Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
Betty MacDonad fan club newsletter March will be available during next week.
Many very interesting family photos are included including several ones of Betty MacDonald's colourful grandmother Gammy.
Don't miss our contests, please.
We have lots of fun during March.
You can win the most interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
You only have to answer this Betty MacDonald fan club contest question:
Do you know anything of the eye sight of Betty MacDonald and her sister Mary Bard Jensen? ( see also very interesting article below )
Too difficult?
I'd say a real Betty MacDonald fan club fan can answer this question very easily.
New Deadline: March 15, 2016
Do you wear glasses?
Can you remember the first two things you noticed after getting glasses?
Despite some Betty MacDonald experts there is always something new under the sun after all those years.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to include many new fascinating details and info in updated Betty MacDonald biography.
You'll be able to read many great info in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.
Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many new interviews.
Betty MacDonald, Claudette Colbert and the other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica.
I hope Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli will be able to support our politicans to solve some very important problems.
I'm convinced Mr. Tigerli can!
Yes he can!!!!
Wishing you a great Sunday.
Yours,
Michael
Don't miss this very special book, please.
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan clubBetty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
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Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund
'I may now be a four eyes, but I'm not the only one going blind'
Telegraph writer Joe Shute, who has just been given his first pair of glasses at the age of 30, may not like it, but he is part of a "short-sighted epidemic" now sweeping the world
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Joe Shute wearing his new glasses Photo: Julian Simmonds
6:00AM BST 02 Apr 2015
1 Comment
Like most great revelations, it occurred
late at night on a street corner. I was walking home - sober, I should
add – with my fiancée down Seven Sisters Road, the busy London
thoroughfare near to where we live. As we approached our turning, I saw,
no more than a few feet away, what I thought to be an urban fox.
“Look, it’s just sitting there looking at us,” I shouted. She followed
my gaze to what turned out to be, in fact, a large upturned brown paper
KFC bag squatting on the pavement. I was booked in for an eye test the
very next morning. Yesterday, I was presented with my first pair of
glasses.
I say revelation, but deep
down I had seen this coming – albeit through rather blurred eyes. I had
noticed I was going home with headaches following a day’s tapping away
at my computer keyboard; the various names of worldwide cities on the
clocks suspended above the Telegraph newsroom had long stopped making
sense. New Delhi looked like New York. If you’d asked me to point
towards Moscow I could very easily have sent you in the direction of
Sydney.
Yet I had suffered in
silence, reluctant to confess my ailment. Glasses have, of course,
nowadays been reborn as a fashion essential – watch Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Junior swanning around in theirs. But I am a child of the Eighties and Nineties where glasses were most certainly not cool.
Arnie and Bruce Willis were shades or nothing type of guys. Hulk Hogan would most likely snatch them off and kick sand in your face.
Later in life I never bothered with Harry Potter and his thick round
specs held together with scotch tape. Give me Lord of the Rings every
time, and Legolas’s elven acuity.
The reasons for this boom are varied, but it is increasingly thought
that – as the Nature study points out - a lifestyle largely spent
indoors staring at computer screens is exacerbating the issue. Fresh air
is now seen by researchers as crucial to preserving our eyesight. It
was not for nothing that renowned British eye surgeon Henry Edward Juler
wrote in A Handbook of Ophthalmic Science and Practice in 1904 that when “the myopia had become stationary, change of air — a sea voyage if possible — should be prescribed”.
And then there are the genes. Research has identified 26 genes linked to short-sightedness.
Children with one short-sighted parent have a one in three risk of
developing myopia, if both parents are short-sighted, that risk
increases to one in two.
A quick scan of family photographs told
me – as with hair loss – I didn’t come from particularly good stock
with regard to poor sight. But even in my mid 20s my vision seemed
perfectly fine so I thought I had escaped. While presbyopia –
age-related long-sightedness – sets in for many around the age of 40;
for some, eyesight can continue to improve until then.
Orlando Bloom as the keen-eyed Legolas in Lord of the Rings
As Karen Sparrow, head of professional development at the Association of Optometrists,
explains, your eyes continue to develop in adulthood. “Generally people
don’t realise your eyes are changing and growing well into your
twenties. Some people think they have got to 16 and 17 and that is
that.”
In my case, I was told I have developed an astigmatism in
each eye (the term for an irregular shaped cornea or lens). This
distortion exacerbates my prescription of -075 – a minor one, I know, in
the competitive game of who is the blindest which I now realise takes
place between spectacle wearers.
