Misc

In a 'first', gay couple tie the knot in China

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 14:09.

A gay couple - 45-year-old Zeng and 27-year-old Pan wed in a gay bar in Chengdu of southwest China's Sichuan Province January 3, 2010. Zeng divorced his wife of 26 years, who born him a daughter, in February of 2009 and then met Pan in a gay bar. The two men decided to marry last November after dating for two months. Their wedding ceremony was attended by their gay friends without a single relative of either of the two. [Photo/CFP]

Original article by Huang Zhiling and Zhang Ao, China Daily

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 08_07-15_07

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 15:30.

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 08_07-15_07

July 9th

Local Gang Bang : Super Pilot (ja), Disco Balls (cz), The Blind Daters (cz) @ Pilot Bar

Start: 20:00

End: 23:59

The newly opened Pilot Bar and converted theatre hosts this trio of Czech ska/punk rock/soul bands in Prague 10 on July 9th at 8pm.
The evening consists of the musical gang bang by Super Pilot, a band whose motto says it all: “Dirty rock for your dirty soul”, keeping true to their unique mix of punk and dirty folk music. Your eardrums won’t have a chance to recover before the Disco Balls, a local group offering up an eclectic mix of ska, soul, and surf music breakout their tunes. And don’t forget about The Blind Daters, a band that claim the inspiration for their alt-rockin’ style comes from bands such as The Clash, The Stooges, and the Misfits.

Burning *itch --- we mean Burn the Witch!

Submitted by admin on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 17:55.

This year "The Burning of the Witches” will be a bit exceptional as it will go in hand with the premiere of the musical Kladivo na čarodějnice (Witches' Hammer) in the Milenium Theatre.

1 comment

WHAT DOG IS WHICH RELIGION - POLL

Submitted by marika on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 14:34.

POLL:

WHAT DOG IS WHICH RELIGION?

ISSUE 37 OUT TODAY!

Look at the cover image and guess!

Register to the website to submit your answer and win prizes, tix, merch of megalomaniacs (a.k.a. bands)!

Vote HERE!

VH1 REALITY SHOW BUS CRASHES IN CALIFORNIA, CAUSING MAJOR SLUT SPILL

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Fri, 02/26/2010 - 16:00.

SURPRISED? Click here to know more!

Dresden on edge as neo-Nazis march

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Thu, 02/18/2010 - 13:23.

Anti-Nazi protesters blocked streets and rail lines into Dresden and hurled missiles and insults at far-right demonstrators on the 65th anniversary of the allied bombing raids that destroyed the once beautiful German city.

Original article from euronews.net

21_02 SUPER PILOT, TRASHCAT @ Klub 007 Strahov

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 14:36.

21.02.2010

Super Pilot (cz), Trashcat (uk) @ Klub 007 Strahov

Chaloupeckého 7, Praha 6, 160 00

Start: 19:00

Entrance fee: 150 czk

Super pilot is a band whose motto says it all: “Dirty rock for your dirty soul”, keeping true to their unique mix of punk and dirty folk music.

The Feminist Evolution

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 15:26.

Museums are exhibiting an increased sensitivity to collecting and presenting works by women— through new acquisitions, solo shows, and a stronger focus on artists who were previously neglected. But true gender equality, critics maintain, remains elusive.

original article by Phoebe Hoban

photo by Rob Carter

EVROPSKÝ SEN: Memories of a Multicultural Festival

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 20:06.

Evropsky Sen - Culture Knockout II

Berlin, Mitte 2010

Ackerkeller, Schokoladen, Z-Bar, Club der Polnischen Versager

see some of the pictures here.

check out live perfomances: Rocket Fuel Explosion, Guma Guar and Super Pilot!

Contact Poetry here.

Shake it, baby!

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 17:06.

The Secrets of Looking Good on the Dance Floor

Why do some clubbers shake it like a Polaroid picture while others prefer to perch on a bar stool? British psychologist Peter Lovatt, who has conducted rigorous field work in nightclubs, believes he can explain why some booty shaking is hot -- and some is not. It's all about your hormones.

Original article from Der Spiegel.

Photo: Rob Zoom.

A RIGHT TO LUST (FOR WOMEN)

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 17:02.

A Right to Lust

The subtler charms of feminist pornography are finding an audience in the Czech Republic

by Bára Procházková.

Original article from Prague Monitor.

Original picture here.

English article here and the Czech original one here.

The Pain of Listening

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 14:12.

Using Music as a Weapon at Guantanamo

For years, US interrogators at Guantanamo used painfully loud music on prisoners at Camp Delta. Rock musicians like Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and civil rights organization are demanding an investigation into the practice.

Original article from Der Spiegel.

Asia's greed for ivory puts African elephant at risk

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 16:37.

Slaughter by poachers intensifies as governments seek to increase legal sales.

There has been a massive surge in illegal ivory trading, researchers warned last week. They have found that more than 14,000 products made from the tusks and other body parts of elephants were seized in 2009, an increase of more than 2,000 on their previous analysis in 2007.

original article by Robin mcKie, The Observer. Photograph: Martin Harvey/AP.

