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Posts by Dirk diggler  

Joined: 9 May 2017 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - B
Last Post: 23 Jun 2022
Threads: Total: 10 / In This Archive: 5
Posts: Total: 4445 / In This Archive: 2479
From: A White Wonderland
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Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

Bialowieza is a forest in two countries... so yes I'm talking about the forest as a whole obviously which is over 3k sq km. Even if 78km2 were logged, and replanted it still would have negligible impact - even on just the Polish side.

That is still a lot.

Trees are a renewable resource.... like money, hair, or whatever strange analogy you chose to use - money can be made reearned, hair will regrow, and trees can be replanted and regrow. Again, logging has far less damaging impacts on a forest than other economic activities. You should be happy that gold, oil, or other minerals weren't found - then there'd be no forest or any viable land to plant trees on.

He's desperate to find ways to justify PiS's terrible policies, give him a break.@ mafketis

Now you're just making assumptions. Idc who rules Poland as long as the GDP is growing and there's no Islamic terror attacks like France, Germany, etc. For one, I don't even agree with a lot of their decisions but at least they're listening to Polish peoples' concerns and not bending their knee to the EU

@CasualObserver

Do you live in Bialowieza or near it? I'm willing to bet no. So leave it to our democratically elected leaders, the locals who live in that area, and the managers of the forests to make the decisions.

Either way, logging will continue with the majority of the locals living near the forest supporting the decision. The vast forest will not get destroyed as again, the entire forest is not set to be logged but only a portion of it and the trees will be replanted - it is not turning into some farm, mine, etc. which would permanently erase the forest. And even then it would only be a small portion of it... You build infrastructure in 1 area, and wilderness expands in other parts.

Poland has called the bluff of a few unelected commissars, namely Timmermans, and it will continue to do so. Such is the game of politics. If it feels that something is truly at stake, it will negotiate if it feels like it will lose money or local support. Till that happens with the Bialowieza issue, logging will continue and people on Greenpeace's payroll have proven to not be a big enough threat.
Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
Life / English family in Wroclaw! [70]

If you have savings from working in a western country you'll probably live a lot better in Poland with that money than in the US or UK. A lot of Polish people work abroad and come back to PL to spend their money since it'll go a lot further. I know quite a few Polams who are also planning to retire in Poland as the property taxes alone in a place like Illinois NY or California would be enough to cover a half decent existence in Poland for a year. Also, if you can get a good job in Poland or have a successful business you can be just as materially happy if not more so than many other places in the west due to the substantially lower cost of living and lower taxes - especially for properties.
Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
Life / English family in Wroclaw! [70]

The quality of life is much higher in richer countries, including the States, than it is in Poland, by any measure.

Depends for whom. I personally prefer the qualify of life in Poland - hence why I plan to permanently move there from the US.

I think OP will settle quite well into Wroclaw. I've seen tons of changes in the city from PRL times to the 90s to the pre-EU years, to the present. There's more foreigners - tourists, people on assignment, and quite a few who have settled down with a polish spouse - than ever.
Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@Roger5

You're right. But they know they need the forest for their livelihood as they and their families have lived there for generations. I don't believe PiS, PO or anyone until I come up with a conclusion myself. I don't side with a person, group, etc. just because I agree with them on some other policy. For example, while I support PiS' economic plan and plan to increase birthrates, I was against their attempts to curtail abortion.

You can believe all the scientists you want. They'll also tell you that the logging affects a tiny fraction of the forest - 78 km2 out of over 3000km2. They're crying about the 2% and most of it is political being pushed by people on Greenpeace/Client Earth/etc payrolls. It doesn't take a PhD to figure out that logging a tiny section, 2% of the forest, isn't going to have any sort of major impact on the remaining 98% - especially logging and replanting trees. If they were mining or drilling that'd be a different story - but they aren't. If you actually bothered to read the letter from Szyszko, you'd realize that they are going to comply with preserving the forest, won't log certain areas, and Natura 2000 guidelines.

