Egyik 19

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7 January 2016  Military to Military. Obama’s repeated insistence that -Assad must leave office – and that there are ‘moderate’ rebel groups in Syria capable of defeating him – has in recent years provoked quiet dissent, and even overt opposition, among some of the most senior officers on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. Their criticism has focused on what they see as the administration’s fixation on Assad’s primary ally, Putin. In their view, Obama is captive to Cold War thinking about Russia and China, and hasn’t adjusted his stance on Syria to the fact both countries share Washington’s anxiety about the spread of terrorism in and beyond Syria; like Washington, they believe that Islamic State must be stopped. The military’s resistance dates back to the summer of 2013, when a highly classified assessment, put together by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then led by General Dempsey, forecast that the fall of the Assad regime would lead to chaos and, potentially, to Syria’s takeover by jihadi extremists, much as was then happening in Libya. By then, the CIA had been conspiring for more than a year with allies in the UK, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to ship guns and goods – to be used for the overthrow of Assad – from Libya, via Turkey, into Syria. The new intelligence estimate singled out Turkey as a major impediment to Obama’s Syria policy. The document showed, that what was started as a covert US programme to arm and support the moderate rebels fighting Assad had been co-opted by Turkey, and had morphed into an across-the-board technical, arms and logistical programme for all of the opposition, including Jabhat al-Nusra and islamic state. The so-called moderates had evaporated and the Free Syrian Army was a rump group stationed at an airbase in Turkey.’ The assessment was bleak: there was no viable ‘moderate’ opposition to Assad, and the US was arming extremists. Lieutenant General Flynn, director of the DIA between 2012 and 2014, confirmed that his agency had sent a constant stream of classified warnings to the civilian leadership about the dire consequences of toppling Assad. The jihadists, he said, were in control of the opposition. Turkey wasn’t doing enough to stop the smuggling of foreign fighters and weapons across the border. ’ The DIA’s reporting, he said, ‘got enormous pushback’ from the Obama administration. ‘I felt that they did not want to hear the truth.’ The Joint Chiefs felt that a direct challenge to Obama’s policy would have ‘had a zero chance of success’. So in the autumn of 2013 they decided to take steps against the extremists without going through political channels, by providing US intelligence to the militaries of other nations, on the understanding that it would be passed on to the Syrian army and used against the common enemy, Jabhat al-Nusra and islamic state. Germany, Israel and Russia were in contact with the Syrian army, and able to exercise some influence over Assad’s decisions – it was through them that US intelligence would be shared. Each had its reasons for co-operating with Assad: Germany feared what might happen among its own population of six million Muslims if islamic state expanded; Israel was concerned with border security; Russia had an alliance of very long standing with Syria, and was worried by the threat to its only naval base on the Mediterranean, at Tartus. Once the flow of US intelligence began, Germany, Israel and Russia started passing on information about the whereabouts and intent of radical jihadist groups to the Syrian army; in return, Syria provided information about its own capabilities and intentions. It was a military to military thing. The public history of relations between the US and Syria over the past few decades has been one of enmity. Assad condemned the 9/11 attacks, but opposed the Iraq War. Bush repeatedly linked Syria to the three members of his ‘axis of evil’ – Iraq, Iran and North Korea – throughout his presidency. State Department cables made public by WikiLeaks show that the Bush administration tried to destabilise Syria and that these efforts continued into the Obama years. In December 2006, Roebuck, then in charge of the US embassy in Damascus, filed an analysis of the ‘vulnerabilities’ of the Assad government and listed methods ‘that will improve the likelihood’ of opportunities for destabilisation. He recommended that Washington work with Saudi Arabia and Egypt to increase sectarian tension and focus on publicising ‘Syrian efforts against extremist groups’ – dissident Kurds and radical Sunni factions – ‘in a way that suggests weakness, signs of instability, and uncontrolled blowback’; and that the ‘isolation of Syria’ should be encouraged through US support of the National Salvation Front, led by Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president whose government-in-exile in Riyadh was sponsored by the Saudis and the Muslim Brotherhood. Another 2006 cable showed that the embassy had spent $5 million financing dissidents who ran as independent candidates for the People’s Assembly; the payments were kept up even after it became clear that Syrian intelligence knew what was going on. But there is also a parallel history of shadowy co-operation between Syria and the US during the same period. The two countries collaborated against al-Qaida, their common enemy.  In 2002 Assad authorised Syrian intelligence to turn over hundreds of internal files on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and Germany. Later that year, Syrian intelligence foiled an attack by al-Qaida on the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and Assad agreed to provide the CIA with the name of a vital al-Qaida informant. In violation of this agreement, the CIA contacted the informant directly; he rejected the approach, and broke off relations with his Syrian handlers. Assad also secretly turned over to the US relatives of Hussein who had sought refuge in Syria, and – like America’s allies in Jordan, Egypt, Thailand and elsewhere – tortured suspected terrorists for the CIA in a Damascus prison. It was this history of co-operation that made it seem possible in 2013 that Damascus would agree to the new indirect intelligence-sharing arrangement with the US. The Joint Chiefs let it be known that in return the US would require four things: Assad must restrain Hizbullah from attacking Israel; he must renew the stalled negotiations with Israel to reach a settlement on the Golan Heights; he must agree to accept Russian and other outside military advisers; and he must commit to holding open elections after the war with a wide range of factions included. Assad’s worry was that Israel would say yes and then not uphold its end of the bargain. By mid-2013, however, the Syrians believed the worst was behind them, and wanted assurances that the Americans and others were serious about their offers of help. The Joint Chiefs tried to establish what Assad needed as a sign of their good intentions. The answer was sent through one of Assad’s friends: ‘Bring him the head of Prince Bandar.’ The Joint Chiefs did not oblige. Bandar had served Saudi Arabia for decades in intelligence and national security affairs, and spent more than twenty years as ambassador in Washington. In recent years, he has been known as an advocate for Assad’s removal from office by any means. Reportedly in poor health, he resigned last year as director of the Saudi National Security Council, but Saudi Arabia continues to be a major provider of funds to the Syrian opposition, estimated by US intelligence last year at $700 million. In July 2013, the Joint Chiefs found a more direct way of demonstrating to Assad how serious they were about helping him. By then the CIA-sponsored secret flow of arms from Libya to the Syrian opposition, via Turkey, had been underway for more than a year (it started sometime after Gaddafi’s death on 20 October 2011). The operation was largely run out of a covert CIA annex in Benghazi, with State Department acquiescence. On 11 September 2012 the US ambassador to Libya, Stevens, was killed during an anti-American demonstration that led to the burning down of the US consulate in Benghazi; reporters for the Washington Post found copies of the ambassador’s schedule in the building’s ruins. It showed that on 10 September Stevens had met with the chief of the CIA’s annex operation. The next day, shortly before he died, he met a representative from Al-Marfa Shipping and Maritime Services, a Tripoli-based company which was known by the Joint Staff to be handling the weapons shipments. By the late summer of 2013, the DIA’s assessment had been circulated widely, but although many in the American intelligence community were aware that the Syrian opposition was dominated by extremists the CIA-sponsored weapons kept coming, presenting a continuing problem for Assad’s army. Gaddafi’s stockpile had created an international arms bazaar, though prices were high. There was no way to stop the arms shipments that had been authorised by the president. The CIA was approached by a representative from the Joint Chiefs with a suggestion: there were far less costly weapons available in Turkish arsenals that could reach the Syrian rebels within days, and without a boat ride.’ But it wasn’t only the CIA that benefited. ‘We worked with Turks we trusted who were not loyal to Erdogan,’ the adviser said, ‘and got them to ship the jihadists in Syria all the obsolete weapons in the arsenal, including M1 carbines that hadn’t been seen since the Korean War and lots of Soviet arms. It was a message Assad could understand: “We have the power to diminish a presidential policy in its tracks.”’ The flow of US intelligence to the Syrian army, and the downgrading of the quality of the arms being supplied to the rebels, came at a critical juncture. The Syrian army had suffered heavy losses in the spring of 2013 in fighting against Jabhat al-Nusra and other extremist groups as it failed to hold the provincial capital of Raqqa. as the army gained in strength with the Joint Chiefs’ support, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey escalated their financing and arming of Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State, which by the end of 2013 had made enormous gains on both sides of the Syria/Iraq border. The remaining non-fundamentalist rebels found themselves fighting – and losing – pitched battles against the extremists. In January 2014, is took complete control of Raqqa and the tribal areas around it from al-Nusra and established the city as its base. Assad still controlled 80 per cent of the Syrian population, but he had lost a vast amount of territory. ia efforts to train the moderate rebel forces were also failing badly. ‘The CIA’s training camp was in Jordan and was controlled by a Syrian tribal group. A separate training programme, set up by the Pentagon in Turkey, fared no better. In January 2014, despairing at the lack of progress, Brennan, the director of the CIA, summoned American and Sunni Arab intelligence chiefs from throughout the Middle East to a secret meeting in Washington, with the aim of persuading Saudi Arabia to stop supporting extremist fighters in Syria. Brennan’s message was ignored by the Saudis, who ‘went back home and increased their efforts with the extremists. American intelligence had accumulated intercept and human intelligence demonstrating that the Erdogan government had been supporting Jabhat al-Nusra for years, and was now doing the same for Islamic State. You can argue that the whole balance in the Middle East is based on a form of mutually assured destruction between Israel and the rest of the Middle East, and Turkey can disrupt the balance – which is Erdogan’s dream. "We told him we wanted him to shut down the pipeline of foreign jihadists flowing into Turkey. But he is dreaming big – of restoring the Ottoman Empire – and he did not realise the extent to which he could be successful in this." One of the constants in US affairs since the fall of the Soviet Union has been a military-to-military relationship with Russia. Many in the IS leadership and rank and file fought for more than a decade against Russia in the two Chechen wars that began in 1994, and the Putin government is heavily invested in combating Islamist terrorism. ‘Russia knows the isis leadership,’ the JCS adviser said, ‘and has insights into its operational techniques, and has much intelligence to share.’ In return, he said, ‘we’ve got excellent trainers with years of experience in training foreign fighters – experience that Russia does not have. These days, after the Metrojet bombing over Sinai and the massacres in Paris and elsewhere, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that we actually have the same nightmares about the same places. The reality is that Putin does not want to see the chaos in Syria spread to Jordan or Lebanon, as it has to Iraq, and he does not want to see Syria end up in the hands of isis. The Russians insist that they are targeting all rebel groups that threaten Syria’s stability – including islamic state. The Kremlin adviser on the Middle East explained in an interview that the first round of Russian airstrikes was aimed at bolstering security around a Russian airbase in Latakia, an Alawite stronghold. The strategic goal, he said, has been to establish a jihadist-free corridor from Damascus to Latakia and the Russian naval base at Tartus and then to shift the focus of bombing gradually to the south and east, with a greater concentration of bombing missions over is-held territory. Russian strikes on is targets in and near Raqqa were reported as early as the beginning of October; in November there were further strikes on is positions near the historic city of Palmyra and in Idlib province, a bitterly contested stronghold on the Turkish border. Russian incursions into Turkish airspace began soon after Putin authorised the bombings, and the Russian air force deployed electronic jamming systems that interfered with Turkish radar. There were no significant incidents until 24 November, when two Turkish F-16 fighters, apparently acting under more aggressive rules of engagement, shot down a Russian Su-24M jet that had crossed into Turkish airspace for no more than 17 seconds. In the days after the fighter was shot down, Obama expressed support for Erdogan, and after they met in private on 1 December he told a press conference that his administration remained ‘very much committed to Turkey’s security and its sovereignty’. Putin’s bombing campaign provoked a series of anti-Russia articles in the American press. The four core elements of Obama’s Syria policy remain intact today: an insistence that Assad must go; that no anti-is coalition with Russia is possible; that Turkey is a steadfast ally in the war against terrorism; and that there really are significant moderate opposition forces for the US to support. The Paris attacks on 13 November that killed 130 people did not change the White House’s public stance, although many European leaders, including  Hollande, advocated greater co-operation with Russia and agreed to co-ordinate more closely with its air force; there was also talk of the need to be more flexible about the timing of Assad’s exit from power. On 24 November, Hollande flew to Washington to discuss how France and the US could collaborate more closely in the fight against islamic state. One of Hollande’s main goals in flying to Washington had been to try to persuade Obama to join the EU in a mutual declaration of war against islamic state. Obama said no. The Europeans had pointedly not gone to Nato, to which Turkey belongs, for such a declaration. ‘Turkey is the problem. Assad, naturally, doesn’t accept that a group of foreign leaders should be deciding on his future. Assad could not leave because the historic enemies of Syria are demanding his departure. China, an ally of Assad that has allegedly committed more than $30 billion to postwar reconstruction in Syria. China, too, is worried about islamic state. China regards the Syrian crisis from three perspectives: international law and legitimacy; global strategic positioning; and the activities of jihadist Uighurs, from Xinjiang province in China’s far west. Xinjiang borders eight nations – Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India – and, in China’s view, serves as a funnel for terrorism around the world and within China. Many Uighur fighters now in Syria are known to be members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – an often violent separatist organisation that seeks to establish an Islamist Uighur state in Xinjiang. The fact that they have been aided by Turkish intelligence to move from China into Syria through Turkey has caused a tremendous amount of tension between the Chinese and Turkish intelligence. Syria already is providing the Chinese intelligence service with information regarding these terrorists and the routes they crossed from on travelling into Syria. Uighur and Burmese Muslim terrorists who escape into Thailand somehow get Turkish passports and are then flown to Turkey for transit into Syria. IHS-Jane’s Defence Weekly estimated in October that as many as five thousand Uighur would-be fighters have arrived in Turkey since 2013, with perhaps two thousand moving on to Syria. Syria has information that ‘up to 860 Uighur fighters are currently in Syria.’ A few weeks earlier China and India, Cold War enemies that hated each other more than China and the United States hated each other, conducted a series of joint counterterrorism exercises. And today China and Russia both want to co-operate on terrorism issues with the United States. If Assad fails, jihadi fighters from Russia’s Chechnya, China’s Xinjiang and India’s Kashmir will then turn their eyes towards the home front to continue jihad, supported by a new and well-sourced Syrian operating base in the heart of the Middle East. The things that are being said about Assad right now are the same that were said about Gaddafi, they are the same things that were said about Hussein by those who were advocating for the US to … overthrow those regimes … If it happens here in Syria … we will end up in a situation with far greater suffering, with far greater persecution of religious minorities and Christians in Syria, and our enemy will be far stronger. Our primary threat is isis and all of us – the United States, Russia and China – need to work together. Bashar will remain in office and, after the country is stabilised there will be an election. There is no other option. The military’s indirect pathway to Assad disappeared with Dempsey’s retirement in September. His replacement as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dunford, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in July, two months before assuming office. ‘If you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I’d have to point to Russia - Dunford said. In October, as chairman, Dunford was  telling the same committee that Russia ‘is not fighting’ is. He added that America must ‘work with Turkish partners to secure the northern border of Syria’ and ‘do all we can to enable vetted Syrian opposition forces’ – i.e. the ‘moderates’ – to fight the extremists. Obama now has a more compliant Pentagon. There will be no more indirect challenges from the military leadership to his policy of disdain for Assad and support for Erdogan. The Joint Chiefs and the DIA were constantly telling Washington’s leadership of the jihadist threat in Syria, and of Turkey’s support for it. The message was never listened to. Why not? (Source: London Review of Book): http://tinyurl.com/o8dfjuo

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Magyarország
2016. I. 6.. Az épületek energiahatékonyságát szabályozó rendelet kimondja, hogy ha egy épület központi költségvetésből származó támogatás igénybevételével valósul meg, azoknál azokat az energiahatékonysági követelményeket kell érvényesíteni, amelyeket más esetekben csak 2018-tól kellene alkalmazni. A szigorítás következményeként többek között a falaknak, nyílászáróknak, födémnek a jelenleg érvényes szabványoknál mintegy 40 százalékkal energiatakarékosabbnak kell lenniük. (Forrás: MTI)

2016. I: 6.   Az országos éves középhőmérséklet 11,7 Celsius-fok volt, ezzel 2014 és 2007 után 2015 a harmadik legmelegebb év lett a rangsorban. Ezzel együtt az országos éves középhőmérsékletek 1901-től a tavalyi évvel  bezárólag 1,3 fokos növekedést mutatnak, és ez meghaladja a globális, mintegy 0,9 fokos melegedés mértékét. Az elmúlt év bővelkedett meleg szélsőségekben. Az év a szokásosnál (az 1981-2010-es normál időszak átlaga) 2,6 fokkal enyhébb januárral kezdődött, majd az összességében átlag körüli hőmérsékletű tavaszt forró nyár követte öt hőhullámos időszakkal, a második legmagasabb júliusi és a harmadik legmagasabb augusztusi havi középhőmérsékletekkel. Ezt követően az ősz is átlag felett alakult, majd az évet egy szokásosnál lényegesen enyhébb december zárta. Országos átlagban tavaly 46 hőségnapot (amikor  a napi maximum hőmérséklet legalább 30 fok) regisztráltak, ez 22 nappal több az 1981-2010-es átlagnál. Emellett a szokásosnál kevesebb volt a fagyos nap (amikor napi minimum 0 fok vagy az alatt alakul). Tavaly országos átlagban 78 ilyen napot regisztráltak, ami 17 nappal marad el az átlagtól. Az elmúlt évben a legmagasabb hőmérsékletet augusztus 12-én, Budakalászon mérték, ahol 39,6 fokig melegedett fel a levegő. A legalacsonyabb hőmérsékletet, mínusz 18,9 fokot, pedig január 7-én Tarpán rögzítették. A legvastagabb hótakaró tavaly 55 centiméteres volt, amelyet Bakonybél környezetében január 30-án mértek. A legnagyobb csapadékösszeget, 120,5 millimétert augusztus 18-án Tiszaörvény állomásán rögzítették. Tavaly az éves csapadékösszeg 524 milliméter körüli volt. Ezzel a 2015-ös éves csapadék körülbelül egy átlagos május havi mennyiséggel marad el a sokéves átlagtól. Januárban a sokéves csapadékátlag csaknem duplája hullott le az országban, főként eső formájában, a február már kissé szárazabb volt, a tavasz első két hónapja pedig különösen száraznak bizonyult. Áprilisban a szokásos mennyiség 30 százalékát sem érte el a csapadék. Májusban egyharmaddal több eső esett. Ezt követően viszont jelentős csapadékhiány alakult ki - írta a meteorológiai szolgálat, hozzátéve: 2015-ben a 6. legszárazabb júniust jegyezték, és a csapadék júliusban is csak az átlag kétharmada volt. A szárazsággal járó hőhullámokat viszont  intenzív esőzések követték, helyenként alig egy óra alatt több mint egyhavi csapadékmennyiség hullott le. Az őszi hónapok közül az október kivételesen csapadékos volt, mintegy 2,5-szeres mennyiséget mértek országos átlagban. Végül rendkívül száraz hónappal zárult az év, az előzetes adatok szerint a decemberi csapadékmennyiség a sokéves átlag 10 százalékát sem érte el. (Forrás: MTI)

2016. I. 6.  A magyar miniszterelnök rendszerének európai mintává szükséges válnia, vagy itthon is állandóan veszélyben lesz a létezése. Az orbánizmus a növekedés hiányára adott válaszként jött létre, ezért kevésbé okoz számára problémát a lassabban emelkedő gazdaság. Egyelőre úgy tetszhet, a miniszter-elnök rendszere nyerésre áll, de a huszadik században ismétlődően a Nyugat vívmányait tagadó rendszerben haladtunk előre, úgy hittük, ezúttal végre jól járunk, azután egyszer csak beütött a mennykő - interjú Tölgyessyvel. (Forrás: Figyelő):  http://tinyurl.com/jrtzmjv

2016. I. 6.  A kölni dóm mellett zavargó araboknak! - írta Sayfo. "Próbáltam cáfolni a benneteket Európa vesztét okozó ork hordaként beállító, rossz szándékú összeesküvés-elméleteket. Mikor a kölni randalírozásotokról hallottam, éppen egy publicisztikát formáltam arról, milyen károkat okoznak a likevadász álhíroldalak, nemcsak az iszlám vagy migránsok megítélésében, hanem általában a józan észben is. Most kitörlöm a sorokat. Többet nem védelek meg titeket. A szilveszteri randalírozásotok után már nincs helye a magyarázkodásoknak. Tettetekkel minden eddigi rosszindulatot, hazug állítást igazoltatok. Ott, a kölni dóm mellett. Nem menekültek, nem migránsok, nem bevándorlók vagytok. Az ilyen eseteknek köszönhetően azok lesztek, aminek láttatjátok magatokat és aminek látnak titeket: agyatlan ork horda. Tettetekkel azokat igazoljátok, akik szerint nektek nem demokrácia és szabadság, hanem tálibok, Aszad, Husszein, iszlam állam kell. Akik azt mondják, hogy a bennetek élő állatot csakis a mukhabarat, a sivatagi börtönök és a rögtönítélő sharia bíróság tudja megfékezni. Ne legyenek kétségeitek: eredeti hazáitokban nem barátságos rendőrök tessékeltek volna arrébb benneteket egy ilyen eset után, hanem a katonaság oszlatott volna sortűzzel. És csakis a ti hibátok, ha ez idővel Európában is így lesz."  (Forrás: Mandiner)

2016. I. 5.  Az új otthonteremtési program részletei. A csalad.hu portálon ismerteti a kormány a tavaly július 1-jével bevezetett egyösszegű, vissza nem térítendő lakáscélú támogatás, a családok otthonteremtési kedvezménye (csok) új otthonteremtési programjának részleteit; a családosoknak, vagy a gyerekeket vállalóknak szóló tájékoztató tartalmazza a kedvezmény igénybevételének feltételeit. Eltörlik az ingatlanokra előírt 160 négyzetméteres felső mérethatárt. Januártól a külföldön szerzett biztosítási jogviszony is beleszámít az előírt fél éves biztosítási időszakba, ez - a közlés szerint - elősegítheti, hogy a külföldön munkát vállaló fiatalok hazatérve le tudjanak telepedni. Az előre vállalt gyermekek esetében elegendő, ha csak az egyik szülő 40 év alatti. A változások közé tartozik, hogy az igénylésnél már nemcsak a 16, hanem a 20 év alatti eltartottakat is figyelembe lehet venni, felsőoktatási továbbtanulás esetén pedig a 25 év alattiakat is. A használt lakóingatlanok vásárlása vagy bővítése esetén járó csok alapösszege 10 százalékkal emelkedik, így egy gyermek után 550-660 ezer forint, két gyermek után 880 ezer-1,43 millió, három gyermek után 1,32-2,2 millió, négy vagy több gyermek után 1,76-2,75 millió forint jár. Az újonnan épített vagy vásárolt lakóingatlanok esetében a kedvezmény egy gyermek esetén 600 ezer forintra nő, két gyermek esetén 2,6 millióra, míg három vagy több gyermek esetén 10 millió forintra. Az új lakóingatlant építő vagy vásárló családok közül azoknál, akik jelenleg három vagy több gyermeket nevelnek, illetve a jövőben (a meglévő gyermekeket is figyelembe véve) legalább három gyermek felnevelését vállalják, a normál szabályokhoz képest többletkedvezmények is vannak. Eszerint akár három gyermeket is lehet majd előre vállalni, melynek határideje 10 év lesz. Ez a határidő akkor is, ha a meglévők mellé csak egy vagy két gyermeket vállalnak, de ezzel a gyermekek létszáma eléri a legalább hármat. Azokat a gyermekeket is figyelembe lehet venni a kedvezmény összegének megállapításánál, akik után korábban már igénybe vettek csokot, vagy a szocpolt, de a korábban kapott támogatás összegét a 10 millió forintos kedvezményből le kell vonni. A megvásárolandó új lakásnak legalább 60 négyzetméternek, míg családi ház esetén legalább 90 négyzetméternek kell lennie. Nem feltétel, hogy az igénylőnek vagy családtagjainak ne legyen meglévő lakástulajdona vagy haszonélvezeti, használati joga a kedvezmény igénylésekor. Az érintett háromgyermekes családok az általuk felvett lakáscélú kölcsönhöz kedvezményes állami kamattámogatást is igényelhetnek. A kamattámogatás maximális időtartama 25 év, és legfeljebb 10 millió forint kölcsönösszegig igényelhető. A csok bővítésével egyidejűleg ugyanakkor - a visszaélések kiszűrése érdekében - több plusz feltételt is beépítettek rendszerbe, ezek közé tartozik a büntetlen előélet (vagyon elleni bűncselekmények tekintetében). A három- vagy többgyermekes, új ingatlant építő vagy vásárló családoknál a feltételek közé tartozik, hogy az igénylő nem szerepel a Központi Hitelinformációs Rendszerben, továbbá az igénylést megelőzően legalább 2 évig folyamatosan biztosított volt, ezen belül pedig minimum az igénylést közvetlenül megelőző 180 napban keresőtevékenységet is végzett. A tájékoztatás szerint ebbe nem számít bele a közfoglalkoztatás. Az új programmal kapcsolatos konkrét kérdésekkel már hívható az Emmi 06-1-795-31-68 telefonos ügyfélszolgálata. Az igénylők már felkereshetik a pénzintézeteket, tájékozódhatnak és beadhatják kérelmüket. (Forrás: MTI)

Csehország
2016. I. 4.  Az Európába irányuló illegális bevándorlást a Muzulmán Testvériség szervezi, természetesen számos ország anyagi segítségének felhasználásával. Zeman, cseh államfő Véleményét a marokkói külügyminisztertől, valamint az Egyesült Arab Emírségek egyik vezető politikusától szerzett információkra alapozta. Ezen politikusok szerint a Muzulmán Testvériség nemcsak az arab országokat, hanem az egész világot meg akarja hódítani. Az iszlamistáknak ahhoz nincs erejük, hogy háborút indítsanak Európa ellen. Ahhoz azonban elég erősek, hogy hatalmas migrációs hullámot indítsanak el, és ennek segítségével hatalmukba kerítsék Európát - nyilatkozta (Forrás: MTI)

Germany     Németország
10 Jan 2016 Migrant invasion will reach over 10 million warns Müller, Germany's Development Minister, adding: “In the Sahara up to one million people have died trying to escape.” His comments echo those of Buschkowsky, an MP from the Social Democratic Party who predicted the total number of migrants reaching Germany by 2020 would be between five and 10 million. (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/hqnvma4

2016. I. 10.   Kalergi örökösei. Még szilveszter éjszaka sem hozott jelentős változást a muszlim népvándorlás intenzitásában. Csak 2015. december 31. és 2016. január 2-a között több mint 7000 migráns áramlott be Európába. De miért is apadt volna a migrációs kedv? Elvégre a muszlim világnak semmit nem jelent Gergely pápa szilvesztere, hiszen ők most 1437-et írnak Mohamed futásától számítva, s a mi december 31-énk nekik épp al-khamis: 19. Rabi al-Awwal 1437 volt, vagyis egy egyszerű nap. Sőt immár a muszlim világ a Karácsony és a Szilveszter betiltásán működik helyenként – ahogy azt néhány éve el is érték Európa fővárosában, Brüsszelben. Csak zárójelben: a Hamasz az idén betiltotta a keresztény újév ünneplését az általa ellenőrzött területeken, mert ez „ellentétes az iszlámmal és szabályaival”, olyan „nyugati szokás”, amit ők nem tűrnek meg mostantól. A tiltás egyébként korántsem példa nélküli. A magyar kormány baráti Tadzsikisztánja már 2013-ban betiltotta a Szilveszter ünneplését, és kitiltotta az állami médiából a Mikulás megjelenését. Az idén pedig a Karácsony megünneplésére sújtott le egy rendelet, és ezzel a karácsonyfa-állítás hivatalosan is állam által üldözendő cselekménnyé vált... (Forrás: Demokrata): http://tinyurl.com/j4dchco

2016. I. 5. Szilveszter éjjelén fiatal férfiak hordákba verődve „vadásztak” nőkre, inzultálták, fogdosták és meglopták őket Hamburg vigalmi negyedében és Köln belvárosában – írta a német sajtó. (Forrás: Origo)

2016. I. 5.  Videón a Németországban erőszakoskodó migránsok (Forrás: MagyarIdők): http://tinyurl.com/jcno7pn

January 4, 2016  Nonwhite in one generation the current native—European—German population aged between 20 and 35, excluding the new wave of invaders, stands at 11.5 million people. There will be around two million successful applicants by 2020. Family reunification will add between three and eight extra persons per successful asylum seeker, which means that by 2020 the total number of this group will be in excess of eight million. Germany will take political steps to halt and reverse the current Third World invasion, or it will become a majority nonwhite country within one generation. (Source: WebObserverOnLine): http://tinyurl.com/js87w7x

