Czech // Current TV

That We May Never Have to Play Dalibors Fiddle

Poem telling the story behind the Czech proverb!

tomas_o_carthaigh
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Alphonse Mucha, remembered and honored by Google

Alphonse Mucha was born on 24th July 1860 and died on 14th July 1939. Alphonse Mucha... more

andycr43
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1 year ago
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Meme Watch: Chav Wolf, an introduction to a subculture

We've previously discussed how memes can express dissent in international... more

joshuaheller
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1 year ago
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Dissent in 2.0, the internet versus Václav Klaus

This post is a tag team operation organized by Andrew Fitzgerald of Current_News. I found funny pictures on behalf of Current_Comedy.
The Czech President, Václav Klaus, has been doing his best to hold up the EU’s Lisbon Treaty for a while now, but today he finally ratified it. He’s famously skeptical of the EU, but plenty of people put plenty of pressure on him. Lisbon aims to further unify the EU – giving Europe a President and a “foreign representative” for example. Václav Klaus, notably, is not Václav Havel – the only other post-Soviet Czech President who confusingly also happens to have the first name “Václav.” Havel, a rock star on the diplomatic circuit, is much more liberal – Klaus is considered much more conservative. -AF
The current state of the internet, makes finding subcultures easy. Quick Facebook searches, yield groups of dissenters. Flickr finds photos of objectors. Then Google Translate roughly deciphers the Czech. Flickr user donatien snapped this anti-Václav Klaus graffiti. It's translated as "all suffer Klaus-trophobia." Ideozlocin.cz is an affiliate of contemporary anarchists CrimethInc Ex-Workers' Collective Another photographer tmkelly, caught this sitcker produced by nemluvizame.cz or "Doesn't speak for me."

This anti-Klaus rhetoric is reminiscent of domestic anti-Bush sentiment. The phrase "not my president" is being used by dissenters on Facebook. Václav Klaus is not my president! has nearly 1,700 members (it's rival group has only 1,200 members.) These are some photoshopp'd images I found on anti-Václav Klaus Facebook groups. "Balbinova Provisional National Library: V. Klaus philosophy, Václav Klaus Writings, V. Klaus travel, V. Klaus law and state, V. Klaus dissident, V. Klaus ecology, other unattractive literature." I think this implies that his bookshelf is empty, and that the leader might be intellectually vapid. To further convey that Klaus is a "blbec" (is an idiot/jerk) someone presented this picture: "Klaus signed the Treaty of Lisbon." The joke implies the president's signature is too daft to know where to affix his signature. Klaus isn't sold on Global Warming, as inferred by this satirical photograph:
"Global warming? Nonsense, I just sweat at tennis!"
Others comment on the president's devout Catholicism, and the hypocrisy of his egotism. "Nation wearing: father son holy spirit" Organizers of a protest cast Klaus as a Black Sheep.

A few months ago I discovered the Spanish Prime Minister's Goth Daughter international meme. Today I didn't find a meme, I just found humorous dissent against the president of the Czech Republic.This post is a tag team operation organized by Andrew Fitzgerald of Current_News. I... more

joshuaheller
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1 year ago
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The EU finally gets Lisbon; Thanks Vaclav Klaus

