When Václav Havel allied himself with the hairy musicians December 9, 2017 Source: Radio Praha / www.radio.cz / By Chris Johnstone / Václav Havel has been the subject of many books and quite a few have been devoted to the so-called Czechoslovak underground, the cultural movement which above all in music but also through literature and art ignored the desires and instructions …
The Next NATO Ally Russia Is Trying to Disrupt December 3, 2017 Source: The Daily Beast / www.thedailybeast.com / By Anna Nemtsova / As Czechs lose sight of the freedoms and benefits they won as part of the EU, Kremlin boosters step up their activities—and some are at the top of government. Roman Maca is a big guy. He stands about 6-foot-6 …
Czechs to invoke spirit of ’89 in rallies to defend democracy November 20, 2017 Source: The Irish Times / www.irishtimes.com / By Daniel McLaughlin / Tens of thousands of Czechs are expected to rally in Prague and other cities on Friday to commemorate the 1989 Velvet Revolution, and to warn that populism and xenophobia threaten democracy in their country and around the region. Many …
The Czech Republic’s anti-Havel November 18, 2017 Source: POLITICO / www.politico.eu / By Siegfried Mortkowitz / President Miloš Zeman ‘says what people want to hear, the way they want to hear it’ — just like Donald Trump. PRAGUE — He’s brash, provocative and blatantly politically incorrect. He recently called 90 percent of Czech Roma “unadaptable” and lazy, …
Does protest really work in cosy democracies? November 2, 2017 Source: The London School of Economics and Political Science / www.lse.ac.uk / By Steve Crawshaw / Does protest work? And is it more effective when it takes places in countries ruled by repressive regimes or those with democratically elected governments? Steve Crawshaw writes that if we think nothing will change, …
The expected surprise of the Czech elections October 24, 2017 Source: Visegrad / Insight / www.visegradinsight.eu / By Martin Ehl / The results of the Czech parliamentary elections has been a surprise which was expected. This seems to be a paradox but it’s not. The party of billionaire Andrej Babis was supposed to win but it has got shocking 29,64% …
Commentary: Middle Europe turns its back on the EU October 23, 2017 Source: Mail Online / www.dailymail.co.uk / By Reuters John Lloyd / In the Oct. 15 Austrian elections, the 31-year old head of the conservative Austrian People´s Party took his formerly languishing party to victory and secured the chancellorship for himself. Sebastian Kurz is on course to be the youngest leader …
George W. Bush speech on Trumpism October 22, 2017 Source: Politico / www.politico.com / By Politico Staff / Below is a transcript of George W. Bush’s speech delivered Oct. 19, 2017 at the at the “Spirit of Liberty: At Home, In The World” event in New York. Thank you all. Thank you. Ok, Padilla gracias. So, I painted Ramon. …
A Nobel Prize for Hong Kong’s Democrats August 16, 2017 Source: The New York Times / www.nytimes.com / By Bari Weiss / Here’s a suggestion for the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, which opens its nominating season next month: Look to the three young men who earlier today became Hong Kong’s first prisoners of conscience. In 2014, the courageous trio helped …
ONEOHONE Theatre to Stage Immersive Show THE VANEK TRILOGY: LIVING ROOM SOIREES August 12, 2017 Source: Broadway World / www.broadwayworld.com / By BWW News Desk / The work of Czech playwright and later on president Vaclav Havel and the history of Czech dissent is the inspiration for the site-specific immersive show The Vanek Trilogy: Living Room Soirees. Reviving the practice of living room theatre ONEOHONE …
Love and Truth Will Triumph over Venezuelan Communism August 12, 2017 Source: Panam Post / www.panampost.com / By David Unsworth / How much can Venezuela endure? How long will the government-sponsored descent into madness continue? When Hugo Chavez sought the presidency in 1998, his mentor and guiding light Fidel Castro warned against representing himself to the public as a Communist. Castro …
Another brick in the wall August 5, 2017 Source: Dawn / www.dawn.com/ By Sakib Sherani / OVER the past few weeks, I have come across two powerful new words. Coincidentally, both are related in a certain way. The first, ‘kakistocracy’ refers to “government by the worst people”. (Understandably, PML-N sympathisers want to insert an ‘h’ after the first …
Living in the lie in South Africa July 28, 2017 Source: Daily Maverick / www.dailymaverick.co.za / By Paul Trewhela / What to say, and what not to say, became almost as regular and normal for the returned MK cadres in South Africa as in Havel’s Czechoslovakia. It was this rule of silence that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma endorsed on behalf of the …
Charter 77 and Charter 08: Two men’s common devotion to freedom July 28, 2017 Source: ejinsight / www.ejinsight.com / By Simon Shen / With the passing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, many people around the world have begun to draw a parallel between Charter 08 initiated by him and Charter 77 drafted by, along with others, former Czech dissident and playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel. …
Cleaveland: Seeking common ground in politics June 22, 2017 Source: Times Free Press / www.timesfreepress.com / By Dr. Clif Cleaveland / Our nation’s challenges are numerous, complex and without obvious solution. Whether in matters of security, public education, health care, environmental issues, poverty or immigration, our political leaders seem hopelessly divided. They resemble warriors atop steep ridges who stand …
