Online gambling in Slovakia is a different story. It is legal to gamble on the internet, but the Slovakian government does not give licenses to operate online gambling sites, so there are no Slovakian internet gambling sites hosted in the country. Foreign gaming sites, however, are welcomed in Slovakia.

Foreign online gambling sites in Slovakia work with the local government and are heavily taxed for the right to operate. They offer their services in the Slovakian language, and provide special versions of their website that are catered towards Slovakian players. These gambling sites are all large, international gambling sites including online casinos and sportsbooks. There might come a day when proper Slovakian internet gambling sites are licensed to operate in Slovakia, but there is not currently any talk of such legislation in the government. Read more…

Taken in a park in Bratislava (Slovakia)

Canon EOS 450D + 18-55 IS

Flickr | Panoramio | Photoblogs | Cool Photoblogs

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new global version of Amazon’s Kindle for Christmas, be aware that there are still quite a few places that the global version will NOT work.  I was disappointed to find that the new version still will not work in my country.

Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.   I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in (below).

It’s also interesting to note the PATTERN of groups of countries where the Kindle doesn’t work–some countries probably lack satellite coverage or delivery systems, while others probably don’t WANT readers to be able to download whatever they want by satellite.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka,  Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S.,  Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009) the following countries:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan,  Yemen.

Source: myfoxphilly

Move over big brother, here we come. That is what a tiny nation of a little over 5 million people will be saying to the Czechs. In the summer of 2010, Slovakia’s footballers will be in South Africa playing in the World Cup for the first time as an independent nation. Qualifying top of Group 3 in the European zone, ahead of traditional powerhouses like Czech Republic, Poland and Northern Ireland, Vladimir Weiss’s men have done themselves and their nation proud.
There is an immense need in Bratislava to stop being the little brother to the big shot Czech Republic, especially in sport. The two countries used to be one and after their split in 1993, the Czechs have been a powerful force in European soccer. The very fact that the neighboring countries had been drawn together in a qualifying group was an exciting chance for the improving Slovaks. It had happened in qualifying for World Cup 1998 and Euro 2008, but Slovakia was always an also-ran. This time they made sure that things were different. With seven wins out of 10 and the most goals scored (22) in the qualifying journey, the Slovaks proved all their doubters wrong. Not to mention beating the Czechs in their own den, 2-1. A corner had been turned in Slovak football.

They earned their place in football’s grandest stage by beating Poland 1-0, fighting blizzard conditions and fevered expectations of a nation. “I love these players,” said Slovakia’s Coach Vladimír Weiss after the victory, earned after a third minute own-goal by the Poland defender Seweryn Gancarczyk. He said, “In these qualifiers we have played well and had a little bit of luck. Everybody made a contribution and we made the whole of Slovakia happy. This is a fantastic feeling. He added, “Several people maybe didn’t believe in us. But we succeeded. I am proud of these guys and this triumph.” The team’s achievement can best be quantified by looking at the opposition they will now face in South Africa lining up against the likes of Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Holland, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, France and United States. With not many marquee players in the squad, this team has been a revelation throughout the qualifying campaign. The likes of Marek Hamsik, Martin Skrtel, Stanislav Sestak, Marek Cech and Vladimir Weiss Jr. will rub shoulders with the very best of the world in South Africa.

It has been a qualifying campaign full of surprises and magic. With as many as five debutants in 2010 – Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Honduras and North Korea and countries like Algeria and New Zealand qualifying after long gap -, it will be a tournament to watch. The countdown to an exciting summer in South Africa has just begun.

Tuntas sudah laga-laga kualifikasi yang panjang dan melelahkan itu. Pertarungan tim nasional semua negara di kolong jagat ini akhirnya memunculkan 32 lakon. Mereka inilah yang akan menghadirkan sequel lanjutan dari epik pertarungan itu dalam sebuah panggung besar bernama PIALA DUNIA AFRIKA SELATAN 2010.

