Guest comments - Bettina Network's Blog

Archive for the ‘Guest comments’ Category

Electoral College Trumps Democracy!

Friday, September 4th, 2020

With the upcoming vote being what is dominating the news, the one thing mostly absent from the discussion is the Electoral College.

We have suffered through Donald Trump as president because of the racism and sexism structured into this country and its Constitution by our Founding Father. They were unable to envision a country in which all people were created equal. The fear that ‘others’ – other races, immigrants, women, slaves might be able to rise up and exercise control over those who they felt were the real Americans and so the Electoral College came into being as the structured racism and structured sexism put into the Constitution to prevent such an occurrence.

In 2016 that Electoral College gave us Donald Trump as president. A man so morally deficient in what we consider our “American values” that our country as we know it has almost ceased to exist.

We have immigrants being destroyed at the southern border. We have young children of immigrants by the thousands who can’t be found, while we have the suspicious swell in Sex Traffickers having a huge supply of young children they are abusing.

We have as president a man who had “Mein Kampf:” next to his bed for years on his night stand and who has just automatically put in place Hitler/Nazi type institutions into this American country. The latest being his Attorney General trying to eliminate the International Court of Justice.

The 2016 election clearly said – from a democratic place; from the democracy we wish we had structured instead of the republic under which we live – that Hillary Clinton was elected president and was pushed aside in favor of a white male northern European descendant with a ‘mafia’ type family history. We have lived with the fact that over 3 million Americans voted Hillary Clinton into office as president of these United States and instead we cringed as we watched Donald Trump step over her and take the position instead. That by itself should have been the event to horrify every American and move all of us into action when one candidate has over 3 million votes more than the other and the other becomes president? How have we justified our near silence about that over these past four years? How have we justified not having made that our number one priority? How have we justified making excuses for the continuation of the Electoral College while blaming other things which did not have the strength nor the import to be responsible for such a happening?

If we were not happy with that structural racism we would have moved to change it over these last four years. We have not. Instead, we have attributed that loss not to what our Founding Father institutionalized and what we have lived under all of these hundreds of years, but to James Comey writing a memo which is not the kind of thing which would dictate the winner of the 2016 presidential election.

It is time for us to “man up” and admit our failings and move swiftly and together to change that. We have “Black Lives Matter”, but do they really when we cannot take out of our institutional, political structure what has been put there to make sure whoever is running for election as president of this country has a very large barrier to cross if they are not northern European and if their class is not the preferred class of our Founding Fathers.

It is time for us to be – structurally – a democracy – and not hide behind the fear of “the others” taking over and running this country. It is time for us to be an actual democracy where white northern European upper classes in these United States are one of – are equal to – are working alongside those who are not white, not upper class, not the kind of person who originally wrote the Constitution and instituted slavery and the extreme oppression of women with immigrants being treated as they are today.

Why is equality such a scary thing to all of us. Why do we need the accident of our birth to determine our level of power, wealth and control in these United States. What is it we are afraid of? That blacks will rule the country? That Jews will be the financial arbiters? That we will all slide ‘down’ into a culture taken from American Indians? Need I go on?

Get your guts together America and act out what we claim to believe – that we are all created equal and we all have much to give to the betterment of these United States and we need to make sure everyone is allowed to give of their talents and that each one’s vote will be equal to the vote of their neighbor, friend, co-worker, colleague, ……….

The first priority in voting is to eliminate the Electoral College. We cannot afford anymore Donald Trump’s – and, we might add, eliminate many of those presidents who would not have been elected but for the Electoral College – all of whom added their bit to the destruction of this country through their fear of losing the advantage of their skin color, their culture and their financial status which they did not earn, but were given by their birth.

Your birth gives you many things – it does not give you “better than” against other human beings.

ELIMINATE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE TODAY!

Responses from Bettina Network Lifestyle Community Members!

Saturday, July 4th, 2020

Member 1

Rev. Dr. Robert Bennett is the second African American – that we know of – who has had a negative interaction with the police. He is the second African American who had done nothing even remotely criminal and yet the police came to his house twice and forced him out and incarcerated him. The second time for five weeks.

The first we heard about was “Skip” Gates.. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder.

The attempt was to arrest Skip Gates. There are now pictures in the papers which show him on his porch in handcuffs with the police standing around.

Even if they could not be held, their images could be tarnished and it gives jokes among white supremacists.

And, by the way, how come the police in Cambridge, Ma. are becoming whiter along with Blacks being “arrested” for no reason.

Why was Gates “arrested”? For breaking and entering into his own home.

And Bennett? To be “sectioned” at the local and apparently ‘going along with the program’ hospital. He who had never had a hint of any kind of mental problems was picked up by the police, forced into the hospital to be psychiatrically examined because he was considered a threat to the public. Someone who might do harm to those around and about.

Both are living in areas of Cambridge which are known to be “for white patrons only.” It is an area which traditionally was and is “red lined.”

Rev. Dr. Bennett lives in that area and he is not Harvard connected. Well, except for a Harvard doctorate, however, he was supposed to live in faculty housing so the neighborhood would be confident he and his family would be moving along once he retired. Disappointed and having to come to grips with the reality of where they lived, they decided to sell their house, but then took the house off the market. Shortly thereafter white anger was unleashed and this is the result?

Member 2

What is incredibly disturbing in what I have read about all the things happening to Rev. Bennett is the fact that he had a probate attorney draw up a Health Care Proxy – which we are all advised to do – and that was drawn up months before he went into the hospital for surgery. Apparently, a judge, at the request of an attorney- who really seems ‘sketchy’ – invalidated that Health Care Proxy and put in its place a Health Care Proxy that Rev. Bennett did not want, had not signed, with a proxy he did not want and that Health Care Proxy was the reason Rev. Bennett had this new Health Care Proxy drawn up. Rev. Bennett was forced by the judge’s decision to have that proxy. Rev. Bennett apparently tried to correct that awfulness by having a probate attorney draw up a Health Care Proxy which invalidated the one he knew nothing about and the Court validated that proxy – the one not signed by Rev. Bennett, one he did not know existed and invalidated the one he clearly wanted. It is mind blowing! Are our attorneys and court that crooked? That said clearly to me this is all about setting up the situation to rip off Rev. Bennett’s assets and not about anything else.

Attorneys who have no ethics about what they are doing and who possibly have hidden interests in so doing can change our wishes to what benefits those attorneys and their clients. What kind of court system do we have? The way it is developing is that of an extreme dictatorship that wants to present a good “front” with no problems letting such things happen. Sadly, some folks have discovered the pots of gold at the end of United States citizens lives and have figured out how to put those citizens into extreme pain, make the end of their lives a torture and wind up with everything they managed to save so that end of life would be decently lived.

People who do not have endless money to be able to hire attorneys to go to court for as long as is necessary to correct this horrible wrong are at the mercy of tainted courts and -should we say ‘crooked’ attorneys? Even then, I suspect it would be a waste of money because the first attorney and judge did ugly things. Isn’t that illegal? Shouldn’t that be illegal? And what recourse do you have except continuing in court – bleeding money to attorneys – and even then – nothing.

Keep publishing. We need to know these things!

This entire thing has upset me and my family unbelievably because we have a probate attorney we hired to make sure we were all covered with what we need and want for those times we might not be able to or not allowed to control our own lives and this says to me that was just a waste of time and money. Money well into four figures. The court and an attorney can invalidate all of it in seconds.

Whatever happened to the United States and its honest court system? Was there ever such a thing and we only knew the image and not the reality?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Member 3

Thank you for all of your postings about what is happening to Rev. Dr. Bennett. I was a student of his years ago and it grieves me to see what he is going through today.

He is a lovely person. Very quiet, self-effacing and extremely shy!

I was a student at EDS at the time and took his Hebrew Bible Class and a class on Racism he co-taught with his wife, Marceline Donaldson. They also taught that class at Trinity Episcopal Church in Boston, but it was more complete at Episcopal Divinity School.

At the time, when they invited the class to tea at their home, my thoughts were – one day this community is going to attempt to destroy them. They were the only African Americans owning a home in that neighborhood and I knew a few of their neighbors who were not happy with “those folks” living close to them. Besides their comments to me, they smiled nicely when they encountered the couple. I know that because I was with them when one of the neighbors greeted us. They didn’t know Dr. Bennett and his wife so I introduced them. I was so shocked at their response – smiling, lovely, welcoming and just two days prior they were bitter in their comments to me about “such people” living so close.

If there is any way I can help, please let me know. They can’t be left alone in this fight because it is one that affects us all.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Member 4

My husband and I have been calling Robert and Marceline who we have known for years. At first, I could not believe what was happening to them. After some thought, I realized the same could happen to any of us. My work has made me aware of the result beginnings of these Guardianship Corporations which fly under the banner of “helping the elderly who are alone”. We had one problem in our church with a member who was fairly well off and all of a sudden was embroiled with one of these Guardianship groups trying to take them over. It became clear that they were trying to take over and drain off their assets.

Given what we went through with that family, please know that we are here to do whatever we can for Marceline and Robert. They have always been a very beautiful couple. Their sense of humor with each other is great! It is a shame that this is what they are experiencing at this time of life.

We are praying for them – however, we also want to know what else we can do. My husband thought about organizing a group in the church to work with them and keep that group going after their problems are solved to work with others in the same place.

Stay in touch and please keep those write-ups coming so we all can keep up with what is happening with Dr. Bennett and his wife. When I receive mine I send it around to as many people as I can think of who would be interested and the feed back has been dynamite.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Member 5

Reading about all of this it is startling and very disturbing.

We have pictures of Skip Gates – from Harvard University – in handcuffs on his own porch – being arrested by the police for breaking and entering his own home?

And now we have Robert Bennett picked up in a huge drama, which we watched and were appalled at the Cambridge Police for allowing themselves to be so used. Or – were they a part of this whole drama before it happened and were attempting what was attempted with Skip Gates?

Do you realize how the Cambridge and Boston police are becoming “whiter”? Now that we are decades away from what caused these areas to attempt to diversify their police force, that has gradually slipped away and we see the whitening now happening. Will we now see more of this happening in Cambridge? Clearly, African Americans can be picked up in Cambridge, by the police, even though there is not even a hint of criminality involved and they can be imprisoned for indefinite periods of time for no reason. And what happens after that? Any and All Americans can be picked up in Cambridge, by the police, even though there is not even a hint of criminality involved and they can be imprisoned for indefinite periods of time for no reason. Do you doubt that? After this, I don’t!

I guess we consider ourselves so influential that we can make those same African Americans pay for their own imprisonment. Isn’t that what happened with Robert Bennett? I would love to know who paid for all of this? Hopefully, not my tax money and hopefully not the Bennett’s insurance money. Either way I am getting ready to protest all of this somehow.

If you are all sleeping and not paying attention to this and not intervening to make these things stop you could be next. I was raised with the saying – Nazi Germany is what happened because good people did nothing. You are seeing the same thing happening in these United States and what are you doing about it?

#BlackLivesMatter

***********************************

A Response by a Bettina Member

Thursday, December 5th, 2019

First – I am young, white and male. I need to put that out front so you know something about where I am coming from. I am also a scientist who has been using Bettina Network for several years and look forward to my time spent in one of your homes in Harvard Square – it is my favorite place to go. I get the education in that house that I didn’t get at home and I get to stay in real luxury surroundings at the same time – something I also did not get to do at home.

I read Marceline’s article on Kamala Harris and there are things I would like to add that she did not say. Things I researched after many breakfasts in her home which just blew my mind. Mostly, about telling the truth.

To tell the truth about Kamala Harris means to say that she was one of those who supported Barack Obama from the beginning. At the beginning of Obama’s candidacy, when others were looking elsewhere, Kamala Harris was strong in using her time and other resources to work towards getting Obama elected president. She has yet to be given credit for that. What blows my mind is the fact that so called “older blacks” are supporting Joe Biden because of his closeness to Obama. How such is that?

That should not be such a surprise to me because I noticed over the years African Americans are not great supporters of Bettina Network. I have yet to meet one using this network and my conversations with those I know blow my mind. A couple African Americans I know and who are friends of mine would rather stay in lesser accommodations and pay more than to stay at the Bettina Network. They don’t articulate why, but after a short conversation it becomes clear they do not give much credit to a company owned by another African American, especially a woman. Given that I have some understanding as to why blacks are not supporting Kamala Harris. To support their own seems to be a negative to just about every African American I have met. This is an article, after all, in which I am determined to tell the truth as I see it in this life. If that violates you or makes you angry so be it. I have had to struggle years to be able to face life as it is rather than as it is described to me for me to believe as the truth.

To tell the truth about Joe Biden, which few are doing, means to say that he was not one of those supporting Barack Obama when Kamala Harris was out on the campaign trail doing exactly that. My research shows that from the very beginnings of Barack Obama’s campaign there was Kamala Harris doing everything she could to support his candidacy.

It is to admit that Biden was instrumental in seeing that Thurgood Marshall was followed by Clarence Thomas – and that is who “older blacks” are supporting instead of supporting Kamala Harris? I was too young to remember the hearings, but I went back to read about what happened when Clarence Thomas was put on the Supreme Court and it was vile and who was instrumental in seeing that happen? Pictured in newspaper clippings as chair of the panel that made sure Thomas was exonerated enough to be elected to the Supreme Court – Joe Biden. So now we have to live with him on the Supreme Court without acknowledging who was instrumental in making that happen.

To tell the truth means to talk out loud without being intimidated to say Joe Biden treated a black woman – Anita Hill – disgracefully, and this is the man being promoted as the successor of Barack Obama? The man promoted as the next president while Kamala Harris’ campaign is suspended? I do not wonder why we now have Donald Trump as president. Sometimes I wonder if he is not who we deserve.

