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Posts by convex  

Joined: 25 Nov 2009 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 28 Nov 2011
Threads: Total: 20 / In This Archive: 13
Posts: Total: 3928 / In This Archive: 3150 		From: Wroclaw
Speaks Polish?: un poco...wait
Interests: aviation

Displayed posts: 3163 / page 36 of 106
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convex   
25 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

The big boys are there because of economy and military. The economic baby of the "Big4" has an economy 5 times larger than that of Poland. Militarily, Poland would need to spend 10% of current yearly GDP to pay the yearly bills, not to mention the acquisition costs needed to upgrade the force to the same standards and size.

Is it possible? Sure.

Will it happen anytime soon? If Italy's economy were to shrink at the same level for the next 50 years (5%) and Poland were to grow at the same rate (1.6%), Italy would still have a larger economy.
convex   
25 Oct 2010
Law / Any experience about importing goods to the UK from Poland? [20]

It could be, i dont see anything to suggest otherwise. As long as you run the profits through a company and pay the taxes no probs. The goods purchased would have had VAT and tax paid on them anyway. As mentioned above thats what the EU is all about.

Would there be a possibility that they'd want to see invoices for the goods under a company name? Would you refund the VAT in Poland?

I'm curious, have never brought anything over the border commercially.
convex   
25 Oct 2010
Life / Tricks & Dodges (The Poles are nothing if not inventive) [26]

The desired results?

In this thread, the desired results are dickishness :)

I think it's fair to say that everybody's favorite green treat doesn't make an effective weapon to sabotage home construction.

Sounds like if that was observed, someone was maybe too lazy to throw away their uneaten lunch? That begs the further question, why would anyone throw away perfectly good cucumbers?

This is leading us to only more questions. I'm going to bed.

PS, here's a trick. Get the local government to pay your rent and utilities and then run a washing service out of the apartment. That screws over all of us.
convex   
25 Oct 2010
News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

It was a combination of action by the NBP, and what Jonni pointed earlier in this thread regarding legislation disallowing collateralization of mortgages (didn't pass quick enough : ).

If in fact you really live in Poland

Heh, he does, unless the KGB have Scottish plants over here. He doesn't come across as anti Polish. Decent critique.
convex   
25 Oct 2010
News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

Well.....I can tell you here in the US us Polish Americans tend to live below our means so I thought there was some of that over there.

That's probably a general thing with recent immigrants to the US who still have ties to where they came from. My mother is very, eh, budget oriented.

I think that the Polish government should support small and medium businesses in Poland, instead of concentrating on paying the big guys to come over and create basic manufacturing jobs on the basis of Poland being a place for cheap labor. Stop sending everyone to university, instead concentrate on putting the kids with talent through, and give them the best education possible. Drastically lower the cost of employing labor, and make it easier for employers to lay off employees. And of course, pension reform, which will be one the biggies coming up.

It will be difficult to ween the electorate off the handouts, but it has to be done.

As far as parties, I like WiP. PO and PiS really aren't that far apart on the policies that affect most people. They just turn it into the circus with the remaining 10% which splits them.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

If you look at consumer debt, the frugality goes away a bit. I don't think that Poles are any more frugal than people in neighboring countries. NBP basically taxed all its citizens 25% on the value of their money in order to keep Polish exports and FDI moving. What was cheap labor, became that much more attractive to eurozone and ERM2 members. It's seems to be policy to throw the workers and the pensioners under the bus when it comes to growth.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

When governments start pushing platforms that only pander to a certain group and ignore the true problems because they are unpalatable to voters, you've got a problem. Budget issues in both countries are just being overlooked with the solution of "we'll borrow more, and it'll sort itself out.". At least in Poland, there is a bit of plausible deniability in that no party maintains power long enough to actually be responsible for any long term effects.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

and had relatives in the Wehrmacht...

Are you talking about his grandfather?
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Tusk

Actually maybe Tusk speaks German because historically Poles spoke German more then anyone else who was non-German.

That probably has a bit more to do with it.

But what's the point? Tusk speaks German. If anything, that would probably be a plus for Poland.

Polands development is stalled because the parties that have been in charge over the last election cycles can't manage to pass any meaningful legislation. That's my vote.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]

Exactly.Like any of them has any clue about geography of Poland.

Yea, but in all honesty, you get questions like that in any country you live in.

The stupidest questions for me are usually around availability of products.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
Feedback / PF logo - color turned black today - Nice touch, Admin [29]

Thanks for the response, I suppose what you say is quite true.

Didn't the Gap recently have some sort of logo backlash where they reverted it back?

But why has the pf logo shrunken from it's normal size?

The less intrusive, the better.

Logos are usually only changed when you want a brand to have a makeover for some reason.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

Not much behind and it could be that it is already ahead.But what about population and the size of territory?Poland is an important player in Europe wheter someone likes it or not.

But no one cares, and why should they at the moment? It's a big country, like Romania. It's to the East of the epicenter. Right now Poland is a bit player. In 25 years however...well, we'll see how it goes. Judging by the two current political parties ideas, Poland might not grow as quickly as it could.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

Really?I didn't know that.According to Wiki Poland is on 21st place in the World GDP wise.
34th population wise.A midget?No.

Economically it's behind Belgium. Belgium isn't exactly considered a heavyweight.