"Because of the different ideas, aiming at protection of habitats 91IO, 91DO and 91EO, as well as species of these habitats, in 2016 the area of the three forest districts will be divided into two representative parts at which the protection of these habitats and the species of these habitats is to be conducted. The first part, constituting about 1/3 of the area,in line with the suggestions of the European Commission, UNESCO, a part of scientists and part of the public, will be left without any human interference, consequently a total ban on tree logging will be introduced. The second part, in line with the suggestions of the other part of scientists, State Forests, part of the public and the predominant part of the local community, will be subject to the activities of ecological engineering through the implementation of the forest management plans."

You guys ought to be more objective. You act as if all of Bialowieza is now suddenly in danger when logging will affect only 2% of the forest - 78km2 out of over 3000km2.
Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@CasualObserver

Your '1%' maths is completely wrong, because you confused km2 with hectares, and divided 78 km2 by 3000 ha to get 0.026%.

The area of Bialowieza forest is 3,085.8 km2 - not hectares. The forest is over 140k.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82owie%C5%BCa_Forest

78km2 was added to the logging area

You are right though - it wouldn't be 1% it'd be a bit over 2%

78/3085.8 = .026 (.026 = 2.6%)

Again, negligible. You're not going to convince me that this forest is in danger when a mere 78km2 out of 3,085km2is to be logged....

....I think PIS really need to be a little more creative with their economic plans and find other ways to generate income for local people

PiS is doing a wonderful job managing the economy overall. Foreign investors continue to flock in (including JP Morgan just recently announcing 3k additional jobs in Poland), more and more poles (including myself) are moving back to Poland (Companies handling moving from UK to Poland are booked solid), credit rating is amazing, unemployment is at a record low - extremely low esp for a EU nation, inflation is extremely low, GDP is forecasted at 4% which is an amazing figure. All in all they're doing an amazing job with the economy. Plus, the 500 zloty program will help increase Polish birth rates which we desperately need. For a family with 3 kids, they'll get 1,500 as well as a housing subsidy.

.....No disrespect to local people near the forest but it seems that to use this group of people as a reason for extensive logging is quite wrong.....

Why? The majority of the locals living near the forest are pro logging, pro human management, and against a further expansion of the protected zone. Originally the zone was some 30-40 km2, then increased to 70-80km2, then it was rather recently increased all of a sudden to over 1500km with an additional 1500km2 buffer. They know best - afterall they're the ones living there everyday and the forest is their livelihood. Most of them aren't even commercial loggers but nonetheless many of them live off the forest - selling handicrafts, using the forest for firewood, hunting/foraging for food, etc. Like I said, there is a balance between overlogging and destroying the whole forest and using a tiny fraction of it - which is what they want. But to you for some reason it's 'all or nothing.' Well, the world doesn't work that way. These people have been living there for generations and taking care of the forest. They're sick of people, especially foreigners, getting involved in a forest that they and their descendants have lived in and used for generations.

you don't care much about the forest providing it creates incomes, wellbeing and firewoo

Actually, I wrote the exact opposite. People are more important than beetles. Hence, I'm more concerned about peoples' wellbeing, income, etc. Again, the beetles will surely survive considering even if the entire 78km2 is logged that still leaves 3,000 km2 of forest. Your precious beetles will be fine.

Either way it doesn't really matter. Logging is going on and clearly they're doing it responsibly as only 78km2 is to be logged - a tiny fraction of the entire forest.

English translation of Szyszko's document polishwolf.org.pl/download/Programme_Bialowieza_Forest.pdf

Point 5 is especially poignant:
Starting a long-term experiment that will allow answering the question who is right. Is it the ones who judge that they know how to utilize natural resources and how to use them, so that the whole world can consider them as primeval forests untouched by the human hand, or that ones who do not own such natural resources in their neighborhood, as they have damaged them in the past, and demand lack of any activities, which according to the first ones is leading to destroying these resources.
Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

And nowhere in that quote you give on needs of the forest does it mention bark beetles. Nowhere.

And nowhere do you acknowledge the fact that under the PO regime, 90% of the 10 year max was harvested in 3 years... but that doesn't really matter anyway...

I didn't mention beetles because I don't care. I care more about people's incomes, wellbeing, and need for firewood than beetles. Besides, they'll surely survive considering than 1% of the forest was added to be logged.

It means leaving the forest alone as a management strategy. Look it up.

I'm aware of managed vs natural forests...

