PolishForums LIVE  /  Archives [3]    
   
Posts by Bieganski  

Joined: 21 Mar 2012 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - O
Last Post: 24 Mar 2018
Threads: Total: 17 / In This Archive: 17
Posts: Total: 888 / In This Archive: 650

Displayed posts: 667 / page 14 of 23
sort: Latest first   Oldest first   |
Bieganski   
14 Jul 2014
Law / Would be an honor to serve in Poland. Can an American pilot transfer to the Polish Airforce? [14]

hi i have some military experience, i was wondering if i could join the navy, army or air force of Poland. How long do i need to be in Poland to join?

You must be a Polish citizen first among other requirements.

From Poland's Ministry of National Defence
archiwalny.mon.gov.pl/en/strona/333/LG_260_261

Only professional soldiers serve in the Polish Armed Forces.

Only Polish citizens can be professional soldiers and must have an unimpeachable reputation, an unwavering loyalty to the Republic of Poland, appropriate qualifications as well as being physically and mentally fit for military service. Being a professional soldier requires discipline, loyalty and devotion.

In your status as a foreigner another thing to remember is that if you have no command of the Polish language (reading, writing, aural and verbal) then you would be of no use in the Polish armed forces. How do you think you would follow through with an order if you can't comprehend what is being tasked to you? They won't accommodate you by speaking in English or providing a translator to accompany you around.

There are some countries like France, Britain and the US which allow foreigners to join their ranks. But these are mainly low skilled, non-critical positions which have a high turnover rate of personnel anyway and only a very basic understanding of the native language is required. Essentially cannon fodder assignments.

And in case you are wondering, Poland doesn't offer language training nor a pathway to citizenship for foreigners seeking to join.
Bieganski   
12 Jul 2014
History / Was the Polish/ Lithuanian commonwealth a European power? [111]

what ordinary Polish folk think of back then Commonwealth?

Most Poles are aware of Poland's history. Those keen on history will acknowledge the Commonwealth's influential role in some European affairs during the time of its existence. However, there aren't many today who long for its re-establishment in any form.

Davies gives the opinion in his video that Poland today is "artificial" due to its homogeneity vis-a-vis the heterogeneity of the previous iterations of the RP. He fails to acknowledge that Polish identity evolved from the settlement of Slavic groups which shared common customs, beliefs and linguistic characteristics. It was only after centuries of encounters with other different ethno-religous groups which demonstrated Polish linguistic and cultural dominance over these other groups. However, not all in these other groups assimilated seamlessly to Polonisation (if at all) and in time class differences became defined by ethnic and religious differences as well.

So how did the heterogenous 1st and 2nd Commonwealths pan out? Both ended in disaster; carved up and erased by their militarily stronger but also more homogenous neighbors (i.e., Germany, Prussia, Russia). But wait you say, what about the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Yes, that too was a very heterogenous entity but as we can see today that former crown was also shattered along ethno-linguistic lines in the dozen or so different countries we see today.

It's understandable for an outsider like Davies to point to the past and say Poland will become great again only if it becomes another doormat for the world. Yes, its all well and good for such guests like Davies to crash a party and then start telling the host what to do. But in time all parties have to come to an end and they don't necessarily end on a happy note. In any event it's always the host that ends up having to clean up the mess.

the vast majority of the posters here who claim to be Polish (or ethnic Poles, as they sometimes claim to be) are in reality just Americans who live in America as Americans

You mean after decades of supposedly living in Poland that you are not Polish yourself? You mean you won't go and claim a Polish passport unless you can get a private ceremony with the president like Davies? Please, don't hold your breath.

Of the young Poles I know

You didn't provide a figure so it's safe to say they are very few and they most certainly speak English.

they are far far more interested in the European Union than the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth.

Of course. The EU is what exists now so it's no wonder that young people are interested in it simply due to the extent of its bureaucratic reach and the effects it has on their lives today and future well being. It's only old aged pensioners or the long term unemployed who have the luxury of extensive free time to delve into other historical matters or post trifling comments all over the internet right around the clock on a daily basis.
Bieganski   
12 Jul 2014
History / Was the Polish/ Lithuanian commonwealth a European power? [111]

and Polish historians, such as Davies.

There really is no need to be calling other PF members ignorant over a pedantic matter of someone else's passport collection. The article you linked states Davies was granted Polish citizenship only a week ago. It was a personal matter for Davies anyway. In the interview he quipped that he wanted two passports (British and Polish) just like his wife. So the previous comments about Davies being British is still accurate.

