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Posts by nott  

Joined: 2 Jun 2010 / Male ♂
Last Post: 26 Jul 2011
Threads: Total: 3 / In This Archive: 3
Posts: Total: 592 / In This Archive: 353

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nott   
10 Sep 2010
News / Poland hosts lowest proportion of foreigners in the EU [115]

Open society confronted with an expansionist totalitarian system, straight from the book. Sikhs are quite strict in their faith, yet they don't spill it on others, no problem with them. They have a few privileges, but they don't abuse them. Orthodox Jews - same thing. Both religions have their True and Only God, yet they don't care about those miserables who can't see the truth. None of them would demand 'religious hours' on the public swimming pool, with specific dress code. Muslims did, and got what they wanted.

nott: Future threat

That very well may be, as nobody can see in the future. There is a chance that they will start to influence govts of respective countries, but this doesn't necessary mean a bad influence. Say that they want more mosks as the number is low. I wouldn't have a particular problem with that.

I would. Not with the mosques as such, but with the influence. One of Muslim duties is Jihad, struggle, which boils down to promoting Islam by any workable ways. And they treat their religion seriously, not like Europeans.

I'm not a big fan of sharia law and all that jazz as I am not a fan of religion as such, but maybe it's just a way of profiling themselves. The more Europe is bashing on them, the more fanatic they will get. It's a natural response, you should know that as Poles under the Communist yoke turned massively to the Catholic Church.

Europe didn't bash them into Khomeini regime, nor into Saudi et al. Expansionism is the very core of Islam, and every Muslim will tell you that, if approached carefully. Allah is the only God, The Word is The Truth, and the Truth is to be followed by everybody.

Poland is a different story altogether.

What I think will happen, and neither I can look in the future, so it will all remain a guess, is that the numbers will level eventually and the Muslims will become so Westernized that they kinda automatically will adhere to the various standards of life we maintain.

They might, I can see some examples myself. One, actually, and this is an example of a person brought up in Finland, in a Muslim family isolated from a Muslim community, immersed in the West, so to speak. Perfect example of what you'd want to see. A devout Muslim with quite liberal approach to life and people. And I know other Muslims, apparently totally Westernised, and I spoke with them. Conclusions are not optimistic. These are people who might not like a too direct approach to spreading the God's Word, but they will not oppose it.

Muslims living in a Muslim community is another thing, and the more they follow the imams, peaceful or not, the worse it gets.

One particular project is especially successful: in a relatively small neighbourhood in Rotterdam live app. 5000 ppl, of which about 3/4 is immigrant and the rest locals. (...)

If this project is considered particularly successful, then the future is dark.

People left to themselves developed a troubled society. This was only rectified by an outside intervention, and in a country dedicated to maintain peace regardless of ideologies involved. Were the government dominated by Muslims, the outcome would be quite different. No suggesting pork to Muslim butcher.

This particular idea itself, from my London perspective, is hard to believe. There was a case of a Muslim who sued Tesco for trying to make him to handle beer cans with a forklift. One of my Westernised Muslims was offered a sandwich, then he saw it's meat, inquired about what meat it is, and politely refused on religious grounds. Fair enough, only he left shortly after, for a minute, to wash his hands. A quick cleansing. Until then I thought he was a Hindu, or maybe a Christian.

It may be a small example, but it gives hope for a better future without hatred.

It is a small example indeed. I don't claim that Muslims are totally incapable of adapting - which is a condition sine qua non, as you say yourself. If Islam was any closer to the European Christianity as it is now, I'd see little problem. First thing is, Islam must change. It doesn't where it's strong, and the dynamics of it's spread doesn't give much opportunity to the common Muslim folk.

Edit: about the low birth rates in Europe: that's an ongoing problem within all Western countries - you can't hardly blame the rise of Islam for that.

And I don't. And I don't blame Muslims for high birth rate, and I don't blame French for low birth rate. Things are developing, in a direction I do not like.

As far as I know, Christianity, Judaism and Islam all believe in the same god. Jesus Christ is recognized in the Koran as an important prophet. And there are other things that are similar.

There is a place in Hell dedicated for infidels, Jews and Christians included, and in prominent place. That's what I learned from an Islamic 'primer'. So if the message starts with complete and brutal exclusion of non-Muslims, then what is the attitude in the inner circles?

If both parties are willing, then a pace inter pares is very well pssbl.

If. Both. Google for 'Akkari file'.
nott   
10 Sep 2010
News / Poland hosts lowest proportion of foreigners in the EU [115]

minorities - they are in less numbers than we are, why are they considered a threat in that case?

