#events czech republic

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Before anyone starts talking about gun laws in the US and "see, there's mass shootings in Europe too", this was the seventh and the worst mass shooting in this country since the end of the Second World War

[a-sock-in-a-sandal]

What is happening in Czechia right now - heavy rains and floods

So as a Czech citizen I felt like saying something about it here so here you go, it's mostly my experiences and some official data.

For context, the first week of September 2024 (2nd to 8th) in Czechia was a burning hell - the temperatures were around 30°C or even above for the entire week. Some schools even ended their classes earlier because of the hot weather - they usually ended before afternoon when the weather was worst. So when we found out that everything will stop the next week, we got happy. We were told the temperatures are gonna get under 20°C, sometimes above, but usually under, it's gonna rain and it's gonna get windy.

All of it happened. The first few days of this week (plus maybe the weekend of the previous one) were chilly, windy, and cloudy - it did sometimes rain, but usually only for a few hours a day. Sooner it started to rain more, for more hours a day, somewhere even for the entire day.

But then the Czech government scheduled an emergency meeting because they were worried about the rains - and they had a reason to. Such rains could cause major floods that already happened in Czechia twice. So they didn't want to waste any time on preparing.

The weather progressively got worse - in my region, it rained the whole day for like three days and it is still raining now. The wind is strong and cold and the temperatures are very chilly. I live right next to a stream at the lowest part of my village in lowlands and the water has risen a few meters (like 2 or so).

The worst situation is in Moravia, which is where I live, but where I am it is still good, only heavy rains and the water levels rising but not as much as to cause a trouble - however there is a few places in my village where it is completely underwater, but not anyone's house or cellar. But Northern Moravia/Silesia is flooded, especially parts like Jeseníky and Opava. The more it gets on west the better it is, mostly a few regions on the north-west are the safest ones. It is usually the Karlovarský/Ústecký and maybe a piece of Plzeňský kraj that is safe.

Most events got cancelled and/or delayed due to bad weather and flood warnings. However the schools are still opened, and it's kind of a meme between students that "we're gonna kayak into our schools on Monday!" Electricity stopped working at many places, including my village. When I woke up today there were firefighters in my street but nobody knows why but I heard that someone's cellar might be flooded.

Our Czech subreddit r/Czech is "flooded" (I couldn't help myself) with maps of flood situation and tips on what to do in case you have e.g. an animal in floodplains. If you switch on the news channel ČT24, you get 24/7 segments and reports from different parts of Czechia, interviews with meteorologists, politicians talking about it and such. Most channels stream as normal but there are some emergency broadcasts. Social media is filled with it.

However, there is a group of mostly older people who are those old conspirators and are strongly against our government because their favourite politician isn't the prime minister (the situation is more complicated but that's enough for this), and they claim that all this is fake and "it's actually to keep people at home before elections (there are ones to happen soon) so they can't meet and talk about the politics", or that "it's a punishment for sending help to Ukraine" (Czechia has sent a lot of help there and these people are mad for some reason) and such. It makes me sick because some people already died and many are injured and many homes can be destroyed.

Czechia has already had two major floods in the near past - in 1997 there were ones in Prague and in 2002 over the entire Czechia. They were catastrophic, people died and were injured and lost homes. So that's why everyone is scared and the government tries very hard to keep us safe.

I already shared my experience, but I just talked on a group chat with my friends from different villages in my region so here goes what I found:

Electricity is out on most places because it is flooded near some important place for electricity

Plenty of places are flooded with like 10-20 cm water, people can still walk in it and some cars drive in it

A football pitch right next to a stream in my village is completely flooded, only the nets are visible

Plenty of bridges are closed and plenty of them are also underwater

We're debating whether or not our school is gonna be closed since most of us take bus to school and we don't know if it would be able to arrive, plus electricity isn't working in the town where we have school, but we'll still see, we didn't receive any news about the school closing

It's starting to get clear (less cloudy) as I'm typing this but I hope it'll get better, the rain is not as heavy as it was

I just hope it's gonna get better ❤️ I'll update you tomorrow or even today if anything major happens

[toustik-blogs]

Tw eyestrain

This is for the draw this in your style by @ricky-tiki-tah ^^

I wanted to do this wayyyy earlier but i was busy with stuff

Hope ya like it ^^

[oldtvlover]

