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Τρίτη 15 Σεπτεμβρίου 2015

Φλερτάροντας στην Σερβία

Ο χορός του Αλεξάνταρ Βούτσιτς μεταξύ Ρωσίας και Δύσης
Στο τέλος του Ψυχρού Πολέμου, φαινόταν ότι θα εξαφανιζόταν το σύνορο μεταξύ της λεγόμενης διεθνούς Αριστεράς και της διεθνούς Δεξιάς. Δεν έγινε έτσι. Στην πραγματικότητα, καθώς η Ρωσία επαναβεβαιώνει τις σφαίρες της επιρροής της και οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες και οι ευρωπαϊκές δυνάμεις αγωνίζομαι για να δημιουργήσουν τον δικό τους συνασπισμό, η παγκόσμια πολιτική είναι τώρα πιο πολωμένη [1] από κάθε άλλη φορά από το 1989.
Αρκετές χώρες της ευρωπαϊκής περιφέρειας, όπως η Ελλάδα, η Ουγγαρία, η ΠΓΔΜ και η Σλοβενία, κλίνουν προς την Ρωσία. Αρκετές άλλες παρασύρθηκαν από την οικονομική ενίσχυση που η Ρωσία υπόσχεται να παραδώσει μέσω του αναζωογονηθέντος σχεδίου για τον αγωγό πετρελαίου Balkan Stream [2]. Γι’ αυτό είναι μια ευπρόσδεκτη έκπληξη για τους Δυτικούς ηγέτες ότι η Σερβία, ένας παραδοσιακός σύμμαχος της Ρωσίας, φαίνεται έτοιμη να πάει προς την Δύση. Όμως, το εάν τα αρχικά σήματα θα γίνουν πραγματικότητα, μένει να το δούμε.

We are witnessing 'the most significant new Russian military foothold in the Middle East in decades'


putin REUTERS/Host Photo Agency/RIA NovostiRussia's President Vladimir Putin (L) greets the commanders of units, participants of the Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015.
Russia is taking a more active role in propping up the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, expanding its physical footprint in the Middle East.
American officials admitted to The New York Times that Russia is now using an air corridor over Iran and Iraq to transport military equipment and personnel to Syria despite US attempts to guard this airspace.
And Russian advisors have taken over the main airport near the capital, positioning tanks and directing flights.

Air Force and National Guard heroes of French Train attack to receive medals

 
 
 
Air Force and National Guard heroes of French Train attack to receive medals
Good, at least the DoD seems to have learned some from the Ft. Hood shootings.  From Air Force Times:
Airman Spencer Stone, hero in foiled French terror plot, to receive Purple Heart.
Stone's friend, Army Spc. Alek Skarlatos of the Oregon National Guard, will also be honored in the Pentagon's center courtyard Thursday.

Άγκαθα Κρίστι 1890 – 1976


Άγκαθα Κρίστι

Η Άγκαθα Κρίστι (Agatha Christie), η πιο διάσημη συγγραφέας έργων μυστηρίου, γεννήθηκε στις 15 Σεπτεμβρίου του 1890 ως Μαίρη Κλαρίσα Άγκαθα Μίλερ, στο Ντέβον της Αγγλίας. Μεγάλωσε στο Άσφιλντ, όπου έβγαλε το σχολείο και στη συνέχεια σπούδασε τραγούδι στο Παρίσι.
Το 1914, πριν από τον Α’ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, παντρεύτηκε τον συνταγματάρχη Άρτσιμπαλντ Κρίστι, με τον οποίο απέκτησε μία κόρη. Όταν ο σύζυγός της αποστρατεύτηκε, η ίδια εργάστηκε ως βοηθός σε φαρμακείο, όπου έμαθε για τα δηλητήρια.