Apalagi yang bisa dibicarakan dari kompetisi paling hebat di muka bumi ini? Titik paling kecil pun darinya akan selalu menjadi bahan perbincangan. Tak terkecuali beragam sisi dari para kontestan. Dari 32 negara itu, sebagian besar muka lama. Sebaliknya, sekelumit merupakan wajah-wajah baru. Inilah salah satu keping menarik itu. Ibarat semut di tengah koloni gajah, saat ini, mereka dipandang sebelah mata karena tak punya reputasi apapun di piala dunia. Lebih dari itu, mereka juga seperti tim antah-berantah karena tak memiliki banyak pemain atau pelatih yang menghias jagat berita sepak bola di Eropa, kiblat sepak bola.

Apapun, mereka telah memberikan fakta nyata: LOLOS KE FINAL AFSEL 2010. Inilah keajaiban sepak bola (miracle of soccer). Dan inilah orang-orang hebat di balik negara-negara “liliput” yang terkepung “raksasa” tersebut.

1. VLADIMIR WEISS

Siapa kenal Vladimir Weiss? Sesudah meloloskan Slovakia ke Afsel 2010 pun tak banyak orang tahu pria kelahiran Bratislava, Slovakia, 22 September 1964 itu. Semasa bermain untuk Inter Bratislava, Weiss adalah seorang gelandang. Dia pun pernah memperkuat tim nasional. Kala Slovakia belum menjadi negara merdeka, Weiss mengecap 19 penampilan bersama Cekoslovakia. Saat Slovakia telah menjadi negara yang berdiri di kaki sendiri, dia tampil 12 kali bersama timnas.

Sepak terjang kepelatihan Weiss dimulai ketika dia menangani klub lokal Artmedia Petrzalka. Weiss sukses membawa klub yang ditanganinya itu menjadi juara Corgon Liga (liga di Slovakia) sebanyak dua kali. Karena itu, pada 2005, Petrzalka ikut melakoni laga kualifikasi Liga Champions. Setelah itu Weiss berkelana ke FC Saturn Ramenskoye (Februar1 2006- Jun1 2007), sebelum kemudian kembali ke FC Artmedia Petrzalka. Sejak 2008, dia menangani tim nasional Slovakia.

Dalam laga kualifikasi, Weiss harus diacungi jempol. Pelatih yang mengenal bola sejak bayi akibat dihadiahi bola sepak oleh bapaknya itu mencatat rekor sempurna bersama Repre-julukan timnas Slovakia. Memang, Weiss tak membangun tim dari awal. Dia meneruskan kursi yang ditinggalkan Dusan Gallas. Tapi, racikan strategi Weiss terbukti ampuh. Pelatih yang menamai anaknya serupa dengannya (Vladimir Weiss, kini main di Manchester City), itu membawa Repre menang lawan Polandia (2-1), Republik Ceko (2-1), Irlandia Utara ( 2-0), dan Polandia (1-0) . Pada akhirnya, Weiss mampu menitikkan air mata ribuan rakya Slovakia dengan menempatkan Repre pada puncak grup 3 EUFA.

Lolos untuk kali pertama di Piala Dunia dengan membawa nama Slovakia (bukan Cekoslovakia) jelas sangat membanggakan. Tapi, hal itu ternyata tidak yang utama bagi Weiss. ”Kemenangan terbesar untukku bukan dari hasil akhir turnamen (kualifikasi) ini, tetapi fakta bahwa 10.000 orang datang dan melihat pertandingan dengan Slovenia,” kata pria 45 tahun ini dalam wawancaranya dengan ESPN. ”Bangsa ini telah bangkit, mereka percaya pada kami,” lanjut dia.
Itulah Weiss. Namanya memang tak sementereng, misalnya, Fabio Capello yang menukangi Inggris, Dunga di Brasil, Joachim Loew di Jerman, atau Marcelo Lippi di Italia. Tapi urusan sepak bola, dia sanggup untuk menggulingkan pandangan minoritas.

