Monday, February 29, 2016

Wolfgang Hampel, Betty MacDonald and Hollywood

Several people told journalists that they were surrounded by groups of youths that forced them to hand over mobile phones, a watch and other items.
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Wolfgang Hampel - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


Betty MacDonald fan club research team is working on a new Betty MacDonald exhibit.

If you are interested in joining this Betty MacDonald fan club project you are welcome.
 
Several Betty MacDonald fan club fans shared very interesting details and info regarding Betty MacDonald's fascinating experiences in Hollywood.



Marjorie Main was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Ma Kettle in 1948 for her role in The Egg and I.

Celeste Holm was the Oscar winner instead of Marjorie Main.

I wished Marjorie Main had won it because she really deserved it.

Marjorie Main was outstanding. 


I'm very happy for Leonardo DiCaprio who won the Oscar tonight. 

He had to wait for 22 years and it was his 6th nomination. 
( see info below ) 

Congratulations dear Lenonardo DiCaprio!

 
We are going to publish some new Betty MacDonald fan club interviews  by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel who is working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
 

Good luck dear Wolfgang Hampel!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is a great guy even if he is a bit strange.


My British friends would say he's a bit eccentric but that's like Onions in the Stew, don't you think. 

 
Do I agree with Betty MacDonald's description of women and men? Oh yes I do! 


Betty MacDonald was such a very intelligent lady and she knew very well what she was writing about.

 
If we believe that Mr. Tigerli acts a bit strange what can we say of the behaviour of some men?

 
Betty wrote the truth! By the way I don't hate men! I love them - some of them - especially mine!


My family and friends adore Traci Tyne Hilton's books very much.

We are very happy that she is our new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.

Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world like Linde Lund's interview with Traci Tyne Hilton very much. 


Have a great Monday,

Astrid



Don't miss this very special book, please.



Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 


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

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 



Betty MacDonald fan  club interview with author Traci Tyne Hilton
           

Copyright 2014/2016 by Traci Tyne Hilton & Linde Lund
                                            

                         All rights reserved




I can find several interviews with you. Which two ones do you prefer?





Here are two recent interviews. The second one is a "character interview" with the characters from my newest book, which is kind of fun.













 




This is a picture of me on my tenth wedding anniversary at The Betty MacDonald Farm on Vashon. My sweet husband planned our weekend away, but didn't realize that I actually wanted to STAY at the farm! But he did drive me there to see it before we went home, though. I'm pretty little in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see me by the door to the barn.





Which book by Betty MacDonald did you read first?




My mom gave me her copy of The Egg and I when I was about 11. It was my first taste of Betty Macdonald, but I was definitely hooked! I read it at least once a year until I was in my twenties and finally got around to finding the rest of her work at my library...and then collecting reprints.





What do you like most in Betty MacDonald's books?




I love her over the top humor paired with her brutally honest representation of life. 





Is there anything you dislike in Betty MacDonald's books?




One could call her portrayal of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest in the Egg and I racist, but she was a woman of her time, and the things she writes about, such as alcoholism, are not untrue. They are just reported with that brutal honesty that she also uses for her white neighbors--no one is safe from her sharp pen. So, it makes me a little uncomfortable to read, but at the same time, I think it is real (from her perspective at least, and her perspective is valid,) and I don't dislike it, if that makes sense.





Did you ever read Betty MacDonald's books for children for example The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series and  Nancy and Plum?


Oh yes! I wish I had had them as kids, but I have been reading them to my kids which is even better! My sister in law bought me Nancy and Plum several years back, and I love it. I don't know why it's not a classic on par with the Secret Garden or the Little Princess! But...even better than Nancy and Plum are the Piggle-Wiggle books. They crack my kids up, and were the first chapter books that my girls really devoured. They crack me up, too!





What is your favourite book by Betty MacDonald?





It is still The Egg and I. It's a book that formed so much of my opinion on fiction and held such an important part of my growing up--I don't think anything could beat it. My husband and I call snobby activities "The Theatah and the Dahnce" and I've been known to say "I itch, so I scratch, so what?" 





Did Betty MacDonald influence you as author?




Absolutely. Though I write mysteries I want them to be funny, and I hold Betty MacDonald's work up as a standard for humor.





What do you think is the reason Betty MacDonald is beloved all over the world?



