1. 8. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
The Czech government is negotiating with the White House to site a military missile defence plan. The early warning center on Czech soil will be part of NATO missile defense, according to prime minister Petr Nečas.
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1. 8. 2010 / Jana Valdrová
I don't even know for how long SHE has been in charge of my life... That title already says it all, SHE is the symbol of us all, females! Every morning I click on that thin brunette (I wouldn't trust a blonde, we know how stupid they are) on iDnes.cz, so I can spend some moments admiring her beauty. Those eyes! Those long skinny legs! How graceful -- and if we brought her to life, she would certainly be at least two and a half meters tall!
A Czech version of this article is in
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1. 8. 2010 / Boris Cvek
I personally can't understand why people are surprised at the fact that the Social Democrats are acting in a conciliatory way towards the American project of building an anti-missile system in Czech Republic. ČSSD can basically be happy about not taking over its shoulders the responsibility that the government has over the project, because it would be dicey for the party to go against the U.S. radar as well as being in favor of it.
A Czech version of this article is in
2. 8. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
Lolita Lebron was a 34-year-old immigrant from Puerto Rico, when she decided to protest violently against the White House control of her country. In 1954, together with Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores and Andres Figueroa Cordero, Lolita entered the U.S. Capitol with automatic pistols and fired 30 shots altogether, while shouting "Viva Puerto Rico libre!". (HERE is a link to the original audio of the attacks.)
PUBLIC JOURNALISM
26. 7. 2010
Wikileaks has posted 91 370 files of confidential U.S. army archives recording the actions of international forces in Afghanistan to three media companies: American The New York Times, British The Guardian and German Der Spiegel.
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27. 7. 2010 / Petr Wagner
In this so-called "silly season" (that's how journalists call the summer time, when there is not as many serious news, when politicians and the population are on holidays, so lots of frivolities are published to fill up the gap) a discussion emerged about the idea from the new people at the Health Ministry of charging people for the care they get when the damage was caused by themselves (like in suicide attempts). As it is usual among us, this was done without any analysis of how much money we would really save with this measure and whether it makes sense at all to even consider it. So the discussion goes on about who should or should not pay. Obese people, smokers, motorcycle riders, mountain climbers, skiers, drivers, cyclists, swimmers...
A Czech version of this article is in
26. 7. 2010
The Czech Statistical Office said on Monday that the consumer confidence indicator, which stood at minus 4.6 a year ago, rose to minus 7.3. Gross domestic product rose 1.1 percent annually in the first quarter of the year, after a 3.2 percent contraction in the final three months of last year. The confidence indicators may range from minus 100, if all respondents are pessimistic, to 100, if all are optimistic. Czech annual inflation remained stable in June and unemployment dropped to 8.5% in June, from 8.7% in May.
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27. 7. 2010
Jana Bobošíková's political party Suverenita protests against the intention of the Nečas` government of privatizing Budvar [the original Czech Budweiser]. Suverenita wants to fight against that plan from the new government coalition in the Senate. [Bobošíková will be a candidate for the Senate in the upcoming mid-term elections].
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKE LISTY
27. 7. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
Carlos Brito is not a very communicative man. The only reason why he is giving any interview at all, these days, is because he is aware of the importance of conquering the American hearts, after acquiring their most beloved beer, Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser. If not for the need for a bit of diplomacy, after so many Americans felt their national pride hurt by losing their beer to a Belgian-Brazilian company, Brito would not answer any reporters, his secretary informed. This way she made clear that my questions, sent by email, could very well be rejected by her boss. "He feels that he has some obligation to react to the American media, but not necessarily to other nationalities", she added, to make sure I understood that being a Brazilian like him would bring me no privileges. All I wanted to know had to do with his plans over the legal fight with the original Budvar.
A Czech version of this article is in
27. 7. 2010 / Petr Jánský
Alfons Mucha painted the symbolic journey of our Czech history in the Zbiroh Castle, between 1910 -1928. We are talking about 20 giant canvases measuring about 4x5m. In 1928, Mucha, along with American patron Charles R. Crane, dedicated the painting to all Czechoslovak people, counting with Prague building a special place for the exhibition of the piece. The Prague Gallery (Galerie hl. města Prahy) was given the rights of use of the painting. During the Second World War the paintings had been hidden in two different places and ended up partially damaged by humidity.
A Czech version of this article is in
27. 7. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
Karel Dolejší correctly pointed out to a possible change in the interests of Brazil in relation to Colombia, after a new president is chosen in October. Last week, the opposition vice-presidential candidate accused Lula and his party of collaborating with the FARC drug trafficking (which goes through Brazil towards Portugal into Europe). If Sao Paulo governor and former Health Minister José Serra wins the election, Hugo Chavez would no longer have an ally at the biggest, richest and most powerful country in Latin America. But is there a chance of Serra winning?
CZECHING FROM ABROAD
26. 7. 2010
The British police is trying to have a Czech criminal deported back home. Ladislav Šimovič was arrested 25 times since moving to the UK in 2006.
26. 7. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
Would Obama want a war in South America? Does anyone believe that Americans would support a military conflict with Venezuela? After Obama was elected exactly because of the disgust with the war in Iraq? Every time Americans went to war, including the Second World War, the White House spent a long time creating the necessary propaganda to gather public support.
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22. 7. 2010 / Jan Čulík
During a recent visit to the South Bohemian region I asked around some locals about their situation. I am not sure about the young, but the elderly are mostly doing pretty bad over there. Their pensions don't go up much, on the other hand, their rent does. The result is that many retired senior citizens are left with only a few hundred Czech crowns per month to buy food. There are ladies over 80 years of age who can only allow themselves to buy potatoes.
A Czech version of this article is in
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22. 7. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
This Wednesday, almost a week later than it happened, news emerged that the Czech Army's General Staff headquarters had been robbed. The thieves penetrated the building's meeting room, which is monitored by members of the Prague garrisons, and took historical commemorative coins that belonged to General Picek. The criminals supposedly didn't take anything really important, the delicate question though is whether there is anything really important stored in that building.
A Czech version of this article is in
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22. 7. 2010 / Boris Cvek
Stanislav Křeek's article Hopeless government (http://czechfocus.cz/2010/7/20/art53560.html) clearly shows, in my opinion, why social democracy is, according to current opinion polls, losing against TOP 09, which could be the winner of the elections, were they today. But the Social Democratic party is just passivelly waiting for the center right government coalition to get people to poverty, making them mad -- then they start voting for the Left...