Tanpa pemain-pemain top, Weiss justru leluasa memainkan sepak bola kolektif. Lebih dari itu, dia ampuh membangkitkan semangat bertanding anak asuhnya kala menghadapi lawan-lawannya. Weiss, liliput yang mencoba mencari peruntungan di Benua Hitam.

1,350,000 Euros Villa only or 1,500,000 for the Villa, cruiser, jeep and berth

Sitting proudly elevated above Elounda with glorious views is this Architect built villa, with four bedrooms. The property is detached and in its own grounds of over 2,750 m or just over half an acre. Built as a permanent home ,for the English owner to North European Standards, and with quality fixtures and fittings throughout

Amazon's Global Kindle Reader

I heard that Amazon now has a global version of Kindle. I was disappointed to find this morning that the new version still will not work in my country.

Since I’ve wanted one for some time, but have been waiting until they got a version that would work in my country, I checked out their website this morning, only to be disappointed again. Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new Global Kindle for a Christmas gift this year, since the new version will only work in SOME countries, I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

In case you didn’t know, Andy Warhol’s roots can be traced back to Eastern Slovakia’s village of Mikovሠ(at that time part of Austro-Hungarian Empire). Although Andy Warhol was born already in Pittsburgh, Pensylvania, his parents were Ruthenian immigrants from this small village in today’s Slovakia. Andy Warhol’s two younger brothers – John and Paul – were born in Slovakia.

To remember Andy Warhol’s Slovak origins, The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art was opened in the Slovak town of Medzilaborce on September 1, 1991 primarily on the initiative of Andy Warhol’s brother John. It was the first Andy Warhol’s museum in the world and at that time (and it might be still true today) it was the only museum of its kind in Europe.

The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art (www.andywarhol.sk)

The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce consists of three permanent expositions of Andy Warhol’s works and precious artefacts about his origins (acquired or borrowed from his relatives and acquaintances). To see pictures from the museum, click hereˆ.

Should you need accommodation in the vicinity, search for Medzilaborce at Booking.comˆ.

Further reading:

• The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art Medzilaborceˆ
• The Andy Warhol Societyˆ
• Andy Warhol (Wikipedia)ˆ

The Economist about tough times for Slovakia’s democracy:

“Mr Fico, who has described his media critics as “prostitutes”, has collected some €90,000 ($135,000) in damages this year. The law guarantees a right of reply (regardless of truth) to those whose “honour and dignity” are hurt by media criticism. International watchdogs have criticised the law.

These concerns have lowered Slovakia’s score in international good-governance rankings. A study by the non-party Institute of Public Affairs in Bratislava says that cronyism and authoritarianism are the defining features of the ruling coalition’s three years in power.”

Kalt wie in einem russischen Film

The following is what are likely to be the seedings for the draw for the World Cup on 4th December:

Pot 1:    South Africa, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, France, Argentina

Pot 2:   Portugal, Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, Greece, Denmark, Serbia, Slovakia

Pot 3:   Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Algeria

Pot 4:    South Korea, Japan, Australia, North Korea, Mexico, USA, Honduras, New Zealand

What do you reckon would be good, and bad for England?  Can you spot any potentially juicy ties?  What about Spain v Portugal?

I think a fascinating, and historical, group for England would draw us with Portugal, Cameroon and Australia.  What are your thoughts?

After the end of WWI, and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire, a new state called Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, consisting of the regions of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia, and Carpathian Ruthenia. Many different ethnicities resided within this newly formed country, including Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, and Ruthenians, living alongside the majority Czech population.

In the western-most region of the country, in the provinces of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, there lived a majority German-speaking population, many of whom had been former subjects of the Kaiser before the fall of the Second Reich. This region was known in German and English speaking countries as Sudetenland, named for the Sudeten mountain range that ran thru Silesia along the Polish border.