Davies acknowledged anyway that he will always be considered the odd man out:

"On a more earnest note, Davies reflected that he often encounters people in Poland who "mindlessly accept black-and-white categories: them and us, Poles and foreigners, patriot-traitor, the son of the nation and the guest from abroad."

Sure he may now be a citizen of Poland on paper but that is between him and the state. Ethnic Poles however are under no obligation to cast their own heritage and identity aside and start regarding being Polish as nothing more than the sum of documents issued to a person by the Polish government.
Bieganski   
29 May 2014
Genealogy / My name is Whitney does anyone know the Polish equivalent/spelling? [7]

That doesn't make sense.

Not to you but that doesn't surprise me. However, it's a very real possibility. English speakers wouldn't pronounce the Polish W as a V and their lazy tongues are pretty challenged by any word longer than two syllables. It hasn't been uncommon either for persons of Polish or other Slavic heritage or even Jews to drop the very endings of their surnames in order to sound less "ethnic" to the English speakers around them.

If in the example I provided the original surname was something like Witnewski then it could have morphed into Whitney just to bear some slight visual or phonetic semblance to the original name. This could have been done consciously by the surname holder or morphed into a nickname given to him by English speaking neighbors, friends or co-workers. Name changes don't occur through some planning committee. Such changes more often occur through error, humor or whimsey. And this is all the more so when someone is an immigrant to a country which has a completely different culture and language. Even the name Whitney itself. Most people looking at it today wouldn't recognize it as meaning "White Water" and that includes those who have it as a first or last name.

Place name, not surname.

There are many people who have this as a surname and it is not a modern occurrence. Many surnames derive from and are as ancient as place names and many place names come from surnames.
Bieganski   
29 May 2014
Genealogy / My name is Whitney does anyone know the Polish equivalent/spelling? [7]

If Whitney is your first name then as Monitor pointed out there is no Polish equivalent.

If Whitney is your surname then there are some possibilities as to how you got saddled with it.

Whitney is an Old English surname which is believed to mean "White Water."

The Polish words for these are biały (white) and woda (water). There is a rare Polish surname Białowodzki which derives from these two words. However, if this was your parent's original surname it would be a very remote chance that they would just happen to come across the Old English equivalent "Whitney" which is still in use today.

The most likely reason you are now stuck with Whitney is because it is an Anglicized corruption of a Polish surname such as Witnewski. Alternatively your parent's original Polish surname may have been something completely different but they randomly chose Whitney due to their original surname being too difficult for native English speakers to spell and pronounce. Or they were mislead into believing that in order to integrate into an English speaking society then one must adopt a WASP surname. They may have chosen Whitney from a place they visited (there is a Mount Whitney in California) or a street, restaurant or shop sign that had some relevance to them when they moved to America. Or they may have chosen it after a person they personally knew or after an American entertainer who had this name.

If you ever discover your original Polish name don't hesitate to contact your local court and have it changed back.
Bieganski   
20 May 2014
News / Polish Pope, John Paul II has been canonized today [with John 23rd] [85]

most fair-minded people and even some of the Pope's critics, acknowledge that the Polish Pope was a special kind of person.....who came into being a Pope at the right time.

You're absolutely right. And this is supported in the following map which shows countries in purple which sent a delegation to JPII's funeral and those in gray which didn't:

JPII Funera Dignitaries

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pope_John_Paul_II_funeral_dignitaries.png

And by foreign delegations it wasn't merely clergymen from various faiths and a country's ambassador assigned to Rome. His funeral was attended by kings, queens, prime ministers, ministers, presidents and first ladies. Of course his canonization didn't gather the same size or type of crowd but when he was alive and even today the entire world recognized that JPII was a remarkable man.

One quote I found sums it up the best:

abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2003/s968505.htm

John Paul II was "a giant of the human spirit in a post-modern moment that's full of pygmies."

Bieganski   
20 May 2014
Life / Would getting a PW tattoo be seen as disrespectful in Poland? [7]

Of course no one can stop the OP from going ahead and getting the PW symbol for a tattoo. The OP may also find some Poles and numerous non-Poles who don't see any problem with it being used by anybody for whatever reason. Sure they may recognize the PW and know a little bit about its history but they have no personal connection to it so it doesn't matter to them who uses it.

However, Polish veterans are very sensitive about it being inappropriately used by other persons and organizations.

