Genealogy / Tracing my Polish ancestors? My fathers Polish surname is Daj [13]

DAJ: imperative form of the verb dać (give); very rare indeed; it is one of a small group of surnames of imperative verbal origin; others include Kuszaj (Russian for eat), Piecz (bake), and Zalej (inundate).

Life / Newspaper ad-what is the major Polish newspaper, maybe similar to the New York Times? [13]

Gazeta Wyborcza is the biggest-selling serious newspaper (not a tabloid)

Food / Nothing better than skwarki! [19]

Nathan -- how true is this anecdote? A dirt-poor Ukrainian peasant once was day-dreaming and thought if he ever became rich he would be able to eat 'salo z salom' (sorry if my Urkainian ain't the best), or fatback with fatback. Usually it's eaten with bread.

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

One of the hallmarks of most dysfunctional families is their brevity and instability -- just
the oppostie of what young children need to develop. They need security, stabiltiy and a sense of permanence, not new mummies, daddies and uncles or -- worse yet -- two daddies or two mummies. Do you know how long the average homosexual relationship (which you seem to so admire and glamourise) lasts? Why not check it out and get back to us on this when you do.

You have a way of avoiding direct answers like the typical politcian. You did not say whether you think things will be really great when at least one-half of society is in oen of the dysfucntional sitatuons situation described in my previous post. And while you're at it, why not add your view on where the Muslims will be at that time.

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

M-G: If you equate dysfunctional situations with 'advancement, growth and maturity' then why not have the courage of your convictions and openly state that single mums, substance-abusing or jailbird parents, homosexual households, short-term relationships or maybe foster homes offer the best environment for child-reraring. And things will get really great when at least one-half of all kids come from such backgrounds. Some countries don't have that far to go! Maybe the WHO can add more equality, freedom and tolerance to the overall picture by declaring kleptomania to be an orientation rather than a disorder. By then Dutchman M-G will be in seventh heaven! So much advancement, growth and maturity. Isn't it great?!

Po polsku / Genetycznie zakodowana swarliwość wśród Polaków? [19]

Zacietrzewienie to adekwatny wyraz opisujący częste zachowanie Polaków. Nakręcają się wzajemnie do tego stopnia, że później żadna ze stron nie wie, jak z tego wybrnąć.

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

I am also concerned about the dangerous spread of substance abuse and incomplete or otherwise dysfunctional families as well as youngsters eschewing sport and other active after-school pursuits to stay glued to computer games and pûrn all afternoon and then watch TV all evening. Above all to brainless shop-till-you drop consumerism and how it not only depletes family budgets but also clutters households with wasteful unneeded junk. I also wonder about people who seem to go through life horse-blinkered without seeing what's going on all about. I reckon that's where they recruit the brainless consumers who fall for whatever is being currently peddled.

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

Any society that produces unhappy children is sick. Children need warmth, security and good two-gender role models. That is not being provided by single mothers and their string of passing-through BFs, patched-up families (his kids, her kids, their kids), new mummies and daddies or 'uncles', short-term, homosexual or otherwise dysfunctional households due to substance abuse and/or violence, etc., etc. We live in times that seem to promote the unnatural and dysfunctional, so how can one speak of happy, well-adjusted kids? But it does has one redeeming factor: lots of hot, sensational and titillting topics for today's tabloidised media, steamy soap operas and films to cash in on.

Food / Is Polish food still more natural than in the West? [142]

You can process meat (cure, smoke, season, cook, etc.) without pumping it full of soybean solution to make it expand and produce 3 lbs of processed meat from 1 lb of fresh meat. Ever taste a cheap Polish wiener? If you leave it in boiling water a bit too long it'll swell to 2-3 tiems its size but have no flavour whatsoever.

But back to my original question: Is the stuff sold in Germany, the UK and elsewhere in Europe even worse amd more fake-foody than what there is in Poland? Otherwise why do so many westerners rave about Polish food's alleged natrualness?

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

M-G: lots of snide remarks but no substance. I gave my analysis for what I regard as soem of the stepping stones leading to the mechnaism of decay. What is your explanation of the deterioration we are now experiencing? Turning the clock back two centuries would put us near the mad frog period which ended in a huge blood bath. I don't think anyone in his right mind would want to go back to that!

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

My response to Strich's interesting commentary is a question: how and why did this come about? Philosophically it could be traced to Nietzsche's 'God is dead' so be your own god which led to Nazism and today's 'anything goes' mentality. Then there was Freud who effective reduced people to brains-betweeen-the-legs creatures, communism which reduced man to a tiny cog in a huge bureaucratic machine, initially commie-loving Sartre (he later wisened up!) who said 'hell is other people' (rather than 'love thy neighbour') and Dr Spock who stressed discipline-free child-rearing.

Against that background their emerged the mid-'50s-era consumer abundance (it took Europe at least another decade to achieve something similar). It was fuelled by the unbridled consumption-promoting profit motive which created a grab your fun and run mentality. You were 'born to buy', so 'shop till you drop'. It peddled such anti-value slogans as ‘numero uno’, you only live once, 'be the first on your block', live beyond your means, ‘no money down’, live on credit, cutting edge, etc. Money-mad Hollywood and MTV are the supreme authorities, actresses and rock stars the main role models.

