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Posts by Polonius3  

Joined: 11 Apr 2008 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - Q		 Last Post: 9 Apr 2018
Threads: Total: 980 / In This Archive: 576
Posts: Total: 12275 / In This Archive: 6848 		From: US Sterling Heigths, MI
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: Polish history, genealogy

Displayed posts: 7424 / page 231 of 248
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Polonius3   
7 Jul 2010
Life / "Oh the Strawberry, Raspberry, Good wine that I drink......" Polka song request - need a good recording [11]

You'll find the words and music to the polka you're interested in here:
notes and lyrics:
yagelski.com/sbox/music/strawberryraspberrypolka2.gif
youtube.com/watch?v=lywyfxGEaDs

The following should help enlighten our undereducated Polish and UK PF-ers about the Polish-American polka, an urban art form that long preceded the monotonous, disjointed grunts and groans of slum-dwellers known as rap-crap.

usc.edu/dept/polish_music/dance/polka.html
nostradamus.net/polka_page.htm
Polonius3   
6 Jul 2010
Genealogy / Najgebauer help please [24]

NAJGEBAUER: Polish respelling of Neugebauer, also appearing as Neubauer (new famrer), which origianted to mean a new settler to an area, newcomer possibly with the hint of an unwelcome intruder. It may have also been used in Yiddish by Jews.
Polonius3   
6 Jul 2010
Language / Declining Polish acronyms [4]

How are variosu acrionyms decliensd. Is there soem rule. For insatnce:
-- Is it PZPR była (because partia is feminine). If so, then why do people say 'był w PZPR-ze.. zapisał się do PZPR-u as if it were a masculine noun.

-- What about PO and PKOL... is it PO była and undeclined w PO, w PKOL-u but PKOL był...or PiS (does the prawo or end-word sprawiedliwość determine the gender?) It too is delcined as a masc. noun: do PiS-u, w Pis-ie....

-- I know some are not declined at all: do USA, w USA, also PKO, CIA, FBI
Polonius3   
3 Jul 2010
Genealogy / Fl Lt Tarkowski - Polish Airforce [6]

TARKOWSKI: root-word tarka (grater); toponymic nick from Tarków or Tarkowo (Graterton)

TULIŃSKI: root-word tulić (to cuddle, press against one's chest); toponymic nick from Tulin or Tuliny.
Polonius3   
3 Jul 2010
News / 20 YEARS ON A BETTER POLAND -- ALSO BETTER POLES? [21]

II was thinking less of the country and its political structures than the average Pole, in other words how the changes have helped to shape attitudes. For instance, communism effectively encouraged theft because everything was state-owned, in other words it belonged to everybody so people had fewer qualms about helping themselves to things. A market economy clearly defines the concept of ownership. Charitable activates have clearly grown because communism first of all tried to hide its poverty and said the state would care for those down and outers, so Poles have become more charitable and that is a positive anti-selfish trait. These are only two examples but I think you'll get the general drift of what I had in mind.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / 20 YEARS ON A BETTER POLAND -- ALSO BETTER POLES? [21]

Indeed, among the indicators of improvement or decline are such factors as the amount of crime, juvenile delinquency, family break-up, unemployment, suicide, vandalism, etc. On that basis individual countries can be compared in different periods of time (eg prewar and postwar, or PRL and post-PRl) and different countreis amongst each other.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / 20 YEARS ON A BETTER POLAND -- ALSO BETTER POLES? [21]

My English can't be that bad!? Kinder as opposed to less kind, more honest than dishonest, more generous as opposed to meaner, etc., etc. Has the PC crowd gone to the point that calling someone honest, decent and altruistic is racist? And people wonder why the world is so mucked up!
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
Life / How do Polish people see homosexuality? [152]

Coming out may have its benefits in terms of self-assertion, self-prestige and the 'gay pride' they go on about at the parades. But urging a homo to stay closeted can protect his health and prolong his life. A closeted homo usually has far fewer partners (is less promiscuous)and that in itself diminishe the STD risks.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
Life / How do Polish people see homosexuality? [152]

I thought sodomy was rectal peneration. If not, then what is the correct definiton of it?
Incidentally, from a purely medical point of view, rectal intercourse (whether homo or hetero) is anatomically traumatic, as the anus has been designed (by God, Mother Nature, the tooth fairy?) only for excretive (outgoing) movement. Penetrative (ingoing) pressure causes physical damage to the one being sodo... er, um, I mean...being 'made love to'. Any medcical experts on PF who can confirm or deny the above?
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / 20 YEARS ON A BETTER POLAND -- ALSO BETTER POLES? [21]

A better Pole or a better person are easy enough to define on the basis of universal virtues and vices. A better Pole or human would be kinder, more honest, decent, generous, altruistic, modest, humble, hospitable, helpful, friendly and respectful and less envious, greedy, vindictive, mean, vicious, haughty, boastful, selfish, disrespectful and petty.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / Who are you voting for in the 2010 Poland's presidential elections and why? [82]

Still, associating Preident Kaczyński with a plane crash anywhere - Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria - is really quite a feat. Clairvoyants (not the many fakes but those who really possess a certain sensitivity) rarely get things right down to the exact place and minute, but how many people would even have such things cross their mind?

