NATO summit: make profit, not war

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Written by: Jasna Skorov

For the first time, a NATO summit will be hosted by a post-communist country. This is not only an honor with political and military significance, but also a chance for Pragues business community to boost its global reputation.

LIKE ANY OTHER undertaking, the summit needs a budget. The Czech government approved CZK 800 million, an appropriate sum for such a mega-event. This money will be used to finance the convention, accompanying events, transport, and security. Other assets will flow from private subjects and embassies, because the two-day meeting will be accompanied by many social get-togethers. The delegates themselves pay for their transportation to the Czech Republic and their housing, which itself accounts for at least another CZK 100 million. This injection and promotion for Prague makes Prague hoteliers happy. I can see promotional spots on CNN for Vienna or Budapest, and our capital city has a handicap in these terms, says Michal Chour, sales director for the Radisson SAS hotel. Furthermore, Prague hoteliers find themselves in a rather complicated situation this year. The first six months saw fewer tourists than last year visiting the Czech Republic, and then Prague was inundated by catastrophic floods. The Hilton, which was damaged by the waters, reopened in September, and the Inter.Continental should resume operation in the beginning of November. Some hotels, such as the Four Seasons, will unfortunately be unable to complete their repairs before the NATO summit opens. According to Alexandr Vondra, the governments commissioner for summit preparations, the summit provides great motivation for firms to restore their operations to normal. He says that global television networks will be steadily observing Prague for two days, this time in a context that is not catastrophic, which should help the travel industry here. In connection with the NATO summit, people frequently speak of positive indirect economic impacts more tourists will come in the future, and Pragues prestige as a convention-friendly city will rise. However, critics point out that there were similar expectations before the IMF meeting, which did not pan out. References matter One need not look for only indirect positive effects. The money that the state freed up for the convention budget will enter the economy directly. The amount that will be used for organization comes to CZK 340 million, and, according to Halka Kaiserov, spokeswoman for the NATO Summit Office (KSN), most of this figure will go to supplier firms. There were forty tenders in all, and about 100 contracts have been signed, Kaiserov says. Contracts were closed with firms with no competition in their fields (e.g., the Congress Center). Tenders were not required by law, because this is an event associated with state visits, Kaiserov adds. Although KSN wants the entire process to be as transparent as possible, in two weeks it was unable to provide The Prague Tribune with a complete list of suppliers, or more detailed rules for tenders and controls. Although the names of the firms are not confidential, only a few names have been made public the Congress Center will be equipped with Dell computers; Sanjiv Suri, owner of the catering firm Zti Group, will be in charge of catering, in cooperation with other restaurants and firms like Golem. Furniture for the convention will be provided by Alax, and VPU Deco, along with other firms, will be in charge of construction modifications. The Adecco agency is in charge of staffing, as it was for the IMF meeting. Firms agree that references are more important to them than the job itself. The sheer number of firms restricts the budget, so suppliers often reduce their margins or provide their services free of charge in exchange for the prestige. One such example is the Import Volkswagen Group, the official summit partner that arranges for koda and Audi limousines, passenger cars, and minibuses. Not surprisingly, the convention also means unpleasant administrative tasks. If we were to compare the enormous amount of work with the financial returns we will get for our services, we would not be involved in such an event, says Jindich Chytrek, sales director for the catering company Golem. His 250 employees will have to go through security screening, which means lots of extra administrative work. For us, the biggest business lies in the references, Chytrek explains. Proof of fitness The NATO summit has a final, but no less significant, business dimension military. The security arranged will show whether the Czech Republic is an equal alliance partner. Additionally, there will be experts among the delegates who can appreciate the technologies used. Some of the hallway meetings will probably include military business. There is some consideration being given to the Czech Republic becoming a part of a defensive nuclear umbrella. This would bring contracts for arms companies, as well as for the building of infrastructure roads and missile silos, notes a military technology expert who wishes to remain anonymous. Additionally, the Czech army wants to reinforce its position as a trainer for armies of eastern countries that are NATO candidates. But western armies also like to rent our military facilities, such as Ralsko and Doupovsk hory. So the NATO summit will be good advertising not only for the travel industry, but also for these services, he adds.

Photo: V. Weiss

Alexandr Vondra, the government commissioner for summit preparations, is known as a former dissident, the Charter 77 spokesman, and as the Czech ambassador to the US in the 1990s. Now he is in charge of coordinating the biggest convention in the history of the Czech Republic. He points out that the events success could have a positive influence on the entire country.

Like many others, you support the indirect effects of the NATO summit on the local economy. But after the IMF meeting there was no great increase in tourism or the convention industry. What makes the NATO summit different from that convention? As far as tourism goes, Prague has prospered in the last ten years. But it has been grievously affected by the floods, and we believe that the NATO summit and the journalists that cover it will help bring the tourists back. Revenues from the travel industry are in the billions of crowns every year. Conventions are also very important to Prague. In October alone several big conventions were organized here FORUM 2000, the Trilateral Commission, and others.