Great Britain 
5 January 2016  Sonic youth: vaginal speaker lets you play tunes to foetuses. Spanish company Babypod has invented a speaker that is designed to be inserted into the vagina, stimulating foetal development. “Babies learn to speak in response to sound stimuli, especially melodic sound. Babypod is a device that stimulates before birth through music. With Babypod, babies learn to vocalise from the womb,” reads the blurb on the company’s website. Babies hearing external noise clearly is “solely possible via the vagina”, because the abdominal wall muffles sounds. The pale pink device, which costs 150 euros. It is controlled by a phone app but does not use Bluetooth. Parents-to-be can share their babies’ listening experience using split headphones which hang out of the vagina. It has a top sound level of 54 decibels, is recommended for use from the 16th week of pregnancy, and for between 10-20 minutes a time. Babypod was launched at the “first concert for foetuses ever held in the world” in which Arnelas, who finished 23rd in the 2009 Eurovision song contest, “serenaded”  10 pregnant women fitted with the speakers, singing Christmas carols. Testimonials from users on Babypod’s websites praise the fact that ultrasound scans showed their babies singing along or mouthing a response to music from the speakers. Which means that, should a sadistic mother-to-be ever choose to play Osmond’s Puppy Love, a foetus should be able to object accordingly. (Source: TheGuardian): http://tinyurl.com/zpqh69w

Jan 2, 2015  New company  Humai of enterpreneur Bocanegra claims they'll be able to bring the dead back to life by freezing human brains for extended periods of time using cryonics, a deep freezing technology using very low temperatures, and then putting them into artificial bodies. He claims if they were able to transplant a live person’s brain into a bionic body, than it would “achieve a point where no one has to die at all.” (Source: Express)

Montenegro
December 23, 2015  Montenegro will join NATO — and that matters. Last fall, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov declared NATO’s expansion to include Montenegro “a mistake, even a provocation” and an “irresponsible policy.” And after Russia invaded Ukraine, when Montenegrin Prime Minister Djukanovic visited Washington and took a public stand with the United States and European Union, Russian officials poured vitriol on him personally, while offering bribes for military access to Montenegro’s ports, providing financial and other support to opposition groups against NATO membership, and imposing counter-sanctions on Montenegrin agricultural products. Last week, Russia declared that they would cancel cooperative “projects” with Montenegro; it is unclear what Moscow meant since the two governments have no current notable joint projects. But Montenegro is standing firm. Some major Russian private investors, such as oligarch Deripaska, who invested in Montenegro’s aluminum industry, have been forced out of Montenegro. Its Ministry of Defense is moving to modernize its military with U.S. or European equipment — for example, gradually ditching aircraft that require Russian spare parts and maintenance. Montenegro’s determination and NATO’s decision stand in defense of the sovereign right of states to determine their political, military and economic associations and as a counter to Russian bullying. Including Montenegro seals off the entire Adriatic coast for NATO and prevents — in the words of one senior NATO military official — “Kaliningrad on the Mediterranean.” While NATO faces Russian air defenses and missiles in its Baltic Sea enclave, we can now avoid this in the Adriatic; Montenegro will no longer be vulnerable to subtle Russian military occupation, exercised through access to bases and stationing of Russian personnel and equipment. (Source: DefenseOne)

Russia  
4 January 2016  Putin unleashes his new secret weapon in the fight against isis - an army of super smelling rats. Scientists in Rostov-on-Don are hoping to harness rats' 'raptor neurons'. Rats have microchips implanted so researchers can monitor brain waves. Meanwhile, physiologists train rodents to recognise explosives and drugs, land mines (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/zhpvjym

Szlovákia
2016. I. 4.  Banáš nyílt levele Merkel Angelahoz (Forrás: SzenciPolgárokLapja):http://tinyurl.com/h7qpxo2

China
6 January 2016  Chinese firm says the world's first 'Autonomous Aerial Vehicle' for transporting people, the Megadrone self-flying craft could be used as a smart taxi. Unveiled at CES in Las Vegas and called the 184, the all-electric vehicle has four arms with eight propellers at the end allowing it to travel up to 60mph. The fully ready-to-fly 184 is a manned drone capable of automatically carrying a passenger through the air, simply by entering a destination into its accompanying smartphone app. The 184 uses multiple independent flight control systems to automatically navigate passengers from point A to point B. EHang will also have a command center that employs people to make sure everything is safe — sort of like an air traffic controller at an airport. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/j539ydj

Japan
6 January 2016  A 'mind-reading' device that can decipher words from brainwaves without them being spoken has been developed by Japanese scientists, raising the prospect of 'telepathic' communication. To 'listen' to the unspoken words, the researchers used a method called electroencephalogram, or EEG. Researchers have found the electrical activity in the brain is the same when words are spoken and when they are left unsaid. Scientists said they can decipher words with up to 90 per cent accuracy. It could allow people to communicate in the future without having to talk. Astronauts or deep-sea divers could use it improve communication in outer space or underwater where sounds can be distorted or difficult to transmit. Device may even allow people to issue instructions to robots by thought. The future of warfare could see robot armies controlled using just a commander's mind. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/j39dtq2

Saudi Arabia
Jan 5, 2016  Saudi Arabia faces 'economic bomb' and hikes gas prices 50%. Saudi Arabia is running out of money. (Source: CNN): http://tinyurl.com/gw9wzh9

January 4, 2016  Saudi Arabia rallied Sunni allies to its side in a growing diplomatic row with Iran, deepening a sectarian split across the Middle East following the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric. Bahrain and Sudan cut all ties with Iran. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of Iranians, partially downgraded its relations but the other Gulf Arab countries -  Kuwait, Qatar and Oman - stayed above the fray. Oil prices spiked during European trading as the two big petroleum exporters traded insults and after violence hit other crude producers such as Iraq. But prices then eased back on evidence of economic weakness in Asia. (Source: Yahoo)

Syria     Szíria
10 January 2016  isis 'ran sophisticated immigration operation' on Turkey-Syria border until its defeat in the area by Kurds this summer. Passenger manifests dated between December 2014 and March 2015, which were seized by Kurdish commanders in Tel Abyad, carry the stamps of isis’s “department of immigration” and “department of transport”. They show that buses passed through the town having submitted the names, dates of births, ID numbers and even birthplace of scores of travellers. Tunisia is the biggest source of foreign fighters entering Syria. The border crossing remained open until Kurdish forces took control of the town in June, at which point Turkey promptly sealed it. Turkey, a member of Nato, has been under international pressure because of its border with Syria, as concerns mounted over the ease with which Isis fighters appeared to be able to enter and leave territory held by the group. Turkey arrested 207,437 people for illegally crossing the border between 1 January 2014 and 1 November 2015, and the country hosts more than 2 million Syrian refugees as part of its “open door” policy - a senior Turkish government official said. (Source: TheGuardian): http://tinyurl.com/zydt9al

2016. I. 5.  Május közepén 3 helikopterrel mintegy 50 kommandós szállt le egy éjjel egy kelet-szíriai villa előtt. A helikopterekkel az amerikai Delta és a brit SAS emberei érkeztek, utóbbiak az álcázás kedvéért szintén amerikai egyenruhába öltözve. A megtámadott villában tartózkodott azon az éjszakán Sayyaf, az iszlám állam olaj-bizniszének vezetője. Hét terabyte adatot hoztak el, ez a legtöbb adat, amit az USA valaha egyetlen titkosszolgálati művelettel megszerzett. Ezek alapján az amerikaiak rekonstruálták az iszlám állam teljes olajbizniszét, 2014-től 2015 májusáig. Az ellenség olajának megsemmisítése a cél. Az Iszlám Állam bevételeinek legalább a felét olajból szerezte az utóbbi másfél évben. Előbb elfoglalták Szíria lényegében összes olajkútját, majd Irakban is megszereztek több fontos mezőt, és egy jelentős finomítót is. (Forrás: 444): http://tinyurl.com/jmlutgs

Turkey
January 1, 2016  Erdogan says Hitler's Germany exemplifies effective presidential system. He wants to change the Turkish constitution to turn the ceremonial role of president into that of a chief executive, a Turkish version of the system in the United States, France or Russia. (Yahoo)

Yemen  
January 5, 2014  Yemen’s war Is nearly lost in the din of surrounding conflicts. The Houthis are nominally Shia, as are their backers in Tehran, but their variant of the faith, known as Zaydi Islam, is different from the Iranian “Twelver” version. Many scholars argue the Zaydi branch is closer to Sunni Islam than Shiism; indeed, in the Yemeni civil war of the 1960s, the Saudis backed the Zaydis. With Saudi-Iranian tensions now escalating rapidly — Riyadh is pressing other Sunni-led states to join a diplomatic boycott of Tehran — Iran will likely reassess its role in Yemen. In Tehran last month the regime regarded Yemen as a low-cost way for Iran to keep Saudi Arabia pinned down in its own backyard, draining its military resources, and damaging the ruling family’s credibility, at home and abroad. Many Western analysts agree that Yemen has become a quagmire for the Saudis. But the collapse of Yemen’s internal security apparatus has allowed isil to spread quickly, with a string of high-profile attacks; in December, it claimed responsibility for a car-bombing that killed the governor of Aden and several of his bodyguards. (Source: DefenseOne).

United States
9 Jan 2016  Twitter declares war on conservative media, by punishing the outspoken commentator for his views - ‘Unverifies’ Breitbart Tech Editor Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos was informed via email that due to “recent violations of the Twitter Rules,” the blue tick marking his account as verified by Twitter had been removed. He was not told what rule he had violated, nor if there was any appeal procedure. He is listed as one of Drudge’s favourite writers and is one of the rising stars of libertarian and conservative media. Yiannopoulos’s suspension led to an immediate and massive global backlash. The #JeSuisMilo hashtag was created and quickly trended in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Scandinavia, Germany, and over a dozen other countries with over 50,000 tweets posted to it. Within a few hours, it was the #1 top trending topic in the U.K, U.S, and Canada and it trended globally at the #3 spot for several hours. a worse time for Twitter. The company’s stock price recently dipped below $20 – its lowest point ever. Twitter's notoriously opaque user guidelines and seemingly arbitrary rule enforcement have left many wondering if the platform can be trusted in the future. (Source:  (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/htuthud

January 8, 2016 Why Amazon’s data centers are hidden in US spy country? Thanks to that concentration of network companies and a whole lot of support from the National Science Foundation, Tysons Corner became home to MAE-East, one of the earliest Internet exchanges and home to the foundation of what would become that Internet backbone. Networks build atop networks, and the presence of this backbone in Tysons Corner led to more backbone, more tech companies, and more data centers. Today, up to 70 percent of Internet traffic worldwide travels through this region, as the Loudon county economic-development board cheerfully notes in its marketing materials. On average, one-third of all daily Internet usage accesses a site running on AWS. Amazon didn’t invent the principles behind cloud computing, but they made the infrastructure of cloud computing into a dirt-cheap commodity. (Source: DefenseOne):  http://tinyurl.com/hgxahub

6 January 2016  Intel launches x-ray-like glasses that allow wearers to 'see inside' objects. The Daqri Smart Helmet, an augmented reality helmet unveiled at CES in Las Vegas allows wearers to overlay maps, schematics and thermal images to effectively see through walls, pipes and other solid objects  (Source: The Guardian): http://tinyurl.com/hssr36o

2016. I. 5.  Ikerbabákat öltöztető, küzdő apuka (Forrás: Mandiner): http://tinyurl.com/jna2mwp

Globalization  
04 Jan 2016 The top 10 risks to the world in 2016. The ailing trans-Atlantic partnership is number one. Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and the conflict in Syria will expose US-European divisions. As US and European paths diverge, there will be no more international fireman — and conflicts particularly in the Middle East will be left to rage. 2. Closed Europe. 3. The China Footprint: China is the only country of scale today with a global economic strategy. The recognition in 2016 that China is both the most important and most uncertain driver of a series of global outcomes will increasingly unnerve other international players. 4. isis and “Friends”. 5. Saudi Arabia: The threat of intra-royal family strife is on the rise. 6. The rise of technologists. 7. Unpredictable leaders: . Russia’s Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan are leaders of an unruly pack that includes Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Salman and – to a lesser but important extent – Ukraine’s Poroshenko. 8. Brazil: President  Rousseff is fighting for her political survival, and the country’s political and economic crisis is set to worsen. 9. Not enough elections.
10. Turkey. (Source: TheTelegraph): http://tinyurl.com/gnnmo8h 

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Egészen szép vagy, Mária! Egészen szép vagy Csíksomlyói Szűz Anyánk!

írta Csaba testvér

Boldogságos Nagyasszonyunk, térden álló mindenhatóság, szobrodat ismeretlen mester keze készítette, és már 500 éve köztünk trónolsz, általa Te is jobban vagy nekünk, hisz szép képedet látván jobban szerethetünk! 1514-ben, a testvérháborúba sodródó Dózsa-féle hadjárat végső napjaiban jelent meg a kegyszobrod e templomban, Székelyföldön, a keleti végeken. Az egész Magyar Királyságot pusztulásba rántó, olthatatlan pártoskodásra, a gyilkos gyűlöletre válaszként Te magad jöttél közénk, erőt, egységet, békét hordozó kegyszobrod megjelent a csíksomlyói kis bazilikában! A testvérek közötti öldöklés, melyet nem követett kiengesztelődés, mint egy véres örvény rántotta Árpád atyánk szép országát Mohács tragédiáján keresztül az omlásba! Azóta nincs királyunk, népünket összefogó, a bajban megvédő uralkodónk, csak Te vagy nekünk mennyei Anyánk, szép Szűz Mária! Fejeden koronával, oldaladon a gyermek Jézussal köztünk trónolsz a legszentebb oltárunkon, és újból és újból összegyűjtesz, vigasztalsz, bátorítasz, szeretettel utat mutatsz nekünk, gyermekeidnek. Te vagy székely néped örökre megválasztott, legfőbb méltósága! Királynőnk, parancsod végtelen egyszerű: Tegyétek meg mit Szent Fiam mond! A Te eledeled is ez volt, élő hittel elfogadni a mindig velünk lévő Isten akaratát! 500 éve imádságos szeretettel mindig számíthatunk rád! Az évszázadok alatt Magnificatot éneklő jókedved kiáradt gyermekeidre, szolgáló jóságod, mint iránytű vezet döntéseinkben! Te vagy reményünk drága vezérlő csillaga! Búban, bajban oly sokszor tapasztaltuk meg óvó, a megtérésben gyógyító, az újrakezdésben életet adó erődet. Maradj velünk, hogy a következő évszázadok viharaiban is menedéket találjunk nálad, és ha kisüt a nap, az örömben lábadnál jó testvérekként együtt ünnepelhessünk! Légy a mi éltető forrásunk, belőled, általad és érted is fakadjon egy jobb világ, melyben a mi szülőföldünkből a szép Kárpát-medencéből, Szent István akaratából, Mária, a Te szent koronád virágzó földje legyen! Mária segíts, hogy a drága Szent Családod képére és hasonlatosságára megújulva, mindannyian együtt élhessük békében a magunk dolgos, csendes, egyszerű názáreti életünket! Mária gyermeke nem veszhet el! Szűzanyánk, e szép jubileumon, szívünk minden szeretetével kezedbe ajánljuk életünket, családjainkat, s mindazt, mit szeretünk: népünket, hazánkat, Isten alkotta szép világunkat! Bizalommal kérünk légy te, Béke királynője megújuló életünk példaképe, vezérlő fejedelme! E kis könyv 12 állomásán átelmélkedve ragyogjon fel életünkben a Te tizenkét csillagból álló, világunkat megújító győzedelmes koronád! „Egészen szép vagy Mária! Te a mi nemzetünknek nagy tisztessége. Te a bűnösöknek szószólója. Ó Mária! Ó Mária! Nagyokosságú szent Szűz, Nagyhatalmú szent Szűz. Imádkozzál érettünk, esedezzél érettünk a mi Urunk, Jézus Krisztusnál. Ámen” Csaba testvér (Forrás: Egészen szép vagy Csíksomlyói Szűz Anyánk! – (s.l.): Dévai Szent Ferenc Kiadó Kft, 2015)

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Magyarország
2015. XII. 31. (2013) Az 1698/2013. (X. 4.) Korm. határozattal elfogadott Migrációs Stratégia és az azon alapuló, az Európai Unió által a 2014-2020. ciklusban létrehozásra kerülő Menekültügyi és Migrációs Alaphoz kapcsolódó hétéves stratégiai tervdokumentum. Összhangban a nemzetpolitikai stratégiai elvekkel a stratégia alapvetése, hogy Magyarország – az Alaptörvényben is rögzítetten – felelősséget visel a határain kívüli magyarok sorsáért. Az etnikai azonosság, a közös nyelv - kultúra - történelem következtében a határon túli magyarok által dominált hazai migráns közösség a magyarországi migrációs helyzetet pozitívan befolyásolja, nem jár olyan társadalmi következményekkel, mint pl. az eltérő kultúrájú, illetve vallású bevándorló populációk Nyugat-Európa országaiban. Erre figyelemmel továbbra is különös hangsúlyt kell fektetni azoknak a személyeknek a megszólítására és a lehetőségek megismertetésére, akik érintettek lehetnek a kedvezményes honosításban. Magyarország minden lehetséges eszközzel segíti a határon túli magyarok beutazását (a Szerbiából/Vajdaságból vízummentesen beutazó harmadik országbeli magyarok esetében a vízummentesség megőrzése, illetve a vízumliberalizáció elérése a még vízumköteles Ukrajnából érkezőknek, illetve a vízumeljárás lehetőségeinek kihasználása) és tartózkodását (különösen a magyar állampolgárok harmadik országbeli családtagjai esetében). A Vajdaság esetében kiemelt figyelmet kell fordítani arra, hogy a délszláv válság idején jelentősen megváltoztak az etnikai viszonyok, sok vajdasági magyar döntött úgy, hogy elhagyja szülőhazáját, és jelentős számú boszniai és horvátországi szerb kényszerült lakóhelye elhagyására, ők nagyrészt a Vajdaság területén nyertek elhelyezést. Mindezen felül a stratégia szülőföldön maradás szándékát is támogatja a körkörös migráció lehetőségeinek feltérképezésével. Tekintettel kell lenni arra is, hogy Magyarország az Európai Unió tagállamaként bizonyos migrációhoz kapcsolódó hatásköreit közösen gyakorolja az uniós tagállamokkal. Ennek megfelelően Magyarország a vízumpolitika, a legális migráció és mobilitás, az illegális migráció, a nemzetközi védelem, valamint – összhangban az Európai Unió migrációra vonatkozó külkapcsolati stratégiájával – a migráció és a mobilitás fejlesztési hatásának optimalizálása témakörökben figyelemmel van az uniós célkitűzésekre és az igénybe vehető eszközrendszerre. Magyarország uniós tagsága emellett azt is jelenti, hogy hazánk érdekeinek megfelelően aktívan formálja az unió migrációs szakpolitikáját, tevékenyen közreműködik az uniós jogalkotásban, és együttműködik a tagállamokkal, uniós intézményekkel az uniós jog átültetése, alkalmazása során. Európai uniós tagságunk azt is eredményezi, hogy a többi tagállam döntései, vonzereje, nehézségei közvetlen hatást gyakorolnak a magyar migrációs trendekre: egyes tagállamok gazdasági fejlettsége, szociális ellátása jelentős vonzerőt gyakorol a Magyarországot tranzit-országnak tekintő migránsokra, illetve egy tagállam hiányosságai a migrációkezelés terén megnövelik a Magyarországra nehezedő migrációs nyomást. A migráció mindemellett köz-és nemzetbiztonsági kockázatokat rejt magában. Ennek egyik tényezője, hogy – kiindulva hazánk nemzeti biztonsági stratégiájából – Magyarország határainak egy része a belátható jövőben is az Európai Unió vagy a schengeni térség külső határa marad, ami együtt jár az uniós határszakasz igazgatásának felelősségével és feladataival. A migráció határokon átívelő jellege miatt tekintettel kell lenni közegészségügyi és járványügyi szempontokra is. Az érintett hatóságok a migráció illegális vetületei vonatkozásában előtérbe helyezik a jogszerű be-és kiutazás, valamint a tartózkodás szabályainak ellenőrzésekor keletkező információk folyamatos elemzését (Forrás: BelügyiLapok): https://tinyurl.com/yanm7wpw

Bulgária
2015. XII. 25. Leváltották a bulgáriai török párt vezetőjét, mert Törökországgal értett egyet a lelőtt orosz gép ügyében. Dogan, a DPSZ (Mozgalom a Jogokért és a Szabadságért) alapítója és szellemi irányítója azt mondta a Mesztan sorsáról döntő szavazás után, hogy „Ez lesz a sorsa mindenkinek, aki Bulgária nemzeti érdekeivel ellentétesen nyilatkozik.” (Forrás: 444): http://tinyurl.com/j4t8uvc

Franciaország
2015. XII. Hova tűnt a nyugati Vendée tartomány lakossága? A francia forradalom vérben és gyalázatban fogant. A szabadság nevében való szisztematikus népirtás atyjai - Saint-Just, Danton, Marat, tömeggyilkos Robespierre. A forradalom szellemi atyjai; nem elégedtek meg XVI. Lajos és Marie Antoinette megalázásával és kivégzésével, az egész arisztokráciát, a teljes klérust és a velük szemben álló parasztságot is ki akarták irtani a föld színéről. Vendée tartományában a parasztok felkeltek a forradalom ellen, és kérték a nemeseket, hogy álljanak az ellenforradalom élére. Rochejaquelein, Contrie, Cathelineau, Bonchamps vállalták a feladatot, hogy a királyhű csapatok élére állnak és az ellenforradalom fehér zászlóját fölemelik. A köztársaságpártiak negyvenötlezres serege irtóhadjáratba fogott nem csak a felkelők, hanem az egész tartomány ellen. Sorra estek el a felkelés vezetői. A Katolikus Hadsereg lassan felmorzsolódott. 1794-ben a köztársaságpárti Turreau tábornok hadoszlopai végigjárták a tartományt és öregeket, nőket, csecsemőket sem hagytak életben. Többszázezer embert gyilkoltak le tervszerűen. Forradalmi rémuralom vette kezdetét, míg a köztársaságpárti terroristák egymás ellen nem fordultak, és a forradalom föl nem falta saját gyermekeit is. (Forrás: Ellenforradalmár)

Great Britain
23 December 2015  A saliva test could predict how long we have got left to live, researchers found. They found that the levels of secretory immunoglobin A (IgA) fell the nearer the person got to death. (Source: DailyMail)

22 December 2015  UK Government attempting to keep details of secret security pact with Saudi Arabia hidden from public. The Home Office has admitted it “contains information relating to the UK’s security co-operation with Saudi Arabia”. In February the Kingdom adopted a new anti-terrorism law that defines terrorism as words or actions deemed by the authorities to be directly or indirectly “disturbing” to public order or “destabilizing the security of society. In March, a series of decrees promulgated by the Interior Ministry extended Saudi Arabia’s extended the definition of further to include “calling for atheist thought” and “contacting any groups or individuals opposed to the Kingdom”, as well as “seeking to disrupt national unity” by calling for protests. “Deals with nations like Saudi Arabia should not be done in secret,” said the Liberal Democrat leader Farron. (Source: TheIndependent).

(22 December 2015) Humans 2.0: How the robot revolution is going to change how we see, feel, and talk. Robots aren't going to replace us, but by working hand in hand with us they will redefine what it means to be human.  2025  A screen in front of the doctor flashes with the image of a glistening tunnel of flesh and, as she huddles over the controls, you feel a stirring in your bowels. That gelatinous mass you feel coming to life inside you found its way into your body 24 hours earlier, when you swallowed a pill that looked unremarkable, save for its bulk. But now this package of edible electronics will allow the doctor to feel inside your body without making a single incision, effectively taking the tips of the doctor's fingers and transplant them onto the exterior of the robotic pill. When the robot presses against the interior of the intestinal tract, the doctor will feel the sensation as if her own fingers were pressing the flesh. This is the coming world of augmented humans, where technology gifts people senses, skills, and strengths never before available. Only one scenario that researchers in Bristol in the west of England are working. Professor Pipe is deputy director of Bristol Robotics Laboratory. The conversation about robots today so often revolves around fears of how they will replace us, rather than help us. Pipe talks about "human-robot teams" working together. He sees this research as reflecting a future where robots and humans enjoy a more symbiotic relationship — where robots work alongside people, enhancing their capabilities.  Robotic pill. to build an electromechanical fingertip on the outside of the robot. Inside the bot are an array of pins that replicate the biological features found on the internal surface of human skin. It is these pins that stimulate the receptors responsible for letting our fingertips feel. When we detect the shapes of objects, we use the Meissner's Corpuscle, a mechanoreceptor that sits close to the surface of the skin and measures how it deforms when pressed. Similarly, when we detect how rough a surface is we rely on the Pacinian corpuscle, which acts a bit like a microphone in sensing the vibrations upon touch. When the soft-skinned bot presses against the intestinal wall, these pins are pushed inwards and vibrate in much the same way receptors do inside our fingertips. Attaching sensors to each of these pins would require electronics that were too complex, power-hungry and delicate. So instead the bot relies on a camera that captures the pins' stirrings and relays the footage to a computer that calculates what touching that gut wall would feel like based on the movement of the pins. The bot isn't static but remote-controlled. Using a live feed from the bot's video camera, the clinician can guide the tiny craft through the patient's gut, pressing up against areas of interest. As a way of moving the robot, Winstone is drawing on biology for inspiration and examining how worms propel themselves forward by flexing the muscles along the length of their body, something called peristaltic motion. Winstone believes that people would be more inclined to get symptoms checked if resolving them meant "swallowing a slightly large pill" instead of invasive surgery. Of course, that "slightly large pill" is in reality a robot. There's a whole field of robotics made out of metal but a new approach to robotics is being realised that uses smart soft materials for both sensing and actuating. It is more natural and more suitable for interacting with living beings, so it is much safer. He is looking into wirelessly transmitting the power to the bot through the patient using magnetic resonance induction. Aldebaran Robotics Nao, a not-especially-imposing android is standing at just under two feet tall with a permanently surprised look on its face. You look through the eyes of this robot. The bot's eyes—actually are two stereo 720p cameras. And you are turning your head to see yourself standing next to you. Bremner's partners at Queen Mary University of London are studying how to tailor the robot's gestures to suit the mood suggested by the speaker's voice or to stress a particular point. Bremner is particularly interested in how people's reaction to someone changes when they are embodied by a robot, and whether people would still respect and listen to their boss as a bot. Hands have their limitations, particularly when attempting to carry out precision work such as laparoscopic surgery, where doctors operate using a few small incisions rather than a large open one. This minimally invasive surgery causes less blood loss and residual pain in patients and means that procedures that used to require patients to stay weeks in hospital can be recovered from far more quickly. However, such work not only requires a steady hand but the use of multiple tools and assistants. Today robotic systems such as the da Vinci Surgical System give surgeons the ability to carry out such operations with improved precision and less bleeding. These robotic systems offer these improvements by allowing the surgeon to remotely-control robot hands capable of far more exact movements than humans.  Typically it takes surgeons about 2,000 hours to become proficient with da Vinci robots, according to doctoral researcher Tzemanaki, something that can take between a year and five years for a doctor to accumulate. Tzemanaki and her colleagues at Bristol are developing a robotic system that, when compared to the "pliers" and "scissors" of the da Vinci machine, more closely mimics the movements of a human hand. The team is building what looks like a robot claw with three digits. Each digit can hold one of 13 specialist instruments for different operations. The surgeon puts their hand inside an exoskeleton with magnetic sensors that measure the hand's position. The exoskeleton then relays the hand's movements to the robotic hand and maps the movement of the surgeon's fingers to each of the robotic digits with their attached instruments. If the surgeon moves their thumb, index finger, or middle finger then those movements will be reproduced by the robotic hand's thumb, index or middle finger. The instrument shrinks down the surgeon's hand and lets them operate with a superhuman level of precision. Each robot hand has three instruments, mimicking a partial human hand. The first two instruments — the forefinger and thumb—act as grippers. The remaining "middle finger" can house any number of tools, with a blade, hook, irrigation device, and coagulation device among the many options. The absolute next and crucial step is to give a sense of touch. The projects at Bristol demonstrate ways that people and robots can achieve more by working together rather than in competition. A human in a robotic exoskeleton promises to combine the strength of a machine with the balance of a person and may one day allow the injured and infirm to walk with ease and help construction workers and soldiers carry back-breaking loads. People will find jobs that before were inconceivable. The robots take away subhuman jobs which we assign to people" and in doing so give them the time and the tools to be better humans. (Source: TechRepublic):  http://tinyurl.com/jm85gcj

21 December 2015  Intelligence genes discovered by scientists. Imperial College London has found that two networks of genes determine whether people are intelligent or not so bright. Genes which make people intelligent have been discovered and scientists believe they could be manipulated to boost brain power. Researchers have believed for some time that intellect is inherited with studies suggesting that up to 75 per cent of IQ is genetic, and the rest down to environmental factors such as schooling and friendship groups. (Source: The Telegraph): http://tinyurl.com/haogsqc

