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THE REDBIRD REVIEW

The Cardinals headed East, to Philadelphia and Atlanta. The travelers have gone missing.

In losing five of six to the Phillies and Braves, the Cardinals were outscored 31 to 14. Theyve lost four consecutive games, suffering through two shutouts and getting outscored 20-4 in the process.

The Redbirds have been the Fredbirds on this trip. They have one more game to go on the Road to Nowhere shout-out to Talking Heads and we should ask authorities to send out a search party in the general vicinity of Smyrna, Ga. to locate the Cards in time for Thursday nights series finale.

The Cardinals are 0-3 in the Georgia part of the itinerary. They have scored only one run in the last 30 innings of non-competition. This is worse than Georgias 43-6 win over Mizzou in a SEC football rout last Nov. 6 in Athens.

I say that because the MU football Tigers werent cast and promoted as a contender for the SEC East title. Not even close. The Cardinals have been touted and clearly overhyped as a NL contender. The absurdity peaked early, during spring training, with manager Oli Marmol and players beating their chests and going into full-swagger mode with oddly confident talk about winning a World Series.

Yeah, well to this point the Cardinals cant even beat a first-place Milwaukee team that keeps trying to hand St. Louis the NL Central. The Cards are as lucky as Wilbur the Pig from the childrens book, Charlottes Web. But they arent quite as lovable as Wilbur.

But the luck is with them because the Milwaukee Brewers cant get rid of them. With the Cardinals playing their worst ball of the season and staggering through early July with a bombed-out rotation and a dormant offense, the Brewers have lost four of seven games to the Pirates and Cubs to enable STL to stay within three games of first place.

The Cardinals have a 22-26 record outside of the NL Central, and that includes a 10-20 mark in games against reps from the powerful NL East and AL East. Outside of the division and their 6-6 record vs. the Brewers, the Cardinals have won only 12 of 31 games against opponents with winning records this season.

This goofy division is the JV of the National League. It would be funny, but the mediocrity is a detriment that saps the motivational drive of the team management and players.

Why worry?

Why strive to improve your team in a push for the division title, a quest for greatness and stronger postseason viability?

Why bother to go big and bold and make an aggressive trade to acquire a priority starting pitcher? And who needs a catcher? You can probably win the NL Central without one.

Theres no need to have a heightened sense of urgency when the NL Central provides a safe haven for a flawed team, a laid-back front office and franchise ownership that currently has its lowest MLB payroll ranking (13th) in the 10 seasons of the luxury-tax system?

Wheres John Lackey when you need him?

In 2014 John Mozeliak acquired Lackey from the Red Sox to fill the void in the St. Louis rotation. But there was another reason behind the trade: Mozeliak thought the clubhouse needed a salty dog and a politically incorrect loudmouth to challenge teammates. Lackey sharpened the edge. He definitely sharpened the edge. After praising Lackey for his irascible but effective presence, I received a text message from an irritated St. Louis pitcher. He informed me that teammates didnt like Lackey personally.

Yeah.

That was the point of adding him.

He had no desire to be a member of The Good Old Boys Club in St. Louis. Lackey shook up a mellow team culture, disrupted the cozy-comfortable Ive got your back if you have mine culture and put some spice in a Happy Talk space. The bristly porcupine Lackey was just what the Cardinals needed at the time. And the people on the team that didnt care for him didnt realize his value. At least not until the 2014 Cardinals made a postseason push to the NLCS. And the fellers didnt seem to mind Lackey in 2015 when he was a large part of a remarkably good rotation (2.99 ERA) that generated a 100-win season for a team short on offense.

Go find a new Lackey if possible.

This nightmarish roadie has been a Griswold family vacation for the Cardinals. At least the Cards can come home late tonight after trying to avoid a four-game sweep in Smyrna. At 26-7 the Braves have the NLs best record since June 1, scoring an average of 5.7 runs per game, slugging .498 and launching 133 extra-base hits (including 64 homers) in the 33 games.