And tonight then Good King Wenceslas from 1994! Cast: Stefanie Powers - The Queen Jonathan Brandis - Prince Wenceslas (RIP) Perry King - Tunna Leo McKern - Duke Philip Joan Fontaine - Queen Ludmilla (RIP) Charlotte Chatton - Princess Johanna Oliver Milburn - Boleslav and many more Story: Wenceslas, the young king of Bohemia, lives trapped between the wisdom of his Christian grandmother and his ever constant battle with his tyranical step-mother. She wants her own son to be king and constantly tries to stay in charge of Wenceslas's life (including picking out a bride for him). But it is only when he sees the suffering of his people that Wenceslas learns how vital it is that his step-brother never rules. —Max Vaughn (taken from IMDB again) Thoughts: I don't know the song but I do know some of the legend of King Wenceslas and it was filmed at some of the original places in the Czech Republic (and London). Prince Wenceslas enjoys his day as his stepmother rules Bohemia and the chancellor Tunna reigns her bed. She loathes the Christians who become stronger every day. The Queen wants her own son, Boleslav, to be king, yet she can't go against the popularity of Wenceslas and his grandmother. Wenceslas bids only to her wishes and doesn't want to marry but when he sees his bride-to-be, Johanna, he slowly changes his mind. And more when he realizes that the Queen and Tunna take money and wood from the people in his name. When his grandmother is killed by one of the Lords, he goes against the Queen and Tunna with his people. Wenceslas has a sword fight with Tunna and the chancellor ends up under a chandelier (how fitting) and the Queen and her son are on the run. They free all people and give away what was storaged in the castle. Wenceslas marries Johanna and well, you know the end.

It’s the story to the known Christmas Carol, yet not for me but I did my research about the historical facts of King Wenceslas.

[head-post]

Czech mercenary discloses incidents in Ukraine’s Bucha

Czech mercenary Filip Siman revealed what foreign mercenaries were doing in Ukraine at the outbreak of the war, disclosing fascinating details about the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

According to Seznam Zprávy, the Prague City Court accused Czech mercenary Filip Siman of illegal service in the Ukrainian army and looting. He reportedly fought on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the spring of 2022 in the cities of Irpin and Bucha.

According to Czech media, he was not authorised to fight in Ukraine, as Czech mercenaries must obtain special permission from the president. He now faces up to five years in prison for serving in a foreign army. The court can also sentence Siman to up to 25 years or life imprisonment for looting.

Siman not only witnessed the events in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, but was also a participant in some of the crimes in March-April 2022, according to his testimony.

We were the law, that’s what they told us. We were looking for everything. Electronics, documents, handwritten logs, unit signs.

The mercenary stated that he joined the AFU to provide for his family. He removed jewellery, valuable items, silverware, precious metal bars, and money from Ukrainian cities. He also admitted that he took valuables off corpses, as his superiors ordered him to pick up anything of value and bring it to headquarters.

Siman also complained that he had suffered serious psychological damage in Ukraine. For the first time in his life, he witnessed murder and rape, he stated. Given that Russian troops had already left the city at the time of his stay in Bucha, the incidents could have involved returning Ukrainian soldiers. The mercenary said that one of his fellow soldiers, an American, “lost his mind three days later” after what he had seen.

Bucha massacre

European Commission President Charles Michel called the incident in Bucha a “massacre,” announcing new sanctions against Russia. At that time, Ukrainian and foreign media published many controversial arguments claiming that Russians allegedly committed violence in the Ukrainian city. Some publications even highlighted the similarity of the city’s name with the word “butcher.”

Media outlets published Ukrainian footage showing a breathless body suddenly removing its arm, which could be seen when zoomed in. Sceptics also noticed how the dead man seemed to start rising in the rear-view mirror, and all the bodies in the footage were suspiciously lying face down.

The battles around Bucha lasted from 27 February to 31 March 2022. They ended with the withdrawal of Russian troops on 30 March, the day after Russian-Ukrainian talks in Turkey. On 31 March, Ukrainian troops entered Bucha. The city was recognised as one of the most dangerous places in the Kyiv region, according to Ukrainian media.

On 2 April, the Ukrainian National Police entered Bucha and posted an 8-minute video report, filming the roads and streets. However, there were no fatalities in all the footage, which was published in Ukrainian and European media. Read more HERE

[jcmarchi]

Using wobbling stellar material, astronomers measure the spin of a supermassive black hole for the first time

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/using-wobbling-stellar-material-astronomers-measure-the-spin-of-a-supermassive-black-hole-for-the-first-time/

Using wobbling stellar material, astronomers measure the spin of a supermassive black hole for the first time

Astronomers at MIT, NASA, and elsewhere have a new way to measure how fast a black hole spins, by using the wobbly aftermath from its stellar feasting.

The method takes advantage of a black hole tidal disruption event — a blazingly bright moment when a black hole exerts tides on a passing star and rips it to shreds. As the star is disrupted by the black hole’s immense tidal forces, half of the star is blown away, while the other half is flung around the black hole, generating an intensely hot accretion disk of rotating stellar material.

The MIT-led team has shown that the wobble of the newly created accretion disk is key to working out the central black hole’s inherent spin.

In a study appearing today in Nature, the astronomers report that they have measured the spin of a nearby supermassive black hole by tracking the pattern of X-ray flashes that the black hole produced immediately following a tidal disruption event. The team followed the flashes over several months and determined that they were likely a signal of a bright-hot accretion disk that wobbled back and forth as it was pushed and pulled by the black hole’s own spin.

