USA, Canada / Why aren't Polish people immigrating to Canada instead of the UK? [148]

It's good that Poles aren't coming here any more. At least for men it's good. I don't think any man immigrating to Canada understands the family law we have here. When I tell my friends in Poland that a wife can leave her husband for no reason at all and that husband must pay her spousal support, they don't believe me. Then I tell them that spousal support is much more than child support... :) None of my friends is asking me for help in getting here... :)

USA, Canada / WHAT'S THE CANADIAN HEALTH SERVICE REALLY LIKE? [15]

I rate this system very poorly. We pay fat tax to support it but get mediocre service.

First of all, good luck getting a family doctor! In some towns, there is a waiting list. You should hope two years is enough. The second thing is that doctors get points for prescribing medications. They can't get cash but they can get points that they can turn into vacation trips. Needless to say, many Canadians take drugs they don't need. I used to take drugs for an ulcer that I never had. The best thing, however, is that you can have an appointment for 10:00AM and see the doctor at 4:00PM. If you leave at 3:45PM, you will be charged for the visit because you didn't show up! :)

Hospitals are not much better. When you go to emergency room, be ready to wait. And I mean, be ready! People have died in our emergency rooms waiting to be seen.

I realize that in other parts of the world it gets much worse but let's never say that Canadian Health Care system works. It doesn't. It costs us a lot of money and the return on investment is really bad.

USA, Canada / WHAT'S THE CANADIAN HEALTH SERVICE REALLY LIKE? [15]

Like I said, Zimbabwe can only dream of having our system. But still... let's not call it a good system. After all, we pay a pretty penny for it. To properly compare Canadian health care system to another, we need to compare the tax money that goes into it. I complain, because I pay for service I'm not getting.

To the poster above: having a family doctor won't help you when you're gravely ill. You must have hope that the line for what you need is not too long and they can operate in time. For sudden cases, you don't go to the family doctor, anyway - you go straight to the emergency room.

We have several hospitals that media often rave about. One is a leader in cancer treatment, another in something else. How nice does it look when you read about it... One such hospital is Hospital for Sick Children that deals with all kinds of hopeless cases. From time to time, they'll ship a kiddo here from the third world with a huge tumor, they'll remove it and then pose for photographs. Miracle! Parents happy, Canadian public happily donates their money on top of tax they pay... Then, one day you need to take your child to this hospital and you come back to the real world. Ask anyone who has taken their child to that hospital if they will ever donate their money to that institution.

Don't believe in this health care system. Nowhere in the world are there so many people obese and so many people with cancer. And remember that while our politicians praise our health care system and oppose creating a private sector, they are often caught getting private services, themselves.

BTW: the guy who created Canadian Medicare was apparently investigated for being a Soviet collaborator. :)

USA, Canada / Polish celebrations in Toronto? [8]

[Moved from]: "Orly Gorskiego" Picnic & Polish Roncessvalles Festival. Photos.

I want to share with you a few things...

Awesome party in Toronto! Local Polonia gathered up some over-35 players for a match with Domarski, Cmikiewicz, Ciolek, Kalinowski, etc... BTW: we have an adult Polish soccer league in Toronto. If anyone is interested in playing or coaching, let me know.

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Also, a growing street festival which is considered "Polish".

polville.com/index.php?body=ar&arid=20090920_1&

Don't miss it the next time. :)

History / What would Europe look like with Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian Commonwealth today [209]

Nationalities are a disease stemming from XIX century. Take Germany and Poland. Two distinct nations, speaking two distinct languages, having two separate identities bound for war.

Or is it so...?

We know that Slavs dominated up to Elbe and have even crossed it. We also know that Franks have ruled but not exterminated those Slavs. Silesian princes adopted German as their language of choice but did not cut themselves from the Piast dynasty (see Brzeg castle).

So what happend?

Our brothers have simply been germanized and forced to believe that eastern Slavs are subhuman and have no right to form a country. Slavs fought Slavs in the Second World War. Yes, we Slavs are easily brainwashed into thinking that we're fighting the enemy, while we're fighting each other for the benefit of our masters.

Slavs are the most populous people in Europe with little to say. Word 'slave' comes from Slav. Word 'serve' comes from 'Serb'. Word 'Slaby' has most certainly a root in 'Slav'.

It hurts, but you gotta draw the conclusions and learn. Smarten up, Slavs! Stop fighting!!!

USA, Canada / Polish celebrations in Toronto? [8]

beckski, any photos from your party ?