To tell the truth means to point out the upset and upheaval that happened when Elizabeth Warren was, briefly, the front runner in the Democrat’s primary presidential campaign. Such furor and upset was palpable. A flurry of activity and out comes Michael Bloomberg and even DeVal Patrick running into the campaign to stop what looked like an election getting out of control – how? a woman was then the front runner taking control out of the hands of the white males who normally oversee and dictate such things whether they be Republican or Democrat. That should have been done generations ago, but we are still here fighting the same battles we have been fighting for generations. I hope it stops with my generation. At least there seems to be some hope after we have seen an African American man as president doing an outstanding job followed by an out of control White man who someone said wears “clown shoes” and will engage in treason to keep himself up front and in control because his ego needs that. The job he does is irrelevant, only a by-product of his stage settings for himself. And that job includes turning the United States Government into a criminal enterprise over which he rules as the godfather? Is this what I am inheriting?

All of a sudden there were people coming out from all corners to stop Elizabeth Warren. The last time I saw anything like that was when it looked as though Hillary Clinton might win and out came even Russia and Vladimir Putin to stop that and stop her becoming president even if they had to sully the process to achieve their goal.

We don’t tell the truth. And so we help elect the likes of Donald Trump. The man whose closest long term adviser is Steven Miller – a Jew who hates other Jews and has promoted and helped to bring about things that were prevalent during Hitler’s reign and Nazi Germany. Just like Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn who was a gay man who hates gays.

To tell the truth means that we have a straight line we can draw in our government from Joe McCarthy of “communist” days straight through to Donald Trump. I heard at many breakfasts how Trump learned at the feet of Cohn and McCarthy and as my research bore that out I was stunned. That is not something I would have put together otherwise.

We have constantly had to fight such people and why? Is it because we put forth a scenario which skewers the truth and puts forth instead a story line which is meant to manipulate the voting public into a stance that we want which will maintain the system as it is rather than tell the truth to gain a fully functioning system open to all which reflects the equality we claim to be about?

We had a senator in Joe McCarthy who was rumored to be a total drunk and yet he had lots of support as he careened all over the place making life a living hell for many, seeing to it that their lives were upheaveled, their jobs lost, their beliefs lied about for the convenience of the many who wanted to see the kind of “purge” McCarthy undertook. I didn’t realize until my stay in a Bettina home the connection between McCarthy, Cohn and Trump. There was even talk about the role Robert Kennedy had sitting at McCarthy’s right hand as he made his way up the political ladder. I heard it at a breakfast seminar and still didn’t believe it until I did my own research and the shock that this is my country and this is what we are about hit with crude power and I have not been the same since.

I could go on for pages, but this is what we need in this country – tell the truth and deal with the consequences. What a totally refreshing idea. Maybe then we wouldn’t have to worry about the “billionaire group” who deserve to be a part of this society also. And we wouldn’t have to worry about the feminists, or the lesbians, or the homosexual males, or the angry blacks, or the immigrants, or……… All people we have in our immediate families – well, maybe not all, but certainly one or two. We can have family dinners with them, but not allow them to be an equal part of our lives. Is that why our family lives are so screwed up? To be better than, we have to hide and/or try to change those who share our genes?

Maybe when I get a bit older I will understand and join this group, but now, as a young person I hope I continue learning and speaking truth. It is freeing like nothing else. At least if I decided to support Joe Biden it would be after I knew the truth about his history and who he is today. But even so I agree with you Marceline, I would rather support someone like Kamala Harris for president. I was lukewarm about her until I read your article. Today, I would like to be one of her supporters.

______________________________________


IT COSTS MONEY TO PRODUCE THIS BLOG. WE HOPE YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE SO WE CAN EXPAND AND CONTINUE THE RESEARCH AND WRITINGS WHICH KEEP YOU KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT MANY THINGS THAT WOULD NOT REACH YOU OTHERWISE ALONG WITH THE OPINIONS AND WORK OF THOSE WHO ARE MEMBERS OF BETTINA NETWORK’s LIFESTYLE COMMUNITY.

What follows are some of the ways you can support our work:

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

Project 1 – Estate Sales after the Sale!*

*This contribution is to the Bettina Network Foundation, inc which is a 501(c)3 organization and tax deductible.

Project 2 – #WellsFargoBoycott*

This contribution is to the Bettina Network Foundation, inc. which is a 501(c)3 organization and tax deductible.

Project 3 – Growing Bettina Network’s Blog

into a major media outlet bringing to the public news, recipes, thoughts, reviews of businesses, etc. from the perspective of those who belong to Bettina Network’s Lifestyle Community. 

Project 4 – Boycott the Twenty Dollar ($20) bill

You can send a check to Bettina Network, inc. P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 to support this blog! Please make your check out to “Bettina Network, inc.” since the blog income is not the foundation income.

If you prefer your gift go to the Foundation, make your check payable to Bettina Network Foundation, inc. The money we receive for the Foundation currently is going to support the Wells Fargo Boycott. 

_________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net 




Trump – the anti-Christ? Readers Comment

Friday, October 18th, 2019

From a Bettina Network Lifestyle Community Member 1.

Who writes this stuff! I had in mind the same thing, but didn’t have the guts to say out loud what I have been thinking about all of these forces being acted out in this world today. I am incredibly delighted that your people did.

It is worrisome as a Christian – at least that is what I call myself – to have this history of my Christianity backing slavery and all the other evil causes it has backed. Going through school and studying all of this made it even worse because there was no explanation. You were just left with nothing but a violent memory.

I took this to a further stage. Talk is now resurfacing about Gucifer 2.0. Every time I hear the name of this Russian group which worked to elect Donald Trump as president of these United States I think of and my mind automatically substitutes “Lucifer” for Gucifer and Lucifer is what we call Satan. And then I wonder if this is Russia’s sense of the absurd or if someone named this group without a conscious connection between Gucifer and Lucifer. I also can take this further still by remembering that the New York city building Trump’s son-in-laws family owns with its address being 666 (the sign of Lucifer) and which was rumored to be in financial trouble with the possible Saudi’s bailing them out which is the set-up for another genocide with Trump sending U. S. Troops to help the Saudi’s with another genocide, this time of the Yemens.

At any rate, true or not, it explains a lot that happened with Trump’s election. And explains a lot about Trump himself.

_______________________________________________

From Bettina Network Lifestyle Community Member 2

I have been really disappointed not to have read or heard any comments coming from the Armenian community in support of the Kurds. Having gone through the same thing with the Kurds on the tip of becoming annihilated by Turkey it really gives another look at what happened to the Armenians and into the Turkish National Memory and Character.

The Armenian Genocide has come around again, this time with the Kurds substituting for the Armenians. If anyone wonders what happened. Here it is being acted out again on the world stage.

______________________________________________

From Bettina Network Lifestyle Community Member 3

I read and heard so many people warning about what Trump would do if he was impeached. Mostly, they expected him to start World War III. I shoved that off as hysteria or ridiculous, no one in this world is that bad. Well, here we are today and what is the distraction Trump and probably his fascist brother leaders have come up with? A war! An outrageous war with Turkey vs the Kurds plus more nations involved and another genocide.

I am glad you added in the article about the Armenian massacre by the Turks is what generated the term “genocide.” We need to be reminded of our history.

_____________________________________________

From Bettina Network Lifestyle Community Member 4

The “anti-Christ” is quite appropriate for Trump and his buddies. It looks as though Trump is coming way down and is trying to take the world with him in a fiery storm. To go back to Scripture – doesn’t it say “…the fire next time.”

Thank you for putting that in print in a publication that has put out some substantial stuff. Months ago you wrote about all of this and now it is just coming into print in the mainline media. Keep writing – whether it is by a group, or one, or an occasional article. I have one to send on beauty, but it seems too out of it right now. Do I send my password to make sure my article gets printed?

ED. NOTE: To submit an article for Bettina Network’s Blog – please include your name and the password you receive and which is renewed yearly. That is your ticket to become one of our writers. You can write many articles – detailed scientific articles to cover yourself on being the first to publish – funny stories – serious items of interest – breaking news or news we can break, etc. – your thoughts, concerns, philosophy, religion. Love to have your contributions. Since we are surrounded by theologians we try to go slow on those publications, but we will soon take the restraint off them.

___________________________________________________

From Bettina Network Lifestyle Community Member 5

This is to Marceline Donaldson – please publish it in Bettina Network’s Blog and make sure she gets a copy. Is she still overworking? That was one workaholic family. They didn’t do much besides work. Hope that is changed. I remember Cookie from school. She practiced her piano for several hours each day, was a reporter for her grandfather’s radio and television show reporting on school news and I think she was about 9 or 10. The things she has been into over her lifetime – it is amazing.

Hi Cookie

Just found this publication and was amazed, but not really surprised. You are following your family footsteps. I remember your grandfather – O. C. W. Taylor – who was a co-founder of the Louisiana Weekly along with CC Dejoie, Sr. and who helped bring the Pittsburgh Courier to New Orleans, among other places. My mother used to tell me “OC” stories and she said the first office of the Pittsburgh Courier was in your home. That must have been exciting although we were both too young to have much memory of that. Printers ink must be in your veins plus dress design (and I remember with hysterical laughter your sculptures) and God knows what else.

What I am reading about here are the things your family was always into. This is what I heard your grandfather had in mind when he and Mr. Dejoie started the “Weekly”. A paper which, when it was founded tries to publish substantial stories and especially editorials to give the “Community” another way to think. We have too much on parties, fashion articles, who had dinner with who – except I have to take that back because I remember your mother and she was the society editor for the Courier and I think also for the Weekly. Keep up the good work. If I can help in any way, let me know. I hope others are thinking the same because this needs good support, which is why I am writing this to you for publication in Bettina Network’s Blog.

Don’t go off on me and put this aside, I am writing it as an article for you to put in Bettina Network’s Lifestyle Community’s publication. My password is enclosed to make sure you have to print this.

Thanks,

_____________________________________________

IT COSTS MONEY TO PRODUCE THIS BLOG. WE HOPE YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE SO WE CAN EXPAND AND CONTINUE THE RESEARCH AND WRITINGS WHICH KEEP YOU KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT MANY THINGS THAT WOULD NOT REACH YOU OTHERWISE ALONG WITH THE OPINIONS AND WORK OF THOSE WHO ARE MEMBERS OF BETTINA NETWORK’s LIFESTYLE COMMUNITY.

What follows are some of the ways you can support our work:

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

Project 1 – Estate Sales after the Sale!*

*This contribution is to the Bettina Network Foundation, inc which is a 501(c)3 organization and tax deductible.

Project 2 – #WellsFargoBoycott*

This contribution is to the Bettina Network Foundation, inc. which is a 501(c)3 organization and tax deductible.

Project 3 – Growing Bettina Network’s Blog

into a major media outlet bringing to the public news, recipes, thoughts, reviews of businesses, etc. from the perspective of those who belong to Bettina Network’s Lifestyle Community. 

Project 4 – Boycott the Twenty Dollar ($20) bill

You can send a check to Bettina Network, inc. P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 to support this blog! Please make your check out to “Bettina Network, inc.” since the blog income is not the foundation income.

If you prefer your gift go to the Foundation, make your check payable to Bettina Network Foundation, inc. The money we receive for the Foundation currently is going to support the Wells Fargo Boycott. 

_________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net 


More Bettina Members Comments!

Wednesday, March 20th, 2019

I was heartsick as I watched television news as the New Zealand massacre unfolded. I could not believe we were in that space once again.

I turned on television news to watch young people in their massive demonstration about Climate Change. What a disappointment. A fantastic huge demonstration of such dedicated youth and not one word or picture or anything about what was happening outside my window.

I remembered a couple things – when there was some news out there that Trump wanted to block he had ways to distract and block. Was the New Zealand massacre set up to distract these young people’s demonstration which Trump has worked hard to keep from surfacing? It would take something massive to keep those young people off the television news and it was found. Since the start of that demonstration I’ve seen nothing of the work and actions of thousands of young people – only the New Zealand massacre. Were Muslims used to distract from this powerful day of demonstrations?

The second thing I remembered was Trump asking someone he was interviewing if he would kill for him. The news commentator thought that was strange, but put it down to Trump’s “derangement.” That was either Trump’s “derangement” or Trump having blown past the ethics and morals which would have kept him from doing the Khashoggi thing to his joining his group of fascist, dictator ‘friends’ who he has shown he clearly admires and now has shown he can keep up with ‘mafia speak’ to cause murders in his realm?

My thoughts are constantly with the New Zealanders who had to endure the slaughter. I don’t know how I can help, but something will show itself and I will respond.

_______________________________________________________

This world has been created, managed and brought along by males. Some white, some pink, some yellow, some brown, some of many colors. All share lives on this planet which are mostly about satisfying their male egos’ and no matter how large or how small they are led first by sex and then all kinds of violence and everything else follows. It is time for a change. Even television shows are about sex and violence in one form or another and getting worse. There is so much more to life, but we don’t seem able to experience anything beyond various forms of sex and violence.

Life has so many other components, possibilities, excitements – isn’t it time for all of you out of control males to sit down, sit back and just stop the BS. It is time for another kind of world order to emerge – one which has caring for others its first concern; which puts others first; which is interested in building bridges not walls; which looks at business as a way of supplying what we all need not as a way to make billions so we can isolate ourselves and show the world our greatness which we gained at their expense?

We need to be a safe place for the poor to get out of poverty; to do everything we can to educate all of us; – and my writing this is so foolish. As you read it I can hear the comments – “a pipe dream, a romantic, an idealist, where did he come from”. It is so sad what we have done to this planet and it is getting worse. It was such a beautiful place – it is no longer.

Problem is, I don’t see any way out. There are too many Donald Trump’s in this world and more coming. We have so screwed ourselves with most of us just alive doing whatever until we die without any thought to the fact that we are all wasting the beauty of life because we have gone after weakness rather than strength and have redefined our values to satisfy our current existence instead of changing our current existence to be of good character. I doubt that we even know of what that consists.

_______________________________________________________

With New Zealand, has this administration taken its first steps into murder to be able to join the fascist nations developing very quickly around the globe? Did we have to prove our “manhood” and have done so with the “mafia speak” that brought about the New Zealand massacre?

It looks as though sex trafficking, pedophilia, the opioids – the new kind of drugs by prescription until addicted are all now in place and arms of this new mafia being created world wide with the United States president one of those doing the creating, promoting, managing. By tweet is a powerful way to create this kind of institutional structure.

