USA, Canada / Do you think Americans are idiots. [149]

I've heard of him, Timotei. I was very lucky to stumble across the abovementioned authors as they were in the bookcase at my English school. However, the general scene here in Gliwice is pretty dire so I may have to order such authors. I could join a library here but I may have to read him in Polish and I doubt his works were translated to Polish.

I have to defend the American corner. I have met so many smug Europeans that I felt like belting with a huge fish. Americans are more accessible generally. Europeans get caught up in their own perceived self importance but Americans tend to be better bar companions.

USA, Canada / Do you think Americans are idiots. [149]

Don't worry, the Poles have them sussed out. They can predict everything ;0 ;0 ;)

As for Americans, look at their literary tradition. James Patterson outsold King and Grisham together, all brilliant authors! A bit like Fleetwood Mac did to the Stones and the Beatles.

Alex Kava also has a great character in Maggie O'Dell though I prefer Alex Cross of Patterson's great mind. Jeff Lindsay is also a genius for creating Dexter, a masterstroke! I enjoy reading such stories from American authors.

USA, Canada / Do you think Americans are idiots. [149]

Russians are master tacticians too but stealing Kasparov was bad. He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and he has Armenian-Jewish roots.

Scrappy is doing his best by flying the buffoon flag.

Pol3, that was bad ;) ;)

USA, Canada / Do you think Americans are idiots. [149]

I prefer to say fu*k yeah to anti-perspirant and deodorant as using only deodorant in warm weather will make you stink quicker.

America has also produced some amazing chess players. Bobby Fischer, the American Jew (RIP), being first among them. Yasser Sierawan, Gata Kamsky, Samuel Reshevsky, Rueben Fine, Frank Marshall and Paul Morphy being some others.

OK, they have a larger pool to choose from but look at Israel. I think they are 3rd in the world behind Russia and Ukraine. The Jews are where it's at when it comes to smartness.

Cheers, Timotei :) Awesome video :)

USA, Canada / Do you think Americans are idiots. [149]

I love the song about America where they say 'f*ck yeah'. They say it to almost everything other than books ;) ;) LOL

My American friend pointed that out to me.

Land of the Serial Killer with Britain rating highly too :(

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

You don't know that, Sokrates. It's all guesswork on your part. It was more about following appeasement rather than an outright rejection of war.

Sent what questions? Show me these questions, please.

The man was all about romanticism, Sok. Dmowski was a pragmatist.

No, his alleged going to France and snubbing of the Germans showed his cards, much like Tusk pandering to American concerns over the missile shield and angering the Russians. Now he looks stupid as he has nothing to show for it. Russia is not to be toyed with.

USA, Canada / Do you think Americans are idiots. [149]

Some are, some aren't. They have some of the best inventing minds in the business and this from a Scotsman :) Inventions need sufficient original thought, some uniqueness. Even Einstein cheated on this count ;)

They have some of the best universities which, although overrated, still produce some leading minds.

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

Gunslinger, chimpanzee's are highly intelligent animals and also have an acute sense of danger yet we can't murder them. They feel and are one of God's creatures. How can we murder a baby when the woman invariably doesn't have malice aforethought? The foetus doesn't have a sense of danger as it is in the mother's womb and can't see any danger.

As a Christian, you should value God's creatures, true?

Food / Horsemeat, anyone? [62]

They eat it as a delicacy in Japan. More particularly, in Kyushu. It's called basashi in Japanese. I never got round to trying it but I don't regret that.

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

I think France may have acted had they seen the evidence of Simon and had Piłsudski been more insistent (assuming he started this process). Still, their stubborness might have got the better of them, forcing them to stick with their policy of appeasement.

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

Again, his romanticism flew in the face of political developments. Valdemaras may well have suspected the motives of Piłsudski who was eccentric and unpredictable at times through his moods. What specific time were you referring to, Ironside?

I can't remember the name of the treaty but I think it was the Suwałki Treaty that said that Wilno was to be part of Lithuania as Kowno was the capital then I think. The Lithuanians felt that Poland was trying to ruffle them through the Seimas.

Please let me know your interpretation of the Seimas as it seems to me to be analogous to Rugova claiming to be the PM of Kosovo, a country (part of Serbia?) which wasn't independent at the time.

News / Man Why Do People Like PO Instead Of PIS [120]

You'd be surprised just how much they know, Gumi. Those workers kept themselves in the loop and I'd say politically aware too.

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

It was designed as provocation, a tactic employed by many Polish people I have seen. What, not used to it? ;) ;) ;)

Where did I say "at the same time"? Show me that, please.

I'm informed enough to have a discussion. With many Poles, it's about winning rather than discussing and my moot training taught me that that wasn't the best way. Discussion has an imparting knowledge function and not merely an adversarial horn-locking function. You were rather strong in tone against Sokrates in that other shipyard discussion.

I have a question then. Where is your proof that a Polish delegation met with a French delegation to discuss a preventive war? Sth more than "a hint" please. Also, I wanted to discuss why Piłsudski didn't labour the point more. He was sounded out apparently but there is just too much hearsay.

