He says when it came time to flee Damascus, he never dreamed of leaving Rose behind. ‘I love my dog,’ he says. ‘ I need him’. He's a nice cap and everybody will understand why he was taking his dog with him...


Sure, UNHCR is clearly addressing this message to Hunderts of Millions of pet lovers. I actually would have preferred a bit more maturity and not so much emotion: how about if UNHCR would ask the question what life is more worth, - this of drowned people in the Mediterranean or the life of all the people whose head was cut off by the criminal lunatics of ISIS/Desh. If both life are worth, so why is then the so called civilised world arming "moderate rebells" to enable these criminals to commit their murderous acts. But just don't let me open a can of worms, the lies are stinking to to sky!

After these days is a total lack of support by publishers if you are on a assignment for them, today I’m posting something against my principals: not to write for free about products.

But then, in times where reporting from sickening conflicts with marauding and completely demented freedom-fighters-terrorists I must introduce a cheap lens you can put on a cheaper camera, like a D200 or something from Cannon or Sony. 

Reporting from such countries like Egypt, Saudistan, Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya and not to mention Syria you will 100 % come across of one of these "security-confiscation-dump-heads”. He can take your camera, just make sure you get the card out before he satisfies his obsession with “security” by confiscating your camera. The quality which i coming out with the lens is stunning.

Actually don’t like to use “rubber lenses” too much compromising and too little quality and then this: Last weekend a friend have had a 16-300. He used it for taking shots from parachuters as we were still hanging in the air. Yes, 16-300 and then not even Nikon: a Tamron... Tamron is a supplier for Nikon...


Still, I was not convinced. Testing on a new D810i, then on a older D800 and then with my Rottweiler cameras which I use when out in the fields in rain and mess, an old D200 a D80. Ok, the weight is nice, not too heavy, approximately the same as my beloved 2.8 : 180... Autofocus fast enough. Just check the spec via the link below, Tamron does not give a lens for free, so I don't advertise for free. Even as a non rubber-lens (zoom-lens) user, I found the lens really easy to handle. 


What convinced me later was as I looked at the images on the laptop. This lens is certainly better as Nikons 70-300 for the DX cameras. So I checked out prices. Here in France they sales octopus, called Amazon, offers them already for bit more then € 500. So I called my pro dealer in Frankfurt, Germany. He was confused to have such request, but after exchanging some jokes he came up with a similar price. 

Here are the specs : http://www.tamron.eu/lenses/16-300mm-f35-63-di-ii-vc-pzd/

EU must now, today, push for peace between Ankara and PKK. Otherwise, no one should be surprised if again tens of thousands are fleeing into the EU. An escalation in the regions of the Kurds in Turkey could lead to a war between Ankara and the Kurdish forces in northern Syria, who are allied with the PKK. And this chaos could encourage Turkey to actions the underground cells of the so-called Islamic State of ISIS / DESH.

Now even Cameron and Hollande have lived themselves to the enlightenment: If you want to stop the flow of refugees from Syria, you have to solve the war in Syria. There was nothing about what they meant… But I guess they are clueless and will continue to fight a war with war. At least they know that it does not produce the positive results they are claiming, but it will be good for the “defence”-industry   

Erdogan is now surfing on the wave of refugees flowing into Europe because he knows nobody in Europe will understand from which region a ethnical cleansed Kurd is coming. But as the midwife of ISIS / DESH he was very successful...

Turkish troops have now crossed the border into Iraq even which makes it abundantly clear that Erdogan is interested in an escalation to divert attention from his domestic political chaos.  Barzani can not do very much against this Turkish invasion. During the winter in the cold mountainous Kurdish region of Iraq mechanised troops will not stay a change to archive their goals. Because he can not win his “war on terror” the next step will be that Erdogan will then also send troops across the border to Syria.

At this point it will be time to think about to exclude Turkey from NATO to stop him from political flying blind into a disaster. The PKK is on the terrorist list of the US and the EU. At the same time the US forces operating in Syria closely with allies of the PKK. Voice channels on both sides are now still open. And they must be used to bring a quick end to the fighting to Erdogan Neo-Ottoman dreams. If that is not tried, no one should be surprised if in half a year more of tens of thousands of people are running from jet another conflict into the direction of the EU. 

images can be downloaded here