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Posted: 17:22 13/06/2008
Now why would such a gift be refused? Wouldn't the Czechs like to remember those (as exemplified by this one person's act) that labor against communism and longed for freedom.

I will never understand the Czech political mind - it lacks consistency and logic.

Posted: 14:12 13/06/2008
I'm quite surprised with the fact that you mention that tourists visiting Prague don't return. Actually I saw opposite statistics. I saw that about 44 percent of tourists are repeat guests to the country - here is my source: http://ftp.czechtourism.com/upload/1095144156(microsoftword-resultsofbordercrossingssurvey,foreignvisitorstoth_205).pdf .
By the way, tourists visiting the Czech Republic tourists get information from family members, friends and relatives, and travel agencies and media.
Therefore, we can create a growing impact of Internet influence, i.e. on-line hotel bookings like http://www.prague-hotels.org.uk/ (I asked 20 random tourists and 5 of them used this one), e-based travel tickets and sightseeing tours reservations.

Posted: 12:41 13/06/2008
I would certainly agree with the comments from Bryan Moody. But more needs to be said. In every Muslim country, we have enormous persecution of Christian and other minorities taking place and it is clear to any blind and dumb person that the Qu'ran is based on hatred and violence to say the least.
In every Muslim country, this hatred and violence is practiced.

Posted: 10:08 13/06/2008
I think this article misses the point. Yes, most Muslims are peaceful and good people, just as most secularly minded or Christian people are. That is not debatable in our modern age.
This article is based on whether or not pictures of Muhammed, in any form, should be displayable. Personally, I do not care if it is Jesus, Muhammed, Sponge Bob Square Pants, or Mother Theresa with a bomb on his or her head.
The fact is that it is freedom of speech. The people posting cartoons all over Prague apparently understand the concept of freedom of speech and the very fact that the Czech police were hunting them for months proves that Europeans are being denied such freedom. If I post one of these cartoons on the roof of my house here in America, no policeman could force me to take it down. If they did, I would sue them for so much money that I would own all of Las Vegas. This is because free nations are based on the principle of unbridled expression.
I know little about Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, but his saying that the posters had little do with freedom of speech is simply wrong. Mr. Schwarzenberg is surely playing politics and must be careful to not offend nations dealing with the Czech Republic. Because of his position, his statement must be forgotten. He is not able to point out the truth of the matter, which is that Czechs should be able to say or draw what they wish in their own nation.
Granted, the police might be hunting the poster hangers because of the vandalism aspect. In this case, please do arrest them. Their message of free speech should be respected however. No legal action should come about on that accord.
I personally do not agree with the posters' message, but they have every right to express it in private places wishing to let them or in public forums. Any push by the Czech government to abridge that right would be a flashback to worse times.

Posted: 21:54 12/06/2008
This article clearly shows how deep Islamophobia is ingrained in society.
No matter what Muslims do or say, they are put through a microscopic analysis.
Being a Muslim, I like the Czech Republic and its peaceful nature of common people.
But this article has made me worried about my surroundings that I feel I'm part of.
At least this article has achieved creating a seed of a sense of fear among Muslims... Thanks for this.

Posted: 12:02 13/06/2008
A Speed Challenge in Prague

Launching a Czech beer brewing in a few days, organizing its shipping and export to France, and selling 6,000 bottles to benefit a humanitarian organization in India -- this is the challenge that has been given to 20 French executives during their training in Prague, recently.

This challenge is an idea of their coach, Dominique Byramjee, founder and leader of the ITEG's training program.

The principle of the training sessions is to combine specific case studies and learn methods to improve efficiency at work. In addition, team challenges give participants the opportunity to discover the city / country in which the training takes place.

When it comes to these "challenge events", the location plays a central role. Today, it is Prague, its history, its secrets, its charm and its dynamism.

How do you discover such a great city without acting like tourists? The participants fully immerse themselves in the city, and, with its inhabitants, use their professional skills and motivate and lead their team to success.

This group has achieved similar success in other capitals in the past few years: funding a vehicle for a humanitarian association in South India, getting introduced in the newspaper world in New York, and getting last-minute meetings with local CEOs in Shanghai. This innovative and original approach brings dynamics to the training and allows the team to apply the techniques used as soon as they are back in their home companies.

Let's not forget the benefits of the humanitarian actions towards the poorest, either.

The latest challenge has been launched, and it must be completed before the end of June 2008. Contacts have been established in Prague, and need to be pursued.

If you would like more information or wish to support this cause, please contact the ITEG team ITEGChallenges@yahoo.fr.
Thanks very much!

Posted: 06:15 13/06/2008
Maybe this is stating the obvious, but Klaus isn't much of a leader if he opposed this bill "because its provisions already exist in current legislation and would add nothing new".
Any intelligent person would realize that even if this is true, the symbolic value of passing this bill would far outweigh the consequences of repetition.
Now the Czech Republic is the last of the EU countries without a law against discrimination. What kind of symbolic value does that have?

