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Posts by convex  

Joined: 25 Nov 2009 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 28 Nov 2011
Threads: Total: 20 / In This Archive: 13
Posts: Total: 3928 / In This Archive: 3150 		From: Wroclaw
Speaks Polish?: un poco...wait
Interests: aviation

Displayed posts: 3163 / page 96 of 106
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convex   
2 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]

Given the easy access to firearms and the resulting high number of deaths from firearms incidents, do you really think the right to bear arms is a good idea and worthy of place on the "greatest document ever written"?

Absolutely. Seeing what happened in Nazi Germany, after the Bolshevik revolution in the Russia, and the current increase in violent crime all over the world, I think that it may be one of the most important parts of the constitution.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Food / Where can you buy a crockpot aka slow cooker, in Krakow? [38]

On the other hand, if you don't have time to watch a pot or the oven the entire day, it's quite convenient. You can make a stew with 15 minutes of prep work. Most people would otherwise go to McDonalds or microwave something.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]

Yea right in Massachusetts. Basically if someone breaks into YOUR house and hurts himself, he is likely to sue you and win in Massachusetts.

Wounding someone is always problematic, lawsuits, court time, ties. If you kill them, you don't have that problem.

Despite being a bit off, MA has a pretty straightforward law regarding protection of the home. Same as the Czech Republic come to think of it...
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

Next to menu items that have been pumped full of antibiotics and served with all kinds of nice carcinogenic foods that are a result of regulation putting small local farmers out of business. Now we get food from "meat factories". The story of the food industry in the US is pretty amazing (in a terrible terrible way). Food Inc is a great flick on it.

I don't ever eat at restaurants where the owner decides to allow smoking in a common area. I would hate for someone to tell the restaurant owner who did allow smoking what they can and can't do. I have freedom of choice where I choose to spend my money, I use it.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]

and Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. apparently defending yourself can be enjoyed in many states.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]

America ranks third only to the PR of China and Hong Kong in Gini coefficients if you eliminate South/Central America and Africa

Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia... all pretty decent places to live.

The Gini coefficient for the US hasn't really changed all that much recently:

* 1929: 45.0 (estimated)
* 1947: 37.6 (estimated)
* 1967: 39.7 (first year reported)
* 1968: 38.6 (lowest index reported)
* 1970: 39.4
* 1980: 40.3
* 1990: 42.8
* 2000: 46.2 [8]
* 2005: 46.9
* 2006: 47.0 (highest index reported)
* 2007: 46.3
* 2008: 46.6

Why should we punish people making more money? There are a number of people enriching themselves because of the government, but that's an issue that those in charge need to deal with. You can't just take from some and give it to others, redistribution of wealth just ends up causing inflation which screws people in the end. The biggest problem facing the working class is inflation. Current US fiscal policy is encouraging inflation, wasteful consumption, and discouraging investment.

Look at how the UK is now drowning in endless regulations

Right, and it's ok for large companies with huge turnovers, only a small percentage of turnover has to go to compliance. The large company will be getting handouts as well. For a medium enterprise, it's a show stopper.

Health and Safety is selectively applied in the US just like in the UK through OSHA. Even scarier than OSHA is the fear that an employer has of lawyers and being sued should something go wrong.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Language / Google translate thinks a Polish car is a baby? Bing example. [12]

google translate is great into English... and it's getting better at translating from English.

Bing: microsofttranslator.com

karty kredytowej oraz debetowej
credit card and debit

Google: translate.google.com
karty kredytowej oraz debetowej
credit card and debit card

I pick Google ;)

and here polwizjer faq translated from American Polish into Polish Polish language

Pytanie - Ile to kosztuje?
Odpowiedź - Po rejestracji użytkownik ma do wyboru dwie opcje. Dostęp na 90 dni (subskrypcja 3 miesięczna) za $74.99 lub dostęp na 180 dni (subskrypcja 6 miesięczna) za $131.99. Uwaga! Opłaty tylko i wyłącznie kartą kredytową lub debetową.