A Czech version of this article is in
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21. 7. 2010
The Green Party (Strana zelených) didn't have such a small number of votes even back when everybody poked fun at them, saying they were like watermelons: green outside, but red inside, writes Josef Ludvík.
A Czech version of this article is in
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21. 7. 2010 / Pavel Poc
Members of the European Parliament openly protested against the secrecy over the content of the meetings about the international treaty ACTA, which deal with copyrights. It's been a while already that government officials from the most developed countries have been meeting to discuss the issue, and that including representants from the European Commission. But the negotiations are strictly confidential and not even the experts on the field have any information about its progress.
A Czech version of this article is in
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21. 7. 2010 / Štěpán Kotrba
To have as president of the biggest political party a dilettante is the systematic problem of the whole opposition. Bohuslav Sobotka's pilgrimage from his Austerlitz (where he is a member of the municipal council), the Parliament and the Social Democrats` headquarters (the so-called People's House - Lidový dům), was not enough for him to realize that his shadow Minister of Interior and Secret Services, former minister of that same resort and intelligent services expert, pastor Bublan, is doggedly silent about the "Moroz" affair.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
20. 7. 2010
PRAGUE, July 20th, 2010 -- The information that Czech Republic should sell or exchange the Lobkowicz Palace, which has been used until now by the German embassy, has been received with disapproval by a descendant of the Lobkowicz branch.
A Czech version of this article is in
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20. 7. 2010 / Stanislav Křeček
Even if we still have to wait for the official government program announcement another day or so, we can already today, with regret, we can already be sure that Petr Nečas` administration is a hopeless government -- a government that doesn't give citizens any hope that someday in the future things will be better.
A Czech version of this article is in
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20. 7. 2010 / Michal Vimmer
Iva Bezděková wrote on her blog):
"The time for journalists to ask their questions is coming to an end. The last moment to request the people from the government ministries to explain those issues, against which the experts or the layman still have a problem with. But no question over those issues comes up. Reporters from the mainstream newspapers, from TV and even from the Czech News Agency (ČTK) didn't think up of any critical question. What they are interested in is what the outgoing female Health Minister thinks about her substitute and what she considers her biggest debt -- what she hasn't achieved -- in her resort"
A Czech version of this article is in
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20. 7. 2010 / Petr Jánský
More than half of Czechs were against Public Affairs party leader and former TV reporter Radek John becoming the Minister of Interior. The reason was the worry that his party is dominated by people from the security agency ABL. Premier Petr Nečas surprisingly allowed this to happen, so he named John for the post and president Klaus gave his signature. The president did the same with ABL owner Vít Bárta, allowing him to become Minister of Transports and Josef Dobeš Minister of Education (both from the Public Affairs party -- VV).
A Czech version of this article is in
20. 7. 2010
I would like to react on the article Disgusted with the Publc Affairs party (http://czechfocus.cz/2010/7/20/art53547.html), writes Jan Neuman.
I wouldn't like to get into analysing whether the criticized deputies of Minister of Interior Radek John, neither to solve whether Mr Moroz was appointed by TOP 09 or by the Public Affairs party (VV).
But I would like to point out that both criticized deputies -- Mr Moroz and Mr Zahálka -- who are mainly attacked by the Social Democratic party (ČSSD), one for his former job at security agency ABL and the other for his supposed connection with the communist regime's secret police, StB (it was actually his father who was a member), were already working for the Ministry of Interior before Radek John became a minister.
Both were brought there by Minister Pecina, from ČSSD. Mr Moroz, on top of all, was his advisor, which can be often more influential than the position of deputy minister. So, if those persons should not be working for the Ministry of Interior, then that should have been a conclusion already back when the minister was Social Democrat Pecina. Why he didn't get rid of them while in power? Thus, the current criticism by the Social Democrats against VV is hypocritical.
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19. 7. 2010 / Václav Žák
Czech Republic's recent election results, as it is always the case in mainstream politics, was influenced, in a decisive way, by our previous experience, not by some supposed "pathological anti-political" stand from the Czech nation.
A Czech version of this article is in
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19. 7. 2010 / Miloslav Štěrba
I didn't expect that there would be such an interest over the daily happenings of one of the small parties that disputed our latest elections. Nevertheless, if in my region the former Social Democratic premier Miloš Zeman's SPOZ party took from ČSSD some 30 percent of their votes, then it is certainly worthy to analyze with which political program and with which people this alternative party did that.
A Czech version of this article is in
16. 7. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
Head of the Office for the International Legal Protection of Children (ÚMPOD) Zdeněk Kapitán said in an article for Lidové Noviny that "The blacks from equatorial Africa are so black that they are actually purple - and we are not used to those here in the Czech Republic." He may not be a racist, but instead just have a typical short-sighted provincial mind, one which doesn't realize that if Czechs are to not discriminate against people who are not Caucasian, they have to be exposed to them.
A Czech version of this article is in
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16. 7. 2010 / Ladislav Žák
The establishment of the Social Democrats' shadow government was not accompanied by some program, with which the strongest opposition party would like to face the intentions of the coalition agreement, but ended up becoming just a backdrop for the internal fight for the top position in the party.
A Czech version of this article is in
15. 7. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
Argentina becomes first South American country to approve homosexual marriage gays and lesbians become equals to heterosexuals in their rights, including of adoption
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15. 7. 2010 / Petr Jánský
There are two kinds of people that frequent the international film festival in Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad). One type carrying their backpacks, actually there to see films, who sleep in tents, while the other type comes with a wife who is there "to see and be seen" and stay in expensive hotels. The first group pays for everything from the entrance tickets to the movies up to the mineral water they drink, while the second group, oddly enough, pays for nothing. They are there by the invitation of the festival's president, actor Jiří Bartoška, or from Mr. energy (ČEZ) monopoly chief Martin Roman.
A Czech version of this article is in
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15. 7. 2010 / Přemysl Janýr
In his article "Heads into the sand", Karel Dolejší disagrees with my article "Lessons from the Elections", for he believes that I am blindly believing the political program of TOP 09 and Public Affairs parties.
