UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


I agree. And sedentary lifestyle. When I was a kid, I was playing outside and often playing at home too with my brother or other kids in all kinds of games, since not always I could watch TV even (and there were only two channels lol) due to electricity shortages during communist times. Nowadays kids spend their time in front of computer nad TV apparently. Although I must say that during summer there's plenty of kids in the local playground and most of them aren't obese.


Well, of course not, I didn't claim that :) But some British men often wrote on PF that poor people are more likely to eat junk food in fast foods which isn't the case (at least not in Poland). And of course times are changing and probably more and more people eat out more often in Poland but I suspect that still not as often as in the West.


I suspect that it also saves time and effort - to buy a ready meal or fast food than cook everything from scratch at home.

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


Yes, me too, the food I eat is most often made from scratch. I do like fast food, but I eat it so rarely - a kebab maybe once three months or maybe even less often lol The same with hamburgers... My friend worked in a fast food in the UK and she told me what they're doing to food in those places (the chemicals, omg o_O), I doubt it's much better in Poland so I eat this stuff very rarely nowadays.


I'm not relying on some "Internet stuff" but WHO reports.


Sure, unless those people are you, right? lol :)


An even better way is to analyse data from WHO which are respected worldwide, as opinions and observations of individuals can be subjective and can be even affected by chauvinism.


I don't eat wędliny, I use szynkowar to make my own stuff :) It's quite simple although takes a while:
youtube.com/watch?v=c4RI3pJHZQM
No preservatives, only some spices and there you go :) I recommend it!


Maybe so, but why there's such an obesity epidemic in the UK then?


Jon357, but Poles rarely eat out - they can't afford it. And usually you can get better, tastier food at home than in restaurants, anyway. People usually eat at home and make meals from scratch. Btw, as for Sphinx, I ate there twice in my life. The second time was in Warsaw, I had to eat sth while I was waiting for a train so I went to Sphinx at Złote Tarasy. The waiter asked whether I liked my food and because of my inbred politeness I lied that I did ;P The fries were dreadful - nothing like those made from potatos given by my grandma ;)


Could be the case, I guess. The British men that I've met here who were slim were English teachers and the obese ones were factory workers.

I don't know if it's a factor in the UK, but I know that in the US, for example, people eat much more, I mean, the dishes are bigger than the ones in Poland and in Europe probably too.

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]

Ah, OK, sorry, I was reading in a hurry and misunderstood - I thought you live in Poland for some reason.
Chemikiem, are you British? Do you guys still eat the stuff that is considered to be "traditional British food"?

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


Well, all the media in Poland claim that Poles are getting fatter so it must be the case. Can't say that I've noticed it in my city but it's a poor region so maybe people can't afford all that junk food in fast foods lol

Btw, where do you live?

Ah, it was in this article - 50% of people in the EU are overweight:
dw.com/pl/epidemia-oty%C5%82o%C5%9Bci-w%C4%99grzy-najgrubsi-polacy-po%C5%9Brodku-rankingu/a-16822974
:/

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


You mean data from WHO and OECD for Poland are unreliable and for other countries are reliable? Any proof for such claim?


But I'm not the one getting touchy here :)) It was you who immediately reacted after mcrpolak's comment like a true British patriot, which I found to be funny ;) I also remembered watching some news on the BBC about the UK being "the fat man of Europe" and so I googled a bit.


Jon357, I'm not discussing traditional diet of Poland and the UK, but which nation is more obese. WHO data show that the UK was and probably still is, unless you can prove otherwise (with data and not your wishful thinking).

Btw, I'm not sure if by "traditional diet" you mean traditional dishes of Polish cuisine. If yes, then to be honest I don't associate British traditional food with something terribly healthy. And even if it is, let us assume, more healthy than Polish (which I doubt because both are Northern nations) do the British eat their traditional food anymore?:

listovative.com/top-15-fattest-countries-world-rtr/

"If Ireland is here, England can't be too far away, can it? After the World War 2, UK saw a boost in industrialization, commercialization along with general growth and development. This has very well paved the path to obesity in the country. Researchers opine that due to the modernization of culture, their traditional food is less available and fast food and junk and unhealthy food is more readily available.The obesity rate in UK as of now is 23% and it only seems to be increasing day by day."

I think it's no surprise that the least obese countries in the EU were and maybe still are: Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and France:
wiadomosci.onet.pl/wielka-brytania-i-irlandia/w-ue-najwiecej-otylych-w-wielkiej-brytanii-i-na-malcie-usa-wciaz-na-1-miejscu/lvfs1

This data is from 2008 and 2009 and the UK even then came at the top (1st place for women and 2nd for men).


I don't, but my mum was in the UK and there was plenty of comparison done by the British for years on this forum.

Btw, as for the British men that I've met in my city - I've met more overweight ones than slim ones, for what it's worth (the most overweight one was married to an English lady who was a chef in a restaurant, btw ;) - and yet in the UK she was feeding her children with frozen fries bought in a store and pizza... *smh*).

And, anyway, the UK is such a multicultural country (so many Poles, as you say) so how do you know that those slim men that you see are British and not Polish, for example? :) ;)


There are a lot of fat people in the EU and Europe (I think that I've read somewhere that 50% are overweight) and it's getting worse, including in Poland - you can, for example, hear it on Polish TV - about Polish kids getting fatter and hence the government's reaction about the food and drinks being sold and served in schools. However, there are less and more obese nations in Europe and apparently the UK is one of the most overweight nations in Europe. More so than Poland, unless, of course, you can prove otherwise with more recent data.

