Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Betty MacDonald, Monica Sone and money, money, money

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Should I remain in bed, leave my country or fight against the dragon?

( see also the story by Wolfgang Hampel
' Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say ' )
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The Egg and I Film Illustration























Betty Bard MacDonald's photo. 

The Betty MacDonald Networks Foto.

Click images for alternate views
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Betty MacDonald's sister Alison Bard Burnett


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Betty MacDonald's mother Sydney with grandchild Alison Beck
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle author Betty MacDonald on Vashon Island
<p>Time Out of Mind (1947) - avec Betty et Don MacDonald et Phyllis Calvert</p>

Betty and Don MacDonald in Hollywood

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Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

my favourite book by Betty MacDonald is The Plague and I.

You might be surprised about it but I guess it's because of Kimi, Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter.

I'm very interested in all these International book covers.

You can see both ladies on several covers.

I have my favourite one.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter November includes many more info on Betty MacDonald and Monica Sone.

It'll be available on Saturday.

Anita and Eartha Kitt II share their newest Betty MacDonald fan club research treasures.

I hope you might be able to find Betty MacDonald's troll whose favourite colour was red.

I guess you know who I'm talking about.


You can win several new Betty MacDonald fan club items including the new updated Betty MacDonald biography by Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team.

We are going to publish several interviews by Wolfgang Hampel never published before.

If you have troubles to find Betty MacDonald's troll listen to the interviews with Betty MacDonald's wonderful sister Alison Bard Burnett and Wolfgang Hampel.

Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say is really very well written by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel. 

And very witty too!

Thanks a million dear Wolfgang Hampel for sharing it.

Dear Betty MacDonald, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Barbara Streisand, Cher and all the other great ladies explain this guy, please what a lady is.

Don't leave the U.S.A., please otherwise this man will do whatever he wants.

He got many silly ideas!

We know very well who is corrupt.

It isn't Hillary - it's  somebody else.

It's such a shame what they do.

( see article below )

They are crazy about money!!!! 

Money, Money, Money

On Sunday night, Ivanka Trump appeared on 60 Minutes. She was invited on to 60 Minutes because her father is now the president-elect, and she a member of his transition team. Shortly after the program aired, her jewelry company sent the following missive to an email list of fashion journalists.




Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sent his brilliant thoughts.
Thank you so much dear Wolfgang!

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Hi Libi, nice to meet you. Can you feel it?

I'll be the most powerful leader in the world.


Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say

Copyright 2016 by Wolfgang Hampel

All rights reserved 


Betty MacDonald was sitting on her egg-shaped cloud and listened to a rather strange guy.

He said to his friends: So sorry to keep you waiting. Very complicated business! Very complicated!

Betty said: Obviously much too complicated for you old toupee!

Besides him ( by the way the  First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech. 

The old man could be his great-grandfather.

The boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.

Dear 'great-grandfather' continued  and praised the Democratic candidate.

He congratulated her and her family for a very strong campaign although he wanted to put her in jail.

He always called her the most corrupt person ever and repeated it over and over again in the fashion of a Tibetan prayer wheel.

She is so corrupt. She is so corrupt.  Do you know how corrupt she is? 

Betty MacDonald couldn't believe it when he said: She has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.

Afterwards old toupee praised his parents, wife, children, siblings and friends. 

He asked the same question like a parrot all the time:

Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
I know you are here!

Betty MacDonald answered: No Pussy they are not! They left the country.

They immigrated to Canada because they are very much afraid of the future in the U.S.A. with you as their leader like the majority of all so-called more or less normal citizens. 

By the way keep your finger far away from the pussies and the Red Button, please.


I'm going to fly with my egg-shaped cloud to Canada within a minute too.

Away - away - there is nothing more to say! 


Real vs. Ersatz









I can understand the reason why Betty MacDonald, Barbara Streisand, other artists and several of my friends want to leave the United States of America.


I totally agree with these comments:

This is incredible! I'll You get what you pay/vote for and Trump is the epitome of this ideology. America I won't feel bad for you because you don't need my sympathy for what's coming but I am genuinely scared for you. 'Forgive them lord for they know not who they do' or maybe they do but just don't care about their future generations who will suffer for this long after the culprits have passed away. 

Is the USA like North Korea where you can't trust other politicians?

That's it. 

Put Ivanka in! Put Ivanka in! Put my whole family and friends in! '

What about Putin? 

Or the leaders from China and North Korea?

Wouldn't it be a great idea to put them in too?

What about very intelligent and qualified Sarah Palin? 

I found this in Wikipedia about her:

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport[88] and in 2007 traveled for the first time outside of North America on a trip to Kuwait. There she visited the Khabari Alawazem Crossing at the Kuwait–Iraq border and met with members of the Alaska National Guard at several bases.[89] On her return journey she visited injured soldiers in Germany.[90]

That's the reason why very intelligent and brilliant Sarah Palin knows the World very well. 

Sarah and ' Pussygate '  will rule America and the World - what a couple. 