But what a difference my new
glasses have made. As soon as I slipped them on the world burst into
extraordinary clarity and has remained so ever since. I have realised I
had previously been reading newspapers at a distance of about two inches
from my face, where now I can hold them aloft to peruse like a
gentleman of leisure at a country club. I no longer hunch in quite such
wizened fashion over my computer screen. Occasionally, I look down just
below the lens and see my old world swirling nauseously out of focus.
Our eyes are fading and nobody quite knows why
Perhaps part of the reason glasses are now so resolutely back in style, is that ever more of us need them. A report published in the respected science journal Nature a few weeks ago claimed short-sightedness is now reaching epidemic proportions. This so-called “myopia boom” is most pronounced in East Asia: 90 per cent of teenagers and young adults in China are short-sighted; in Seoul, 96.5 per cent of 19-year-old men suffer the same affliction. By some estimates, one-third of the world's population — 2.5 billion people — could be affected by short-sightedness at the end of this decade and Europe has also witnessed a dramatic increase in the condition. In Britain, two million people experience sight loss of some sort or another – a number that by 2050 will double. Partly this is down to an an ageing population where ever more pensioners are busy assuring worried relatives that their eyes have never been better – even as they reach for a toffee in the pot pourri. But problems are particularly pronounced among the young, with up to one million children presumed to currently have undiagnosed vision problems.
The reasons for this boom are varied, but it is increasingly thought
that – as the Nature study points out - a lifestyle largely spent
indoors staring at computer screens is exacerbating the issue. Fresh air
is now seen by researchers as crucial to preserving our eyesight. It
was not for nothing that renowned British eye surgeon Henry Edward Juler
wrote in A Handbook of Ophthalmic Science and Practice in 1904 that when “the myopia had become stationary, change of air — a sea voyage if possible — should be prescribed”.
And then there are the genes. Research has identified 26 genes linked to short-sightedness.
Children with one short-sighted parent have a one in three risk of
developing myopia, if both parents are short-sighted, that risk
increases to one in two.
A quick scan of family photographs told
me – as with hair loss – I didn’t come from particularly good stock
with regard to poor sight. But even in my mid 20s my vision seemed
perfectly fine so I thought I had escaped. While presbyopia –
age-related long-sightedness – sets in for many around the age of 40;
for some, eyesight can continue to improve until then.
Orlando Bloom as the keen-eyed Legolas in Lord of the Rings
As Karen Sparrow, head of professional development at the Association of Optometrists,
explains, your eyes continue to develop in adulthood. “Generally people
don’t realise your eyes are changing and growing well into your
twenties. Some people think they have got to 16 and 17 and that is
that.”
In my case, I was told I have developed an astigmatism in
each eye (the term for an irregular shaped cornea or lens). This
distortion exacerbates my prescription of -075 – a minor one, I know, in
the competitive game of who is the blindest which I now realise takes
place between spectacle wearers.
But what a difference my new
glasses have made. As soon as I slipped them on the world burst into
extraordinary clarity and has remained so ever since. I have realised I
had previously been reading newspapers at a distance of about two inches
from my face, where now I can hold them aloft to peruse like a
gentleman of leisure at a country club. I no longer hunch in quite such
wizened fashion over my computer screen. Occasionally, I look down just
below the lens and see my old world swirling nauseously out of focus.
Michael Caine shows how to wear a pair in the
1965 film The Ipcress File
As for getting used to actually now being a four eyes at the age of 30,
well, that will take a little longer. As I walked out of the opticians
and caught a glimpse of my reflection in a shop window, there was a part
of me that thought of the scorn my younger self would no doubt pour.
This was not helped by stumbling twice on the pavement on the way to the
tube as I got used to my new eyes.
But a blow to one’s ego is a
small price to pay for the gift of knowing the difference between a KFC
wrapper and a fox. And the present time in Moscow, since you ask, is
17:38.
We have not come together against Merkel - Hungarian PM Orbán
March 4, 2016, 2:23 pm
 Hungarian version |
Hungary’s
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Bavarian State Prime Minister Horst
Seehofer had a meeting in Budapest on Friday and held a joint press
conference afterwards. The PM kicked off the presser by stressing the
meeting did not take place to undermine the German government and
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Seehofer addressed economic co-operation,
saying they discussed specific projects and specific companies, but did
not wish to go into details. The migration crisis and its management in
Europe was also on the agenda.
"We have not got together today against Angela Merkel," Orbán stated. "We did not meet to weaken the German government. We did not [get together] to undermine the German governing parties preparing for the elections. I want to make it clear: we are interested in the success of the CSU and the CDU. We are interested in a strong German government and a strong German Chancellor," he added.
