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Friday, April 29, 2016
Betty MacDonald and three very important elections
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Trump’s makeover into a serious statesman will make him electable against unlikable Clinton
REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Republican U.S. presidential candidate
Donald Trump delivers a foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in
Washington on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The making of a president 2016 has already begun. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump gave a major foreign policy address this
week with all the trappings of a commander in chief — American flags in
the background, dark suit with the stars-and-stripes lapel pin, white
shirt, red tie, and, wonder of wonders, a teleprompter to stay on
script. Trump, who is nothing if not a good performer, mostly pulled it off, prompting MarketWatch Washington bureau chief Steve Goldstein to comment, “Squint and you can almost see Trump speaking from the Oval Office.”
Renowned Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight
threw his support behind Donald Trump's presidential campaign, less than
a week before Indiana voters go to the polls in the state's primary.
Photo: AP
The makeover that began with
Trump’s uncharacteristically short and concise victory speech after the
New York primary is in full swing, with the aim of transforming the
rowdy, rambling brawler of the primaries into a distinguished statesman
capable of taking on the most powerful political office in the world. It could work. After
all, Theodore White’s best-selling “Making of the President” series,
which began with his chronicle of John Kennedy’s successful 1960 run,
soon became Joe McGinnis’s “The Selling of the President” about the
equally successful packaging and marketing of candidate Richard Nixon in
1968. And who is better at marketing and branding than Donald Trump? The
Democrats are in more trouble than they realize proceeding with their
rigged effort to crown Hillary Clinton as their nominee. Who really thinks it’s a good idea to field a candidate with that much baggage and with a 56% unfavorable rating? The Democratic Party bosses take comfort that Trump’s negatives are even higher, thus logically pointing to a Clinton victory in this war of attrition. But,
as Clinton herself constantly proclaims, she is the battle-scarred
veteran of the trenches, and her favorability ratings are likely to move
much more sluggishly. Trump is new to this game and his ratings
are more fluid. There is every reason to expect that as he pivots to a
new look and demeanor, his favorability rating will improve. As
for the content of that foreign-policy speech, the mainstream media
predictably found it “incoherent” and full of “paradoxes.” As if the
foreign policy followed by President Barack Obama and his erstwhile
secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was a resounding example of
coherence. There is actually a good deal of internal coherence in
Trump’s analysis of America’s place in the world and his policies, and
it fits in well with the general themes of his campaign. Read the speech and judge for yourself. “America
First,” like “Make America Great Again,” has considerable resonance
with a wide swath of voters through any number of swing states that
Trump could well move into his column in a general election. (Sorry,
pundits, no one really cares if the expression was first used by Nazi
sympathizer Charles Lindbergh in the 1930s.) And let’s look at
the widely touted impact on the down ticket — that aversion to Trump
will swing a number of contested Senate seats to the Democrats and
enable them to regain control of the Senate while making considerable
gains in the House. That may be too optimistic, especially considering that the trend under Obama has been for the party to lose ground. Data from University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato published this week in the Washington Post showed that Obama set new standards in this regard. Democrats
have lost a net 11 governorships during his tenure, as well as 13
Senate seats, 69 House seats, and control of 32 (!) state legislative
chambers — far more in every case than Republicans under that party’s
presidents and mostly more than other Democrats have lost. Why should Democrats gain under Clinton’s standard after she has wrapped herself in the “success” of the Obama administration? The
Democratic Party leadership is for the most part geriatric and
sclerotic, and even the feisty independent trying to win a new
generation to progressive policies is 74. Conceivably, Hillary
Clinton could do a pivot of her own and wholeheartedly embrace the
policies championed by Bernie Sanders, which have generated so much of
the energy and enthusiasm in the Democratic primaries. No matter
how convincingly Sanders endorses Clinton once she has actually won the
nomination, it is not his responsibility to keep that enthusiasm alive.
Carly Fiorina brings to the Ted Cruz campaign a proven
ability to go toe-to-toe with arch rival Donald Trump. Here are some of
the sharpest exchanges between Fiorina and the GOP frontrunner. Photo:
AP
The ability to generate
enthusiasm is nontransferable and if Clinton wants to keep those voters,
especially young people who would be voting for the first time, it is
up to her to motivate them to go to the polls. She has shown
little inclination so far to do that, apparently confident that she has
the “Obama coalition” well enough in hand to win the election and that
organization will do the rest. But it won’t be fear and loathing
of Trump that gets these young people to the polls. It is Trump who is
making the more successful opening to the center, with his support for
Medicare and Social Security and his opposition to trade pacts. He, too, could promise some relief for student debt along with his raising hopes of more and better jobs. These
young voters aren’t bogged down in the past. They don’t care if someone
calls himself a socialist, and they certainly won’t care that Charles
Lindbergh was the first to use the expression “America First.” Hillary Clinton, as Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger noted this week,
is much likelier to pivot now to the halcyon days of President Bill
Clinton, perhaps throwing Obama under the bus now that he has served his
purpose of winning her the nomination. But for many of these
young voters, the first Clinton administration is something they read
about in history books, and it would be hard to overestimate the degree
of Clinton fatigue among older voters. We’ll see who does a
better job of packaging and selling, but it would be premature to count
on seeing a second President Clinton
Mr. Tigerli's memories
Copyright 2015/2016 by Letizia Mancino
Translated by Mary Holmes
All rights reseverd
My birthday!
