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Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's fascinating Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews with Betty MacDonald's family and friends.
You'll be able to read some new very interesting letters by Betty MacDonald in Betty MacDonald fan club letter collection.
We are still working on Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March because of so many great information.
It'll be available during next week. Many
Betty MacDonald fan club fans can't wait to read the updated story by
Anita and Eartha Kitt about one of Betty MacDonald's strangest
personalities in her books - rather mysterious Dorita Hess. I'd say Dorita Hess was not only a rather strange but also a dangerous lady.
The real Dorita Hess story is even much more exciting than Betty MacDonald's description in her book 'Anybody can do anything'. Congratulations dearest Anita and Eartha Kitt II!
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German
Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to supporters of Guido Wolf in
Baden-Württemberg earlier this week | Sean Gallup/ Getty Images
Merkel’s refugee policy a political winner for rivals
The chancellor’s center-right allies face electoral setbacks in three critical German states this weekend.
FREIBURG, Germany — In Germany’s economic heartland in the
conservative southwest, Angela Merkel’s refugee policy is winning votes —
for her political rival. The 61-year-old chancellor’s dominance in national and EU politics is
in sharp contrast to her poor track record in regional elections. On
Sunday, Merkel wants to set that right when three German states go to
the polls, but the results look likely to be the same as in the past —
or even worse. Merkel’s problem? In Baden-Württemberg, the largest of the three
states, her Christian Democrats (CDU) are slipping in opinion polls
while incumbent state premier Winfried Kretschmann of the Greens scores
points by championing her plan to reduce the influx of refugees through
European cooperation. It was the CDU’s own man in Baden-Württemberg, Guido Wolf, who gave
his Green rival an opening to capitalize on Merkel’s refugee policy.
Wolf tried to distance himself from it for fear of losing supporters to
the right wing. “Merkel has taken action to reduce the number of refugees and to put
the influx to Europe and to Germany in order,” said Kretschmann in his
most recent burst of praise for Merkel, which has earned him the
nickname “stalker” in CDU circles. The conservatives demanded Merkel end her chummy relationship with
the Green premier and she obliged, cancelling a joint appearance with
Kretschmann in state capital Stuttgart, but holding a previously
scheduled rally of her own in the university town of Freiburg. “I want to be clear about this,” Merkel told a crowd of 800 people in
a concert hall last week. “I am telling the citizens of
Baden-Württemberg that everyone who wants to support my refugee policy
should vote for the CDU on March 13, and nobody else.”
The loss of Baden-Württemberg in the 2011 election was a major upset in German politics.
The refugee crisis has turned Germany’s political scene upside down.
In recent polls, the Greens pulled ahead of Merkel’s CDU by five points.
If they maintain that lead, they could secure a majority in a coalition
with the Social Democrats (SPD), the third largest party in the state,
which is Merkel’s coalition partner in the federal government. That would keep Kretschmann in power and deal a huge blow to Merkel,
who has made it her priority to win back the longtime CDU stronghold of
Baden-Württemberg. Germany’s third largest state is home to car
manufacturers, making it one of the wealthiest regions in the EU. The loss of Baden-Württemberg in the 2011 election was a major upset
in German politics, putting the CDU in the opposition there for the
first time in 58 years and turning Kretschmann into the first ever Green
politician to govern a German state. After the Fukushima accident, the anti-nuclear Greens had scored 24.2
percent and more than doubled their share of seats. Although they got
15 percentage points less than the CDU’s 39 percent, it was enough for
the Greens to form a coalition with the SPD. The CDU saw Kretschmann’s rise to power as an “accident” and trusted
that the conservatives had enough support to ensure he was a one-term
wonder. It has not worked out that way. In office, Kretschmann’s popularity steadily grew. He engaged with
the public and capitalized on disenchantment among CDU supporters, who
complained they had not been heard by “elitist” CDU leaders who had lost
touch with the party’s grassroots. Although perplexed at the Greens’ popularity, Merkel’s conservatives
were polling at 40 percent in Baden-Württemberg in September, around the
time that Merkel announced that Germany would welcome thousands of
aslyum-seekers trapped in Budapest. However, early this week, Merkel’s
CDU had plunged to 28.5 percent in opinion polls, with the Greens at
33.5 percent. “My mother-in-law is 88-years-old, and she’s voted for the CDU all
her life,” said Andreas Perrin, a 55-year-old member of the Greens. On
Sunday, Perrin’s mother-in-law will also vote for the Greens, Perrin
said at a campaign rally near the border with France. “She told me,
‘Kretschmann is someone I would like to keep seeing as premier.’” Such defections could be part of a trend in Baden-Württemberg,
largely driven by 67-year-old Kretschmann, who has been instrumental in
the Greens’ movement closer to the political center that has made them
more attractive to conservatives. “It’s largely due to his performance during the last two years, and
because the state is doing well,” said Ulrich Eith, a politics professor
at the University of Freiburg. Unemployment in Baden-Württemberg, for
example, is just 4 percent, versus the 6.6 percent national average.
