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Posts by convex  

Joined: 25 Nov 2009 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 28 Nov 2011
Threads: Total: 20 / Live: 15 / Archived: 5
Posts: Total: 3928 / Live: 3896 / Archived: 32 		From: Wroclaw
Speaks Polish?: un poco...wait
Interests: aviation

Displayed posts: 3911 / page 126 of 131
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convex   
23 Jan 2010
Life / Polish stereotypes of other nationalities!? [472]

Great list! :) I had fun. Too bad you didn't put there Russians too.

Or Americans...we're waiting for the second round. Maybe we will get an entire post devoted to the two of us.
convex   
23 Jan 2010
Law / Polish Cop Took My Car Registration :S [143]

Of course not.

thus the question

You have the right to a sworn translator if you're the accused or witness in criminal proceedings.

that's exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
convex   
23 Jan 2010
Law / Polish Cop Took My Car Registration :S [143]

Is that for any interaction with the police, or when you're being charged with a criminal offense? Is there any criteria?
convex   
23 Jan 2010
Law / Polish Cop Took My Car Registration :S [143]

Does anyone know if one has the right to a translator/interpreter in Poland? Does one have the right to a state paid interpreter if detained? During criminal proceedings?
convex   
23 Jan 2010
Life / Polish and Czechs [190]

I dream about Liechtenstein someday invade us and forcibly incorporate to their duty. This nightmare would be over. :)

That is one of the greatest comments i've seen posted here.
convex   
23 Jan 2010
Law / Polish Cop Took My Car Registration :S [143]

I asked him exactly what to do, and he said the typical (in Polish) "You're in Poland, you must speak Polish, yadayada". I said "I want to know what to do". I further said "you stopped me, you want to talk to me, and since you can't, call in a translator." That followed with "nie mój problemu do widzenia" and walked off.

Ask for a translator from the start. They won't use force to get your documents...
convex   
19 Jan 2010
Food / Schmaltz.. is it still used in Poland [21]

Smalec cooked with onions and bacon bits and spread on bread is a good way to keep you foreigners from falling over after the fifteenth vodka shot. Russians and Poles have known this for centuries. In fact, any fat food will do.

schmaltz, herring in cream sauce, egg salad...healthy pile of dark bread
convex   
17 Jan 2010
Life / Poles are not racist [873]

i have been in Poland for years

why in gods name would you stay in a place like that?
convex   
17 Jan 2010
Life / Reasons for moving to Poland [291]

but on average Luxemburg has by far the highest standard of living in EU

The thing about Luxembourg is that it's very expensive, and if you're not involved in finance, your salary won't be all that great. On the other hand, unemployment is really low, but the market isn't exactly huge, and native french and german speakers are in ample supply on both sides of the border. For white collar work, Luxembourg is great. Lots of contracting opportunities available.

all have euros (so has Denmark)

Denmark is still on the crown
convex   
17 Jan 2010
Life / Reasons for moving to Poland [291]

Luxemburg

Really? Salaries are pretty much normal for the Benelux and tax rates are fairly high.
convex   
17 Jan 2010
USA, Canada / What do Polish people think of the USA [287]

I am sorry, but if THIRTY SEVEN percent of a country's population can locate their country on a map, what can you expect fro mthe country?

98% of the worlds population believe everything they read, even if it is blatant satire
huffingtonpost.com/steven-shehori/poll-37-of-americans-unab_b_150933.html
scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/usa/pages/Poll-finds-37-percent-of-Americans-unable-to-locate-America-70-percent-unable-to-read%20polls-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html

For what it's worth, there are massive hordes of idiots everywhere you go.
convex   
17 Jan 2010
News / Too much change in Poland?! [25]

On the otehr hand, at the official level there is so much change in Poland that the result is instability.