Play video

By tracking how the disk’s wobble changed over time, the scientists could work out how much the disk was being affected by the black hole’s spin, and in turn, how fast the black hole itself was spinning. Their analysis showed that the black hole was spinning at less than 25 percent the speed of light — relatively slow, as black holes go.

The study’s lead author, MIT Research Scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham, says the new method could be used to gauge the spins of hundreds of black holes in the local universe in the coming years. If scientists can survey the spins of many nearby black holes, they can start to understand how the gravitational giants evolved over the history of the universe.

“By studying several systems in the coming years with this method, astronomers can estimate the overall distribution of black hole spins and understand the longstanding question of how they evolve over time,” says Pasham, who is a member of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

The study’s co-authors include collaborators from a number of institutions, including NASA, Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, the University of Leeds, the University of Syracuse, Tel Aviv University, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and elsewhere.

Shredded heat

Every black hole has an inherent spin that has been shaped by its cosmic encounters over time. If, for instance, a black hole has grown mostly through accretion — brief instances when some material falls onto the disk, this causes the black hole to spin up to quite high speeds. In contrast, if a black hole grows mostly by merging with other black holes, each merger could slow things down as one black hole’s spin meets up against the spin of the other.

As a black hole spins, it drags the surrounding space-time around with it. This drag effect is an example of Lense-Thirring precession, a longstanding theory that describes the ways in which extremely strong gravitational fields, such as those generated by a black hole, can pull on the surrounding space and time. Normally, this effect would not be obvious around black holes, as the massive objects emit no light.

But in recent years, physicists have proposed that, in instances such as during a tidal disruption event, or TDE, scientists might have a chance to track the light from stellar debris as it is dragged around. Then, they might hope to measure the black hole’s spin.

In particular, during a TDE, scientists predict that a star may fall onto a black hole from any direction, generating a disk of white-hot, shredded material that could be tilted, or misaligned, with respect to the black hole’s spin. (Imagine the accretion disk as a tilted donut that is spinning around a donut hole that has its own, separate spin.) As the disk encounters the black hole’s spin, it wobbles as the black hole pulls it into alignment. Eventually, the wobbling subsides as the disk settles into the black hole’s spin. Scientists predicted that a TDE’s wobbling disk should therefore be a measurable signature of the black hole’s spin.

“But the key was to have the right observations,” Pasham says. “The only way you can do this is, as soon as a tidal disruption event goes off, you need to get a telescope to look at this object continuously, for a very long time, so you can probe all kinds of timescales, from minutes to months.”

A high-cadence catch

For the past five years, Pasham has looked for tidal disruption events that are bright enough, and near enough, to quickly follow up and track for signs of Lense-Thirring precession. In February of 2020, he and his colleagues got lucky, with the detection of AT2020ocn, a bright flash, emanating from a galaxy about a billion light years away, that was initially spotted in the optical band by the Zwicky Transient Facility.

From the optical data, the flash appeared to be the first moments following a TDE. Being both bright and relatively close by, Pasham suspected the TDE might be the ideal candidate to look for signs of disk wobbling, and possibly measure the spin of the black hole at the host  galaxy’s center. But for that, he would need much more data.

“We needed quick and high-cadence data,” Pasham says. “The key was to catch this early on because this precession, or wobble, should only be present early on. Any later, and the disk would not wobble anymore.”

The team discovered that NASA’s NICER telescope was able to catch the TDE and continuously keep an eye on it over months at a time. NICER — an abbreviation for Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR — is an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station that measures X-ray radiation around black holes and other extreme gravitational objects.

Pasham and his colleagues looked through NICER’s observations of AT2020ocn over 200 days following the initial detection of the tidal disruption event. They discovered that the event emitted X-rays that appeared to peak every 15 days, for several cycles, before eventually petering out. They interpreted the peaks as times when the TDE’s accretion disk wobbled face-on, emitting X-rays directly toward NICER’s telescope, before wobbling away as it continued to emit X-rays (similar to waving a flashlight toward and away from someone every 15 days).

The researchers took this pattern of wobbling and worked it into the original theory for Lense-Thirring precession. Based on estimates of the black hole’s mass, and that of the disrupted star, they were able to come up with an estimate for the black hole’s spin — less than 25 percent the speed of light.

Their results mark the first time that scientists have used observations of a wobbling disk following a tidal disruption event to estimate the spin of a black hole.

“Black holes are fascinating objects and the flows of material that we see falling onto them can generate some of the most luminous events in the universe,” says study co-author Chris Nixon, associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Leeds. “While there is a lot we still don’t understand, there are amazing observational facilities that keep surprising us and generating new avenues to explore. This event is one of those surprises.”

As new telescopes such as the Rubin Observatory come online in the coming years, Pasham foresees more opportunities to pin down black hole spins.

“The spin of a supermassive black hole tells you about the history of that black hole,” Pasham says. “Even if a small fraction of those that Rubin captures have this kind of signal, we now have a way to measure the spins of hundreds of TDEs. Then we could make a big statement about how black holes evolve over the age of the universe.”

