Work / Teaching Architecture in Poland [23]

Marchi - I know a landscape designer that would be very interested in cooperating with you. Can you give me your e-mail address so I can pass it on? The Green Roof stuff is something that she's very interested in :)

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


So, Torq. I've seen one of the "mohairs" physically assault a young boy (11 or 12 years old) because she didn't agree with what he was saying - and then backed it up by screaming in his face. Of course, when people started mocking her, she backed off - but the point remains - they're no strangers to assaulting people.

Then again, I've never seen Gazeta Wyborcza readers screaming at TV screens, either.

Remind us though - who attacked the police in Warsaw?

Work / What is the average age of graduate students in Poland? [17]


It's a mess in this respect - in Poland, Postgraduate Diplomas are "post MA, for professional purposes". From what I understand, they're a relic from when the Magister was a first level qualification - so people needed something in addition without the intensity of a PhD. It could probably be best described as "post-masters, non-doctoral" study.


Hmm, if I recall correctly, there's nothing awarded for this in Poland, so it has no comparison. I'd be personally inclined to simply call it what it is - and let people believe that it's equal to the Polish qualification. You could simply describe it as an MA - if they question further, you can explain that some qualifications in the UK aren't offered at MA level.

(what's the PgDip in?)

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


And what if he was Catholic and Polish, who was a supporter of theirs? They wouldn't say a thing. You can see from all the recent articles about Gross that they repeatedly bring up him being Jewish - even though it really has nothing to do with it. You hear the same nonsense time and time again about Michnik - "Jew" this, "Jew" that.


So why didn't they stand up against those who were attacking the authority of the RCC in Poland over the cross crisis? Why didn't Nasz Dziennik publicly denounce them? If the newspaper is so about defending Catholicism, why didn't it defend the Church and especially the cross from such nonsense?


Real intellectuals? Come on Torq, look at these people. They'll believe whatever you tell them - the Smolensk articles on Nasz Dziennik have been about as factually incorrect as it gets. The fact that they published on Friday an article about "missiles that take down planes" - come on, it's just manipulation, nothing more.

For what it's worth, the average Gazeta Wyborcza/Rzeczpospolita reader that I've met tends to take the media with a large pinch of salt. The average Nasz Dziennik reader tends to believe that everything printed there is true. Kinda shows, doesn't it?


But there are plenty of patriots who read Gazeta Wyborcza. Fair enough, conservatives tend to read Rzeczpospolita - but both of them are just as patriotic as your average Nasz Dziennik reader. This is part of the ND-reader agenda though - anyone who doesn't agree with them is somehow "unpatriotic".


Of course I do - they're uneducated (through choice, don't forget), they have incredibly backwards social views, they expect me to subsidise them, and more. Sorry, but why would I show any respect to them when they're only interested in my wallet?

But then again, I've never seen a Gazeta Wyborcza supporter scream in the face of a 12 year old boy.

Anyway, while Nasz Dziennik continues to completely obsess over Gross, Gazeta Wyborcza produces an escapee from Treblinka -

Peasants came and kicked , looking for treasures , valuables after the Jews - says Samuel Willenberg , a refugee camp in Treblinka , commenting on the discussion to the latest book by Jan Tomasz Gross " Golden Harvest " . Along with his wife, Ada , however, argue that "the weapons of Poles against unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism ."

The latest book by Jan T. Gross - " Golden Harvest " - is slated to appear in March published by Sign. Included in the thesis and cited stories , including the mass looting by the local population areas Treblinka , Poland has aroused heated debate.

If anything, Gross is a master of publicity. Not only has he got the usual Jew-obsessives ranting about him, but he's also managed to get most of the media obsessing about him too.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


I only spent ten seconds - typed in "nasz dziennik homofobia" into Google and it was the first link. I mean, if I find that within 10 seconds, what am I going to find spending two days?

Come on Torq, the current obsession with Gross. Do you think they'd really pay as much attention to him if he wasn't Jewish? Do you think they'd pay anywhere near as much attention to a British Pole who wrote the same sort of thing? Indeed - would they even say a thing if Gross was actually a Polish Catholic who supported them financially?

But it seems to me that the whole GW-ND argument comes from one thing - the split between intellectuals and workers.

