Life / Relocating to Poland and want to get to know everything [4]

Try Internations - they seem quite good and plenty of interesting people. I don't go myself, but know people who enjoy it.

Language / Am I being detained? Equivalent phrase in Polish language. [11]

"Zatrzymany" is closer to the British word "arrested".

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]

I don't see anything wrong with dopalacze. Nothing new, and nothing bad.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]

A free dinner! Explains the sort of naive and mercenary people who say they support the PiSuarzy...

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]

Spot on, except that the shops that sell legal highs are discounting them at the moment, hence inexperienced people using them then going to hospital in a fuss when they feel the effects that they're supposed to.

A policeman from a rough area once told me that he'd much rather walk into a room full of stoned people than a room full of drunks.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]

Every little bit helps with social media. Poles don't understand the allusion but they have a nice one of their own: PiSuarzy

Beware of these polls, unless you know many under-40s with landlines...

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]


Nobody is.


It doesn't work. Platforma, the best government we've had, hasn't done that. The PiS flappers before them didn't do it. Even the DEA in your own country who have something like that have failed miserably trying it. Whereas, Czech, Holland, Portugal, Spain and one or two other places which have liberalised the issue have had a huge success.


Better that than killing themselves with vodka.


An over-21 rule would be one of them. In France, where alcohol isn't moralised about or mystified there are far fewer problems.

Note to Mods. Since this has turned into a discussion about the dangers of alcohol, the benefits of beneficial herbs and joyful plan extracts as well as the miserable failure of previous governments vs. Platforma's sensible strategies, perhaps the thread title should be changed.

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]

Don't be silly. The Polish government already profit from far more toxic intoxicants, and if there wasn't the moralistic and pointless prohibition of beneficial natural substances, legal highs would be pointless.

Platform re absolutely blameless here and far more proactive than their silly predecessors who never even discussed liberalising the current ineffective laws. As we've established, prohibition of drugs simply doesn't work.

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]


Politicians from Platforma as well as others know this - they just aren't great at drafting laws at the sejm, regardless of whichever party is in office.

Anyone launching a new product to be ingested does just that - strict tests. And the currently banned substances like the aforementioned beneficial herb or some pleasant forest mushrooms are far from any of those descriptions and grow beautifully in Poland - a potential exportable item.

You are right though about alcohol. It's the same with other enjoyable substances, total prohibition never works. With alcohol though, it's so addictive that users will do anything for a fix.

I don't se the Citizens' Platform relaxing the laws - they are far to conservative and anxious to please 'middle Poland', and if the opposition won, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't make any changes either. Poland's drug laws are already too strict - in neighbouring Czech and in Portugal, relaxing the law has really worked - it's taken the market away from organised crime

I thought it was a huge shame when they arrested the dopalacze.pl guy a few years ago. Most of what he was selling (frankly 'designer drugs' and 'legal highs' are not that good) did no harm, and it cut off supplies of Szalwia Divinorum, a wonderfully reflective and spiritual flower. Certainly not a party drug and any Polish politician should encourage its use in sensible quantities and concentrations.

UK, Ireland / What is the ONE thing that Polish people in UK have MOST problem with? [15]


Really?


So contradicting yourself already. That's a tiny amount for a family to live on in the UK.


It's also, by your own admittance, the maximum. Most people are not on the maximum or anything like it.

You also ignore all those people whose salaries are so low they get tax credit, as well as the latest round of Tory cuts restricting child benefit...

And if it's 'hardly meagre' what are all those food banks for?

Life / Help! Halifax bank card stopped working in Warsaw! [11]


This is the one to phone. You can do it through Skype if you put some Skype credit on (which you can do online). This is the number: +44 1132 798 302


Useless information; they can do nothing.

All you can do is contact Halifax via the customer services number and they'll unblock it.

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]


What's toxic about a beneficial herb?


Plenty of those.


The Sunday thing sounds like it has a religious connection.

I've no problem with the state selling drink or cigarettes, however the sharp increases excise brought in under Platforma have been positive so far and should be rolled out.

I remember when the PiS flappers banned alcohol in railway buffets and dining cars! On cross border trains you had to order before the border, and only if you spoke Polish could you buy (cans of beer only) under the counter!

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


A deterrent to what?

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]


So you favour complete state control over what substances people ingest?

It would be a very daft law anyway. And as we know, prohibition doesn't work. It was tried with alcohol in your country and that failed. It has been (and in many places including Poland still is) tried and has also failed.

Only Twoj Ruch among parties has any sort of joined up thinking on this. Platforma are rather conservative on this (as on so many) issues. the crooked and scammy PiS flappers are probably profiting on a local or even national level from the current prohibition on beneficial herbs and invigorating South American plant extracts.


Nope. This has been tried and it failed.


Rubbish - people get round it very easily.

If anything should be banned it's vodka. It has no flavour unless added, no subtlety, one brand is much like another and exists only to intoxicate. The societal harm that it causes is vast and the financial cost is far higher than the excise revenue. Our government should just ban it and allow drugs - where any harm comes not from the substance but from the fact they they are temporarily criminalised, forcing a dangerous black market.