I am neither Christian enough nor charitable enough to like anybody just because he is alive and breathing. I want people to interest or amuse me. I want them fascinating and witty or so dul as to be different. I want them either intellectually stimulating or wonderfully corny; perfectly charming or hundred percent stinker. I like my chosen companions to be distinguishable from the undulating masses and I don't care how. - Betty MacDonald





Daniel Mount wrote a great article about Betty MacDonald and her garden.

We hope you'll enjoy it very much.

I adore Mount Rainier and Betty MacDonald's outstanding descriptions

Can you remember in which book you can find it?

If so let us know, please and you might be the next Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner. 

I hope we'll be able to read Wolfgang Hampel's  new very well researched  stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett,  Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others - very soon.

It' s such a pleasure to read them. 
 


Let's go to magical Betty MacDonald's  Vashon Island.



Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team share their recent Betty MacDonald fan club research results.

Congratulations! They found the most interesting and important info for Wolfgang Hampel's oustanding  Betty MacDonald biography.

I enjoy Bradley Craft's story very much.  


Don't miss our Betty MacDonald fan club contests, please. 

 
You can win a never published before Alison Bard Burnett interview by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel. 

Good luck!  

This CD is a golden treasure because Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shares unique stories about Betty MacDonald, Mary Bard Jensen, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Nancy and Plum. 


Do you have any books by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen with funny or interesting dedications? 


If so would you be so kind to share them?


Our next Betty MacDonald fan club project is a collection of these unique dedications.


If you share your dedication from your Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard Jensen collection you might be the winner of our new Betty MacDonald fan club items.


Thank you so much in advance for your support.



 


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Thank you so much for sending us your favourite Betty MacDonald quote.


More info are coming soon.




Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans. 


Many Betty MacDonald  - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories.


Linde Lund is delighted that Wolfgang Hampel presented one of her favourite songs with his outstanding voice.

Thank you so much dear Wolfgang Hampel!

You made her day!

We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.

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 Mr. Tigerl is beloved all over the World.

We are so happy that our 'Casanova'  is back.



Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very interesting info on ' Betty MacDonald and the movie The Egg and I '. 

Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.

The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952. 

Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.


Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.

 
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel is going to present Betty MacDonald fan club honor member, artist and author Letizia Mancino in Vita Magica November. 


Letizia Mancino is reading from her delightful book  ' The cat in Goethe's bed '.

I hope beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli will be there too.  

We'd like to meet our beloved darling.


Have a great Thursday,

Britta

Don't miss this very special book, please.

 

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Don't miss this very special book, please.

 

Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)   

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel -   

Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia  ( English / German )

Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )

Vashon Island - 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 - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

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  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  


