News / What do PO voters expect from the new Polish government ? [32]

So - in other words - the 20th century saw the people being dictated to by the Party, while the 21st century sees the people dictating to the parties.

What's the problem? In a democracy, we elect people to represent the people, don't we?

(incidentally, what makes you think Kaczynski has convictions? Until relatively recently, he had no form for supporting his platform nowadays. Or have you forgotten that he actually was behind the Centre Agreement?)

News / What do PO voters expect from the new Polish government ? [32]


For us, it's a great game watching PiS languish in opposition, knowing that there's absolutely no hope of them gaining any power before 2015.

It's more than suitable punishment for all the hatred spewed by PiS and their media over the last few years.

News / Poland's 'oburzeni' (indignant)? [41]

Exactly my point - bitterness is rife here. Strangely, such people that voice such opinions tend to be the ones who are nobodies themselves, and who cannot imagine sitting with books all night rather than partying/watching tv/etc.

Usually it's seen among those who want to party and have a good time, rather than focusing on their career.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


PO? Well, duh - PO have no time for racist old people who can barely string a sentence together.

Is it? They're only against Lukashenko because they want to reclaim the lands of morons.

Fascism? Their very ideology borders on fascism at times - they're only against fascism that opposes them. You just need to listen to some hooligans to see that fascism goes hand-in-hand with PiS. In fact, in modern times, PiS are probably closest to Franco's Spain.

Exploitation of women? Riiiight...that's why many PiS supporters think women should stay at home.

Corrupt politicians? There's nothing more corrupt than putting a young (and totally inexperienced in media) lawyer in charge of TVP, is there?

Immoral clergy? They're only against the clergy which doesn't support their view of how the Church should be, such as the journalists from Tygodnik Powszechny and the bishops who dared to speak out about the abuse of the cross. Nothing is said about Rydzyk's exploitation of vulnerable pensioners.

Bombings of civilians? I didn't see PiS rushing to withdraw Polish troops, did you?


Pretending? Who is...pretending here?

I don't recall Monika Olejnik ever pretending to like PiS...

News / Polish Diaspora - many of these 20 million actually speak Polish? [79]


Could be as high as 2 million, no-one knows the exact number. Likely to be over a million, though.


Yup, definitely.


But then you'd have to start counting whether or not they are actually Polish, or whether they were "polluted" with Czech/German/Ukrainian/Lemko/etc blood along the way.

News / What do PO voters expect from the new Polish government ? [32]

That's okay, we positively love watching the anger on PiS voters faces when they realise that it worked ;) Many people did in fact vote PO rather than SLD/Palikot for that exact reason - we do not want a return to the days of PiS under any circumstance.

I haven't said it in a while, but hey hey, na na, goodbye Kaczynski!

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


They're not telling me, they're informing me that Gazeta Polska were convicted of lying. There's a difference.

Gazeta Polska, convicted liars? Fact.
Gazeta Wyborcza, liberal-Jewish-communist conspiracy theory? Speculation.

That's exactly why Gazeta Wyborcza doesn't tend to get prosecuted (except when PiS were harassing them in power) and Gazeta Polska does.

News / Poland's 'oburzeni' (indignant)? [41]

Truth is, she made herself - while jealous, bitter people suggest "connections" and so on - I've seen her with huge piles of books, studying into the early hours of Saturday/Sunday morning. She worked hard during her studies, had a lot of relevant work experience and so on. But those who studied something crap like history and di **** all during their studies except party and go for holidays are the ones now sitting in supermarkets earning 1,500zl.

The problem is that the young generation here almost expect people to hand them "manager" on a plate along with a phone, a car and so on - and they get angry when they don't get it.

News / What do PO voters expect from the new Polish government ? [32]


I hear you loud and clear ;)

I'm happy if they keep PiS from winning in the 2014-2015 election cycle. That's fine by me :)

News / Poland's 'oburzeni' (indignant)? [41]


Well, look at this way - I know someone who has an amazing contract with an amazing salary by Polish standards, at the age of 26. She got there through many, many long nights - even now, she doesn't get much more than 5 hours sleep a night. But she worked for it - it wasn't handed to her.


It's ridiculous - for the job I'm trying to find someone for, the requirements are simple - relevant work experience, a degree in any subject at any grade and fluency in English. Even the degree part can be waived for 'the right person'.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Were you here, watching TVP and seeing the crap that they broadcasted? Or are you just relying on what Gazeta Polska tells you, along with how their boss was "unfairly" removed and so on?

Perhaps you might want to look at the wholescale evasion of paying the licence fee in Poland - a lot of that is down to the utter manipulation of TVP by PiS.


Nasz Dziennik, Gazeta Polska and countless others have been anti-PO for years, too. Is it really that difficult to see that in Poland, the media is partisan, and that's just how it is? As I said - the manipulation of TVP by PiS was the point when the media became really partisan - it's all their own fault.


Hatred? I find them amusing as hell, especially now that they're firmly condemned to spending 3 years in the electoral wasteland. I don't like their extreme socialist views, I don't like the way that they manipulate the church for their own political agendas - all in all, I'm happy that they're nowhere near the halls of power.


