Stop The Presses!

Water from Morava River Turning Into Liquid Gold
Results of the Czech Beer Competition for 2003 have just been announced.
The big winner is Zubr, the beer brewed by the Zubr brewery in the medium-sized Moravian city of Prerov (not that far from Morava River)
· Liquid Bread [Eurosavant ]

'Tis Creature Called Man

Whenever I come across plastic and redneck kindofish (sic) characters: bullies at work, or cowards in print; bashers of pregnant women in the safety of their homes, or liars around the parliamentary bar..., this saying tends to commits itself in my mind: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort, but where he stands in time of challenge and controversy.
-King (Martin Luther)

So True Cowards & Crowds
GAS BAG, EH? Someone called Norman Finkelstein says
In contrast to bursting windbags like Vaclav Havel, Hitchens is too smart to take his vaporizings seriously.
This is a former Marxist, but very much a member of the implacable left. Oppose Bush and anyone who defends any of his policies at all costs.
This fashion of hatred for Vaclav Havel among the left is fascinating to me. Must return to this. In terms of practical politics, Havel's a social democrat, really. In principle he's probably close to, say, an American lefty on a range of social issues. But he opposed the Soviets. And this is unforgivable. He opposed the Soviets eloquently (and bravely). Ergo, he is a bursting gasbag. I realize that Havel's worst crime, however, was to support the overthrow of a totalitarian regime in Iraq.
Imagine Finkelstein in Havel's shoes facing a choice between prison and freedom, all based on whether he shuts up or not. He'd fold the very first time he was interrogated and sign anything they put in front of him.
The piece is a rant about Christopher Hitchens, by the way, not Havel. For a good time, read Hitchens' response.
· Hitchens [via Pragueblog]

Exclusive Perspective

Why we're all the way with the USA
Central European perspective on modern history and even a lesson in Czech grammar by someone who is stuck inside the # 1 industry in Washington.
· Antipodian perspective [SMH ]

Waltzing around the 'real' Australia
The International Rugby Board rejection of 'Waltzing Matilda' as an Australian icon shouldn't surprise, writes historian, author, and former farmer's daughter Jacqui Murray. After all, fewer and fewer people living in this country feel any cultural connection with jolly swagmen, billabongs and coolibah trees...setting aside beachwear and cask wine.
· Matilda [The Brisbane Institute]

Talking Back
Oral history adds a new dimension to the nation's past
Look at the official transcripts of a 1988 meeting of the central committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and you're likely to find topics such as "missiles in Europe" or "threats from the West" on the agenda. Talk to one of the seven members who actually attended the meeting and you'll discover another, unmentioned issue: the shortage of toilet paper. Seriously.
· Oral history [The Prague Post]

The new female fantasy
Sydney, says trendy author Candace Bushnell, is much like New York: I look around and see all these great single women all the time, and there are really no great-looking single guys for them to go out with.
· Time to Turn This Tragic Trend: Sydney, I Will be Back [SMH]

The Final Earthy Campfire

My Dragon starts and ends with Daily Dose of Dust...
Oh it's-a lonesome away from your kindred and all
By the campfire at night we'll hear the wild dingos call
But there's nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear
Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer ...
· A Pub With no Beer is about mateship, the friendship of drinking together as equals contrasted with the misery of loneliness in exile [Slim Dusty]

The world's best blogs

Whether it's gossip, news, personal revelations or tech talk, online diaries can make anybody an opinionated commentator.
· 20 Must-surf weblogs [SMH ]

Cold War Mummy

During The dark days of the Cold War an archeological expedition headed by Soviet scientists were given a mummy by the Egyptian government. They carefully prepared it for shipping and sent it back to the Soviet Union for further study.
Among other things, the scientists wanted to determine the mummy's age.
But the scientists were rudely pushed aside by the notorious Soviet secret police (KGB) who insisted, Leave it to us; we'll find out.
After a few days the secret police made the astounding announcement that the mummy's age was 3,402 years."That is amazing comrades," cried the Soviet scientists. How did you ever determine it?
That was easy, reported the secret police.
The mummy confessed.
I know...it's a lousy joke but there is a moral to the story: A little confession is good for the soul!
· However, Before You Sign Anything Czech Out My Very Own Rich List

Make no mistake

Make no mistake
Make no mistake, indeed; our current leaders are in love with fiction, with turning the unreal into the real, if they can get away with it. So it seems only fitting that fiction be turned on them. It is after all, the poets, playwrights, novelists, and political survivors who tend to reveal the truth to us, and speak to our souls.
· Prefer COLD Fact To ANGRY Fiction [TruthOut ]

Political marketing as party management
Political marketing has attracted increasing attention from political commentators in recent years, yet relatively little academic work has been conducted into its nature - either theoretically or empirically.
· Thatcher in 1979 and Blair in 1997 [National Europe Centre, Australian National University (PDF file)]

Ethnic community capital In Sydney

In this paper Walter Lalich identifies a wide array of religious and secular facilities in Sydney that have been developed by ethnic communities as a consequence of post-1945 demographic and cultural changes. During this period many thousands of non-English speaking immigrants voluntarily engaged in the development of a diverse range of facilities to satisfy various social needs, which were arising in their new social environment.
· They collectively invested scarce material resources [Australian Centre for Co-operative Research and Development, University of Technology Sydney (PDF file)]
But one can't help recalling the bland indifference on the part of the Germans, who saw themselves as decent, honest people, to what was happening inside the Nazi concentration camps.
· Let’s look at the Australian people as they really are [David BurchellAPO]