Betty's work gives us a glimpse into a world that we would have never known without her. Both life in the Olympic Mountains and on Vashon are so different from regular town and city life. I think readers love to escape, and the more remote the location, the more different the people we get to meet, the more we love the work! Betty's books help us all escape to a time that is getting farther and farther away, and a place that doesn't even exist anymore, but even when it did, it was unexpected, hilarious, and stunningly beautiful.





Dearest Traci I hope I don't bore with so many questions.

I wasn't a bit bored! Betty MacDonald is definitely my favorite author and I loved having a chance to talk about her work and why I love it so much!





As I already mentioned there are several Betty MacDonald fan club fans who enjoy your books very much.




That people who love Betty MacDonald also like my books is almost unbelievable to me, and really is a dream come true, as an author. When I was a young girl, curled up with her work, escaping to that remote egg farm, I never dreamed that someday people who loved her, would also enjoy what I had to say.



Dearest Traci thanks a million for this wonderful interview.
Lots of love to you and your family.

Lots of love to you, as well! Thank you.


Traci




Oscars 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio finally ​won an​ Academy Award

The internet sighs and looks for new jokes.

Leonardo DiCaprio didn't have an Oscar, and that was hilarious, according to the internet. There were memes about it. Someone even made a video game where players stepped into the actor's shoes and tried to chase down that elusive award.
It all stemmed from DiCaprio being just about the only major cast member from Titanic to not be nominated for an Oscar when that film won 11 awards (and was nominated for 14) in 1998.

Well, the internet will now have to find somebody new to laugh at. On Sunday, at the 2016 Oscars, DiCaprio finally won his prize for Best Actor, for his work in The Revenant.
His win wasn't exactly unexpected. DiCaprio had won every major pre-Oscar award of the 2016 awards season, including the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award. But with DiCaprio, there's always the sense that someone might swoop in at the last moment and win instead.
DiCaprio thanked numerous collaborators, from his Revenant co-star (and fellow nominee) Tom Hardy to Martin Scorsese, who directed DiCaprio to two previous Oscar nominations, for The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street.
But DiCaprio saved his most glowing praise for Revenant director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who'd won his second consecutive Best Director trophy earlier in the evening: "You have forged your way into history these past two years. What an unbelievable talent you are. Thank you to you and [cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki] for creating a transcendent cinematic experience for all of us."
DiCaprio concluded by talking about how The Revenant had to keep switching locations during filming, because the production team wasn't able to find cold enough temperatures to keep going. And the longtime environmentalist tied that into the battle to stop climate change.

"Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work together and stop procrastinating," he said in the most passionate moment of his speech. "We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters ... but who speak for all of humanity."
He concluded with gracious thanks — "I do not take tonight for granted" — and then slipped backstage, finally an Oscar winner.



Desperate refugees riot at Greek-Macedonia border

Angry refugees stranded at border rip open razor-wire barrier trying to enter Macedonia as guards fire tear gas.

| Refugees, Syrian Refugees, Macedonia, Greece, Europe
A woman holds her children as they run away after Macedonian police fired tear gas [Giannis Papanikos/AP]
A woman holds her children as they run away after Macedonian police fired tear gas [Giannis Papanikos/AP]

A riot broke out as hundreds of desperate refugees stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border smashed down a gate guarded by security forces on Monday.
The razor-wire barrier was ripped open and border guards fired tear gas in response.
Angry crowds shouted and pushed towards the barrier. Several men used a large steel post to ram the gate while trying to pry it open.   
Nearly 8,000 refugees are in limbo at the overcrowded border camp - with a capacity of 2,000 - at the village of Idomeni, according to Greek officials.
The Idomeni camp is rapidly turning into the main focal point in the largest migration crisis in Europe since World War II.

 Can Greece cope with the refugee crisis?
It was set up to shelter refugees as they wait for passage to Macedonia, which has greatly reduced the number of people allowed to pass in recent days.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Idomeni, said there was a rumour that the border crossing was opening, which brought hundreds rushing to the gate. 
"There was a state of panic and hope that finally those gates towards Western Europe would open. It's an emotional roller-coaster for these refugees and migrants who are here," she said.  
About 50 refugees were allowed into Macedona on Monday.
"The refugees are saying, 'What we've seen here is going to divide opinion in Europe'," Abdel Hamid reported. "It's a completely different atmosphere at the moment from last year and they are aware of it. People are saying that 'this is not going to help us. They will see this and we will not be welcome.'"