Indeed, the Veterans of the Warsaw Rising have sought to patent the symbol:

Veteran Andrzej Gladkowski, vice chairman of the Association of Warsaw Insurgents, told Polish Radio that the emblem is being used for inappropriate purposes.

Source: thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/106785,WWII-resistance-symbol-to-be-patented

The reason cited by the OP for getting this particular symbol has nothing to do with honoring an ancestor who fought in the resistance movement. It also has nothing to do with any direct involvement or support for Polish wartime veterans.

Rather the motive is just a personal one which is completely unrelated to the service and sacrifice of those Polish veterans who fought to liberate Poland from the Nazis.

The OP stated:

The main reason I want the Polska Walcząca tattoo is because I recently recovered for depression. And I want a reminder that I have fought it before and I survived despite many suicide attempts.

It's fair to say that tattoos are used as conversation pieces. Obviously the OP wants the tattoo to draw attention to himself and in turn raise awareness regarding his serious medical illness which he feels he has currently recovered from. However, there are more appropriate ways to go about this.

For example, the OP can get a tattoo of an "awareness ribbon" which is used by support groups for such issues like depression and suicide prevention.

Here is a list:
n.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awareness_ribbons

Better still the OP can volunteer his time and/or donate the money he would spend on a tattoo and give it to a local charity which helps people like him who also suffer from such problems.
Bieganski   
13 May 2014
UK, Ireland / British or polish Passport ' Advice feedback [47]

Ah, so a British passport is valued by the criminal underworld along with trafficking such items as drugs, human slaves, weapons, etc.

I hear you. Still you provide another reason not to be proud to own one. Furthermore in some situations having a British passport can be extremely to ones disadvantage. Who is more likely to be singled out, kidnapped for ransom, or killed on a hijacked plane or in far-flung war torn area of the globe? Someone waving a British passport around or someone who can produce a Polish passport?

The choice is obvious.
Bieganski   
13 May 2014
UK, Ireland / British or polish Passport ' Advice feedback [47]

This is true. But this Kevvy poster seems to think a British passport is something akin to celebrity status which will instantly open doors all around an envious world with lots of freebies thrown your way if you happen to have one. Not so.

As you know a passport itself is simply a travel document. Britain may have certain visa waiver agreements with some particular countries which Poland currently does not. But such agreements are always being negotiated on.

The British passport only seems alluring to some because of the rise in its usage over the past few decades. But this usage is directly attributed to political decisions and economic policies which lead to a better exchange rate for the British pound over other currencies (usually to the great detriment of other sectors in Britain's economy but I'll digress on that point). Added to this has been the advent of cheap travel fares for the masses due to deregulations and fierce competition. However, exchange rates and travel costs are cyclical and any advantages these command today in the market place can evaporate tomorrow.

A British passport itself doesn't guarantee employment or access to better or free health and legal services while traveling with it. At best having one entitles such a national to have someone from their country's consular section come visit them in hospital or jail. But such visits usually are more of a data gathering exercise for their own statistical reports they file away rather than to actually do anything to help their fellow national out of their predicament. And as I mentioned the UK has more places where one of their nationals can at least cry for help even if it is to no avail. For example, just look at the convicted British pedophile Gary Glitter. Having a British passport certainly didn't get him out from rightfully serving a prison sentence in Vietnam or prevent him from being deported.
Bieganski   
13 May 2014
UK, Ireland / British or polish Passport ' Advice feedback [47]

...he was born with a british passprot as that is more valuableand we want the best future for him

Quite. The UK does have more diplomatic posts around the world compared to Poland. But they need to. So many traveling Brits regularly run foul of local laws and end up banged up abroad that there is always a high demand for consular services.
Bieganski   
27 Apr 2014
News / Polish Pope, John Paul II has been canonized today [with John 23rd] [85]

The muted reaction on PF to JPII's canonization shouldn't be a disappointment. The more notorious high-volume, low-value posters on here have typically expressed an anti-Catholic stance so their comments most likely wouldn't be welcomed in this thread anyway.

Although he had his critics, for many Poles and non-Poles alike JPII was already regarded as saintly in many respects while he was alive. The global reaction to his death and unprecedented gathering for his funeral back in 2005 already afforded him this recognition. Sunday's canonization nearly a decade later was merely a formality.