The Cardinals will try to quiet the Braves with a rookie starting pitcher that has a 5.66 earned-run average overall and a 10.97 ERA on the road. The Braves are slugging monsters at home, and the Cards rookie has been bashed for a .854 slugging percentage in his three road starts.

Go get em, Matthew Liberatore.

NOTES ON MY SCORECARD

The Accounting Department: The Cardinals have lost six of their last seven games they are 7-13 since June 15 and 15-19 since June 3 and 28-30 since May 7 the current streak of four straight road losses leaves the Cardinals with a 20-24 record away from Busch Stadium this season. But that record has been getting worse; the Cardinals are 4-12 in their last 16 road games the Cards have a 9-19 road record against winning opponents, and have dropped 15 of their last 20 road games against winning teams.

The Cardinals are 18-25 overall (.419) vs. winning teams. None of the other seven NL teams with a winning overall record this season have a poorer winning percentage than St. Louis in all games against winning opponents the visit to Atlanta already is in the books as a loss, giving the Cardinals a 1-4-1 record in their last six series and a 3-5-1 mark in their last eight series.

Whats Wrong With The Offense? Since their five-homer detonation in Saturdays 7-6 win at Philadelphia, the Cardinals have managed only four total runs in their last four games (all losses.) And as I mentioned, they didnt score at all in two of the four defeats.

From Sunday through Wednesday the Cardinals have batted .216 with a faint .289 OBP and anemic .284 slug. Theyve gone 9 for 57 all singles with men on base during this 0-4 skid and are 2 for 24 (.083) with runners in scoring position.

But except for that 7-run uprising at Philly, the quiet stretch has lasted seven games, with the Cardinals losing six times. Other than the glaring failure to deliver with men on base and runners in scoring position, what are the primary reasons for the malaise during this 1-6 slump?

1) Tommy Edman isnt hitting. Hes 4 for 26 (.154) with one walk and a .185 onbase percentage over the seven games.

2) Brendan Donovan isnt hitting. Hes 4 for 25 with three walks, two hit by pitches and .290 OBP over the last seven. The rookie hasnt scored a run since the June 28 game vs. Miami.

3) Paul Goldschmidt is hitting .308 with a .823 OPS over the last seven games, but hes also struck out 30 percent of the time and doesnt have an RBI during the stretch. But that no-RBI count makes sense when you look at what Im about to share with you.

Over the last seven games the Cardinals have received little offense from the 1-2 spots in the lineup. And they have received scant offense from the 6-7-8-9 spots in the lineup.

The only three lineup spots that have functioned well during the last seven games are the 3-4-5 spots. Goldschmidt at No. 3, Nolan Arenado at No. 4, and mostly a combination of Juan Yepez and Nolan Gorman at the No. 5 spot.

In the last seven games the 3-4-5 lineup block has combined for a .338 average, .424 OBP, .588 slug and a 1.011 OPS. And the power has been there with six doubles and four homers. Theyve driven in eight runs, some on solo homers.

Youd think it would be more than eight RBI, right?

Heres the problem: over the same seven games the No. 1 and No. 2 lineup spots are a combined 9 for 56 (.161) with a pathetic .210 onbase percentage. The top two spots have been manned by Edman, Donovan, and, to a lesser extent Dylan Carlson. So when your No. 1 and No. 2 setup spots arent supplying abundant RBI opportunities for the 3-4-5 hitters, it becomes a damaging disconnect in the supply line.

And while the 3-4-5 guys have gotten on base at a high rate, their collective onbase percentage has largely been wasted because of the dead zone in the 6-7-8-9 lineup spots.

In the last seven games the final four lineup spots have combined for a .165 average, .259 OBP and an awful .578 OPS The four spots have cashed in only six RBI in 109 plate appearances in the last seven games. And heres the key statistic: those four spots are collectively 0 for 22 with runners in scoring position in the last seven games. Goldy and Arenado have done a lot of standing around on the bases.

The 3-4-5 spots have been isolated. Their 1.011 OPS is beautiful. But that hasnt mattered much because the other lineup parts have brought the offense down.

