How to say Merry Christmas in different languages. Send these to your friends around the world.

Afrikaans: Gesëende Kersfees

Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees

African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats

Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden

Arabic: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah

Argentine: Feliz Navidad

Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand

Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun

Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal

Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!

Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha

Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce

Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo

Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat

Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo

Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!

Chile: Feliz Navidad

Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun

Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan

Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito

Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo

Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth

Corsian: Pace e salute

Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo

Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi

Croatian: Sretan Bozic

Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok

Danish: Glædelig Jul

Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak

Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
or Zalig Kerstfeest

English: Merry Christmas

Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!

Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon

Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi

Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!

Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad

Finnish: Hyvaa joulua

Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar

French: Joyeux Noel

Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!

Galician: Bo Nada

Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!

German: Froehliche Weihnachten

Greek: Kala Christouyenna!

Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!

Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka

Hebrew: Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova

Hindi: Shub Naya Baras

Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!

Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket

Icelandic: Gledileg Jol

Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal

Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah

Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat

Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.

Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie

Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto

Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags

Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha

Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!

Latvian: Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!

Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto

Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus

Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu

Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar

Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik

Maltese: LL Milied Lt-tajjeb

Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa

Maori: Meri Kirihimete

Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh

Navajo: Merry Keshmish

Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul

Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado

Papiamento: Bon Pasco

Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu

Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!

Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo

Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!

Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie

Portuguese:Feliz Natal

Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha

Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua

Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn

Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!

Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele

Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom

Sami: Buorrit Juovllat

Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou

Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou

Serbian: Hristos se rodi

Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce

Sami: Buorrit Juovllat

Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou

Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh

Serb-Croatian: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina

Serbian: Hristos se rodi. Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa

Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok

Slovene: Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto

Spanish: Feliz Navidad

Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År

Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko!

Tami: Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal

Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!

Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai

Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym

Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho

Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh

Welsh: Nadolig Llawen

Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic

Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!

Two lions burgled the enclosure of a rare white tiger at a zoo in the Czech Republic, killing the occupant, BBC News reports.

The big cat blue-on-blue is attributed to the zoo’s peculiar cage rotation policy. Lions and tigers share nocturnal accommodation in the same “pavilion”, and are released into separate open-air enclosures at daybreak.

But for reasons that are not at all clear, the external habitats are assigned to different species on a rota system.

The friendly-fang incident took place when the two lions — Sultan and Elsa — prised open a trap door leading to their previous accommodation, perhaps in an attempt to reclaim their old territory, and surprised Isabella, the new occupant.

Staff rushed to respond to the tigress’ cries for help, but in vain.

Head-scratching zoo director David Nejedlo told the BBC: “The current security system has been in place for 12 years and such an accident has never happened before.”

…it won’t download on my computer.

CLICK HERE, POR FAVOR.

“Comrade teacher, how many kids did you brainwash with your communist crap before allowing those salvation charlatans to throughly soak you?”

Sometimes I come across a film that is a complete surprise, and the 2006 Czech film, Beauty in Trouble (Kraska v Nesnazich) falls into that category. When the film arrived from Netflix, I couldn’t recall exactly why I’d added it to my queue. Anyway, with a rating of three stars, I didn’t expect much, so I was really surprised to find myself enjoying this story of two dysfunctional families and the intervention of a wealthy good Samaritan who has more on his mind than just being charitable.

The story is set mainly in Prague after the devastating 2002 flood, but there  are also a few contrasting scenes in sunny Tuscany. The film’s ‘beauty’ is Marcela (Anna Geislererova)–a woman somewhere in her thirties who dresses like a 13-year-old about to go to the disco for the first time. Marcela is married to Jarda (Roman Luknar), and they have two children–a girl on the brink of adolescence and a young boy who suffers from asthma. Since the family didn’t have flood insurance, they are struggling to make ends meet while still living in a house damaged by the flood. Jarda has taken to a life of crime, and he and his mates have established an ad-hoc chop shop in the garage. Stolen cars arrive, then Jarda creatively re-arranges them, and the family live on the proceedings. Meanwhile Jarda locks up his religious nutcase mother Libuse (Emilia Vasaryova) as he works so that he doesn’t have to listen to her sermons. Marcela isn’t thrilled about Jarda’s life of crime either, and she’s sure that he’ll eventually be caught, but Marcela’s complaints are silenced by noisy sex–the one thing that Marcela and Jarda seem to have going for their relationship.

One day, Marcela packs up the children and moves in with her mother Zdena (Jana Brejchova) and her mother’s peculiar boyfriend, the cadaverous ‘Uncle’ Richard (Jiri Schmitzer), so soon there are five people squashed in a flat meant for two. A sense of the absurd descends on the film at this point–there’s Marcela holed up with her children while her mother-in-law sleeps in the car outside, doggedly determined to persuade Marcela to return home. But the flat is hardly a refuge, and Richard vacillates between pointedly groping Zdena in front of everyone and lording it over the visitors when Zdena is absent.

