News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


And that's exactly the problem. From a UK point of view, the amount of idiots that were wilfully turning a blind eye to problems (while returning home to their comfortable houses in comfortable suburbs with 99% white people) is just astonishing. I don't agree with branding all Muslims as terrorists, but let's not pretend that there isn't a huge problem with Somalis in London for instance. Even the LGBT community in London is pretty vocal about the dangers posed by Somalis and their attitudes towards people.

I wouldn't cry if we completely banned unskilled labour arriving from Muslim-majority African countries for instance.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Why is religious belief any different to nationalism? Both are a form of religion in a way, particularly Irish and Polish nationalism (and German nationalism in the 1930's!).

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Course it did. Haven't you read the memoirs of people in the IRA?


Really? I'd say that fundamentalist Islam has much more in common with right wing ideologies.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Except they aren't. The majority are quite passive towards the spate of attacks in the last year and a half on foreigners, and racist attitudes are displayed by many people, even supposedly educated people.


I'd say that fundamentalists of *any* religion are a danger to the world. I don't remember which country it was (Sri Lanka?), but there was a case not so long ago of Buddhist fundamentalists killing Muslims.

Of course, we shouldn't turn a blind eye to the radicalisation of Muslim society. Turning a blind eye doesn't work, and I cannot fathom for the life of me why the UK took in so many Somalis and other African Muslims.

Life / Driving license needed while driving in Poland? [8]


That's because the tests are recorded through four separate cameras, as well as through in-car microphones. The test isn't difficult, but you need to drive in accordance with the rules and be very clear if there are problematic situations. For instance, if someone is standing next to a zebra crossing but not actually crossing. You should stop and wait for them to cross, but if they don't cross, you should clearly ask the examiner for permission to continue.

I passed first time here and without any mistakes, but I spent a *lot* of time revising potential routes. I would go out in the evening and ride buses around the part of Poznań where the test centre is, and then I'd also walk around the district to make sure that I knew about any potential problems. It paid off handsomely - I had this tricky left turn to make that really required previous knowledge of the area.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Honestly, this is a problem found in most communities in different ways, it's nothing particularly special. There's only a minority of complete racist idiots in Polish society, yet the majority passively accepts it.

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Nothing Catholic about murder, as the Vatican's stance on the death penalty shows.

(well, we ignore the role of the RCC in some dreadful events)

News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]


Quite. I remember all too well the bombings in the 1990's, and there are still terrorist attacks to this day by self-proclaimed Catholics.

It really is funny how racists will jump all over this, yet fail to acknowledge that for many years in the UK, the most serious threat came from self-proclaimed Catholics and Protestants. Muslims never established a no-go area like in the Bogside, and they certainly never drove the security forces off the ground like the IRA did in South Armagh.

News / Poland may take the EU to court if they step up pressure -- Kaczyński [89]


I'd be worried if it wasn't, given that the UK is showing every intention of enforcing work permits and residence permits on EU nationals.

A return of even half a million Poles from the UK would be a huge problem for PiS.

By the way, "Greatest Living Pole"? Aren't you slightly in North Korea territory there?

Food / What Scottish Whisky do they sell in Poland? [24]


Quite. The idea of sipping whisky is insanity, and rather proves that the drinker can't handle the taste in their mouth.

Whisky and (maybe) a drop of water is all you need, but only if it's one of the stronger ones like the stuff from Jura.

News / Poland may take the EU to court if they step up pressure -- Kaczyński [89]


What are you talking about?

Everyone was talking about how Poland was becoming a regional power and how Poland was sitting at the top table alongside Germany and France - or have you already forgotten about the Weimar Triangle, which has become defunct since PiS took over?

Poland wasn't marginalised at all, but certainly is now after 27:1.

News / Poland may take the EU to court if they step up pressure -- Kaczyński [89]


Polly, there's delusional and then there's beyond delusional.

There's no "special relationship" with the UK - in fact, as it stands, the UK is going to demand work permits and residence permits from a huge amount of Poles in 2 years time. The USA? Would that be the same USA that demands visas from Polish citizens?

There was a very good relationship with most EU countries up until Kaczyński ruined it for us.

News / Good-change government raising minimum wage in Poland, cutting SB pensions [213]


While we're talking about reality, seen the latest CBOS polls? Bear in mind that CBOS is controlled by the government:

wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/545482,sondaz-cbos-polska-polak-pieniadze-polityka.html


Up to 70% of voters that identify with centrist politics are now against PiS.

News / Good-change government raising minimum wage in Poland, cutting SB pensions [213]


Is that why he willingly signed up to study to be a prosecutor in Communist Poland? Being a graduate of law, he would have been well aware that prosecutors were an extension of the Party and existed to preserve the "leading role of the PZPR".


Bloody hell Polly, that's a lie if there ever was one.

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komitet_Obrony_Robotnik%C3%B3w#Cz.C5.82onkowie_i_wsp.C3.B3.C5.82pracownicy

He's nowhere to be found in KOR.