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


lol

I'm sorry, jon357, but I trust WHO and OECD more than I trust your observations :) I suspect data from such respectable organisations are more objective than you, I'm afraid ;)

Unless you have more recent data from WHO - than show me, only then I'll believe, because I know you too well :P


Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, maybe they are, maybe they aren't - the point is the British are one of the most obese nations in Europe (unless something changed in 2015 - then, again, show me the stats):

nhs.uk/livewell/loseweight/pages/statistics-and-causes-of-the-obesity-epidemic-in-the-uk.aspx

And the British are the ninth least active nation in the world.

I guess it's good that your government isn't in denial and wants to do something about it :)


LOL!
Blame it on the Poles, I see! :)) They take your jobs, they take your benefits, they take over your neighbourhoods, they speak Polish and... they make you fat in WHO reports!! Those pesky Poles! :D Haha :D I must say you made my day, jon357 ;)

According to the estimate for 2014 there are 64,511,000 people living in the UK. I really doubt even one million of people would have such an impact on such a big nation as to alter those WHO data to such extent.

And who's making Chile, Canada, Australia, Hungary, New Zealand, Mexico and the US so fat? Also those pesky Poles, eh? ;)
No, it's not the food, sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise, it must be the Poles' fault! :)

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


True, it also depends on the year, that's why I've checked more than one year. All the articles and reports that I've seen usually contained general data - for the whole population, as I've understood. For Europe the UK always came as the second most obese country in Europe and Poland was somewhere down the charts. Here's an article on Polish site of Deutsche Welle with a chart shown (data from WHO report):

dw.com/pl/epidemia-oty%C5%82o%C5%9Bci-w%C4%99grzy-najgrubsi-polacy-po%C5%9Brodku-rankingu/a-16822974

Hungary was the most obese, then came the UK and Poland was somewhere in the middle.


Are you sure about that? Here's an OECD update on obesity from June 2014:
oecd.org/health/Obesity-Update-2014.pdf

According to those data adult British men were the second most obese in Europe after Hungarians "in 2012 or nearest year"

Also (article from 2011):
telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/8476754/British-men-among-fattest-in-Europe.html

"The study, into the rise of heart and lung disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, ranked UK men as the third fattest in Europe, with 67.8 per cent of males 15 or over either overweight or obese.

Only Greece (77.5 per cent) and Malta (73.3 per cent) are fatter."


According to the article in The Telegraph the UK "is the ninth least active nation in the world, with 63.3 per cent of adults taking less than 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week. Of the major nations, only Saudi Arabia (68.8) and Argentina (68.3) are less active."

So maybe here's your culprit. Although I'm pretty sure the diet must have something to do with it too, let us not fool ourselves :)

From the article in The Telegraph:
"Launching the report, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO, placed the blame for the "impending disaster" of chronic NCDs on multinational corporations that sell cheap food and drink laden with fat and sugar, without considering the consequences for society."

All those fast food, ready meals, sugary drinks, chips, etc.
And don't forget about calories in alcohol too:
nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/calories-in-alcohol.aspx

UK, Ireland / Sugar tax in the UK. Polish friends addicted? [55]


Than in the UK? Rather doubtful - I've checked statistics for 2013 and 2014 and the UK usually comes as the second most obese country in Europe. Poles are getting fatter but I doubt they were able to catch up with the UK only in a year, let alone become more obese...

Classifieds / Coming to Poznan in December - Looking for some girl in Christmas times [33]

lol roz... Gotta love you, girl ;D

Life / Russian citizen wants immigrate to Poland [39]


Erm... Lyzko, refugees aren't streaming into the West via Poland... What on Earth are you talking about?

And, anyway, anyone escaping Putinist Russia is welcome in Poland :P ;)


Удачи!
May the force of Twilight Sparkle be with you or sth, hehe ;)

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]


Support for what?


What, did I use the wrong word? I meant that it's "OK/all right/not bad".


Then if you and others don't like what some Polish American is writing on this forum I think you should attack him and not offend Polish Americans in general (calling them "Plastic Poles", etc.).

Right-wing in Polish understanding simply means "conservative". Poles can be patriotic, educated and with class, etc. no matter what their political views are - right-wing, liberal, centrist, leftist, etc.


Not giving in to PC and racism/chauvinism, etc. are two different things. I think I can distinguish between the two.


I've read some of their comments and I didn't like those as much as the ones written by some of the Polish Americans on PF (the likes of "WhitePower", for example, if he's a Polish American, that is).

I think the word is "Afro-Americans" or "blacks". Or are you stuck in the 1950s?

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]


Have you actually come across any hatred or disdain by Poles living in the US in real life?


Oh ffs...
I have enough of this.
This forum should have a disclaimer on its front page:
"WARNING: THIS IS NOT A POLISH FORUM. THIS IS AN AMERICAN FORUM AND MAJORITY OF POSTERS ON THIS FORUM ARE BRITISH EXPATS WHO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH POLISH-AMERICANS."

Instead of "ignoring and smiling" you should ask him why he thinks that/who told him that. And challenge his notion.
It doesn't matter that he was far from home, his behaviour was very rude in my opinion. I don't know whether he was just a spoiled teenage a$$hole or had a bad experience in the US and was just venting at your expense, but I would never behave in such a way towards my host, no matter whether I would be in Chicago, Warsaw or Timbuktu.

I'm not sure what you mean by expressions of solidarity and "real ties". People in Europe may dislike some American policies, American love for guns and that sort of stuff. Poles might have not be too fond of Obama's foreign policies - the loss of American interest in our part of Europe, before the Ukraine crisis, leaving Poland with that CIA prisons issue, I guess.

