Nova TV Thinks We Are Idiots

Nova TV is one of three major television networks in the Czech Republic. A few weeks ago they launched their afternoon news, a 30-minute broadcast at 5 p.m.

At the same time they started pulling the viewers’ legs. Almost everytime something happens in Prague, they have a reporter going live on the air telling what the latest development is. In most cases the person is standing on the parking lot in front of the news building… The most pointless thing I have ever seen in news industry. Somebody should give them a lesson on ENG and its real purpose…

Woman Will Get 600,000 For A Tampon In Her Abdomen

In 1990 doctors forgot a piece of tampon in a patient’s abdomen. Three years ago they found out. And now the court ruled the woman will get 600,000 in damages. It is relatively good ruling, given that Czech courts are not used to this kind of verdict.

Only a few weeks ago a school was sentenced to pay 15 million to a family whose boy/son is now handicapped because during a school trip he was under water in a pool for eight minutes, as a result of which his brain suffered oxygen defficiency. And since the school and its owner don’t have that kind of money, as soon as they paid it the school had to be shut down… 

Anything was possible back in 1990 because Czech healthcare system was still in relatively bad condition, say the doctors involved in the tampon case. Sure. But at least it should be compensated by huge recompense. Dan Jennings in California got $250M for a scalpel in his abdomen…

Worst Czech Website Vote

Which Czech website is the worst? Czechs can vote now. Among the nominees are: some personal blogs of some IT specialists whose ego is of the size of Alaska, Czech Meteo Office, PM Mirek Topolanek’s website, a religious group web-zine and also a personal website of a person who is either absolutely and totally retarded (in which case I think he should not write things he writes because it borders criminal offense and he should be watched over by his parent/guardian), or he is mentally okay, just crazy. Which is not the same thing.

If you understand Czech and want to read it, or if you just want to judge the graphics, or if you want to see what some websites in the 2007 Czech Republic look like, follow the link and cast your vote… The two IT guys have been encouraging their friends to send them those anti-votes anyway, so it does not make any sense anyway…every two hours you can send a repeated vote over and over — this is to enable voting from Internet cafes and university Internet rooms where more users are expected at one work station during one day….

Gas Explosion In Brno

Gas cylinder exploded today on a construction site in downtown Brno.

Photo gallery on Brnensky Denik daily website…

IMDB and The Simpsons: Back To Normal

A few posts down I complained about the Internet Movie Database lying about the synopsis of Simpsons: The Movie. A reader of The Czech Daily Word explained that IMDb was probably given a “fake” synopsis from the very beginning. True. It is all back to normal and the synopsis is correct now.

As for the illegal recording of the movie that was made in some Czech movie theater and that is now available on the Internet, a representative of the distribution company said the company wants to sue the media that published the address in their news articles. If anyone sees his brain, let him know. Trying to sue the media that published exact details about a felon is an idea out of this world. North Korea-like, maybe?

Aluminum Recycling Does Not Work Here

When I lived in the States in 1993, I was 17 and I did not understand why there was a five-cent deposit on Sunkist aluminum cans. Why would anyone drink a .33L drink, which might take some two minutes or less, and then spend much longer time thinking where to put the empty can so that it can be returned later.

Then I saw, well – a homeless person – kind of odd in a place like Provo, Utah with a shopping cart full of the cans and I realized that one can plus one can plus one can…. equals many cans. That was, I repeat, in 1993 when recycling didn’t mean anything in the Czech Republic.

The Minister of Environment now wants to have a refund on plastic bottles. Those for which there are special containers and garbage cans. The minister feels we don’t recycle enough, and the numbers speak, too. He has been criticized for this idea but the truth is it should be tried first. People who recycle now might well have the time and will to bring the bottles to a store and get money for it. I would not mind giving the bottles to someone who collects them to make some extra money. It is being done in much more developed countries than the Czech Republic.

Aluminum recycling will NEVER work here. Really. NEVER. Beer cans will always end up among general waste. Reason? Simple. While a can is a symbol of drinking in the States, here in the Czech Republic most people buy soft drinks (and beer, in smaller extent) as ”plan C”. Drinks in cans are extremely overpriced. Two cans of, say, Sprite cost only slightly less than a one-liter bottle.

Tour de France: Let Them Have Their Drugs

This year doping scandal during Tour de France was enormous and some competitors were allowed to continue even though there was a strong suspicion they have been involved in doping.

Let’s change the whole system: doping should be allowed in individual sports. If professional or semi-professional athletes are stupid enough to damage their health by doping, then they should be allowed to do so. Let’s assume that EVERYONE in the start list is on drugs. Let’s admit that some people’s surprise when it turns out their test is positive is real. Let’s assume they really don’t know what they eat and what they drink. Let’s assume they are just puppets on a string, well, bike, who will eat and drink everything their coaches will give them to eat and drink.

If someone wants to compete in Tour de France knowing they are clean while the rest of the starting roster is not, then okay. But there will always be someone who has been eating the pills as if they were peanuts. In such case, legalize doping. Let the people kill themselves. Guns are also (semi)legal. So is alcohol. So are cigarettes. People who voluntarily kill themselves in a long process deserve it.

Czechs Spend $22/yr. On Books

According to the Czech Stats Office Czechs spend around CZK 450 ($22) per year on books. This year I bought Yes, Minister books, some dictionaries, travel guides on the Canary Islands…etc. etc. for some CZK 1,500 combined. So two Czechs didn’t buy any. That is the rule of statistics. Former Prime Minister Milos Zeman liked to put it this way: if I eat two turkeys for lunch and you don’t have any, statistically we both had great lunch…

Czech PM Almost Ran Over A Journalist

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek picked up his girlfriend – Deputy Speaker of Parliament Lucie Talmanova in a hospital today. He took her and their newborn son home. On the way from he hospital parking lot he purposefully passed by a group of journalists so close that he hit two of them with a rear-view mirror. One of the photojournalists was heard in the news broadcasts off-camera saying Man, he ran over my foot.

Berlin Big Mac Invasion

Berliners living in the neighborhood of Kreuzberg protested against a new McDonald’s resaurant. As a person whose most favorite city in Europe is Berlin, although not necessarily Kreuzberg, I must say: what were they thinking? Not the protesters, but the McDonald’s executives? There are enough places all over the city where they could open new places, they could even circumvent the whole neighborhood, but going to Kreuzberg is just not wise. It is kind of like opening all-you-can-eat beef restaurant in the middle of the biggest town in India.

According to AP, the company has hired security guards to watch over the construction site. Will they guard the restaurant as such? What kind of people will go there? Although I can have McRoyal every other day, I think I’ll pass.  There are way better vendor stands all over downtown that sell Leberkaese. Ever had one? Or grilled Wurst? Yummy.