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This article deals with a history of the Association of the Romanies in Moravia (SRM), one of the most-known organizations of Romanies. The SRM, having a seat in Brno, is connected with it´s leader Karel Holomek, who is the core of the SRM activities. The SRM activities relate to culture, education of children and young, legal and social services, cooperation with the Museum of Romany Culture, etc. It also publishes semi-monthly periodical Romano hangos that has become quite respectable. The SRM is characteristic by an effort to solve the Romany-Czech coexistence problems in a balanced way. ; This article deals with a history of the Association of the Romanies in Moravia (SRM), one of the most-known organizations of Romanies. The SRM, having a seat in Brno, is connected with it´s leader Karel Holomek, who is the core of the SRM activities. The SRM activities relate to culture, education of children and young, legal and social services, cooperation with the Museum of Romany Culture, etc. It also publishes semi-monthly periodical Romano hangos that has become quite respectable. The SRM is characteristic by an effort to solve the Romany-Czech coexistence problems in a balanced way.

This article analyzes the origin & development of the Movement for Autonomous Democracy -- Association for Moravia & Silesia (HSD-SMS) in the early stages of the formation of the Czech political system. The article covers the period of Boleslav Barta's chairmanship. Barta founded & defined HSD-SMS as a non-partisan political movement of all democratic Moravians & Silesians. HSD-SMS achieved surprising success in the first free parliamentary elections held in June 1990 (10% of the total vote for the Czech National Council). However, the following events revealed the inability of HSD-SMS to become a stable part of the Czech political system. The movement had to cope with internal problems & its own unsuccessful parliamentary policy. HSD-SMS did not manage to push through any of their policy goals in the area of territorial & administrative reorganization of the state. The sudden death of the leader Boleslav Barta accelerated the movement's decline. In addition, HSD-SMS lacked the attributes of modern political parties. References. Adapted from the source document.

This study offers an analysis of the role of private security companies (PSCs) in the Czech Republic that builds on the model of global security assemblages developed by Abrahamsen and Williams. It applies this model to the Czech experience with the privatization of security since the end of the cold war by utilizing available data, complemented with information derived from structured interviews with the owners of PSCs operating in the Czech Republic. It suggests that the Czech market with commercial security services exhibits several specific characteristics, including the relatively high total number of registered PSCs (7000+) and their professional associations (16), the size of the gray and black markets involving PSC services (30 to 40 percent of the entire market), and the phenomenon of so-called "reverse revolving doors," whereby former owners or top managers of PSCs directly, or through family members, enter into, or establish their own, political party. Overall, however, this study confirms the key conclusions from previous applications of the model regarding the partial disassembly of the Czech state's security functions and the corresponding re-articulation of relations among public and private actors in the provision of security. Adapted from the source document.

After 1989 some of CR citizens of German nationality wanted to leave the organization, which represented them during a period of communism (Cultural Association of CSSR Citizens of German Nationality). This was the reason why, after complex process, in 1992 there came into existence Assembly of Germans in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Its representatives cooperate also with the Sudet Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany. They try to play an active role in Czech-German relations. In 2001 the Assembly asked the CR Parliament, in form of petition, to cancel the discriminatory, in relation to German citizens, measures of the Beneš decrees. So far, they have not been successful. ; After 1989 some of CR citizens of German nationality wanted to leave the organization, which represented them during a period of communism (Cultural Association of CSSR Citizens of German Nationality). This was the reason why, after complex process, in 1992 there came into existence Assembly of Germans in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Its representatives cooperate also with the Sudet Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany. They try to play an active role in Czech-German relations. In 2001 the Assembly asked the CR Parliament, in form of petition, to cancel the discriminatory, in relation to German citizens, measures of the Beneš decrees. So far, they have not been successful.

