History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

That's not the same as saying that any of Putin's predecessors were Jews, is it? 'Course we know of Kaganovitch and numerous other Communist Party big wigs, the only Eastern European country among those in the Warsaw Pact aka Eastern Block Nations, with a Jewish head of state for at least a few years, was Hungary's Rakosi Matyas and he was a disgrace to his former religion.

Work / Job question in Poznan (Lecturer) [11]

Well, as they say over there, Powodzenia!

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Up until today, NO Politburo head has been a Jew, convert or otherwise:-) Jews, leaders of Supreme Soviet?? Naah, I don't think so.

Even Germany has a better shot at having a Jewish head of state than either Russia or Poland.

Life / Is there a website for used boat in Poland? [7]

I'd forgotten to mention in my private e-mail to you the other day, that Northern and Eastern Poland, around Mazur, have excellent boating opportunities, particularly in summer.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

@Ironside, my English only sounds like a second language to someone whose first language isn't English, get real!!

Suffice to say, the reasons once again for Poland's weaker position than Russia is as much an issue of sheer size as anything else.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Apropos several remarks here concerning the German literature market, both in and outside the FRG, not to mention foreign aka US and British authors long-since translated into German (while also read by serious students of English in the original), German literature has indeed undergone a serious Renaissance over the past several years, especially since the death of Guenter Grass.

I think the "problem" with German literature for many generations, even since the past two centuries, has been it's perceived lack of the accepted difference in the Anglo-Saxon world which we've always taken for granted between so-called high-brow vs. low-brow literature.

There never was a true German equivalent of Charles Dickens or Thackeray, the latter of which were read by both the elite as well as the educated masses.

In German literature, not until the mid-to late 20th century, there was little "popular" literature, such writing usually looked down upon as beneath the dignity of

any university graduate:-) Heinz Konsalik, enormously successful financially and perhaps the only German author until the late '80's on the level of readable accessibility for the "average" German reader to stack up with a Mickey Spillane or similar light reading in the US, for example, was never taken seriously by German academics, that elite, out-of-touch class once referred to as the "Mandarins".

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Like ol' Adlai S. was quoted as saying nearly 60 years ago in his run for the White House, asked by a woman in the audience why every "thinking man and woman in America shouldn't vote" that time Senator Stevenson for President: "That's not enough madam, I need a majority!"

As I've always said, true back then, just as true now:-)

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Why don't you simply admit, Ironside, that your English is often faulty, full of GoogleTranslate, and needs work? You start admitting ignorance about certain areas, and I'll concede that I know more about Poland than about Russia:-)

What I stated though could easily be confirmed by any other member of this forum, that is, without a political ax to grind.

Language / I'm Moving from UK To Poland to learn Polish and live there [11]

Wish you luck, Simon! Learning the language, that is, the culture's half the battle. Hopefully, yours won't be an uphill fight either:-)

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

"Stooge" (szpieg) not "stodge", IronsideLOL Your English still needs plenty of work.

Stop being a contrarian and admit that I'm right. Sure Poland has coal, forests and the best apples on the continent. Her size and abundance can't even begin to compare with that of her big neighbor to the East, the single largest landmass on earth:-)

Don't let your Polish pride interfere with the truth.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Rather clinically, not to mention cynically put, Bratwurst Boy, but you're probably correct about that.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Poland traditionally had neither the natural resources nor the manufacturing development of Russia. Poland's geopolitical location as a buffer state has been her strength, from before the Cold War up until now.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Dirk, you're certainly correct in saying that sadly through centuries of being channeled into areas involving trade compared with other industries, Jews might well have become rather at home in finagling, bargaining, negotiating, if for no other reason, sheer survival!

Jews didn't wake up one fine morning in May, declaring, "Let's all become usurers!". However, if pawnbroker was the only job available (cattle dealing and horse trading probably already taken), perhaps the local Jew did have to charge significantly higher interest rates, rather like a loan shark, since this was their sole livelihood and in the end, who wants to be constantly underbid?

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Jews were overrepresented in areas, once again, in which it was felt that a shortage area existed, furthermore, practices such as money-changing, typically were off limits to gentiles as expressly forbidden by the Church:-)

The explanation is simpler than merely, "Jews are better at business" or some such malarky.

Language / Polish and other slavic language differences [60]

Depends on the canto:-)

Language / Polish and other slavic language differences [60]

Reading "Pan Tadeusz" for me was filled with both arcane as well as archaic diction, scarcely recognizable in today's Polish! I had to have it explained by my teacher, much as reading Shakespeare for the average English speaker.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Dirk, the whole point is that saying, for ex. Jews are natural-born business genii, Germans are all by nature bellicose and arrogant, Italians simply lean toward Mafia-style behavior etc., IS INDEED racist and unhelpful. Such sentiments are convenient pegs on which to hang our experiences and confirm fallacies which are both unfair as well as often just plain untrue!

News / Mass-media in Poland: which are left wing, right wing or centrist? [44]

"Polish liberal" is almost an oxymoron.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

...shoving Mao's Little Red Book down unsuspecting throats.....UGGHHH! Sounds at first glance nearly as vile as being force fed "Mein Kampf".

Work / Job question in Poznan (Lecturer) [11]

An even loftier goal. How many Poles I've met fancied themselves good enough to be as "good" as an American native speaker-)
Lots of luck!

News / Mass-media in Poland: which are left wing, right wing or centrist? [44]

Can't argue with that statement, bolek.

News / Mass-media in Poland: which are left wing, right wing or centrist? [44]

I see the thread has miraculously been re-opened:-)

As posted previously to you, Intermarium, Poland remains on average a far more conservative country than post-Wall Germany, especially since Duda took office.

History / Give Poland back it's lost land ! [132]

Certainly not. Even Czar Vladimir couldn't be that absurd.

Work / Job question in Poznan (Lecturer) [11]

A most achievable goal, and certainly as a presumably native English speaker, you'd have more than a good shot!

Work / Job question in Poznan (Lecturer) [11]

A salary is only commensurate with the cost of living! As Poznan is probably cheaper than Warsaw, not to mention other European cities, especially in Western Europe, a salary which some place else might be "low", would perhaps be "reasonable" in Poznan:-)

For instance, I teach college in New York. Compared with an investment banker, my salary may seem low, however compared with somebody who teaches college in Salinas, Kansas, I'm certainly upper-middle class. Here's the classic example of two people doing more or less the same job, earning vastly different salaries.

History / Give Poland back it's lost land ! [132]

After the uncounted millions of war dead between '43-'45, no Russian in their right mind could still have a taste for war!

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Dmowski though was also a known and self-confessed anti-Semite, whose "Kwestia Zydowska" I read and found most disturbing! Compare kindly with Werner Sombart's "The Secret of the Jew's Success" and then get back to me!

I'll debate ya anytime, any place.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

By the same token, how would the average kulak have reacted if conversely dictatorially exposed to Mickiewicz or Slowiacki?
One man's lit is another man's poison.:-)

If death by boredom be one's ultimate fate, imagine any one of Chopin's weaker works being imposed on helpless mouzhiki??
LOL

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Soros though is scarcely representative of ALL Jews!! That would be like judging every Pole by the standards of a Roman Dmowski, every Frenchman next to Drumont, Petain or Laval....every German by the gutter standards of Hitler etc.

Language / Polish and other slavic language differences [60]

Thanks, Vlad and Maf!
:-)