How did your office select the large number of suppliers? We called tenders for most of the services, and we prepared the methodology in cooperation with the consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Overall there were about forty tenders for transport, catering, lodging, and Congress Center equipment, to name a few. The tenders, which were generally called by addressing multiple firms, were always won by firms that best met our requirements, and price was the main criterion for selection. We are trying to handle our assigned CZK 340 million economically.

Do you think that cooperation in the organization of the NATO will be a significant reference for firms in their future business activities? I think it could be. Of course it depends on how the individual firms manage to make use of their participation in their marketing activities. For example, in the area of transport, we managed to arrange free insurance on delegates cars due to great interest on the part of insurers.

Can the organization of the summit have an impact on winning military orders such as the Czech Republic joining the defensive anti-nuclear umbrella? Anti-missile protection is currently under discussion as to the projects feasibility. If NATO agrees that such a project is possible for the protection of Europe, it could be an interesting challenge for Czech firms. Interview by Jasna Skorov

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NATO summit: make profit, not war

Afghan parliament approves US, NATO agreements

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) A suicide bomber blew himself up at a volleyball tournament in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 45 people in the country's deadliest terrorist attack this year, officials said.

The bloodshed came just hours after Parliament approved agreements allowing U.S. and NATO troops to remain in the country past the end of the year.

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Afghan parliament approves US, NATO agreements

NSA Warns China or Russia Have The Ability To Cyber Attack The U.S. Infrastructure – Episode 523 – Video

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NSA Warns China or Russia Have The Ability To Cyber Attack The U.S. Infrastructure - Episode 523
Get economic collapse news throughout the day visit http://x22report.com More news visit http://thepeoplesnewz.com Report date: 11.20.2014 European consumer confidence falling to new lows....

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NSA dissenters warned of possible privacy backlash in 2009

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Video still by PBS NewsHour

WASHINGTON Dissenters within the National Security Agency, led by a senior agency executive, warned in 2009 that the program to secretly collect American phone records wasnt providing enough intelligence to justify the backlash it would cause if revealed, current and former intelligence officials say.

The NSA took the concerns seriously, and many senior officials shared them. But after an internal debate that has not been previously reported, NSA leaders, White House officials and key lawmakers opted to continue the collection and storage of American calling records, a domestic surveillance program without parallel in the agencys recent history.

The warnings proved prophetic last year after the calling records program was made public in the first and most significant leak by Edward Snowden, a former NSA systems administrator who cited the governments deception about the program as one of his chief motivations for turning over classified documents to journalists. Many Americans were shocked and dismayed to learn that an intelligence agency collects and stores all their landline calling records.

In response, President Barack Obama is now trying to stop the NSA collection but preserve the agencys ability to search the records in the hands of the telephone companies an arrangement similar to the one the administration quietly rejected in 2009. But his plan, drawing opposition from most Republicans, fell two votes short of advancing in the Senate on Tuesday.

A now-retired NSA senior executive, who was a longtime code-breaker who rose to top management, had just learned in 2009 about the top secret program that was created shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He says he argued to then-NSA Director Keith Alexander that storing the calling records of nearly every American fundamentally changed the character of the agency, which is supposed to eavesdrop on foreigners, not Americans.

Alexander politely disagreed, the former official told The Associated Press.

The former official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he didnt have permission to discuss a classified matter, said he knows of no evidence the program was used for anything other than hunting for terrorism plots in the U.S. But he said he and others made the case that the collection of American records in bulk crossed a line that had been sacrosanct.

He said he also warned of a scandal if it should be disclosed that the NSA was storing records of private calls by Americans to psychiatrists, lovers and suicide hotlines, among other contacts.

Alexander, who led the NSA from 2005 until he retired last year, did not dispute the former officials account, though he said he disagreed that the program was improper.

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Homeschool Parents Pepper Sprayed, Tasered By Missouri Sheriff, Deputy in Front of Children

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NEW HAMPTON, Mo. A Christian homeschooling organization has filed a legal challenge against a Missouri sheriff and his deputy after they pepper sprayed and tasered a couple in front of their children when they refused to let them in the house without a warrant.

The situation occurred in September 2011 after a Missouri Child Protective Services (CPS) agent had visited the home of Jason and Laura Hagan of New Hampton following a complaint of a messy home. When the caseworker sought to return a second time for a follow-up, the couple refused. CPS then called the police.

According to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA),Sheriff Darren White andChief Sheriffs Deputy David Glidden then arrived at the home, seeking to enter. Mr. Hagan told the men that they needed to obtain a warrant from a court.

When Glidden stated that he would enter anyway, Hagan turned to go back in the house, and was consequently pepper sprayed in the back of his head, and then in his face. Mrs. Hagan was then sprayed as well.

As Mr. Hagan was still standing after the ordeal, he was then tasered, which caused him to fall to the floor just inside of the door. Mrs. Hagan then closed the door on the deputy.

But at this point, White joined Glidden on the porch, and together they busted open the Hagans door, forcing their way inside. They found both Mr. and Mrs. Hagan lying on the floor and began pepper spraying them again. They also sprayed a chemical agent on the dog and threatened that they would shoot if he did not stop barking at them.

