Victorious Corruption

The sixth chapter of the story. The rest can be found in the Only fools die of heartbreak stories collection. ... more

The fifth chapter of the story. The rest can be found in the Only fools die of heartbreak stories collection. ... more

The fourth chapter of the story. The rest can be found in the Only fools die of heartbreak stories collection. ... more

Third chapter of the story. The rest can be found in the Only fools die of heartbreak stories collection. ... more

The new president Miloš Zeman of the Czech Republic can already be seen to desire to guide the young democracy in a new direction from his two predecessors. ... more

Second chapter of the story. The rest can be found in the Only fools die of heartbreak stories collection. ... more

Milos Zeman is the new president of the Czech Republic, and about sixty-six percent of Prague voters and an even larger proportion of young voters are pissed. ... more

First chapter of the story. The rest can be found in the Only fools die of heartbreak stories collection. ... more

The Czech Republic undoubtedly faces challenges that arise more from developments in domestic rather than foreign policy. Nonetheless, this offers no justification for key actors to simply give up on the formulation of a Czech position on contemporary global problems. ... more

Short comment regarding the overwhelming wawe of contempt in the Czech media towards the new President. ... more

Another great story from The Brain Harvest by Ken Nash, published by Equus Press. Thrilling history of a basket-making lifetime. ... more

Andrey Yeroffev, an ex-curator of the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow, arranged the Pussy Riot exhibition on Prague´s MeetFactory Gallery. Let´s see some pictures from the vernissage. ... more

The former French president and the former chief of the European Comission met in order to discuss Europe. They also commented on the Czech prospects within the EU. ... more

The first direct presidential elections in the history of the Czech Republic, wherein the president is elected by popular vote, were scheduled to be held this January. ... more

ECHR ruling condemns US-led post-9/11 abuse. Part IV - Moving Forward: protecting rights, not wrongs. ... more

A conversation with some of the Czechs. ... more

ECHR ruling condemns US-led post-9/11 abuse. Part III – The Politics: a transatlantic divide. ... more

ECHR ruling condemns US-led post-9/11 abuse. Part II – The Law. ... more

ECHR ruling condemns US-led post-9/11 abuse. Part I – The Case. ... more

In the Czech Republic, merely mentioning the Ministry of Culture elicits sighs and groans. A major study titled the National Cultural Policy for the Czech Republic for the years 2009-2014 reports the negative effects that the Ministry has. ... more

On November 21 2012, the head of the Czech Museum of Agriculture was fired for selling a book praising communist-era agriculture.  In a separate ceremony, former WWII resistance fighters were publicly thanked and paid 15.2 million Czech crowns (Kč.) by the country as a gesture of reward for their bravery.   Yet, at the same time, regional public elections were held, with the result that the communists garnered up to 20% of the vote in some regions, which led to the appointment of a communist  governor in one region and the communists assuming leadership positions in the regional coalition governments.   Most political analysts attributed the communists strong showing to a protest vote against the policies of the ruling conservative coalition. ... more

Following the election results there was quite an uproar both in the Czech Republic and the surrounding countries. Because of that the notion of the communist triumf needs to be put into a more realistic light. ... more

The recent development in the Czech Republic has only one possible explanation: The whole country has turned into an asylum where the insane are the ones in control. ... more

“The stories in Ken Nash’s brilliant collection The Brain Harvest lay bare the sparks and idiosyncrasies of an exceptional mind. Each new story is distinct and memorable in its jewel-like compactness, and the characters we meet are unique and endearing. In subject matter, the stories weave and delve into continuously unexpected territory; from the alien adventures of Emily Dickinson, to the intricacies of bespoke basket-making, time travel, orchestral garden plots, and the great green sea lizards that haunt our parents’ dreams. Nash’s playful and quick-witted style bears echoes of maverick American greats like George Saunders and Donald Barthelme, and recalls the quirkiness of Miranda July. Taut, intelligent, eccentric, and wholly engaging, The Brain Harvest is a wonderful debut for a very talented new writer” (Clare Wigfall, author of The Loudest Sound and Nothing and winner of the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award). ... more