Travelogue

TIMES & TALES OF ZE TAPE
Josef, a former coffin maker in New York, said he is not privy to the ongoing negotiations. But he said that prior to the Times article, no one in the United States or the Czech Republic seemed interested in the video, including TV Nova and Czech TV.
· Hlava (Head) [Prague Post]

Mad Dam Overflowing with Self Interest

Fair & Balanced Water Reserve

Real Estate agents are holding auctions for rental properties, forcing prospective tenants to bid against one another. Dam of greed is likely to burst sooner rather than later...
· Successful Failure [ Jim Soorley]
· Two incomes, more debt? [Christian Monitors]
· Reserve::Nowhere to Run [SMH ]
· My ExtendedFamily [WereRich Family]
· Family Stories [Forbes ]

Good eBook Surfing

At some point, just before oblivion of the sound of trees falling in the forrest takes us, someone will finally utter these fateful words:
eBooks are not so much different to paperbacks...

Trends
I have to brag about this! If you do a Google search for Cold River this site comes out at number 3 and 4 of about 2 million. That’s pretty good eBook surfing ...
The Open eBook Forum, www.openebook.org, suggests that Online reading, once viewed as a refuge for the nerds and as a faintly disrespectable way to read book, is rapidly becoming a fixture of publishing life for readers of all ages, backgrounds and interests.
I view this as a logical and inevitable move that more and more readers will make in the near future. I await the day when eBooks growth is routine, and no longer newsworthy. Reading will never go completely virtual, but readers have certainly noticed that with better quality Palm eReaders they can move towards saving space and creating less dust on shelves at homes and offices.
According to New Farm Organic Price Index, Organic farming makes up a fraction of farming in America, the industry is growing about 25 percent a year. Organic retail food sales in the U.S. reached $7.8 billion in 2000, up from $6 billion in 1999.

Secret Bags

But listen here, there ain’t anything worth doing a man can do and keep his dignity. Can you figure out a single thing you really please-God like to do you can do and keep your dignity? The human frame just ain’t built that way.
*Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men

Only On Sundays

Meanwhile, Kristofer Cieslak passed along some famous and not-so-famous, first sentences from his favorite novel...
Jerzy Kosinski's Being There:
It was Sunday.
Is it Sunday! and a satirical Christian Unrest online magazine, Ship of Fools, recently held a competition to rewrite the Lord's Prayer in 160 characters or less. The winner, British college student Matthew Campbell, produced this:
dad@hvn, ur spshl. we want wot u want &urth2b like hvn. giv us food & 4giv r sins lyk we 4giv uvaz. don't test us! save us! bcos we kno ur boss, ur tuf & ur cool 4 eva! ok?

Sunday @ Nine
It all started when Premier Carr claimed advertising man John Singleton had threatened to target him in a $5 million campaign...
· Week of Vitriol [Sunday]
· Latham on the Hill [Sunday ]

In the Bag
As my gypsy family prepares for the big change, a journey back to the deserted island called Sydney, it is time for In the Bag, the game that challenges you to put aside pride and admit what creative works you really like.
The rules: you can put any five works of art into your bag before departing for a desert city monitored by the good guys at ASIO, but you have to choose right now. No stalling or dithering—the secret armies of the night are pounding on your front door. No posturing—you have to say the first five things that pop into your head, no matter how uncool they may sound. What do you stuff in the bag?
Here are my picks:
PAINTING: Richard McWeeney, Cannonberry McKell Park, Darling Point
MUSIC: Kristofer Cieslak, Guralu Ci Ci Nezal (slow movement guitar, accompanied by Polish Vodka on Icy Lemon)
BOOK: James Cumes, Haverleigh
BTW, If you happen to be visiting Frankfurt at the time when the city of books manages to pack every season into a week, please consider stopping by Stand 3.1 C149:
James' and Jozef's coffee hause.
FILM: Milos Foreman, Lásky jedné plavovlásky aka Blonde in Love, (1965)
POP SONG: The Black Eyed Peas, Where Is The Love?
(My Children infected me with this song ...)

Human misery...

Open Democracy serves up a first class stories inspired by human misery...

VOICES FROM M.L.: RUSSIA EATS HER CHILDREN EXILE:
The family of a Russian geologist has paid a terrible price for defending (and marrying) members of unpopular minority groups.
· [Open Democracy]
· The Soviet archives exposed [Open Democracy]

In the End, the KGB Won
Garry Kasparov has a rather worrisome piece in the WSJ today on what is going on in my former homeland, Russia. Check this out:

Russia now is entering an extremely dangerous phase of property redistribution, which is shaking the country's weak economy from top to bottom. The Putin regime's recent, blatant attack on Russia's largest private oil company, Yukos, run by the outspoken oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, illustrates this trend. One of Yukos's major shareholders, Platon Lebedev, has been jailed on charges widely seen in Russia as having less to do with justice than with signaling to all Russian business that no one is safe.
Security forces are interfering in business activities when and where they choose. The attorney general's office rubber stamps accusations against oligarchs and big businesses upon orders from the Kremlin, while local prosecutors are on a business-bashing quest to meet the expectations of their governors and mayors. Small and medium-size businesses are desperately trying to raise awareness for myriad Yukos-type clampdowns elsewhere in Russia. Independent-minded journalists are being sued and even imprisoned for publicly criticizing members of local administrations. Members of Mr. Putin's "pocket parliament" are reduced to private lobbying activities, while all major laws are drafted in the Kremlin and sent to the Duma for pro forma approval. In Chechnya, Moscow's "Road Map to Peace" is paved with 100,000 Russian soldiers taking part in the constitutional referendum (imagine, U.S. and British soldiers granted voting rights in Iraq!) and all potential opponents of Ahmad Kadyrov's bloody and quisling administration are being kicked from the presidential race upon the Kremlin's advice.
The bottom line is the collapse of infant democracy in Russia is contrary to vital U.S. interests. With de facto liquidation of the institution of a free press (hardly noticed by the U.S. State Department) and increasing power of the former KGB, now called the FSB, Russia is increasingly overloaded with anti-U.S. hysteria. State-controlled media have been competing with the ultra-nationalistic press in slamming American policies right, left and center. All this is breeding xenophobia and fascism. In the new election list of the Communist Party, lifetime leader Gennady Zuganov -- no friend to the West -- is joined by two Nikolays: Haritonov, proud KGB colonel, renowned for his demands to bring back the statue of KGB founder Dzerzhinsky to Moscow's Lubyanka square; and Kondratenko, the ex-governor of the Kuban region whose views on Jews and Caucasians would have made Jean-Marie Le Pen look like a liberal.
...
Indeed, President Putin has been playing a clever game of reaping benefits from both sides of every major international crisis. While the Russian Foreign Ministry kindly offers the U.S. its mediating services, Russia's military and security wings work behind the scenes to bolster rogue regimes, thus adding value to Mr. Putin's bargaining chips at the geopolitical table.
Astonishingly, nearly 50% of the top positions in Russia's governmental structures are occupied by Mr. Putin's former KGB colleagues. This newly emerging Russian ruling elite (no longer content with having squirreled away billions of dollars in foreign banks), sits in ambush, anxiously awaiting the moment when it can cut the throat of U.S. imperialism. Five years ago, then FSB chief Vladimir Putin spoke the truth when he said, "There are no ex-KGB officers!" Will the West ever learn?
So now, not only are they in charge of the government, but they are also able to make a lot more money.
· Russia [WallStreet (subscribersonly)]

Official Announcement: Schwarzenegger is 5 inches Shorter Than Imrich!

Six two is apparently the height Schwarzenegger decreed for himself years ago. The "official" schwarzenegger.com Web site lists him at six two; so do bodybuildinguniverse.com, celebguru.com, allmovieportal.com, and musclememory.com. Brandon dug the height out of one of Schwarzenegger's books about himself, though she might have had reason to wonder.
f I’ve piqued your curiosity, click bellow
· Six two? No way, I'd guess 5-10 or 5-11 [Chirader ]

So It Is Written: Books Are Memory

Once a year, when I was a Hebrew-school student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Morningside Heights, our class would visit the seminary's rare-book library, which houses one of the great collections of Judaica in the world. Despite our antsy, adolescent irreverence, there was something about those books that commanded immediate attention, even a kind of awe.
It's easy to see old brittle books and wonder at their fragility. But encountering them later in life one wonders: What are 20 years to a book that survived the Inquisition? I, meanwhile, am more than twice the age I was when I saw it last. I am married, I have children and I am mourning my father, who died this year. I can't help thinking that part of the dread I felt seeing those fragile books as a teenager was unconscious anticipation of the moment when I would see them again as an adult and realize that I was the ephemeral one.
· Of Books And Mortality [The New York Times 09/19/03]

Banned Books
Tomorrow marks the beginning of Banned Books Week. Observed in America since 1982, the annual event reminds us not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.
Many bookstores and libraries across the nation join in the celebration with displays and readings of books that have been banned or threatened throughout history. These include works ranging from the Bible and Little Red Riding Hood to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
· Libraries Memories [ALA]
· Virgin Palm Digital Media Edition

The Quiet Antipodean

Rabbit-Proof Fence is a compelling story that plays to the sense of guilt felt by Australians. But sometimes a culture of guilt needs a cold bath of factual analysis.
· Whitewash [NewCriterion ]
· Aborigines victims of irresponsible word games [Australian ]

One Wonders

Of Books And Mortality It's easy to see old brittle books and wonder at their fragility. But encountering them later in life one wonders: "What are 20 years to a book that survived the Inquisition? I, meanwhile, am more than twice the age I was when I saw it last. I am married, I have children and I am mourning my father, who died this year. I can't help thinking that part of the dread I felt seeing those fragile books as a teenager was unconscious anticipation of the moment when I would see them again as an adult and realize that I was the ephemeral one." The New York Times 09/19/03

So It Is Written: Books Are Memory

Once a year, when I was a Hebrew-school student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Morningside Heights, our class would visit the seminary's rare-book library, which houses one of the great collections of Judaica in the world. Despite our antsy, adolescent irreverence, there was something about those books that commanded immediate attention, even a kind of awe.
I have never forgotten the image of a small High Holy Days prayer book from 15th-century Spain, its odd oblong shape designed, the curator speculated, so that the owner could conceal the little volume in the sleeve of his coat to avoid detection by the Inquisition. All books over time take on a posthumous pathos, but these books — many acquired in the early part of the 20th century when people as well as books were once more threatened with burning — were survivors many times over.
As the city celebrates New York Is Book Country this weekend on Fifth Avenue, I cannot help thinking of the seminary library at Broadway and 122nd Street, where the vitality of books and the precariousness of books are simultaneously on view, a double message inscribed on every page.
I recently went back to the seminary's rare-book collection. You do not browse. Rabbi Jerry Schwarzbard, the librarian for special collections, wearing white cotton gloves and laying out the books on a strip of black velvet, retrieves the old volumes for me one at a time. The first book he shows me is the prayer book I remembered seeing as a student. It was printed around 1480, which makes it an incunabulum. The Latin name means "from the cradle," a reference to books produced between 1450 and 1501, when Gutenberg's invention was in its infancy. The book, printed somewhere on the Iberian Peninsula, is the only one of its kind. What happened to its owner is unknown. Rabbi Schwarzbard handles the volume as if it were still in the cradle, turning the pages gingerly to show me where a passage was snipped out by a censor. But despite its wound, the book is in remarkable shape. Paper was not introduced into Europe until the 12th century, but the high rag content made for low acidity and surprisingly durable pages. I have paperbacks from college that look far worse.
What are 20 years to a book that survived the Inquisition? I, meanwhile, am more than twice the age I was when I saw it last. I am married, I have children and I am mourning my father, who died this year. I can't help thinking that part of the dread I felt seeing those fragile books as a teenager was unconscious anticipation of the moment when I would see them again as an adult and realize that I was the ephemeral one.
· Morality [The New York Times 09/19/03]