Heide Rose and Betty MacDonald   

Betty MacDonald fan club fan Greta Larson



Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

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Owning Our Shit



























I’m about to piss y’all off. I might even lose some friends because of this. If you’re too much of a (grab ’em by the) pussy to handle it or tired of angry rants, maybe you should stop reading now because I’m going in on all of us. It’s been a week since the election and I’ve had some time to weep, rage, drink a bottle of wine, gather my thoughts, eat lots of carbs, weep again and drink two more bottles of wine, but still I have not yet been able to come to peace with the worst thing that has happened to this country since they made a standalone movie for Catwoman. But maybe bitching to you, my friends, my fellow progressives, may help bring some solace and help us understand where we went wrong so we can come together and kumbaya or whatever.
I’ve got one major thing to say to you. HILLARY CLINTON DID NOT FAIL US, WE FAILED HILLARY CLINTON. Now I know, I know, she won the popular vote by almost two million votes, and I know that a lot of you were a part of that so yay go ahead and pat yourselves on the back. You done? Okay. You say she was flawed? Y’all motherfuckers didn’t DESERVE the candidate you got, and every day I watched as progressives posted on Facebook about how much they hated corrupt Clinton, talked about how imperfect she was as a candidate, posted articles that were flat out lies, or wrote things like #ImWithHerIGuess. Your enthusiasm for the former First Lady, Senator of New York, Secretary of State and first ever possible female President was shameful when you compare it to the enthusiasm the other side had for their “flawed” (racist homophobic tax evading possible rapist who has to make his undocumented Mexican maids wash the orange out of his bedsheets every fucking morning) candidate. If you would have just swallowed your pride and given Hillary half of the love you gave Obama, then we might not have woken up on November 9th worrying about families being torn apart, marriage licenses being taken way, guns getting into the wrong hands and women having to stay pregnant after getting raped. Does that sound too harsh? Too bad! This reality show is now our reality and we need to accept it and own our shit. We stepped in it and now its going to take at least four years to clean it off.
And to you people out there saying “Don’t blame me, I voted for Bernie”- suck a dick. Oh noooo- I’m so sorry you didn’t “like” Hillary. That’s so saaaad! I guess that’s worth this result. Your “I told you so” is so worth the millions of people who will suffer because of selfishness and pride. We all act like our nominee has to be the perfect representation of us regardless of how many years they’ve spent working tirelessly for the people. I didn’t give a shit about John Kerry, but I voted for the rest of my country. Every candidate has an email/Swift boat Veteran/Born in Kenya/Benghazi/Reverend Wright/Gennifer Flowers bullshit scandal that gets played over and over again, and for some reason we thought Hillary’s private email server (WTF is even a server?) was more damaging than Trump ADMITTING TO SEXUAL ASSAULT AND CALLING MEXICANS RAPISTS. Who’s talking about those damn emails now? NO ONE. Think about how the world must perceive us.
Who the fuck said you had to LIKE your nominee anyway? Guess what? There has always been and will always be at least half the people in the country who hate a Presidential nominee! This kind of thinking started with the whole “who would you want to get a beer with” bullshit from the Bush/Gore era and now it’s just gotten out of control. We didn’t always have primaries. Our parties used to pick our nominees for us. We had to deal with our choices. Now we get angry and picky if someone doesn’t meet every single criterion that we have created or if we don’t trust them because their positions evolved in a more progressive way over the years. If I had to talk to one more gay person about how Hillary wasn’t always for same sex marriage I was going to start having sex with women. Oh really? She wasn’t for gay marriage? WHY WERE YOU SO SUPPORTIVE OF OBAMA IF THAT WAS YOUR MAIN REASON FOR NOT LIKING HER??? AHHHHHH! Is it because she’s a woman and it reminded you of your own mother when she didn’t fully accept you as gay? We found a way to forgive our mothers who raised us, but we couldn’t find it in our hearts to forgive someone of no relation who evolved in their beliefs and ended up speaking on behalf of the LGBT and providing AIDS medication to people all over the world? I swear I saw more gay people posting about Hillary hating LGBT than articles about Mike Pence believing in electro shock gay conversion therapy for children, or the fact that in Indiana you can get put in jail and fined 10,000 just for applying for a marriage license if you weren’t a man and a woman. So what did we do? We’ve given a billionaire who hasn’t paid taxes the most power of ANY PRESIDENT SINCE THE 40’s. It’s like we’ve given a plumber permission to do open heart surgery on our kids. It’s because of us that one of the best Presidents this country has ever seen actually had to shake the hand of a man who was blatantly racist towards him and tried to get him out of office. Shame on us.
To the protest voters (whether you voted or not) I hope you are proud of yourself for being “right” while others continue to struggle and lose their rights and healthcare. We are in such a place of privilege to pick and choose what we like in a candidate when people died just to have the right to vote. I’m so over all the self righteousness. Bernie himself begged his followers to do the right thing, but we were too selfish to come out and support our nominee. Did you know that 11,000 people wrote in “Harambe” for President? Does that make you angry? It should. It should also make you angry that progressives voted for candidates like Jill Stein and Gary Johnson WHO DID NOT HAVE THE PROGRESSIVE POSITIONS THAT BERNIE HAD. These people weren’t able to put themselves in the shoes of a mother who lost her Black child to a bad cop, or the shoes of someone who lost their best friend in Orlando. How quickly we forget.
And to those of you that say Bernie would have won? Suck two dicks. We look back and say that the Democrats should have focused their campaign on the white middle class and criticize Hillary for focusing on racial and gender equality. FUCK YOU!!! I am sick and tired of people making the white middle class the biggest victims in this election. Oh the Caucacity of it all! The real victims are the Black and Latino kids out there living in a trailer park eating canned food for the 4th day in a week. That was me. I know how it feels. I’m sorry, Becky, for hurting your white feelings and for being upset by your privilege, but your pain and guilt are a small price to pay for the millions out there who are struggling in this country. And we are thankful to you for trying to help- that goes without saying. White people lost limbs and lives fighting against slavery, but they knew it was caused by them and probably didn’t complain when they received criticism. If they can accept that, I’m sure you can handle when people point out inequality and racism amongst white people in general.
