History / Something to amuse you - Mister of Poland Beauty Contest 1990! [12]

It looks like a beauty contest organised for the inmates of Auschwitz lol.

Life / What is going on in Polish Music [128]

Thread attached on merging:
Share any Polish music that you like from any time period.

I will start of with this little number, even though a little ancient by Mirska-its one of those songs you listen to when reminiscing, or you can easily dance to this with a partner as it does not require a lot of skill. It is quite good with a drink or two as well, and very apt for the change in season in Poland at the moment i guess.

youtube.com/user/hague1cameron?feature=mhum

News / Polish leader urges EU to keep generous aid funds [32]

Teffle


Who Knows, you might just hop onto that train one day(:

News / Polish leader urges EU to keep generous aid funds [32]

I have obviously got to do some extra research! I knew that French farmers did quite well out of the cap system, but that is something else(:

News / Polish leader urges EU to keep generous aid funds [32]

Yes you are right, I just had a look at the stats. I would change it around then and give Turkey about 10-15 and the Ukraine about 20.


Is Ireland still a net recipient, are you sure? Because at one stage i believe they enjoyed the highest standard of living in Europe.

News / Polish leader urges EU to keep generous aid funds [32]

My guess is that they will probably come out reasonably well out of the budget, not least on account of the fact that Lwandowski is responsible for the EU budget(: but i suspect that this time around the EU will be a little less generous.

And yes Poland is a net recipient of EU funds, but probably it will be a net contributor in say about 2015. My suggestion to the EU would be that next time you open membership to new countries, let a bit of time elapse so that the EU is not struggling to come up with funds.

So if the Ukraine is to join at least some 15 years should elapse before that happens, about 20 years for Turkey.

History / Poles back to the Elbe (Łaba)? [28]


LOL

Yes indeed. The German+Russian friendship built on foundations of absolute trust(:

History / World War 1 - Poles on most fronts in Europe. Any good sites about it in English? [27]


You know, destroying everything that might be value to the enemy or close to everything e.g crops etc. It is done when a army is retreating and wants to delay the advance of the enemy.


This was at the end of the war, when the writing was on the wall so to speak. it could be considered a great way of handicapping a future Polish state.

German built hmmm, maybe but it was Polish taxpayers who had to pay for it and as you might know the Polish nobility was initially taxed more that its Prussian counterpart.

Well it wasn't Polish Hubris that brought about the war......
but they were the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes at the end of it, though they did have to endure a lot suffering like the rest. A painful rebirth one might say.

You are right about the narrative part, its kinda hard to find an all embracing common narrative.

History / World War 1 - Poles on most fronts in Europe. Any good sites about it in English? [27]

Mr Grunwald
Not a problem, its not the best known period of Polish history. Pilsudski always viewed a clash of the big powers as necessary for Poland to gain its independence. If my memory serves me right he correctly predicted the initial defeat of Russia in the conflict by Germany and Austro-Hungary, followed by the defeat of Germany by France and Britain.

History / World War 1 - Poles on most fronts in Europe. Any good sites about it in English? [27]


Hard to say....but I don't remember that the territory of the future Poland was "ransacked and pillaged" during WWI

According to Edward Werner:

Millions of tourists visited the battlefields of France after the First World War, but only a few pushed further and investigated the devastation caused by the World War in Poland. A few figures might serve to illustrate this destruction: About 2,000,000 houses were damaged and had to be rebuilt, actual battlefields extended over one-fourth of the surface of the country. Direct war damages were computed at $2,500,000,000. Three billion feet of earth alone had to be shifted to fill excavated trenches. The loss of human life, which I should have mentioned first, is hard to estimate for Poles fought in all three contending armies. A part of Poland then belonging to Russia was deliberately laid waste in order to deprive the Germans of the necessary supplies. The inhabitants of that region were evacuated to Russia. When famine occurred in Russia in 1923 after the Bolshevik Revolution, these people were sent back by the Russians under the most appalling conditions.

Apparently both Germans and Russians stripped industrial equipment such as railways and carried it back to their respective countries in some places. Though he does not put a number on the dead fighting for the respective armies, I have read of estimates of between 400 000-450 000.

History / Is Jozef Pilsudski the king of modern Poles? [138]


I don't know about the numbers, but some prominent generals, definitely.

Franciszek Kleeberg

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciszek_Kleeberg

Juliusz Rómmel

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliusz_R%C3%B3mmel

apparently a relative of the desert fox

USA, Canada / PolAms -- do you regard yourselves only as 'white Americans'? [187]


The point that delph was trying to make is that if you are like second gen American, why would you consider yourself anything other than that.