From UNESCO:

Threats that require long-term attention via monitoring and continued management programmes include fire management, the impacts of barriers to connectivity, including roads, firebreaks and the border fence

Those things especially fire management (usually by removing deadwood - which bialowieza apparently has 10x as much as the average forest) would require human management.

Like I said, if the entire forest, the whole environment were in some sort of grave danger and was being overlogged without leaving sections untouched I'd say fine - they should stop. However, that is not what is happened. Very small scale logging is occurring which affects 1% of Bialowierza is not a concern...

If you want to discuss a forest that's in jeopardy focus on the Amazon jungle. Unlike Bialowierza where less than 1% of it is to be logged, entire swathes of the jungle have been destroyed - hundreds of thousands of square kilometers... not 78 sq km..

This is a non-issue. People gotta eat and heat their homes. In those areas people are poor and still rely on firewood and handicrafts to sell. It appears the locals as well as loggers have no problem with compromising between leaving certain areas and trees alone but being able to log a tiny portion of the forest and replanting the trees they've cut down with saplings.
Dirk diggler   
28 Sep 2017
News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

In the Schengen Area, you will not prevent a Turkish German or a French Algerian to move his large Muslim family to Poland. You can make their lives miserable, but that's about it.

Of course not. We're already established that. Anyone who shares an affinity for Poland and Polish culture and is a benefit to our economy is most welcome. There are a significant number of Chechens and Kurds in Poland - at least 30k Chechens came since 2015. These people tend to be well assimilated. The fact is though there are very few French Algerians or German Turks that wish to move to Poland for multiple reasons. The CBOS poll did not measure the attitudes of Poles towards foreign born EU citizens. It measured the attitudes of Poles towards migrants coming from middle east and Africa, not EU.

Easy access to the EU is clearly the main driving force behind foreign investment in Poland.

Not exactly. Easy access to EU is one of many driving forces but actually wages is one of the most important factors. Labor is typically the largest expense for every major corporation so if they can save even $500-$1k per worker, multiplied by say 2,500 (as with the JP Morgan office) each month the numbers really start to add up. Other factors include the fact that Poland is one of the only EU countries, along with the Baltic Tigers, who have consistently been growing since the worldwide recession of 2008. The additional advantages that Poland has is the ever decreasing unemployment rate, extremely low inflation, a highly developed finance sector, low debt to GDP, excellent credit rating, and a whole host of additional factors that are making Poland an attractive country for FDI and relocating operations - especially manufacture, IT, CS, etc. Poland's GDP is hovering right around the 4% mark which is an amazing figure for a developed EU nation.

Also, corporations do not establish manufacturing plants in foreign lands for the primary purpose of servicing the local market. I.E. US or even S. Korean Corps like Apple, Samsung, LG, etc manufacture their goods in China not because they sell well in China but because of the abundant cheap factory labor and excellent infrastructure especially ports to handle their logistics. As increasing wages in China begin to match those in Mexico, US/Korean/Canadian/etc companies are gradually moving to Mexico to take advantage of the savings in shipping which was negated by Chinese labor costs. An easier business environment due to being in the same time zones as US and the fact that there's plenty of Spanish speakers in the US but far less Chinese are additional pluses.

The manufacturing hubs that were established by VW, Mercedes, etc in Poland isn't to service Polish car buyers. Poland represents a tiny fraction of auto sales for these companies. They were built primarily to service the European market as a whole. Same with the 2.5k-3k jobs JP Morgan announced at their new Warsaw center. It is meant to service European (or perhaps even global) customers of JP Morgan.

FDI as of 2015.... How much of that is due to foreign investment?.

100%... FDI = foreign direct investment...
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

Is that so difficult to understand?

Apparently it's difficult for you guys to understand that less than 1% of the forest has been approved for logging -

Publication against logging by numerous PhD's
polishwolf.org.pl/bialowieza-forest

Here are some key excerpts:

The new management plan divides the forest into 3 roughly equal parts

The forest already was in 3 equal parts...

For all three forest districts in PBF the forest management plans (FMP) for 2012-2021 have been accepted by the Minister of Environment in 2012.

The FMP for the Bialowieza Forest District assumed that a total of 63,471 m3 of wood will be cut within 10 years. It included 771 m3 of large-size timber wood, and 62,700 m3 of young trees.

polishwolf.org.pl/news,1153

That number was reduced by Szyszko to 188,000 m3....