I, Mr. Tigerli, can hardly save myself
from being submerged in red roses! Oh dear, a loving cat has his
problems.
Surrounded by a sea of flowers!
Mind you I’ve earned it. I have risked so much for love in my life!
I have become famous because of being such a great lover. I am a Casanova cat.
Am I exaggerating? Are there not cats more famous than me, artists who paint or play the piano?
That may be so, but they are “nobodies” in the art of loving!
Look in the internet under “Erotica Felina”! You will see that my name immediately appears on the screen.
People boarding their plane in Singapore have found me at once on Google.
I am a world famous cat.
Oh
no, I don’t loose my head over female cats. But women! I love women.
Yes only women. These wonderful creatures give me everything! Not only
affection, good conversation and food.
I was four months old when I discovered my partiality for women.
One
time I was cavorting on the bed with Roswitha, my first love – although
it was strictly forbidden to get onto the bed – when under the woolen
blanket I suddenly felt a wonderful soft plump area! Roswitha’s tummy! I
was running backwards and forwards across it when suddenly a shot of
adrenalin rushed through my cat brain. At an early age I became a slave
to love!
But
it was Roswitha’s foot that surprised me with my first erotic feelings.
She had unknowingly stretched it out of the bed under the pressure of
my four paws and for the first time I saw the naked foot of a woman.
Five small tempting little sausages attracted my attention. How
delicately the points moved. They were more attractive to look at than
the mice in the fresh grass. I miaowed to them “I’m going to bite you”!
I understand men who kiss the feet of women so ardently.
I immediately lost my head and my innocence.
Now I began to nibble at these five little porkies.
Roswitha
continued to sleep and sighed softly. Encouraged I licked her whole
foot. Roswitha laughed sweetly and delightfully in her sleep.
Within eight months I was familiar with her leg.
I
love beautiful legs. Without hair, without ticks or other insects. They
have such a wonderful perfume. I could lick women’s legs without any
saliva. Wonderful! A refined lover begins with delicate movements, not
by taking the female creation by storm. Only goats climb on the back of
their females without paying a single compliment. You know, Betty, that
a Casanova doesn’t come straight to the point!
Roswitha,
I love you Oh, my first love! I felt so good in your bed. I lay at your
feet in the night. But after two intimate years deeply in love with
your feet, your husband came home. His field service away from home was
over, and sadly my home service with you too.
“Get
out of my bed”, he shouted. It’s not right to treat a loving cat so
rudely, even when men have the right to be jealous of us. We are after
all superior to them. We are supple and seductively beautiful until old
age. We are not rude or, even worse, drunkards! A woman can spend
romantic hours stroking us or even sleep with us in her bed and still
believe in platonic love, which is hardly possible for them with a man.
Women never become pregnant with us and this has advantages. Casanova
was the inventor of the condom. We are the condom.
I
was thrown out. Are men all so brutal, Betty? The bedroom door was
locked. But I was still allowed to live in the house: three sofas in the
living room, a bed in the guest bedroom, and an old divan in the cellar
were available for me. Roswitha could come to these. But I was
appalled!
Mr. Brummi avoided my dirty looks. Since then I have not befriended men, to say nothing of cats!
Without Roswitha’s feet I had to eke out a miserable existence in the house. And she complained that her feet were cold.
The
husband however was obdurate. He tried, without success, to take my
place: to stroke Roswitha’s feet, to rub them, to tickle them! But
Roswitha’s five little white toes remained in the bed as motionless as
if rigor mortis had set in.
There
were no more giggles. The doctor recommended an evening foot-bath. To
think that I should be replaced by a herbal bath! How outrageous!
Should
I have scratched at the bedroom door every night? I am a proud cat! I
would rather look around! She wouldn’t have heard me anyway. The husband
snores as loudly as a vacuum cleaner on the point of collapse. Should I
have dropped five dead mice in front of the door? But I don’t bring her
these presents any more. If you love me, I thought, get divorced!
“Darling” I hear her say to her husband, “Couldn’t you snore more quietly?”
I
comforted myself with her socks. The dirty ones, naturally. There were a
few flakes from her skin that I swallowed with joy. Some men even sniff
underwear. Idiotic love. That’s going too far for me. I, Mr Tigerli,
don’t do that because I am an aesthetic cat. Gradually I’d had enough of
the socks. Should I look for a new woman? The thought of being
unfaithful came to me quite suddenly.