1 comment

Germany key country in the negotiation process

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Sun, 01/17/2010 - 22:40.

The first visit by the new German coalition’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, to Ankara has unsurprisingly brought to the agenda not Turkish-German relations, but Turkey’s European Union membership process, and at the same time, it has served as an occasion for showing that Berlin’s mind is very confused about this matter.

Original article by Ali Yurttagül*, Prague post

Did the CIA Plot to Kill German Citizen?

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Thu, 01/07/2010 - 16:24.

Did CIA agents and employees of private security firm Blackwater seek to kill a German-Syrian terror suspect in Hamburg? A recent report by US magazine Vanity Fair has upset politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats as well as the opposition left-leaning Social Democrats and Greens. Politicians are demanding answers and a state prosecutor may investigate.

Original article by Florian Gathmann and Veit Medick, http://www.spiegel.de

Trying to break Russia's vodka dependence

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 20:20.

Original article by Daniel Fisher, BBC NEWS online

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is hoping for some New Year's resolution among his countrymen, as he takes on one of Russia's most deeply-entrenched and prickliest problems - alcoholism.

From 1 January, restrictions on the price of vodka in Russia come into force.

1 comment

Mafia: The British connection: Italian mafia finds UK good for doing business

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 12/28/2009 - 23:25.

London firms act as fronts for drug-dealing and money-laundering and provide hideouts for fugitive gunmen, says anti-mafia investigator

Tom Kington, 27 december 2009

Original article from http://www.guardian.co.uk/

1 comment

Czech drug policy goes Dutch

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Sat, 12/19/2009 - 17:57.

Original article by Johan Huizinga, Radio Netherlands

The Netherlands is no longer alone in its permissive approach to drugs. Legislative changes in the Czech Republic look set to make it the country with the most liberal drug policy in Europe.

2 comments

Whisky hangover 'worse than vodka', study suggests

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Sat, 12/19/2009 - 03:32.

Original article from BBC NEWS online

Drinking whisky will result in a worse hangover than vodka, according to research by US scientists.

1 comment

President Obama in Denmark to push climate deal

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Fri, 12/18/2009 - 12:07.

Original article from CNN.com

Copenhagen, Denmark (CNN) -- Barely an hour after U.S. President Barack Obama landing in Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday, he headed into a meeting with other world leaders to hammer out an agreement on climate change.

Irish MP's F-word outburst sparks parliament review

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Fri, 12/18/2009 - 11:54.

Original article from BBC NEWS online

The Irish parliament is to review its rules of conduct after a lawmaker swore heavily during a budget debate.

Copenhagen climate summit negotiations 'suspended'

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 15:53.

Original article by Richard Black, BBC NEWS online

Negotiations at the UN climate summit have been suspended after developing countries withdrew their co-operation.

Delegations were angry at what they saw as moves by the Danish host government to sideline talks on more emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

Serbia President Boris Tadic fined for champagne toast

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 12:47.

Original article from BBC NEWS online

Serbian President Boris Tadic has been fined 400 euros (£360) for toasting Serbia's qualification for the football World Cup with champagne at a stadium.

Prostitutes offer free sex to global-warming delegates in Copenhagen

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 12/07/2009 - 18:45.

Original article by Kevin Flynn, NY Daily News online

Global-warming summiteers have been told it's uncool to buy hookers, but prostitutes have turned a trick of their own: heating up the atmosphere in Copenhagen by offering free sex to delegates.

2 comments

Men and women 'respond differently to danger'

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 11:47.

Original article from BBC News online

Men and women may respond differently to danger, a brain scan study suggests.

1 comment

Afghan Female Boxers Challenge Gender Roles

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 18:58.

Original article by Nick Meo, SFGate online

Concord resident Tareq Shawl Azim says he always knew he would one day return to his parents' country to make it a better place.

Zizkov TV tower named 2nd ugliest in the world

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 16:55.

Original article by Sarah Gordon, Mail online

Top ten 'ugliest' buildings in the world unveiled - and many are in our most beautiful cities

If there was ever any need to prove that even the most beautiful cities have their downside, the latest 'World's Top Ten Ugliest Buildings' list could be it.

Boheme-Noir VI

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 18:44.

Bohème Noir is a party for the nonconformistic. Here you have the borderliners, burlesque and baroque, fetish and fantasy, goth and glitz, cyber, rubber, fags and freaks, captured in a pulsating mix of music, arts and dance.

Bohème Noir ist die Party für eine Gesellschaft der Unkonventionellen. Hier treffen sich die Grenzgänger, Burlesque und Baroque, Fetisch und Fantasy, Goth und Gewandung, Body Mods, Cyber, Rubber, Fags und Freaks. Mit Musik, Tanz und Kunst durch die Nacht getragen. Dress to impress!

The Supernaturals!

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 15:47.

Caped crusaders, telepathic powers, invisibility, comedians! Something doesn't fit? Shows how little you know. The Supernaturals comedy troupe continues their latest and greatest show at the Kookaburra Comedy Club, Berlin.