Josh Heller at Current_Comedy and I are conducting a joint investigation into Czech President Vaclav Klaus. This is what I wrote for him post: "Dissent in 2.0, the internet versus Václav Klaus"
The Czech President, Václav Klaus, has been doing his best to hold up the EU’s Lisbon Treaty for a while now, but today he finally ratified it. He’s famously skeptical of the EU, but plenty of people put plenty of pressure on him. Lisbon aims to further unify the EU – giving Europe a President and a “foreign representative” for example. Václav Klaus, notably, is not Václav Havel – the only other post-Soviet Czech President who confusingly also happens to have the first name “Václav.” Havel, a rock star on the diplomatic circuit, is much more liberal – Klaus is considered much more conservative. -AF
Josh goes looking for an anti-Klaus meme, but instead just finds humorous dissent (yes, that's the Czech President on toilet paper). But what about Klaus the politician? Foreign Policy's Passport blog describes him as a "legendary euroskeptic" and points to their article "The Other Vaclav":
Although mostly known outside his country for his skeptical views on global warming (environmentalism, in his opinion, is "the most prominent antiliberal, populist ideology of the contemporary world, comparable to communism and Nazism.) Klaus is one of the most important figures in post-communist Czech history, and the Lisbon battle is just the latest in a long series of controversial stances in his career. But lately, this lifelong iconoclast appears more and more as a tragic political figure. He is now totally isolated in Europe, shunned by most EU politicians, who view his obstructions as proof of his, and his country's, lack of democratic credentials.
Both Vaclavs, Klaus and Havel were there when the Soviet system collapsed. And both of them quickly made the transition into the new fledgling government. Havel, the poet-President, however, left the game. Which left the Czech Republic in the hands of Klaus, who served as Czech Prime Minister during his rule, and had long been Havel's rival. The NY Review of Books has a great short piece on "Vaclav vs Vaclav":
The two Václavs, it can be said, represent two poles of the broad Czech democratic center. Havel, the more liberal, believed that a new political culture should emerge from a rich and diverse civic society, with a healthy degree of decentralization and strong regional governments. As president he argued for policies that supported the nonprofit sector and mitigated the worst effects of rapid privatization. Klaus, an economist and admirer of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Margaret Thatcher, was a market fundamentalist who believed in a strong central government in the hands of strong political parties. The political friction between the two men was exacerbated by a clash of personalities. Beneath their quite different exteriors—Klaus abrasive to the point of arrogance, Havel polite to the point of shyness—each man had a firm will that made their differences seem inevitable and irresolvable.
So now the EU has finally gotten its Lisbon treaty, and Klaus seems to have used it to upstage his former rival's global presence. But still no meme for Vaclav Klaus. (If only he had a different first name!) Recently on the Current News Blog: - Election Perspective: New York and New Jersey by ScorpioGee - Hamas has a new rocket? - USS New York arrives in New York (Video) - Tomorrow is election day - Clinton's 11 foot statue in KosovoJosh Heller at Current_Comedy and I are conducting a joint investigation into Czech... more

afitzgerald
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2 years ago
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Video: Meet the Czech Olympic Luge Team

The Czech Luge Team checks out Vancouver. Olympic fans welcomed the opportunity to... more

urlspotter
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2 years ago
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Prague “blob” doomed?

Prague is well known for its Gothic churches and Baroque palaces, not its modern... more

pcs007
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2 years ago
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2 NATO Commanders Wore Nazi Regalia in Afghanistan

"It has just been discovered that two commanders of the Czech military working... more

rodstradamus
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2 years ago
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Is Obama Arrogant?

The recent decision to pull the plug on the missile shield in Central Europe came as a... more

frank_runyeon
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2 years ago
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2 comments

Iran Tests Missiles On Eve Of Talks

Here goes another war! And why did Obama cancel the installation of a MISSLE... more

wankityspank
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2 years ago
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Inauguration mania: Trip on a Deal Episode 2

http://wwwtriponadeal.com On this week's show: Your guide to traveling to DC for... more

triponadeal
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2 years ago
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BTnJ music video

great video.. and the music sounds cool...

Coolerdavid
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2 years ago
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cool music video!!!!

After witnessing the death of her dear boyfriend at the hands of murderous hunters, a... more

Coolerdavid
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2 years ago
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great music video!

After witnessing the death of her dear boyfriend at the hands of murderous hunters, a... more

Coolerdavid
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2 years ago
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1 comment

Prague Walking Tours -- Part 2

The second part of a spirited walk about Prague, Czech Republic, with @gtowna and... more

gtowna
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2 years ago
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The Next Evanescence?

Is this next Evanescence out of the Czech Republic? For More Information on The... more

gypsyheritage
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2 years ago
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8 comments

George Lucas disses Czech Republic

looks like he's playing hardball, going on record and all that... "Lucas,... more

vistapoint
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2 years ago
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Czech Government Fails

Days before Barack Obama's first presidential visit to Europe in Prague, the... more

frank_runyeon
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2 years ago
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11 comments

Czechs bury German WWII soldiers

The remains of several hundred German soldiers killed during World War II, discovered... more

bedeboop
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3 years ago
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Czech law to punish marijuana less strictly than other drugs

Prague - The possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use will be... more

JackHerer
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3 years ago
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