Russia  
December 28, 2015  Russian Defense Ministry accuses Pentagon of imitating fight against islamic state. The Pentagon spokesperson who confirmed that the US didn't intend to share the information on is targets with Moscow until Russia changes its policy towards Syrian President Assad. The military presented data on changes in the routes of illegal transportation of oil by the islamic state militants. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the new routes run through the north-western regions of Iraq, which "are in the focus of constant attention of the United States. Russian intelligence found almost 12,000 tank/delivery trucks on the Turkish-Iraqi border near Zakho, where the ‘eastern’ oil smuggling route used by the Iislamic state terrorist group runs; with 4,530 of them in Turkey and 7,250 in Iraq. It is worth mentioning that oil extracted both in Iraq and in Syria is smuggled via the checkpoint there. The Defense Ministry had said previously that the Russia-banned islamic state’s eastern oil smuggling route led from the oilfields in Syria’s northeast and Iraq’s northwest to Turkey via the border towns of Kara Chokh, Cham Khanik, Tavan and Zakho. Since the beginning of the operation in Syria, Russian aircraft have taken out around 2,000 tank trucks operated by the militants. On September 30 by request of Syrian President Assad, the Russian air task force in Syria included over 50 aircraft, including Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) and Su-24M (Fencer) tactical bombers, Su-25 (Frogfoot) attack aircraft, Su-30SM (Flanker-H) multirole fighters and Mi-8 (Hip) and Mi-24 (Hind) helicopters. The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement in mid-November that it would focus its strikes on the oil production, storage, refining and transportation facilities controlled by islamic state militants. (Source: Tass): http://tinyurl.com/grfxcbk
 
December 28, 2015  Saudi Arabia has destabilized oil market by increasing its oil output by 1.5 mln barrels per day - Russia’s Energy Minister Novak said. (Source: Tass)

Dec. 24, 2015  Russia rearms. Russia Is building and expanding bases in the Arctic. Its military budget has been growing steadily: a jump of nearly $11 billion from 2014 to 2015.  But sanctions from the Ukrainian conflict, dropping oil prices and other financial problems have weakened the Russian economy, and analysts expect military spending to slow. Russia has scheduled mobilizations of more than 100,000 troops, as well as unannounced exercises that move thousands of troops with almost no notice. These efforts serve as combat training for the troops and as a show of military strength to the world. They often involve units that control Russia’s nuclear arsenal, calling attention to the country’s nuclear abilities. NATO has responded by expanding its own exercises. One military exercise, March 16 to 21: 80,000 troops; in the first phase, units in the Northern Fleet were deployed to the Barents and Norwegian Seas. Troops in the Arctic mobilized. Naval helicopters began antisubmarine drills, and antiaircraft missile battalions defended the skies. In the second phase, units from central, eastern and western Russia joined the exercise. Ships, aircraft and troops rehearsed exercises and combat, including shooting down enemy drones. The third phase was a scenario simulating a war with the United States and/or NATO. It brought the total exercise to 12,000 pieces of heavy equipment, 65 warships, 15 submarines and 220 aircraft. The country is buying, updating and developing its military equipment, with the intent to modernize 70 percent of its military by 2020 with 400 Intercontinental ballistic missiles, 600+ Fixed-wing aircraft, 66 Vityaz and S-400 missile systems,  1,000+ Helicopters, 10 Iskander-M missile brigades, 2300 heavy armored vehicles, 28 Ballistic missile and attack submarines, 2000 self-propelled artillery systems, 50 Surface ships, 17000 Other military vehicles. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes): http://tinyurl.com/jbymj9k

Európa
2015. XII.  Öszeollózott regionális geopolitikai elgondolás? Az Új Európánk határait két tenger mossa, nyugatra lesz a migráns Eurábia. A sorsunkról, a jövőnkről nem ott és nem mi döntünk, hanem a világot kormányzó globális háttérhatalom, amelyik a migráns-kérdést, az EU színesítését, többmillió muszlimmal való megszállását is eldöntötte. /térképpel/ (Forrás: Leleplező): http://tinyurl.com/kvxg69t

Ethiopia  
(before 23 December 2015)  More than 18 million people in Ethiopia are facing a food crisis in the next few months because of a severe drought. The UN has warned that a lack of rain in the Horn of Africa country, which has left crop yields in some areas down by 90 per cent, will leave millions in need of food aid. (Source: TheIndependent)

Antarctic
2012/12/29 Countries rush for upper hand in Antarctica. Russia has built Antarctica’s first Orthodox church on a hill overlooking its research base, transporting the logs all the way from Siberia. Less than an hour away by snowmobile, Chinese laborers have updated the Great Wall Station, a linchpin in China’s plan to operate five bases on Antarctica, complete with an indoor badminton court, domes to protect satellite stations and sleeping quarters for 150 people. Not to be outdone, India’s futuristic new Bharathi base, built on stilts using 134 interlocking shipping containers, resembles a spaceship. Turkey and Iran have announced plans to build bases, too. The treaty banning mining here, shielding coveted reserves of iron ore, coal and chromium, expires in 2048. Geologists estimate that Antarctica holds at least 36 billion barrels of oil and natural gas. (Source: The NewYorkTimes): http://tinyurl.com/jjqwnex

Syria
28 Dec 2015  Captured by the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) fighters in Northern Syria in November, Abdulhadi, a Syrian national-turned daesh (islamic state) fighter, says he was trained in Turkey before receiving his first assignment with islamic state (is, formerly isis/isil). “In August 2014, I was training in the Turkish town of Adana with one of isil’s Emirs,” Abdulhadi said. His month-long training was completed with 60 other fighters in a camp “not far from the airport. Military training was conducted by two officers and one of them only spoke Turkish, so another one had to translate for him. “We were trained in Turkey because isil's command thought it was safer here than in Syria because of the bombardments there.” While the camp was officially declared to be one of the training grounds for the Free Syrian Army, “all sixty of those who were there were isil members.” These were Syrian citizens, many of whom arrived in Turkey in search for a job initially, but later joined daesh. “After I finished the training, I went to one of the districts in the Turkish town of Adana. My task was to meet the newly arrived recruits from Syria. After the training we sent them to the Turkish town of Urfa. From there the recruits were transferred via Turkey-Syria border crossing back to Syrian Raqqa - Abdulhadi explained. (Source: RT): http://tinyurl.com/j6hsgtz

December 25, 2015   islamic state okays taking organs of living non-Muslims. Fatwa number 68 Date 31 January 2015 / research and fatwa committee of islamic state:  "If the jurists had permitted, when necessary, the consumption of human flesh as a means counter to death or harm, then it is even more appropriate to transplant of organs from the apostate to the Muslim to save the life of the latter. This is especially true because it was ruled that the apostate's life and organs are not protected. On the contrary, the apostate's life and organs don't have to be respected and can be taken with impunity." (Source: WashingtonExaminer): http://tinyurl.com/osfr2y4

Australia  
Dec 25 2015  The eerie $50million ghost ship: super yacht owned by Putin's former media strongman who was found dead in a Washington hotel room floats abandoned in a muddy Brisbane river. Superyacht belonging to Putin's former press secretary found deserted. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/j7urrov  

United States
2015/12/28  191 Million US voter registration records leaked in mystery database. Researcher Vickery has his hands on all 300GB of voter data, which includes names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, party affiliations, and logs of whether or not they had voted in primary or general elections. The data appears to date back to 2000. It does not contain financial data or social security numbers.No one has taken responsibility for the leak. Anyone in the world can find out where a person in the US lives and what political beliefs they may have. (Source: Forbes): http://tinyurl.com/zesajxc

Dec 27, 2015  Chinese medicinal herbs provide niche market for US farmers. More than 300 plants are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Giblette and Peg Schafer, an herb grower in Petaluma, California, compiled a list of marketable species for U.S. farmers. They include Angelica dahurica, a flowering perennial whose root is used to relieve pain and inflammation; Aster tataricus, a relative of garden asters said to have anti-bacterial properties; Mentha haplocalyx, a mint used for stomach ailments; and Salvia miltiorrhiza, a type of sage whose roots are used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases. From an economic standpoint, Glenn said the goal is to introduce a crop that could supplement a farmer's income by as much as $15,000 a year - effectively doubling the income of farmers in the economically distressed area. The initial research indicates a return-on-investment ranging from $1.69 per plant for Celosia, an annual flowering plant used for various eye maladies and bleeding, to $20 for Angelica. (Source: AP): http://tinyurl.com/py8ydf6

December 23, 2015  A weather pattern partly linked with El Nino has turned winter upside-down across the U.S. during a week of heavy holiday travel, bringing spring-like warmth to the Northeast, a risk of tornadoes in the South and so much snow across the West that even skiing slopes have been overwhelmed. A strong El Nino pattern, the warming of surface waters in the Pacific Ocean near the equator helped drive warm air west to east across the Lower 48 and kept colder air from the Arctic at bay. (Source: MyWay)

Dec 21, 2015  Gene drives offer new hope against diseases and crop pests. Biologists in the United States and Europe are developing a revolutionary genetic technique that promises to provide an unprecedented degree of control over insect-borne diseases and crop pests. The technique involves a mechanism called a gene drive system, which propels a gene of choice throughout a population. No gene drives have yet been tested in the wild, but in laboratory organisms like the fruit fly, they have converted almost the entire population to carry the favored version of a gene. Gene drives “could potentially prevent the spread of disease, support agriculture by reversing pesticide and herbicide resistance in insects and weeds, and control damaging invasive species,” a group of Harvard biologists wrote last year in the journal eLIFE. A much discussed application of gene drives would help rid the world of pest-borne diseases like malaria, dengue fever and Lyme disease.A gene drive designed to render a population extinct is known as a crash drive. A crash drive being developed for mosquitoes consists of a gene engineered into the Y chromosome that shreds the X chromosome in the cells that make the mosquito’s sperm, thus ensuring that all progeny are male. Unless the drive itself is damaged through mutation, the number of females would be expected to dwindle each generation until the population collapses. Biologists led by Crisanti and Nolan at Imperial College London reported this month in the journal Nature Biotechnology their development of mosquitoes with gene drives that disrupt three genes for female fertility, each of which acts at a different stage of egg formation. Because the female mosquitoes are infertile only when a copy is inherited from both parents, the gene drives would be thoroughly disseminated through a population before taking their toll. They could “suppress mosquito populations to levels that do not support malaria transmission Another approach is to endow mosquitoes with genes that make them resistant to the malaria parasite. Last month, biologists at the Irvine and San Diego campuses of the University of California reported introducing a gene drive with a cargo of malaria-resistance genes into mosquitoes.  Several articles published in the last few months propose specific safety precautions and call for full public discussion of gene drives, along with speedy regulation. Because a single escaped organism carrying a gene drive system “could alter a substantial fraction of the wild population with unpredictable ecological consequences, the decision to deploy a gene drive must be made collectively by society,” a group of scientists, led by Church of Harvard Medical School, said in Nature Biotechnology last month. An endonuclease is an enzyme that cuts at a specific site the DNA of the chromosome with which its gene’s own chromosome is paired. Because DNA breaks are very threatening to genome integrity, cells rush to repair them, often by using the other chromosome of a pair as a template. In doing so, they copy the gene for the endonuclease into the joint made between the two broken ends of the cut chromosome. If this repair occurs in a germ line cell, both eggs and sperm will carry the endonuclease gene together with any cargo genes that genetic engineers may have attached to it. The Crispr-Cas9 technique gives biologists unprecedented power to edit DNA. With the ability to cut DNA at a specific site, they can let the cell’s DNA repair machinery paste in new sequences, usually a gene of interest, in the process of annealing the two cut ends of the DNA molecule. With the Crispr-Cas9 technique, laboratories all over the world, including many with no experience in confining potentially hazardous organisms, could now generate gene drive systems.  Another concern is that a gene drive system may have unintended consequences, by making its target species more pathogenic. A suggested approach to this problem is to proceed in careful stages, releasing a gene drive system first in a caged population of target insects, and then in an isolated habitat like an island, if possible, before any major release into the wild. (Source: The New York Times): http://tinyurl.com/hbwar9r

Globalization
December 22, 2015  Crude oil sinks to 11-year low. Brent crude dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, surpassing lows reached in the depths of the financial crisis, hit hard by a relentless rise in global production that looks set to swamp the market again in 2016. Oil stocks in the developed world have ballooned to almost 3bn barrels — or more than a month of global oil supplies, according to the International Energy Agency. They are expected to keep rising in 2016 with higher exports expected from Iran, once Opec’s second-largest producer, when sanctions linked to its nuclear programme are lifted. At the same time demand growth is likely to slow from this year’s fevered pace. Brent, the international oil marker, fell by as much as 2 per cent to $36.04 per barrel, its weakest since 2004 and below the financial crisis low of $36.20 reached on December 24 2008. In Asia oil prices ticked higher after a pledge by Chinese economic planners of more “proactive” and “flexible” growth policies, with Brent adding 0.2 per cent to $36.43 a barrel. Oil prices have dropped more than 15 per cent since a rancorous Opec meeting earlier this month that exposed the organisation’s inability to tackle a global oil glut, which is growing by as much as 2m barrels a day, according to some estimates. Saudi Arabia and Iran both resisted calls for production restraint and vowed to keep pumping, intensifying a battle for market share that has contributed to record oil inventories and a halving of the oil price over the past 18 months. Iran could receive sanctions relief as soon as January or February, at which point it will be free to increase its production and exports. A strengthening US dollar and a deal to lift the tight restrictions on US crude oil exports, which have been in place for 40 years, have also weighed on prices. An unusually mild start to the winter in the northern hemisphere, partly because of the El Niño weather phenomenon, has been another factor. The Russian energy minister dismissed Opec as not worth co-operating with and the Venezuelan oil minister talked of a ‘catastrophe’ when storage capacity overflows in the first quarter after Iran returns, shredding the budgets of Opec producers such as Venezuela, Nigeria and Angola. Even the cartel’s wealthy Gulf members are starting to feel the pain with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait all raising interest rates last week to protect their currencies. While there is evidence that the Saudi strategy is starting to work, with non-Opec supply expected to fall 600,000 b/d next year — the first decline in years — many traders believe the market will remain heavily oversupplied next year. Such large builds could lead to a test of maximum storage capacity. This should result in significantly lower crude prices. (Source: FinancialTimes):  http://tinyurl.com/h32pm7p

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.8 12 29

Umhlanga. Deer dance (Nád-tánc)

Source / Forrás: YouTube):

https://tinyurl.com/y8dvzvsx

(60 136 views / megtekintés)

See also: Reed Dance – a feature of Swazi tradition:
https://tinyurl.com/y7ttjq5e

Szváziföld Mozambik és Dél-afrikai Köztársaság közötti, több mint egy millió lakosú királyság, újabb nevén Eswatini. Állt búr védnökség alatt, volt brit protektorátus; 1968 óta független. Fejlettségi indexe (HDI): 0.588 A lakosság  84% szwázi, 10% zulu. Zömében keresztények, 10/%-uk muszlim ;Szwázi és angol a hivatalos nyelv.

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Székely konyha

Forrás: HargitaTv):

http://tinyurl.com/hun4dtp

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Magyarország
2016  A magyar államadósság keletkezése (1973—1989). Magyarország bruttó államadóssága 2,1 milliárd dollárt tett ki 1973-ban. Az állomány 20,4 milliárd dollárra nőtt 1989-re. Még jelentősebb arányú bővülést látunk, ha nem a bruttó, hanem a valódi nettó állomány növekedését vizsgáljuk, mivel ez 0,8 milliárdról 19,4 milliárd dollárra változott. A nettó államadósság GDP-arányosan 9,2 százalékról a GDP 66,5 százalékára nőtt. Felmerül a kérdés, hogy mi okozta az államadósság ilyen mértékű növekedését az 1973 és 1989 közötti időszakban (Forrás: PénzRiport): http://tinyurl.com/hpcoa49

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Európai Levéltári Portál 

Archives Portal Europe 

http://tinyurl.com/ngmqa3y

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Hungary    Magyarország
Dec. 20, 2015  Hungary’s migrant stance, once denounced, gains some acceptance. Like most members of Hungary’s liberal intellectual elite, Konrád, a distinguished novelist, loathes his country’s stridently illiberal prime minister, Orbán. “He is not a good democrat and I don’t believe he is a good person,” said Mr. Konrad, a veteran of communist-era struggles against dictatorship. All the same, he thinks Mr. Orban, the self-declared scourge of mainstream elites across Europe, was right and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany was wrong about how to respond to the chaotic flood of migrants seeking refuge from war and poverty — perhaps Europe’s most serious crisis since World War II.  “It hurts to admit it, but on this point Orbán was right,” Mr. Konrád, 82, said, lamenting that in the absence of a joint European effort to control the flow, Hungary was wise to seal its borders and sound the alarm over the perils of allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants, mostly Muslims, to enter Europe willy-nilly. Officials in Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union, acknowledge in private that Mr. Orbán got many things right, but they say that he and his supporters undermined their case with belligerent tirades that variously cast the influx of asylum seekers as a Muslim invasion, a conspiracy by European socialists to import future left-leaning voters and a plot by the Hungarian-born Jewish philanthropist Soros to undermine European nation states. Even as it has moved closer toward his policies, the European Commission, fed up with Mr. Orbán’s mocking of its impotence, announced in early December that it would take Hungary to court over legislation it adopted in September that made it difficult for asylum seekers to appeal speedy rejections of their applications and other alleged violations of European rules. Speaking in Brussels at the end of the summit meeting, Mr. Orbán said that “it has taken us a long time” but that there was now “an absolute consensus among the prime ministers on the issue of protection and control of the external borders. In a recent interview with European newspapers, Tusk, president of the European Council, the body that presides over European Union summit meetings, described Ms. Merkel’s welcoming approach to migrants as “dangerous” and endorsed the view long promoted by Mr. Orbán — that most of the asylum seekers entering Europe were not Syrians fleeing war but economic migrants seeking jobs. Emphasizing the need to secure Europe’s external borders, another longstanding Hungarian demand, he suggested that asylum seekers be detained for up to 18 months to give the authorities time to identify and send back economic migrants. Mr. Szijjártó, the Hungarian foreign minister, dismissed the move as “revenge” for Hungary’s own decision to challenge the quota-based relocation plan at the European Court of Justice. (Source: The New York Times): http://tinyurl.com/nvth2al

2015. XII. 18. A Hóman Bálint Kulturális Alapítvány elállt tervétől, hogy szobrot emel az egykori politikusnak, erről Székesfehérvár polgármesterét levélben tájékoztatták. A város közgyűlése tudomásul vette a döntést, ezért hatályon kívül helyezte júniusi határozatát, ami a kétmillió forintos önkormányzati forrásnak és a szoborállítás támogatásának a visszavonását jelenti. A Fővárosi Törvényszék bűncselekmény hiányában március 6-án mentette fel Hóman néhai kultuszminisztert a háborús bűntett vádja alól és egyúttal hatályon kívül helyezte az 1946-os népbírósági ítéleteket. Hómant 1946-ban a népbíróság életfogytiglanra ítélte, mert álláspontja szerint háborús bűntettet követett el azzal, hogy 1941-ben kormánytagként megszavazta Magyarország Szovjetunió elleni hadba lépését. Hóman börtönben hunyt el 1951-ben. (Forrás: Origo)

Erdély
2015. XII. 20. Domokosról (forrás: NOL): http://tinyurl.com/odrfkbn

Great Britain
17 Dcember 2015  British Government threatened with legal action to stop it exporting weapons to the Saudi Arabian regime. Saudi Arabia has been accused of war crimes in its war in Yemen and ministers admit its army is using British weapons there. Most weapons in the UK are produced by private companies but the Government gives consent and licences all exports and has complete control over which countries can buy from British producers. Those used in Saudi are thought to include flagship Eurofighter Typoon aircraft and Paveway guided missiles. In August the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Saudi Arabian attacks on civilian areas had clearly broken international law. Saudi Arabia is intervening in the Yemeni civil war on the side of the internationally-recognised Government. It says Shia Houthi groups who have taken control of most of the country are not the country's legitimate government. (Source: TheIndependent)

17 December, 2015 Government accused of cover-up as data suggests million EU migrants unaccounted for in Britain. HMRC fails to release data which could show true number of EU migrants coming to Britain because it would be 'unhelpful' to renegotiation. There were accusations that the figures are being suppressed amid fears that releasing the data could lead to Britain leaving the EU. It came as Mr Cameron was left isolated as more than a dozen European leaders spoke out ahead of a crucial Brussels summit to say that they would oppose his plans to strip EU workers of in-work benefits for four years. Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic issued a joint statement ahead of the debate, saying that they "will not support any solutions which would be discriminatory or limit free movement". Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that while she wants Britain to remain in the European Union there must be no restrictions on "basic freedoms", while Hollande, the French President, warned that the proposals are "not acceptable". The Prime Minister in 2010 pledged that he would get net migration down to the “tens of thousands” by the 2015 election. Official data from the Office of National Statistics shows that around 760,000 EU migrants have settled in the UK in the last four years. A survey of Britain's Labour force suggests a slightly lower figure of around 525,000. A total of almost two million EU migrants have been allocated national insurance numbers in the last four years – far higher than the 760,000 counted into Britain via surveys.  (Source: TheTeleraph): http://tinyurl.com/jtsl6ka

14 December 2015  New rules mean all drones which weighs much more than half a pound must register with national database. Drones have been seen as a major menace and have disrupted firefighting efforts, been used to snoop on neighbors and to smuggle drugs into prison (not to mention regularly flying too close to manned aircraft). (Source: TheGuardian): http://tinyurl.com/h2slxo9

Norway
December 14, 2015  Hundreds of “refugees” caught with images of isis flags, severed heads on their phones. Police raise alarm about asylum seekers entering Norway. A recent poll found that an astounding 21 per cent of Syrians support isis. (Source: InfoWars): http://tinyurl.com/p36ytt8

Poland
December 18, 2015  Poland’s new government raided a NATO intel facility in the dark of night. Today officials from the country’s new right-wing government tried to enter NATO-affiliated counter-intelligence offices in Warsaw after midnight, using a copied key and accompanied by military police, in order to replace the head of the office. The move is part of a campaign by the new Law and Justice government to staff official posts with people loyal to the party. NATO has cooled the alarmist atmosphere in Poland, saying that last night’s events were an internal matter, underlining that the center was not “accredited” by NATO. (Source: DefenseOne): http://tinyurl.com/h8kpkay

Romania
December 18, 2015  In Romania, US wraps construction of anti-missile battery. With radar and interceptors in place, the Pentagon intends to be ready to shoot down Iranian missiles next year. The U.S. has all of the pieces in place at its missile-defense complex in Deveselu military base, southern Romania, despite Moscow’s objections and the highest NATO-Russia tensions since the Cold War. The site will be declared operational — able to down a missile — in 2016, after the successful completion of a training exercise. Military testers shot down a target over the Pacific Ocean using a land-based Standard Missile-3 interceptor launched from Kauai, Hawaii. This successful test of the SM-3 Block 1B clears the way for its use in Romania, along with its Aegis guidance radar — the first operational ground-based version of two systems originally designed for shipboard use. “The test’s success keeps the Aegis Ashore program and the SM-3 Block 1B on track for deployment in Romania by the end of this year,” said a statement from Raytheon, which builds the interceptor. When fully active, the Deveselu facility will be operated by more than 200 U.S. sailors and civilians plus Romanian military personnel. Russia has opposed the European missile shield since its inception last decade. The third fase is the deployment of more interceptors to Poland. In April, Gen. Gerasimov, Russia’s top general said Moscow would target NATO’s new missile interceptor bases in Romania and Poland. U.S. officials broke ground at the Romanian missile interceptor complex in October 2013. Deveselu is the first new Navy installation in 20 years, after Naval Station Everett in Washington state. (Source: DefenseOne): http://tinyurl.com/zyrypys

Russia
December 17, 2015  Putin calls Trump 'outstanding, talented'. "He says that he wants a different level of relations, tighter and deeper relations with Russia, how can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome it," Putin said.  (Source: Yahoo): http://tinyurl.com/o6qhz64

Svájc  
2015. XII. 15.  Svájci mentőöv Simonnak. A helvét államban az adóelkerülés nem bűncselekmény. Az államszövetség így nem adta át a KNYF-nek azokat az iratokat, amelyek Simon svájci számlájának kivonatait, illetve a nyomozó hatóság által vizsgálni kívánt tranzakciók adatait tartalmazták. A válasz része volt az is, hogy az adatszolgáltatás a gyanúsítottat mentő célból lehetséges, azonban ehhez a terheltnek írásban is hozzá kell járulnia. Ezt a szívességet Simon azonban nem tette meg, így a jogsegélykérelem nem teljesült. Simon 2008 januárjától a következő év áprilisáig több mint 570 ezer eurót és 160 ezer dollárt meghaladó amerikai fizetőeszközt helyezett el a Grazban működő Spängler bankban nyitott számláján, amelyekről ott saját vagyonaként nyilatkozott. Az akkori MSZP-s országgyűlési képviselő 2012 tavaszán a svájci bankban vezetett számlájáról legalább 340 ezer euro-t utalt át a grazi pénzintézetbe, és a nyomozás azt is kiderítette: Simon egy másik osztrák bankban létesített számláin is tekintélyes összeget tartott. A KNYF a jogsegélykérelem keretében beszerzett adatok alapján feltárta, hogy ebben az intézményben a szocialista politikus 2009 tavaszától 2012 januárjáig megközelítőleg 270 ezer euro-t, illetve több mint 9000 dollárt helyezett el. Mint ismert, Simonról 2014. február elején derült ki, hogy több száz milliós vagyont tart egy bécsi bankszámlán, amelyet nem tüntetett fel képviselői vagyonnyilatkozataiban, és az összeg után jövedelemadót sem fizetett. Az egykori honatya a kihallgatások alatt nem tett érdemi vallomást, az eljárás során pedig visszafizetett több mint 128 millió forint adóhátralékot, így könnyen megtörténhet, hogy nem vagy csak rövid időre kerül rács mögé, a bankszámlákon lévő vagyon fennmaradó részével pedig minden további nélkül rendelkezhet majd. (Forrás: MagyarIdők):  http://tinyurl.com/oqzvdh4

Syria  
11 December 2015  isis release chilling new video showing final battle with 'crusaders'. The video is meant to depict the islamic state's vision for the end of the world. It has titled the video 'Meeting at Dabiq' which refers to the location of a final battle between the 'Crusaders' and the 'Believers'. The video also shows an isis 'armoured unit' advancing towards the Colosseum in reference to the 'armies of Rome'. In the footage the terrorist organisation shows a dead fighter being kissed by his comrades, a Jihadi on horseback trying to look like a honourable soldier and groups of men with the majority too scared to show their faces to the camera. The propaganda video then shows a convoy of cars driving at sunset, before switching to a man raising the black and white flag of isis. It then moves on to show the isis flag over Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq before parading the flags of the countries it has decided, isis is at war with. The British flag is one of 60 on the screen. Last week, the terror group also released a new video threatening terror attacks in major cities across the world. (Source: Mirror): http://tinyurl.com/o6a3ky5

Törökország
2015. XII. 17. Netanjahu miniszterelnök küldöttei december 16-án Zürichben találkoztak a török külügyminiszter helyettesével, és megegyeztek a kapcsolatok normalizálásának elveiről. Izrael ezek szerint húszmillió dolláros kártérítést fizet a Mavi Marmara hajón 2010 májusában megsebesült vagy megölt török civileknek és hozzátartozóiknak egy rendkívüli alapítvány közvetítésével, Törökország pedig lemond az akcióban közreműködő izraeli tisztek elleni perekről. Ankara felszámolja területén a palesztin szélsőséges Hamász katonai szárnyának tevékenységét, kiutasítja a Hamász katonai szárnyának vezetőjét, Arúrit, aki Isztambuli székhelyéről irányítja a szervezet ciszjordániai működését. Ankara emellett korlátozza Törökországban a Hamász politikai tevékenységét is. Izrael és Törökország a megállapodás alapján rendezi diplomáciai kapcsolatait egymással, a nagykövetek visszatérnek Ankarába és Tel-Avivba. Az egyezmény végleges aláírása után a két ország megvizsgálja a török földgázvásárlás lehetőségét Izraeltől, s egy gázvezeték lefektetését, melyen át az izraeli földgázt Törökország érintésével Európába lehetne exportálni. (Forrás: ATV): http://tinyurl.com/jhearxe

Tunisia
17 Dec 2015  17 December 2010 Tunisia: Vegetable seller sets himself ablaze - 20 October 2011 Libya: Col. Gaddafi killed in Sirte (cronology). (Source: The Telegraph): http://tinyurl.com/jyql5bz

United States
December 18, 2015  Feds can't say whereabouts of those whose visas were revoked over terror threat. The Obama administration cannot be sure of the whereabouts of thousands of foreigners in the U.S. who had their visas revoked over terror concerns and other reasons. The U.S. has revoked more than 122,000 visas since 2001, including 9,500 because of the threat of terrorism.  At issue is how closely the U.S. government examines the background of people seeking entry to the country, including reviews of their social media postings. Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told committee members that such checks aren't being done in an abundant manner, and he was not specific about when or how it would occur. Both DHS and the State Department are reviewing the process for vetting visa applications, including the K-1 program, and have been directed by the White House to create specific recommendations for improvements. DHS is specifically reviewing policies on when authorities at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can look at social media posts as part of the process for evaluating applications for certain visas. Lawmakers have also pressed for changes to the Visa Waiver Program, which allows many citizens from 38 countries to travel to the United States without being subjected to the in-person interview required to receive a visa. Many fear that foreign fighters who carry western passports will be able to exploit that system to travel freely to the United States. (Source: FoxNews)
 
