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Puerto Rico – CCamp 2017 style

Friday, September 29th, 2017

The story of the Trump Administration and Donald Trump continues to unfold and as it does, the fascism and the many ways black, brown, yellow, red, purple people are negatively affected by this administration continues non-stop.  Trump has not missed one way of doing everything he could do to diminish, degrade, take away the rights of U. S. Citizens under the Constitution, respond only to those who are white – northern european – and hiding that fact only loosely under specious rhetoric.

The NFL debacle – was that to distract and take people’s attention away from what the administration was going to do and was in the process of doing to American citizens in Puerto Rico – the Brown people?

We have a president who actively pushes and demands that American citizens, especially those ‘in charge’ – violate the U. S. Constitution in the way they live, conduct business and interact with those “under” them.  He did it with the Muslim ban –  with the NFL – and now with Puerto Rico in the way he has handled the response to the tragedy under which they are living.  As much as he could use his office to make the lives of minorities horrifically worse he has not missed.

With the NFL the president has done much tweeting and in other ways making demands that the ‘owners’ of the team – the owners of the franchises – refuse their people their constitutional rights and if they demand and move ahead as though they are full citizens of this country living under the U. S. Constitution with their rights under that Constitution fully respected then the U. S. President wants them fired and their personhood diminished in the process.

The president of the United States has done almost no tweeting – especially when compared to what he does regarding other issues – about the situation in Puerto Rico.  The tweeting he has done about Puerto Rico has clearly uncovered his goal – which is to do as little as possible and to lead the American people into a space of doing very little for those others.

There are many ways to get the results you need from Concentration Camps and in this case the storms have produced an incredible time and way for the Trump administration to horribly oppress a group of brown people who the Nazi’s w0uld have sent to Concentration Camps.  Only Trump’s CCamps are 2017 style.  You can’t, in 2017, get rid of minorities the way Hitler did – one has to be imaginative about it and Donald Trump has been unbelievably visionary about how to recreate CCamps doing as much damage to minorities as possible while living to do the same for another day.  Do the deed and don’t just deny, but talk about what a fantastic job you are doing for the brown people.  Talk about how much aid you are giving them.  And then throw in quietly, you can’t do much because they don’t have the money to pay for their aid – and even more quietly engage in foot dragging to make sure the lives of the brown people in and around Puerto Rico takes the largest toll possible so the diminishment and elimination of the minorities of this world takes place in Trump time with Trump’s denial, but continuation of his actions as he moves on to the next event which will allow him to so eliminate minorities.

With General Kelly at his right hand it is not possible for Donald Trump to give any credible reason for waiting over 8 days to waive the Jones Act and on and on and on it goes.  Either General Kelly is complicit in this 2017 time of using what’s at hand to attempt to destroy – or at the very least – substantially handicap, oppress, keep in as bad conditions as possible so as many die as possible or if he is not complicit, he is continuing as Trump’s Chief of Staff and not giving Trump the benefit of his knowledge and experience from his military training and wisdom; his time spent as head of Homeland Security when he very efficiently brought in the Muslim ban or ?

What more is there to be said?  Keep foreign governments from coming to the aid of Puerto Rico by keeping the Jones Act in place.  Keep the Puerto Ricans in painful, disease inducing, death inducing, and in a place where they are starving with very little to no health helping possibilities and on and on goes the list.

Playing to his base again?  Fading into the woodwork are the Fascists, the KKK, the White Supremacist, the Mafia – all who are now clear believers in the fact that Donald Trump is on their side, doing what they would do and making sure he puts a good face on what he is doing so he can continue onto the next tragedy, catastrophe, demonstration and more that he can use to push the goals of his base – their racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-semitic and more goals to change this country and move on to work with his friends around the globe to indeed change the world.

Change this world how?  Make the the rulers of this world and those who benefit from the life of others white again.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

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The Last Word: Stay Woke – A Memorial to Dick Gregory

Wednesday, August 30th, 2017

By:  Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.           
August 23, 2017

“It is through our struggles that we gain victories”

Stay Woke are words to remember from my best friend–the one and only Dick Gregory. Who in Black America (or America for that matter) hasn’t heard of Dick Gregory?  I certainly had known him for years before he left us a few days ago. I didn’t meet him in person until 1986 when Congressman Mervyn Dymally invited him to come to my home state in Louisiana while I was a candidate for the U.S. Congress in the old Gillis Long district.  Mr. Gregory spoke for a fundraising event for my campaign, and he didn’t ask for a dime–not even his airline ticket.  That was impressive because others required all kinds of things, including what they wanted in their hotel rooms to drink while there!

After the campaign was over, I moved to Washington, DC, and one day out of the clear blue, he was stranded in Baltimore and needed to get back to DC that night. I guess my reputation for helping anybody I could was out there already and he had heard about it!  He called me and asked if I would travel to Baltimore to get him; I did.  We became friends on the ride back to DC, and that has never changed. He began bringing over veggie burgers and cooking them while inviting friends by to see how great they tasted. I met so many wonderful people through him.

He soon became known as my best friend and running buddy.  We attended many events together, but the term running buddy came from the fact that we’d run on every track we could find, run through Rock Creek Park or get up at 2 am to test new health equipment about which somebody had told us.  I wasn’t crazy about getting up that early in the morning, so I wound up buying a lot of the strange equipment so that we could use it anytime! Consequently, my home became filled with all kinds of exercise and health gadgets.  He introduced me to just about every vitamin ever made. At that time, I had a health products business so it fit right in with what he was advocating.

He saw the thousands of books at my place, so he decided to add to my collection!  Aside from introducing me to his huge required newspaper and magazine reading, he began buying two of every book he thought was worthy of reading. That was a lot! The reason for buying the second copy was for me to read to him–sometimes for hours where I literally had to prop my eyes open to finish books late at night.

The second reason was his frequent travels, and since I had every book he had, he could call me to jog his memory on certain information.  Since he had no concept of time, he often called from other time zones in other states and countries so that I could get out of bed, go downstairs and find what he needed. He also wanted to see every movie of significance, so it was nothing for me to be picked up to hang out with him for two or three movies in a single night. I had my first arrest for a good cause with him. We were joined by George Clooney, Martin King, III, Ben Jealous and others. As a lawyer, I was called on frequently not to go to jail, but to bail him out of jail for protesting about various wrongs, so my arrest record for picketing is not nearly as long as his.

Ultimately, we began participating in so many marches and protests that we made signs for numerous causes and kept them in the trunk of my car so that we could stop and participate with others as we were passing by.

I will fast forward to 2011 where we witnessed the British Petroleum Gulf Oil Spill in Louisiana. Many under-served people were not getting paid for their losses, but big companies were. A group led by Dr. Arthur Rocker, met at my home and we discussed what we would do about it. situation.  Immediately Dick and I agreed to join the cause.  We made several trips to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas advising people of their rights to be made whole.  We picketed BP.  We went to London, England to try to seek relief for the under-served.  We picketed the BP offices there while not even knowing the laws related to picketing.

We returned to the U.S., met with and picketed more BP offices in the U.S. At the time Dick left us on Saturday, BP has yet to pay poor and marginalized people. Despite the fact that it is impossible to fill his shoes, my last words to him were promises to carry on his legacy of service to our people and finish the projects we’d started together. Dr. Rocker and I will be returning to that Gulf Coast battlefield in a few days and we’ll carry Dick’s spirit with us.

In honor of all Dick Gregory has done for us, let us honor his memory by practicing some of the things he taught us.  He wanted us to Stay Woke and not believe everything we see!  He wanted us to know that all things are not what they appear to be.  He wanted us to rid ourselves of anger, fear, hatred and jealousy.  He wanted us to know that love is much more powerful than hate. I had the last word with him on last Saturday night after Lil and his family said their goodbyes. I could never fill his shoes because they are much too big, but I had a talk with him and promised to do my best to do the things I know he would do if he were here.  That is how I will honor my friend, the one and only, Richard Claxton Gregory from whom I learned so much.

 
E. Faye Williams, MPA, PhD, D.Min, Esq.
President/CEO, National Congress of Black Women, Inc. 
1250 4th Street, SW, Suite WG-1, Washington, DC 20024 
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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

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In June 84,437 readers and in August 92,452

Wednesday, August 30th, 2017

We went over the 2,000,000 readers mark in August, 2017.  Over two million readers have visited Bettina Network’s Blog.

If you are a member of Bettina Network’s Lifestyle Community you may contribute your writings, poems, thoughts, recipes, lifestyle contributions from your life, your research – scientific and otherwise, to reach a fantastic group of elegant people who care, think, are involved in life and want to hear from you. If you haven’t found it, search the Blog for the writing on Origami – not just for kids anymore – an outstanding contribution.

Your reward – great readers with whom to share your thoughts – and a complimentary one night stay at a Bettina Hedge School which you receive at the end of the year.

Email us at bettina-network@comcast.net to make your voice, your art, your lifestyle known to the rest of us so we can pick up some of your ideas before moving ahead with our lives.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

America, You Are Being Played!

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017

by: Marceline Donaldson

I watched the president present himself in front of our military and other dignitaries last night and it was horrifying.  Having just recovered from the thought of our military being replaced by a for profit civilian army headed by Eric Prince and paid billions of tax payers dollars to eventually move against those same American tax payers was revolting.

Donald Trump is playing this country and we are going along with the act.

Why did this come up so quickly?  Why did Vice President Pence have to interrupt a foreign trip to come back to the U. S. to participate in this hastily put together act?  What was this all about?

Trump scheduled a rally in Arizona for tonight.  The response to that was electric and ugly.  No one wanted him to come.  The Governor of Arizona and other dignitaries asked him to stay home.  The Governor announced he would not be in attendance.  The rally, after all, was called to attempt to clean up the last mess which left Trump’s reputation in the gutter.  Got to Arizona – strut around on stage – insult lots of people – glory in the cheers and support – and come home to create new ugliness.  But one ugly mess  is following too closely on another.  Now Charlottesville has to be cleaned up so Trump can continue to crap on everyone as he attempts to glorify himself.

So what did he do?  Facing another disgrace, he would never cancel the rally.  Instead, he called Pence home from his trip abroad representing the U. S.;  Called together the military brass for a hasty meeting to begin the made for television pseudo reality show; and presented himself in as grand a way as possible all within the space of about three days.  Something to help him recover and gain some semblance of a facade back

So now he goes to Arizona wrapped in the American flag with Charlottesville behind him and with the military in front of and around him and now what does Arizona do.  Trump is now free to pardon Sheriff Arbaio – whatever his name – and do whatever else he wants to do riding temporarily on the cloud of this  military spectacle.

And America – you have been used badly.

Evil wraps itself in evil and then parades out to take credit for having had the last laugh.  But, just a minute – the last act is God’s not Trump’s and it is going to be brutal for him.  God has used Trump – before throwing him into that eternal fire?  but don’t worry, he will have lots of company.  Second going down behind him are those who claim to be ordained of God and followers of Trump.  Just as their life and power seem to be unfolding in their favor and direction it will just as suddenly change course.  Amen?

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

An Open Letter to Our Leaders!

Sunday, August 20th, 2017

From:  Harold E. Doley, Jr.

To:  President Donald J. Trump:

Vice President Michael R. Pence:

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell:

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan:
Congressman Cedric Richmond:

 
“Robert E. Lee stated that he would not be buried in his Confederate States of America (CSA) uniform because that act would be seditious.  At Lee’s funeral in 1870, no former soldiers or participants marching in his funeral cortege were allowed to wear CSA uniforms. 
 
There is a simple remedy for our present state of affairs regarding monuments to former Confederate generals and the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, it is to go to the U.S. Constitution. 
 
Section 110 of Article III addresses treason and sedition.  Treason and sedition are federal law/Constitution violations.  To support the Confederacy and its symbols is to be a traitor of the United States in fact and in spirit.  
 
Section 110 of Article III states: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open Court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason.”  Thatpower of punishing the crime of treason is exclusive in Congress; and the trail of the offense belongs exclusively to the Federal tribunals.
 
In 1790, the Congress of the United States enacted that: “If any person or persons, owing allegiance to the United States of America, shall levy war against them, or shall adhere to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States, or elsewhere, and shall be thereof convicted on confession in open Court, or on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act of treason…”
 
Our history books have incorrectly labeled the war between the states as a Civil War, which is a misnomer.  What occurred was a group of states succeeding from the Union and creating the Confederate States of America and attacking the United States of America.  This was a war of secession.  If it were a civil war, which is an attempt to change the government, that would have been a revolution. 
 
