Wolfgang Hampel. Founder of Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society for Betty MacDonald Fans all over the world.
Wolfgang Hampel interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and other famous writers and artists.
Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald Interviews are very popular all over the world.
Wolfgang Hampel is also famous for his satirical poems and stories.
Enjoy the brilliant translation by Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mary Holmes, please.
Thanks a million dearest Mary Holmes!
I'm one of Letizia's and Mary's many devoted fans.
Letizia Mancino sent this connecting piece to " The Second Paradise".
DEFIANT AS A COCK
Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino translated by Mary Holmes All rights reserved
That
was how my friend Hilde Domin was, dear Betty! You would have liked her
so much. She had also been in America. At that time you were a famous
author but she was still unknown.
-Did she love cats like you do?
-Yes Betty, she sure did!! Otherwise how do you think she could have been a friend of mine?
-Oh Letizia, don’t boast! Hilde was famous!
-It’s all the same to me, Betty, whether a person is famous or not but that person must love animals
-Why was she as defiant as a cock?
-Well Betty, she was simply so!
-Like a pregnant woman in my “Egg and I”?
-No not so! Betty, Hilde was a whole farm!
- A farm, how was that?
- No Betty, Hilde was more! Almost a zoo! Even more. She was all the animals in the world!
-You loved her very much.
-As I love all animals. You Betty, if I had known you, I would have loved you exactly so because you loved animals.
-But as defiant as a cock from my Bob-farm!
-Yes
and no! (Hilde really loved this double form of answer). Listen Betty ,
I’ll tell you a story about how Hilde was. You would certainly have
loved her. I’ll call my story “The Second Paradise”.
THE SECOND PARADISE
Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino translated by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved
The Lord God, one day, met Adam in Paradise and saw him lying under a palm.
And God spoke to him: Adam, my son, are you happy, are you content with Paradise ?
Adam answered: Oh Lord, it is wonderful!
And God said: But I will create a second Paradise and give you a wife.
Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful!
And God said: I will create the wife according to your wishes.
And Adam stood under the palm and thought hard.
And God said: Adam, are you ready?
Adam
answered: My wife should be as lively as a bird but she should not fly.
She should swim like a goldfish but not be a fish….. She should be as
playful as a cat but not catch mice….. She should be as busy as an ant
but not so small.
And God said: So shall she be: Like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant…
Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful, but she should be as faithful as a dog.
And God asked: Adam, have you finished?
Oh Lord, cried Adam. She should also be as delightful and gentle as a lamb and as defiant as a cock!
….She should be as curious as a monkey and as pampered as a lapdog.
And God said: So shall she be.
And Adam said: My wife should be as courageous as a lion and as headstrong as a goat…
And
God said: So, like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant, a dog, a lamb, a
cock, a monkey, a lapdog, a lion, a goat… and slowly and surely he
wished to begin creating…
But Adam stretched himself under the palm and called:
Lord, Lord, she should be as adaptable as a chameleon but not creep on four feet.
She should have sparkling eyes like, like… real diamonds. She should be as fiery as a volcano
But … she should have crystal-clear thoughts like a mountain spring.
God, the Almighty, was speechless…
And Adam spoke: Also she should be as quick as lightening…
And God said: Man, have you finished????
No, said Adam! She should be as strong as a horse, as long living as an elephant but as light as a butterfly!
God
found Adam’s thoughts were good and said: So, bird, goldfish, cat, ant,
dog, lamb, cock, monkey, lapdog, lion, goat, chameleon, genuine
diamonds, volcano, mountain spring, lightening, horse, elephant….
butterfly…
God wished at last to begin creating her…
Lord, called Adam… she should be as stable as steel, but as sweet as three graceful women in one…
And God asked: Should she also be a poet?
Yes, called Adam from under the palm…
And God said: Adam have you finished?
Lord, I wish that, in the second Paradise I shall be one and doubled:
So God according to Adams last words created:
HILDE PALM DOMIN
Very best wishes
Letizia Mancino
Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens
A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.
Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. They show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax. The company says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing. The
documents show links to 72 current or former heads of state in the
data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries.
Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), said the documents covered the
day-to-day business at Mossack Fonseca over the past 40 years. "I
think the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore
world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents," he said.
Panama Papers - tax havens of the rich and powerful exposed
Eleven million documents held by the
Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca have been passed to German
newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which then shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. BBC Panorama is among 107 media organisations - including UK newspaper the Guardian - in 78 countries which have been analysing the documents. The BBC doesn't know the identity of the source
They show how the company has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax
Mossack Fonseca says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and never been accused or charged with criminal wrong-doing
Panama Papers: Full coverage; follow reaction on Twitter using #PanamaPapers; in the BBC News app, follow the tag "Panama Papers"
Watch Panorama at 19:30 on BBC One on Monday, 4 April, or catch up later on the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only)
The data contains secret offshore
companies linked to the families and associates of Egypt's former
president Hosni Mubarak, Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi and
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.
Russian connection
It
also reveals a suspected billion-dollar money laundering ring that was
run by a Russian bank and involved close associates of President Putin. The operation was run by Bank Rossiya, which is subject to US and EU sanctions following Russia's annexation of Crimea. The documents reveal for the first time how the bank operates..
Money has been channelled through offshore companies, two of
which were officially owned by one of the Russian president's closest
friends.Concert cellist Sergei Roldugin has known Vladimir Putin
since they were teenagers and is godfather to the president's daughter
Maria.On paper, Mr Roldugin has personally made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from suspicious deals. But
documents from Mr Roldugin's companies state that: "The company is a
corporate screen established principally to protect the identity and
confidentiality of the ultimate beneficial owner of the company." Read more: Putin associates linked to 'money laundering'
Iceland connection
Mossack
Fonseca data also shows how Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur
Gunnlaugsson had an undeclared interest in his country's bailed-out
banks. Mr Gunnlaugsson has been accused of hiding millions of
dollars of investments in his country's banks behind a secretive
offshore company. Leaked documents show that Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and his wife bought offshore company Wintris in 2007. He
did not declare an interest in the company when entering parliament in
2009. He sold his 50% of Wintris to his wife for $1 (70p), eight months
later. Mr Gunnlaugsson is now facing calls for his resignation. He
says he has not broken any rules, and his wife did not benefit
financially from his decisions. The offshore company was used to
invest millions of dollars of inherited money, according to a document
signed by Mr Gunnlaugsson's wife Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir in 2015. Read more: Iceland PM's investments questioned
'Beyond reproach'
In
addition, Mossack Fonseca supplied a front man who pretended to own
$1.8m, so the real owner could get the cash from the bank without
revealing their identity. Mossack Fonseca says it has always
complied with international protocols to ensure the companies they
incorporate are not used for tax evasion, money-laundering, terrorist
finance or other illicit purposes. The company says it conducts thorough due diligence and regrets any misuse of its services. "For
40 years Mossack Fonseca has operated beyond reproach in our home
country and in other jurisdictions where we have operations. Our firm
has never been accused or charged in connection with criminal
wrongdoing. "If we detect suspicious activity or misconduct, we
are quick to report it to the authorities. Similarly, when authorities
approach us with evidence of possible misconduct, we always cooperate
fully with them." Mossack Fonseca says offshore companies are available worldwide and are used for a variety of legitimate purposes. See more at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Wolfgang Hampel - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans, we are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State. Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter April will be one of the most popular ones with many Betty MacDonald fan club surprises.
Tell us the names of this mysterious couple please and you can win a very new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Betty
MacDonald fan Club honor member, artist and writer Letizia Mancino
shares her delightful story THE SECOND PARADISE. Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mary Holmes did such a great job in translating THE SECOND PARADISE. Thanks a million dearest Mary. We are really very grateful.
I'm one of Letizia
Maninco's many devoted fans.
Letizia Mancino sent this connecting piece to " The Second Paradise".