But Marcela’s problems snowball when Jarda’s life of crime comes crashing to a halt after he’s caught for the theft of an expensive car. The stolen, computerized Volvo belongs to Evzen (Josef Abrham), a wealthy middle-aged man who lives in Italy but is in Prague to sell a house he’s just inherited. As fate would have it, Evzen is waiting at the police station when Marcela arrives. In this clever scene, both Evzen and Marcela seem to be invisible to each other for just a few moments, and then Marcela begins some rather obvious stretching exercises, shoving up her boobs even further out of her push up bra, and bending over to reveal one of her sexy tattoos. These simple actions grab Evzen’s attention (as they were intended to), and before long, he’s wining and dining Marcela, offering her money and allowing her to live in the house he’s just inherited.

Evzen seems to be a very nice man. He’s kind and generous, and that generosity extends to Marcela and her children. Evzen is everything that Jarda isn’t–he’s refined, gentlemanly and more importantly, he’s loaded. It looks as though Marcela may have hit the big time, and while Marcela’s slightly deranged mother isn’t thrilled by the relationship, her mother’s boyfriend, can’t believe Marcela’s luck. In one great scene, Evzen takes Marcela and her family to a posh restaurant, and the meeting throws the characters and their main concerns into the spotlight. While Evzen’s age appalls Marcela’s mother, Richard is practically rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of cashing in on Marcela’s good fortune, and he chalks up the disparity in Marcela and Evzen’s age to something he’s read about:  ‘they call it fuck buddies.’

Beauty in Trouble is a character-driven drama, and so most of the film’s strength comes from the collision of these strongly-drawn, disparate characters, their contrasted values, and their poisonous relationships. In spite of his urbanity, Evzen, at first, seems a little naive, insulated by his wealth and privilege from the desperate lives that the Marcela and her family lead. He’s lived in Italy since 1967 and even carts around a copy of Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being which he is reading in Italian. Not only does this subtle prop indicate Evzen’s divorcement from Czech society, but there’s also a hint that he’s reading the book to ‘bone up’ on Czech culture for his trip.

Richard is around the same age as Evzen, but they are complete, and startling opposites. Whereas Evzen generously basks in the safety and glow of impeccable grooming, wealth, and good food, Richard ’s unattractive bitterness seems to coalesce around hanging on to the very little he has–hence one of the bitterest scenes occurs over a package of diabetic biscuits, and the message is that these precious biscuits cannot be easily replaced when they are gobbled down by Marcela’s children. When Richard first appears, he  makes a few remarks that are more than a little inappropriate to Marcela’s daughter, but at this point it’s not certain if he’s just eccentric. As the story plays out, however, Richard’s behaviour is a major impetus for Marcela’s life and the choices she makes. He dominates the screen, and in one great scene after another, he spews forth bitter diatribes. Lording it over everyone who makes the mistake of visiting his tiny apartment, those caught in his crosshairs get his lectures and his views on life whether they want to listen or not.  To Richard, Czechoslovakia is over–ruined by communism and now the new belief system–religion, and anyone with any brains will get out while they can.

But apart from the tale of Marcela’s choices (which are influenced by her bitter circumstances), the plot also carries a sly undercurrent–a morality tale if you will concerning the nature of charity. Evzen’s motives towards Marcela are never ‘pure’, but the money he passes to her boomerangs back via Libuse and her corrupt, manipulative preacher. Makes me think of the Marquis de Sade’s maxim: No good deed goes unpunished.

From director Jan Hrebejk.

先來個警示標語嚇一嚇各位，不然我會被罰錢。（謝謝 Shireen さん的圖）

去年（2008）我和上級曾經到捷克一遊，途中好喝的 Pilsner 皮耳森啤酒讓我就是回國以後還是念念不忘。我在網路上查了好久，就是沒有看到在台灣哪裡有賣捷克的 Pilsner 皮耳森啤酒。


這次日本之旅，終於在東京池袋的東武百貨地下街買到了夢寐以求的 Pivo （捷克語，啤酒的意思）小小這樣一瓶，可以買四罐台啤還有找，不過為了回味，我還是很高興的買了下來。

打開瓶蓋，金黃而又帶一點紅銅色的液體，味道偏苦，卻又苦盡甘來的美味，真的是太棒了。

Bramborák? What’s that?! It’s a well known, good old friend: Reiberdatschi. Or Kartoffelpuffer. Or Reibekuchen. Or… I don’t know – how many names do we have for them? Bramborák are the Czech version of this meal. In Germany, they are often served with apple sauce; my grand-mother once served them first with a soup, then with apple sauce. Czech people hide sometimes cheese in their bramborák (I like this word!) and eat it with salad.

For one person, you need:

2 big potatoes (about 400 g)
1 egg
1/4 of a small onion
marjoram

oil

some cheese (I used about 40 g of feta cheese)

Peel the potatoes and grate them (I grate one very finely, the other one coarsely), squeeze out the liquid (with your hands) and using a spoon, mix the potatoes with the egg. Chop the onion and add it with the marjoram, some salt and pepper.

In a small  skillet, heat oil (no, this is not a light meal – be generous!). When it’s hot, pour in 1/4 of  the potatoes, flatten them with a spoon, crumble some cheese over it and cover it with another 1/4 of the potatoes. Fry for some minutes, then turn it and fry the other side. Make a second one.

Serve with salad.

Como ando algo liado entre estudios, trabajo y también por qué no algo de diversión he decidido tirar de archivo para no tener esto tan abandonado, que hacía tiempo ya que no subía nada.
Un saludo para todos los que seguis pasando por aqui, espero que os guste.