We laud Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans and we thank Wynton Marsalis for initiating the removal of the monuments in New Orleans.  It is ironic that the erection of statues and the naming of boulevards and schools for Confederate soldiers and cabinet members of the CSA is a romantic notion.  There was not one bullet fired or cannonball shot in New Orleans during the Civil War.  In 1862, Admiral Farragut disembarked from the USS Hartford at the Port of New Orleans, walked to City Hall and told Mayor John T. Monroe of New Orleans, either you surrender or we will level the French Quarter.  Confederate General Mansfield Lovell advised Mayor John Monroe that opposing the Union would be futile.  New Orleans, the largest Confederate city, was captured without conflict.  Therefore, the monuments and other namings in New Orleans do not have any historic relevance whatsoever.  Again, just romanticization.  Likewise, members of the white supremacy groups, Neo-Nazis and KKK, are overwhelmingly not descendants of those Southerners that fought in the army of the Confederate States of America.  For those to state that they have a kindred spirit with the Confederacy is a fantasy.  Those Americans aligned with these groups which are not based in historical connections should just be bold enough to state that they are racist, anti-Semites, and white supremacists, rather than attempt to distort that which motivates them.
 
America’s history is complicated.  My great-great-great Aunt Sarah Knox Taylor, was married to Jefferson Davis.  As an American of African ancestry and a descendent of the Mayflower (even though I cannot become a member the Mayflower Society because I fail to have one or two documents that would complete the link) my DNA confirms that lineage.   Last August, when David Duke was running for the U.S. Senate from the State of Louisiana, I challenged him publicly to take a DNA test to which he did respond on his web site.  I do not think, after looking at David Duke’s history, that he is part African-American, but I do think that he may be part Jewish.  
 
We, as Americans and our elected officials, must embrace the Constitution of the United States that was penned by our Founding Fathers, who themselves were flawed just as is our Constitution. However, the document  addresses the issues that are tearing us apart today and it gives us the solution.
 
The President and Congress should focus on the economy, tax reform, the budget, foreign affairs, infrastructure, and running the government for the benefit of all Americans whom they were duly elected to serve.
 
Harold E. Doley, Jr.
U.S. Citizen”
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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

Donald Trump = U. S. Terrorist

Sunday, August 13th, 2017

It is now conclusively proven  – Trump is a terrorist.  This weekend broadcast that for the world to see.  He is the Hitler of this ‘Alt-Right’ movement.

We now also know where the Nazi’s went when they were thrown out of Germany.  Their heirs and progeny are carrying on their mission in the United States.

What an optic for the young people in this country.  When those from about 15 years of age and under see what is happening day to day what is it they see?  What lessons are our children learning?  Well – for starters – when they were born and came to even a small awareness of being a part of these United States, they saw the country with a president who was African American and he governed with elegance, style and caring.

And then came an election when Barack Obama could no longer run for president, having served two terms, a new president was elected and this time he is white.  Our children see and are learning that maybe a white man for president of these United States is not such a good thing.  He is crude – limited in intelligence – substitutes an evil shrewdness for that lack – brings to power with him in his administration the neo-Nazi’s, the racists, the white nationalists, etc.  And they destroy the country that has been built with the blood sweat and tears of many.  Mostly, he is a man walking in Roy Cohn’s shoes and finding that even the shoes of his mentor are too big for him.

The terror, the Crystal Nacht re-enactment, the Nazi’s reborn and demonstrating their furiousness at the justice, equality, caring that has come into these United States since they last tried to rule the world rejoice about one thing – they celebrate their father- Donald Trump – who has given them new life  and the space to cultivate and spread their evil across the United States and eventually across the world.  Is that why his Congress has only a 15% approval rating?  Because they are his choir – closest to his throne and bent on keeping him in power so they can benefit from the crumbs thrown their way?

This father of the reborn Nazi’s, White Nationalists, KKK and others of the same ilk is in his death throes knowing his time in power is very limited and knowing very well that he will unceremoniously  be removed for his prior sins in a very short time, is leaving office with as much “fire and fury” as he and his can muster.  He is leaving office with a massive coming together of those who supported his election to the presidency as he and his underlings could muster.  He is treating the rest of us to a bit of theatre  such as the world has never seen before.

In other places around the world, his cousins, who tried to stage such a Nazi comeback, have been rebuffed by their citizens.  In these United States, however, that has not been true.  We have welcomed and lifted up the neo-Nazi’s in the name of the Republic.  We have been very slow to reject and move out someone with his followers who have been and are still threatening the power and justice of these United States.  Somehow, many seem to believe their white privilege will be maintained by this group and if they just keep quiet they will also benefit and live to take over as the saner side.

The slogans being thrown around this weekend in Charlottesville are interesting and probably quite true.  The identifier slogan _Blood and Soil_ hanging out there to make sure you recognize who they are and from whence they have come – their history and ancestors.

Another which rang quite true – “No Jew will replace” – with variations on that slogan was one we heard chanted frequently.  Also quite true.  They have totally closed the door to make sure Jesus, a Jew, would not be able to come anyplace near where they are standing and holding ground. Even Donald Trump has dropped the act of pretending to be a follower of Jesus.

It has become quite clear that while the KKK tried to imitate and thereby gain entrance into parts of a believing and faith filled group such as Christians when they started with their mis-use and abuse of the symbol of the cross, this time around they have apparently thrown out the cross and come out into the sunshine and fresh air with their filth.  They apparently don’t realize that fresh air and sunshine is exactly what will destroy them and their followers.  “No Jews..” is a very accurate statement for them to make.  Jesus was many things, but by birth and life and his teachings he was most definitely a Jew.

This has been a week-end that will go down in history.  With the interpretation of historians 20 years from now we can only guess how the United States will fare under their pen.

What led to this?

One striking thing is the reason the Nazi group and its followers gave for organizing this week-end.  To prevent the removal of a Confederate Memorial Statue.

Take a look at Germany after the war and how it conducted itself trying to restore its country and its people back to some kind of normalcy – which means respect for others – equality – justice.

One thing they did not do was to allow statues, memorials, and other remembrances of the Holocaust to happen.  You will not find bronze statues of Hitler and his Lieutenants anyplace in Germany.  You also could not find copies of “Mein Kampf”.  They did everything they could to wipe the slate and start down another path.  The memorials you will find, the ceremonies of which you could be a part are for the victims, not the perpetrators of that Holocaust.  Our memorials, statues and ceremonies are for the perpetrators of slavery, for those who benefitted.  If you are in the African American community you will find memorials to the victims, but in very few other places will you find such.

What did the United States do after the ‘Holocaust’ of slavery – which went on a lot longer and destroyed and killed many millions more people.  We have statues and memorials and ceremonies and Confederate flags and everything we could find to keep alive the feelings and story and everything else of those who benefitted from slavery and brought so many to their deaths.  By those statues we constantly glorify the fight and stance taken by those who attempted to maintain slavery in these United States.  We want to keep a story alive about their valiant efforts, their life giving for this cause of maintaining the enslavement of other human beings.

Whenever, today, we threaten to remove one of those statues and/or memorials or take down one of those flags from our Capital Buildings and/or grounds the earth moves and shakes and becomes a horrendous place to be within a radius of whatever statue is so threatened.  We want to remember and celebrate that time in United States history.  We do not want to wipe it out – we want to bring it back.  “Make America Great Again” – goes one of our most recent slogans.  Make America a slaveholding country again.  Make America a country which uses and abuses others to gain wealth, privilege and strength so we can move more decisively against more and more people to bring them into our fold to use and abuse.

Isn’t that where the immigration controversy comes from?  The Trump’s have their products made in another country.  Why?  Because they, like others who do the same, can make slaves of and abuse those who are destitute making them work for a living at slave wages.  Isn’t that a real life example of what the demonstration by the “Alt-Right” this weekend is really all about?  The threat that America may lose the ability to pay $1 for a product and selling it for $100.  Keep the world under our thumb and we can abuse its people and use them to create the billions of dollars of wealth that is being accumulated by a few – almost exclusively all white, all male and all northern europeans – well, except for those being used to disprove the rule.

And at the same time immigrants we are keeping out of this country and those we are throwing out are all – really? – brown.  And brown people now make up over 40% of our citizenry.  What happens if we don’t stop immigration – we will be a country ‘flipped’.  And then what?

May God forgive us all.  Those who act – those who allow themselves to be acted upon – those who watch and keep themselves clean and away from the fray so they can live to benefit from it all.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

 

 

Trump’s Campaign Promises & History

Thursday, July 27th, 2017

by: Marceline Donaldson

We need to take a look at a parallel time in history for these United States.  The time of Reconstruction was followed by the dismantling of what the time of Reconstruction wrought.  What we are experiencing under Donald J. Trump is that time after Reconstruction of horror, evil, misery under which so many suffered.

It comes under that old adage – if we don’t know and understand history, we will be forced to repeat it.  And surely enough that is what we are doing.  President Obama brought in an era very much like that time of Reconstruction.  He continued the process of eliminating our equivalent of the “black codes” which began to be dismantled under Martin Luther King, Jr’s Civil Rights Movement – only instead of concentrating on African Americans, Obama addressed bigotry across this country amongst far more than just African Americans.  His time in office highlighted just how venomous bigotry was in these United States and we all thought it was coming to an end.

After the Obama presidency, we elected a man we knew to be a liar, cheat, etc. etc.  Today, we are appalled at what he is doing.  Since he was a very public and visible person and since it was very difficult not to have known Donald Trump and his reputation, it is amazing to me that we, the citizens of these United States who elected him president could be surprised, dismayed, etc. etc. about the actions of this man who was so thoroughly known.  Who you elect is what you get.  There is no miraculous change that occurs.  Many in the media talked extensively about the “pivot” that they expected to happen.  Where did they get such an idea?  Was it from the history that rolled out before them showing that the person elected to office said what he had to say to get elected and once elected he became and started to institute policies far different from those he/she ran on?

We were appalled that President Trump rolled out policies, etc. that he ran on.  He let everybody know who he was and what he was going to do.

He also threw in the politicians lies to some folks, claiming he was going to do great things for them – which totally violated his image; what he was saying most of the time; the people around him, those total racists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other such folks supporting his candidacy who he clearly embraced and preferred in his rallies which were horrid places to be if you were non-white and non-northern european.

Many believed he would “pivot” and be someone very different when he took office.  Only, I wonder if we really believed that or deep down we actually hoped and voted for him because we didn’t want a country where everyone was marching into that nirvana of equality, justice, compassion and Donald Trump looked like the candidate who would make sure that things were put aright which this Obama guy had turned in another direction.  Trump promised to undo everything Obama had done as president and he has actively and hurriedly taken that seriously and that part of his campaign promise he is daily implementing.

Instead of a mirror image of Reconstruction, he has brought about the period of time that followed Reconstruction when work went on to bring back the “black codes” and other laws and principles which would bring the country back as close to slavery as possible.  In the process we have helped to bring this country into a time of great destruction of many of our fellow citizens.  During that time after Reconstruction, justice, equality, compassion were destroyed.  Evil, hatred, bigotry, infliction of pain was the order of the day and for the next hundred years we lived under what that period after the Reconstruction brought.

We celebrated the “first” African American elected to Congress after 1960 ignoring the fact that during Reconstruction over 100 African Americans, just out of slavery, were elected to federal, state, county legislatures and served their fellow citizens well.

Trump’s presidency looks a lot like that of Rutherford Hayes, whose term of office started with a disputed election and during which the Chinese were today’s Muslims.  The Chinese worked hard to build the railroads, but were treated very poorly and were those selected to keep out of the United States the way Trump has worked to keep Muslims from coming to the United States.

The condition of people was horrid and the gains from Reconstruction which the Radical Republicans gained, particularly for African Americans, were destroyed – mostly by the Democrats.

During all of this time I had family living in Mexico who had everything taken away from them and were treated extremely abusively by United States soldiers when the lines were drawn and a part of Mexico became America:  I had family – Choctaw Indians, who were put on the Trail of tears and suffered much:  I had family – African Americans who were active in their small town in Alabama – elected to public office there – and finally, as the political climate changed, were stripped of everything and tarred and feathered, put on the railroad track forced to walk to Texas in that condition by the Democrats:  I had family who were English, Irish, Italian, Swiss and more who gave up their “white privilege” to marry minorities who had experienced those things.