Outside of the 3-4-5 hitters, the other six lineup spots have combined for a .171 average, .502 OPS, and gone 2 for 29 performance. The six spots have only nine RBI in 171 plate appearances over the seven games. And solo homers are responsible for a high percentage of those nine RBI.

Way To Go, Bullpen: This road trip has pretty much been a disaster. But that cant be applied to St. Louis relievers. In the six games the Cards bullpen has allowed two earned runs in 21.2 innings for a 0.83 ERA . Zack Thompson and Gio Gallegos provided two innings of scoreless relief Wednesday after starter Miles Mikolas pitched six innings.

Thanks for reading

Bernie

Bernie invites you to listen to his opinionated sports-talk show on 590-AM The Fan, KFNS. It airs Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. You can listen by streaming online or by downloading the show podcast at 590thefan.com or the 590 app which is available in your preferred app store.

Seeing Red, my weekly podcast on the Cardinals with Will Leitch, is available on multiple platforms including Apple and Spotify. Please subscribe.

Follow Bernie on Twitter @miklasz

Please email your Ask Bernie questions to BernScoops@gmail.com

All stats used here were sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Stathead, Bill James Online, Fielding Bible, Baseball Savant and Brooks Baseball Net unless otherwise noted.

Bernie Miklasz

For the last 35 years Bernie Miklasz has entertained, enlightened, and connected with generations of St. Louis sports fans.

While best known for his voice as the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch for 26 years, Bernie has also written for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis.

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Bernie's Redbird Review: The Cardinals Are Having A Griswold Family Road Trip. But It Isn't Funny. - Scoops with Danny Mac

Cast: Paul GiamattiDustin HoffmanRosamund PikeMinnie DriverScott Speedman

Geners: ComedyDrama

Director: Richard J. Lewis

Release Date: Oct 26, 2010

The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.

Barney's Version is currently not on Netflix. Movies and series tend to come and go quite a lot in the streaming service unless they're Netflix originals. A Netflix account starts from $9.99 and gives you full access to their library with ad-free viewing.

Barney's Version isn't available to watch on Hulu. However, prices for this streaming service currently start at $6.99 per month, or $69.99 for the whole year. For the ad-free version, it's $12.99 per month, $64.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV, or $70.99 for the ad-free Hulu + Live TV.

Sadly, Barney's Version is not streaming on Disney Plus. With Disney+, you can have a wide range of shows from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney+, Pixar, ESPN, and National Geographic to choose from in the streaming platform for the price of $7.99 monthly or $79.99 annually.

Sorry, Barney's Version is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at the price of $9.99 per month.

Unfortunately, Barney's Version is not available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video. However, you can choose other shows and movies to watch from there as it has a wide variety of shows and movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month.

Barney's Version hasn't made its way onto the Peacock streaming library. Peacock has plenty of other shows and movies for only $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account.

Barney's Version is not on Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus has two subscription options: the basic version ad-supported Paramount+ Essential service costs $4.99 per month, and an ad-free premium plan for $9.99 per month.

Barney's Version isn't on Apple TV+ at the moment, sorry! In the meantime, you can watch top-rated shows like Ted Lasso on Apple TV with a subscription cost of $4.99 a month.

No dice. Sadly, Barney's Version hasn't made its way onto the Chili streaming service yet.

Barney's Version is not available to stream now.

Link:
Where to Watch and Stream Barney's Version Free Online - EpicStream

When Karan Johar shared a post in May implying that there will be no further seasons of Koffee with Karan, its fans seemed to give a collective gasp. No Koffee with Karan? Are the obvious signs about ache din being over true? One could almost hear the loud sound effects from Ekta Kapoors soap operas playing in our heads as many of us said to ourselves, kya kya kya? Thankfully Karan soon revealed that the show was not returning to television, but to an OTT platform, and all seemed well with the world again. There would be gossip, there would be sniggering, there would be hampers and bickering.

As intellectual and woke as we all genuinely are, or pretend to be, there are occasions, events or people that force us to abandon our principles. Koffee with Karan is one such instance, where many of us let go of our politically correct stance and watch celebrities tell Karan secrets he already knows. Watching Koffee with Karan is the entertainment equivalent of cracking politically incorrect jokes or dancing to item numbers. You are not proud of the fact that you like it, but you dont mind doing it occasionally.