The Czechs aren’t very good at brand development in any context and the development of their national brand is no exception.  Its probably on a par with the efforts of the UK, which in my opinion are pitiful.

An important trick in the national branding arsenal is to big-up national events that support the character of the brand.  The Czechs kinda manage to raise a pulse or two when it comes to their national ice hockey team (who apparently are a bit good) and conjur up a little enthusiasm for their national football (soccer for you Americans out there) team, when they reach the finals of the World Cup, which isn’t the case this time around (he, he!).  However, they haven’t missed the opportunity to milk the lump-in-the-throat, emotional potential of the velvet revolution.  What Czech wouldn’t swell with pride at the memory of their David to the Russian Goliath (well maybe a few old Commies!) which, being twenty years ago this week provided a timely fillip to their national brand development campaign.

Their take on a celebratory TV spectacular was a characteristically high-brow celebration for Vaclav Havel (The figurehead of the revolution and the first post-Communist President) with live (well, I think there was a pulse in most cases) performances by a load of American esoteric like Suzanne Vega, Joan Baez and Lou Reed who, apart from being old muckers of Havel were, I guess, bang on the spirit of a nation whose escape from tyranny was led by a playwright.  British support came in the shape of a series of arms-length video messages from the likes of Mick Jagger, Peter Gabriel and … surprise, surprise … Bono – always good for a sound-bite in the cause of liberty, but still can’t pronounce his old mate Vaclav’s name correctly!  The event was probably sufficiently high-brow to pass well over the heads of the majority of those Czechs who would otherwise have been waving football scarves and definitely inaccessible to the average ice hockey supporter, but I hope that’s not all the celebrations this nation can muster.  Well, let’s see.  Meanwhile, maybe what we need to get brand development going in Blighty is a revolution?  Don’t be too quick to discount that idea!

We Brits may not have invented the department store (that was the French of course) but we can pat ourselves on the back when it comes to developing exciting new variations on the theme.

Somewhere on my list of “neat formats worth a look-see” would be the new “My” store in the centre of Prague that was developed by Tesco with a little help from Fitch.  A couple of years ago the owners of the only Czech department store operator worthy of the description Kotva were planning to breathe new life into the corpse of their central Prague store by turning it into a showcase for Czech retail franchisees – a challenge in itself when you consider the dominance of foreign retailers in the Czech marketplace.  They had a stab at it, but it really didn’t come off too well and I’m sure they are still scratching around for “plan B”.  Tesco, on the other hand, have achieved a spectacular away win with My by delivering the promise Kotva made and some.

Tesco have brought their full retail might into play with a model that extends well beyond the creation of a showcase for local retailers.  In assembling this store using available Czech retailing components they have contributed massively to the understanding of the participating local operators of what retailing is all about.  This is more than a store, its an education from which I am sure the Czech retailers who participated will benefit and hopefully never look back.  Talk about raise the bar!  OK, so they supplemented local resources by bringing in a few mates like the long-awaited (as far as I am concerned anyway) Costa coffee people (until now Czechs thought the height of coffee art was Starbucks – heaven help them!) to get the mood going, but it all adds to the formula.  Every little helps and this is no small contribution to Czech retailing.  Congratulations Tesco!

Album Cover

The Swell Season

“Strict Joy”

October 2009; Anti Records

By Emily J Ramey

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are an exquisite pair.  The two gathered public acclaim with their glowing performance in 2007’s indie Irish film musical Once.  Now performing regularly and internationally as The Swell Season, Hansard and Irglova exude lyrical and melodic luminosity.

With their contrasting vocal presences, The Swell Season’s new album Strict Joy alternates between a singularly desperate tone, like dashing through an airport after a woman because you just can’t lose her again, and a sweeping, magnetic quality, like a current oh-so-gently drifting you farther and farther away from land.  Together, their music is religious in same way as that long stretch in Central Park where the trees line either side and their branches meet creating a canopy of glorious green filtered light, and sad like finishing your favorite book for the fourteenth time.

Glen Hansard is reminiscent of his fellow Irishman Damien Rice with his ragged, pleading, passionate vocals, and Czech native Marketa Irglova’s hushed, delicate voice harmonizes nobly with Hansard’s like fine wine and cheese or scotch and a foreign cigar.

A few of Strict Joy’s standout tracks are “Low Rising,” with its raw soulfulness and smooth acoustics; “Feeling the Pull,” a galloping melody made memorable by its imperfect urgency and blazing instrumentation; “In These Arms,” with its subtle and old-world romantic lyrics like, “I quit my rambling and came home,/because maybe I was born to hold you in these arms;” Irglova’s solo piece, “Fantasy Man,” lilting and poetic, with lyrics like, “In the station, you were standing/Not knowing what you want,/And the secrets that we’re defending/Have become our only bond;” the ballad “I Have Loved You Wrong,” natural and tender, heart-wrenching and quiet; and “Back Broke,” which is slightly haunting with its minor tones and poignant simplicity.

