Anděl: leden 2007

My HERO

Overheard:

College girl from England: Hey, whoa, are you drunk?
College girl from Prague: No! I'm Czech!

Czechs taking it out on the French

Tensions between Prague and Paris rose on Monday after the Czech republic called an emergency European summit in protest at "protectionist" plans to bail out France’s car industry.

Mirek Topolanek, prime minister of the Czech republic, was still fuming on Monday after Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, urged his country’s carmakers to close down plants in eastern Europe in return for state aid.

Mr Sarkozy did not repeat his weekend call on Renault and Peugeot-Citroën to "relocate where possible" their production when he unveiled a €6.5bn ($8.5bn, £5.7bn) package of loans for the two carmakers on Monday. But his comments continued to draw strong protests in central Europe.

Relations between Prague and Paris, which held the EU presidency in the second half of last year, have been strained since Mr Sarkozy made it clear that he did not feel his Czech successors would be up to the job. Mr Sarkozy floated the idea of his chairing a council of eurozone leaders – the Czech republic is not in the single currency – to lead the bloc’s response to the crisis.

A Czech-led mission to the Middle East at the start of the year was overshadowed by Mr Sarkozy’s own peace initiative – prompting criticism from other member-states, such as Italy.

Mr Sarkozy, when asked in a television interview on Thursday whether the Czechs needed to do more try to co-ordinate stimulus policies, replied: "You should not take it out on them especially. They are doing what they can." (more)

What else did we miss here?

The Czech Republic's practice of surgically castrating convicted sex offenders is "invasive, irreversible and mutilating" and should stop immediately, the Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee said in a report made public Thursday.

The central European country castrated at least 94 prisoners in the 10 years up to April 2008, when investigators from the Council of Europe, a human-rights forum, visited the Czech Republic.

The procedure is being performed even on first-time, non-violent offenders, such as exhibitionists, its investigation revealed. (CNN)

Ježuš Maria! First time I've ever heard of it! WTF?!

Czech court to rule on fairy-tale kingdom

Comic actor Bolek Polivka is suing former business partner Tomas Harabis over the rights to the fictitious Wallachian Kingdom.

The court must decide whether Mr Polivka is the true "king" of the fairy-tale realm. (more)

Gosh, is that what alcohol does to a country? Smart idea though! Why don't we start a pivo kingdom, say the United Kingdom of Pivoland?

Shattered into Pieces

In perhaps the first, and largest, fallout from the financial crisis, glass-making group Bohemia Crystalex and Porcela Plus entered bankruptcy proceedings Sept. 22.

Crystalex’s troubles became apparent to outsiders when electric company ČEZ shut off power in Crystalex plants for one hour Sept. 18 as a warning for hundreds of millions of crowns in unpaid electric bills. (The Prague Post)

No Country for Old Beer

At this year’s World Beer Cup in San Diego, California, the largest competition of its kind, the gold medal for “Bohemian-style lager” did not go to a Czech brewery for the first time since 2000, when the competition was smaller by nearly half and dominated by North American brewers.

Rather, the world’s best pilsner beers can be found in two unlikely places: Portland and Sydney. (more)

Czechs no longer brew top pilsner! WTF is going on out there?