December 17, 2015  America first - or World War III. A U.S. Marine Corps aviator describes the S-300: “A complete game changer for all fourth-gen aircraft [like the F-15, F-16 and F/A-18]. That thing is a beast and you don’t want to get near it.” Midway through the debate, Trump cut loose with a sweeping indictment of mindless American interventionism in the Middle East: “We’ve spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people that, frankly, if they were there and if we could have spent that $4 trillion in the United States to fix our roads, our bridges, and all of the other problems – our airports and all the other problems we have – we would have been a lot better off. … “We have done a tremendous disservice not only to the Middle East – we’ve done a tremendous disservice to humanity. The people that have been killed, the people that have been wiped away – and for what? It’s not like we had victory. It’s a mess. The Middle East is totally destabilized, a total and complete mess. I wish we had the 4 trillion dollars or 5 trillion dollars. I wish it were spent right here in the United States on schools, hospitals, roads, airports and everything else that are all falling apart!” If we do not want Syria in 2016 to become what Sarajevo became in 1914, the powder keg that explodes into a world war, the War Party Republicans, who have learned nothing from the past, should be relegated to the past. (Source: WND): http://tinyurl.com/hz6626e

December 16, 2015  As lawmakers clash over refugees, Syrian immigration quietly tops 100,000 since 2012. Numbers obtained from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection show 60,010 Syrian visa holders have entered the U.S. since 2012, including 16,245 this year through August. Additional numbers provided by a Congressional source showed another 42,303 Syrians were granted citizenship or green cards during the same period. The Syrians being admitted are coming directly from their homeland, usually through the U.S. visa program.  (Source: FoxNews): http://tinyurl.com/qxb3cqn

December 16, 2015  Earthquake-proof beds might be the scariest part of a natural disaster (Source: Gizmodo): http://tinyurl.com/ofppo8c

December 14, 2015  The Pentagon is nervous about Russian and Chinese Killer Robots  - in Russia’s case, ones capable of independently carrying out military operations. What does an adversary robot military  look like? Perhaps like some future version of the Armata T-14 from Russian defense contractor Uralvagonzavod. Or tomorrow’s robot enemy army could look like one of these armed ground robots from China’s  Harbin Institute of Technology, unveiled at the Beijing 2015 World Robot Conference. The robots can wield anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers, or assault rifles. DARPA expressed concerns about endowing ground robots with the autonomous, lethal capabilities. Pratt said that humans would be better than machines, for some years to come, at deciding whether to fire a weapon. “The chance of making a military situation much worse by having a machine autonomously make a mistake outweighs the benefit” - he said. (Source: DefenseOne): http://tinyurl.com/hrq2sfz

5 12 14  Musk and other tech giants pledge $1 billion to stop humanity being taken over by evil robots. Mr Musk has repeatedly warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence, calling them the biggest threat to humanity. A range of other famous scientists and technologists have warned about the same, including Hawking. (Source: TheIndependent): http://tinyurl.com/j8t8gh4

Globalization
December 18, 2015  The global conflicts to watch in 2016. Among the scenarios in this high-priority tier of conflict are a mass-casualty attack on the U.S. homeland; a major cyberattack on U.S. critical infrastructure; a crisis with or in North Korea over, say, nuclear-weapons testing or political tumult in Pyongyang; increased fighting between Kurdish groups and Turkish forces, aggravated by the Syrian Civil War; a deterioration in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; political disarray in Libya and Egypt; and Iraq splintering further as a result of isis advances and Sunni-Shiite violence. Another worry appeared for the first time in the survey: “political instability in EU countries stemming from the influx of refugees and migrants, with heightened civil unrest, isolated terrorist attacks, or violence against refugees and migrants.” And this judgment was made before isis’s November attacks in Paris; the survey concluded the day of the rampage. This fear isn’t solely about the influx of asylum-seekers from Syria and other countries, or Europe’s ongoing economic struggles. There’s this sort of unease among American experts about the whole European project, the integrity of the European Union, and its viability as a U.S. partner. Two contingencies were downgraded from high to medium priorities between this year’s survey and last year’s, even though hostilities in each case are still pronounced: an armed confrontation between China and its neighbors over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and an escalation in fighting between Russian-backed militias and Ukrainian security forces in eastern Ukraine. The third tier includes three contingencies that haven’t featured in the survey before: political instability in both Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the growth of Islamist militancy in Russia and particularly the North Caucasus region, spurred in part by Putin’s military operations in Syria and the threat of Russian isis fighters returning home. (Source: DefenseOne)

December 17, 2015  Secret hashtags help teens share dangerous habits. Moreno, a specialist in adolescent medicine at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute and colleagues used the search term #selfharmmm to identify public posts on the social media platform Instagram, a photo-sharing service popular with teens, that related to destructive habits like cutting and burning. Then, they used the search results to identify a list of ambiguous hashtags such as #blithe, #MySecretFamily and #SecretSociety123 that were tied to the same dangerous behaviors. Other hashtags related to mental health conditions through use of common names, such as #Deb for depression, #Annie for anxiety, and #Olive for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The number of search results for self-harm hashtags was high and grew over time. The broad term #cat, which refers to cutting, had more than 44 million search results in 2014 and more than 56 million in 2015, the study team reports in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Over that same period, use of #selfharmmm also grew, generating 1.7 million search results in 2014 and more than 2.4 million in 2015. In its various permutations, #SecretSociety123 grew by approximately 500,000 search results. researchers analyzed videos posted on YouTube that promoted eating disorders using terms like “pro-ana” as well as posts opposed to the dangerous behavior with terms like “anti pro-ana.” While pro-ana videos were more popular, garnering 4.8 million views compared to just 1.4 million views for clips opposed to this behavior, the opposition content drew more comments overall and more positive feedback, the study found. This suggests that posting content advocating against dangerous behavior might help combat social media content promoting unhealthy choices. (Source: Yahoo): http://tinyurl.com/pmfr3re

13 December 2015  Sex, love and robots: is this the end of intimacy? (Source: The Guardian): http://tinyurl.com/jfzxo2n

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Magyarország
2015. XII. 6.  Bakay (Forrás: YouTube): http://tinyurl.com/pvst5js

Moldova  
2015. XII. 10.  Széttépték a Nagy-Románia térképet (Forrás: ItthonMa): http://tinyurl.com/j7rsn3q

Norway
7 December 2015  Norway is paying asylum seekers to return home as the refugee crisis continues. Tens of thousands of kroner are being offered to each person who voluntarily leaves the country. They also have their flights paid for. More than 900 people have applied to take financial support to leave Norway so far. A couple with two children can receive upwards of 80,000 kroner (£6,200) in addition to having their flights paid for. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which processes the Voluntary Assisted Return Programme requests and offers advice and counselling, described it as “safe and dignified”.  People whose asylum applications have been denied can also apply for economic assistance to return home. (Source: TheIndependent):  http://tinyurl.com/zfb5kxx

Románia
2015. XII. 10.  Hogy nézne ki Románia, ha Erdély egyszer sem szavazott volna? (Forrás: Főtér): http://tinyurl.com/py96keq

Russia
December 9, 2015  Russia could block access to Baltic Sea, US General says. Moscow’s recent wargames in its Kaliningrad exclave have included mock nuclear strikes. There is a “significant amount of capability” in Kaliningrad, including anti-ship weapons, air defenses, and electronic warfare equipment - Lt. Gen. Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, said. NATO officials are not invited to Russian’s snap exercises held in Kaliningrad and nearby Belarus. Earlier this year, Russia warned Denmark that Danish ships could become nuclear targets if its government took part in a NATO missile defense project. Hodges called those threats an “irresponsible use of the ‘nuclear’ word.” Tucked between Poland and Lithuania, Kaliningrad is a strategic outpost for the Russian navy. The Russian air force also has a presence there. By blocking access into the Baltic Sea, Russia could prevent NATO forces from reaching its Baltic allies of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. (Source: DefenseOne): http://tinyurl.com/q3m5229

December 6, 2015  The Russian sailors donning shoulder-fired surface-air-missiles during Russia's warship transits on Dec. 4 was provocation. On Dec.4, media outlets took photos of a Russian warship called Caesar Kuniko through its transit by Istanbul via the Bosporus strait - an internationally significant waterway connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. The cameras captured a Russian soldier on it, holding a missile in the firing position through the ship's passing. The Bosporus offers the only passage to the world's oceans for the Russian Black Sea fleet. A World War One-era treaty obliges Turkey to allow all ships to pass during peacetime. (Source: Daily Sabah): http://tinyurl.com/zga56we

Syria  
Dec 10, 2015  isis may have passport printing machine, Blank passports (Source: ABCNews): http://tinyurl.com/qzjm358

December 7, 2015  Since October 10, isis and its sympathizers around the world have killed at least 525 people in six attacks in six countries outside its so-called caliphate.     Oct. 10: The bombing of peace demonstrations outside the main train station in Ankara, Turkey left 102 dead. Directed by isis.     Oct. 31: The bombing of a Metrojet plane bound for Russia over Egypt killed 224 passengers and crew. An "announcement" attack by the isis in the Sinai peninsula.    Nov. 10: Two suicide bombers detonating themselves in a marketplace in southern Beirut, Lebanon, killing 43 people. Directed by isis.    Nov. 13: Attacks on multiple sites in Paris, including the Bataclan theater, left 130 dead — excluding attackers. Directed by isis   Nov. 24: The bombing of a bus carrying members of the presidential guard in the Tunisian capital city of Tunis left at least 12 dead. An "announcement" attack by the isis affiliate in Tunisia.     Dec. 2: The assault on a San Bernardino, California, office holiday party killed 14 people. Allegedly inspired by isis, but the extent of any contact between the shooters and isis or sympathizers is unknown. The official said there has also been at least one additional failed "announcement" attack. Three bombs exploded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Oct. 24 during a giant procession commemorating the Shiite Muslim holiday of Ashura. The explosions killed only one person. (Source: NBCNews)

Turkey  
December 8, 2015  Turkey's time has come. Turkey holds the keys to the Dardanelles and Bosporus — the only way Russian merchant vessels and warships can reach the Mediterranean from Russia's warm water ports in the Black Sea. All of Putin's calculations in dealing with the United States are now turning on an uncomfortable reality that Moscow can no longer fully rely on Turkish neutrality in one of the most strategic spots on the map. When Hitler's troops had invaded the demilitarized Rhineland and Mussolini was openly declaring his desire to take over Anatolia, an anxious Turkey demanded a revision to the doctrine governing the straits, arguing that the straits needed to be remilitarized and placed under Turkey's exclusive control. The result was the Montreux Convention of 1936, which formalizes Turkey's role as custodian of the straits, ensures freedom of passage for merchant vessels in times of peace and imposes size, type and tonnage restrictions on non-Black Sea war vessels. Under the convention, war vessels from non-Black Sea states Turkey permits to enter the straits cannot stay in the Black Sea for longer than 21 days. In times of war, Turkey is expected to ban belligerents from the straits altogether to keep the Black Sea conflict free. But the Soviets were never completely satisfied with Turkey's neutrality, knowing that Ankara was likely to tilt West when things got rough. The Soviets told the Turks in 1946 that if they were sincere about being allies, then they should give the Soviets basing rights in the Dardanelles. The Soviets bandied a number of threats to convey its seriousness to Turkey, such as Soviet territorial claims to portions of eastern Turkey, stirring up Kurdish separatists and backing Syrian claims to Hatay province. A frazzled Turkey looked across the Atlantic for U.S. help. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Wilson explained to U.S. Secretary of State Byrnes that, "the real [Soviet] objective towards Turkey is not a revision of the regime of the Straits, but actual domination of Turkey. In the vast security belt of the Soviet Union, which extends from the Baltic to the Black Sea, Turkey constitutes a sole gap … the Soviet objective, therefore, is to break down this present independent Turkish government and to establish in its place a vassal or "friendly" regime in Turkey, which will complete the security belt of subservient countries on Russia's western and southern frontiers and put an end completely to Western influence in Turkey." The time had thus come for the United States to bring Turkey under its security umbrella. On April 6, 1946, the USS Missouri arrived in Istanbul on the pretext of delivering the ashes of a Turkish ambassador to the United States who had died on U.S. soil. A jubilant Turkey celebrated the arrival of the U.S. battleship with special postage stamps and gifts for U.S. naval officers. The ostentatious display of a U.S. security guarantee was the prelude to U.S. President Truman's February 1947 request to Congress to provide foreign aid to Turkey and Greece "to assist free people to deal with their destinies in their own way." This was the Truman Doctrine that locked in the Cold War, with Turkey sitting squarely on the U.S. side. The Turkish-Russian confrontation is now back. The first sign came in August 2008, when Russia's invasion of Georgia woke Turkey up to a Moscow ready and willing to apply military force to re-create buffers in the former Soviet sphere to counter Western encroachment. At that time, Russia was not happy at the sight of Turkey allowing U.S. warships into the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgian ports; Moscow conveyed its displeasure by holding up thousands of Turkish trucks at the Russian border. But both sides went out of their way to avoid a bigger breach. The 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea was the next big Russian punch to the Turkish gut. Roughly 300,000 Turkic-speaking Tatars remain on the Crimean Peninsula as a remnant of Ottoman history. Turkey's quick defense of the Tatars in the wake of the Russian invasion stemmed from more than a concern for its ethnic kin: Turkey understood that the balance of power in the Black Sea was shifting. Russia's seizure of Crimea meant Moscow no longer has to deal with pesky lease arrangements with a mercurial government in Kiev. Russia now enjoys the freedom to beef up its Sevastopol-based Black Sea Fleet, a fleet largely designed to counter Turkey's naval strength. Russia's push into Syria in 2015 was the red line for Turkey. In this chapter of Turkish expansion, the Islamist Justice and Development Party is logically prioritizing its volatile Middle Eastern backyard. The Turkish focus is on northern Syria and northern Iraq, a belt of former Ottoman provinces that naturally extend eastward from Turkey's Hatay province. Russia's involvement in Syria in defense of the Alawite government runs directly against Turkey's objective of expanding its own military footprint in Aleppo, keeping a check on Kurdish separatist activity and eventually replacing Syrian President Assad with a Sunni government friendly to Turkish interests. To supply its forces in Syria, the Russian navy has been relying on the so-called Syrian Express, a naval supply route from Sevastopol on the Black Sea to its Eastern Mediterranean naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus. As gatekeeper of the straits, Turkey could theoretically complicate this supply route. In peacetime, Turkey could still claim it is abiding by the Montreux Convention and allowing Russia free access while increasing inspections on passing Russian ships. While it would prove an annoyance to Russia, Moscow's main worry is Article 20 of the Montreux Convention, which says that in wartime Turkey as a belligerent has full discretion when allowing or preventing the passage of warships through the strait, potentially cutting Russia off from the Mediterranean. Turkey is the second-largest buyer of Russian natural gas, a significant importer of Russian oil and metals, and the largest buyer of Russian wheat and sunflower oil. A contentious relationship with Russia will bring enormous economic pain to the Turks. Turkey has no quick and reliable alternative for natural gas, an important energy source for industry and households. Russia supplies around 55 percent (or about 27 billion cubic meters of its 50 bcm annual needs) of Turkish natural gas consumption. That supply is split between two pipelines that each can hold 16 bcm of natural gas; Blue Stream, which runs directly from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea; and the Gas-West pipeline, which transits Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria before reaching Turkey. Turkey is not close to closing the straits to Russia nor is Russia close to cutting off natural gas to Turkey. But even so, Turkey must start taking its energy security much more seriously now that it is in an open confrontation with Russia. Turkey has only two liquefied natural gas import terminals, at Marmara Ereglisi (8.2 bcm annual capacity) and Aliaga (5 bcm annual capacity). With limited LNG import and storage capacity (3 bcm), Turkey has much work to do — and investment to raise — to build out this infrastructure over the course of several years. The Iran-Turkey energy relationship would still carry big risks for Turkey. Iran is just as much a geopolitical challenger to Turkey as Russia is, and the more assertive Turkey becomes in the Middle East, the more its competition with Iran will grow in Syria and Iraq. Iranian-Turkish competition only further complicates Turkey's ambitions for Iraqi Kurdistan, where Erdogan has developed close business ties to Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Barzani. Turkey has already helped Barzani develop an independent oil export route at the expense of Iran's allies in Baghdad and is now gearing up to do the same for natural gas to feed the Turkish market. But the collapse of Turkey's peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (whose fighters rely on Iraqi Kurdistan for refuge) and a power vacuum in northern Syria exploited by Kurdish separatists will drive Turkey's military to become more aggressive beyond its borders in both Syria and Iraq. Turkey is incrementally enlarging its military footprint in Kurdish territory. This creates an easy opportunity for Iran and Russia to exploit Kurdish divisions and militancy to push back against Turkey. As the debate continues over the many proposals for pipelines and LNG export terminals, Turkey will have added urgency to prod along reunification talks in Cyprus to remove one of the key blocks to Turkey's energy integration with its estranged eastern Mediterranean neighbors. The most geopolitically compatible energy source for Turkey is Azerbaijan, which is preparing to send 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey starting from 2019 through the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (and another 10 bcm that will be sent onward to Europe through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline). This will help Turkey shave down its energy dependence on Russia by about 12 percent, but Turkey will still need to look elsewhere to truly loosen Russia's grip. The Caucasus, like the Middle East, will redevelop into another big arena for Turkish-Russian competition. Russia is already hard at work trying to pull Baku closer to the Kremlin through diplomatic maneuvering over Nagorno-Karabakh and will do what it can to obstruct plans by Turkey and Azerbaijan to create an energy link across the Caspian with Turkmenistan. Turkey has shot down a fighter jet belonging to its main energy supplier and is preparing for a military push into its Mideast rim. And Putin now has to figure out how to manage a Turkey that is much more willing to work with the United States and its Central and Eastern European peers to balance Moscow's aggressions. Ankara has been suppressed for some time, but there is no denying it now: Turkey's time has come. (Source: Stratfor): http://tinyurl.com/jzjxub4

United States     Egyesült Államok
December 10, 2015  An establishment unhinged. Calling for a moratorium on Muslim immigration “until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on,” Trump this week ignited a firestorm of historic proportions. As all the old hate words – xenophobe, racist, bigot – have lost their electric charge from overuse, Trump was being called a fascist demagogue and compared to Hitler and Mussolini. The Constitution protects freedom of religion for U.S. citizens. But citizens of foreign lands have no constitutional right to migrate. And federal law gives a president broad powers in deciding who comes and who does not, especially in wartime. In 1924, Congress restricted immigration from Asia, reduced the numbers coming from southern and Central Europe, and produced a 40-year moratorium on most immigration into the United States. According to Harvard’s late Huntington, a “clash of civilizations” is coming between the West and the Islamic world. Other scholars somberly concur. But if such a conflict is in the cards, how many more millions of devout Muslims do we want inside the gates? Set aside al-Qaida, isis and their sympathizers. Among the 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide are untold millions of followers of the Prophet who pray for the coming of a day when Shariah is universal and the infidels, i.e., everyone else, are either converted or subjugated. In nations where Muslims are already huge majorities, where are the Jews? Where have all the Christians gone? With ethnic and sectarian wars raging in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria and Somalia, why would we bring into our own country people from all sides of these murderous conflicts? Many European nations – Germans, French, Swedes, Brits – appear to regret having thrown open their doors to immigrants and refugees from the Islamic world, who have now formed unassimilated clusters and enclaves inside their countries. Japan has no immigration from the Muslim world, nor does Israel, which declares itself a Jewish state. Are they also fascistic? (Source: WND): http://tinyurl.com/owter9u

2015. XII. 8. Wass Erdélyről, Trianonról és az emigráció küldetéséről – hangelvétel 1967-ből (Forrás: Mandiner): http://tinyurl.com/jgmlgdq

December 7, 2015  Trump called for the United States to bar all Muslims from entering the country until the nation’s leaders can “figure out what is going on” after the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. A prohibition of Muslims – an unprecedented proposal by a leading American presidential candidate, and an idea more typically associated with hate groups – reflects a progression of mistrust that is rooted in ideology as much as politics.Mr. Trump, who in September declared “I love the Muslims,” turned sharply against them after the Paris terrorist attacks, calling for a database to track Muslims in America and repeating discredited rumors that thousands of Muslims celebrated in New Jersey on 9/11. His poll numbers rose largely as a result. “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” Mr. Trump said. Organizations representing Jews, Christians and those of other faiths quickly joined Muslims in denouncing Mr. Trump’s proposal. Mr. Trump made his remarks a day after President Obama delivered a national address from the Oval Office urging Americans not to turn against Muslims in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Mr. Trump has a track record of making surprising and even extreme comments whenever he is overtaken in opinion polls by other Republican candidates – as happened just hours before he issued his statement about Muslims. A new Monmouth University survey of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers found that Mr. Trump had slipped from his recent top spot in the state, which holds the first presidential nomination contest on Feb. 1. According to the poll, Senator Cruz of Texas earned 24 percent of support, while Mr. Trump had 19 percent. “I think Trump’s idea may be too strong, but I think something jarring is very helpful in leading to a national debate in how big this problem is, and how dangerous it is,” said Gingrich, a former Republican speaker of the House who ran for president in 2012. “Nine percent of Pakistanis agree with isis, according to one poll. That’s a huge number. Tens of thousands of Muslims enter and stay in the United States each year as tourists or through the immigration system, experts say, with an estimated 100,000 Muslims becoming United States permanent residents in 2012. The United States issued 680,000 green cards to migrants from Muslim-majority countries in the five-year period from fiscal year 2009 through fiscal year 2013. At his campaign rallies, he has drawn strong applause from thousands of voters for his calls on the government to monitor mosques, and he has refused to rule out his earlier proposal to enter names of Muslims in America into a database. He has also made a series of ominous comments about President Obama’s leadership in fighting terrorism, suggesting that there was “something going on” with Mr. Obama that Americans were not aware of. In his statement, Mr. Trump quoted a poll by the Center for Security Policy, whose president and founder, Gaffney, has claimed that President Obama is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist political movement born in Egypt, and that agents of the Muslim Brotherhood have infiltrated the U.S. government, the Republican Party and conservative political organizations. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes): http://tinyurl.com/gp5xqq3

Globalization  
Dec 10, 2015  Autonomous weaponized robots: not just science fiction In 2014, a South African company started selling drones that could shoot 80 pepper balls per second, and police in North Dakota have been cleared to use a type of drone that is armed with tear gas and Tasers. Police use of Tasers—they’re designed to be nonlethal but can trigger cardiac arrest—killed 540 Americans from 2001 to 2013, according to Amnesty International. Right now, this technology requires an operator to remotely control the robots and the weapons. But autonomous weaponized robots are already being used by the Israeli military to patrol that nation’s borders, and a Texas company has created a drone to hover over private property and, without human instruction, fire a Taser dart to keep a potential intruder under shock until the authorities arrive. Imagine a convergence in technology that also gives these robots facial-recognition capability. Connected to the cloud in order to work in tandem with other robots, they would be the perfect tools to ID and track large numbers of people from afar and from the air. The threat of future attacks would make these robots hard to put away again. And don’t forget the problems with all computerized devices: They can be hacked and used against the authorities or innocent victims. They can be spoofed about their location and crash into buildings. And they have already been used to commit crimes like theft, snooping and drug smuggling. We need a bill of human technological rights to ensure our individual freedoms. Otherwise, I am predicting a gradual erosion of human rights such as freedom of movement, privacy and even life. (Source: TheWallStreetJournal): http://tinyurl.com/gq8xmys

December 10, 2015 Turning points 2016  Annual selection of Turning Points, cataloging the ideas, trends or inventions that will shift our trajectory and make 2016 different from 2015. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes): http://tinyurl.com/z4sddm3

7 December 2015  OPEC bid to kill off US shale sends oil price down to 2009 low. Oil falls by $2 a barrel with energy shares as OPEC refusal to stop flooding the market with cheap oil and likely US rate hike sends Brent crude tumbling was leading to speculation that energy costs could continue tumbling over the coming weeks. Prices of other commodities also weakened following disappointment among traders that OPEC had decided late last week to keep flooding the global market with cheap oil. Iron ore continued its steady fall and finished the latest session at $38.90 per tonne, squeezing profit margins to the bone. A barrel of benchmark Brent crude was changing hands for less than $41 a barrel in New York after OPEC – heavily influenced by Saudi Arabia – did nothing about a market already seen as saturated. US light crude, which tends to trade at slightly lower levels than Brent, recorded similar falls, dropping from just over $40 a barrel to less than $38 a barrel. Both Brent and US light crude were at levels not seen since early 2009, when the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the most severe recession since the 1930s. As recently as August 2014, Brent stood at $115 a barrel. OPEC’s refusal to cut production despite the financial pain it is causing its members’ economies will lead to a still greater glut of crude. Venezuela, in particular, is thought to be suffering badly. The fall, if sustained, will lead to lower inflation in oil-consuming nations through the knock-on effects on petrol, diesel, domestic energy prices and the cost of running businesses. Saudi Arabia needs oil prices of $100 a barrel to balance its budget, but as the world’s biggest exporter of crude it is gambling that the low price will knock out the threat posed by so-called unconventional supplies, such as shale. (Source: TheGuardian): http://tinyurl.com/pssqkfn