Titans of Freedom Vaclav Havel, Arpad Goncz and Lech Walesa

Exactly half a year ago, Fidel Castro's regime imprisoned 75 representatives of the Cuban opposition. More than 40 coordinators of the Varela Project and more than 20 journalists and other representatives of various pro-democracy movements landed in jail. All of them were sentenced in mock trials to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years -- merely for daring to express an opinion other than the official one.
The recent European experience with peaceful transitions from dictatorship to democracy, be it earlier in Spain or later in the countries of Central Europe, has been an inspiration for the Cuban opposition. Europe in particular should not hesitate. It is obliged to act by its own history.
· Heros Building a Free Cuba [WashingtonPost]

Constitution Day

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Happy 216th birthday to the US Constitution. History
· The reminder via [Slightly Off Center]
· Pious Bias: Lies and the lying liars who attribute them to the other party [SlateI]
· Pious Fun With Bush v. Gore [SlateII]

A Life Worth Reading

For the past few weeks, since I began this weblog, I've been struggling to figure out just why people would ever want to post their day-to-day lives on the Internet for the masses to read. I've been grazing among the blogs and chewing that question like a tough mouthful of cud.
It seems to me that we all want a life worth reading, a life worth remembering. Nowadays to accomplish this, we turn to the great plains of the Internet. And the net IS a lot like the plains. Ages ago, early pioneers left the confines of their narrow cubicles in search of a new life. They found it in the fertile grounds of the World Wide Web. But what once was a heartland is now overgrazed and us bloggers are like dustbowl farmers planting tiny seeds of hope in a field of sand.
We’re hoping someone might take interest in our miniscule bit of life. That someone might stop, if just for 30 seconds, and acknowledge our existence. We're counting on some way to add significance to our lives, to be remembered and to be reassured that the hell we went through during puberty wasn’t for nothing!
· Ages ago, early pioneers left the confines of their narrow cubicles in search of a new life [ CowboyX]
TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime
Daily Kos: Political analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation
This Modern World
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall
Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things
Eschaton
Scripting News
KEN LAYNE . COM
MaxSpeak Weblog
USS Clueless

Love

I have learned I that there is one thing that makes life worth living and to be without it is worse than death. That thing is love. Woman love. It is the most simple, most wonderful thing you will ever experience in life. Reach for it. Even at great risk, reach for love. If you don't, you will regret it, I promise you, and no one wants to have regrets when they die, believe me I know, for I have many regrets. My final words are this: Love simply and simply love.
· Nothing is quite as uplifting [Dead Letter]

Imagination...

Imagination...has its wise men and its madmen...Those gifted with imagination are more at home with themselves than the prudent...It cannot make madmen wise, but it makes them happy.
- Pascal

Sweatshops On Our Shores
A seamstress and member of the Chinese Progressive Association says sweatshops are sweatshops, whether in the garment industry or high-tech.
· Trade Testimonials [TomPaine]
· The big companies are following a new business model : Pay Chinese wages, but charge U.S. prices. [ Seattlepi]
· New York's New Beggars [NYPost ]

Can You "Celebrate" Diversity?
We Celebrate birthdays, sporting victories, jubilees. We do not celebrate diversity. To do so is to misuse language. 'Celebrate diversity!' is a vacuous exhortation, yet it has become the rallying cry of a depressing number of muddled, though presumably well-meaning, participants at library (and other) conferences across the nation.
· Google generated 320,000 hits when I entered the term 'workplace diversity' and 16,500 for 'celebrate diversity.' [Library Journal]
· 'Brick Lane': A Village Girl in London [NYTimes]
· Booxie Reviews [Boox]

Villawood...my...Hollywood...0f...September...1980

23...years...Later:
· Haunted life in the suburban heart [SMH ]

Satan set to wait out Sabres while playing in Slovakia
Miroslav Satan is unhappy with the progress of his contract negotiations and told the Buffalo Sabres he will play in his native Slovakia until they reach a deal.
· Why Doesn't He Just Sign With the Devils? [Boston ]

Memory of Running

Stephen King uses his power for good, not evil. He wants you to go listen to an audio book called Memory of Running. King says it's the best novel you won't read all year:
So why can't you read it? Because -- so far, at least -- no publisher will touch it with a 10-foot pole. Publishing houses, once proudly independent, are today little more than corporate wampum beads, their cultural clout all but gone. Novels that were neither dopey best-sellers (think James Patterson) nor dull ''serious fiction'' (think William Gaddis, Paul Auster, and their overpraised ilk) were one of the first things to go when the conglomerates took over. Dull or dopey: These days that's pretty much your choice at the bookstore.
· Memory of Escaping [EW via BookSlut]

Man In Black: Johnny Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.
I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.
Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black...
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.
· Rainbow of Hope? [CommonDreams ]