Incidentally Torq, doesn't it disgust you that Nasz Dziennik and the ilk exploit their uneducated readers, who will believe everything they read just because it appears to be approved by the Church? I feel sorry for these people.

Work / What is the average age of graduate students in Poland? [17]


A post-Bologna Masters in Poland (still titled Magister, but with a clear, defined, separate 2 year part) is equal to a British MA. Because of this, you should always stress the BA and MA as being separate.


Nothing, they're the same thing. Best to just call it a BA though.


Grades aren't really looked at in Poland unless it's the top grade, so I wouldn't worry about this. I'd actually just stick with the UK description - 2:1, 2:2, 1st, whatever.


I think the only problem for anyone Polish (Polish-born that is) is that they'll be expected to have an MA - Poland really doesn't "get" that a Masters degree is something special in many countries.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


This looks pretty dodgy - "Defending themselves against homosexuals" - well, that's a pretty intolerant attitude right there.

Your turn, Gazeta-haters.

USA, Canada / Things that Polish-American should know about Poland. [168]


So, you're actually American.


They should start by learning Polish. And I mean real Polish, not the American version which consists of a vocabulary mangled and twisted through time.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]

It depends on the course - I know design subjects in good universities in the UK tend to have low entry requirements, but place a lot of emphasis on the portfolio and interview.

Work / What is the average age of graduate students in Poland? [17]

No. The pre-Bologna qualification was the Magister as understood in the Germanic-influenced world - which was a first level qualification. Hence the existence of "post-diploma" courses for second level study. Harry's gone over this thousands of times - the Magister isn't a Masters, but rather something between a BA and MA.

Now, the Polish Masters degree is the same as the British Masters degree - since Bologna.

News / Today's holiday ("Three Kings") - Is everything closed in Poland? [25]


Yup - the holiday is now on the day it falls irrespective of what day of the week it is. There's no day off in lieu - so (for instance) Christmas Day is "lost" this year.

PO must be killing themselves with laughter over how they got people to accept worse conditions, all for the sake of some random holiday at the start of the year when nothing is getting done anyway.

News / Today's holiday ("Three Kings") - Is everything closed in Poland? [25]


I'd say that it was actually masterstroke by the government - they gave this as a holiday, but then made weekends holidays, unlike the old system of the first work day after a weekend holiday being a holiday as well.

People still haven't realised that they've actually lost more holidays than they gained.

But anyway, economically, it's just plain idiocy to have the 6th as a holiday - so many businesses are just making a long weekend out of it, so it's a 3 day week - no point at all!

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


It's the usual GW-hater complex - anything that suggests that Poland has been wrong is somehow "unpatriotic". Of course, the so-called patriots are often doing the least patriotic things, such as refusing to accept the authority of the President.

Law / Starting a private College in Poland - procedures and information [15]

Robert -

Give me a shout - I'd love to help you here. There's a lot of issues (the Polish mentality is totally different to the UK mentality) here - but I'd like to help :)

News / Boeing or Airbus - which ones would be better for the Polish Airlines (LOT)? [35]


Neither - they're both so unbelievably equal. Both are subsidised in different ways by the respective authorities (Boeing with the US defence contracts, Airbus through favourable loans) and both have their lame ducks, too. The A380 has problems, the 787 has problems - the A320 is a roaring success, the 737 is likewise.

Then again - Airbus has this - b377.ovi.ch/pcs/guppy.jpg


Seriously, just shut up.

Convex was even kind enough to take some of my friends for a flight.

Then again, I suppose that's the old "Polish peasant jealousy complex" coming through again.

History / BBC - Center for Military Studies - Gerald Kochan [28]

There's only one answer here -

If the item was stolen from a man who wasn't in full control of his faculties, then you should inform the police. You've got all the details, it's a straightforward case of theft.

I'm really not sure what posting online is going to achieve.

Sadly, it's all too common that families are left bitter and angry that a family member has chosen to give things to people other than "the person who thought they deserved it". How many families are torn apart after the death of their parents, for example? Seems to be the same old situation here - the family feels they deserve to have the logbook, the grandfather has thought differently.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


Well, she certainly must read it a lot, to have such knowledge about it :)

(actually, a lot of these Gazeta Wyborcza readers must be their most avid readers, when you think about it...)

