News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]

The Crusades, Inquisition, etc. were aberration for which the Church has profusely apologised... but in terms of recent decades it is not so much a matter of belief as it is of ethics. Just taking the post-WW2 period, when church-going was the norm and people at least tried to keep the 10 Commandments, there were fewer unhappy children, broken homes, shopliftings and common crime than in our 'anything-goes', 'feel-good' world devoid of restraints, values and even common sense.. Lawyers and psychiatrists as well as burglar-ałarm and surveillance-camera manufacturers (not to mention drug dealers, prn pedlars and beer barons) are making a killing on today's moral morass.

Food / What Polish foods Euro 2012 foreign fans rave about [9]

Yes, venison and other game (boar, pheasant, hare, etc.) make for a superior bigos. But there should also be lots of kiełbasa, pork, and also beef, veal, even duck and turkey. But it's not a Mulligan stew that contianing all the fridge's leftovers.. You don't find peas, carrots, potatoes, green beans, etc. in bigos. The basic veggies are sauerkraut and (optional) fresh cabbage. Onions, prunes and apples plus a splash of wine are often added.

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]

As Christianity declines, general human misconduct grows. Was there really as many broken families and as much shoplifting and white-collar crime in your youth as there is now? (I have omitted cybercrime because computers weren't widespread a couple decades ago.) The supporters of the irreligious 'anything goes' mentality have forgotten (or probably have never heard of) the message of that great humanitarian Albert Schweitzer: 'Remember, you are not alone in this world -- your brother is here too!'

Real Estate / Why so many incomplete kitchens in Polish rental flats? [24]

If it's a letter's market (where flats are in short supply) the landlords make a better profit by skimping. But if flats are readily available and many are vacant, then they're making a mistake and cutting into their own revenue.

Real Estate / Why so many incomplete kitchens in Polish rental flats? [24]

Personally I was impressed by a clever Whirlpool combo I saw in Poland, just like the ones used in American studio apartments. A single compact unit combines a small fridge, 2- or 3-burner cooker and a kicthen sink. I was surprised these had made it over the big pond!

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]

If the truth is nasty (you can take a head count of the Wyborczs staff, if you like!), then I can say it is Albanian-controlled or Brazilian-controlled. Does a lie make you happy?

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]

All of Poland's media reported the downturn in mass attendnace, but only Wyborcza so brazenly highlighted it with a big, bold headline. Anyone know why?

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]

From a purely psychological standpoint, the hour a week spent in church provides much needed respite from the humdrum weekly routine of work, study, commuting, shopping, netsurfing, watching the telly,etc. But I realise there are people who regard nursing a hangover or washing the car as spiritually more uplifting. À chacun son goût, as they say in German!

Genealogy / Stanisław-derived last names [8]

I very strongly doubt it. It is only linguists that worry about the etymology of names. To the average Stanisław or Stanley thjs is only another name.

How many peope named Steve know their name came from the Greek word meaning crown or garland or that Edward came from Germanic roots meaning 'guardian of inherited property' and Elisabeth traces back to the Hebrew words meaning 'God is my vow*?

Genealogy / Poeciazek (Pociazek) - meaning, origin, is it a common name in Poland? [7]

Then there's the toponymic alternative. Maybe Pociążek was blurted out by some alliterate peasant in 1692 0r 1755 to describe someone from Pociecha, Poceszka or Pocierzyn? Hardly perfect matches, but our nicknamers were not uni professors, you know, so their associations were often skewed. But if another illiterate peasant heard it and repeated it, it could have caught on and stuck.

Genealogy / Poeciazek (Pociazek) - meaning, origin, is it a common name in Poland? [7]

Couldn't Pociążek have been derived from the Old Polish verb pociążyć - to hand-weigh, ie estimate somethings weight by holding it in one's. A market vendor might display such a skill.

News / Will EURO 2012 be a proud moment for Poland and its people or set back Poland 20 years? [86]

This goes beyond host gto achieve teh same infrastructrual progress.

Genealogy / Seborowski origin (Grajewo region) [8]

The Wszeborowski>Seborowski hypothesis seems quitz plausible, esp. if we consider the tendency for 'masurianised' pronunciaton ub that area (ie pronojncing sz like an s). Sosomeone waay have told some village scribe, priest or whoever else knew how to write centuries ago his name was Wszeboirowskik but pronounced it Wseborowski. Since an initial w in such cases is barely audible, it got wirtten down as Seborowski and that's how it got passed down from one generation tot he next... Albo i nie!?

Genealogy / Seborowski origin (Grajewo region) [8]

SEBOROWSKI: -owski ending suirnames are nearly always of toponmyic origin. Perhaps it deries from Romany-Sebory in Mazowsze or possibly Sebor or Seborov in the Czech Republic.

