Law / Citizenship by descent: don't know details of grandparents' American citizenship [8]

They most have had Polish citizenship and that was possible only after 1918. Prior to then Poels were were subject of the three foreign emperors.

Food / Horsemeat, anyone? [62]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat#Belgium

I know many question the accuracy of Wikipedia, but some of this basic info may be of interest.
I hadn't known hosemeat was used by the Germans in sauerbraten and by Poles in kabanosy!

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

Idiots? Land of the free and home of the brave! Aresenal of democracy! Chief exporter of democratic values to wogs the world over. Not to mention culture: comic books, bubble gum, hotdogs, burgers, peanut butter, Heinz baked beans, maple syrup, hoola hoops, Santa Claus, Donald Tusk, er, um, I mean Duck, Minnie Mouse, Superman, Tom & Jerry, Batman, McDonald's, drive-in movies, drive-by shooting, drive-through restaurants, funeral parlours, banks, etc., Hollywood, MTV, Broadway, etc., etc. and a whole world out there rushing about to emulate all this and more.

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

Seanus - couldn't resist this one: News flash: This just in... A man was found dead slumped over his breakfast table with his face in a bowl of corn flakes. Police suspect it was the work of a cereal killer!!!

Life / Eenie-meenie-miney-moe (Polish versions?) [8]

'Tail' doesn't rhyme!?

UK, Ireland / To Brits only trout are not coarse? [18]

Each of our states has its own fishing and hunting regulations. Usually there are catch limits on gamefish and none of small panfish. The latter (perch, sunfish, rockbass, bluegills, bullheads) are usually the first fish caught by kids using worms as bait.

I wonder how many Europeans are aware of the North American 'super-pike', the
muskellunge (opposite coloration the northern pike, ie dark spots on lighter body).
A valiant fighter caught on various frog and fish-resembling lures as well as live-fish bait, specimns of 20-25 kg are not uncommon.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskellunge

UK, Ireland / To Brits only trout are not coarse? [18]

Sad to say, the grayling disappeared from Michigan waters about three decades ago. They require only the purest of H2O, and that is in increasingly short supply.

BTW, while we're on about fish, is the small-mouth and/or large-mouth black bass known in the UK and elsewhere in Europe? I understand in Poland they go under the misnomer of okoniopstrąg (perch-trout) wielkogębowy and małogębowy but I have never heard of anyone in Poland actually catching one.

Life / Polish Fairytales [25]

One that immediately comes to mind is the one about the elves and Sierotka Marysia (Little Orphan Mary), written by Maria Konopnicka. Dunno if one in verse is what you had in mind.

O krasnoludkach i sierotce Marysi

Maria Konopnicka

Czy to bajka, czy nie bajka,
Myślcie sobie, jak tam chcecie.
A ja przecież wam powiadam:
Krasnoludki są na świecie.
Naród wielce osobliwy.
Drobny - niby ziarnka w bani:
Jeśli które z was nie wierzy,
Niech zapyta starej niani.
W górach, w jamach, pod kamykiem,
Na zapiecku czy w komorze
Siedzą sobie Krasnoludki
W byle jakiej mysiej norze.
Pod kominem czy pod progiem -
Wszędzie ich napotkać można:
Czasem który za kucharkę
Poobraca pieczeń z rożna...
Czasem skwarków porwie z rynki
Albo liźnie cukru nieco
I pozbiera okruszynki,
Co ze stołu w obiad zlecą.
Czasem w stajni z bicza trzaśnie,
Koniom spląta długie grzywy,
Czasem dzieciom prawi baśnie...
Istne cuda! Istne dziwy!
Gdzie chce - wejdzie, co chce - zrobi,
Jak cień chyżo, jak cień cicho,
Nie odżegnać się od niego,
Takie sprytne małe licho!
Zresztą myślcie, jako chcecie,
Czy kto chwali, czy kto gani,
Krasnoludki są na świecie!
Spytajcie się tylko niani.

News / THE HOMINTERN IN POLAND? [80]

Whatever your positon on homosexual equality, rights, promotion, glamourisation, etc., what do you feel about the Komsomol-like tendence to drive a wedge between school children and their parents by enforcing pledges of secrecy? Here is onele of many examples of the secretive approach used by glib homo brain-washers for tax-payers' money:

Washington, D.C. - In a shocking and brazen act of governmental abuse of parental rights, Deerfield High School (DHS) in Deerfield, Illinois, has required fourteen-year-old freshmen to attend a "Straight Gay Alliance Network" (GSA) panel discussion led by "gay" and "lesbian" upperclassmen during a "freshman advisory" class which secretively featured inappropriate discussions of a sexual nature in promotion of high-risk homosexual behaviors.

Not only has DHS required that its young and impressionable freshmen be exposed to radical homosexual propaganda, the school has further required that students sign a "confidentiality agreement" promising not to tell anyone - including their own parents - about the discussion.

cwfa.org/articles/12546/MEDIA/family/index.htm

News / Clamping down on Internet gambling in Poland? [11]

Being rather ignorant of the overall logistics of the Internet, I'm wondering how techncially feasible controlling Internet content -- any content -- is. China has legions (I read somewhere 50,000) computer experts who do nothing else but scrutinise the net and excise poltically objectionable content. And one does hear from time to time of paedophilic and hate portals being shut down.