And today, I am living through the modern version of that terrible time because of the Republicans and Donald Trump and his supporters who are moving very quickly to bring us back to that time after our own modern day Reconstruction.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Trump, the United States president, who gained office by lying.

Two of his big lies are currently clearly on view:

He promised Iraqi Christians that he would support and protect them and they supported him in large blocks.  When he gained office he started deporting them by the hundreds.  They have not yet been hauled out of this country because the courts stopped Trump’s deportation of so many.  They would have faced a horrible and dangerous life if they had been deported and they still might be.

He promised to support the LGBTQ Community and just recently showed clearly that his ethics are in the gutter and his sense of values none existent to the point of not merely being “political” to gain office, but evil to gain eternal damnation.

And those are just a few of his broken promises which will cause thousands horrendous, broken, desperate lives of which he will know nothing and of which he wants to know nothing.  His life is privileged and its continuance as such is his only concern.  More power.  More money.  More glorifying of Donald Trump.

And for this we live, work, worship and die in this country.  When will it all change?  What are you doing to bring about that change?  Or are you doing nothing to help continue things as they are because you see yourselves as benefitting?  Life changes in the blink of an eye – your time is coming and soon.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

 

 

U. S. President is Trump or Pence-Koch?

Tuesday, July 25th, 2017

We had an interesting breakfast – one of many, but this one stood out given the current political climate so I am sending you this blog with a bit of a summary.  The talk was mostly about untangling the politics currently on view.  Things are never what they seem on the surface so what is percolating in the background!!??

A couple people agreed with Trump about the press.  Not for the same reasons, nor did they call it or even consider the current reporting “Fake News”.  They called it “Fall in Line behind the Leader News.”  Basically, their impression of the press was that many reporters follow the lead of what is currently being reported by a few strong people and to go out on their own, especially if that differs from the current headlines,  is not what many are able to do.

That’s a shame because that kind of independence is what is needed of a journalist and they should be ready to put down their jobs if they can’t report what they find – or if it is because of a lazy mind, they need another profession.  None require the kind of sharpness of mind; independence of spirit; insatiable curiosity; need to find the truth- that is required of the press.  It is a vocation rather than a job. At least those are my thoughts about it.

The rest of the conversation was around the question as to why with all that is coming out about the Trump Administration there is almost no talk about Pence.  He is carefully being guarded in the background so he can come out as new, untainted, etc.?

What one person wanted to know was if the President of the United States – not the one with the title, but the one calling the shots – was actually Trump or Pence?  This group felt it was Pence who was channeling the wishes of the Koch Brothers and Trump, until now was falling into line and following those wishes also.  Although they saw signs of his beginning to wake up to understand the game.  The game that was about Pence for Vice President because he would never be elected president and then for Pence to move into the presidency after Trump was destroyed and pushed out.

I hadn’t heard that before and it was a bit hard to understand, but as the history came out with the claim that Pence actually was the one who brought Trump to the Koch brothers (or maybe it was the Koch brothers who brought Pence to Trump with the promise of money and their backing) things began to make a bit of sense.

What also clicked for me was the discussion about the upheaval in this current administration.  Starting almost from the beginning the question was asked if the Koch brothers and their minions were active in causing all of this current upheaval so their man could get in early and start working for them in earnest?  A wild conspiracy theory, but a theory nevertheless which had some truth sounds in it for me.  And the next questions – did Trump pick up on this early on, saw how he was deceived and how he had been cuckolded and developed enormous anger at having been so deceived?  After all, that kind of thing was usually what Trump did to others, not what others did to Trump.  Nothing of this has even been hinted at by the media I am reading and listening to and maybe they should take a look.

Needless to say, it was lively with lots of laughter and conjectures that were over the top.  Hope we have another group like this for breakfast soon.  It certainly starts the adrenaline rushing around.  I got more done the rest of that day then I’ve gotten done in weeks.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

Trump and Putin Meet, but clearly not for the first time!

Saturday, July 8th, 2017

It was interesting to see Putin and Trump meet.  This was touted as their ‘first face to face meeting’.  We would respectfully disagree.  What we saw was two men who were quite familiar with each other and had a strong friendship going which to us looked as though it had developed over several years.

From the very familiar way they greeted and were with each other this was not a first time meeting.  The handshake was not a traditional Trump handshake.  He was not trying to gain the superior position.

Grabbing Putin’s arm in addition to the handshake is not something one normally does upon a first meet.

Reaching his arm behind Putin to put on his back is a very intimate gesture one makes with a friend not a brand new stranger person.

Putin’s response was the same.  He clearly was face to face familiar with Donald Trump before this meeting and probably in intimate get togethers – familial, friendship or both.

The “optics” as they say, spoke volumes about their daily life and choices – everyone in the room for this meet and greet was white and male – and that included the interpreters.  A very different visual from that of others shown at the G20 – women were in attendance, participation and as interpreters.  The old boys club was on full display, in more ways than one.

And, Trump continued to diss Obama.  His white privilege and superiority is much shattered by the elegance and success of Obama’s presidency – kind of a symbol for what is going on with the rest of Trump’s base.  Trump needs to constantly reassure himself of his superiority over African Americans, at least, by attempting to tear down Obama and his presidency.  Sad!  And, isn’t that what his travel ban is all about?  Very sad!

We could be wrong, but………………

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

The Bettina Oracle Speaks

Tuesday, July 4th, 2017

This has been an incredible time for everyone – especially since you have all been faced with what for many is not understandable and for those of you who do understand what is happening, you are not able to speak about it out of fear.

A man, surrounded by many who are there to take advantage of his pain, confusion and a lifetime of hiding, has become president of the United States.

In the process of this man’s entire life, creating havoc, upheaval, evil, unhappiness, fighting and more in his environment and among those who have tried to love him, be his friend, work with him, help him achieve his goals, has been the way he has coped with the havoc, unhappiness, desperation which he has carried around inside of him for his entire life.  Well, actually from about age five.

He has been accused of being crazy – thoughtless – self-absorbed – not someone who is capable of thought = and more.  And he has been all of those things.

What most need to know is why!

When you carry a secret all those years and need to distract yourself from dealing with that secret and being desperate not to be exposed, you create an environment all around you which is horrible for those with whom you interact – who depend upon you for many things – who try to befriend you – and especially for those who love you.

What is this secret that has set ablaze the United States in the worse way and is threatening the world?

This president is actually a woman in a man’s body and that has been the burden he has carried around for decades, shaping his life so the explosions around him camouflage this ‘problem.’.

When his hands were ridiculed it was an especially difficult time for him because he believed he was about to be “outed”.  He has the small delicate hands which he uses the way a ballerina uses her hands.

When he plays golf or tennis you see another aspect of this because his rear end is exposed and you see the rear end of a plus-size mature and quite shapely woman.

Problematically, this becomes worse as he ages and hiding it becomes ever more difficult because the tell tale signs of his internal woman – who he will not let out – becomes clearer and more people are able to see and understand what this is all about.

Who hates gays more than a gay person in the closet.  Who hates transgender people more than a woman in a man’s body.  Who has the greater need to move away from those with whom one is identified especially if that group is oppressed by the larger society.

If he lets this secret out and holds it as a secret no more, there is no one with power over him – he would be free.

Given some of the talents he has shown this would be his opportunity to becomes a substantial, giving, loving, thoughtful and kind human being.  The person everyone wants to know, be with, enjoy, etc.  To continue to hold this secret means more and more people hold power over you and you have to continue in the ways of distracting, finding ways to upheaval entire societies so your secret is safe and more.

—————30———–

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

 

 

 

The Fourth of July, 2017

Sunday, July 2nd, 2017

What a day we celebrate in a year during which our Republic is once again in jeopardy and we are in fear of all of the gains made by those who went before being trashed.  And – we have only ourselves to blame.

To celebrate the Fourth of July with Donald Trump as president of these United States seems a sacrilege.  He has worked very hard to trash everything this country’s founders put in place.  And he has been way too successful!

Why?  Because the United States of America elected and re-elected an African American as president – twice!!!! And that jeopardized his identity as better than and the identities of those who he has gathered around him as above all others.

All of the racist and sexist structures that Barack Obama took down during his presidency, or which influenced others to work to take down the racist/sexist infrastructure of these United States are being reconstructed by Donald Trump and his followers.  In the name of white supremacy – white privilege – Trump and those who are working with and for him are doing everything they can to tear down and then reconstitute this country into a stronger model of the racist and sexist institution from which it has struggled to be free.

Adolph Hitler played god in Germany and the people suffered.  Donald Trump is playing god in the United States of America and the people are suffering.  Only God is God!  To attempt to become a god and force others to acknowledge and honor and pay obeisance to you is one of the greatest sins and we have Donald Trump and his followers doing just that.  Forgive them, O God.   Show them the error of their ways before it is too late for their redemption.  Many are in Church this Sunday praying to their god to give them the strength to continue the work started by Donald Trump.  How bright is the light they are trying to subdue.  How manifest to others are their sins.  How blind to their own sins have they become that they can kneel at your altar and call on you to support their chosen god.

Last year, we published Frederick Douglas’ speech given on July 4th.  We commend it to you https://www.bettina-network.com/blog/archives/2560

There are several paragraphs which can make you weep and take you into that place where no one should have to go –

“Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival….
400 years of slavery – 25 to 35 million Africans robbed of their freedom; taken from their country and put into slavery for 400 plus years – first by the Arabs and then by Europeans and Americans….

Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too-great enough to give frame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory….

They loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited it ought to command respect. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country is a man whom it is not in human nature to despise. Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the cause of their country. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests….

They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. They were quiet men; but they did not shrink from agitating against oppression. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. They believed in order; but not in the order of tyranny. With them, nothing was “settIed” that was not right. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final”; not slavery and oppression. You may well cherish the memory of such men. They were great in their day and generation. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times….

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”……

May we always remember – may we always celebrate this holiday in truth and not in hypocrisy, trying to hide our history and our sins – may we be able to accept our humanity while attempting to right our wrongs – may we never accept the tyranny of those like Donald Trump, who refuses to accept his own humanity trying to force others to accept him as perfect in every aspect –  god walking this earth – infallible – the only one who can achieve and accomplish what this country needs.  Forgive him, O God, and walk with us as we travel through this very dark valley.  There is light at the end of this journey, but we can’t see it, only you know its outcome and why.  The forces of evil have gathered and are strong.  They have taken over our new businesses and infused them with bigotry.  We have worked hard to remove and replace the kind of bigotry they refuse to live without.  Help us to identify each and everyone of them and help us work to bring good where they have and are sowing evil.  Amen!

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to: bettina-network@comcast.net

AMERICA: your ethics are showing

Thursday, June 29th, 2017

From slavery – to Jim Crow – to the immense Black Civil Rights movement – to the painful Feminist movement – to the Peace Movement – to Americans for Respect of the Globe and the Universe – to Donald Trump?

The election and ‘service’ of Donald Trump has exposed the United States’ underbelly the way nothing else has and it is very difficult for all of us to see.  Much better to continue to engage in denials.

Breakfast conversations in a Bettina Home are always inclusive of something about what Trump is doing; what he needs to do; how to stop him; what is Russia’s involvement; how are we going to continue with such a man as president; what happened – did we really elect Trump or did Russia do it.  Are we missing something?

Among the forces in this country which have come together to elect Trump as president we have to include those forces which elected this Congress.  Among those forces we also have to include the years spent before this election of gerrymandering to help make this election possible – all in the name of denying one person one vote, denying one person’s voice replacing it with the manipulators’ need for power.  They also have to include our refusal to become a democracy by doing the work to eliminate the Electoral College.  They also have to include our refusal to get rid of ‘White Privilege’ – the sick need many have to be better than even in a democratic/republic.

We have only ourselves to blame for Trump and we have only ourselves to correct this massive error by correcting the ills in this country which brought this about.

From where we stand and from what we have heard, Trump was elected with a solid base of the organized bigots, the mafia, many of those at the top of our corporate structures coming together in one of those perfect storms.  And, what we need to acknowledge here is that those groups have always worked together  – and – as per usual – we and they blamed the “Middle Class”, the “Working Class” for what others have wrought.

