Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]


I can't win, can I? :D

I can't stand such lazy, ignorant criticism of Poland by someone who clearly has never been here. All this talk about "hate" - where is it? It's not the Poland I live n!

The American view of Poland is so distorted that it's not even funny. I thought Brits were bad for accusing Poles of eating swans and so on, but...jeez.

Life / Is the word "Polack"rascist? [185]


So - answer my point, why aren't you being offended by the list of Polacks that I posted?

Genealogy / Fabianowicz name [5]


This says to me that she was simply accepting the reality - that to be Polish means that you could be partly German, partly Jewish, partly Russian, partly Austrian, partly Czech, etc etc.

Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]


But you don't live here, so how can you know anything about Poland?

What you've read in history books doesn't change the fact that there hasn't been a liberal government in charge of Poland for 21 years.

Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]


Sure, the I RP was famous for this.


You're the one that argued about the II RP being intolerant! Anyway, the II RP was a bit of a disaster full stop.

I never denied the liberal democracy that the I RP was famous for.


Oh jeez, kiddo. Spend some time here before commenting on these things - I can tell that you really don't know much about the place as it is today. Poles do not care about the "liberal" past - there's a significant minority which regards any sort of liberalism as evil. The whole Christ of Nations thing is just plainly ridiculous, too.

Are you actually Polish (as in born here?), or are you an American?

Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]


Quite easily. There are plenty of kids not going to religion classes - and because of a lack of money, those kids simply don't have to go to school at that time. No problem, as it were. As for Rekolekcje - who the hell sends their kids to such a thing if they don't want to go?


Plenty of non-Caucasians live here just fine. I'm not a Catholic and live here fine (can't recall when not being Catholic was ever any issue - no-one is interested!). There's plenty of openly gay people walking around - heck, no-one cares.

The worst thing in Poland is whispering.

Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]


Really?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lw%C3%B3w_pogrom_(1918)

What was this, then?

Perhaps you might want to consider the amount of anti-semtism flying around in the II RP. Never heard of Endecja's role? Or heard about the quotas in universities for Jewish students? How come there were less than 10% Jews in universities in the mid 1930's, despite making up a bigger minority than 10%?

Poland's role in WW2 towards Jews can be argued about all day, but it cannot be denied that Poland was less than friendly towards them between the wars.

And that's not even talking about the other minorities. Perhaps you might want to discuss the destruction of the Lemko culture? Or we could talk about the oppression of the Ukrainian minority. Up to you - the II RP is full of examples of intolerance and sheer stupidity.

Don't forget, the II RP seized Czechoslovak land when presented with half a chance. Not exactly the actions of a sane country, really.

Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]


The II RP was one of the most intolerant countries in Europe. The III RP is quite a bit better, but it's still far less tolerant than most European countries.

I wouldn't say Poland is proud of her intolerance, but nor is she ashamed of it.

Life / Are Poles bigots and xenophobes? [205]

Uh...you're from Texas. Can't help but wonder if the pot is calling the kettle black here.


They can't in many countries. They even can't in the UK, arguably one of the most liberal countries in the world. Can they give blood in Texas?


It's actually gone rather quiet lately. Gazeta Wyborcza, always a keen follower of what's being said by Radio Maryja hasn't said anything in weeks.


From who? They're not in the Sejm, no-one takes them seriously and they're not even on the political radar. I'm sure the Ku Klux Klan still gets support in Texas, but from who? A tiny minority? Just like LPR.


Happens everywhere. Given their behaviour in many respects, who is surprised?


You live in Texas, so...not sure how you can comment about "tolerance".

Law / EU citizen's residency Registration Certificate: Poland application form [14]


There are none - Poland's tax system doesn't have such absurdities such as being a "non-dom" despite living in the UK. It's all based on residency - if you hit the 185 day limit, then you're resident and subject to Polish taxation. If not, then you're not resident for taxation purposes.

Permanent residency really does carry no implication at all - for taxation purposes, you'll be taxed the same as a temporary or permanent resident.

Law / EU citizen's residency Registration Certificate: Poland application form [14]


What are the tax implications? I wasn't aware of there being any difference whatsoever between the "temporary" and "permanent" residency.

As far as I'm aware, the only implication arises when you live here for more than 185 days - regardless of being officially resident or not.

