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May 17th, 2008
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March 19th, 2008 issue

Visa rules

I am glad that the Czech Republic, rather than Brussels, is taking the lead in resolving the visa situation.
However, I am not convinced that the Czech Republic has good enough negotiators. I suppose that only time will tell whether “a new requirement that travelers to the United States now have to provide more personal information to immigration authorities” will be acceptable to most Czechs, depending on how much they value their right to privacy.
Tom Sturges
Prague
Brussels has done little or nothing to resolve the visa situation. But officials are now quick to take issue with the Czech Republic for reaching a decision in the interest of the Czech people. I suppose Brussels may also have a hidden agenda in wanting the Czech Republic and Poland to request its blessing on decisions regarding a proposed missile-defense system. It’s clear Brussels will tell member nations what color toilet paper they must use if the countries will let them. Hopefully, other countries will join the Czech Republic in not totally surrendering everything to decision-makers in Brussels.
Harrel Lambert
Pardubice
Money matters
It is simply not true that the number of investors in this country is increasing (“Brokered returns,” Banking & Finance, Feb. 13–19). This article reports only the number of accounts. I know for sure that one of the local brokerages, and probably the others, only deletes/deactivates an account when its owner takes the time to contact the broker and request it. Otherwise, the account remains “open.” And empty. Conversely, the Central Securities Registry (SCP) does delete accounts from its records when they have been empty for one year. They recently reported that, since the end of 2006, they have deleted more than 250,000 accounts and added fewer than 10,000 new ones.
Richard Barkand
Prague
Sports star
I played in Brno until I was 40 (“Tackling the combine as season approaches,” Sports, March 5–11). Old guys can make it.
Bill Bynum
Wichita Falls, Kansas, U.S.A.
Chain gangs
After reading the story about dirty transit stations, I think I could help you.
In the United States we use “chain gangs” — made up of people who are in jail and sentenced for light infractions of the law. Just put them in orange jumpsuits and add a walking boss and you can get these places cleaned up. Just watch the movie Cool Hand Luke to see what I am talking about. You could hire me to run the program.
Stephen Price
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.A.


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Reader's comments:

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[16:59 24/03/2008] : >>You could hire me to run the program.

No doubt you would enjoy whipping them.

Actually, the Czech Republic isn't a police state like the United States, so it would be harder to set up labor camps.
Margot Winston
Prague
[07:28 26/03/2008] : Thank you for Joshua Brilliant's article "Topolánek takes a reality tour of Israel" (March 19), noting the plight of Sderot, the Israeli town that has been under constant attack by Palestinian terrorists. Since Israel left Gaza in September 2005, Palestinians have fired 4,000 rockets and mortars at Israel, mostly at the town of Sderot. As a result, nearly one-third of Sderot's 24,000 residents have fled. Many Israeli children there are too traumatized to go to school, and many of their parents are too scared to let them go. According to a recent study, more than a quarter of Sderot's residents who remain there suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, more than half have had their homes hit by a rocket or shrapnel, and nearly half have known someone who was killed by a rocket. The stories of the Israelis killed there are heart-wrenching, such as 17-year-old Ayala Haya Abukasis, who died while shielding her 10-year-old brother Tamir from an exploding Palestinian missile. Israelis desperately want peace, but the Palestinians seem to care more about killing Israeli children than making a better future for their own. For Israeli children in Sderot, the situation is intolerable.
Stephen A. Silver
San Francisco, California, USA
[10:11 26/03/2008] : >>For Israeli children in Sderot, the situation is intolerable.

Joshua "forgot" to mention the reason for the rocket attacks. If the Israeli army stopped killing, raping and maiming Palestinian civilians, the people of Sderot wouldn't get the blame.
Margot Winston
Prague
[17:07 31/03/2008] : Where does Ms. Winston get her information? "The Czech Republic isn't a police state like the United States" ... The United States is not a police state.
Richard Elliot
Charlotte
[01:19 01/04/2008] : Puleeze! My fellow letter-writer doesn't have any information, only cockamamie ideas and half-baked conspiracy theories.

No amount of facts will changes this person's cherished belief that the United States is a bad actor.

I suggest that the rest of the commentators to the Prague Post stop rising to the bait, and just start ignoring this person.
Phillip David Haskett
Houston
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