The situation at Idomeni camp, the main transit point for refugees travelling towards western Europe, continues to deteriorate.
Hundreds queued for hours for food at the camp on Greece's northern border.
The people at the camp - mostly Syrian and Iraqi refugees, many of them families with children - complained over lack of access to basic facilities such as toilets and food distribution points.
"The situation is, as you see, like a disaster and they don't open the borders, Macedonia don't open the borders, and people are coming more and more, so there is a very big number of people who have to wait for a long time in the food [line] and in the toilet," said Hamsa, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo.

Tensions ran high and scuffles broke out among people queuing up for an indeterminately long wait before being considered for passage to Macedonia.
Struggling with limited resources to house migrants itself, Macedonia had briefly closed its border last week, only to re-open it but with much stricter controls, allowing only a few hundred people to pass through over the weekend.
"I am suffering here. I am slowly dying here. I don't know what I'll do," said Abdullah, another Syrian man from Aleppo.
More than one million refugees and migrants passed through the camp in the previous 12 months, travelling from Turkey to Germany and other western European countries, where they hoped to secure asylum.

Wolfgang Hampel, Betty MacDonald and the golden egg

Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Wolfgang Hampel - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,



we are going to celebrate 70th anniversary of Betty MacDonald's golden The Egg and I in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March.


We asked  in which languages The Egg and I has been translated?



That's your chance. Don't miss it, please.


You can win our new Betty MacDonald documentary.


The Egg and I belongs to the most successful books ever.



First published by the J. B. Lippincott Company on October 3, 1945, The Egg and I received laudatory reviews and soon appeared on the best-seller list. 

The book was a blockbuster success as a novel, being reprinted on a nearly monthly basis for the next two years.

On September 12, 1946, the specially-bound one-millionth copy of the book was presented to MacDonald by Washington Governor Monrad Wallgren at a luncheon in Seattle.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March includes the names of our former Betty MacDonald fan club contest winners, the correct answers and many more info.



Anita, I'm one of your many fans. 


Many greetings to Eartha Kitt II. You are a dream team. Thank you so much for sharing the photo of you and Eartha in your living-room. It's so cute.

I admire your Betty MacDonald Fan Club story about Betty MacDonald, Robert Heskett, Donald MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea Darsie Bard Goldsmith, Alison Bard Burnett, Jerry Keil, Joan MacDonald Keil, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Perry Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Ma and Pa Kettle and many others.
It's the best Betty MacDonald fan club story ever beside Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and his magical Betty MacDonald Interviews.

Björn: I have a surprise. My parents visited the Northwest in the sixties. Both are huge Betty MacDonald Fans and they went to Vashon of course and they met ........
Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Cleve Bard and Mary Alice Bard. We have many photos of the family and my father filmed them with his camera. So you can see and hear the Bard family. I'm going to present this at the next Betty MacDonald Fan Club Meeting. 


Mary Bard Jensen is very funny, indeed but you'll enjoy Clyde Jensen, Cleve and Mary Alice Bard as well. A wonderful family!

Björn, we can't wait to see the Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Cleve Bard and Mary Alice Bard interviews filmed by your father. Did Mary Bard Jensen share any info about the story of Sandra, which Betty MacDonald mentioned in her book Anybody can do anything?


We would like to learn more about Mary Bard's book published in the thirties. We know so much more about it after reading Anita's Top Betty MacDonald Fan Club story. Anita also tells the exciting story of Dorita Hess. Betty MacDonald describes this rather strange lady in Anybody can do anything. Did Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Cleve Bard and Mary Alice Bard mention her in the interviews?

Björn, excuse my many questions, please but it's so great to have the opportunity to see all the members of the Bard family. I'm overwhelmed. It's such a great feeling.
I hope we'll be able to see these interviews and the filmed Betty MacDonald interview at the next Betty MacDonald Fan Club meeting.

Jens: Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I bet there will be many more fans in the future.
Isn' t this amazing? Wolfgang Hampel and Alison Bard Burnett are born humorists. Both delight their fans from all over the world.


I'd love to have a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories. What about a book? We adore Wolfgang Hampel's high humor and wit in Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and his wonderful Betty MacDonald interviews.

Jens, it doesn't amaze me at all. 


