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Posted: 11:18 23/05/2008
Say all you want. The fact is, corruption is a part of business. The truth is, it doesn't matter what part of the world you're in. Any time there's big money involved, the sharks will prowl.
The only thing that sets apart Czechs from Americans, for example, is that Americans make it official.
I think "loopholes" is the term.

Posted: 09:34 23/05/2008
Sad times we live in, but after the London bus bombings not so long ago, one can hardly blame the Czech police for being extra vigilant.
The public needs to stay on its guard and be prepared to perhaps look stupid when people get their concerns wrong.
I don't think this incident is surprising - even though it must have been annoying for Mark Tomass at the time

Posted: 19:21 22/05/2008
Such over-reactions happen in places like New York, too.
The man sitting next to him, who probably didn't understand English well enough to understand what the Syrian-American was typing and who could be forgiven for his ignorance, believed, albeit mistakenly, that he was observing "suspicious activity," and so he did his civic duty and reported it.
The police simply responded to the phone call they received from the panicked Czech passenger who unnecessarily suspected the professor of terrorism. So, the police did their job as they had been trained to do it. Upon discovering that the man was not a threat in any way whatsoever, and that the panicking by the other passenger hadn't been necessary, they allowed the professor to continue on his journey in that very same bus.
Perhaps he was lucky.
In the United States, Muslim men have been arrested and denied the right to fly, just because of passengers complaining to flight attendants about seeing Muslims praying at an airport gate.
Perhaps the cops who responded to the emergency cell phone call also felt it was silly, but they were doing their jobs by investigating.

Posted: 18:11 21/05/2008
Why do we continue to be surprised by such tactics?
Global society continues to see another abuse by the police under the guise of "security". I wonder what excuses Hitler's henchmen used when they started screening the actions of its people.
And what about Sadaam's police or that of the Americans...all for the sake of security. Freedom of speech or expression...is that a past-time long gone by?
Is it a pipe dream that was suggested to us by some school teacher of the past? Where did it come from? Is it fact or fiction? Someone might suggest that freedoms of speech or expression are OK only when they are appropriate.
Well...who is to determine the criterion for what is appropriate? I say let's forget the whole thing. You had better keep your thoughts to yourself, because the moron next to you is thinking "God knows what" and will probably condemn you anyway if you are not on the same page as he is politically.
Al Jazeera, New York Times, or Prague Post...Does it really matter any more? Perhaps, we are all terrorists.
The Czech police are not "Charles University grads"...so go figure. When they hold up the stupid little red sign, you stop and be courteous...listen, say, yes, sir, and try to be in control of your emotions.
Once the incident passes, you go on with life having learned through experience the fiasco I refer to as the "Czech Police Cabaret".
I challenge others to share their experiences with the security conscious...

Posted: 07:36 23/05/2008
Professor Tomass is guilty of an error in judgment, i.e., displaying on his laptop the appearance of Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera is an Arab propaganda station directly opposed to the policies of the United States, and Professor Tomass should have known better.
Also, the Czech Republic (I am the son of Czech immigrants to the United States) does not have the same feelings toward terrorism as the United States does.
The Czech Republic did not experience a 9/11 and so in general (obviously there are exceptions) its citizens undoubtedly do not have the same attitude toward terrorism that the United States has.
In fact, the United States had to take action in the former Yugoslavia because the Europeans failed to act, even though it was in their "back yard".
Also, please note that we were on the side of the Muslims in Kosovo, and that here in America, all ethnic groups, with some imperfection (who is perfect?), live side by side.
Why is it left for the United States (with help principally from Great Britain) to solve the problems of the world? Everyone criticizes us, yet we have to prevent people from crossing our borders, in, not out.
It was the great Winston Churchill who once said that Democracy is the worst form of government except when other forms of government are considered (I paraphrase). My wife and I have been in the Czech Republic many times both during and after the 40 years of communist control (we had the good fortune of being there in 1968 during the era of Dubcek's "Prague Spring".)
On one of our frequent trips (although we were born in America, we are both fluent in colloquial Czech and have family there) we were once interrogated by the Czech authorities when leaving the country when we were "caught" carrying school papers for an escapee from the then repressive government. We were held for hours, and I am a professional person with a high level of education equivalent probably to more than that of Professor Tomass.
Also, considering my age, I undoubtedly have more professional experience than he. We were held for many hours -- not for the inconvenience of 20 minutes. The emotional trauma resulting from that interrogation lies with us to this day. What did we do wrong other than to help a fellow human being? Hopefully this will not happen again with the Czech Republic's current democratic government, a government formed indirectly through the workings, and I oversimplify for the sake of space, of our President Reagan, who in effect bankrupted the Russians and thereby allowed Gorbachev to change the course of history.
In summary, we in the United States are very sensitive with regard to terrorism because we have experienced first hand the workings of an evil conspiracy. And these minor inconveniences are the consequences of such sensitivity, as they rightly should be.