Excerpt from the recently published book by Louis Armand, Breakfast at Midnight. Chapter IV. Kafkaville. Blake is a pornographer who photographs corpses. Ten years ago, a young man becomes a fugitive when a redhead disappears on a bridge in the rain. Now, at the turn of the millennium, another redhead has turned up in the morgue, and the fugitive can’t get the dead girl’s image out of his head. For Blake, it’s all a game — a funhouse where denial is the currency, deceit is the grand prize, and all doors lead to one destination: murder. In the psychological noir-scape of Kafkaville, the rain never stops, and redemption is just another betrayal away… “Armand has written a perfect modern noir, presenting Kafka’s Prague as a bleak, monochrome singularity of darkness, despair and edgy, dry existentialist hardboil.” (Richard Marshall, 3:AM) “Armand has done to Prague what Genet achieves in Our Lady of the Flowers. Breakfast at Midnight is the most savage book I’ve read in years.” (Jim Ruland, San Diego City Beat) ... more

“The stories in Ken Nash’s brilliant collection The Brain Harvest lay bare the sparks and idiosyncrasies of an exceptional mind. Each new story is distinct and memorable in its jewel-like compactness, and the characters we meet are unique and endearing. In subject matter, the stories weave and delve into continuously unexpected territory; from the alien adventures of Emily Dickinson, to the intricacies of bespoke basket-making, time travel, orchestral garden plots, and the great green sea lizards that haunt our parents’ dreams. Nash’s playful and quick-witted style bears echoes of maverick American greats like George Saunders and Donald Barthelme, and recalls the quirkiness of Miranda July. Taut, intelligent, eccentric, and wholly engaging, The Brain Harvest is a wonderful debut for a very talented new writer” (Clare Wigfall, author of The Loudest Sound and Nothing and winner of the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award). ... more

On the occasion of the 17th of November commemoration the Czechs could also hear their President, attempting to interpret or rather to misuse the historical content of the event. ... more

The Czech President has been known for his distaste for the European Union and recently also for his nuclear preferences. There may be quite freezing reasons for both of his choices. ... more

Pavel Vošický exhibits his Patapolitical comix in the MeetFactory till the 18th of November. ... more

The triple-track diplomatic approach of the Czech Republic towards Syria. ... more

Until the end of September you‘ll have an opportunity to meet the Jagiellonian Europe of the dawn of modernity in Kutná Hora. Unfortunately, it’s not the only illuminating exhibition Václav Klaus will surely not come to see! ... more

In the spring of 1990 the Civic Forum had already been ruined as well as the November “revolution”.  However, we did not yet know it. Those of us who suspected it were not willing to admit it. However, a sprinter can never undo a mistake he made at the start. The mismanaged departure of the group around Václav Havel to the Castle and its unwillingness to coordinate anything led, in only a couple of weeks, to the birth of a chaotic non-system of different power centers that did not cooperate with each other: the Castle, the federal and national governments, the Coordination Center of the Civic Forum, the national and federal parliaments. There was no joint strategic thinking about the future course of the state – at the very beginning it fell prey to the desire for power among certain individuals. The consequences have been felt right up to the present day. As an example we can look at the fate of the civil service. ... more

Honduras might become the first former colony willingly getting rid off its territorial sovereignty since the times of decolonisation. ... more

China has started a big game for a few little islands and as usual it is China again who´s many turns ahead. Is it still possible for the others to finish the game with honor? ... more

Antonín Kratochvíl's exhibition, entitled Homelands, was held at Prague's Leica Gallery up until September 9. lt was prepared by photo editor Scott Thode from Kratochvíl's home agency Vll. Thode summarized his approach to Kratochvíl's work in this way: "Homeland was never meant to be taken in any literal way. l was more interested in the concept of  'Home' as opposed to 'Home' as a literal place... search for home and the meaning of what it is to live outside of your roots". ... more

Jan Koblasa’s retrospective in the Riding School at Prague Castle ended at the end of July. After 21 long years we could see a broad range of work of one of the most significant authors who, due to the Russian occupation in 1968, spent most of his life as an emigre. ... more

Photographer Jan Reich did not live to see the large retrospective of his photographs at Prague Castle. His work was closely connected to Prague and the Czech landscape and you could see it in the Theresian Wing of the Old Royal Palace until August 19, 2012. Unfortunately, the exhibition does not go along the author’s perfectionism mostly due to its unavailing concept. An excessive number of exhibited photographs turns the gourmet experience into a needlessly protracted feast. ... more