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Menekült jog és migráció

írta: Barki

Tisztelt Elnök Asszony, tisztelt Hölgyeim és Uraim, kedves barátaim! Nagy szeretettel köszöntöm Önöket, köszönöm a meghívást és köszönöm, hogy ismét Önök között lehetek. Köszönöm, hogy ezzel a fontos témával, a menekült üggyel, és főleg a migrációval foglalkoznak. Köszönet Magyarországnak, mert ez az egyetlen ország Európában, amely nemcsak helyesen látja a problémákat, hanem meri ezeket kimondani és mer tenni is a megoldásért. Végre nyugaton is az átlag emberek egyre többen kezdik észrevenni a nagy veszélyt, ahová Európa feltarthatatlanul sodródik, de a politikusok közül csak azok merik a véleményüket hangosan kimondani, akik már nyugdíjban vannak. Nem régen mondta nekem egy magasabb rangú tisztviselő a Külügyminisztériumban, hogy ha Orbánról beszélnek ezt csak halkan merik tenni. A migráció ügyében is. De más témában is. Mert a politikai korrektség ezt nem engedi meg. Oroszország és Magyarország mellett most Lengyelország is a nagy veszély. A Berliner Zeitung ezt ezen a héten így fejezte ki: “Magyarország és Lengyelország Európa számára nagyobb veszélyt jelent mint az iszlám állam.” Ezt azon a napon írták amikor az iá harcosai 77 gyereket meggyilkoltak. És itt vagyunk a mai témában: Kulcsszerepet játszik az iszlám állam, amely elől menekülnek az emberek Szíriából és Irakból. Az iszlám állam ellenőriz egy területet, amely nagyobb, mint Nagy-Britannia. Amerikai források 30 000 harcosról beszélnek, akik külföldről csatlakoztak az is Milizhez, de a pontos számot nem tudjuk. Ezek fel vannak szerelve modern amerikai fegyverekkel, új Audi flottával, a bevételük havonta minimum 80.000 dollár, amely főleg az olajkereskedelemből származik, ahogy kiderült Törökországgal. Az emberek százezrei azok elől menekülnek, azok elől, akik nem csak a szíriai kormány ellen harcolnak, hanem brutális terrorral sakkban tartják a területet, akik lemészárolják a keresztényeket és más nem muzlimokat, akik kimondják, hogy Európát is el akarják foglalni és Európában is létre hozni egy kalifátus rendszert. Tényleg azok veszélyesek, akik védik a népüket a gyilkosoktól, akik védik a több száz éves felépített kultúrájukat, a vallást, a hagyományt, a szabadságukat, a méltóságukat és nem azok, akik gyilkolnak, rabolnak, szétrombolnak és tönkretesznek mindent? A Berliner Zeitung csak azt írta, ami a politikában látszik: A Nyugat az Iizlám államra nem, mint ellenségre tekint, hanem támogatja. Az iszlám állam ellen eddig csak látszatharcot vívtak, mert az az ő teremtményük. És az ia szükséges Szaud-Arábiának és Törökországnak is. Most végre Oroszország harcol az iá és a terroristák ellen. Az EU Bizottság foglalkozik minden magyarellenes kezdeményezéssel, de nem tesz semmit sem a 3.000 csempészszervezet ellen, amelyeknek 29.000 tagja van és akik koncentráltan Európába viszik a migránsokat. Hallgatott, amikor Berlinben az EU Bizottság képviselete előtt nagy ünnepségen piros szőnyegen és Juncker kép előtt átadták a nagy érdemrendet szalaggal a sikeres csempészeknek. Oroszországot szankciókkal akarják gyengíteni, de Szaud- Arábiát, ahol a pénteki ima után most 50 férfit egyszerre lefejeztek, vagy Törökországot, amely csak úgy lelő egy orosz repülőgépet és a gazdasági problémáit az isis államtól vásárolt olcsó olajjal oldja meg, támogatják. Milyen világban élünk? A háború világában. Kedves barátaim: háború van. Szubverzív háború, burkolt háború, hibrid háború. A migráció áradat ennek a háborúnak az egyik eszköze. Kik a szereplők és mi a háború célja? Amikor 25 évvel ezelőtt győztünk a kommunizmus és a totalitárius diktatúra felett, amikor lebontottuk a vasfüggönyt és a berlini falat, amikor összeomlott a keleti blokk és szétesett a Szovjetunió egész Európa eufóriába esett. Álmodtunk az európai házról, amelyben minden európai népnek az otthona lesz és amelyben mindenki otthon fogja érezni magát. És ma ezt az európai házat másokkal akarják megtölteni, tőlünk idegen népekkel és más, idegen kultúrával. Ki akarják cserélni az európai népeket és kiirtani az európai kultúrát. Ezen a héten a volt Sachsen igazságügyi minisztere Heitmann, aki Merkel politikája miatt tiltakozásul kilépett a CDU- ból azt mondta, hogy soha nem érezte magát ilyen idegennek a saját országában, az NDK- ban sem. Mi történt az utóbbi 25 évben, hogy ilyen vészhelyzetbe jutottunk ? Nem vettük észre, hogy a kommunizmus bukása után egy másik és még veszélyesebb diktatúra alakult ki. A bipoláris világrend után az Egyesült Államok maradt az egyetlen világhatalom. Ők mondták: megnyertük a hidegháborút, mivel az oroszok azt mondták: mi befejeztük a hidegháborút. És ebben a győzelmi mámorban kezdték korlátlanul megerősíteni és kiépíteni a hegemoniális törekvéseiket az egypólusú világhatalom érdekében. Bush elnök már 1991-ben beszélt az új világrendről, amelyben az Egyesült Államok az egyetlen szuperhatalom. Obama elnök az idén az újévi beszédében mondta: Nem az a kérdés, hogy uraljuk a világot, hanem az, hogy hogyan uraljuk a világot. És egy interjúban pár nappal később: Ha egy ország nem azt teszi, amit mi akarunk, kénytelen vagyunk eltörni a kezét. Tehát az amerikaiak nagyon őszinték, a céljukat és a stratégiájukat nem is titkolják el. Ha meg akarjuk érteni a mai politikai helyzetet és az ezzel összefüggő migráns problémát, meg kell érteni az amerikai külpolitikát, amely főleg két alapon nyugszik: Az egyik a Wolfowitz Doktrina, amelyet Wolfowitz már 1992- ben kidolgozott, amely az Egyesült Államok excepcionality-ből – különlegességéből indul ki és amelyet a „National Security Strategy 2002” (Nemzeti Biztonsági Stratégia 2002) tartalmaz. Ez a doktrína azt mondja: Nem szabad hagyni, hogy bármilyen rivális bárhol erősödjön. Minden ellenséges hatalmat abban kell akadályozni, hogy domináljon egy régióban. Ez Oroszországról és az orosz-európai viszonyról szól. És ez lényegében a régi Heartland (szív-ország) elmélet, amelyet az angol geográfus Mackinder írt 1904-ben („The Geographical Pivot of History“), és amelyet a mai napig tanulniuk kell az amerikai tiszteknek: „Aki uralkodik Kelet-Európán, uralkodik a szív-országon. Aki uralkodik a szív-országon, uralkodik a világszigeten (ez Eurázsia). Aki uralkodik Eurázsián, uralkodik az egész világon“. Emiatt akarja az Egyesült Államok visszaszorítani Oroszországot, meg akar akadályozni egy eurázsiai gazdasági együttműködést, amelyet már De Gaulle akart és amelyről most Putyin álmodik; egy szabadkereskedelmet Lisszabontól Vlagyivosztokig. Brzezinski a „The Grand Chessboard“ könyvében is arra építi hitvallását, hogy Ukrajna az eurázsiai sakktáblán fontos szerepet tölt be mint geopolitikai középpont. Oroszországnak szüksége van Ukrajnára. Mert Ukrajna nélkül Oroszország nem világhatalom, hanem csak regionális hatalom – amit Obama mindig is hangsúlyozni szokott. Ugyanúgy Friedmann, a Stratfor politológusa egy élő adásban nem régen mondta, hogy ez már 100 éve az Egyesült Államok célja, megakadályozni egy eurázsiai kontinentális hatalom létrejöttét, mert ez komoly veszélyt jelentene Amerikának. Eurázsiát talán nem lehet meghódítani, de akkor legalább a nemzeteket egymás ellen kellene felheccelni és az egyensúlyból kiütni - mondja Friedmann. És ez az Amerikai külpolitikának a második alapelve: Hogy ne legyenek erős államok, hanem gyenge, összeveszett társadalmak, amelyeken uralkodni lehet, ahhoz kell a káosz megteremtése. Nem ez történik most? Ukrajnában, Szíriában és most egész Európában a migráció problémával? De mindenhol ahova az amerikaiak a lábukat beteszik, Afganisztánban, Afrikában? És itt a kör bezárul és vissza kerülünk a témához: A migránsok kizárólagosan olyan területekről jönnek, ahol az amerikaiak vagy nemzetközi jogellenes háborút vívtak vagy másképpen beavatkoztak. De a menekülteket nem Amerika fogadja be, hanem Európába küldik. A migráns áradat, amelynek csak a kezdetén vagyunk, az Egyesült Államok és néhány nyugati állam politikájának a következménye. Ez sem véletlen, ez is a stratégiához tartozik. Ezt hogy lehet megérteni? Kinek az érdeke a társadalmi és jogi rendszer összeomlása és konfliktusok kirobbantása Európában? A megálmodott világuralomnak az alapja és feltétele a globalizáció. Az összefonódás minden területen: politikában, gazdaságban, kultúrában, oktatásban, társadalmi életben. És mi a globalizációnak a legnagyobb akadálya és ellensége? – A nemzetállam és a sokféleség Európája. Ha figyeljük az amerikai és az Európai Uniós Amerika-függő politikusok nyilatkozatait és tevékenységét, akkor látnunk kell, hogy ők egyhangúan és egyre jobban fellépnek a nemzetállamok ellen és támadják a nemzetállam eszméjét. A nemzetállam, az államok szuverenitásának és a népek ön-rendelkezésének a megsemmisítése a cél. Blair volt az első, aki 1998-ban a szuverén nemzetállam megszüntetését követelte, és ezzel kezdeményezte a NATO doktíina változását, amely veszi magának a jogot, szuverén államok megtámadásához a „responsibility to protect“ (felelősség a védelemhez) ürügyén. Koszovó volt az első eset, számtalan más háborús akciót is folytattak. Az Egyesült Államoknak fontos egy olyan Európa, amely hűséges vazallusként végrehajtja az amerikai érdekeket – és nem kell eltörni a karjukat. Ez csak akkor működik, ha nem egyes államok állnak szemben, hanem csak egy partner, az Európai Unió. Az Unió már szemmel láthatóan a végét járja, túl sok problémával küzd és már nem is működik. Sokan már arról beszélnek, hogy vissza kellene állítani az állam szuverenitását. Tegnap Dánia is az Európai Unió ellen szavazott egy referendumban. Az Európai Unió soha de soha nem is működhet. Egyetlen egy ok miatt nem is működhet: nem működhet, mert nem létezik egy európai nép. Tehát ki kell cserélni a népeket. Teremteni kell egy új keverék népet, amely homogén, nem nacionalista, egységes és irányítható. A migrációval ezt nagyon elegánsan el lehet érni úgy, hogy nem is veszik észre a szándékot – mint Juncker szokta mondani – vagy amikor észreveszik már túl késő. Mert ez a folyamat visszafordíthatatlan. Kedves barátaim, ez a legrafináltabb háború a történelemben. Hadüzenet nélkül, a tolerancia nevében tönkre lehet tenni egy országot. Hogy ez túlzás vagy összeesküvés? Nézzük meg, hogy mit írt a katonai szakértő Barnett, aki a védelmi miniszter Rumsfeld tanácsadója is volt. Barnett 2004-ben és 2005-ben két könyvet írt: “The Pentagons New Map” és “Blueprint of Action” Ebben a két könyvben Barnett felrajzolja a stratégiát a világuralom eléréséhez. Mivel csak a globalizáció garantálhatja a világbékét, Amerikának, mint a globalizáció vezércsillagának cselekednie kell. Ennek a feltétele egy akadálytalan migrációs áradat, amellyel szét kell bomlasztani a népeket és kultúrájukat. A cél – ugyanaz, mint Coudenhove-Kalergi akarta – Európában: egy világos barna faj, egy egységes társadalom nemzetiségi, kulturális vagy vallási különbségek nélkül. Egy összekevert nép, amelynek az IQ 90, tehát gondolkodáshoz túl kevés, de elég a munkához. Barnett azt is írja már 2005-ben, hogyan lehet elérni ezt a célt Európában, és pedig: Egy és fél millió bevándorló szükséges évente a harmadik világból. Most éppen itt tartunk. Az első kontingens már megvan. Ezt a célt el kell érni. Senkinek sem szabad akadályozni az amerikai katonaságot – semmilyen államnak, országnak vagy kormánynak. Ha egy politikus ellenáll, azt el kell tüntetni, de nagyon gyorsan. És ha valaki a globalizációra veszélyes - azt meg kell gyilkolni - írja Barnett. Kevesen ismerik ezeket a könyveket. Kevesen ismerik Greenhill könyvét is “Weapons of Mass Migration” (A tömegmigráció fegyverei). Greenhill kimutatja a tanulmányában, hogy a migráció nem egyszer, hanem már többször szerepelt, mint fegyver. Sajnos ez történik most is. A modern háborút már nem páncélosokkal vívják, hanem mindent lehet használni, mint fegyvert, amely kárt okozhat és megsemmisítheti az ellenfelet. A migrációban az embereket is használják, mint fegyvert. Kedves barátaim! Nem akarom ezekkel a pesszimizmust okozó szavakkal befejezni a beszédemet. Én nem lennék itt, ha nem remélném, hogy ezt a katasztrófát, amely már úton van, nem lehetne kikerülni. Ez mindenesetre Magyarországra és a közép-európai országokra vonatkozik. Itt még látok erőt és bátorságot a manipulációnak ellenállni. A szeretet a nemzethez, a hit a gyökerekhez, a bátorság a történelemhez és az igazságossághoz meg fog menteni bennünket ebben a viharos időben. Ezt mind az úgynevezett Nyugatról nem lehet elmondani. Ott még nem látom az esélyt a regenerációhoz és túléléshez. Nyugaton túl kevesen vannak, akik megőrizték az európai értékeket, ezek csak itt Magyarországon és a volt keleti országokban találhatók. Én tudom, hogy azok az emberek Nyugaton, akik még élnek az értékekkel, nagyon várnak egy impulzust Magyarországról. Sokan jönnek hozzám, és a reménynek adnak kifejezést, hogy Magyarország meg fogja menteni Európát, mint már többször a történelemben. Ez legyen az új magyar kihívás!  Köszönöm szépen.

Budapest, 2015. december 5.

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Magyarország     Hungary
2015. XII. 4.  Az EU még két éven át - azaz 2017 végéig - ellenőrizheti a magyar állam által szétosztott uniós pénzek felhasználását. 2016-2017-ben az EU (akár szakosított szervezete, az OLAF révén) nagyítóval vizsgálja majd, hogy milyen magyar uniós pályázat esetében sérthettek jogot a kiírók, és ahol lehet, büntetni fognak, visszafizettetik a támogatást, vagy egy részét. A Juncker vezette Bizottság részéről egyfajta „taktikai váltás” ez az Orbán-kormánnyal szemben a Barroso vezette bizottság hozzáállásához képest. A tét százmilliárdos nagyságrendű. Kisebb-nagyobb szabálytalanságok a pénzek felhasználása körül gyakorlatilag bárhol előfordulhatnak, ezért az EU eleve visszatartja az ellenőrzések végéig a tagállami pénzek 5 százalékát (vagyis 435 milliárd forintot, ami a magyar GDP 1,5 százaléka). Ezt a kormányok jellemzően saját költségvetésükből előfinanszírozzák. Az Orbán-kormány az elmúlt évek tapasztalata alapján úgy számol, hogy a 8700 milliárdnak két százaléka miatt majd indul eljárás, ennyit nem tudunk majd felhasználni, vagy másra kell majd kiosztani, úgynevezett korrekcióval. Vagyis adódik egy 260 milliárd forint nagyságrendű különbség az eltérő kalkulációkból. Ez a kormány kockázata, hiszen mire kiderül, hogy ezt a pénzt esetleg mégsem kapjuk meg, már régen kifizették a magyar költségvetésből. Biztos, hogy kötelezettségszegési eljárás indul a szeptember 15-től életbe lépett új menekültügyi törvényekkel szemben. Ezek gyakorlatilag lehetetlenné teszik, hogy Magyarországon valaki menekültstátuszt kapjon, a bíróságok futószalagon hozzák meg az ítéleteket, amiket magyarul kapnak meg az érintettek. Ez, illetve az, hogy fiatalkorúakat is felnőttként kezelnek a hatóságok, és kiutasíthatnak, rabosíthatnak, szinte biztos, hogy uniós jogot sért, így garantált az eljárás. Ugyanakkor „ez olyan ügy lenne, amiből a magyar kormány odahaza jól is kijöhet”, annyi politikai érzéke pedig van a Bizottságnak, hogy ne ilyen szituációkat kreáljon. Így szerinte alapvetően korrupcióellenes, vagy versenyjogi eljárások jöhetnek majd – de azok akár eddig nem látott mennyiségben is. Időben ezek akár egybe is eshetnek a 2007-2013-as pénzek ellenőrzésével, vagyis a magyar kormánynak duplán is rossz lehet a választások előtt, amikor százmilliárdos összegben fizettethet vissza támogatást az EU. Jurova, a Bizottság jogállamiságért felelős biztosa ráadásul külön is figyel majd a magyar kormányra. Nemrég arról beszélt, hogy komoly jogsértés esetén az EU alapszerződésének uniós szavazati jogot, és támogatásokat felfüggesztő úgynevezett 7. cikkelyének alkalmazását is indítványozhatja majd. Az uniós szakzsargonban csak „atomcsapásként” emlegetett cikkely valódi alkalmazását senki nem tartja reálisnak, a Bizottság mégis jóváhagyta, hogy aláírásgyűjtés induljon ennek érdekében a magyar kormánnyal szemben. Hét tagállamban kell legalább egymillió aláírást összegyűjteni, de még ez sem bír kötelező erővel, a Bizottságnak csak napirendre kell venni a kérdést, a cikkelyről a tagállamokat tömörítő Tanácsnak kell döntést hoznia. Információink szerint ugyanakkor a magyar kormány az Európai Bíróságon támadja majd meg a döntést, mert szerintük ez ellentétes az uniós alapszerződésekkel. Abban mindenki egyetértett, hogy a Bizottság akkor sem tesz lépéseket a 7. cikkely alkalmazására, ha összejön a megfelelő számú aláírás. (Forrás: VS): http://tinyurl.com/jlh3jh5

2015. XII. (5)  Az Egyesült Államok megérti, hogy Magyarországnak szuverén nemzetként joga van megvédeni a saját határait - mondta Bell, budapesti amerikai nagykövet az M1 aktuális csatornán sugárzott interjúban. (Forrás: PolusOnLine): http://tinyurl.com/hg3y77z
(Ennél jóval többet is mondott - ami az ország védelmi kiadásainak növelését illeti).

2015. XII. 3.  Első Világháborús Centenáriumi Emlékbizottság által kiírt emlékmű pályázat. Az első világháború centenáriumához kapcsolódóan fogadta el a Kormány az 1391/2015. (VI. 12.) Kormányhatározatot, amelynek szellemiségében az Első Világháborús Centenáriumi Emlékbizottság ötletpályázatot ír ki Magyarország összes első világháborús hősi halottjának kortalan emléket állító, Budapesten létrehozandó, központi emlékhely lehetséges helyszínére, valamint a pályázó által a feladat megvalósítása érdekében legjobbnak tartott építészeti, illetve képzőművészeti megoldások kidolgozására és bemutatására. Az ötletpályázati kiírás minden dokumentuma egyszerű regisztráció után mindenki számára ingyenesen elérhető 2016. március 24-ig. A pályaművek postára adásának határideje: 2016. március 24.  (Forrás: EmlékhelyPályázat): http://www.emlekhelypalyazat.hu/

December 2, 2015  Hungary's Orban says Germany struck `secret' Turkey refugee deal (Source: Bloomberg): http://tinyurl.com/jt3msn9

2015. XII. 2.  Orbán Viktor beszéde a Diaszpóra Tanács ülésén (Forrás: YouTube): http://tinyurl.com/j7dm78p

Bánság
2015. XII. 1. Jelentés a Bánság veszélyeztetett templomairól - ismeretterjesztő dokumentációs tanulmány (Forrás: MagyarPatriótákKözössége): https://tinyurl.com/y7gzg76y

Erdély  
2015. XII. 3. Sepsiszentgyörgy : "Székelyföld, nem Románia" (Forrás: ItthonMa): http://tinyurl.com/hbvgvp2

2015. XII. 3.  Rendfenntartó szervek önkényes célokra való használata a demokráciához nem méltó, és a szüleink által sokat emlegetett „szekus időket” idézi. Ízléstelen ahogy újra a titkosszolgálat igazolni kívánja a számára a központi költségvetésből juttatott hatalmas összegeket, míg az egészségügy és a tanügy katasztrofális helyzetben van. Ismételten etnikai konfliktust szítanak, nemzeteket ugrasztanak egymás ellen, hogy elfedjék bűneiket. Együtt érzünk a meghurcolt HVIM-es vezető családjával. Kitartást kívánunk Bekének. A Minta ifjúsági szervezet elnöksége. (Forrás: IttHon / Székelyföld): http://tinyurl.com/psbmhux

Denmark
December 1, 2015 Jihadism, migration in focus as Denmark votes on EU opt-out (Source: Yahoo): http://tinyurl.com/jh88eq9

Germany
Dec 2, 2015  German intel sees risk in Saudi prince's thirst for power (Source: AP): http://tinyurl.com/h863vkg

Italy
1 December, 2015 Italian Police arrest four suspected jihadists for plotting attack on Pope. The arrests were a cooperative effort between the Italy’s Counterterrorism Agents and the Kosovo police, and took place both in Italy and Kosovo. Along with the arrests, police confiscated written materials and weapons. The man considered the leader of the cell, Samet, a Kosovar citizen who lived for some time in Italy, was arrested in Kosovo. Police conducted simultaneous raids in the Italian cities of Brescia, Vicenza and Perugia, as well as one raid in Kosovo. The group of suspected terrorists were “highly dangerous” and had “established direct links with jihadist networks active in Syria,” including the deceased islamic state terrorist Muhaxheri. (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/gm9qd78

Románia
2015. XII. 2.  Vádat emeltek Romániában a Kárpátia együttes énekese, Petrás ellen - közölte honlapján a romániai legfőbb ügyészség. A közlemény szerint a koncerten elhangzott dalok által a vádlott harcra hívta a magyarokat a Magyarországtól elcsatolt területek visszaszerzésére a Krím-félszigeten érvényesített orosz modell alapján. Ugyanakkor fegyveres harcra szólított, hevesen vitatta a trianoni békeszerződés előírásait, elnyomóknak és bocskorosoknak minősítette a románokat. (Forrás: ATV): http://tinyurl.com/hc82etj

Európai Unió
2015. XII. 3. Meg kell állítani a menekültek beáramlását, hetven százalékuk gazdasági bevándorló, akik között terroristák is lehetnek. Ezeket a szavakat Tusk, az Európai Tanács elnöke mondta. A párizsi terrortámadások és az áthelyezési program sikertelensége miatt egyre több tagállam osztja ezt a véleményt, ami már Merkel vezető szerepét is veszélyezteti. Tusk kijelentése után az sem lenne meglepő, ha decemberben Junckernek nem sikerülne átvernie a kötelező kvóták tervét a tagállamokon. (Forrás: Mandiner): http://tinyurl.com/j2boxhs

2015. XII. 1.  A máltai menekültügyi uniós csúcson külön is találkozott volna egymással Orbán Viktor és Merkel Angela, de német részről az utolsó pillanatban lemondták a megbeszélést. Miniszteri szintű találkozók is elmaradtak novemberben. A német–magyar kapcsolatok rég voltak ilyen rosszak. November 12-én négyszemközt beszélt volna egymással  Merkel Angela és Orbán Viktor Máltán. A menekültválságról lett volna eredetileg szó, de több forrásból származó információink szerint Merkel stábja az utolsó pillanatban közölte a magyar delegációval, hogy elmarad a megbeszélés, a döntés okát nem nevezték meg. Az Európai Néppárt október 22-i konferenciáján Merkel külön beszélt a magyar kormányfővel, ám  a találkozó egyáltalán nem telt jó hangulatban. Merkel Angela Orbán Viktor szemére hányta, hogy lassan a „legnagyobb ellenzékévé válik”, holott elvileg stratégiai szövetségesek, és egy pártcsaládhoz tartoznak. Nyíltan egyelőre nem bírálják Magyarországot német politikusok. A német külügyminiszter utoljára szeptember 5-én kritizálta Orbánt, amiért szerinte nem tanúsít elég szolidaritást a menekültkérdés közös megoldásának érdekében. Október 8-án a azonban – a Politico című politikai szaklap értesülése szerint – Merkel Angela Brüsszelben az Európai Néppárt képviselőinek egy zárt fórumán nem is titkolta, hogy önzőnek és kicsinyesnek tartja a keleti tagállamok viselkedését menekültügyben, és azt mondta, csak azért segítettek (bár ezért sok kritikát kapott odahaza) Magyarországnak, mert valakinek meg kellett védenie Európa becsületét. (Forrás: VS): http://tinyurl.com/nq8vqjx

Azerbajdzsán
2015. XII. 4.  A török légierő azért lőtte le másfél héttel ezelőtt a szíriai-török határ térségében a Szu-24-es orosz vadászbombázót, mert erkölcsileg nem engedhette meg, hogy a gép átrepüljön Törökország területén a türkmének lakta szíriai területek bombázása előtt - közölte Davutoglu török miniszterelnök Bakuban. (Forrás: InfoRádió): http://tinyurl.com/hpdvh2s

Iraq
December 1, 2015  Iraqis think the U.S. is in cahoots with the islamic state, and it is hurting the war. Saadi says his friend saw U.S. helicopters delivering bottled water to islamic state positions. He is a commander in one of the Shiite militias that last month helped push the militants out of the oil refinery near Baiji in northern Iraq alongside the Iraqi army. The islamic state is “almost finished,” he said. “They are weak. If only America would stop supporting them, we could defeat them in days.” The perception among Iraqis that the United States is somehow in cahoots with the militants it claims to be fighting appears, however, to be widespread across the country’s Sunni-Shiite sectarian divide, and it speaks to more than just the troubling legacy of mistrust that has clouded the United States’ relationship with Iraq since the 2003 invasion and the subsequent withdrawal eight years later. One example of how little leverage the United States now has, Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi pushed back swiftly against an announcement by Defense Secretary ­ Carter that an expeditionary force of U.S. troops will be dispatched to Iraq to conduct raids, free hostages and capture islamic state leaders. Iraq’s semiautonomous region of Kurdistan, where support for the United States remains strong, has said it would welcome more troops. But Abadi indicated they would not be needed. The allegations of U.S. collusion with the islamic state are aired regularly in parliament by Shiite politicians and promoted in postings on social media. They are persistent enough to suggest a deliberate campaign on the part of Iran’s allies in Iraq to erode American influence, U.S. officials say. In one typical recent video that appeared on the Facebook page of a Shiite militia, a lawmaker with the country’s biggest militia group, the Badr Organization, waves apparently new U.S military MREs (meals ready to eat) — one of them chicken and dumplings — allegedly found at a recently captured islamic state base in Baiji, offering proof, he said, of U.S. support. “It’s part of the Iranian propaganda machine.” The fighters there insist there have been no strikes by the Americans at all. “We’d be better off without them,” said 1st Lt. Fadl, who is serving with the Iraqi elite forces in Baiji. He said that the only air support had come from the Iraqi air force and that he wishes the government would ask the Russians to replace the Americans. (Source: The Washington Post): http://tinyurl.com/zkxwksf

Szíria    Syria
2015. XII. 5.   Így fog az iszlám állam magától összeomlani... Reagan jól látta, ha engedi, hogy a belső ön-ellentmondásai alatt omoljon össze a kommunizmus, akkor örökre hiteltelenné válik. Ami a kommunizmus volt a Szovjetuniónak, az a dzsihádizmus az iszlám államnak: egy ártalmas ideológia legtisztább megnyilvánulása egy állam kormányzásában. Ha megengedjük, hogy magától bukjon el, akkor az iszlám államnak, mint ideának lesz a bukása. Ez nem lenne igaz abban az esetben, ha a vereségét a nyugati erők okoznák egy katonai konfliktusban. Látva a mély strukturális sérülékenységeit és az ideák globális háborújában lévő szimbolikus értékét, a legjobb stratégiánk minden bizonnyal a karanténba zárás: hagyni, hogy a csoport belső motivációját adó ideológia belülről pusztítsa el önmagát, ezzel is gyorsítva a folyamatot, melynek végén elfoglalja méltó helyét a történelem szemétdombján. (Forrás: LumensBlog)

Dec 03 2015  isis extremists began celebrating the mass shooting in San Bernardino hours after the massacre, creating the hashtag #America_Burning (Source. Vocativ): http://tinyurl.com/ztnu7us

United States
December 04, 2015 Why liberal media hate Trump? In the feudal era there were the “three estates” – the clergy, the nobility and the commons. The first and second were eradicated in Robespierre’s Revolution. But in the 18th and 19th century, Burke and Carlyle identified what the latter called a “stupendous Fourth Estate.” Wrote Thackeray: “Of the Corporation of the Goosequill – of the Press … of the fourth estate. … There she is – the great engine – she never sleeps. She has her ambassadors in every quarter of the world – her courtiers upon every road. Her officers march along with armies, and her envoys walk into statesmen’s cabinets.” The fourth estate, the press, the disciples of Voltaire, had replaced the clergy it had dethroned as the new arbiters of morality and rectitude. And with Watergate, the press extracted its pound of flesh. By August 1974, it had reached a new apex of national prestige. In “The Making of the President 1972,”  White described the power the “adversary press” had acquired over America’s public life. “The power of the press in America is a primordial one. It sets the agenda of public discussion, and this sweeping political power is unrestrained by any law. It determines what people will talk and think about – an authority that in other nations is reserved for tyrants, priests, parties and mandarins.” Enter The Donald. His popularity is traceable to the fact that he rejects the moral authority of the media, breaks their commandments and mocks their condemnations. His contempt for the norms of political correctness is daily on display. And that large slice of America that detests a media whose public approval now rivals that of Congress relishes this defiance. The last thing these folks want Trump to do is to apologize to the press. And the media have played right into Trump’s hand. They constantly denounce him as grossly insensitive for what he has said about women, Mexicans, Muslims, McCain and a reporter with a disability. Such crimes against decency, says the press, disqualify Trump as a candidate for president. Yet, when they demand he apologize, Trump doubles down. And when they demand that Republicans repudiate him, the GOP base replies: “Who are you to tell us whom we may nominate? You are not friends. You are not going to vote for us. And the names you call Trump – bigot, racist, xenophobe, sexist – are the names you call us, nothing but cuss words that a corrupt establishment uses on those it most detests.” What the Trump campaign reveals is that, to populists and Republicans, the political establishment and its media arm are looked upon the way the commons and peasantry of 1789 looked upon the ancien regime and the king’s courtiers at Versailles. Yet, now that the fourth estate is as discredited as the clergy in 1789, the larger problem is that there is no arbiter of truth, morality and decency left whom we all respect. Like fourth-century Romans, we barely agree on what those terms mean anymore. (DSource: WND): http://tinyurl.com/qbce2w4

December 3, 2015  Gen. Votel, who leads U.S. Special Operations Command, is the top candidate on a short list to succeed Gen. Austin next year as commander of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, and oversee the military’s fight against the islamic state and terrorism across the Middle East and Afghanistan. Austin was the final commander of the previous Iraq War, a Big Army general who oversaw the withdrawal of tens of thousands of U.S. troops through 2011. Votel is one of the nation’s most experienced commanders of elite special operators. At SOCOM, he is in charge of preparing the military’s special operations forces to be called upon. Previously, he commanded the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, which runs the U.S. military’s most elite missions to hunt and kill terrorist leaders, from June 2011, shortly after the bin Laden raid. JSOC overseas units like the Army’s Special Forces, or Green Berets, Night Stalker aviation units, and Navy SEALs, which to rescue hostages and gather intelligence on terror groups such as the islamic state, or isis. Votel has overseen a swift rise in the special operations ranks. He took command of SOCOM just in August 2014. Previously, he served as deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and commanded the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. He helped found the military’s internal agency dedicated to thwarting roadside bombs and served on the Army’s top staff in the Pentagon. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dunford said that American special operations units would fight in Iraq at that government’s invitation, and “unilaterally” inside Syria. “We have found groups that already exist and are fighting and which we can enable with special capabilities and train people specially to accompany them or send Americans to accompany them,” Carter said, in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. CENTCOM is one of the military’s nine combatant commands that divide the globe geographically and manage nuclear, transportation and special operations forces. Headquartered in Tampa, it oversees the wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, and across the Middle East. For the past decade, it has been commanded by generals who previously ran the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Austin was the final commander of the Iraq war overseeing the U.S. troops withdrawal in 2011. Prior commanders included retired Marine Corps Gen. Mattis and Gen. Petraeus. (Source: DefenseOne): http://tinyurl.com/p77uu5t

