Language / "Cup of coffee" translated in Poland as Kubek kawy. Why not a mug? [70]

Hyacinth was the epitome of pretentiousness. A beaker is normally a mug without a handle, and not necessarily ceramic - it can be plastic. Fine china companies however, tend to call mugs beakers because it sounds less inelegant.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


Don't be daft.


The outspoken PiS official involved very much gave his side of the story. As did his superiors on Bialystok council who slapped him down.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]



So you're saying the city council in Bialystok are 'Pole-bashers'? Since they have made it clear that the book is fine as it is.

Another PiS mess. They can barely control their own elected officials.

Language / "Cup of coffee" translated in Poland as Kubek kawy. Why not a mug? [70]

That was something fairly universal. My great-grandfather, born in the 1870s used to do that. Not elegant nowadays, but normal once.

As for Russian tea, Tolstoy writes about (the coachman in the Masonic inn scene in War and Peace) taking a big loaf of sugar from his pocket and nibbling it to sweeten the tea. I haven't heard of that here (or anywhere else) however I've been in cafes here (nice ones) who sell 'Russian Tea', meaning it comes with small dish of jam sitting on top of the cup.


This seems spot on. Glasses were cheaper. Hot to hold a glass with tea or coffee in though.


The English term 'a glass' can cover a lot of things. A tall one is sometimes a 'highball glass', a medium sized one a 'whisky glass' (and there are other terms for both of these) and a small one, of thetype used in Poland for vodka would be a 'shot glass', or just 'a tot of whisky'

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

None of that is relevant to the PiS embarassing climbdown over one of their councillors' shameful attempt to airbrush a key event in the city's history from an illustrated book about Bialystok's most famous son.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


The city council in Bialystok certainly say that. They're clear - PiS councillor Chojnacki is wrong, the book is right.

I suppose there's a certain type who start arguments and then get butthurt when they lose them.

Work / Work Culture and Expenses - 11000 PLN gross in Poznan [27]


Radom feels a bit like that now, and if Poznan were in, say, North East Poland, it might have the same problem.

One issue in Poznan is that it isn't the cheapest city. Costs are reasonable, but it's not like being in Rzeszøw or Lublin.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

Fortunately, the city council in Bialystok have distanced themselves from the PiS activist Chojnacki's daft idea, and made it very clear that the 1906 Bialystok Pogrom is a part of their history which will not be expunged from the public record, nor remoced from any book on Bialystok's most famous son, Ludwik Zamenhof.


What the Americans do is an irrelevance. Things work differently in Europe.


Indeed.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


And therefore the book should stand as it is - the city council have agreed to this and slapped down Chojnicki.

There are varying interpretations of history in Poland - not all of us here care for the type of reactionary narrative that PiS favour.


As a citizen, I doubt that.


No need for google, Po, to know that your kneejerk reaction means exactly that.

Work / Work Culture and Expenses - 11000 PLN gross in Poznan [27]


I heard of a case like that in the UK. Unpleasan to say the least. yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/security-worker-was-brothel-supervisor-witness-tells-court-1-2076452


Very much - good road and freight links to Germany, and well-situated in Poland. Plus it has a high skills base, established industry and the infrastructure to attract large companies. A very dynamic city council helps a lot as well, that and the International Trade Fair Centre.

When I lived there, it was much less developed than it had been, and there was high unemployment. Now it's amazing - I was really surprised by the transformation.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


I don't see any example of that. Do you?

Only the strange sort of behaviour we've come to expect from PiS politicians. Fortunately the city's mayoral office have slapped him down, saying they have no plans to change the book.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


So did many people.


He's the city's most famous son, together with Max Weber.

And you've still failed to provide even one single reason why the PiS councillor feels justified in trying to change a book about him.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


Hard to know how you think that justifies an attempt by a PiS functionary to recall and re-issue a history book in order to remove one of the most significant events in his city during his life.

Work / Work Culture and Expenses - 11000 PLN gross in Poznan [27]


Indian women in Poland? No. This is far more likely to affect locals and is frankly very very rare.


