Work / Poland is not the best country to get part time job with study? [59]


Sadly real on here though in real life most people are a rather less unhinged.

Plenty work legally all year round.


Long may it continue and increase!

Life / Worst aspects of living in Poland? [82]

It's a fascinating and beautiful language, isn't it.


The pronunciation's easy enough (and consistent), and there are plenty of people from elsewhere who've settled in Poland who speak the language very well (plus plenty of people in the diaspora that spoke it at home as a child yet speak it badly).

UK, Ireland / British men don't really like women [137]


It hasn't caused damage; the Royal Family seem to be thriving. Although Her tax affairs (like that of others are supposed to be private), I'd expect she has other savings and investments offshore too.

There's one thing we forget. If She copyrighted her image (Adolf Hitler became personally rich by doing this, he got a commission for every postage stamp, every poster or framed photo, every souvenir tea towel and mug, that and cash from his 'bestseller') she'd be one hell of a lot richer. Plus, the revenue from the bulk of her land holdings goes straight to the treasury.

Life / Worst aspects of living in Poland? [82]


Partly explains why life expectancy in PL is so low. That and the high proportion of processed meat and other processed foods which make up such a large part of the diet.

UK, Ireland / British men don't really like women [137]


It makes a big difference. Very big indeed...


She pays every penny she's asked to.


You're making some interesting assumptions about the person you're addressing. I don't do PAYE, though do pay tax at the highest rate. Certainly not a penny more than necessary (who among us would pay more tax than requested?) and do use various legal mechanisms to optimise the situation, not least because three different jurisdictions are involved; not so average....

How do I feel about The Queen's tax affairs? She isn't a citizen, she can't vote, she is a very special case. She should be exempt from all taxation.

News / Expat bank robbery in Warsaw [14]


There was a terrible robbery a few years ago, near my (then) business premises. They lined the staff up trying to get them to open the safe (they couldn't; it was on a timelock) and executed them one by one. One of the staff was a young woman in her first week in the job.

Plus the most famous bank theft in Poland, back in the days of the Second Republic, when a gang cleared out the best part of the country's entire gold and currency reserves from the national bank...

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


The 'state' of Poland (like any other 'state' at the time) didn't mean much at all. It had a miniscule population, a loose grip on power and little ot no concept of nationhood. Hansa naturally called the shots.


Rubbish. The EU is if anything capitalistic. Marxixsts generally loathe it. Nevertheless, it's great that there's a statue now in Trier, birthplace of one of history's most significant economists and historians. There's one in London too.

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


It was quite a lot more than that. It had huge economic power that meant that any issues of sovereignty (remember that this was before the modern concept of nationhood or the nation-state) were largely moot.


Remember that different polities had differing statuses in and relationships with the Hansa.


There's nothing Marxist about the EU.

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


It was quite a lot more than that. It had huge economic power that meant that any issues of sovereignty (remember that this was before the modern concept of nationhood or the nation-state) were largely moot.


Remember that different polities had differing statuses in and relationships with the Hansa.

Life / Worst aspects of living in Poland? [82]

I went down to Kraków for a meeting a few months ago. Train down in the morning, and train back in the evening. I had a white shirt on. When I got back, the collar was almost black. It used to be like that in Katowice. Now it's like that in Kraków too.

In Warsaw the pollution map is scary too. About 20 years ago, they used to have a pollution montor with a display screen outside DH Smyk. They had to remove it because the monitor for the different polluting substances was always right at the top of the scale.

Poland has a serious problem with this. Too many private vehicles, but above all, too much coal.

Law / Identity Theft Laws and Situation in Poland? [9]


Quite a lot as far as I know; there were certainly a few loans taken out, all in a short space of time. As well as dealing with grief, they also had banks and other loan companies intermittently contacting them to chase debts over the following couple of years. It took a long time to sort out, and I'm not sure if it's finished yet.


Yes, though nobody was ever charged. The lady was found buried in a forest, by (I think) someone out for a walk.


The lady's family and their lawyer suspect something involving a local politician near Warsaw.

I'd best not write too much more; the lady was my friend's mother, and although he doesn't read this forum afaik, he does speak reasonable English and could potentially see this.

I know of another case in Podlasie (which may be apocryphal). A gentleman went to America to live, returned unexpectedly a few years later and found his house had been sold by someone who had his old dowód osobisty. Allegedly the lawyer who handled the sale was responsible.

Life / Worst aspects of living in Poland? [82]


It's pretty bad in Warsaw, also in a couple of other cities. They publish the pollution levels and they are often high.

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


It's been both in it's time, and may yet be something else entirely at some point in the future.


It isn't about 'proving' someone's idea; it's about the long (and not yet finished) history of the city, a place that long predates the concept of nation states.

