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Magyarország
2018. VII. 28. Mielőbb új rendszer kell a színházi tao-támogatás helyett. Az állam újraelosztó szerepe hihetetlen mértékben és módon sérül, s amennyiben komolyan gondoljuk a kurzusépítést, ennek a tavaly már közel 40 milliárdra duzzadt óriási forrásnak a felosztásáról a kultúrpolitika nem mondhat le. Ha tavaly a 37 milliárdot a szaktárca közvetlenül osztotta volna el, a minőségi előadó-művészeti szervezetek preferálásán túl a kultúra más területeire is bőven maradt volna forrás, hogy mást ne említsek, a közművelődési és közgyűjteményi dolgozók régóta esedékes bérrendezésére, hiszen előfordulhat, hogy egy tudományos munkát végző vidéki muzeológus vagy levéltáros kevesebbet keres egy középiskolai tanárnál. Érdemes megfontolnunk az Országgyűlésben, hogy pontosítva az elfogadott költségvetési törvényt, 2019-ben 40 milliárddal megemeljük a kulturális államtitkárság költségvetését, s ezzel párhuzamosan kivezethetjük a taot-ámogatásokat a kultúrából. Sajnos idén még a fenti rendszerben vagyunk kénytelenek működni, ami a tavalyihoz hasonló mértékű forrásvesztést eredményezhet. (Forrás: MagyarIdők)
Transylvania Erdély
07 30, 2018 Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech at the 29th Bálványos Summer Open University and Student Camp. (Source: VisegradPost): https://tinyurl.com/yatdj8r9
28 July 2018 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, emboldened by the surge of right-wing parties across Europe, called for a united front by “illiberal” forces to win control in next year’s European Parliament elections. Orbán set his sights on wider dominance for his version of "Christian democracy," that he sees opposed with multiculturalism and liberal values. The Hungarian premier renewed his attack on the European Commission after similar remarks in a radio interview on Friday, where he dismissed the bloc’s executive as a lame duck. He said the commission’s concerns about Hungary’s migration and non-government organization policies will soon cease to be relevant as its mandate expires. The second half of 2018 will bring further major changes that will usher in a whole new cultural "era" in Hungary, Orbán said in his speech, without giving details. He also reiterated that the EU should tweak what he called the "primitive" sanctions regime against Russia. That would allow the Baltics and Poland to defend their interests but let Hungary and others maintain closer ties with Moscow, he said. (Source: Bloomberg
2018. VII. 26. Tusványoson L. Simon vitázott a Magyar Idők költő-rovatvezetőjével, Orbánnal arról, hogy a politikának kellene-e leváltani azt a szörnyű liberális értelmiséget, vagy egyszerűen csak jobbat kellene alkotni. L. Simon szerint nagyon rossz irány, ha az értelmiség akarja megmondani a politikának, milyen döntéseket hozzon, a baloldalt is a saját értelmisége buktatta meg. Orbán egyik felkiáltását például, miszerint "Ha egyszer minket megszavaztak, a kultúrpolitikánkat is megszavazták", úgy ütötte le L. Simon, hogy: "A politikusokat, bennünket választottak meg, nem az írókat!" Amire Orbán csak annyit mondott, bocsánat, ha azonosulni mertem a kormánypárttal. (Forrás: Index): https://tinyurl.com/y8kxt59c
Moldva
2018. VII. 31. A konventuális minorita ferences rend Szent József-provinciája közösségi oldalán tette közzé a jó hírt: Antal (1935–1958) - fiatal ferences harmadrendi lány, akinek vértanúságát Ferenc pápa ez év januárjában ismerte el - boldoggá avatására 2018. szeptember 22-én kerül sor szülőfalujában, a Neamt megyei Nisiporesti-ben. Az ünnepi szentmisére a helyi Szűz Mária mennybevétele római katolikus templomban kerül sor 11 órai kezdettel. (Forrás: RomKat): https://tinyurl.com/y7ecezkm
Great Britain
July 31, 2018 Khodorkovsky’s London-based investigative unit, the Dossier Center, is compiling profiles of Russians it accuses of benefiting from corruption with an eye toward their eventual prosecution. Launched in November, the center is billed as an investigative unit. He wanted the project to produce more than occasional stories and to gather enough actionable information on the Kremlin’s leadership to bring its members, eventually, to court. The leaks carry evidence of the Kremlin’s “illegal attempts to influence Western public opinion and Western politicians, too. Khodorkovsky’s business model - to receive leaked data anonymously and share it with journalists - sounds a bit like the early days of WikiLeaks. Khodorkovsky was Russia’s richest man before he was imprisoned in 2005 for tax evasion. Khodorkovsky supports an array of civil society groups in Russia. (Source: AP) See also: DossierCenter): https://tinyurl.com/ybcxt65k
Russia
July 31, 2018 Putin in a presidential decree has created a new directorate inside the Russian army to promote patriotism. In a separate decree, Putin made Colonel-General Kartapolov, a veteran of Russia’s conflict in Syria, its new head and a deputy defense minister. Kartapolov would also be responsible for the activities of the Yunarmiya, a patriotic military youth organization sponsored by the ministry. (Source: Reuters)
Australia