But that doesn't have anything to do with American Polonia.
The only issue that Poles (who aren't PiS supporters) can have with American Polonia that I can think of is that there's this stereotype that Polish Americans are supporters of PiS (a right-wing political party). But apparently this isn't the case as I was explained once here on this forum.

In my opinion Poles in Poland usually do feel at least some kind of level of kinship with Polonians, no matter whether those people of Polish origin live in the US, Brazil or in freaking Siberia ;)


Poles aren't in love with the US to such an extent as they used to be during the communist times and after the fall of communism. Their view isn't as idealistic as it was before, it's more realistic nowadays. But that's far from "hate and disdain".

Btw, the dislike for Polish Americans by the British expats on this forum usually comes from the fact that those Polish American posters are often right-wingers, pretty often not very tolerant, some of them are racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, homophobic. It does make you wonder what's wrong with Polish Americans but maybe it's just this forum that attracts such people, dunno.


Exactly.


I don't see anything strange about Polish parades in the US - the Irish have those, so why not Poles? Sure, it's an American thing, but I don't see anything wrong in it.


Funny, I'm not a "lesser educated, rural Pole". My English is fine, it seems.
And yet I'm touched when I see people of Polish origin remembering their roots, especially considering what our country and our people have gone through in the past and in what circumstances they often had to emigrate.

There was a time when Poland wasn't even on the map of Europe and thanks to the love of Poles for this land it was reborn. Quite a few Poles important for Poland were emigrants, like Kościuszko, Chopin, Mickiewicz, Słowacki, Maria Curie, etc.

In the light of this I don't really care if someone is saying "pierogies" instead of "pierogi" lol
But I guess that's something, you, being British, willl probably never understand...

Sorry for this rant, it's not only meant for LouisianaPole, as I don't even know whether he's for real but I'm sick and tired of British expats speaking on behalf of Poles on such matters. My post is for all the Polonians out there who will have the misfortune of stumbling upon this forum and this thread one day...


Gość w dom - Bóg w dom, I guess ;)

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


I know. But that's what we have our brains for - so we wouldn't fall in it's trap. I always try not to fall in it, even if I give an impression that I did.


Let me guess - German and...? :)


TheOther, I know all of this. You don't have to even live in another country. People have those "filters" even when they're on a holiday somewhere. I've read comments by Americans who were on vacations in Italy and they claimed Italians are rude, reserved, not smiling, cold even. I was surprised by such assessment. I've been to Italy also only on vacations and Italians for me were completely... normal. The only thing that irritated me was when I was at the post office next to the St Mark's Square in Venice. After some long wait when noone would come out for me I was sold some stamps. I wrote postcards and put the stamps on. The guy was gone again so I went back and waited and was making some noise to make sure he knows someone's there. Then an American couple came in and waited with me. At some point they started talking loudly but it didn't help. We wanted to find out where we can send our postcards. In the end we went out very irritated and we found the postbox by ourselves lol

At the time it didn't hit me that there were no clients when I came in although it's such a touristy place. Later I was explained that it must have been the siesta time and apparently "only dogs and the Germans walk the streets during siesta" in Italy lol

I guess I should count myself lucky that I was sold those stamps in the first place lol Now, if I knew this I wouldn't get upset and think "how rude and unprofessional" that guy was. I would simply visit the post office later, after the siesta was over.

But someone had to explain this to me, you understand? That this is the way it is in Italy.
And in this way I sometimes also explain things on this forum. I explain that Poles aren't smiling not because they are unfriendly people. That's just the way they are. In Russia people smile even less. That's something even Poles notice and that says something lol I explain that Poles stare at people of different skin colour not because we're all so racist but simply because we aren't accustomed to people of different races and we're curious. With time the shock will probably wear off and people won't be so curious anymore either maybe.

I remember a British user, who lives in Poland, writing on this forum that Polish language sounds rude. Not just that Poles say rude things but the language itself sounds rude lol Maybe if someone told you German "sounds" rude it wouldn't irritate you but if you knew that this person has a track record of unfair, ignorant, biased comments it is possible that this comment about German language would get on your nerves even if you know well enough that German isn't exactly the loveliest language on the planet.

Some people are like that - they interpret things through their filter and judge it according to their filter. And they aren't always fair in that judgement or simply they're being subjective.

TheOther, you sound like if the foreigners coming to Poland were clean sheets of paper with nothing written on them. And that they will judge and observe everything in an objective way.

But that's not the case. It's usually grown up people coming to Poland who grew up in different countries with different culture and language and often different world-view, social codes and behaviours, customs, etc. It all affects their judgement.

I've read comments by Russians who feel claustrophobic in Germany, for example. All those laws and rules, people so rigid, you can barely breath, they say. One Russian complained that he can't play his accordion in his flat because of his neighbours. And in Russia he would open his window and people would sing together with him! How he misses that! Those Russians commented that even if you only go to Poland you already breath in a different way, more fully. So some Russians may feel better in Poland than in Germany, but I'm sure there are Russians who feel better in Germany than in Poland or even better than in Russia.

It all depends.
Of course, I know that there are some universal things that foreigners complain about. Poles complain about pretty much the same things.
That's not the problem.
I have a problem with attitudes of some people here. And some of those people don't have very likeable personalities, some of them get on my nerves because of their snobbery or the way they conduct discussions.

