January 29, 2004
Viktor Kožený's Website
The list of Czech candidates to the EU parliament is turning into quite the rogue's gallery. Not only do we have TV Nova's Vladimír Železný today saying he's "positively inclined" to run, but also Viktor Kožený has launched his website in support of his candidacy to the European Parliament.
Forget Dolly Buster. We know who the real fuckers are in this election.
Tomorrow Night
I just want to remind you all that I'm DJing with Tony Ozuna at the Palac Akropolis' Malá scéna from around 10pm.
And here, as a special added bonus, is my newest mix for your downloading pleasure.
Slovak Communists on Saddam's Payroll?
From today's Lidovky.cz. The translation is mine.
Slovak Communists Deny Collaborating With Saddam
BRATISLAVA, 29 January 2004 | 11:24 The opposition Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) is allegedly on the list of parties that were supported by the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, an editor of the French newspaper Le Monde confirmed. The communists deny any cooperation with Hussein.
The party, which is led by Jozef Ševc, the son-in-law of Czechoslovak party official Vasil Biľak, may have received payments in return for its stance, TV Markiza reported.
Markiza confirmed that Slovak communists were on Hussein's list was confirmed by an editor at Le Monde without further details on whether the KSS did receive payments for its stance on the dictator's regime. The French press was informed of the list, which was published Sunday by the Iraqi paper Mada.
"It doesn't sound like a reliable report to me. It's possible that the former Czechoslovak Socialist Republic traded a lot with Iraq," KSS vice chairman Karol Fajnor reacted. "We didn't have anything to do with it."
The affair is being investigated by the Slovak branch of Interpol, in conjunction with Slovak diplomats in Iraq. Bratislava is waiting for official documents from Baghdad.
Slovak communists were hardened opponents of the American attack on Iraq, and voted in Parliament against Slovak soldiers' participation in the mission. The KSS also took a stand against the air strikes on Serbia in the era of Slobodan Miloševič.
The published list has to do with people who were rewarded by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for helped evade the Iraqi oil embargo. There are about 270 names, among which are 11 French, including the former Interior Minister Charles Pasquy and former UN ambassador Jean-Bernard Mérimée.
According to Le Monde, Saddam provided these people with a certain amount of crude oil, which they could then sell on the market with a profit of one or two cents. The profits could have gone into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are allegedly individuals from 46 countries, including two French Prime Ministers and two Foreign Ministers. The information is from 1999, but Le Figaro alleges that the system of bribes was functional until the second half of 2002.
January 28, 2004
Bill Gates in Prague
Bill Gates was in Prague yesterday and Monday, where he received the key to the city, met a lot of top government officials, and was generally treated like a rock star.
On Czech TV, he was called the "spiritual father of the Internet" [sorry, Al Gore ;-)], and Prague mayor Pavel Bém called him the "father of digitalization."
Gates is usually sent on these visits when there's a major contract in play. The last time he was here it was to support Microsoft's inclusion in the corrupt-to-the-bone "Internet to Schools" project.
What's interesting to watch is where the chips fall after such a visit. This time around, it's probably going to be in Windows/Office licenses, maybe for the City of Prague? Elsewhere in Europe, specifically in Munich and London, the move has been toward open-source desktops, and Microsoft has had to give drastic discounts. At least Oracle hired someone to walk around in a penguin suit (Tux the Penguin being the symbol of Linux) not that Oracle is any great friend of open source.
I don't think any major concessions were necessary. A sprinkling of Bill Gates Fairy Dust was all that was necessary to keep the Czechs in Microserfdom this time around.
January 27, 2004
Želary Gets an Oscar Nomination
Congratulations are in order to the producers of the Czech film Želary, which was just nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar.
Um, in case the producers are reading this blog, um, I'd like to offer my services as a translator on Oscar night...
UPDATE 22:30 Tue 27 Jan 04: Alert reader Cory points out that the short film Most was also nominated for Best Live Action Short Film. How cool is that?
January 26, 2004
Dolly Buster for EU Parliament?
České noviny brings us the news today that porn star Dolly Buster will stand as a candidate to the European Parliament representing the Czech Republic. Retired from acting in porn films since 1997, she will be the first candidate of the Independent Initiative (formerly known as the Independent Erotic Initiative, or NEI).
The NEI seems to think that Dolly Buster has a fighting chance of making it to the European Parliament, but she will have to face such opponents as Viktor Kožený, who is starting his own political party, or Miloslav Ransdorf and former Czechoslovak astronaut Vladimír Remek of the unreconstructed Czech Communists. The NEI has also worked with the Communist party (KSČM) in the 1999 elections. They have been around in one form or another since the 1989 revolution, and usually get around one percent of the vote.
I can't claim to have seen any of the films in Ms. Buster's filmography, but here is what she IMDB has on her, and here is her biography from her German homepage.
January 23, 2004
Tatra Mac
Whoa! Slashdot, of all places, ran a piece today about a heavily-modded Tatra 613, which has an onboard G4, Ethernet jacks in the handrests, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPRS, GPS and lots of other cool gadgets.
I've always wanted a Tatra, but that feeling is soooo much stronger after seeing this!
Jan. 30: Durex Latino Party
 | Mark Friday, Jan. 30 on your calendars as my next DJ gig (with Tony Ozuna) at the Palac Akropolis. It's another Durex Latino Night, and maybe this time I'll get to wear the Durex spermie outfit. |