________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

Project 1 – Estate Sales after the Sale

Project 2 – #WellsFargoBoycott

Or you can send a check to Bettina Network, inc. P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 to support this blog! Please make your check out to “Bettina Network, inc.” since the blog income is not the foundation income.

If you prefer your gift go to the Foundation, make your check payable to Bettina Network Foundation, inc. The money we receive for the Foundation currently is going to support the Wells Fargo Boycott.

_________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.co


Time to Celebrate Bettina Network’s Blog – over 3 million visitors!

Wednesday, December 5th, 2018

We hoped we would cross the 3,000,000 reader mark by the end of the year, however, we crossed that mark in November and thanks to all of you who come on a consistent basis to read what we publish.  We also thank you for your contributions, without them we would be nothing.  We even thank those of you who come-  sometimes. And we miss those of you who have not discovered this source of information.

We have published 612 blogs!!

You can subscribe to get the blog sent to your email address.  Currently, we do not have a long list of subscribers so most of those 3 million plus readers come fresh every day.  This year we will work on getting a subscriber list – maybe.  Someone said that was the way to do it – we don’t agree, but we will give it a ‘sort of’ try.

We continue to have a media center as our goal.  We are a new kind of media – community oriented. We are a publishing outlet for our community.

The one thing on which we will not compromise is truth telling. We maintain the same philosophy that we have had from day one.  We are open to those who belong to Bettina Network’s Lifestyle Community as their media outlet.  If they have something to share – poetry they can’t or won’t publish elsewhere; new research findings; new ideas; etc. we will publish their contributions.   We include everything – recipe’s, nutrition, fashion, research of all kind, politics, wealth creation, psychology articles, spiritual reflection, articles on sexism, racism, culture and cultural differences, how does culture affect our world, geo-politics, — you name it, we include it if the Bettina Network’s Lifestyle Community supports it.

THE GRAND TOTAL _ as of this morning  _3,082,637 visits to

 Bettina Network’s Blog!!!!

____________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

Our Current Projects:

  1.  Estate Sales after the Sale
  2. Boycott of Wells Fargo

__________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

DRAFT DODGER as Commander in Chief

Saturday, November 3rd, 2018

Donald Trump has a long list of ways he has violated the “norm.”  It seems as though he is president to upheaval this country and deliver it into the hands of the fascist leaders of the world.  To be one with them is the goal?  If it is he is certainly succeeding admirably.  Most recently he modified one of the ten commandments – “Thou shalt not kill”.  Compromise – if you didn’t hold the gun which shot 11 Jews at prayer;  if you didn’t attempt to break into a black church to kill those inside; if you didn’t hold the gun which killed two African Americans which was your fall back position from killing in houses of worship;  if you didn’t put the rope around Khashoggi’s neck; if you didn’t wield the bone saw which dismembered Khashoggi then you really didn’t kill?  Somehow, my bible doesn’t say that – it has a very opposite view, especially in the New Testament – if you even as much as hold such a thought against your neighbor you are guilty of the act.  And don’t most of you claim to hold to the teachings of the New Testament?

Trump has dodged the draft many times.  His “bone spur” excuse is a well known joke.  What happens when a serial draft dodger becomes president?

He calls the troops into action – the same number as were called up to fight a serious war in, for example, Afghanistan.  He gives them orders to shoot if brown and black immigrants trying to cross the border to ask for asylum throws a rock at any one of them.  That also gives them the authority to turn the “Caravan” of destitute people into a shooting gallery.

He takes the troops away from their families during the holidays for a very frivolous, political cause.  He uses the troops the way his fascist dictator friends use their troops – for his own aggrandizement and to maintain his personal power.  He takes them away from training which they need and he costs the country millions of dollars to satisfy his need for power, control, greed and to practice his bigotry against those desperate families who walked over 1,000 miles to get away from the horror of their lives hoping countries including the United States would welcome the refugee.  Not in America, however.

Historically?  We did the same thing when Jews escaping Germany at the end of the Nazi terror needed a place to go.  We saw them on overcrowded ships which were practically sinking and turned our backs.  We did, however, take in the scientists and others who could promote America and help make her wealthier.  We have still not acknowledged that those Jews who did manage to get into this country even though destitute, poverty stricken, no to little education made amazing contributions to American society.

What else does he do? He demands a parade – a military parade like the ones put on by the likes of Kim Jong Un and other such dictators to show their personal power and strength and to deter their citizens from deposing them and from rioting because they are starving.  He planned a military parade for November 11th – a show during which he would stand in the middle as president of this mighty, military country and let his messiah complex out into the light at its full.  Tax payers would pay the bill of the multi-millions of dollars with no benefit to themselves.  Our military, used in ways it never has been in the past – by a draft dodger who becomes Commander in Chief.

That is just the tip of the iceberg.

All of you folks planning to vote for Donald Trump’s people and causes on November 6th.  You know the above is true.  You also knew before you voted him in as president – helping Russia to install the man in the presidential chair in the United States for the benefit of all the fascist dictatorships around the world – that he was unqualified both emotionally and by the way he conducted his life before declaring his candidacy, but you voted for him anyway.  Why?  Because you are people who want to bring in the kind of government Germany had under Hitler.  That is your dream – including the part where those who were or thought you were of the ” Aryan race” would be above everyone else and use and abuse the rest of your society for your own gain – ego, economic, et al.

You knew and today know even in more depth that:

Trump is a sexual assaulter.  He admitted that on tape.  You heard him talk about being able to sexually assault any woman he so desired.  Yet you voted for him.

Trump steals from tens of thousands of people to have money for himself.  You knew that because you knew about all of his bankruptcies where he built without concern for return on his money because he only had to file bankruptcy, walk away with multi-millions and have the business and building hard working people sacrificed to build for him thinking they would be paid and in many cases they lost businesses they had built, some for more than one generation.  Yet you voted for him.

Trump lies and you heard many of his lies before you walked into the voting booth to attempt to vote him in as president.  You knew what he was saying was lied and You knew about Trump University – those, even amongst your friends, who again sacrificed much to have an education and to move up financially in this society by paying the substantial amounts of money Trump University demanded and for which they gave back nothing.  Yet you voted for him.

You knew about Trump’s involvement in the mafia.  His casinos, his family history in the KKK, his father’s partnership with mafia to gain the foothold and the money he accumulated over his lifetime.  You also knew that about Donald Trump.  Yet you voted for him.

You knew about his involvement and his learning at the foot of Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism and you knew about how Roy Cohn – an anti-semitic Jew mentored Trump and you also knew how badly Trump treated Roy Cohn after Cohn was responsible for helping to bring Trump from Queens to doing business in Manhattan and supported Trump during the rest of Cohn’s life.  And yet you voted for him.  You didn’t ask – if this is how he treated his friends, supporters and mentors how will he treat us?  Yes, you voted for him.

You knew his reputation in New York.  It goes on for decades and is well documented – none of it good.  Yet you voted for him.

You white evangelical christians knew about Trump’s adultery.  You knew about his morals which were in the gutter.  You knew a lot more about how Trump violated and still violates everything you claim to believe in and yet you compromised your God and your religion to support him. I should not be surprised because those are the same kind of compromises you made over the years as you built Churches – called them Christian – and made sure Blacks were not allowed into your sanctuaries.

You knew all of the conspiracy theories Trump created to attempt to destroy African Americans – especially the African American president.  But he did not stop there.   Trump went on to attempt to have the Central Park 5 executed  by the state when they were innocent and had committed no crime.  He spent a good deal of time and money after they were exonerated, had spent time in jail for a crime they did not commit,  Trump knowing that still spent much time and money trying to get them executed.  Killed by the state for being black? And after all that, Trump continued making sure as many people as possible turned against these innocent African American young men.  And yet you voted for him.

Since he has been president you have seen and heard Trump lie – every single day – about some of the smallest things and go on to lie to manipulate you for his advantage and mostly for your disadvantage.  Over 6,000 deliberate lies to gain power, control and riches at your expense.  And yet you voted for him.

Since he has been president he could have nominated someone to the U. S. Supreme Court who was conservative and someone who was also an upstanding citizen of whom you could be proud and know that person was doing their best for you and yours.  Instead, he nominated a man credibly accused of sexual assault – just like Trump – and who had a very questionable history which included years of public drunkenness and worse, showing he was not the person you would want on the U. S. Supreme Court.  You may not feel that touches you, but when you need the Court to be fair and judge without the bigotry Kavanaugh has shown with his clear inability to control his emotions or all of the anger and ugliness in his background you will wish you had considered and not let your need to be better than and vote in someone who would maintain your better than status in this society, but had opted for a better result which did not demand the United States Supreme Court as Donald Trump has done and quite intentionally so.

There is nothing greater than being with people who you feel equal to and who feel equal to you.  It is a freedom like no other.

That is far away from where Trump has lived his life and far away from where he is taking this society.  The theft, lies, murder that has happened under Trump’s time in office is off the charts.  And still you are there supporting him.

What is it you are hiding?  How much like Trump are you and what will you do if left to your tiki torches?

I would say good luck to you and vote your conscience on Tuesday.  However, from what I have seen you don’t have a conscience just an ability to rationalize and justify the most horrible things if you feel they benefit you and make you over and better than everybody else.  However, who will be with you when you discover you have been taken advantage of and destroyed in ways that makes what happened to the Central Park 5, Christine Ford and all the others look pale by comparison to what happens to you.

Your “president” is now threatening violence if his people and his causes don’t win on Tuesday.  This is who you voted for in 2016?  This is who you follow today?  This is who you support?  This is not a little evil.  This is evil like that which happened 2000 years ago when Jesus was crucified. Remember him?  The one you are turning into a fool with your worship of Trump?  The one whose teachings you have abandoned for the lies of Trump?

Don’t you think it is time for you to let your knees hit the floor and beg God’s forgiveness?  Not just for Trump – he is only the latest and his sins and the sins of his co-conspirators are small and only a tip of the iceberg.  But for those sins you and yours have been committing since way before slavery.

May God forgive you!

____________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

A Donald Trump Reality Show? With more segments to come?

Thursday, October 25th, 2018

Well, the excitement continues!  The reality show has a new segment being played to distract – discourage – get more people involved in the “Trump, the Illegitimate President” show being produced for the American voting public.

It should not be amazing to see the bomb threats the day after Trump declared he was a “Nationalist”. That looked to me to be a message to those who were ready to start the fireworks to make sure the Midterm Voting would go as Trump wanted it to go.  I expected something like this when I heard Trump’s declaration of being a Nationalist.  He promised fireworks close to the Midterm Voting time.  Come to think of it, so did the ex-Mayor.  Sorry I can’t replay their television appearances, but I am sure you remember their comments.  They were striking.

This parallels the statement Trump made during the Presidential Campaign of 2016 – I am sure you remember that?  He asked Vladimir Putin to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails for him.  And the very next day Putin did just that.

It is not possible to 1) find the ingredients needed 2) make the bombs 3) deliver them to appear in the headlines the day after Trump’s declaration of his white “Nationalism” without some prior knowledge and planning to make those two things coordinate in time.

Yesterday he announces he is a “Nationalist” – who was he giving the go ahead sign to?  From Steve Bannon’s reaction, I think one might ask him. Today, the bombs appeared in many places at once.

Every day it becomes clearer that the time Trump spent reading Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” which he kept by his bedside according to the divorce accusations that went back and forth during his divorce from Ivana Trump, is now paying off for him.  This is the kind of thing Hitler and his Troopers did as he rose to control in Germany.

It is time for Trump’s friends to take a stand.  All of those who claimed to be Trump’s close friends and are collecting many dollars from sports fans to support the teams they own and control – you need to come forward to state where you stand on all of this.  You are, after all, making multi-millions off those who vote.  Are you backing Trump?  Do you support him and those he supports?  All his other friends who have backed him – you also need to come forward and declare where you stand in all of this.  We are beyond just supporting a candidate or a candidates choices for other offices – this is an entirely other thing.

It seems clear to me that this is a campaign tactic of Donald Trump himself.  It has done two things – one knocked the Khashoggi murder off the front pages and two possibly collected payment, in kind, from those who conspired to have Khashoggi killed with the support of Trump, which he todate has given,  in return for these murderous tactics close to the United States elections.

You can call it a conspiracy theory if you need to do that.  After all, we lived for years with Trump’s conspiracy theory that Obama was not a legitimate president.

Clearly, Trump is the one who is not a legitimate president of these United States.  He ran for president to destroy the country and deliver it to his fascist friends who in turn would support him as the puppet president of these United States under the control of and with the cooperation of his new friends.

=====================

Ed. Note:  From the response we are getting to what is happening with the bombs, every single one believed that Donald Trump either orchestrated or knew about this bomb scare plan and when he made his comments about being a “Nationalist” gave the go ahead to the scare tactics that will happen from now under the midterms.  Most conjectured that this was the beginning of the set-up to make sure Trump would have reasons to “take over” this country as its fascist dictator and refuse to accept the results of this midterm election.

For most, they felt their conjecture was real when they saw Donald Trump’s demeanor at the rally which happened the evening of the day the bombs appeared.  That was to gauge the audience reaction to this bomb scare to decide what happens into the near future with such events.  The conjectures were that the violence would escalate in this attempt to put Trump in the position of a despot in total control of these United States before the midterms take away that possibility.

We are still reeling from what we are hearing about Donald Trump’s possible involvement.  We knew he was disliked by many, but did not realize the depth of those feelings.

____________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

Trump – Hitler – Idi Amin -Nationalists

Wednesday, October 24th, 2018

Ed. Note:  Comments from Bettina Network Lifestyle Members

“It was amazing to hear Donald Trump come out with his endorsement of and commitment to Nationalism and then try to make it sound like something it is not.  That happened after listening to Trump lie at every rally.  He is so careless with the truth you could see through his talk how he was saying whatever he thought people wanted to hear and making whatever kind of promises he needed to make to win.

