Christmas spirit in Vienna

(c) Petr Bokuvka

The main part of the Vienna market is situated in front of the city hall (Rathaus) building.

(c) Petr Bokuvka

Christmas tree decorations, toys, candles, hand-made gifts, jewelry, hand-made stationery…

(c) Petr Bokuvka

…and of course hot wine, whipped cream rolls, pretzels, candy, Sacher Torte, etc. The latter is not pictured here as the “huts” were always surrounded by crowds of people waiting patiently in lines…

Two Czech Airlines planes involved in a near collision incident

(c) Petr Bokuvka

Two Czech Airlines aircraft were involved in what authorities call a “near collision” incident on July 11, the Novinky.cz news server writes, citing the final report on this incident.

An Airbus A319 en route from Oslo, Norway was ordered by ATC to descend to FL160 but the captain descended to FL150. According to the daily the F/O noticed the inconsistency and voiced his objection but was overruled by the captain. The other aircraft involved was an ATR-42 returning to Prague from Berlin, Germany.

A spokesman for the pilots’ association rushed in to say that there was no imminent danger to the people on board as both planes were equipped with TCAS. At one point the vertical separation was 200 ft and the horizontal separation was 1.12 nm – which was a violation of the rules concerning the separation minima.

Full text of the report here [in Czech].

The Brno Christmas market starts today, and the mayor promised changes

The famous Brno Christmas market starts today. After years of bummer and bad reputation, the Mayor promised this year should be different.

For years the market was operated by a private company which could dictate the product categories to be sold in the wooden “huts” on the main square. People wanted traditions and the Christmas spirit, but many of the huts sold pyjamas, cheap underwear and other junk.

The city government argued that it had practically no control over the products. It became apparent that the municipality had concluded  a bad contract and there was no way to back out of it and almost all citizens of Brno had to wait for the contract to expire.

Christmas market photos coming up…

Czech tabloid invented a new U.S. state: Southern California

There have been numerous cases when U.S. media showed their lack of knowledge of the world geography. Once in a while CNN graphics would put the Czech Republic next to Iraq (see below), or France…etc. But it seems like Czech media have problems of their own, too, especially when they use news agencies mindlessly, without “reading” them:

According to this article from the Blesk daily, there is a U.S. state called “Southern California”. The person who translated this article probably thought that the fact that “Southern” has the capital S must mean that it is part of the name.

CNN blooper

Regular flu: sick kids go to schools, principals say

Aside from the swine flu, the situation is getting worse in terms of the numbers of the people who have the “regular flu”. Some schools have recently been closed, as the Education Ministry and the Health Ministry issued a notice according to which school principals could make their decisions more freely.

However, some principals have been reporting an increase in the numbers of children (students) who keep going to schools and are seen taking their pills regularly during/in class, the Radio Impuls radio station reported today. “Apparently, the kids’ parents could not stay home with their children, so they were sent to school, even though they should probably be in bed,” one principal was quoted as saying.

It should be noted that the tradition of babysitting is absolutely un-developed in this country. But even if it was developed, I don’t think anyone would risk their health under the present conditions. According to the Czech legislation, parents are entitled to apply for a special kind of paid leave the purpose of which is to take care of an ill child. However, many parents find it “risky” in times when companies are reducing staff numbers (i.e. as it may become clear who their company can do well without).

Twenty years of freedom. And some people still miss the communist era

Tomorrow is November 17, 2009 – the Czech Republic and Slovakia will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, i.e. twenty years of freedom.

(c) CTK News Agency

Communism as a form of government is inherently totalitarian and the pre-1989 era had many signs of oppression and totalitarianism. And yet we still hear occasional voices (of old geezers, especially) that the era of communism was better than the post-revolution times. Their most frequent stupid arguments and errors are:

Stupid argument 1: Before 1989 there was no unemployment.
Reality: Avoiding work was against the law. Moreover, the communist regime had people’s job under control. There were thousands of people who could not do what they wanted or what they studied for. Thousands of people were fired from their jobs for minor mistakes and they ended up sweeping streets. The was no labour market. The process of recruitment of new employees often included the “is-he-a-good-communist” criterion.

Stupid argument 2: What is the point of having open borders, we have no money to travel.
Reality: Before 1989 there was the Iron Curtain and people were shot and killed, or “at least” thrown in jail, for leaving their own country. The communist regime did not want to have the image of a regime that people want to run away from, so it wanted to lock people in. It has been established numerous times that the Iron Curtain wasn’t there to protect, but to prevent (see above).

Stupid argument 3: Before 1989 a loaf of bread cost 5 Czechoslovak crowns, now it is 30.
Reality: It makes absolutely no sense to compare the socialist system of economy with the current one. In Middle Ages, a man could exchange his future wife for ten cows. Now he has to marry her and earn money to raise a family.

Stupid argument 4: I never had any negative experience with the state police.
Reality: Thousands of people were spied on and prosecuted (forget fair trial) for badmouthing the system, or for listening to Western radio stations, or for meeting “enemies of the regime”. Many were executed, again, without fair trial.

The most ironic thing is the “freedom paradox”: the people who say “communism was better” are allowed to say it because they live in a democratic society now. Had they said “capitalism is better” before 1989, they would end up in jail.