Food / Horsemeat, anyone? [62]

Why is it that cuddly little lambs, pink piglets and cute little calves, which also can serve as pets, do not generate the sympathy and commiseration that horses do as potential edibles?

UK, Ireland / To Brits only trout are not coarse? [18]

I can appreciate that boney, muddy-tasting cyprinoids can cause misgivings, but pike, pike-perch (walleyes, zanders), perch...these are delicacies in America, Poland and elsewhere,and only the weirdo Brits seem to have some inexplicable hangups on this score!

Life / What is the position of Esperanto in Poland? [16]

I wanted to ask you to provide a sample text in esperanto - maybe something everybody knows like the Lord's Prayer, but decided to look it up myself:

Patro nia, kiu estas en la ĉielo,
sanktigata estu Via nomo.
Venu Via regno.
Fariĝu Via volo,
kiel en la ĉielo, tiel ankaŭ sur la tero.

Nian panon ĉiutagan donu al ni hodiaŭ.
Kaj pardonu al ni niajn ŝuldojn,
kiel ankaŭ ni pardonas al niaj ŝuldantoj.
Kaj ne konduku nin en tenton,
sed liberigu nin de la malbono.

Ĉar Via estas la regno
kaj la potenco
kaj la gloro eterne.

Amen.

Dunno why old Dr Zamenhof did it this way, but using 'via' for 'your' doesn't sound too reasonable since it is the Italian word for road (Fr. - vie). IMHO something like 'vo' (eg French votre, vos, Sp. vuestro) would have been a better choice for the possessive adj. 'your'.

Life / Polish Fairytales [25]

I couldn't find a translation of the Konopnicka poem. In essence it says: Elves DO exist in the world. Just ask an old nanny, and she'll tell you so.

News / Clamping down on Internet gambling in Poland? [11]

Yes, but tax revenues help bankroll the woefully udnerfinanced health service and other cash-strpped areas..... Theoretically at least, because tax-payers also bankroll the big limos and VIP lifestyles of fat-cat politicians.

However, nobody has answered my basic question as to whether and to what extent the control of Internet content (not necessarily gambling) is technically and financially feasible.

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

Super Express reports that 14-year-old Agnieszka Porawska has given birth to a baby conceived by a rapist but loves the child dearly and plans to raise it herself.

se.pl/archiwum/?q=Urodzi%C5%82%C4%85m+dziecko+gwa%C5%82ciciela&x=12&y=13

News / Clamping down on Internet gambling in Poland? [11]

I have heard Poland has closed down a racist Blood (something - Blood & Iron or some such nonsense), so it can be done.

UK, Ireland / To Brits only trout are not coarse? [18]

Fish of the perch and pike family are not bottom feeders by any means but predators and true game fish. Walleye from the Great Lakes are far superior eating to trout, BTW. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it.

Food / Polish comfort food [12]

Are you referring tot eh Polish ersatz coffee? If so, it's better tasting than our American Postum.

Food / Hare, rabbit, boar, venison, pheasant, grouse, squirrel, etc.? [21]

Absolutely no leg-pulling involved! I didn't mean to suggest I eat nothing but squirrel, in fact had it only a coupla times (when granddad who went pheasant and rabbit shooting in the Richmond and Smith's Creek areas of Michigan brought home a few). But they do have many devotees in my home state. For the culinarily adventurous, here are some ideas: woodybobs.com/bestsquirrelrecipes.html

S M A C Z N E G O !

Life / Why is Polka music played in Poland so much different than in the USA? [36]

Surpisingly most Poles in Poland do not realise that the polka music industry is quite big in America.The Polish polka alone (as it is called) is divded into the Chicago and the east coast sound, and there are also Slovenian, Slovak, Czech, German, Lithuanian and (esp. in Canada) Ukrainian polkas. Included in the notion of polka music are also obereks and waltzes. There are polka music programmes on radio stations across america. And even snooty Poles (liek the disco/polo/bashers!!) from Poland agree (after the 5th or 6th round of drinks) that polkas are an integral part of the fun festivites at a traditonal Pol-Am wedding.

Incidentally, a polka category was introduced into the Grammy Awards a few years ago. One of the best-known and, I believe, Grammy-awarded polka musicians is an Irish American whose name at the moment escapes me. Maybe someone on PF knows.

For those seeking additional enlightenment:
pbs.org/riverofsong/music/e1-polka.html

Food / Hare, rabbit, boar, venison, pheasant, grouse, squirrel, etc.? [21]

The best of both worlds: the squirrelburger!

Life / Why is Polka music played in Poland so much different than in the USA? [36]

Yes, indeed. It's Jimmy Sturr. Many dzięks!

Language / Pronouncing final -ą as -oł (Czech infleunce?) [14]

Well, isn't the first syllable stress in Góral speech not influenced by Czech and Slovak? As in 'My ZObocyli' (upper case indicates stress), uon dobry POcynstunek PRZYgotowoł...etc.

Life / Traditonal Baptisim gift in Poland? [6]

Polish godmothers often give the baby a tiny gold cross on a chain.