This research was funded, in part, by NASA and the European Space Agency.

[travellingstranger]

Pretty loud and pretty hot end of summer voyages...

Prague Gothic Treffen XVIII

Prague, Czech Republic

[themysterioustaria]

Why have czech people defenestrated historical people four times.

[havithreatendub4]

Johnny attends the 55th annual international #film #festival Karlovy Vary to present his documentary as a #producer of #Crock Of Gold and his film #Minamata  55th #Karlovy Vary International #Film Festival #August 28, 2021 #Czech Republic #kviff

[ktz-tl]

July 29, 2021.

[starsainzjr]

Old Money

Pairing: Carlos Sainz x show jumper!reader Faceclaim: Jessica Springsteen

A/N: This one is incredibly INCREDIBLY self indulgent. Carlos is my favorite driver and I'm a show jumper and I'm projecting super hard

✷✷✷✷✷

yourusername Madrid, Spain

Liked by teamkpf, usajumping, carlossainz55 and 12,745 others

yourusername That jump off 😮‍💨 Never a dull moment in Madrid!

View all 963 comments

usajumping Yet another thrilling win!

teamkpf The Padawan becomes the Master

yourusername Never! You'll be world number 1 long after I'm dead

carlossainz55 Thank you for your hospitality! I hope to get you to a race sometime soon

yourusername My pleasure! Consider it a professional courtesy 😉

chiliwilicarlos Carlos??? What are you doing here????

jumpingtoconclusions Our QUEEN! Her rule of the ring will last a long, long time @/teamkpf you did a good job with this one

carlossainz55 Madrid, Spain

Liked by f1, yourusername, charles_leclerc and 427,745 others

carlossainz55 Bit of a different look this weekend. Thank you to @/yourusername and @/usajumping for hosting me!

View all 61,474 comments

yourusername Thank you for coming! My favorite cheerleader all season ☺️

carlossainz55 Come out to a race and take a turn!

yourusername Give me a time and a place and I'll be there!

usajumping Show jumping meets F1!

f1 Now this is a team up we can get behind!

chiliwilicarlos Stop that horse reminds me so much of Carlos why are they actually twins

blackfireproofs HELP WHY ARE YOU RIGHT

blackfireproofs Carlos and his old money era is continuous

yourusername Barcelona, Spain

Liked by usajumping, carlossainz55, charles_leclerc and 11,982 others

yourusername I think I did the cheerleading thing pretty well! Thank you @/carlossainz55 and @/scuderiaferrari for the invite!

View all 1,004 comments

carlossainz55 Red looks good on you! Glad to return the favor

yourusername You should see me in the Team USA jacket 😉

chiliwilicarlos The flirting is killing me

scuderiaferrari Swapping out horseshoes for tyres!

usajumping Are we going to need to figure out a shared custody schedule for our athletes?

jumpingtoconclusions ...I'm gonna have to get into F1 aren't I....

chiliwilicarlos I can become a show jumping fan. I can be a show jumping fan for them

scuderiaferrari Spruce Meadows

Liked by carlossainz55, charles_leclerc, yourusername and 825,374 others

scuderiaferrari Different kind of paddock for C² this weekend! Thank you @/usajumping and @/yourusername for being the best hosts!

View all 87,645 comments

usajumping Did we just become best friends???

scuderiaferrari Give us the name of your catering and you've got a deal

yourusername Glad I could put on a show for you! Thank you for coming! ☺️

charles_leclerc Never seen Carlos that invested in a sporting event before

carlossainz55 Try being more interesting on the track if you want me to pay attention to you

yourusername Them's fightin' words 🥊

chiliwilicarlos I'm calling it now, these two will be dating by the start of next season

blackfireproofs Wait why is this actually so adorable I love this matchup

justaninchident Charles third wheeled hard this weekend

yourusername Prague, Czech Republic

Liked by usajumping, carlossainz55, brainmoggre and 14,468 others

yourusername Couldn't bring it home this time, but we'll go again harder next year. Thank you Prague for such an amazing opportunity!

View all 1,964 comments

teamkpf Keep your head up, kid!

yourusername Thanks, dad ☺️

carlossainz55 Good company in second place in the meantime

yourusername Little too much crying on the kiss n' cry for my liking

chiliwilicarlos 👀

usajumping An all USA podium is nothing to bat an eye at!

jumpingtoconclusions Calling it now, Yn will be the Max Verstappen of show jumping next year

blackfireproofs You've been doing your research!

chiliwilicarlos I've never watched show jumping before this but I can see why Carlos loves it! Yn is a powerhouse and even my inexperienced eye can tell that

carlossainz55 Prague, Czech Republic

Liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc, landonorris and 614,194 others

carlossainz55 Nice to get a quick break, but it's back to the grind 💪

View all 99,735 comments

charles_leclerc Carlos, call me.

blackfireproofs Ooooooh someone's in troubleeeeee

landonorris CARLOS. CALL ME.