Real life Russian tragedy

Real life Russian tragedy
"The Return", a Russian film about the harrowing reunion of a father with his sons after a 10-year absence, won the Venice Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, on Saturday.
First-time director Andrey Zvyagintsev dedicated the award to the 15-year-old star of the film Vladimir Garin, who tragically died a couple of months after shooting. He drowned in the region where the film was set.
There are only two actors here. Those who've seen the film know there should be three actors, three heroes up here. But two months ago he died tragically," said Zvyaginstev, who was greeted with a standing ovation.
We want to dedicate this victory to him."
The spare, brooding picture tells the story of two boys whose lives are changed forever when they go on a fishing trip in rugged Russian lake country with their newly returned father.
· The Return (Vozvraschenie) also won the award for best first feature [NZHerald ]

Job odds against sole parents, migrants...

Racheal Evans is a champion. She took on the law enforcer, the Australian Crime Commission, and showed it to be a law-breaker: her superiors harassed her out of a job there because she took leave to care for a sick child. They told her if they had known she was a single parent, with sole responsibility for a child, they would never have hired her. The ACC contravened the Sex Discrimination Act and it was ordered to pay her $54,000.
Evans has unmasked an ugly secret: sole parents aren't wanted in some workplaces. How ironic. Sole parents are constantly harangued about getting a job, and belittled if they live on welfare for too long. But employers have been let off the hook.
· Solely Ironic [SMH ]

Faust: Imrich Test

Their most perceptive observers paint a picture of journalists working at the Parliamentary Press Galleries as a pack of docile Faust, who make a pact with political masters in order to fulfill professional ambitions. Hollywood suffers, as does parliamentary journalism, from a belief that people are far more interested in the inner workings and machinations of the business than they are. It's common for Hollywood writers to write books that they think will be colossal, and often they're not. Web is in uncharted waters in terms of what the potential political coverage might be. Web, like samizdat literature, is built on rational Absurdity ... Irony of being irrelevant one moment and most relevant the next. Read by media monitoring units, ignored by friends and coworkers. Yet bloggers link stories which even Prime Ministers and Premiers are not in a position to ignore...

Puzzle: It's not exactly true that Bloggers Don't Think For Themselves
Are bloggers barometers of opinions? Are tough talking politicians afraid of real bloggers? Why are bloggers seen by some politicians as tormentors?
Web is becoming a weapon of mass communication and even a place for a colourful political labelling. Like most labels, terms like "left" or "center" are problematic and inaccurate. The problem with words beginning with the blogger.
I'm very supportive of people expressing dissenting views. We need bloggers who can generate ideas and links from as many angles as possible. Being out of touch with humanity, however, is another thing.
Whether one leans towards left, right or hangs around the center meaningful linking requires a blogger with time to invest, and also a certain personality. What kind of personality? Well, it is suggested a sort of Imrich test: Bloggers who think the childhood story of Stone Soup is silly (or cynical) should probably not start blogs. Bloggers who believe it’s a heartwarming story with worthwhile insights into human nature are probably more likely to be constructive and deliver fruits worth digesting.
Most of us know who those bloggers who fail to be moved by this story really are. They are those who email you off the group discussion list and make fun of others behind their back. They are those who attack the powerless in our society such as single mothers, unemployed people, and accuse those on the opposite side of the political pendulum of being irrational. We know too well bloggers who grovel to those in power and who know no shame when it comes to spreading lies about any issue or anyone in the name of the next promotion. If you blog in order to impress your boss, you get find out on the web. We can read you like a book.
· People's Empire Strikes Back [WebAdvantage]

Pope heads to Slovakia to declare two martyrs

A frail Pope John Paul holds an outdoor mass Friday in the town of Banya Bystrica as he continues his four day trip to Slovakia.
He will speak to worshippers gathered in the Slovak National Uprising Square, named for a rebellion against the Nazi occupation of the former Czechoslovakia in World War II.
A bishop was imprisoned for 13 years and poisoned for years with arsenic. A nun was ensnared in a trap set by secret agents who tortured her.
Both are symbols of the Communist-era cruelty that will figure prominently when Pope John Paul II visits Slovakia beginning today. He will beatify both -- Greek Catholic Bishop Vasil Hopko and Sister Zdenka Schelingova -- as martyrs in a ceremony over the weekend.
· Slovak National Uprising Square [Voice ofUSA]
· Bishop Vasil Hopko and Sister Zdenka Schelingova [NJ News]

Those Days, Years, Decades After

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was griefsorrow, anger, and a heightened awareness of the sacredness of life and connection. In tribute to the dead, many of us vowed we would never forget the perspective this tragedy gave us. Beliefnet's coverage explores the spiritual impact two years later--with comments, prayers & reflections by Beliefnet members, clergy, 9/11
· Survivors! Still Shaking as we are reading this... [Belief Net]

There are Few Flawless Victories
The Second World War in Europe began in defense of Poland's freedom against Nazi tyranny. It ended in a tremendous Allied victory, but left Poland subject to an alternate despotism.
· Victories [NYPost]
· 9/11 [TNR]

World Trade Center

Some Czech guy named Pavel Havla unwittingly recorded both planes going into the World Trade Center and the New York Times is writing about it only now...
They did not even see the pale fleck of the airplane streak across the corner of the video camera's field of view at 8:46 a.m. But the camera, pointed at the twin towers from the passenger seat of an S.U.V. in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, kept rolling when the plane disappeared for an instant and then a silent, billowing cloud of smoke and dust slowly emerged from the north tower, as if it had sprung a mysterious kind of leak.
The S.U.V., carrying an immigrant worker from the Czech Republic who was making a video postcard to send home, then entered the mouth of the tunnel and emerged, to the shock of the three men inside the vehicle, nearly at the foot of the now burning tower.
The camera, pointed upward, zoomed in and out, and then, with a roar in the background that built to a piercing screech, it locked on the terrifying image of the second plane as it soared, like some awful bird of prey, almost straight overhead, banking steeply, and blasted into the south tower.
His boss, a Russian guy, told him if he ever sold the tape, he'd never work for him again.
· Poor language skills Tower downstairs! [NYTimes via(http://nicmoc.crimsonblog.com/ NicMoc)]
· Eastern European books [Guardian(UK)]

Tower downstairs!