Some people here have their obsessions. For example, some Western posters seem to be obsessed about Catholicism in general and in Poland. They are usually liberal/leftist atheists. There was a time when ranting about Catholicism was "a thing" on PF, in the same way as ranting about Polish women was "a thing" at some point and then Jewish topics and then again Polish women and then again Catholic topics and then again Jewish topics. Now it's Muslims lol Mainly because of Levi, of course. Now, why are some Westerners here so obsessed with Catholicism? Because they are atheists living in a Catholic country and they don't like it. And why Levi is so obsessed with Islam? Because he's a non-Muslim living in a Muslim country. It's understandable to some extent. But don't you just sometimes feel like telling Levi: "Levi, ffs, if you hate it so much over there then why on Earth don't you just move to a non-Muslim country??" Well, those Westerners usually can't move, because they came to Poland for their wives, apparently, which just adds to the frustration, I imagine. Maybe Levi can't move too, or at least not yet, and so he vents here.

And that's something that hit me fully only lately, I think. People often come here to vent. Now, if locals visit such forum, they can get irritated because all of that venting. That's why I'm starting to think that this forum isn't really a good place for Poles. Maybe we should just leave foreigners alone here so they could vent in peace. Foreign posters living abroad who come to PF usually are seeking advice that often can be given by foreigners living in Poland. So it's a "vent and give info" forum, not that much of a discussion forum, at least not such as I'm accustomed to.

There are still some discussions taking place but... I don't know... Yehudi wrote in the thread "Terrible past for the Jews in Poland?" that this forum isn't the right place for a serious discussion of Israel-Arab relations. But is it the right forum for serious discussions about anything? Fot that you need serious people and not keyboard warriors. Maybe I'm just accustomed to a different level of discussion because of other place on the internet I'm discussing in, I don't know. Here it's like kindergarten or some kind of battle arena in comparison. Here it's not about mutual understanding or learning something from others but about "winning" a discussion, apparently. It seems to me this is the main trend on this forum. For me, personally, it's disappointing.


How do you even know your home country then?


In what sense "ready"? To pack up my bags and start my life from scratch in a foreign country or "ready" as in being able to live in another culture of a foreign country?


TheOther, most of 38 mln of Poles or 23 mln of Australians can't just move abroad and experience life in other countries. So what are they supposed to do - base their views of their country entirely on views of foreigners that came to their country?

What if some of those foreigners are prejudiced or simply stupid or biased or whatever?
I'll give you an example. There were foreigners on PF who claimed Polish women are so much more beautiful than British women and slimmer, etc. But there were also foreigners who claimed that Polish women aren't more beautiful than British women and they're nothing special and there are more beautiful women then them. There were also those who said that they don't like the way Polish women look like and they have round faces and bad skin which means they have bad genes and they have big noses too.

So, as a Pole who has never lived abroad - whom am I supposed to believe? Am I supposed to take one of those opinions at face value or what? And which one?


TheOther, how about you? Are you ready to listen to others or "use your brain" or do you think only others should listen to you and "use their brain"?


Well, that's nice that you do. It's nothing that I haven't seen before though - there was a time when I was discussing on a political forum that had just a few active users, including an administrator and a moderator, I think :) I see that it has been taken over by bots now.

If you're implying that was the case with our forum then not when I was an active admin/mod there :)
Don't worry, Admin, I'm not saying our mods were better than yours are, we even had to kick out one, but you implied that I was banning people for having different views and I had to defend myself.


Including me?


If I consider some comment prejudiced then I can write that I consider this or that comment as prejudiced. I should have the right to do so just like Harry or any other Westerner has a right to call out users on their prejudices and they're doing exactly that. Very often.

I don't have a power to "allow" something or "not allow" something on this forum - I'm not a moderator lol

But I have the right to... COMMENT on other people's comments.
I think we agree on this, right? Or am I missing something here?


What about Lenka? Or gumishu? What happened to him? He isn't even posting anymore...


I do though. I am interested in people and in people's nature.
And, yes, I can see that you don't judging by how much nonsense you wrote about me :)


Damn it ;/


I suspected that johnny_reb would like most of the forum staff to be Polish. Judging by his post #69 I see it's not the case.


How would you base anything on my posts if you "don't track or are interested in forum personalities"? How many of my 1,211 posts have you read? Not many, I suspect :)


lol Wow, that's one of the greatest bullsh1t anyone ever wrote about me on this forum.


Complete bullsh1t again. There's not a single thing in my posts that would suggest that I think in such a way. It was johnny who wanted a "Polish run" forum so get off my back, will you...


No.


And again - no.


Not sure what you're talking about here. What "personal views of moderators or administrators"? You mean how they're doing their job or sth? If they aren't written in a rude, offensive way then I don't see why users shouldn't be allowed to give their opinions. Or maybe they aren't allowed?

And have I ever claimed that someone should be given "moderator privileges"? What are you even you talking about?


Sorry, but this makes no sense whatsoever to me.

Admin, you clearly have no idea what are my views, what and why I was writing on this forum for all those 7 years, etc.


And not that I dared to write something about your forum?


I don't live in the internet or on this forum, unlike some people, but in a very real country called Poland. As far as I know TheOther doesn't live in Poland nor do you.

Will you at least agree that if some, let's say, well-travelled foreigner who lived in umpteen countries comes to Poland and writes on this forum that "All Polish women are wh0res" or he will go to Israel and he will write on some Israeli forum that "All Jews are greedy zionists who want to rule the world" or he will go to Germany and he will write on a German forum that "All Germans are Nazis" a local native Pole/Israeli/German who hasn't lived in umpteen countries can write that this well-travelled idiot is prejudiced?


Honestly? It's about a bit more, I think. You can live in a foreign country and be a complete prejudiced jerk towards the local culture and people.


I do? Or are you just talking in general?