chiliwilicarlos I would kill to be a fly on this wall

chiliwilicarlos Okay, I'm revising my bet. By Christmas.

jumpingtoconclusions So this is the man that has my idol's heart

blackfireproofs The way that I am dying for these two to get together

scuderiaferrari @/usajumping Our driver is in the wrong paddock

chiliwilicarlos ADMIN WHAT DO YOU KNOW

yourusername Yas Marina

Liked by carlossainz55, scuderiaferrari, usajumping and 31,037 others

yourusername Second place is the best place

View all 2,002 comments

carlossainz55 Next year is our year, chula

yourusername Gonna kick some ass, lindo

chiliwilicarlos THE NICKNAMES KILL ME NOW

charles_leclerc You're partying with us tonight tho right????

yourusername You couldn't get rid of me if you tried 😉

blackfireproofs Okay but the old money vibes with these two...

chiliwilicarlos The way she unabashedly posts him 😭 Girl is head over heels

blackfireproofs If I were this close to Carlos I would post him all the time too tbh

yourusername Mallorca, Spain

Liked by carlossainz55, teamkpf, charles_leclerc and 32,089 others

yourusername Rest and Recharge

View all 3,163 comments

charles_leclerc Why wasn't I invited

carlossainz55 We were lost without our professional third wheel

yourusername I'll come spend a week in Monaco to make it up

teamkpf Kid, you don't tell me anything anymore

yourusername Sorry, dad

jumpingtoconclusions Oh she's gonna be unstoppable

justaninchident Charles is gonna become their kid mark my words

chiliwilicarlos I will protect them with my life

blackfireproofs Relationship confirmation 👀👀👀

chiliwilicarlos Even if they're not dating their friendship is enough to make me believe in love again

carlossainz55 Wellington, Florida

Liked by yourusername, scuderiaferrari, charles_leclerc and 582,946 others

carlossainz55 Today we discovered that I'm allergic to hay

View all 41,046 comments

yourusername I really am so sorry

carlossainz55 I will brave it for you, chula

charles_leclerc I wanna meet the ponies 😭

yourusername I'll give Carlos' next ticket to you

carlossainz55 HEY

chiliwilicarlos I can see Carlos being a horsey boyfriend

blackfireproofs He would carry her ring bag with reverence

jumpingtoconclusions Our king and queen

usajumping Paris, France

Liked by yourusername, teamkpf, carlossainz55 and 3,183 others

usajumping Presenting Team USA for the 2024 Summer Olympics! These riders are heading to Paris! Kent Farrington, Laura Kraut, and Yn Yln will be the main team while Natalie Dean and Bliss Heers act as substitutes.

Let's cheer Team USA on to gold!

View all 491 comments

yourusername Let's go! See you in Paris!

teamkpf Get the countdown started!

carlossainz55 @/maxverstappen1 Can I borrow your jet?

maxverstappen1 You kidding??? I'm coming with!

chiliwilicarlos Yn won over Max too 😭

jumpingtoconclusions This is going to be the most star studded kiss n' cry ever

jumpingtoconclusions The sheer power in this team announcement 😮‍💨

yourusername Paris, France

Liked by carlossainz55, teamkpf, usajumping and 50,745 others

yourusername What a dream! Silver in the individual and gold in the team event! Could not be more grateful ☺️

View all 3,038 comments

teamkpf No one else I would rather share the podium with! You'll be kicking me off the top step soon

yourusername Still a long way to go to catch you! Best mentor ever

usajumping Now that's how it's done!

scuderiaferrari A member of the Tifosi is a gold medalist! Congratulazioni from everyone here at Scuderia Ferrari!

yourusername Grazie mille!

carlossainz55 So so proud! Cannot be happier to call you mi amor this weekend!

yourusername My biggest fan! Could not have done this without you mi vida!

chiliwilicarlos She called him her life 😭 I'll be sleeping on the train tracks tonight

carlossainz55 Paris, France

Liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc, landonorris and 718,364 others

carlossainz55 Mi campeona

View all 42,748 comments

yourusername Mi amor ❤️ I love you

carlossainz55 Never been more proud ❤️

landonorris Damn, someone stole my bitch

yourusername I can share

carlossainz55 No, Lando needs to learn to share

charles_leclerc Professional third wheel reporting for duty

yourusername Thank you for your service 🫡

blackfireproofs Oh he's in LOVE love

jumpingtoconclusions But can we discuss the picture of her in front of the Eiffel Tower? Proud boyfriend moment

chiliwilicarlos THEY'RE SO CUTE IT CAUSES ME PHYSICAL PAIN

yourusername Zandvoort

Liked by carlossainz55, teamkpf, scuderiaferrari and 40,467 others

yourusername Proud doesn't even begin to cover it! The trophy shelf is getting crowded

View all 4,172 comments

carlossainz55 Mine can go in the closet, your gold medal takes priority

yourusername ABSOLUTELY NOT

carlossainz55 Mi amor ❤️

yourusername Mi vida ❤️

scuderiaferrari Our biggest flex is having a power couple like this in our garage

usajumping Ferrari garage 🤝 Team USA barn

chiliwilicarlos They love each other so much it's so damn cute

blackfireproofs The power couple we didn't know we needed

✷✷✷✷✷

All photos from Pinterest, Instagram, or Google Images

[head-post]

Czech Republic to purchase up to 77 German-made Leopard tanks

The Czech Republic endorsed a plan to acquire Leopard 2A8 advanced battle tanks from Germany, adding the acquisition to its current strategic defence projects, according to Army Recognition.