And the canonization itself was also held concurrently with that for John XXIII. It was also presided over by two living popes. So the focus was not solely on this one great son of Poland. Since the Catholic Church literally is a universal church JPII is now a saint for practicing Catholics all around the world to draw inspiration from or to be the focus of their personal prayers.
Bieganski   
17 Apr 2014
News / Little statistics about immigrants in Poland. Employment and job prospects. [25]

ethnic division was one of the factors that weakened interwar poland.

Yes indeed and we can see ethnic divisions being played out today right on Poland's doorstep as Ukraine is being physically carved up.

Whatever problems come with immigration, multiculturalism proves beneficial in many ways.

And yet heads of state across the EU have already declared multiculturalism in their own countries to be a complete failure. No surprise then that you didn't provide any proof to your claim that "multiculturalism proves beneficial."

Stable countries with much narrow levels of wealth inequality have in the main been those with largely homogenous or extensively integrated populations. Poland is one example of homogeneity with broadly less income inequality. Canada (home to generations of successful Poles and Polonia in their millions) is an example of a country with a much more diverse population but it too has less income inequality and has done quite well (even in the face of Quebec separatists) at keeping its peoples integrated with a shared identity.

Poland will do well by not copying the disastrous immigration policies of places like Britain (that "proud" multiculti-landscape where secession is now the word of the day everyday; income disparity is chasmic and rife; neighbors are lifelong strangers; and Poland is the destination of choice for its carpetbagging multiculti-advocates).

Poland will also do well by never becoming another "rainbow nation" like South Africa or Brazil both of which are bywords for shocking levels of corruption, violence and inequality pervading every level of their societies.
Bieganski   
26 Mar 2014
Life / Are there Russian speakers living in Poland? [10]

There are Russian speakers living in Poland but they are not a significant number at all in comparison to the total population of Poland.

According to the 2011 census (page 96) there were almost 20,000 who claimed they spoke Russian in their households but there were only 1,136 where Russian was their sole language:

stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/LUD_ludnosc_stan_str_dem_spo_NSP2011.pdf

Also, on page 98 of the same report, only 17,000 reported Russian to be their native language and on page 260 only 8,000 identified themselves as being primarily ethnic Russian.

Looking more broadly, a 2007 BBC news report borrowed from Poland's Rzeczpospolita said that there was a rekindled interest in learning Russian but this was a knee-jerk reaction among Polish job seekers only because many Western companies at the time were requiring Russian language skills from their applicants. However, the article also said that only "...around 6% of secondary school students in Poland now matriculate in Russian - six times more than in French, but some way behind English and German."

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6233821.stm

Russia is not Poland's primary trading partner. Russia has not been a desired or required destination either for most Poles who have relocated for work over the past decade. It is highly unlikely you will ever see a sudden influx of hundreds of thousand or millions of Russian speakers come to Poland. Therefore the Russian language itself will never become a dominate language on Polish territory ever again unless Poland had some reason to annex lands to the East.
Bieganski   
2 Mar 2014
News / Is this the first clear and open signal that Poland makes preparations for war with Russia? [163]

When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, the West (i.e. the EU, US and NATO) did jack

And the US in particular has a very long history of "intervening" militarily in the affairs of other countries. Sure excuses are always manufactured like stopping the spread of communism, stopping the spread of WMDs, stopping the spread of terrorism, etc., etc., etc. They even now go to the UN to form a "coalition of the willing" to give a thin veneer of legitimacy to their actions. So be it. But it's still the height of hypocrisy then to decry what Russia is doing and insist that sovereignty and "territorial integrity" must be respected in other countries. The US and its allies could have had moral authority in this current Ukrainian crisis but they don't and won't.

Many citizens in the US feel they have been spread too far and at a terrible price in both blood and treasure with nothing to show for it but more instability in the world. The EU is detested from within for bloated bureaucratic rule and nothing to show for it but low growth and demoralizing long-term high unemployment. And what authority does Britain have calling for unity in Ukraine when their own "United" Kingdom is months away from falling apart?

Poland won't go to war over a break-up of Ukraine. Ukraine is not part of NATO and so the Russian take over of Ukrainian territory technically has nothing to do with NATO even though events are happing on its doorstep. And as long as the Russian speaking population continue to raise the Russian tricolor around Ukraine any NATO intervention would be not only be without merit but illegal. As cited before a civil war is likely to erupt and in any civil conflict there are always going to be refugees. The West will only be able to do what they can humanitarian wise while looking to do what they can to isolate Russia politically and economically. But good luck with that if China decides to support Russia and suddenly calls in the debt it holds over America.
Bieganski   
22 Feb 2014
Genealogy / Would DNA test show Jewish genes? [10]

i know there are certain factors for those Ashkanzie Jews......for example, if that is a part of your ancestry, you could be more suceptable to certain types of cancers.