News / Good-change government raising minimum wage in Poland, cutting SB pensions [213]


More of the delusions, Jarek?

I find it incredibly fascinating that he's picking fights with Germany while maintaining civil relations with Russia.

Food / What Scottish Whisky do they sell in Poland? [24]


Brandy (except Hennessy) has a huge image problem, as it's seen as a "old person's drink". On the other hand, there seems to have been an agreement made to market whisky in Poland as an upmarket drink, which in turn drove its popularity among the nouveux-riche.

It's quite painful to watch Poles drink absolute swill like Johnny Walker like it's something special instead of actually drinking good alcohol.

News / Re-polonisation surges ahead - after babking, media and telecoms... [20]

Aren't you even slightly ashamed of repeating the Kremlin's line?

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]

It's getting worse for PiS by the day. The latest poll released a few hours ago shows that the support of PiS is falling, along with right wing politics.

wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/sondaz-ibris-dla-rzeczpospolitej-pis-29-proc-po-27-proc/fwbc625

PiS - 29%
PO - 27%
N. - 9%
Kukiz'15 - 8%
PSL - 6%
SLD - 5%
Razem - 5%

That means that 52% of surveyed voters would go with centrist/left wing parties, vs only 37% for right wing parties. Clearly, voters are already tiring of PiS.

No doubt the usual suspects will be along soon to explain to us why this poll is wrong.

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]


So you're saying that polls commissioned by an organisation controlled by the government are more likely to be authentic than those commissioned by others?

PO are nowhere near as weak as you're hoping them to be. You've forgotten that they have an iron grip on many places in local politics, and even the latest TNS poll shows that PiS are only around 6% ahead of PO/N.

If PiS were genuinely so far ahead, why would they need to worry about the elections in 2018?

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]

If they are German, then PiS and Kukiz are Russians. Nothing more to it.

Law / Karta Polaka - what nationalities can apply? [17]

Don't stress about Polish citizenship, you really don't need it, especially if you don't have a Polish name. It makes life only slightly easier for you here, but there's really not much to be gained by getting it, especially if you have problems in Norway as a result.

Real Estate / Foreigner buying house with 'Rolna'/Rural land in Poland - ever possible? Advice/help. [38]


Don't put faith in local mayors to help you out. That's one of the worst mistakes you can make as a foreigner, because these relationships often depend on a two way thing - he can agree to rezone the land, but you in turn need to hire his useless and incompetent cousin to do the building works.

Law / Karta Polaka - what nationalities can apply? [17]

What you're talking about is the need to register with the authorities (which is the same in Poland as well) - but there are no restrictions on the stay as long as you have a reason to be there.

udi.no/en/want-to-apply/the-registration-scheme-for-eueea-nationals/?c=pol


Same goes for you in Poland.

Real Estate / Foreigner buying house with 'Rolna'/Rural land in Poland - ever possible? Advice/help. [38]


There is a problem. The law changed several months ago, meaning that only farmers can purchase agricultural land. You can't just buy agricultural land as you wish anymore.


Get that idea out of your head straight away. There are completely different norms here, and yes, they will go over the plans with a fine comb to find mistakes.


I assure you that they either had a good contact within the relevant office or they bribed the person to push it through.

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]


Yep. There was something like 20 votes against him last time, which was held up as an "example of democracy within PiS".

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]

And it's not a coincidence.

Look at the amount of votes that Jarosław gets every time he's 'elected' as leader.

Law / Karta Polaka - what nationalities can apply? [17]

No, they don't. Norwegians can live and work here freely, just like Poles can work and reside in Norway freely.

You need a "residence certificate", but this is a formality and given to anyone that applies as long as the documents are correct.

As far as getting a job here goes, being Polish only helps with some limited jobs connected to the government in which Polish citizenship is required. Otherwise, as a Norwegian, you're treated the same as a Polish citizen.

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]


Morawiecki seems to be playing a clever game - he knows fine well that Poland doesn't have the cash to pay for such an airport, but by putting his people in positions of power relating to the 'development' of such an airport, they become his vassals. If you look at how PiS is organised, the client/vassal relationship is far more important than in PO/other parties.


Given that the lead of PiS over PO/N. is barely 3% this month, I really wonder who is detached from reality here.

Law / Karta Polaka - what nationalities can apply? [17]

Norwegians can live in Poland freely, just like EU citizens can, so you have nothing to worry about :)

News / 60% of Poles say Szydło's government should resign [238]

I'm for it. He understands the need for financial responsibility, and he's a much stronger person than Szydło. The problem is that I'm not sure if PiS would accept him there, as he doesn't appear to care very much for the ideological side of things - his few statements on the matter have come across as nonsense.

More to the point, regardless of his current politics, he *was* the CEO of one of the biggest companies in Poland. He's also able to speak to the international media freely in English, which would help immensely with PR.

If you want another way of putting it, Szydło is beatable, but I'm not convinced Morawiecki is right now.