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Posts by bullfrog  

Joined: 23 Apr 2009 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - A		 Last Post: 19 Aug 2015
Threads: Total: 6 / In This Archive: 4
Posts: Total: 602 / In This Archive: 446 		From: istanbul
Speaks Polish?: trochke

Displayed posts: 450 / page 9 of 15
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bullfrog   
15 Jun 2012
Law / Poles think that Germans are the hardest working in Europe... [30]

and the Swiss aren't too far behind, are they Bullfrog?

I'm not sure what you mean.. Yes, the Swiss are hard and efficient workers, not necessirally by the amount of times spent at work (only 4 weeks holidays compulsory, the Swiss themselves rejected recently a proposal which wanted to give 6 weeks' holiday to everyone), but by their effectiveness. It is also, and that is not very well know, one of the most industrialised country in Europe, on par with Germany, and far more industrialised than the UK or France..
bullfrog   
14 Jun 2012
Law / Poles think that Germans are the hardest working in Europe... [30]

and that Poland is the most corrupt country in Europe

So far, so good... In fact, out of 8 European countries surveyed, all thought Germans were the hardest working bar one..

That country is Greece, and who do they think are the hardest working? Themselves!! That's no joke :

ONCE in a while an opinion poll throws up an insight that is very revealing; yesterday it was the Pew Global survey of European countries. Among the usual questions about attitudes to the euro and the European Union, people in eight nations (Britain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain) were asked which country in the European Union is the hardest-working. The Greeks ignored the obvious answer (Germany) and instead nominated themselves. (The other seven nations all plumped for Germany, as the table above shows.) Yet Greek perception is not quite as misaligned with reality as it seems.

economist/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/05/greeks-say-they-are-hardest-working-european-nation

According to the OECD, the Greeks work indeed the most in Europe (ca 2,100 hours per year vs less than 2,000 elsewhere.). But anyone who has been to Greece knows that one hour's work over there is not the same as in Germany or France..
bullfrog   
7 Jun 2012
Travel / Stag Parties in Kraków [119]

bcus Britain and the english especially are so fed up of it

well that's not what I hear from my english friends.. They say it's very nice 'cause it improves the british gene pool!

Ibiza, magaluf, benidorm,malia , ayia napa,

My god, you are a traveller Southshields, focusing on the high brow stuff are we?

why dint you meet up with us and wel show you have to have a good time?

Thanks for the invite but my idea of a good time is not to get pissed with a bunch of Brits!
bullfrog   
7 Jun 2012
Travel / Stag Parties in Kraków [119]

What about going to Doncaster or Newcastle instead? If you indeed choose early 2013, you'll get warmer climes. And Poland (and Krakow) especially are so fed up with British stag parties..
bullfrog   
5 Jun 2012
Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

Why didn't you buy the bug screens, as are standard in many flats?

Yes, the house we used to live in in Wilanow was fitted with such screens
bullfrog   
4 Jun 2012
News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

Three potential sites near the coast, at Zarnowiec, Choczewo and Gaski, were picked from around a hundred proposed locations, PGE chief Tomasz Zadroga told reporters.

nsspi.tamu.edu/paulos-corner-home?tag=Poland
bullfrog   
4 Jun 2012
News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

If they can find a village willing to let them build it

Er.. In fact, many locations were in favour of having it built in their backyard, to the point that hundreds of them werez candidates..
bullfrog   
4 Jun 2012
News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]

the poles are relying on shale gas of which the Polsih government have massively over exaturated the amount of capacity

Desite the revised downward estimates, Poland is still the 3rd largest country in Europe for shale gas reserves, behind Norway and the Netherlands. Those reserves would cover between 30 and 60 years of current natural gas consumption

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577295790442844470.html

They are trying to promote Nuclear power which the populous don't want.

Rubbish again : wbj.pl/article-53704-poles-still-in-favor-of-nuclear-plans.html

foratom.org/intranet/cat_view/123-publications.html
bullfrog   
4 Jun 2012
Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

It's not like you can't get good food here

Totally agree, the US has a lot to offer in terms of quality foods. The problem is education, with the majority of the population going for quantity, blandness and cheap prices over quality.

secondly, would you support the same ban in Europe? each and every ban they're proposing is on portion sizes currently available in Europe, Poland for sure.

Yes, I would with no hesitation, although the obesity epidemic has not (yet) reached the same intensity on these shores compared to the US
bullfrog   
3 Jun 2012
Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

hormone treated beef is not authorized for importation into Europe. And since most of US beef is treated, it doesn't find its way on european shelves.. I have never seen any US beef in any of the 5 european countries I lived in.

to fuzzy: go manage your free refills man. we don't want that kind of us driven quantity focus here in Europe. Everyone can see where it leads. Luckily for you, some of your compatriots, like the New York mayor, are at last coming to their senses..
bullfrog   
3 Jun 2012
Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

us steaks are good for only one reason, they are loaded with growth hormones, and that's why us beef cannot be imported in Europe. Gimme argentinian steak anytime.
bullfrog   
28 May 2012
Law / Poland's Economy "Outpacing Germany". Gratulacje. [20]

I'm not saying adopting the Euro would benefit Poland, though it very well might. Ostensibly, they would join to enjoy the same interest rates as the core countries of the Euro, and not those of those on the periphery.