Apparently so. A couple of online main stream media newspapers published articles not too long about defective genes being prevalent among those with Jewish ancestry and their proneness for certain kinds of health disorders:

Israel has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world. Mortality is very low, in part because of intense screening.

Scientists discover gene that predisposes Ashkenazi Jews to schizophrenia; Variations of the DNST3 gene make Ashkenazi Jews 40 percent more likely to develop schizophrenia and similar diseases.

Bieganski   
8 Feb 2014
USA, Canada / Bilateral Visa Waiver Agreement between USA and Poland [47]

thats just the point isnt it ... surely if you asked a hundred americans where they would fancy going on holiday next summer- ,,,those wanting 2 hop foot it to poland -you could count on one hand , and thats being generous

Americans today do have little or no awareness of Poland (despite there being a long intertwined history between both countries) and this can be attributed to the American media and its school system and their failure to inform and educate Americans about Poland.

And its worth pointing out as well that both the US media and US schools are mainly owned or run by "progressives" and this has been the status quo for decades.
Bieganski   
24 Dec 2013
History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Communism was a disaster for Poland. That's why Poles rose up and got rid of it.

Patriotic Poles who love Poland and put Poland first have always fought to eradicate this evil from Polish soil.

Polish resistance can be found not only during the successful Solidarity movement of the 1980's....

Solidarność

but all the way back to the 1920's when the bolshevik cancer first began to spread in Europe....

Bij bolszewika!
Bieganski   
1 Dec 2013
News / PiS spokesman steps down after Poland's CBA find undeclared cash in his bank account [22]

And Hofman is now out. And the point I made (much to your chagrin) is that PO also had a resignation for an impropriety as well which I fully explained.

But why are you troubling yourself over Polish politics anyway? It's not like you have any real roots or commitment to Poland. You said so yourself.
Bieganski   
1 Dec 2013
News / PiS spokesman steps down after Poland's CBA find undeclared cash in his bank account [22]

Not a fair comment: the general is accused of writing a friendly letter in which he tells a company "t hey are likely to be successful in a tender process to supply the Polish military with drones." (I do wonder why that part wasn't posted above).

Absolutely fair and relevant. Corruption is corruption no matter which form it takes or who is committing it. Furthermore, the link was provided for everyone to read details of the corruption allegations on their own. And indeed, why is a general with highly influential rank sending a letter "written in a warm and familiar tone...[that] appears to signal to the Israelis that they are likely to be successful in a tender process to supply the Polish military with drones."?

You obviously have no knowledge or experience dealing with contracts. Since the government will be using taxpayer funds to purchase drones the selection process has to be impartial with the criteria being the most capable product be award to the successful business who can deliver best value or lowest cost. Any government official involved in the selection process who is sending "warm and familiar" messages hinting at who will win the award undermines all this. It was right for the general to resign for even the appearance of impropriety because for all we know he could have been sniffing around for 100,000 zl out of the Israelis to seal the deal.

It's fine if you want to cry over PiS every chance you get but if you really believed all politicians and their appointees need to be held to account to the electorate (the hallmark of real democracies) then you should be willing to at least acknowledge when PO is also covered in muck.

But of course because of your own personal loyalty to the actors involved in this government scandal you are always willing to overlook or make flimsy excuses for their dishonest if not outright illegal behavior.
Bieganski   
11 Nov 2013
Love / Massive problems with Polish mother-in-law [36]

Are you kidding me?

No. I'm not kidding.

She left her husband and now everybody around her needs to pay for her trips??

According to you her family (including her ex-husband) has been supporting her financially for years. What she spends this money on is ultimately her business. She could spend it on the tourist trade in foreign countries with sunny beaches; she could give it all away to the poor; or she could even take the money and start a bonfire with it. She obviously doesn't keep it a secret how she spends it though and the only one complaining about it is you.

And since when do people have children so that they can pay the "particular standart of life" of their parent when they are not able to spend their mone wisley?