No-one is forced into that mould, of course, but how many can truly resist the round-the-clock brainwashing of the high-powered news, entertainment and advertising media? And they start them young by using the world's most successful marketer, Santa Claus, to suck three-year-olds into the channel of brainless consumerism...and the movers and shakers behind it all smile as their bank accounts bulge.

Genealogy / Polish nationality? Which of the following (if any) determine being Polish. [231]

I think some are missing the individual angle. Ethnicity like religiosity, pizza-loving, being a Harley Davdison buff, opera lover, baseball freak, hiphop, golf or computer-game addict in the great American 'salad bowl' is a matter of personal choice. The extent to which a US-born American wishes to be Italian, Swedish, Polish, Vienamese or anything else is not legislated or imposed but freely chosen. (In some cases there may of course be family pressure to, for instance, 'marry a nice Jewish boy' or whatever). So indiviudal Americans of foreign stock can be anywhere from 0 to nearly 10 on a 0-10 scale in terms of ethnic identification and intensity. 10 would be rare, but some Hispaniscs come close to 8 or 9. PolAms would probably range from 0 to 5 or 6. This is just a guesstimate, of course. Imagine someone making a livelihood from the Polonian trade (butcher's, Polish deli, travel agency, PolAm newspaper, etc.), living in a Polish neighbourhood, attending a Polish church, belonging to the PNA or PRCUA and interacting almost exclusively with other PolAms as opposed someone named Bruce Kowalski living in suburbia and working for a big American corporotion who perhaps used to go to 'busia's' for Wigilia but she died 23 years ago.

Life / Young Poles say: Hurray for decay? [35]

Rightist, leftist... Why all this labelling and sloganeering? Is there anything rightist or leftist about being civilised and civil, kind towards and considerate of others or raising kids to be decent human beings and good citizens rather than selfish, greedy, pleasure-obsessed scumbag consumers?

Food / Longest pizza record attempt in Poland [21]

Hope they didt srpinkle it with tinned sweet corn! That's gross! Also the cold tomato sauce Polish pizzerias serve on the side to drown your pizza in. Ugh! Tomato sauce should be baked into the pizza.

History / Why did the reformation not have a huge effect on Poland? [28]

Indeed, the Reformation did not impact Poland that much. By nad large, Poles felt no need to get invovled with fly-by-night sects when they already possessed the One True Faith.

Genealogy / Polish nationality? Which of the following (if any) determine being Polish. [231]

Isn't nationality mainly a matter of self-identification? One needn't set foot anywhere, as it is a matter of the heart, soul and mind. Of feeling and belonging. The boudnary often runs through a single family -- some identify with their ethnic heritage, others do not. Shouldn't we respect that choice? A passport is just another piece fo paper, innit?

Genealogy / Polish nationality? Which of the following (if any) determine being Polish. [231]

Yes, but is he wears a Polish and Proud T-shirt and weighs in at 250 lbs, you'd better watch out!!!!

News / Should Poland change its Government from Parliamentary to American Style Republic? One-mandate districts? [20]

At present Poland ranks somewhere between a presidential system (US, France) and a chanclerian one (Germany et al). Being popualry elected, the Polish president wields more pwoer than his German opposite number but nowhere near that of the French or US chief executive. The PO has gone on record as saying it wanted to weaken the presidency, whilst PiS wants (wanted?) to strengtehn it. That was when Lech was in power, but now they don't mention it much anymore.

History / Poles organized the first strike in US in 1619 [72]

Bóg, honor i Ojczyzna (God, honour and country) have kong been the main traditonal Polish values.

Genealogy / Polish nationality? Which of the following (if any) determine being Polish. [231]

Well, you might find yourself in a jam in one of the bars in Hamtramck, MI, Buffalo, NY, Parma, OH, Brooklyn's Greenpoint or one of Chicago's Polish sections if you told someone he wasn't Polish because he didn't know the lingo. Them would be fighting words to many 3rd, 4th and 5th generation PolAms, especially after a few rounds of boiler-makers (shot & a beer).

History / Poles organized the first strike in US in 1619 [72]

The important thing was that this was not a strike for higher pay or benefits. This was America's first civil-rights protest launched for the right to vote in the House of Burgesses (the local assembly).

Life / Polish pride. PL stickers, flags and the white eagle! Where does our obsession come from? [79]

I've heard that in Denmark Christmas trees are ofgten decorated with little Danish flags. That isn't the case in Poland (with Polish flags). Co kraj to obyczaj. Different countries, different ways!

Life / Young Poles say: Hurray for decay? [35]

Well, my dictionary says a galernik was a slave that rowed ancient ships. Is a galerianka a female version? And where do you have ancient ships nowadays?

As for extremism, I don't think too many Polish kids bring knives and guns to school, do they? In the Detroit area that is not uncommon.

Life / Young Poles say: Hurray for decay? [35]

Are you suggeting that decay and moral rot are something modern? Not on your life! Sodom and Gomorrah were recorded thousands of years ago!

Life / Any treatment centres for homos in Poland? [455]

Kinsey was a fraud!
drjudithreisman.com/archives/2005/08/kinsey_sex_and.html