BTW do you entirely dismiss Nostradamus?

Amathyst - As a wannabe clairvoyant you're a dismal failure. By Sunday I'll be shooting for not 10 but more like 20-25 posts.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / 20 YEARS ON A BETTER POLAND -- ALSO BETTER POLES? [21]

Obsessed with old commies? If Negro slavery were still in force in America, would the issue not keep cropping up in every election campaign until it was fully done away with? Poland has never carried out a fully-fleged de-communisation campaign, because post-commies, soft-on-communism Michnikites, soft-on-corruption Tuskites and the arse-saving Wałęsas of this world thwarted or diluted every attempt to sort thigns out and clean up the mess. The Kaczyńskis' 4th Republic project marked an attempt to finally finish the job but it came too late in the game and could not dislodge the deeply entrenched above-mentioned circles. So the unresolved issue of SB collaborators and related questions are likely to plague Poland's political scene for many years to come.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / Komorowski - Russian stooge, traitor background [42]

Lech Kaczyński was amongst those rounded up and jailed during martial law. His brother Jarosław was not and once ventured the guess that maybe that was so the SB would have someone to follow who might lead them to Solidarity's underground structures.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
News / Poland still developing strong economy despite red tape [8]

So in effect you are saying that blindly aping the West is not always the best policy?
Sometimes time-honoured common sense such as not living beyond one's means (or high on the hog - in the American vernacular) is a better solution.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
Life / Does anybody care about the elections in Poland? [26]

For the first time in the current election campaign, due to end on Sunday, Kaczyński leads Komorowski according to a survey in Rzeczpospolita: Kaczyński - 49%, Komorowski - 47%. Four percent are still undecided, so it could be a very close race.

The same thing happened in 2005. Only just before the election did L. Kacyzński and PiS begin leading in the polls. And ultimately they won. So maybe there is still a chance for Kaczyński. True, the Polish president's powers are limited, but a Kaczyński win would help uphold the cherished democratic institution of checks and balances which prevents power monopolies. Otherwise the PO crowd, controlling the governemnt, Sejm, Senate, Presidency, varioos key institutions and much of the oopinion-moulding media would be able to force through with impunity legislation mainly serving the Brussels bureacracy, corporate tycoons, lobbyists, crafty wheeler-dealer types, shady businessmen and corrupt officialdom as well as assorted, yuppies, eggheads and snobs - the PO's main clientele.
Polonius3   
2 Jul 2010
Life / How do Polish people see homosexuality? [152]

Both presidential candidates - Komorowski and Kaczyński as well as their respective parties - have said during the campaign that under existing Polish law such people are able to deal with problems of inheritance and mutual healthcare (visiting their partners in hospital, etc.) without enacting new legislation. But marriage and adoption of orphans is out, as the Polish constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and woman. It would require a change of the constitution to allow that, and a majrotiy of Poels are opposed. Homosexuals are not discriminated against by Polish laws and are free to sodomise each other all they want in the privacy of their homes. They are even allowed to hold lewd, noisly streert parades which many parents find highly offensive. Even though homosoxuals are many times more likely to be carrriers of STDs, no laws prevent them working in sensitive medical- and hygiene-related areas. But would you want your mother, wife or GF treated by a HIV-positive dentist?
Polonius3   
1 Jul 2010
News / Who are you voting for in the 2010 Poland's presidential elections and why? [82]

Jackowski has been clairvoying (is that the word?) for decades. Back in hte 80s a family of two boys who had vanished approached him. The police had dredged a lake where the boys had been swimming but found nothing. Withouhgt leaving his home, Jackowski told the parents to have the poice check out the other end of the lake. Sure enough - the two bodies were soon recovered. Most of Jackowskis other predictions have come true. Whether he possesses powers of clairvoyance or these were all coincidences and lucky guesses - who is to say?
Polonius3   
1 Jul 2010
History / Battle of Warsaw movie in production [24]