UWAGA! Jakakolwiek próba uzyskania "zwrotu pieniędzy/chargebacks" bezpośrednio z karty kredytowej bez wcześniejszego kontaktu z nami będzie traktowana jak oszustwo. Wszystkie szczegóły płatności, adres IP, daty logowania oraz adres e-mail bedą przekazane do wydawcy karty kredytowej oraz wszystkich innych agencji kredytowych. Oszustwa dokonane kartami kredytowymi w tym fałszywe roszczenia (Credit Card Fraud) są poważnymi wykroczeniami i będą z całą surowością prawa karane.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

Not much English is spoken na wsi. But if you're a city dweller it might be a bit of an effort to get to the countryside.

The single best Polish course is to take a dictionary and one of those basic grammar books and stay in a village for 2 weeks with someones family. No contact with anything but broken basic english and polish for two weeks will get you learned up real quick..
convex   
2 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]

i'm hoping this is heading for change. Obama is working on changing tax brackets right now, giving anyone earning $250,000 or less a tax break. It's attempting to tax the rich more, but it's yet to be seen if it will generate more small private business owners.

It's regulation that is killing small business in America. Take lead testing for toys for instance. It's expensive to test for lead, you have to buy a certified machine and pay fairly hefty upkeep costs, there is training, and auditing... A small producer of toys can't afford it. They're now out of business. It doesn't just cover toys, but any childrens products...clothes, strollers, playpens. You can't even legally sell it secondhand, which is why goodwill and the salvation army don't accept childrens items anymore. The large manufacturers can now blanket certify their products under a special program. This is legislation that was brought forward by Mattel, Graco (Rubbermaid), Hasbro...

It's even worse in farming and food production. The barrier for entry for someone that wants to produce something in America is huge.

the whole source of financial problems in america lately, as far as I can see, is the lop-sided salaries within companies. there's nowhere in the world that has a bigger gap between Joe Blow the employee and the CEO of the company. The money is there, it's just going into the wrong hands. If the top 1% in America would take even a 10% cut in pay, unemployment would virtually disappear.

That's simply not true. Take a look at Gini indexes for just about everywhere else on the planet. The US is actually pretty mild in comparison. The problem in America today is that we're broke. Americans can't consume so much crap that they can't afford. Americans need to start actually making stuff again.

It's really easy. If you borrow $100 from the Chinese to stimulate your economy, and you do that by buying $100 worth of Chinese goods, you now have no money and a debt of $100 plus interest. That's essentially what America has been doing for about 30 years now. There needs to be a big big healthy crash. Capitalism works, Corporatism doesn't.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

If either of us thought we could use the language again outside of Poland, I know we would have tried harder, but...that is NOT going to happen.

I think that, and the fact that in many cases you don't need to learn the language to get by, are huge barriers. The brain just has trouble placing value on learning the language.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Language / Problems remembering Polish vocabulary [20]

tvp.pl/wiedza/jezyk-polski/slownik-polskopolski/wideo/anglojezyczne-skroty-31012010 - Pretty funny

tvn24.pl/fakty.html] - Fakty uses a lot of audio clips from normal people talking, that is, slowly so that you can understand them.

Panorama

tvp.info/panorama/wideo/31012010-2245 - is a bit faster using more voice overs.

szymon.plejada.pl - Majewski and kuba.plejada.pl - Kuba for Dailyshow-ish comedy with some sketch stuff thrown in.

The morning shows like Kawa na Lawe are also really good, as it's just conversation back and forth for the most part.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Soccer? Not volleyball?

Whatever is being won at the moment...speaking of which, does anyone still watch ski jumping? :)

He has a funny accent but speaks English pretty well.

