Real Estate / Is it normal to pay 22% tax on renting a flat? [15]

90% of people in Poland rent a flat in the shadow economy so nobody knows about the tax :)

But in reality you have to pay the tax even if you stay for a week in your friends flat and you don't pay them anything for it. Welcome to Poland :) or should I say EU...

Life / November 11th - Independance Day in Poland [28]

Just to note, that Poland's declaration of independance was issued on 7th October 1918. 11th November was just chosen for the holiday because it's when WWI officially ended.

History / Bielski Brothers - does anyone know the story? [38]

Bielski Brothers were a part of a soviet partisans. They were fighting the Germans, but not only. Imagine how were a couple of thousands of partisans organizing food, clothes, medicines etc. They were robbing local population. Of everything. In some villages a resistance was organized. Those villages (like Koniuchy) were obliterated by Bielscy and their soviet freinds. Adaults, children, women, the old, all were slaughtered to set the example, their homes were burned to the ground. only a few survived. In the later times the soviet propaganda told that in those villages partisans encountered 'kulaks' and other unfriendly to the communism 'elements'. The murderers of those people are treated as heroes in Israel, Russia and USA. They are now being gloryfied in a movie...

Now imagine what would happen if a movie that gloryfied murderers of Jews, who were also fighting communists was created...

Work / 4000 zloty Wroclaw - what kind of life can I expect for that? [20]

You will manage

News / Chairman of TVP flies the racist flag for Poland [51]


Exactly. There was a famous incident when our president during a press conference called a female jurnalist a 'stupid monkey in red' ( and she was white )

So in Poland when somebody calls you a monkey it means they think you are a stupid, stubborn, lazy idiot :)
So when some american newspaper published a cartoon with the shot monkey (the one from the coke commercials) with a comment that they will have to find somebody else to plan bailouts, it was clear in Poland that the bailout plans were created by some stupid lunatics and that it was about Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke. Americans instantly saw Obama on that cartoon... its all about race in the USA...

News / Poland to ban Che Guevara image [55]

T-shirts with Hitler anyone?

Life / iphone 3G in Warsaw?? [11]

it's not illegal to unlock a phone in Poland.
Iphones are not that popular in Poland. There are many better and cheaper phones here.

News / Racist text book for Polish schools [130]


I would do the same as I am doing now, the calculations are the same... does anybody else here know the answer?

UK, Ireland / Poles claim UK benefits after working only one year instead of going home [156]

You don't choose dictators nor kings. They become rulers themselves.

UK, Ireland / Poles claim UK benefits after working only one year instead of going home [156]

Is it the Poles who make law in Britain?? Or maybe it's the incompetent representatives elected in a democratic process?
I think its the later ( the same here in Poland :) )

Love / Should I Be Nervous About Going to Poland? Black female dating a Pole. [158]


By the way, in Polish the n-word is a cz-word

News / Lech Wałęsa threatens to leave Poland [30]

The problem with Lech Walesa is that he was always aiming to be a Legend. And legends do not have any flaws.
Walesa was clearly an agent of sort. Maybe an agent is not a good word. He was more of a colaborator, who cooperated with communists to actually end the era of communism in Poland. Some may not like this idea, but in my opinion it was much better than another 'uprising' or 'revolution', as we can imagine how many lives those would consume.

Walesa is a traitor for two categories of people, but for different reasons:

- union workers, as what Walesa achieved was NOT what they were demanding. Please try reading the demands of Solidarnosc. They wanted to go deeper into socialims. And the communists introduced a complete free market with a single bill that has no precedence. It said that all economic activities are allowed, reserving the need for concessions in only 6 (or 12, don't remember) areas connected with national security and government monopolies. Poland was given an incredible opportunity and the rate of economic growth was never seen later again. Empty shelves in shops were full.

Of course later on more and more socialsm was reintroduced until today, mainly by 'liberal' governments to protect their influence on business. But it's still better than communism.

- Some of the right wing parties, as they were not invited for talks with communists. It was the Minister of Internal Affairs who was inviting people for talks. And the right wing patriots were not invited. Thats why they treat the round table talks as treason, and see it as talks between communist officials with their agents and socialists.