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Posts by Ziemowit  

Joined: 8 May 2009 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - O
Last Post: 8 Nov 2023
Threads: Total: 14 / In This Archive: 7
Posts: Total: 3936 / In This Archive: 2187
From: Warsaw
Speaks Polish?: Yes

Displayed posts: 2194 / page 55 of 74
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Ziemowit   
17 Aug 2012
News / 70% of Poles like Komorowski. Do you? [120]

Ziemowit:
That is the long-played (and false) tune of PiS supporters.
Can you prove it?No?

I thought it was as clear as possible for everybody. The proof was as follows:

Again without access to prime media (you know the issue with TV Trwam), why would anybody step out of the line now?

I must remind them of the victory of PiS in the parliamentary election of 2005 and the victory of Lech Kaczyński in the presidential one in the same year. The access of PiS to "prime media" was then as as high or as low - if you prefer that - as in 2007 or in 2010, or as it is today. Yet PiS managed to win both elections in 2005.

I reminded that with the same access to "prime media" in 2005 as today, PiS managed to win two consecutive elections at that time. So blaming the lack of access to "prime media" as a real cause of failing to win another election is a long-played and f-a-l-s-e (as PiS had already won two elections with the same access to "prime media") tune of PiS supporters.
Ziemowit   
17 Aug 2012
Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

just not enough to tempt me.

But we just have some next 47 pages ahead of us. Then, at page 94, you will tell us if it is "enough" ;-)
Ziemowit   
17 Aug 2012
Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

And you can be sure that Polish appartment prices have continued to fall for the last 47 pages of this thread at which page we are now.
Ziemowit   
17 Aug 2012
News / 70% of Poles like Komorowski. Do you? [120]

So why are the opposition completely unable to field one good candidate against Komorowski - indeed, why aren't they already announcing a challenger to unsettle him?

I don't know if 'Ziobro is the future', he hasn't convinced me yet.

Ziobro, as long as he remains outside PiS, is no future for anyone except for himself and his family; anybody who knows anything about Polish politics will have not the slightest doubt about it. When Jarek is the boss of the PiS party, and Ziobro is outside it, Ziobro may well go back to his activities as a lawyer.

The problem for PiS begins when Jarek, as an ageing politician, will have to - at one point or another - resign from his post and leave it to someone else. Who may be that "someone else" is at the moment largely unknown, but since there is no one as distinct as Jarek for a prospective leadership of PiS, the party is then at risk of splitting into smaller groups.

Again without access to prime media (you know the issue with TV Trwam), why would anybody step out of the line now?

That is the long-played (and false) tune of PiS supporters. I must remind them of the victory of PiS in the parliamentary election of 2005 and the victory of Lech Kaczyński in the presidential one in the same year. The access of PiS to "prime media" was then as as high or as low - if you prefer that - as in 2007 or in 2010, or as it is today. Yet PiS managed to win both elections in 2005.
Ziemowit   
16 Aug 2012
Real Estate / Buying an apartment in Poland or renting is better? [12]

This would be called a "standing ovation". But about the property prices slump in the 1930s? Did it happen or not?

Recently I was watching an American documentary in which it was shown that two or three days before the arrival of the Black Thursday on Wall Street, leading US economists were convincing everyone who wanted to listen that the economy was under full control and that the "American dream" was in a better shape than ever before! Is it going to happen again?

What goes up, must come down, you stupid Bill !
Ziemowit   
16 Aug 2012
Real Estate / Buying an apartment in Poland or renting is better? [12]

And yet he in a way may be right ... Imagine a realbig crisis coming down onto Europe and the US, then prices of all assets, including property, are destined to slide down ...

What about the 1930s in America and in Europe? Does anyone know how far did the property prices slump down as a result of the Great Depression?
Ziemowit   
15 Aug 2012
Language / Polish regional accents? [141]

is there anything particular you can think of that someone from Warsaw might say that would mark them out as being from Warsaw?