Chapter XII of Thor Garcia´s new novel, The News Clown. According to Publishers Weekly, “Fueled by prodigious amounts of alcohol and tobacco, sex and drugs, this narrative skips along from one bizarre episode to the next in the tortuous life of Thor, a young man whose dreams of a literary career have been sidetracked into an undemanding job as a ‘news clown’ for a small wire service in the crime-infested back alleys of Bay City. Meanwhile, as Thor struggles with his inner demons, the national news clowns are cheering on President Wolfgang G. Mnung as he threatens a Middle Eastern dictator who may have stockpiled ‘as many as 4,000 PlayStation video game units’ from which, according to sources, he might fashion a crude supercomputer to control weapons of untold devastation. A flashy, satirical style keeps the narrative fresh, entertaining and eminently readable throughout.” ... more

In 2013, the Czech Republic is going to experience its first presidental election. Although the media might find amusement in talking about the weird collection of candidates for some time, it is rather probable that general suffrage will mean election like any other. ... more

Russian heathendom and a Punk Christ. ... more

Jiří Gruša, one of the most renowned modern Czech thinkers, referred to Prime Minister Nečas as  a “gnome without a garden” and to the castle of Václav Klaus as the “seat of Czech claptrap”. The conflict of the Czech culture of citizenship compatible with the European one and “Czech politics” could not be more clearly defined. Czech “politics”, in fact, ceased to require a thinking and requesting citizen and it actually hates him. ... more

Some of them fear a police state. The others are fighting off a coup from the colonels. In an exemplary way. ... more

After two decades of relative quiet, politically driven art starts to become more powerful again. ... more

This week, during questions to government in Parliament, Prime Minister Nečas called the Czech Republic a safe harbor in the rough seas of the financial crisis. ... more

The announcement of the death of the French philosopher Roger Garaudy (98) could be summarised in a short statement such as: „a controversial thinker has died“,  if the controversies regarding this philosopher hadn´t been so particularly relevant and interesting for the Czechs. ... more

Last look at the protests against higher education reform ... more

The promise of religious growth is looking miraculous to believers across the nation, except for those wearing black nametags on the pockets of their suit jackets. ... more

The big F issue that no one wants to talk about. What is the antidote to gender inequality? ... more

In present conditions the political development in Europe may head towards further integration. And that doesn´t have to include every nation. ... more

Drastic shifts in solar energy legislation after the 2009 boom squelched development and forced a standstill within the industry, leaving investors in disarray. Coming out of this turbulent period, renewable energy remains integral to the energy mix in the Czech Republic, but the need to improve storage technology and the continued governmental support of nuclear plants proves that solar energy is no longer fit to steal the spotlight. ... more

Not only has unregulated tourism in central Prague become a daily impediment to the enjoyment of the city for those who live here, it ultimately risks turning Prague into a caricature of itself - devoid of dynamism and authenticity. ... more

A critical analysis of the Supreme Court’s role in America’s healthcare debate – Part I., In the thick of it once again: Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! ... more

Second part of a critical analysis of the Supreme Court’s role in America’s healthcare debate. A polarized debate is not really a debate and offers no cure. ... more

TNP writer Melissa Rossi traveled to Istanbul and spoke to Professor Muzaffer Şenel about issues concerning Turkey ... more

Third part of a critical analysis of the Supreme Court’s role in America’s healthcare debate. The gloves come off: Is law simply politics in black robes? ... more

A critical analysis of the Supreme Court’s role in America’s healthcare debate – Part IV – Broken systems and broken trust: Is there a cure for this illness? ... more

Communists are emerging once again in the Czech Republic, not only as an opposition to the current system but also as a significant power inside it. ... more

No power can possibly force the Czech government to resign if they want to keep their posts. Not even the demise of one of the parties forming it. ... more

Political scandals become a fashion in the Czech Republic. Do we experience a regional wave? And what possible outcomes should we expect? ... more

Review of Běla Kolářová´s exhibition in Prague´s Fotograf Gallery, dealing with the problem of an artist being the wife of an even more famous artist. ... more