DEFIANT AS A COCK
Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
translated by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved
That
was how my friend Hilde Domin was, dear Betty! You would have liked her
so much. She had also been in America. At that time you were a famous
author but she was still unknown.
-Did she love cats like you do?
-Yes Betty, she sure did!! Otherwise how do you think she could have been a friend of mine?
-Oh Letizia, don’t boast! Hilde was famous!
-It’s all the same to me, Betty, whether a person is famous or not but that person must love animals
-Why was she as defiant as a cock?
-Well Betty, she was simply so!
-Like a pregnant woman in my “Egg and I”?
-No not so! Betty, Hilde was a whole farm!
- A farm, how was that?
- No Betty, Hilde was more! Almost a zoo! Even more. She was all the animals in the world!
-You loved her very much.
-As I love all animals.
You Betty, if I had known you, I would have loved you exactly so because you loved animals.
-But as defiant as a cock from my Bob-farm!
-Yes
and no! (Hilde really loved this double form of answer). Listen Betty ,
I’ll tell you a story about how Hilde was. You would certainly have
loved her. I’ll call my story “The Second Paradise”.
THE SECOND PARADISE
Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
translated by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved
The Lord God, one day, met Adam in Paradise and saw him lying under a palm.
And God spoke to him: Adam, my son, are you happy, are you content with Paradise ?
Adam answered: Oh Lord, it is wonderful!
And God said: But I will create a second Paradise and give you a wife.
Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful!
And God said: I will create the wife according to your wishes.
And Adam stood under the palm and thought hard.
And God said: Adam, are you ready?
Adam
answered: My wife should be as lively as a bird but she should not fly.
She should swim like a goldfish but not be a fish….. She should be as
playful as a cat but not catch mice….. She should be as busy as an ant
but not so small.
And God said: So shall she be: Like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant…
Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful, but she should be as faithful as a dog.
And God asked: Adam, have you finished?
Oh Lord, cried Adam. She should also be as delightful and gentle as a lamb and as defiant as a cock!
….She should be as curious as a monkey and as pampered as a lapdog.
And God said: So shall she be.
And Adam said: My wife should be as courageous as a lion and as headstrong as a goat…
And
God said: So, like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant, a dog, a lamb, a
cock, a monkey, a lapdog, a lion, a goat… and slowly and surely he
wished to begin creating…
But Adam stretched himself under the palm and called:
Lord, Lord, she should be as adaptable as a chameleon but not creep on four feet.
She should have sparkling eyes like, like… real diamonds. She should be as fiery as a volcano
But … she should have crystal-clear thoughts like a mountain spring.
God, the Almighty, was speechless…
And Adam spoke: Also she should be as quick as lightening…
And God said: Man, have you finished????
No, said Adam! She should be as strong as a horse, as long living as an elephant but as light as a butterfly!
God
found Adam’s thoughts were good and said: So, bird, goldfish, cat, ant,
dog, lamb, cock, monkey, lapdog, lion, goat, chameleon, genuine
diamonds, volcano, mountain spring, lightening, horse, elephant….
butterfly…
God wished at last to begin creating her…
Lord, called Adam… she should be as stable as steel, but as sweet as three graceful women in one…
And God asked: Should she also be a poet?
Yes, called Adam from under the palm…
And God said: Adam have you finished?
Lord, I wish that, in the second Paradise I shall be one and doubled:
So God according to Adams last words created:
HILDE PALM DOMIN Very best wishes
Letizia Mancino
Letizia Mancino is an outstanding writer and artist. I know you will enjoy this very charming and witty story the same way I did! Thanks a Million, dear Letiza Mancino! You made my day!
As you know I'm very interested in pets and excellent literature.
Queen's 90th birthday: when is it and how will it be celebrated?
Queen Elizabeth II's 90th
birthday celebrations will be one of the highlights of 2016, and you
can play your part by following our guide to the festivities. Events will be taking place in April, May and June, some of
which are free and some of which require tickets, but the key is to plan
ahead if you want to participate. We have included links to websites where you can buy tickets
and where you can download forms for street parties. We will be
updating this page whenever new information is available.