Disagree, do we?

m.wyborcza.pl/wyborcza/1,105226,9983691,Rymkiewicz_ma_przeprosic.html

Liars through and through. Convicted liars, at that.

Worth pointing out that PiS and related media have been hauled up in court many, many times over outright lying - it's almost normal to open the newspaper and discover that they've been prosecuted for lying about something or other.

News / Poland's 'oburzeni' (indignant)? [41]


Those lack of opportunities are largely down to their own incompetence. I'm recruiting at the very minute for someone, preferably not long graduated - and while the subject studied isn't important, what's important is work experience in a relevant setting. I don't care if they've studied history, geography, biology, whatever - but I expect them to have gained some experience in an office environment during their studies. Fooling around the mountains during the holidays is *not* how to get hired.

That's the real problem in Poland - "I HAVE PAPERS AND I EXPECT A GOOD JOB AS A MANAGER", because - that's how it worked during Communism.


Trashy people tend to get trashy contracts. Good people get good contracts - it's the way of the land.


No. The sensible, educated classes will never back it - and they will forever be seen as the ones who simply expect life to hand everything to them on a plate.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Gazeta Polska licks their arse constantly, and they're #2 by newspapers sold. Get over it - in Poland, the media is partisan - even public TV was thoroughly manipulated by PiS into broadcasting all sorts of crap.


That's because they are fine. Have you ever seen Palikot cause Poland to get laughed at by foreigners (see also : Krakowskie Przedmiescie) - or the SLD spending more time ranting about Russians than actually opposing? Do you see people writing absolutely ridiculously insane things in the name of the SLD? No, you don't.


Indeed, Gazeta Polska is doing very well for itself, despite the utter garbage and constant attacks on the Government/President. The same newspaper even published "details' of Komorowski's alleged heart condition!


Hahaha, can you imagine, Gazeta Polska forced to tell the truth. That would be hilarious - no-one would read!


Actually, the media is just partisan in Poland. The vast majority of media outlets are biased in some direction - nothing new there. You could start by examining TVP when it was run by that PiS nobody - they were constantly broadcasting pro-PiS propoganda.


Yeah yeah, all very idealistic, but even in the "glory days" of Pilsudski, the media was utterly partisan. Heck, Solidarity hardly published "fair" things about the PZPR - most of it was just outright attacks on the Government of the day.


See, PiS supporters keep claiming this, but where's your evidence for this?

Unfortunately, they tend to class anyone who publishes *anything* bad about them as being anti-PIS - and it's this hysteria that keeps them out of power. Gazeta Wyborcza didn't need to say anything when Jarek publicly said that he would punish anyone who says "wrong' things in the media - his words were enough.

News / Polish Diaspora - many of these 20 million actually speak Polish? [79]


Depends - for instance, in Europe, there's two distinct "waves" - the first wave, post WW2 won't have passed the language on, but the second wave is much more recent (2004-now) and, of course, they'll all speak Polish.

Also worth pointing out that in Europe, people tend to assimilate quicker - you'll often find that the 2nd generation is already considered to be part of the host nation.

AND then there's the whole issue of whether they're actually Polish - having a Polish great-grandmother will not qualify you in the majority of peoples' eyes.

History / Why have Poles contributed so little to Academics? (Particularly Science) [180]

Unfortunately, the link provided shows there to be not many participants, and also : Romania won a shed-load of medals too.

Do try harder.

History / Why have Poles contributed so little to Academics? (Particularly Science) [180]


Jew-envy again, have we?


Link or it didn't happen.

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]


Actually - let's remember that in Poland, interest in bank accounts is taxed at 19%. So - if your account is earning gross in the UK (which is possibile), yet you're not paying 19% to the Polish taxman, that's yet another black mark.


We're not talking about this though - we're talking about the need to declare the income. Even if Poland has an agreement, in terms of residency, he's tax resident in Poland. His actual tax bill in Poland - well, who knows? That's what professionals are for...It's quite possible that he'll have no bill - equally so, it's possible that he'll be hit with a big bill. Either way, he'll be on clear ground with them instead of trying to operate on the sly.


He'll be obliged to report it at the end of the year, but that's about it.

News / Palikot or the Poles getting rid of the Polish society old Taboos in 2011? [30]


I love the way that you're falling for Palikot's bait - all he has to do is open his mouth and you're immediately consumed with anger. Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd suspect that PO/PSL will use Palikot to divert attention away from their Government.


Hahaha...you mean, like the wives of people who died in Smolensk? Oh yes, they were highly qualified, by virtue of being married to someone!

You really just can't get over the fact that your party was humiliated again, can you?

And by your party, I mean PiS - there's no way Nowa Prawica members would utter the same crap that you do.

Work / Native Speakers increasingly desperate? Polish and African teacher forcing down wages.. [27]


I actually wonder if people like you won't become massively in demand sooner rather than later - while everyone can get a 20-something native speaker who is only here because of some girly (and who has no commitment to staying in the place) - not everyone can get someone who actually knows his stuff and who has lived life, so to speak.