Future threat, and that's what the vids were about. Even if the trends presented in the video are not accurate, there's little doubt that the natives have far smaller reproduction rate than the Muslims. If it stays like that, then in, say, two generations at most, Muslims can strongly influence politics in France, UK, Germany. Personally, I wouldn't be happy about that.
nott   
10 Sep 2010
Life / Polish ghost stories [38]

Catholic Church was trying to fight those pogan believes so tey implemented a Christian holliday - "dzień zaduszny" (the day of all souls).

Um it's not quite like that. All Saints Day is a Christian holiday, November 1st, with masses etc. Zaduszki is the next day.

In a way, quite a sinister holiday. That's when people visit family graves, often far from where they live, and plenty 'Sunday drivers' hit the roads. Combined with the short day and typically bad November weather, the holiday results in about 50 fatalities every year, far above average.

Hitman's story is the top one... I never had anything like direct encounter with ghosts, only heard some. Quite a lot of them in Poland, I'd say.
nott   
9 Sep 2010
News / Poland hosts lowest proportion of foreigners in the EU [115]

But isn't (or wasn't) our way of life until relatively recently also dictated by either the Catholic or the Prostestant Churches?

It was like that, but it isn't any more, and we are talking current situation. And still people do follow Christian rules from the past, including some utterly ridiculous, but the Church is changing - and weakening as a result. Apostates had hard time, in the past. Nowadays the severe punishment is, funny thing, exclusion from the Church. In Islam, the punishment is death.

I mean, I agree that Islam runs a little behind on Christianity, but that's also because it's about 700 years younger than Christendom. If you go back in time 700 years we had our witch hunts too and killing of ppl who didn't fit the description the Church gave of how the ideal sheep in the flock had to live.

But you cant' apply the same time-scale to Christianity and Islam. Christianity was developing on it's own, Islam has ready to use hints to adopt. Besides, Christianity was actually always quite open to ideas, and discussion was never considered a crime as such. In Islam not so, that's why it is still in the Middle Ages.

But to put up some sort of hate campaign simply goes too far imo.

Well, if 12 cartoons in a small Allah-forgotten country sparks massive demonstrations and hate speeches from spiritual leaders, then it goes too far in my opinion too. If it is one priest with a bunch of followers, mostly ridiculed by fellow countrymen, then it's more like free speech, imo. I must say I never heard about that book-burning guy.

Still... In Saudi they do not burn Bibles. Reason being, that possession of this book is illegal. Well, to be frank, I do not know what they do with Bibles intercepted on the border... Anyway, that goes a bit further than a private action, doesn't it?
nott   
9 Sep 2010
News / Poland hosts lowest proportion of foreigners in the EU [115]

Besides, what all these hate-vids fail to tell you, is that Muslims are not robots as they are presented to be, they do have a choice which passages of the Koran to follow

The second vid doesn't fail to point out that Muslim have no choice. Quran is the Word of God, but the Word changed with time, and the later revelations cancel the earlier ones, if contradictory. Regardless of the source, this is a fact.

The problem with Muslims is not that they have a different religion, nor that they have a religion at all. The problem is that this religion defines their point of view on everything, and this point of view is definitely what most people in Europe wouldn't want to live.

I am not sure about copyright, so just a link:

link
nott   
3 Sep 2010
History / Today is the 1st of September (WWII start in Poland) [138]

The French aspirations were mostly manifested by Napoleon, though, and it was him, whose spectre haunted Europe, not Robespierre. 1830 should've pacified those fears, according to your suggestion that more democracy means more peace...

But in all, I agree that it was a relatively peaceful century - in which perhaps the reason also lie for the huge outburst with which the century finally came to an end in 1914. And in 1914 it was shown that the system maintained for such a long time was rotten to the core.

I'd say full of tensions, rather. No tensions in rot. And were it not for the inter-state tensions, each country would've coped with inner tensions in their own backyard. I just can;t see how social development made the war inevitable.

I meant socially, rather. The regime was releasing the screw, thus enabling the 1905 revolution. Typical story. Were it not for the war, Russia might've turned into a modern state with relatively little pain.

nott: Why do you say it was only the Axis that was so stiff?

They were autocratic régimes. Power mainly revolved around the Kaiser or Czar. Parliaments were mainly mere tools to act on his will. And when you have an incompetent individual on tht position, you probably can imagine that the decisions made were not always in pace with the times. In GB parliament had much more power.

But it didn't prevent it from joining the brawl...

nott: And thus responsible for the war, presumably?