A Czech version of this article is in
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15. 7. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
"This habit of reducing a topic into a denunciation of the author is in the Czech rhetorical culture so widespread that it is worth an article itself", Přemysl Janýr wrote, in connection with my article (which he criticizes), saying he wrote about "the development of those changes in our values system", not about the credibility of any concrete party.
A Czech version of this article is in
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15. 7. 2010 / Jan Čulík
In relation to Karel Dolejší's piece (We are in 2010, not 1968), I would like to add two witnessing accounts from someone who was alive and part of that era. During the Prague Sping of 1968 (mostly) nothing was written about the possibility of an invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet forces not because that would be the consequence of some kind of censorship (at the time anarchy ruled, there was no censorship going on, everybody printed whatever they wished), but because in that widespread euphoria with the renewed freedoms, that thought simply didn't come to our minds.
A Czech version of this article is in
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15. 7. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
Of course that after the 1956 invasion of Hungary and the violent response to that country's try at a more independent system, there was no way not to think about that possibility. Nevertheless, there was no will from either the political parties nor the government officials to do what is one of the basic tasks that someone who is in charge of a government does: to evaluate all alternatives that the future may bring. To claim that such a thought never came to anyone's minds is a huge lie from the representatives of Prague Spring. The same can be said about the American financeers when they claim to not have seen the upcoming crisis already in 2007.
A Czech version of this article is in
15. 7. 2010
Here is the link to the audio recording of the interview with Britské Listy's founder and Editor-in-Chief Jan Čulík to the BBC World Service's programme Europe Today HERE
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15. 7. 2010 / Jan Čulík
Prague's Municipal Library in the Old Town area is holding a large exhibition covering Czech painting, drawing and partly even photography, covering a variety of styles and trends from the years between 1945-1957. The exhibition is very carefully prepared, with a well informed choice of pieces and visitors can find some rather inspiring facts.
A Czech version of this article is in
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14. 7. 2010 / Štěpán Kotrba
So finally a new government has been appointed and all that, which so far has been only part of their project, is now reality. That is why we can now ask the question: who really will be in charge of this government? Will it be the center right Civic Democrats (ODS) or someone else?
A Czech version of this article is in
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13. 7. 2010 / Miloslav Štěrba
In the autumn last year I accepted an offer by Miloš Zeman and, together with former Social Democrat parliamentarians Petr Šulák, from Vsetín, we've built in the Zlín reagio two local organizations for the then future Citizen's Rights Party -- Zeman's SPOZ (Strana práv občanů -- Zemanovci). Based on this personal commitment I can express my opinion over the current state of this party.
A Czech version of this article is in
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12. 7. 2010 / Václav Adam
The emerging center right government coalition between the Civic Democrats (ODS), TOP 09 and Public Affairs (VV) have as their main priority to stop the country's indebting. They count with being able to balance the budget from 2016. Only time will show whether they will be able to fulfill that plan. I personally think that they won't. Czech Republic has one of the lowest public debts in the world. That's why I think we should concentrate actually in economic growth and employment. And balance the budget only later, in 2020.
A Czech version of this article is in
CARLSBAD FESTIVAL
12. 7. 2010
The Mosquito Net, by Spanish director Augusti Vila, won the Crystal Globe at the 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
10. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
On the whole, sequels are rarely as good as the original film, and often, not good at all. Nikita Mikhalkov has decided to carry on the story of his 1994 Oscar-winning film Burnt By The Sun. It is further proof that successful films should just be let be and not squeezed for further profit.
9. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
We have been lamenting our film choices this year. It is such a sinking feeling coming out of a bad film. It makes you feel so empty and sad if you have been engaged for the last 100 minutes in a piece of film that has little or no meaning or some stupid idea which hasn't been developed properly. Sadly these three above films made me feel this way.
9. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
Emma Čulík's photographs from the 2010 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival are here:
Emma Čulík's photographs from the previous Karlovy Vary film festivals are here:
8. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
What is the recipe for a gripping film full of tension? Murderers? Kings? Femmes fatales? Or is it: two meteorologists, a radio, and lots of open hills? It turns out that it's the latter.
Russian filmmaker Alexey Popogrebsky chose an unusual subject for his latest film How I "Ended" My Summer -- two men who are manning a polar station in Chukotka in North-East Russia. This place is so remote that in Russian slang, "chukcha" (an inhabitant of the region) means a person who has a few screws loose.
An earlier Popogrebsky's film "Simple things/ Простые вещи" was reviewed by Emma Čulík in Britské listy in 2008 HERE
8. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
I recently wrote reviews of two films: Son of Babylon and Kawasaki's Rose. I said that Son of Babylon was painful to watch because it was so obvious that the filmmakers were trying to manipulate the viewer into empathy. Of Kawasaki's Rose I said that it was a beautiful film, subtly written and honest.
7. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
Being young and hip is one of the most desirable things nowadays. The best age to be is obviously twenty five, so that you can wear anything you want, go to cool parties, smoke like a chimney and not feel the consequences. Right?
I just saw a really cool film: Les amours imaginaires / Heartbreakers (Canada, 2010), which was a big hit with audiences at Cannes. It's about two best friends, Francis and Marie, who meet young Adonis Nicolas at one such cool party and both fall in love with him.
6. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
< Jan Hřebejk in Karlovy Vary
I just watched Jan Hřebejk's latest, Kawasaki Rose. Dissident psychologist Pavel Josek is being honoured for his achievements and place in Czech society. As a part of the preparations for the award, a television crew (of which the sound man happens to be Josek's son-in-law) is making a documentary about his life, current and memories recounted by him, his family and people he encountered in his life. During filming it transpires that Josek's history is not as spotless as it seems, but in fact he had betrayed his wife's former boyfriend.
6. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
At the festival this year one of the special sections is a focus on Belgian film. Two of the films I've seen happened to both be about young boys making their first steps on the road of independence, and the adults around them, and the beneficial or pernicious effect that they have.
A Czech version of this article is in
5. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
Last night, silly me, I gave in to the hype. I decided to go and see one of KV's 'Special Events' -- the screening of an Iraq film from last year, Son of Babylon, about the period shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein. A 12-year-old boy and his grandmother travel all over Iraq trying to find her son and his father, Ibrahim, who went missing in the first Iraq war in 1991.
4. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
In an interview once, Krysztof Kieslowski explained his move from documentary film to fictional dramatic film by saying that the situations which one most of all wants to shoot and must shoot most of all, the most human and meaningful moments -- these are places where one must never go with a camera. Perhaps the same can apply to Sergei Loznitsa, who after fifteen years of documentary film (including historical compilation documentaries made up of silent soviet footage) has just made his first feature film, Moё Schastie, My Joy.
FROM THE KARLOVY VARY FILM FESTIVAL:
4. 7. 2010 / Ema Čulík
Maybe it's a coincidence that I just saw two films about serial killers in a row. Maybe it's because serial killers are a deliciously juicy topic for the cinema, which loves psychology and sensation. These two films, though, were quite different from each other. One of them loved psychology (The Killer Inside Me, by British experimentor Michael Winterbottom) and one sensation (Normal, by Czech director Julius Ševčík.)
7. 7. 2010
Top officials from Europe are demanding governments from across the continent meet their international legal obligations and provide compensation and other protection measures for people trafficked into forced labour and sexual exploitation.
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28. 6. 2010 / Štěpán Kotrba
Think about it, who am I talking about? Mrs Unknown candidated for the post of deputy chairman of the Social Democratic party. That no one knows who she is? For the new leadership of ČSSD it seems to not matter. Mrs Nováčková ("nová" in czech is "new" in english) came from municipal politics, brought by the decision of the party faction called Social Democratic Women -- a group whose activities nobody outside of ČSSD has ever heard from since the time when Jana Volfová left it.
A Czech version of this article is in
17. 6. 2010 / Martin Myant
A number of contributors have raised the question of whether the Czech Republic really faces the possibility of being engulfed by a debt crisis similar to that afflicting Greece. The simplest measure, the level of state debt relative to GDP, suggests that any such danger is many years away. Nevertheless, fears over a repeat of the Greek crisis seem to have had a very strong influence on public opinion and hence on the results of the election. It needs a sober look.
My view is that rising state debt is undesirable, but that it is not the main danger facing the Czech Republic. The biggest danger is of a deepening world recession that could be caused by governments panicking to cut their levels of debt. The second biggest danger, for the Czech Republic in particular, is that panic over state debt will lead to cuts in important public services, damaging education, health provision, science and administrative capacity with serious consequences for future growth prospects.
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11. 6. 2010 / Václav Zoul
One incontestable success from these elections is that the group around Paroubek was pushed aside. We all know why and, at the same time, also that it happened way too late. The question is whether that was not another Pyrrhic victory in the sense that so far I haven't seen, within the new center right (better described as neoconservative) coalition, any mechanisms that could stop the corruption and destruction of the welfare state.
A Czech version of this article is in
1. 7. 2010
It has been announced that the European Resource Centre, which incorporates the Baykov Library, is to be moved off the main Edgbaston campus here at the University of Birmingham and relocated off the main campus at a site several miles away (the Orchard Learning Resource Centre, accessible via a 15-20 minute shuttle bus ride). The move is to be completed by September.
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11. 6. 2010 / Jiří Šteg
The Expert Advisory Body for the Ministry of Finance and for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (PES in Czech, which also means "dog") has completed its work and presented it to the public, government administrators and politicians a fundamental pension system reform proposal.
A Czech version of this article is in
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8. 6. 2010 / Ghassan Khaled
The former and the current Czech political representation should above all follow the interests of this country, instead of abuse the suffering of Palestinians for their own political goals. In the interests of Czech Republic as a small State, so many times also abused and was abandoned by other countries when in need, its politics are based on common deceny, because that is an asset that in the end everyone values.
A Czech version of this article is in
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8. 6. 2010 / Milan Kohout
As could be seen in the media on Friday, June 4th, Plzeň's local council decided that the organizer of the Anonynmous Performance festival, Michal Krisl, has to give back 2500 Czech crowns from the grant given to the event -- and on top of that the regional council cancelled an already approved grant of 15 thousand crowns. The decision came evidently from the complaint initiated by Mr Radkovský, who was outraged at the performance done in the Plzeň Cathedral, which pointed to the scandals propagated in the media, involving the abuse of thosands of Catholic children by priests all over the world. The council clearly looked for some loophole in the contract with the festival's organizers and found one sentence that somehow states that all performances from the festival should be played in "public places" (paradoxically the organization called Catholic Church says its buildings, called churches, as "always open" to the public.
A Czech version of this article is in
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7. 6. 2010 / Michael Kroh
Immediately after the end of the elections a bunch of "generals after the battle" emerged with their critical analysis of the Social Democrats' campaign and the behavior of its leader. And exception was the commentary written by Luděk Toman, who blames the right wing media for ČSSD's failure. Even Jiří Paroubek himself offers a similar view. The right wing media certainly inflated and exaggerated a lot of things, but could the mentioned commentator explain what they have lied about?
A Czech version of this article is in
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7. 6. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
In contrast with Michael Kroh I have probably read some completely different articles analysing the Social Democrats` Pyrrhic victory in this year's general elections. In the texts I've seen, besides discussing Paroubek's personality (which was done by all ČSSD critics, with the exception of one, according to Kroh), was the discussion of the mistakes done by the campaign in targeting a specific segment of voters, the role of the "Greek threat", the lack of emphasis on certain key issues during their media appearances, their lack of guts to talk about the need to increase taxes or the fatal way the Social Democrats` finances were administrated, which as consequence left a debt the party inherited. Those articles I read mentioned ČSSD`s program deficiencies in the post-Vladimír Špidla's era, the damages from the episodes around Kočka and Urban etc.
A Czech version of this article is in
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3. 6. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
Cardiff University's Law Professor Jiří Přibáň gave an interview to daily Právo, which was published under the title "In these elections we may get the definitive privatization of politics by the private sector. What is happening after these elections, just in front of our eyes, is that the Czech Republic is changing into a smaller copy of Boris Yeltsin's Russia, which was controlled by business oligarchs, confirming practically everything Přibáň said. After the recent news of how Kalousek's friend, armament king Háva, or about what magnates Bárta and Soukup expect from their privatized politicians, the public was told that billionaire Bakala dedicated 28 million Czech crowns to center right parties ODS, TOP 09 and populist party VV.