Still the case, I think. So few of them can actually speak Polish to a decent standard that it's likely that the ones that can explain English in Polish can still name their price.


I had this discussion yesterday with a very experienced Polish teacher (who has the diplomas to back it up) - and we came to the conclusion that there's just no point in hiring a native these days, unless you actually want to go from "great" to "perfect".

The only thing I've found as being a "difference-maker" in over 3 years was that I could teach a class on things like business and law without needing to do much preparation - whereas a Polish teacher would have to sit down and learn the specific terminology. Most Polish teachers do tend to be quite poor in terms of specialist vocabulary.

(just thankful that I've chosen to specialise in teaching kids and get papers in that direction....)

Law / What are chances for Poland to join in Eurasian Economic Community? [100]


Poles have affection for Serbs? Since....when?

I mean, I live here, I speak to Poles every day, and none of them particularly care about Serbs.

I know one guy who does a lot of business with Serbs, but that's it.

(no doubt you'll now try and show me photographs of a few football hooligans, as if to prove something)

I'm pretty sure 99% of Poles know exactly two things about Serbs - the capital, and Milosevic. Having said that - I liked Serbia :)

UK, Ireland / Bank transfer from Poland to UK - do I need only IBAN number or SWIFT one as well? [8]

Who even bothers to ask?

Last thing I transferred was payment for a holiday apartment to the UK - selected the appropriate options on the mBank site - voila, they got the exact amount in their account, no fuss at all.

Work / Native Speakers increasingly desperate? Polish and African teacher forcing down wages.. [27]


Usual route - bullshit private "university" followed by "deep love" with an ugly Polish girl.


That too. You only need to look at half the jokers on here to see that they haven't got a clue of what English grammar is - even that one clown who said "grammer" :/

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]

What makes you think that it will always be the case?

I'd have laughed at you at the start of the millenium if you suggested that the EU could introduce the European Arrest Warrant and actually make it work (or not work, depending on your perspective). Now - it's nothing out of the ordinary - and furthermore, it's abused by - surprise - Poland.

And anyway, who would even *want* to have the Polish tax office on their case?

With Polish prosecutors, it seems that they'll stop at nothing to waste public resources. Not exactly a big deal for them to waste some more on accessing bank account data.

Work / Native Speakers increasingly desperate? Polish and African teacher forcing down wages.. [27]


Actually...he might not be.

I'm hearing from several different people that things are very, very difficult this year in Poznan.


What the truth is that he was probably being paid too much money - and they wanted to cut costs.


Indeed, more and more decent Polish teachers (who can also explain things in the students native language), an oversupply of Brits and Americans and Africans willing to work in small schools for crap money (I know someone who has a highly educated Nigerian with a not bad accent working for 20zl an hour!) - all combines to a problem.

The problem isn't helped by all the "konwersacje" jokers who will work for 25zl an hour because their girlfriend demands that they live here.

What's surprising (and I've never had this before) was that this year, I've been asked by several people to help them find work. That's not normal at all - though - one thing is clear - females are still massively in demand. You can find a British guy easily, but it's still very hard to find a British female with a clear accent. I know two of them - and I'm not sure that there's any others.

Life / Water from wells in Warsaw - Safe to drink? [24]

Gotta love how they managed to convince an entire nation that bottled water was somehow better for you than tap water.

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]

Stereotypical British attitude really - "oh, why should I bother reporting it to those dumb Poles, they won't find out anyway".

Worth pointing out that data-sharing agreements are well and truly in force in the EU - it would be trivial for Poland to get access to UK bank account data these days.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Like myself. Why the hell should I work and pay social insurance just to fund a bunch of guys who like wearing dresses?

The amount of money that the RCC has extracted from Poland is astonishing.


He might have meant it that way and not in a literal way. However, the kind of people that will respond to his words from among PiS supporters are the ones who will take it literally.

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]

Depends on the specific situation. In this case, where someone is clearly resident in Poland for taxation purposes (unlike the UK, Poland has no exotic laws about domicile) - he is liable to pay Polish taxation. Whether or not he'll actually be taxed - I don't know, I'm not an accountant - but he has an obligation to report the income regardless.

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]

I'm only thinking on the basis of how Poland works out tax residency - presumably, if you're resident here, you have the same 'base' as everyone else - you can't use foreign tax bases to reduce your liability. I mean - if this was so, you could open a freelance company in Germany, pay the same social insurance (about 200-250 euro a month) as in Poland, but take advantage of the massive tax free base there compared to Poland. Everyone would be doing it - but they aren't!

It could be that for the purpose of inheritance tax, the domicile of the deceased counts. I simply don't know though.

Either way, he should be declaring the income to the Polish tax office and letting them work out his liability.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Slight difference between 5% and 15%, don't you think?

Australia's last election saw 5.6% invalid votes.

Apparently a high percent of invalid votes is normal in a proportional representation voting system.

Anyway, historically, it seems that anything between 3-6% of spoiled votes is 'normal' in Poland.