As you wrote Alison Bard Burnett and Wolfgang Hampel are born humorists. I heard many more Alison Bard Burnett interviews by Wolfgang Hampel will be published in the future. Come on, please. Do it! This couple is so funny. I can listen to them a million times without getting tired. Pure Bard and Hampel magic.


Wonderful story tellers, world painters, great entertainers. Alison Bard Burnett and Wolfgang Hampel share it with Betty MacDonald Fans from all over the world. 


By the way I don't like poems so much but Wolfgang Hampel's satirical poems are as witty and charming as his Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald Interviews. Wolfgang Hampel's very funny stories about everyday life make us laugh aloud.

I heard one of the next Betty MacDonald Fan Club Newsletter stories are about our beloved Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor members.


My family and I are crazy about Mr. Tigerli - our unique trouble shooter!


Our unique Betty MacDonald fan club honor members are outstanding artists and writers. 


Let's go to the bookstore and enjoy a new breakfast with Brad and Nick.

I'm crazy about Jamie-Lee and her outstanding song 'Ghost'.


What about moving to very beautiful Vashon Island? 



Yours,

David


Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 


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

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 


Betty MacDonald Fan Club proudly presents:

The amazing, very witty, charming, intelligent story written by our brilliant Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor Member - artist and writer Letizia Mancino.

WHEN YOU DREAM, DREAM BIG

Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
Translated by D. Tsiaprakas

Betty, I love you! Your books „Anybody can do anything“ and „Onions in the Stew“ are really outstanding! I take them into my hand, and at a stone's throw I am right away in America ! Columbus and the egg: The great discovery!

Your bestseller „The Egg and I“ the greatest discovery. And you and I! I know America: It's true what you are writing: That's America: Absolutely right! No, even to the least detail! The landscape and the passion: Do you know the country where pistols blossom? Brava, Betty, you are describing the Americans vividly, genuinely, insufferably, brushed upon paper. If I like to read your works? To read doesn't even express it! I can even hear and see everything: Nature, culture, subculture.

America has almost remained unchanged! O those cool Americans! Calculating, stockmarket, Wall Street, the financial crisis (even back in 1930), the gamblers, the bankruptcy of companies! The swarming of dodgers and cheaters. People left without money. Dispair und hunger! A terrible „Worst Case“ (when I knew but little English I thought it is sausage with cheese).

Still how impressive is the ability to adaptone self of the Americans: They know how to enjoy life, acrobats of survival! In the twinkle of an eye they achieved to adapt themselves and effect the work of pioneers: In the morning you are a cleaningwoman, in the evening a brothel woman! No problem!

„The insufficient, here it's becoming an event; The indescribable, here it's done;“ Mary Bard Jensen, your sister, was the treasure trove of procuring work: My word, what a power woman with unlimited imagination! She has recommended you everywhere: Betty can do everything, also write novels! Go ahead, sister, hurry up! The editor wants to see your manuscripts! Up to that point you had not written a single line! Wow! And if still everything goes wrong? No problem: When you dream, dream big!

Just look, you have become famous.The Egg and I You know that, Betty? I'll slip into „The Egg and I“ and come and be your guest! I want to get to know your chickens. I hate chickens! I'm a chickens slave from North America! O Betty, without these damned animals, no chance of you becoming famous! „The Egg and I“ you would never have written! How many readers you have made happy!

Your book is so amusing! Your witty fine (almost nasty) remarks about your family members and roundabout neighbours made me laugh so much! You have been born into a special family: Comfort was not desired: I can't but be amazed: What did your father say to your mother? After tomorrow I am going to work elsewhere: Thousands of miles away...He sent her a telegram: LEAVING FOR TWO YEARS ON THURSDAY FOR MEXICO CITY STOP GET READY IF YOU WANT TO COME ALONG – That was on Monday. Mother wired back: SHALL BE READY, and so she was.That's America! Improvisation, change, adventure. You show no weakness: Let's go! Your descriptions, Betty, about the tremendous happenings in nature have deeply frightened me.

Continent America, I'm terrified by you! I feel so small and threatened like a tiny fly before an enormous flyswatter! Your novel is very many-sided! The reader may use it even as a cook book! „The Egg and I“ starts straight away with a recipe: „Next to the wisdom that lamb meat doesn't taste good unless it has been roasted with garlic“. Do you enjoy the American food?