Hansard and Irglova once enchanted us with their sweet harmonies on “Falling Slowly,” crooning together about melancholy hope and lovely possibility.  I still know those words by heart: “Take this sinking boat and point it home;/We’ve still got time./Raise your hopeful voice; you have a choice/You’ll make it now.”  I am happy to report that The Swell Season is still acoustic emotion at its very best.  Glen and Mar, as their fans have affectionately come to call them, radiate warmth and smoldering artistic intellect.  Strict Joy is an ideal soundtrack for a November afternoon.  Just relax and let the current pull you under.

407 words

The Czech press is reporting that the country’s largest multiplex operator Cinestar has bought out Village Cinemas. In practice, this gives it two new multiplexes in Prague: at Cerny Most and at Andel. Cinestar now has 11 multiplexes in the country, with 83 screens and 14.698 seats.

IBD:  Control: The House and Senate climate bills contain a provision giving the president extraordinary powers in the event of a “climate emergency.” As chief of staff Rahm Emanuel says, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

If you thought the House health care bill that nobody read has hidden passages that threaten our freedoms and liberty, take a peak at the “trigger” placed in the byzantine innards of both the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill and the Kerry-Boxer bill just passed by Democrats out of Sen. Barbara Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee.

As Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation points out, the Kerry-Boxer bill requires the declaration of a “climate emergency” if the concentration of carbon dioxide and other declared greenhouse gases in the atmosphere exceeds 450 parts per million (ppm). It was at about 286 ppm before the Industrial Revolution and now sits at around 368 ppm.

That figure was picked out of a hat because the warm-mongers believe that’s the level at which the polar ice caps will disappear, boats can be moored on the Statue of Liberty’s torch and dead polar bears will wash up on the beaches of Malibu.

The Senate version includes a section that gives the president authority, under this declared “climate emergency,” to “direct all Federal agencies to use existing statutory authority to take appropriate actions … to address shortfalls” in achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions.

What the “appropriate actions” might be are not defined and presumably left up to the discretion of the White House. Could the burning of coal be suspended or recreational driving be banned? Sen. David Vitter, R-La., asked the EPA for a definition and received no response.

Competitive Enterprise Institute scholar Chris Horner says “this agenda transparently is not about GHG concentrations, or the climate. It’s about what the provision would bring: almost limitless power over private economic activity and individual liberty for the activist president and, for the reluctant leader, litigious greens and courts” packed by liberal Democrat appointees.

Writing in the Financial Times recently, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, author of the book, “Blue Planet, Green Shackles,” said: “As someone who lived under communism for most of his life, I feel obliged to say that I see the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity now in ambitious environmentalism, not communism.”

Klaus, who has challenged Al Gore to a debate and has rejected Europe’s embrace of Kyoto, told the Cato Institute recently that “environmentalism is a religion” that accepts global warming on faith and seeks to exploit it to reshape the world and economic order.

“Environmentalism only pretends to deal with environmental protection,” he told the libertarian think tank. “Behind the terminology is really an ambitious attempt to radically reorganize the world.”

The Minnesota Free Market Institute recently hosted an event at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. Keynote speaker Lord Christopher Monckton, former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, warned of one of the consequences of Copenhagen — the loss of American sovereignty.

“I read that treaty,” Lord Monckton said, “and what it says is this: that a world government is going to be created. The word ‘government’ actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity. The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to Third World countries, (to satisfy) what is called, coyly, ‘climate debt’ — because we’ve been burning CO2 and they haven’t.”

This nation was founded and built by those yearning to breathe free. Its freedoms are imperiled by those demanding that we breathe pure. We are human sacrifices to the earth goddess Gaia. Loss of sovereignty to both a federal and a world government and redistribution of wealth on a global scale — all this in the name of saving the planet from a concocted threat.

As we have said, the road to Copenhagen is being paved with good intentions.

And Hell hath no fury like the Liberal Faithful scorned.

Boston.com:

Now, with virtually no chance of getting climate legislation through Congress before the end of the year, Sen. Kerry is still hoping to make enough progress toward a bipartisan deal to demonstrate to China, India, and other major greenhouse gas producers that the United States is serious about lowering emissions that are heating the Earth.

Or as the LA Times put it: “And as Washington fiddles, the Earth burns.“

The fact that China produces more of this fictitious problem than we do and has absolutely no intention of doing anything about it, Nor does India, this is lost on the Liberal Faithful who are convinced that all the evil in the world begin here in the good ole USA.

Down with Imperialist, evil America. Polluter of Mankind!

And if we just prostrate our selves in self-flagellation to the world, the rest of the world will follow our noble example.

Right….

The fact that it is not true and that “Global Warming” (previously Global Cooling) now “Climate Change” (to be as Orwellian as possible) is false isn’t even a care on their minds.

They are Crusaders of The Faith. And Facts are irrelevant. “For Proof denies faith, and without faith I am Nothing” — Douglas Adams.

LA Times: The Senate version of a House bill aimed at capping greenhouse gas emissions was stalled last week by Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee, who boycotted the discussion, demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency agree to do a more thorough study of the bill’s economic impact. It was an ugly and highly unusual tactic aimed at delaying a bill that has already been thoroughly vetted by the EPA, leaving Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the committee chair (and Co-Author), little choice but to resort to extremes herself. She put the bill, S. 1733, up for a vote Thursday without a single Republican present. That angered Republicans but was even more frustrating for Democrats — several wanted to amend the bill, but with no one from the minority party present, no amendments were allowed. The bill passed, 11-1.

