Betty MacDonald Forum - Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society -
Fans and Friends of Betty MacDonald, author of The Egg and I and The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series
Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's fascinating Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews with Betty MacDonald's family and friends.
I'd like to visit Brad Craft and his outstanding bookstore too.
( more info below )
We already got many birthday cards.
Don't miss Betty MacDonald fan club birthday contest, please. Betty MacDonald fan club birthday card contest is really a great idea.
The winner who sent the best and most original birthday card will be Honor
guest of the next International Betty MacDonald fan club event.
Deadline: March 15, 2016
A Betty MacDonald fan club birthday exhibit with many very special birthday cards by Betty MacDonald's family and friends.
You'll be able to see wonderful cards for Betty MacDonald with very touching messages for example by her daughter Joan MacDonald Keil or her good friend Monica Sone. ( see info below ' Betty MacDonald and The plague and I )
There will be a Betty MacDonald fan club birthday event DVD available.
Seems I'm in this for a hot second. I remember being asked to
participate one day on the street in front of the bookstore where I
work. I didn't think to ask what it was for, or even so much as the
name of the song or the band. Didn't want to be late coming back from
lunch. Silly bugger. The very nice young woman with the green hair
also featured herein happens to work at Magus Books. She mentioned
she'd seen me. Told me the name of the band, and here we are.
Now in its fourth year, the French Fest at Seattle
Center is a part of the Seattle Center’s FESTÁL cultural event series
and attracts 5,000 visitors. The event is free and open to the public
(no admittance tickets are required). French Fest draws its inspiration
from the worldwide “Day of Francophonie,” organized in over 100
countries each March to celebrate the diversity of Francophone cultures
and traditions around the world. During the Seattle event,
festival-goers of all ages have an opportunity to enjoy many activities –
all with a “French” twist: live music, theater and dance performances,
French cuisine, book sales, informative seminars and demonstrations,
“best baguette” contest, games and more. The event
also features a unique Career Expo (Salon de l’Emploi) with the
participation of local and international companies seeking French
speakers and workshops led by employment professionals. The event is
organized by the nonprofit organization, France Education Northwest,
with the support of Seattle Center FESTÁL, the French-American Chamber
of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, the Consular Agency of France in
Seattle, Coca-Cola, Alaska Airlines, T-Mobile and other key supporters. Follow our Facebook page for more info https://www.facebook.com/SeattleFrenchFest/?ref=hl Seattle Center Festál
Seattle’s French Fest: A Celebration of French-Speaking Cultures
Seattle's French Fest: A Celebration of French-Speaking Cultures
Join
the community for Seattle’s 3rd Annual French Fest: A Celebration of
French-Speaking Cultures on March 20, 2016 at Seattle Center Armory.
Seattle's
French Fest is free, family-friendly and open to the public with the
purpose of promoting and raising awareness of Francophone cultures and
traditions to the residents of the Greater Seattle area. During the
one-day event, festival-goers will listen to live music, watch dance
performances, taste international cuisine, learn from informative
seminars and cooking demonstrations, play games and enjoy a day full of
fun activities en français!
Seattle's
French Fest: A Celebration of French-Speaking Cultures is presented in
partnership with France Education Northwest, under the auspices of the
Consular Agency of France.
French-American Chamber of Commerce 2200 Alaskan Way, Suite 490 Seattle, WA 98121 (206) 443-4703 http://fenpnw.org/french-fest/
France prepares to bulldoze half of Jungle migrant camp
Up to 1,000 people given a week’s warning with offer of alternative accommodation in converted shipping containers
France
intends to bulldoze half of the makeshift Jungle camp in Calais and
authorities have given one week’s warning to between 800 and 1,000
migrants and refugees to leave a seven-hectare southern section of the
site.
The Calais prefect, Fabienne Buccio, told Le Monde she intended to reduce the size of the camp by about half. “The time has come to move on, no one must live in the southern part
of the camp, everyone must leave this section,” she told Agence
France-Presse, estimating that some 800 to 1,000 people would be
affected.Buccio said she and her staff would offer those leaving the camp a
place in an alternative, purpose-built facility created using converted
shipping containers. Alternatively, they could be helped to leave and
travel to other accommodation centres in France.
Buccio told Le Monde 750 extra places in the containers would be
offered from this weekend and further places would be found at centres
across France. About 4,000 people are living in squalid conditions in the Jungle as
asylum seekers use it as a base from which they attempt to enter Britain
via the Channel tunnel.The camp sprang up in April last year
as a state-sanctioned shanty town – an area of wasteland on a former
rubbish tip where migrants living across Calais were deliberately
directed by French police while their other squats and camps around the
town were destroyed. At that time, the refugees and migrants
concentrated on the site were promised access to showers and a daily
meal at a nearby repurposed activity centre and told they would be
“tolerated” on that scrap of wasteland, which charities complained was
insalubrious and presented serious health risks. But now, amid political rows about the size, conditions and
permanency of the makeshift camp, the French authorities aim to reduce
the Jungle in size.
“I think it’s our duty to bring this camp down to 2,000 people living
in an organised and dignified camp. That is an acceptable number for
the local population,” Buccio told Le Monde. She had said last month the state’s aim was for “no more migrants sleeping outdoors”.She said she aimed to get people to agree to move so they wouldn’t have to be forcibly evicted.But some asylum seekers say they are afraid to transfer to the new
containers, as they say the facility resembles a prison and does not
have cooking facilities or communal areas – unlike the Jungle, which has
shops, cafes, kitchens, churches and a mosque. The new container
facility also requires palm prints to be taken to move in and out, which
some fear could impede their efforts to reach Britain and apply for
asylum there.