Genealogy / Petrzywalski family [13]

PETRZYWALSKI: Looks as though this originated as a Polonized toponymic nikcname for someone from Peterswald (Peterswood). or similar.

Genealogy / Professional genealogist to investigate my Polish connections? [11]

Check out:

piast.waw.pl
polgenresearch
polishgenealogy.com.pl

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

I have heard of no coin-operated laundromats in Poland, but first one would have to launch a major PR campaign convincing Poles of their benefits and conveneicne. In all cases, the cost factor must be considered. Poland is poorer than Western Europe, so not everything that is accepted there will automatically go over in Poland.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

If you have a full-time job (etat), then ZUS is taken out of your wages. If you have what Poles call 'umowa śmieciowa' (trash contract), a short-term job agreement, you may pay it out of your own pocket but you do not have to.

Food / Miracle Whip availability in Poland? [43]

You can approximate the taste of Miracle whip if you stir a teaspon or so sugar into a jar of oridnary mayo.

Genealogy / The village of Surazkowo in Poland (Chomczyk, Czaban, Sawicki) [20]

It is a known fact that the NE area of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth covering today's Podlasie region and adjoining areas of Belarus and Lithuania was an area of different forms of interaction between ethnic Poles, Ruthenians, Lithuanians, Jews, Tartars, Latvians, Karaims, Muscovites and others. There were economic ties, mutual cultural and linguistic influences, some degree of religious conversions (mainly Jews and Ruthenians converting to Catholicism) and some intermarriage. Books could be written on the subject so for details I suggest you hunt about on the web.

History / Ukrainian-occupied Eastern Poland [135]

Why be fixated on 11th century anything?! Poland's borders in the 15th and 16th centuries are more like it. That is the legitimate Polish realm to which it is a lot more entitled than the Rooskies whose tsars and commisars appropriated much of Eurasia or the Pommies who once claimed the sun never set on their Union Jack rag.

History / Ukrainian-occupied Eastern Poland [135]

Lands stolen from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the aggressive partitoning powers are Polish. Lands granted to Polland at Germany's expense by the Big Three Allies constituted only partial compensation for German atrocities as well as the one-half of Poland annexed by Stalin (under Molotov-Ribbentrop) and never returned. Had the Polish-Lithuanina-Ruthenian commonwealth survived, there may have never been a Soviet Union or a World War Two for that matter.

Genealogy / Martin Kotwila [5]

KOTWI£A: posible source the now archaic verb kotwić (to seek revenge, do harm) or the reflexive version kotwić się (to be bored, unahppy, yearning). A small group of Polish surnames derived from the past tense of verbs, e.g. Biegała, Mrugała, etc. The femine form is the most common although at times one also seens masc. and neuter versions as in Przybył, Przybyła, Przybyło -- all bona fide surnames. Another source could have been the Old Polish kotew/kotwi (anchor), in modern Polish kotwica.

There is only a handful of Kotwiłas in Poland at present, and all live in the Radom area south of Warsaw.

Genealogy / Gagatek Family [4]

PIEKUT: naturally missspellings were always a possiblity centuries ago when most people were illterate, and that's when most names took on their final shape. The 'e' could have therefore been inserted or 'lost' along the way. But barring that eventuality, the word piekut is Old Polish for cock (from piać - to crow).

News / Presidential elections and debates 2015 Poland [472]

The main purpsoe is to slash the number of fatcat parasites living off the fat of the land (ie taxpayer). So far all the austerity measures are affecting the nation, not the VIPs.

Just going back to Lancias instead of today's pricey BMWs would be a big saving, and many other could be mentioned. It would; also set an example to make other spending cuts more palatable to taxpayer/voters. Esp. if the savings were openly invested in the health service and other weak points of life in Poland.

Presidential and parliamentary as well as local elections and any referendum issues should be merged into a single election day (regardless of whether that means unifying terms in office to 4 or 5 years). People would be more likely to vote if elections were not held so often.

Genealogy / Gagatek Family [4]

GAGATEK: layabout, ne'er-do-well, good for nothing, couch potato

PIKUT: from obsolete verb pikać (to urinate)

Genealogy / Polish great grandparents (Lacinski, Latkowski, Laczynski, and even Watkofosky) [4]

moralslacking

£ACIŃSKI: from łacina (Latin); It is possible that this was an attempt to spell £ączyński strictly by sound and it came out £ąciński

£ĄCZYŃSKI: topo nick from £ączna or £ączno

£ATKOWSKI: topo nick from £atków

WATKOFOSKY (???) probably WATKOFSKY -- an attempt to phonetically respell £atkowski for the benefit of Anglo-manglers..