The Greens are not the only threat to Merkel. CDU members opposed to
her dogged insistence on welcoming refugees, even after more than 1
million migrants arrived in 2015, are also fleeing to the other side of
the political spectrum. On March 13, the Alternative für Deutschland
(AfD), a far-right party, could increase the number of state assemblies
in which it has seats to eight — meaning it would be represented in half
of Germany’s federal states. Rainer Leonhardt, a 61-year-old brewery worker, attended Merkel’s
rally in Freiburg to express his outrage at the chancellor’s refugee
policy which has pushed him into the arms of the AfD. “I’ve always voted for CDU,” said Leonhardt outside the Freiburg
concert hall. He was standing in a group of about 50 people, some of
whom held banners saying ‘Stop Merkel.’ “Seeing the crime this woman is
committing, and how she is ignoring the opinion of the people, makes us
fear for democracy,” he said. The outcome of Sunday’s elections in Baden-Württemberg and two other
states, SPD-run Rhineland-Palatinate and CDU fiefdom Saxony-Anhalt, will
do more than pass judgement on Merkel’s refugee policy: It will
determine her ability to push through legislation on a federal level. This has to do with the Bundesrat (federal assembly), which is the
69-seat upper house of parliament and is composed of representatives of
the German states. Merkel needs its consent to pass several important
laws including much-debated changes to inheritance tax, but her current
coalition of conservatives and the SPD does not have a majority in the
upper house. If the CDU won Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, and keeps
Saxony-Anhalt as predicted, she could ignore the Greens in the
Bundesrat, where they have been her main opponents, in particular to the
CDU’s attempts to project firmness in the refugee debate and declare
Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria as safe countries of origin whose migrants
can be sent home.
“We need a European solution, and you are stabbing her in the back” — SPD’s Malu Dreyer
Merkel could then speed up the return of migrants who entered Germany
last year alongside refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq hoping to
get asylum soon. That way, she can continue to offer refuge to people
who flee war and prosecution while scoring points with her conservative
critics by putting a stop to what’s called “economic” migration. However, the chancellor knows she will have a tough time winning the two bigger states. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the CDU’s Julia Klöckner saw her small lead
over the SPD state premier Malu Dreyer slip away. Dreyer successfully
pulled the “Kretschmann card” in a televised debate between the two
female candidates by defending Merkel’s refugee policy against criticism
from her own conservative candidate, Klöckner, who had tried to hatch
an alternative plan for dealing with the refugees together with Wolf,
the CDU candidate in Baden-Württemberg.
“The chancellor is simply right,” Dreyer said. “We need a European solution, and you are stabbing her in the back.” While Klöckner and Dreyer remain neck and neck in opinion polls,
Wolf’s chances of winning Baden-Württemberg are much lower. Attempting
to prop up her candidate at the Freiburg rally, Merkel said the best way
to ensure the Bundesrat played its role in ensuring the rapid return of
rejected migrants was “to make sure Guido Wolf becomes state premier.” The chancellor knows that 54-year-old Wolf is no match for the charismatic 67-year-old Kretschmann. While the CDU and Greens poll about 30 percent when it comes to party
preferences in the state, the premier scored 64 percent personal
approval, versus 17 percent for Wolf. Underlining the Kretschmann cult,
even 45 percent of CDU supporters said they would vote for the Green
candidate if they could elect the premier directly. Playing to the CDU’s strengths, Merkel’s conservatives have attempted
to refocus debate in the prosperous state on economic policy, which
according to a poll by public broadcaster SWR is the second-biggest
issue for voters after refugees and security. Last Monday, Merkel’s deputy minister for transport and digital
infrastructure, Norbert Barthle, visited the town of Filderstadt on the
outskirts of Stuttgart, the heart of Germany’s car industry. Speaking to
mayors, lawmakers and business leaders — mostly men in suits, gathered
in the meeting room of a haulage company — he emphasized the links
between digital infrastructure and economic success, public-private
partnerships, and the need for new super-long trucks on Germany’s roads. “Without mobility, there is no prosperity,” said Barthle, not uttering the word “refugee” once in his 45-minute address. Merkel hit the same business-friendly notes in her speech in
Freiburg, emphasizing her reputation for cautious management of Europe’s
biggest economy, saying it’s “crucial that we don’t only think about
how to spend money, but also how to earn money.”
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 2011/2015 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:
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.