In the case of Poland, not having joined the euro is certainly one of the reasons why the economy has continued to perform well.. Unlike the German economy, whose exports are focused on high quality goods for which price is not the most important factor, polish exports are in products that are sensitive to price; the weakness of PLN has certainly contributed to help maintain them to a good level..
bullfrog   
15 May 2012
Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Are students in Poland richer than here in the UK because there's no student I know that could afford paying the UK equivalent of 2000PLN a month to rent a bachelor pad for themself.

Are you kidding Pip? I have 2 sons studying at public universities in London, and one is paying 130 GBP per week for a (tiny) room in a shared house (east end of London) and the other 170 GBP per week in a room in the uni proivided dorm (that's respectively 3200 PLN and 4100 PLN per month!!)
bullfrog   
25 Mar 2012
Life / Poland needs more immigrants and their children - which nationalities are the best? [518]

[quote: pawian]: Never in their history have Poles been as prosperous as today. I claim it is prosperity that halted reproduction - people prefer comfortable lives to family duties[/quote]

Alas, Pawian is right; it is one of the great conudrums of life that when people are going through a difficult time (on a collective basis) they tend to produce more children and when their situation/wealth improves, that's when the birth rate starts falling..Just look at the chart below:

tradingeconomics.com/poland/fertility-rate-total-births-per-woman-wb-data.html

Poland's birth rate remained high at around 2.2 children/women under the communist regime and starting climbing further late 1982, 9 months after the state of war was declared in dec 1981. It spiked at 2.4 and then moved to reverse shorthly after the end of the state of war in jul 1983. The downhill slope even accelerated after the fall of communism in 1990.

The good news though is that the curve has reversed again and after falling as low as 1.2, the birth rate is in an upward mood again..
bullfrog   
8 Mar 2012
Law / British managers superior to Polish [52]

The funny thing about you Swiss

Unfortunately, for you and for me, I'm not Swiss, only taking advantage of their legendary hospitality.. But I do appreciate their trains..And when talking about money laundering, better take care where you tread.. Ever heard of Jersey, Guernsey , Gibraltar, Cayman Islands and plenty of others?? Who is their ultimate boss?? Blatant case of pot and kettle, old boy!!

Stop beating up on the Brits and focus on the real problem POLAND.

Love it.. Thought that traditional british arrogance had disappeared with the repeated failures of the football team.. Great to see it's still alive and kicking!!
bullfrog   
8 Mar 2012
Law / British managers superior to Polish [52]

These project management companies could do great things for Poland.

Well, maybe they could start dealing with the London Underground, then follow on with the trains (make them arrive on time, build a few more high speed lines) and finish with rebuilding Heathrow.. British organisation! What an oxymoron.. The Olympics is probably the first major project that Britain will have got approximately right in the past 50 years
bullfrog   
1 Mar 2012
News / More anti Polish sentiment in western media ("Apple is worth more than Poland") [110]

You're spot on, it's bollocks. GDP is akin to income not market value or market cap. If one really wants to compare a company with a country (although it makes little sense), you would have to look at annual revenues. In Apple's case, that just over 100 bn$ for 2011..

Talking about Apple, i'm reminded of Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, who replied, when asked in 1997 what he would do if he were the CEO of Apple : " shut it down and return money to the shareholders" (at the time, Apple was almost bankrupt). Today, Apple is worth 16 times Dell! (500 bn$ vs 30 bn$). The times, they do change..
bullfrog   
30 Dec 2011
Love / Problem with my Polish boyfriend [74]

women=heartbreak
stay away from them!

Good for you Mario your dad did not stay away from your mum!
bullfrog   
28 Dec 2011
Law / GBP safe haven currency for 2012. [5]

2. I see a European bank going under in the first half of 2012, my guess would be a French one

So far most banks that went bankrupt or were acquired by their government have been from the US, the UK and .. Iceland!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquired_or_bankrupt_banks_in_the_late_2000s_financial_crisis
bullfrog   
28 Dec 2011
Life / Poland's population growth problem [44]

Agree with Delph on the flat (location) issue plus the fact that when you buy as a long term investment or to live in the flat, you don't really care about the short term price evolution.. Also, the fact that, unlike what is the case in the UK, you can buy in many countries on a 20 or 25 year fixed mortgage which insulates you from the vagaries of interest rates also helps to rest one's mind on these issues..
bullfrog   
23 Dec 2011
Law / Sending Western Union cash to friends in Poland - questions [25]

doesn't the bank automatically convert to zł ?

no

the account may be in euro, but it doesn't mean that the bank has euro on the premises. and the hole-in the-wall doesn't dish them out.

Most banks (at least in Warsaw) will have a reasonable sized float in euros (and USD etc) on their premises. Of course, if you intend to draw 50,000€, you should warn them in advance, usually 24h or 48 h is enough..