Last week 10/08

Warm temperatures broke records, amid blazing sun. Meteorologists in České Budějovice recorded a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius on February 25th. „So it seems that spring has begun,“ commented the Lidové noviny newspaper on a Česká společnost ornitologická (Czech Society for Ornithology) report that mallard ducks had nested in the Czech Republic one week earlier than usual. The media reported that a crowd of Serbs, angry that America had recognized Kosovo's independence, set fire to the US Embassy in Belgrade. Czech actress and singer Markéta Irglová won an Oscar for her singing in the movie Once. The prison services management warned authorities that Czech prisons are overcrowded, and that a collapse is imminent if no room is found for additional convicts. The Czech Army concluded that it has a surplus of generals (50) and that it must get rid of at least 15 of them. Petr Zelenka, a healthcare worker who murdered seven patients by injecting them with high doses of the blood-thinner heparin, was sentenced to life in prison in Hradec Králové. Labor union organizers threatened parliament that their union would respond with a strike if it passed a government bill abolishing tax relief for meal vouchers. „Not that society has become radicalized, but there is a sense of nullity, division here,“ said STEM president Jan Hartl, remarking on a public opinion poll in which 66 percent of the Czech populace agreed with the opinion, „Someone should clearly designate what should be done,“ and expressed a desire for a heavy-handed government. Joint police patrols began in the Czech-Polish border regions. The Icelandic company Nordic Partners bought Hamé, a canned food producer in Babice. A ceremony attended by European Commission representatives was held to mark the establishment of the Bank of Last Resort, a vault of plant species from around the world, on the Norwegian island of Svibald, where the seeds should be safely stored in the event of climate change, war, or other catastrophes. „The accused is not a deviant, he just prefers youth,“ declared experts evaluating the mental health of Bohumil Kulínský, former conductor of the Bambini di Praga children's choir, who is accused of sexually abusing 40 of his underage charges. The number of counterfeit bank notes dropped and the police concluded that counterfeiters have lost interest in the Czech currency. Jiří Paroubek, chairman of the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), and Lubomír Zaorálek, shadow foreign minister of the same party, visited Syria and, according to the Damascus news agency SANA, met with representatives of the local totalitarian regime about „bolstering mutual cooperation.“ „I don't know what I'd say to Czech citizens about why ČSSD officials are so aggravated by negotiations on changing the visa policy with the USA, yet it seems perfectly normal for them to take a trip on the tab of a regime that complicates the situation in the Middle East,“ said Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek in reaction, having just closed a deal abolishing visas for Czech citizens visiting the USA. During his visit, Topolánek also decorated a commemorative plaque for brothers Josef and Ctirad Mašín, anti-Communist resistance fighters who fought alone against the Bolshevik dictatorship in Czechoslovakia in the early 1950s, and then shot their way to the West in a battle against superior forces. A group of 30 neo-Nazis demolished a Chinese bistro on náměstí Bratří Synků square in Prague; two Chinese cooks were injured by broken glass and had to be taken to the hospital. Sports retailers complained that people aren't buying skis because of the warm weather.

„A politician has the right to speak his country's official language at official meetings - and taking advantage of that right can even be a matter of national pride,“ said the spokesperson for Industry Minister Martin Říman, explaining why his boss doesn't speak any foreign languages during meetings at the EU headquarters in Brussels and why he has everything translated into Czech. Pharmacy revenues dropped by one-quarter. A medical study showed that Czechs' interest in sex is waning. Authorities warned consumers against using Proseptine, a spray produced by Gifrer, which, according to the label on the package is intended to remove adhesive tape from skin, but actually works as a corrosive and can cauterize the skin where it is sprayed.