On June 12, 2024, the Czech cabinet approved joining a joint procurement co-operation agreement with Germany, according to the Czech Defence Ministry. Final government approval is expected by the end of the year.

“Tanks remain an irreplaceable part of a heavy brigade,” said Defence Minister Jana Černochová, emphasizing their high firepower, maneuverability, and resilience.

In May 2023, Germany signed a framework agreement with manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) for the purchase of up to 123 Leopard 2A8 tanks, offering partner countries the opportunity to purchase a share of the tanks. The German Bundeswehr will receive 18 new battle tanks by 2026.

The Czech Republic plans to order 61 Leopard 2A8 tanks in six different versions, including main battle tanks, command vehicles, bridge carriers and training tanks. The defence ministry in Prague estimates the value of that order at 1.6 billion euros, with the option to buy 16 additional vehicles, which could raise the total price to 2.1 billion euros.

“In the future, our soldiers should have 77 of the new 2A8 tanks and 45 of the 2A4 tanks,” stated Černochová.

The Czech Republic will receive a total of 122 tanks, including recovery vehicles. The main battle tanks together with infantry fighting vehicles make up the heavy brigade. The Czech Republic had previously committed to NATO to prepare a heavy brigade by 2026, but it will not be able to fulfil this commitment.

Read more HERE

[aspec-warriors]

WELCOME!

HELLO HUNTER/ WARRIOR/SOLDIER!

THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO THE #Aspec Mafia TAG AND THE WAR ON THE BOTS!

you can call me Commander Juniper, soldier!

I use, it/they!

TAKE THIS!|

(main @aspenonpawzzz)

MY KIN!

@americanaspecforces

@aspec-mafia-official

@the-aroace-defensedefence

@thehighaspeccouncil

Government: Anarchy (With a constitution)

National flower: King's Lomatia

National food: Garlic bread

National anthem: 'This is Home' by Cavetown

National animal(s): Squeak (My Shorkie) and Mycocepurus Smithii (An ant species)

CURRENT BLOCKLIST

songs I claimed for bot slaying

[revacholianpizzaagenda]

The Revachol LARP is looking to fill a few positions at a discounted price!

Main info on the event: https://revachol.rolling.cz/

The missing characters with their descriptions: Run 1, September 18th-22nd #12 Tony Eclissi: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/12/ #21 Placide Raincourt: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/21/ #37 Eli Baciu: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/37/ #40 Tylor Maier: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/40/ #42 Jaydon Maier: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/42/ #48 Robin La Rosa: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/48/ #50 Kit Verhoog: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/50/ #61 Matija Krot: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/61/ #68 Kiran Kim: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/68/ #71 Aaro Du Toit https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/71/ #78 Huug https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/78/ #91 Hope https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/91/ #119 Bragi https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/119/ #127 Kras Knezhinskyi https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/127/

Run 2, September 25th-29th #5 Lumen Boulanger https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/5/ #13 Jo Eclissi https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/13/ #17 Ember Gessle https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/17/ #23 Ardor Schwenk https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/23/ #26 Zair Schwenk https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/26/ #39 Rory Baciu https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/39/ #41 Sidney Maier https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/41/ #43 Andy Maier https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/43/ #44 Alex Patterson https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/44/ #45 Cal Patterson https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/45/ #50 Kit Verhoog https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/50/ #51 Ira Verhoog https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/51/ #63 Sasha Krot https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/63/

All the basic info copypasted from the website:

Practicalities

What: A Disco Elysium larp for around 100 players.

When: 18-22 & 25-29 September 2024 (1 day of workshops, 2 days of play)

Where: Old Military Hospital, Terezín (Czech Republic)

Cost: €290 €145

Produced by: Rolling & and international crew

Language: English

Location: Old military hospital, in the middle of the city. Indoors and outdoors environment. Location has basic amenities (toilets, water etc) but don’t expect high standard (no central heating).

Accessibility: Not wheel chair friendly (no elevators, stairs, thresholds). Very sensitive allergies or asthmatics may have problems with the environment.

Time: Players will be required to be in Terezín on Wednesday evening, for a full day of workshops, briefings, player meetings and co-creation. The game itself will start on Thursday afternoon and run until Saturday afternoon — with less intense or no play at all for night time sleeping (players choice).

