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Couple of days ago Washington and Prague signed the treaty to place a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of a system that the US (and other countries) needs as a protection against any missile attack from possible hostile countries in the Middle East. And who ends up screaming “bloody murder” about this? Russia! Medvedev, the current president of Russia, told the news: “we are extremely upset about this situation…we will not be hysterical but we will think of retaliatory steps“. (more…)

I was flipping the channels last night and guess who appeared on the screen: Vaclav Klaus! The C-span channel had him as a speaker to promote his new book called the “Blue Planet in Green Shackles” (see the whole speech by clicking here). Besides focusing on the environmental issues during his current visit to the US he is also going to meet with the vice-president Dick Chaney with whom he will be discussing the hot topic of Anti-missile radar base. Klaus is flying back home on Thursday afternoon. (more…)

The communist era in the Czech Republic ended almost 20 years ago, yet the country seems still quite unsettled about this issue. Many political groups keep “acting out” for the public to pay more attention to this unresolved issue. A lot of people are angry because the individuals who went over to the “dark side” and joined the party during communism had much easier life back then: they could travel, had better jobs, their kids were allowed to attend universities….. (more…)

My life-long project is finally completed! Here is a pretty cool list of famous Czechs and Slovaks (full-blooded or partial) living abroad. Some of those names were quite the surprise! Did you know for example that there are currently 5 Czech Victoria Secret models? Most of these people live in America but that is where my Google search ended up leading me. What I am trying to say is that this list is far from including ALL of the celebrities but it is the best one out there. So enjoy it! And let me know if you can think of any other additions….MOVIES

1. George Voskovec (actor)
2. Lucky Vanous (actor)
3. Jon Voight (his grandfather, Mr. Voytka, came to the US from Kosice) (more…)
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The re-elected president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, was interviewed in March by the famous television host Glenn Beck on the issue of Global warming (see the YouTube video bellow). Whatever your conviction about this topic is, you have to admit that Klaus is pretty brave to be one of the “black sheep” and stand out against the mainstream opinion. Believe me, I do want to save the planet, but I agree with him on couple of things:

1/ there are not enough data to conclude that Global warming is caused by human activities (it may be a factor but not the main one) (more…)

The early-warning radar system is just steps away from being built in the Czech Republic. As the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said yesterday to the press in Washington, only a few minor details needed to be solved before the construction can begin. Most of these minor issues are connected with the environmental protection. Here are some facts about the upcoming building project: (more…)

The current president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, was reelected last night to continue being a president for another 5 years. It was a very close call, however. It took 3 rounds for him to receive the majority of votes (see the table bellow). In the 3rd round he finally received 141 votes (at a joint session of both houses of th parliament) - he needed at least 140 votes to win. His rival Svejnar was defeated by the lesser number of 111 votes. (more…)

Did you like the movie “I, Robot” or “A.I.” (Artificial intelligence)? These movies are a pure rip-off of one of Karel Capek’s novels called the R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). In this masterpiece Capek introduces the now frequently used international word “robot” - the non-human intelligent being. The word itself was invented by Karel’s dear brother Josef and it is derived from a Czech verb “robotovat” which is an archaic word for “working”. Capek is one of the great - if not the greatest - writers of the inter-war Czechoslovakia. Beside being an author of numerous fabulous books what was he like? Don’t be misled by his meek look. He had quite an adventurous life: he was expelled from high school, later married an actress and becomes a good friend of the president (T.G. Masaryk). (more…)

Have you decided who would you like to be the future president of the Czech Republic? Svejnar or Klaus? Are you still undecided? When the lidovky.cz survey asked people who would they pick to be a new Czech president, these were the results:

• 921 voted for Klaus
• 524 voted for Svejnar (more…)
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Up until recently I have always thought that the Czech Republic allows you to have a dual citizenship. WRONG (with a few exeptions) !!. And here is why…..

Az do nedavna jsem si myslela, ze Ceska republika dovoluje dvoji obcanstvi. Chyba lavky (az na par vyjimek)…

WHAT IS A DEFINITION OF CZECH CITIZENSHIP?

According to the Jus sanguinis (”right of blood” in Latin) principles the Czech citizen at birth is a descendant of a Czech parent.

• it does not matter if that person is born in the Czech Republic or abroad
• if the parents are not married and only the father is Czech, a proof of paternity is required
• babies born in the Czech Republic to foreign parents do not get Czech citizenship unless the parents are stateless or have a permanent resident card (more…)
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