Not really. One distinct feature that was once often mocked of by people from the rest of the country was pronouncing the i after the L in a slightly different manner than the standard pronounciation would make, in a way that made people from outside Warsaw hearing them pronouncing y rather than i. Of course, this difference wasn't as great, but more much more subtle, nevertheless it led people from outside the capital to imitate a person from Warsaw as saying "stolyca" rather than "stolica" ["capital" in Polish]. I have very rarely come across that pronounciation myself, so my astonishment was truly great when I heard it in the TV advertisment of the biggest Polish bank, Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności (PKO) just a few days ago. The chap who praises the PKO for its different merits in the advertisment (not a young voice) does speak like that! But it's not that obvious as it may seem and foreign people as well as some Polish people might not get it. The first impression of mine was: hey, there is something really peculiar in the way he speaks, and it was not until I had analysed what I heard more thoroughly that I discovered what the specific feature of his speech that made him sound "peculiar" was.
Ziemowit   
15 Aug 2012
Language / Polish regional accents? [141]

Accents in Poland - a very difficult questions. The differences are not in the least as great as in England. Regional differences exist, but they are rather tiny. A Polish person would say "głos ludu" except for a Kraków person who would make the final consonant in głos voiced and pronounce it: "głoz ludu". Also, people from Kraków have this tendency to soften certain consonants in certain positions, for example, they would say something like sukieńka (a sound somewhat resembling the English "ng" in the -ing ending) rather than sukienka.

Differences in words often denote people from different regions. The most known one in Poland is perhaps the expression "na polu" which in the lips of a Krakauer would mean "outside the building" while for the rest of the country it will mean "on/in the field" and make them all laugh a lot at the way the typical Krakauer speaks when pointing to something which is situated à l'exterieur de la maison (the all-national version for that being "na dworzu/na dworze").
Ziemowit   
12 Aug 2012
News / 70% of Poles like Komorowski. Do you? [120]

I had a good laugh after reading the story about taking Queen Sylvia's glass of champagne! Well done, King Gustav of Sweden! So Komorowski is a real peasant (of those who "Żywią i Bronią i Piją Cudzy Szampan", I should think!).
Ziemowit   
12 Aug 2012
Language / Have you ever heard 'destynacja'? [19]

Funny, coming from a man with the foulest mouth in this forum. :-)

Yes, the man is becoming more funny than ever before (not to mention he already became "sophisticated" in his own pecular way long time ago).
Ziemowit   
12 Aug 2012
Language / Ł -- English double-u or hard L sound? [30]

here's a very nice old song, in which you can hear the eastern-sounding £ :-)

The eastern-sounding £ was well on the way of extinction before 1939. Only 30% of the population used it in the 1930s. It was artificailly kept up in pre-war films and theatre (and for some time after 1945) as it was part of the received pronounciation taught in schools for actors.

The last person I heard pronouncing it very distinctly was the famous actress Nina Andrycz, born in Brest Litovsk in 1915, who started her carrer in Vilnius in 1934, wife of the long-time PRL's prime minister Józef Cyrankiewicz.
Ziemowit   
12 Aug 2012
Language / Have you ever heard 'destynacja'? [19]

I think that it is used by the same people whose everyday language is poor, intertwined with vulgarism and swearwords, In fact those who do not know proper Polish language.

Although this opinion may sound convincing, it is not true. The word "destynacja" has been in use for some years now, its source in Polish being the professional people from the travel industry who, finding it handy to use it in their everyday business language, started to employ it in TV studios when invited to talk about "travel destinations" in breakfast TV programmes. As such, the word was readily picked up by the dumb personallities of breakfast TV for whom it seemed perfect to start showing off. However, I've never heard it in the lips of someone "whose language is poor and intertwined with vulgarisms and swearwords" and I would never expect it to be used by them in the foreseeable future. When used, "destynacja" reveals someone who is educated, and at the same time someone who wants to sound "posh", though they may sound silly.

As a specialized professional word of limited use, the word "destynacja" does seem OK for me as it may better serve to describe travel industry realities than the Polish word "cel podrózy" which in fact may not only point to the actual physical destination, but also to other activities of the industry's customer.
Ziemowit   
12 Aug 2012
News / 70% of Poles like Komorowski. Do you? [120]

He's clearly a peasant. Just look at him.

because Poles are used to village pastors Komorowski is

I wonder why some people here don't like Polish peasantry and Polish village pastors. Polish peasants were the first to be called upon by our national hero, Thaddeus Kościuszko, as true defendants of the homeland in danger (the famous "ŻYWIĄ i BRONIĄ"), and Polish village pastors to this very day form the opinions of many who live in villages even to the point of urging them to vote for the only true patriotic power in Poland, the invincible "Prawo i Sprawiedliwość" political party.
Ziemowit   
12 Aug 2012
News / 70% of Poles like Komorowski. Do you? [120]

Is that OK in your books?