Geez man, I can accept different ways as we are not dealing solely in fact here. Please don't get defensive, this is not a competition. You are a good poster and present your arguments well and I'm grateful that you reply often and try to discuss :) :)

Don't get me wrong, I entertain the possibility that there was such a meeting. I just wanted you to prove it, ale dobra, let's enter a hypothetical. Piłsudski did well in predicting the Phony War. He saw the calamity that lay in store for Poland and that's why I feel that he had to pull out all the stops to start a war. That was NOT a time for legitimacy discussions and the Americans, to their credit, would have been in like a shot.

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

We need to extend the Private International Family Law notion of 'the welfare of the child is paramount' to this case. The critical question is, 'who makes the ultimate decision?'. I remember studying the caselaw about a decade ago. It very much encompasses religion as a material concern. The courts are duty bound to take it into account to whatever extent they deem necessary.

However, from a working knowledge of the said caselaw, I can safely say that it isn't the overriding factor in the great majority of cases. Of course, they don't want to tread on any toes.

Trauma is hugely relevant as sledz made clear. SeanBM and sledz are also right to mention that you cannot accost people. Believe me, there was a phenomenon where Polish women went, I think to Belgium, to get an abortion. It is legal there but, upon their return to Poland, they were pelted with all sorts as the mohair berets were tipped off.

Gunslinger, maybe you should actualise my proposed invention of 'the condom fitting room'. You know, you try on clothes, why not try on condoms to see if they fit? ;) ;) ;) ;)

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

Those security schemes were defensively motivated, Sok. Think of the Maginot Line. They also looked for other alliances as a sign of stability.

They didn't mobilise as it hasn't been proven that anyone asked them to mobilise so why should they have done?

Aha, so the Pact was signed devoid of negotiation, is that what you are telling me?

Perceived as a seasonal state? Look, countries have been breaking international law agreements for a long time now and you can't say that it is only a recent phenomenon. It was a feature of those times too. Piłsudski even effectively nullified the 1921 Franco-Polish agreement by signing the Pact with Germany. A pact which he knew would be destined to failure. You guys even mentioned this and it has been documented. Why didn't he try again and again to enter a preventive war?? Once isn't enough, even assuming that he asked. Think of the lives that could have been saved.

You are wrong again, Sokrates. Look for the communiques of one Sir John Simon, former Foreign Minister of the UK. He gave multiple warnings of what he reasonably suspected they were up to. Again, you are grossly disinformed.

Piłsudski died in 1935, why would he have predicted the fall of the Sudetenland in 1938? Think a little!

The fact is, by 1936, Germany was arguably strong enough with the correct execution of war strategies. Why do you need to discuss 1939 as the lapsing of the chance, it was missed long before and Piłsudski's snubbing of Germany further fuelled the flames. Hitler liked Piłsudski and proposed a partnership on a couple of occasions. Piłsudski rebuked him and this was dubious as it was known that he hated Russia more.

Gumishu, stop havering/blethering. Look at one of my posts above where I imply that I could easily be wrong. Proper historians often lock horns in battle and it isn't always clear who is right. I said that historians are just going on available information as they probably weren't there themselves. You guys are on home ground with Piłsudski, I can easily admit I am wrong as it was yourselves who were educated on him, not me. There's absolutely no shame in that. However, I am putting some posers to you and, rather than SHOW me to be wrong, you are just claiming that I am like a foot-stamping little schoolboy. I have shown ample instances of my 'knowledge' of that period and you haven't cogently refuted it.

You still haven't shown to the satisfaction of most that Piłsudski went to France. Not one link but a blanket assertion without solid foundation.

Thanks Sok :)

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

The child is not really aware of its own existence yet but may have only some semblance of partial awareness. It's certainly not fully aware. If the woman goes very early to get an abortion, she can kill sth which is not a legal entity in the eyes of the law. Tell me, GS, are you pro-war? Murder is a crime of mens rea and actus reus. You are basing your analyses on the premise that there will not be a miscarriage. It is not yet an identifiable person in the eyes of the law or am I wrong?

Where is the malice aforethought? You can't tell me that most women get abortions out of spite and hatred for the embryo/foetus. In Scots Law, there is not the requisite mens rea for murder.

Please don't typecast how 'choicers' are. Some are attempting to approach this issue rationally and it is a multifarious one. I also have leanings against abortions and careless women who cheaply get pregnant. There was a spate of Catholic Polish women who got abortions in the UK which cuts against the grain of their beliefs. You see my point? You take a position but circumstances change it.

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

IMHO, nothing changes the fact that the woman can immediately seek out an abortion for the purposes of restitution. As I said, I'm no fan of abortion either but this is very much a special case. There is evidence of an entity through conception and MUCH more than a parasite early days but that doesn't change the fact that it wasn't through a consensual decision.

Anyway, I have to go but please be sensitive to the feelings of the woman, Gunslinger.