World Trade Center

Some Czech guy named Pavel Havla unwittingly recorded both planes going into the World Trade Center and the New York Times is writing about it only now...
They did not even see the pale fleck of the airplane streak across the corner of the video camera's field of view at 8:46 a.m. But the camera, pointed at the twin towers from the passenger seat of an S.U.V. in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, kept rolling when the plane disappeared for an instant and then a silent, billowing cloud of smoke and dust slowly emerged from the north tower, as if it had sprung a mysterious kind of leak.
The S.U.V., carrying an immigrant worker from the Czech Republic who was making a video postcard to send home, then entered the mouth of the tunnel and emerged, to the shock of the three men inside the vehicle, nearly at the foot of the now burning tower.
The camera, pointed upward, zoomed in and out, and then, with a roar in the background that built to a piercing screech, it locked on the terrifying image of the second plane as it soared, like some awful bird of prey, almost straight overhead, banking steeply, and blasted into the south tower.
His boss, a Russian guy, told him if he ever sold the tape, he'd never work for him again.
· Poor language skills Tower downstairs! [NYTimes via(http://nicmoc.crimsonblog.com/ NicMoc)]
· Eastern European books [Guardian(UK)]

Canadian firms in Slovakia

More room for Canadian firms in Slovakia
Despite efforts to bring more vitality to business relations between Slovakia and Canada, experts admit that much potential still remains untapped.
Canadian firms do not display sufficient interest in Slovakia and Slovak entrepreneurs have a hard time being successful on the demanding Canadian market
· Canada/Slovakia [SlovakSpectator ]
· Enemies of the State? Named and shamed [SlovakSpectator ]

A bell just went off -- it has been a 23 years since I arrived in Australia...

If you had told me that it is a truth universally acknowledged, that exiles faced with lucky new homeland will feel irresistable urge to introduce their children to live a bohemian swagman lifestyle, I would have said, 'Whoa! How True!'
Four years ago Lauren gave up her own dreams to pursue a safer life for our children. Having abandoned her good job in Sydney, we settled into the relaxed existence of a subtropical Queensland. My two daughters had to, for the first time in their schooling lives, struggle to establish their own identity (with a surname like Imrich) and pursue their own dreams (swimming) and reconcile both their mixed Antipodean/Bohemian heritage and ethnic identity with their desire to blend into Queensland society.
Today I feel a bit like Marlin who is an obsessive, over-protective and even slightly neurotic father who devotes his life to looking after Girlnemos after Sydney born and bred Lauren resumed her working career three weeks ago.
The girls spent last weekend in Sydney where they also went to see the movie FINDING NEMO. It was a huge hit with the girls. The reason may be that for the first time in their lives I am cooking, washing and taking them to swimming at 5 oclock in the morning everyday single day rather than once in a while. Nemo's father stroked a familiar chord.
On Father's day I really received a guernsey...(from my daughters) There's a whole level that pokes fun at the adult world – short-term memory loss, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, control freaks, you name it. Not only I have survivor guilt now Father guilt is gripping me too.

Fathers and Daughters: Happy Birthday Baby! (Exactly ;)

It was thirteen years ago today that Lauren said: this baby is overdue, overdue, we might have to try castor oil now! (This suggestion came from a respectable and experienced woman on 6 September 1990 at Lauren's birthday lunch.)
Not one to argue with highly pregnant women, whole thirteen days overdue to be exact, we took off for Double Bay Pharmacy and soon after our neighbours' car, driven by Rick rather than Tina, speeded for the DIY birth center attached to the Royal Hopital for Women with window overlooking Oxford Street at Paddington. The entire experience had caused my heart to beat faster as it took ages for Alex, a.k.a. Sasha, to arrive, thirteen hours to be exact, and not a second sooner. Our princess of Oz was born, to the sounds of the Antipodean TripleJ radio.
Ah, how radio is so much the soundtrack of our lives! Committing to memory the moment of bathing Alex for the first time to the sound of Throw Your Arms Around Me. There are no limits to the power of a good song.
Our first born is a child of the Velvet Revolution born exactly nine months after the intoxicating revolutionary moments, those rare evenings loaded with limitless celebrations and French champagne. Ah drinking with Alex's Polish godfather, Kristofer, at his Bondi Beach Bachelor pad (where the Swiss Hotel is standing today) was like drinking on board an ocean liner!
Meaningful Gural folk songs punctuated the midninght air. Fujara and Didgeridoo shared their dreams & Kulcha! If those primitive sounds did not move us, our hearts would be like the granites of the High Tatra Mountains.
My ears remember well the Hottest 13 played by the JJJ in 1990:;
1. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
2. Hunters And Collectors - Throw Your Arms Around Me
3. Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
4. The The - Uncertain Smile
5. New Order - Blue Monday
6. The Stone Roses - Fool's Gold
7. Smiths - This Charming Man
8. B52's - Rock Lobster
9. REM - It's The End Of The World
10. Jam - That's Entertainment
11. Cure - The Forest
12. Dead Kennedy's - Holiday In Cambodia
13. Sinead O'connor - Troy

