Betty MacDonald Fan Club. Join fans of the beloved writer Betty MacDonald (1907-58). The original Betty MacDonald Fan Club and literary Society. Welcome to Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society - the official Betty MacDonald Fan Club Website with members in 40 countries.
Betty MacDonald, the author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series is beloved all over the world. Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews on CD and DVD!
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Russians' view of spy poisoning
Russians’ view of spy poisoning: ‘We are the world’s scapegoat’
Salisbury nerve attack draws responses in Moscow ranging from outrage to fear
Ask someone on the street in Moscow about the nerve agent attack in
Salisbury, and their answers often reflect those heard every day from
local TV pundits or MPs. “What reason would Russia
have to do this?” said Sergey Markosyan, 36, as he popped into a Magnit
supermarket in Moscow for beer, salty snacks and a carton of eggs. “He
was in Britain, right? So shouldn’t they look in Britain?” On Wednesday, Theresa May
told British MPs there was “no alternative conclusion other than the
Russian state was responsible for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and
his daughter”.
And then, as seen on TV, came the kicker: “He lived a dangerous life. He clearly got himself into some trouble.” Television is a powerful force in Russia, where the top three
stations are funded by the state. And in the past week, those channels
have been feeding Russians a steady diet of bellicose rhetoric over the
Skripal poisoning. “It’s really hard to ignore,” said Diana, 26, who stood smoking a
menthol cigarette outside the grocery store. She declined to give her
last name. “It makes you angry. Sometimes you feel like there’s going to
be a war.” Russian politicians have promised harsh retribution for the sanctions and expulsions announced by May on Wednesday. Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian member of parliament who stands accused of the 2006 murder of the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, has been a popular guest on talkshows. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said the British should pay closer attention to Vladimir Putin’s state of the union speech, in which the president exhibited Russia’s latest nuclear weapons.
Q&A
Does Russia present a credible threat to the UK?
“They didn’t listen to us before,” Putin said in the speech. “Well, listen to us now.” The rise in tensions comes during the closing days of a lacklustre
Russian presidential campaign. Putin is sure to be reelected to a fourth
term in power but is concerned with getting out the vote to prove his government’s legitimacy.
At the very least, accusations that the Kremlin ordered Skripal’s
death seem unlikely to hurt his chances. In the past several years,
conflict with the west has become the norm in Russia, and Putin’s
nominal popularity has remained high since his annexation of Crimea,
despite western sanctions. For many Russians, the hostile rhetoric isn’t all that unusual. It
fits a familiar pattern that begins, they say, with Russia being blamed
by the west, and then Moscow defending itself. “We are the world’s scapegoat,” said Anatoly Sobolev, a sales associate on his lunch hour at a KFC. Sobolev said he didn’t watch Russian television and believed that
both the Russian government and media lied. But, he added, he trusted
the British media and the British government even less. He said Russia had also been accused of meddling in the 2016 US
elections without any evidence. “Are we just supposed to believe them
for their word?” he asked. “Why can’t they show any proof?”
The Russian establishment has also backed an idea that Westminster is lashing out to disguise weakness. People think “the British have gone rabid”, said Sergey Karaganov, an
influential foreign policy thinker, speaking by telephone on Wednesday.
“There is a sense the west is lashing out because you’re weak, because
the west is declining and Russia is rebuilt.” Not everyone backs the government line, however. Waiting for friends
at a subway station, a 20-year-old economics student named Alina said
she was embarrassed by the heady rhetoric on television. “It’s obvious they did it,” she said. “But who’s going to force them to admit it?”
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.