At the end of WWI, these Sudeten Germans, known as Sudetendeutsche, pushed hard for unification with Austria, in the ultimate hopes of being incorporated into Weimar Germany. The Czechs, however, pushed US President Woodrow Wilson equally hard for the annexation of Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia. Wilson responded by sending an ambassador to the region to access the situation. At this time in European history, oppression of ethnic and religious minorities was common, and the situation was no different in a figurative melting pot like Czechoslovakia. After witnessing a violent crackdown on Sudeten German protesters by the Czech authorities, Wilson’s ambassador suggested that most of Sudetenland would be better off under German or Austrian rule, but his suggestion was ignored. Those observing the situation knew that Sudetenland would one day become a problem in the future, either for the Czechs at the hands of Germany, or for the Sudeten Germans at the hands of Czechoslovakia, but given the region’s ample resources, and massive industry, which the Czechoslovak State would come to depend on, the Prague government insisted that Czechoslovakia could not survive without it.

During the years after the end of WWI, the Czechoslovak government undertook a massive program of fortifying the Sudetenland along their border with Germany, in fear of invasion. Many of these fortifications were nestled into the Sudeten mountains, and were thought by most military analysts at the time to be even more formidable than the infamous Maginot Line in France. Naturally assuming that any German invasion would have to come thru Sudetenland, the Czechoslovak government didn’t spend nearly as much time, money, or resources fortifying the rest of the country, although there were a similar, though less formidable set of defenses along the Hungarian border as well.

When the Great Depression devastated the worldwide economy in the 1930’s, Sudetenland was hit particularly hard by the downturn, as most all of Czechoslovakia’s industry was located there; armaments, textiles, glassworks, etc… Many ethnic Germans lost there jobs when the factories were forced to lay off workers, and a majority of them blamed the Czech government for their problems. Given their newfound hardships, they became all the more susceptible to communist and socialist messages. Marxist and Fascist parties gained popularity amongst the Sudeten Germans and many Pan-German organizations were formed. One party in particular, called the Sudetendeutsche Party (SdP), an ultra-nationalist/separatist group led by Konrad Henlein (ironically an anti-Nazi until the pro-Nazi element within Czechoslovakia attained power), gained a rather large following amongst Sudeten Germans, after aggressively agitating for union with Nazi Germany and making impossible demands that the Czechoslovak government couldn’t possibly accept. His philosophy was summed up by the following statement; “We must make demands that cannot be satisfied”. Adopting the Nazi phrase “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer” (one people, one empire, one leader) as his own, Henlein’s SdP attained a majority vote in Sudetenland by the late ’30s, and was behind a number of terrorist attacks and coup attempts against the Czechoslovak government. These attacks failed and Henlein was forced to flee to Nazi Germany in 1938, where he then became a guerilla leader and launched covert attacks on Czechoslovakia from the north. He was instrumental in influencing Hitler’s enthusiasm in regards to the Sudeten Crisis and also played a major role in shaping the Munich Agreement. 

On Sept. 30th, 1938, Hitler signed the Munich Agreement, or Munich Pact, with a number of other signatories, including British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, and Fascist Italian leader, Benito Mussolini. After making numerous threats against Czechoslovakia, demanding the handover of the Sudetenland, the major European powers, England, France, and Italy, moved quickly to appease Hitler, as they had done only months earlier when Austria was annexed to the Third Reich in “Anschluss” (meaning link-up). A conference was held in Munich, as the title Munich Agreement would imply, in which the fate of Czechoslovakia was to be determined, yet Czechoslovakia had no say in the matter. Their ambassadors were barred from the conference altogether, at the behest of Hitler, and were forced to sit by quietly as their country was mutilated by Nazi daggers wielded by the very countries (i.e. Britain and France) who had guaranteed to protect Czechoslovakia from the very actions their own statesmen were undertaking. With a stroke of the pen, and a friendly handshake with der Führer, Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier signed over virtually all of the Czechoslovak defenses and industry to Nazi Germany. In addition to the formidable mountain fortifications, which Hitler personally inspected after the pact was made, the famous Škoda Works armaments plant, which was responsible for the production of most all of Czechoslovakia’s armaments, was ceded to the Nazis as well. In fact, the Škoda Works was responsible for the production of the LT-35 and LT-38 tanks, more commonly known by the German name Panzer 35(t) and the Panzer 38(t), which were originally Czech creations. Both models would ultimately serve as the foundation in the invasions of both Poland and France. 