This has been going on with humans around the world since the dawn of time. This will come as a shock to you but there was a time when "the state" never existed and the only way humans survived was by having offspring so we could continue to look after each other. In many parts of the world this is still the case. Whether there is a state to provide adequately or none at all many children when they become adults still do what they can to provide for their parents and it brings them joy to see their mother and/or father enjoying life after the many years of sacrifices they made while parenting.

Do we as children sign a contract at birth that we are obligated to pay for holidays?

Of course not. Most family bonds are not sealed with a written contract. Family bonds are developed over decades and then it becomes something simply understood and felt. For many this comes about instinctively. For others it is expected and needs to be taught (sometimes repeatedly). And for some like you it is resented either way. Again, what a parent does with material wealth given back to them by their children is a private family matter.

Just the way milions of people on this planet do!

So you feel she is robbing you in some way. Well, being that you are from Spain (a predominately Roman Catholic country) you should be quite familiar with the teachings Rabbi Jesus gave to his followers. Here is one of them:

"...whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back...."

If one day I have children and the do well for themselfs I'm happy for them and if they find a person that they want to have a future with even better. I can look after myself financially!

If you say you can look after yourself financially then I don't see why you are complaining about your husband taking care of his own mother. If you ever have children I don't see you refusing any money they may give you (or more likely that you will unabashedly ask them for) especially if it means you can treat yourself to an exotic trip to someplace you always wanted to go but couldn't because of your "evil" mother-in-law.

And if after so many years of working she hasn't got any money aside then it's just sad.

But that's not the account you have given us. You said she has money coming in from all directions.
Bieganski   
11 Nov 2013
Love / Massive problems with Polish mother-in-law [36]

I'm from spain, family is the most important thing in our culture. My mum and dad will celebrate their 42 wedding anniversary in December - so, so much for your theory there. I had a fantastic childhood and love and respect my parents a lot.

My comment wasn't a theory. You haven't registered nor did you originally claim where you were from or where you are living now.

Put that aside, as far as family being the most important thing in Spanish culture your parents seemed to have been an exception to the trend:

Divorce Demography

Another measure of divorces is the divorce to marriage ratio, which is the number of divorces to the number of marriages in a given year (the ratio of the crude divorce rate to the crude marriage rate). For example, if there are 500 divorces and 1,000 marriages in a given year in a given area, the ratio would be one divorce for every two marriages, e.g. a ratio of 0.5 (50%).

Poland: 27%

Spain: 61%

/wiki/Divorce_demography

I'm afraid you are wrong again. MIL works and earns good money, her ex-husband still pays her too, so she is doing pretty good financially but without the money of her son, well she is not able to have her big holiday to the Seychelles, Dubai and Newseeland you name it she's been there.

So in other words she is accustomed to a particular standard of living which for years everyone has been providing her. How much of your lifestyle are you going to scale back when you reach her age?

Your tale of woe sounds more like a sob story of envy.
Bieganski   
11 Nov 2013
Love / Massive problems with Polish mother-in-law [36]

Intergenerational relationships are important and still remain strong in most Polish families. The OP very likely comes from the UK or US where it is the cultural norm to be raised in broken homes; to shove elderly relatives into assisted living hell holes to be forgotten about until its time to read their will; or simply make the cold calculated surgical business decision to take someone's own mother and "Cut her out of your life completely" when a disagreement develops.

The OP's mother-in-law can't be that evil if she raised a son so well that the OP agreed to marry him. How long did the OP know his family before she said "I do"? Are we to understand that she married him not knowing that he has been providing his mother financial support? It's very unrealistic for the OP to expect the husband's mother to find a new source of income to make up for what her son was giving her. I highly doubt the mother-in-law is at an age now where she can go off and land a new job and give herself financial independence.

The problem is a lack of respect and communication all around. If the mother-in-law is divorced herself then she very likely feels embarrassed and insecure of having been abandoned once by a male figure in her life. The OP needs to be sensitive to this rather than using it to character fault the mother-in-law any further.

The OP shouldn't use her expectation of an apology to add more problems to an already difficult situation. When the OP meets her mother-in-law next time it would be productive to remain positive and stick to neutral topics and lean towards ones which the mother-in-law is interested in. If the mother-in-law comes off with what is perceived to be an abrasive comment then the OP needs to assess if it is really worth sparing with her. Instead, the OP should tell the mother-in-law that she understands that her son will always be important to her and that both the OP and mother-in-law shouldn't be competing or arguing with each other since he is doing so much already to take care of both of them. Indeed, how many men still do this today in today's decadent, self-centered culture? Add that the fissure between all of you didn't achieve anything and getting together again shows that deep down you all want to be happy together.
Bieganski   
31 Oct 2013
USA, Canada / Only one county in the USA has more Polish-Americans than any other group! [38]

The picture there of "Polish" immigrants don't look very Polish at all do they?