Posted: 19:33 22/05/2008
Unfortunately, similar things happen here in the United States all the time, and for similar reasons.
Here -- average citizens who have never been outside of the United States remain fearful of the unknown, and have little or no memory of the Constitution and Bill of Rights they read in school -- and promptly relegated to the back corners of their brains -- along with Latin and the history of western civilization.
In the Czech Republic -- I think -- the problem is younger Czechs don't even remember communism and its effects.
A whole generation has now grown up since the Velvet Revolution -- and a slightly older group was just too young to be much affected by the "Big Brotherism" and worse.
Plus --it seems to me as a frequent visitor --not just Czechs, but most nationalities in Europe, are very nationalistic and xenophobic -- still.
If we in the United States still have problems with many immigrant groups -- with our unique history of mixed populations -- I guess it will take many more generations in Europe to stop fearing anything -- or anyONE unfamiliar.

Posted: 05:50 23/05/2008
When Jan Masaryk convinced President Roosevelt to end the unequal treatment of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile by removing the damning word "provisional" from its title, he succeeded with the argument: "Mr. President. We have in England about one thousand pilots. Many of them fly over Germany on bombing missions. Some of them never return. They are shot down by enemy fire and they are killed. They are dead--not provisionally dead."
Does the current Czech government regard these Roma victims as only being "provisionally dead" because they weren't Jews? They're certainly acting like it.

Posted: 01:18 23/05/2008
Congratulations to the Czech government and nation! You can now take great pride in being cheap prostitutes to the west. Shame! Where is your pride and loyalty?!

Posted: 23:22 22/05/2008
We have the same problem here in the United States.
When children fail to qualify on a test, the test, testers, or the system is blamed.
It's as if those that failed had nothing to do with it.
Those that failed had the same opportunity as all those that passed the test and studied hard and applied themselves to the task.
It would be very rare that one is not smart enough to pass a high school entrance exam. The parents should examine their children's study habits and not blame others for their own failings.

Posted: 21:52 22/05/2008
When Muslims want to address female genital mutilation, forced marriages, the Taliban in Afghanistan, ritual torture of animals, the lack of free speech in almost all Muslim countries (which they have imported also to Europe), and death by stoning, they will be welcome to do so.
That is a much better way of addressing "Islamophobia" than any other.

Posted: 11:35 20/05/2008
>>You are reasoning backward, and this is the rub with all of you: Your terrorism, beheadings, airplane hijacking and suicide bombing cause religious/communal hatred and not the other way around.

*Your* terrorism?????

A supposedly Christian nation has invaded Iraq and lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Posted: 21:45 22/05/2008
Amazon.com does not list Polansky's The Storm. Do you have details on the place, publisher, and date of republication?

Posted: 14:27 22/05/2008
This sounds like a lot of fun. I hope it catches on.
It's hard to believe that someone hasn't done this before now.
I would plan my next trip to the Czech Republic around this event.

Posted: 08:26 22/05/2008
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Posted: 11:37 21/05/2008
If possible, can you please explain some more background situations?

Posted: 07:49 20/05/2008
If asked, I would vote for train. However, the time period needed for all necessary permits from all institutions involved to be collected would suffice to dig the metro tunnel up to Kladno and back. And we, Czechs, do know how to tunnel fast!

Posted: 12:02 20/05/2008
I have noticed that Prague Post recently censored a number of comments which appeared on this site. These comments all contained political opinions which the owners of your newspaper obviously didn't agree with.

The owners of your paper (whoever they are) are free to suppress free-speech and comments from political dissidents: this is probably the reason why they bought the paper in the first place. However, please don't waste our time with any more idiotic editorials about the Prague Post's "support for free speech". Your actions speak louder than your editorials.

Posted: 18:45 19/05/2008
As an illegal teacher here, I am furious with the whole process, not because of the regulations, but because of certain schools' unwillingness to help their teachers.
My school claimed to have filed necessary paperwork back in November, only to tell me weeks ago that nothing had yet been done to make me a legal worker.
This information only came to me after months and months of hassling this school on a daily basis.
I really don't want to leave the Czech Republic as I have many friends here, a girlfriend, and a good job (despite the lack of organization), but it is becoming increasingly nerve-wracking to be here.
So, to those of you who seem to believe that it is the fault of those employed, you need to understand that some of us are dealing with some unacceptable circumstances beyond our control.

Posted: 16:43 19/05/2008
What happened to the original comment stating: two nit-wits by the guy from Texas and the comment from a female, who sounded a lot like Ms. Winston?
Is the Post playing selective in its comments? You deleted his, inserted hers? That's all for me.
(Editor's note: The Prague Post reserves the right to edit all comments for content, profanity and personal attacks.)

Posted: 13:31 19/05/2008
I watched the film on DVD for the first time. I found it fascinating and obviously disturbing too. Like others, I would like to read Adolf's memoir. Does anyone know if there are plans for it to be published in English? Ben

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