The
nights in my basket passed peacefully - and also the nights in
Roswitha’s bed. Cold feet and migraines are two passion killers. The
husband was sullen. She never suffered with me. I laughed - even if cats
can’t laugh – behind my beard and knew that she had remained faithful.
I didn’t. I found the young servant in the house very fascinating. Her
legs were not so beautiful as Roswitha’s , but the risks were low. The young
woman was a Russian, temperamental, pretty and I liked her. Infidelity
was for me a triviality.
“Oh, Mr. Tigerli”, cried
Putziputzi (that was her pet name. I’ll say no more, she had two
brothers) “why are you licking me so tenderly?”
I could have answered. “You are my
second choice. I am missing Roswitha’s feet.” But I wrapped myself
round her leg, as all loving cats do.
She gave an even louder cry and ran away! I was perplexed!
I had no idea that genuine love-play begins with “No, no, I’d rather not, please don’t”.
I still had a lot to learn. Then I
thought: Quick , Tigerli, follow Putziputzi and sing her a song! After
that wonderful days followed: I showered her soft thighs with delicate
little love-bites. It was intoxicating!
We constantly changed the spot we
chose for our love-making. On Mondays and Fridays we lay on the three
sofas, on Tuesday on the bed in the guest room, but most of the time we
spent together in the cellar. She was crazy! Is this sex,
I asked myself. What man can make a woman so happy?
Putziputzi was soon dismissed from her job.
I have no great opinion of
husbands and I must admit I have good reasons for this. But that their
wives should react with such jealousy was for me an insoluble puzzle.
It wasn’t long before I was lying in bed with Roswitha again. The husband had probably seen that
the loss of a servant can have serious consequences. Now it was his job
to vacuum the whole house: from the cellar to the attic. Roswitha
assured him this would only be for a short transitional period, until
she had found a replacement for Putziputzi.
“Yes, yes! But the replacement
must be ugly and unattractive and she should only work in the house and
she must not play with Tigerli”, he answered.
“Yes, yes! I agree”, answered Roswitha, “and it would be wise if you would allow Tigerli to sleep in the bed with me again”.
The husband willingly gave his consent.
He nodded his agreement and it was clear that he saw me in a new light.
I was no longer a competitor.
What the heck, he thought! The guy was sleeping in my bed with my wife when I was away anyway!
So thanks to the vacuum-cleaner I was able to continue my love-affair with my first love Roswitha.
****************************************** Who is Mr. Tigerli?
(Picture: YouTube)For the first time in the 61 year history of the Eurovision Song Contest, a country has been expelled from the competition.Romania has been thrown out of the competition after its national
broadcaster TVR failed to make payments to the European Broadcasting
Union (the organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest) that date as far
back as 2007.Romania have one of the strongest Eurovision Song Contest records,
having a 100% record for qualifying for the Eurovision final. They were
due to take part in the Second Eurovision Song Contest semi final on
Thursday 12th May. The running order of the show will not be recast following Romania’s elimination.
Ovidiu Anton was due to represent Romania with his pop-rock entry
Moment of Silence. Romania will be silent for a lot longer than a
moment. Ovidiu promoted the song at the London Eurovision Party on Sunday and was expected to reach a strong position in the Eurovision final on May 14th. In a statement released moments ago on the European Broadcasting Union website, it says:
TVR will now no longer be able to participate in the 2016
Eurovision Song Contest and will lose access to other EBU member
services including the Eurovision News and Sports News Exchanges, the
right to broadcast specific sporting events, legal, technical and
research expertise and lobbying services.
Romanian national broadcaster TVR’s debts to the EBU date back to
2007 and with no other Romanian broadcaster a member of the European
Broadcasting Union, it is unlikely that Romania will return to the
Eurovision Song Contest for a number of years. ‘This is of course disappointing for the artist chosen to represent
Romania, for our colleagues at TVR who have prepared their participation
so well this year and, not least, for Romanian viewers and the many
Eurovision fans in the country,’ says Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor
of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the EBU. Asked what this means for host broadcaster SVT, Sand replied: ‘As
with all participants, SVT has been preparing for Romania’s act
thoroughly over the past weeks. To take an act out at such late stage is
of course a little disruptive, but it will not negatively affect the
2016 Eurovision Song Contest in any other way.’ Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest Romania have twice finished third at the Eurovision Song Contest, in
2005 with Luminita Anghel & Sistem with the song Let Me Try and in
2010 with Paula Selling & Ovi and their entry Playing with Fire. Their 2006 entry Tornero by Mihai became one of the biggest summer
chart and club hits across Europe in 2006. Mihai took part in the
Romanian national final again this year, losing out to Ovidiu. In 2011, Romania was represented by Hotel FM featuring British singer
David Bryan. They campaigned extensively in the United Kingdom but
failed to pick up any points from the UK, finishing 4th in their semi final, but only 17th in the final.
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.