After the Munich Agreement had been signed, Czechoslovakia lost all faith in the West, and would not forgive the governments of Britain and France for their backstabbing until many years later. Oddly enough, Hitler was just as angry. He reportedly loathed the diplomatic dealings of Chamberlain and felt he had been made to act like a democratic bourgeois, threatening that “If that silly old man (Chamberlain) comes interfering here again with his umbrella, I’ll kick him downstairs and jump on his stomach in front of the photographers”. Fearing war might result if nothing could be agreed upon, the British population received the pact favorably and felt they had dodged the bullet, literally and figuratively. In what has become one of the most infamous moments in history, Chamberlain returned to London waving around Hitler’s signature in his hand, exclaiming that he had delivered “peace for our time”… which, in retrospect he most obviously did not. The French ambassador to the conference, Édouard Daladier, however, sensed that the worst of it was yet to come, stating that he believed Hitler’s aim was, “domination of the Continent in comparison with which the likes of Napoleon were feeble”. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, Daladier was right and Chamberlain was wrong. 

By signing the Munich Agreement, Britain and France neutered Czechoslovakia by handing their most formidable defenses to Hitler. This laid the groundwork for the total annexation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi forces, which would take place the following year when the Wehrmacht entered Prague. In addition to this, virtually all of Czechoslovakia’s industries, including the Škoda Works, were made part of Hitler’s war machine, and many of the Panzers that came off of the Škoda production lines were responsible for the deaths of Allied soldiers, in addition to the capture of Paris and Warsaw. Without a doubt, the Munich Agreement set the Allies back for years in terms of their struggle with Hitler. The pact strengthened Hitler’s hand, and weakened the Allies all in one fell swoop. While the goal of “peace in our time” was a noble one, Chamberlain’s dreams of a pacifist Europe were not met by reality. Hitler was very clearly on the warpath and had Britain and France recognized that before it was too late, and had they actually lived up to the obligations they made with countries like Czechoslovakia, Hitler’s war machine may have been stopped years sooner than it was, and millions of lives would’ve been spared. The Škoda Works alone were responsible for untold carnage within the Allied ranks… the same Škoda Works that had belonged to the Allies prior to 1938.

Sheraton will soon add Slovakia to the list of their five-star hotel locations. Sheraton Bratislava will welcome its first guests on February 24, 2010. It will be located right on the bank of river Danube, inside a new development by Ballymore Properties. Sheraton in Bratislava will include 186 rooms and 23 suites, Business Centre with 7 meeting spaces and 800 meter squared spa center with a swimming pool.

Bratislava is the Capital of Slovakia. The Sheraton Bratislava hotel will form part of Euroveaˆ – new development by Irish company Ballymore Properties, which will include premium apartments, office spaces and Central Europe’s most sophisticated retail mall. The hotel will be situated right in front of the new building of Slovak National Theatre.

Book cheap hotels in Bratislava.