Posted: 09:46 13/06/2008
Students in culinary colleges are provided with the best culinary training that they require reaching their culinary goal. The culinary training is provided through kitchen hands-on sessions and classroom teachings.

http://www.culinaryschoolsprograms.com/

Posted: 23:25 12/06/2008
I don't understand why we need a radar base in Europe.
How does this protect America? (As much as I love Prague,) who gives a hoot if Europe is blown to smithereens.
As long as these missiles do not reach American soil, then we're golden. We should be installing these radar bases and missile interceptors in the United States and stop wasting our tax dollars on idiots in other parts of the globe (that includes Iraq)!

Posted: 17:07 12/06/2008
Rule of law, transparency in government, civilian control of the military; freedom of the press; all principles which emerging democracies were repeatedly lectured on as requirements for membership in NATO.
I wonder if any of those principles were on Czech Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg's mind while attending the private Bildenburg conference in Chantilly, Va., when he met with Condoleezza Rice to arrange for the upcoming July signing of the missile defense "agreement/treaty" in the Czech Republic.
The so-called "agreement/treaty" doesn't pass the smell test and if passed by the Czech Parliament will have to overcome scrutiny in the remaining months of the Bush administration.
Hopefully, the Czech Parliament will not ratify the pending "treaty/agreement", which will then be in the hands of the Bush White House.
The current administration knows full well the mood of the American electorate and will undoubtedly choose to regard a Czech ratified "treaty" as an agreement, thereby circumventing the required oversight hearings by the U.S. Senate with the requisite resolution of "advise and consent" required of all international treaties.
Yes, you read that right.
The U.S. Constitution requires that all treaties come before the U.S. Senate for a resolution of advise and consent; the expansion of NATO had to pass approval by the US Senate.
However, the Bush administration has chosen to regard the upcoming missile defense plan as an agreement; not a treaty. Congress should insist that the agreement be reviewed. On the Czech side, the vast majority of citizens, while well-informed about the so-called "agreement/treaty", have had no input in this issue.
Welcome to 21st century democracy as practiced by Condoleezza Rice, whose writings and views on installing a model of democracy in the Middle East are well known.
Some Czech government officials threw their lot in with the Bush administration and, in so doing, have undermined the principles of democratic values.
Secret meetings at private conferences to ratify agreements negotiated in private don't bode well for the current Czech government, and they certainly don't bode well for another Republican administration.
Jan. 20, 2009 - the end of an error.
Paulette C. Will
Minneapolis

Posted: 10:27 12/06/2008
Czech people simply don't like others who are thieves, who mug people at night, who are too lazy to work, who have poor standards of personal hygiene and who have no pride in the upkeep of their properties.
That's why they don't want to live next to such people.
Is that so wrong? You cannot force someone to "like" someone else, especially if they are sociably objectionable.

Posted: 20:01 11/06/2008
Rule of law, transparency in government, civilian control of the military; freedom of the press; all principles which emerging democracies were lectured on being required to meet when applying for membership in NATO.
I wonder if any of those principles were on Czech Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg's mind while attending the private Bildenburg conference in Chantilly, Va., to meet with Condoleezza Rice where they arranged for her upcoming signing of the missile defense "agreement/treaty" in July in the Czech Republic.
The so-called "agreement/treaty" doesn't pass the smell test and if passed by the Czech Parliament will have an infinitely harder hurdle to overcome in the remaining months of the Bush administration.
Hopefully, the Czech Parliament will not ratify the "treaty", which will then be in the hands of the Bush White House.
The current administration knows full well the mood of the American electorate and will undoubtedly choose to regard a Czech ratified treaty as an agreement, thereby circumventing the required oversight hearings by the U.S. Senate with the requisite resolution of "advise and consent" required of all international treaties.
Yes, you read that right.
The U.S. Constitution requires that all treaties must come before the U.S. Senate for a resolution of advise and consent; the expansion of NATO had to pass Senate approval.
However, the Bush administration has chosen to regard the upcoming missile defense plan as an agreement; not a treaty. Congress should insist that the agreement be reviewed. On the Czech side, the vast majority of citizens, while well-informed about the so-called "agreement/treaty", have had no input in this issue.
Welcome to 21st century democracy as practiced by Condoleezza Rice, whose writings and views on installing a model of democracy in the Middle East are well known.
Some Czech government officials threw their lot in with the Bush administration and, in doing so, have undermined the principles of democratic values.
Secret meetings at private conferences to ratify agreements negotiated in private don't bode well for the current Czech government, and they certainly don't bode well for another Republican administration.
Jan. 20, 2009 - the end of an error.