History / BBC - Center for Military Studies - Gerald Kochan [28]

Indeed - but we shouldn't assume that the grandfather was lesser-educated either. He may simply have seen the money on offer (what's such a logbook worth?) and decided that it was easy money - money for him to enjoy in his old age.

He may even have felt that he was getting money for old rope, as they say.


Depends entirely on how they went about it, surely?

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


And how often do you read real Polish newspapers, hmm?

I don't count "POLACK TODAY" as being Polish.

History / BBC - Center for Military Studies - Gerald Kochan [28]

So - McCarthy - why haven't you provided Gerald with proof of his dementia and the proof that you're acting as executor of his estate?

Sounds very much to me like someone is mad that his grandfather sold something that he wanted.

News / Poland's atheist loonies have had their 5 minutes [239]


If it's only a byproduct, how can you explain the marble floors in my local (post 1989) church? Why didn't the money go to feed hungry children? Why did the Church beg for money from old people?


Same story here. I'm meeting more and more young people who don't necessarily disbelieve, but the attitude of the Catholic Church in Poland has turned them away.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


Contempt for anything local? Last time I checked, Agora owned several local newspapers and had quite a significant local news section in Gazeta Wyborcza (producing local editions) and gazeta.pl. I don't remember Gazeta Polska or the ilk doing that.

Incidentally, "modern, international, progressive" is far better than "local, stuck in the past, paranoid".

And calling half the nation "mohair berets" is perfectly acceptable when you see and hear the racist idiots that wear such things. Given the things said about Gazeta Wyborcza, why are you trying to deny them the right to call people as they see fit?

Ah, I forget - one rule for one's friends, another rule for everyone else. Just like the Communists did!

Don't forget, many of the berety would quite like Communism back.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]


Yup, they really have no bloody idea.

It fits right in with the Polish mindset that tenure is more important than skills.

News / Pole-basher Gross up to old tricks [284]


Gotta love the automatic assumption - just betrays them for what they are, xenophobic, nationalist pigs who are no doubt pleased that Hitler did the dirty work for them.


Even better - means that the people are not only opposing an Ivy League professor, but also choosing to oppose Oxford University too!

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


Who is spreading "hate speech" against Poland?

I've read quite a lot of articles by English and German sources covering the last 20 years in recent weeks, and the only thing that can be called "hate speech" is from Der Spiegel stirring the pot. And that was one article about Polish car thieves.

Sorry, but no-one cares enough about Poland to spread hate speech. In fact, the only hate speech I see in Poland comes from the constant vitrolic attacks towards other Poles.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]

Depends what you want to do afterwards. A degree from a Polish university isn't going to do much for you in terms of Western Europe - but at the same time, why pay expensive fees if you only want to work in Poland anyway?

But why not give Germany a bash? It's free to study there.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]


The archives are online?


It hardly matters what you think - it's still the most widely read broadsheet in Poland, and probably the most influential newspaper.


Uh - most Polish newspapers are left wing in nature. Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita, Gazeta Polska, etc etc - they're all left wing. Heck, Polish politics are left wing - a clear majority of the Sejm are left wingers. And let's not forget that most governments (barring the existing one) have been left wing too since what, the 1920's?

Economically, there's next to no difference between Gazeta Wyborcza and Gazeta Polska (for instance). Perhaps Rzeczpospolita is a bit more free market orientated, but it's nowhere near what is commonly understood to be conservative economics.

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]

I'll keep an eye on the website - though weirdly, they seem to be now supporting the official version of events. I don't get it - they've been publishing nonsense for months, and now they're posting an eyewitness view that confirms fog and a horrific plane crash?


Well, if you consider Fakt a newspaper...

News / Gazeta Wyborcza of Poland losing readers [301]

What about I just post some of the nonsense posted about Smolensk? The undertones of EVIL RUSSIA EVIL RUSSIA are so sickeningly obvious, even to a foreigner like me. The fact that they've posted some downright nonsense about it all is enough for me.

Incidentally, it's not just me that's noticed that Nasz Dziennik has toned down a lot (apart from the Smolensk-nonsense) in recent months? No doubt Rydzyk, being a smart guy, has realised that the government is now free to close the newspaper down without fuss.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]


There are a few examples - for instance, writtle.ac.uk

Not many though. The UHI Millennium Institute is probably another example.