A Czech version of this article is in
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3. 6. 2010 / Michaela Appeltová
The center right Civic Democrats (ODS) doesn't have one single woman in their post-election government negotiation team. TOP 09 has one (Vlasta Parkanová), VV (Public Affairs party) has two (Krystýna Kočí and Karolína Peake. And that after VV and TOP 09 flaunted their numbers of women candidates, while Petr Nečas, the ODS leader, often talked about his efforts to increase the number of women in the party leadership.
A Czech version of this article is in
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1. 6. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
"...well, tell me - which one of you has as much as I do?"
Jiří Paroubek
"None of us have that kind of money."
Milouš Jakeš
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
1. 6. 2010 / Václav Adam
The elections ended and the Right commemorates. Center right parties ODS, TOP 09 and VV got a majority and a very comfortable majority. The bigger parties had huge losses, nevertheless the Right didn't fall because the votes that they lost were caught by TOP 09, while the Social Democrats lost voters to former premier Zeman's party SPOZ and partly also to Jana Bobošíková's Suverenita party, both of which didn't get enough votes to enter parliament. So, while ODS' voters ran to a party that entered parliament and thus with whom they can make a coalition, ČSSD's went to parties that could not join forces with them, because they failed to make the minimum 5%.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
1. 6. 2010 / Michal Škop
The KohoVolit.eu (WhoToVoteFor.eu) association asked the parties running in the elections 56 questions about their plans for the next 4 years . Based on their answers we worked out an internet test (altogether it the questions were answered by about 1/4 million people). The parties' answers also allow us to see what should Czech Republic expect from their new Parliament. At this time of "looking for political program intersections" it can be an interesting insight for us all. The association will continue following whether the elected politicians will be voting according to what they promised during the campaign.
A Czech version of this article is in
1. 6. 2010
In connection with the Israeli army attack against the humanitarian convoy in the Mediterranean Sea Iearned from the Czech public television on Monday (May 31st 2010) that Jerusalem is the main city of Israel. If that mistake came from ignorance, then it is embarrassing. But if it was on purpose, if it was the reporter's own reading of things, his political stance and manipulation of public opinion, then it is scandalous. Czech Television's reporter Martin Jonáš should consider whether to continue working for a public medium. The person responsible for the program should also consider the same option, writes Jozef Ftorek.
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
31. 5. 2010 / Jan Keller
The elections are over and it seems that a big part of the Left failed to understand that they have actually ended up excellent. The government will now be formed exclusively of right wing parties, so only they and exactly they will answer for all that happens in the next few years. That is much better than if another stalemate allowed each to blame the other, as we have witnessed so far. So now the Right will not so easily wrench from the results of their administration.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
31. 5. 2010 / Milan Daniel
The commentaries about the elections that have just finished which I have read so far are marked by a bitterness from the defeat and hopelessness. The voters who allowed a factual win by not all so transparent right wing parties, cut off the branch they were sitting on, as goes the folk expression. And in the upcoming months they will pay dearly for that.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
31. 5. 2010 / Ladislav Žák
Allow me to express the opinion that the election results, which were a defeat for the parties that more or less modestly called themselves leftist, offers a big hope for the Left as such.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
31. 5. 2010 / Štěpán Kotrba
According to insider's information from a very reliable source from ČSSD, who wished to stay anonymous, Jiří Paroubek, plus his collaborators Petr Dimun and Jaroslav Tvrdík, left the party a bill of about 800 million Czech crowns, spent since his team took power over the Social Democrats (referring to the campaigns for the parliament in 2006, regional elections also in 2006, Senator's race of 2008, European elections of 2009, the anticipated, later suspended general elections of 2009 and the latest for 2010). The Social Democratic Party has not confirmed these assertions.
A Czech version of this article is in
29. 5. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
The controversial former premier announced he would stand down as party leader between 7 and 10 days after election results that gave the Social Democrats victory in number of votes for one party, but not enough to form a leftist government coalition. Paroubek, with his controversial wife on his side, announced the decision was a personal one, taking into account that the party needed new faces, to modernize itself. He added that the election result was a defeat for ordinary people and said the party will, in the upcoming days, order sociological researches to analyse why the final results were so at odds with the pre-election opinion polls. ČSSD will be run by deputy chairman Bohuslav Sobotka until a new leader is chosen.
27. 5. 2010
The nuclear agreement between Brazil, Turkey and Iran followed point by point all requests that U.S. president Barack Obama wrote in a letter to Brazilian president Lula in April, reveals a report just released exclusivelly by a newspaper from Sao Paulo, which got access to the original letter.
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
28. 5. 2010
Subject: Your Vote Decides
Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 18:56:09 +0200
From: Petr Nečas petr.necas@ods.cz
Reply-To: tiskove@ods.cz
To: culik@blisty.cz
Wishing you a nice day,
I believe that you will excuse me for this unsolicited email.
I decided to address you because I know that many people are concerned about our country's high debts and are afraid about losing their jobs. Such worries are legitimate. That's why I advocate a solution, which will lead to new job opportunities and contains public spending. I don't promise what is not possible to fulfill. I offer deployment and hard work.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
28. 5. 2010
I have also received the email which was published on Britské Listy and that's not fine, because I could consider it as an unwanted email, but I won't.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
27. 5. 2010 / Ladislav Stalmach
For many months now I have been thinking about what is my approach to this current elections. In the past I have been published in the local press defending the opinion that, instead of voting for the lesser evil, it is better to not vote at all. Even now I believe that whoever decides to not go vote has this right.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
26. 5. 2010 / Boris Cvek
Jiří Paroubek's Social Democrats (ČSSD) is a legitimate political party with a program typical of the European Left. I say this as a long-term and sworn critic of Paroubek and as a voter who would vote for ČSSD if it was headed by someone of the stature of a Hašek or Špidla (yes, there are voters who do not vote for ČSSD because of Paroubek).
A Czech version of this article is in
26. 5. 2010 / Robin Healey
The quality of teaching and learning in higher education has become a matter of considerable public interest in the Czech Republic in the last two decades. A much larger proportion of the population now studies at a university. Several Czech newspapers now create their own "league tables" of "best universities" and "best faculties", and give considerable attention to university admissions in the summer months. The state puts more money than before into higher education, in absolute terms, though there is less money per student.
CZECH TELEGRAPH
25. 5. 2010
My Land!!!, In Duka Veritas, The Death of a Pop Star, Social Democrats Leading Last Poll, Caretaker Premier Will Vote Center Right, The Cost of Not Voting, New Orchestra Director, Czech Xenophobia, Red Headquarters, Hate Fine & New Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra...