Love / Why are Polish girls constantly ill? [166]

If they didn't hold so much negative energy and see life as a fight, they might get somewhere.

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

Sorry, giving informed consent is correct. Yeah, going to bed was the right idea :)

News / Man Why Do People Like PO Instead Of PIS [120]

Ask the workers, Gumishu, they have nothing to gain by lying. Politicians, on the other hand.....

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

I'll be back here later. I have to hit the sack now. What we must bear in mind at all times here is that the rape victim was 14 and not an adult capable of making informed consent to complicated procedures.

Seanus (retires to bed. Good night, M-G)

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

Exactly, thanks Vincent :)

Gumishu, the negotiations for the Pact were already underway by October 1933, the time at which Piłsudski allegedly asked France to become part of a preventive war. He wanted to hide his weakness.

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]

Gunslinger, let me explain. The American position on abortion was based on 'compelling logic' that the baby had to draw its first breath after the cutting of the umbilical cord. Many abortions were granted on the basis of 'the first breath' not having been drawn.

Care to explain?

thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=65.32.70.0

this is quite interesting and has some cogent arguments why abortion can be perceived as murder.

The vital question which begs asking is, 'can it be acceptable after rape?'.

christiananswers.net/q-sum/q-life005.html

I'm really not convinced by the arguments proferred here. They are facile and underestimate the pain of the mother. I've read other websites like that one and the lack of compassion makes me sick.

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

What does homeopathy have to do with the discussion? You are just employing decoy tactics and are ducking my request for proof.

Piłsudski was already entering into discussions with the Germans at the time of this alleged preventive war request.

News / Man Why Do People Like PO Instead Of PIS [120]

Gumi, I agree with Sokrates in post 52. There was a documentary on the Gdańsk shipyards where interviews were conducted and many were gutted at the utter lack of resolve on the part of the Polish government to suitably resolve the issue. It was about the disillusionment of those workers and their consequent relocation to England as a protest at what they perceived as betrayal by their government. One of the officials went to England to try and bring them back and share in their sense of loss and create new hope through investment of his own.

I will look for it, it was on Youtube.

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

Well, many of your countrymen claim to be Western. Not all legally trained people are lawyers. Some are academics :)

You saw the Pact being signed, did you? LOL ("about seeing").

Any proof? ;) ;)

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

Udowodnij mi to, proszę (sorry Mods, he doesn't seem to understand proof or prove so I asked in Polish).

Just one link of definitive proof :)

I'm not gonna take the bait and get into petty squabbles. I'm legally trained so back up your averments, please. That's all I'm asking.

Poland is not Western?

Seanus (could mention identity crisis but won't go there ;) ;))

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

Gumishu, what NO? Show me the proof that that meeting took place. When discussing history, it is axiomatic that the discussing parties accept certain things as given. This I cannot accept as given in the absence of proof.

'Cancer and arteriosclerosis can lead to depressive illnesses, reduced energy and motivation, all of which can seriously affect decision-making, particularly in making leaders more inclined to the status quo, indecisive, less open-minded and readier to let the situation drift. These characteristics were all apparent in many of the elderly leaders of Europe between the two World Wars, particularly Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald in Britain, the Polish President Marshal Pilsudski'

From: qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/96/5/325. Drifting, that sounds about right.

Come on, Sok, when did those negotiations for the Pact start?

Gumi, I take a link from an author (Hehn in this case), then I draw on my awareness of the 1921 Pact and make a perfectly valid point. I questioned his motive. If my perspicacious point hurt you, I'm sorry ;) ;)

Homeopathy? No sidetracking please. My Mum is the person to ask, not me.

Unlike you, I don't pretend to be an independent-thinking historian. Historians have widely differing accounts on history and I'm aware that I'm just going on available info as, guess what? I wasn't there ;) ;)

News / Poland is the most friendly neighbor of Ukraine and Russia - Ukrainian poll ... [132]

On the last point, yes, I do care to explain. The French proposed a number of collective security schemes in 1932 and 1933 but they fell on deaf ears. They had their eye on the ball and didn't like the insipid stance of others. The League of Nations dwindled and this was another factor which COULD NOT be overlooked. It was, after all, a post WWI creation which spelled out a number of important measures and it was left to fall by the wayside. For the French, the conditions had to be right but a lack of a clear plan deterred them.

Sok, there is still no official account of that meeting between the French and Poles in either of their respective archives. Tell me, when did the negotations for the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact start? Let's see how much you know.

You are telling me that Poland didn't start a war for, what, fear of undermining political legitimacy? LOL That's as bad as the American excuse for not stopping terrorists based on invading liberty and then suddenly stumbling across the idea of Homeland Security and more fascistic developments.

Piłsudski wanted to see Hitler in power as long as possible (Hehn, 2005). Does this sound like a man who really wanted to use the 1921 Franco-Polish alliance to oust him? Come on man, think a little.

News / THE HOMINTERN IN POLAND? [80]

Then let's not talk at loggerheads! You know what I was discussing, Pol3