Oh, I pertinent disagree with the statement made that the Central Powers were responsible for the war. Each and every belligerent of WW1 carries responsibility. They all had the opportunity to stop the whole thing and yet they did nothing to that effect.

You lost me in this. But if they were more democratic, like GB et consortes, then there would be no war, you said? Or the democratization doesn't prevent war, so the existence of the British Parliament and absence of similar bodies in the Axis was irrelevant. I mean, the axis being behind the times had no relevance to the outbreak of the war. Hm?

nott: creating 1914 caesura

Of course, a caesura is always arteficial. According to Eckstein the breaking point in the heads of the population was the realisation that all the new technology wasn't infallible as they had been thinking in the two decades previous.

Could be. But these deep interpretations are always risky. I mean, take this case. People have just got their brand new new technology, it fails once after 20 years, so they go mad and shoot at each other en masse? Imagine the mayhem created by every Windows crash :)

"The Rites of Spring - the First World War and the Birth of the Modern Age" by Eckstein. It's a good read.

I might, thanks. But after I finish my current reads this thread will be prehistory...

nott: What about the promiscuous nature then? Face (let's say it was) that launches 1000 ships? Didn't it start from food and women? Or maybe the vision of a happier smile of My Kids? Isn't it always about that?

The blanket of civilisation always keeps us from killing our neighbour because he has a bigger car than we have and it would make us and our kids feel better if we had such a car :)

I was being serious. Wars are not just for the fun of it.

nott:
Shouldn't we shut up, then. Out of the the respect for principles.

It's my thread :) But besides, this discussion does imo have some relevance.

Yeah. like that ape stick to Zeppelin.

nott: After Kazimir the Great died, Polish nobility sent a delegation to France, to bring a newly elected king. They were appalled with the French barbarism. Dirt, lice, nobody speaking Latin.

Yeah, the French always spoke French and refused to speak Latin and the main achievements of their efforts to retrieve hegemony was that from the 18th century on, the diplomatic language in all countries was French.

They didn't 'refuse'. They lacked education. Latin was, so to speak, lingua latina. Heh :)

Some ppl say they would like to travel in time back to those days to see what it was like, but if they would, they probably would be vomiting from the smell as soon as they entered a pub or a house or a city: ppl didn't wash themselves until Victoria introduced it in the 1850's,

Well... I don't know about you Westerners, but 'bath' was not unknown in the East before Queen V. Ok, in the UK they invented tourism, went to the seashore, dipped in, hence Bath. We are different, though, no need to build a city to celebrate contact with water...

feces and other nasty stuff were thrown just out of the window into the street (if you were unlucky to pass at that moment...well...:)

They dug out that city in the Indus Valley... even further to the East...
:)

On the other hand, the approach to getting laid was also somewhat different back then; let's say, it was a bit more direct :)

So much for the sexual revolution. I don't believe in revolutions, as you know already :)
nott   
2 Sep 2010
History / Today is the 1st of September (WWII start in Poland) [138]

That wouldn't be Zygmunt August by any chance?

Jesus Christ, will anybody kick the sh1t out of me today for slightly mixing up some long dead egomaniacs?

People have no consideration these days.

edit:
'everybody'

Nott, this is not your day...
nott   
2 Sep 2010
History / Today is the 1st of September (WWII start in Poland) [138]

It wasn't a Great Revolution that happened in 1914, but the logical consequence of over a hundred years of inadequacy,

Now that's a bit of stretch? It was a century of peace, unparalleled in history. Development of arts and sciences etc. I can see the Clausewitz's professional point of view, but not everybody is supposed to think military, huh?

Incapability to adapt to changing circumstances: A-H, Germany and Russia with their ancient form of administration, ignoring the changing position of classes within society that came with modernisation and industrialisation and ill-equipped to tackle "modern" problems unlike Great Britain and a couple of others had successfully done.

Well... Russia was changing, fast. GB got a shock treatment by the Boers, and Victoria died as well in the meantime, and I don't really see any class movements there anyway. Why do you say it was only the Axis that was so stiff? And thus responsible for the war, presumably?

It's not my theory by the way, but was coined by multiple Historians who, imo, rightfully concluded that the period between 1914 and 1945 was nothing more than a conglomerate of events that were deeply related to one and another. Virtually nothing happened in that period of time which could not be linked in one way or another to other events that happened to an earlier point in that period.