Αλέξανδρος Ζαΐμης 1855 – 1936


Αλέξανδρος Ζαΐμης

Νομικός, τραπεζίτης και πολιτικός. Έφθασε στα ανώτατα αξιώματα της ελληνικής πολιτείας και διατέλεσε Πρωθυπουργός και Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας.
Ο Αλέξανδρος Ζαΐμης γεννήθηκε στην Αθήνα στις 9 Νοεμβρίου 1855 και ήταν γιος του καλαβρυτινού πολιτικού Θρασύβουλου Ζαΐμη, που διατέλεσε επανειλημμένα πρωθυπουργός. Σπούδασε νομικά στην Αθήνα και τη Γερμανία και αναγορεύθηκε διδάκτορας του Πανεπιστημίου της Χαϊδελβέργης. Μετά το θάνατο του πατέρα του άρχισε να πολιτεύεται στην επαρχία Καλαβρύτων. Το 1855 εκλέχτηκε βουλευτής για πρώτη φορά υπό τη σημαία του Θεόδωρου Δηλιγιάννη και έκτοτε εκλεγόταν συνεχώς έως το 1915. Διετέλεσε Πρόεδρος της Βουλής και Υπουργός Δικαιοσύνης και Εσωτερικών σε κυβερνήσεις του Θεόδωρου Δηλιγιάννη.

Σταύρος Παράβας 1937 – 2008


Σταύρος Παράβας Ο μεγάλος μας κωμικός Σταύρος Παράβας γεννήθηκε στις 15 Απριλίου του 1935 από γονείς Μικρασιάτες και ήταν ο μικρότερος από τα πέντε αδέλφια του. Μεγάλωσε στα Προσφυγικά, στη λεωφόρο Αλεξάνδρας. Τα παιδικά του χρόνια ήταν δύσκολα, αλλά γεμάτα από αγάπη, ανεμελιά και όνειρα, όπως έλεγε...
Από μικρός έπεσε στα βαθιά, καθώς έπρεπε να βοηθήσει την οικογένειά του. Έτσι, για αρκετά χρόνια έκανε δουλειές του ποδαριού. Όμως, το σαράκι του ηθοποιού τον έτρωγε. Από τα σχολικά του χρόνια, ακόμη, συμμετείχε σε θεατρικές παραστάσεις, ενώ τα αδέλφια και οι συμμαθητές του τον παρότρυναν να συνεχίσει.

Ότο Βίλχελμ φον Κένιξμαρκ 1639 – 1688


Ότο Βίλχελμ φον Κένιξμαρκ

Γερμανός ευγενής, στρατιωτικός, πολιτικός και διπλωμάτης, ο οποίος ευθύνεται για τις ανεπανόρθωτες ζημιές που υπέστη η Ακρόπολη κατά τη διάρκεια του ΣΤ' Ενετοτουρκικού Πολέμου και οι οποίες αποδίδονται στον επικεφαλής των Ενετικών δυνάμεων Φραντσέσκο Μοροζίνι.
Ο Ότο Βίλχελμ κόμης του Κένιξμαρκ (Otto Wilhelm Graf von Königsmarck) γεννήθηκε στις 5 Ιανουαρίου 1639 στην πόλη Μίντεν της Βεστφαλίας, την οποία τότε κατείχαν οι Σουηδοί. Ο πατέρας του Χανς Κρίστοφ φον Κένιξμαρκ (1600-1668) ήταν στρατιωτικός στην υπηρεσία της Σουηδίας και έφθασε μέχρι τον βαθμό του στρατάρχη. Η μητέρα του Αγκάτε φον Λίστεν καταγόταν κι αυτή από αριστοκρατική οικογένεια.

Διεθνής Ημέρα Δημοκρατίας



Η Διεθνής Ημέρα Δημοκρατίας εορτάζεται κάθε χρόνο στις 15 Σεπτεμβρίου με πρωτοβουλία της Διακοινοβουλευτικής Ενωσης (IPU) από το 1997, ενώ από το 2007 υιοθετήθηκε από τη Γενική Συνέλευση του ΟΗΕ.
Η Δημοκρατία σε όλες τις εκφάνσεις της, από την Αρχαία Αθήνα έως τη σύγχρονη εποχή, όπου συνεχώς διευρύνεται γεωγραφικά, είναι το πιο συμμετοχικό πολίτευμα που γνώρισε η ανθρωπότητα. Ο εορτασμός στοχεύει στην ανάδειξη των αξιών που αντιπροσωπεύει η Δημοκρατία, μέσα από σειρά εκδηλώσεων και πρωτοβουλιών από κράτη και πολίτες.

