History / Poland and Israel getting back on the right foot...maybe [132]


There was no Polish government and so no Polish government dispossessed any Jews living in war-time Poland. And Jews should not get any kind of preferential treatment regarding property seized by the PRL.

And in most cases where compensation is due, rather than the real estate itself, the then-value of the real estate (adjusted for inflation) should suffice.

History / Study Shows Irish Voters Rejected the Nice Treaty Referendum Due to Poland's Entry Into the EU [80]

Well some people say that autism is an extreme version of the male brain (and some autistic habits like raising the heels when walking and wanting to jump over things) seem related to hunting skills in a pre-technological setting..

History / Study Shows Irish Voters Rejected the Nice Treaty Referendum Due to Poland's Entry Into the EU [80]


a shiv is an improvised knife (not made of metal, which would be a shank), metaphorically it's a comment that's neutral or even complementary but which has malicious meaning...

For example Trump to Nancy Pelosi who helped engineer the government shutdown: "Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan has been postponed." sent while she was on the way to the airport...

History / Study Shows Irish Voters Rejected the Nice Treaty Referendum Due to Poland's Entry Into the EU [80]


Didn't the president send condolences to Germany's representative in Dublin when Hitler died?

Was that sincere and misguided or a cunning form of the shiv?

Feedback / Will this forum be available in Europe if Article 13 passes? [30]


I bow to your knowledge of unnecessary EU institutions, the question remains, what provisions does the EU have for democratically overturning unpopular legislation?

Feedback / Will this forum be available in Europe if Article 13 passes? [30]


paraphrasing a longish quote:

It's not that bad, we can easily get this legislation overturned in the very democratic and representative EU.

All we have to do is vote for MEPs that will vow to overturn this legislati... uh no, wait... democratically elected MEPs can't propose or repeal EU legislation.

Okay, that just means we'll have to hope that enough countries in the EU vote into power political parties that have pledged to overturn this legislation, then they can stack the European Council with ministers that will do just htat.

Except... the European Council can only propose legislation, that then needs to be approved and introduced by the European Commission, and... the European Commission is comprised of ministers that swear an oath of loyalty to the EU. They will only approve legislation that they believe is beneficial to the EU* itself.

So our chances of getting this legislation or any dictatorial, censorious, oppressive legislation like it overturned is about.... NIL (cue Ode to Joy....)

*By which I'm pretty sure is mean EU institutions and not member states and/or the citizenry...

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]


But they always eat beans with grains (rice, corn) which lessons the.... emissions problems considerably (and makes for more nutrition). They don't eat them with french fries (which just aggravates the greenhouse gas problem).

Life / What do decent Poles think about true rightists ? [148]


The ones inviting them stay as far away from them as possible once they're in the country as a rule.

Also the egalitarian approach doesn't work in language instruction (I've heard of a Danish program that has multilingual Europeans in the same classroom as people who can't read or write their own language...)

Life / What do decent Poles think about true rightists ? [148]


I dunno... I'm told that being fluent in both English and French are useless in trying to integrate in Canada (as in getting to know everyday born Canadians).

The Netherlands and Scandinavia specialize in non-integrating policies and so it's hard to judge there - almost all their official policy has the effect of making it harder to learn the local language and integrate...

Life / What do decent Poles think about true rightists ? [148]

Maybe not in every country but it's the key to assimilation/integration in Poland (serving as a proxy for knowing how things work) those who don't speak Polish well never really get the hang of how things happen in Poland tend to end up drifting from one unpleasant situation to another... (often in a black cloud of rage)

Life / Is there Polish version of USA TV shows "Judge Judy" (or similar)? "Divorce Court" (or similar)? "Dr Phil" etc [6]


It's a matter of degree I think... Anna Maria seemed completely scripted with actors (cases loosely based on real ones, not necessarily from Poland)

Judge Judy - non-actors in a very staged and artificial setting (I lurve Judge Judy and think she's usually not nearly mean enough to the lowlifes in her court)

Life / Is there Polish version of USA TV shows "Judge Judy" (or similar)? "Divorce Court" (or similar)? "Dr Phil" etc [6]

But isn't that fiction? (as with actors and a script?)

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


messages for the wailing wall?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


an in some muslim cultures, A north african colleague calls it 'the hand of Fatima' and says it's used everywhere the same way that the glass eye beads are used in Turkey to ward off the evil eye...

