Last week 6/08

Gale-force winds broke trees, swept away roofs, took down electrical lines, and halted railway transport across the Czech Republic. Catkins bloomed. Due to spring weather, bats flew out of their winter habitats. “The U.S. economy has virtually stagnated,” Hospodářské noviny announced in a front-page headline. In London, European leaders met to find a way for Europe to avoid the economic crisis approaching it from America across the Atlantic Ocean. Pilsen Brewery announced record beer sales. Newspapers reported that Russia supplied nuclear fuel for a power plant in Iran. The General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces concluded that instead of the originally ordered 199 armored personnel carriers for 20 billion crowns, the army could suffice with about half that amount. “Astrology, unleashing energy, and conjuring ghosts definitely belong on television, but only when it concerns the criminal pursuit of those who promulgate it,” proclaimed Czech Television Council member and Právo daily columnist Petr Uhl after Czech Television aired the first show of its new series, “Detektor,” in which the maker of the show, Petr Vachler, wants to offer viewers “the other side of truth – the world of secrets, mysteries, magic, paranormal phenomena, and conspiracy theories.” International payments became easier. Due to melted ice on Lipno Reservoir, Dutch organizers canceled their annual outdoor ice-skating marathon, which they had decided to move from the Netherlands to the Šumava Mountains after after four straight years of warm winters kept them from holding it in their own country. Following his declaration that global warming does not exist, Czech President Václav Klaus disclosed that there is no health threat from passive smoking either.

“That’s a lie and an attempt to scandalize. That amount definitely isn’t intended for rent, it’s meant as a contribution to the crucial transformation of our cemetery into a dignified place,” said Cheb Mayor Jan Svoboda (Civic Democratic Party), objecting to a report in the German tabloid Bild claiming that his town is blocking the burial of the remains of fallen soldiers of the Wehrmacht with exorbitant financial demands – for example, a demand for 24 million crowns for the “rental” of part of the cemetery. In tests in Sweden, the brakes on the new Škoda Fabia Combi failed. Miloš Barták, the head of the research team at the Czech station in Antarctica, informed the media that besides the cold and wind, his group’s life is also being complicated by the fact that a stream near the station – the team’s only source of potable water – is so foul that its water can’t even be used for bathing. Japanese managers took over the Brno-based tractor manufacturer Zetor. An exclusive poll conducted by SC&C ordered by the Civic Democratic Party revealed that people would most like to see its candidate, Václav Klaus, as president; a poll conductd by STEM and ordered by the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) conversely revealed that people would rather have that party’s candidate, Jan Švejnar, as president. Bohuslav Sobotka deputy and former finance minister (ČSSD), refused to pay the legally imposed 30-crown fee for a doctor’s visit. “I am one of the signatories of a petition calling on people not to pay the fees, and I myself don’t pay them either,” Sobotka explained. “While those who gave civil disobedience its name, such as Thoreau or Ghandi, risked imprisonment, Sobotka is ‘risking’ saving money and free publicity. What will he come out with next – recommending theft as a protest to high prices?” Lidové noviny commentator Martin Weiss commented on the ex-minister’s activities, and Constitutional Court Chairman Pavel Rychetský called Sobotka’s appeal to break the law “inadmissible”. The Czech branch of T-Mobile celebrated the recruitment of its 525,000,000th customer. Crime rose but the number of murders decreased. A drunken municipal police officer stabbed an American tourist to death in Prague. A newly established official commission in Brno launched an inquiry into whether the city doesn’t have too many offices. A study by the consulting firm Total Logistics determined that the Czech Republic is an ideal place for building warehouses. Seventy-five years elapsed since the day Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Scientists discovered that deep electrical stimulation of the brain can revive human memory – even in those suffering from senility or Alzheimer’s disease. The Czech translation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows reached the counters of book stores. The asteroid 2007 TU24 missed hitting the Earth by just 500,000 kilometers and headed toward the Big Dipper constellation.