Corporations are very far from being a democracy.  They are also not republics.  They are dictatorships accustomed to doing things their own way, as ordered from the top, and accustomed to brutally moving obstacles out of their paths, greasing everything with lots of money and little bits of power.  The same is true for the other groups whose reason for being is to spread bigotry, hatred, white supremacy.  They are skilled at the lying, cheating, stealing, and all the other sins we can now see them committing as they come out from under their traditional cover.

What is clearer today than it has ever been is the collusion between Corporate America and the mafia.  That is something we don’t like to admit, but Trump has forced the issue and the admission.  For example, there is no way anyone who voted for Trump can today say they did not know of his mafia connections.

Trump’s ties to the mafia go back to at least his high school days when he met and was friends with John Gotti’s son.  The son of the teflon don puts his schoolyard friend in the path to be taught to become the teflon president.

Things became much more intense and involved from that point on.

Enter Roy Cohn – which brings in another group tied into Trump’s base – gay men in the closet who enjoy a camraderie with the corporate, the political, the well-heeled sprinkling gold dust over those mixing and shifting relationships and hiding that collusion from the rest of society (as best they can).

The consensus from many breakfasts is that Trump’s hidden secret, which makes him subject to Russian demands is not about sexual orgies, golden streams, etc.,  it is about having found places in and around Russia to let out that gay side where he thought it wouldn’t reach the light of day.  Many of our breakfast folks thought that such a place would be important to Trump who they saw as not only gay, but homophobic – so coming out of the closet would not be an option.  And, so some breakfast conversations went into comments such as; coming out of the closet would not mean a solid, steady relationship based on love, but it would mean coming out of hidden orgies with whoever/wherever making the sexual needs not necessarily “gay” or same sex, but outrageous, out of control sex, orgy addicted, kinky to an extreme. Coming out of the closet would lessen his power with his close compatriots who helped him get where he is today.  The closest he came to coming out of the closet – so these folks discuss – was accidental and through his relationship with Roy Cohn, which supposedly had a sexual closeness that many picked up on, but few publicized.  That kind of sexual orientation and lifestyle was more prevalent during the days of Trump’s young adulthood, but still exists in small pockets in several places today.

That can lead, when such a person engages in moments of sober reflection, to an extreme insecurity and self-hatred, if one still has any shred of moral values left.  Is that what we are seeing in Trump’s projection of all of his insecurities onto minorities of every color, class, sex, sexual orientation, etc?  His projections have certainly been vicious enough to tear this country apart and begin the process of putting it back together in his own image.

Trump has also given us a clear and unusually open look at mafia culture through his lifestyle, mannerisms, speech, dress and expectations of obeisance from others to him and from him to (only a very small number) of others.

We are living in an America that will never be the same again.  All of the gains we have made – moving away from and rejecting slavery; watching the gains of the Black Civil Rights Movement being stripped away daily with one or two Blacks being held up by Trump as the objects to disprove the rule of extreme racism in his administration as the new normal; from organizations becoming respected and respectable who had been fought and relegated to the back rooms of illegality; from the gains of the Feminist Movement also being stripped away as women are once again being portrayed as objects whose ‘pussy’ can be grabbed by anyone; with sexual abusers at top corporate levels being front and center and their corporations held in high esteem with the individuals so caught in such illegal activities given comfort and succor by the President of the United States?

How low are we going to sink, America?  How many sins are we going to commit before this all comes to an end? Will there be absolution for those sins in the end of this nightmare or will the vestiges hang on to scare our children, our grandchildren and all of the next generations?  Evil is far harder to eradicate than good.  Evil is far simpler to incorporate into the structure of our country than good.

We were able to justify slavery – stealing millions of lives because some of us were too lazy to do our own work, but wanted the benefits from the work of others for free.  We were able to justify maintaining racism against Africans because we needed to continue to deny what we did to them during slavery.  We attempted to justify that by showing the movie on how Africans moved from sub-human to more cultured due to their association with us so now we can move forward incorporating them as more equal in our society, our schools, our neighborhoods.  We were able to justify maintaining sexism against Women because we needed and still need them to do our dirty work and to support us in whatever we decide to do without recognition, agreement, compensation, and more.  We are still able to justify maintaining all of the complicated bigotry against other human beings because it satisfies our need for macho power, money and the creature comforts all of that brings not the least of which is not having to do the hard work of creating an identity when white privilege gives us a strong foundational identity for which we don’t have to work – isn’t all of that what the Supreme Court has facilitated in a low keyed way with their recent decision?  Isn’t that almost a parallel to their Plessy decision?  And now we can move on to their 1954 decision after those involved have had a bit of time to appreciate the less than equal decision that will follow.  It will feel like a breath of fresh air even if some of the less than restrictions are left in place?  How to move backwards a little by moving backwards a lot.

Give him enough rope – he will hang himself, but in the meantime he will make sure that his contribution is to the continuation of White Northern European Privilege and Ascendancy over all others.  Put him in jail to insure that much or our guilt is expiated, but the damage done will not be totally rectified.  Make him a very negative example and make fun of him, call him crazy, hold him up as ‘not like the rest of us’, but underneath it all is that gratitude that comes from those who need the security of being ‘better than’ so they can continue to live ‘free’ after having called for that bowl of soap, water and a towel and used it to insure our eternal detriment, degradation and damnation.  Eternal isn’t the issue – immediate is and isn’t that what our increasing technology is doing for us?

Take a look at where we were before Trump!

The Venture Capitalists planned our future with brash, uncouth, out of control, disrespectful young white men of Northern European descent being held up with multi-millions. Made to think they built huge empires when they and their brashness were actually used to front for what has developed and is developing around the multi-billions dollars companies that have sprung up overnight to put the older companies out of business and to move power into the hands of a small group who make Trump look like a joke.

The political ‘king’ makers, who are responsible for the rise of Trump and who have put the supporting structures in place which are needed to change this country and stop its movement towards a democracy where all are equal and where compassion and love reign supreme are today rejoicing in what they see as their success.  It took years before the advent of Trump to put in place the structures which elected him.  How much went into gerrymandering?  How much went into the development of Breitbart- the NRA – the KKK – the White Nationalists – the neo-Nazi’s – bringing them all to the fore and pushing back on everything else.

“Make America Great Again” did not start with Trump.  It is a slogan he stole from others who used it before he came along, when he was playing around with Roy Cohn and his boys. Bringing America into the circle of Russia, Northern Korean, Syria, and other such countries couldn’t have been done by Trump.  It had to be a long developing power surge.  Take credit, guys,  for what you have done.

And now what?  More of the same? Moving to a very different form of government – one which will never again be bothered having to fend off an African American president – or beat back a woman president who was advocating for the opposite to what we now have in power – never have to face the horror of the son or daughter of a refugee taking over as president?

It is up to you America.

From every Bettina breakfast or breakfast seminar there is no sign of anyone wanting more of what we have today – so how is this going to end?  All of us shot dead when we step out of line and shine a light onto what’s wrong here?  Jailing increasing when you protest with all of your assets taken away as they can now do in Arizona if you dare to be a part of the ‘wrong’ protest movement or demonstrations? Fear running through the streets as security guards from other countries are allowed to mutilate and harm Americans even in front of the cameras and without negative comments or protests from our leaders – a tacit show that it should continue and grow stronger.

Where is all this going America?  Is your insecurity going to continue and make America White Again? Or are you going to find your guts and make America a wonderful, humane, democracy whose doors are actually and really opened fulfilling what is written on the Statue of Liberty.  She is certainly in trouble today.  I can see the stone masons chipping off those words and replacing them with “Enter at your own risk – leaving your need for equality, freedom, justice behind.”

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

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A New Harvard President!

Friday, June 16th, 2017

by: Marceline Donaldson and Harold E. Doley, Jr.

Drew Gilpin Faust, the 28th president of Harvard University has resigned her position effective June 30, 2018.

A historian and former head of Radcliff Institute, Ms. Faust did an excellent job of continuing to move this private Ivy League institution, founded in 1636 in “New Town” – later to become Cambridge, MA.,  to educate Congregational Ministers to be able to better serve their churches.

Until Ms. Faust’s tenure, Harvard was led by white males and only white males.  She broke a ‘glass ceiling’ which held until 11 years ago.

Today, that mandate has changed and Harvard University has educated and continues to educate those who have been – who are – and who will be some of this country’s greatest leaders.  Its resources are an endowment of more than $34 billion and a world-wide academic reputation.  Coming to Harvard to study is a plum for most, no matter their country of origin.

Now, Harvard must look for a president who can continue its legacy and move it even higher   – and we just might have the solution.

Harvard, of course needs to be led by a Nobel Laureate.  And it would be great to have an alumnus of Harvard be that new president.  Someone known around the world – using his or her Harvard education, which is widely acknowledged as having been one of the tools used to create that person’s legacy to the world.  To also have that person with a beginning – at birth beginning – reflect the world in all of its diversity would be quite special.  America has traditionally divided itself into many separatist camps while claiming to be a “melting pot”.  Well, it is time for Harvard to help that image of America by selecting a president whose birth, upbringing and career choices reflect that “melting pot”.

Whose life better reflects what Harvard is about and what Harvard aspires for its students, researchers and others than President Barack Obama?

His mother was born on an Army base in Wichita, Kansas – the heartland of these United States.  She was born on an Army base because her father enlisted in the military and moved across Europe in General George Patton’s Army.  Obama’s grandfather studied using the G.I. Bill – owned a house using the Veterans Administration mortgage program – they helped raise Obama when his mother needed that help – and his grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line, moving herself up to Vice President of a bank.

From his parental legacy at birth even until today, Obama has been a product and symbol of the American Dream.

The other side of Barack Hussein Obama is his Kenyan father,  who was born in Nyanza Province.  Obama’s father grew up herding goats in Kenya and left there to accept a scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii.  There he met Ann Dunham, Obama’s mother, a woman of white middle-American ancestry.  They married and produced a son at a time during which such intermarriages were not looked upon proudly or even accepted as legal in some parts of the United States.

Obama’s father attended Harvard University working towards a Ph.D. So, a part of President Barack Obama’s Harvard application would have included his standing as a legacy matriculant. It is an understatement to say Barack made good use of his Harvard education and is an incredible example for others to follow.

Having lived in Jakarta, Indonesia after his parents divorce and his mother’s re-marriage, Obama learned to function in multi-cultural settings  from an early age.

He returned to the United States at age 10 to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents who sent him to Punahou Academy where he was forced to come to grips with himself as someone oppressed by the society in which he lived.

His educational experiences included Hawaii – Occidental College in Los Angeles – Columbia University in New York City and Harvard University School of Law where he ended his schooling  as editor of the Law Review.  He graduated Harvard Law magna cum laude.

To digress just a bit, I have a daughter who graduated Stanford School of Law as editor of the law review  (sorry, a mother has to brag).

He has since practiced civil rights law with Miner, Barnhill & Galland; was a community organizer; taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School; and more.

Barack is a best-selling author and Grammy Award winner.  If you have not read his book,  “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance”, you should.  The book is literally poetry.  It has been printed in more than 25 languages.  The audio-book version is narrated by President Obama.

Obama ran for and won a seat in the Illinois State Senate and worked with both Democrats and Republicans on legislation which included health care services, ethics and early childhood education programs.

He moved from the Illinois Senate to the U. S. Senate and from there to the presidency of the United States.

As president, he showed himself quite skilled at management, having come into office at a time when he had to immediately deal with a global economic crisis and ongoing foreign wars.

He is one of the few American presidents who was not involved in a scandal of any kind and presented and continues to present an image of which all of us can be proud.  He is also one of the Americans who is greeted with accolades when he travels the world.  His reception parallels, if it does not, in fact,  exceed that of rock stars.

Harvard could not find a better president.  We only hope President Obama sees things the same way.

WE ARE:   Native New Orleanians.

Harold Doley is a former U. S Ambassador in the Reagan Administration,  a 1990 graduate of Harvard Business School’s OPM Executive Education Program, among many other accomplishments.

Marceline Donaldson is a 1971 graduate of the Harvard Business School’s PMD Executive Education Program;  former National Board Member of NOW, and of the Minneapolis Urban Coalition; founder of Bettina Network, inc.; author and contributor to books such as Elizabeth Fiorenza’s book (a Harvard Professor) as honoris causa, among many other accomplishments.