Estonia is a country in north-east Europe.

Thanks for that, you obviously didn't get the humor, but fair enough.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

I wouldn't.Not even with Pakistan.I am sure you know that just having a bomb doesn't mean much.you also need capability to deliver it wherever you need or want to.

With regards to their military, Germany is only behind the UK and France in capability. Economically, it's still the second largest exporter in the world.

Now you must be kidding.Worst case scenario Poland is in the second league on European stage.A midget?Then what about Greece,Latvia,Estonia.....?

What's an Estonia?

In all reality, Poland has a large population going for it, that's it. Economically and militarily, it's in Belgium, Austria, Sweden territory.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

I dare to disagree.The gap between Argentina and Brazil is way bigger than between Argentina and Venezuela,Columbia or even Peru.

Yes, the 90's were rough. Very rough.

You can't compare Germany to US,Russia,China and India which belong to world's heavy weight division.Can you?

I'd put Germany right there with India. If Germany had the bomb, they'd be equal with those nations (not taking into account that they have access to the bomb...). Not having a seat on the Security Council is the only international forum in which they don't hold as much influence as Russia and China.

Regardless, where does this put Poland? A GDP an 1/8th of the size of Germany, and 1/5th the amount of military expenditures.

Is Poland a country to take seriously on the European stage?
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

No.It somehow escaped my attention.And as far as I know they don't have a stock exchange in Belarus.Maybe that's why I missed it.

Could, be, your failure either way. The economy is only a quarter of the size of Poland, but with higher growth, and plenty of opportunities to make money.

Hard to argue about it,but a SUPERpower?No.

It's definately a power. Fourth largest economy in the world as well as being comfortably in the top 10 militaries of the world...

No match to Brazil.

Fair enough, but the step from 1-2 is as big as the step from 2-3.

We know that Poland is a midget on the world stage economically and militarily and will never get the respect it believes it deserves. So what next? Integrate further into Europe? Try to strike out on its own?
convex   
24 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

That's not true.Poland was widely reported in the press as the only country to avoid economic slowdown.I read about it on Yahoo,Market Watch and Bloomberg to name just a few.

Did you read that Belarus and Serbia also avoided slowdown?

Germany a superpower?pffff.Aren't they still under American occupation?

Economically and militarily it holds way more sway than Poland, just a fact.

Argies a regional power???Tell it to Brazilians.

Second most powerful country on the continent.

Yep. True. P-Land survived better than most. Because they aren't yet tied to the Euro. They should learn from this lesson and abandon that road.

Poland is tied to the Euro :) When the overwhelming majority of your trade is with euro countries, you're tied to it.
convex   
24 Oct 2010
Food / Polish vs. Chinese cuisine. It's all about a pig. [7]

Could someone please explain to me why this pig is named after two countries that doesn't have ANYTHING in common?

Dunno, a shared love of pork :)

The story gets a bit more interesting...

cpsswine.com/poland/polands.htm

The Poland China Record Association is based in Illinois, isn't that the westernmost Polish voivodship?

From the site:

In the year 1816, the Shaker Society, through their trustee, John Wallace, secured one boar and three sows from a firm in Philadelphia. These were known as Big China hogs. The boar and two sows were white, while the third sow had sandy to black spots. Historians believe they were the same hogs that were so popular about this time in the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

China bit is explained...the Poland bit is still a mystery.
convex   
23 Oct 2010
News / Do Poles take Kaczynski seriously!? [199]

she was a wonderful woman.

She was a good woman, a very good woman. Regardless of if you agreed with her husbands politics (which, honestly, he never came across as the mouthpiece of sauron...), she was top notch.
convex   
23 Oct 2010
News / Do Poles take Kaczynski seriously!? [199]

Yeah, I hear of him as the new Hitler? Is that what you mean? Being conservative is fine, it is about preserving the past values, the legacy of your parents and maybe even grandparents.

I don't think that is completely fair, but I do think he uses populist rhetoric to an extreme. Hopefully he'll kill it off himself and allow someone else to take over. Old Mr. Tusk has apparently deep sixed himself, so no worries there :)
convex   
23 Oct 2010
News / Do Poles take Kaczynski seriously!? [199]

I think that the major difference is that the Polish electorate doesn't consist of a populace which is 90% under the poverty line with a population which feels that it has been wronged by the international community not 15 years ago. I think if you had that situation, you'd probable see an even more extreme version of Kaczynski...possibly even with a funny mustache..
convex   
23 Oct 2010
News / Do Poles take Kaczynski seriously!? [199]

Inane rhetoric. Same thing that provided the support for a certain Austrian with the same political message...and same family background
convex   
23 Oct 2010
News / Do Poles take Kaczynski seriously!? [199]

Well, his brother was actually semi sane. The problem is, when you're shooting for a socially conservative electorate, it doesn't help that you've never been identified with a significant other of the opposite sex. It would raise certain questions in peoples minds were it not for the rhetoric. Lech had a wife and children, he fit the mold perfectly. Jaroslaw however...
convex   
23 Oct 2010
News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

Kidding me right?

You should buy a polish history book and learn something about the country before accusing poles!

There you go!

It looks like a fairly successful country based on the history. Has defended itself over the course of 1000 years. So are you happy with where Poland is today? Do you think that 1000 years of history should be taken into account before judging someone in our lifetime?