It's booming. I was there this month, by the way, and have lived there. There's a lot of new development (I was surprised at the transformation over the past decade), major companies relocating there and a growing economy. There's also a lot to see and do, whereas the cost of living remains reasonable.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

The religious backround of the emininent Polish linguist is an irrelevant fact in the matter of a PiS functionary attempting to rewrite history and airbrush a pogrom, one that Zamenhof survived, from a book about him.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


Now now, I-S. Dr Zamenhof created Esperanto long before 1906. He did however survive the 1906 Pogrom, and to attempt to censor that massacre in his hometown from the story of his life is attempting to rewrite history. He created Esperanto in part because he believed the linguistic diversity in Bialystok kept people apart rather than cfeating cohesion. His words below still stand today.

"I am profoundly convinced that every nationalism offers humanity only the greatest unhappiness... It is true that the nationalism of oppressed peoples - as a natural self-defensive reaction - is much more excusable than the nationalism of peoples who oppress; but, if the nationalism of the strong is ignoble, the nationalism of the weak is imprudent; both give birth to and support each other..."

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

No doubts, no grey areas. It was a massacre (is a pogrom that kills so many, anything but?) of 88 Poles.

Work / Work Culture and Expenses - 11000 PLN gross in Poznan [27]

It's OK. Much more than most people have to live on.


This is simply untrue


I've lived there, and there's a lot to do. In the past few years it's really changed. A mid-level European city now.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


A "minor local incident" or an attempt to e plunge the massacre of 88 Poles from the history books?

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


This is the chilling thing, a massacre of Poles is trivialised, and in the case of the outspoken PiS councillor, encouraged to be dumped from the history books.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

And now, the Swiss Franc scandal rears its head again, still not sorted despite promises and rhetoric from the PiS junta. The way this turns out has consequences for a huge number of people.



bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-23/understanding-poland-s-quiet-retreat-from-costly-swiss-loan-fix

Life / Cricket in Poland - Wroclaw, Katowice, Warsaw (casual group) [15]


There are seven teams in Poland, four of them in Warsaw. Have a look here for details: cricket.pl


Now now, don't be so naughty; you may find someone coming after you with a large wooden bat.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


Looks like you've never watched one or read the other.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]


Just going off-topic to try to distract from the latest PiS scandal. This time in their heartland, Bialystok, yet opposed by the residents of the city.


All adds up, Po, since the outrages occur time and time again and as we have seen, have chipped away at PiS support.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

Going a bit off-topic, Po, as usual. Though since you mention it, the ill-fated 2005 PiS junta didn't last very long, did it...

Nor will this one.

Here's another article about Chojnacki and his attempt to rewrite history: plus.poranny.pl/wiadomosci/a/radny-pis-marek-chojnowski-mam-dosc-polacy-nigdy-nie-byli-antysemitami

As usual, the more PiS people huff and puff, the less anyone believes them.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

That comment, Po, is every bit as nonsensical as the PiS attempt to rewrite history. And every bit as transparent.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]


That isn't connected to Jaroslaw Kaczynski's cousin being appointed head of the state forests, nor the current illegal destruction of a UNESCO world heritage site.

News / Poland's political crisis deepens [228]

It gets worse:


It's very possible they'll not only lose UNESCO World Heritage status, but also have problems getting it for any other sites in the future. And of course it's the usual PiS behaviour:


The sooner they're gone the better.

theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/23/worst-nightmare-europes-last-primeval-forest-brink-collapse-logging

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

Trying to revise historical narratives is something that party are known for - this is very significant right now.


After 2005, they were voted out at the earliest opportunity, as well you know, and after 2015 the same scenario looks likely.

Interestingly, towards the end of their last brief term, their functionaries started to behave bizarrely (remember their minister who wanted to ban Teletubbies?), like the councillor in Bialystok is doing now. History repeats.

News / PIS councillor wants to censor Poland's history book [148]

Don't be silly, Po. That's actually the opposite of the truth.

Fortunately the next general election will see the demise of PiS.