Proof reading this blog is the Rev. Dr. Robert A. Bennett, native to Baltimore, Maryland, who holds a PhD degree from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in Oriental Languages and Literature with a concentration in Hebrew, Hebrew Scripture, Archaeology,  an ordained Episcopal priest who served his church as chair of its National Liturgical Commission, professor at Episcopal Divinity School for 35 years, chaired the National Council of Churches Inclusive Language Lectionary Committee, among many other accomplishments.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

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What is Trump’s “Fake News” about!

Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

by: Marceline Donaldson

The retaliations have started and will probably get worse as time goes on.  Anyone taking on Donald Trump is being put on notice by the firing of FBI Director James Comey.  This comes after he fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates.  What became clear in the hearings as Sally Yates gave a time table of her actions – she was not fired for refusing to go to court filing for a “Muslim ban”.  She was fired because she raised up the problems with Flynn and was very clear, articulate and fact backed in what she brought to the White House –  which probably also put Trump in the crosshairs because not only did she point out Flynn’s transgressions, but the door opened for us to see that our President is probably an underling working for Vladimir Putin.

National Security Director – Flynn – was fired, but only after the Washington Post came out with the truth about Flynn, almost three weeks after Yates pointed out the problems and Trump was forced to fire someone who was a close associate of Trump’s, was with him on the campaign trail for months and who seems clearly to have been colluding with the Russians, probably with the knowledge and blessings and collusion of Donald Trump.  Why else would the three of them – Trump, Flynn, Putin – have talked together after Sally Yates presented her findings to the White House?  After which Yates was fired.

For Trump to have had a meeting and telephone call in the White House with Flynn and Putin after Sally Yates brought the Flynn business front and center is beyond my ability to understand how this man was elected president.  A meeting and telephone call about what – about what to do about Sally Yates to keep her from exposing all of them?  But then I have to remember what my life has been like and the enormous amounts of racism and sexism I have experienced.  That was at the hands of American citizens who are probably the people who voted in Donald Trump – afraid that their hegemony over all is being cut down to size where they have to accept mere equality.

But what about all of this business where every place you turn you hear “Fake News.”  The term – put out in public by Donald Trump, that has been picked up by everyone else.

During the campaign, Trump treated the main stream media like crap – except for those representing the Fox Channel, who he singled out for praise and whatever positive comments he could throw their way.

What was that about?  Was that Trump having watched and read all of the other media and found the Fox Channel and Fox News totally superior to everyone else? No! That does not even begin to describe what this man has been doing.

It is time to put out there what this is exactly about – and the context in which this is happening.  Basically one which screams to all of us that Trump has yet to appoint someone to a substantial office who is not ethically challenged.  That seems to be his number one criteria.  Flynn is certainly an example of that.

What is “Fake News” about – this concept that Donald Trump keeps holding up in front of us?

It is about Donald Trump’s friendship with Rupert Murdoch.  Trump is one of Murdoch’s close friends.  It is claimed they talk daily.  So what has one friend done for another? Trump has used his new power and exposure to market Fox News and the Fox Channel as being superior to all the others.  He has put it out there that this is what he watches and everything else is “Fake News”.

The president of the United States helping to market one particular media outlet – making it possible for major increases in the income of his friend Murdoch and Murdoch’s family.  Trump is promoting his friends’ business and dissing the rest of the media putting their representatives in “bull pens” – literal pens during his campaign stops and calling on the people at his rallies to join him in saying horrible things about all of the media – except, of course, Fox News and the Fox Channel.  It is strong propaganda Trump has spread all over the rest of us until I feel as though we have been dirtied in a way we can’t come clean and wash all of this away.  It is the Fouling of America and it is being done by a champ who has spent his life doing this to many, many others.

“Fake News” is actually what Sean Spicer, Donald Trump, Mike Pence and others in their group are constantly trying to force feed the public.  Blaming the Flynn fiasco on Obama when they all knew that was not true.  Spicer giving a long soliloquy on how Security Clearances come about when he knew very well what he was saying was a lie.  Trump did not vet Flynn – yet claimed he didn’t have to because Obama had just given Flynn the Security Clearance he needed.  In fact, however, Obama had fired Flynn – advised Trump personally not to hire him because of the problems now surfacing, and had not given Flynn any Security Clearance.  In fact, Flynn was working as head of the NSC without the Security Clearance he needed because Trump allowed him to do that.  Given Flynn’s background and activities he probably could not have gotten the necessary Security Clearance so this smoke screen is thrown up so the general public cannot see how this President Trump is flouting all the laws and procedures put into place to keep this country operating on a fairly high and safe level

The terrorist threat to these United States does not come from the Muslims – it comes from Donald Trump who is doing everything he can to ignore the Constitution of the United States – to destroy everything we hold dear as he tries to turn it all into gold for himself and his friends and who seems to be trying to establish himself as a sick and evil dictator.

What amazes me, but shouldn’t, is how all of the men around Trump – and all of the men at Fox are being knocked off one at a time as they are called out for their clear and ugly sexual abuse against women, among other vile mean spirited ways of being.  All defended by Donald Trump, who himself should be in jail for his self-admitted sexual abuse of women.

“Fake News” is necessary as a campaign so actual news is either not printed or not believed by Trump supporters who don’t want to believe their idol has clay shoes.  He is, after all, the one keeping them above the unwashed minorities of the world.

We have this president who is illegitimate – a pathological liar – a seeker after money, influence, power for himself and his friends – who is going to strip the United States of every shred of decency, good ethical base, make it the laughing stock of the world, and destroy its middle – class citizens as substantially as possible so that it will take decades for them to recover.

To look at the way Trump has constantly thrown around the concept of “Fake News” and used that to promote his friend – Rupert Murdoch’s business and to attempt to destroy all other media outlets is beyond belief.

One shock after another and each one on a lower plane than the last one.  When you think Trump can’t go any lower he lets you know there is still space for him to go because with his clear lack of any kind of human decency there is no bottom for him to hit.

A step lower would be to replace Comey as Head of the FBI with Bannon or one of Jess Sessions friends.  They do make a clearly compatible couple.  As do their associates in the Republican Party.  It is amazing to see the lack of an ethical base and just an inability to adhere to basic human decency in today’s Republican Party – once the Party of Lincoln and now the party of Trump – Nixon – Reagan – all who had to face serious criminal charges coming from how they were being President and what they were doing.

Why he is not being stopped is my question! I know he will never be assassinated because the people who do that are all in his camp.

Why we are allowing this man to ruin everything we have all worked so hard for is my ultimate question today.  What are you doing to help restore this country to some semblance of a country where mafia ethics are not the rule of the day and people are not meeting behind closed doors to figure out how to turn this country away from its democratic/republic historical founding towards a vicious, mean-spirited, grasping, greedy, whore mongering group of white men run amuck turning their bigotry into the normal way of things in this country and at the same time establishing these United States as a totalitarian state run by a greedy, lying, abusive etc. etc. etc.

Am I angry?  You better believe it.  And you?

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

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We Are Being Played! Trumped!

Thursday, April 27th, 2017

The “roll out” of Donald J. Trump’s tax program was amazing.  It is the (1%) one percenters dream.  If it goes through it create a country without responsibility to anyone except its top ten percent – the bottom nine percent of this top ten percent will be the recipients of this country’s “welfare”.  It is the way to acquire unlimited wealth and pass it on to your children.

Every country has suffered from having no ‘death tax’ because the wealth of their top group grows to extremes and the poverty of its bottom group becomes beyond desperate.

My dream has been to be able to pass on what I have worked so hard for all of my life to my children and grandchildren.  It isn’t a huge estate, but enough for me to rest in peace knowing they would have some backup as life delivers one body blow after another.  But, every time I think those thoughts I think of all of those others – children and grandchildren of people who have not been able to accumulate an estate of any kind and generally leave their children in debt.

It is a conflict for most of us, but the ‘death tax’ usually wins, if we have a shred of caring for those who can’t care for themselves and if we care about trying to lift up those who were born so downtrodden they won’t make it otherwise.

However, that is not the case with many who have accumulated a substantial estate.  It seems those who have created the largest estates are the greediest and want to see everything move down the generations of  their own families.  They generally wind up passing negative moral judgments on those who have not been able to create the same.  They become those who are ‘better than’ on so many levels and those in front of  whom the rest of us become subservient because we want a little of their wealth to rub off into our families.

Trump’s reduction in the tax rate – elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax and all of his other proposals will bankrupt the United States Treasury and the deficit will zoom.  He knows that – he is not new to this game – his own estate has shown him the ins and outs of taxes and those he chose to work with him and on this tax problem, among others, are very much in tune with Trump’s way of life and way of thinking.  The poor, the sick, those who have many problems which have kept them from amassing large amounts of money are parasitic interlopers into their “hard work” and “success.”

The longer I live the clearer it becomes that those who have succeeded awesomely have done so at the expense of the poor, the sick, the indigent, the minority, the women in this society.  They have used the life, the work, the dreams of others to make it in big ways.  They have stripped those others of everything and have no conscience about their deeds.

Right before this tax cut was rolled out, the ‘Trumpster’ started playing us all.  As many buttons as he could push to distract from this tax business he pushed.  Talking heads in the media took the bait; civil rights activists took the bait; those working for economic justice took the bait and Trump cleared a wide path for his people to walk down the road, make their announcement of things to come and the response was muted because we were all looking at where Trump’s finger was pointing instead of at the moon.

We are being played.  We have been played since Trump started his run for office.  The very large choice Trump made in how he would make his money was via casinos, after all.  (It always amazes me how “evangelicals’ ran so hard after and for a hard core gambler).

His research is to find the ‘hot buttons’ in this society and choose which ones to push before he does something he wants to slip through as unnoticed as possible and he is very good at that.  It is called manipulation and Trump is the Great Manipulator.  He has done a magnificent job.  He got votes from the middle class because he convinced them that his racism, sexism, general all around bigotry, anti-immigrant stance was just what they needed to recover whatever they lost.  The fact that under Trump they would lose even more was totally hidden and many still haven’t seen the game.  The money support he has received has been awesome and none of that middle class has asked -‘where did we get that kind of money to support you – we sent small dollars because it was all we had – so now what are you going to do for those who tossed so many dollars into your ‘honey pots’ because what they want is anathema to us.’

And – by the way – is Amazon.com still a large Trump supporter?  The story of their bottom to middle employees needs to be told truthfully to understand why amazon.com’s support of Trump follows its path!

Let the games continue!  Let those who have Trump Dust in their eyes get clear and see so they can begin to win some of these games.  No one is going to do it for you!  And to the rest of us – Reagan was the opening parenthesis; Trump is the closing – what does that mean!!  What preceded Reagan and what was between the opening and closing parentheses?  It is the pattern of our world, repeated over and over and over again.

This country has had too many times of the majority fighting for equality and justice and those few at the top planning and bringing about the defeat of that equality and justice which peeps through each spring before it gets mowed down, covered with all those chemicals, comes back looking bedraggled, tired and straggly while that top group, regroups and finds a new-different-and better way to rip off the rest of us.  Certainly the technology group has found ways to become extraordinarily wealthier than any that preceded them.  Their progeny lives to fight another day, wealthy beyond imaginings and walking in their ancestors paths – until this next group comes along to knock them off.  They grow smaller in numbers but greater in strength and their look is characterized as how the rest of the culture should look.  There are very few women in that group, but have you noticed their shoes?  The highest heels – the thickest platforms – the latest style – and never under four figures.  That is how you know them from the wives of the tech people.

And the progeny of those fighters for love, peace, equality, justice and all that’s related start once again thinking that this time they will succeed where their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents failed and this world will be beautiful and good for all of its inhabitants because of their work – they will get it right.  The extremes of that group have been called a cults.  The extreme of the other group have been called the real heroes of the world and it is their history that goes down the generations.  The others are characterized like John the Baptist and pictured as we think he looked in his day. Their adaptation of ‘their historical culture’ always makes up the look of what we label the ‘counter culture.’

Think on these things so you can begin to take over your life.  It is difficult.  It is stressful.  You don’t always win.  But, you become stronger as you fight each battle whether you win or lose and at some point if you continue standing on your own two feet you begin to win more than you lose.  But the real reward is the inner peace that comes and the love that glows from your very body.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

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Creating a Totalitarian State

Friday, April 7th, 2017

What does it take to turn a democracy/republic into a fascist totalitarian state?