After six successful and unfailingly controversial seasons on television, Koffee with Karan is returning for a seventh season on Disney+ Hotstar. The latest promo gives us a sneak peek of the guests and wild conversations to come. Season 7s guest list includes some old and some new faces. Ananya Pandey (whose father is yet to appear on Koffee with Karan, thereby allowing her to retain her struggler status), Vijay Deverkonda, Kiara Advani, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Shahid Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and of course Karans favourite, Alia Bhatt are amongst those lined up to brew cups of controversies with KJo.

While in the promos, Karan was seen desperately calling people asking them to be on the show, the criteria for selection have remained quite the same over the past six seasons. To find themselves on Karans couch (the one on the show that is), celebrities have to fall into that special space on the Johar-Venn diagram, which intersects the circles of good-looking, rich, and successful. The exceptions, of course, are his childhood friends who serve as filler guests between the truly happening ones.

But as someone who has watched almost all the episodes of the show, I couldnt help but wonder, what is it about Koffee with Karan that makes it so popular? Why do so many people call the show their guilty pleasure, and why do we voluntarily watch the same, or similar faces season after season?

Perhaps when it first began, with Karans favourites Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol gracing the first-ever episode, social media wasnt the omniscient beast that it is today. We didnt know what a celebrity had eaten for breakfast, how intense their workout was or whether they took a flight to or from Mumbai. There was still some mystery and intrigue around movie stars and Koffee with Karan was an opportunity to casually engage with them. Karan didnt bother concealing the fact that he was good friends with or the boss of almost everyone he invited. Watching the show made us feel like we felt like we had quietly slipped into a living room in JVPD or Bandra, to hear and watch famous people have a largely pointless conversation.

By virtue of his proximity to these stars, Karan could charm, cajole and even trick them into being at least a halfway real version of themselves. It was refreshing to watch these huge stars reveal their hubris and sometimes hurt, be snide, be catty, be genuinely funny, surprisingly honest and for a few brief minutes, completely relatable.

Deepikas post-breakup taunts against Ranbir, Kareena and Priyankas passionately wicked comments about accents and boyfriends, the forced camaraderie between Ranbir and Ranveer, the surprising wisdom of Katrina Kaif when she spoke about her past breakups, Hardik Pandyas infamous boasts, and Kangana Ranauts rant about nepotism that gave disgruntled film folk their war cry. These are some of the many controversial and memorable moments that have played out over the years on Koffee with Karan.

Over six seasons, Koffee with Karan has been resolutely superfluous, but also perhaps cathartic for us as viewers. Watching these wealthy, famous and venerated celebrities display the same human follies as the rest of us was oddly relieving. Somewhere we felt reassured that individuals, whose lives we envied, were probably just as dysfunctional as us common folk. They were bitter about ex-flames, they were insecure and yet confident, but more than anything else, they were just regular people who are talented, hardworking and most definitely lucky. Koffee with Karan also allowed its host to come into his own and change how the world perceived him. Karan is no longer the awkward director who was better known as Kajol and Shah Rukhs bestie. Today he is a film producer, director, television show host and now gearing up to make his OTT debut as well.

I personally like the fact the show has never pretended to be a serious chat show or a show that was meant to change the world. Though many people have criticised it for being fake or disliked the unintellectual conversations, I doubt Karan was ever trying to be like Oprah or even Ellen. He realised the power of smaller screens and the universal interest in gossip and brought them together to create a profitable show.

So come 7 th July, I am going to pour myself a beverage of my choice and be unapologetically entertained as I watch Ranveer Singh talk about a playlist he has for his bedroom endeavours or some such equally outrageous conversation. After two years of bad news, devastating loss and global pandemonium, perhaps we all need a cup of Koffee with Karan.