Una delegazione dalla Slovacchia incontrerà il Centro Europe Direct di Catania nell’ambito del progetto:

“Capacity modernization and good governance support in public administration in Zilina Region”

Catania, 26 November 2009 – Sede Europe Direct, ore 12.00-16.30

Wednesday, 25th November 2009

17.00 arriving to Catania, welcome delegation

Visit of the town

Thursday, 26st November 2009

12.00 -13.00 Welcome Address Marco Belluardo

Assessor to Social Policies and Family Welfare

Presentation of the EUROPE DIRECT center in Catania

Dott. Davide Crimi (Responsible in charge of the center)

General overview of the European Affair Office in Catania

dott. Paolo Italia (Dirigente Servizio Politiche Comunitarie)

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

12.00 – 1 14.00 -13.50 A presentation of the STREAM CITIES / MEDPACT project:

a practice in Euro-Mediterranean partnership

Dott. Davide Crimi (Project Manager)

Visit of the town

• UN debates sanctions on Eritrea for backing Somali Islamist rebels and threatening Djibouti [Times South Africa]
• EU sign $1bn development pact with Nigeria, aimed at tackling corruption and promoting peace [BBC online]
• Rep. Jim McDermott introduces bill aiming to curb that trade US trade in conflict minerals [Seattle Times]
• Officially sanctioned Northern Italian ethnic cleansing [Independent]
• Diplomatic Row between Thailand and Cambodia over Shinawatra [Bangkok Post]
• Armenia will be ready to make concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh problem: Ukrainian analyst [Today.Az]
• Corruption threatens global economic recovery, greatly challenges countries in conflict [Transparency International]
• Bosnia’s Chaos Continues [International Crisis Group]
• Berlin Wall: 223 dead. Wall that separates the USA from Mexico: 5.6 thousand dead [Pravda]
• USSR Still Respected Internationally for Its Bombs and Guns [Pravda]

The following essay has been cross-posted from Samizdata to here, by kind permission of the author.

Adriana Lukas

It’s been twenty years since my firm belief in a better way of life was vindicated. 17th November was the beginning of the end of an era shaped by collectivism, brutality and industrialised inhumanity. I have written about my experiences of communism on Samizdata before. Today I’ll use someone else’s words to describe the wasteland communism leaves behind.

In 1992, Peter Saint-Andre has written a disturbing, brilliant and accurate description of what communism does to the soul:

…the hunger that I found most disturbing was not of the body but of the soul. [...] The socialist state cared nothing for the life of the individual, and this was driven home in innumerable ways.Yet the overall effect was not merely physical — it was a deeply spiritual degradation. It is difficult to put that degradation into words. To me, the most striking sign of it was what I called “Eastern eyes”. I could see and feel the resignation, the defeat, the despair, in the eyes of people I knew. It was an all-too-rare occurrence to come upon a person with some spark of life in his or her eyes (the only exceptions were the children, who had yet to have the life beaten out of them). If it is true that the eyes are windows onto the soul, then the Czech soul under socialism went through life all but dead.

It is tough for me to come up with something to say 20 years on that is not tinged with bitterness and disappointment and if not for the significant anniversary, I would have left this memory unturned. Despite the amazing change 1989 and its aftermath brought to my life I feel no closure over the past and a sense of proportion in the way the fall of communism has been ‘handled’. Today we should be looking back at the last 20 years counting the many communists who died in prison or are still rotting there… I can only hope that future generations will revisit the past and will have far lower tolerance of collectivism and totalitarianism. It may be a futile hope as today’s teenagers have little knowledge of the world my generation grew up and my parents lived in. And so I am bitter and disappointed that people can say the word “communism” without spitting.

I am also bitter and disappointed because those who opposed communism have not won. It is still with us, in the idiotic juxtapositions of Nazism and communism, or socialism and free-market, used by those who aspire to communism and justify it by positing Nazism as the greater evil. It still raises its ugly head in those who despise free-markets and attempt to put a human mask on socialism by pointing out ‘failures’ of capitalism. Rather hard as socialism, like all totalitarianisms, has no face. It is the ultimate denigration of humanity, destruction of individuality, and subjugation of human beings to the vast merciless machine of control and power.