The new area of logging in the Bialowieza Forest District includes 78 km2 -

78 km 2 is less than .026% of bialowieza.... plain and simple...

sorry but when less than 1% of a forest is going to be logged it's very difficult for me to see how suddenly the whole forest is now in danger...

This has been a long battle of NGOs and such wanting to expand protection to the entire forest. First it was 47 km2, then 105 km2 in 1995 with a logging on old trees which is fine - no issues. Then in 2014 it becomes 1418.85 km2 with a buffer zone of 1667.08 km2.... We're talking about 78km2 added to the logging... nothing of significance.. again, less than 1% of the forest

From UNESCO:

It is essential to ensure that the integrated management plan for the property addresses all key issues concerning the effective management of this property, particularly forest, meadows and wetlands management, and that it is adequately funded on a long term...

whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6097
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

increase wages significantly, take a strong anti-EU stance, rely too much on service industries

Wages have been increasing pretty rapidly but yes they're still a bit below the EU average. Services dominate Poland's economy at over 60% - agriculture accounts for perhaps 3-4% and manufacturing around another third. Wages in Poland are higher than in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, China etc despite also having an educated work force. As far as an EU stance, while Poles wish to remain in the EU, they aren't keen on accepting migrants and allowing an outside force to erode their identity.

The foreign companies opening offices, factories, etc. aren't just looking for cheap factory workers - manufacturing may be the largest single sectors but it's for example finance and retail together are larger. There's plenty of companies who have opened facilities to employ IT professionals, pink collar workers, customer service, retail banking, etc with more to come. IT is especially hot right now in Poland and a lot of foreign companies are realizing that.

FDI as of 2015 according to Bank of Poland:

manufacturing EUR 53.8 billion;
financial and insurance activity EUR 31.4 billion;
wholesale and retail trade including repair of vehicles EUR 21.1 billion
activities related to real estate services EUR 13.1 bilion
professional, scientific and technical activities EUR 2.5 bilion
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

If large foreign investors come to the conclusion that it is a risk to do business in Poland, the country is toast

JP morgan just announced the creation of 2.5k-3k jobs in Poland.

Foreign companies love Poland because of its highly skilled work force which they are able to pay lower salaries than western Europe. FDI in Poland has been steadily growing and more and more companies are opening enormous offices, factories, operation centers, etc - Mercedes, VW, JP Morgan are just some recent additions.
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@Braveheart16

The trouble with you is that you give up too easily

First off, I'm not giving up on anything. You guys act as if the entire forest is slated for destruction when that's the furthest from the truth. The logging is limited to an area of about 78 km sq.... out of a forest size of over 3,000 km sq.... That's .026% of the forest. You act as if the entire forest is somehow in sudden danger despite the numerical fact that logging is limited to less than 1% of it.

Second, in 2015 the Regional Directorate of Forest Service developed the Annex which increased the harvest limit to 260k m3 up until 2021. In Feb 2017, the Regional Directorate for Environmental Conservation, which manages Natura 2000 sites, issued a proposal to the Annex. to limit the harvest to 188k m3. The 188k m3 is what was agreed to and is far less than the original 260k that was put in the Annex 2 years ago.

Third, parts of the forest will remain untouched and preserved - mos.gov.pl/aktualnosci/szczegoly/news/program-dzialan-na-rzecz-puszczy-bialowieskiej-podpisany/

Druga część to program badawczo-monitoringowy, finansowany przez Lasy Państwowe. Jednym z jego założeń jest wyznaczenie 1/3 terenu puszczańskich nadleśnictw , które będą pozostawione bez jakiejkolwiek ingerencji człowieka.

Fourth, many people rely on the forest for money - especially those in the NE which is far poorer than the rest of Poland. A lot of people in Poland still cut down trees to have firewood. Sorry but I don't buy that a tree (unless it is in fact fully protected - Bialowieza has areas that are under very strict UNESCO protection while others are only under some minor UNESCO protection as there are varying degrees of what can and can't be done in a USECO site and what parts of it ) shouldn't be cut down to provide heat and money for people. I'm not saying to destroy everything - like I said it has to be done with moderation and reason. Cutting down less than 1% of a forest seems reasonable.