You mean that the media won't show me their happy faces, I won't see them eating, laughing, looking with love at people close to them or crying after the loss of a family member? Wow, Admin, do you mean to say we are all human beings and we're pretty much the same everywhere? Now that's a shocker... :))

Listen, I don't have to live in another country or work with such and such people to respect them and their cultures.

Btw, you think that a certain poster who is now suspended would somehow cease to be a snob if he had gone to a wedding party at my grandma's village? I don't know, I kind of doubt that, tbh, but who knows lol


That's all great but are you saying that I can't state that someone who writes that "All Polish women are wh0res" is prejudiced only because I haven't lived in another country? What is the point of all what you wrote right there?

I'm not making prejudiced comments about Black, Asian, Muslim, Indian people and I'm not writing anything about Mexican or Chinese food.
I'd just like to be kindly allowed to disagree with other posters and make comments on their comments, sometimes to call out someone on their prejudice, sometimes share some knowledge about Poles/Poland/Polish history or explain some issues that I think may be important for mutual understanding between representatives of different nationalities who have often different mentalities, world-views, experiences, who are coming from countries with different history, etc.

You all sound like I'm not allowed to do that, while other posters are allowed.
So what on Earth is this all about?


I'm not a fan of both those groups, to be honest.


English is a language as any other and you can debate in any language and behaviour of posters can be agressive and it quite often is.

It isn't possible to have a normal discussion with Harry, unless you agree with him all the time. He already implied on this forum that I'm an anti-Semite (which was quite funny, considering that I was "accused" on PF of being Jewish too), he claimed that I'm a racist, anti-Irish and lately he apparently was preparing himself for accusing me of being anti-Muslim. A word in Polish that would fit him well is "napastliwy". And according to the admin of this forum I'm apparently a devout Catholic with "extreme opinions" lol I'm not sure what those extreme opinions would be exactly in my case, though. Maybe the fact that I think women should be allowed to be priests too? I admit - it's pretty extreme for a Catholic lol

And TheOther seems to be turning lately into Harry's clone. Soon he'll probably take delph's place and the madness will continue. No that I care anymore, to be honest. It's probably my swan song on this forum anyway.

(It's good that there's no word limit for posts on this forum... I think I broke my lifetime record lol ;/)

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


Well, there are different styles of running a forum, some admins care more about what users want, some less ;)


That's what I'm trying to convey to johnny reb...


TheOther, do you think it's some kind of Belarus or North Korea here in Poland? That nothing from outside gets inside and vice versa? We live in the EU, people often know what it's like in other countries. Many Poles have family members working or living for good abroad. I myself have a relative working/living in Germany, a friend who lives in the UK, I know people who worked in the UK, my best friend from high school lived in France, another one worked in Italy, my cousin was on practice in laboratory in Germany. Even my grandma worked in the US in the commie times lol I visited other countries too, mainly those in the West. Polish media quite often inform what is said, written abroad about Poland, Polish politics. We don't live behind the Iron Curtain anymore or in some kind of a bubble.


You think I wouldn't like that? :)


But that's true, the internet can be pretty enlightening :)) Maybe you should try it - learn some other language and take the plunge :))

Oh, I forgot - I also have family in the US. In Chicago, of course :)))

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


Jesus...
I was mainly joking, TheOther. Did you see those two smilies at the end ":))"?
On the other hand - in what way would you like me to respond to your comment? I know there's "a whole world waiting for me outside of Poland" lol

I did visit other countries. But I live in Poland. So? Why should I move to another country? To learn the opinions and views of other people? I have the internet for that :)

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


Johnny, delphiandomine was one of the members of that Brit's Bullying Boys Club ;) A very prominent one too, Harry's pal and all :)
I think he's suspended now.
So take it easy a bit.


There were Polish mods in the past. Lenka, for example :) But she resigned, as far as I remember.


Here I am :)


Johnny, I already wrote that this mainly is an expat forum. You're fighting a losing battle here. One that was fought quite a few times before, I think.

It is pretty clear who's the target audience for the Admin. This is an English speaking forum and there will be few Poles here even as users.

This forum will never be "Polish run". There will be an odd Polish moderator from time to time and that's all. You're all wasting your time.

Better learn Polish and visit Polish internet :))

And the basic thing I think you should realise, Johnny, is that it looks like it's Admin's forum (if I'm wrong, then someone correct me), he runs things here, he clearly has his own idea for the forum and from what I've noticed during my 7 years on this forum he doesn't really care what others want this forum to be and doesn't seem to take much heed to users' opinions. He either has no business in making this forum "Polish run" or he simply can't find Polish moderators knowing English well enough and willing to do this not easy and rather ungrateful "job" :)

There was a Polish moderator not that long ago - gumishu. I don't know why he isn't a mod anymore though.

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


*beating my head against the wall*

*thump, thump, thump*

TheOther, in one thread one Pole wrote that Germans are racist towards Poles and he wrote that he knows this from "an experience" :) What was your reaction to that?


I hope by "different opinions and views" you don't mean things like "Poles are stupid" or "All Polish women are wh0res/crazy/cheap sluts" or "There was something in Germans that made them Nazis and it's still there and we should be ever watchful, they should be always watched carefully" or "Jews are greedy, they all have big noses and they want to rule the world" :)))


TheOther, I'm not going to move to another country just so you would consider me worthy enough to discuss on an internet forum :))

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


Vincent, take a deep breath and read the title of this thread: "Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole" :))
None of the comments I've responded to were on topic in this thread. Including comments by the Admin himself :)))
And yet you attack only me for "barging into another thread and ranting about something other than the subject of the thread".


