Last week 19/08

Feral dogs decimated a flock of sheep near Domažlice. Witch-burning fires blazed on hilltops. Culture Minister Václav Jehlička climbed to the pilgrimage peak of Křemešník mountain. After a 10-day exhibition, the government delegation took the crown jewels back to their cache in St. Wenceslas Chapel inside St. Vitus's Cathedral. A record 35,000 visitors came to the Book World trade fair in Prague. Aero Vodochody completed its 200th helicopter for Sikorsky. „My aim is to not be a target,“ proclaimed the several dozen Greenpeace activists occupying the future site of the US radar base in Brdy, each bearing a sign with the motto around their neck. Hašek experts and enthusiasts convened in Lipnice nad Sázavou. „The European Union took a clear stance during last year's crisis but has forgotten about it over time; I can only hope that the Czech Republic remembers Burma and its freedom when it presides over the EU,“ said British activist Caroline Cox in an interview for Mladá fronta Dnes, recalling last year's brutal quashing of a rebellion against Burma's totalitarian junta. The Státní ústav pro kontrolu léčiv (State Institute for Drug Control) ruled that anti-sclerosis medicine will be fully covered by insurance. Western Bohemian ornithologists organized walks to welcome springtime bird songs.The media reported that Slovakia would adopt the euro next year. The Škoda Octavia Ming Rui (or Progressive Octavia) model became the official car of the Olympic Games in Communist China. Prague fakir Petr Fiedor lay on a bed of glass shards for 10 days in order to break his own 72-hour record. The Prague Stock Exchange took a dive.

„I set out to drive to a pig-killing in Golčův Jeníkov and unfortunately only covered 200 meters because the police stopped me as soon as I turned the corner,“ said Petr Štěpánek, director of the Státní fond životního prostředí (State Fund for the Environment), describing how police officers caught him behind the wheel of car without a driving license. Brno City Hall provided undersoil heating for the city's football team. Komerční banka shareholders voted to pay out dividends of 180 crowns per share. All the communities around the uranium deposits in the Bohemian-Moravian highlands voted against the Australian company Urania Mining's plan to start exploring here; the Environment Ministry announced that it would respect the citizens' wishes and would not grant the exploration permits. A velocipedists' club was founded in Telč. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) called on Czech children not to enroll in gymnáziums and other overly academic secondary schools and to learn instead a trade because „a skillful tradesman often earns more than an office clerk these days.“ „I'm not too skillful, I'm more talented at humanities,“ said Walter Bartoš, the father of the „apprentice“ campaign and school expert for ODS, explaining why he got a school-leaving certificate from a gymnázium and a doctorate in philosophy instead of a certificate of apprenticeship; Bartoš's son also sought higher education instead of attending a vocational school. An accident involving a tanker carrying liquid asphalt blocked the road from Havlíčkov Brod to Ždírec. Plzeňský Stock announced that it had the biggest proceeds from alcohol in its history last year: 470 million crowns, over 50 percent more than last year's sales. Draff falling from brewery vehicles turned the highway from the Říčany hill beyond Brno into a slippery slide. Břeclav's historical Vranův mlýn (Crow's Mill) burned to the ground and ceased to exist. Due to the impossibility of coordinating US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's schedule with Czech leaders' diaries, the date for signing the agreement on locating the US radar base in Brdy, which had been set for May 5th, was postponed for a month. Josef Váchal's book Šumava umírající a romantická (Gabreta Dying and Romantic) was auctioned in Prague for a record 3.1 million crowns. Airline ticket sales rose to record highs. The European Commission predicted that economic growth would slow in the Czech Republic. Director Jan Balej's film Jedné noci v jednom městě („One Night in a City“) won a Golden Reel award for best animation at the film festival in Tiburon, California. It surfaced that Parliament, which is fully connected via a computer network, prints seven tons of paper at a price of 2.25 million crowns for every one of its meetings. Politicians passed a resolution that Prague's magistrála motorway would disappear under ground. The fine for hunter's imbibing before a hunt was raised to 50,000 crowns. Statistics revealed that Czechs are losing interest in mortgages. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek gave ribbons of thanks to volunteer firemen for their selfless acts to save citizens' lives and property.