Life / POLISH FLAG DAYS...when are they...? [30]


Not anymore.

The rules are as follows:

A flag representing a country (any country) should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset (unless there are floodlights on both sides). If the flag touches the ground, it should be washed. If the flag is "abused" (whatever that may mean), it still should be burned.

Suppose I would want to raise the Polish and the Dutch flag, then the Dutch flag should be on the right side. With three flags, the Dutch flag flies in the middle, and the next most important on the right. Unless there is no next important, then one should use the alphabet. But for that you have to follow the names of the countries in French (rule from Napoleontic times).

So in case we'd want to raise the Dutch, Polish and Spanish flag, the Polish flag would fly on the left, then the Dutch flag with the Spanish flag on the right (since Spain is called Espagne in French and hence is alphabetically before the P).

Life / POLISH FLAG DAYS...when are they...? [30]


I'm sorry, M-G, but I do fly the Dutch flag on Her Majesty's Birthday (April 30th) and 4 (Remembrance) and 5th May (Liberation). Now I'm not really one of the old generation.

One of the differences I noted in PL is that the flag also stays out after sunset, which in the Netherlands, is not allowed.

Life / Turnips on my doorstep in a Polish apartment - is it a custom? [17]

Just take them inside and make a nice turnip soup. Absolutely wonderful ... ;).

Or is it some secret admirer ... :-D?

UK, Ireland / What's the rule on 'the UK' but just 'GB'? [60]

Okay ... exceptions to the rule ... ? Like Indonesia ... ?

But in general, island groups have the definite article (The Seychelles, The Marshall Islands, The Cook Islands, etc ... ).

As do the countries which names describe the form of the state.

UK, Ireland / What's the rule on 'the UK' but just 'GB'? [60]

I've always been taught that the definite article in countries is used when the name comes from:

- geographic regions (The Netherlands);

- rivers (The Gambia);

- island groups (The Philippines, The Azores, The Canary Islands, The Isle of Man);

- mountain ranges (The Lebanon);

- deserts (The Sudan).

And also when the names of the countries describe the form of the state (The United States, The Czech Republic, The United Kingdom).

Love / 'Battered husbands' - still a taboo subject in Poland [387]


Not in Poland she isn't. If two spouses argue and one of the partners claims that he or she can't go anywhere, then the other partner usually lets him or her back in again. At the moment, this situation happens to my wife's family.

Her nephew was married to a woman. They have a daughter. He now has a new girlfriend. The former wife complained she had nowhere to go anymore. Guess what happened: the parents of the nephew had to (or at least felt very much obliged) to take up the ex-wife with her daughter (who obviously is their granddaughter).

Unfortunately, these situations are quite common.

Love / 'Battered husbands' - still a taboo subject in Poland [387]


Read the article, please. Women usually abuse psychologically, not physically. And, I repeat to you what I said to Amathyst: obviously you don't have children, or you don't think about the consequences for men IF they decide to hit back. The result will be that the man will not be allowed to see his children anymore. For me that is the ultimate injustice .

Love / 'Battered husbands' - still a taboo subject in Poland [387]


Aren't we friendly today ... ?


How about "Most victims keep quiet about abuse and suffer for years"? If you had read the article, then you would have noticed that women usually don't abuse men physically but psychologically. And it seems you don't have children or can't put yourself in the shoes of men, cause I for one wouldn't want to leave MY children behind with an abusive wife. But guess what happens if I decide to take them with me when I decide to leave. Then all hell breaks loose and I would be accused of kidnapping the children.

Love / 'Battered husbands' - still a taboo subject in Poland [387]


How true, unfortunately. Moreover, people usually think that the men involved are physically less strong than the woman, which makes them "double victims". But more often these men just don't dare to do anything, cause they fear the consequences (at least a night in jail, problems with seeing their children, etc ...). Some women, unfortunately, really know how to abuse the system.

Quote of the professor: ... adding that men usually abuse women because they want to achieve a certain goal, whereas women more often abuse men when they want to relieve tension or frustration".