Polonia / Pregnant Polish woman stabbed in Germany, loses baby [77]


He's at it again.

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


A weird source for the original. Feel free to fear your own shadow.

And nothing to do with the history of Gdańsk, though that city has been the home (and organisational centre) of Polish Muslims for some decades not.

Polonia / Pregnant Polish woman stabbed in Germany, loses baby [77]


They lie shamelessly.

Polonia / Pregnant Polish woman stabbed in Germany, loses baby [77]

The 'gatestone institute'! :-D

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


Prussia has always been much more than any undistinguished local kingdom in terms of revenues, self-government, stability, culture and lasting achievements. Thank you.


It was completely untypical and very different to the less-developed polities further inland; that is visible even today.


Only this time??!?

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


From Prussia. Thank you.


It was much much more than that. As BB just said, it needs no myth since it left far better documentation (being better organised amp much more developed) than many of its hinterlands.

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


The Hanseatic league had a stronghold there; like so many port cities, it has always been different to its hinterland.

One of the few words in English comes from Gdansk, back in the days when it was Danzig. That word is 'spruce' (świerk). It came from Danzig, so it was sold in London as 'z Prus'.

The concept of the post-Westphalia nation state is relatively recent (and far from permanent). It doesn't do to try and view a place's history through the (very recent and temporary) lens of natioanlism and statism. History (like human geography) is more complicated.

Not that this has much to do with the tragic politically-motivated murder of the immensely popular Mayor Adamowicz.


An important document, however there are other threads to discuss the repellant booby donald trump.

History / A History of Gdansk, Poland [130]


Hit the nail on the head. Gdańsk (Dantsic and variants of that in English, though we say Gdansk now) is historically not quite Germany, not quite Poland. It was Hansa, and like several of the Hanseatic Cities and their former outposts/partner cities today, are special cases economically and culturally.

Polonia / Where do you live, in Poland or abroad? [28]


They said exactly that. One other problem was that their house was in an industrial town in Yorkshire, whereas retirees with houses to sell in Tottenham or Brixton were pushing the real estate values up in the safest (and coolest) areas of the island..

With people from Poland who came to the UK in the war or before, their home town may be in Belarus or Ukraine now, or in the case of a (very old) lady who's a friend of my family back home and originally from Warsaw, she left in the mid 30s (husband was a political exile) and only went back to visit once, during the 1970s, the city she grew up in was unrecognisable and all her relatives dead. She never returned.

Polonia / Where do you live, in Poland or abroad? [28]

I've known two couples, from Bangladesh and Jamaica, who settled in Britain when they were young, worked very very hard and always dreamed of returning to the country of their birth. In both cases they found that when they became elderly, it wasn't practical to go back. The place they remembered was gone, they'd spent their whole adult lives in England and were more used to it than anywhere else, and found that the National Health Service that they'd been paying into for years was far better than any alternative elsewhere. Plus, their occupational and state pensions would make them rich back home, but not quite rich enough. Plus, they wanted to watch their grandchildren grow up.

UK, Ireland / British men don't really like women [137]


You could charge a small fortune for front row seats. And then send the head to Crow to make up for those Serbian monarchs' severed heads that he's always complaining were stolen by Turks.

Seems a bit unfair to behead a much-loved 92 year old. Plus we enjoy having the world's longest-serving head of state. Perhaps we should decapitate Theresa May instead. Not that anyone would notice...

UK, Ireland / British men don't really like women [137]

None. The law is enacted in Her name. It's a grey area if She could be convicted without being deposed. English law works on precedent, and the nearest precedent for this was in 1688, rather a long time ago.


She wasn't 'caught', and be careful mixing British and American English. In BrEng, tax avoidance is perfectly legal (nobody pays more tax than they have to) whereas tax evasion is illegal. In AmEng, they use the term tax avoidance differently.

Life / Jehova's witnesses in Poland - how to deal with them? [110]


If you'd like a copy of the Watchtower they'll send you one and have a chat about the New System that Jehovah is bringing in.


6000 miles is a bit far.


Many such miracles of healing. Both in His time on earth and since.

Life / Jehova's witnesses in Poland - how to deal with them? [110]


No thanks, however Jehovah's Witness would probably be a good fit should you change. Often quite complex people.

Life / Jehova's witnesses in Poland - how to deal with them? [110]

@MoOli
Actually they are more inclusive, although it helps being born into that social group, as you were.

Life / Jehova's witnesses in Poland - how to deal with them? [110]

Just smile nicely and say "no thanks". They aren't persistent.


That's new! As I recall, you were Ravidassia before...

UK, Ireland / UK Sky TV in Poland [39]


FilmOn is ok (if a bit fiddly and with a poor user interface) and you can usually watch it with a far far worse connection.

If you've got decent internet and a vpn, TVCatchup is good (and free) though there are fewer channels.