September Editorial

September Editorial

As usual - first the disasters and then some optimism.

I received an e-mail with information about a presidential candidate. It is Ing. Zeleny. Many of you know him, some of you may have read about him. Look at the web-O!Cesky raj. There you will find also other interesting things to look at - for example a display of “heroes of our times”. You will see many ‘luminaries’: e.g the murdered godfather Mrazek, the godfather Gross (still living, but who knows what might happen), godfather (or maybe just a conman) Bem and his rich friend Janousek and many others who were involved in the “tunnelings,”,( i.e. in fraudulent  schemes of getting and hiding money)  and in other immoral happenings of our times. Bem succeeded - while ruling the town council (probably with the help of Janousek and director Dvorak and others) - to enact the project called “Open cards”( most persons involved in public transportation must own them); it is a “tunnel” worth about three quarters of a billion (so far no police intervention); he also had some paper tickets sold abroad - another fraud, then hiding the money on Virgin Islands, etc. etc.  Last week the new director of the Transportation Works , Mr. Lich, was fired  because he had filed complaints about ten of his subordinates (“tunnel men”) who allegedly had been involved in some fraudulent activities. We are lucky that we have (so far) a good district attorney Lenka Bradacova who had this accusation immediately investigated. We shall see…

Public Transportation Works is the largest Prague state-run enterprise. It has the biggest budget and it costs the taxpayers the most money. And how does it look on the rails and on the streets and highways? It is desperate. The streetcars and buses run  unexpected routes. Some routes had been abolished alltogether. It will even get worse as of September 1,- complete chaos. The drivers of streetcars and buses are rebelling because they have no idea how and where they are going to drive their vehicles.  I am writing this article in my summer cottage in the woods, because I got completely disgusted by traveling on public transportation in Prague. But here my computer has a poorer signal and is therefore slow…

Thus Transportation Works is the most problematic issue at present. Another news: The direct election of the future president of our country. You will laugh when you find out what kinds of people are also running - but you will soon stop laughing when you learn that the most popular one so far  is a former communist Jan Fischer, followed by the alcoholic aggressive egoist Milos Zeman. There are also several women candidates: The EU congresswoman Ludmila Roitova, the actress (with some experience in the senate) Stana Fiserova, the well known attorney Klara Samkova and Jana Bobosikova ( I don’t know her present position, but she is always everywhere).

If you use the internet, look up MFDnes and Lidove noviny. You will find there even some interesting commentaries. For example the economic commentary of Alexander Tomsky entitled: “At the Edge of Debility”. He says: “ The Prime minister’s attack on the “morons”- i.e. the non-partisan economy experts - who refuse to understand that by rising taxes we shall achieve economic prosperity - is a typical example of politics which has a hidden goal, namely to preserve the hypertrophied state machinery at the present level…”  You read the rest… Mr. Tomsky is not only an educated and thinking man. He also has many experiences from the times of the  British Prime Minister M. Thatcher and her handling of British economics.

And finally something nice. The last September week in Prague will be devoted to Czechs living abroad. There will be a large folk festival, many meetings and the culmination will take place at the National Theater on September 28 - on St. Venceslas’ Day. The paper Lidove noviny is already publishing articles on this theme  and the radio presents  stories of some twenty Czechs from whom the listeners shall pick their favored one.

I am looking forward to wonderful reunions and I am not the only one…

Translated by Marie Dolanska