See more here:
Koffee Koffee hota hai: What is it about Karan Johar's brew that has audiences asking for one more cuppa? - The Indian Express

By Robbin Laird

On July 3, 2022, General (Retired) Petr Pavel, the former head of NATOs Military Committee, and now candidate for President of the Czech Republic, agreed to be interviewed by a team led Jol-Franois Dumont. Joining the interview team were Franoise Thom, the noted French Russian expert, Colonel (Retired) Joel Bros, former French Special Forces and former military attach to Czech Republic and by myself.

In this article, a number of takeaways from the discussion are highlighted (with the biography of the General to be found at the end of the article), but for the complete discussion readers need to go to the European Security website.

Pavel underscored that what is unfolding in Ukraine today is a product of the long-range perspectives and policies of President Putin. He noted: Russia still believes that the very possession of nuclear arsenal makes it a superpower, and enables it to dictate to other countries how to live and how to arrange their international relations.

The Russians take no blame for their actions, but argue that the West is the trigger of their actions. He underscored that They believe that theyre perfectly right. All the moves they do are well justified and the vast majority of Russian population stands behind President Putin in this belief. For all of us, it means that the situation international and security situation has fundamentally changed.

Russia is no longer just a strategic competitor. Its a direct threat to our security. President Putin, went so far by declaring a possible use of nuclear weapons against United Kingdom, France and other countries, threatening sovereign countries, including nuclear powers. Its not an issue for us to think if Russia is bluffing or if they are just posing threats, they are determined to use these weapons and they expressed their determination several times pointing to existential threats, but without being very specific.

When we look at the breadth of Russian strategic thinking, we have to understand that anything that would harm Russian perception of being a global power could be taken as existential threat to Russia and as a justification for using nuclear weapons, tactical or any other level.

But I believe that any use of nuclear weapons, even smallest tactical nuclear weapon would be breaching the threshold and would fundamentally change the whole paradigm of our security thinking.

We dont have to necessarily defeat Russia but we face the challenge of dealing with Russian thinking that whatever we do in terms of coming closer to them would be understood as our weakness and sooner or later, we would see them attack another country.

He argued that the war in Ukraine was having a significant impact on a reshuffling in Europe whereby the states most directly familiar with Russia and closest to Russia have views different from key states like France and Germany.

He argued that we see a new, I wouldnt call it fraction line, but potential division within Europe where countries bordering Russia such as Bulgaria, Romania, Baltic countries, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic are almost of the same opinion on how to handle the crisis. That means being very tough within the framework of sanctions against Russia, being extremely helpful to Ukraine in terms of humanitarian assistance including military assistance.

The exceptions to this are the states of Hungary and Turkey, as he noted, which form special cases as he noted.

He added that one outcome of the war in Ukraine could well be Ukraine becoming part of the European Union, which if this was to happen would enhance the weight of the Russian threat focused countries within the European Union.

He very clearly underscored the importance of working relationships in Europe so that new fault lines do not open up on the continent when facing the Russian challenge, as this would only aid the Russians in the long-term competition.

Thats why I believe that one of the most important tasks of our current presidency, which Czech Republic took over the 1st of July, would be to keep Europe together and find ways to handle the crisis in Ukraine and relationships with Russia. Because if we let ourselves become divided then Russia would prevail and that was their primary objective from the very beginning. We need to bring our understanding of situation to the same foundation so that we dont take different conclusions and potentially wrong decisions.

He was asked about the impact of Finland coming into NATO and triggering a broader European rethink on the direct defense of Europe. He felt that Finland and Sweden coming into NATO could very much aide the kind of rethinking necessary both in NATO and in Europe.

NATO over the years has become probably too politically correct in our own way that we were circling around the problems without being able to identify true nature. I was facing that situation even in a military committee when I asked my colleagues to come back to the basics and speak as soldiers, not as politicians or diplomats. At least around the table so that we understand each other.

I believe that Fins and Swedes will bring a lot of direct language, not necessarily politically incorrect, but very direct language. And especially with regard to Russia, the Fins are very well respected. Because even though Russians won the Finnish War in three months war, it cost them such huge losses that they, remember the war with Fins up to present days.