It isn't true :)


Well, I am, but it's a honorary position nowadays - I very rarely read it anymore.
And as a "former" admin and mod I think you should take a look at the thread title and maybe then you will realise you're not being objective as a mod. That's just constructive criticism, Vincent, I have nothing against you, so don't get offended :)


Vincent, again, all the comments I responded to are "a rant" since they aren't on topic of this thread.


They were wrong then if that was the case :)

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


If this a low jab at me then sorry to disappoint you but I don't think I banned anyone in my life, we were only deleting bots' accounts and we didn't have any "suspension" system, only warning system (and noone ever got enough warnings to get banned, I think lol). Our mods were doing just fine only with that :)

Furthermore, here I'm just a user and I'm free to write things I want and take sides if I want, but I couldn't allow myself to do that when I was an admin/mod at my forum. That's one of the reasons I wouldn't like to be a moderator on this forum :)

Also, I didn't allow myself to make petty comments about my users' names, for example.


Or you can get bored when after a few years you stop being as interested in the topic of the forum as you were before and you let someone else take your place, someone younger with deep interest and fresh passion :) I still have the "title" of the owner of the forum and access to the administration panel though :)


Who are "we"? Is your name Legion? :))


Yes, probably. They would be disappointed, though :)
On the other hand, I remember once bluesfan and delphiandomine were telling me that I should be a mod, when there was some sort of vacancy and I quite often disagreed with delph :) What were their reasons then?


You know, there was this user on our forum, a pretty nasty girl but with a strong character and interesting personality and very "different views". She even called herself "the devil's spawn" and it turned into a sort of nickname of hers lol She was our "arch enemy" on that nasty forum we evacuated from :) She first posted as a guest, we knew it was her though and in the end we managed to encourage her to register and she became a regular poster. She did keep her "different views" though :) We've became friends and I even met her two times in real life although we live in different cities. I even mentioned her on this forum: https://polishforums.com/love/addressing-laws-boy-girlfriend-parents-73216/2/#msg1464182 ("My friend who graduated from Japanese studies"). I've also met with other forum members - we had a forum meeting in Warsaw. At that time I was "the bridge maker" and a "mediator" type of person :)

Sorry, Admin, but you don't know me and you don't know what I'm capable of ;)

Maybe you got irritated because I'm not the biggest fan of your forum, but you shouldn't take it personally and be able to take criticism as there is no 'established truth / authority / opinion' so my opinion is worth as much as yours, right? :)


Maybe there are those who are "equal" and those who are "more equal" on this forum :) We are all hypocritical and biased to some extent, I've met very few truly objective people during my discussions on the internet. They are usually scarce on both sides :)


That's unfair, Vincent, and not really true. Off-topics are a norm and not abnormality on internet forums. They happen often and it doesn't have to mean the users involved "have no respect for other members threads".


So, if this post of Harry is left intact:
https://polishforums.com/news/poland-successful-case-low-criminality-74053/2/#msg1473687

Does this mean I can respond to:

"You wish to deny that some Poles do want to prevent Muslims from settling in Poland? Oh dear; are you ever going to learn that its a really bad idea to automatically jump to attack any foreigner who says anything negative about Poland? All you do then is make yourself look foolish."

Or not?


;D
TheOther, you should really really really come to Poland and talk to Poles ;)) Or even just read the Polish internet. You have no idea what you're taling about... ;)


It may be the case, but it doesn't have to be. Someone may leave their country and be as blind and nationalistic or biased as he/she was before.


What should I try? Living in another country?
TheOther, I know people who can be painfully objective about their countries. They don't have to live abroad but I agree that at least visiting other countries and knowing other languages so you can discuss with people of different nationalities can be an eye-opener. It was like this in my case with my discussions with Russians - during those I've discovered a completely different world view and I've realised how different people and nations can be. However, that doesn't mean that Russians are always right, does it? :)

TheOther, I don't think you realise that you're preaching to the choir.
So I don't know what your problem is with me exactly. It's as if you were completely not listening to me.
I'm not saying that foreigners can't criticize Poland or Poles. Poles themselves do that quite often lol I've explained more than once what's my issue with certain people and attitudes on this forum, I've given examples. I honestly don't know what more I can do and in what better way I can explain this. Maybe I'm just beating my head against the wall...


TheOther, are you seriously saying that there are no anti-Catholic/anti-Polish people on this planet called Earth? :))

Admin, mods, I've already asked about this in this thread but noone answered - why was this thread deleted?
polishforums.com/news-4/poles-ban-ritual-slaughter-67104/

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


Well, actually, someone like me who is willing to educate herself benefited lately from someone else's prejudice - I had no idea Poland was the first country in the world to criminalize marital rape! And now I can rub it in the face of every anti-Catholic/anti-Polish jerk out there :)


Not really. Are you talking about Wulkan?


Listen, guys, what are you two talking about? How would this forum be "turned over" to me? This forum is someone's private endeavour (Admin's), I imagine that he set it up and he runs it. I've had my own forum before and there's no way I would be wasting my time like that again. I have other hobbies now, even if for some strange reason someone would like to make me an administrator of this forum. And I wouldn't like to be a moderator here either.

You can always make another forum, that's exactly what I and another Pole did - because we wanted to create an alternative to one nasty forum. But running a forum takes some time and devotion. And you can get bored after a while.

There's also this second forum - All Things Polish, you can check it out, I don't know about any other forums like this one.

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


lol
No way in hell :) I'd rather have less to do with this depressing place than more. I waste too much time on here anyway.