If it was Kaczyński who liked hunting, Sofijufka would simply try to read other books, me thinks.
Ziemowit   
10 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

Don`t be silly. Things like that happen everywhere:

Yes, financial fraud is everywhere and Poland is no exception. [As one British tycoon once explained it on his way to the casino: Most people do not care about the sick, the disabled, and the chronically ill, and I am no exception!]
Ziemowit   
10 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

I wonder all the time if Amber Gold started to pay out deposits to their clients yesterday as they had promised before. I am inclined to think they eventually did as there was no information about it on a TVN CNBC Polish business channel all evening. Indeed, the fact they were doing so would have been no news for anyone except Amber Gold clients.
Ziemowit   
10 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

That in itself should have been sufficient for the Prokurator to visit them ..

It should have been sufficient for him to visit them. But it wasn't! What's more, Mr Amber Gold the President shouldn't have been allowed to register his new company in court (KRS) since he was sentenced five times for financial fraud before it (though only one sentence should have been sufficient to forbid him from doing so for the five following years from the verdict).
Ziemowit   
9 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

By the way there was an interesting article in last weeks GW that some banks were calling people who had more expensive swiss frank mortgages and asking them to provide extra collateral.

That's just what I mentioned in one of my preceding posts.

The problem now is that banks demand of many (not all) of the Swiss franc mortgage owners to repay some of the debt or buy an additional insurance even if they pay regularly to the bank since the value of their house or flat has gone down and does not cover the value of their mortgage.

Ziemowit   
9 Aug 2012
Law / The Stock Exchange - Poland (GPW ... or WSE). Do you invest? [34]

Yes, you are right. I would also be reluctant to engage myself in an activity that I would find boring.

But the financial markets are really fascinating. They are so complex and have so many different aspects to be vigilant about. Knowledge is very important, but it is not enough. You have to have that "something" that enables you to be succesful. You have to know yourself as well which is not that obvious because you think you do. I remember myself buying quite a number of shares at 22 zloties each and selling it after only 3 months at 83 zloties at the WSE. The market was then at its peak, as hot as never before, the heat was enormous, everyone was buying, buying and buying more and more, and I was ... selling, selling against the mood I could see around (or maybe just because of that mood?) on the very last day before the market abruptly collapsed leaving many in the dispair of some Amber Gold clients of today.
Ziemowit   
9 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

You must be kidding, with a CHF/PLN at 3.38 versus 2 at the time??

What does it mean "at the time"? At which time? The CHF/CHF at 2 did last for a very short period only, so it is unfair to point to this particular, the lowest ever since 2001, ratio as a benchmark.

When I said "things have returned more or less to normal", I meant the sort of new "balance" that was established on a much higher level, of course, roughly around the 3.33 peak onto which it climbed steeply in February 2009 from its lowest at 1.96 in August 2008, but less than the 4.11 peak of 10 February 2011.

edit:I don't understand why the chart has not shown itself :-)
Ziemowit   
9 Aug 2012
Law / Investment advice - my options in Poland? [50]

There are no small sums. 15k may be quite unimportant for a Wall Street bankster, but is important for you!
Honestly speaking, this is a difficult question. There are no financial advisers who are always right. There is no property which cannot lose in value. There are no sure investments in the harsh times which will come.

If I were you, I would divide this sum into three and try to invest every each one in something different. For one (or even two parts) I would buy foreign currency, but not the Euro. As the Zloty follows the Euro, it is not safe, and may turn even less safe in the future.
Ziemowit   
9 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

Easy for us to feel smug but how many folk here have got Swiss Frank mortgages based on the promises of lower interest rates.

That needs a bit of correction, however. Swiss frank mortgages have had substantially lower interest rates than mortgages in Polish zloty all that time. The problem begun some time ago when there was a run on the Swiss Frank and as a result it rose sharply against all other curriencies, including the euro and the dollar. As we know, the Swiss central bank then put a curb on the value of its currency and - until today - has succesfuly managed to keep it under control. As a result, things have returned more or less to normal for Polish Swiss franc mortgage owners.

Somebody recently described the phenomena of people Poland getting mortgages in a currency other than the one they earn as a case of collective insanity.

If you look at the statistics, you will see that there are much less Swiss frank or Euro mortgages in trouble as compared to those in Polish zloty .

They were speculating and obviously greed played its part.

