News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]

Is G-20 membership based on GDP only? If it is, I don't quite see why Saudi Arabia and Argentina are in, but Poland's not. Whether you take GDP nominally or PPP:

GDP (nominal), 2009, IMF:
Poland $430,736
Saudi Arabia $376,268
Argentina $310,057

GDP (PPP), 2009, IMF:
Poland $688,761
Saudi Arabia $593,385
Argentina: $572,860

Why would Argentina be seen as a regional power after the 1999-2002 near-total economic collapse and the humiliation in the Falklands?

News / WHY IS POLAND STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER? [197]


The British task force (40 Harrier jets vs. Argentina's 200 jets) wiped Argentina clean out of Falklands in about 2 months, with a 1:3 casualty rate in British favor. Is this what makes a country a "military power"? By this measure, Poland should be in the same category, based on its performance in 1939 against Germany.

Argentina, with no communist past, had an inflation of 200% in the 80's, managed to default on its debts in 2003, its economy collapsed, the president had to flee his palace in a helicopter from rioting public (not unlike Ceausescu in Romania). Historically, its main product is beef from the pampas, with few industrial exports, its natural resources are negligible. This is your definition of an "economic power"?

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]


Draw a line from Nordkapp to Athens and repeat the experiment. I've never heard of Malmo as a yardstick of Europe. Does their City Council know about this new role? :)


Ventian gondolas work the tough waters of Eastern Europe? The things you learn online...


Central Europe. Why does your north-south divide cut Europe in two exclusive parts, as if you've never heard of a center? There's Central America, Central Africa, and Central Asia. Is Central Europe M.I.A.?


I see Finland referred to as Western Europe, while, curiously, it's one time zone east of Poland. Western Europe is apparently quite an acrobat, as it assumes the most geographically contorted positions just to avoid Warsaw and Prague. :)

The East/West divide from 20 years ago lives on in the popular mind and defines geography, whether people admit it or not. It's rooted in how the human mind works: the subconscious sense of tribal affiliation is always defined by the last long conflict in memory, the Cold War in this case. That's why Helsinki and Vienna are in the "West", while Warsaw and Prague are in the "East". This won't change until a very long time passes or another long-term conflict comes around. Imagine that tomorrow Moslems launch a war against Europe (a purely hypothetical scenario), their armies take Slovenia and the Italian Trieste, cut Austria in half, take Slovakia and the Ukraine. Let's say this situation lasts 30 years or so, displacing memories of the Cold War. After 30 years those Moslem parts would become "Eastern Europe" in the popular mind, while Poland would suddenly find itself in "Western Europe".

News / Praising Poland can be dangerous [45]


Didn't I put :) in my post, too?

UK, Ireland / Long-term impact of returning UK Poles to Poland [21]


I was mostly interested in the cultural aspects (hence "cultural/societal"), but feel free do discuss business / economy. One thing I obviously forgot is the knowledge of English as a second language. Seems to me it'll be far more widespread than it would've been otherwise.

Genealogy / Is tallness common among Polish people? [201]

Why not just dig up proper stats on human height? Wikipedia can't be trusted since it's editable and a likely target of a 'nationalistic' agenda (see countless undo's in the page history). I've found legit stats compiled by a basketball scout/researcher, who gives links to all his sources in pdf (national army/population surveys conducted in 2000's on male youths aged 20-30). There's a very apparent north-to-south height gradient in Europe (ex-Yugoslavia being an exception).

Netherlands 184.8
Iceland 181.5
Denmark 181.1
Czech Republic 180.8
Slovenia 180.3
Germany 180.3
Norway 180.3
Sweden 180.0
Croatia 180.0
Finland 180.0
Estonia 179.6
Austria 179.2
Serbia 178.5
Poland 178.3
Switzerland 178.1
Belgium 178.0
Greece 177.9
United Kingdom 177.8
United States 177.6
Hungary 177.3
Ireland 177.0
Ukraine 176.5
Canada 176.3
Lithuania 176.3
Russia 176.2
Israel 176.2
Turkey 176.1
France 176.0
Spain 175.0
Italy 174.8
Romania 174.0
Portugal 173.5

forums.interbasket.net/f10/average-male-height-by-country-updated-9287

History / The Greatest King of Poland? [117]

In terms of sheer "balls" and a lust for conquest, it's hard to top Chrobry.