O Betty, it's too fatty for me and I hate garlic! (Betty is presently cooking lunch for Bob. She's continually talking to „STOVE“: STOVE is Bob's rival; in the beginning I thought it was being himself). She turns round and says: Well, so no garlic for you. No lamb either, Betty. I don't eat any meat! I'd actually prefer only fried eggs. Betty, let me make them myself. Then you try it!

Blow! „STOVE“ out of order! I don't succeed in turning it on! Damned! It's got more of a mind of its own than „STOVE“ of my friend, Hilde Domin! Bob's coming! He must eat directly! „Men eat anything, the swines! Says your grandmother Gammy“. Is it true? Do you like my chickens? Bob asked me without introducing himself. Yes, Bob (rude) I love them! I'm vegetarian. Do you want to clean the henhouse with me tomorrow? A, you're always getting up so early at four o'clock! Bob, that's not a job for me! He looked at me disdainfully! A Roman cissy! You need a reeducation at once! Help, Bob's attacking me! I rather change the novel immediately and move to the „Island“! 

 




ANOTHER Angela Merkel U-turn: Refugees must ALL leave Germany once ISIS is defeated

ANGELA Merkel has said Syrian and Iraqi refugees will have to leave Germany once Islamic State (ISIS) has finally been defeated.




Angela Merkel has made another U-turn on Germany's open-door refugee policy
Angela Merkel has made another U-turn on Germany's open-door refugee policy
As Germany’s open-door refugee policy comes increasingly under fire, the Chancellor has tried to silence her critics.
Despite mounting pressure to cap the number of refugees in the wake of the Cologne sex attacks which saw 130 women sexually assaulted by men, believed to be migrants, Mrs Merkel has stood her ground. 
Some 1.1million migrants entered Germany last year, many fleeing conflicts in Syria and Iraq. 
We need to say we expect that once ISIS has been defeated that you go back to your home country
Angela Merkel
Mrs Merkel said: "We need ... to say to people that this is a temporary residential status and we expect that, once there is peace in Syria again, once ISIS has been defeated in Iraq, that you go back to your home country with the knowledge that you have gained.”
Mrs Merkel said 70 per cent of the refugees who fled to Germany from former Yugoslavia in the 1990s had returned.
She urged other European countries to offer more help "because the numbers need to be reduced even further and must not start to rise again, especially in spring".
Speaking to a regional meeting of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Mrs Merkel said said all EU states should have an interest in protecting the bloc's external borders, and all would suffer if the internal passport-free Schengen zone collapsed and national borders were closed.
Peter Altmaier, who Mrs Merkel has tasked with overseeing the government's handling of the refugee crisis, said the government was negotiating with some countries including Turkey about taking back criminal refugees who arrived via non-EU countries.
Migrants make their way into Germany 
AFP
Migrants make their way into Germany
Angela Merkel relaxed refugee rules in August 2015 
AFP
Angela Merkel relaxed refugee rules in August 2015
Migrants waiting to enter Germany at the German-Austrian border 
AFP
Migrants waiting to enter Germany at the German-Austrian border
Speaking to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, he said: ”That can then mean that such refugees are not deported to their home countries - if civil war is raging there, for example - but rather to the country via which they came into the EU.”
He said Germany was working closely with Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon to host most of the refugees until there was peace in Syria and Iraq.
A spokesman for his office declined to comment on the state of negotiations.
The German chancellor insists Syrian and Iraqi refugees will return home
The German chancellor insists Syrian and Iraqi refugees will return home
On Wednesday Mrs Merkel's coalition government backed a new law to make it easier to deport foreign nationals who commit crimes.
Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the European Union's (EU) border agency Frontex, said a UN estimate that up to a million migrants could try to come to Europe via the eastern Mediterranean and Western Balkans next year was realistic.
Speaking to German magazine Der Spiegel, he said: “It would be a big achievement if we could keep the number ... stable.”
130 women were sexually assaulted by men, believed to be migrants, in Cologne on New Year's Eve 
GETTY
130 women were sexually assaulted by men, believed to be migrants, in Cologne on New Year's Eve
The influx of migrants has played into the hands of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD),whose leader Frauke Petry sparked outrage when she said migrants entering Germany illegally should, if necessary, be shot.
Mrs Merkel relaxed rules on refugees entering Germany in August 2015 by welcoming unregistered refugees.
As she faced a “humanitarian emergency” with tens of thousands of refugees hoping to enter Germany, Mrs Merkel said the decision showed Germany’s “friendly face” to the world. 
In the months that followed Mrs Merkel rejected claims Germany had worsened the refugee crisis as the resulting wave of migrants stretched resources and led to a backlash among many unnerved citizens. 
Mrs Merkel's refugee policy has played into the hands of Frauke Petry 
DPA
Mrs Merkel's refugee policy has played into the hands of Frauke Petry