Αλμανάκ Βασική Έκδοση 15 Σεπτεμβρίου

Προβάλλονται μόνο τα σημαντικότερα!
μ. Χ.
1916
Ο «Μικρός Γουίλι», το πρώτο τανκ που κατασκευάστηκε από τους Βρετανούς, χρησιμοποιείται για πρώτη φορά κατά των Γερμανών στον Α' Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, στη Μάχη του Σομ.

Muslim Immigration and How to Handle It

  • The political history of Muslim states has often been restricted to two options. They have either been ruled by nationalist ("secular") oppressive regimes, or Islamist oppressive regimes. Unfortunately, many people in Middle East have so much affinity for political Islam that they do not realize that political Islam is the root cause of their problems. That attitude is the main reason they cannot get rid of their backward and violent regimes, or make cultural or scientific progress.
  • Sadly, the founder of Islam did not leave behind a humanitarian message to respect people of other faiths and to be on an equal footing with them. What the the Islamic State (ISIS) and other barbaric Islamist groups have been doing to people is horrific beyond words; but it is meticulously based on Islamic scriptures. So it is not the West causing these human tragedies; it is Islam and Muslims.
  • Members of a culture that murders intellectuals who try to present ideas to improve their societies do not have the moral right to blame its backwardness and bloodthirsty culture on the West.
  • Muslims should not try to turn Europe, which is being so generous to them, into more Muslim lands. We already have far too much barbarity, misogyny and persecution in the Muslim world. Muslims could do our people an enormous service if instead they tried harder to turn the Muslim lands into Europe-like places.
  • The Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders has suggested that people who have a passport from an Islamic country, in addition to a Dutch passport, should sign an anti-Sharia declaration. It should state that they do not want to introduce Sharia (Islamic law) into the Netherlands, and that they repudiate all the violent passages in the Koran. New refugee-candidates might also sign such a declaration. If they support Islamic rule, then Europe is probably not the best place for them.
  • These stipulations are not "discrimination against Muslims," any more than requiring guests to your home to behave politely is discrimination against friends. This is merely the same way that rulers in the Middle East -- the Saudis, and Emiratis, for example -- regard foreigners and visitors. The proposal is a rational and legitimate way to protect European civilization and the lives and liberties of all of its citizens.