+ the other point delph was making is that if you were born somewhere in the east of Poland, were of either Ukrainian, Belorussian or Lithuanian ancestry. Why would you consider yourself Polish, when these ethnicities have their own countries today?

History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]


LOL. Indeed they not:)

History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]


That is true.

USA, Canada / PolAms -- do you regard yourselves only as 'white Americans'? [187]


Very good observation, and I am sure your knowledge of history is a lot better than many PolAms:)

Language / Polish regional accents? [141]


not every Pole owns a manor house either:)

News / Nigel Kennedy on Poland (Positive and Negative Thoughts) [25]

all I can say is that the guy's hair is really weird and he comes across as a bit of a loon, but a talent no doubt.

Genealogy / One parent Polish, the other one German - their children? [16]

The question sounds extremely generalist. Is there some observation that you or others have made that this question is based on?

Off-Topic / Übertough Pole with bullet in his head [16]

Sounds like Homer Simpson:)

UK, Ireland / Too many Poles in UK? [52]


I think you are right to feel concerned. Look at this I think they are preparing to invade

youtube.com/watch?v=_eGNLf3KUUQ

News / Anger after Poland left out of EU ambassador team [38]

Well together with Sweden they have initiated the Eastern Partnership, which is arguably faring better than the Mediterranean Union initiated by France.
+
They are contributing to EU security by pressuring the US to build a missile defence shield which will contribute to EU security.
+
They did play a role in helping to bring about the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, through Kwasniewski's mediation.

So i would say that they are punching above their weight, but understandably as a net recipient of EU funds, doors will simply not open up for Poles, no matter how talented. It will take a bit of time, about 10 years.

+
The EU president, Buzek, is a Pole so they have some positions.

History / Pole who burned himself to protest the 1968 Soviet invasion [81]


Apologies, but with all the Poland bashing on this forum, and there were few more countries in there than Poland it just seems like an easy trap to fall into, in my defence I was trying to get rid of my post, but it was too late:)

History / Pole who burned himself to protest the 1968 Soviet invasion [81]


Only when their name happens to be Charles Gordon.


Can admin remove uncouth racists like Paulina from the forum?

UK, Ireland / Ive been in the UK for 6 days to relocate and im going back to Poland. [281]


Ah well, Britain cannot cater for the inferiority complexes of other nations, I am sure that liberating Holland from the Nazis was good idea, it is sad to see the Dutch PM following in the footsteps of that immeasurably arrogant and stupid De Gaulle.

Thus far your argument hasn't exactly been confined to facts, the facts that you have produced have proved to have been 100% wrong. Lets not forget that classic, that according to you Thatcher increased debt, when in fact she did the exact opposite:) She inherited a mess of an economy and turned it around.

By that debt statement you have proved yourself to be economically, historically and politically illiterate. Congratulations, what a Tri-factor:) Or be honest you simply don't know much about Margaret Thatcher.

according to you her foreign policy was wrong:)

fact: she defeated the Argentinians and reclaimed the Falklands for Britain.-seems like a success to me-no?

and i could go on and on and on.

Though I don't want waste my time on somebody whose political knowledge comes from pub conversations.

USA, Canada / Feminine surname endings in America? [48]


Yes there is law against it, I read it in a book by Davies in Europe: east and west.

History / Norman Davies - the Brit who loves Poland and becomes one of Us [250]


If you would consider to pause and think a bit you would realize that he uses that term to denote the fact the Poland was the FIRST to fight the Germans. hence....

News / Newsweek's The World's Best Countries (Poland ranked 29) [128]


Well I suppose it is doing it against the odds one might say. Though i guess it does have a few resources in terms of timber and a bit of space.

News / Newsweek's The World's Best Countries (Poland ranked 29) [128]

It's nice to have some sort of a comparison, it gives you an idea whether your country is on the up or fading. It is human nature, keeping up with the Joneses and all that+ we all want to know how the neighbor is doing:)

News / POLAND PAYS FOR BAD WASTE DISPOSAL [5]

I believe there is going to a bill before parliament before the end of the year, giving local councils the powers to manage waste disposal and decide how its going to be disposed. Apparently they want to avoid a monopoly situation whereby a few big companies corner the market.

News / Newsweek's The World's Best Countries (Poland ranked 29) [128]


Trust me it will get worse, they will be lucky to drop by 10 places.

Poland's summary: As a member of the EU (it joined in 2004), Poland is increasingly leaving its communist past behind--and for the better, it seems. As the top upper-middle-income country, Poland is pretty much a winner across the board. Its political environment is the best in its category and it's in the top 10 for economic dynamism, education, health, and quality of life. In August of 2010, Poland elected its fourth democratically chosen president; its large cities, such as Krakow and Warsaw, are becoming increasingly vibrant and wealthy.