The paper herein presents a summary of research targeting the attitudes of mayors of Czech municipalities towards the financing of municipalities and the submitted legislative determination of taxes. Data reflect expert interviews with a representative sample of nine municipalities in Central Bohemian region. The research was originally incorporated into the doctoral thesis by Ilona Kruntoradova accomplished at the Institute of Political Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague; it is contextualized in the paper with political debates about the new rules concerning the funding of municipalities. Such rules create divisions among the municipalities as well as the parties within the Necas coalition government. The main research findings underline the prevailing lack of funds facilitating the development of small municipalities, mediation of the interests of municipalities through personal contacts rather than special interest associations, and deeper divisions between small municipalities and large cities. The research herein should primarily serve as a pre-research for larger inquiries involving a broader sample of municipalities throughout the Czech Republic. Adapted from the source document.

The author reviews the theory of socio-economic inequality in health & concludes that the use of cultural values to explain the ubiquitous association between the socio-economic standing (SES) of individuals & their health is becoming increasingly prominent. Inspired by this, the author examines whether & to what extent several aspects of lay knowledge about & attitudes towards health can explain the social gradient in subjective health in Central & Eastern Europe. The author uses data from the second round of the European Social Survey & limits the analysis to data from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, & Slovenia. The data show that while there is a strong relationship between education & subjective health & also a relationship between education & various measures of lay knowledge about health, beliefs about health are only very weakly related to subjective health & thus fail to account for its dependence on SES. The author concludes that this may be the result of reciprocal causation between lay knowledge & subjective health. More enhanced research designs would be required in order to gain a better empirical evaluation of the causal relationships between SES, lay knowledge, & health.

The Moravian movement became strong after November 1989, predominantly due to the surprising success of the Movement for Self-Governing Democracy -- Association for Moravia and Silesia (HSD-SMS). This article analyzes the origin and development of another radical Moravist party -- the Moravian National Party (MNS) in the period 1990-1997. MNS was established at the end of September 1990 and its activities continued until MNS transformed in 1997. MNS sharply defended the rights of Moravia ("the Moravian nation") and formed an integral part of the fragmented pro-Moravian movement. MNS has never achieved any great success in parliamentary or municipal elections. For that reason it has always failed to push through any of its fundamental political demands in the area of territorial reorganization of the state (federalist state). In 1997, MNS and the Bohemian-Moravian Center Union (CMUS) integrated into a new political subject called the Moravian Democratic Party (MoDS), representing marginal political parties in the Czech party system. Currently, the Moravian movement is weak and remains an irrelevant part of the Czech political system. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of the article is to provide readers with general information on nanotechnology & possibilities of its use, as well as to refer to some of its relevant security risks. The author currently mentions claims of some scientists & NGOs warning against possible misuse of nanotechnology due to the insufficient control over the research & the application. So far, less anticipated consequences of nanotechnology, converging with genetics, robotics, informatics & cognitive science, on all branches of the economy & social & other relations require that sufficient information should be given not only to the Czech experts but to general society as well. The real threat of the misuse of nanotechnology towards the research, development & the production of the new types of chemical, biological & nuclear weapons & other security risks increase that need. In spite of the long-term knowledge of nanotechnology, the possibilities of its use in a revolutionary way increased from 80th of the last century. It was due to the new types of microscopes enabling for the first time precise manipulation of the nanoscale particles. Results of nanoscale exploration are more & more visible eg., in various consumer products & according to the views of some scientific circles we could witness dramatic transformation of the economy in the near future. The article points out the rapid increase of spending on basic nanoscience research, growing number of governmental, private & multinational corporations & various national nanoinitiatives dealing with this kind of research & development, accepted mainly in the high-industrialized countries. In the article there are mentioned some reservations & concerns of the prominent American scientists & NGOs in association with the important goal of the nanotechnology research focused on the process of self-reproduction, self-repair & self-assembly. Various arms control & disarmament experts pay attention to the connections of the nanotechnological research with the possibility of production of the new types of nuclear weapons of the 4th generation. In conclusion the author expresses his view on the usefulness to create efficient system of the governmental & public control of this sphere of the scientific research & the need to devote sufficient attention by the appropriate officials & experts to the security aspects of nanotechnology. Adapted from the source document.