Most amazing was the blatantness of his claim of a 10% tax cut for the middle-class which would be introduced “next week”.  I wondered introduced to who?  Congress is not in session and won’t be until mid November – after the mid-terms. Trump already passed a tax cut that was to trickle down to the middle-class and which clearly helped almost 100% the wealthy in this country.  He has never done anything for the poor, oppressed or middle-class except take them for whatever he could get.  He certainly insured my movement from Republican to Democrat.  Changed my voter registration along with most of my Republican friends.  We celebrated after.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Incredible to hear the people at Trump’s rally lie.  When interviewed by a reporter as to their thoughts on only 3% blacks supporting Trump they took turns lying and so cavalierly.  One said she heard it was more like 18%; another 35%; and even more lies as to the percentages followed.  Clearly none knew what they were talking about, but they were talking/lying to support their President.  Trump’s supporters are like Trump.  They think the rest of the world is stupid and will believe something just because they say it.

I hate to say that about those with whom I share a United Sates citizenship, but truth will out.  We now know the percentage of the United States citizens who are mafia; extreme racists; pathological liars; extreme sexists; extreme bigots.  We guessed before.  We knew it was high because we are still having to vigorously fight bigots in court and other places just to gain some traction against those who want to oppress others and the fight isn’t getting easier.  But now in front of us we have the proof of the numbers – who they are as we see them in television and other places backing Trump – and they will also tell us on ‘air’ and on tape what they believe and seem proud of it.  That is a possible recruit, if not already a member of the KKK, White Nationalists, neo-Nazi’s and more.

So discouraging.  I was encouraged a bit at the beginning until I heard the hearings via the Senate Judiciary Committee and  I remembered things were not any different from the time when that committee was chaired by Strom Thurmond.  It hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, this group seems to have taken things much lower.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“What on earth are we doing?  We now have a president and Secretary of State who support and cover for brutal murderers!  Lying and all the rest was bad enough, but backing murder?  My question – were the Trumps and their assorted backers involved in the planning before the murder?  Or did they agree to back the murderers with public statements of support after the fact?  Were they complicit in this murder or simply with the cover-up?

I can’t believe I am asking that question about the President of these United States and his family and his administration.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“We have a president who has finally come out and announced what we have always known – he believes in Nationalism and is a Nationalist.  So did Hitler and so did Idi Amin, among many, many others, but I never expected to see my President come out with such a declaration.  It must be Mueller time and he is signaling all of the “Nationalists” to get ready to rumble.

I should have expected this because I remember Trump when he was sued by the United States Government for racism.  I remember when he campaigned and spent a fairly large sum of money trying to get young blacks executed for a crime they didn’t commit.  He was that committed to his virulent racism.  I remember all of his deals and companies which were mafia tinged.  I remember him making a fool of himself wrestling someone on the floor outside the ring during a wrestling match.  I remember him blatantly cheating on all of his wives – the worse was taking his girl friend on vacation and installing her in a condo around the corner from where he, his wife and children were vacationing and the unavoidable confrontation between wife and mistress.  I remember at the time wondering what kind of man could do that and then step back to watch what happened.

I remember him cheating so many people out of their hard earned dollars and putting small business people out of business because they had the misfortune to deal with him and lost their shirts when he took every thing from them and cavalierly walked away giving them nothing, but in control of their assets.  I remember pictures of him strutting through his casinos with people gambling all around and loving the attention he gathered.

I remember so much more that is ugly.  To now have to remember this man as President of the United States is way too much  for me to handle.  Who are you people who helped elect him?  You must be the lowest of the low because I don’t see how else you could stomach this.”

____________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

 

 

 

Trump/Putin/Kim – Creating a World to rule!

Thursday, October 4th, 2018

Does what’s happening around Trump and the Ford sexual assault accusations have a ring of familiarity?

Is the way that is being handled by Trump have the ring of familiarity?

Take a look at Putin’s Russia and Kim Jong Un’s North Korea!

Mitch McConnell, Trump, the U. S. Senate’s investigation into the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh could have happened in Russia.  That certainly must have brought Trump lots of accolades from Putin and from the head of the Russian mafia.  He paid his dues today.

I try to tell myself that what is happening today in these United States is more indicative of how they handle dissent in Russia rather than the way it is handled in the U. S.  I say to myself – self, we have a more open, democratic system than exists in Russia or North Korea. We would never set up a sham investigation so we could gain evil ends by corrupting  U. S. democratic institutions.   I like to think allegations such as those made against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court would be handled the way our mythological and carefully culled history declares we handle such things in these United States.  But is that true?

Looking at past history, isn’t it more true that the way Trump is making sure this is handled looks exactly the way it would look being handled in a pseudo-democratic state?  A state giving way to form to quiet its citizenry while it goes along behind the screen destroying everything this democratic country claims it stands for?

However, in spite of that, goodness seems to be bursting out all over.  What was hidden will be revealed.  For all of you bible quoting folks – and all of a sudden we are surrounded by such people – read these chapters and verses – Mark 4:22 – “For everything hidden is meant to be revealed, and everything concealed is meant to be brought to light”.  If you don’t like Mark try Luke 8:17 – “For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be known and illuminated.”  Don’t like the New Testament – then turn to Proverbs 10:9 – One who walks in integrity walks securely but one who perverts Gods ways will be found out.”  And there can be no denying the fact that we are “finding out” about Trump and his history on a daily almost minute by minute basis.  It seems he can’t do anything anymore that is not immediately exposed.  His history is tumbling out like a television series with unending segments.

But  to all of you bible quoting people – let me also remind you that Satan quoted Scripture and to Jesus.

Trump has warned all of you young men that you better be careful because they’re coming after you. That is true.  What Trump left out is the qualifying clause that says, if you are one of those who engages or who has engaged in sexual abuse, harassment or assault – things for which you were once lauded in raucous groups and quiet groups where such exploits were bragged about – or those of you who did your deeds in private and only the women involved who you abused, harassed and assaulted knew about your tendencies – yes you should be afraid because the culture is changing and that is no loner acceptable.  That is no longer something you can get away with.  That is no longer something you can do and then have the culture back you up by making the women involved feel shame and hide your deeds.  The bright light of truth is shining and becoming even brighter and that spotlight may soon land in your front yard.

To the men – young or old – who have led a different kind of life; one of respect for others.  To those who have not violated women, children,  or even men, your life will change.  You won’t have to be bothered with the filth of those who have engaged in such deeds because their deeds will be exposed and they will be removed from the halls of government and all the other places they inhabit.

What a fantastic world that is about to break in on us.  We can endure this present because we see the future.

As the pressures from the “ruling class” increases and has increased all around, all over, all above and all beneath us as their greed and other such vile needs have grown and have taken tens of thousands of us to protest, to leave our jobs, to bring along our families to expose them to the deeds of these people so they will know the warning signs and protect themselves – as those pressures have increased we have seen the breaking in of God, the God Spirit, Jehovah, Lord, Krishna, Buddha and all of those entities and concepts we turn to as we worship and bring about a world our memories cannot recall.

Donald Trump is being exposed with his own deeds bringing thunder and lightning clouds to surround him and everything he does.

Those who want to see someone like Donald Trump on a high pedestal and want to look up to someone like Donald Trump these were among the shouters and laughters and those jumping for joy at the rally in Mississippi where Donald Trump thought he knew his audience – doesn’t Mississippi have a reputation for extreme racism and violence to back up the racism, sexism and horrible way they have treated human beings who did not fit their image of who is included and who is on the outs subject to being the repository of their society’s fear?  However, even in Mississippi there were dissenters.  Even in Mississippi there is a history of the sacrifices made by whites and blacks when the Black and Feminist Civil Rights Movements moved to bring about change even there.  What their sacrifices, all of which are not a part of history, show is that there is life after what we are experiencing.  There is life after you have made that sacrifice which you think will end the career you were seeking.  There is life after all the horribleness of today caused by those led by all the  negative forces in the world and that life is even more beautiful than you could imagine.

Those too are being exposed to their friends, to their family, their colleagues, those who are the periphery of their community watching.  Yes, we are being divided and when it is over will the lion be able to lie down with the lamb instead of touting his greater size, ability to instill fear in all of those who cross his path, wreck havoc in the world around him; will the lamb show itself to be the greater of the two because of its gentleness and willingness to be sacrificed; or will they lie down together and enjoy that beautiful warm sunlight together?

It is time for these United States to come together, declare the rotters of the community, the destroyers of truth, goodness, graciousness, and run the offenders of such values off the cliff.  And what a time of year this is to do just that – didn’t the Jewish people just celebrate Yom Kippur?  Weren’t there lessons in that celebration which related to this instance.

Every religion rails against people like Donald Trump.  His using  lies to ridicule Dr. Ford shows exactly who he is.  His life’s history is a listing of foul deeds not the least of which is to have been credibly accused of sexually assaulting some 19 plus women and he denied all 19 claims.  But then didn’t Bill Cosby do the same? Didn’t this society, to bring Bill Cosby to justice have to fight for years against the image created for him by the television media?  Isn’t this a society which many times has a problem separating the real from what they see in the stories invented to sell products?

Surely Trump, as president would be expected to nominate and then pull out all the stops to back one of his own?  Isn’t that where his comfort level lies? And hasn’t he done that?  But be careful, he speaks out loud what many men have in their hearts after having assaulted women.  He showed clearly how huge is his disrespect, dislike and arrogance against women.   He constantly shows that in his press conferences in the way he speaks to and tries to insult women reporters.  But what I heard as a child – “he isn’t worthy enough to clean my toilet.  When the universe extracts its punishment he will be lifted high so his crash will be felt. to the measure of his deeds.”  And isn’t that what we are seeing.  And as he crashes he goes down warning men like himself to be careful – they will get you the way they are getting me.  Those men would be well advised to pay attention and take heed.

What a triumph for Trump to install someone like him to the U. S. Supreme Court.  He has appointed many men to serve in his administration who could be called out on such charges and some who have already been so called out before they were called by Trump to serve him – and yet they tried.

Sorry folks – my rant will probably be edited by the gods at Bettina’s – but it reflects the horror and anger I feel at what is happening.  It reflects the disbelief that I live in a country which elected such a man to be its president and gave him powers he is using to subvert and change the hearts of thousands.  When I see what he does and has done and when I see those who are supporting him, my heart bleeds.  The only visions that keep me alive come from people like Senator Flake – a Mormon who redeems Mormonism for all of us from the grip of an Orrin Hatch.  And Susan Collins, who sometimes does the right thing and sometimes gets lost into the horrible ethics of her political party, but still she tries.  And Lisa Murkowski who seems to be clear as to where she is going – sometimes .  I hope she does not disappoint that would be too much trauma for my weak heart.

Let me finish with that Bettina saying which I mean to the bottom of my heart – sometimes – may God forgive!

_____________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

Why is Trump Pushing Kavanaugh so Insistently?

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018

From a Bettina Network Lifestyle Member:

Why is Donald Trump so consistently and insistently pushing the U. S. Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh?

Normally, if anything – no matter how small – surfaces about a Supreme Court nominee, that person immediately and usually quietly withdraws their nomination.  Generally in conversation with the president of the United States they have been quietly told they are still good people, but with the U. S. Supreme Court…….. and they withdraw.  Donald Trump has actively encouraged Brett Kavanaugh to keep going and Kavanaugh, thinking he has the support of the President of the United Sates, keeps going.  He becomes the victim being seriously victimized by that President for his own reasons.  How come?

When all of this business with Brett Kavanaugh surfaced, we knew something was coming down the road, but didn’t know what.  We did know that with what is going on with this nomination, whatever was coming down that road was big – ugly – and meant to provide Donald Trump cover from some very ugly part of his life which was being uncovered and reported to the American people.  Which makes you ask – was any of what was ‘leaked’ put out into the public by that same president? To take advantage of what he probably saw as “made for cover”.  The New York Times was already in contact with the “Don” about the article they were writing on his family’s tax situation and the NYT had already received a threatening letter back from the “Don’s” lawyer about what they would do to the paper if they went ahead with the story – with that exchange predating the Kavanaugh hearing.

The New York Times article, which just came out about how Donald Trump and his family committed tax fraud against the American people seems to be what the Kavanaugh nomination and its ugly mess is really being used for – to provide cover for Trump by deflecting the American public away from the real story of the day.  Is it only accidental that the day the story breaks about this huge and incredible story on the Trump family’s tax evasion, Donald Trump is in Mississippi stirring up the crowds at his rally through viciously attempting to humiliate and destroy Dr. Christine Blasey Ford complete with chants of “lock her up.”  Trump is shrewd enough to know such a rally would emotionally explode within a lot of people – very few can understand anyone so vicious.

New York Times reports Trump received millions through tax evasion ..https://www.dw.com/en/new-york-times-reports-trump…tax-evasion/a-45734477      3 hours ago – By helping his father engage in dubious tax schemes, Donald Trump inherited hundreds of millions of dollars, The New York Times said.

It seems clear to me that this is what is driving the Kavanaugh debacle and why Donald Trump is making such a big deal about it and portraying Kavanaugh as the victim along with Donald Trump himself.  This will go on until the fallout from this New York Times’ article dies down.  The media can only report so much at one time and the headlines about the Trump family’s tax problems will have to share its spotlight with the Kavanaugh nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court – thus minimizing what the public will hear about this incredible bit of tax evasion engaged in by Donald Trump and his family, one of whom is Donald Trump’s sister and a Sr. federal judge.  Maybe this distraction with Kavanaugh will help Donald Trump’s sister keep her job because the public will be too blown away by all the things being exposed by the Kavanaugh nomination to be able to deal with both.  Hopefully, that is a wrong assessment.  Certainly the possible tax fraud by the Trump family and in particular Donald Trump over a period of decades with multi-millions involved is a larger story than the apparent lies being told by Donald Trump’s nominee to be a judge on the United States Supreme Court. That is not to minimize what is happening with Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, it is just to put it in its proper context.  Real or a created distraction!

The nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court is important and will reverberate throughout this country over decades if Kavanaugh gains that seat; we should not minimize that.  However, for a few years now we have been forced to see how Trump manipulates the press and his base so that his past spent in an ugly, foul, filthy swamp will be minimized as the filth of a life led with gutter ethics and a foul character mired in a messiah complex is uncovered for all to see.