So even though Finland is a small country by geography, its a big country by their heart and approach and I believe that it may change the atmosphere in NATO for better because we would probably come back to calling problems by their proper names and finding straight and direct solutions to current problems.

Europe certainly could strengthen conventional defense capabilities and shape enhanced horizontal conventional defense escalation options, notably with the possibility of an integrated Nordic defense.

But the nuclear challenge remains significant, and an open question of how NATOs nuclear countries would address this challenge in more than a declaratory sense, such as was done at the recent NATO summit, where we learned yet again that NATO is a nuclear alliance.

That is good, but what modernization and training efforts will be generated to convey to the Russians that their strategy of escalate to de-escalate will not work?

This is how General (Retired) Pavel handled this challenge:

Russians have developed the principle escalate to deescalate. We know it. They are very skillful in using it. I believe that we havent done good job facing Russian deterrents by using nuclear weapons because when President Putin and Minister Lavrov are starting talking on increasing level of readiness of Russian strategic nuclear forces and so on and potential strategic strikes to Western cities or even blowing the whole countries out of the surface, our reaction was a little bit scared.

I believe that we should remind Russia that we have a nuclear weapons too and we are also determined to use them if we have to and that Russian cities are on our target list as well. But we are reasonable enough not to do it and not to threaten any country by using our nuclear weapons, but we only remind Russia that they are not the only country with nuclear weapons and with target lists.

The Russians only understand our strength. And Im always trying to explain in our debates with the Czech public, when I speak on deterrence, that the deterrence is not about frightening anyone, its not threatening. Its simply reminding that we have the capacity and making our adversaries of our proficiency and willingness to use our capabilities. Thats the very substance of deterrence and we havent used it in such a way to answer Russian threats.

We discussed the recent decisions made at the NATO Summit in Madrid to increase both force size and shift force deployments forward. Pavel welcomed these developments but cautioned that they will take time but must also actually be done and not just remaining as a summit declaration.

He was very clear that whatever the outcome of the war in Ukraine after that outcome is sorted out, the task of rebuilding Ukraine including its defense capabilities would remain as a priority for Europe and NATO. Once this war is over Ukraine military will have to be consolidated and provided with the equipment that will be interoperable, that would be manageable in logistic terms, but also in training terms.

As we aid Ukraine now, we will have to think of for future, how to equip and how to handle Ukraine and their capabilities in future. Its clear that their accession to NATO will not be in question for time, but at the same time itll be in our interest that Ukraine has a strong enough military, capable to deal with their security issues on their own but itll also in our interest that Ukraine remains our partner now that it is interoperable with our own forces.

He was then asked about his own country, the Czech Republic, and shaping their way ahead in light of the current defense and security situation in Europe. He commented that the Czech Republic went too far in reducing our defense expenditures after the end of the Soviet Union. At one point, and it was in times when I was Chief of Defense, we went even below 1% of GDP and the deficiencies in our capabilities were so serious that I confronted that time President Vaclav Klaus, because I saw that the capacity of military was so insufficient that we wouldnt be able to meet even basic tasks.

Since then, number of problems have been dealt with, but still the pace of modernization is not fast enough to meet the challenge. Now with new government, it seems that we will be able to finalize some modernization projects but given the pressure of state finances because of COVID crisis and now the war, I have some concerns that this government will be able to meet these commitments.

Our primary goal must be to meet our capability target from NATO defense planning. And thats heavy brigade equipped with tracked APCs ready by the end of 2025. Because this is our main contribution to NATO collective defense and also our contribution to increasing the capacity of NATO forces.

Czech Republic contributes beyond its weight to the battle groups formed in our Eastern border, both in the Baltic countries and we are also taking command and significant contribution to Slovakian battle group.

We also have contributed to air policing to multi countries and a number of other activities. And from what I hear from our government, it remains a priority, they are determined to keep the pace of our contributions and to meet also commitments made within NATO defense planning. However, I see that itll be a great challenge to succeed fully.

The photos show General (Retired) Petr Pavels time in service as Chief of Staff of the Czech Republic armed forces or his time as Chairman of the NATO military committee. We credit the provision of these photos to @Anna olcov.