"There is not a single part of this forest that hasn't been touched by a human hand," Grzegorz Bielecki, one of the managers of the forest, said in an interview.
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

It used to be really bad in the med device and pharma industry. Reps would go to doctors offices and offer them everything from cash vouches, to vacations, to computers, tablets, etc. for buying their devices or prescribing a certain amount of pills. The rules have changed a lot in the past few years. Now the reps encourage doctors to attend a brief 1-2 day conference at some hotel for which the company pays the airfare, hotel (usually a 4-5 star one), meals, etc on top of a fee which can be $1k $2k to even 5 or 6 figures depending on the docs reputation, type of event, etc. simply for giving a speech on how great medicine XYZ is and how much the docs patients like it. In other parts of the world, especially India now, the cash payments for a prescribing medicine continues.

As far as Poland though, idk how the situation is as far as practitioners rx'ing certain meds and admins for buying med devices, etc.
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@Lyzko

Its more commonly referred to as agent fees, commissions, or consulting fees. Those are usually the terms used to justify a bribe or the type of entry used in the books.
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

Also, even if EU triggered article 7 against both Poland and Hungary (which actually only one person to my understanding, Timmermans, threatened to do so - not the entire EC at large), I'm pretty confident we'd have support from at least one other nation which means it wouldn't pass. Could be Lithuania, Slovakia, Czechy, Romania, or any other number of countries who aren't happy about one thing or other or are simply concerned that the EU is infringing too much what are typically a sovereign country's decisions. However, it doesn't even really matter - according to recent news, the article 7 threat is only coming from Timmermans - not the EC at large. In fact, there wasn't even a mention of the words 'article 7' at the last meeting of the EC -

euobserver.com/political/139144

There was no discussion about launching the two-phased sanctions procedure - Article 7 of the EU treaty - against Poland.

"The word Article 7 was not mentioned in the room," an EU official said.

Polish EU affairs minister, Konrad Szymanski, reassured his colleagues that Poland does not question rule of law as the foundation of the EU, but said there are different interpretations of the principle.

He said that Poland has responded to every recommendation of the EU Commission and the country's justice and foreign ministers would be available to meet with Timmermans.

Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
News / Berlin terrorist attack -- Poland's ethnic homogeneity a true blessing [436]

There was justification for that because of the unique political situation that pertains on the island of Ireland

Every country has a unique political situation. While Ireland is not a 'formal' NATO member, they have a mutual defense treaty with UK, train with NATO forces, are used as a US air force stop over, and are a member of NATO's partnership for peace program. In other words, they're definitely not neutral as they side with NATO despite not being a formal member. On the other hand, UK is a formal NATO member yet still has an opt out clause to decide certain judicial and home affairs. I don't see how Ireland/UK can claim they need an opt out clause while Poland and other countries cannot. The only difference I see is that they're island nations and not in continental Europe.

Orban cosies up to the EU quite a bit

True - he also cozies up to the Kremlin which I wish Poland would do but alas russophobia has become state sponsored movement, especially since they fear the USSR 2.0 project. Orban has been in the game 7+ years and has a better network inside the EU than Kaczynski. He's playing his cards a bit wiser imo. Nonetheless, Orban and Szydlo jointly declared that Poland and Hungary do not wish to become immigrant countries. Hungary caught some flak for being against Soros, who claimed that they were being anti-semites... till Israel supported Orban in his battle against Soros making his claims of anti-Semitism laughable. Israel hates Soros because he meddles in sovereign affairs through NGOs - and he's done this to Israel too. Anyway, the desire to not become an immigrant country is our sovereign right. According to CBOS, 74% of Poles do not want migration from M.E. and Africa to which our government has listened to. The same CBOS pole stated that 50% of PO/Nowoczesna supporters were against migration while 90%+ of PiS/Kukiz members were against migration. So this isn't really a partisan issue as again the vast majority of Poles are against this migration - not just PiS. At worst, we'll pay a fine although the last time I've heard of the EU even discussing the 2 bil Euro fine was like 6+ months ago. They have since focused on their perceived threats to the rule of law.

bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-27/polish-nationalists-are-beating-the-eu-at-its-own-game
Dirk diggler   
27 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

The bribery comes from PRL times. People would bribe docs with commodities that were hard to obtain or simply cash to get an appointment quicker, move up the list, or simply get a 'sick' note. In some public hospitals this continues esp for more serious issues or to see a specialist more quickly. You can buy just about anything and anyone for the right price. Everyone's got their price - for some it's not even money...