Turkey's "Free" Press

  • Turkey is increasingly becoming less safe for journalists as Erdogan's systematic campaign to intimidate goes at full speed.
  • In February 2015, Turkey ranked 149th on Reporters Without Borders (RSF) list of 180 countries. Venezuela, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria performed better than Turkey, where, according to RSF, arrests and intimidation of journalists are rampant.
  • In a fierce speech in front of the newspaper's building, AKP member of parliament, Abdurrahim Boynukalin vowed that the Dogan media company (which owns Hurriyet) will "get the hell out of Turkey" when Erdogan will have additional executive powers "whatever the electoral outcome on Nov. 1 will be."
In 2001, a group of Turkish Islamists broke off with their more hardline comrades and launched a "pro-reform, pro-Western, pro-European Union" (yet Islamist) party –the Justice and Development (AKP), promising to advocate universal values on human rights and democracy. In 2002, they rose to power and have since been ruling Turkey – despite a road accident they are now trying to fix after they lost their parliamentary majority in June 7 elections for the first time since 2002. New early elections are scheduled for Nov. 1.
The AKP's election manifesto in 2002 firmly stated that: "Our party views law not as a means to frighten or punish but as a means to provide justice." Impressive. The AKP promised "a state of law and a justice system in compliance with the universal norms." What else? From the election manifesto: "State officials will be prevented from neglecting their responsibilities [by] referring to justice the work they ought to be doing."
In 2002, when the AKP promised universal freedoms to Turkey, the world's largest press advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), ranked Turkey 99th on its world press freedom index (out of 134 countries surveyed.) Nearly 13 years later, in February 2015, Turkey ranked 149th on RSF's list of 180 countries. Venezuela, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria performed better than Turkey, where, according to RSF, arrests and intimidation of journalists are rampant. The group said: "Turkey's 'underlying situation' score -- covering such areas as cyber-censorship, lawsuits, dismissals of critical journalists and gag orders -- actually worsened, showing that freedom of information continues to decline."
AKP's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was elected president on Aug. 10, 2014. In the following 226 days a total of 236 people (more than one person per day), including minors and high school students, were investigated on charges of insulting the president. Turkey is increasingly becoming less safe for journalists as Erdogan's systematic campaign to intimidate goes at full speed.
Prosecutors recently launched a probe against Ertugrul Ozkok, one of Turkey's most prominent columnists (writing for Hurriyet daily). Ozkok is accused of holding Erdogan responsible for the death of a Syrian refugee child whose body washed ashore a Turkish holiday resort. Ozkok defended himself in a subsequent column: "I have not lost my sense so as to insult the country's elected President Erdogan by calling him a 'murderer.' Erdogan's name is not used in any line of my column." In Turkey you can be prosecuted for insulting the president whose name you never mention in your column.
One day after Ozkok faced investigation, a prosecutor launched a probe into another journalist, Ekrem Dumanli, over accusations of insulting Erdogan during his remarks on a TV program. During the TV broadcast Dumanli mentioned "those who staged a military coup on Sept. 12, 1980, and referenced their violent and cruel implications over the people with different ideologies who faced ill-treatment and torture in prisons designed especially for political prisoners." The journalist said that no form of oppression is acceptable and that the public did its part to get rid of the threat even in times of military coups. Like Ozkok, Dumanli did not mention Erdogan's name during the broadcast.
Prosecutors also have filed a case against Yavuz Baydar, columnist for Today's Zaman and Bugun daily, for insulting Erdogan in two of his recent columns published on Aug. 14 and 17.
"I really have a hard time in understanding how they found an insult in these two columns which referred to the president as 'esteemed or honorable' but which is [also] used to mean 'mister' and which included a critical quote," Baydar said. "Being critical, questioning and warning is our professional responsibility. We shall continue to criticize. Just like many other colleagues who are investigated [on the same charge], there is no intention to insult in these columns but the right to criticize was used. I am saddened. I am concerned for our country and the media." Last year, Baydar received the European Press Prize for his efforts "to build trust in journalism."
And on Sept. 6 a Dutch journalist based in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, an overwhelmingly Kurdish city, was detained by the police for the second time. Frederike Geerdink was detained at around 2 a.m., as she was following the election campaign of a pro-Kurdish party. "I am in custody in Yuksekova (town)," Geerdink tweeted. Geerdink was first detained in Diyarbakir in January on charges of "terrorist propaganda" but acquitted on those charges in April.
Dutch newspaper journalist Fréderike Geerdink (left) was detained this month by Turkish police. In March, she was indicted by a Turkish prosecutor for "terrorist propaganda," because of her writing on Kurdish affairs. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (right) insists that Turkey is a state of law and a defender of freedom of expression.
Ironically, the Islamists often speak honestly when they are angry and not calculating the best ways to cheat. On Sept. 6, Hurriyet's newspaper's office in Istanbul was pelted with stones by hundreds of club-wielding Erdogan fans. Video footage shows an AKP member of parliament, Abdurrahim Boynukalin, leading the mob. In a fierce speech in front of the newspaper's building, Boynukalin vowed that the Dogan media company [which owns Hurriyet] will "get the hell out of Turkey" when Erdogan will have additional executive powers "whatever the electoral outcome on Nov. 1 will be."
The AKP's 2002 election manifesto was not altogether wrong. Just one word was missing in it when it read: "Our party views law not as a means to frighten or punish but as a means to provide justice." It meant to say: "... to provide Islamist justice."
Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Η επιστολή του Milton Friedman στον Augusto Pinochet στο πως θα εφαρμόσει το ΔΟΓΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΣΟΚ!



Excmo Sr. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte
El Presidente
Edificio Diego Portales
Santiago, Chile
Dear Mr. President,
During our visit with you on Friday, March 21, to discuss the economic situation in Chile, you asked me to convey to you my opnions about Chile’s economic situation and policies after I had completed my visit. This letter is in response to that request.
May I first say how grateful my wife and I are for the warm hospitality that was showered on us by so many Chileans during our brief visit. We were made to feel very much at home. The Chileans we met were all aware of the serious problems your country faces; all realized that the immedaite future was going to be difficult; but all displayed a determination to surmount those difficulites and a dedication to work for a happier future.