Hard to say what this has to do with the surge in support for the Citizens' Platform or the threat to society from the PiS flappers, Kukiz and their ilk.

UK, Ireland / What is the ONE thing that Polish people in UK have MOST problem with? [15]


Hardly any in Britain now. People have died when their already meagre benefits are cut or stopped. A shame because the previous Labour government raised a million children above the poverty line. This affects a lot of Poles, since they've mostly gone their to poorly paid jobs. Scandalous in one of the richest societies the world has ever known.


They get almost nothing. Surely you wouldn't be anti-immigration now, would you...


A friend of mine who went to the UK was knocked back by a couple of banks because he couldn't prove his address in the UK. Lloyds allow Poles to open with just a passport/Polish ID. This has earned them a lot of new customers.


Yes, however inadequates who use phrases like


are just obsessed with immigration anyway and think that everyone's a dole scrounger. Very 'glass half full'.

News / The wave of designer-drug poisoning (dopalacze) in Poland [48]


Easy to ignore in the light of the thousand ps in Poland (including plenty of PiS flapper supporters) who poison themselves yearly (and do worse) under the influence of a designer drug sold by the half litre in every grocery shop.

Work / English lad looking for work in Poland [39]

Given that the thread's an old one and he says


maybe the photo's important.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]


Exactly - with the PiS flappers it's nothing but a sorry trail of broken promises, unenforceable laws and Poland disgraced.

Great that Citizen's Platform is surging in the polls.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]


Yet everywhere else, increasing lifespan and years of healthy life means the retirement age is increasing.

How would she pay for any of that?


So back to Socialism then...


It's irrelevant who owns them, especially since most banks have tradable stocks that anyone can buy and this is right. But a government taxing a bank it owns (and indeed operating banking in the first place) is a jump back to the PiS flappers' glory days of communism.

News / Boom for food exports from Poland [17]


It's great news - a new market for Poland. Though agriculture is advanced there, and it will only be a small new market. I think we can forget about vodka exports ;-)


Remember there are many times more Sunnis than Shia. It would be a bit David and Goliath.

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]


Their probably won't be many natives there, however some EFL teachers can be fairly (even very) eccentric. Read Daves ESL Cafe for clues on this - there's even a thread on the weirdest teachers people have worked with. If EFL teachers weren't a bit out of the ordinary they'd probably have stayed at home and worked at the tax office in Warrington. Having said that, there are also some very interesting and decent people.

If you don't like it in the town in Silesia that you're going to, it's an easy matter to move to a school in a different town or even country. In katowice itself there are a few decent places. Just keep your ear to the ground.

Good luck and enjoy yourself!

History / Climate, weather event and Polish history [23]

There's no credible doubt that it's real and that it's man-made.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]


No, I don't support PiS, thanks.


Yes, as Czech and Portugal have done very successfully. Legal or not, people buy them so why create opportunities to organised crime? Coming from a country that was so disastrously affected by prohibition, I'm sure you'll agree.

Anyway, you've advocated drug use often enough on here so obviously you do agree.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]


Indeed, though that was mid-term and the president, though a good man, didn't display much charisma.


They're in power already, as opposed to the nationalistic pseudo patriots on the other side.


Yes, these need legalising and taxing along with other drugs.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]


This is very good news. I suspect common sense will prevail. People remember how bad the short-lived PiS flapper regime was and Kukiz was a flash in the pan.

UK, Ireland / Polish community in the UK: are you happy? [46]

Was that in the Cold War and are you sure there weren't other reasons?

News / Afera taśmowa (recordings scandal) in Poland - media coverage [17]

Not sure why you are so quickly attribute this to Putin who is almost certainly unaware of it. Unless you have some sort of special knowledge - which you don't since you're just an ordinary Joe and furthermore, just an ordinary Joe without connections or influence.

However punishment there will be. Not at my hands - the wheel of karma is unstoppable,

As you well know, the lowlife who released the tapes will be thoroughly punished as should any of the restaurant staff who were involved.

Basically a non-story. People's private conversations. Eavesdropping is never good.

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]

This is heading away from Poland so I'll PM you Daytona.


Just a quickie - if you want work at IH in Poland don't apply centrally to them in London; they are a pain to deal with and yes ignore you in favour of people who did the CELTA with them. It's better to contact the franchisees directly. There are several in Poland including in Silesia, and the biggest franchisee there has a good reputation.


Spot on - you should do fine. Have a look at the two websites I mentioned in the PM. Remember also that recruitment (this is certainly true in Poland and also in some other places) can often be last minute when a school or training company knows its requirements.

News / If Poland were in the Eurozone... [39]


This is what I mean. Greece never really had that.


Pretty well!

Work / What is deducted from a salary in Poland apart from Income tax? [155]


That depends on him. You don't know his company. And he was asking about deductions from his salary, not advice about what country he should move to.


A chance to be posted abroad by your company for a while - most people would certainly see that as a golden opportunity.