All posts by pan Psax

Although Prague-based dental clinic‘s homepage features a large sign that reads “We’re here for everyone,” a little further down it states that it does not provide treatment to people with certain political views it disagrees with:

Who we’re not for:
* For supporters of all totalitarian trends, Russian, Chinese, Muslim.
* For the followers of misinformation, manipulation, lies, intimidation and unfreedom.
* For the young Western progressive left, who, blissed out by their long life of freedom, abundance and progress (won for them by their parents and grandparents through endless hard work), are now discovering and promoting unrecognised and uncharted totalitarian ideals and the censorship and ostracisation of people with differing views leading to the destruction of individual freedoms and freedom of speech.
* For supporters of racism. Because only and only “All lives matter”.

As much as we can understand their position and also that medical care providers are free to express their own views – these same healthcare providers have a duty to treat all patients who choose them, regardless of patients’ opinions!

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Dear friends, members, ladies, gentlemen and everyone else.
In this season of various holidays and traditions, we would like to wish you plenty of common sense, courage to explore, and mutual understanding. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Dongzhi, Shab-e Yalda, Kwanzaa, or any other significant moment, we wish you a peaceful and joyous holiday season.
The recent tragedy at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University reminds us of the fragility of human life, and the need to come together in an effort to understand and support each other.

May the Christmas season inspire you to respect diversity of opinion and the ability to find beauty in learning about the world together.
May your table be filled not only with a variety of goodies, but also with interesting debates and discussions.
May your holidays be filled with laughter and joy.

Atropos Skeptical Society wish you all well.

The Czech Republic has long taken a prohibitionist approach to drug policy, but one man has been leading the call for change based on science rather than moralistic assumptions. Jindřich Vobořil, the country’s National Drug Coordinator, has argued for a more balanced approach founded on risk reduction rather than zero-tolerance.

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The Atropos Skeptics Society is a partner in a newly emerging project called “Under One Roof” (Pod jednou střechou), which aims to offer a safe and open space for dialogue between people of different religious and life attitudes.

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note: Originally this statement was intended only for the Czech audience, but we believe that Mr Duka is such a public figure that we should publish this statement here as well.

We are deeply concerned about the unceasing efforts of former Archbishop of Prague Dominik Duka to influence public and political discourse in our country.

Mr. Duka has long been guilty of numerous excesses in his public appearances and actions, and his statements and attitudes promote intolerance, divide society, and constitute interference by the Church in the affairs of a democratic state.

Mr Duka has repeatedly shown that he clings to dogmas and hierarchies of power instead of the true Christian values of love, compassion and forgiveness. His rigid positions on abortion or homosexuality go against the tide of real moral progress for humanity.

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Dominik Duka, the former Archbishop of Prague, has řeč ently made more controversial statements that reveal his outdated and intolerant views.

In a Facebook post, Duka compared defenders of “traditional marriage” to victims of Nazism and Communism. He stated that people advocating exclusively heterosexual marriage face persecution akin to those oppressed by totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. This highly insensitive analogy appalled many, including the Jewish community.

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When El Léñas arrived at the Slovak-Ukrainian border to help transport refugees (specifically two mothers with children) to the Czech Republic, to safety, one of the first photos she used to inform us about her current situation was this one:

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Czech and long-time pro-Russian President Miloš Zeman has performed an unexpected and somewhat desperate somersault of opinion, calling his friend Putin a lunatic, hoisting the Ukrainian flag at Prague Castle, and planning to award Ukrainian President Zelensky the Czech Republic’s highest state honour, the Order of the White Lion.
A number of leading Czech officials, including the presidents of both chambers of Parliament, the president of the Constitutional Court, and at least three university rectors, have announced that they will not attend the event of the awarding of state honours because of Zeman’s past warm relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia and his frequent attempts to discredit Czech intelligence services warning of Russia’s hostile actions in the country.

Has our “favourite” Cardinal Dominik Duka woken up together with the President?
Let us recall how, at the end of 2018, he responded to the question of whether or not he supported the arrival of fifty orphans – refugees from Syria – to the Czech Republic:
“The Archbishop of Olomouc and the Charity of the Czech Republic are dealing with these matters. (…) I am unable to intervene in this debate on the merits.”
“Yes, generally speaking, we all know that it is necessary to help those in need, but on the other hand, we also know that this is to some extent a political struggle these days. For that reason, I cannot answer.”

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For the last month, the Czech media have been running sensational articles about a new polio therapy practiced by Peter Olšák, MD, at the world-famous Vesna Children’s Hospital in Janské Lázně. On February 1, Czech Radio ran the headline “Czech doctor treats paralysis with a combination of acupuncture and electrotherapy. His method is in demand abroad”. A few days later, Dr. Olšák was sitting in the Czech Television studio and talking about “his” method of electroacupuncture.

It should be noted at the outset that for some reason acupuncture has been a lege artis method in the Czech Republic since 1981 and its practitioners are associated in the Czech Medical Acupuncture Society, which operates within the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně. Acupuncture can be performed by physicians who have obtained specialisation in one of the clinical disciplines, including general medicine, and have undergone special training.
The method of electroacupuncture has been used in patients for more than five years and in children for less than three years.

Olšák called his method Active ENF, or Electroacupuncture Neuromuscular Facilitation. In it, he pricks the patient with acupuncture needles and then uses his device to deliver an electric current to the acupuncture needles. This is perceived by patients as a tingling sensation, and with greater intensity there are also visible muscle contractions.
“The current helps pathways in the body that are damaged to function better.” Did he mean meridians?

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