In January, following the Cologne sex attacks, the German chancellor promised to give authorities more powers to crack down on migrants who commit crimes, including deporting them. 
Some EU countries re-established border controls within the passport-free Schengen zone, where they had been abolished.
Mrs Merkel’s administration then made a huge u-turn by turning away refugees at the German-Austrian border, with reports of up to 200 migrants a day being sent back to Austria for having no valid documents. 
German interior minister Thomas de Maizier warned: "I expect that in the next weeks, the number of repatriations, voluntary returns and deportations will rise significantly."







490 Comments
22 days ago
Womaninterupted
Exactly how is she going to remove people from Germany? If you give a home, money, and are not expected to work, why would you then return to your country and have nothing? This woman is supposed to be a world leader! Stupid woman.

22 days ago
Harryagain Harryagain
She'll try to send them here (UK).


22 days ago
LouandChrisGodinet
Notice how many of those so called 'refugees' are women and children.  ALMOST NONE.  Cowards.  Send them back to where they have come from.  They ARE NOT REFUGEE'S.  They are invaders and their goal is the take over of any nation that takes them in and they do this by first targeting women and forcing them to comply with their wicked.sharia standards.

22 days ago
BettyCampbell
Absolutely they are invaders and they are bent on destruction of any country that does not adhere to Islam/Sharia.  I too wonder why there are so many men.  Why would they not stay and fight for their country.  They are cowards and should be turned away.  I can promise you had this happened in the US (100 women raped and assaulted) there would be serious repercussions..whether it be by the Police or the citizens. They need to be treated like the scum that they are...unfortunately the few that are really refugees will have to suffer as well.
22 days ago
Serendipity69
Yeah, sad i'n'it
23 days ago
deno
They must leave now. I wish the DE would stop showing pictures of Merkel as though she is reflecting on her actions. She is hell bent on destroying Europe and she is making a good job of it with her cohorts. Send the fighting fit muslims back.

24 days ago
BrendaPimblett
When a war is declared , is it normal that the whole continent flees .

22 days ago
LouandChrisGodinet
Not the whole continent.  Only young men of fighting age in this instant.  They didn't bother to bring their sisters, mothers etc with them.
Liars and cowards.  Send them home.

24 days ago
voidist108
ww1 then ww2 and this is the final mistake that germans have made in the last 

100 yrs...that country is suicidal........
24 days ago
JohnPaul
I have a solution for the Syrian Refugee Problem.Donate the money to Kurdistan.
Kurdistan sets up Refugee Camps under the supervision of the donors countries.
Europe sends all the Syrian refugees to Kurdistan.
Go!
25 days ago
millyjones
Glad to hear the German people are turning against Merkel,just like the British people are turning against Cameron. Hope the German people also demand to quit the corrupt EU.

25 days ago
KlaatuWithGort
She is deranged, and her people as bad for putting up with her.

24 days ago
BrendaPimblett
Is trying to prove the German Nation has changed
25 days ago
John Longstride
I laughed so much I almost choked on my Knackerwurst !
25 days ago
John Longstride
I am terribly sorry - that should read Knackwurst. 
25 days ago
Hectors_Cat
It was close enough.
25 days ago
setmypeoplefree
She knows very well the UCHR will prevent any deportations, even for rapists, just like in the UK. The Kalergi Plan in action.

25 days ago
denisesmith
Germans elections coming up

22 days ago
Harryagain Harryagain
Any one taking any bets that the mad cow will even stand?
26 days ago
Joe shark
Say and do anything to keep their jobs these politicians.

26 days ago
not amused
deluded woman, thinking they will all give up benefits to go home. If that wasn't the case they would of gone to a Muslim country in the first place
27 days ago
Cynical Me
Am still laughing.  Will be interesting to see how she will do this.  Wasn't she telling other eu countries to do more to help migrants. it was AM who ordered the open door policy, and now she wants to slam the door shut.