As Lauren is not able to celebrate with Alex today her big birthday (due to her commitments which working mothers everywhere have to face in 2003), we went through some of the top, and highly ironic songs, of the 1990 on Saturday. As we psychoanalysed names of bands, titles and lyrics of some of the songs played during 1989 and 1990, we filled the balcony with bellie laughs and sentimental tears. In the context of Alex's teenagehood songs like those listed bellow stroked a powerful chord with us:
Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Boys Next Door - Sivers
Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK
Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Cure (Wran)- Boys Don't Cry
Public Enemy - Fight The Power
Hunters And Collectors - Talking To A Stranger
Prince - Kiss
Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Triffids - Wide Open Road
Door - The End
Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Pixies - Here Comes Your Man (Groomsman)
Church - The Unguarded Moment
Billy Bragg - Witing For The Great Leap Forward
Billy Bragg - Greetings To The New Brunette
Simple Minds - Love Song
New Order - Temptation
Hunters And Collectors - Say Goodbye
Sakamoto And Sylvian - Forbidden Colours
Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil
Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
Tall Tales And True - Trust
The The - This Is The Day
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Concrete Blonde - Happy Birthday
Happy birthday Alex, love Dad.

Asked which of the three he considered the most beautiful, Vladimir Nabakov said: "My head says English, my heart, Russian, my ear, French." Which is a pretty good answer to my ear.
(via Tim Dunlop of Road to Surfdom Fame)

Political sExcess?

Does Aussierika not care about politics because the media doesn't cover it, or because we cover it to excess?

Much Ado About One Animal, Political
Last Sunday, in a front-page, above-the-fold story, The New York Times reported that Democratic Party leaders are "worried about the strength of their field of candidates" in the 2004 presidential race, "and fearful of what they view as President Bush's huge advantage going into next year's election." The next day, in a top-of-the-front-page story filed by the same reporter, Adam Nagourney, The Times revealed that both major political parties have fundamentally changed their White House strategies. Insiders told the paper they now want to win over "core voters" who are intensely loyal to one party, rather than the swing voters once so highly prized. Another story on the same page observed that embattled California Gov. Gray Davis is attempting a "belated personality makeover" that "seems to be partly genuine and partly orchestrated."
· Meanwhile, other political news was breaking [NationalJournal]

Havelites

The Spokesman Who Speaks Too Much
If there is anything that is to be missed about the former Czech president Vaclav Havel it should be the dignity and professionalism of both spokesmen from the Office of the President, Ladislav Spacek, the president's spokesman, and Martin Krafl who worked for the former First Lady. With Petr Hajek in the same job, nothing will ever be the same.
Both Spacek and Krafl are now history and the presence in the Press Department of the Office of the President is literally "painfully painful". Mr. Petr Hajek who is the head of the aforementioned department is most definitely the least acceptable [this is the most politically correct term I could think of] spokesman I have ever seen.
Hajek's attempts to "defend" president Klaus everytime some journalist writes something that "The Boss" is hurt by are altogether pathetic and ridiculous. Every such article has a quick and tearful response from Hajek, usually with his arguments being way off. The freedom of speech means that even Hajek can write the worst piece-of-shit article which is sure to get published.
In a recent interview for Lidove noviny Hajek also said that media should be "respectful" when it comes to the president. Ever since he said this I have no respect for him and for Klaus who chose Hajek to be in charge of his Press Department. A guy who loves to preach to journalists about the way and the tone they should speak about the president. How dare you, sir? Do the journalists tell you how to do your job? No. Off the record: then shut the hell up.
For your information, Mr. Hajek, it is Klaus' duty and obligation to do his job right. So if all that media do is write about Klaus' kiksy than THEY are just doing their job. Nobody cares about good news applies for political landscape as well.
Hajek's problem is that he has known Klaus and worked for him for a long long time, almost from the beginning of his political career - when Klaus the (future) President was Klaus the ODS party leader. The former spokesmen Spacek and Krafl acted as if the President and the First Lady were their bosses [sort of] and they got their jobs done. Petr Hajek works for his LEADER.
· Leaders [CzechOut ]

Keating's: the Song is the ghost of the Swagman

Chief tormentor Keating's Song

The writing of The History Wars (Stuart Macintyre and Anna Clarke) is very important. The book will sit on the shelves of libraries as a sort of code stone to help people understand the motivations of players in today's contemporary debate. It sheds light on the political battle which is carried on in the pubs and on the footpaths about who we are and what has become of us. For the protagonists and antagonists in academe are now surrogates in a broader political battle about Australia's future.
· The History Wars [SMH]
· Banjo Paterson's trick: the song is the ghost of the swagman [SMH ]

September 11th, 30 Years After

Chile Coup

On September 11, 1973, a military coup cut out the democratic way of Chile. Today, 30 years after, local media are remembering what, why, and how it happened. The newspaper La Tercera has an hour by hour historical account of that day, while La Segunda offers a full biography of President Salvador Allende, who was overthrown by Augusto Pinochet and his troops. Finally, Emol.com has the private stories of 40 people, who write very personal My September 11th accounts.
Other media websites also are in the mood of remembering. Television Nacional, a state-owned TV network, has an hour-by-hour story with photos and video (including the "Palacio de la Moneda" bombing by air, and Radio Cooperativa has a wide selection of audio clips with the most important moments of that day, including the last speech of President Allende (5Mb file in MP3 format).