July 27, 2018 Last month Iran's nuclear chief opened a new nuclear enrichment facility that he said would comply with the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015. Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu in April invoked the so-called "Begin Doctrine" that calls on the Jewish state to ensure nations hostile to Israel be prevented from developing a nuclear weapons capability. As Israel faces off against Iran and its proxies in the Middle East, all eyes are on Trump's next move. Trump could be ready to order a strike against Iran. The top-secret Pine Gap joint defence facility in the Northern Territory is considered crucial among the so-called "Five Eyes" intelligence partners - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - for its role in directing American spy satellites. Analysts from the little-known spy agency Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation would also be expected to play a part. (Source: ABCNETAU)
United States Egyesült Államok
July 31, 2018 They are calling it “The Tech Bloodbath”. This time the bubble is far bigger than ever before. The 10 leading U.S. tech companies lost an astounding 82.7 billion dollars in stock value on Monday. Overall, FANG stocks have lost 220 billion dollars in stock value over the last 3 trading days. According to Zero Hedge, that represents “the biggest market cap loss in history”. Last Thursday, Facebook had the worst day for a single company in the history of the stock market. FANG stocks are collectively down more than 10 percent from the record high last month. The 5 most valuable companies in the United States are all in the tech sector and they are all located on a stretch between Silicon Valley and Seattle. One major investor has told CNBC that he believes that the major tech stocks could ultimately lose 30 or 40 percent of their value… To a very large extent, it has been the tech industry that has been responsible for holding the market up in these troubled times. Right now the housing industry is slowing down substantially, we are in the midst of the worst “retail apocalypse” in American history, and big agriculture is being absolutely devastated by foreign tariffs. There aren’t too many other bright spots for the U.S. economy at the moment, and so if the tech sector implodes we are going to see a lot of others go down with it. (Source: TheEconomicCollapseBlog)
July 28, 2018 StormBreaker: powerful bomb penetrates bad weather. This U.S. Air Force program will give American fighters the crucial advantage of being able to precisely strike when others cannot. Sandstorms, heavy rain, snow are weather conditions that could pose targeting challenges. Made by Raytheon, the bomb is fired from fighter jets thousands of feet up, and penetrates bad weather to attack moving and stationary targets on the ground. The F-15E Strike Eagles are the first to receive the revolutionary bomb. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A 18E/F Super Hornets are next to be armed with these bad boys. It is massive in size. But this remarkable bomb only weighs just over 200 pounds. It is 70 inches long and just seven inches in diameter. A fighter jet can carry more of them than a bigger weapon. StormBreaker provides a powerful solution – an ultra advanced seeker integrated into the weapon which shares targeting data throughout the three modes of attack against both fixed and moving targets. There are three modes: millimeter wave radar, imaging infrared and semi-active laser. It can attack three ways: normal, laser illuminated and coordinate attack. StormBreaker can adjust using GPS/INS system to guide its way to the new target location. Raytheon has already integrated the bombs on the F-15E Strike Eagle. The USAF and Navy have begun integration on more aircraft. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be ramped up with StormBreakers reaching initial operating capability by 2022 and the F/A 18E/F Super Hornet within about 2 years. /video/ (Source: FoxNews): https://tinyurl.com/y8kt63tk
2018. VII. 26. Új szakasz kezdődik Washington és az Európai Unió kapcsolatában - jelentette ki Trump amerikai elnök az Európai Bizottság elnökével, Junckerrel tartott találkozója után. Trump közölte: megállapodott az Európai Bizottság elnökével abban, hogy együttműködnek az ipari termékek vámmentességének kidolgozásában és a nem autóipari termékeket érintő szubvenciók eltörlésében. Megkezdik a tárgyalásokat az európai acélárukra és alumínium-termékekre kivetett amerikai vámok, valamint a megtorlásként az Európai Unió által amerikai portékákra kivetett tarifák ügyében. A tárgyalások ideje alatt egyik fél sem vet ki új vámokat, így az Európából az Egyesült Államokba exportált gépjárművek után nem kell külön illetéket fizetni. Elmondta: az Európai Unió "csaknem azonnali hatállyal" megkezdi az amerikai szójabab nagy mennyiségű importját, és az EB elnöke a korábbinál több amerikai cseppfolyósított gáz (LNG) európai vásárlására tett ígéretet. Juncker - aki a sajtókonferencián alig szólalt meg - hozzátette: az Egyesült Államok ígéretet tett további LNG-terminálok kiépítésére Európában. Trump közölte: Washington együttműködik az Európai Unióval a Kereskedelmi Világszervezet (WTO) megreformálása érdekében, és ehhez közös munkacsoportot hoznak létre. (Forrás: Híradó)
South America