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
25. 5. 2010 / Bohumil Kartous
Daily Mladá Fronta Dnes had a front page on Monday 25. 5. 2010 which was a lesson in manipulation. Under a big picture of a triumphant Czech hockey team and the huge headline "Gold!", the newspaper ties to another "great" piece of news: "Social Democrats loses voters, Civic Democrats up in the polls". The scores of the political game are just in case paired with the win from our golden Czech boys. And the article was complemented by a graphic, which showed how the polls are changing just a few days before the end of the game and showing an opportunity for center-right winger voters to be taken advantage of. As if warning that there is still a chance to change the election results in favor of the Civic Democrats.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
24. 5. 2010 / Jan Čulík
Michael Moore's documentary Capitalism: with love was broadcast Saturday (22.5.2010) on British commercial Channel Four. It didn't captivate me one hundred percent. The film is too choppy and shoots everywhere. Perhaps, if you are seating comfortably in a dark cinema, where you can't easily run away, you may be able to focus on Moore's piece, however, from a small screen and interrupted every fifteen minutes for five minutes of advertisements, it is a tremendously confusing experience.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
23. 5. 2010 / Lukáš Kantor
In this pre-electoral swarm, God knows why, a very serious material from last year's March has emerged. Newspaper Lidove Noviny's Deputy Editor-in-Chief Jaroslav Plesl has published on the daily's website supposed statements from former premier Mirek Topolanek, delivered at a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce. If the former premier's words are indeed true, it confirms the worst suspicions from many of the critics of political parties TOP 09, (former Social Democratic premier Milos) Zeman's party and Vec Verejna (Public Affairs).
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
23. 5. 2010 / Milan Daniel
Social Democratic leader Jiri Paroubek undoubtedly deserves the fair criticism over some of his public performances. But what he certainly does not deserve is the single mindedly seditious hate campaign, the true man-hunt that has been done against him by the Czech media, with the main daily newspaper, Mlada Fronta Dnes, at the head of it. It is a professionally-built campaign, touching different levels of perception, and aimed at young voters, about whom we can expect that the choice of candidate will be made in a less rational, more emotional basis.
A Czech version of this article is in
Czech Xenophobia
18. 5. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
I never saw anyone write that Miloš Forman should not make films about American history, or delve into commenting American society (as in The People versus Larry Flynt, which chronicled that nation's paradoxes when it comes to freedom of speech) for being Czech. Martina Navratilová was never told to go back to her sexually liberal country, when defying American puritanism with her homosexuality for not having been born in the United States. Milan Kundera was not told to shut up when he offered support for Roman Polanski or to some political cause in France. Basically, this concept that a foreigner cannot understand Czech issues is simply not true. It is a national myth, deeply stamped in most locals' minds, partly thanks to very few foreigners having proved to actually indeed really understand the Czech soul.
12. 5. 2010 / Jan Drahokoupil
Jiří Večerník, Czech Society in the 2000s: A Report on Socio-Economic Policies and Structures. Prague: Academia, 2009, 286pp., 350 Kč h/b.
A leading Czech sociologist, Jiří Večerník, published a comprehensive report on socio-economic developments in the Czech Republic in the 2000s. What are the lessons on Czech society and how it changed in the last two decades?
11. 5. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
So many readers of Britské Listy complained about ČT's coverage of the Liberation Day's pompous Moscow military parade. It supposedly lacked respect or failed to show the importance of Soviet troops in the liberation of this nation. They wanted to feel like in the past, when they watched these events with the respect that was instilled (or forced) upon their minds by the big Russian cousins who were puppeteering with local politics and impregnated Czech lives with Soviet parameters.
8. 5. 2010 / Jan Čulík
This is the text of a lecture given on Saturday 8th May, 2010 at a conference devoted to "deterritorialised culture" at Manchester University.
I have lived for several decades between the English speaking community in the United Kingdom and the "exotic", small language community of the speakers of the Czech language in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic. On the basis of this experience, I humbly submit that in my view, deterritorialised culture does not exist. British comedian Mark Watson was talking here yesterday about how he "deterritorialises" his stand-up comedy to make it acceptable for the Americans and the Australians, but the experience of the non-native English speaker, which is the experience of most people in this world, completely eludes him. Would he also be able to de-territorialise his comedy, if he was a Bulgarian stand-up comic? In certain contexts, the received stereotypes simply do not work. If the definition of "deterritorialised culture" equals the loss of the natural relation of culture to geographical and social territories, as it was mentioned here yesterday, there are large areas of this world where this definition is simply faulty.
10. 5. 2010
The Czech public television broadcast a documentary film on Thursday, 6.5.2010, which showed footage of the massacre of German civilians in Prague soon after the end of World War II. The scenes were shot by an amateur who lived nearby and the footage had been hidden for over 6 decades by his family, who feared that it would be seized by the Communists.
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
10. 5. 2010 / Milan Daniel
Milan Daniel complains about the lack of sympathy of our media towards the Russian role in the liberation of Czechs from the Nazis and points to the recent U-turn being promoted by the Russian president over his country's foreign relations.
A Czech version of this article is in
10. 5. 2010
Czech Ombudsman and former Minister of Justice Otakar Motejl, known for having defended the former communist regime dissidents, has died Sunday at the age of 77.
30. 4. 2010
The recently signed arms control treaty between the United States and Russia brings welcome reductions in deployed nuclear warheads and an agreed ceiling on the number of delivery vehicles that each side may possess. We applaud the new agreement and the acts of political leadership required in both countries to bring it about. The breakthrough is all the more welcome, coming just weeks before both the Washington Summit on Nuclear Security and the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Across Europe, and at this moment of diplomatic opportunity, we have joined together to declare our unequivocal support for President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons, to declare our desire to re-set the security relationship between Europe, the US and Russia, and to show strong European support for the measures necessary to deliver these goals.
1. 2. 2009
There is very little detailed information, available on the web in English on various aspects of Czech literature, culture and politics, as well as on the value system of contemporary Czech society. We have thought it useful to bring together on a single web page various articles in English, dealing with various aspects of life in the Czech Republic. Many of these have been written by Jan Čulík, editor of Britské listy, as material for his students at Glasgow University in Scotland.