Posted: 15:52 11/06/2008
Okay, all of you are wrong.
A statesman (or statesperson for those that are politically sensitive - notice I avoid the term politically correct) has the responsibility to implement what he or she believes to be in the best interest of his or her country, not necessarily implement what the masses want.
And, no, I am not discussing the radar, just the way a democracy should work.
It is the statesman's responsibility to explain why he or she thinks it is the best decision (whatever the topic or issue) or of course the people will replace the statesman at the next election, even if the people are guilty of group think and/or stupidity (since most issues are more complex than the single aspect that they might be focused upon).
The single greatest downfall of the United States (and, yes, we are imploding) is that failure of our politicians to act as statesmen and instead grovel for votes based upon the views of the undereducated masses. So I give Klaus credit for stating his views and attempting to educate people as to why.

As for the home country of my fellow letter-writer -- your last name is hardly Anglicized and you list Prague as your location, so who could possibly know where your home country is?
To the best of my knowledge, it is the state of Israel that is killing people in defense of itself, not the Jewish faith.
Jews in the United States and in Europe are not killing people.
Muslims from everywhere kill others because they have the only true God (they don't like the United States because we give the money for their oil? - don't think so, they don't like us because we have a different God that in our views allows all sorts of vices, or in the case of most Europeans, no God that allows even more vices - it really doesn't matter if we are over there meddling or not - they have 1,500 years of history of killing because of their one true God).
So simple-minded they are.

As for the radar - does it hurt the Czechs to have it on their soil?
No, they are an ally of the United States and therefore a target of anybody that is anti-USA.
If an enemy (pretend) such as Russia attacked solely due to the radar, they would target the radar, not Prague.
Beyond this, there is no negative of the radar - but the people may emotionally be against it because they are afraid.
So you see the undereducated are basing their opinion on one item -- fear (maybe even dislike). The statesmen are looking at infinitely more issues linked to the radar. A relationship with the United States (all relations require give and take, visas for radar in this case), trade, security against an aggressor, and hence the give-and-take for having a relationship.
So a great statesman will do what he/she believes to be right, even if it means they will later be voted out of office.

Posted: 10:40 11/06/2008
If, by "my backward country", you mean the United States of America, then, sure, I'm a little proud.
I'm probably not a big patriot type, though. Don't we blow people up on a daily basis? Just because our bombs have got Boeing and Northrup written on them doesn't justify the tens or hundreds we kill every single day. The United States spends more on weapons than the next Top 10 countries spend, combined.
If you insist on going off on rants, at least do your homework.

Posted: 01:02 10/06/2008
Are you joking? Buddhist, Hindus and Jews blowing up people every day? Honor killing, genital mutilation? Burka for women? Are you proud of your backward country?

Posted: 12:38 09/06/2008
Thomas, you display an obviously high level of enlightenment, but you forget to mention that we have to deal with Jews, Buddhists and pesky Hindus. They can be bad people, too. You shouldn't limit your bigotry to just one religion. Your idea of further isolating the United States from the rest of the world is also a brilliant idea. It would certainly benefit our economy back home, which today relies almost solely on foreign industry, trade and oil. Very clever indeed.

Posted: 03:50 09/06/2008
I concur with the growing number of Americans who want to get out of NATO and the United Nations and leave Europe to her own devices. Maybe the Czech people are still longing for the Soviet occupation of 1968 and the great wisdom of tovarish Klement Gottwald.
With Putin as your neighbor, you can have your dreams fulfilled in the future. Then we wish you good luck in dealing with Muslims and whatever goodies your future holds for you.

Posted: 05:33 10/06/2008
You have got to be kidding me! AN OPEN CONTAINER LAW IN PRAHA DURING A FOOTBALL MATCH! Are you out of your minds??
The No. 1 consumers of pivo in the world, and you're going to ban open containers? I guess it truly is the finale days of human kind. Politically correct has finally reached the Czech Republic...
You'll regret it. It sucks!

Posted: 00:08 09/06/2008
I think the idea of Vysehrad 4 is a good one, especially in the sense that there are no "powers" of the West or the East that force it on these nations.
Perhaps, from this viewpoint, anything that is said by "outsiders" is irrelevant.
From my own viewpoint, within the European Union, this semi-national entity can somewhat counter-balance self-serving states such as France and Germany.
It should be supported.

Posted: 23:44 08/06/2008
I would like to add my experience after drinking some of the beers mentioned.
My biggest surprise was "Bernard", which I tasted the first time in Rumburk (Northern Bohemia)while visiting there, recently.
This beer is far less filling than any of the others I tasted in the Czech Republic.
It does have a hoppy taste that I like, and overall, I would, personally, classify it as the best-tasting beer available commercially anywhere.
Of course the numerous mini-breweries in the United States and Canada produce truly great beers, if you like "India Pale Ale" style beers that I enjoy in my home town of Victoria.

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