"Czechs still segregating Roma kids at schools" Associated Press April 24, 2015
PRAGUE — The Czech Republic has failed to comply with a European court order to stop placing healthy Gypsy children in schools for the mentally disabled, Amnesty International said Thursday.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2007 that the Czech Republic must stop the practice.
In a report, the human rights group said it found that Gypsies, or Roma, still make up almost 30 percent of the students in schools for those with mild mental disabilities, while the community makes up less than 3 percent of the country’s population.
‘‘The widespread segregation of Romani children is a horrifying example of systematic prejudice, with schools introducing children to bitter discrimination at an early age,’’ said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary general.
‘‘Let’s call this what it is: racism, pure and simple,’’ the report said.
The Education Ministry said that it has been taking steps to fix the problem and that the number of Roma children in those schools declined by 11 percent, or 440 pupils, last year.
--more--"
Harkens back to an earlier and darker time in European and Czech history, and have we ever been getting a load of that all week.
"9 dead, including gunman, in Czech restaurant shooting" Associated Press February 25, 2015
PRAGUE — A gunman opened fire inside a small-town restaurant in eastern Czech Republic Tuesday, killing eight people and seriously wounding a waitress before he fatally shot himself, officials said. It was the worst shooting attack in the young country’s history.
The gunman was a local man about 60 years old, said Patrik Kuncar, mayor of the town of Uhersky Brod.
Czech public radio said the gunman called a local television station before the attack, complaining that police weren’t solving his problems and threatening to take things into his own hands.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, who arrived at the scene, said the man had a gun license. ‘‘It was not a terrorist attack,’’ he said....
The attack shocked the town of 17,000 that lies 185 miles southeast of Prague, the capital, and is home to the Ceska Zbrojovka gun plant.
‘‘Nobody believed anything like that could happen in such a small town,’’ Kuncar said. ‘‘I can hardly imagine what consequences it will have for the future life of this town.’’
Czechoslovakia's Sandy Hook-style hoax?
--more--"
They never mention that Hitler was a big fan of gun control (same Stalin) and maybe if the people had some arms under those odious regimes they wouldn't have been under such repression (founding fathers were wise beyond their years), but argue logic and you lose 'em.
One of the most illogical events ever:
"Stanislav Gross, 45; Czech leader erred on an Iraq-9/11 link" by Jan Richter New York Times April 20, 2015
NEW YORK — Stanislav Gross, who in 2004, at age 34, became the Czech Republic’s youngest prime minister and who played a small role in the buildup to the Iraq War, died Thursday in Prague. He was 45.
The cause was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, local media reported.
Okay. Odd. Young man.
Mr. Gross made international headlines when, as interior minister, he told a news conference in Prague in October 2001 that Mohamed Atta, a ringleader of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, had met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in April of that year.
Hmmmm. And now he's dead from that awful disease that gets ice buckets dumped overhead.
The claim, reiterated by the Czech prime minister, Milos Zeman, in an interview with CNN, was the basis of the so-called Prague connection, an unsubstantiated allegation linking the Al Qaeda terrorists involved in the operation to the regime of Saddam Hussein. The claim gave support to arguments in 2003 that an invasion of Iraq was justified. But in 2002, the Czech president, Václav Havel, and the CIA concluded that there was no evidence to confirm the report.
We were lied to, and this guy not only helped but could have been in a position to testify against certain people or provide information at trial -- but not now. Hmm.
Atta did visit Prague on at least one occasion in 2000 and was denied entry when he arrived at a Prague airport later that year. But the report that he had met with an Iraqi intelligence officer, Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, in Prague was based on unconfirmed statements of a single informant.
The report, attributed to miscommunication between the Interior Ministry and the intelligence services, may have tarnished the reputation of Mr. Gross abroad, but at home he remained popular, singled out by Havel as one of the nation’s up-and-coming young leaders.
Must have been his "reward" for his role in what turned out to be a mass-murdering war crime. Suppose he is off the hook in this world. God help him wherever is the next stop.
He was appointed prime minister in 2004. But his fall was even more rapid than his ascent. Just nine months later he was forced to resign over a scandal concerning the financing of his luxury apartment in Prague.
These guys running governments.... $igh!
After he resigned, Mr. Gross retired from politics, earned a degree in law, and worked as a lawyer.
(Blog editor snorts)
--more--"
If you want to Czech out more....
2 Czechs Kidnapped in Pakistan in 2013 Freed
UPDATE:
"The tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine has produced a rare public dispute between the Czech president, Milos Zeman, and the US ambassador to Prague. The issue is Zeman’s decision to attend a Russian military parade.
In an interview with online publication Parlamentni Listy on Sunday, Zeman bristled at the envoy’s implied criticism of his decision to attend Moscow’s traditional May 9 military parade. Zeman, whose is critical of European Union sanctions against Russia, said he wants to honor Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives to liberate his country in World War II.
After the criticism, Zeman said US Ambassador Andrew Schapiro is no longer welcome at Prague Castle, the seat of the presidency. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka sided with the American envoy. ‘‘I think that the reaction of President Zeman was not adequate,’’ Sobotka said."
