(c) Green Farm Hotel, Norfolk, UK

For decades, generations, even, breaded fried carp with potato salad has been the number-one Christmas Eve dinner. People who do not like carp, or who just do not want to fight with bones and risk swallowing one (dozens of people end up visiting an emergency room with a bone stuck in their throat), have fish fillets (boneless) instead.

Today I went by a butcher’s that had a huge specially made sign that said “Now taking orders for Christmas turkeys”.

Now, that’s new.

I am sure there have been families (not necessarily expats) that have turkey instead of fish, but so far I haven’t seen any business take care of these special needs, especially since it is possible to buy turkey any day of the year. So it does look like a signal that the number of Czech turkey-loving families is increasing… Czechs are known for “stealing other nations’ holidays”  (Halloween and jack-o-lanterns are the most recent example) so it might not take long…

In the Czech Republic Christmas presents are opened on December 24 after dinner. So far, at least…

(c) Ekolist.cz via Google

The Czech Ministry of Environment recently received a very unusual official letter – from the government of Micronesia, or, to be exact, its Environment Protection Agency. Its officials expressed concerns about the soon-to-be-innovated coal-fired power plant in the Czech town of Prunerov, the iDNES.cz news server writes.

Once innovated (i.e. once its operations are extended), the power plant will play a crucial negative role in the production of greenhouse gases. And since the government of Micronesia knows what oceans do as a result of greenhouse gas production, they have the right to be afraid.

According to the news server the Prunerov thermal power plant is the biggest producer of GG in the Czech Republic. The government of Micronesia wants to be involved in EIA proceedings, to which Czech authorities and companies involved in the procedure do not object. Of course Greenpeace is taking Micronesia’s side, arguing that any motion or decision ruled in favor of Micronesia would mean a very important precedent in the future…

The Czech government is introducing a penal code amendment that should finally define illegal quantities of drugs – i.e. the borderline between “the possession for one’s own use” and trafficking/distribution. In other words, the borderline between a felony (jail) and a misdemeanor (fine) or even legal possession…

Five grams of cannabis is legal, six is not, the amendment says.

Similarly,quantities are defined for heroin, ecstasy (MDMA), etc… According to the iDNES.cz new server a detailed list says that two pills should be legal, if the amendment is passed and adopted.

According to the news server, the “tolerated amount” is now regulated by internal orders of the Chief Police Commissioner.

The Novinky.cz news server informs that two grams is the new legal quantity in case of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. Even though the new “list” is not as strict as the current regulation, representatives of the Ministry of Justice say it is not at all a signal that the authorities are now more liberal when it come to drug. It is supposed to be a clear and understandable definition of illegal activities when it comes to drug use, they say…

NOTE: please ignore this post for the time being, the video that is linked below was removed from YouTube due to copyright claims. I am trying to find a new one…

This year the Idol contest is a joint effort of both Czech and Slovak organizers. I rarely watched the previous seasons, but this season kicks ass: these finalists are really good. They can sing, the girls are gorgeous and the men are good-looking enough for the music industry. Here they are performing the theme song of this season, written by one of the judges:

(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…

(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 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…

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

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).

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