Bernie wasn’t perfect either. Let’s stop spreading the rumors that the primaries were rigged for Clinton. That’s what radicals say to fight against the establishment (Trump, can you hear me?) but if that were true, why didn’t she win the first time she ran for President? We are all out here talking about how we hate the establishment? Well, the establishment got you healthcare and many other good things. I’m not saying we shouldn’t change the establishment and get money out of politics, but it’s dangerous to point fingers at people and call them something to make them a villain without even knowing what the definition is. There are plenty of reasons why Bernie lost the primary. There are tons of articles from reliable news sources that you can look up to prove she won fairly. Did Debbie Wasserman Shultz say bad things in emails? Yes. Did they actually act on anything? No. Should she have taken responsibility for this? Yes. Was this all just over exaggerated because people were mad? Yes. Of course the establishment Democrats are going to favor one candidate over an independent who turned into a Democrat just so he could have a better chance. And he did a great job; he really pushed Hillary left and in turn helped us fight for more progressive things. But to say that a candidate who lost by both the popular vote and the delegate count would have beaten Trump is just not fair or accurate. We have no idea what Russia or the FBI would have done and Republicans would have painted him as a socialist with no business experience who would have bankrupted us with free college for brown people. You can say whatever you want about the polls suggesting Bernie would have beat Trump by a larger margin, but as we’ve all learned, POLLS DONT MEAN SHIT. People voted based on their hate, NOT THE ECONOMY.
But you know what? IF Bernie would have been the nominee, I would have marched on the streets and made videos and voted the shit out of him if it was to keep Trump from being President- because that’s what we do, we come together to support whatever is closest to being right. That’s what I did for Obama when my first choice didn’t win the primary. Because this isn’t about how I FEEL about a candidate. This is about the overall well being of people less fortunate than myself. If Bernie were the nominee and would have lost, I would never ever ever post something about Hillary being a better candidate just to make myself feel better. I would show sympathy for the man who worked his ass off to defeat hatred no matter how imperfect he was. So please cut that shit out. You know a lot of this defeat had to do with Russia committing espionage, the FBI favoring Trump, and tons of other totally illegal things that no one seemed to be outraged about.
This isn’t a dating show. Hillary didn’t have to be perfect for us, she just had to work for us. It breaks my heart seeing what she went through. She was always getting knocked down from everyone around her, even her damn husband. But what did she do? She rolled up her sleeves and fought for children, for healthcare and for women’s rights. There are so many stories out there of people who have personally been helped by her and they still to this day have Hillary checking up on them. In her campaign, Hillary worked tirelessly on policies that the news paid zero percent of time talking about. She had a plan for almost everything. She updated her website constantly with plans to help homeless gay youth, to provide AIDS medication to those in need, to work with police and urban communities, to help women get equal pay, to help small businesses, to promote more love and kindness and most importantly she fought against racism. She was the candidate that was able to stand with the mothers of innocent children killed and say “Black Lives Matter” but all we focused on was whether she would say the words “Radical Jihadists”. She fought an honorable fight against racism because in the end, that’s what people voted in favor of. “Take back America” and “make America great again” weren’t about the economy; they were code for “don’t let the brown man be equal to us”. Hillary believed that this country and its different colors were what made America great already and I’m not sorry that she lost fighting for that belief. No one puts themselves through this much work and this much abuse for so many years just for a title- they do it because they care. I will always support the person who fights with their heart over their ego.
She did all of this and we still called her unlikable and untrustworthy. We called her out for saying that people in gangs were “super predators” twenty years ago, and then when she apologized and went into Black communities we said that she was pandering. Beyoncé sings about carrying hot sauce in her bag and we attack Hillary for saying she does the same thing even though there was proof that she had done it for years! We beat her up every single time and she fought back till she became an ugly callus that we didn’t like looking at. We poked at every flaw of hers and refused to see any of the good she did over her 30+ years of public service. We wouldn’t let her get away with a single mistake. And yet we chose Trump. A monster who was also created by the ugliest in us. We and the media made excuses for his hatred because it was entertaining. We didn’t take him seriously. And now, I cringe as I watch CNN and they praise Trump for acting mature and respectful in the home of the motherfuckin President of the United States.
WOO! Okay! That felt good. As you can see, I’m a little angry at all of us. I’m sorry if you felt personally attacked but I knew you could handle it. It’s important that we be loud and angry and in each others faces. It’s also important for us to be able to take criticism and take responsibility for this. I’m not perfect either, I wish I did more, I wish I didn’t fall for the sexist traps, I wish I didn’t coddle peoples feelings or let them believe conspiracies. I wish I didn’t keep apologizing for Hillary. We progressives have a lot of work to do. We have to fight for what is right and know that change takes time. This country operates on incrementalism and Hillary was doing her best to be the bad ass progressive bitch she has always been while still listening to the concerns of the other half. If the protesters out on the streets right now (which I just read that in Oregon half the protesters didn’t vote- WTF???) showed half as much passion for our candidate before all this happened, if we wrote and called and told news stations to stop focusing on bullshit stories, if we didn’t share skewed articles before looking up the facts- things could be very different right now and the whole world (except for Russia) wouldn’t be so scared right now. Damn yo, we let Hillary down and this fucking sucks. I like to think she’s at home with her dogs drinking Rosé and finishing Stranger Things, but we all know she is probably thinking about how she can still help people now that she will never be President. Thats who I wanted to lead our country- the fierce woman who kicked ass in every debate, who comforted a crying girl sitting on her lap by telling her to leave the worrying to her, the woman who even Republicans said was pleasant to work with, the person who gave two of the most inspirational concession speeches and then immediately went down to comfort her staff. I hope she goes down in history as one of the most respected people in the world, as a gay icon, as a mother for America, and as a reminder of one of the biggest mistakes we ever made.
I’m so sorry, Hillary.