Life / Is the word "Polack"rascist? [185]

Merged thread:
"Polack"

So, I'm led to believe that some people feel that the word "Polack" is offensive. Variations also include "Pollack" and possibly "Polak". So - why aren't they getting upset about the following?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollack - all these people named Pollack are clearly insulting Polish people.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollack's_Rule - this is just plain offensive, right?

pollackassociates.com/ - omg. Calling your company "Pollack" is just unbelievably offensive. I mean, no-one would say "nigger associates", right?

mrpollack.pl - how the hell could they name a band Mr Pollack?!

pollacktempecinemas.com - A Pollack cinema?! RACISM!

pollackarch.com - why on earth is it ok to have architects called "Pollack"?!

polackrealty.com - POLACK REAL ESTATE?! What a disgrace!

(cheers mods - didn't know about this topic and was shamefully too lazy to search)

Travel / What to do in Poznan for 3 days? [21]


Oh yes - utterly surreal at times. It's sad that it's closed for winter now actually - it was great being able to go there and not have a clue what you might find, though there were some really dreadful "acts" there too! But really, I liked it most in the afternoons.


Christ, that place is lethal. Delirum Tremens is just plain dangerous :(


There's quite a few places like that - there's one rather strange bar near U Hoznika that seems to exist solely for somewhere to go after you get kicked out of everywhere else. I don't even know its name (or if it has a name!) - but it was a really odd place, just for the utter collection of weirdos that end up there.

The thing I love about Poznan is the way that new bars always come and go - though it's annoying when you find somewhere nice, only for it to vanish a few weeks later!

The only thing I dislike about this city is the way that many pubs seem to insist on playing music at an ear-splitting level. I'm really not sure why - wouldn't they sell more if people can talk more?

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]


Then look to the future. Poland has an exceptionally bright future as the leader of a mini-bloc within the EU - she's easily able to influence Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary without too much effort. Latvia too, for that matter. The Germans also tend to respect Poland - after all, it's a huge potential trade partner.

There is absolutely no need to keep on crying about the past - the facts are known, now let's move on and concentrate on building a better Poland. Certainly, part of the problem is within the education system itself - the utter disgrace of Communism being barely taught in schools is unbelievable. I'm not surprised that publications do so well by ranting about communism - it's not taught in schools, so where else to learn about it?


If you ask me, the whole reason is that Poland seems unable to deal with her history in a rational, grown up way. I actually suggest that there should be a true, unbiased version of Polish history made - which sticks to verifable facts and doesn't seek to point the finger at anyone. If Poland can come to terms with her past (including the more unsavory aspects, as well as the undeniable successes) - then we can move forward.

Polish history is pretty tragic in some ways, but why are the successes never mentioned and celebrated?

Travel / What to do in Poznan for 3 days? [21]


Morons. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Winding up the English is one thing, but causing trouble is just utterly unacceptable.

If you ever come back, give me a shout and I'll be glad to take you on a nice tour of some lesser known pubs ;)

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]

A disaster? Actually, Estonia managed to use the crisis to meet the Euro convergence criteria and will enter the Eurozone on the 1st of January. I wouldn't call that a "disaster", nor was it in any danger of breaking the peg with the Euro and leaving ERM2.


Indeed - SEB bank is the biggest guilty party here.

Well, Germany certainly repaid the favour to Poland by allowing Poland to join the EU (and indeed, threatening to veto all expansion unless Poland joined). I have an interesting book on the EU, written about 2002 - and in it, it makes it clear that the EU will not expand unless Poland joins.

I'd also suggest that things such as extending Euro membership and Schengen to the poorer Eastern members are an olive branch. Still, Poland seems to have forgotten the help that she got from the West in securing independence in 1918 in the first place.

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]

Jesus. And this is exactly what I mean by Poland being stuck in the past.

Other countries seem to be doing fine despite communism - Slovenia and Estonia are doing exceptionally well for themselves. What's Poland's excuse? Blaming communism is so old fashioned...

Then again, I guess blaming communism is a good way to avoid taking responsibility.

UK, Ireland / Long-term impact of returning UK Poles to Poland [21]


And you call yourself a lawyer?

Even one of my students (who is almost a lawyer, but not quite) could tell me about various aspects of law without needing to "root through legalities" - so why can't you?

UK, Ireland / Long-term impact of returning UK Poles to Poland [21]


Why not?

Law / Polish business haven't got a clue: Discuss. [72]


"Here"? You didn't even know that there was an election this year, so "Here" is most certainly not Poland.