December 1, 2015  House Dem: Obama could cause ‘devastating nuclear war’ with Russia. President Obama is sending an “expeditionary force” of U.S. military special operators to carry out raids against isis in Iraq and Syria, a move that expands on their decision to send about 50 special operators to Syria to coordinate air strikes. “In full coordination with the Government of Iraq, we’re deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and put even more pressure on [isis],” Defense Secretary Carter told the House Armed Services Committee in announcing the new deployment. Although the term “expeditionary force” evokes large-scale mobilizations such as those seen in World War II or the Iraq War, Carter outlined a more limited deployment. But his announcement still provoked questions about the legal basis for the move, and caused one Democrat to warn of the specter of nuclear war with Russia. Carter got a hint of just how difficult it may be to sell Congress on such legislation when Representative Gabbard (D., Hawaii) suggested that Obama’s decision to place American fighter jets equipped “to target Russian planes” on the border between Turkey and Syria, and his stated opposition to Russian-backed Syrian dictator Assad, could lead the U.S. into a nuclear war with Putin’s regime. “Russia’s installation of their anti-aircraft missile-defense system increases that possibility of — whether it’s intentional or even an accidental event — where one side may shoot down the other side’s plane,” Gabbard told Carter. “And that’s really where the potential is for this devastating nuclear war.” (Source: NationalReview): http://tinyurl.com/jcmq7zt

December 1, 2015 State Department 'troubled' by Moscow's move against Soros groups. The U.S. State Department says it is “troubled” by Russia’s decision to ban two of liberal billionaire Soros' pro-democracy charities and label the organizations a threat to national security. “Today’s designation of the Open Society Foundations and the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation as so-called ‘undesirable’ organizations will only further restrict the work of civil society in Russia for the benefit of the Russian people,” State Department spokesman Toner said. (Source: FoxNews): http://tinyurl.com/owm5gt5

Globalization
December 2, 2015 Warning: Scientists could spark megaquake as they drill below Earth's crust for first time Geologists are about to drill three miles under the ocean in a bid to get beneath the Earth's crust and into the mantle for the first time ever. Scientists from Cardiff University are behind the mission. Professor MacLeod, project co-leader, wants to investigate an area at the edge of the crust and mantle called the Moho boundary. It is a place where the seismic waves of earthquakes suddenly change speed. This is because they go from the crust is made up of hard igneous rocks like granites and basalts, into the softer mantle. The area in question is called Atlantis Bank on the South West Indian Ridge of the Indian Ocean. It was chosen because faults and erosion have already thinned the crust there. Many scientists and campaigners now believe there is a direct link between deep drilling and man-made earthquakes. Scientists say that massive earthquakes would only happen in shallower water because of the pressure on top of them at deeper levels. However, geologists were left perplexed by a magnitude-8.3 earthquake that suddenly happened on May 24, 2013, in the Sea of Okhotsk, deep within the Earth's mantle. It happened at a crack where the Pacific Plate was pressing into the mantle. It looks so similar to shallow events, even though it's got 600 kilometres of rock on top of it. In The US state of Oklahoma, anti-fracking campaigners claim it has led to a huge increase in seismic activity since the industry started there. They say that magnitude three and upwards earthquakes have gone from a few dozen in 2012 to 720 this and that many of the earthquakes occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty waste water — a byproduct of oil and gas production — deep into the Earth. There are fears that the project would be like a massive tracking attempt, as sea water would gush into the mantle, and could even trigger a mega quake. Drilling was also blamed on a large mud volcano in Java, Indonesia in 2006, which displaced more than 30,000 people after a gas exploration project went wrong. Once underway, Expedition 360, as it is called, can be followed live on the web. (Source: Express): http://tinyurl.com/nd27l3w

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Magyarország
15 11 26  Nem az iszlám állam, hanem nagyrészt Aszad elől menekülnek a szírek, mondja a Budapesten élő, ellenzéki érzelmű szír vállalkozó, Alatrash. (Forrás: Mandiner): http://mandiner.hu

5 11 25  Egyre több helyen olvasni arról, hogy a terroristák akár biológiai fegyvert is bevethetnek. A magyar szakszolgálatok állítják: felkészültek az ilyen helyzetekre. Mukics, az Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság helyettes szóvivője elmondta: terrortámadás esetén a katasztrófavédelem eljárása hasonló ahhoz, mintha egy veszélyes ipari üzemben kerülne veszélyes anyag levegőbe. Magyarországon 20 mobillaboratórium áll rendelkezésre, ezek terepjárókra szerelt mobil laborok, amelyekkel azonnal a helyszínre lehet érkezni. A katasztrófavédelem egyből meg tudja állapítani, milyen anyag került a levegőbe, valamint azt is, hogy merre terjed, s mekkora az érintett terület. Nagy baj esetén – például egy rendkívül agresszív anyag esetén – a katasztrófavédelem a lakosság azonnali kimenekítése mellett dönt. A szennyezett terület mentesítését a katasztrófavédelem végzi közösen a honvédséggel. A katasztrófavédelem egy mentesítő sátrában akár 250 ember is mentesíthető egy óra alatt. (Forrás: YouTube/EchoTV): http://tinyurl.com/nvxz9xk

5 11 24 A katonai magánvállalatok a hadseregekkel szemben nem tartanak fenn állandó állományt. Ehelyett egy részletes nyilvántartásban számon tartják a jelentkezőket. Mindig egy adott megbízáshoz keresnek embert, aki a hadsereg parancselvű rendszerével szemben itt szabadon eldöntheti, hogy vállalja-e a munkát vagy sem. A bevándorlás-kérdés kapcsán a legnagyobb probléma, hogy Európa politikusai nincsenek egységben. Az egészet szervezi és pénzeli valaki: brutális logisztika van ennyi ember mozgatása mögött. Ha Magyarországon bármi történne, akkor a szakmai háttérrel rendelkező cégek gyorsan fel tudnának állni. Ha egy ilyen helyzetben megkeresnének minket és megkapnánk a megfelelő engedélyeket, természetesen rendelkezésre bocsátanánk a kapacitásainkat.  De abban bízunk, hogy nekünk Európában nem kell dolgozni. (Forrás: 888): http://tinyurl.com/holjelp

Belgium  
28 Nov 2015  A menacing letter from the group called ‘Christian state’ has been sent to the major Belgian mosque Attadamoune. It threatens all Muslims will be killed, and their businesses destroyed. The anonymous letter – printed out and full of spelling mistakes - said that “no mosque and none of your businesses will be safe” and threatened that “brothers [Muslims] will be slaughtered like pigs and crucified as our Lord converts their souls.” The document was found in the mosque’s mailbox by Habbachich, one of the local Muslim leaders and the president of Molenbeek’s mosque association. The letter uses similar terminology to that of the islamic state - he said. Last week, Belgian Prime Minister  Michel said that the government may close “certain radical mosques” in the Molenbeek district over fears that it was the place where the Paris attacks were orchestrated. ( Source. RT): http://tinyurl.com/hthjzkd

11/25/2015  The chief rabbi of Brussels told an Israeli radio station that there is no future for Jews in Europe, The Jerusalem Post reports. Rabbi Gigi described the environment of fear in the Belgian capital Gigi noted that the Belgian Jewish population is at 50,000 (25,000 in Brussels/18,000 in Antwerp), noting there has been a migration of Jews to Israel “as well as emigration to Canada and the US. Rabbi Margolin, director of the European Jewish Association, said his organization “is determined to continue our work to ensure that the 3 million Jews who live on our continent can continue to command a safe home and to be able to freely and proudly identify themselves as Jews.” ( Source: DailyCaller): http://tinyurl.com/na3gres

Russia     Oroszország
28 November 2015   President Putin signed a decree imposing a raft of punitive economic sanctions against Turkey, underlining the depth of the Kremlin's anger toward Ankara four days after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane. The decree, which entered into force immediately, said charter flights from Russia to Turkey would be banned, that tour firms would be told not to sell any holidays there, and that unspecified Turkish imports would be outlawed, and Turkish firms and nationals have their economic activities halted or curbed.Turkey mainly sells food, agricultural products and textiles to Moscow and is also one of the most popular holiday destinations for Russians. Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said he thought up to 200,000 Turkish citizens could be on Russian soil. (Source: CAYahoo): http://tinyurl.com/hauvu3c

15 11 (29  előtt) Az Orosz Nemzeti Védelmi Központ (NDCC) épülete (Forrás: pto): http://tinyurl.com/na78pl7

5 11 24  Speech of the Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lt.Gen. Rudskoy on Turkish Air Force's F-16 fighter attack on Russian Su-24M tactical bomber. (Source: YouTube): http://tinyurl.com/p6rhnqt

November 24, 2015  Russia will not tolerate crimes like the attack on the Russian Su-24 fighter jet shot down by the Turkish Air Force in Syrian skies, President Putin said on Tuesday at a meeting with King of Jordan Abdullah II. "I understand each country has its own regional interests, and we have always respected that. But we shall never tolerate crimes like today's one," the president said. "Our pilots and jet posed no threat to the Turkish Republic. This is obvious. They were conducting an operation against isil," Putin said. He stressed the plane was flying above northern Lattakia where militants coming from Russia are concentrated. "The Russian bomber was shot down over Syria by an air-to-air surface fired from a Turkish F-16 plane when the bomber was at an altitude of 6,000 meters at a distance of 1 km from the Turkish bomber." Putin said. According to the president, Russia has long been aware of oil supplies to Turkey from Syria’s territories seized by terrorists, which provided tangible financial support for the extremists, adding that monetary support for the militant groups was large, indeed. Putin noted that Turkey’s contacts with NATO member states after the attack against the Russian aircraft look like an attempt to make the alliance serve terrorists. "We will certainly carefully analyse what has happened and today’s tragic event will have serious consequences to Russian-Turkish relations," he said.  (Source: TASS): http://tinyurl.com/o9ryj36

Románia
15 11 24  Csángó vagyok (Forrás: JönAJani): http://tinyurl.com/oj8qjpx

Sweden
25 November 2015  Thugs hurling stones, cars set on fire and refugee children aged five escorted to school by police: Inside the once tranquil Swedish village at war with migrants housed in emergency centre. Locals and refugees have been fighting in Tärnsjö, 150km from Stockholm. Tensions so bad young migrant children are given a police escort to school. Two warring communities trade insults and throw rocks, leaving many scared to go out. 'We have highest tax rate in the county because we are paying for so many immigrants,' says local councillor. Snapshot of Sweden where 17 migrant centres burned down in two months. As many as one in five now support the far-right Swedish Democrat party. Record: The country is now seeing 10,000 people arrive a week, and has reinstated border checks to keep better control. But locals are starting to feel the burden, and there have been arson attacks across the country aimed at the properties where migrants are living.  Last week, the government announced it was no longer able to house all of the people. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/q4jy62v

China
24 Nov 2015 The world’s biggest animal “cloning factory” is due to open in China, producing one million calves a year, sniffer dogs and even genetic copies of the family pet. (Source: The Telegraph): http://tinyurl.com/oc4bymf

India
November 29, 2015  COP21 Paris climate talks: India looms as obstacle to deal. India’s vulnerability to changes in the climate makes it all the more extraordinary that its government is seen as an obstacle to a successful deal, just as previous administrations were accused of obstructing world trade negotiations.Two weeks ago in Turkey, India blocked efforts by the G20 countries to prepare for an ambitious climate accord. John Kerry, US secretary of state, recently praised China but expressed concern about the “challenge” of India and its desire to burn more dirty coal for electricity. In 2012, its annual per capita carbon dioxide emissions were just 1.6 tonnes per person, compared with 16.4 tonnes per person for the US and 7.1 tonnes per person for China. By 2030 its emissions will still amount to only about 5 tonnes per person per year — half the level in China. The Modi government has also launched an ambitious programme to accelerate investment in renewable energy, particularly solar power, so that in 15 years more than a third of its installed electricity capacity will be based on solar energy, windmills and hydroelectric dams. India does not deny that its greenhouse gas emissions will increase dramatically in absolute terms — from 1.48bn tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually in 2005 to more than 7bn in 2030 — but says that is because of a growing population and the need to provide electricity to the 300m Indians who lack it today, and the requirement for new coal-fired power stations to supplement other sources of electricity. Half of India’s extra emissions are expected to come from coal. The sticking point is more likely to be India’s insistence that signatories reaffirm a pledge of $100bn a year in financial flows from rich countries to poor ones from 2020, to help with emissions reduction and climate change adaptation. India’s domestic cost of capital is high at around 13 per cent and according to the International Energy Agency the country needs to invest $140bn a year on everything from modernising electricity grids for handling fluctuating renewable energy supplies to improved technology for burning coal. India has failed to trumpet from the rooftops its relatively low present and future per capita emissions; and second, it may be too pessimistic about likely technological advances that would permit it to adopt more ambitious carbon emission targets. (Source: FinancialTimes): http://tinyurl.com/ov6swcw

November 26, 2015  At the climate talks in Paris next week, all eyes will be on Indian Prime Minister Modi. Developing nations are looking for him to champion their interests in winning funds to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Richer countries including the U.S. are wary that India could end up scuttling any deal. For Modi, it’s an opportunity to claim his spot among the world’s top statesmen crafting a solution to one of the biggest risks facing humanity -- and he’s unlikely to pass that up. U.S. Secretary of State Kerry told the Financial Times earlier this month that India poses “a challenge" to the negotiations, particularly regarding its desire to continue burning low-grade, domestic coal that’s especially dirty. India’s Environment Minister Javadekar fired back, telling reporters in New Delhi that the statement was “unfair and untrue." He said the U.S. uses triple the amount of coal that India does despite finding shale gas. In September, Indian Power Minister Goyal said Western nations had “polluted the world for the last 150 years with cheap energy” and that India won’t pay for it. Rhetoric aside, India sees the two-week talks as one of the best chances to strike a deal before a presidential election that may bring a Republican to power in the U.S. “The other party waiting in the wings doesn’t believe in climate change," Javadekar told Bloomberg TV India this week, referring to the U.S. election. India’s size makes it essential to any meaningful deal. The country now has 1.3 billion people, and it’s set to overtake China as the world’s most populous country by 2022. It needs an enormous amount of infrastructure investment to raise the lowest living standards among the biggest emerging markets. That means abundant use of emissions-heavy steel, cement and aluminum. India became a leader among developing nations after China broke ranks last year by agreeing to peak in 2030. Instead, India has agreed to reduce the intensity of its fossil-fuel emissions: the amount of CO2 it releases per dollar of gross domestic product -- an approach that leaves plenty of wiggle room. India also irked many climate researchers by including “clean coal" -- an unproven technology -- as part of its target to get 40 percent of its electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. Currently, about 60 percent of India’s power comes from coal. By 2040, India will have the fastest-growing electricity demand among major economies and be the top driver of global coal demand, according to the International Energy Agency. Modi set to spearhead a solar alliance of 110 nations that aims to expand the use of solar in the tropics and bring power to non-electrified villages with the backing of rich countries. He just needs to blend his vision of development with his vision of climate protection. They do intersect. Modi has the potential for motivating the country. (Source: Bloomberg): http://tinyurl.com/gqh2kos

Iraq
Nov 30, 2015 Yazidi women tell of rape and enslavement at hands of isis.  More than 3,000 women and girls were taken captive when isis attacked ancestral Yazidi villages around northwestern Iraq's Sinjar Mountain in August 2014. Nearly half-a-million people have been displaced since, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government's Yazidi Affairs Directorate. Today, community leaders say around 2,000 women and girls are still being bought and sold in isis-controlled areas. The young become sex slaves and older women are beaten and used as house slaves, according to survivors and accounts from isis militants. isis has published documents justifying the enslavement of Yazidis as spoils of war. In rare cases, the government of semi-autonomous Kurdistan will pay for the release of women or girls. However, most of the captive women are reliant on a small network of underground activists, or sympathetic guards or even other wives to smuggle them out. More than 1,000 Yazidi women and girls have escaped isis control, but the battle isn't over once they get back. The Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights runs a small clinic in the Kurdish city of Duhok where Yazidi women can receive medical care and psychological treatment. In conservative Yazidi culture, rape victims often are stigmatized and shunned by their families and communities — even despite an edict from the religion's highest authority last year ordering families and communities to embrace former isis captives. (Source: NBCNews): http://tinyurl.com/hv74q88

Israel
November 29, 2015  Israel suspends co-operation with EU on peace process in retaliation for the bloc’s decision to begin labelling some goods made in Jewish settlements on Israeli-occupied lands. The move  has angered Israel’s rightwing government and prompted it to compare product labelling to Nazi-era boycotts of Jewish businesses. (Source: FinancialTimes): http://tinyurl.com/pbdv9ko

Syria
24 November 2015  The Russian warplane is shot down by Turkey after allegedly violating its airspace, with both pilots on board believed to be dead. (Source: SkyNews): http://tinyurl.com/nrfjhc8

5 11 23  Debris of buildings are seen after Russian airstrikes at Bayirbucak Turkmen region in Latakia, Syria on November 22, 2015. ... (video) (Source: AnadoluAgency): http://tinyurl.com/nwpl7yc

November 23, 2015  White House Gave isis 45 minute warning before bombing oil tankers Why did it take 15 months for the U.S. to target the islamic state's oil infrastructure? “Get out of your trucks now, and run away from them. Warning: air strikes are coming. Oil trucks will be destroyed. Get away from your oil trucks immediately. Do not risk your life,” the leaflet reads. Meanwhile isis gets 45 minutes of warning. While it took the U.S. fifteen months to even begin targeting isis’ oil refineries and tankers, air strikes by Moscow destroyed more than 1,000 tankers in a period of just five days. In comparison, Col. Warren said that the U.S. had taken out only 116 tanker trucks, the “first strike” to target ISIS’ lucrative black market oil business, which funds over 50 per cent of the terror group’s activities. U.S. air strikes targeting isi oil assets are so rare that PBS was caught using footage of Russian fighter jets bombing an oil storage facility in Syria and passing it off as evidence of the U.S. targeting the islamic state’s oil infrastructure. U.S. military pilots have also confirmed that they were ordered not to drop 75 per cent of their ordnance on ISIS targets because they could not get clearance from their superiors. Earlier this year a document emerged confirming that the Pentagon foresaw the rise of isis and that western support for Al-Qaeda groups and other anti-Assad rebels in Syria would lead to the emergence of a “Salafist Principality” that would help to “isolate” Assad. Zero Hedge, adding, “The US didn’t want to cut off islamic state’s funding, because without money, the group couldn’t fight Assad.” isis is receiving support from state sponsors of terror like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. $800,000,000 worth of isis oil has been sold in Turkey, a supposed U.S. ally. isis trucks are routinely allowed to cross back and forth between the islamic state stronghold of Raqqa and Turkey, while the NATO country facilitates black market oil sales on behalf of the terror group. As Ahmed documents, a large cache of intelligence recovered from a raid on an isis safehouse this summer confirms that “direct dealings between Turkish officials and ranking isis members was now ‘undeniable.’ (Source: InfoWars): http://tinyurl.com/nhv5oto

Turkey
November 29, 2015  Turkey has begun a defacto blockade of Russian naval vessels, preventing transit through the Dardanelles and the Strait of Bosphorus, between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. According to the AIS tracking system for the movement of maritime vessels, only Turkish vessels are moving along the Bosphorus, and in the Dardanelles there is no movement of any shipping at all. At the same time, both from the Black Sea, and from the Mediterranean Sea, there is a small cluster of ships under the Russian flag, just sitting and waiting. In addition, shipping inside the Black Sea from Novorossiisk and Sevastopol in the direction of the Bosphorus, no Russian vessels are moving. This indirectly confirms the a CNN statement that Turkey may have blocked the movement of Russian ships on the Dardanelles and the Strait of Bosporus. The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits :it is a 1936 agreement that gives Turkey control over the Bosporus Straitsand the Dardanelles and regulates the transit of naval warships. The Convention gives Turkey full control over the Straits and guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime. It restricts the passage of naval ships not belonging to Black Sea states. The terms of the convention have been the source of controversy over the years, most notably concerning the Soviet Union‘s military access to the Mediterranean Sea. Signed on 20 July 1936 at the Montreux Palace in Switzerland, it permitted Turkey to remilitarise the Straits. It went into effect on 9 November 1936 and was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 11 December 1936. It is still in force today, with some amendments.The Convention consists of 29 Articles, four annexes and one protocol. Articles 2–7 consider the passage of merchant ships. Articles 8–22 consider the passage of war vessels. The key principle of freedom of passage and navigation is stated in articles 1 and 2. Article 1 provides that “The High Contracting Parties recognize and affirm the principle of freedom of passage and navigation by sea in the Straits”. Article 2 states that “In time of peace, merchant vessels shall enjoy complete freedom of passage and navigation in the Straits, by day and by night, under any flag with any kind of cargo.” The International Straits Commission was abolished, authorizing the full resumption of Turkish military control over the Straits and the refortification of the Dardanelles. Turkey was authorized to close the Straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it was threatened by aggression; additionally, it was authorized to refuse transit from merchant ships belonging to countries at war with Turkey.a massive and terrifyingly dangerous development.  Blockading Russia and preventing its Black Sea fleet from traveling to the rest of the world, or back to its home port, is something that will not sit well with the Russians. Earlier today, Russian President  Putin ordered the deployment of 150,000 Russian troops and equipment into Syria, but then also ordered the deployment of 7,000 additional Russian Troops, tanks, rocket launchers and artillery, to the Russian Border of Turkey at Armenia, with orders to be “fully combat ready.” It is important to note two things: 1) Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as is the United States and most of Europe, And; 2) Turkey took the first shot at Russia when they intentionally shot down a Russian jet last week. As a NATO member, Turkey can invoke Article 5 of the NATO Treaty which requires all NATO members to come to its defense if Turkey is “attacked.”  So if Russia decides to fight back against Turkey downing its military jet, the Turks might call NATO and claim they’ve been “attacked” thereby calling-up NATO forces to go to war against Russia. It bears remembering, however, that Turkey shot first. Why did the Turks shoot?  Because Turkey has been allowing the terrorist group isis to sell the oil it has stolen from countries it is conquering. The oil is transported from the wells in countries where isis has seized power, is taken by truck to Turkey, and is then sold at cheap prices on the black market. This black market selling results in over 1 Million dollars per day flowing into isis to keep it equipped and supplied for its ongoing terrorist activities. It would be shocking if NATO were to defend Turkey under such circumstances because by its actions, Turkey is providing material support to the terrorist group isis. For NATO to defend that would make all of us accomplices to terrorism. (Source: InfoWars): http://tinyurl.com/qfabo5a

November 26, 2015   A court ordered two prominent opposition journalists jailed pending trial over charges of willingly aiding an armed group and of espionage for revealing state secrets for their reports on alleged arms smuggling to Syria. The court in Istanbul ruled that Cumhuriyet newspaper's editor-in-chief Dundar, and the paper's Ankara representative, Gul, be taken into custody. In May, the Cumhuriyet paper published what it said were images of Turkish trucks carrying ammunition to Syrian militants. The images reportedly date back to January 2014, when local authorities searched Syria-bound trucks, touching off a standoff with Turkish intelligence officials. Some officials later suggested the trucks were carrying arms or ammunition destined to Turkmen kinsmen in Syria. Gul told reporters that he and Dundar are accused of helping the moderate Islamic movement led by U.S.-based cleric Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has turned into his No. 1 foe. Government officials accuse Gulen's supporters of stopping the trucks as part of an alleged plot to bring down the government. The government has branded the movement a "terror organization" although it is not known to have been engaged in any acts of violence. (Source: AP): http://tinyurl.com/pf5qxq4

5 11 26   Ettől még nem lett Erdogan azonnal jófiú. A közel-keleti iszlám bezzegdemokrácia megteremtőjeként indult Erdogannak már évek óta borzasztóan rossz az imázsa nyugaton. Ezen pedig nem változtat az a kényszerű NATO-kiállás, amire az orosz gép lelövése kapcsán került sor. Hosszú ugyanis a „bűnlajstrom”: Amerika-szövetséges kurdok bombázása, hézagos sajtószabadság, fura elnöki rendszer. A mérleg másik serpenyőjén viszont ott van a menekültkérdés, a stratégiai földrajzi fekvés Szíria szempontjából – mondta el Egeresi, Törökország-kutató. Még ha egy török-orosz háború nincs is kitörőben, az oroszoknak is van légvédelmük a szír határon, így bármikor viszonozhatják a törökök „gesztusát”. A Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem (NKE) szakértője röviden vázolta a török államfő helyzetét: Erdogan a 2003-as hatalomra kerülése utáni években elég jó, européer imázst alakított ki, pártja, az Igazság és Fejlődés Pártja (AKP) pedig afféle muszlim-konzervatív formációként jelent meg. Az arab tavasz által pozícióba kerülő majdani vezetők számára a Nyugat a török modellt tűzte ki példának. Voltak ugyan kritikus hangok a médiában, de főleg csak a sajtószabadság kapcsán; aztán a 2013-as Gezi parkbéli tüntetések, amelyeket erővel oszlatott fel Ankara, gyökeres fordulatot hoztak. Most Nyugat láthatóan elfogadta a török érvelést, miszerint a légtérsértő orosz gépet jogosan lőtték le, de nem Erdogan személye, hanem a szövetséges Törökország mellett sorakoztak fel. Ki a főellenség? Más kérdés például az Amerika-szövetséges kurd csoportok helyzete, amelyeket Ankara – Aszad szír elnök és az iszlám állam mellett – szintén megszórt bombákkal. Ilyenkor – ahogy Egeresi mondta – Erdoganék a törökországi kurdok egy részének támogatását élvező, Észak-Irakban táborokkal rendelkező Kurdisztáni Munkáspártra (PKK) mutogatnak. A PKK magát forradalmi pártként határozza meg, a világ többi része – beleértve az EU-t és az USA-t is – viszont terrorszervezetként tartja nyilván. Szövetségesük, a Demokratikus Unió Pártja (PYD) szerzett hatalmat Észak-Szíriában, ezt pedig már komoly fenyegetésként értékelik Ankarában. A kurdok száma és területi elhelyezkedése a Közel-Keleten (ahol számuk kb 32 millió fő. Térkép: http://tinyurl.com/ngoj7r5       A labda most az oroszok térfelén pattog – húzta alá Egeresi –, és eddig elsősorban gazdasági retorziókat helyeztek kilátásba, katonairól szó sincs. Törökország gázellátása ötven-hatvan százalékban Moszkvától függ – ami nem mellesleg Putyinéknak is nagy üzlet –, ezért a nyílt háborút mindkét fél kerülni fogja. Medvegyev ugyanakkor három kártyát is felvillantott: jelesül a Török Áramlat, a Roszatom kivitelezésével tervezett akkuyui atomerőmű 2022-es üzembe helyezésének, illetve az Oroszországban befektető török cégek helyzetének kérdéseit. Moszkva mindhárom területen fájdalmasan ráléphet Erdoganék tyúkszemére. A török elnök most a szövetséges szerepében jelenik meg a nyugati médiában,és ha tovább eszkalálódik a helyzet, Törökország pedig a kisebb érdekkonfliktusok ellenére továbbra is nagyjából nyugati szövetségeseivel együtt lép fel, akkor az tényleg javíthatja majd Erdogan imázsát – de a jófiú imázsától még messze van. (Forrás: MNO): http://tinyurl.com/ngoj7r5

24 November 2015  Turkey downs ÍTurkish jet: Turkey's letter to the UN (Source. AlJazeera): http://tinyurl.com/p5dodfq

New Zealand
Nov 30, 2015  Anti-ageing drug could let you live to 120 in good health (Source: NZHerald): http://tinyurl.com/zzd786v

United States
November 29, 2015  The rise of liberal intolerance in America. There is no doubt that racial prejudice is alive and well but quashing free speech is no answer.  In the space of a few years gay marriage has been accepted, marijuana has been legalised, America has twice elected its first black president. Today’s mantra is to create “safe spaces”. Campus libraries put “trigger warnings” on works of fiction: students are warned off Ovid’s Metamorphoses because it depicts rape, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (anti-semitism), Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (misogyny) and Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (patriarchy). The term “microaggression” — giving unconscious verbal offence to marginalised groups — has entered everyday vocabulary. I have lost count of the conversations I have had with faculty heads who admit to censoring their language for fear of giving offence. Their jobs are sometimes at stake. The goal is to eliminate prejudice from the mind. Yet it can have the perverse effect of heightening awareness of race. There is a boom on America’s campuses — and beyond — of what one critic has dubbed the “race therapy complex”. University faculties are bulging with multicultural guidance counsellors, diversity officers and those whose task it is to provide training in racial etiquette. Their job is to detect racial insensitivity. Naturally, some find it where it does not exist. The more such positions are created, the greater the vested interests behind it. As Upton Sinclair said: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” What does this mean for the future? Forget about universities. The future has already graduated. Anyone with ambition in US public life has long since learnt the value of self-censorship. A word out of context can ruin your chances of being confirmed by the US Senate. Risk-taking is penalised. Blandness is key to career advancement. Little wonder large swaths of the American public have lost faith in their leaders’ integrity. When a politician speaks, the effect is too often chloroformic. The vacuum that spontaneity once occupied is wide open for others to fill. Next time you wonder why a demagogue like Trump is doing so well, ask why there is such high return to his plain spokenness. Could it be because it is being rooted out of public life?(Source: FinancialTimes): http://tinyurl.com/gkqk9aw