The Trumps Are Already Monetizing the Presidency

By




Public-private partnership.Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
On Sunday night, Ivanka Trump appeared on 60 Minutes. She was invited on to 60 Minutes because her father is now the president-elect, and she a member of his transition team. Shortly after the program aired, her jewelry company sent the following missive to an email list of fashion journalists.




As far as attempts to cash in on proximity to power go, this is pretty mundane stuff. But it served as a potent reminder that the Trump family is both willing and able to monetize the presidency in ways both unpredictable and unprecedented.

Donald Trump owns a business that has elaborate ties to government agencies, both foreign and domestic. In one of the many heavy-handed symbols the past year of American politics has produced, the president-elect just opened a new hotel blocks from the White House — which operates out of the historic Old Post Office building, which the federal government still owns.

Trump will now get to appoint the head of the bureau that manages that building, a bureau that has tens of millions of dollars in contracts with his company.
This presents a formidable challenge to a man who won the presidency while campaigning against corruption and the “politics of personal profit.” It’s impossible for Trump to insulate himself against all accusations of self-dealing. After all, as a billionaire business owner, he stands to directly benefit from an array of garden-variety Republican policies — tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, abolition of the estate tax, and a Labor Department more concerned with appeasing management than unions, to name just a few.
But Trump has shown no concern whatsoever for maintaining any appearance of propriety. He has decided to shield himself from conflicts of interest by putting his assets into what he refers to as a “blind trust,” but is actually an entity that would allow him perfect knowledge of the assets he holds — and that would be managed by his children, who are also informal advisers to his government, and who may be on the cusp of receiving top-secret security clearances at his request.
Which is to say: an entity that is the opposite of a blind trust.
On Sunday, likely future secretary of State Rudy Giuliani (breathe in, breathe out) offered two radically different defenses of this arrangement.
“You have to have some confidence in the integrity of the president,” Giuliani told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “The man is an enormously wealthy man. I don’t think there’s any real fear or suspicion that he’s seeking to enrich himself by being president. If he wanted to enrich himself, he wouldn’t have run for president.”
Tapper then suggested that when the president-elect explains he will be insulated from conflicts by a blind trust — and then sets up an entity that is the opposite of a blind trust — that might raise real fears and suspicions.




“You realize that those laws don’t apply to the president, right?” Giuliani replied. “The president doesn’t have to have a blind trust. For some reason when the law was written, the president was exempt. I think he’s in a very unusual situation.”
So, per Giuliani, we shouldn’t worry about Trump using the presidency to enrich himself because:
1. We should trust in his integrity (because, implicitly, nothing about his presidential campaign suggested an interest in using public power to promote private interests).
2. Even if he did try to enrich himself, it would be totally legal, because, “for some reason,” the president is exempt from conflict-of-interest laws.
One of these reassurances is false. The other is true, but, also, the opposite of reassuring.
As already mentioned, Trump will have abundant opportunity to enrich himself through policy: Last July, the National Labor Relations Board ruled against the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, which was challenging its employees’ effort to form a union. In November, the NLRB ruled against Trump’s hotel again, for refusing to begin negotiations with that union. Trump will now have the opportunity to appoint all five members of the NLRB.
He will also get to appoint the head of the Internal Revenue Service, which is currently auditing Trump’s taxes.
Trump can also profit off the presidency more directly — throughout his campaign, the GOP nominee collected money from the Secret Service every time its agents took a ride on one of his jets. While he will ride on Air Force One as president, his children, who will be provided Secret Service detail, will likely, often, travel aboard private planes, thereby directing more taxpayer money into TAG Air Inc., Trump’s aviation company. TAG Air collected $6 million during the campaign.
The limits to Trump’s kleptocratic behavior are primarily political. However, the New York Times notes there is one legal restriction that Trump may have to wrestle with:
Perhaps most troubling for Mr. Trump, several ethics lawyers said, is a relatively obscure provision of the Constitution, called the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits any government official from taking payments or gifts from a foreign government, or even from sharing in profits in a company that has financial ties to a foreign government.

Mr. Trump has had business deals with foreign governments or individuals with apparent ties to foreign governments, including multimillion-dollar real estate arrangements in Azerbaijan and Uruguay. His children have frequently traveled abroad to promote the Trump brand, making trips to Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Scotland. Closer to home, the Bank of China is a tenant in Trump Tower and is a lender for another building in Midtown Manhattan where Mr. Trump has a significant partnership interest.

“Doing business with a foreign corporation, be it in Azerbaijan, Turkey or Russia, if is it owned in part or controlled by a foreign government — any benefit that would accrue to Mr. Trump could well be a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution,” said Kenneth A. Gross, a political ethics and compliance lawyer in Washington.
Regardless, it will be up to the Democratic Party to make Trump pay a political price for his self-dealing.
The possibility that Hillary Clinton had leveraged her family’s political power to extract charitable donations from foreign governments — and speaking fees from Wall Street banks — was viewed as so contemptible, the Democratic nominee routinely trailed her opponent on the question of who was more likely to combat corruption in D.C.
Trump and his family are all but certain to pursue schemes far more blatantly kleptocratic than the Clintons ever dreamed of. Democrats must see this fact as a (politically) lucrative opportunity — and milk it for all it’s worth.
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The irrationality of the mob said anything Hillary did was corrupt because she's a corrupt person. The same mob irrationality says that Trump is not. As others have said, trying to damage President Trump by attacking his character will be as much of a fool's errand as was attacking candidate Trump's character.

There are some Republicans with integrity. Leave them to do the job. Democrats should concentrate on attacking Trump's contradictory goals, incoherent principles and non-existent concrete plans. Do it relentlessly, engaging in as much mockery and ridicule as possible. Keep changing the angle of attack. Do that for the next 12 months and then pause for a review of how things are going. But forget about trying to impugn his character. Nobody important is listening.