EU leaders: British big business to come
out in favour of staying in the EU as David Cameron battles to 'settle
the issue' - live
David Cameron calls on EU leaders to help him settle the question of Europe
for a generation by agreeing a "credible" deal he can sell to the British
public and stay in the European Union - follow latest updates
One of the sticky points being discussed around the dinner table
tonight is how the UK can secure protections for the City of London
against future eurozone integration, Mehreen Khan reports. As part of the Government's aversion to "ever closer union",
Prime Minister David Cameron wants a firm commitment that Britain's
financial services sector - perhaps the single biggest driver of the
UK's economic prosperity over the last 20 years - is not harmed by
Brussels' attempts to shore up the shaky euro. But "core" EU member states - such as France, Belgium, Germany
and the Netherlands - are wary of letting Britain stand in the way of
their attempts to protect themselves against another financial crisis. In the event of a global recession, there are concerns the City
could forge ahead with a "lighter-touch" regulatory system that could
disadvantage the continent and could eventually call into question
financial stability in the EU. Britain currently has an opt-out from the EU's banking union
project, and Bank of England has sole responsibility for regulating
British banks. The BoE rather than ECB ultimately decides on how much
capital banks need to hold against their assets, or what maximum level
of loans people can take out as mortgages. It is this flexibility to act outside the "single rulebook" on
financial services (as it is called in EU speak) which the Chancellor so
cherishes and wants enshrined in Britain's new settlement with Europe. Right now, there is a caucus of majority eurozone states - 19
euro-ins against the nine euro nine euro outs - that could, in theory,
railroad British interests to serve the cause of EU integration. But worryingly for the Chancellor, the series of draft
renegotiation texts that were revised ahead of tonight big leaders'
summit, Britain's room to manoeuvre outside the single rulebook seemed
to get smaller and smaller. Watch this space.
A No 10 source has told the Press Association that "some real
progress" needs to be made by EU leaders from the position they were in
when they broke for dinner: The
Prime Minister left them in no doubt that we are only going to do an
agreement at this summit if we make some real progress from where we
were at 8.30 this evening. If we don't, we are not going to have an agreement at this summit. There is some real hard work to do overnight and we have got to see real progress.
Mr Cameron arrived in Brussels armed with a set of Beatrix Potter
books as a gift for his nemesis, Charles Michel, the Belgian prime
minister, The Times reports. The Prime Minister gave the Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, the
Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs Tittlemouse books to Mr Michel for his baby
daughter, Jeanne. “It was a full set in French, a true symbol of ever closer union among our peoples,” an EU diplomat told the paper. “It was a really personal touch and Mr Michel was very moved,” a
Belgian official said. “It might not be well known in Britain but David
is really very charming.”
There is a foul mood in the room over Austria's unilateral
decision to impose caps on asylum seekers, Matthew Holehouse reports. "Britain is a big beneficiary," said a source. "Everyone just wants to sort this out." The talks are going to go on long - most leaders will go to bed, but Juncker, Tusk and Cameron will work through the night. The source says that the Commission might have to intervene with a
"common sense solution" if leaders cannot agree on the transition
period before Britain's indexing of child benefit can come in. Leaders such as the Czech Republic's Subotka are in a horrid
spot, as the deal that will leave their citizens poorer grinds closer. "They don't want to go home and be told they have betrayed their people," said one official. A member of the media takes a nap as he waits for news during a European Union leaders summit in Brussels Photo: Reuters
Lord Mandelson, the New Labour grandee, has attacked Jeremy
Corbyn's political judgement over the EU and claimed he is not on the
same "wave length" as British voters, Ben Riley-Smith reports. The former business secretary and European commissioner
criticised Mr Corbyn for dismissing the emergency brake over access to
benefits "out of hand" and instead backed the renegotiation package. The Labour peer, one of the key architects of Tony Blair's three
election victories, made the remarks during an interview about the EU
renegotiation on BBC Two's Newsnight. This afternoon Mr Corbyn, who supports an In vote, echoed the key
argument of Eurosceptics by saying one of Mr Cameron's flagship reforms
in the renegotiation was "irrelevant". The Labour leader said there was "no evidence" the emergency
brake would decrease EU immigration and criticised Mr Cameron's
politicking in the negotiations. Asked about Mr Corbyn's stance, Lord Mandelson said: "I think
actually in the statement he made today he was making quite a serious
political misjudgement." The peer criticised Mr Corbyn for having "dismissed" the proposal
for EU nationals not to claim full in-work benefits for four years and
said voters wanted more controlled migration. Lord Mandelson said: "It is a completely legitimate part of the
negotiation [Cameron] is undertaking in Brussels and I think that
frankly that if Jeremy Corbyn doesn't understand that then he's not
really on the same wave length as the British people."
Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has been typically outspoke on
Newsnight, claiming everything that's going on in Brussels right now is
just "theatre": He’s rather like Oliver Twist. He has come along with his begging bowl , saying: ‘please sir, can we have more concessions?’ Most of what you are seeing here is theatre. It’s theatre from Mr Cameron and it’s theatre from the other leaders.
An EU source has told the BBC that the talks so far have been
"intense and constructive". However, several countries have been
forthright with specific concerns. "We expected this," the source said. "But honestly we had hoped for some of them to be less critical."
The mood in the negotiating room has turned sour, according to
source, as eastern Europe realise the night is against them, Matthew
Holehouse reports. Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovania are said to be
"taken aback" by how fast Cameron has been able to move on the difficult
issue of benefits and fear a beating in the newspapers when they get
home. The states failed to realise that the Tusk proposal was not meant to be changed, it is claimed. The mood is further soured by anger at Austria's unilateral move to cap asylum claims.
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.
The
Prime Minister left them in no doubt that we are only going to do an
agreement at this summit if we make some real progress from where we
were at 8.30 this evening. 