November 28, 2015  See the invisible wireless signals around you with this augmented reality app (Source: The Verge): http://tinyurl.com/nsutmq7

Nov 27, 2015  Ranchland owners speak out on death tolls. People going missing on ranch land. “Paying the Price,” we reported how a Honduran woman went missing on private ranch land in Brooks County. Human rights activist Canales said the woman is one of hundreds who die in the brush. He said the biggest obstacle to finding remains of missing people is getting access to do searches on private property. Landowners are speaking out about being associated with the number of people dying. The count of bodies found this year in Brooks County so far is 41. Somehow the U.S. is blamed for their deaths, or ranchers are blamed for their deaths, or others are blamed for their deaths. When they know when they come into the country illegally, they’re taking this chance -  Kibbe, the director of the South Texas Property Rights Association said. The main issue Kibbe said is people in the country illegally are fleeing from their homelands. She said human rights activists should change their focus from the ranches to Central America. I think if they want to help these people, they need to go down and help them in their countries - Kibbe said. The South Texas Property Rights Association is calling on congress to secure the border, enforce current laws, reform immigration laws and create a guest worker program. (Source: KRGV): http://tinyurl.com/pk55jah    See also: Brooks County, Texas (Source: Wikipedia): http://tinyurl.com/jbjlo8v

November 24, 2015  Just in time for the holidays, the State Department issued a global travel alert to U.S. citizens warning of the increased likelihood of terror attacks by legions of terrorists — including the murderous islamic state. The terse warning, posted on the State Department website, said American travelers should use “particular caution” in the coming weeks and through Feb. 24. (Source: DailyNews): . http://tinyurl.com/ode8rt6

22 Nov 2015  Gangs of New York: Sicilian mafia offers Big Apple protection from 'psychopathic' isis. The notorious crime syndicate say they want to do their bit to protect locals. Gambino, the son of a key figure in the Gambino mob organization, says the mafia is in a much better position than security bodies, such as the FBI or Homeland Security, to give New Yorkers the protection they need.  “They often act too late, or fail to see a complete picture of what's happening due to a lack of ‘human intelligence,’” he said in an interview with NBC News. "The world is dangerous today, but people living in New York neighborhoods with Sicilian connections should feel safe," he said. "We make sure our friends and families are protected from extremists and terrorists, especially the brutal, psychopathic organization that calls itself the Islamic State,” He says that Islamic State (formerly isis/isil) fear the Sicilian mafia, and this has been one of the main reasons why they have not tried to set up any underground cells in Sicily. (Source: RT): http://tinyurl.com/qewy2vf

Globalization
27 November 2015 Tradable refugee-admission quotas (TRAQs), the Syrian crisis and the new European agenda on migration (Source: JournalofEuropeanLaborStudies): http://tinyurl.com/j27vy6h

Space
Nov 28, 2015  Did scientists just pick up the first intelligent radio waves from a distant alien planet? The "fast radio bursts" included one "double signal" never heard before and have left astronomers buzzing with excitement over the possibility of it being a message with alien origins. Only 11 of the unidentified transient radio pulses have been recorded before around the world. Regarding the data from the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, Petroff from Swinburne University, in Melbourne, one of the team who discovered the signals, believes the origin could be more remarkable than anything recorded before. The discovery is being compared in significance to the recording of the "Wow signal" - a strong narrowband radio wave found by Jerry Ehman in 1977. That radio burst, picked up by the Big Ear radio telescope of The Ohio State University in the United States, bore all the expected hallmarks of non-terrestrial origin but has not been detected since. The source remains a total mystery. Seemingly similar readings which excited astronomers earlier this year called perytons at the time were later found to be coming from microwave ovens on Earth being prematurely opened in the canteens of observatories where observations were being taken. The double burst FRB (called 121002) had a "clear two-component profile". They say each component is similar to the known population of single component FRBs and are separated by 2.4 milliseconds. They added: “Many of the proposed models to explain FRBs use a single high energy event involving compact objects (such as neutron star mergers) and therefore cannot easily explain a two-component FRB.” (Source: Express): http://tinyurl.com/q3u38yu

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Sun, Earth

/ Danube

Time data regarding the occurence of M-class or stronger solar flares, Kp= 5-level or greater geomagnetic storm activity, big or slow solar wind speed, etc. Quakes, possibly about some volcano activity.

2015/11/30

SPACE:
Solar wind speeds indicated an earlier than expected arrival of a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) in advance of a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS).
00:00 - 06:30 UT: weak values of the Bz component ranging from +/- 3 nT.
SUN:
beginning at 01:55 UT a large prominence eruption was observed on the south-western limb; 
at 03:24 UT an associated coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed off the south-west limb.
Today solar activity was low. 
SPACE:
At about 06:00 UT total field strength (Bt) began a slow rise.
EARTH:
06:00 UT - 09:00 UT: G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm.
SPACE:
Through about 06:30 UT the Phi angle settled into a predominately positive sector;
06:30 UT - 10:30 UT: Bz was southward.
SUN:
at 07:24 UT a partial halo CME emerged off the south-east limb. The CME is believed to be back-sided and not geo-effective.
SPACE:
by 07:30 UT the peak of total field strength (Bt) was 15 nT;
08:17 UT: maximum extent of Bz reached: - 13 nT;
by 09:15 UT solar wind speeds increased from about 420 km/s to around 570 km/s.
through 10:00 UT a slow fall of total field strength was observed with values in the 4-7 nT range;
10:30 UT - 24:00 UT: weak values of the Bz again;
for the remainder of the period solar wind speeds varied between 475-550 km/s;
Phi angle was variable between a negative (towards) and a positive (away) orientation.
Prediction from 28 November:
Late on 30 November a recurrent positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream is likely to become geoeffective, solar wind speeds reaching 600 km/s possible.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 24 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 25 November situation.
Fuego volcano Guatemala (elevation: 3763 m): activity declined. Lava fountains rose 100-150 m. Ash plumes rose 1 km and drifted 25 km west-southwest. Lava flows were active in five drainages.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): an explosion generated an ash plume that rose to an altitude of 7.5 km and drifted 80 km east-south-east.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 25 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 25 November situation.

2015/11/29

SUN:
at 07:37 UT a filament eruption was peaking from active region number 2459, preceding a B6.3 flare.
Starting during 07 UT a faster halo coronal mass ejection (CME), composed of at least 2 ejections was expanding toward the south east. A component of this halo CME is Earthward directed and may glance the Earth during 02-03 December.
Around 07:55 UT a filament eruption on the backside was observed;
beginning at 08:24 UT a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed.
SPACE:
After 17:49 UT the Bz component was mostly negative near -5 nT.
Around 18:00 UT he Bz component turned primarily southward.  
Phi angle was mostly negative (towards);
after 18:00 UT phi angle switched to a positive orientation.
Today solar wind speed increased from about 340 km/s to around 470 km/s. The Bz component ranged from 13 nT to -7 nT and was mostly northward
EARTH:
18:52 UT: an M5.9 quake occured at a distance of 17 km noerth-west from Yuto, Argentina; 733 km west-northwest of Asuncion, Paraguay. See also: South America, Nazca plate region.
21:00 UT - 24:00 UT: an isolated active period of the geomagnetic field, due to prolonged negative Bz and slightly enhanced wind speeds; otherwise the geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels.
SUN:
Today solar activity was very low. Newly numbered sunspot region 2461 emerged.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 25 November situation.
Copahue volcano Central Chile-Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): thermal anomaly. Plumes rose as high as 1.3 km above the crater drifting as far as 560 km south-east and east-southeast.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): lahar descended the Mariscal Sucre river. See also the 28 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 25 November situation.
Fuego volcano Guatemala (elevation: 3763 m): significantly increased activity. Large and strong explosions. Ash plumes rose as high as 2.2 km above the crater and drifted 40 km west and south-west. Lava fountains rose 500 m above the crater. Four lava flows traveled 3-4 km down the drainages. Ash fell in 8-12 km area south-west and east-northeast.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 25 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 25 November situation. 

2015/11/28

EARTH:
02:51 UT: an M5.9 quake occured at a distance of 54 km south-southwest from Shikotan, Russia; 73 km east of Nemuro, Japan. See also: the Kuril-Kamchatka arc.
SPACE:
around mid-day Phi angle was with minor deviations into a positive (away) sector, however mostly negative (towards). No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections were observed.
EARTH:
13:11 UT: an M5.6 quake occured in the Owen fracture zone region at a distance of 528 km south-southeast from Sayy, Oman; 935 km south from Muscat, Oman.
14:47 UT: an M5.5 quake occured at a distance of 17 km south-southeast from Binuangeun, Indonesia; 128 km south-west of Jakarta, Indonesia. See also: the Sumatra region.
SUN:
Today solar activity was very low. A large prominence located off the south-west limb of the visible solar disk. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections were observed.
SPACE:
Today the solar wind speed gradually increased from near 300 km/s to about 380 km/s. The Bz component was predominantly northward, with short duration southward excursions to -10 nT. Phi angle was oriented in a negative (towards) sector.
Prediction for 30 November:
Late on 30 November a recurrent positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream is likely to become geoeffective, solar wind speeds reaching 600 km/s possible.
EARTH:
Today the geomagnetic field was mostly quiet to unsettled.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 25 November situation.
Copahue volcano Central Chile-Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): absence of the acidic lake, a growing pyroclastic cone, thermal anomaly.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): lahar descended the Agualongo river. See also the 25 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 25 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 25 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 25 November situation.
Zhupanovsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 2899 m): ash plumes rose to altitudes of 5-6 km and drifted 285 km east.

2015/11/27

SUN:
Solar activity was very low.  No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections were observed. A large prominence located off the south west limb of the visible solar disk.
SPACE:
Around 01:30 UT the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field gradually rose from 4 to 9 nT.
During 04:00-05:00 UT the speed of the solar wind increased rapidly from about 250 to around 340 km/s. This increase was accompanied by a sector boundary crossing (first away from the Sun);
after 04:00 UT the sector boundary crossing was towards the Sun.
Phi angle was positive (away) to begin the period;
after 04:00 UT rotated into the negative (towards) sector.
The Bz component was predominantly southward,
until after 04:20 UT, when a rotation northward was observed.
EARTH:
The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled.
08:33 UT: an M5.5 quake occured at a distance of 52 km nort-west from Monywa, Burma; 333 km north-northwest of Nay Pyi Taw, Burma. See also: the Himalaya and vicinity.
21:00 UT: an M6.2 quake occured at a distance of 66 km north-northwest from Taltal, Chile; 956 km south-southwest of La Paz, Bolivia. See also: South America, Nazca Plate region.
 Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 25 November situation.
Copahue volcano Central Chile-Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): see the 25 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 25 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 25 November situation.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): see the 25 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 25 November situation.
Sheveluch volcano Central Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 3283 m): lava-dome extrusion onto north flank was accompanied by fumarolic activity, dome incandescence, ash explosions, hot avalanches.
Telica volcano Nicaragua (elevation: 1061 m): during last two days 29 explosions were detected, with 16 of those producing ash plumes.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 25 November situation.

2015/11/26

SPACE:
00:00–10:00 UT: the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field was about 3–4 nT and the Bz component was weakly positive.
EARTH:
05:45 UT: an M6.7 quake occured at a distance of 127 km south-southwest from Tarauaca, Brazil; 702 km east-northeast of Lima, Peru. See also: South America, Nazca Plate region.
SPACE:
Through around 09:00 UT Bz was northward;
around 09:00 Bz changed to a southward orientation. 
During 11–18 UT the Bz component trended southward.
11:00–23:00 UT: the magnitude of the IMF gradually increased to about 8 nT.
The phi angle was variable: 
after 14:00 UT the phi angle settled in a predominantly positive (away from the Sun) direction.
Today the solar wind speeds were very low, from around 250 km/s to near 270 km/s.
SUN:
During 20:00-21:00 UT a disappearing solar filament was observed near sunspot number 2457. A large prominence was floating above the south-west limb. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections were observed.
Today solar activity was very low.
EARTH:
The geomagnetic field was quiet.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 25 November situation.
Copahue volcano Central Chile-Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): see the 25 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 25 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 25 November situation.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): see the 25 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 25 November situation.
Sheveluch volcano Central Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 3283 m): see the 25 November situation.
Sinabung volcano Indonesia (elevation: 2460 m): ash plumes rose to an altitude of 4.3 km and drifted south-west.
Telica volcano Nicaragua (elevation: 1061 m): multiple gas-and-ash explosions detected. The strongest explosion produced an ash plume that rose more than 800 m above the crater.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 25 November situation.

2015/11/25

SUN:
03-05 UT: disappearing solar filament near the south-west limb;
during 07:00 UT: a filament eruption on the north-west limb.
Solar activity was low. There were no Earthward directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
SPACE:
Very slow solar wind,  declining from the speed of about 280 km/s to around 250 km/s. The Bz component was predominantly northward.
Prediction from 23 November:
early on 25 November arrival of a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) and faster solar wind is expected to arrive at Earth.
EARTH:
18:57 UT: an M5.7 quake occured at a distance of 123 km east from of Bitung, Indonesia; 1107 km north of Dili, East Timor. See also: the New Guinea region and vicinity
Geomagnetic conditions were quiet.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): ash plumes rose to altitudes of 5.2-6.6 km and drifted multiple directions.
Copahue volcano Central Chile-Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): continuous ash emissions from explosions at Copahue's El Agrio crater.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): seismic activity characterized by volcano-tectonic, hybrid, long-period events. Emissions, explosions. Gas-and-steam emissions. The plumes contained ash and rose as high as 1 km, drifting west and south-west.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): ash plumes rose to altitudes of 2.1-2.4 km and drifted 35-165 km in multiple directions.
Kanlaon volcano Philippines (elevation: 2435 m): emissions of gas and ash rose 150 m above the crater and drifted south-west. Yesterday and today were 11 volcanic earthquakes.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): moderate explosive activity.
Kilauea volcano Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): multiple incandescent outgassing vents within Pu'u 'O'o; lava flowed from two of the vents.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): ash plumes rose to altitudes of 3.7-4.3 km and drifted as far as 320 km south-west and west.
Sheveluch volcano Central Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 3283 m): lava-dome extrusion onto north flank was accompanied by fumarolic activity, dome incandescence, ash explosions, hot avalanches. Southeast-drifting ash plumes.
Telica volcano Nicaragua (elevation: 1061 m): four 5-minute-long explosions detected generated ash emissions.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): high seismic activity, although the number of earthquakes decreased. Gas-and-steam plumes were rising as high as 1.5 km and drifting mainly west.

2015/11/24

SUN:
Solar flare activity was very low.
SPACE:
slow solar wind; its speed slowly decreased, fluctuating in the approximate range 360 km/s to 270 km/s.
EARTH:
13:21 UT: an M6.0 quake occured at a distance of 37 km west from Agrihan, Northern Mariana Islands; 583 km north of Yigo Village, Guam. See also the Philippine Sea and vicinity.
21:45 UT: an M5.5 quake occured north of Ascension Island at a distance of 943 km north-northwest from Georgetown, Saint Helena; 1044 km south-west of Robertsport, Liberia;  1070 km south-southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
22:45 UT: an M7.6 quake occured at a distance of 169 km west-northwest of Iberia, Peru; 239 km west-northwest of Cobija, Bolivia; 241 km west-northwest of Brasileia, Brazil. See also:  South America, Nazca Plate region.
22:50 UT: an M7.6 quake occured at a distance of 210 km south from Tarauaca, Brazil; 269 km west-northwest of Cobija, Bolivia; 692 km of east-northest of Lima, Peru. Se also: South America, Nazca Plate region.
Today the geomagnetic conditions were quiet.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): see the 18 November situation.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): significant increase in the number of shallow volcanic earthquakes from a baseline maximum of 4 per day to 74 events.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 19 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 18 November situation.
Kanlaon volcano Philippines (elevation: 2435 m): continuous steam emissions with minor ash content. See also the 23 november situation.  
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): A very long-period earthquake corresponded with the collapse of a very large section of the northern rim and wall of the summit vent, which caused increased lake spattering and turbulence. Multiple incandescent outgassing vents within Pu'u 'O'o; a lava flow erupted from a vent on the crater floor. See also the 18 November situation.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): see the 18 November situation.
Sinabung volcano Indonesia (elevation: 2460 m): ash plumes rose to an altitude of 3.3 km.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 20 November situation.

2015/11/23

SUN:
around 02:28 UT a long duration C8.7-class solar flare was produced by sunspot number 2454. This active region is rotating toward the western limb.
Today solar activity was low.
SPACE:
Bz remained mostly positive or neutral. Solar wind speed decreased from around 350 km/s to about 330 km/s value. Phi was negative.
Prediction for 25 November:
early on 25 November arrival of a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) and faster solar wind is expected to arrive at Earth.
EARTH:
Today the geomagnetic field was quiet.
20:41 UT: an M5.5 quake occured at a distance of 34 km north-northwest from San Luis Acatlan, Mexico; 257 km south of Mexico City, Mexico. See also: seismotectonics of Mexico.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): see the 18 November situation.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): see the 18 November and 24 November situation.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 18 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 19 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 18 November situation.
Kanlaon volcano Philippines (elevation: 2435 m): explosion-type signal, culminating with an 8-minute-long steam explosion. A white plume rose 1-1.5 km above the crater and drifted south-west. After the explosion, the  volcanic tremor lasted for five hours.
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): see the 18 November situation.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): see the 18 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 19 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 20 November situation.

2015/11/22 (Sunday)
 
EARTH
at 02:47 UTC and 02:48 UTC Telica volcano Nicaragua  (elevation: 1061 m ): two explosions generated ash plumes that rose 2 km and ejected tephra at least 900 m away. People living within a 900-m-radius were evacuated. Ash fell in at least 70 communities in a distance of 13-30 km west-sothwest.
SUN:
Solar activity was low.  New sunspot region 2458 was numbered.
Before 08:36 UT a filament stretching over the South-eastern hemisphere erupted.
Around 09:12 UT: eruption of a long filament in the south-western regions of the solar disk was observed.
No Earth directed CME's were observed.
SPACE:
Solar wind speeds decreased from about 360 km/s to near 340 km/s. Bz was predominately northward. The phi angle was steady in a negative (toward the Sun) solar sector orientation.
EARTH:
18:16 UT: an M5.9 quake occured at a distance of 22 km south-southwest from Ashkasham, Afghanistan; 29 km south-southwest of Ishkashim, Tajikistan. See also: the Himalaya and vicinity.
Today the geomagnetic activity was quiet.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): see also the 18 November situation.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): see also the 18 November and 24 November situation.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 18 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 19 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 18 November situation.
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m):  see the 18 November situation.
(During last week at) Nishinoshima volcano Japan (former elevation: 25 m) eruption was ongoing with explosion from the central crater and lava flows. The new island became 1.9 km east to west, 1.95 km north to south, and 100 m high.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): multiple steam-and-ash plumes rose as high as 2 km, drifted west and ejected incandescent blocks rolled 500 m down the flanks. See also the 18 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 19 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 20 November situation.

2015/11/21

EARTH:
10:06 UT: an M6.1 quake occured at a distance of 174 km west-northwest of Saumlaki, Indonesia; 502 km east-northeast of Dili, East Timor. See also: the New Guinea region and vicinity.
SUN:
Solar activity was low. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed.
SPACE:
Solar wind speeds slowly decreased from near 420 km/s to about 360 km/s.
Early today Bz reached a maximum southward deflection of -3 nT. The phi angle was steady in a negative (toward the Sun) solar sector orientation.
Today the IMF Bz component was mostly northward.
EARTH:
The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled.
23:05 UT: an M5.5 quake occured at a distance of 57 km west of Ovalle, Chile; 337 km north-northwest of Santiago, Chile.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): see also the 18 November situation.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): see also the 18 November and 24 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 19 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 18 November situation.
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m):  see the 18 November situation.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): see the 18 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 19 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 20 November situation.

.

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Hungary
November 19, 2015  ‘All the terrorists are migrants’. Viktor Orbán on how to protect Europe from terror, save Schengen, and get along with Putin’s Russia. In a wide-ranging 90-minute interview a week after the Paris terrorist attacks, Orbán lays out his prescriptions for Europe’s ailments: An impenetrable external border to boost security and save the Schengen treaty on passport-less travel within the EU; a new EU constitutional convention that strengthens the power of nation states and weakens Brussels; and normalized relations with Russia. NATO and EU countries are “at war” with Islamists in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and, he says, “it’s quite logical” that “enemies” would seek to send fighters with migrants coming into Europe. “All of them present a security threat because we don’t know who they are. If you allow thousands or millions of unidentified persons into your house, the risk of … terrorism will significantly increase.” Muslim migrants who in his words belong to “parallel societies,” holding EU passports but rejecting Western values. Earlier this year, Hungary was widely criticized for building a barbed wire fence along its border with Serbia to stop the waves of new arrivals. For Orbán, Hungary was merely upholding the law of the Union that Greece (“a major problem for us”) failed to do by allowing the migrants to continue north unimpeded. Orbán’s opposition helped torpedo a scheme championed by the European Commission for a mandatory resettlement of migrants across the EU, and flipped the discussion from how best to accommodate the refugees to one of how to stop them from coming at all. For the Hungarian, this year of troubles —  from Greece to migration, from terrorism to possible Brexit —  calls for a wholesale rethink of the EU. The bloc “is only reacting, reacting, crisis after crisis, instead of having a concept.” Asked if the EU will be here in 10 years, he says, “it’s an open question.” In Orbán’s proposed reform of the EU, the balance of powers would tilt back toward nation states and away from leaders in Brussels who have “very much the pro-United States of Europe position,” he says. Although he’s widely seen in Western Europe as a leader who’s turned his back on “liberal democracy” and embraced Russia’s Putin, Orbán insists he wants to save the EU and NATO. “Hungary’s place is [in the] West,” he says. “We criticize them because they are far from perfect, but the starting attitude of the Hungarians to Western institutions is always positive.” Getting up from his seat around a large conference table, Orbán walks over to the books stacked on his desk and shelf. He picks up a tract on Europe he’s reading by Habermas, the German philosopher and proponent of a closer, federal EU. “The most dangerous book,” he calls it. There are essay collections by the founder of the ultra-conservative Catholic Opus Dei movement (Orbán’s a Calvinist) and the Hungarian Nobel laureate in literature, Kertész. He’s reading about the political theory of Islam and another book by a Hungarian writer on the global sexual revolution — “an anti-gender study,” he says, “about how we destroy freedom in the name of freedom.” At 52, Orbán carries a healthy paunch and says his football-playing days are mostly behind him. He puts on a tie and jacket for a photographer, then quickly dispenses with both. In his part of the world, he says, leaders are more laid-back. He speaks fluidly in English and cracks jokes. Liberalism in Europe now concentrates not on freedom but on political correctness. It became a sclerotic ideology. Dogmatic, may I say. There is an oft-noted irony that this pro-democracy dissident of the late 1980s, who co-founded the Fidesz student-led movement and helped bring down communism, is seen in the second half of his nearly three-decade run in Hungarian politics as a threat to its democracy. Addressing doubts about his democratic bona fides, Orbán says he has been in parliamentary opposition longer — a dozen years — than in power, and expects to “lose again” in future elections. In a widely circulated speech to ethnic Hungarians  in Romania last year, he announced his desire to build “an illiberal new state based on national foundations,” and argued that “liberal democracy can’t stay competitive.”  When another party picked up the urban, youth electorate that Fidesz had courted, he went to find votes on the traditional right and outside Budapest, in religious, rural areas. His former liberal friends call the shifting shapes of Orbán opportunistic and cynical. He says he’s right where he belongs, with the “national-Christian-civic political family.” People call him a populist. “Because I am,” he retorts. “The problem is nobody knows what [that] means. It does not sound bad in Hungarian ears. Being a populist means that you try to serve the people. It’s positive.” Support for his Fidesz party has grown from 40 percent last December to almost 50 percent today, according to polls. The other notable irony of the modern Orbán is his relationship with Putin. He fought to bring down the Soviet empire and remove Russian troops from Hungarian soil. Putin, a KGB officer who was a cog in the Soviet system that Orbán battled, is now seeking to restore Russian power. These days, Orbán opposes EU sanctions on Russia over its incursions into Ukraine, though Hungary has signed off on them since last year. He nurtures close business ties with Moscow, particularly in energy. And the point is very clear, without the Russians it’s impossible to manage rightly the future of the Hungarians. So we have to have a good balanced relationship with the Russians.” European and Russian principles are “impossible to harmonize. So put aside principles, ideologies and look at the interest, and find the common sense realpolitik agreements. That’s the Hungarian approach.”  While Orbán notes that Hungary’s closest ally in Europe, Poland, backs sanctions, he says he finds more than a little hypocrisy coming from Berlin. Germans “like to appear as opposing” him on sanctions on Russia, he says, “but in fact they are doing even more than we are” to work with Russia. Orbán points to Berlin’s support for a second gas pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic, which will deprive Ukraine of billions in yearly transit fees. “Hungarians are easygoing guys in the European Union,” Orbán says, laughing. “What we are doing, we are saying — and what we are doing is exactly what we are thinking. So it’s not complicated.” Orbán says the Russia relationship helps him balance a testy one with Berlin: “We would not like to depend on the Germans.” (Source: Politico): http://tinyurl.com/pd6llw3

Belgium
2015. XI. 17.  Brüsszel Molenbeek nevű kerülete a terroristák és a radikálisok egyik központja lett; fél óra alatt bármilyen katonai fegyvert és robbanóanyagot is be lehet szerezni. A helyi fiatalok között 37 százalékos a munkanélküliség, sokan csatlakoznak az iszlám államhoz, a helyi mecsetekből pedig ömlik a dzsihádista propaganda. A belga kormány megpróbálja megelőzni a bajt, de eddig nagyon kevés eredményt értek el. (Forrás: Origo): http://tinyurl.com/q5xd76x

12 November 2015  The tide of migrants coming to Europe from the Middle East and Africa may be part of a left-wing plot to pack the continent with sympathetic voters, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has told a Swiss magazine. Orbán's anti-immigrant rhetoric and the border fences he has erected to block the wave of people fleeing war and poverty have made him a winner at home from a crisis that has divided Europe. "I am not brave enough to speak about this in public with certainty, but you cannot get around imagining that some kind of master plan is behind this," he said in an interview with Die Weltwoche.He cited essays by "the European left  and radical American democrats" that envision the emergence of a European super state to the detriment of traditional nation-states. Future leftist voters are being imported to Europe," he said. The U.S. ambassador to Budapest has warned against "xenophobic characterization of refugees". (Source: YahooCanada): http://tinyurl.com/poxaf69

France
26 Concrete Legal Measures for Remigration. The Bloc Identitaire is  proposing a “sheet on the road to a policy of Identity and Remigration” including 26 measures (covering culture, economy, education and institutional reform) looking forward to ending uncontrolled immigration and replanting immigrants in their country of origin. (Source: CounterCurrentsPublishing): http://tinyurl.com/qglqmvb

Tuesday, 17 Nov 2015  Hollande calls on Russia and US to unite to defeat islamic state. French president gathered his politicians in Paris to declare war on isil, as Obama insisted that if there were an easy option, they would have done it. Hollande has used a highly-unusual address to both French parliaments to call on Russia and America to “unite our forces” in a coalition to destroy isil, three days after Islamists killed 129 in France's worst ever terror attacks. Shortly before he spoke yesterday, fighters from the islamic state of Iraq and the Levant (isil) released a video promising to repeat the Paris terror attack in Washington. Mr Hollande, proposing extending France’s state of emergency for three months, told the politicians gathered at Versailles: “France is at war.” In a sombre speech, ending in a rousing standing ovation, Mr Hollande said he would call on the UN Security Council to pass a new resolution to “destroy daech (isil)”, describing Syria as “the biggest terrorist factory the world has ever seen”. He said he would meet US President Obama and Putin, the Russian leader, in the coming days to urge them to join forces in a “wide and single coalition” against isil, saying that the international community had been “divided and incoherent” for too long. Mr Hollande said that France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier would leave for the area on Thursday to “triple our action capabilities” and that more airstrikes – like those on Sunday that hit Raqqa - would be launched “in the coming weeks”. The French defence ministry said 12 Rafale and Mirage jets based in the region dropped 20 bombs, including on the jihadists’ de facto capital Raqqa. It claimed they had destroyed a training camp and munitions dump, among other targets. The raid was the largest attack by the French since they joined the US-led coalition in Syria in September, after previously restricting themselves - like the RAF - to Iraq. Mr Obama, speaking at the G20 in Turkey in a speech which coincided with Mr Hollande’s address, insisted that America was not shying away from tackling isil, and angrily hit back at critics who accused him of inaction. He said that America could send in 50,000 troops to wipe out the murderous regime, but that  would only provide a short-term solution. “We can retake territory. And as long as we leave our troops there, we can hold it,” he said. “But that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these kinds of violent extremist groups.”  Repeatedly stressed that defeating isil would take time, and rejected accusations that he was dithering. “If there was a swift and quick solution to this, I assure you that not just the United States, but France and Turkey and others who have been subject to these terrorist attacks would have implemented those strategies,” he said, adding that America’s weakening of al Qaeda was proof that he was not sitting back and letting jihadists roam free. Mr Obama used his speech to call on other nations to do more in the coalition against isil. But he did not specifically address Russia, which has positioned itself on the other side to America. Mr Hollande, by contrast, was one of several leaders who suggested they were open to working more  closely with Russia against isil. Mr Putin met Mr Obama on Sunday and Cameron on Monday morning, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Turkey. Mr Putin, who has been heavily criticised for concentrating Russia’s aerial bombardment in Syria on non-isil rebels, said a closer coalition was “indispensable”. "I spoke about this at the United Nations,” he said. “The tragic events that followed have confirmed that we were right."  (Source: TheTelegraph): http://tinyurl.com/nskyhr5