A postscript to all of this are the comments Trump made about veterans with PTSD – basically, it was that only the weak suffer from such an ailment.  This message delivered by a man who spent quite a bit of time and energy making sure he would never be exposed to the possibility of experiencing life in such a way that PTSD was possible.  He did this by getting one deferment after another never having spent time in the armed services – although he did want to spend multi-millions on a super-military-parade in which he would be center of attention as the Chief of State.

Thanks for the space you make available so those of us who are just people can put out our thoughts for others to read and react to.  While this contribution is political, I am writing another which is the result of my academic research.  I will send that to you for publication as soon as it is in good enough shape to be published.  I noticed a couple such articles on this blog and realize this is a great forum for a lot of different bits of information, wisdom and whatever else needs to be said.  I also tried your “Marshmaples” recipe in the Bettina Cookbook section of this blog and it was outstanding.  We will never buy commercially made marshmallows again.  The difference is astounding and they didn’t take that long to make.  Somehow it has never dawned on me that I could make marshmallows. Your insistence on “organic” ingredients fell on deaf ears, but then I made another batch and tried the organic route – just for fun – and wow, the difference in taste was just outstanding.  I am not a total organic person, but this did make me move on from organic Marshmaples to organic bread.  Who knows what will come next.

___________________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________________________

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

This is a curated blog so you cannot write your responses at the end of each entry. TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email bettina-network@comcast.net or info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE try www.bettina-network.com

 

Bettina Network Members Respond to Kavanaugh and more!

Thursday, September 20th, 2018

Wow! We had no idea emotions were running so high.  Nor did we realize how sophisticated Americans are in their understanding of politics.  We expected outrage from this claim of attempted rape – we did not expect what follows.  Here are some of the responses:

  1. “Is it possible there will be no FBI investigation of this situation with Brett Kavanaugh because the Senators and the president know the risks.  What do I mean?  There is a lot of drunkenness, heavy intoxication to the point of passing out and not knowing what one was doing, and the hint of drugs which has been kept quiet because the boys know the risks to their careers which would not be there if it is only about alcohol – but that is just as bad as drugs if not worse.  There are many and very detailed forms to fill out for the FBI vetting process and I wonder if Kavanaugh was complete when he filled out those forms.  Did he include the kind of drunkenness he and his friends engaged in – if he did why did that not eliminate him from consideration from the time of his first vetting from his first promotion to the bench.  Apparently, the president has no line he will not cross because his ethics and morals are in the tanker – and – it looks as though the Senators on the Judiciary Committee are following him right down that black hole to hell.  Would an FBI investigation reveal all of that and that it was not in his original papers?  Since this heavy intoxication started in high school did the FBI not go that far back and now there are people who will lead them to that truth?  Is that why some possible witnesses are not being allowed to testify in this proposed new hearing?  There was an FBI investigation after the charges against Clarence Thomas surfaced, but there was no heavy intoxication, especially with his friends in wild uncontrollable times and parties so those who vetted him didn’t have to worry about that.  Why did that not stop Brett Kavanaugh when he was first vetted many years ago?  That was certainly an issue that would have stopped other nominations.  The Bush Administrations are guilty of having brought us Clarence Thomas.  They are now equally guilty of having thrust upon this country Brett Kavanaugh.  When will this stop and we pick ourselves up out of this morass – certainly it is going much further under Donald Trump.

2.  We have seen how far the Evangelical Christians will go, embracing a man their Jesus would have condemned.  is that because they understand what these guys are about because they are guilty of the same sexual assault; public drunkenness and more?  I am certainly seeing many at the head of the Evangelical Church doing stuff I found embarrassing and in violation of what they are supposed to believe.  When is this parade of sexual assaulters going to stop?  The end does not justify the means.  Just look at how far we are going to embrace these guys who collectively make the “swamp” look “saved.”

3.  It is clear this Judiciary Committee is afraid of something the FBI could find if they went into another investigation of Kavanaugh.  They will not even let his friend, Judge, be questioned at their rally of the klan brothers.   It is bad enough that in 2018 we have an entire, complete racist/sexist panel on the Republican side that will hear these charges – white males all – are they also WASP males?

4.  It is clear Orrin Hatch comes from a background where inebriation through too much alcohol consumption or even any alcohol consumption is looked at as a sin.  His Church needs to call him home and have him respond to many charges.  He has done nothing but embarrass us for decades.  Are the things we teach only meant to be subscribed to when convenient or are they supposed to be a constant and enduring lifestyle?  To be a part of a political system which embraces the Kavanaugh’s of the world is something we have to do.  To defend the people who have done what this guy has done and to defend him and promote him to sit on the Supreme Court – I don’t understand why Bishop Hatch is one of those and has been one of those out front making sure he has Kavanaugh’s back?  Do you talk one thing and practice another? In the LDS Church you practice what is preached and clearly Orrin Hatch has not and is not doing that.  He has been a missionary, a bishop  and has been past president of the LDS Church.  The height of hypocrisy is his book “An American, a Mormon and a Christian.”  I remember what an incredible affect his books had on me. Bishop Hatch is clearly none of those.  He is a politician willing to do whatever is necessary to maintain power and if that means violating his faith – he has done that seemingly with no regrets and no pull backs.  His role in the Clarence Thomas embarrassment to this country was bad enough.  I thought it was something for which he would atone as he looked back on his role.  Clearly, that is not true.  Just to let us know that was not an accident nor a one time thing he has now regretted he is now an incredible leader in this immorality on the wrong side.  CALL HIM HOME!

5. Did Kavanaugh lie on his FBI forms from the beginning and that is why he and his supporters are trying to make sure the FBI does not re-investigate his background?  And lying also includes not telling negatives which might hurt his chances at being passed through.  One man was passed over because he smoked marijuana or some such thing.  Kavanaugh, from his early days clearly has a background of intoxication over the top.  How did he get through from his very first appointment?  Those were years such indulgences would have made a strong difference.

6.  Public drunkennes is not something we should have approved in an appointee for any bench let along the bench where you are appointed for a lifetime.  How did his early history get passed over?  His attempted rape seems to be the result of his not being able to contain or control himself when drunk.  If he exhibited that from high school is he now in a position to be blackmailed from some of his history when on the bench?  Is that who we are now passing through and defending?  Nothing justifies that kind of enabling by our politicians of our judges who they could very well hold up or blackmail as they needed decisions from his bench.  And, others could do the same.  Not being able to control yourself when drunk should be a primary disqualification and Kavanaugh has clearly shown from his high school days that he is not able to exercise any kind of control when so inebriated.  A lifetime is a long time to go if you started off life with a group of friends where “community” was gained as the result of group drunks.  Is this how low we have come – drunks and sexual assaulters beginning to make up the Supreme Court and liars, cheaters, mafioso and more making up our Executive suite?  No wonder the president calls the FBI a cancer on our society.  A mafia connected person as president would first go after the press so he could act for his mafia group without public attention being called to their raping the public and the U. S. treasury.  The second group to go after would be law enforcement so he could do whatever without being called to the bench for his actions.  Isn’t that what Donald Trump is doing?  Isn’t that what Brett Kavanaugh would help him do?

__________________________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

________________________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

 

Nutty and Slutty/Crazy and Confused

Wednesday, September 19th, 2018

by:  Marceline Donaldson

With the Congressional hearing in the 1990’s,  held to smear and destroy the reputation of Anita Hill so they could have someone accused of sexual harassment on the Supreme Court, the nominee was approved by the slimmest of margins.

That “show” provided by Congress, was an incredible education.

In spite of what is practiced in the general society, sexism and racism are so intertwined into our structures of government, it is difficult to know, understand and to educate children about these twin evils and their siblings.  The drama of that ‘hearing’ was an incredible education in sexism and racism.  Those of us who watched, unable to do anything until the hearings stopped for the day or were ended – it was an amazing message.  It told us what our government thought of women.  It put black women front and center, but it made sure the understanding and message was spread that if white women didn’t toe the mark this would also be their fate.

I was such a quiet child.  Spent hours practicing the piano because I was going to be a concert pianist just like one of my piano teachers.  They were all incredible women – and very independent women – but independent in  ways that were acceptable in those days, but for one.  They dressed the way society expected cultured, successful women should dress; they talked, walked, trained those coming up in the way society expected they be trained.  But their very lives gave a different message and I got the message.  My childhood days were my ‘quiet time’.  My adulthood has been one long, loud, excruciatingly painful scream against this life to which I have been consigned.

Jean Coston Maloney, one of my piano teachers, was an incredible woman.  She graduated from Oberlin’s Conservatory of Music and in 1937 from the Julliard School of Music – no mean feat for a black woman,   She was the first African American to perform with a nationally recognized symphony orchestra; she was very elegant; tall, willowy and beautifully dressed.   It was an exciting time for the New Orleans community to have the New Orleans Symphony leave Symphony Hall bringing all of their gear to Booker T. Washington’s High School Auditorium for this concert featuring Jean Maloney playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto. I will never forget the evening nor how I felt as someone who I knew and with whom I had studied be the featured artist.

(why did this symphony orchestra disembark from their home just a mile or so away you ask?  With all the upheaval, money and other inconveniences that caused?  Because blacks were not allowed to perform on the Symphony Hall stages anyplace in the United States in that day and blacks could not attend symphony concerts unless they sat in the very few seats reserved for them in what was called the “crow’s nest”- and paid the same price paid by those who sat in much kinder seats.  So for Ms. Maloney to play with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra they had to move all of their gear to the local black high school auditorium).

Lucille Hutton was another graduate of Oberlin;s Conservatory and my piano teacher.  She was the one under whom I started by music career and who would not let me touch the piano when I was a small child until my practice showed her clearly that I had the proper hand positions on her coffee table.   I went to these piano lessons all alone on the street car from ‘downtown’ to ‘uptown’  in New Orleans, something no parent would let their children do today.  I was about 7 years old at the time.  Most people knew me or my family and I was never one to meet a stranger.  Ms. Hutton was a well known figure in New Orleans society circles – quiet, unassuming and always dressed the way a regular church going lady should be dressed.

Jesse Dent – the wife of the president of Dillard University was yet another very early graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a promising career in front of her as a concert artist.  She served on the board of Oberlin for many years and was responsible for people from the Conservatory coming to New Orleans to hear me play.  She was a great pianist, but as the wife of the president, her concert work was limited to her husband’s sphere.  She was a wife and mother and promoter of Dillard and then whatever little time was left her music carried on, but normally only on the campus of the University.  She was a beautiful and well respected personage in her society.

Of the three women, the one whose life was tragic was Jean Maloney’s.  What I didn’t understand until years later, she was the only one who stepped out and away from her expected stereotype and place in society.  She knew who she could become based on her talent and its drive.   The career her talent and presence entitled her to were awesome.   She was determined to follow where her talent led.

Jean Maloney was driven by her talent and drove herself with hours of practice.  Her husband was a well known doctor and the Surgeon General of Liberia – and then they divorced.  She was given an ultimatum by her husband – give up this dream of being a concert pianist, give up your music except when playing for husband and children or within a closed community or I will leave you and the children and neither you nor they will have contact with me again.  Jean Maloney rejected that ultimatum and was going to move wherever her talent allowed her to go and it would have allowed her to go far, but for racism and sexism.  Instead of becoming a great and well known artist, her life ended in tragedy.  The price women and minorities pay for following a dream outside of their stereotype – the oppressive structure in which they must live or be crushed.

The way women – especially black women were taken down by this society when they showed the kind of independence shown by Jean Maloney is one of the cruelest things I have seen and I have seen a lot in this life.  The horror of those take downs – they were not explicit, but camouflaged, unbelievably cruel and a part of the institutional structure of these United States.  You – women and minorities –  and those around are led by this society to turn the blame of the society’s racism and sexism on oneself, turning the victimizer into the victim, instead of where it should really be placed – on those who benefit.  That was clear from Donald Trump’s apparently heartfelt sympathy towards Brett Kavanaugh with no mention at all for the pain and suffering over many years he apparently caused Christine Blasey Ford.  In Charlottesville it was -“both sides”.  In Washington, D. C. it was all feelings go towards Kavanaugh.

Our leaders could call for a bowl of water, soap and a towel and make a show of washing their hands and not being the culprits involved doing the dirty work.   In this case, that was and is done by Congress in the way they acted when they felt the need to step up and take down Anita Hill.  Not for being a black woman nor for being a woman, but for not knowing her place as a black woman and for stepping out of her stereotype after the society found a place for her where she could be sort of successful, but still within the bounds of who she was allowed to be as a black woman.  Anita Hill thought and acted as though she was on the same level as others around her and that she had the same duty to keep this society, government, and its court system on the right track.

If you think this is not structural, look at how quickly Congress plucked its pattern for action for such an event, as now surrounds Brett Kavanaugh, to take down another woman.  White, this time.  The pattern they plucked from their recent history is what they have set in place to use against Christine Blasey Ford – without the FBI investigation.

Brings back that old saying – if you are quiet when they come for me in the morning and when they come for your other friends in the afternoon, they will come for you in the evening when there is no one around to help, protect or save you.

Anita Hill was concerned about the appointment of a man unworthy of being a Supreme Court justice being nominated and on the verge of being confirmed.  A man who the “big dogs” wanted because he was a replacement for Thurgood Marshall and the kind of replacement who would bring back into the society the image, stereotype, personhood of the kind of black man who they thought should have been appointed and who should rightly serve on the Supreme Court, if indeed there was a need for a black man to be in that spot.

The way society was moving that had to be, so they made sure the character, image, background, morals, values of a Thurgood Marshall was replaced by someone who would keep blacks in bondage and in ‘their place.’

Clarence Thomas is who they could see as the person for ‘successful blacks’ to imitate.  Clarence Thomas would be the person young black children would idolize.  Clarence Thomas is who teachers would hold up as an example of greatness in African Americans and therefore Clarence Thomas would uphold the negative black stereotype; make sure blacks moved not an inch, but inched backwards away from equality in this society and back into the foot shuffling, head scratching, over-sexed image this society carefully constructed for blacks to fit into for generations.