Communism is still with us in China and North Korea. One befriended by the West, the other frowned upon… but neither is ever challenged because of the oppression of its people, and only when it manages to ‘inconvenience’ the rest of the world. Once it falls, it will be horrifying and beyond belief to examine the monstrosities committed by the communists in the light of day. Again, I can only hope that the world will be shamed and aghast at letting this happen for so long. Until then, we only have testimonials such as this: Undercover in the Secret State

I am grateful to those who remember, struggle to understand and explain communism, and especially to those who have managed to capture something of the nature of the beast. Here are the ones I found. Please feel free to share yours.

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression – the reference book of the communist evil with a tag line “Revolutions, like trees, must be judged by their fruit”

Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall

The Lives Of Others captures the paranoia and danger of an Orwellian world where everyone is monitored and, unusually for such world, shows impact of the individual as making a difference. Here is my review.

Burnt By The Sun (Unaveni slnkom) from a sunny day to Stalin’s terror… One of the most powerful films I have seen for a long time. Possibly ever.

No End (Bez konca) – a complex, subtle and haunting film set in Poland 1981.

Repentance (Pokayanie) – for the more surreal amongst us. The first ‘anti-stalinism’ film I have ever seen and will never forget. I remember sitting through the entire credits at the end, stunned and shaken. For context, this was screened in Czecho-Slovakia, publicly, in a cinema in 1987!

The Voices of the Dead: Stalin’s Terror in the 1930s – from the book review:

It is impossible, of course, to undo the tyrant’s crimes. But one of the tasks writers have set themselves, in the last 50 years, is at least to preserve the memory of the dead, and so to resist the tyrant’s historical arrogance.

The book’s opening paragraph makes the history come the full circle, back to the suffering of the individual:

The dead cannot speak. Can one retrieve their voices? Death under I.V. Stalin, the ruler of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953, has been written about but the dead themselves remain elusive because their voices have been lost to us. The present book is an attempt to recover the voices of those executed under Stalin.

Well there was not much coming in today, so I have a few more pictures of that bilateral from the morning which I am sure you will find cute and fun for the always fascinating facial expressions the SOS makes. There are also a few photos from the state dinner reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. I would LOVE to know what was going on in this first picture!

In addition, and on a completely different note, Secretary Clinton issued some remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. As I mentioned in relation to the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, that event touched off a series of collapses of Soviet Bloc governments. It seemed that every week another Eastern Bloc government fell, the people took over, and the Iron Curtain ripped and disintegrated. More remarks like these will be issued, as we progress through anniversaries of that fall of the Soviet Empire.

For many of us,  this one in Czechoslovakia was especially sweet since we had seen an earlier effort in 1968 that was mirrored by a tipping point in our own anti-war movement here and protests in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. It was wonderful to see these brave people finally free.

Here are the Secretary’s remarks.

Statement on 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 17, 2009

Twenty years ago, the people of Czechoslovakia carried forward the wave of freedom that began in the Polish shipyards, surged over the Wall in Berlin, and ultimately liberated millions of people across Europe. Americans prayed for the students in Prague who faced down an oppressive regime and propelled a dissident playwright from prison to the presidency. We cheered for a nation that had grasped for liberty in the spring of 1968 and seen its dreams deferred for decades. And when democracy finally came, we welcomed new partners committed to building a free and unified Europe and a more peaceful and prosperous world.

Today we celebrate the vibrant democracies of the Czech Republic and Slovakia and salute those who worked to bring freedom to their land — the dissidents and activists who risked all they had to demand a free and better life, the mothers and fathers, workers and students who never lost faith that a system built on tyranny and oppression could and would be overcome. Thanks to their sacrifice, Tomas Masaryk’s vision of a democratic society thrives today in Middle Europe.

On this historic occasion, I congratulate the Czech Republic and Slovakia on twenty years of democracy and reaffirm the commitment of the United States to our strong alliance as we work together to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.