History / Poland's society at communism and socialism time [55]


Is not socialism


The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics might disagree... Polish indexes (student transcript books) had an oath for the student to defend socialism... etc etc etc

At most Scandinavian countries are social democracies (capitalist with welfare state supports)

History / Poland's society at communism and socialism time [55]

No, Sweden is a capitalist country with a strong social welfare component, not socialist at all.

History / Poland's society at communism and socialism time [55]


Democracy wasn't something nice that governments did for people, it was the price they had to pay if they wanted to educate the public enough to run an advanced society.

The bargain was roughly the government tries to improve citizens' quality of life and in return the citizenry comes to help when the government calls

Socialism doesn't mix well with this model because of the widespread apathy and chaos it engenders...

History / Poland's society at communism and socialism time [55]


Those are all due to the nation state* and not socialism.... and as the nation state is weakening those things will also disappear.

*a form of government, not necessarily an ethnically pure state

News / Polish Airline LOT has the biggest fleet of 737-8MAX in continental Europe..grounded [18]


It absolutely transferred that risk on to passengers until they grounded them. It could very easily have been a Polish plane where a single sensor failed sending the plane into a nosedive.

It's bad design (based on trying to squeeze more money out of flights - I know that airlines run on razor thin margins so I can sort of understand but there were not nearly enough safeguards in place to keep the plane from crashing.

I hope Boeing can survive this and learn something in the process....

News / Polish Airline LOT has the biggest fleet of 737-8MAX in continental Europe..grounded [18]


With it's exciting new "crash the plane" feature!

The leading edge of innovation!

News / Polish Airline LOT has the biggest fleet of 737-8MAX in continental Europe..grounded [18]


Very true. As the old saying goes "Safety regulations are written in blood."

But the 'slap something together and fix any bugs later' mentality from sillicone valley is just going to be spreading... In this way Venezuela is a good illustration. Forget the economics - that's what's going to happen as people lose control of technology...

News / Polish Airline LOT has the biggest fleet of 737-8MAX in continental Europe..grounded [18]


It has a special 'crash the plane' feature. From putting a couple of things I've read together, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing.

Partly it's the expansion of sillicone valley into other areas of the economy (software is now at diminishing returns so they're expanding and taking their lax approach to safety problems with them - their whole business model is: release quickly and fix problems later.

History / Poland's society at communism and socialism time [55]


he proved in other threads he knows nothing of the real PRL...

Food / American baking products (bread, shortening, etc) [19]


I think I may have been at a waffle house a couple of times... maybe. Not something I know at all.

I had a cousin living in the countryside who was a great southern cook (all made from basic ingredients including the cows in their pasture...) her mother in law was even better (I remember Sunday dinners at the mother-in-law's house when I spent the summers.... the South has it all over other regions of the US when it comes to food).

Food / American baking products (bread, shortening, etc) [19]


can't be worse than fried tomato and ...beans (for breakfast?)


blasphemy!!!!

Food / American baking products (bread, shortening, etc) [19]


I dream of hominy grits and collard greens (separate not together) Polenta and szczaw are okay but not the same....

Also biscuits... the lack of quick bread in Polish cuisine is a bit weird. I don't know if it's part of Czech cooking but in Hungary they have pogacsa (apparently originally fromTurkey...)

And cornbread! It goes so well with lima bean soup cooked on a hambone....

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


How would I survive?

This is the standard posture for the pledge (in the US)

miro.medium.com/max/740/1*sEGEXIWp7-gtxuOA0j4wBQ.jpeg


Not a sports team.... I can see what looks like the Polish eagle, but... no clue.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


I was referring to the American picture, that's not how we did it when I was in school. I have no idea what the red flag is....

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

Not sure about this moment but it used to be standard operating procedure in every public school (where every single classroom has a flag).

Patriotic rituals were meant to help hold a population without much in common (racially, ethnically, religiously) together. Language also helps serve that purpose (one reason that very uniform General American English exists (no equivalent in the UK AFAIK) that can be used by anyone regardless of region or class or ethno-racial background.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


Not VOA special English I hope! (torture for a native speaker to listen to though I realize it could be very helpful for learners at a certain level).


I don't know why they're holding out their arms, but that looks more like the pledge of allegiance (which happens every day for 12 years, from elementary through high school). We put our hands over our hearts (though if you were wearing a uniform you were allowed to salute).