More of that post-partisan, Unity there, Mr. President??

By the way, the 1 Democrat present who voted against it was Senate Health Care Architect Sen. Max Baucus. Because he was worried about costs.

That would be laughable, if it wasn’t so scary.

Reuters: Democratic leaders in the Senate had hoped the full Senate would have passed a bill by Dec. 7, when the Copenhagen summit is set to begin. But the effort has become bogged down, with U.S. lawmakers preoccupied with healthcare reform legislation and many also hesitant during economic hard times to pass a climate change bill that would raise energy prices.

Pass it now. It’s an Emergency. Don’t bother reading it. Just sign it quickly.

Sound Familiar?

The Sky is Falling. The Sky is Falling.

Problem is it’s about to crush you and me.

For our own good.

LA Times: Climate skeptics would celebrate all this as a victory. They are not swayed by the dire forecasts of the International Panel on Climate Change, nor the endorsements of those findings by the national academies of science of the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and Brazil. Confronted by a crisis whose most terrible repercussions will come after they’re dead, they’d rather stick their children with the bill.

Funny, I had the same reaction to their Health Care Reform Bills.

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

And the center of all evil on Planet Earth is right here, Born in The USA!

The United States, the world’s second largest carbon polluter, is the only developed country to have failed so far to commit to specific emission reductions. But a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would set a 17 percent reduction by 2020, from 2005 levels, and ***83 percent*** by 2050.

Similar legislation approved by a Senate committee calls for a 20 percent cut by 2020. But many senators want a less ambitious plan, possibly in the range of 14-17 percent.

Anyone seen my copy of  “Luddite Times”???

Anyone know how to make a Candle?

And where’s my Bike…And I have some blankets around here somewhere…

I admit that I’m not very good in the keeping-in-touch department. I rarely email or phone the my family and friends.  Sure, I remember them all the time, but still I don’t see the point of contacting them. Weird! And then I get into this mood “Hmm Did I do something wrong? Why did they stop contacting me all of the sudden?” The Vietnamese have a bad tendency to assume that we did something wrong which results in the silent treatment; however we don’t clarify with that person to confirm the assumption. Also we rarely make the first move, which I think has something do with either shyness or inflated ego which I find myself commit alot.  Recently, I have been thinking more about the term “friend”, people who were and are my friends, “friends” I keep adding on Couchsurfing and Facebook and the new people I meet through bar/pub/friend-of-friend.  It’s definitely not right when I do the last two more often than the first.  The year is going to end soon, and if I don’t do it now, I probably won’t. So I compiled a list of people who are my friends and will just cold-call them. (Yeah like salespeople get your name from the phone book and start ringing.)

People who live in the same city will have to see me for lunch, coffee, tea, beer or whatever. 

10. Newcastle Brown Ale
England

This creamy ale from northern England is the perfect addition to an English pub visit. Even though many are not fond of Ale beers, Newcastle is a great gateway beer which can appeal to many tastes. It is wonderfully flavourful, creamy and smooth and a worthy addition to kick off our list.

9. Super Bock
Portugal

When one thinks of great beer, Portugal is usually not the first country which comes to mind. However, this lager from Porto is one of the most highly acclaimed beers in the world. It is the only beer to have won the Mode Selection gold medal award twenty times in a row. It has become very popular recently with football fans in Europe specially with fans of the most famous team in the world, Manchester United. Super Bock has established itself as one of the great beers in the world.

8. La Fin du Monde
Canada

Canada has a strong beer industry and is possibly the best beer-producing country outside of Europe. This beer from Quebec is a monster. It is a triple-fermented beer with a spicy kick to it. It has a strong personality and is almost like the champagne of beers. It is certainly a unique experience to drink one of these, and an adventurous one since the beer actually continues to ferment in the bottle! Therefore the actual alcohol content cannot be measured, running from 8-9% or higher, depending on the bottle.

7. Augustiner Helles
Germany

Oktoberfest!! This double-fermented German lager is possibly the most popular beer in the home of the world’s greatest beer festival, Munich. German beer is brewed under the Reinheitsgebot, a set of laws which pertain to brewing beer from only pure products (water, barley and hops). Augustiner is perhaps to finest this proud beer-producing country has to offer.

6. Pilsner Urquell
Czech Republic

If there’s one thing the Czechs know, its beer. They actually drink more beer than the Germans and Czech Republic is the home of the pilsener style. Urquell is one of the best pilseners in the world, and even though it may have a low alcohol content, it makes up for it with its taste and heavy body. Urquell also has the privilege of claiming to be the basis upon which most modern beers were made from, the first of the golden beers which have become so popular worldwide.

5. Cascade Premium Lager
Australia

Move over Fosters; this is the real Australian beer. This lager from Tasmania comes from the oldest brewery in the country and has made its name as one of the best in the world. Its unique hops blend gives it a spicy taste and a unique flavour which will keep you coming back for more.