And on a slightly lighter note: because we have the freedom of speech now, they have every right to say what they want. But what if the current government decided to load them onto trains and transport them to North Korea? Maybe they would enjoy it: a) North Korea has a communist government which is exactly what they have been missing, and b) in North Korea they would finally get the big picture, and having learned from the Velvet Revolution, they could try to overthrow Kim Chong-il.

The STEM agency recently conducted its annual Are you proud to be Czech? poll (1,270 respondents):

(c) TCDW, using the STEM agency data

Smoking ban in the time of swine flu

(c) Getty Images

People all over the world are sent home to get well or they are hospitalised due to the swine flu. It has been established that the illness is highly contagious so people who think they caught it are encouraged to avoid meeting their colleagues and friends and family members.

At the same time, smokers who are proved to have caused thousands of deaths of people who suffered from second-hand smoke can happily live their lives, unchanged.

But what is the difference between a patient who may spread the swine flu and a smoker whose bad habit will sooner or later get some people sick and seriously ill as well? I don’t see any difference.

Many countries have strict smoking bans, and they work. Other countries’ governments stick to stupid arguments why it is not possible. We have hundreds of thousands of people walking around, slowly killing their fellow citizens.

Let’s say I have lunch in a restaurant.  A group of beer friend enters, they sit down, order beers and start smoking. I approach them, start coughing and tell them I am positive I have the swine flu. They are going to tell me “Are you nuts, walking around making other people sick?”

At which point it would be my turn to say “See my f****** point?”

Fuck off, said the Brno Mayor to his Deputy. Twice.

(c) Denik.cz

Fuck off, Martin. Fuck off, I say…

…said the Mayor of the City of Brno Roman Onderka to his Deputy Martin Ander during a session of the City Council, the iDNES.cz news server wrote…

The two politicians are coalition partners. Onderka is a social democrat and Ander is from the Green Party. Ander sought explanation from the Mayor how come a former municipal police officer who was found guilty of battery works for the MP again – as a civilian. Normally employees of the municipal police must have a clean criminal record. The exchange between the two politicians resulted in the insult… Here is how the Mayor explained himself…

In every relationship, there comes a time when you have to express your feelings in two or three words. A mayor is not made of stone, he has a heart and feelings.

However, according the another Deputy Mayor, Daniel Rychnovsky (Christian Democrats) the city coalition is like “a married couple who fight a lot but decide not to get a divorce for the sake of their children”. The local elections are scheduled to take place in June 2010.

If you ask me, I have nothing against these words in politics, if they are used under similar circumstances (face-to-face exchange). Sticks and stones… Mayors can have secret girlfriends and they can use the F-word from time to time, provided they pay attention to ordinary local issues, as they are required to…

Man who protected his property faces attempted murder charges

(c) isifa.com

Fifteen years in prison. This is what may happen to you in the Czech Republic if you try to protect your humble property with a firearm. Mr. Karel Basta from the town of Ivancice near Brno is charged with attempted murder … for shooting at burglars in his scrap yard, the Brnensky denik daily writes.

According to the prosecuting DA, “the defendant took his rifle and shot twice at a vehicle in which [a man and a woman] were sitting, attempting to drive away. The man was shot in the thigh, and the woman was wounded in the face, which subsequently resulted in her losing one eye”.

As usual, both the Czech Penal Code and the Rules of Criminal Procedure fail to acknowledge one thing: the two had entered the man’s premises with the intention to steal his property. Basta had experienced three previous burglaries.

Basta maintains he wanted to shoot at rear wheels and that the injuries to the occupants of the vehicle were an accident. On the other hand, the DA argues that the injured woman was “calling for help”, which Basta ignored.

It is a huge disadvantage for Czechs who want to defend themselves and their property that the Czech legal system does not acknowledge the Castle Doctrine principle.

Nope, the principle that the Czech police usually stick to is “let them get away and we will find them. MAYBE”. Czech victims of burglaries often hear shocking statements from the police who come to investigate the breaking and entering: “We will document the crime, but let me tell you, there is almost no chance for us to find those who did it”.

This case (and several previous ones) clearly prove that people who grab their guns to protect their property are frustrated with the way their previous burglaries had been handled…

The injured woman testified that she didn’t even want to enter the premises. She said she had been brought to the scrap year by the man who was originally supposed to give her a ride home. Why she remained there without calling the police was not explained.

She was responsible for her actions and she will have to live with the consequences. But Karel Basta should not. If he is sent to jail, all law-abiding citizens will get the feeling that they are not protected, while the bad guys are: by short sentences and stupid court rulings like this one…

Waiting for the swine flu: a matter of weeks, authorities say

(c) Getty Images

According to authorities, it is most likely a matter of weeks. So far there are only a few hundred confirmed cases of the “swine flu” in the Czech Republic, most of them “mild”.

Institutions, movie theaters and even schools would remain open to the extent possible, because “healthy” children can not stay at home and ill children for whom their parents don’t  find babysitting would go to daycare centres anyway. “Closing down schools is not a measure to prevent or resolve pandemic,” public hygiene office head says.

People are buying out face masks but they haven’t started wearing them, yet…

Moreover, many people have recently caught the “regular” flu, which is unusual, because the numbers of patients with the regular flu usually increase in February, not November…

TO BE UPDATED…