Last week 11/2006

Like every year, the free Tibetan flag waved above the town halls of Czech cities and villages. Warmer temperatures brought a new layer of snow on the peaks of Czech mountains. Severe frosts returned. President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek argued over which of them impressed Russian President Vladimir Putin more, was more effective in setting his mood during his recent visit to Prague, and who was the one to reach agreements with him on better trade conditions. Bird flu encircled the Czech Republic.

When a few statistics are irregular, it’s not necessarily a problem because the Earth is constantly undergoing changes; but now literally all the statistics are beyond the norm, and that’s reason for serious concern, cites a report from the U.N. International Scientific Panel for Climate Change, whose members agreed that greenhouse gases produced by human activities are to blame for the current climate changes. The European Commission presented its proposal for a common European energy policy. John Cale played in Prague’s Archa Theatre. Peoplemeter measurements revealed that the new season of the reality show VyVolení is no longer attracting audiences. Rychetský’s Constitutional Court kept regulated rents alive. The city of Jeseník opened a third salt cave for asthmatics and people with heart problems. Kát’a Kabanová sold out La Scala Opera House. Regional Development Minister Radko Martínek attempted to diffuse Brussels bureaucrats’ concerns that at the current tempo the Czech Republic would not be able to submit enough comprehensible, fair projects this year, and would therefore miss out on most of the money set aside for it in EU development funds. International Women’s Day came back in fashion. Deputies rejected a Senate proposal to make Good Friday a national holiday. In the spirit of the Samarai tradition, the Japanese always ‘seek the ford’ – trying, not only in combat, to find their opponent’s weakest spot; if you aim for it, you cross the river. That is, you win, kendo and iaido martial arts master Vladimír Hotovec told Hospodařské noviny, describing how knowledge of martial arts can even help managers. The average pay jumped above twenty thousand crowns. Old linden trees were felled on the main square in Jimramov. An experiment in which a volunteer ate only in pubs three times a day for a whole month, eating exclusively Czech meals such as pork, cabbage and dumplings or hot dogs and bread, resulted in weight loss of 125 to 119 kilograms. The unemployment rate dropped. The Czech Medical Chamber backed plans to raise patients’ financial contribution for treatments. The police president thanked three young police corps members who saved the lives of a young woman and her children near Hranice last year when they pulled them out of their overturned car as it lay on train tracks and was at risk of exploding any second due to a gas leak. The Statistics Office calculated that the Czech economy grew by six percent last year. “It is incredibly important to keep our entrepreneurs in the region so the nuisance that’s here – the Vietnamese, etc. – will go away and disappear,” football coach and Christian Democratic Party election leader for the Karlovy Vary Region František Straka said in a television debate. “It was a most unfortunate choice of words, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the Vietnamese or racism,” apologized Straka after the media criticized his statement. Spain announced that it would open its labor market to new EU countries on May 1st. Ladach monks scattered in one day a mandala on the floor of the Museum of Prague they had spent six weeks making. Four hundred years passed since Rembrandt’s birth. Declining popularity caused panic in the ranks of the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), and Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek was quoted in papers as saying that in order to stop the decline party members have to promise voters “the same as the Greens,” whose popularity has risen sharply in voter preference polls. A rare species of goose, the barnacle goose, nested on the Berounka River. An express train to Liberec derailed at the Pardumbice train station and nobody was hurt. The One World festival ended in Prague. Police arrested two highly placed Transport Ministry officials and seven Czech entrepreneurs on suspicion of corruption. It was reported that Claudia Cardinale will come to the upcoming film festival Febiofest. Tony Blair visited Prague. Economic growth strengthened the crown. Newspapers reported that a group of scientists had discovered a mysterious crustacean species with hairy claws and membranes instead of eyes, which has been nicknamed “sea yeti.”