Anita Hill’s ‘crime’ was the fact that she wanted that horribleness to be corrected and reality to show through and this society move in the direction of a whole, equal, educated, respectful society it seemed to be walking towards.

For that she was put in the dock, so she could be characterized as ‘nutty and slutty’, but with far more words and images than I can describe in this short piece and Clarence Thomas was held up, patted on the back, encircled by whites who patrolled the borders of racism and sexism to make sure it would continue into the next generation and Anita Hill was cast aside and totally discredited.  She was allowed to survive, but with a reputation and characterizations which others in the following generations could pull out, learn from and not imitate.

and then, along comes Christine Blasey Ford – white woman.  Doing in this society and to this society what Anita Hill tried to do. Simply to tell the truth about her experience with Brett Kavanaugh which questioned his fitness to serve as a Supreme Court justice.  Not the first one to question his fitness, but one whose story and experience could not be ignored.

Instead of being characterized as ‘nutty and slutty’ – which was taken by Republican Congressmen at the time as the best line of attack against Anita Hill because it rolled out and re-enforced the negative stereotype of black women, Christine Blasey Ford is beginning to be and will continue to be characterized as ‘crazy and confused’.  And in the mix are the same men who led the charge against Anita Hill.  They are still present in Congress and now taking the role of ‘elder statesmen’ passing along to their younger comrades the way the system works and the tools it provides to them to destroy this woman, smear her reputation, give a lesson to other white women as to their place in this society and as to what will happen to them if they overstep and cross the line challenging the greatness of sexism and its place in the world.  Their message is crucial to their comrades – destroy this woman or all hell will break loose. The next thing you know all women will be ‘outing’ all of us who have sexually abused, attacked, harassed them and will demand that we stop or be removed and not allowed to enter the hallowed halls of economic and financial success in this society.  These women  will want pieces of that success and will want us to clean up our act and not have a group to run off the side of the cliff to atone for our sins.

What we need to stop and take a good look at is the numbers of white men who have and are engaging in sexual harassment, abuse, assault all over the society and demanding their right to so engage against women of all colors, shapes and sizes.  Most horrible is the fact that they have now been strong enough to elect as their leader in these United States a chief of sexual assaulters – a man so arrogant and sure of himself and his way of acting with women that he brags about his success and his methods.

It is time for this to stop.  My grandparents and great grandparents and many generations before them spent their lives fighting racism and sexism because they didn’t want me and my children to go through and experience the kind of pain and agony that was their lot.  I picked up the fight and have done and am doing the same thing for the same reasons, but my children and my grandchildren will experience sexism and racism as the main theme that negatively affects their lives.  But look at us.  We are still in the muck.  Still oppressed.  The oppression has changed and become much more sophisticated, but this so called ‘hearing’ is exactly the same theatre Anita Hill was put through and the Orrin Hatch’s of the world are planning to produce and direct as the kind of theatre that they think will take down Christine Blasey Ford and at the same time stop tens of thousands of women in their tracks who are seeking equality and trying to move this society into a place of equal acceptance.

And Orrin Hatch?  Bringing down his Mormon faith or opening it up for people to see what it is really about?

Fat chance that basic change will happen here!  This is the society which elected a self-proclaimed sexual abuser, sexual assaulter, sexual harasser as its president and is clearly having its Congress people and their supporters come out with guns blazing to  attack women, to oppress them even further and maintain their control spreading as much pain, depression, and more on all so they can claim superiority in their small corner of the world.  This does not bode well for the future.  Now what!

_________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

________________________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

 

Love and Sex – A reader adds comments

Saturday, September 8th, 2018

Thank you for that blog.  It struck me for some time that we are being led by a group of white men who seem to have sex on their minds and we suffer the consequences because love is required of leaders.

What does it mean that our president – Donald J. Trump – has been accused multiple times of sexually abusing and assaulting more than a dozen women and his reputation goes far beyond that if you go back many years.  That kind of appetite generally will also turn to greed, jealousy, and many other emotions that destroy and will not build up and Trump is showing that he is into destruction of this society as quickly and completely as possible.  This is not new for him because he showed us that in the way he ran and built his Trump Organization.  Why?  Because it will give him worldly goods beyond his imaginings and will give him power over many who want the same thing.

Is he about building up an American Oligarchy the way Russia has an Oligarchy?

As far back as the 1980’s it was clear that Trump was beholden to the Russia and Eastern European mafia.  Take a look and it certainly looks as though his billions were created by those relationships.  And, just think of what he can now acquire as he opens the doors to this country’s treasury and assets to those with whom he was financially related from the ’80’s until today.

Everyone is saying he is beholden to Putin and Russia?  He is actually beholden to the Russian Mafia and is an asset of the Russian and Eastern European mafia’s.  Apparently he didn’t meet Putin until all of this running for the presidency occurred and the Russian mafia did what?  Loaned him to Putin to achieve Putin’s goals?

What a difference it makes to have someone as president who is into love instead of sex.  I don’t like to make comparisons, but when I saw John McCain’s family during his funeral remembrances I don’t think I have seen, in one family, such a coming together of the world’s people.  It was beautiful.  I wish we had more of that.  It was family trying to live a life of love rather than controlled by sex and all such an emphasis entails.

Apparently, McCain tried to bring along those with whom he worked.  His relationship with Lindsey Graham shows that.  He brought along Lindsey Graham and now Graham has resorted to who he was before his close friendship with McCain.  The need for power, recognition, importance can lead to such ugliness.  That is so very sad.  I remember Graham before McCain and he was a flake – racist – sexist – and I could throw in a few more negatives, but if you are that old you should also remember the news coverage of where Lindsey Graham was coming from during those days.  And then he changed and became someone we all began to respect.  That has stopped now that McCain is dead.  He has reversed course and has once again become the man he was back then.  He looks as though he has been working hard to become Attorney General and it also looks as though Trump has promised him the spot to get Graham to be one of his supporters who Trump can bounce around for whatever he needs.  That is so sad!

As I read your article on Love and Sex – how different this world would be if we had that movement towards love.  If we could see each other in that light instead of in the light of sex – which is where we move immediately.  Try to be friends with someone because you have much in common, it could be a great friendship, but the outside world would see it in terms of sex.  We have not been able to rise above how we describe the animals.  Tell someone you love them and it immediately takes on a component of sexual attraction.  What is wrong with us that we have not developed beyond such a place?

The world of love is so superior to the world of sex that it is unimaginable how we are able to maintain ourselves on the lower level of sex and not be able to rise above it when there is this incredible place we could be.  All of our religions tout love.  However, most also have these warnings and judgments against sex except how they define it and how we have tried over the generations to legislate sex – such a waste.  I had not thought before reading your article that this need to reduce love to sex and then control sex had to do with inheritance and who owns and inherits what.  Power – greed – corruption all come into play as we have ruined many lives with our nonsense.

If we could somehow get out of the muck and mess to which we consign ourselves and see another way of living what a great world this would be.  People like Donald Trump would have to re-work their ethics and themselves because they would be odd person out and never in a position to become dog-catcher let alone anything else.

Games like this op-ed thing would not be played – there would be no need.  Who wrote that op-ed piece?  Either Donald Trump or Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who saw it as a way to raise himself up above his peers and position himself to be able to rise when he got out of the Trump Administration.  He has given himself an excuse and a cover for his being there in the first place.  After Gary Cohn left, he had to do something – and so we have this op-ed.  He won’t admit to it, but he will quietly circulate it when he is ready to be employed elsewhere to shore himself up to a higher place and overcome the negativity he has acquired as a part of Donald Trump’s cabinet.  I could be wrong – but in this guessing game that is my choice.

__________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

__________________________________________________________

 

 

LOVE and SEX! – The Bettina Oracle Speaks!

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018

Humans have substantial ways to obfuscate what they don’t want to face. They build institutional structures to hide, deflect, and keep them in rose colored glasses. Truth is not something easily acknowledged even though someplace inside truth stirs.

You are now into a messy presidential situation in the United States trying to do everything except face the truth of who you have become and how you have structured your society, your families, your lives. This has been generations in the making, but todays generation gets to clean up what you, your parents, your grandparents, etc. have soiled.

You preach God is Love, but you act out and create your life around sex. You look at the animals and feel so much better than, but in reality you have created a society which emphasizes and reflects your animal nature and your animal characteristics.

Why do you have so many wars; why do you kill so many people trying to destroy life itself – for nothing; why is there so much jealousy, hatred, rage, greed, and all the rest – for nothing except as a way to pass the time from birth all the while denying death.

You talk a lot about values, character, ethics, truth, love, grace, kindness, generosity and more – all myths in your lives to set aside the Godlike character. Those who have such values are seen as weak to all but a very few and those few pay a high price if they articulate, in a positive way, what they see. What is real and is seen by everyone as great – ‘now there is a real man’ – is the life you are leading based on your animal instincts – catering to sex, power, control, greed – all called sin, and practiced by nearly everyone.

It has been amazing to watch a group of humans build a society – structure a government – set up rules and laws – all based on their animal instincts. Not their higher instincts, not what comes from their claimed belief in a God who holds up love above all – but their lowest common denominator instincts, shared with the animals with whom you also share the planet earth. In humans those lower instincts are so much more intense and destructive than anything the animal world has ever produced – you make historians gasp even though they can’t see nor report on the very same things occurring during their lifetime.

In the society you have and are creating, Love is much lauded. It is raised to the level of a god. God is love – the shorthand way you describe God, your beautiful mythological creation for which many have given their lives and for which you have demanded the life of others claiming you are just and right and good and full of love and those others are evil, greedy, mean-spirited, and need to be destroyed and/or severely controlled. You have taken the lives of many in the name of love but the fact of sex. You have taken and destroyed the children, the property, the everything of those others. You have done all of that to continue and move ahead the system you have set up on this earth not based on God’s love, but based on sex. You refuse to see, acknowledge and change that. You will, however, change one institutional structure for another if it is also based on sex, as long as it has a better mythological structure which will camouflage the reality of who you have chosen to be.

I can hear the protests already. Take a look around at all that you survey. Can you drink the water in the streams; Is the food grown making many ill; are terminal diseases rampant with everyone denying that they know the ultimate cause; are you one of those who claims the illnesses we face in such high numbers really starting in these last two generations were always there only we didn’t have the ability to diagnose them? Do you really believe that or does that myth make you feel better? That list, the result of this sex based system, could go on for pages and still not be complete.

Love is the beautiful part of your humanity. Your animal instincts deal with your physical selves. You describe love, but before you get too far into the description you veer off into a description of sex. The people you hold up, who get you into much trouble and evil are sexual deviants. Your new president in the United States is a hard to ignore example. He has let his out of control sex drive do awful things to himself and to the society. Driven by out of control sex he has so far surpassed the animals in how he exercises his urges and the depths to which he has gone – and will go in the future, if left unchecked.  It is fast becoming mind boggling and mind numbing. How many women have brought charges of sexual abuse and assault against him? And have you raised that up and fought for the women? Or have you let that rest because you recognize and understand that part of this new president? He personifies what is evil in all of you and so he is untouchable. To call him in – to rein him in – you have to rein in your own sex drives and your own base instincts of greed, lying, filth of every kind and so far, in history, that is something you have neither done nor attempted to do – except on a mythological level. What the United States president has done and is doing brings shame on all of those who helped put him where he is. If you voted for him – if you encouraged others to vote for him – if you saw in him a way to manipulate others and used him in that way – any small thing you did to help him rise will have its day of retribution.

The way animals live, their baser instincts occasionally break out and cause very brief moments of trouble, but when translated to human life and structured into human organizations those instincts while essentially harmless in animals and are there for the animal kingdom’s survival, become corrupt, evil, ugly and at times impossible to control until everyone is exhausted from the letting loose of such extreme evil.

Greed is something you have structured into your government, society, friendships. How else do you achieve and maintain a “better than” society? The beginnings of the United States used slavery to structure that “better than” need and requirement into its governmental structures and it has survived to cause trouble even into today.

Some people have obscene amounts of money. They do not look around and share their excess with anyone. They hoard it to overstuff themselves with houses, clothes, wealth, all kinds of wealth – and when they see the homeless, those in need, those who can’t feed or clothe themselves they turn a blind eye and talk to friends blaming the victims for the excesses of those with averted eyes.  Please -don’t try to justify and claim they share by citing their ‘tax free’ contributions which in the end benefit only themselves.

There is enough on this planet for all to live well. However, it is divided in such a way that only a small percentage thrive. In creating that kind of distribution of wealth you act as though you are going to live forever and take all of your wealth with you when you die. Nothing is further from the truth.

You have made yourselves miserable with this society which you have created and claimed it was from God and that the God you worship is a God who is Love! But you made this god male and although his beginnings was in a story set in poverty, in many of your religions his continued existence is in gold, silver, marble statues, incredible structures and edifices which could feed the world’s population many times over.  And the claim you make is that your god instructed you to do this to show your worship of him and your humility before him. Aaaggghhh!

You point to the theology you created around this god, but in the reality of your lives greed, jealousy, sexual assault and abuse amongst the humans is becoming worse as time goes by. You have created systems of government under which you live and systems of economics which gives power to a few and which makes the rest of you constantly strive, miss your life, and continue the super hypocrisy for very little, thinking one day you will be amongst those chosen for that rarefied air of what used to be the millionaires club, but many were weeded out so the new and rarer billionaires club could be formed.

O ye of no faith do you not know – do you not see where you are headed? You now fight depression, addiction, and so much more. Your created systems are destroying you, the planet and everything in your grasp. You are working hard to leave the planet and reach outer space. Are you going to bring all of your baser instincts with you and re-create out there another hell reflective of what you have done on earth?

We see you afraid to love – your solution is turning love into sex – and obfuscating the difference. Writing love stories which are really sex stories to pass along to future generations. Your leaders are almost all sexual deviants. They blackmail each other to get their way by threatening to “out” another persons mistakes – usually always in the sexual area. Why have you done this? We can’t make any sense of what you have created. You create wars to maintain power. You destroy, humiliate, torture, kill and so much more to maintain a way of life which never should have been created in the first place.