Now It's Your Turn

History is littered with the guilty consciences of those who chose to remain silent. It is time to speak out.

Sixty-four summers ago, when Hitler fabricated Polish provocations in his attempt to justify Germany’s invasion of Poland, there was not a peep out of senior German officials. Happily, in today’s Germany the imperative of truth-telling no longer takes a back seat to ingrained docility and knee-jerk deference to the perceived dictates of "homeland security." The most telling recent sign of this comes in a recent edition of Die Zeit, Germany’s highly respected weekly newspaper. The story, by Jochen Bittner, holds lessons for us all.
Die Zeit’s report leaves in tatters the "evidence" cited by Secretary of State Colin Powell and other administration spokesmen as the strongest proof that Iraq was using mobile trailers as laboratories to produce material for biological weapons.
· German Intelligence on Powell’s "Solid" Sources [Tom Paine]
Memories, like waratahs, have a way of coming home to seed...
· Australian Underground Intelligence on Carr’s Power Project Waratah Media Rape Management [SMH]
· Barbarian Kulturkampf: Reputation Rape [ SMH: Assassination by Sheehan]

Life & Loss

Meaningful Blogging on Life & Loss

Let it not be said that this blogger ignored the deep and meaning blogging Down Under. Of all the snippets I’ve read on antipodean blogs in the past years, the ones that's stirred up the most belong to postings by Gianna and Wayne.
If you don't already check their sites I recommend you do, they write beautifully and inspirationally in my opinion...I think they make my Slavic soul sing...

Antipodean Bohemians Shake your booties
Fictional pregnancy diary of Cooke's trademark cartoon character, Hermoine the Modern Girl:
One book has four filthy drawings of bright pink couples 'making love' during pregnancy, in different positions. In the first position they look bored. In the second position they look like they've had a lobotomy. In the third they look really smug, and in number four, I don't know how this is quite conveyed, but I'm pretty sure they were singing 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore'.
· Pregnant Pause [Gianna/Sanctuary ]
· Wayne on Feelings [troppoarmadillo ]

Don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid to cry, as tears can baptize the soul anew.
Don’t be afraid to change your mind, as concession is often an act of courage.
Don’t be afraid to be lost… you might just find yourself if you leave the safe path.
Don’t be afraid to fight a just fight… if it matters to you… it matters!
Don’t be afraid to be laugh at the hilarity of it all.
Don’t be afraid to feel scared, life IS scary.
Don’t be afraid to trust, love or care about others.
Don’t be afraid to fail, as doing so often offers the most valuable lessons.
Don’t be afraid to be alone, for until you can be alone you cannot be with others.
Don’t be afraid to be different because we all are.
Don’t be afraid to dream as they are your only limitation.
Don’t be afraid
(via Prague Bloggers)
NB:: Dan Quayles of this world, take note: The hatred you're carrying is a live coal in your heart - far more damaging to yourself than to them.

Seriously

Am I Richish Enough?
Seriously
WHAT AM I?
Schwartzenegger has a big one.
Michael J. Fox has a small one.
Madonna doesn't have one.
The Pope has one but doesn't use his.
Clinton uses his all the time.
Jozef's is loaded with bittersweet irony.
Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.
Liberace never used his on women.
Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.
Cher claims that she took on 3.
We never saw Lucy use Desi's.
What is it?
· Click for the answer [Bussorah]

A I Richish Enough?

Seriously
WHAT AM I?
Schwartzenegger has a big one.
Michael J. Fox has a small one.
Madonna doesn't have one.
The Pope has one but doesn't use his.
Clinton uses his all the time.
Jozef's is loaded with bittersweet irony.
Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.
Liberace never used his on women.
Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.
Cher claims that she took on 3.
We never saw Lucy use Desi's.
What is it?
· Click for the answer [Bussorah]

David Jiranek

CATCHING UP: David Jiranek

Obituary
The Jiranek family put on an unforgettable memorial service. There were several themes. The most common was the gratitude expressed by everyone who knew him for "making life more fun." (He was an inveterate practical joker and named his 32-foot sloop "Bouncing Czechs.")
On his sister-in-law's wedding night, for instance, he got into her wedding dress and traipsed down the main drag of Cold Spring, N.Y., reciting Ophelia's lines from "Hamlet" in a falsetto voice. Even when the town police stopped him and asked what he thought he was doing, "he never broke character," Joe Hooper, his brother-in-law, told us.
Jiranek's red racing bike and helmut stood near the podium, a reminder of his decade-long devotion to intense, regular bicycle trips with his closest friends.
Todd Hoffman did finally address what he called "the elephant on the beach, what we've been doing all this week, this 45-year-old crap." It was a reference to the fact that David Jiranek died so young, his premature death the result of a swimming accident. "We're using the wrong measuring stick," Hoffman said. "He did in 45 years what most of us won't do in 95 years." It didn't erase the pain of losing David. But it wasn't meant to. It recalled for everyone the pleasure of his company.
· Bouncing Czechs [ ]

Who knows?

I wish I had had a dictionary that good when I was learning Corrugated English circa September 1980.... Who knows? Perhaps my Cold River would have turned out, submerged, differently...Dare to voice your opinion how wonderful, crazy, sexy, charming, powerful, mysterious my writing should be?(smile)

TO REMEMBER Czech Free Czechglish Lessons

For example, it was a surprise for me to learn that the person who robbed a cradle isn't some weird psycho but a guy who dates a girl who is much younger than him.
By the way, this is NOT fair. It is usually the girl who gets the guy, so we should say she robbed a coffin.
· Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather by the moments that take your breath away. [CzechOut ]