Then you say it was a result of the whole previous century. Of course it was, so it seems that creating 1914 caesura between the Great Revolution and the Great War is just as artificial as stating that Middle Ages ended with the 15 century sharp (exaggeration alert). It's not you and your periodization that I oppose to, actually. This tool is obviously useful. It' that BB's infatuation with Versailles and somehow lame attempt to blame the whole Europe for Hitler. BTW, the 1871 event took place at Versailles too... :)

Btw, Louis Quatorze didn't fall, he just died in his bed in 1715 :) I think you mean Louis 16, his grandson, as this was the one who died under the guillotine.

Oh, never mind. Too many of them, and who cares about the French anyway... :)

Murderous nature of Homo Sapiens? Of course, most, nearly all can be traced back to that, but there are ever changing circumstances in which Homo Sapiens shows his murderous nature :)

And that's the fun of it, right :)

What about the promiscuous nature then? Face (let's say it was) that launches 1000 ships? Didn't it start from food and women? Or maybe the vision of a happier smile of My Kids? Isn't it always about that?

Edit: the discussion is on topic, as the invasion of Poland was part of the GWOTTC. And besides, my question whether there was a commemoration or not has been answered.

Shouldn't we shut up, then. Out of the the respect for principles.

M-G (Louis 14 never washed himself and was the inventor of perfume)

After Kazimir the Great died, Polish nobility sent a delegation to France, to bring a newly elected king. They were appalled with the French barbarism. Dirt, lice, nobody speaking Latin.

-----------------------

What's wrong with 1st of September?

some of those anniversaries, or an overexposure of them, are remnants from commie times.

I thought it was you who didn't really like the date.
nott   
2 Sep 2010
History / Today is the 1st of September (WWII start in Poland) [138]

On the topic I''d agree with you. It's a commemoration of the deceased, but it's a bit over the top. Due to the commie propaganda about murderous Nazi/Germans and benevolent Communist/Russians.

However, if you wanted to commemorate the victims, which date would you choose?
nott   
2 Sep 2010
History / Today is the 1st of September (WWII start in Poland) [138]

The GWOTTC would just have been delayed. The machinery was in place and it was good while still in the 19th century,

I'd agree with you on that. Regardless of what we might think about the undeniable influence of prominent individuals, there are 'powers of masses' that push history this or that way. Similarly, we might 'beat foam' for ages what would be the result of 1919 Treaty, were there not one half-sane Austrian handy. The pressure which BB emphasizes was there, but it takes real people to actually direct it in a particular way.

Thus I equally do not agree with the Great Revolution theory, presented by you. There were reasons for the fall of Louis the Sun, and we can trace them down to the very first moment when one ape used a heavy stick to earn a dinner at the expense of the currently less human ape. And whence this focus on the murderous side of the human nature, in the first place?
nott   
1 Sep 2010
News / Weekend of carnage as 41 people lose their lives on Poland's roads [44]

if you do have a licence, then you lose the licence as it's the same as drink-driving.

same in Poland.

In the situation, enforcing is the answer, for me. No amount of propaganda will change it.

But this needs a purge in the traffic police, first thing.

Drinking and driving should be regarded as a crime and if you kill sb in an accident when drunk behind the wheel, you're nothing less than a premeditated murderer and should go to jail for at least 10 to 20 years.

Exactly the law in Poland. Which, actually, is a bit over the top. The law should punish the actual offender, and not the one who 'was more likely to'.

To illustrate it: I was a witness of an accident. A drunk was waiting for the bus, and strolling impatiently around all over the road. Rainy November night, no street lights. Suddenly I heard a thud, turned around, and the drunk was down before a guilty looking maluch. Had he been killed, and the driver after two pint of beer, the sentence is like for murder. Hardly just, in fact.
nott   
1 Sep 2010
Life / Polish pride. PL stickers, flags and the white eagle! Where does our obsession come from? [79]

I guess it has sth to do with their history. PL has been abused many times throughout her history, enjoyed only 20-odd years of independence after having disappeared from the map, before embarking on 50 years of foreign occupation by first the Nazis, then the Commies. Now that they are finally independent

Etc. I would agree with you in theory, seems plausible. But I can't see 'the problem' in the UK. Hardly any Polish accent, except sometimes on shops with Polish food. And there's a series of Polish sausages with the Polish Eagle, but this is made in the UK clearly by somebody without a clue about Poland. And that's it. With hundreds of thousands of Poles in London itself...
nott   
31 Aug 2010
History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]

Born in Porąbka, today a district of Sosnowiec, was secretary in Katowice.

But it doesn`t matter, really. What matters is he was from Czerwone Zagłebie which isn`t Silesia.

I might've mixed up something, but for me he was always strongly associated with Jastrzębie for some personal (his) reason.

But, later on, he ruled Silesia and developed it.