I think it is the other way around ... I believe women abuse because they want to achieve a certain goal and men abuse cause they are frustrated.

@Amathyst: abuse is wrong, no matter who the perpetrator or the victim is. I don't agree with you that "we" cry foul just because the tables have turned. "We", if we are the victim, have the same right to complain as "you" have when "you" are the victim.

History / Endecja - State Sponsored Anti Semitism 1935 - 1939. [138]


Probably because they are already dead ...

If they were born in the 1930's, they are (almost) octogenerians now (if Mr. A.H. didn't get to them first, that is).

Another point is that they might not be able to remember: for example, although I was born in 1967, I cannot remember much about my life in the "glorious sixties".

Travel / Sailing in Masuria Poland - boat rental [4]

Thanks Wroclaw!


My idea of fun on a sailing boat ... ;). The idea is to "warm up" my wife for sailing. Sailed from NL to UK and back a couple of times and around the Azores for whale and dolphin watching (and swimming). So I guess I can handle a lake ... ;). Sailing "the big pond" is still on my wish list, not to mention sailing around the world. Guess I am too chicken to just give up everything I have and "take the plunge". My wife hasn't been on the water too many times, so I thought I would rent a boat for a couple of days to see whether she could start liking it.


You've got to be kidding me ... :-S?! Really?! What a shame!!


That's why I want a sailing boat ... ;). Other reason is no noise from an engine.

If anyone knows some decent rental company, I'd be much obliged.

UK, Ireland / The secret Polish gay men in the U.K [133]


Ohhhh ... you ARE naughty, aren't you ... ;)!? ROTFL.

UK, Ireland / The secret Polish gay men in the U.K [133]


And, unfortunately, it is mainly those among us who claim to be Catholics/Christians and should therefore be preaching tolerance. But what can one expect, when the Vatican has said last week that the ordination of women priests is on the same par as paedophiles in the Church (see The Independent newspaper) ... :(

History / The Untold Battle of Britain [205]

I have to agree with enkidu here ... .

Or try Numbers chapter 31 ... not really a nice bedtime story to read to the kids just before they go to bed ... :-S

News / Unbelievable but, its truth. Poland is finally happy to share border with Russia [57]



You convinced the Slovaks and the Czechs ... :O :D?! Hmm hmm, yeah, RIGHT ... ROTFLMAO. Come on man, don't be such a megalomaniac! A little bit of humbleness would suit you.


Suppose, Crow, that everybody says the sun is yellow. And you are the only one who says it is blue ... guess whom I will believe when I want to know the colour of the sun?

News / Decoded talks inside Poland's president's plane are released in Internet [337]


In that case there IS someone (even two) at the wheel, Patrycja. They just choose to land on autopilot. It happened to me last Monday; the pilot of my plane decided to land on autopilot on EHEH. Not a very comfortable landing, I must say.

But it wasn't that the pilot and co-pilot were sitting in the back with the passengers having a cupper.


And I am going to land there today around 1525 ... thanks for the "comforting words" ... ;).

News / UK might have anti-Polish socialist Prime Minister [29]


Not that I am in favour of them very much, but are Ed and David to blame for what some faraway forefathers did 90 years ago?

I'll tell you something about my family, father is Dutch, mother is German. My greatgrandfather on father's side was a Dutch collaborator with the Nazis, his son (so my grandfather) was in the resistance, lived the best part of WWII on the run in the woods and did some very nasty things to the Nazis.

My greatuncle from mother's side flew bombing raids for the Luftwaffe over the former Soviet Union, was shot down 4 times and was captured the last time. He was sent to Siberia and only came back home in 1957. My grandfather on mother's side on the other hand was someone high up in SPD-ranks, sent to a concentration camp and perished there.

Am I responsible in any way for what my greatgrandfather or greatuncle did? Or for any of my grandfathers?

Come on ... this thread is really far fetched. If that's all what you worry about ... .

News / Majority of Poland's kids physically unfit, claims PPA. [41]


Well ... that makes sense. He went to Wroclaw ... that's obvious.