The Queen with the Duke of Edinburgh at Trooping the Colour, the official celebration of her birthday
April 21st: The Queen's birthday
The Queen's 90th birthday is on April 21,
and while this will not be the main focus of the celebrations, there
will still be an opportunity to see the Queen for hardy royal-watchers. Her
Majesty will be at Windsor Castle when her birthday
comes around, and Buckingham Palace is expected to announce public
engagements in the Windsor area on the 21st and possibly the 20th.
Expect a royal walkabout where members of the public can see Her
Majesty close up - as long as they are prepared to turn up early to bag
the best places. Look out also for TV documentaries on the Queen's life by both ITV
and the BBC featuring interviews with senior members of the Royal
family. No dates have yet been announced.
May 12 to 15: The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration
May represents the first of two major celebrations of the Queen's birthday. The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration will be a 90-minute long extravaganza with 900 horses and more than 1,500 riders and performers.
It will be along similar lines to
the Diamond Jubilee horse pageant at Windsor in 2012, though this time
video projection and theatrical lighting will play a big part. The event will be held every evening from May 12 to 15, with the Queen attending on the final evening. All 25,000 tickets for the arena sold out soon after they went on
sale last November, but there is still a chance to take part by entering
a ballot, opening in February, for 5,000 free tickets to watch the show
on giant screens next to Windsor Castle and see celebrities arriving on
the red carpet. For details click here. If you miss out on tickets, ITV will be showing the final night in a two-hour live broadcast hosted by Ant and Dec.
June 10: Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral
A
weekend of events to celebrate the Queen's birthday and, unofficially,
the Duke of Edinburgh's 95th birthday, will start on June 10 with
a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral. The congregation will
be made up of invited guests only, but the service will be televised.
June 10 is also the Duke of Edinburgh's 95th birthday, but he has
specified that he does not want any public celebration of the date.
June 11: Trooping the Colour
Saturday, June 11 is the date of this year's
Trooping the Colour, the official annual celebration of the Queen's
birthday. Otherwise known as The Queen's Birthday Parade, it is a chance
for the Queen to inspect soldiers from the Household Division. It takes
place on Horse Guards Parade behind Whitehall, and is televised live by
the BBC from 10am.
Members of the Royal family appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after Trooping the Colour
The Queen and other members of
the Royal family travel to and from Buckingham Palace in carriages,
meaning there is ample opportunity to see her for anyone standing on The
Mall. She will then appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at 1pm
to watch a fly-past. This will be the only "balcony moment" of the
birthday celebrations and is another good chance for members of the
public to see the Queen, albeit from a distance. Tickets for the seated stands around Horse Guards are allocated by
ballot in March and cost £30. You can apply in writing before the end of
February to the Brigade Major, HQ Household Division by following the instructions in this link. A rehearsal usually takes place a week before the parade, and can be seen from The Mall or the edge of St James's Park.
The Queen will travel by carriage to Trooping the Colour
June 12: The Patron's Lunch
On Sunday, June 12, the climax of the Queen's
birthday celebrations, The Mall in London will be transformed into a
giant street party for The Patron's Lunch, with 10,000 guests eating a
picnic lunch and being entertained by street performers and circus acts. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will take part in the event from a
specially-built platform on the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of
Buckingham Palace.
An artist's impression of The Patron's LunchCredit:
Patron's Lunch
The purpose of the event is to
celebrate the Queen's patronage of 600-plus charities and organisations,
and 9,000 of the 10,000 tickets are being made available to those
organisations. However, there will be some publicly available tickets for the event, costing £150 each. There are two ways of getting a ticket: 1. Enter a public ballot where a minimum of 1,000 tickets (plus any
that are not taken up by the charities) will be made available. You can
make your application during the month of March at The Patron's Lunch website. 2. Charities and other organisations that receive tickets will be
allowed to auction off 40 per cent of their tickets to raise money for
their funds. You can search a list of the organisations of which the
Queen is Patron here.