26 days ago
Ted_Wilcock
Exactly - with tongue in cheek she wants to pacify her public.


22 days ago
LouandChrisGodinet
She's a lair and a fraud - or just really really ignorant.  Germany would do well to be rid of her.

27 days ago
ChrisJones4
Of course they won't be deported. Merkel will say this now to placate the quite rightly irate German public. Once ISIS is dealt with in their own countries She'll resist calls to send them back by shrugging her arms whilst quoting ECHR passage about a right to a family life or a variation thereof.

22 days ago
LouandChrisGodinet
By then Germany might belong to islam anyway - and she'll be dead.

22 days ago
Harryagain Harryagain
The Germans have historic methods of disposing of unwanted populations.
27 days ago
LastTango
Good luck with that Angela. We have been trying to round up immigrants for years without success. Although I'm sure in your case Angela they will all volunteer to turn up when required for deportation. Yeah right.

27 days ago
JohnBotay
Martial law is the imposition of the highest-ranking military officer as the military governor or as the head of the government, thus removing all power from the previous executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.[1] It is usually imposed temporarily when the government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively (e.g., maintain order and security, or provide essential services).
27 days ago
mags1234
Angela Merkel's coalition government backed a new law to make it easier to deport foreign nationals who commit crimes.   If Germany can do this then why can't we in the UK or is it that our governments are so weak.   There are so many foreigners who commit crimes in our country and Teresa May wants to and tries to deport them but always seems to lose out on "human rights" and they end up being allowed to stay in the UK.
25 days ago
Hectors_Cat
Because CaMoron is weak.
27 days ago
expatperth
There is not a cat in hells chance she will get the refugees to leave Europe to go back to their countries of origin. life is free and easy in Germany, Thanks Merkel.

22 days ago
Harryagain Harryagain
She'll try to send them here.
If we're still in the EUSSR.
27 days ago
welshwish
Pathetic old witch. I hope they have you in a burka begging for your life, that'll teach you for inviting the most evil ideology to enter civilized countries.
27 days ago
Mike
To late and what about all the Turks there 4000000 ?
27 days ago
Rocketman84
Elect an east german commie politician to 'rule' Germany after East germany was 'disolved.  Im suprised the Germans couldnt see what was going to happen. The woman has one objective  Revenge. Boy hasnt she done that
27 days ago
NedL
Under the photo captioned "Migrants waiting to enter Germany at the German-Austrian border" does anyone see even one elder, woman,or child?
25 days ago
John Longstride
The plan , we are assured was for them to come later (if any survived the bombing, shellfire and savagery) but that has been torpedoed by changes to Migration and Asylum rules in destination countries
24 days ago
NedL
Yeah, in our civilized world we protect our women, children, and elders. Apparently they abandon theirs and show their appreciation for 'refuge' by committing crimes and ray ping. Europe is being invaded and I hope you folks can put a stop to it. Good luck!
25 days ago
Hectors_Cat
Nope, just lots of ray pists and p does.
24 days ago
NedL
I wish you folks the best of luck with the insanity. It certainly wouldn't go smoothly for those sav age ray purs here.

28 days ago
SteveSheen
All the party politics, the rules, the regs, the constitution, this politician say that, that politician says this.
Makes no difference really does it.
Condense the situation down to its essence....
The final arbiters of our laws are unelected EUrocrats
However 190 self governed countries around the world do not have to endure this nonsense. Unless one hates democracy then why would one want to remain in this dictatorship?Young men paid in blood for our freedom
All we need to do is put a cross in the right box
End of story
27 days ago
Howard01
Well said but each of us must try and persuade friends and neighbours to do the same. Especially the 'don't knows'
28 days ago
Maggie03
How about stopping them getting into the EU in the first place?  Turkey is supposedly being paid billions to keep migrants so why aren't they doing that?  All boats and contents should be returned immediately to whence they came, Turkey, by coastguards.  This information should be advertised on huge billboards and distributed on leaflets to all migrants in Turkey and they will soon learn and stop trying to attempt this dangerous crossing.   This will not only alleviate the problems through the EU but prevent any more drownings.

There is no chance of starting new lives and settling in Germany and probably most other EU countries.  If Germany can send them back so can all of us!
27 days ago
Howard01
Exactly what Nigel Farage has been saying,time and time again. The Merkel bleeding heart principle has taken lives, not saved them.
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