA, to find a compromise with which no one is happy though how that compromise might be reached now is not clear as Theresa still insists on her red lines which cannot be compromised! I hear that Jeremy Corbyn, the 1970s throwback and current Labour Party leader, is refusing to meet with other Parliamentarians of all parties to discuss compromises to enable the country to stumble through the present thicket of passions and counter passions regarding Brexit. Certainly not, he says, until Theresa promises to drop the possibility of the cliff-edge No Deal exit; she refuses. On my usual Wednesday early morning shopping trip to the Markt for the week’s fruit and vegetables, the lovely boy who helps his family run their excellent stalls, said that, explicitly excluding me, he was of the opinion that the Brits were mad. Why would they leave at all when it was obvious that the UK would be the worse off? Incomprehensible. And that appears to be the universal opinion in Brugge from my far-from-scientific sample. An opinion echoed I think throughout Europe.

Jean Monnet 1888-1979

I know the E.U. could benefit from reforms but to someone of my generation, the vision of Jean Monnet, French political economist and diplomat, which resulted in the historic formation of the European Union, has been crucial in mainly keeping the peace in Europe after perhaps 1000 years of intercontinental warfare. Particularly after the ghastly inhuman waves of large-scale and indiscriminate European bloodshed in WW2, to have [now] 27/28 separate European countries acting more or less in concert, has been a gift beyond price. A huge debt is owed to Jean Monnet and to Robert Schumann, French foreign minister, who together established the European Coal and Steel Market in 1951, joined originally by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. This led, in 1957 to the establishment of the European Economic Community, subsequently referred to as ‘the Common Market’ which later metamorphosed into the Euopean Union.

Paul Dacre, editor of the tabloid Daily Mail for 26 years.

Both he and the tabloid were virulently anti-Europe.

Ever since the UK joined the European Economic Council [E.E.C.] in 1973 after Herculean efforts by Edward Heath, the then Conservative Prime Minister, [and after the de Gaulle-inspired rejection of the original U.K. application for membership in 1963] Britain has been a relatively reluctant EEC partner. In spite of the Wilson referendum in 1975 which affirmed continuing E.E.C. membership

[Harold Wilson’s ‘historic decision’] no significant public voice or group has consistently argued

publicly and forcefully the benefits of membership to counter-balance the tireless, forty year, steady drip-drip of anti-E.U. sentiment expressed by the popular tabloids and elements of the Conservative Party. Specific sections of the population involved in research, science, medicine, Universities, have remained appreciative and actively involved in cross-country initiatives but often deprived areas such as in Wales, the North, Cornwall have failed to realise the huge financial support gained in their areas from E.U. membership.

Edward Heath in voodoo mode with a Margaret Thatcher doll.

Surprisingly, she was a supporter of E.U. membership.

A map of Europe, post Brexit.

Sad, sad, sad.

Mah Jong

On my terrace, last summer.
Hats aloft against the unusual heat.

I have  perhaps mentioned Mah Jong before; I must have! The Thursday morning Mah Jong has become one of my most enjoyable pleasures/pastimes here and I can see that I am becoming somewhat Messianic in my enthusiasm. But the prompt for this blog comes from my youngest daughter who has Face-timed me twice this week on the subject! She was introduced to the game when she was staying here last August and learned more as a guest in Brugge, in October. She took to it so quickly that I sent her a set of her own. My sister similarly is now equipped to start her own group in Suffolk. Christmas in California was also suitably furnished which is where my eldest two grand-daughters were introduced to, and fell for, the seductive charms of Mah Jong. My son-in-law, strangely immune to its attraction, tended to refer slightingly to the four of us noisily enjoying our game, as those at the crack table; a jibe above which we rose as we happily clicked away. And now, two phone calls to show me how much they are enjoying playing the game in Bury St. Edmonds; apparently a mere six hours of enjoyment was had yesterday in my daughter’s neck of the woods and a pub. visit cancelled! Is there no end to the power of Mah Jongg?

For the uninitiated, Mah Jong developed as a card game in the Qing dynasty [1644-1912] in central China and spread throughout the world during the twentieth century. At some point, certainly by the late nineteenth century, the cards had been discarded in favour of tiles with which the game is now commonly associated.In fact, the earliest set of Mah Jong tiles dates from 1870. It was first mentioned in print in the West when the British sinologist and Consul-General to China and Korea, William Henry Wilkinson, published a paper on it in 1895 in which he maintained that the origin of the name was ‘Ma Tiao’ [hemp sparrow]The clicking of the tiles is said to resemble the chattering of sparrows. Mah Jong was imported into the U.S.A. in the 1920s where it quickly became all the rage! Abercombie and Fitch sold thousands of sets during the Twenties and Joseph Park Babcock published his book, ‘Rules of Mah Jongg’ known as the Red Book in 1920. He had lived in China for many years where he had learned to play and his book simplified the rules and thus fed the craze for the game which developed in the U.S. In the U.K., Alan Millington revived interest in the Chinese classical game of the 1920s with his ‘The Complete Book of Mah Jongg’ in 1977.

Sample of tiles: from top

Bamboo; East Wind; Circle;

Character; Circle again.

Mah Jong comprises 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols; each player receives 13 tiles to begin and in turn draws and discards tiles until the first to complete a formal/legal hand with the 14^th tile drawn, attains Mah Jong. There are considerable regional differences in the rules and it has also been adapted for online play. Mah Jong can be described as a game of skill, strategy, observation and calculation involving a degree of chance. All of which leaves the reader still in the dark of what is actually involved in this popular game of Mah Jong! My only advice is to try playing it!!