Hungary has no intention to take part in the German election campaign. What we are doing in Hungary has no German dimension, Orbán said. A clever Hungarians goes to Berlin via Munich, he added.
He thanked Seehofer that Bavarians accepted Hungary’s problems during the migration crisis with understanding.
The PM then talked about bilateral relations:
Orbán mentioned four key Bavarian companies, with which the government had signed strategic agreements: Audi, Siemens, Knorr-Bremse and Continental.
The Bavarian State PM congratulated Hungary on its stable financial situation, adding that Hungary is among the ten most important trading partners of Bavaria.
With respect to today’s negotiation Seehofer has revealed that the co-operation between the Hungarian and Bavarian governments will be strengthened and they have discussed specific projects related to specific firms. However, he did not want to divulge details to the public not to jeopardise the success of the projects.
Seehofer wished Angela Merkel success for the next EU-Turkey summit. He is confident that a permanent solution will be found to manage the migration crisis.
He said he has invited Orbán to his hometown, Ingolstadt, mentioning that the Hungarian PM set conditions to this visit, noting that Ingolstadt is near the location of the (soccer) European Championship and that the headquarters of Audi is also there.
Replying to a question Orbán said it is not different political ideologies that are in conflict within the European Union rather than the different cultures of complying and not complying with treaties. This is generally true, not just in the case of the refugee crisis, he underlined, mentioning as examples:
"I cannot have any compromise on this," Orbán said. I hope that those supporting compliance with treaties will once again be in majority within the EU, he added.
The EU should have acted a long time ago with regard to the management of the refugee crisis, Horst Seehofer replied to a question. It is a foundation of the EU that if it does not need internal borders then we control the external borders. The best is if we register the refugees at the external borders and conduct the relevant procedures, he added.
Migration crisis
"We have not got together today against Angela Merkel," Orbán stated. "We did not meet to weaken the German government. We did not [get together] to undermine the German governing parties preparing for the elections. I want to make it clear: we are interested in the success of the CSU and the CDU. We are interested in a strong German government and a strong German Chancellor," he added.
Hungary has no intention to take part in the German election campaign. What we are doing in Hungary has no German dimension, Orbán said. A clever Hungarians goes to Berlin via Munich, he added.
He thanked Seehofer that Bavarians accepted Hungary’s problems during the migration crisis with understanding.
Economic relations
The PM then talked about bilateral relations:
- Germany is Hungary’s No.1 trading partner.
- Hungary traded the most with the Bavarians; exports to Bavaria grew by 13% year on year in 2015 to EUR 8.5 billion.
- The weight of the Bavarian-Hungarian relations is clearly reflected by the fact that today 2,300 Bavarian companies operate in Hungary.
- These together employ some 100,000 people.
Orbán mentioned four key Bavarian companies, with which the government had signed strategic agreements: Audi, Siemens, Knorr-Bremse and Continental.
The Bavarian State PM congratulated Hungary on its stable financial situation, adding that Hungary is among the ten most important trading partners of Bavaria.
With respect to today’s negotiation Seehofer has revealed that the co-operation between the Hungarian and Bavarian governments will be strengthened and they have discussed specific projects related to specific firms. However, he did not want to divulge details to the public not to jeopardise the success of the projects.
Q&A
Seehofer wished Angela Merkel success for the next EU-Turkey summit. He is confident that a permanent solution will be found to manage the migration crisis.
He said he has invited Orbán to his hometown, Ingolstadt, mentioning that the Hungarian PM set conditions to this visit, noting that Ingolstadt is near the location of the (soccer) European Championship and that the headquarters of Audi is also there.
Replying to a question Orbán said it is not different political ideologies that are in conflict within the European Union rather than the different cultures of complying and not complying with treaties. This is generally true, not just in the case of the refugee crisis, he underlined, mentioning as examples:
- the management of the euro
- the common fiscal rules
- a previous no bailout rule
- and the Schengen Treaty
If
the culture of non-compliance spreads further we can dig the grave of
Europe. There must be some kind of fundament that everyone can trust.
These are the treaties and these must be observed
, he warned, adding that Hungary and Bavaria are both on this side. "I cannot have any compromise on this," Orbán said. I hope that those supporting compliance with treaties will once again be in majority within the EU, he added.
The EU should have acted a long time ago with regard to the management of the refugee crisis, Horst Seehofer replied to a question. It is a foundation of the EU that if it does not need internal borders then we control the external borders. The best is if we register the refugees at the external borders and conduct the relevant procedures, he added.
We
must not leave this task to member states with external borders. I do
not understand why we have not already provided assistance to these
countries. On this point I have to criticise the European Commission, he explained.