We saw some of that happen during Germany’s change to the Third Reich.  We are looking at another example with the United States.

What struck me was the Executive Order of Donald Trump’s making all of the information on the internet – personal and otherwise – available to whoever will pay for it – or can code programs to collect, inspect and categorize it.  Every keystroke you take will be shipped off someplace into the ether.  Maybe to a marketing organization with a contract paying millions for that information, but it actually could be to any other organization wanting or needing that information. Another step in eliminating privacy of United States citizens, and at the same time, privacy of many around the world.  So it isn’t just happening in the United States.

One requirement of a totalitarian state is lack of privacy and the ability of government or other institutions privately owned or otherwise, to access anything about any individual.  In this day of instantaneous response, it is especially great to have that information in an instance and that is what is happening with the help of Mr. Trump and his Executive Orders.  Each Executive Order and each related change has a little bit of the history of what the United States was and what Donald Trump and his co-workers are attempting to turn it into.

One thing that I don’t think even Mr. Trump has considered. – He is very expendable.

Do you think for a moment that whoever is in back of this change – and it is clearly not Mr. Trump – is going to let a loose cannon like Donald Trump continue in charge of the United States once that change has been made?  I don’t think so.  The first time most citizens of the United States will realize they are now completely a manipulable totalitarian state under a rulers control – assisted by a rulers’ family and friends, who are not named nor related to Trump – will be with the demise of Donald Trump.  He is the ‘pathological liar’ who will have made such a change, but he will not enjoy the fruits of his labor.  One can’t afford to allow such an unstable and unpredictable person to remain in charge or those fighting him will eventually gain the upper hand and begin to turn the United States back into the democratic nation and into the republic that it once was – with modern-day improvements.  Trump, however,  is too unpredictable and – let’s be truthful – a little bit flaky – and oh my, even too narcissistic and ‘child in revolt and not controllable’.

Wonder how many of you have thought of this?  I may be a bit paranoid, although no one has ever called me such.  Instead, they call me a ‘seer’.  Et tu!

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

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Trump Tries to Trash Rice!

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017

Well, if you thought Trump was just playing at being a bigot – have no fear – your thoughts are wrong.

To attempt to control the public conversation and steer it away from the Russian interference with the American presidential election and his possible collusion with that Russian interference, Trump has attempted to destroy the reputations of many.  The latest is Susan Rice.

When – O, Lord – will this end?

It is time for Trump, his administration, his cabinet and all those associated with him to quietly take a jet to Russia and we are certain he and they will be granted Russian citizenship.  They have, after all, gone a long ways to making sure Russia was bolstered as a country at the expense of the United States of America

And for those who voted for Trump?  Your bigotry has cost this country immensely.  So, how does that feel?  If it feels good to you – you should take the second class jet to Russia.  You won’t be able to take a first class jet because Trump has insured that you can’t afford to do that.  We think Russia will provide you with money to live on before they ship you off to Siberia.  After what you’ve done here they probably only want to insure you will be good citizens.

To the coal miners – you should have taken Hillary’s offer to re-train you and re-educate you into the core of this society’s current needs because Trump has just made fools of you to line his own pocketbook.

We now have a government getting closer to African dictatorships, Russian fascists and all the others in this world who have taken over countries for their own aggrandizement and fortune building at the expense of its citizens.  Take a look at how the Trump administration is merging with the Trump Organization.  And where will you be in all of this?  Able to serve for a brief period of time before they move on to replace you with family members.  They will soon be able to have a family reunion by having a party within the administration.  How many so far?  Where there had been none – we now have three and, looking at experience, education, qualifications for the job we have zip zero.

Our foreign policy?  Formed as we go along out of the back pocket of Donald J. Trump.  On the fly – so to speak – and from past history, that ‘fly’ is additionally open to however many and kinds of women whose ‘pussy’ he can grab.

How low is this country going to sink?

Proud of yourself Mr. Comey?  And when are you – or are you going to rectify this situation?  Or are you also benefitting, in spite of your claims to the contrary about being so neutral?

The United States Treasury is being depleted daily paying the bill for the Trump presidency.  When they figure out how – the gold in Fort Knox will also be on the move – away from the building that now houses the gold into the Trump family treasury.

And Susan Rice?  Well, Donald can’t leave any African American with a scintilla of a reputation without attempting to smear and ruin them for his own personal benefit and as ‘chum’ thrown to the sharks  whose entire lives are about bigotry.

You all seem to be amazed at the mess each new thing is mired in when it is rolled out!  That amazes us most of all!  You elect a president who has created six bankruptcies and, in spite of knowing that history, you actually expected Trump to be a skilled businessman able to bring together and solve all of the problems of the country – and to fulfill his campaign promises.  The only real promise we think Trump made was to himself – to make sure he rakes in every penny with every possible opportunity.  Why else go to Mar a Lago every weekend?  He is certainly raking it in through that decision.  No one has said if this was a long standing habit of his or if this weekly trip to Mar a Lago developed after he became president. From everything I have read this is a new habit.

They certainly don’t lack new members trying to pay the now $200,000 membership fee raised up from the $100,000 fee that was required before Trump became president – in fact – raised almost on the same day Trump was inaugurated.  This $200,000 fee does not include the yearly fees on top of that and all the money they are expected to spend each weekend – which people do spend because they are looking to hob nob with heads of state; have the president of the United States with his head of another state visitor pop into their private parties ‘unexpectedly’ with pictures of such for posterity; also see and take pictures of the occasional top secret document left open on a table; get pictures for posterity of themselves with Trump and various other high government officials, who are just as star struck at being the stars of the place when they show up and they certainly have been showing up on a regular basis.  Wasn’t that Sessions walking around Mar a Lago shaking hands with all and sundry?

The Russian government – Putin included – apparently picked Trump up when he fell because he didn’t know what he was doing or how to increase the $200 million dollars his father left his – which he squandered in his rather typical fashion.   they seem to have  brushed him off – lined his pockets with billions – and deposited him in place as President of the United States – and why?  Charged him with destroying the country?  Or, actually they didn’t have to charge him to do anything – his natural way of being is to wreck wherever he lands so they were certain that Trump simply being President would wreck the United States of money, credit, reputation, the trust of its citizens, etc.  And were they ever on target.

Way to go folks!  You should be proud of yourselves.  You have used your vote, your citizenry, your responsibilities to satisfy your bigotry against those you consider ‘less than’  and your disdain for those in need.  And then you go out and call yourselves Christians.  Yes, Christians because you’ve gotten rid of everyone else – the real Christians and all the other religions that you consider ‘fake’.

The ‘colored’ people of the world are being routed out of the United States and others are being kept out. Those who can’t be routed out are being destroyed in many subtle ways.  And on they go – the current White Nationalists, kind of headquartered in the United States in Washington, D. C., from whom Hitler and all the others like him could take lessons.

Who was it that said “If they come for me in the morning, they will return for you in the afternoon and you will be alone, destitute, hungry, and totally discouraged with no one to stand up for you.”

Amen?

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

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Comey/Head of FBI/QuidProQuo?

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

Listening to the hearings on Monday was quite emotional.  Getting feedback from many – it was amazing to hear that most of us agreed on the same thing.  That is highly unusual.  We tend to be a disagreeable lot!

Most striking about those hearings was to know and remember that James Comey came out with this announcement claiming that Hillary was under FBI investigation just before the Presidential election in November, 2016 telling the world  they had discovered many more emails.  At that time, Comey said nothing about either Trump or the Trump Campaign or Trump Campaign operatives being under a counterintelligence investigation – and they were – and that is far worse.

Since that time, we have seen several Trump Campaign operatives being fired and/or being seriously investigated for these kind of violations.  Some fired or not appointed because they could not get the requisite security clearance.

So far, that cannot be said of anyone in Hillary Clinton’s campaign.  She was under investigation for using an email server that was not considered secure enough, even though other Secretaries of State had done the same thing and many of the emails being talked about were not classified until after the fact.

Trump was under investigation  for what amounts to treason – for colluding with the Russians to have the results of this past Presidential election be the result wanted by Putin and his boys.  Comey had the evidence of Trump having asked for the negative plank in the Republican National Convention about Ukraine be removed plus a few other such things that Putin wanted – much more serious violations than those for which Hillary was being scalded.

As time passed Comey backed down and said the emails, which caused the investigation against Hillary to be reopened did not come from Hillary Clinton’s computer and those emails were duplicates of ones already in the FBI’s possession and they had been determined to be harmless and of very little relevance.

The media and others were more interested in dealing with the content of Hillary’s emails than in the circumstances around all of this which screamed to be dealt with.  Who said what to who from Podesta’s emails was petty bickering compared to this environment of the Trump Presidential campaign going back and forth with the operatives of a country which was very adversarial to the United States.  This was not England, Canada or France – this was Russia and Putin.  And what that means is clearly born out by the number of Russian oriented people now working in the U. S. Government at a very high level having been appointed to their jobs by Donald J. Trump.

And then on Monday came the revelation, during the hearings, with Comey and others under heavy pressure to reveal possible ongoing investigations into folks.  The FBI and Comey, its head, did not and would not reveal if anyone was under investigation – he/they said that kind of disclosure violated FBI policy.  That was verified time after time after time as questions came up and Comey repeated constantly that he could not reveal if anyone was under FBI investigation.

Apparently, during the presidential election, Comey made an exception and broke that rule so he could announce that Hillary was under investigation to make sure Donald Trump would be elected and he – Comey – would have his job by being reappointed as head of the FBI under Donald Trump.  Quid Pro Quo?  And was there anything else involved in this that would benefit Comey besides what looks like a definite quid pro quo about which we will never know all of the details?

After Comeys announcement, right before the election, destroying Hillary’s chances of winning the presidency –  this announcement made by Comey followed weeks of the Trump campaign promising that there would be a big announcement, close to the end of the campaign, that would turn the election in Trump’s favor.  In spite of this one sided announcement with Comey mentioning only Hillary Clinton – we heard during Mondays hearings that Donald Trump and his campaign were under criminal investigation from at least July, 2016 and probably from as early as March, 2016, throughout the rest of the campaign year and throughout the election.  Comey, at the time of his announcement about Hillary Clinton,  said nothing about that investigation into Donald Trump and his campaign operatives.  That clearly was a move to strengthen Trump’s chances of winning and to destroy Hillary Clinton’s.  No one in Comey’s position is naive about politics and what would result from such an act

The way Trump and his campaign operatives dumped all over Hillary and hit very hard on how awful that was and the criminality involved and the country put in serious jeopardy because of Hillary being under FBI investigation, it was clear they knew they would not have to eat crow before the election – which means they knew the announcement that Trump was under a much more serious investigation would not be made before the November votes were cast.

That needs to be clearly stated.  When Comey was reappointed as head of the FBI shortly after Trump won the presidential election our question is – Quid Pro Quo?  YES!  An FBI director knows he must avoid even the appearance of evil – so Comey knew clearly that he was not doing that.  He announced a Hillary Clinton investigation and was quiet about the Donald Trump investigation which would have produced a very different result.  Donald Trump would not now be President of these United States – wrecking havoc in world affairs, totally out of control.

Mr. Comey needs to be questioned under oath as to his role in all of this and what, if anything, did he receive for the part he played in getting Donald Trump elected.  It cannot be denied that he played a very crucial role.  Hillary Clinton’s numbers showed a landslide victory until that announcement came from Mr. Comey.  I am sure that landslide victory possibility was a serious concern for Mr. Putin and we think he would have been willing to pull out all the stops to prevent that from happening.

Comey was showing the world whose camp he was in and it wasn’t even close to Hillary Clinton’s, nor was it a neutral camp.  That was also reflected during the hearing in little places here and there that apparently went unnoticed.  When Congressman Turner asked a question during the Monday hearing in which he claimed unequivocally with no if ands maybes, etc. that the Washington Post and the New York Times reported lies – Comey not only let that pass, but quietly agreed with him.  I won’t go through all of those kind of moments, but there are clearly several in the record.

Trump and his campaign hit Hillary hard about the Constitutional Crisis that would happen if Hillary were elected President and how immediately thereafter she would be swamped with this criminal FBI investigation and on and on they went and there was no announcement from Comey about Trump and his campaign being under a very serious investigation which involved Putin, Russia and the possibility that Trump and his campaign people were colluding with the Russians to interfere with this election and to make sure that Trump won and Hillary lost.