4. Delerium Tremens
Belgium

Chances are you’ve never heard of this beer, but the Pink Elephant is one of the most highly acclaimed beers from one of the most highly acclaimed beer nations. Belgium is the ultimate beer county. No here else in the world can you find such quality and variety the your selection of beer. Delerium Tremens (which actually means hallucinations due to lack of alcohol) is a pale ale with a unique blend of yeasts which gives it a very distinctive fruity taste which compares to almost no other in the world.

3. Guinness
Ireland

Guinness is not just a beer; its a tradition, its a legend, its an integral thread in the Irish culture. Ask for a pint in Ireland and the bartender will just assume you mean a pint of Guinness. Aurthur Guinness felt so confidential in his recipe, he leased his brewery at St. James’ Gate in Dublin for 9,000 years. Guinness may not be for everyone. It is an acquired taste to be sure, but once you have acquired it there’s nothing else quite like it. Of course, Guinness in its home country tastes quite a bit better than exported, but a Guinness is still a Guinness no matter where you are in the world. There is no mistaking the Black.

2. Westvleteren 12
Belgium

When a beer has its own demand on the black market, you know its gotta be good. Brewed by Belgian monks, Westvleteren is often chosen by beer enthusiasts as the best beer in the world. It is one of the few breweries where the monks are the ones who actually still brew the beer. All of the profits of the beer go to the monastery or to other charitable causes, giving the beer a respectable sense of humble origin and tradition. The beer is hard to get your hands on. Sale of the beer is very restricted, being sold only at the brewery site, and then it is limited as to how much you may buy. Westvleteren beer is not one which has been tried by many people, but those who have sing its praises.

1. Heineken
Netherlands

This may seem like an odd choice for the best beer in the world, but there is a reason it is here. First is quality. This pilsener beer which has been around since 1873 is made from the basic ingredients of beer (hops, water, barley, and its very own yeast variety), yet is done so to near perfection. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a pint of Heineken at its source, in the wonderful city of Amsterdam, it is like tasting liquid gold. I have yet to drink a beer that tastes as good and pure as it did there.
Heineken also tops this list because it is accessible. It is a style of beer which all beer drinkers can appreciate, not just the enthusiasts and beer snobs. There are a lot of people who won’t necessarily go for the trapper beers such as Fin du Monde or Westvleteren, and the ports and stouts such as Guinness is not a taste that is for everyone. However, Heineken has its foot in both doors; it is accessible to the entirety of beer drinkers and also has the high quality and brilliant taste of the best beers of the world.

The Catholic Church has for years now bragged about its acceptance of science and the theory of evolution, citing the Galileo Affair and Giordano Bruno Affair as minor glitches in the otherwise perfectly working Improbability Drive Biblical Interpretation Machine.

However, with the appearance of Pope Palpatine, the Mighty Conqueror of Children’s Literature it became clear for many that the Catholic honeymoon with science could not last much longer.

Or could it?

I followed the rabbit and several other  commenters from PZ’s post until I got here, to a post about a conference about the lie that is evolution, allegedly in response to Pope Palpatine’s desperate plea for “both sides to be heard”. From the above Headline Bistro post, which makes a great deal out of the fact that the conference will take place in Rome, which is so close to Vatican, which must mean it’s all the pope’s fault (at least, until you notice that it’s hosted by a private university with 3 (three) faculties that was opened only 13 years ago(1)) — anyway from the post it’s clear that the organisers of the conference are suffering from a fairly transparent case of 1) jolly appropriation, 2) lack of any  reading comprehension skills whatsoever.

Anyway, this is from the conference’s press release:

The 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” in November 2009 will be the occasion for a unique conference at Pope Pius V University in Rome presenting a scientific refutation of evolution theory. According to Russian sedimentologist Alexander Lalamov, “Everything contained in Darwin’s Origin of Species depends upon rocks forming slowly over enormous periods of time. The November conference demonstrates with empirical data that such geological time is not available for evolution.” Recently returned from a ground-breaking geological conference in Kazan, sedimentologist Guy Berthault will present the findings of several sedimentological studies conducted and published in Russia.

Which leads us to two conclusions:

1. Ouch, that hurt.

2. Wow, creationism must sure be robust is Russia(3).

Anyway, I will be on the lookout for the presentations as they might appear online, and meanwhile(4), one look at the list of contributors, especially at the speaker number six, provides us with surprisingly valuable insights:

Maciej Giertych, Impact of Research on Race Formation and Mutations on the Theory of Evolution

Maciej Giertych, Impact of Research on Race Formation and Mutations on the Theory of Evolution

Maciej Giertych, Impact of Research on Race Formation and Mutations on the Theory of Evolution

Ahahahahaha, a part of my distinguished readership will surely exclaim smugly. Ahahahahahaha, indeed, for a large part of my distinguished readership will know very very well who Maciej Giertych is!

A short bio for newbies!

1. name: Maciej Giertych
2. nationality: Polish(5)
3. family: married with clones children
4. skills: Advanced Scumbuggery +10,  Lying for Jesus +20, Racism +100 000 000, Misogyny +100 000 000 (the article I linked to is, um, grossly exaggerated, but: facts! In English! So), Anti-Semitism +100 000 000, Batshit +1 000 000 000
5. profession: while I’d gladly say that he’s a professional Liar for Jesus, I’m afraid I have to come clean about him being a Polish Member of the European Parliament(6).