Well, well, well. Look at the multi-cultural advocate racially profiling others.

Clearly when words like "Kresy" and "partitions" are used in discussions about Poland's history you understand them only in the abstract.
Bieganski   
27 Oct 2013
Genealogy / How common is it for other people of Polish origin to discover they are actually Jewish? [127]

A man who hasn't served in the IDF, not a person who didn't serve; you have provided nothing which says he does not have to serve once released.

Then show us where convicted murders are eligible to join the IDF once they complete their prison sentence.

Anyway, depending on when he is released he will be in his 30's or 40's. Any sensible person would conclude he isn't desirable recruitment material for any nation's fighting force. But maybe the IDF has an exception and welcomes released criminals who are fast approaching middle age. I'll leave that for you to respond to since you like to believe you always have all the answers to everything in this world.

You mean they followed Israeli law. Funny how your ilk are always so ready to criticise Jews who break law but when Jews keep to the requirements of law, that is also a bad thing.

Any civilized society would have taken the correct course of action and returned this murderer on the run back to face justice and answer for his savage crime rather than acting as an accessory by providing sanctuary.

the man was born Rajmund Roman Polanski

nndb.com/people/541/000023472
AKA Raimund Liebling

he is clearly on-topic in a thread about how common it is for other people of Polish origin to discover they are actually Jewish

nndb.com/people/541/000023472
Birthplace: Paris, France

nndb.com/people/541/000023472
Nationality: France

You and your fellow British wanderers are notorious for posting on here all the time that in your own unqualified opinion Polonia are nothing more than "plastic Poles" and shouldn't even be regarded as Polish. So why the sudden change of heart when it comes to your pal Raimund Liebling?

Is it the same double standard that prevents you from questioning your British compatriot about why he is asking about the IDF when the topic of the thread is about Jews with ancestors who lived once upon a time on Polish territory?
Bieganski   
27 Oct 2013
Genealogy / How common is it for other people of Polish origin to discover they are actually Jewish? [127]

Your British cohort asked about IDF conscription as it pertains to immigrants to Israel. I cited a very relevant example of an age-eligible Jewish person who immigrated to Israel but who didn't serve in the IDF. Given that the Israeli government rubber-stamped his citizenship application and then went further to protect him by denying his extradition to the United States it could very well have turned out that this murderer could have gone on to don an IDF uniform for you to admire from afar. But it didn't turn out that way.

Now, do you care to tell us what the convicted French fugitive Raimund Liebling has to do with any of this?
Bieganski   
27 Oct 2013
Genealogy / How common is it for other people of Polish origin to discover they are actually Jewish? [127]

Not necessarily. Take for example the American Jew Samuel Sheinbein who at the age of 17 murdered a love rival then fled to Israel and immediately gained citizenship in a cowardly attempt to avoid justice:

Copying and pasting more than 100 words is not permitted.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sheinbein

I would like to think the IDF wouldn't want him anyway but you never know. It is safe to say though the he most certainly won't ever be getting a Nobel Prize in life.
Bieganski   
27 Sep 2013
History / Khazars and their crimes in the Slavic lands of Poland [63]

Glad though that you think that ethnic roots are an irrelevance - something important here in Poland where so many of the country's brightest and best have their roots elsewhere.

And this hypocritical statement comes courtesy from the same PC clown who posted only last month the following dismissive remark regarding Polonia in the thread "What makes a man a Pole? what does it mean to be a Pole?":

I'm not arguing the fact that many Polonians are proud of their heritage, I'm sure they are, but they are not Polish if they weren't born there, they are of Polish descent.

Yes. It's a huge difference and there comes a time when a family who've emigrated need to decide whether they look to their past or their future.

So according to you it's you and your ilk who are entitled to "ethnic roots" while Polonia are the ones who need to "make that decision" of living in the past or giving it up.

Don't you feel even remotely embarrassed posting on here today that "ethnic roots are important in Poland" when every other day you are telling us such things don't matter at all because there is "only one race the human race."

You have some really serious conflicting issues going on with you. There is simply no reason why anyone should attach any credibility to your postings whatsoever.