Hm, Silesia under Gomulka was already quite developed. The Soviets needed steel. After Gierek went to Warsaw, he introduced more miner's privileges, but people preferred the memory of Ziętek.

Is there some joke I'm missing? :)

Just some of our intra-Polish bickering, nothing to you, dojcze... :)

Geez, midnight. Good night.
nott   
31 Aug 2010
History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]

I always wondered how many Germans where still left even after the purges of millions after the war...hmmm....

Really few. I remember meeting an old granny in the 70ies, speaking with broken Polish, but mostly with hardly intelligible German. She just stayed there, in Gliwice, she wouldn't have gone this was her place. Her family left, she stayed alone. She remembered the '3 days of freedom'...

edit:

nott:
He was from Jastrzębie,

Sosnowiec.

He was the 1st Secretary in Sosnowiec. Origins from Jastrzębie.

nott: which is Czerwone Zagłębie, which is Aldrajch, not Silesia.

Yes. I am sorry, these areas are so close to each other...... Neighbours! :):):):)

Don't you fcking remind me...
:)
nott   
31 Aug 2010
History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]

I only know about the millions of Silesian leaving for Germany...didn't look like a nice place to be...

Geez, BB, are you being serious? the key word is Western. Western Germany. As opposed to Eastern Germany and PRL. People who didn't even speak German, and their only chance to get the citizenship was a grandpa in Wehrmacht.
nott   
31 Aug 2010
History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]

Do you know that the local communist, Edward Gierek

Hey hey, he wasn't a Silesian. Not even born in Silesia, and not ever living in Silesia. He was from Jastrzębie, which is Czerwone Zagłębie, which is Aldrajch, not Silesia. Gorol z goroli, and mostly living in Belgium anyway.
nott   
31 Aug 2010
History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]

those brave, patriotic miners fighting for their freedom against the german beasts! *snicker*

So how many Polish regular units were fighting there?

Isn't it ironic that Silesia flourished under prussian, german rule and detoriated under polish rules and that so so many Silesians voted with their feet for Germany even decades later...

You know you are being nasty now...

Most Poles even today deny any german majority at all...;)

Pphulease, BB... Nobody sane in Poland claims that Lvovians are indigenous to Wroclaw :)
nott   
30 Aug 2010
Life / How can Polish immigrants complain about other immigrants? [65]

yes, that is what all conversations tend to do..

And sometimes they get more interesting then. Sometimes.

Im rather pleased... :D

so... are you free, then?

just asking...

Oh, forget it...

:(

A somali that works..I dont believe you! ;0)

Scout's word. And she smirks at the English who can't get to work through 5 cm of snow.

Poland is the next destination :D

Ts, I'd be there first flight. My grandpa digged out a sabre behind his barn. Nie damy zieeeemi skąd nasz ród!!
nott   
30 Aug 2010
Life / How can Polish immigrants complain about other immigrants? [65]

Lost me again. You hint at kosynierzy, or perhaps sickle?

-------

The thread seems to have started wandering, so it's like close to dead.

Dear Mods, please let it live for a day or two, and then I will post conclusions, Ok?
nott   
30 Aug 2010
Life / How can Polish immigrants complain about other immigrants? [65]

Tens of thousands of Poles fought for Britain during World War II - my dad was one of them (Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego - Polish II Corps).

Yet they were allowed to stay in the UK no problem, actually. Gurkhas needed special lobbying, as late as last year, if I remember well.

And - Poles fought for Britain, but only because of the Alliance, so somehow in self-interest. Gurkhas did not fight for Nepal. Even if you treat them as mercenaries, they did well.

Now tell me how many of the Poles who moved to the UK since 2004 have joined the British Armed Forces.

Not legal. Only UK citizens for ?? years allowed. I bet some Polish youth would much prefer UK uniform to hammer and chisel.

What is Gurkhas?Are you telling me Indians won one battle against the Germans?I am sure it never happened it is impossible.

Actually... they took part in Monte Cassino, quite a lot, and strong hope was they will prevail. The thing needed Poles, though, so no shame to Gurkhas, really...
nott   
30 Aug 2010
Life / How can Polish immigrants complain about other immigrants? [65]

Shame about Gurkhas, yes. Good that it ended well, afaik.

But if my block started to fill up with Somalis or Pakistanis, I'd be out of here faster than you can say lokshen kugel!

lokshen kugel. You're damn fast, man! :)

Somalis get along well with Somalis. And no need to evade evaluation.

This having said, I work with a Somali girl, and no problems. Very nice person.

Edit:
She's spent most of her life in Finland, now I remember...