So much hope was placed in you and you have defiled and shown that hope to have been a wasted emotion. Why must you translate your animal instincts into your institutions? What is it about you that you can’t function on any other level. Why can’t you see what you have done and are doing? Why do you only regret after you have destroyed everything around you and don’t know how to get it back?

Sex is about procreation. You are attracted to those with whom you can join and multiply. You have changed all of that and created marriage and ‘morality’ laws not about procreation, but to protect property. You have written your probate laws – your wishes acknowledging death and your mortality – to protect property and these probate laws need the marriage laws to work and to keep the lines of inheritance for your property clear.

You have created a society in which it has been and still is difficult for a woman and a man to be friends without sex in the picture. If they find their way to a friendship without sex those around will keep the sexual thing going by assuming they are hiding something. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The easiest way to ruin someone in your society is to claim they had sex with a person who would cloud the inheritance picture and jeopardize the line of succession for the power, money and property accumulated.

You have spelled out in your laws who can have sex with whom because your inheritance laws can’t be violated. Not just the inheritance of money and property, but you had laws defining who could have sex with whom because the line of “I am better than you” must be kept and that would fail if you crossed color lines – ethnicity lines – religious lines. Those are fringy definitions because those are not real categories, but you have created the category of race and have religions which make it a sin to marry and/or have sex with someone who would dilute the power of a particular race, religion or someone from a particular country which is not seen as one of the power center countries where it is imperative for those “bloodlines” to remain pure.

Some of that is changing – but other such structures are being put in place which are more stringently keeping to your “better than” needs than what you have already established as “law and custom”.  These are the only ones you recognize as having power in your way of life.

You all have the possibility of being so much more than you have allowed yourself to be; you can create institutions based on God’s love instead of man’s sex and other animal instincts and the instincts of what are called the “lower animals”. It is not understandable as to why that is what you have chosen when you could have been so much more. It is the hardest way to live; the most miserable and painful and difficult way. What is it in you that makes you choose that path? Why do you so raise up and honor those basest of instincts?

__________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

__________________________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

Omarosa – you go girl!

Tuesday, August 14th, 2018

“Don’t diss me until you have walked in my shoes.”

It should be amazing to hear, see and read all of the press coverage about Omarosa and her firing by the White House, but it isn’t. What should be amazing about it? The fact that she lasted as long as she did even though she was over the area set aside for minorities. To remain for any length of time in such a position in the Trump White House must have taken a lot of will, political skill and knowledge of self-preservation.

We are seeing the racism of those doing the anti-Omarosa reporting come through like spotlights. It is historical.

For example:

– Omarosa was held in the “Situation Room” for some two hours and was taken into that room, one black female, by four white men. I’ve seen that before and it is meant to scare the same way white sheets and pointy hats and burning crosses are meant to scare. However, the only thing we hear the media addressing is the fact that Omarosa recorded the ordeal and what an awful person she is for having done so. Some have even gone to the lengths of claiming that she should be prosecuted for having jeopardized the security of the United States through this act. Does that sound similar to “lock her up”? Is that a clear blame the victim?

It seems to us the only way the national security of the U. S. was jeopardized was by General Kelly using a secure room which should be used for national security meetings, etc. and used it as a setting to intimidate and restrain a black woman in a room against her will. There is no other way to describe what happened to Omarosa during her time in the Situation Room except as a time of instilling fear and intimidation. How come holding an employee of the White House against her will is not worthy of coverage? Unless, of course, this is seen as normal because it is a black woman and because we want to make sure the victim is blamed where race is concerned. No or very little blame has been incurred by General Kelly and his three co-intimidators. Holding someone against their will is generally called kidnapping – “lock him up.”

– And – One needs to go back into the history of the relationship between Trump and Omarosa before reporting how they are the same! That is the most ridiculous claim of all. Let’s paint both with the same brush! Even making the claim that Omarosa, while like Trump, is much worse. Those are flabbergasting charges.

When you look back at the history of their friendship the extent of Trump’s racism didn’t become clear until he was into his run for president. Whenever a black – especially a black woman, works with whites you have to and are raised to turn a deaf eye and ear to a lot of the racism of your friends, co-workers, acquaintances. That is just survival in these United States. Some people handle that better than others. That appears to be what happened to Omarosa, especially looking at the blacks who surrounded her and seeing the blacks who knew the way to attempt to make claims on Trump’s pocket book and power – ie Kanya West.

Looking at the Apprentice TV show, it had a fairly large number of blacks on the show and it was not easy to pick up racism. Not many of the blacks on the Apprentice picked that up – if they did they certainly kept that discovery to themselves. One assumes also that as the star of the show the people picked were chosen by Donald Trump. However, in this ‘dust-up’ we learn and we learn it from Omarosa that Donald Trump did not choose the people who appeared, there was a production company which did that which accounts for the diversity.

– We have yet to hear anyone talk about Omarosa’s composure, her ability to handle the press when they try to demean her in the middle of an interview, how put together she looks always and the way she carries herself.

Maybe we just don’t remember that during the transition period Omarosa was a part of what was happening in Trump Tower and seemed to be the one sitting in the back of the room closely observing the comings and goings. So – when she makes the comment that as president, people will bow down to Trump and be obsequious as they try to share his power (not her exact words, but the sentiment of the famous taping that is playing over and over on news reports) it is more a statement of truth then one of Omarosa bowing down to Trump. She is in the middle and sees people coming and going who once criticized Trump now bowing down to be included somehow – let us remind you of Mitt Romney, Al Gore, etc. etc. people who would not be expected to show up at Trump Tower because of their strong and accurate criticism of Trump. Omarosa’s character and ethics are criticized using that film clip to do the criticizing, but she is simply telling the truth. We don’t want to be faced with the hypocrisy of our leaders – we want that to slide as they become a part of this Trump Administration. That is how the game is played until along comes this black women who stands in front of the camera and articulates exactly what is happening and points out our hypocrisy in that process. She wasn’t puffing up Trump’s ego – she was truth telling.

– What is also clear is the way the press refused to interview Omarosa during her tenure on the White House staff and the fact that no one said she formerly worked at the White House so was the only staff member with any experience on such a staff. That part of her background was enclosed in silence while other parts – which reflect the stereotype of black women – is pulled out and paraded around.

– To look at the entire picture of Omarosa’s life it was clear that we were headed for such a moment as this. A doubly oppressed minority with Omarosa’s family history and her beginnings in fairly poor surroundings, it is no surprise that having been taken up by Trump as she was moving upward on her own steam, aggressiveness, life-history she would praise Trump. Who gave her such an incredible opportunity? To have moved from Omarosa’s beginnings to Senior aid in the White House is an awesome achievement. She was grateful as many are who experience a life beginning of serious and severe oppression.

To her credit, however, Omarosa was not tone deaf. How she conducted herself in what had to be horrendous surroundings in the middle of people who showed themselves to be totally racist and sexist is nothing short of brilliant. That she woke up from those surroundings to take such a clear, strong, stance and came out of it with what she needed to prove what her life was like during her time in the Trump bubble shows who she really is and the strength of her character.

When you compare that to others who came out and felt they had to sign the NDA AND ACCEPT the $15,000 or other figure per month to keep silent speaks volumes about Omarosa, who was offered the same deal and refused it instead, opened the door to the White House for the rest of us to see what her life had been like and what life in the White House is like. Omarosa gave us another pathway to understand what is happening in these United States.

Do you know what it is like to be in a situation and treated in the horrendously negative way she was treated? What do you do? Some would move out, resign and be grateful for the $15,000/month offer.

“Until you walk a mile in my shoes don’t let your self-righteousness cloud your eyes and ears and keep you from learning from my experience. Is your life so pure you can so negatively judge me?”

When you come from Omarosa’s background to double down and try to make a success of where you are because you know those opportunities are not overwhelming determines your daily life and decisions. She was alone in a White House that was very hostile to her yet she stayed and still worked to attempt to open doors for blacks and that in spite of the fact that neither blacks nor whites reached out to her, but instead negatively characterized her, judged her and treated her like a piece of disposable dirt. It is pretty bad and it is a trap from which it is hard to extricate yourself.

Omarosa had to have a sense of justice to tape, write and go out in the front of a storm to confront and expose. She also has to have a strong sense of who she is to go up against all the negative comments about her “lack of credibility.” What lack of credibility. She was rarely covered by the press for anyone to know who she was – lots of assumptions because she was a friend of Donald Trump and backed him even when his extreme racism began to show. That is not lack of credibility.

At one time I would have said that is lack of good judgment. However, seeing what she was doing with her time in the Trump White House and how she documented what they were doing for a future release time I have changed my mind about that. It seems to me Omarosa was taping people and situations during her time with Trump because her way out was going to be to document everything she saw and experienced. To let all of that out in a book which she probably saw as an alternative to the abyss which awaited her whenever she did decide to leave or would be removed from the White House. She certainly has eliminated the prospect of being called a “go for coffee girl.”

Omarosa is a touch stone for a whole lot of blacks. Those still in the Republican Party and feel they are contributing to moving blacks ahead – staying to be able to document history correctly; feeling that they are keeping really horrendous things from happening to blacks inside and outside the Republican Party; being present to document their experience which could be skewered by others if she didn’t. That is just a few – there are many more.

Omarosa is no better nor worse than the black attorney who is called on to represent clients accused of racism – that happens so much it is automatic and to be expected, We see the black attorneys complimented for their work not dissed for allowing themselves to be so negatively abused; women called to diss other women because coming from a woman it is a stronger dissing; blacks called on to make negative claims against other minorities and so much more.

Omarosa is and has been a black woman whites don’t understand; don’t like; don’t want around because she violates everything about blacks and the black experience that they think they know and understand – she can’t be trusted therefore her character and ethics are in question; but mostly she is the foil against whom we see sharply the failings of other blacks, male and female, those who parrot and are promoted by whites to do their bidding in exchange for 20 pieces of silver and a brief time appearing to be considered equal. She uncovers those blacks as they try to put her down and uncovers those whites who desperately want to protect and continue to cultivate “their” black who helps them hold the line against the onslaught of equality.

Put all of the above against what you will hear over the next few days about Omarosa. You can agree or disagree, but this is what we see.
____________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

_____________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

Melania Trump’s Lifestyle – African American?

Monday, July 16th, 2018

It was amazing at the Republican Convention to hear Melania Trump give a talk which was lifted practically verbatim from a talk given by Michelle Obama. So it was not too much of a surprise to see her choice of clothes.

For the formal dinner in England just a few days ago, Melania Trump chose to lift the dress choice of Lupita Lyongo, the Kenyan/Mexican actress and model – only in yellow instead of the red chosen by Lupita for her appearance at the Golden Globe awards. www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/158540849363070263/
And then there was the jacket Melania wore to visit the site where children were being held in cages. remember? It said “I really don’t care. Do U?

All of the conjectures about the jacket missed a very crucial point. It was designed and manufactured by a company which routinely designs and manufactures anti-semitic clothes, of which that jacket was one – fit right in with the anti-brown/black immigrant goals of a White Nationalist family, don’t you think?

On a different wave length, to her more serious events she wears designs by people who would fit into the “better than” category the Trump administration and its White Nationalist philosophy has chosen to designate as those who are “better than” – “more/better culture than”, etc.

The Trump’s fit into the “Nouveau Riche” category and they are acting out their newsness to wealth and their inability to acclimate and fit into the society. Apparently, before the wealth arrived, the Trump family had some secrets to keep hidden in the “culture” department and are trying to do so by giving themselves a very different background from the one which is their reality.

Donald Trump labels himself as half-English/half-Scottish. With the claim that his mother came from England and the other side came from Scotland. Nothing about his real grandfather who came from Germany, which means that Donald Trump himself is an immigrant one generation removed from the man who arrived in these United States with no money – very broke – no education – scraping the bottom of the barrel and who reportedly moved himself up on the backs of women who he used to scrape together the means to build a hotel – and- it is rumored, used the hotel as a brothel.

This is the background of the man who is now trying to lift himself up by pushing down other immigrants and lifting up Northern European culture as at the top and currently endangered by all of the bare foot, dirty, non-English speaking immigrants he is trying so hard to keep out of the United States and strongly advising England to keep them out of their country or their “superior” culture will be lost. The Trumps clearly have worked hard to move themselves up class wise, but don’t quite seem to know how to do that. Their recently learned knowledge about this “cultural” phenomenon has come late and with lots of defects in the knowledge. The KKK, White Nationalists, neo-Nazi’s take you down the cultural ladder, Donald, not up. The “Upper Class” in these United States will never embrace someone with your background. Probably not your family until the third or fourth generation – which means Ivanka’s grandchildren – if they keep their noses clean and out of what you are constantly involved with and which Ivanka is, apparently, helping you to achieve.

Problem is, every time Donald Trump opens his mouth he shows his lack of a decent “cultured” upbringing and out comes all the crude, lying, greedy, lifestyle he apparently learned at his father’s knee. His presumptions and characterizations about himself show a great gift for storytelling. – Wasn’t it Donald and his father who were sued by the United States of America for the racism they were practicing in their buildings? And wasn’t it Donald’s father trying to lie his way out of being jailed with the KKK after they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in their sheets and pointy hats trying to scare the entire American society? And given the choice wasn’t it the Donald who found his associates and friends among the mafia, the gamblers, those who stole from others to pad their own pockets ie his six bankruptcies which took away from many and gave him assets without a cost to the Trumps?

This is now the president of the United States – How the mighty have fallen!

The Evangelical Christians of a certain stripe support him strongly and claim their god sent him
Their god sent an
Adulterer
pathological liar
cheat
man full of greed – ripping off others as though it was his right
takes his failures and proclaims them as great successes
glutton
and so much more – do we really need to list everything?
______________________________________________________________________He needs to find GOD! and give up on his evangelical imitation leading him down the road to sedition and sin which leads him straight to hell! It is extremely interesting that the Trumps imitate the peoples they consider inferior and want to push down and characterize as “less than”. Wonder what that means?

______________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

______________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

TREASONOUS TRUMP!

Thursday, July 5th, 2018

Quite some time ago I read a blog on these pages about “The Manchurian Candidate” and that was before Trump was elected president and today he is the president of these United States and clearly into treason against the United States.

