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For years I have been applying to events organised by the Institute for Politics and Society. If I am interested in an event, I sign up immediately after receiving an invitation. I did so for today's event in the House of Commons on the topic: Freedom of Speech and Combating Disinformation. The day before the event, I received the email below. This is the first time this has happened to me. Perhaps the event was filled with registrants immediately. However, with a large hall filling to capacity, within minutes, it seems pretty unlikely to me, even though the topic is very topical.
I can't help feeling that for certain organisations and their representatives I am becoming "persona non grata", in all modesty. It started in Vienna, where Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky (7.11.2023) sent the Austrian police after me without my having committed any unacceptable behaviour. It continued in Prague (15.4.2024), when a "hidden censor" intervened and prevented public discussion, threatening "dangerous questions" - see links to articles below.
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The forthcoming amendment to the Divorce Act promises to make divorce in the Czech Republic significantly faster, cheaper and more pleasant. The Ministry of Justice has backed up its proposal with statistics. In the case of contested custody proceedings before the court, the proceedings stretched to 228 days between 2020 and 2022.
We have already reported here that Lucie Řezáčová, a judge at the Prague-East District Court, is a record holder in this regard. In the custody proceedings, she handed down a judgment concerning alternate (asymmetrical) custody of two minor children in favour of the father on 15 March 2024, which is exactly 1,122 days from the start of the proceedings, i.e. from the mother's filing for divorce (18 February 2021). Moreover, the judgment is still not final, since the judge has requested an extension of time to prepare the written reasons (as of 30.04.2024, 1 168 days from the commencement of the proceedings).
In a state governed by the rule of law, the courts are independent. They have the freedom to choose and decide without any external pressure. However, such a degree of freedom requires enormous responsibility. The paradox of freedom lies in its limitations. Procrastination - the tendency to postpone the performance of activities and tasks until a later date - is completely unacceptable. After all, nothing less than the future of two young children is at stake.
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P.S.
Birth and death are natural. Prolonging dying is a crime against humanity. A conscious person who just exists and is dependent on others wishes to die, not to burden society and his surroundings. The unconscious is only in a "living unconscious". Hundreds of billions "blown up" in the name of "humanity" will be missed for the lives of the young, their future and the future of society. The medical industry does not address this, in the interest of maximizing profits. Nature will let us know how suicidal and inhumane we are if we continue this denial of the meaning of life and its nature. In Japan and South Korea, the elderly are already threatening the future of the country. In this, too, we should learn from the 'primitive' tribes in Africa, Australia and elsewhere. With all due respect to those who retain their vitality and are an asset to society even in old age. Today's society is moving further and further away from maturity. JŠ
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I'm sorry, I don't mean to be morbid. But I believe it's not wrong to talk about death sometimes. The fact that we're going to die is, after all, the only real certainty in our lives. Not everyone accepts that - if we all accepted it, there probably wouldn't be religions promising reincarnation, resurrection and eternal life of the soul, or companies that will freeze you for a surprisingly folksy fee after death in the hope that when medical science figures out how to do it, they'll revive you.
But Peter and Petra have accepted death. They found each other on the second try, and appreciated theirs all the more for having known other relationships before. At eighty-five, they became afraid. At that age, anyone can die suddenly... and leave the other alone. They decided to prevent it. Scientifically, Peter researched what drugs they needed to "make sure" they wouldn't suffer and look repulsive when they found them. They got ready, wrote a letter explaining everything to their children, swallowed the pills, crawled into bed, held hands and fell asleep for good. They knew that now nothing could separate them.
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The Red Army was glorified under communism. But it also committed a great number of crimes. One of the most horrific took place at the Podolsky Bridge. The victims were German women who were brutally raped by the Red Army for hours.
The Red Army unleashed hell on earth
When the Red Army arrived, all hell broke loose. Even the American soldiers still present were overwhelmed by the level of violence against German civilians, women and girls who were in no way guilty, except perhaps of being German. The dirty and unkempt Red Army men, with their Eastern appearance, immediately began separating the women from the men. While they concentrated the defenceless German men aside, they pulled the women and girls to the ground, tore their clothes off their bodies and raped them in front of everyone else. The men were completely helpless. Although the scene literally tore them apart, there was nothing they could do. The Americans in their vehicles just shook their heads in disbelief. They couldn't believe their eyes.
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I saw a documentary at Cinema City in Andel in Prague. We were alone in the theater with a girl of about 20 years old. I was disappointed. We make a lot of documentaries about Václav Havel, but none that appeal to the public across generations and his still relevant ideas. It continues the tradition of plebeian works about our great personalities (thankfully without the sex scenes we saw in the film about Božena Němcová) in the style of "but he's like me". Can anyone imagine making a documentary in a similar style about TGM, Albert Einstein, and other our or world greats? I appreciated the brief appearance of President Václav Klaus, who in a few seconds, verbally and non-verbally, unconsciously said everything about himself.
However, I recall the statements of President Václav Havel from the documentary to remember:
"The worst thing is to say I won't change anything I care about anyway. That's kind of the worst kind of existential bankruptcy."
"The world is absurd, we are like Sisyphus"
On the soul of the contemporary European: "After all, he should be a little more humble, he should think about what will happen when he dies, he should bow before the mystery of the universe and existence itself. In short, to relate again more, as it was in the first phase of European evolution, to eternity and to the infinite."
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