In all honesty there's noone to educate here... This forum is quite dead, most of the regular posters (and even those aren't too numerous) are obsessive keyboard warriors. This forum is cliquy, dominated by one quite agressive group - this isn't very inviting. Let's face it - it's mainly an expat forum. This isn't really a place for Poles.

Well, maybe it can be used for practice of one's English, but you have to have the skin of a rhino to be able to write here on regular basis.

And I'm not that gruboskórna ;)


What about this thread? polishforums.com/news-4/poles-ban-ritual-slaughter-67104/
Why was it deleted?

Food / Pascha for Easter? [5]


I don't understand that part :P What's "clabber"?


Thanks :)

News / Poland: A Successful case of low criminality in Europe? [97]


It does matter and I explained in full length why it matters - because of prejudices and stereotypes of Westerners about Poland and in smurf's case - about Catholic countries.


Levi didn't write that there is. So, again - what was the point of your comment? You misunderstood him?
Here's Levi's comment:
"Very good point to remember that, Paulina. Sometimes people talk with a total unjustified tone about a traditional catholic country like Poland, and forget that this same country was years ahead of all the "Progressive West Europe" in terms of human basic rights."

Do you understand now why he wrote it?
Poland today is a traditionally Catholic country, but it also was a traditionally Catholic country in 1932.
And smurf wrote: "Sure, it wasn't so long ago that in Ireland rape couldn't be committed if it occurred within marriage. I'm pretty sure it was similar in other traditionally Catholic countries."

This discussion developed because of this comment written by smurf.


I've explained how I interpreted what you wrote. And how probably Levi understood it too. If you didn't mean that then that's good, although I still don't know why you wrote that comment considering Levi didn't claim that Poland is now at the forefront of human rights in Europe.


OK, TheOther, I will quote you on that next time Polonius3 or I or any other Pole will write that the over-representation of Jews among the MBP directors in 1944-1954 is a historical fact :) If you stop being such wussies and stop treating every comment about Jews and every criticism of Jews/Israel/Israelis as "Polish anti-Semitism" then I'll stop being "a wuss" too :) Because that's exactly the problem that you, some other Westerners and a handful of PF's nutters have: you take everything personal and far too serious. Jeez.


You see, another nice Westerner :)


OMG xD Do I write Chinese here or something...


My point is that I'm praising* your country - Ireland. Sorry for getting "personal" - I won't compliment your country ever again, I promise :))

I wrote that traditionally Catholic Ireland was ahead of Anglican England. It was a positive comment, smurf.
I wrote that because you're anti-Catholic.

*praise:
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/praise


You know, smurf, somehow, on this forum, statistics are questioned only when they say something good about Poland vs the West. Meaning: Poland just can't be better in anything than the West according to Westerners here.

But I didn't take issue with what you wrote about statistics but about marital rape criminalization in Catholic countries.


"Not really"? Are you saying that I don't have the right to criticize people on this forum? Westerners have this right, but I don't? lol


I don't have hate for foreigners who criticise Poland. I only point out prejudices.
How TheOther put it? "Stop being such a wuss", smurf :)


And I was criticising your comment about Catholic countries.


That wasn't an answer to what I was curious about. I was curious why there's such a difference between Sweden and Norway in this respect despite the fact that both are Scandinavian countries with similar culture and both traditionally Lutheran.

That Pole who lived in Sweden gave me the answer, you didn't.


By "statement" I meant something like your comment about Catholic countries and marital rape: "I'm pretty sure". You accused me of being hypocritical but I didn't behave the way you did. All I wrote was that I'm curious and there's nothing wrong or prejudiced about being curious.


If it wasn't for your jab at Catholic countries we wouldn't be even having this conversation.
Funny that when Harry or any other Westerner is "getting his knickers in a knot as per usual" about some anti-Semitic/racist/etc. comment no Westerner (including you) is getting so patronising with him.

You lack objectivity.


The moment when you write the same thing to Harry or any other Westerner when he or she will have full pages of an off-topic rant because of someone's anti-Semitic comment. OK? For the time being I'll write here, unless mods will move our discussion to the Random.


You know, in the past when I was objecting to some unfair and generalising comments about Poles or Poland on this forum I was being called "oversensitive", "defensive", "thin-skinned" or at best I was being advised to "brush it off". There was absolutely no empathy or understanding shown by most of the Westerners here despite the fact that it was that really nasty period of PF when threads about "Polish sluts/wh0res" and God knows what esle were in abundance here.

I don't claim that "every comment about Poland is meant negatively" or that "every criticism of Poland is anti-Polish". But I do observe the patterns of behaviour of some Westerners on this forum and I make conclusions.

My conclusion was and still is: some Westerners here have a problem with Poles writing positive things about Poland or Polish history. It's as if it has to be met almost every time with retaliation - making some negative comment, digging up some dirt and there's even an example in this thread - Harry's comment about the name of the chapter in Polish law.

And look at rozumiemnic's comments on this page. Classic :)
There's also another phenomenon - writing that Poland is better in something than some Western countries or, God forbid, the UK :), is unacceptable here, at least if it's coming from a Pole.

Smurf, you think that you guys don't react when a Pole or someone else is writing, in your opinion, unfair or prejudiced comments about your countries/the West/your people? Of course that Westerners react. They're "getting their knickers in a knot", as you put it, too. I've seen it many times on this forum. You guys just aren't objective and emphatic enough to realise it, apparently.


They do and some even did it here on PF and they were getting pretty aggressive reactions :)


I've never been advised this - I've travelled by train quite a few times, including during nightime and nothing bad happened to me.