We can’t emphasize enough that Hillary was the subject of an investigation because of her emails, and using an email server that wasn’t considered private enough.  That is like kindergarten kids playing in a play ground compared to what Trump, Putin and their boys were doing and does not begin to reach the heights of an investigation which is looking at Trump and his campaign for what would amount to treason – opening the door to the American voting process being manipulated and controlled by a foreign government.

James Comey needs to be investigated.  He clearly had something to gain – keeping his job, for starters, and he showed he was willing to take serious risks for Trump in the way he talked about Hillary being under investigation and keeping quiet about the fact that Trump was also under investigation for much more serious transgressions than was Hillary.

So where are we today?  Trump is making threats to Republican politicoes that if they don’t listen to him and do his bidding he will take his rallies to their districts and turn voters their against them.  That is a very potent threat.  How much more of this ugly and vicious control by a man who is a pathological liar are we going to take as we watch Trump and his close supporters working very hard to turn these United States into a fascist Nazi-style dictatorship which will finally be put under Putin, if Trump has his way.  Just about everyone at the top of this current government is involved in Russia, bigotry personified and/or mafia.  Trump, Tillerson, and on and on and on.

We have always thought that the closeness  between Trump and his daughter was because she is one of the few people who know about him and his purported business dealings with the Eastern European mafia.  She was with him at some crucial moments during their time together doing business.  It is time for this to be investigated and exposed – especially now that she is in the West Wing of the White House.

Trump’s rallies are dwindling and he will probably have to go back to the way his rallies got started – with people being hired to act as though they are simply attendees and Trump supporters when in reality they are hired actors and others to swell the ranks and get people to respond the way Trump would like them to respond.

And finally, Trump claimed all during his campaign that he had a secret very potent way to defeat ISIS and we would all see that happen when he was elected.  Well people, he has been elected and his secret, potent way to defeat ISIS is to continue the program and the way Obama set down for this to happen.

This Trump presidency is a house of cards and it is time to collapse that house.

For us – Trump, Pence and all of their appointees need to resign enmass and get out of the way so we can get on with the business of living under a democratic republic without lies, thievery, treason, viciousness, stealing from the poor to give to the wealthy, destruction of arts and other programs which took generations to build, moving away from health care for all – even though that was one of Trump’s promises and more.

Enough is enough!  It is time for a recall – or at the very least an Independent Prosecutor so Trump can be investigated outside of a Republican controlled Congress.

That Republican controlled Congress was totally uninterested in an independent and unbiased investigation.  Their questions during the hearing were questions which tried to make Trump and his boys look good and to get him clear of all the ugly he has done instead of questions pointed to what needs to be answered honestly, forthrightly and clear.  Trump is appealing to that side of those White Northern European Republican men that is a little like him – give them a piece of cake with the promise of the entire sweet and their ethics begin to crumble.  That is what is beginning to happen and to stop that needs to be done TODAY!

It took Hitler less than  a year to turn Germany into something they paid spent decades repenting and paying for.  Trump is moving much faster and we are watching United States ethical base falling pretty rapidly.

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The United States President = Pathological Liar

Monday, March 6th, 2017

It is amazing to see “Mr. President” referred to every day as a Pathological Liar.  I have lived through many presidents and not everyone has been happy with the current president, but all of them – except maybe Richard Nixon – have been respected even when one could not agree with some of their policies or beliefs, until now.  And even Richard Nixon – who was given some choice names – pathological liar was not one.

To every United States voter who used their vote to help elect Donald J. Trump – you are unequivocally a bigot.  Everyone is being nice and dancing around this, but it is time to say it very clearly.  You voted for Donald Trump because you thought he was going to bring America back to the racist/bigoted nation it was before the election of Barack Obama – quietly, unobtrusively with plausible deniability as to the bigotry being re-enforced, re-established with examples to make sure the youth of the U. S. are thoroughly re-indoctrinated into the evil that has been a part of the structure of America for hundreds of years.

Two things come to mind when one says the name – Barack Obama:  one – he is half African;  two – his name brings up Muslim connotations. Isn’t that why Trump is on this anti-Muslim ban? His bigotry as he and his followers are determined to wipe everything off the face of the earth that this half-Black with Muslim ancestors has achieved, turning it all into extreme negatives to fit the negative stereotype that has existed in the U. S. since it was needed to justify slavery.  You cannot have this ex-president destroying the negative stereotypes you and your ancestors have spent generations putting in place.

Please understand, I know very well Barack Obama is not Muslim, but his name legitimizes Muslims as first class citizens as much as he legitimizes African Americans as full citizens of this country – totally eliminating the second class citizenry of both.  To the bigots in this country that is unforgivable.

To each and every Donald Trump supporter, you can hide behind other reasons that you spurt, but that is the real reason you voted for a man who showed himself to be a pathological liar both before and during his campaign for President; a purveyor of vicious and ugly stories that are lies; who was involved in soft-porn; owner and operator of casinos with rumors of mafia connections; who filed bankruptcy six times cheating many people in the process – without any explanation, without any disclosure of his tax returns, without any substantiating that he didn’t get money from Russia and others of that ilk; who was an adulterer many times over and who paraded it around for all to see and to brag about; who talked about and treated women as though they were sex objects existing for only one reason – who was vile in his comments about women.  And for your side bonus, he also called Mexicans and others ugly names to insure that the world knows that in America they are not considered equal to White Americans – or Russians. – You, Trump supporters, didn’t care, because you simply wanted someone who would wipe out everything about Obama and his presidency, creating a lie that it wasn’t right or good and someone to do everything possible to make that seem to be a vile, ugly, horrible time in these United States.  If Trump had to lie to achieve that goal – you were right there with him, helping to spread what you knew were lies.  If he had to attempt to destroy a woman who spent her entire adult life working so that our lives could be better – so much the better.  You got a ‘twofer’ in Donald Trump.  He not only lied about, misrepresented, slandered the sitting president of the United States, but Trump worked to destroy an “uppity” woman at the same time.  Wow! You really worked hard to make him your president.  Who knows when another such opportunity would come, for you to rise up and make your filth, that was poorly hidden all these generations,  known to the rest of the world.

You claimed you were voting for him because he was going to bring JOBS back to the United States.  Right! A man whose own company and the company of his daughter and family members had outsourced jobs for their businesses to other countries – China, Bangladesh, etc. – has credibility with you to bring jobs back to these United States?  He is still crying the same story. You still claim to believe him when none of his companies or his family’s companies including Ivanka’s has made any move to bring their company’s jobs back to these United States.  Trump makes an announcement about some corporation bringing jobs back to the United States and he takes credit for that move when he had nothing to do with a decision made long before he became president and no one even asks when Trump is going to bring his jobs back onto these shores.

Ivanka Trump just moved her company’s jobs from China – to where?  Back to the United States?  NO! To Bangladesh or some other country where the wages are almost slave wages and where people work in sweat shop conditions just to survive.  This is no secret.  We all are aware of this.  Paying sub-human wages to their workers to increase their own profits so they can live a more elaborate lifestyle leaving those working for them beyond destitute!  That is the reason most U. S. Corporations move their jobs overseas.  Trump and family were just going along with the crowd.  And at the same time hitting at others for doing the same thing.  It is hypocrisy at its worse.  This family’s ethics are in the dumpster and still you cheer.  That is the definition of a bigot.

Why do I call you Trump supporters bigots?  You elected a man who spent over eight years attempting to trash the sitting president of the United States.  He used blatant lies that every one of you knew to be lies, but you voted him in as president, anyway.  Not just little lies, but blatant ones that you knew were lies and that you supported in your zeal to be free of equality and  justice.  You were and are ready to trade a democracy for a dictatorship to maintain your White Privilege – and you are doing it with great gusto.

You knew before you cast your vote that you were voting for a pathological liar.  You knew you were voting for a man who had the ethics of a gutter snake.  A man who would do and say anything to get his point across and to gain his end goal.  In this case, you were casting your vote for such a person to be President of these United States.

You voters for Donald J. Trump as president knew when you cast your ballot that his campaign was a lie from beginning to end.  You knew he put together the KKK, the White Nationalists, Breitbart, the neo-Nazi’s and others on that same level with the same philosophy and beliefs to gain the presidency.  You knew when you cast your ballot for Donald Trump you were voting for the worse kind of bigot.  Yet you voted for him.  Why?  Because you are like him – bigots together trying to bring the United States back to a pre-1950’s place complete with raising again Jim Crow, complete with your claimed superiority over everyone not like you.

You knew with Donald Trump as president you would not have to swallow your own bigotry.  You could come out calling people the -N- word.  You knew you could be abusive to minorities.  You knew you could let out all of the ugliness you had to swallow during the years of Obama’s presidency and today you are doing just that and enjoying every moment.  We are all seeing just how ugly, shallow, violent, rude, vile you can be – that is all on parade for the world to see also.

At some point, it must have dawned on you that your children – born shortly before, during and in the process of the Obama presidency – would not share your hatred for those not like you.  You must have realized that children born to the rest of the world would also see a Black man as president of these United States and that changed, modified, mitigated, eliminated much of the racism that you and your forbears spent your lives creating and projecting.  The negative stereotypes you projected – from deep within your soul – onto minorities was fast disappearing.  You had to do something or face who you really are as a human being, just equal to, without the ‘glow’ of White Privilege covering all of your shortcomings, giving you an identity you did not deserve nor work for, giving you privileges over others which the ‘American Dream’ guaranteed to you, above all others.

America, having created ‘White Privilege’ as its camouflage to maintain slavery and to meld Europeans and others into a ‘race’ of superior beings called White, was changing.  It was threatening to you to see your beloved ‘White Privilege’ evaporating into the equality and justice now coming into being in these United States.  Late, but better than not at all.  This was something you would not tolerate.

Since we have been accustomed to lying to ourselves and saying one thing which was really code for something else, you saw right away through Donald Trump’s code words – Make America Great Again – to what those words really meant – Make America White Again.  We are also beginning to realize your dumping on the media means the “Liberal Media”, which means what you consider the “Jewish Media.”  We saw the need for you to eliminate the “Liberal Media” you could not control, but your actions are showing ever more of where you are coming from and where you are going.

The media conspired with its 24/7 coverage of Donald Trump’s campaign to the elimination of all but 5%  of its coverage given to others running for President of these United States.

So what now Donald J. Trump supporters?  You are faced with supporting Russia – since that is apparently who had to help you elect Mr. Trump.  There are not enough of you to constitute the overwhelming majority that Mr. Trump needed to become president.  Most Americans reject your beliefs and the bigotry by which you justify your existence.  Are you going to move into that place of being enemies of your own country because that is what the continuation of your attempts to re-establish a bigoted nation requires?

I can imagine how fulfilling it is to look at Russia and see only White Northern European faces – even if it does mean pushing the definition of Northern European a bit to fill this role.  You are doing that quite admirably.  Not even many women – a few here and there, but not so many they are equal to those White men we constantly see pictured from Russia.  And certainly, Vladimir Putin’s sexism is very satisfying to you, I am sure, as you see that he is just as much a womanizer as Mr. Trump.  Warms the heart to see those old values still in ascendancy with the hope that you can leave the world in tact for your children coming along, who won’t have to live under equality; won’t have to worry about justice being ‘blind’; won’t have to be truthful in their dealings with others – they will be able to lie to gain the goal of maintaining this bigotry because they will have been taught and have been given a role model who does just that.

So what now all of you Donald J. Trump supporters.  Some of you are hiding.  You supported and support him, but you don’t want your friends and co-workers to know because you know it is your bigotry leading your brain and you know it is wrong to give your support to such a person.

You and your young  children had as a role model – Barack Obama.  A man who was principled in his dealings with you and the rest of the world.  Whose family is down to earth and accepting of all of us – including you and your family.  You have now been instrumental in giving your young children a role model – Donald J. Trump – of a pathological liar and of a man who has cheated, lied and stolen from others without any remorse and who continues to do just that.  This is the role model your children now have and what a follow-up to Barack Obama.

Don’t be surprised when the crime rate sky rockets – don’t be surprised when the murder rate increases exponentially – don’t be surprised when corporate America takes away from you whatever they want in the name of major profits – don’t be surprised when you see the worst of humanity in your leaders because gradually that is what is happening and you know that.  You may be bigoted, but you are not stupid.  Because your current ‘leaders’ are expensively dressed, that indicates their wealth not their character.