Yes. He really really is.

In Poland, he’s mostly famous for being a laughingstock, and saying the following things:

1) Legends about dragons are proof that humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time,

2) Neanderthals are not extinct, but live among us still(7).

This all means that locally he’s to be considered  a creationist of about Ray Comfort’s notoriety.

And when I say “notoriety”, I mean “stupidity”.

You can read about his views in the Polish Wiki here, but not in the English one. I wonder why? Were his USian fanboys concerned that that would make him look unhinged and racist and obnoxious? Could not be! Such a pity, really, when major national news outlets have whole articles dedicated to mocking all sorts of his ridiculus or disgusting claims.

He also likes to praise general Franco for slaughtering the commies. Or, you know, the democratic opposition. But then, any opposition to Franco is by definition a commie opposition, which in turn makes is worthy of slaughtering QED.

So, what does Giertych write in the abstract of his doubtlessly magnificent talk?

Throughout Europe evolution is taught in schools as a biological fact.

Gee, I wonder why?

The main evidence for this presented in school textbooks is based on the assertion that formation of races is an example of a small step in evolution. This is profoundly wrong. Races form as a consequence of genetic drift, selection and isolation. Genetic drift results from the accidental loss of some genetic variation in small populations due to inbreeding.

Is this just racist gibberish nonsense or a sophisticated reasoning that  bravely sets out to prove that it’s OK to have sex with your sister, because Adam and Eve, QED? You decide!

Selection depends on the elimination from a population of all forms not adapted to the particular environment. With this elimination also some gene variants (alleles) get lost. For natural races to be identifiable they have to remain isolated from the main body of the population. The same is true in breeding, where the breeder reproduces the race formation procedure only applying selection pressures of his own choice. Macroevolution requires increase of genetic variants, thus race formation which depends on their reduction is a process in the opposite direction, comparable to extinctions.

In short, typical creationist drivel about mutations and loss of information with  the extra topping of racist nomenclature. Meh.

Positive mutations, as a mechanism leading to new functions or organs, are an undemonstrated postulate. We can demonstrate many neutral and negative mutations, but no positive ones.

Where by “we”, he means “lying disgusting toads that live under very very thick rocks”. As it happens, even a non-specialist such as myself can easily recall at least one recent experiment, in which we could observe, witness with our very own eyes bacteria evolving to eat citrate as well as glucose. Which, I hasten to add, was a very positive development — for the bacteria, anyway; one could imagine, the citrate was rather unimpressed. I am of course talking about the famous Lenski experiment. You can read more about it on Wikipedia or anywhere(8) else, and I really do encourage you to do so, because it really is a very interesting and elegant experiment, and it can easily be understood by a person that doesn’t know anything beyond high school lever biology. I know I don’t!

The claim that the appearance of resistance to man-made chemicals (herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics etc) is evidence of positive mutations is questioned on the ground that it belongs to the multitude of defense mechanisms (like healing or acquiring immunity) which defend the existing life functions of an organism without creating new ones.

What we can read above, ladies, gentlemen and poo-flinging monkeys, is a standard denialist discourse tactic, among professional linguists known as “meaningless drivel”.

In short: the pope is not going creationist just yet, and the kooks aren’t even trying that hard(9). Let’s focus on the condoms for the time-being!

Also, what’s much more chilling is what you can find on Catholic websites regarding the conference:

After all the hoopla in academia some months ago with the 150 anniversary of the publishing of Darwin’s Origin of the Species, this is welcome news.  The organizers were interviewed by Zenit News Agency.  Here is part of what they had to say: “Results of recent empirical research published by scientific academies refutes the basic principles of the geological time-scale. It reduces the age of rocks and therefore the fossils in them.

It’s like the pope is the last thing that keeps many Catholics from unleashing their batshit upon the world. And what if the next pope will be a blithering creationist dimwit(11)? Shudder with me, ladies, gentlemen, and poo-flinging monkeys, shudder with me!

(Also, Cthulhu is speaking Czech! Look at this bit of very compelling evidence — just click on the picture — from Google!)

(Also, Karel Čapek! I almost forgot about Čapek!)

(I am the queen of all links, after all!)

ETA: typos fixed.

(1) I’s a big deal that the university is private, because in Europe it is statistically very probable that a serious university will not be private(2).

(2) Unless you are in the UK.

(3) Which in turn leads me to “SO WHY DON’T I SPEAK RUSSIAN AGAIN???”, but I digress.

(4) The abstracts, however, are available here, and, oh my.

(5) The possibility of exchanging him for some oil for the mutual benefit of Poland and Saudi Arabia is, I am told, being looked into at the moment by both countries’ governments.

(6) I now realize this should have been written in sparkly text. Please imagine there is sparkly text in this text where there is none.

(7) It was, as far as I remember, rather unclear whether he proposed  that the neanderthals were Jews or simply POC. Either way, he should DIAF.

(8) Although the recap at Conservapaedia should be most entertaining.

(9) They could try at least renting lecture rooms from La Sapienza or something(10).

(10) Heh heh heh.

(11) I am a bad, bad person, because before shuddering I actually thought “LOL @ creationist pope!”

