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Posts by polonius  

Joined: 24 Sep 2012 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 10 Apr 2013
Threads: Total: 54 / In This Archive: 41
Posts: Total: 420 / In This Archive: 267 		From: USA Shelby Township, MI
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: everyhting pertianing to Poland, Polonia, Poles and things Polish

Displayed posts: 308 / page 2 of 11
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polonius   
25 Dec 2012
Life / What is Poland B as opposed to Poland A and the otherway-round. [45]

Merged:

Inequality growing in Poland



Gazeta.pl reported that over the decade 2000-2010 Poland's economy grew by 46%. However, the difference in GDP between the most dynamic and least dynamic region has grown. In other words the chasm between Poland B and Poladn A has grown. Thn article said pumping money into a depressed area rarely helps, pointing to the examples of East and West Germany and America's Appalachia.

wyborcza.pl/1,75248,13101936,Bogata_Polska_ucieka_od_biednej_Polski.html
polonius   
23 Dec 2012
Work / Advice on a job to spend a couple of months in poland [4]

Are there any opporutnites for summer-camp counsellors in Poland? In the States many uni students find such jobs or work in what is called the 'hospitality industry' (hotels, restaurants, tourst attractions, etc.) during the summer.
polonius   
23 Dec 2012
News / Wigilia for homeless & needy [18]

Last year 52,000 took part in the open-air Wigilia (Christmas Eve) meal in Kraków's Main Marketplace, and a similar number attended this year, TVP INFO rerorted on Sunday. Volunteers had been working for two months to hand-form 250,000 pierogi (ravioli-type dumplings filled with sauerkraut & mushrooms and potatoes & pot cheese) which are being served piping hot together with 8,000 litres of traditonal beetroot soup and 10,000 litres of mushroom soup. The supper is meant for the homeless and needy and take-aways are provided with no questions asked, one of the organisers explained. Gift boxes were also prepared for the needy.
polonius   
23 Dec 2012
News / Lech Wałęsa's empty fridge? [9]

In an interview with Wprost.pl Lech Wałęsa said: 'My wife's book should not have appeared. I have enough problems without adding new ones. Of course, I am in favour of truth and equality but not all of a sudden after 50 years of marriage. I had grown unaccustomed to making tea or slicing bread. Now I've got no choice. On the one hand, one should be happy because that's a great career. But from a martial standpoint I have no cause for joy. For 50 years I had peace, I was more important. Now my wife is more important. I come home and the fridge is empty, because my wife is off to a book-signing... Now I have a writer in the house and I have to be careful what I say.'

Book my wife should not arise. I'm all for truth and equality , but suddenly, after 50 years of marriage ! Lost the habit to make tea, cut bread. And now I have no choice - Lech Walesa says in an interview with Michal Majewski and Paul Heads.

polonius   
22 Dec 2012
Life / Where have all the carollers in Poland gone? [9]

It was more common in PRL. In Warsaw too occasionally kids still come with a cardboard fold-out creche or wearing a Burger King crown and suchlike, but it seems far less common. I can see where kids aged 1˛12-18 couldn't care less about keeping up some 'quaint' and 'corny' (from a teen's perspective) custom, but to overlook the extra cash opportunity?!
polonius   
21 Dec 2012
Life / Where have all the carollers in Poland gone? [9]

Is it your impression that youngsters going house to house or flat to flat carolling in urban blocks was more common in Poland a number years ago? The strange thing is that kasa (cash) seems to be uppermost in most Poles' minds these days, and that would be a good way to earn a little extra pocket change. You'd think Biedronka, Lidl and Tesco would be selling carolling costumes (King Herrod, death, devil, etc.), pole-mounted carolling stars, portable creches, etc. for house to house carollers. Instead they are loaded with Halloween junk. And stuff for Valentine's day too although that is a spending occasion with no cash returns for the avergahe participant.
polonius   
17 Dec 2012
Love / New Year's Eve in Poland for singles? [2]

Wprost.pl has reported that travel bureaux are experiencing growing interest in New Year's Eve excursions for singles rather than couples. Over the past two years, they have noted a 70% increase in customers interested in going it alone. One female single identified only as Kasia explained why she had again chosen that option: "I had had my fill of conversations about children, nappies, spouses, in-laws and planned or unplanned pregnancies... Besides, at couples events when I dance with someone I often feel the glare of a jealous wife or fiancée."

How widespread is this tendency in other countries you know?
polonius   
15 Dec 2012
News / Multi-culti (in Poland) -- roadmap to disaster? [344]

Merged: Multi-culti no panacea?