Don’t be surprised when your children catch on and start giving you denials to their missteps; when they start justifying going on drugs to escape reality; when they start mistreating you as well as their friends; when they start taking whatever they want from whoever they want to take it and feel justified in the doing.

When you give your children a role model such as Donald J. Trump, they follow it just as they started to follow the role model of Barack Obama.  Who do you want your children to follow – to want to be like? Because rest assured that the ethics of this country – its character – is gradually being changed to follow the character of its leader.  That is the human condition.

When your children have business relationships will they follow the six bankruptcies of Donald Trump?  Will they justify their bigotry – which is assuredly going to grow – by claiming that Barack Obama, as President of the United States was fooling the people and was really not born in these United States – by claiming that Obama was lying to the American people and was really born in Africa?  In other words, Trump was trying to set up the argument that the United States has never had a legitimate Black president.  Isn’t that behind the lies Trump told constantly about Obama?  With the unspoken knife twist implying Obama’s lack of ethics to be able to do such a thing?

Will you delight in seeing your children, as some of you did, portraying the president of the United States and his wife as apes in the jungle, dressed in animal skins and acting as though they were totally stupid, violent, terrorists? Because that is the example you have given them as a good example by your vote for Donald Trump as president.  I could go on for pages, but you know the history and you know what you have done.

And now you have the ‘surprise’ of Donald J. Trump claiming Barack Obama had his phones “tapped” in Trump Tower as some kind of attempt to gain the presidency for Hillary Clinton.  How many more of these pathological lies are we going to sit still and absorb?  For this country they are like body blows.  And we can’t sustain too many of those.  The surprise to me is that having listened to Donald J. Trump lie about Barack Obama for over eight years as he was campaigning for president and his years as a sitting president, when Trump claimed that Obama was not born in the U. S. we are now taking this additional lie of Donald Trump’s seriously.  It is horrendous and should result in his removal as president, in spite of the support and delight of his bigoted followers rejoicing in ‘their President’s’ still being the horrendous liar that he has always been to them and very willing to promote the horribleness that finds its way onto the pages of Breitbart and other such publications.

You, Donald J. Trump voters, have violated your responsibility as citizens of this country because you valued your White Privilege above everything else.  You sold out your country so you could feel better than many others – who are probably better than you, at least ethically and as patriots.  Your patriotism was for sale to whoever assured you that they would make it possible for you continue to feel better than, covered in White Privilege and they would make sure that the law and government would keep you on top because they would “Drain the Swamp” of those swimming in the waters of equality and justice and working to bring about the equality and justice that the voters for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tried to give to all of us.  You let Donald Trump turn the metaphor of Amos’ – let justice roll on like a river and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream into Trump’s “Drain the Swamp”.

All you wanted, all of you Donald J. Trump supporters,  was to put that White Woman in jail because she dared to think she was good enough and equal enoughto run for president of these United States and everybody knows women have a place and it is not equal to men.  All of you knew that could not happen if you were to maintain your feeling of superiority and your White Privilege in the face of its being torn down by people like Hillary Clinton and her followers.  You attempted to turn a God-fearing, hard working woman into a murderer and worse.  Well, you have your murderer as president; you have succeeded in electing your pathological liar as president, you have your mafia tinged president who many claim sold all of us out to Russia and whoever else would pay him the big money, and now you have to live with the result.  You could very well have voted in the end of this Republic and the beginning of a Russian style dictatorship.

Your actions will assuredly send you to the hottest corner of hell.  And what now are you going to do to rectify this situation?  Live in the muck you have created?  Or do something to get Russia out of the United States government and work with all of us to move this country into the greatness promised by its founders?  Into a country where justice, equality and more of the same are really the American way! It is not an easy way because we constantly annoy and disappoint each other, but it winds up to be a pretty good place especially if it is without all of you bigots creating a swamp you then don’t have a clue as to how to move across into the beautiful, clear flowing waters.

And no, I am not a Democrat.

Get those white sheets and pointy hats and that Nazi symbol out of here!~

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

Send your event information to be included in Bettina Network’s Menu of Events to bettina-network@comcast.net

 

 

Makeup? – Never

Saturday, February 11th, 2017

I love best those ‘girlie’ breakfast conversations where everything is laid bare.  Free of all the things one does in the mornings to become the person you want to be – a reflection of all those make-up ads which show you women who are unreachable because their pictures have been blown, photo-shopped, with bumps and lumps removed and skin retouched.

Amazingly, this conversation included a stray male.  What he was doing in the middle of this conversation is unfathomable, but there he was, quite excited to be included in what he thought was going to be women revealing their innermost secrets – and to him.  Normally, he would be expected to smile politely and leave as soon as he could get away without being rude.  This guy loved every minute.

Color took center stage.

I thought I understood what part color played in this makeup business, but this breakfast ‘seminar’ changed that understanding completely.

Even though they were staying at a Bettina Network Hedge School, which is notorious for organic everything – no chemicals in the mix – no artificiality in anything – every woman at the table had on makeup.  All store bought and kept in a makeup case carried wherever they travelled.

What they wanted was re-enforcement that their makeup – as they applied it – looked natural and they did not look “made-up.  For me, that was astounding.  Raised in a family where the last thing in the world you wanted to do was apply make-up to your face and wind up looking like Godzilla’s wife full of pasty stuff on top of even more pasty looking stuff and a face where one could not smile without that makeup breaking into lines and cracking, we were very far apart.  I don’t think I have worn lipstick more than two or three times in life and I am now quite old.  So, there we were with stereotypes, but at two ends of the spectrum, very far apart.  As it turns out I was into as much make-up as everyone else at the table, only a different kind and applied at different times.

If you notice these things – as you age, your skin changes.  If you have light brown skin your face becomes a rather dull looking white with eyebrows that turn white, no matter their natural color when you were young, and that whitish dull skin does you no good.  I was very proud of my light brown skin.  I felt I looked healthier than most because of it.  I certainly didn’t have that so-called “white” skin which dried out and became very wrinkly as one aged, nor did I have that darker brown skin which sagged from maintaining its natural oils even as one grew older.  And here I was, about to reveal that my beautiful light brown skin, with its touch of a pinkish/red/orange color was not entirely natural, no matter how it looked.

When you are young, your face is blotchy with break-outs all over and what you long for is that beautiful even-toned unachievable skin that is advertised in almost every cosmetic ad from the beginning of creation.

The women brought their make-up to the table and we examined it all very closely.  Amazingly, even the expensive stuff looked pretty similar to the stuff that came from CVS, Walgreens, and other such places.  Even more amazing was the ingredients – we could not pronounce any of them when ingredients were on the labels.  We could only conjecture what was in those bottles and jars which did not reveal their ingredients.  We didn’t find any ingredients we knew and when we did they were in minuscule amounts.

When these different ingredients were put on your face, we couldn’t detect differences between the stuff that cost a fortune and the stuff that came from the pharmacy stores.  Thy all seemed to give the same look.  The difference in the make-up on the table was the amount of disposable income different women at the table had to be able to spend on cosmetics.  One spent a couple hundred dollars a month and we gasped, in awe.

My ‘cosmetics’ that morning were Grapeseed Oil, AloeVera Gel and Beta Carotene tablets in oil in a capsule – all organic.  I had a lot more, but I wasn’t going to reveal all in one morning and I certainly was not going to reveal anything bringing me close to a couple hundred dollars spent in one month.  If I spent that kind of money on my face I would be super-thin, because I wouldn’t have money left to spend on food.

The first thing that left the table was the stuff used to take make-up off at night.  With all it was supposed to do, my grape seed oil did better.  The next thing out were the ‘astringents’.  My Aloe Vera Gel was better suited, did not have chemicals or preservatives of any kind, although it did need to be kept in the refrigerator and used quickly.  Not only was it a good astringent, but it also tightened into a mask.

The Bettina Beauty treatment for the face is a Bettina Blog written some time long past, but it is still among the Bettina Network Blogs so I won’t go over it here, but it is necessary to do on a two to three times a week basis to keep your face from sagging, crinkling, becoming pasty white and wrinkly and more. This mornings beauty regimen helps, but does need to be supplemented with other organic treatments.

That Bettina Network Beauty regimen makes all the rest possible.

After we put on the Aloe Vera Gel, we had a few minutes conversation about what it does, allowing it to tighten into a mask.  We then rinsed it off with the requisite ten splashes of water and moved on to the Beta Carotene tablets.

I clipped one to put on my face after it was rinsed of its Aloe Vera Gel and there were gasps all around.  I looked like something out of a cowboy and Indian movie and I was clearly the Indian – very red of skin and  oily of face with the Beta Carotene oil going into my hairline – deliberately.

I should say here that my hairline was showing the grey line around my face where the rest of my hair was beautifully colored, but the hairline was growing in and it was a mixed grey and black, but mostly grey.  My eyebrows were also a mixed grey and black, giving me a rather older look, so they took received an extra rubbing into them of the Beta Carotene capsule.

The women couldn’t wait to get to their bathrooms to put on their department store makeup to go out for the day.  I cleared the dining room and was left with my red face, dirty dishes and the one male person at the table.  He helped me with the dishes, but not before he used the beta carotene on his face.  Looking at him, I saw just how ridiculous I looked, but he was confident this was going to solve his problem.  He wanted instructions for the day on how to handle this, but I had none.  I just go about my day.  Rinse my face with ten splashed each rinse whenever I use the bathroom for other purposes.  So he left declaring he would do the same.

The next morning we all appeared at breakfast.  The women without makeup and their makeup on the table, as we agreed to the morning before.  Me and the one male with no makeup bottles or jars in front of us because we didn’t have any to put there.  And who do you think looked stunning?  The two of us did.  By then, the red had been absorbed into the skin and the constant rinses after having gone to the bathroom several times helped remove the excess Beta Carotene color.  Our skin glowed.

No grey around the face from hair growing out and our eye brows were a beautiful mixed color of dark, medium and lighter brownish red.  And you know, the most delicate and dangerous thing you can do when having your hair dyed or dying it yourself, is trying to match your eyebrow color.  That dye will put your eyes out if it goes to the wrong place and will probably also fool with your ability to see even if it is only absorbed a bit through the skin – which has to be absorbed through a bit of your eyelid to make the eyebrows look great.

I looked 20 years younger – with a face that looked slightly flushed, like younger skin looks when you are excited and the rest a beautiful even color.  The whitish grey look was gone and in its place a bronze look which almost approximated a day in the sun.  I looked very sun-tanned and almost as if I was blushing.  He looked the same.

Our one male person had been concerned about his eyebrows and mustache turning grey, but didn’t know what to do about it – and this was a middle to upper level business executive who felt he needed to keep a fairly young appearance to keep his job.

The women were flabbergasted because the only thing we did that morning was to rinse our faces with the ten splashes of warm water.  I followed my splashes of warm water with ten splashes of cold water just to look a bit more flushed – only that didn’t last.  The Beta Carotene created color lasts about two to three days.  On some people it will last a week through many splashed of water.  No soap, however.  We never use soap, ever, at all.

The women left their make-up on the table and used the beta-carotene capsules on their faces.  I don’t know how they faced the day because it takes, generally, putting it on overnight and letting it absorb with a morning rinse before starting out for the day – or – putting it on in the morning and leaving it on all day with several splashes of water rinses throughout the day for the color to become ideal.  It will then last two or three days before you need to reapply the beta carotene, but that didn’t seem to bother anyone.  They thought the results were good enough to make due and get together a new lifestyle routine to accommodate this new make-up regimen.  I would like to have followed their red faces around with a camera as they went about their day, but the dirty dishes were calling.

Whatever they did, the next morning they were all beautiful and ecstatic.  One mentioned the difference in cost between what she used and one capsule of beta-carotene, but I had to remind her that the cost added up to more than that because she did need to do constant upkeep with products like organic Aloe Vera gel, all of the oils we talked about and the Bettina Beauty regimen with Vitamin C, D, etc.  That didn’t matter to her.  Those oils last a couple months and so does the rest of what is needed so she was off to the organic store to supply her make-up case with everything new.

We all wondered how she would get through airport security.  They are accustomed to women’s make-up cases, but not those with oils and organic ingredients which are normally thought of as food. We imagined her being put into detention for days while airport security checked and re-checked her ‘new’ makeup for some new kind of terrorist plot.

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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.

Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.

Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.

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