UK, Ireland / No Poles Allowed! - Latest Polonophobic Outrage Out of Britain [660]


Remember there's a knock on effects from cities to towns and to villages and in any case Britain is a largely urban culture. There have also been people form other countries (including from Poland/Czech/Ukraine/Yugoslavia during and after WW2) settling in communities where there has been jobs, commercial opportunities and available housing for many decades now.

Law / Poland's ZUS/NFZ payments for businesses [27]


Scrapping KRUS would be a start, as would heavily taxing under-used land and second homes. People would still figure out a way of getting round it though. A high level of road tax would also help.

UK, Ireland / No Poles Allowed! - Latest Polonophobic Outrage Out of Britain [660]


This, Kaprys, is spot on. Most people (whatever nationality, religion, skin colour etc) are fundamentally decent. There are a few bad eggs everywhere, screwed up people who hurt others. We should neither pretend it doesn't happen nor make too big an issue of it, since it just sours the atmosphere.

UK, Ireland / No Poles Allowed! - Latest Polonophobic Outrage Out of Britain [660]


Had been, rather than has been. It sadly ended with the horrors and genocide of WW2 and the border changes/expulsions that followed.

It wasn't always an easy situation either; things became febrile during a few periods in history and this is well-documented by historians.


And have been here for three or four generations; certainly long enough for people to get used to this. London and the port cities have always been melting pots. There have been black people in Liverpool since the Eighteenth Century, and you can say the same about Bristol, Hull, Glasgow etc. Quite long enough for people to get used to people who appear different.

UK, Ireland / No Poles Allowed! - Latest Polonophobic Outrage Out of Britain [660]


Yes. This is certainly changing now, especially (as ever) in the bigger cities. It is in every sense a good thing.


Very much so.

Life / MAY 1st - Party time in Poland? What are the traditions? [9]


Yes. I always like to see this happening. A nice tradition.

News / Rescue underway for miners trapped underground after tremor hits mine in South Poland [9]

The latest news (according to google news) is that 3 are still missing. I hope they are found safe and well.

Mining is a terribly hard and dangerous job; miners risk their lives daily for relatively low wages.

A lot of people in PL today will be thinking of (and praying for) the Zofiówka miners.

Classifieds / Recruitment - Search for team leaders to support homeworker with Internet skills [5]


It often means people (usually exploited) who receive work to carry out in their home. A typical type would be textile or craft workers who are paid for piecework that is dropped off to and collected from their home by exploiters.

A friend in Warsaw did this; he used to solder thousands of electronic components in his home and received a few groszy for each. In the end he figured out that the money he received didn't cover the cost of having a lightbulb on to see what he was doing or the heating on to stay warm when he was doing it. He packed it in and found a proper job.

Life / MAY 1st - Party time in Poland? What are the traditions? [9]


One of the nicer traditions isn't over that weekend as much as during all of May in some villages, where residents (generally female) gather to perform a May devotion to the Virgin Mary. This happens throughout May. There's a strong parallel with the tradition of "well-dressing" in Derbyshire, UK, something also worth checking out if you haven't heard of it before.

Classifieds / Recruitment - Search for team leaders to support homeworker with Internet skills [5]

Sounds like some sort of 'MLM' scam.

Interesting that there's no mention of the company's name or the monthly or annual salary.

Travel / Want to know Hotel with Escort services in Poland [21]


No, not especially.


Probably - ask someone who pays prostitutes. Like the Trumphole.

Work / Is 7000 PLN net per month....a reasonable salary in Katowice [40]

It's more than double the median salary and certainly possible to live comfortably on it. You won't feel rich, but you certainly won't feel poor either.

Work / Diary of a Teacher in Poland [181]


Downright evil even.

Classifieds / Ślub humanistyczny - Humanist wedding in Poland [7]


These people have a lot of experience doing weddings and funerals.

Work / Is 7000 PLN net per month....a reasonable salary in Katowice [40]

That's an OK salary. Certainly average, enough for a comfortable life though not a luxurious one.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Did I ever say that? Not that either homogeneity or diversity matter that much nor are either positive or negative things. It's the way the world's changing and a couple of the examples you give have plenty of people who have settled in those countries. You yourself come from one of the most diverse countries in the world.


As far as I know, they're all doing nicely, and being an in a very upmarket area of Warsaw they're certainly far from the only ones with mixed heritage.


Since they've been together for longer than that already, and the wife owns a (as far as I know thriving) business, I suspect the 50 will be an easy win for me...

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


They in fact differ hugely, not that ones 'religious and cultural views' are either a help or hindrance in the matter of citizenship. He lives in the part of Poland which has the by far lowest levels of religious observance in the country, so I doubt those around him would notice or care.

He did tell me that a neighbour was being awkward about him being there and being married to a Polish woman who is not raising their kids as Christian; the other neighbours told the guy to shut up and mind his own business.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Very straightforward to get, certainly easier than in a lot of places in the world, and frankly unneccessary anyway now due to EU Freedom of Movement. A friend originally from the Middle East has just done taken out citizenship The degree to which he chooses to assimilate is a private matter for him and his family; the degree to which he contributes is however huge. He is an asset to the country.


You have a very cynical view of the people from Turkey etc who set up businesses in Poland.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


I don't think that's most people's priority if they already have EU citizenship. Polish citizenship isn'thard to obtain for those who meet straightforward requirements anyway.


Yes, what is that? Certainly new to me.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Plenty even, since millions have the right to settle in PL due to freedom of movement. And yes, people who have settled in Poland contribute rather a lot to the economy. Certainly far more than those who've left.


It would actually be Pitcher of the Decade rather than catcher of the year, however no; it's something far more official...

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

So you really don't understand why someone lives in a country where they've lived for rather longer than you've been alive and where they're a citizen.

And going to pick up an award in a couple of weeks :-)

Poland is a large complex country, one with diverse views, with an urban (even metropolitan) population as well as a rural one, and one with a centuries' old liberal tradition. It's also a democracy; there is no obligation whatsoever to 'get behind' whatever political current is in office at any one time. That ended in 1989. And migrants (more and more) too. However much it may rile a 20-something clerk living thousands of miles away, Poland is a sophisticated place, and not everybody their fits the mould that you wish you too fitted...

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Looks like that went over your head...

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


That's the whole point.


The more authoritarian a regime, the harder the backlash when it falls.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


The success story of the past four centuries is liberalism; something Poland has a very long history of. Some people may get riles by the thought of change, however it happens, and liberal Europe is still thriving, despite the banal entropy of conservatism.


Sounds like an American thing.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Basically that's all they can do. Reality isn't on their side and they know that whatever they say, whatever they do, will not make the slightest bit of difference. It's the seething anger of online impotence. Nothing more.

Fortunate for them, really, since if the type of society they espouse actually happened, they would be among the first victims.

Life / Car test..The Polish equivalent of the MOT [36]


Nor me.
Aside from the cost, it is putting people's lives at risk.


Ever.

Food / What a typical Polish family eats. How do they prepare food and who cooks at home? [37]


Doesn't sound like a very good restaurant. What was it called?

Food / How to cook Frozen pierogi? Boil or Fry? [90]


I would do it that way. But, and it's a big but, fry very gently in solid fat rather than oil. Better a long time on a low heat than quickly at a high temperature.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


I don't think the truth or reality matter to some.


Even the fool Trump apologised for that lie.

Do you propose putting drunk drivers or people caught in cars with 'drug paraphanalia' in them...

Work / Working for the British council in Poland (Warsaw) [9]

They tend to think they're some sort of gold standard, which they're not.

They do have well-trained teachers, however so do many other places and in any case the price differential is far larger than the quality differential.