The ČSSD's little hen farm is full of droppings and hens that give plaster eggs in the form of the receipts customers have to get every time they buy anything worth over 50 Kč ($2). Let's be fair to the prime minister and note here that he and the ČSSD have admitted to the mistake and said they would push for abolishing this nonsense. But it remains a fact that the ČSSD pushed through the receipts bill in the chamber, outvoted the ODS and its objections, implemented the law and then announced its abolition. Things like this shouldn't happen. But happen they do. And if the ČSSD doubts the ODS's skills, why does it bother to admit any chances of post-2006 election cooperation? What would such a cooperation look like? Is it even possible?

Paroubek did not like Špidla's pre-election announcement in 2002 that there would be no cooperation with the ODS and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, claiming that this resulted in unnecessary hostility toward the ODS and hysterical anticommunism. However, I feel that Špidla's choice of a three-party government coalition was correct as it helped the ČSSD distance itself from the previous opposition agreement with the ODS. And speaking of animals, hens were not the only species mentioned. While meeting Paroubek at his cottage, former prime minister and ČSSD chairman Miloš Zeman spoke of a "rat extermination" inside the ČSSD. Paroubek distanced himself from these words, saying Zeman is a private person and can therefore speak as he likes. But why hold talks with a private person is not helping his party? And how about starting off by exterminating all the rats in (Zeman's home) Vysočina, Hanák writes.

The government has made a good decision to change prostitutes into entrepreneurs and make it possible for cities to regulate their trade. This decision doesn't mean the administration will turn into the country's primary pimp, as suggested by the coalition Christian Democrats, Martin Komárek writes in Mladá fronta Dnes July 21.

The state is only providing the rules for a game that it partly rejects and partly doesn't know how to stop. Media-friendly sexologists often present opinions that are just as extreme as those of the Christian Democrats, saying that prostitution is natural, contributes to sexual hygiene and saves many marriages from falling apart. Such a view ignores the real situations of women working as prostitutes. Their position is humiliating, whether they are entrepreneurs or street hookers hunting for trade along the highway. The argument that prostitution saves marriages doesn't work either. Is it worth saving a hypocritical marriage in which one of the partners shops elsewhere for what is supposed to be the very essence of matrimony?

Most people would prefer life in a world without prostitution; however, that can never be. To ban or just tolerate prostitution only makes the position of the women involved worse. They fall victim to pimps, are not protected from violence, blackmail and disease. The government, therefore, has used common sense and admitted it could do nothing better than legalize and regulate prostitution, which, however, should not make us think this is normal or even good, Komárek writes.