Life / Poland after one year of living here [105]


Yep, much common ground there.


That is actually very perceptive.

Life / In Poland, are women and girls obligated to wear head scarves in church? [36]


On TV, occasionally in Warsaw but especially at the Mariavicki cathedral in Płock.

Yes, I know they're not RCC, but for some reason they still use them.

In parts of northern England, funeral companies used to provide them for mourners. I doubt that still happens (showing my age...)

Life / Poland after one year of living here [105]


Actually Lyzko, such people (perhaps I'm one) don't believe that at all. Those who think things like that aren't the "traditional, button-down Brit", they're actually the people who neither know nor care about anything except misplaced emotion. In short, Trump voters.

News / How would Poland change for the better (or worse) under a PiS government? [257]


I read the appraisal from the people whose turds he polishes. Them and several Nobel Prize winning economists. And they all said (while crapping) that we should stay - a world without the EU would be a far worse place...

BTW, he probably earns more than that per week, not that money is a measure of human worth, common sense or ability. He does however know what he's talking about when analising the mess PiS have made of the economy in Poland. uch messes take a long time to filter down. They don't effect Poland B right away (there isn't much of an economy there, hence the name) but when the economy does collapse further, millions in Poland will suffer.

News / Poland marching for life and family [132]


A familiar style ;-)

And nothing wrong with a woman having as much sex as she wants with whoever she wants as long as it's consensual and not directly harming others.

Life / In Poland, are women and girls obligated to wear head scarves in church? [36]

And remember that in Poland people often stand outside church during the service - a good option if you feel a little underdressed.

I've never really figured out why people stand outside, especially when the inside is far from full. I have theories, but...

Of course it shouldn't matter if you're dressed like a nun, a factory worker, a prostitute, in beach wear, in a Mr Blobby costume or looking like a stinking bag lady for that matter. I've even seen someone turn up to Sunday mass in a cathedral wearing a tin foil helmet although that wasn't in Poland.

News / Poland marching for life and family [132]


Organisers always lay on buses. The difference is that when PiS bussed their supporters in for an anti-democracy rally they all sloped off to Arkadia.

Anyway, a very nice turnout

A very dodgy site you've linked to by the way. Best avoided.

Life / In Poland, are women and girls obligated to wear head scarves in church? [36]


Not only satmarers, some of the more mainstream orthodox do too. There was a scandal in Lomdon a while back when a respected Rabbi declared wigs made from real hair to be non-kosher and the women went mad because they didn't want to wear plasticky ones.

Women covering heads outside the home has been a tradition in Europe too - my granny always wore a headscarf outside and headwear is common among older women in Eastern Europe. Increased car ownership and less time spent outside in cold weather has a lot to do with the habit disappearing.

And as a poster mentioned, there are the infamous mohair berets.

Genealogy / Can I feel a very tiny bit Polish? [21]


Perhaps more than you think. Poland is not so primitive that it has only your particular set of values or cultural environment. I prefer to embrace the values of Cardinal Podolski, Gabriel Narutowicz, Janusz Korczak, Tadeusz Boy-Zielinski and Bronislaw Geremek than for example the Dmowski person and his cohorts.


No, you don't get it do you. How many decades ago did you leave Poland.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


Quite. I wish American workers well, however on one level their well-being is no more a reason for most Brits to vote remain than the well-being of factory workers in Britain would motivate most Americans to rush to the polling stations.

Nevertheless, we (the EU, the US, etc) are up against a very strong rival in China and South East Asia and unless we stand shoulder to shoulder neither the workers in Detroit nor in Manchester will have a cat in hell's chance.

Poland, by the way, would be particularly badly affected. They'd be left with food production and little else.

Genealogy / Can I feel a very tiny bit Polish? [21]


Spot on. @Doloslask is as British as I am and he is also a Pole. There is no conflict between the two things.


Ethnicity is about shared cultural values. It is possible to change ethnicity.



Exactly. It is far richer and more complex than that.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


I'm not at all sure that technocrats 'understand nothing'.