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)

I’ve always felt it is a mistake to compare a film adaptation to its literary counterpart. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, as a novel, is hugely significant and wonderful. As a film, it is not necessarily true to the book and that is solely because as a film it is not capable of being true to the book. I would compare making a movie out of Milan Kundera’s novel to making a video game out of the Godfather or Pulp Fiction. If that was done we run into issues like forgetting to include the priorities of game play, or simply cashing in on the success of the film. With the Unbearable Lightness of Being, there are inevitably going to be lovers of the book waiting to attack the film, and that has happened. Of course it prioritizes itself efficiently as a cinematic experience, while at the same time it makes for about as good an adaptation of the novel as you can possibly get. It wasn’t a filmable story to begin with and even Kundera came forward and said that, but he also consulted the writers of the screenplay. So comparisons between the film and novel are in my opinion pointless but also inescapable. I’ve already made them myself.

Tomas (Daniel Day Lewis) and Sabina (Lena Olin)

I’m not going to summarize the whole film for you as that would probably be too long-winded and could potentially spoil the story. I’ll introduce the characters, place them in a setting and then say go. The film takes place in Prague in 1968 just after Alexander Dubcek lead the Prague Spring advancement. Soon after that the characters suffer through further reform following the eventual invasion of the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact. The film opens with two characters who are lighthearted and carefree lovers. Tomas is a surgeon and womanizer who lives life as though sex and love are two very different things. Sabina is an artist who, in the eyes of Tomas, embodies sex. Tomas soon meets the more heavyhearted Thereza, a waitress and aspiring photographer, who embodies innocence. They are opposites but soon Tereza will also embody love in the eyes of Tomas.

Juliette Binoche as Tereza

The characters in The Unbearable Lightness of Being evolve wonderfully in a significant and chaotic backdrop, but they never steer from their passions. It is layered as not only a romance, but also as a story about rebellion, and as an erotic dance; but ultimately it is an existential story. A few of these points are strengths only realized if the book is read first. Not that I’d definitely recommend doing that if you haven’t already, as the book does stand higher in it’s own medium than the film does and you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. Some of the deeper messages are unquestionably somewhat muted in the film.

Hey, for those bored with a three hour period romance with subtitles, there's plenty of great nudity.

Again though, judged solely as a cinematic narrative, Director Phillip Kauffman makes The Unbearable Lightness of Being a beautiful movie and delves deeply enough into these characters and their world that he manages to capture some of Kundera’s vision, while adding his own motion picture flare. I’m conflicted as to whether this movie should be celebrated as a triumph in terms of Kundera’s novel, but I’m not conflicted in the least as to whether or not this is a great movie all by itself.

My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

I took a month (ok a bit more) break from learning Czech and Spanish to re-examine my progress which I am not too much happy about. Just by simply going to classes for two/three hours a week doesn’t really help me.  What it does is probably makes me feel good that “Okay I’m taking lessons.” But do I learn really? Classroom and teacher are only some aspects of learning a foreign language.  I’m a holistic learner/doer, thus I tend to accomplish things more easily only once I see the situation from all angles and link them all together to create a customized process of my own. I found an article which I think is very good at summing up many factors in learning a foreign language.

Naturalistic’ method
=> You should learn a foreign language as if you are a native speaker learning the first language, similar to the learning process of a child.

•     All classroom activity should be conducted in the target language.
•     An emphasis on everyday words and sentences.
•     Carefully graded question-answer exchanges between teachers (native speakers) and students in small classes.
•     Correct pronunciation important.
•     Use of objects, pictures and demonstration to teach vocabulary.
•     Grammar, if it was taught, to be taught inductively.

Army method
=> Behaviourist psychology (conditioning – habit formation – ‘tabula rasa’ – punishments/rewards). Language is just a learned habit.

•     Great use of tapes and language laboratories
•     A lot of drilling
•     Repetition and memorizing of phrases
•     An emphasis on structural patterns rather than on meaning
•     Little or no grammatical explanation
•     Positive reinforcement of correct responses
•     Great importance on correct pronunciation
•     Errors must not be tolerated

Seven Characteristics of Successful Language Learners

• They have insight into their own learning styles and preferences.
• They take an active approach to the learning task.
• They are willing to take risks.
• They are good guessers.
• They watch not only what words and sentences mean, but also how they are put together.
• They make the new language into a separate system, and try to think in it as soon as possible.
• They are tolerant and outgoing in their approach to the new language.

The Teacher’s Role

• to motivate; to support the growth of pupils’ self confidence
• to stress some ‘obvious’ points about language learning
• to create situations that will make each pupil as active as possible
• to give pupils plenty to do
• to encourage discussions of ‘how to learn’ and to set activities that will assist ‘learning awareness’
• to convey a genuine interest in learning X
• to ensure that X is the classroom language

I will try the Army boot-camp method and find a teacher who fits the aforementioned criteria or persuade him/her into one.  

[Source]

If you are looking for cheap hostels in Prague for New Years Eve or Christmas…… PLUS Prague is by far the best option in the whole of the Czech capital.

For more information on prices and how to book Czech out http://www.plusprague.com/en/hostel-events/2009/12/31/new-years-eve-plus-prague.