News / Poland - exhuming Smolensk victims [30]


there was no blast....


Did she have the power to make such an agreement?


I do no support or defend any political party, I'm not a boob.

News / Mysterious death of Magdalena Żuk on holiday in Egypt [144]


I haven't seen the video and don't want to, but a friend (in healthcare) who did wondered what the 'civilians' hanging around in the hospital were doing and said that was pretty suspicious on its own

News / Poland - exhuming Smolensk victims [30]


I think that some people don't understand what happens to bodies in a plane crash, the idea of identifying individual victims in separate coffins is a pleasant and pretty lie to cover the fact that there are hundreds of unidentifiable parts and the only way to match everything up would be hundreds (or thousands) of separate dna tests which would delay burials for weeks or months. The coffins are more symbolic than anything...


The only people humiliating him are himself and the Smolensk Krazy Konspiracy Krowd...

Language / American pancakes are not Poland's naleśniki! [45]


Are the two terms interchangeable? I'm sure I've heard British people use both expressions....

Also, in an old Agatha Christies book there's a scene of a cook with filet of sole and pancake batter, how on earth would those go together?

Calling crepes "pancakes" just seems 8 types of wrong to me... also what was a 'muffin' in older English usage? There's a reference to them (again dame agatha) but it's also mentioned that they are not like American muffins (referred to as "a kind of tea cake")

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


I still maintain that one of the reasons that Poland is against resettling Merkel's pseudo "refugees" is that almost everyone in Poland has either worked in Western Europe (or has family or friends who have). They've seen what muslim immigration looks like up close.... and are convinced it's a bad idea.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


I have never done any such thing, why would you even think I had? This is what not judging anything does, it corrodes your reading abilities (along with your ability to make judgements when needed).

That said, not all varieties of Islam are equally.... unsuited to the modern world, but the the variety that is (Sunni fundamentalism) is one of the largest and growing forms and there's no way to bring sizeable numbers of muslims to Poland without bringing some of them. Not worth the risk.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


No, because I'm not a complete moron. They are not remotely comprable in severity, painfulnes or longterm health consequences.

Moral equivalence is a sucker's game I don't intend to play.

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


I did, thank you. They conduct a relatively small number of interviews and then (somehow) create large numbers of "enslaved people" out of them.

Their methodology is certainly criticised by people who know the field....

Here are some examples:

humantraffickingcenter.org/global-slavery-index-helpful-harmful

theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/nov/28/global-slavery-index-walk-free-human-trafficking-anne-gallagher

antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/228/216

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]

Adherents of all denominations think that....

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


Yeah, burkas and female genital mutilation and the death penalty for apostasy are just as good as any other religious practice!

The problem with not being judgemental is the eventual loss of the ability to distinguish good from evil.

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]

I just did, re-read 51 and/or explain how the very small numbers they give represent 180,100. Or better yet, point out where they have proof of 180,100 people living in modern slavery in Poland. They put a number on a page, where is the data showing they counted them?

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


They don't say that of coure, that is a perfectly legitimate interpretation for reconciling 180,100 and the thousand or so cases (about 800 of which is an admitted estimate) they actually cite.

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]

The site itself, it just mentions a few isolated cases with small numbers and somehow decides that these small figures represent 180,100 cases, see post #32

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]

More fools them.... and as my grandmother used to say "An expert is usually someone fifty miles from home and drunk"

I would like to see more evidence of widespread slavery in Poland beyond estimates based on a handful of confirmed cases.

The North Korean thing is a disgrace and that should be stopped as soon as possible (and those actually found guilty of trafficking should be put in jail for much longer than most European countries make possible).

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


That don't make 'em accurate....

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


They are not "stats" they are wild estimates are tens of thousands of times larger than verifiable cases.

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


188,147 would be especially shocking.... perhaps more shocking than 188,350...

What I hate about groups like that is they trivialize real slavery (which does still exist) by coflating it with a bunch of nasty, illegal practices which need to be rooted out (but which are not however slavery in any real way).

Extra side note: A Filipino born American citizen who won the Pullitzer prize revealed (just before his death) that his family had a household slave* for 56 years. As I always note, when people immigrate they bring their values with them and if those include slavery.... then guess what?

*possibly not the best term, but modern English, thankfully, has no words for that precise form of bondage, though I guess it might acquire them again with enough immigration

News / Reporter says she would trade 10 Polish lives if it helped thousands of immigrants [61]

You first. How many immigrants being saved would be a good return for your unfortunate demise at a terrorist's hands (or truck or bomb)?

News / Reporter says she would trade 10 Polish lives if it helped thousands of immigrants [61]


Well she can ask some of the Manchester parents if the loss of their daughters was worth saving mr bomber's parents lives?

Again, idealists think that of a few dismembered little girls as eggs that had to be broken for their great humanitarian omelette.

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


Quite.

Let's look at the actual documented numbers....