The Hagans were then handcuffed and charged with child endangerment and resisting arrest, and the children were taken to the hospital for exposure to the pepper spray used by the sheriff and his deputy on their parents. The children at the time were ages 13, 10 and 8.

As the Hagans were then forced to appear in court to answer for the charges, a judge instead found that Glidden and White had violated the couples Fourth Amendment rights by forcing entry into their home without a warrant.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized, the constitutional amendment reads.

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Homeschool Parents Pepper Sprayed, Tasered By Missouri Sheriff, Deputy in Front of Children

Attorney – What Does the First Amendment Protect in White Plains, NY? – Video

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Attorney - What Does the First Amendment Protect in White Plains, NY?
This Informational Law Video has Been Brought to You by Kim Patricia Berg an Experienced White Plains, NY Attorney Specializing in Employment Law, Discrimina...

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Time to do away with Jawaharlal Nehru's first amendment to the Indian Constitution

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Imprinted in the minds of Indians are Jawaharlal Nehru's words delivered at the stroke of midnight on that most important day: when the soul of a na tion, long suppressed, finds utterance. Everyone longed for their beloved India to sprout wings and fly . I find myself wondering today , what is the point of it all, if the wings are used to fly in the wrong direction? Towards a direction that is not in tune with our innate culture? We made one such unfortunate turn early in our independent history .

Freedom-loving liberals among us must remember and hang our heads in shame at the regrettable turn we took on May 10, 1951. That was the day Jawaharlal Nehru piloted the First Amendment to the Indian Constitution (which was passed into law within a few weeks). Among other restrictions on our fundamental rights, this also restricted freedom of expression.

Many feel that this was in response to the Supreme Court judgment in 1950 on the `Romesh Thappar vs The State of Madras' case, through which the ban on Thappar's magazine (a Marxist journal called Crossroads) was lifted. Many lawyers opine that in effect, the Supreme Court had recognized unfettered freedom of expression as compliant with our original Constitution; just like it was in the US and far better than in Europe at the time. Legal luminaries also hold that since unfettered freedom of expression would have been recognized as a fundamental right, the illiberal IPC Section 295(a), a gift bequeathed by the British Raj, through which many books have been banned, would be overridden.

Why did the Nehru government pass the first amendment? Critics of Nehru will hold this as proof that he was not a classical liberal (defined as one who defends political and economic freedoms for all). Supporters of Nehru will say that he had to ensure unity of purpose in the first few years of independent India to stabilize our country; and some freedoms were a small price to pay for this. I'll let historians pass judgment on this issue.

I merely offer my take on the events that transpired; an observation that is based on my strong belief in freedom of expression. And this is not just as a liberal, but also as an inheritor of a culture that has a proud, millennia-long tradition of ideational freedom.

Freedom of expression is, frankly , the most Indian of values; one that was staunchly defended by Lord Brahma himself in the Natya Shastra. In ancient India one was free to create and encourage various versions of the holiest of epics like the Ramayan and Mahabharat; and all versions, some even unorthodox, were celebrated.In fact, one could even be an atheist in ancient India, as the Charvaks were (probably from the seventh century BC), and nobody would commit violence against them for being `ungodly'. One could practise out-of-the-ordinary rituals, as the Aghoras did (like ritual sex), and unlike in modern India, nobody would ban their practices as long as they didn't hurt another. Everyone had a right to find their own truth, in keeping with the spirit of the Rig Vedic maxim: Ekam Sat Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti. Truth is one, but the wise men speak it as many .

I would ask for only two restrictions to be placed on freedom of expression. On someone who exercises freedom of expression to suppress the freedom of expression of another; that is unacceptable. And on anyone who uses freedom of expression to directly call for violence. In every other case, absolute and unfettered freedom of expression should be practised.Every banned book should be unbanned. Every argument, no matter how troubling it may be, should be allowed expression. Sigmund Freud had said that the first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the founder of civilization.

All of us who count ourselves as liberals and are proud Indians must ask for the First Amendment to be repealed.Moreover, we must not practise the kind of hypocritical freedom of expression that the westerners practise, where views not in alignment with the prevailing orthodoxy are suppressed; not through violence, but by ensuring that one is prevented from visiting various public forums or one's works are not published (for example, the gagging of Ayaan Hirsi Ali). I must state that I disagree with many things Ms Ali says; but we must defend the right to speak even of those whose views are deeply troubling, provided that there is no direct call for violence.

Stopping the free flow of ideas is against India's innate culture. We are not in any sense being "westernized" if we ask for unfettered freedom of expression. In fact, we are being very Indian. Furthermore, as our ancestors realized thousands of years ago, freedom of expression is the foundation of a liberal and decent society .

As the Rig Veda says: `In speech is enshrined blessed glory , is enshrined Mother Lakshmi herself.'

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Time to do away with Jawaharlal Nehru's first amendment to the Indian Constitution

Pandacoin’s hybrid cryptocurrency wallet speed test – Full blockchain under 4 minutes. – Video

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Pandacoin #39;s hybrid cryptocurrency wallet speed test - Full blockchain under 4 minutes.
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BitCoin For Beginners 2014 | How Does One Make Money from Bitcoins Trading? – Video

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