To leave the world's largest trading bloc, a group of nation states who came together after a period of appalling instability and have forged Europe's longest period of peace and co-operation would be an act of collective insanity.

Did you read Anthony Beevor's article today?

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


Yes, your posts do make that clear.

Looks at the moment that the vote will be for 'remain' and hopefully it will be the end of that nonsense.

Life / In Poland, are women and girls obligated to wear head scarves in church? [36]


You still see them used sometimes in Poland.

The thing about women covering their heads in church originated (as a specific rule) with St.Paul however that rule more likely reflects Christianity's roots as a Middle Eastern religion.

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]


And there was me thinking you like old-fashioned values...

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


Exactly. And in Wales and Scotland all medicine is free for everyone.


This much is true. Basically Brexiteers are the poor voting with the rich becauise they vainly hope some crumbs will fall from the table.

News / Poland PiS' unpopular welfare policies lead to spike in TV purchases and alcohol problems [31]


If you want to live at home all your life, that's all very nice. If you have no choice because you need support living independently and that is not available, not so nice.

Life / Number of church attendees in Poland [54]

Ascended Master teachings. Flourished in Poland before the war. Janusz Korczak was a firm believer in that, as was General Tokarzewski-Karasiewicz. Are you familiar with the story of Uma Devi (Wanda Dynowska)?

Growing now in Poland too, as part of various spiritual pathways.

To get back closer to the topic, Poland is in an interesting period at the moment. A population who have had a lot of exposure to religious ideas as well as a heavy dose of rationalism, many dissatisfied with the RCC as a spiritual journey.

As traditional church attendance plummets, people are turning more and more to the various alternatives that exist.

Life / Number of church attendees in Poland [54]


The bad old days.

News / Poland PiS' unpopular welfare policies lead to spike in TV purchases and alcohol problems [31]


Their stance is chaotic and shamelessly populist.


Unfortunately, since poverty was at a far higher level in your 'good old days' I think we can say that those 'values' you mention weren't actually working at all.

News / Poland PiS' unpopular welfare policies lead to spike in TV purchases and alcohol problems [31]


Is that a fact? Have you actually lived under a PiS administration? No.


The phrase is unfortunately not in clear English. There are no problems at all about making mistakes in English (or Polish) providing the context is clear and the thinking logical. However that sentence is neither.

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]


Hampstead?

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

I'm not the one claiming that people you've never met, attending a meeting you were not at, whose names you don't know, are 'benefit sponges'.

News / Poland PiS' unpopular welfare policies lead to spike in TV purchases and alcohol problems [31]


Less so than yourself who has no direct experience of them.


Hard to know what you mean here, however it looks like you're trying to oversimplify the causes of poverty and social exclusion.


So in fact you don't understand it at all.

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

I certainly know quite a bit more than you, who evidently assumes the people who attended the meeting in question were 'benefit sponges'. Have you met any of those present?

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

How do you know whether the people who went along to the meeting are "part of public life" or not, or whether they are "benefit sponges" whatever that is?

Life / Number of church attendees in Poland [54]


Sounds interesting, do tell!

At mass today, I was surprised how few people attended.

News / Poland PiS' unpopular welfare policies lead to spike in TV purchases and alcohol problems [31]


Evidently not very well considering the number of Poles who beg for money in the streets of Warsaw. And you say their families should be responsible....

Really, you fail to understand the whole concept of a civilised welfare state with socialised healthcare and a proper safety net. As do PiS.

Life / A rumour about the need to give passport copy when you buy a prepaid sim number in Poland? [23]


Agreed. It's a dreadful idea.

News / Poland PiS' unpopular welfare policies lead to spike in TV purchases and alcohol problems [31]


They have been so far and they're still homeless, aren't they Ironside. So basically you've suggested something that we know already is useless.


That's the point of a welfare system. Avoiding the whole selfish thing.

One Polish idiot (he is an idiot and he is Polish) I was speaking to compared the taxation/welfare system to two families marooned on a desert island, one who work hard and one who are lazy. He said something like."why should the hard working family support the lazy one?"

That invited the obvious response about this really hard working guy, basically who's his daughter going to marry?

Think about that one.