100 zloty would be an insult. 100 dollars is a different story. That's usually the bare minimum bribe for even a minor/traffic offense paid to a Russian cop let alone a PL doc.
Dirk diggler   
25 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@Alltimegreat1

Almost all of Poland is pretty conservative and Catholic. There's some differences from place to place like those in a small eastern town may be conservative (even a bit too much for me) than say from the cities. Overall though Poland is a conservative Catholic and homogenous country much more so than our western eu counterparts anyway.
Dirk diggler   
25 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@Ironside

Idk if you're referring to me but honestly I'm not trying to get revenge on anyone. But yes some Anglos don't like poles. It use to be that way in the us up until around late 90s when there was a huge flow of poles coming in the 20 30 years preceding that. Now poles tend to be well liked and respected as most are hard working God fearing people who just want to be left alone to work and live in peace. Maybe that's why poles and Mexicans esp the older generations in my city get along well.

@Alltimegreat1

While I doubt you have any agenda aside from wishing to raise a family in an environment that you like ziem does have a point. Living in Poland and visiting are two way different things. You'll have to deal with bogus bureaucracy, a different culture and way of doing things (although that may come easily for you) and a language and people you're unfamiliar with. Imo I wouldn't move to rzeszow or any smaller city for that matter if i weren't at least proficient in polish. It'll be far easier for you to settle into a place like Warsaw without knowing polish although it will still be a challenge.
Dirk diggler   
25 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

Ill point out that despite the 34 trees I cut myself, 2 pines that were destroyed due to high winds, there's still maybe around 13-14 fully grown trees left with new saplings that I planted. Take away the house, driveway, garden area, lawn, and that's some 13-14 trees on perhaps .1-.2 acre. The ones that were lost were replaced and will gradually grow back. I'm not a professional botanist, horticulturalist, forester etc. but I have a basic understanding and enough to understand how to keep a beautiful and sustainable property in a forested area. I spend significant time taking care of my land as there's always something to maintain - chop down, cut, burn, plant, prune, water, feed, etc. I don't use any unnatural fertilizers. If there's one truth its that timber and plant life are renewable resources. Nonetheless, if the loggers went way crazy and cut everything down (which would be a mammoth undertaking given the sheer size) then yes it would be an issue. It appears that's clearly not the case as they aren't cutting down younger trees, or even the protected trees in the national park. Furthermore, tons of the trees are dead in Bialowieza which normally would require removal by humans to prevent fires esp if residential areas and key infrastructure were close by as in most conserved and managed forests. At the rate they're going there really is little need for concern. Like I've said, there are far more damaging economic activities that would destroy the forest and that's why you should be happy they didn't find stuff like coal, oil, gold, etc in worthwhile quantities in that area. Then it would be a real cause for concern...

I don't know how much time you have spent in a forest but I can tell you I have a little bit of hiking experience. When a party goes hunting, hiking, etc in the forest they typically don't venture far for fear of losing their way - especially in an expanse as great as bialowierza. The worst thing is getting lost in the woods with no supplies and then the sun sets and you cant find your way. If youre lucky you'll have an unobstructed view at the north star. Your only option is to walk straight in one direction and even that doesn't work out always or use bright navigation markers (i.e. cloth or ribbon), make a compass, etc. While moderpeople can use a compass or even just a watch with a rotating bezel or if they're more crafty a magnetized pin in a cup of water even. The royals didn't have such conveniences and its unlikely they got to explore 10% of the forest much less accurately map boundaries without modern tools. And no, marking an X with some twigs or using rocks or whatever to mark points isn't gonna cut it.
Dirk diggler   
25 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@CasualObserver

That's not how the scientific method works, nor does it work through analogy.