What color is your collar?

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 14:57.

By Instigator in Chief

A combination of State dictum and citizens’ mutual consent (or lack there of) frame types of crime and definitions vary, as does the penalty excised.

Blue Collar Crime: ‘Blue-collar’ derives from the durable clothing of laborers and factory workers. Blue-collar crimes are allegedly related to the opportunities available to the potential lawbreaker.

1 comment

The Groping Game

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 14:41.

By Lotti Riley

Statistics to prove it are difficult to track down, but estimated figures suggest that between 50% to nearly the entire female population of Japan are affected by it; the seemingly Japan-specific phenomena of ‘chikan-ry’ (chikan = ‘groper’) that routinely takes place on Japanese trains is in fact common public knowledge.

It is not about the money

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 14:34.

By Fernando Ballester

White-collar crime is not violent by nature, but often results in the loss of thousands of people's savings. The most irritating aspect is that high-status criminals can afford the best attorneys and know how to get their punishments reduced or avoid imprisonment altogether.

My story, my fraud

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 14:30.

By Fernando Ballester

Fraus, the Roman goddess of betrayal lends her name to the crime of ‘fraud’. Although it's rarely compared to physical crimes, this can have a deep impact as a psychological crime because it sows distrust between individuals.

A fraudster invents their own past and present to acquire the trust of others and then to abuse it. One example is the 'journalist', Stephen Glass.

A wake in Reykjavik for McDonald's

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 13:59.

Original article CNN.com

Image from GreenPeace.org

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - All reporters will tell you from time to time that they do their work out of love of the story, a need to tell the world. This, I’m sorry to say, is not one of those times.

Spanish 'self love' lessons row

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 13:47.

Original article by BBC NEWS online

A Spanish region's new approach to sex education has provoked anger by suggesting children be taught "self-exploration and self-pleasure".

Prague celebrates 20 years since the fall of communism

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 18:05.

Original article by Klára Jiřičná, Prague Post online

Street parties, parades, concerts and cheap beer all on the agenda

Study: Fiddler crabs exchange sex for survival

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 14:18.

Original article by Kristen Gelineau, SFGate online

In the world of fiddler crabs, the best form of protection for females is, apparently, having sex with the neighbors, according to an Australian study published Wednesday.

UK cemetery: Share a grave with a stranger?

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 18:16.

Original article by Jill Lawless, SFGate online

So you think London, population 8 million, is crowded with the living?

There are many millions more under the soil of a city that has been inhabited for 2,000 years. And London is rapidly running out of places to put them.

Now the city's largest cemetery is trying to persuade Londoners to share a grave with a stranger.

1 comment

Man breaks 15 laws in 11 minutes

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 14:02.

Original article by BBC NEWS online

A driver has confounded Swiss police by committing 15 traffic violations in just over 10 minutes, officials say.

1 comment

Law school accused of mafia ties

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 16:20.

Original article by Tom Clifford, Prague Post online

Security threat to state feared amid Plzeň university scandal

The safety of the state is "threatened" amid growing fears of mafia influence in key sectors of society after allegations that degrees were conferred after just a few months' study. There have also been concerns that fast-track degrees, plagiarism and missing dissertations at a prestigious law school "were not isolated cases."

Japan first lady awarded for looking good in jeans

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 16:13.

Original article Mari Yamaguchi, SFGate online

She's been called Japan's most colorful first lady for her cheerful character and quirky comments. Now the wife of new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has won an award for looking good — in her jeans.

American poet has big Czech connections

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 17:20.

Original article by Stephen Delbos, Prague Post online

James Ragan, out with a new book, is a yearly house guest of Václav Havel

Swedes divided over bunny biofuel

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 17:15.

Original article by Helena Merriman, BBC NEWS online

Residents in Stockholm are divided over reports that rabbits are being used to make biofuel.

1 comment

Auschwitz launches Facebook site

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 17:10.

Original article by Raffi Berg, BBC NEWS online

The Polish authorities in charge of Auschwitz have launched an official site for the former Nazi death camp on the social networking website Facebook

Anglické Seminars at SPUSA!

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Wed, 10/14/2009 - 13:21.

SPUSA has been running seminars for the public for over 15 years. Out of the many topics covered, by far the most popular has been those connected to the culture of the US, the UK, and other English speaking countries. This semester we continue with Movie Mondays, where we present films in English, and each Wednesday we are running the Specialized Language Seminar Series. Each month four topics are covered:

1 comment

Imelda Marcos' shoe collection saved from floods

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Sun, 10/11/2009 - 14:04.

Original article by Teresa Cerojano, SFGate online

When a powerful storm inundated the Philippines last month, most people rushed to save their homes or their lives. Employees of one museum, however, grabbed the shoes.

Gay penguins book is most banned

Submitted by editor.provokat... on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 13:54.

Original article from BBC NEWS online

Authors, artists and musicians are due to gather at a library in San Francisco to protest against the banning of books in schools and libraries in the US.