Hey mods - where does his IP address check out to? :)

Anyway, you were talking about the problems of doing business. As I said - all of them are trusting, but are quick to deal with any potential problems. Then again, what would you know about Polish business, not actually living here?


If they are, then they'll tell you all about the need to trust, but be wary.


Really? Why don't you tell us about which laws are flawed, outdated and make no sense? I'm curious as to what you know about Polish labour law. Incidentally, one person I teach is an expert on employment law - and her opinion is that it is very heavily loaded towards the employee. In fact, listen to convex - he'll tell you that the law is ridiculously protective towards the employee.

But hey, I suppose a Polish-American knows plenty about doing business in Poland - especially when they don't even know about elections here!


As Magdalena says, let's hear it.

I don't call a pathetic federal minimum wage of $5.25 and 1 week's holiday "protection" for workers. Let's not forget that in the USA, tips make up the vast majority of people's wages in service proession. Yeah, real "protection" there.


First hand. And you?

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]

Perhaps you can do Poland a favour and stop making the country look like a bunch of crybaby idiots who can't accept history for what it is - history.

WW2 happened, Yalta happened - get over it.

Incidentally, why would Harry want to go back to Scotland? I wasn't aware that he had anything to do with the place...

Food / What's your favorite Polish beer? [870]

Actually, this thread reminds me of something.

What the hell is with the Polish obsession with serving lager at room temperature? I've lost count of the amount of pubs where the beer is barely cool. Sure, some beers should be served that way - but your average Tyskie/Warka/Lech? Come on...

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]


Jesus, stop bleating about history! Attitudes like yours are why Poland will remain to be unimportant, because you're too busy crying about the past to assume your place as somewhat of a leader among the Central-Eastern European countries! No-one likes a crybaby, especially one that keeps dragging up history to justify everything.

News / America's Tea Party like Poland's Solidarnosc? [59]

Indeed, the two "factions" can clearly be seen to this day.

I only hope Solidarity gets relegated to history sooner rather than later - the modern day "Solidarność" has so little in common with the historical one.

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]


They don't give Poland that much thought. Again - the age old Polish problem - thinking herself to be much more important than she actually is.


It certainly does. Ukraine and Belarus are undisputably European.

Cyprus is considered European, ffs!

Law / Polish business haven't got a clue: Discuss. [72]


I detect a hint of bitterness and jealousy. Exactly what I'd come to expect from a lying Jew-hater.


Lawyers, doctors, several medium sized company owners, some senior management of public institutions. All of them practice the exact same philosophy - and funnily enough, all of them are successful. It's really not a bad rule to practice.


Really? Got any evidence to back up this claim?

I mean, you didn't even know about there being an election this year, so what makes you suddenly so knowledgable about Poland?


And Polish tax and labour law really isn't that difficult. The problem with the labour law is the rights given to employees, not the law itself.


I know about the UK, Irish and French systems fairly well. I've also got an idea about the German system. If you think Poland is difficult, then you should see the absurdities contained within French company law!

Law / Polish business haven't got a clue: Discuss. [72]


Not difficult at all. As long as you make it clear from the outset that you won't tolerate nonsense, people will treat you equally. The most successful people I know in Poland all "talk softly, but carry a large stick".


True. But that will change in time.


Polish tax law is quite simple compared to many countries. It's a bit arcane at times, but what tax code isn't? As for labour laws - they're more or less in line with EU law. There are some annoying provisions, but on the whole, if you stick to them, then you won't have problems.


Same everywhere.


Actually, most foreigners perceive the government here as stable nowadays. The financial future of the country - what country is financially secure? I've read a report recently about how even Switzerland could fall.

The real problem Poland has is that it doesn't have the ability to dynamically change, unlike places like Estonia. There's 38 million Poles here - it's just not that easy to change things overnight. The country is flawed, but again, what country isn't?

Life / Poznan or Wroclaw - which city is more foreigner-friendly? [18]

In the centre, yes - but you can clearly see that it was wrecked during WWII.

Life / Poznan or Wroclaw - which city is more foreigner-friendly? [18]


Wroclaw, I'd say. Poznan is rather "cold" towards foreigners, unless you're a student. There isn't much cultural happenings here either.

Depends why you're coming here, of course :)

Life / What is Poland B as opposed to Poland A and the otherway-round. [45]


What utter rubbish. Have you forgotten that PO came from Solidarity, just like PiS?

Accusing them of being ex-members of the PZPR is just idiocy.