Na webu je velmi málo podrobnějších informací o české literatuře, kultuře a politice v angličtině. Rozhodli jsme se na jedné internetové stránce dát čtenářům k dispozici soubor článků v angličtině právě na tato témata. Autorem většiny z nich je šéfredaktor Britských listů Jan Čulík; mnohé z nich vznikly jako materiál pro jeho studenty na Glasgow University ve Skotsku.
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
30. 4. 2010 / Štěpán Kotrba
Czech National Radio's "investigative" police-reporter Jan Hrbáček tried to repeat his success from the 2006 election coverage, when he made public the so-called Kubic Report. Now he has accused, in a report broadcast Monday 26.5, the former dissident and Minister of Foreign Relations, Senator for the Social Democrats (ČSSD) Jiří Dienstbier of having worked with the former communist regime's secret service.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
30. 4. 2010 / Štěpán Steiger
I don't have an answer to this question, that's why I ask it publicly here. When the Czech TV -- which is supported by the State, sometimes called public television [note of the editor Fabiano Golgo: Česká televize is not supported by the State, but by compulsory fees and advertisement] -- showed (presented) Cardinal Vlk at the moments when he was doing his Church (non-State) work, I took it as an inclination towards serving that part of the population that is made of Christian believers (notwithstanding being only for those of the Catholic faith). Although it was, in my judgment, an inappropriate religious demonstration, I resigned to myself and accepted it as a matter of fact. However, the way in which through the Bishop's conference the Catholic Church has been meddling with the politics of this country is not only inappropriate -- it is deplorable, for it exceeds the limits, which I have until now considered as certain.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
30. 4. 2010
In reaction to the article "Separation of Church and State?" from Štěpán Steiger I would like to call your attention to an erroneous information that has been repeated many times in our media. Bishop Václav Malý's statement, which the Council Iustitia et Pax (Justice and Peace) carries, is not an official statement by the Czech Bishop Conference.
A Czech version of this article is in
25. 4. 2010 / Jan Čulík
Czech feature film director Petr Zelenka has used two (youngish) Czech popular actors Marta Issová and Jiří Mádl to make a four minute YouTube clip in which they crudely mock Czech old people and people living in the countryside for allegedly being left-wing voters. The clip is a slavish copy of a US pro-Obama election video by Sarah Silverman, lifting even sections of Silverman's monologe; but while Silverman's video is witty, humane and self-ironic, Zelenka's Czech version is crude, vulgar and agressive.
The video appeals to young people to go and visit their geriatric relatives in the countryside to persuade them to vote for the right wing in the Czech forthcoming general election. If the old people refuse to do so, the youngster should tell them that they won't visit them again, and who knows, next time they come for a visit, the oldies "might be dead" (picture of a tombstone).
26. 4. 2010 / Karel Dolejší
Britské Listy's top editor Karel Dolejší addresses the right wing propaganda videoclip that has stirred up emotions, especially among leftists, and writes about the lack of moral values transfer by the older generations to our current youth, warning about what may be yet to come: a virtual civil war between the younger and the elderly Czechs
A Czech version of this article is in
26. 4. 2010 / Boris Cvek
Boris Cvek writes on Britské Listy about his naivite in comparison with the new generation and how the propaganda videoclip made with two young movie stars - asking kids to convince their parents and grandparents to not vote for left-wing parties in the upcoming elections - reflect a continuation of a "Normalization" mindset in Czech society...
A Czech version of this article is in
What's On Britské Listy
26. 4. 2010
Czech grandmothers are used to see their grandkids only when they need something, Dáša Vestrá writes in her open letter to all youngsters who are thinking about following the advice from teen movie stars Mádl and Issová and would like their grandparents to vote for right-wing, instead of leftist parties in the upcoming general elections.
CZECHOPEDIA
26. 4. 2010
He just "created" a videoclip with two young Czech pop movie stars, copying an original idea from American comedia Sarah Silverman, who made a funny spot asking Jewish kids to convince their grandparents to vote for Obama.
26. 4. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
A quick look all over the democratic world shows that indeed there is a tendency of young people to support the Left. It probably has to do with the fact that, when teenagers start paying attention to the world, crossing beyond their children fantasy days into the cruel reality where there is no happy ending or moral harmony, as in their favorite cartoons or Harry Potter stories, they feel life is not fair and want to fix it.
23. 4. 2010 / Andrew Wallace
"The unfulfilled [Pittsburgh] agreement became a rallying cry for Slovak nationalists. In never seriously considering either federation or autonomy as a possible solution of its structural problems, Czechoslovakia was the heir of the old Austria, whose fate it would eventually share by disappearing from the map."[1]
On May 31st 1918, Masaryk and delegates representing Czech and Slovak émigré groups in the United States met in Pittsburgh and put their signatures to a document outlining a program for Slovakia within the future Czecho-Slovak state. This document became known as the Pittsburgh Agreement. Although only one of a number of agreements created during the revolutionary period in relation to the formation of Czechoslovakia, it is difficult to overstate the importance of the document.
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
11. 4. 2010
Boris Cvek watched the televised debate between the two main candidates in the upcoming general elections. He comments on Britské Listy that "perhaps because of the the format, which Czech public television's anchor Václav Moravec chose for his Sunday news and politics' program, it was possible to keep control of the debate between the leaders of the Social Democrats and the Civic Democrats". He says they kept the fight more or less polite.
11. 4. 2010
Minutes after the news struck that the Polish president, his wife and dozens of top names from Czech Republic's most Catholic neighbors had died in a tragic plane accident, Dominik Duka took over as the archbishop of Prague.
ODJINUD
11. 4. 2010
A project created by an American music expert and Antonín Dvořák aficcionado may end up making the Czech artist once again well known all over the country...
CZECH TELEGRAPH
11. 4. 2010
Klaus keeps Havel far from Obama, a highway D11 can finally get to Hradec Králové, Brno gets a Holocaust memorial, trade surplus and the high hotel rates in the country are some of the facts that happened in the last seven days
5. 4. 2010
Darina Martykánová talks about the way the male-oriented Czech media covers cases of domestic violence.