PAP reported a Polish-Russian conference devoted to multiculturalism due to take place on Dec. 18. Film director Krzysztof Zanussi was reported as saying: “The Polish understanding of multiculturalism is similar to that popular in the West. We had experienced that in the past as a Republic of many different nations, so maybe that is why after 1989 we displayed less boyscout-style enthusiasm than many representatives of the West who in recent decades regarded it as a panacea for all ills.”
polonius   
15 Dec 2012
News / March for Poland's democracy organized by PiS 13th Dec [49]

Franco was a dictator, but his Stalinist opponents were even a greater threat not only to Spain but toi the entire continent. Ther so-called 'republicans' proudly brandished the portraits of the world's 2nd biggest murderer Stalin (Mao was No. 1), murdered priests, burnt down chruches, raped nuns and tried to introduced a blood-bath along the lines of the Russian or French revolutions. Had they succeded and Spain had becomer a Stalinist beachhead, the Soviets would have been in a better postion to do what they had attempted but failed in 1920.
polonius   
14 Dec 2012
News / March for Poland's democracy organized by PiS 13th Dec [49]

Considering the time -- a chilly weekday evening -- and the fact that Solidarity, the Radio Maryja gang and the nationalists (All-Poland Youth, etc.) did not officially take part, 15,000 is a fair turnout for a PiS march. But hardly spectacular.
polonius   
14 Dec 2012
News / March for Poland's democracy organized by PiS 13th Dec [49]

Zibi
He told me at the time he was annouincign the Foruth Republic that he may have been left at liberty so they could follow him to the Solidarity underground. He wasn't 100% sure btu that was his presumtpion.
polonius   
13 Dec 2012
UK, Ireland / Poles 2nd to Indians in UK [23]

I wonder if anyone who has seen the Polish sitcom 'Londyńczycy' could say how true to life it was. Of course, the sitcom convention leans towards the exaggerated and farcical, but did it contain any grains fo truth? For instance:

-- émigré Poles standing for local office in Britain?
-- setting up businesses of their own rather than just supplying manpower for the UK market?
-- interaction with the Russian mafia?
polonius   
13 Dec 2012
UK, Ireland / Poles 2nd to Indians in UK [23]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I have heard that many Brits enjoy frequentling Polish pubs for the Polish beer and vodka and food as well as shopping in Polish shops for goods that are both tasty and cheaper. Of course, that is possible only where such outlets exist.

In London, Ealing was the hub of the post-WW2 émigrés. Do the new migrants cluster together in any neighbourhoods or are they completely scattered.
polonius   
13 Dec 2012
Life / If you are Polish abroad or of Polish descent, do you celebrate St. Nicholas day? [33]

The example set by the real St Nick is ideal for today's selfish.greedy times. After the daeah of his of wealthy parents, he gave away his entire fortune to the poor. He often did so under the cover of night, leaving gold coins under the pillows of dowryless maidens and not sticking around to be thanked. (Something like our old American Lone Ranger!)

He can be held up for kids today as an example of altruism, helping the less fortunate and sharing what we've got with the disadvanategd and underprivleged.

Unlike Santa, he does not fuel the greed machine by asking: 'And what do you WANT for Christmas little boy' (within earshot of the kid's parents).

ot
polonius   
12 Dec 2012
UK, Ireland / Poles 2nd to Indians in UK [23]

No, I am genuinely interested. What is inflammatory about being in second place? Or asking about the mutual influence of Poles on Brits and Brits on Poles?
polonius   
12 Dec 2012
UK, Ireland / Poles 2nd to Indians in UK [23]

According to a census study, Poles are now second only to Indians as the major immigrant communtiy in the UK.

thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/121253,Census-confirms-Poles-as-UKs-second-biggest-foreign-community

I wonder if anyone on PF would feel competent to compare the impact the post-WW2 DP generation and the current Polish crop have made on life in the UK. (Not a doctoral disseration but maybe a few concise comaprisons?)

To what a extent are today's Polish newcomers assimilating to British cultural and social norms, customs and values?

Have the Polish influenced native Brits and their lifestlyes in any way?

Among the average Brit does the sound of Polish spoken on the streets evoke:
curiosity, interest, indifference or resentment?

In your view, do the majority plan to make a life for themselves in the UK or only want to earn a nest egg before returning home or moving elsehwere?
polonius   
11 Dec 2012
News / PiS wants symmetry for minorites living in Poland [71]

This is not a one-off deal nor an isolated episode but a problem of the Jugendamt (maybe it should be called the Hitlerjugendamt!?) discriminating Poles for years.