My dad's cars were always on a freely accessible car park and they were never stolen, no matter whether it was a communist "maluch" or a brand new car. I don't know, maybe it is more likely to have a car stolen in Poland than in... well... I don't know where... you probably mean the UK? :) However, perhaps Poland in general is a safer country, just as smurf wrote on page 1.

Why would you have a problem with Poland being a low crime country, roz? Would that somehow hurt you personally? Or maybe you had some terrible experiences in Poland or sth?

Food / Pascha for Easter? [5]

I tried to make it, but I failed - it fell apart/kind of melted away ;P Apparently the cheese was too moist or sth :P

News / Poland: A Successful case of low criminality in Europe? [97]

Sorry, I don't have much time but I just had to intervene here lol:


LOL
Smurf is "pretty sure", but, of course, smurf won't even bother to check, he will make assumptions though, right? :)

Poland, a very "traditionally Catholic" country, was one of the first countries in the world to criminalize marital rape, actually:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AMarital_rape%2FCountry_lists

"Countries which were early to criminalize marital rape include Poland (1932), Czechoslovakia (1950), the Soviet Union(1960), Denmark (1960), Sweden (1965), Norway (1971), and some other members of the Communist Bloc."

From what I've read the marital rape exemption was abolished in England and Wales only in 1991! In Ireland 1990!
And the absolute record-holder... Germany... brace yourselves...:
"Germany outlawed spousal rape only in 1997, which is later than other developed countries. Female ministers and women's rights activists lobbied for this law for over 25 years."

What the hell... o_O'

I know that for some proud Western souls on this forum "a country like Poland" being more progressive in anything than some Western countries would be something incomprehensible lol But remember that Poland after regaining independence in 1918 immediately granted women the right to vote and be elected, without any restrictions. The first women in the Polish parliament were elected already in 1919.

Polish women didn't even have to fight for those rights, unlike the British women.
France gave their women right to vote only in 1944, Switzerland in 1971 (WTF??) and Liechtenstein in... 1984 (is this a joke or sth...?).
So, yes, "traditionally Catholic" Poland was more "progressive" in some aspects than some of the Western countries.
Shock and horror, right...? *rolls eyes*

And now you, Levi - I really appreciate the fact that you're probably the only foreigner that defends Poland and especially Polish women on PF... but are you unable to use Google too? All I needed to do was to type in "rapes in Sweden" and here we go:

bbc.com/news/magazine-19592372

You have all the answers there.


gatestoneinstitute.org/5195/sweden-rape

Gatestone Institute is apparently conservative and with an anti-Muslim sentiment so I don't know how credible it is, but it cites data from some official reports:


Now, I know that Levi's obsession with Muslims is irritating but let's not go crazy with the opposite attitude, OK...
Don't forget that immigrants come from different cultures where attitudes towards women may differ from those in Europe. The way European women dress and behave is often seen in more traditional or Muslim countries as indecent, "sluttish". In such countries European woman can be approached out of the blue and offered money for sex by a complete stranger because "surely all Western women are wh0res". I remember reading fragments of a travel book of a blond Polish female traveler about India - she was being constantly touched by men passing in the street. Apparently they thought it's somehow "OK" to do that.

Men from those cultures may bring those attitudes to countries like Sweden. This is pretty logical, I think.
They may be "overwhelmed", let's say, by the contrast of how women dress and behave in their home countries and in European countries. They may think that women in Europe are all "sluts" and they all "want it" or whatever their logic may be... I think men in those societies haven't been taught to control themselves and take responsibility for their actions to an extent that, for example, European men were, since in their home countries the burden is put on the woman to dress and behave in such a way as not to "tempt" a man.

You remember what was going on in Egypt?:
edition.cnn.com/2013/07/03/opinion/burleigh-rapes-tahrir-square/

And they may come from some conflict-ridden countries where rape is a fairly "common thing" and there's some amount of depravation, desensitization.

I think such factors should be taken into account. Or at least that's my take on it - my assumptions, my guesswork :). Of course, probably some more thorough look into more recent statistics would be a good idea, before jumping to conclusions.


I must say that it made me curious too...


So, why do you feel "far safer" in Poland than in Ireland, smurf? I must say that I've come across such opinions of foreigners here on PF quite often and I've always wondered - what is that all about?

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]

Bernie, I've got the contact info to the nephew! You've got PM :)

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]

Haha, that's a great comment for someone interested in astronomy and astrophysics, like myself :))
And you're welcome :)

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]

Bernie, I've just sent a private message to that moderator, I've asked him for a contact info to the nephew, phone number and correspondence address of Zenon Andrzejewski and any info about the nephew and Czternastek's late brother (their names, age).

Hopefully we'll get some answer tomorrow :)

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]


You probably mean that part "Kod potwierdzający"? You have to type in the Polish word for a given number. Now it's "4" so the word you should type in is cztery.

Bernie, you can try to register on dws.org.pl in the meantime, because I don't have time right now - I'll write that private message to the moderator in the evening probably. But what would like me to write exactly? I understand you would like to have the contact info to that nephew, yes? Something more? Andrzejewski's phone number? His address for correspondence?

(in case the number for the registration on dws.org.pl would change :

1- jeden
2 - dwa
3 - trzy
4 - cztery
5 - pięć
6 - sześć
7 - siedem
8 - osiem
9 - dziewięć
10 - dziesięć )

History / Polish - Scottish history - which part of Krakow did Scots settle? [4]

It turns out the author of this book works at the university in my city :) - here's his contact info: kowalski@ujk.edu.pl

He was a visiting research professor in The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies and the University of Aberdeen, so I guess he knows English - in case you would be interested enough to contact him about this.