Costumes & props: Key costume elements and key props will be provided. You bring a base layer, shoes, and any extra props you want. Costumes and props are mostly attainable by modern second-hand shopping.

Food & drink: Scheduled breakfast, lunch, and dinner (served in-game). We will provide water, tea, and vegetarian food, with the whole menu available beforehand, allowing people to bring food to address their allergies and special needs.

Design stuff

Potential content warnings: Racism, violence, physical larping, political extremism, loud noises, realistic firearms, drug use, oppression, suicide, actual work.

Design & play style: Immersive experience grounded in a poetic world. Expect some scripted stories in the form of fateplay and collaborative rather than competitive play. Individual character-specific plots. Not full transparency. Some non-diegetic meta-techniques.

Sign up process: Lottery system with certain conditions applied by organisers. Upon selection in the lottery, players pay the participation fee and receive full character and access to the participant website. Players will have option to signal they are uncomfortable playing with somebody or think somebody is not safe to be at the event.

Co-creation: Pre-written characters. Act structure with some specific limitations and/or mechanics; otherwise, players have the freedom to create. Players are not expected to prepare or create relations, have meetings, partake in events, etc., before the event. Lore is established by organisers, and players act within provided frames. There is an established overarching arc for the larp, with some set events. Artist characters will be creating art during the game.

Physical & emotional safety: Opt-out techniques & safety techniques. Some themes, mechanics or content of the larp are very general and not opt-outable (for example, “poverty”). Mechanics for violence and fighting that lean more towards simple conflict resolution than boffer fighting. Dedicated organisers on premises for safety, medical, and emotional support. Calibration and escalation/de-escalation techniques will be workshopped and encouraged.

What will we be doing: Playing out conflicts, romances, brawls, revealing secrets from the past, pursuing political goals, dealing with community problems. Creating art, music, weird performances, or just striving to have a normal, working family. The slice-of-life approach means that work is also part of the game. Most players will have 2-3 hours of some form of “work” to perform each day (not very physically taxing). Scheduled and spontaneous activities in the characters’ social groups (hobbies, families, politics, interest groups, etc.). Socialising, trading, scheming or just chilling and people-watching. There will be plenty of low-threshold activities on-site for everyone to be involved in if interested. Our aim is to create a living, breathing world. Everyone will be able to get 8 hours of sleep.

[sgtyaraya]

Call of Duty OC

Name: Trudy Saidler

Nikename: Jay

Date of birth: June 01, 1992

Age: 24 (at the time of the events in 2016)

Place of birth: Liberec, Czech Republic🇨🇿

Citizenship: Czech🇨🇿

Nationality: English 🇬🇧

Rank: Sergeant

Specialty: Infantryman

Unit: TF - 141

Family/Relationships

Mother: Adele Saidler (Hofmann) 🇬🇧

Father: Philip Saidler 🇬🇧

Brother: Evan Saidler🇬🇧 ✝️

Love Interest: Gary "Roach" Sanderson🇬🇧💕

Reference/appearance

Trudy on the day she arrived at Credenhill

Parameters

Hair: brown with light strands

Eyes: grey

Pigmentation on the body: freckles

Tattoo: on the left arm

Scars: scratches on the right and left arm, a bullet wound in the left shoulder, suture marks on the right side at the rib level, bullet wounds in the abdomen, cartilage injury of the right ear

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 60 kg

Body type: normal

Equipment

Armored vest: warrior "plates" assault systems

M4A1 assault rifle with a grenade launcher

M14 EBR sniper rifle with silencer for long-range elimination and, if necessary, to cover the group

Pistols: M9 and USP.45

Cold steel: Alpha S D2 knife Tactical Knife and Custom Steel Machete D2 Machete Etsy Knife

Personality

Trudy is a young girl with sociability and good nature. Her attitude towards people depends on how they treat her: if they show a positive attitude towards her, she is a little stubborn. Even so, Trudy is not so trusting, so she does not immediately open up to the interlocutor. Trudy sometimes experiences moments that can cause irritation. And in such cases, she can flare up, allowing her emotions to come out. However, she tries to control her emotions so as not to show them to other people. But Trudy's weakest side is her worries. Everything that she experiences inside herself, she tries to hide from others.

Fears

🔥Pyrophobia🔥is a phobia consisting in a constant, irrational, obsessive, panic fear of fire, fires; an obsessive fear of burning alive, getting burned, or losing property as a result of a fire. (in one of the missions, she almost burned herself in the room in which she was locked, losing consciousness)

Biography

Trudy's parents live in the Czech Republic for most of their lives, they have successfully established their lives in another country, and we can say they have lived in it for most of their lives, and did not want to return to England. Adele Saidler (Hofmann) has opened her own atelier in Liberec, where they now live. The woman is engaged in custom tailoring, previously she was specialized in sewing military uniforms. Philip Saidler is a former infantryman, retired for health reasons, retired, but he helps his wife in the atelier, delivering sewing materials. He also earns a living on the outskirts of the city, but there is no information about his place of work. Before Trudy, they had a son, Evan Saidler [date of birth unknown, died as a teenager, cause of death unknown]. The couple suffered a hard loss, and were very worried about their daughter, who knows about her late brother.