News / Majority of Poland's kids physically unfit, claims PPA. [41]

Zetigrek, I am very sorry to hear that and I do hope you don't have too many problems with your back. No, you are right. Scoliosis has nothing to do with lack of PE, but has most likely to do with genetic factors.

Maybe your assertion explains the high percentage ... it does make very good sense.

News / Majority of Poland's kids physically unfit, claims PPA. [41]


I guess you are right. People mostly eat processed foods (look at the colour on the average dinner table - if people take the trouble to sit down and eat together at all - it's all light brown ... can't be right). People say it's quick, and cheaper than healthy food, but I guess it's just "penny wise, pound foolish". In the long run, you just have higher medical bills. And if we as parents give the wrong example to our children, then I think nothing will change.

You can buy 2 hamburgers at the McDonalds for 2 euros. And what can you buy in the supermarket for 2 euros? Nothing that makes us feel "satisfied", i.e. which gives us the feeling we've had enough to eat.

Don't get me wrong ... I'm not some health guru gnawing on salad leaves all day like some deranged rabbit ... there is nothing wrong with some "comfort food" once in a while.

But the scary thing is, that we are in fact killing our kids with a bad diet. Everybody is outraged when they see videos of 4 or even 2-yr olds smoking cigarettes and we question the "parenting skills" <ahum> of these parents. But if we keep feeding all this processed stuff to our kids, which in fact makes them live shorter than us, aren't we in a way just as culpable?

Just a question ... . Any thoughts ... ?

News / Majority of Poland's kids physically unfit, claims PPA. [41]


Well ... I am not in the UK, I am sorry. Maybe cause it's a forum about "POLAND AND POLISH NEWS LIVE" (see the white letters in the red bar at the top of the homepage)? Just an idea ... .

News / Majority of Poland's kids physically unfit, claims PPA. [41]


I dunno ... I just copied it from the article


Would that account for the huge number of ads on Polish tele for medicins? There is always some guy with a headache, or some woman with bowel problems ... :-S

News / Majority of Poland's kids physically unfit, claims PPA. [41]

I've heard that the current generation in the US is the first generation that will live shorter than the generation before ... I do hope Poland won't follow that example. But if it is true what the Polish Paediatric Association says, then it doesn't look well.

Life / Anyone else suffering from mosquito bites in Poland? [52]


What ... you fart them to death ... ;)?


Not only them, I'm afraid ... :-S

But I guess if you combine garlic AND beans, then you might have a recipe for success (or for a life in eternal solitude ... :-S)

History / The Pogrom on Jews at Eishyshok (Ejszyszki) in Poland [68]


So what do you want to do, huh?


Please, don't think Polish history is your history. Polish people have guts, have honour, something which can't be said of you.

Exaclty what M-G says, one Jewish person does something wrong and then all Jews are bad. You wanna know how many Polish people do things wrong in the Netherlands? Or how many drunken a$$holes I encounter every weekend in Wroclaw? So according to the theories of these simple-minds it means that EVERY Pole is a drunken, stealing, cheating, swan eating, fish poaching Neanderthal. It's not me who is saying this ... it's the logical conclusion one has to draw when listening to these suckers like Jolanda.

And Jolanda, please stop pretending you are Polish. It just sounds stupid. It's like I would say I am Polish because I am married to one. You better don't use "us", "our(s)" and "we" ... it's pathetic.

Life / Anyone else suffering from mosquito bites in Poland? [52]


Absolutely ... !! I live off Grabiszynska in Wroclaw (with no pools or puddles or rivers anywhere) and before I go to sleep I have to do some serious hunting. If it goes on like this, we'll have to paint the walls after the summer is over so the smudges are covered ... :(.

News / Father Popiełuszko beatified in Warsaw [28]

Says Mr Simple Mind himself. You go on with your conspiracy theories, Jolanda. And keep believe in them, sucker.

News / Father Popiełuszko beatified in Warsaw [28]

... which exactly proves delphiandomine's point. There's always some conspiracy behind everything. Jee, I guess even the Russians are behind the fact the sun is setting every evening or the grass grows during summer.