General Pavel was appointed Chairman of the NATO Military Committee on 26 June 2015.

From July 2012 to May 2015 General Petr Pavel served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, the highest ranking officer in the Czech Army and the principal military adviser to the Czech Government. In September 2014, General Pavel was elected Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

General Pavel graduated from theArmy Collegein Vykov, Czech Republic in 1983 and since then has spent a large part of his military career holding positions in Special Forces, Operations and Intelligence divisions. Throughout his career, General Pavel has held a range of positions from Deputy Military and Air Attach of the Czech Republic in Belgium to Commander Special Forces to Deputy Director Operations Division at the Ministry of Defence,

In addition, General Pavel has also held his share of positions in International and National joint staffs representing the Czech Armed Forces as the National Military Representative to the US Central Command, as well as National Military Representative of the Czech Republic to SHAPE in Mons, Belgium.

Furthering his education in the United Kingdom, General Pavel has studied at the Staff College, Camberley, theRoyal College of Defence Studies, London andobtained an M.A. in International Relations from Kings College, London.

And here was an article in CZ Defence published July 20, 2019 which described his career from the standpoint of his memoirs:

The book brings a subheading In the front line. The Czechs loved General Pavel when he was the Chief of the General Staff. The world has known him as the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. He found a way to soldiers hearts a long time ago thanks to his heroic action in former Yugoslavia. But nobody could suspect that he, as a kid, was suffered from ADHD. So primary school teachers cursed him. And much more

This all has been written in a compact form not only by Petr Pavel, but also by his farther, sister, wife, sons and comrade-in-arms. His father, also an army officer, brought up his son in military style he continually entrusted him with the tasks, which exceeded the boys age by demandingness. And sent him to play hockey and to train gymnastics. On the threshold of adolescence, Petr went to a Military gymnasium and ensured a parental consent to jump with parachute.

He got here the best preparation so that he was able to assert himself in prestige reconnaissance units. At that time Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact, but the ice was starting to melt. Young Petr Pavel did the right think when apart of obligatory study of Russian studied English as well.

Thus, at the beginning of the 90s, he was one of the first, then Czechoslovakian, soldiers who participated in a foreign mission. Together with a unit consisting from volunteers, he set off to rescue French soldiers from captivity. In the middle of a ragging battle between the Serbians and Croats. The popular Czech slogan We can come to an arrangement didnt work so much as the rescue team wished. In spite of this, all were survived, the prisoners were rescued.

And only in the memoir the fans of General Pavel have a chance to find out all details of this adventure. For completeness sake, these details are additionally described in separate chapter by Colonel Karel Klinovsk, a participant of the mission and the best friend. Not less interesting is to look at the generals family life. He is relatively self-critical and admits that he hasnt always had enough time for his loved ones. In spite of this, from our conversation with his family, it is evident mutual respect, tolerance, love and never-dying support.

General Pavel also does a big favour in the closing chapters, which describe his service in NATO, and, thus, functioning of this organization, its attitude towards different recent or actual conflicts. We can even say that a reader acquires two books at one stroke a biography and a textbook of the global security policy.

Just two questions remain now: When a big foreign entertainment company shoots a picture about a rescue of the French contingent by an underestimated Czechoslovak unit? And when the memoires of General Peter Pavel can be issued at least in English translation for foreign readers?

And in the video below, General Petr Pavel is seen closing out his tenure as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee on June 29, 2018,

Continue reading here:
Europe, the War in Ukraine and Shaping a Way Ahead: The Perspective of General (Retired) Petr Pavel - Second Line of Defense - Second Line of Defense

Are you registering for classes for the upcoming fall semester at a prestigious and expensive university? You'll need to prepare for a cutthroat world of higher education and poverty that's in store for you.

Here is a definitive list of items you must take to college with you:

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Satan held a press conference today responding to the big loss of Roe v. Wade. He's doing his best to keep his chin up.

See more here:
Going To College? Here's What You Need To Pack For The Fall Semester In Order To Survive - The Babylon Bee