Trump Transition Team Descends Into Chaos As Nobody Wants To Join Administration

Trump is so desperate to have people join his team that he's seeking the Obama administration's help in filling roles. 

Trump Transition Team Descends Into Chaos As Nobody Wants To Join Administration

Donald Trump’s transition team continued its descent into chaos on Tuesday after behind-the-scenes drama and a recent staff shakeup has reportedly stalled the entire process.
According to a report by The Huffington Post, Republicans and Democrats in Washington are now worried that the incoming administration will be “woefully ill-prepared” once Trump takes office in January. These concerns are bolstered by the fact that Trump transition officials were missing in action from a series of important meetings this week.
The report:

The disarray has left agencies virtually frozen, unable to communicate with the people tasked with replacing them and their staff. Trump transition team officials were a no-show at the Pentagon, the Washington Examiner reported. Same goes for the Department of Energy, responsible for keeping the nation’s nuclear weapons safe, where officials had expected members of the Trump transition team on Monday. Ditto for the Department of Transportation. Over at the Justice Department, officials also are still waiting to hear from the Trump team.
The transition turmoil comes after unpopular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was demoted from his role leading the process and replaced by Vice President-Elect Mike Pence. As of late afternoon on Tuesday, the transition remained on hold because Pence still hadn’t signed off on a memorandum that would allow Trump’s team to communicate with the Obama administration on how to hand over key functions of the government.
According to HuffPo, though, it goes well beyond the failure to sign a piece of paper. It also doesn’t help that many Republicans aren’t willing to assume critical roles on Trump’s team.
More from the report:

The transition dysfunction extends beyond failure to promptly execute a memorandum of understanding. According to several sources close to the Trump transition team and inside the Obama administration, the president elect and his staff have had difficulty finding able-minded Republicans willing to take on critical posts. One Democratic source, who like others would only discuss sensitive talks on condition of anonymity, said transition officials had been informally asking Obama political appointees to recommend Republicans to take over their jobs.
That’s right – Trump is so desperate to have people join his team that he’s seeking the Obama administration’s help in filling roles.
While it’s true that presidential transitions aren’t always flawlessly managed, Trump seems to be bungling his in a way that may be unprecedented. Those who voted for Trump last week may have wanted to “shake things up” in Washington, but it’s likely this wasn’t what they had in mind.
If the new president-elect can’t competently run a transition team and staff his government, why should any of us believe he’ll be able to lead the free world?


Donald Trump ditches his press pool again, spurring sharp criticism
















Journalists should 'scrutinize, not normalize' Trump

For the second time in a week, president-elect Donald Trump has abandoned precedent and traveled without the "press pool," a small group of journalists assigned to cover his movements.

His surprise trip on Tuesday evening was met by sharp criticism from some journalists.

Trump's press secretary Hope Hicks told journalists around 6:15 p.m. that there was a "lid" for the night -- a term of art meaning that no more news or travel was expected until Wednesday. Trump has been at Trump Tower for several days and has not been seen in public.
Later in the evening, however, Trump took his family to a nearby restaurant, the 21 Club, for dinner. The "pool" would have been ready to travel with him, but they were not notified. A Bloomberg staffer dining at the restaurant spotted Trump and tweeted a picture, sending journalists scrambling to catch up.


While Trump and his aides may delight in irritating journalists, the behavior breaks with well-established norms governing a president's relationship with the press corps. Those same norms are also applicable to the president-elect.
While presidents often agitate for more privacy and freedom, and occasionally slip the press, the "pool" of journalists is a fixture of Secret Service motorcades.
The reporters and camera crews view themselves as a "conduit to the American people, so that everybody in the nation knows where he is," NBC's Hallie Jackson said on MSNBC.
Jackson quickly made a reservation at the 21 Club so that she could verify Trump was there. She said he was seated in the main dining room with his family.
To be clear, journalists aren't seeking a seat at the dinner table with Trump. Normally the "pool" waits in a separate room or in a vehicle.
Former Bush administration press secretary Ari Fleischer wrote on Twitter that Trump's aides should have told the press corps where the president-elect was going, following normal protocol.
"A press van would normally be included in the motorcade," he wrote.
So what went wrong? Hicks told journalists that she did not know about Trump's travel plans. She reiterated what she said last week after Trump traveled to Washington, D.C. without a "pool" -- that the normal set-up will be put in place soon.
Related: Trump team promises press pool, but concerns remain
In an emergency, the "pool" quickly relays information, helping the president and his aides inform and reassure Americans. On a day-to-day basis, the "pool" keeps track of the president's whereabouts and how he spends his time -- useful information for the voters who elected him and the Americans who did not.
CNN's Sara Murray told Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night that this "appears to be yet another misunderstanding of exactly how much gravity his new title as president-elect holds. If something, God forbid, were to happen to him, that's a matter not only of public record but also a matter of national security, given that he is next in line to take the White House."
Last week the White House Correspondents Association called the president-elect's travel without journalists "unacceptable."