Trudy's childhood, like that of ordinary children, was no different from them. She also had her own hobbies, which her parents reacted positively to, and supported their daughter in every possible way, most importantly. The girl was actively engaged in dancing from the age of 12, from which she developed flexibility, there were even performances on behalf of the school. She also loved to help her mother in the atelier, more often looked after the counter, and thus engaged in needlework, she could also sew some clothes with jewelry. In addition to dancing, Trudy also had hobbies, which she does not mention.

During her student years, Trudy met a girl who was 1 year younger than her, Linda Kovac (Czech). She was always an inconspicuous gray mouse, but Trudy became friends with her on the first day they met, and spent more and more time together. Thanks to her, Linda began to gain self-confidence and even changed her style in order not to fall into the gray mass and stand out somehow. Saidler never sought to attract attention, preferring to wear comfortable and not too bright clothes, and studied like all ordinary students. She needed Czech to learn, so even at preschool age she learned this language, English is considered the main one.

There have been mistakes in Trudy's life, one of them has undermined people's trust. As a student, a guy was in love with her, and he sought her attention in every possible way. The student's infatuation, yes, did not last long. This guy dated her for a joke, enjoyed her trust. After receiving her education, Trudy left Liberec and went to England. After living there for some time, she went to Credenhill, where the selection for group 141 was held. During the trip, Trudy heard other recruits talking about this group, and who is in it, quite big names sounded from the mouths of the guys, which made her interested. Arriving at their base, Trudy did not expect to see the members of the 141 group live. At the time, Captain McTavish was in charge of the selection, and he took up her training in order to make Saidler an experienced fighter. As a rookie, she was sent for additional training to improve her skills and adapt to work in group 141. During her stay at the base, Trudy met Roach, a young sergeant whom she saw on the day of her arrival. At first, things didn't go very well due to distrust, so we gradually communicated. Jay showed a special interest in Roach as a person and wanted to get to know him better, and thus she awakened trust in him. Roach also showed interest in the girl and communicated with her even from a distance. Trudy was very afraid of attachment to people, and hid her sympathy until the last moment, Roach had the same feelings for her. They gradually showed warm feelings for each other.

Participation

Jay began his service under the command of Captain McTavish, took his first part in the Hunting mission, where the goal was to catch Alejandro Rojas, worked in a group with Roach. In the future, she participated in assaults at certain points, provided cover, engaged in inconspicuous liquidation

The history of the creation of the OC

In 2011, I played with COD Modern warfare 2 for the first time. This game has left vivid moments in my memory, from joyful to sad, my favorite mission is "Rock Climber". At that moment, the first character appeared in my head. Since I couldn't draw at the age of 9, I was building a plot in my head. There is an important point, this is the date when I started playing and when I came up with Trudy. This is June 1, 2011, and this date is also Trudy's date of birth.

In her first version, there was no first or last name, I just called her "Emersan", this call sign is taken from another game that I also actively played. As for her appearance, Trudy looked different, not like she does now. In 2018, I visually sketched her portrait, hoping for my memory. Based on this, I decided to change her appearance, and also attached my old works. As time went on, I always wanted to add something, it seemed to me that Trudy was too simple. Although yes, she really was like that. Then, during the redrawing, I already gave her a name. Her name was Trudy "Emersan" Sombra. She later became Jay, the new surname is Saidler. Trudy's redesigns didn't last long, so I changed it again by drawing new references. You can see that she has hardly changed since 2019, there are small changes on her face – freckles and hair color have become darker. Next comes the tattoo. It was a difficult choice, I came up with the first tattoo myself, then I made another, more complex one. The final version was drawn in 2023, and received a reference

Trudy in 2011 to 2022

[palaeonecromancy]

Happy Fossil Friday!

Who: Coelacanthiformes

What: Coelacanths! Large lobe-finned fish from the Class Actinistia, a close relative of the lungfish.

When (group): Devonian - Present (thought to have gone extinct during the End-Cretaceous extinction event, but members of the group were "rediscovered" in 1938)

Where: (Living representatives) along the east African coast and the Comoros Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

(Fossil representatives) England, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Switzerland, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Uruguay, USA, and more.

Fun Fact!: There are two living speices (that we know of) of Coelacanth: Latimeria chalumnae & Latimeria menadoensis

Here is a link to an article for the story of how this "living-fossil" was rediscovered by the scientific community and the museum curator who's quick thinking and determination helped bring this animal back into the spotlight.

Why are they cool?: Instead of the bony vertebral column shared by other vertebrates the coelacanth retains the ancestral fluid filled notochord which is less rigid than vertebrae, but offers more flexibility.

Image Credits: (Left) Coelacantheformes Fossil From the Natural History Museum of Bamberg & (Right) Laurent Ballesta - Gombessa Expéditions