A Czech version of this article is in
CZECH TELEGRAPH
5. 4. 2010
Center-right Civic Democrats` Leader Resigns Under Pressure, Suspicions Over Pandur Deal Continues, Gypsies Sent to Special Schools Because of Wrong Tests, Obama Meets Also Other Leaders While in Prague, Czechs among EU nations that least engage in sports, The End of Telegrams in Czech Republic and more...
5. 4. 2010
Following the advice from a friend I applied for a membership of the Czech Journalist's Union (Syndikátu novinářů ČR). Fourteen days after having sent the application I got a letter from PhDr. Aleš Holub, president of the membership commission. Rejected. The reason why I had been rejected caught me by surprise, though.
A Czech version of this article is in
HISTORY AS A MATTER OF MONEY
5. 4. 2010
Štěpán Kortrba wants one of the most important Czech paintings to be saved from ending up in Norway. Does anyone care, he ponders...
ODJINUD
29. 3. 2010
After website GlobalPost.com posted a video report about young heterosexual Czech males making money in homoerotica, the top U.S. network picked up the story and broadcast for millions of viewers those boy's nonchalant approach to their "job"...
28. 3. 2010
From prisoner to foreign minister, Jiří Dienstbier has seen the Czech Republic transform itself out of communism into a respected member of the European Union.
29. 3. 2010
The end of Mirek Topolánek's days as the head of the center-right Civic Democrats (ODS) was a big surprise for me. It was the result of an affair which emerged after his controversial remarks for gay magazine LUI, which were in my view more "hick" than xenophobic statements. That new publication wanted to get some free publicity, so they released to the media even the former premier's "pub talk".
CZECH TELEGRAPH
29. 3. 2010
Prime Minister Fischer complains with Chancellor Merkel about treatment of Czechs accros the border with Germany; Former Communist prosecutor and current oldest prisoner in the country has sentence cut in half; DNA samples taken illegally from prisoners, Military cooperation with Armenia and more...
25. 3. 2010
CO2 emissions are harmless, says the large Czech electricity generator ČEZ in a press release regarding the controversial reconstruction of the power station in Prunéřov, North Bohemia.
The statement, dated 22nd March, 2010, says:
Source in Czech HERE
28. 3. 2010
Internal fight for party power leads to a coup inside the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and brings to the top a veteran, but uncharismatic politician: Petr Nečas...
23. 3. 2010
Greens protest against current Minister of Agriculture being picked for the post
22. 3. 2010
Ex prime minister Mirek Topolánek has offended the caretaker government's premier Jan Fischer. During an interview for gay magazine LUI, the leader of the center right Civic Democrats (ODS) thought he was not being recorded when he made jokes over Christianity, about the Czech Minister of Transports Gustav Slamečka, alluding to his supposed homosexuality, and over premier Fischer's Jewish roots.
CZECHOPEDIA
22. 3. 2010
Plagiarism, students' work going missing, fast-track degrees completed within months, and dead professors. These are just some of the allegations brought against Plzeň Law Faculty.
CZECH TELEGRAPH
20. 3. 2010
Czech scientists make breakthrough discovery on the fight against cancer, another Gypsy family attacked, a Senator who thinks they faked it, a former president going Green again, the railways getting new trains, the medical association appologizing to Jews, Cardinal Vlk about homosexuality in the Church, gay icon former premier and the latest election research polls... Seven Czech days in review.
20. 3. 2010 / Karel Košťál
Singer Jean Ferrat, who protested against the Soviet-led invasion that ended the experiment of "socialism with a human face" of the Prague Spring of 1968, has died.
17. 3. 2010
China's Information Office of the State Council published a report titled "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009" yesterday. The full text of China's State Council assessment of U.S. human rights violations as published in Xinhuanews follows.
The State Department of the United States released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2009 on March 11, 2010, posing as "the world judge of human rights" again. As in previous years, the reports are full of accusations of the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions including China, but turn a blind eye to, or dodge and even cover up rampant human rights abuses on its own territory. The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009 is prepared to help people around the world understand the real situation of human rights in the United States.
CZECH TELEGRAPH
17. 3. 2010
Former president Václav Havel trying to influence more voters to choose the Czech Green Party (Strana zelených - SZ) in the upcoming May general elections
CZECH TELEGRAPH
17. 3. 2010
Jan Fischer's cabinet trying to fix long-due holes before a new government (and months of chaos) arrives
16. 3. 2010 / Petr Jánský
On the 4th of March there was a full page interview on daily Mladá Fronta Dnes with [historian and head of the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (USTR)] Jiří Pernes, who has been recently been witch-hunted by the media for having studied at a communist school: "I am Not a Communist or Leftist".
A Czech version of this article is in
16. 3. 2010 / Ladislav Žák
The statement by the Czech Police that there is nothing there is no evidence that the Molotov cocktail thrown into a Gypsy family's home Saturday, falling in a room where a 14 year old Romany girl was sleeping, was an act of extremism, which is how a racially motivated would be officially categorized, is making me wonder if it is just me, or the world has gone mad?
A Czech version of this article is in
CZECH TELEGRAPH
16. 3. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo
A new attack against a Romany family's home was reported Monday by the Czech public television news. A Molotov cocktail was thrown inside the house of a Gypsy family in Ostrava, almost victimizing the family's 14 year old daughter. She managed to water down the bottle and nobody was hurt. In 2009 a 2 year old Romany girl was severely burned in almost all her body after a similar racially motivated attack. She spent 7 months interned in a hospital, going through dozens of operations and constant pain. There has been a renewed anti-Gypsy wave in the Czech Republic, propelled by economic frustrations (Romany families are accused by haters of milking the State for social benefits and of being chronicle pet criminals).
20. 7. 2010
The degree of secrecy surrounding the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has reached a worrying new height. Pirate Party MEP Christian Engstrom saw himself forced to leave a meeting with ACTA negotiators in the European Parliament after he was forbidden from sharing information with the public. (http://bit.ly/ccU3O3)
A Czech version of this article is in
WHAT'S ON BRITSKÉ LISTY
3. 8. 2010 / Štěpán Kotrba
Every country has their secret services department, because espionage is as old as organized power itself. Only total amateurs, after taking power, will call the spies who worked for the previous government traitors. Only dilettante politicians (or parricides and agents for other countries) will reveal details of its nation's espionage history. When a traitor (or agent for some country we are momentarily close friends with) becomes a minister, premier or president, then it is pure tragedy for the secret services.
A Czech version of this article is in