Patterns?

Trump went to Canada and alienated U. S. Allies demanding that Russia be included in the “7” making it “8” and then he went on to North Korea and was smiley and extremely complimentary of Kim Jong Un, a dictator with a terrible record which included, apparently, killing members of his own family and other atrocities and Donald Trump found that laudatory. His flattery of Kim Jong Un was extravagant.

And now, on to the NATO meeting followed by an extremely private meeting with Vladimir Putin and another “I love Russia and Putin” and those NATO folks are $#%&%#S….

Those meetings are not accidental timings, they are arrogant.

The extreme privacy of his meeting with Putin violates his role as President of these United States. He is the U. S. President not a private citizen and as such he is responsible to the citizens of these United States in everything he does. Meeting privately with Vladimir Putin is against the interest of the United States.

Donald Trump is breaking laws in this country and turning it into a dictatorship which rivals that of Kim Jong Un. Given enough time he will make the atrocities in North Korea look small by comparison. That is what he clearly prefers and what he wants of his presidency – by his own admission.

He has probably done enough to be tried by an International Court and to call in the United Nations and any other international body that has jurisdiction over such acts.

Trump has, in the United States, created a crisis which has allowed him to establish Concentration Camps, Internment Camps and Death Camps. The post in this blog which made those statements early on was clearly correct. What he has created parallels Nazi Germany and takes it many steps beyond.

Trump has turned the “Brown and Black people” arriving in the U. S. seeking asylum from horrendous situations into criminals. He takes away their children and according to the news reports has “lost over 1,000 of them”. Lost them to what? The young girls lost to sex slavery? The young children lost to adoption by others? Any of them sold? It is certainly a slavery situation and closely parallels preparations for slavery auctions with people particularly children in wire cages.

Muslims, Hispanics are currently targeted. Trump has indicated the other non-whites will be next.

Are Naturalized Citizens from those “Brown and Black people” next? Will their citizenship be turned around and they thrown out of the United States after the DACA people are put in the wire cages and deported? Or will they be put into wire cages and moved to the Death Camps when no semi-lawful way is found to deport them? Are African Americans next? And then Native Americans – don’t know where they will be deported, but Trump will think of something. Or will they be jailed on”trumped” up charges and turned into caged slaves. Allowed out during the day to do the free work of the establishment and returned to jail in the evening. Maybe they will simply be killed. And then comes Asians and Asian Americans? He has already cancelled the passports for Asian Americans in Silicon Valley.

And in the process Trump has ignored the Constitution as though it does not exist.

He is isolating the United States and undercutting its economy.

It is clear what is needed to create a fascist dictatorship from a democracy or a republic is isolationism – trade wars – leading to a heavy depression and those are the circumstances under which we are living. That has already been done we just have to wait a couple months for the depression to take hold.

Those three things helped create the ground on which Nazism flourished.

To those who think that is a conjecture too far? It is not conjecture: –

We have death camps – only there is no gas to turn on. Trump has found something more excruciatingly lethal and they are called “cold boxes”. If you are ill when you arrive in this country looking for asylum, having walked over hundreds of miles to get here you are probably over tired, may have the flu and other problems. Are you given health care to help you along – no, you are put in a “cold box”. A place kept at 50 degrees to somethimes as “warm” as 55 or 60 degrees and there you stay until you are ‘decontaminated” of the germs you carry – which in several cases has been weeks. Everything you have is taken away from you and you are left in those “cold boxes” with a thin sweat shirt, thin pants and inconsequential to no shoes and those cold boxes include children and toddlers.

There can’t be doctors around because I don’t know of any doctor or other health person who would recommend such a treatment. All you need is a lowered immune system and a body underfed and exhausted to cause gradual death. If you get to leave the “cold box” you need a very heavy constitution to overcome its effects and over time you will succumb because that stay in that “cold box” compromises your entire system.

Trump supporters are a group of people who are on a level with, if not worse than, the MS-13 gangs Trump loves to threaten people with when the real enemy is Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions. The killing of the five news media recently and the serious injuring of more sits directly in Trump’s lap and comes from the kind of rhetoric he has encouraged and is spreading.

Sessions, the AG who Trump claimed to be against and wanted to fire when all along -while he was talking that rhetoric – dumping on Sessions to get people who neither liked nor respected him, but didn’t think Trump was treating Sessions “fairly” substantially supporting Sessions. And all the time, behind the curtain, Sessions with Trump were planning and working on a model of this current immigrant plan, put it into operation as a model to see what happened and when it worked to their satisfaction rolled it out as a full blown operation. Children taken from their parents, asylum seekers criminalized, “cold boxes” to increase the chances of immigrants dying – but not until they left the “cold boxes” so Trump would not be held responsible, and all that we see happening in front of our eyes. – AND, at the same time we are hearing Trump supporters bragging about what is to come next – even “better than” what we are currently experiencing with the immigrant question.

Nothing you see is what is real in this Trump presidency. The obfuscation, the hiding, the lying, the destruction of human life is extensive.

And then we have Donald Trump meeting with Vladimir Putin behind the curtain just before the mid-term vote in the United States. Another coincidence? I don’t think so. Trump has had a dream of a Trump Tower in Moscow since the 1980’s and it certainly looks as though he has made a deal to get his Trump Tower in Moscow. The timing is unbelievably arrogant – but then so was the call by Trump on television, during the Presidential Campaign, for Putin to hack the DNC computers which happened with Russian help. Trump’s denial of Russian interference with the United States presidential election is simply to make sure they are able to do it again when the next election comes up and he does nothing to negate the process. So he goes to meet Putin conveniently just before that mid-term election and at the beginning of that election season with whatever information Putin needs to be more effective this time with Trump having access to all of the United States intelligence so Putin and his boys can do a better job.

And this time there is an added flourish. – United States Congresspeople meet in Russia, just before Trump’s arrival, to insure that Putin knows and sees Trump’s ‘power’. The Congress people met to exclaim and proclaim their support of Russia and wish for great ties binding Russia and the United States peoples – the “White” ones who are the only ones who will survive Trump and his administration.

Make America White Again – coming from Trump means alliances with “White Nations” like Russia – which is all White and the power structure 99% male. It also means alliances with other such countries while dumping on those which are not “White” and/or which have given in to the women and have women in the power structure.

Some Americans wanted a business person as president. That meant all kind of positive things to them. Well take a look and then take a look at our corporate structures and some of the leaders of that corporate structure and their ethics and character match Trump’s – they are also clearly not building republics nor anything close to democracies and probably never will. Only a handful really profit, the rest of us work all of our lives for those few to immensely benefit. I believe the blog in this series which says -the growth of U. S. Billionaires parallels and causes the growth of the homeless.

So in summary:

Parallels to Nazi Germany

Death Camps which gassed people = Trump Death Camps which destroy peoples already compromised immune systems in “cold boxes”. Cold boxes take longer and are more painful than gassing and people die after being released from the cold boxes so Trump and his people can deny, lie, obfuscate and abdicate responsibility.

The SS for enforcement = ICE for enforcement, burying the facts and lying to U. S. Citizens and the world to cover what is actually happening.

no rule of law = Trump has made a mockery of the U. S. Rule of Law by, among other things, having 3 and 4 year olds, who sit in Court on chairs, where their feet can’t touch the floor, alone, defending themselves

Trump – a pathological liar which means the institutions over which he has power have become pathological liars and so have those who are the administrators and others in those institutions. It is the only way they can survive.
____________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

____________________________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

A Bettina Network Lifestyle Member Responds

Thursday, May 24th, 2018

Amazing!

Donald Trump is a liar

Donald Trump is a pathological liar

It seems clear that his campaign worked with Russia and other such countries who helped to get him elected

It seems clear that criminals are at the top of his campaign

Is Putin setting the strategy to help Trump out as he now clearly will have to pay the piper.  It is true that what goes around comes around Mr. Trump.

Putin owes him that since Trump has carried out Putin’s wish list for the United States.  Every one of Putin’s goals for the United States is being pursued by Donald Trump and most times it has been successfully pursued by Donald Trump.

This North Korea thing is nothing more than theatre staged by Donald Trump.  Now he’s going -now maybe he’s going – now Kim Jong Un is blowing up a nuclear site that North Korea announced a couple months ago couldn’t be used anymore so they would have to move their testing to another site.  So their current site spends its last days being used as the back drop – the stage setting for this Trump production as he moves along to make an agreement which will again, no doubt, be harmful to the United States, but will totally gratify Russia and all the others in Trump’s lineup of foreign supporters.

Keep posting, I love to read your blog.  Had a bit of trouble accessing it over the past few days – is everything alright over there?

Folks don’t like what you are saying and are retaliating, but don’t stop and don’t slow down.  I am sure if you are running into problems  you have a lot of supporters who will come to your defense and aid.

_________________________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!
[give_form id=”3763″]
_________________________________________________________________________
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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

 

A Current Example of Bullying – Trump and Macron!

Thursday, April 26th, 2018

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron are back in France and have left the American public with lots to talk about and even more to think through.

President Trump has a way of bullying those who arrive as “important guests” both domestic and foreign from the moment he holds out his hand to shake theirs.  The only person on whom he did not use this bullying handshake was Vladimir Putin.  Trump has a bullying handshake where he makes the person on the other side wince as he pulls their arm and then the rest of their body towards him with one of the most bullying handshakes I have ever seen.

Emmanuel Macron was no exception.  Macron, however, has made it his mission not be bullied by this handshake nor to be passive in an attitude of acceptance with a “this too shall pass” sub-text.  He has taken on Trump’s handshake and given back which, during this visit,  resulted in an amazing display.

The media and many others took it as a “bromance”.  To say they missed the point is to say they exist in a society which accepts and does its best to ignore and deny sexual abuse in its many forms.  That is exactly what we saw Emmanuel Macron put through during his trip to these United States.

President Macron, however, gave the country an exquisite example of how to handle such a bullying.  Bullying of all kind will be with us forever if we don’t start calling it what it is when we see someone being bullied instead of finding other ways to describe what we know is an act of unashamed bullying.  That could have been an example of a woman being abused and I think the media would have talked about a budding romance instead of stepping in to stop the atrocity – which is what we saw acted out before the world.

Trump’s initial handshake was returned in kind and Trump’s bullying was on high display as he responded to the need to push Macron down to puff himself up – in front of the world.  I hope others have the guts and insight to come forward to condemn the display President Trump put on as his ego kept pushing him to uglier heights.  Not even children would have participated in that dandruff act.

Not to be deterred by how ugly he was appearing to all, Mr. Trump continued trying to oppress and subjugate President Macron and Macron’s response should be in a book on bullying as one person’s way of brilliantly handling an extremely distressful and continuous almost non-stop display of oppression and bullying.  Instead of seeing and commenting on what was actually happening, the media continued to claim – “they must like each other.”

Beginning with the handshake, Trump practically bowled Macron over as he tried to pull him towards himself.  Macron responded by maintaining and giving back to Trump what he got from the handshake and responding and making it about the ‘French Kiss” by putting his arm around Trump and kissing him on both cheeks.  Since it seems possible that Trump goes both ways, President Macron’s attempts didn’t land the way he intended.

and on and on it went.

Clearly, Macron’s response – his coup de grace – was put forward during his speech to the American Congress during which Macron laid out his policies and ideas including almost all of Trump’s policy stances and the beliefs Trump has made a part of his ‘reign’ as president.   President Emmanuel Macron’s stances were totally opposite to Donald Trump’s.  In giving that speech, President Macron did not wince, pull back, chance his beliefs, etc.  He was forthright, forthcoming and clear and he had the American Congress with him – showing where they really stood when any possible attempts at blackmail, bullying, pushing were removed and one could respond as one felt.

Clearly, Melanie Trump showed she was truly the wife and soul mate of Donald Trump when she appeared in the white suit with hat which at one point moved Brigitte Macron out of the picture.  When she appeared with “the Don” it was clear the arrogance and posturing of one was totally acceptable and generated pride in the other.  They appeared in a strong statement which looked totally out of place for the company, the situation, the reflection of herself as hostess.  She was clearly uncaring about Brigitte Macron and was only out to outshine and put forth her worth – which she apparently holds as her body and what she puts on it. The sexist male – the misogynist male has a female counterpart whose chief value is invested in how she looks.  It was an outsized look and had a very hard edge which did not show as the hostess, but as the guest attempting to outshine all the other guests.

In his speech to Congress, President Macron came across as human, compassionate and seriously working to make this a better world for the least of these.  His wife, Brigitte, looked like a caring, compassionate and serious person who was working with her husband and while her dress was quite elegant, it was also very human.  She was not trying to outshine, outdo, send out an image to puff herself up or any of that.  She was dressed in a lovely “human’ way.  The contrast was astounding.

As I looked at all of that my mind brought me back to Barbara Bush’s funeral and life.  Her funeral, for me, was a brief moment of public respite. At the end, she gave us a time to reflect, to think, to move away from the upheaval – panic – intensity of nothingness – the passionate hiding of something unsavory.  There was no name calling; no trying to upstage and outshine; no arrogance; no posturing; just people coming to witness to the life of someone they knew either as a close friend or in her capacity as mother, wife, First Lady, volunteer, helper to those in need, etc.  Somehow, I could not see Melanie Trump ever being such a lovely, humble person who knew who she was and presented herself not as an artificial model using her body to sell whatever it was she was selling.  The hat ruined the suit and showed a person with a very hard edge who was anything but a warm, caring human being.  I have yet to see any of those qualities in either Melanie or Donald Trump and that white hat and suit emphasized the arrogance, artificiality and lying image of the couple.  What is a ‘lying image”?  Presenting oneself as an image projecting not who you are but projecting that which one needs to show to make public one’s concept of power and control and that ‘better than’ attitude so constantly projected by the Kushner/Trump family.

________________________________________________________________________

Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!

[give_form id=”3763″]

_________________________________________________________________________

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. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.

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

 


Bettina's Lifestyle Commnity!

Join us!

Bettina’s Lifestyle Community

Making a difference in this very difficult and changeable world.

Bettina's Lifestyle Commnity!

Join us!