"In 2014, the Border Guard identified 31 victims of forced labo....cases of domestic servitude are included, this figure increases to 34 forced labour victims

As many as 800 North Koreans are believed to be working in the country, primarily in shipyards and orchards
n 2010, 58 Thai migrant workers ... were made to work excessive hours, received limited food and were not paid full wages

Polish nationals made up the fifth largest group of European Union....Most of these individuals were identified in the UK (405), Poland (263) and the Netherlands (187)..... 54 individuals were identified as victims of labour exploitation

In 2014, the police identified only one case of forced begging. However the Border Guard found three suspected cases

Of 50 trafficking victims identified by Polish police .... the Maritime Border Guard identified two citizens of Bulgaria and one citizen of Poland as victims of human trafficking for prostitution.. 14 children were trafficked within Poland and one child trafficked to Germany

Despite existing literature giving evidence of CSE (commercial sexual exploitation) cases in Poland, the Walk Free survey did not identify any victims in this sector"

None of this is good, but note that the largest number is "believed" (ie undocumented). Coming up with a figure of 180,000 "enslaved" people on these numbers is not very credible....

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


Does this count enslaved domestic workers from the Arab world and the Indian sub-continent?


It's not clear if they distinguish people in vulnerable positions in Poland or abroad....

and then there's this:

"Roma mothers from poor communities in Moldova and the Ukraine are offered jobs in the sales or care sectors in Poland"

hard to take anything there seriously after that....Roma begging is absolutely a crime syndicate but one run by Roma and largely immune to outside interference

Also, after flashing around huge numbers there are very few actual verified cases... the page is hype and does more harm than good and anyone who believes the 180,000 thousand number uncritically is a fool.

News / Mysterious death of Magdalena Żuk on holiday in Egypt [144]

I neither laugh at nor given unquestioned faith to it. I'm not German and am unfamiliar with German visa/passport requirements (and have no idea if he's even a German citizen or not - though Markus sounds far more German than Polish as a first name, on the other hand his last name is very Polish.

I just note things and think of hypotheses.... none of the versions make much sense in real world terms yet I'm just keeping an open mind.


Not a good word, even if the Independent's version is taken at face value it sounds more like accidental death (trying to get away) than a conscious attempt to take her own life...

News / Mysterious death of Magdalena Żuk on holiday in Egypt [144]


Unimpressed with that story which had a definite agenda (egypt is safe and poles are racist!) they couldnt' even spell her boyfriend's name right...

And I'm thinking beyond rufies, other recreational subtances she might have taken of her own free will could also help trigger an episode

I'm not ruling out mental problems (the parents cannot be trusted to be objective or accurate given the stigma against mental illness in Poland) I just tend to think i was more than one thing, a kind of perfect storm...

And about that boyfriend.... Markus is not a very Polish name and I've seen claims that he's a German citizen and as such wouldn't have needed a passport, that makes me wonder if he had other reasons for not going.... police record? knowing he wouldn't be let in?

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]

I have no problem with educated secularly oriented Muslims who come to Poland (I know a number of them and they are quite nice people) and who can negotiate their religious convictions on their own without state support.

But large-scaled importation of people without much education or skills for the sole purpose of creating a muslim minority (there doesn't seem to be any other longterm goal) is just totally insane. There's no word for it. Largescale muslim immigration to Europe is a well-known phenomenon and has not worked out very well anywhere and trying it in new countries is unlikely to change its terrible track record.

News / Mysterious death of Magdalena Żuk on holiday in Egypt [144]


AFAICT she either was/was not acting weird the entire time and either began/continued acting very weird and at some point (after a trip with the resident?) was hospitalized and then jumped out of a first floor window which caused fatal injuries....

My intuition (of course not worth much) is that neither the rapid onset of mental issues nor being drugged (with or without sexual trauma) would lead to that result by itself but the combination could easily be fatal... especially if local people have an economic interest in preserving the image of a safe place for tourists.

News / Mysterious death of Magdalena Żuk on holiday in Egypt [144]

My take on all this is that she may or may not have been diagnosed with anything but she wasn't that stable either, buying a vacation for a guy she knew only a couple of months? (correct me if I'm wrong, I don't feel likegoing back and researching).

That said, the official story doesn't make sense on a number of grounds. My best guess would be that something happened that we don't know about (yet) probably involving a spiked drink and sexual trauma (rape or attempted rape) and that sent her off (maybe due to undiagnosed mental issues) and then she was.... quieted (through action or inaction). It's very bad publicity for a place dependent on tourism to let the news out that young single western women are not safe there and I'm sure Egyptian authorities want to keep up the pretense that it's all perfectly safe.

The take away here is that young non-muslim women are not safe on their own in Egypt (or probably any muslim majority country). Middle aged women who go for sex tourism are probably safer (unless they take things too seriously and bring their sex toys home with them) but younger women should not try going on their own...

UK, Ireland / Polish slave trader in the UK has sentence increased [56]


Yeah, but pretty run of the mill for Scotland.... what is it? Something in the water there?

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


Should countries be able to hermetically seal themselves off from the Christian world?


No, it's a too high percentage of muslims that take nonsense in the koran way too seriously and/or have no other moral reference point - islam has a monolopy on morality in much of the muslim world and monopolies are never good.

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


I notice that no one is saying that it would be a great thing for a bunch of Christians to immigrate to Middle Eastern countries...

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]


There were definitely tensions with mainstream Tatars and more recent arrivals (not to mention the poisonous Saudi missionaries that began appearing among them around the turn of the century to turn them back into 'real' muslims).

I didn't keep up with the situation and don't know how that's all resolved (or if it has) but pretending there weren't problems doesn't help anything.