Especially considering he could rip your arms out.
convex   
2 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]

I dislike that people in the US feel a sense of entitlement due to their country of birth

I dislike that 95% of people are split into two ideological camps

I dislike that most people confuse credit with wealth

I dislike people taking credit for actions of their forefathers

I dislike that anti-intellectualism is celebrated

I dislike the rampant corporate and social welfare that has been doled out for the last 30 years and has utterly destroyed America

I dislike how America is anti-small business by passing burdensome regulation in the name
of consumer protection which only benefits large companies

I dislike(d) the influence of religious fundamentalism on the government and everyday life

I dislike the curbing of freedoms for security

I dislike the constant presence of police

I dislike all the laws against victimless crimes

I dislike the bars, the horrible horrible bars

I like the openness of the people, and not having a million different "levels" of friendship like here

I like the convenience and availability of good cheap food (a whole foods would be nice here) and consumer goods

I like the constitution, greatest document ever written

I love the local restaurants

I love the availability of great microbrewery beer...all over the place*

Did I mention cheap stuff?

(*unless you live in a crazy religious city/county/state which DOESN'T ALLOW YOU TO BUY ALCOHOL)

Poland list will come eventually...
convex   
1 Feb 2010
Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

That's right, except that is the vote in the elected Parliament that represents the vote of the majority. If you want to be able to vote on each individual piece (or proposal ) of law, you'll have to emigrate to Switzerland!

Democracies are bound to fail, majority rule doesn't work, Republics which protect private property are the only hope.

IN the US we have a ban on smoking inside any building, restaurant, bar, pub, whatever.

Some hippie states have no smoking laws, you're right there.
convex   
1 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]

Well, it's hard to deny that the reconstruction of Iraq has generated a fair few dollars for American companies. And a war is always good for the economy too, that much is certain. Was it morally right? Dubious. Was it good for America? Certainly. Nothing new there, after all, the UK did plenty of invasions and wars when it suited them ;)

Wars that are funded using surpluses are always good for the economy when you're financing it with surpluses and can plunder the target country in the end. This war was funded with borrowed money...and the plunder isn't looking that great. It was a good idea from a strategic perspective, the execution of the idea was terrible.
convex   
1 Feb 2010
USA, Canada / What do the Poles hate and love about the U.S.? [170]

Either you will prove to me you have real reason to be like this or that your merely another blow-hard America hater.

Aside from the oil conspiracy, he doesn't seem like much of an America hater.

My, my...no wonder we all think Americans are stupid.

No no, you think that because you're ignorant and eat up every piece of satire coming out of the US as fact :)
convex   
1 Feb 2010
Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

And yet again you fail to answer the question: why should one group of people have the right to dictate to other persons which legal activities they can allow on their property?

Because we actually live in democracy that doesn't value private property rights instead of a republic which enshrines private property rights as the foundation of a free society.
convex   
1 Feb 2010
Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

Trust me, I'm with you 100% here.

But...seeing as corporations are given charters to exist by the authorities, they are bound by whatever silly laws are created by the government. That's what happens when private property laws are eroded, and you have governments that act more like democracies than republics. He who whines the loudest...
convex   
1 Feb 2010
News / Poland: In Top First 15 Countries in the WORLD by the number of CRIMES [286]

Well, it's a bit of both really. Percentage-wise, most crimes in the UK are committed by those from working-class backgrounds in poorer areas. Weakness of their characters undoubtedly plays a part but I'd say that social deprivation is more of a factor in the UK.

It's one thing for people to steal because they have to eat, quite another if they have to steal to buy crap. Could one survive in the UK without working? Is there any justifiable financial reason to steal in the UK?
convex   
1 Feb 2010
Law / LOOKING FOR HELP AND INFORMATION TO OPEN INDIAN RESTAURANT IN POLAND..... [80]

And he will tell him his secrets? :D

he can help with the contacts to suppliers...for some reason, I don't think he'll have a problem giving contacts for a non competing restaurant hundreds of kms away :)

I'll tell the secret, keep it clean, use quality ingredients, provide good service. Stick to that, and it'll work. Go after the easy money, and the margins won't be large enough to sustain it in the long run.