His European Tour 992-1025:

1002 - Lusatia, Meissen (not far from modern-day Berlin)
1003 - Bohemia (Prague)
1003 - Moravia
1003 - Slovakia
1018 - Ruthenia (Kiev)

History / The Greatest King of Poland? [117]


Well, Chrobry wasn't clairvoyant, he couldn't tell upfront which territorial gains will "stick" over time and which won't. Today's borders include his Pomeranian gains, but not his Ruthenian ones. He couldn't have known that back in 1018. You could say a similar thing about pretty much any country in Europe that expanded at some point. Lithuania once owned Ruthenian lands, today Lithuania is back to its small, ethic self. You could say that Lithuania could've "skipped the whole GDL" and save time. Sweden once owned Finland and Estonia, today Sweden is back in its (largely) ethnic borders. You could say that Sweden could've "skipped the whole Finnish adventure" and saved time. Denmark once owned Norway, today Denmark is back to its small ethnic self (plus Greenland, see PS below). Germany made big inroads into East-Central Europe (East Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania), today it's back where it was ca. 1000 (plus the land of the Polabian Slavs, who never managed to wholly unify and form an independent state). Today's borders won't change the sense of achievement borne out of those historical expansions. Also, even though e.g. today Lwow/Lviv is outside Poland, it won't change the lasting, historical contribution to the Polish (sometimes world) culture and science made by Lvovian Poles while Lwow was Polish. Born there: Stanislaw Lem (Solaris), Stanislaw Ulam (hydrogen bomb with E. Teller), Maria Konopnicka (Rota), Alexander Fredro (Zemsta), Stefan Banach (Lwow School of Mathematics), etc.

PS. The territorial gains in or around Europe which seem to "stick" over time are large, uninhabited areas, like Russia's Siberia and Denmark's Greenland.

Genealogy / Is tallness common among Polish people? [201]


Any links to recent army/population surveys that give the correct average?

History / The Greatest King of Poland? [117]


Just to clarify: Chrobry didn't stop anywhere. He went all the way to Kiev to settle the Kievan succession.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boles%C5%82aw_I_Chrobry

Travel / American woman visiting Poland in March/April [15]


You lost me on this one. What "pros" does rural racism in Poland have if you're black?

Language / Declensions, prepositions and pronouns [16]

Proof that an Englishman can master Polish declension. The guy speaks 20 languages, though...
...

News / 9 year old Polish girl and 10 year old brother killed by World War II bomb [46]


It may have mattered in case there was any legible writing/warning left on the bomb. Had it been in Polish, there's a tiny chance the kids may have paid more attention (I assume 9-10 yr olds can read).

News / 9 year old Polish girl and 10 year old brother killed by World War II bomb [46]


No one mentioned the word "bomb" or big white letters, though Little Boy did have big white letters on it.

Some ordnance has labels like "warning", "danger", "handle with care", etc. Or this:

Life / As a black gay man (US) visiting Warsaw this summer, will I get beat up for nothing? [65]


These days, if you're black and gay in Warsaw you're more likely to end up on the City Council rather than beat up

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystian_Legierski

Life / As a black gay man (US) visiting Warsaw this summer, will I get beat up for nothing? [65]


Take an aspirin and chill down, bro. You're seeing negativity in the post that isn't there. The point of the post is that Poland has moved on, not that Krystian shouldn't be a councilman.


Because Krystian is black, gay and in Poland and the poster asked what happens to black, gay men in Poland. Did you read the title of this thread?