 
Video

Full Speech: Trump Addresses Supporters

After winning the presidency, Donald J. Trump addressed supporters in New York City.
By THE NEW YORK TIMES on Publish Date November 9, 2016. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »
Following is a transcript of Donald J. Trump’s victory speech, as compiled by Federal News Services.
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone.
(APPLAUSE)
Sorry to keep you waiting; complicated business; complicated.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton.
(APPLAUSE)
She congratulated us — it’s about us — on our victory, and I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. I mean, she — she fought very hard.
(APPLAUSE)
Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.
(APPLAUSE)
I mean that very sincerely.
(APPLAUSE)
Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.
(APPLAUSE)
For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people. . .
(LAUGHTER)
. . . I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.
(APPLAUSE)
As I’ve said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign, but rather an incredible and great movement made up of millions of hard-working men and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for themselves and for their families.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs who want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it will.
(APPLAUSE)
Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. I’ve spent my entire life and business looking at the untapped potential in projects and in people all over the world. That is now what I want to do for our country.
(APPLAUSE)
Tremendous potential. I’ve gotten to know our country so well — tremendous potential. It’s going to be a beautiful thing. Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
(APPLAUSE)
We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it.
We will also finally take care of our great veterans.
(APPLAUSE)
They’ve been so loyal, and I’ve gotten to know so many over this 18-month journey. The time I’ve spent with them during this campaign has been among my greatest honors. Our veterans are incredible people. We will embark upon a project of national growth and renewal. I will harness the creative talents of our people and we will call upon the best and brightest to leverage their tremendous talent for the benefit of all. It’s going to happen.
(APPLAUSE)
We have a great economic plan. We will double our growth and have the strongest economy anywhere in the world. At the same time, we will get along with all other nations willing to get along with us. We will be.
(APPLAUSE)
We’ll have great relationships. We expect to have great, great relationships. No dream is too big, no challenge is too great.
TRUMP: Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.
America will no longer settle for anything less than the best.
(APPLAUSE)
We must reclaim our country’s destiny and dream big and bold and daring. We have to do that. We’re going to dream of things for our country and beautiful things and successful things once again.
I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone, with everyone — all people and all other nations. We will seek common ground, not hostility; partnership, not conflict.
And now I’d like to take this moment to thank some of the people who really helped me with this, what they are calling tonight, very, very historic victory.
First, I want to thank my parents, who I know are looking down on me right now.
(APPLAUSE)
Great people. I’ve learned so much from them. They were wonderful in every regard. I had truly great parents.
I also want to thank my sisters, Maryanne and Elizabeth, who are here with us tonight. And, where are they? They’re here someplace. They’re very shy, actually. And my brother Robert — my great friend. Where is Robert? Where is Robert?
(APPLAUSE)
My brother Robert. And they should all be on this stage, but that’s OK. They’re great. And also my late brother, Fred. Great guy. Fantastic guy.
(APPLAUSE)
Fantastic family. I was very lucky. Great brothers, sisters; great, unbelievable parents.
To Melania and Don. . .
(APPLAUSE) . . . and Ivanka. . .
(APPLAUSE)
. . . and Eric and Tiffany and Baron, I love you and I thank you, and especially for putting up with all of those hours. This was tough.
(APPLAUSE)
This was tough. This political stuff is nasty and it’s tough. So I want to thank my family very much. Really fantastic. Thank you all. Thank you all.
And Lara, unbelievable job, unbelievable.
Vanessa, thank you. Thank you very much.
What a great group. You’ve all given me such incredible support, and I will tell you that we have a large group of people. You know, they kept saying we have a small staff. Not so small. Look at all the people that we have. Look at all of these people.
And Kellyanne and Chris and Rudy and Steve and David. We have got — we have got tremendously talented people up here. And I want to tell you, it’s been — it’s been very, very special. I want to give a very special thanks to our former mayor, Rudy Giuliani.
(APPLAUSE)
Unbelievable. Unbelievable. He traveled with us and he went through meetings. That Rudy never changes. Where’s Rudy? Where is he? Rudy.
Governor Chris Christie, folks, was unbelievable.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Chris.
The first man, first senator, first major, major politician, and let me tell you, he is highly respected in Washington because he’s as smart as you get: Senator Jeff Sessions. Where is Jeff?
(APPLAUSE)
Great man.
Another great man, very tough competitor. He was not easy. He was not easy. Who is that? Is that the mayor that showed up?
(LAUGHTER)
Is that Rudy? Oh, Rudy got up here.
Another great man who has been really a friend to me. But I’ll tell you, I got to know him as a competitor because he was one of the folks that was negotiating to go against those Democrats: Dr. Ben Carson. Where is Ben?
(APPLAUSE)
Where is Ben?
TRUMP: And by the way, Mike Huckabee is here someplace, and he is fantastic. Mike and his family, Sarah — thank you very much.
General Mike Flynn. Where is Mike?
(APPLAUSE)
And General Kellogg. We have over 200 generals and admirals that have endorsed our campaign. And they’re special people and it’s really an honor. We have 22 congressional Medal of Honor recipients. We have just tremendous people.
A very special person who believed me and, you know, I’d read reports that I wasn’t getting along with him. I never had a bad second with him. He’s an unbelievable star. He is. . .
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: That’s right. How did you possibly guess? So let me tell you about Reince, and I’ve said this. I said, Reince — and I know it, I know. Look at all those people over there. I know it. Reince is a superstar. But I said, “They can’t call you a superstar, Reince, unless we win,” because you can’t be called a superstar — like Secretariat — if Secretariat came in second, Secretariat would not have that big, beautiful bronze bust at the track at Belmont.
But I’ll tell you, Reince is really a star. And he is the hardest-working guy. And in a certain way, I did this — Reince, come up here. Where is Reince? Get over here, Reince.
(APPLAUSE)
Boy oh boy oh boy. It’s about time you did this, Reince. My God.
(APPLAUSE)
Say a few words. No, come on, say something.
RNC CHAIRMAN REINCE PRIEBUS: Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. It’s been an honor. God bless. Thank God.
TRUMP: Amazing guy.
Our partnership with the RNC was so important to the success and what we’ve done.
So I also have to say I’ve gotten to know some incredible people — the Secret Service people.
(APPLAUSE)
They’re tough and they’re smart and they’re sharp, and I don’t want to mess around with them, I can tell you. And when I want to go and wave to a big group of people and they rip me down and put me back down on the seat. But they are fantastic people, so I want to thank the Secret Service.
(APPLAUSE)
And law enforcement in New York City. They’re here tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
These are spectacular people, sometimes underappreciated unfortunately, but we appreciate them. We know what they go through.
So, it’s been what they call a historic event, but to be really historic, we have to do a great job. And I promise you that I will not let you down. We will do a great job. We will do a great job.
(APPLAUSE)
I look very much forward to being your president, and hopefully at the end of two years or three years or four years, or maybe even eight years. . .
(APPLAUSE)
. . . you will say, so many of you worked so hard for us, but you will say that — you will say that that was something that you really were very proud to do and I can. . .
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
And I can only say that while the campaign is over, our work on this movement is now really just beginning.
(APPLAUSE)
We’re going to get to work immediately for the American people. And we’re going to be doing a job that hopefully you will be so proud of your president. You’ll be so proud. Again, it’s my honor. It was an amazing evening. It’s been an amazing two-year period. And I love this country.
(APPLAUSE) Thank you. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you to Mike Pence. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)