200 trees a day? That amount can be easily increased if Poland bought the rest of US's stock of daisy cutters. Man these guys are lackin'

Yes, it was a royal hunting ground ages ago mainly because the nobles wanted to take the pleasure of killing a bison, lynxes, etc. themselves and as a retreat from plagues, poverty, turmoil, wars, etc. The animals in Bialowieza were protected, as they currently are, not the trees back in those days. I'm referring to the start of the 20th century to the present when modern geological surveys began and nothing of significance was found.

Sorry but I just don't buy that small scale logging (which is what 200 trees a day is) is going to suddenly deplete 3k square kilometers of forest. I had to cut 34 trees just last summer off my property which is only about 1 acre because of some stupid Asian beetle outbreak. I come home one day and the city puts some pink ribbons around a bunch of trees and tells me to cut em down or they'll do it and put a lien on my house if I don't pay em. America.
Dirk diggler   
25 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@johnny reb

Not just Poland but also Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Czechy, Slovakia etc. There's differing degrees but ultimately we all simply want to preserve our culture and heritage and not be totally overrun with people from other continents and demographically replaced in our own lands. Same with the identitaire movement in France, pegida/afd in Germany, Sweden Democrats, Northern League in Italy, MENF, Jobbik, Fidesz, PiS and to some extend PO and many other groups and parties. Certain Ukrainian politicians are the ones leading the intermarium movement now with much interest from politicians, activists, professors, economistetc. from other lands. As far as an economic 'intermarium' - we have that with V4 and 3 Seas Initiative. The reds criticize such movements for being racist, supremacist, whatever but it's not about my culture or my people being superior to yours or theirs or whatever, it's about not stepping on each others' toes and living as neighbors in harmony rather than showing each others' ideas forcibly down our throats and being forced to accept things that are counter to our peoples' beliefs and traditions. Just as we don't expect to have Christianity, feminism, acceptance of gays, etc. nor are we forcing it to take hold in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq etc neither do we wish to have the same say Islam and its ideals and principles be forced onto us. Plus, its rather hypocritical as nearly every socialist movement, especially ones that resulted in armed conflict, was at least partially inspired by ideas of nationalism.

Now if we could just get along with Russia that'd be grand. The guys fighting in the DPR and for Ukraine actually have much of the same goals but they don't realize it and Putin wisely used the discord to seize Crimea. Russians openly talk about USSR 2.0 - basically a sort of Soviet Union but with Christian, family principles at its core.
Dirk diggler   
25 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@CasualObserver

Neither can death? Wtf are you talking about... All living things eventually die that's scientific fact (Hence why viruses aren't considered to be 'living' but bacteria are). Some scientists also thought the soul weighs exactly 21 grams. Its actually never really been proven nor disproven due to not enough experimentation. Idk what ur getting at with 'death' though but dying is a scientific phenomenon. What happens after is anyone's guess and hence not a scientific fact.

30 sq km / 3000 sq km size of bialowierza = 1/300 of the forest. That's close enough to nil.. Second such an activity of logging 2/3 of that amount would be physically impossible with harvesters. Plus most of this forest isn't even in Poland but in Belarus with a tiny fraction being a national park. No ones logging The national park portion from what I understand. The us army had trouble clearing Vietnam's forestry using daisy cutters and you expect poles to wipe out 2/3 of bialowieza with harvesters and chain saws? All while leaving all the small trees intact? Not gonna happen

You and I don't get to decide what 'really' has to be done and what doesn't 'really" have to be, how and done and when. These kinds of decisions are up to others who tend to weigh out various decisions. Atm it appears Poland has called the eu and ejc bluff just as they will shortly do with the refugee issue. If it comes down to negotation, they'll negotiate, pay a fine, etc - whatever action the appropriate parties decide is the best choice. These decisions impact peoples livelihoods and the east section of Poland is typically far poorer than the rest. It seems the most locals around the area don't really give two hoots about some logging. To them its a needed economic activity in a poorer often forgotten area of poland and Europe.