16  November 2015  Tragic list of the lost: photos of the victims from the deadly Paris attacks emerge as friends and relatives are forced to wait for news of their missing loved ones. Photos and tribute posted on social media for the victims of the horrific terror attack in Paris, France. Details are starting to emerge of the 129 lives that were brutally cut short by the gunmen during Friday's atrocities  One British victim from the Bataclan massacre has been named as Alexander, 36, from Colchester, Essex. A 'handful' of Britons were among those killed in Paris attacks, which also left 352 injured - 99 critically. Up to 30 bodies have yet to be identified, according to French authorities. See full coverage of the victims of the isis attacks in Paris at www.dailymail.co.uk/isis (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/nrh2gw4

16 Nov 2015  Suspect on the run as terror raids end in failure - latest news (Source: TheTelegraph): http://tinyurl.com/o3mtggb

Germany
18-19 November 2015  What is the driving force behind jihadist terrorism? Radicalisation is a youth revolt against society, articulated on an Islamic religious narrative of jihad. It is not the uprising of a Muslim community victim of poverty and racism: only young people join, including converts who did not share the “sufferings” of Muslims in Europe. These rebels without a cause find in jihad a “noble” and global cause, and are consequently instrument alised by a radical organisation (Al Qaeda, isis), that has a strategic agenda. There are no psychiatric specific patterns for radicals. The majority of the radicals come from second generation Muslims born in Europe, the others are converts; almost none came as a young adult or as a teenager to Europe from the Middle East. Many have a past of petty delinquency and drug dealing. It is clearly a youth movement: almost all of them radicalised to the dismay of their parents and relatives. Very few of them had a previous story of militancy, either political (pro-Palestinian movements) or religious (local mosques, Tabligh, Muslim Brothers or even main stream Salafism). The unusual proportion of converts has been systematically overlooked because it contradicts the (culturalist) idea that individual radicalisation reflects a radicalisation of a frustrated Muslim community. A more recent pattern is the recruitment of young women to marry “jihadists”, instead of sharing common militancy as their predecessors. The rate of converts among this category is probably the highest among all categories of recruits. The main motivation of young men for joining jihad seems to be the fascination for a narrative: “the small brotherhood of super-heroes who avenge the Muslim Ummah”: - This ummah is global and abstract, never identified with a national cause (Palestine, or even the Syrian or Iraqi nations). The religious dimension: the revolt is expressed in religious terms for two reasons:  - Most of the radicals have a Muslim background, which makes them open to a process of re-islamisation (almost none of them being pious before entering the process of radicalisation). Jihad is the only cause on the global market. If you kill in silence, it will be reported by the local newspaper; if you kill yelling  “Allahuakbar”, you are sure to make the national headlines. When they join jihad, they adopt the Salafi version of Islam, because Salafism is both simple to understand (don’ts and do’s), and rigid, providing a personal psychological structuring effect. Moreover, Salafism is the negation of cultural Islam, that is the Islam of their parents and of their roots. Instead of providing them with roots, Salafism glorifies their own deculturation and makes them feel better “Muslims” than their parents. Salafism is the religion by definition of a disenfranchised youngster. Radicals have a loose or no connection with the Muslim communities in Europe. Few of them were regular “parishers” in a local mosque. None of them was active in religious activities (proselytism): when they preach Islam it is to recruit other radicals, not to spread the good news. This explains why 1) the close monitoring of mosques brings little information; 2) Imams have little or no influence on the process of radicalisation; 3) “reforming Islam” does not make sense: they just don’t care about “what Islam really means”. “Religiosity” not theology is the key. Consequence for fighting radicalization: to promote a “moderate Islam” to bring radicals back to the mainstream is nonsense. They just reject moderation as such. To ask the “Muslim community” to bring radicals back to normal life is also nonsense. Radicals just don’t care about people they consider as “traitors”, “apostates” or “collaborators” as long as they don’t choose the same path. To consider Islam only through the lenses of “fighting terrorism” will validate the narrative of persecution and revenge that feeds the process of radicalisation. The priority, beyond building a more sophisticated intelligence system, is to debunk the narrative of heroism, to break the “success story” of isis as being invincible (including on the ground) and to let Islam in Europe appear as a “normal” religion. The aim is to accentuate the estrangement of radicals from the Muslim population and to dry up the narrative of Islam as the religion of the oppressed. (Source: BundesKriminalamt): http://tinyurl.com/oofp6sv
(("Ha így lenne, a világon mindenütt, mondjuk Szaúd-Arábiában és más Öböl-monarchiákban is tombolnia kéne a dzsihádnak. De nem tombol."))

Great Britain
Nov 18, 2015  Britain to boost spy agencies after Paris attacks. Britain is to recruit an extra 1,900 security and intelligence staff to counter the threat of terrorist violence following the deadly Paris attacks, British media reported. (Source: Yahoo):http://tinyurl.com/naaue2x

Vatican
November 19, 2015  Terrorist alert: U.S. State Dept warns Americans abroad to steer clear of Vatican (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/qcqr97e

European Union
18 Nov 2015  The end of Schengen as we know it? Greece, Spain and Italy will be kicked out of the current zone along with some Eastern European countries as free travel is blamed for migrant crisis. Calls to redraw zone which is blamed for spiralling migrant crisis. A new 'mini-Schengen' with fewer countries proposed to help ease flows. Emergency EU meeting on Friday will discuss new Schengen borders European Council president Tusk says 'clock is ticking'. Eastern European countries will be kicked out of the Schengen Zone along with Greece, Spain, and Italy under a radical plan to save the European Union passport-free travel area in the wake of the migrant crisis. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are set to re-draw the boundaries to just include the original members, creating a ‘Mini-Schengen’. The present-day zone covers all the EU Member States – except the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia – as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which are all outside the EU. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/p38c7ke

November 17, 2015 Paris terror uniting East Europe Against Merkel's refugee plan. Bulgarian diplomat calls talks over EU migrant quotas `absurd'. Polish minister rejects German pressure, cites Nazi past. The EU is increasingly split along east-west lines over how to deal with the immigration crisis as the European Commission estimates 3 million asylum seekers may be heading toward the bloc by 2017. A group of formerly communist countries led by Hungary, one of the nations most affected by the flood of migrants, have opposed German-led efforts to introduce a quota system to settle them, drawing criticism that the recipients of billions of euros in aid from the west aren’t willing to help their richer neighbors. Merkel, who allowed an estimated 1 million asylum seekers into Germany this year, seeks to relocate those fleeing war and civil strife in the Middle East and North Africa across the 28-nation EU. The plan is straining her ties with countries such as Poland and the Baltic nations, which count on German backing for continued sanctions on Russia following President Putin’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. Poland’s Interior Minister Blaszczak, of the Law & Justice party that won last month’s election after promising to take the country out of the “EU mainstream,” recalled the Nazi’s destruction of Warsaw during World War II when asked about German politicians’ comments suggesting  Poland should show more solidarity in trying to resolve the migrant crisis. “This is another example of German arrogance,” Blaszczak told TVN24. “We are in Warsaw, which was destroyed by Germans agents, who murdered 50,000 people, including women and children” during a raid on its Wola district in 1944, he said. (Source: Bloomberg): http://tinyurl.com/qcvua48

12th November 2015  EU can't send failed migrants back to Africa: £1bn aid deal is snubbed. Africa will refuse to take back failed asylum seekers who travelled to Europe. European leaders had offered a £1billion aid package. But a migration summit in Malta descended into chaos last night after Africans rejected the proposals. The EU plans would see migrants without passports sent back with special travel documents to allow them re-entry. Ethiopia will receive £125m to help deal with its refugee population, which has soared from 90,000 in 2011 to 700,000 in 2015. Another £5m will be used to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance in Mali and Burkina Faso. (Source: DailyStar): http://tinyurl.com/n994adl

Iraq
12 November 2015. isis releases chilling video threatening to attack Russia 'very soon' and 'make their wives concubines' two weeks after claiming to have bombed one of its jets. Footage was posted online by terror group's notorious propaganda wing. Video includes chants of 'soon very soon, the blood will spill like an ocean'. Shows horrific images of prisoners being decapitated and shot in the head. isis has previously threatened revenge for Russian air strikes in Syria. The video come nearly two weeks after isis affiliate Sinai Province claimed it blew up the St Petersburg-bound Metrojet plane on October 31. The terror group had promised revenge after Russia began a campaign of air strikes in Syria six weeks ago, targeting isis strongholds as well as moderate rebels backed by the West who are fighting President Assad. 'Bomb plotter': Secretive isis leader Masri is suspected of blowing up the Russian holiday jet over Egypt killing all 224 people on board. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/no43ayo

Israel
November 18, 2015  Lasers cool liquid for the first time. The technique, which was able to drop a liquid's temperature by 20 degrees Celsius, could eventually be used for everyday tasks like refrigerating water.
(Source: CNet): http://tinyurl.com/obpash6

Saudi Arabia
November 20, 2015  Saudi Arabia, an isis that has made it. The islamic state; Saudi Arabia. In its struggle against terrorism, the West wages war on one, but shakes hands with the other. This is a mechanism of denial, and denial has a price: preserving the famous strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia at the risk of forgetting that the kingdom also relies on an alliance with a religious clergy that produces, legitimizes, spreads, preaches and defends Wahhabism, the ultra-puritanical form of Islam that daesh feeds on. Wahhabism, a messianic radicalism that arose in the 18th century, hopes to restore a fantasized caliphate centered on a desert, a sacred book, and two holy sites, Mecca and Medina. Born in massacre and blood, it manifests itself in a surreal relationship with women, a prohibition against non-Muslims treading on sacred territory, and ferocious religious laws. That translates into an obsessive hatred of imagery and representation and therefore art, but also of the body, nakedness and freedom. Saudi Arabia is a daesh that has made it. The West’s denial regarding Saudi Arabia is striking: It salutes the theocracy as its ally but pretends not to notice that it is the world’s chief ideological sponsor of Islamist culture. The younger generations of radicals in the so-called Arab world were not born jihadists. They were suckled in the bosom of Fatwa Valley, a kind of Islamist Vatican with a vast industry that produces theologians, religious laws, books, and aggressive editorial policies and media campaigns. One might counter: isn’t Saudi Arabia itself a possible target of daesh? Yes, but to focus on that would be to overlook the strength of the ties between the reigning family and the clergy that accounts for its stability — and also, increasingly, for its precariousness. The Saudi royals are caught in a perfect trap: weakened by succession laws that encourage turnover, they cling to ancestral ties between king and preacher. The Saudi clergy produces Islamism, which both threatens the country and gives legitimacy to the regime. daesh has a mother: the invasion of Iraq. But it also has a father: Saudi Arabia and its religious-industrial complex. Until that point is understood, battles may be won, but the war will be lost. Jihadists will be killed, only to be reborn again in future generations and raised on the same books. (Source: The NewYorkTimes): http://tinyurl.com/pwjgfec

Syria
Nov 19, 2015  The Islamic State group is aggressively pursuing development of chemical weapons, setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region, according to Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials. (Source: AP): http://tinyurl.com/nka3anw

17 November 2015 Sick taunts of the Paris mastermind: Jihadist boasts of freely crossing Europe's borders and mocks police who had him in their clutches. isis jihadi Abaaoud has shuttled between Syria and Europe, exploiting the migrant crisis on EU borders. The mastermind of the horrific terror attacks travelled across Europe despite being on several wanted lists. He recruited two brothers he had known since childhood to carry out Friday's murders of 129 people. The jihadi was even featured in isis's propaganda magazine Dabiq, bragging about his terror plans for Europe. See full coverage of the isis militants at www.dailymail.co.uk/isis     The discovery of a car on the Austrian border with Germany with professionally-prepared hidden compartment containing explosives and weapons is a further warning sign. (Source: DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/npk98co

Turkey
2015/11/20  President Erdoğan calls Muslim countries to unite against terrorism (Source: TheDailySabah): http://tinyurl.com/ptqkm2t

November 20, 2015  Turkey foiled major isil attack on G-20. (Source: HurryjetDailyNews): http://tinyurl.com/nb45ypk

United States
12 Nov 2015   Putin's media Svengali who was found dead in DC hotel was 'murdered for being an FBI informant' - or could even still be alive, claim Russians. Millionaire Lesin, 57, was found dead in $240-a-night in Washington DC last Friday and police are investigating. The pro-Putin 'propaganda channel' he set up, RT, claimed he 'had been suffering from a prolonged unidentified illness'. But DC police have made no such finding and now speculation is mounting in Russia that he was murdered because he had turned FBI informer. Known as 'the Bulldozer' he was key to media falling into line with Putin, for getting the media to dance to Putin's tune. He  had recently found new love and become father with Siberian model, 29. He was a Svengali figure for Putin, who was alleged to have menaced the Russian media into idolizing the strongman president. Lesin was Putin's press secretary during his first stint as president, from 1999 to 2004, before becoming an adviser to the president between 2004 to 2009, founded state television network Russia Today, regarded in the West as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin  He also set up Russia Today, now RT, seen by critics as a 'propaganda' channel aimed at the West. But earlier this year, after the break-up of his marriage, and in a new relationship with his Siberian lover who he may have wed - she referred to him as her 'husband' - he suddenly quit the latest of several high profile positions, as head of Gazprom Media, a major state owned media conglomerate The idea for Russia Today (RT) was conceived by Lesin as the Russian government sought to improve the public image of the country. Before its conception in 2005, the head of the RIA Novosti news agency  Mironyuk said Russia was only known for 'communism, snow and poverty'. Some would argue RT has done little to change that, with most of the West seeing the state-funded television network as a  media arm for the Kremlin and Putin. During the conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008, RT named Georgia as the aggressor, despite Russia invading parts of Georgia, which had merely defended itself against attack from the separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The channel caused consternation in the US in 2010 when it released controversial adverts showing President Obama merging into Iranian president Ahmadinejad. It was captioned 'Who poses the greatest nuclear threat?' and subsequently banned in US airports, while a similar advert showing a soldier merging into a Taliban fighter causing similar uproar. In 2012 RT's website was hacked by a group called Antileaks, believed to be because of Wikileaks chief Assange backing of the channel or because of the jailing of protest group Pussy Riot. Secretary of State Kerry has referred to Russia Today, often shortened to RT, as a 'propaganda bullhorn'. Following the crisis in Ukraine, Kerry said: 'Russia Today network has deployed to promote president Putin's fantasy about what is playing out on the ground. 'They almost spend full-time devoted to this effort, to propagandize, and to distort what is happening or not happening in Ukraine.'  Even  Putin has admitted RT is biased, saying: 'Certainly the channel is funded by the government, so it cannot help but reflect the Russian government's official position on the events in our country and in the rest of the world one way or another. 'But I’d like to underline again that we never intended this channel, RT, as any kind of apologetics for the Russian political line, whether domestic or foreign.' Lesin was found dead at 11:30am on November 6 while staying on an upper floor at the $240-a-night Dupont Circle Hotel, seen as modest for his multimillionaire lifestyle. Lesin's company the Dastel Corporation bought a 13,000 sq ft Beverly Hills home in August 2011 for $13.8 million and a 10,600 square foot property in Brentwood for $9 million in 2012, it was reported. 'For over a year he was living under FBI scrutiny and a total check on his assets. (Source. DailyMail): http://tinyurl.com/p4hw4hm

Space
16 Nov 2015  Astronaut just tweeted a picture of a ‘UFO’ (Source: TheNewYorkPost): http://tinyurl.com/owh76le

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Sun, Earth

/ Danube

Time data regarding the occurence of M-class or stronger solar flares, Kp= 5-level or greater geomagnetic storm activity, big or slow solar wind speed, etc. Quakes, possibly about some volcano activity.

2015/11/20

SUN:
New sunspot region on the East, number 2457 continues to rotate onto the disk. 
Today solar activity was very low. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed.
SPACE:
Solar wind speeds steadily decreased from about 420 km/s to around 365 km/s
until 17:00 UT when slowly increased;  
end-of-day values were near 415 km/s.
Today Bz was primarily northward, the phi angle was mostly in a negative (toward the Sun) solar sector orientation.
EARTH:
The geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels.
(Update -): At 06:05 UT Copahue volcano Central Chile - Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): crater incandescence, small explosions, continuous emissions of water vapor and gas.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): see also the 18 November situation.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): see also the 18 November and 24 November situation.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 18 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 19 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 18 November situation.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): see the 18 November situation.
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m):  see the 18 November situation.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): steam, gas, and ash emissions rose 500 m above the crater and drifted west. See also the 18 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): see the 19 November situation.
Sheveluch volcano Central Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 3283 m ): see the 18 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): high volcano-tectonic activity characterized by long-period events, explosions, signals of emissions. Ash-and-gas emissions rose as high as 3 km above the crater and drifted south-west, west and north-west. Ashfalls in areas including at a distance of 13 km west-southwest, 25 km west, 23 km north-west ( - updated).

2015/11/19

SUN:
Solar activity was very low. No Earth directed coronal mass ejection was observed.
SPACE:
00:00-00:30 UT: solar wind speed reached a maximum velocity of about 500-530 km/s and started to decrease.
throughout most of the period of 00:00-12:00 UT the phi angle was predominantly negative (towards the Sun);
01:45-04:25 UT: a brief phi angle rotation into the positive (away from Sun) sector.
SPACE:
around 07:30 UT  Bz reached a southward deflection of -6 nT.
today the phi angle generally was in a negative (toward the Sun) solar sector orientation. Solar wind speeds reflected waning CME effects, weak negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) influence, and slowly decreased from about 520 km/s to around 370 km/s. The interplanetary magnetic field Bz was mostly northward.
EARTH:
Early in this day the geomagnetic field was active;
through the remainder of the day it was quiet to unsettled.
20:05 UT: an M5.5 quake occured at a distance of 91 km south-souteast from Chichi-shima, Japan; 1071 km south-southeast of Tokyo, Japan. See also: the Philippine Sea and vicinity.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): see also the 18 November situation.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): see also the 18 November and 24 November situation.
Chirpoi volcano Kuril Islands, Russia (elevation: 742 m): thermal anomaly detected  over Snow, a volcano of Chirpoi.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 18 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): gas, steam, and ash plumes rose as high as 1.5 km above the crater, and drifted west and south-west.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 18 November situation.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): see the 18 November situation.
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m):  see the 18 November situation.
Lokon-Empung volcano Sulawesi, Indonesia (elevation: 1580 m): see the 18 November situation.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): see the 18 November situation.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): ash plumes from Rinjani rose to altitudes of 3-4.3 km and drifted as far as 95 km south-west, west-northwest and west.
Sheveluch volcano Central Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 3283 m ): see the 18 November situation.
Soputan volcano Sulawesi, Indonesia (elevation: 1784 m): white plumes were rising as high as 200 m above. Low-frequency emission and avalanche signals of volcanic earthquakes. People were advised not to approach the craters within a radius of 2 km on the west-southwest flank.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 18 November situation.
22:30 UT: Copahue volcano Central Chile - Argentina border (elevation: 2953 m): tremor amplitude began to oscillate.

2015/11/18

Prediction from 17 November:
SPACE, EARTH:
around noon: a glancing blow or shock arrival from the 16/01:14 UT  CME can be expected.
EARTH:
18:31 UT: M7.0 quake occured at a distance of 118 km south-west from Dadali, Solomon Islands; 436 km south-east of Arawa, Papua New Guinea. See also: the New Guinea region and vicinity.
SUN:
Solar activity was low. No Earth directed CMEs were recorded. A new region is turning over the Nnorth-eastern limb.
SPACE:
19:23 UT: a shock is observed; the total interplanetary magnetic field reached 13 nT;
19:30 UT: the maximum southward component of Bz reached -10 nT, indicating a likely shock passage from the anticipated CME of 15-16 November;
20:37 UT: solar wind peak speed: 491 km/s due to the effect of the negative polarity recurrent coronal hole high speed stream.
21:00-24:00 UT: minor (G1) geomagnetic storm (Kp = 5)
EARTH:
Geomagnetic field: quiet to unsettled.
Asosan volcano Kyushu, Japan (elevation: 1592 m): white plumes rose 400-500 m above the rim of Asosan’s Nakadake Crater.
Awu volcano Sangihe Islands, Indonesia (elevation: 1320 m): significant increase in the number of shallow volcanic earthquakes from a baseline maximum of 4 events per day.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): ash plumes rose to altitudes of 4.9 - 7 km and drifted north-west, west, and south-west.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): gas, steam, and ash plumes rose as high as 1.5 km above the crater, and drifted west and south-west. Ashfall.
Dukono volcano Halmahera, Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): ash plumes rose to an altitude of 2.4 km and drifted 55-165 km in multiple directions.
Karangetang volcano Siau Island, Indonesia (elevation: 1784 m): the lava dome was incandescent at night. Variable amounts of white emissions rose as high as 200 m above main cater.
Karymsky volcano Eastern Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 1513 m): moderate explosive activity continued.
Kilauea volcano, Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): the lava lake continued to circulate and spatter in the Overlook vent. The northeast-trending lava flow continued to be active within 1.9-6.1 km of Pu'u 'O'o crater.
Lokon-Empung volcano Sulawesi, Indonesia (elevation: 1580 m): white plumes rising as high as 400 m above the crater. Seismicity fluctuated, but in a gradually increasing trend. People were reminded not to approach the crater within a radius of 2.5 km.
Reventador volcano Ecuador (elevation: 3562 m): high level of seismic activity - explosions, volcano-tectonic events, long-period earthquakes, harmonic tremor - and signals indicating emissions.
Rinjani volcano Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): ash plumes from Rinjani rose to altitudes of 3-4.3 km and drifted as far as 95 km south-west, west-northwest and west. Thermal anomaly; the activity had continued to decline.
Sheveluch volcano Central Kamchatka, Russia (elevation: 3283 m ): lava-dome extrusion onto its northern flank was accompanied by fumarolic activity, dome incandescence, ash explosions, hot avalanches. Daily thermal anomaly over the dome.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): high volcano-tectonic activity characterized by long-period events, explosions, signals of emissions. Ash-and-gas emissions rose as high as 3 km above the crater and drifted south-west, west and north-west. Ashfalls in areas including a distance of 13 km west-southwest, 25 km west, 23 km north-west. Incandescent blocks rolled 500 m down the flanks.

2015/11/17

EARTH:
07:10 UT: an M6.5 quake occured at a distance of 14 km west-northwest from Nidri, Greece; 289 km (west-northwest of Athens, Greece. See also: the Mediterranean region and vicinity.
17:29 UT: an M5.5 quake occured at a distance of -27 km west-northwest from of Gul'cha, Kyrgyzstan; 302 km south-southwest of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. See also: the Himalaya and vicinity.
SUN:
Solar activity was low. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CME) were observed.
SPACE:
For the majority of the day the phi angle was positive (away from Sun),
until approximately 19:40 UT when it rotated into the negative (towards the Sun) sector, where it remained for the rest.
Solar wind speeds were relatively steady between 360-380 km/s. The Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field was variable but predominantly in a southward orientation.
EARTH:
Today the geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels 
Prediction for 18 November:
EARTH:
tomorrow, around noon: a minor glancing blow or shock arrival from the 16/01:14 UT  CME can be expected, when a combination of a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream and the anticipated arrival of the 16 November CME will enhance solar wind conditions with possibly active geomagnetic conditions or minor geomagnetic storms. (The double filament eruption of late 15 November produced a double CME towards the South West).
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 11 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 11 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 11 November situation.
Fuego volcano Guatemala (elevation: 3763 m): see the 15 November situation.
Kilauea volcano Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): see the 11 November situation.
Nevado del Ruiz volcano Colombia (elevation: 5279 m): A gas, steam, and ash plume rose 2 km and drifted north-west and south-west.
Popocatepetl volcano Mexico (elevation: 5426 m): Ash plumes rose 2 km and incandescent material was deposited on the flanks within 1 km of the crater. See also the 11 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): See the 11 November situation.
Ubinas volcano Peru (elevation: 5672 m): thermal anomalies were detected.

2015/11/16

SUN:
Today solar activity was very low.
EARTH:
00:00-03:00 UT: the geomagnetic field had an isolated active interval, due to a prolonged period of southward Bz orientation of the solar winds.
00:39 UT: an M5.8 quake occured at a distance of 169 km south-southwest from George Town, Cayman Islands; 422 km westof Montego Bay, Jamaica; 450 km north-northeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. See also: the Caribbean region and vicinity.
SUN:
01:14 UT: an approximate 19 degree long filament was observed lifting off. An Earth-directed component is probable.
SPACE:
around 04:45 UT the Bz component of the magnetic field had a maximum deflection of -7 nT; it was predominantly southward.
15:25 UT: the greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached high levels with a peak flux of 3129 pfu.
EARTH:
16:49 UT: an M5.8 quake occured at a distance of 297 km south-southwest from Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia; 1842 km noth-east of Tokyo, Japan. See also: the Kuril-Kamchatka Arc.
Today the geomagnetic field was mostly quiet to unsettled; at active levels for 3 hours.
SPACE:
Solar wind speeds were in gradual decline, decreasing from 390 km/s to around 370 km/s. Phi was in the positive (away) sector. The Bz component of interplanetary magnetic field mostly stayed negative up to around -6 nT.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 11 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 11 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 11 November situation.
Fuego volcano Guatemala (elevation: 3763 m): see the 15 November situation.
Kilauea volcano Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): see the 11 November situation.
Nevado del Ruiz volcano Colombia (elevation: 5279 m): see the 11 November situation.
Popocatepetl volcano Mexico (elevation: 5426 m): 88 daily  seismic emissions.
Shishaldin volcano Fox Islands, USA (elevation: 2857 m): see the 11 November situation.
Sinabung volcano Indonesia (elevation: 2460 m):  see the 15 November situation.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): see the 11 November situation.
Ubinas volcano Peru (elevation: 5672 m): see the 11 November situation.

2015/11/15:

SPACE:
14:55 UT: the greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached high levels this period with a peak flux of 2,087 pfu.
since around 18:00 UT the Bz component was negative, dipping to -7 nT.
SUN:
Solar activity was very low.
20:48 UT: a coronal mass ejection (CME) lifted off the west limb.
around 21:14 UT: an approximate 21 degree long filament eruption occurred in the south-western quadrant. An Earth-directed component is probable.
22:09 UT: the southern extent of a filament structure located near disk center began lifting off. A lack of coronal eruptions on the visible disk suggests that the CME is associated with far-sided activity.
SPACE:
Towards the end of the day Bz reached a maximum southward deflection of -7 nT. The phi angle remained steady in positive (away from the Sun) solar sector configuration.
Today solar wind speeds declined; varied between 380-410 km/s.
EARTH:
Today the geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels.
Chirpoi volcano Kuril Islands, Russia (elevation: 742 m): see the 11 November situation.
Colima volcano Mexico (elevation: 3850 m): see the 11 November situation.
Cotopaxi volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5911 m): see the 11 November situation.
Dukono volcano Halmahera Indonesia (elevation: 1335 m): see the 11 November situation.
Kilauea volcano Hawaiian Islands, USA (elevation: 1222 m): see the 11 November situation.
Nevado del Ruiz volcano Colombia (elevation: 5279 m): see the 11 November situation.
Popocatepetl volcano Mexico (elevation: 5426 m): See the 11 November situation.
Rinjani volcano, Lombok Island, Indonesia (elevation: 3726 m): ash plumes rose to altitudes of 3.7-4.3 km and drifted as far as 240 km north-west, west and south-west.
Shishaldin volcano Fox Islands, USA (elevation: 2857 m): see the 11 November situation.
Sinabung volcano Indonesia (elevation: 2460 m): ash plumes rose to an altitude of 3.7 km and drifted sout-west and east.
Tungurahua volcano Ecuador (elevation: 5023 m): incandescent blocks rolled 1 km down the flanks. See also the 11 November situation.
Ubinas volcano Peru (elevation: 5672 m): see the 11 November situation.