skriker

What beauty. I saw clouds and their light shadows on the distant dear earth… The water looked like darkish, slightly gleaming spots… When I watched the horizon, I saw the abrupt, contrasting transition from the earth's light-colored surface to the absolutely black sky. I enjoyed the rich color spectrum of the earth. It is surrounded by a light blue aureole that gradually darkens, becoming turquiose, dark blue, violet, and finally coal black.

Dobry_den_majore_Gagarine.mp3

Authors: Jaromír Hnilička / Pavel Pácl
Performed by: Gustav Brom

Written and recorded on April 12^th 1961 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia just few hours after Gagarin's successful landing.

More about Yuri Gagarini: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagarin

in the Czech Republic

The marked value is the average czech salary in the last quarter 2005.

Let me explain what is behind the term “average salary”. The average salary is:

• Gross: 20,841CZK (~720€)
• Net: 15,670CZK (~540€)
• The employer's cost: 28,136CZK (~970€)
  which means 1.76 times more than you earn!

This “stealing rate” is more visible if your income is equal to … let's say… average German salary:

• Gross: 46,000CZK (~1600€)
• Net: 31,600CZK (~1100€)
• The employer's cost: 62,100CZK (~2150€)
  that means no fewer than 1.96 times more than you earn!

For some reason most (all?) european governments think that progressive taxation is a good idea. Well, I don't think that I can change it but the government shouldn't hide the fact the the taxes are actually much higher than the employees think!

Your company pays for your work twice more
than you earn!

I often ask Berlusconi's supporters about the opinion foreign countries and journalists have about us. If, as Mr.B says, in Italy everything is controlled by the communists, from television (that's incredibly silly as he controls 90% of the television) to newspapers, tribunals etc., that shouldn't be true about foreign sources.

I post two links to articles by foreign online newspapers here:

• Newsweek (USA):
  The Rise and Fall of Berlusconi
• The Economist (UK):
  A “martyr” with some method in his madness

Here, in our beautiful Republic, we have at least three big newspapers: La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera and Il Sole 24 Ore. The first one doesn't hide it's central-left wing position and anti-berlusconi policy, but Il Corriere was a big supporter of Mr.B. during the last elections. It was pretty shocking to read two weeks ago the editorial by the newspaper's Director Paolo Mieli where he officially suggests the election of Romano Prodi and of the central-left wing coalition.

Il Sole 24 Ore is Confindustria's newspaper. "Founded in 1910 Confindustria is the lead organization representing the manufacturing, construction, energy, transportation, ITC, tourism and services industries in Italy." It's director is also suggesting the left wings coalition election, which is a representative opinion considering it comes from a "business" newspaper which is supposed, by common-sense, to support Berlusconi.

Three big events happened since my first post that I'd like to report and comment:

1. Berlusconi's visit to USA's Congress: 1 month ago (the 1st of March) Berlusconi was invited for a speech where he talked about USA as the example of freedom and democracy. He told a small story about his father bringing him to the military graveyard explaining him about the sacrifice of Americans during WW2 to set us free. He later recieved the Intrepid Freedom award for his efforts to promote and defend the values of freedom and democracy. Useless to say that in Italy this was considered nearly like a "joke", one of those Mr.B. likes to tell during his TV shows. One of his Tv channels broadcasted the whole speech LIVE and this was criticised in Italy considering we are under elections (do you remember about the Par Condicio law?). My personal opinion is that it's not a bad thing to broadcast our Prime Minister's visit to USA's Congress, but it's a pretty weird coincidence this happened 1 month before the elections… and on his own TV channel. But we are just wrong-minded communists.
2. Official Face-to-Face between Romano Prodi and Silvio Berlusconi: we had the first of two face-to-face discussions using USA's rules (each of them had 2:30minutes for their answers plus 1 more minute to add something). It was hard to see a winner out of this fight, but the polls reported 1 more point for the left-wing coalition. Berlusconi's reaction was a big attack to this face-to-face format, stating it's illiberal. Pretty funny considering it was him who pushed Prodi to accept this fight and considering that the rules were accepted by both the politicians.
3. Berlusconi goes to Annunziata: Berlusconi was invited to Mrs. Annunziata's (former state TV's fairness authority guarantor) "30 minuti" (30 minutes) TV programme. But only after 15 minutes Mr.B. left the show after repeatedly requesting Mrs. Annunziata to ask him to explain his government plan for the next 5 years. As a reaction Mrs. Annunziata kept on asking him to answer to HER questions, as that is the aim of a journalist. The result was Berlusconi's escape from the programme.

   It's a common opinion that Annunziata looked for the clash, but for sure she was the first journalist, after many years, who disallowed the Premier from performing his own TV show.

I strongly advice reading the two quoted articles.
As usual Wikipedia does a great work.

Ali_Farka_Toure-Diaraby.mp3

One of Africa's best known musicians, Ali Farka Toure, has died after a long illness in his home country of Mali.

On 7th March 2006 the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced his death at the age of 67, from bone cancer, against which he had been battling for some time in Bamako. His record label, World Circuit, said that he had just completed work on a new solo album.

BBC: My memories of Ali Farka Touré

Canoë: Ali Farka Touré est mort mardi

Tirol.com: Malischer Grammy-Gewinner Ali Farka Touré gestorben

Wiki: Ali Farka Touré

This post can be understood properly only by those who have a longer experience with Sweden, Swedes and their culture.

postershop.co.uk

Well, this girl looks as Swedish as possible. Am I right Claudio?:) But the most Swedish "stuff" around is something else, something extraordinary!

(more…)

Já vím. Říkala jsem už několikrát, že se omlouvám, ale asi budu muset znovu. Omlouvám se za tu velkou pauzu, ale nic by se nemělo přehánět. Ani rychlost učení čehokoli. Proto dnes jen ve stručnosti.

Od poslední hodiny jsem přidala na intenzitě a z lekce 7 jsem postoupila až do lekce 15. Nebylo to zrovna tryskovou rychlostí, ale relativně bez chyb. Minimálně jsem postupovala plynule bez nutnosti opakování. Takže má dnešní rada zní: nenechte se nikým stresovat.

Pokud bych se měla vyjádřit ke komentáři k poslednímu článku, pak u mě lékaři nadbytečný 21. chromozom nezjistili. Zdá se tedy, že má pomaloběžnost a naprostá důvěra v inteligenci tvůrců počítačových programů ja naprosto fyziologická, bohužel.:)

• Lekce: 7-15
• Čas: asi 6 hod (zahrnuty i občerstvovací pauzy)