Members of the public will be able to watch the event on giant screens in Green Park and St James's Park Credit:
The Patron's Lunch
If you don't have a ticket, but
still want to be part of the event in London, there will be room for
15,000 people to watch the event on giant screens in St James's Park and
Green Park, though they will have to bring their own picnics. Security
will be tight, so arrive early. The event's organiser Peter Phillips, the Queen's grandson, is keen
for the event to be replicated with street parties up and down the
country and across the Commonwealth. You will need to tell your local council four to six weeks in
advance, and the Department for Communities and Local Government has
published a guide on how to organise a street party, complete with an application form for you to send off to your local authority.
The Patron's Lunch will be held on the Mall on June 12
Celeste Holm was the Oscar winner instead of Marjorie Main.
I wished Marjorie Main had won it because she really deserved it.
Marjorie Main was outstanding.
I'm very happy for Leonardo DiCaprio who won the Oscar this year.
He had to wait for 22 years and it was his 6th nomination. ( see info below )
Congratulations dear Lenonardo DiCaprio!
We are going to publish some new Betty MacDonald fan club interviews by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel who is working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
Good luck dear Wolfgang Hampel! Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is a great guy even if he is a bit strange.
My British friends would say he's a bit eccentric but that's like Onions in the Stew, don't you think.
Do I agree with Betty MacDonald's description of women and men? Oh yes I do!
Betty MacDonald was such a very intelligent lady and she knew very well what she was writing about.
If we believe that Mr. Tigerli acts a bit strange what can we say of the behaviour of some men?
Betty wrote the truth! By the way I don't hate men! I love them - some of them - especially mine!
This
is a picture of me on my tenth wedding anniversary at The Betty
MacDonald Farm on Vashon. My sweet husband planned our weekend away, but
didn't realize that I actually wanted to STAY at the farm! But he did
drive me there to see it before we went home, though. I'm pretty little
in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see me by the door to
the barn.
Which book by Betty MacDonald did you read first?
My
mom gave me her copy of The Egg and I when I was about 11. It was my
first taste of Betty Macdonald, but I was definitely hooked! I read it
at least once a year until I was in my twenties and finally got around
to finding the rest of her work at my library...and then collecting
reprints.
What do you like most in Betty MacDonald's books?
I love her over the top humor paired with her brutally honest representation of life.
Is there anything you dislike in Betty MacDonald's books?
One
could call her portrayal of the Native Americans of the Pacific
Northwest in the Egg and I racist, but she was a woman of her time, and
the things she writes about, such as alcoholism, are not untrue. They
are just reported with that brutal honesty that she also uses for her
white neighbors--no one is safe from her sharp pen. So, it makes me a
little uncomfortable to read, but at the same time, I think it is real
(from her perspective at least, and her perspective is valid,) and I
don't dislike it, if that makes sense.
Oh yes! I wish I had had them as kids, but I have been reading them to my
kids which is even better! My sister in law bought me Nancy and Plum
several years back, and I love it. I don't know why it's not a classic
on par with the Secret Garden or the Little Princess! But...even better
than Nancy and Plum are the Piggle-Wiggle books. They crack my kids up,
and were the first chapter books that my girls really devoured. They
crack me up, too!
What is your favourite book by Betty MacDonald?
It
is still The Egg and I. It's a book that formed so much of my opinion
on fiction and held such an important part of my growing up--I don't
think anything could beat it. My husband and I call snobby activities
"The Theatah and the Dahnce" and I've been known to say "I itch, so I
scratch, so what?"
Did Betty MacDonald influence you as author?
Absolutely. Though I write mysteries I want them to be funny, and I hold Betty MacDonald's work up as a standard for humor.
What do you think is the reason Betty MacDonald is beloved all over the world?
Betty's
work gives us a glimpse into a world that we would have never known
without her. Both life in the Olympic Mountains and on Vashon are so
different from regular town and city life. I think readers love to
escape, and the more remote the location, the more different the people
we get to meet, the more we love the work! Betty's books help us all
escape to a time that is getting farther and farther away, and a place
that doesn't even exist anymore, but even when it did, it was
unexpected, hilarious, and stunningly beautiful.