That is indeed a kind of long-term speculation (I would even call it an investment as it is hard to imagine a person would be borrowing money in zloties to buy themselves several mortgages in Swiss franc) and cannot be compared with the financial position of someone who buys himself a house or a flat. The problem now is that banks demand of many (not all) of the Swiss franc mortgage owners to repay some of the debt or buy an additional insurance even if they pay regularly to the bank since the value of their house or flat has gone down and does not cover the value of their mortgage.
Ziemowit   
8 Aug 2012
Law / The Stock Exchange - Poland (GPW ... or WSE). Do you invest? [34]

Could have been worse if you did that late in 2008 or in 2009, I suspect.

If hard times come, and many say they are destined to come, two year's time will be too promptly to come back to the stock market (unless you are a witty investor who invests on your own).

Here is a list:

I meant a record loss made by a single trader. I now vaguely remember that the Barrings case involved only one trader...
Ziemowit   
8 Aug 2012
News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

Why didn't the relevant authorities stop them much earlier?

Why didn`t the relevant American authorities stop Bernard Madoff from robbing his clients of 50 billion $ much earlier???? :):):):)

I think the issue is more complicated. Not knowing the Madoff case in much detail, I may suspect he may have acted within the "private fund" category on which the American SEC should not have the power to impose regulations (or should it?, please correct me if I'm wrong). If that is true, the case with Amber Gold is different; the company acted by addressing its offer to the general public, so it should have been subjected to regulation and control. And in fact, the Polish SEC, the KNF (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego) was alarming prosecutors as long as two years ago, but these people did nothing, although they were entitled and obliged to. The explanation for it at the moment is that they were not knowlegable and competent enough. All this is extremely deplorable and disgusting, as we may ask: what do we need all these State regulations and banking licences for, if it is so easy to operate without them on the market to fool people who have every right to trust the government that it stops a fraudulous enterprise which advertises regularly and openly to the genaral public?
Ziemowit   
4 Aug 2012
UK, Ireland / First proper "Polish" School in the UK - The Next Stage of Ghettoisation [283]

Eva Aeri if your credentials are true then well done. congratulations. You are worlds apart from the majority of trash from Poland that flock here.

While being capable of praising people who, like Eva, know six languages for coming to Britain to work there, why can't you show any compassion for the sick, the disabled and the unemployed, swan-eating Poles? Come on, why do you want to welcome only those who are succesful in Britain, telling others to go home?

The Poles who work in the UK pay taxes to the British government, and the British government pays benefits to those Poles who are unemployed or who have children. It is really the question of proportions; do the amounts paid in taxes by some Poles outbalance the amounts paid out in benefits to other Poles? In other words, Poles in Britain, do they finance other Poles in Britain or do they not? If the amounts that are paid in send the balance to the red, then undoubtedly it is not good for the the British economy as a whole (however, in the calculations I would include those Poles who work illegally, but to the benefit of the black British economy).
Ziemowit   
4 Aug 2012
UK, Ireland / First proper "Polish" School in the UK - The Next Stage of Ghettoisation [283]

Laughable really.

I noticed that when a true Labor Party member is confronted with arguments to which they have no reply, he says: "Fascinating!".
I noticed that when a true Tory is confronted with arguments to which they have no reply, he says: "Laughable!".

But here, it is "laughable really". A Liberal Democrat?
Ziemowit   
3 Aug 2012
UK, Ireland / First proper "Polish" School in the UK - The Next Stage of Ghettoisation [283]

Of course he has, but his points are so monotonously boring that nothing valuable comes out of it. Britain had often "problems" with immigration. In 878 there was way, way too many Danes in Britain, and after 1066 there was way, way too many Normans there. You would say that they at least were not abusing the social security system of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, but it's not true, they were robbing the Anglo-Saxons of their various goods and possessions which was way, way much more costly than claiming the benefits from the local councils by the Polish at present. And what came out of it eventually? Britons assimilated them all even if they distorted the English language to the point that some of you, English people, would humouristically call it "French spoken badly" even today.

Yet, those invaders and immigrants contributed much with the "value-added" thing which people so amazingly one-sided in their views as gdyniaguy would never understand. The influx of Polish people is a long-term gain for Britain and a long-term loss for Poland. The reason why the Polish stay in Britain is that the so-called "social capital" is much higher in this country than in Poland. I strogly doubt that the Polish would diminish the British social capital in the long term, they would rather increase their own through contact and assimilation with the indigenous population.

It is a great pity that the Polish people are going to stay for ever in Britain since it's going to be an obvious loss for Poland in the light of the demographic bomb which is slowly heading towards Europe.