July 28, 2018 The silent invasion. A gleaming metal tower jutting 16 stories above an endless wind-whipped stretch of Patagonia, the 450-ton device, with its hulking dish embracing the open skies, is the centerpiece of a $50 million satellite and space mission control station built by the Chinese military. China has the right to the land - rent free - for 50 years. From a space station in Argentina, China expands its reach in Latin America. The station began operating in March, playing a pivotal role in China’s audacious expedition to the far side of the Moon. If successful, the mission, scheduled to launch this year, will be a milestone in space exploration, potentially paving the way for the extraction of helium 3, which some scientists believe could provide a revolutionary clean source of energy. China developed sophisticated technology to jam, disrupt and destroy satellites in recent years. The base was negotiated in secret, at a time when Argentina desperately needed investment. Antennas and other equipment that support space missions, like the kind China now has here in Patagonia, can increase China’s intelligence-gathering capabilities. China has been discreetly carrying out a far-reaching plan of its own across Latin America. It has vastly expanded trade, bailed out governments, built enormous infrastructure projects, strengthened military ties and locked up tremendous amounts of resources, hitching the fate of several countries in the region to its own. The primacy over Latin America that Washington had largely taken for granted since the end of the Cold War was being challenged by a cadre of leftist presidents who governed much of the region - including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay and Bolivia - and wanted a more autonomous region. Latching onto China’s voracious appetite for the region’s oil, iron, soybeans and copper ended up shielding Latin America from the worst of the global economic damage. Then, as the price of oil and other commodities tanked in 2011, several countries in the region suddenly found themselves on shaky ground. Once again, China came to their aid, striking deals that further cemented its role as a central player in Latin America for decades. China organized joint training exercises, including unprecedented naval missions off the Brazilian coast in 2013 and the Chilean coast in 2014. At a summit meeting in Brazil, President Xi announced that Beijing aspired to raise annual trade with the region to $500 billion within a decade. In October 2015, China’s Defense Ministry hosted officials from 11 countries in Latin America for a 10-day forum on military logistics titled “Strengthening Mutual Understanding for Win-Win Cooperation.” The contacts have paved the way for China to start selling military equipment in Latin America, which had long regarded the United States defense industry as the gold standard, Trade between China and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean reached $244 billion last year, more than twice what it was a decade earlier. Frankly, if it was a matter of sustained conflict, you reach a point where you can’t deny the possibility of Chinese forces operating from bases in the region. The Pentagon is funding a $1.3 million emergency response center in Neuquén - the same province where the Chinese base is, and the first such American project in all of Argentina. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes): https://tinyurl.com/ycyrq953
Globalization
Jul 27, 2018 Climate models for three decades have predicted exactly what the world is seeing this summer. The 2017 National Climate Assessment, released in November, concluded what it has for nearly three decades: Human-made climate change is real, and the impacts have already started. The proximate cause of the Northern Hemisphere bake-off is the unusual behavior of the jet stream, a wavy track of west-to-east-prevailing wind at high altitude. The jet stream controls broad weather patterns, such as high-pressure and low-pressure systems. The extent of climate change's influence on the jet stream is an intense subject of research. This summer, the jet stream has undulated in extreme waves that have tended to block weather systems from migrating. The result has been stagnant high-pressure and low-pressure systems with dire results, such as heat waves in some places and flooding elsewhere. Last year, scientists published evidence that the conditions leading up to "stuck jet streams" are becoming more common, with warming in the Arctic seen as a likely culprit. Greece is in mourning after scorching heat and high winds fueled wildfires that have killed more than 80 people. Japan recorded its highest temperature in history, 106 degrees, in a heat wave that killed 65 people in a week and hospitalized 22,000, shortly after catastrophic flooding killed 200. Montreal hit 98 degrees on July 2, its warmest temperature ever measured. Canadian health officials estimate as many as 70 people died in that heat wave. Southern California has had record heat and widespread power outages. In Yosemite Valley, which is imperiled by wildfires, park rangers have told everyone to flee. The brutal weather has been supercharged by human-induced climate change. (Source: TheWashingtonPost)
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