Dearest Traci I hope I don't bore with so many questions. I
wasn't a bit bored! Betty MacDonald is definitely my favorite author
and I loved having a chance to talk about her work and why I love it so
much!
As I already mentioned there are several Betty MacDonald fan club fans who enjoy your books very much.
That
people who love Betty MacDonald also like my books is almost
unbelievable to me, and really is a dream come true, as an author. When I
was a young girl, curled up with her work, escaping to that remote egg
farm, I never dreamed that someday people who loved her, would also
enjoy what I had to say.
Dearest Traci thanks a million for this wonderful interview.
Lots of love to you and your family.
Lots of love to you, as well! Thank you.
Traci
Oscars 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Academy Award
Leonardo DiCaprio didn't have an Oscar, and that was hilarious, according to the internet. There were memes about it. Someone even made a video game where players stepped into the actor's shoesand tried to chase down that elusive award. It all stemmed from DiCaprio being just about the only major cast member from Titanic to not be nominated for an Oscar when that film won 11 awards (and was nominated for 14) in 1998.
Well, the internet will now have to find somebody new to laugh at. On
Sunday, at the 2016 Oscars, DiCaprio finally won his prize for Best
Actor, for his work in The Revenant. His win wasn't exactly unexpected. DiCaprio had won every major
pre-Oscar award of the 2016 awards season, including the Golden Globe
and the Screen Actors Guild award. But with DiCaprio, there's always the
sense that someone might swoop in at the last moment and win instead. DiCaprio thanked numerous collaborators, from his Revenant co-star (and fellow nominee) Tom Hardy to Martin Scorsese, who directed DiCaprio to two previous Oscar nominations, for The Aviatorand The Wolf of Wall Street. But DiCaprio saved his most glowing praise for Revenant director Alejandro G. Iñárritu,
who'd won his second consecutive Best Director trophy earlier in the
evening: "You have forged your way into history these past two years.
What an unbelievable talent you are. Thank you to you and
[cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki] for creating a transcendent cinematic experience for all of us." DiCaprio concluded by talking about how The Revenant had to
keep switching locations during filming, because the production team
wasn't able to find cold enough temperatures to keep going. And the
longtime environmentalist tied that into the battle to stop climate
change.
"Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most
urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work together
and stop procrastinating," he said in the most passionate moment of his
speech. "We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak
for the big polluters ... but who speak for all of humanity."
He concluded with gracious thanks — "I do not take tonight for granted" — and then slipped backstage, finally an Oscar winner.
EU criticizes Turkey for summoning German envoy over Erdogan satire
A staff adjusts European Union and
Turkish (L) flags ahead of the arrival of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan (not pictured) at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels
January 21, 2014.
Reuters/Francois Lenoir
The European Union on Wednesday
criticized Ankara for summoning Berlin's envoy over a song mocking the
Turkish leader on German TV, a friction at a delicate time when the bloc
counts on Turkey's help on migration under a controversial deal.Turkey's
Foreign Ministry summoned Germany's ambassador over a satirical
broadcast by German television station NDR, which ran a two-minute
satirical song mocking Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan earlier this
month.
"This move doesn't seem to
be in line with upholding the freedom of the press and freedom
expression, which are values the EU cherishes a lot," Mina Andreeva, a
spokeswoman for the European Union's executive arm, told a daily news
briefing.
The
spokeswoman added the European Commission's head Jean-Claude Juncker
"believes this moves Turkey further (away) from the EU rather than
closer to us." Right groups and
the West regularly criticize Ankara for its track record on human rights
but the 27-nation EU has still sealed a deal with Ankara on March 18 to
return all migrants and refugees reaching European shores from the
Turkish coast. Berlin, the key driving force behind the Turkish deal, has said press freedom was non-negotiable in its ties with Ankara. The
EU hopes the migration agreement, badly criticized by rights groups,
would give it breathing space as it struggles to control an influx of
people fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and beyond. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska)
Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.