So you've now said that bialowierza isn't some pristine magical time.machine untouched by society but now 'minimally touched." The reason why its been so untouched is because of its sheer size and the fact that no more valuable commodities in the ground than the trees on top. Otherwise itd b destroyed just like the Amazonian jungle or Niger delta for oil, gold, silver etc. If your going to get all upset about trees being destroyed and the environment getting messed up I can tell you the problem is far worse in latam than it ever will be in Poland. At least in Poland the harvesters aren't leaving the area a barren wasteland.
Dirk diggler   
24 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@CasualObserver

Your impression is correct. Again it depends where you want to live, work etc whether you plan to stay for good, etc. If you're thinking of settling down in rzeszow you'll most likely need to be fluent in polish.
Dirk diggler   
24 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@CasualObserver

No bc climate change cannot be proven via the scientific method and a truly objective scientist would acknowledge that. Like I said to me jury's out on that one.

That human non interference is long gone. This is the age of computers and satellites. Not horse and buggy. No matter how 'natural' you try to keep an environment it will be interfered with one way or another for better or worse. There's nothing natural about electronically tagging elephants or the bison roaming in pl. The trees have all been exposed to more or less the same forces of nature and human society as the ones on my yard in poland. Yet that's one of the efforts of conservation. Its about maintaining a balance. I'm sure there's probably dead native Americans along British/American soldiers buried where I type this but that doesn't mean its gonna stop a road or house from being built. One of the most mysterious sites in the world mohenjo daro in turkey was discovered by a dude remodeling his house. Im sure he may have destroyed a wall or two of the ancient site and most would agree it was worth it as it lead to the discovery of an underground city big enough to fit 30k no one knew about.

If this logging was so rampant id say fine dude you got a point, its time they call it quits and pack up their ****. But the fact is its barely having a dent and logging is one of the least harmful things for a forest as long as you allow for the.trees you cut to be replenished. Wood is a renewable resource. They should replace what they've cut but even If They just left saplings and young trees alone, which they are, it wouldn't change. The forest is 140k hectares, several thousand kilometers squared... There only logging closest to the roads bc it makes economic and logistical sense. They could destroy everything within a square kilometer from every major road running through and still the percentage of trees cut to the total population of remaining trees would be nil.

You should be happy no gold was discovered in bialowieza.. Then itd be a **** show.. Do you know what happens when gold is found in an area? Everything goes to **** and only mercury mud and rocks are left. IF you're lucky there will be no mercury.
Dirk diggler   
24 Sep 2017
Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

Do it. I don't think you'll regret it but In case you do don't get rid of your home citizenship till you know for certain.

In the major cities people get use to seeing foreigners all the time. My city wroclaw is far smaller than Warsaw and we got 5 mln tourists last year. Depending on your career and profession and what you plan to do for money will dictate more whether learning polish is a good idea or not. I wouldnt generally worry about the social aspects too much of not knowing polish. English is very common esp in larger cities. However there are many poles (as people in almost every country) that prey on people who are foreigners and will scam them with real estate, business, etc so you'll have to be careful with that. In general though, You'll be fine as a european. Some poles and Hungarians sometimes joke (even Hungary's president) that we welcome refugees from Europe.
Dirk diggler   
24 Sep 2017
Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]

@gumishu

To me global warmin may be a partially man made phenomenon due to co2 effects on the ozone. Nonetheless it is still a theory and cannot be proven by the scientific method bc no such experiment can be designed with current tech. So to me jury's out on that one for now as I simply don't know nor have the time energy or even interest really to become a PhD on climatology. However i've seen what pollution does and its not pretty esp. I was actually surprised how relatively easy it is to landfill radioactive medical waste but thats another story. We def need to start taking better care of earth and/or develop more tech in this regard though or well all end up living like the Chinese with the mainlanders choking under the pollution and those w money or some business sense colonizing fertile lands afar. And yes the Chinese are the modern day colonizers. Good for them gotta give credit where its due.

There's over 1k in UNESCO sites worldwide the most being in Europe. Perhaps that says something about Europeans and European history? Idk that's another topic. Either way entire plots of land, huge temples, entire areas of public space even parts of or entire cities are considered UNESCO sites. If it weren't for mans intrusion positive or negative people wouldn't really be too interested in certain sites hence let them decay such as sites that have been delisted. Maybe Poland should have done a better job marketing bialowierza and putting up hotels and water slides around the area. That maybe would get people interested like the other more popular UNESCO sites. Also bialowieza is I believe 140k hectares.. That's larger than Long Island. Its not going anywhere bc of logging. Actually forests tend to be taken care of better by loggers than other economic activity especially mining.