Check this out: youtube.com/watch?v=9ClRh5OlyDs
polonius   
10 Dec 2012
News / PiS wants symmetry for minorites living in Poland [71]

I was only reporting what Kaczyński said, not confirming or denying its veracity.
But the fact remains that there are no Polish-language road signs in Germany. Some Sorbian ones only. And no Polish representation in the Bundestag. There are far fewer than 2 million Germans in Poland, but they are guaranteed two seats in parliament.
polonius   
10 Dec 2012
News / PiS wants symmetry for minorites living in Poland [71]

FYI over the weekend PiS leader Kaczyński said there must be symmetry in the treatment of nationol minorities between Poland and her neighbours. Specifically he indicated that Poland was bending over backwards to accommodate the German minority who automatically get Sejm slots and have bilingual signs (names of localities in Polish and German) where they live. The same holds true for Lithuanian Poles in the Puńsk-Sejny areas. Meanwhile, Poles face ethnic discrimination in Lithuania. In Germany they haev no representation in the Bundestag and divorced Polish parents are banned from speaking Polish to their kids.
polonius   
9 Dec 2012
News / EU according to Sikorski [4]

PAP on Sunday reported Foreign Min. Radosław Sikorski attending a World Policy Conference in Cannes. Speaking of the EU's future, he said: 'In my view, the desirable goal would be a political union comprising member states but without any illusions of creating a single European super-state.' He also proposed concrete efforts to jointly protect the EU’s external borders as well as the need to emphasise the EU’s successes such as its anti-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia.

What is your take on the EU's future and why?
1. Should it become a super-state ruled by a Brussels-based super-structure?
2. Should it be a federation of sovereign homelands?
3. Should it be disbanded altogether?
polonius   
8 Dec 2012
Life / If you are Polish abroad or of Polish descent, do you celebrate St. Nicholas day? [33]

As in Poland, across our US Polonia it is the Church that helps promote genuine traditions including Swiety Mikolaj. tne celebration I attended at a Polish-American parish in Michigan a few yeasrs ago, Sw. Mikoaj arrived in his espicopal finery, greteed the assembly with the traditonal 'Niech bedzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus' and proceeded to mingle with the crowd. He chatted t with youngsters, quizzed them on theri prayers and behaviour, had them sing a koleda and suchlike. Meanwhile, the emcee read out a message from St Nick. If I recall it went along these lines: 'I have heard that some of you here hate St Nick and constantly insult him. Some claim I am a transvestite that goes round in the get-up of an oversized beer-bellied elf, cavort on rooftops with a bunch of flea-biutten reindeer, slide down chimneys, go ho-ho-hp and do a lot of other stupid things. Or that I live at the North Pole. What in the world wopuld any saint be doing there --- try trying to convert the polar bears?' The message then expalined what the real St Nick was all about: he leaves gifts and goodies to teach kids the importance of sharing what they have with others.
polonius   
6 Dec 2012
News / March for Poland's democracy organized by PiS 13th Dec [49]

Warsaw's freedom and solidarity march is less than a week away. Y'all come and join Jarek and the lads marching for a truly independent Poland devoid of Tusk's oldboy conman/gangster cronies.
polonius   
6 Dec 2012
Language / Mushroom: pieczarka vs grzyb [24]

Nope, dzaidek lived to be 90. Never saw how they were prepared, but were nice in soups and sauces. Prrbably mixed them with flavourful opieńki (honey mushrooms), which were the most abundant in Michigan.

Some mushrooms are poisonouis unless properly prepared, like cooking and then pouring off the first water. I think piestrzenice belong to that category, but I'm no mushroom specialist.
polonius   
5 Dec 2012
Language / Mushroom: pieczarka vs grzyb [24]

But continental Europeans do and call the borowik a Steinpilz, porcini or cèpe.
Also enjoyed are chantrelles, morels, honey mushrooms and many others.
My late Polish granddad in Michigan used to pick mushrooms called babie ucho and kozie brody. Anyone know if those are still known in Poland and what their English translation is?
polonius   
5 Dec 2012
Food / St Nicholas gingerbread [6]

Merged: St Nick gingerbread?

Anyone bake St Nicholas Day pierniki (gingerbread)? There used to be colourful paper labels to attach to the cakes showing the saintly bishop from head to toe with his crosier. I wonder if those are still available in Poland.

They can still be found in Austria and Germany, probably also in Benelux.