Ein lyrisches Portrait von Hilde Domin
Anne MacDonald Canham

 




 







Beijing Airpot


Mr. Tigerli in China

Copyright 2016 by Letizia Mancino
translation by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved  


Yes Betty, either or it seems he wanted to fly only with Singapore Airways.

Boeing or Airbus, it’s just the same isn’t it? Aren’t they both just fat birds with 500 passengers?

Yes, but Singapore Airlines has the most beautiful airhostesses: delicate, fine, graceful…  Mr. Tigerli had looked forward to the flight so much!

So the little man was disappointed?

You just can’t imagine how disappointed he was.
 But thank God one of the hostesses was a pretty Chinese girl. Mr. Tigerli purred loudly but she didn’t hear him because the purring of the Airbus 380 was even louder.

The poor cat!

You’ve said it Betty. Mr. Tigerli was in a very bad mood and asked me for a loud speaker.

I’m sure you can get one in 1st Class.

“”Russian Girl” had even heard you over the roar of the Niagara Falls” I said to Mr. Tigerli. “You are a very unfaithful cat. You wanted to get to know Asiatic girls. That’s how it is when one leaves one’s first love”.

And what did he say to that?

“Men are hunters” was his answer.

Yes, my dear cat, a mouse hunter. And what else did he say?

Not another word. He behaved as if he hadn’t heard me.

The Airbus is very loud.

I told him shortly “Don’t trouble yourself about “Chinese Girl”. There will be enough even prettier girls in China. Wait till we land in Guilin”.

Did he understand you?

Naturally Mr. Tigerli understood me immediately. Yes, sweetheart, don’t worry. They will find you something sweet to eat.

And he?

He was so happy.

No problem going through the immigration control?

Naturally!  Lots of problems. How could I explain to customs that the cat had come as a tourist to China to buy shoes?

Fur in exchange for shoes…

Don’t be so cynical Betty!

Cat meat in exchange for shoes?

I said to the officials. He isn’t a cat, he is Casanova.


He came through the pass control with no trouble!



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Is this Mr. Tigerli?





Dare we face the question of just how much of the darkness around us is of our own making? - Betty MacDonald
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Betty MacDonald














Take an illustrated day trip through Washington state’s largest city with artist Candace Rose Rardon.
gadventures.com




Linda White yes,if my health allows.I have a few problems but is something I have always wanted to do,especially as I reread her books.


Linde Lund


Linde Lund Dear Linda I'll keep you posted.


Bella Dillon


Bella Dillon · Friends with Darsie Beck
I still read Mrs Piggle Wiggle books to this day. I love her farm on vashon.




Lila Taylor


Lila Taylor Good morning...Linde Lund
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