The Miracle of the Vistula (1920) may have been Poland's first victory since the partitions, but certianly not the last. The gretaest of them all was Poland's peaceful grand victory over bolshevism in 1989. It was a combined military (collapse of the Warsaw Pact), politicial (collapse of the Evil Emptrie and its entire bloc of captive nations), economic (collapse of Comecon) and cultrual (end of censorship) victory. But more than Legnica, Vienna (Sobieski) adn Warsaw, it changed the whole course of world events by ending the cold war and its attendant arms race. That calls to mind a take-off on the old lightbulb joke: How many Poles does it take to change the world? - Three: a former archbishop from Kraków, a Gdańsk shipyard electrician and a Polish-American sovietologist (Zb. Brzeziński). Some would add a fourth: Col. Ryszard Kukliński - NATO's first Polish officer.
Polonius3   
1 Jul 2010
News / Poland still developing strong economy despite red tape [8]

According to reputable world media, Poland is still hamstrung by excessvie bureacracy... (but)... a strong doemerstic market has protected against recession. Agree, disagree, don't care?

Wall Street Journal:
blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2010/06/29/why-poland-cant-build-fast-enough/

Why Poland Cant Build Fast Enough
...Its been 21 years since the collapse of communism and despite several attempts at cutting
red tape, building in Poland still means a bureaucratic ordeal that blocks the economys
potential. Because of inept public administration and inefficient courts, it takes years to get a
building permit, whether for a public road or a private skyscraper, and permits can get
canceled during construction...

CNN: cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/29/poland.economy.recession

How Poland became only EU nation to avoid recession
...Rafal Szajewski, Project Manager of the Polish Foreign Investment Agency, said: "Many of
our neighbors suffered in the global downturn because they rely heavily on exports, but we
have large demand from our domestic market. For many years, Poland didn't have a middle
class, but in the last 10 years that has changed and there's a strong internal market."...
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
Law / Length of time to receive confirmation of Polish Citizenship [26]

I have head it amy take several years since the backlog is great and the bureaucratic machinery cannot handle the demand. This is from 3-4 individuals trying to get confirmation of citizenship. But maybe one should not generalise. What does the consulate say?
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
News / Poland's successful big business? [5]

Many dzięks. How would one google it: Polish-owned assets or what?
BTW, the Tusk grang want to privatise (read: sell off to foreign interests) such induistrial pearls as PGNiG (gas & oil concern) and KGHM (copper mining & metalurgy).
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
History / Poland should compensate for Soviet-seized property? [6]

Recently I heard the Polish govt had set up a fund to compensate people whose families had lost real estate confiscated by the Soviets, what is known as 'mienie zabużańskie' (across the Bug property?). Shouldn't the Russian Federation, the USSR's successor state, be the one paying out reparations to the Polish victims' families? Anyone know how such issues are handled in the light of international law?
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
News / Poland's successful big business? [5]

Most of Poland's industrial and commercial assets (factories, media, breweries, banks, etc.) have been sold off to foreign capital, often at a steal due to behind-the-scenes finangling. Only a few native Polish ventures have made it. I have heard of Solaris coaches, Polsat and TVN television channels, Marcpol supermarkets, Optimus computers (run out of business by the authorities)...but not much more. O yes, the Kulczyk empire. Anyone know of other major business enterprises based mainly on Polish capital?
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
Language / będzie potrafił? [34]

If this sentence offensive to anyone?: ' Po zrealizowaniu programu nauczania przedmiotu ... uczeń potrafi ...'?
Does anyone think it does not mean: 'Upon completion of the programme of instruction the pupil will be able to...'?

I presume those who are not offended by 'już przeczytałem TĄ kisążkę' will also think 'będę potrafił' is OK.
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
Genealogy / Surname - Czolgosz [3]

CZO£GOSZ: root-word probably the verb czołgać się (to crawl, creep). Could it have been given to a villager frequently seen crawling home from the inn? In Polonia, Leon Czołgosz is remembered as the anarchist who assassinated US President McKinley in Buffalo, NY in the early 20th century.

Tracking down family should not be too difficult considering the small number of bearers of the Czołgosz surname. For more info contact me
Polonius3   
30 Jun 2010
USA, Canada / Polonian or Polish food in America better? [26]

There's no problem in and around Detroit, Chicago, NY or anywhere you have Polish delis and groceries, but in many parts of the US twaróg (farmer cheese) seems hard to come by form the reports I have received. People therefore use dry cottage cheese, ricotta or even drained wet (regular) cottage cheese. Conversely, until the advent of capitalism (after 1989), Americans had a hard time making American-style cheesecake in Poland without Philadelphia cream cheese. None fo the twarożki available in Poland produced the right taste and texture.
Polonius3   
29 Jun 2010
Language / Polish regional accents? [141]

Maybe I didn't express myself clearly. I don't mean the peasant jargon of a toothless old babcia, but traces of reigonal pronunciation in the speech of eucated people speaking standard Polish.

For instance Franciszkańska Czy (Trzy) spoken by JPII would be an example. Or the hard '£' of Podlasie and Podkarpacie.