I think that the best example of that is the lifespan of a political party. It seems that parties come and go with the election cycles. Parties that once controlled the government just disappear a couple years later.
convex   
16 Jan 2010
Food / Mother of all hangovers....Polish Beer! [71]

Normaly our beer is rather better then the watery p*ss they serve in the West also:

The majority of what Europeans drink is watery p*ss, light lager. Hell, if you look up the definition of light lager, you see a picture of watery p*ss. tastes the same everywhere you go because it's all produced by the same couple of companies. Rest assured that the quality of the watery p*ss light lagers are pretty much the same all over Europe.
convex   
16 Jan 2010
Food / Mother of all hangovers....Polish Beer! [71]

Inbev, being the largest brewery in the world, doesn't seem to have anything to say in Poland.

It must be very difficult coming from Belgium to a place where most beer is sold in can form.

Alma and Piotr&Pawel have a decent international selection. Nothing special, but they've got the big Trappist beers.

I'm not much of a fan of lagers, especially the light lagers that are so popular here. I did find a diamond in the mass produced Polish rough, Zywiec makes an excellent porter that is available all over the place. Great winter beer.
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Should Poland Remove Visa Restrictions? [285]

Well take Ireland, it has a very high minimum wage. So some companies have left and some are ending up here in Poland.

A high minimum wage calls for high prices, products as well as labor. Minimum wage that is not harmonized in an area that has free movement of goods and labor will lead to a drop in standard of living for the areas that maintain high minimum wage laws.

I was under the impression that the goal of open borders was to accelerate bringing the new EU countries up to the same level as Western Europe...not to bring standard of living down to the level of Portugal.

The way to build up Poland would be to create a market in Poland. Foreign investments and loans, controlled inflation, harmonization of labor laws, deductions. Even infrastructure investment via distribution of wealth in the form of taxes in rich countries. That's (infrastructure investment) kind of already happening, but it's not presented like that to the people.

The average Pole has managed to get themselves into serious debt over the last 10 years (GDP growth!), that's alright while interest rates are low...

If the objective is to level everything, that's pretty easy. Completely open borders, no tariffs, free movement of labor... Seems pretty easy. If you want to bring the country in question up to the same standard of living, it needs to be done with strategic investment and the creation of internal demand.

Personally, I'd love to see completely free trade without any kind of tariffs. It would bring an end to the current situation of borrowing to consume.
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport to close in September [27]

No one is really worried about oil running out, it's just a question of when other technologies become viable price wise. Swiftfuel is looking really nice as a replacement for Avgas, their production costs are dropping like mad. Biofuel is pretty much a 1:1 replacement for JetA... or going the dirty route, we still have massive amounts of coal just waiting to be liquefied...

youtube.com/watch?v=U45BtWJqetM
convex   
15 Jan 2010
Food / Where to buy Sloe Gin in Warsaw? [9]

You may be able to find the Polish near equivalent -- tarniówka.

Is tarnina easy to find? If so, it's not that difficult to make sloe gin... berries, sugar, and gin...wait a couple of months, imbibe!
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Should Poland Remove Visa Restrictions? [285]

So you think there should be visa restrictions for Polish people going to Ireland, like it was before the E.U?

Yes, I think there should be visa restrictions for transient workers.

As there are Polish living and working in Ireland who do not know much about Irish culture, how would you go about changing that?

If it's a job that can be performed by a local, then it should be performed by a local. Companies that aren't happy with that should relocate and be at the mercy of duties to get their products into the lucrative markets.

And if the labour is too expensive in any country, is that not a bad thing anyway?

If the labor is too expensive, it has to be driven by something. The entire idea of open borders was to bring up the standard of living in all countries. People are now realizing that free movement of labor and goods is equalizing standard of living, dropping it in some countries and raising it in others. Free movement of labor and goods works in an environment where the labor laws are the same, where tax rates are the same, where deductions are the same... it doesn't quite work as implemented. Companies are just hoping from country to country feeding from the tax payer trough. Duties would check that power.
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Should Poland Remove Visa Restrictions? [285]

But the Polish person in Ireland does not have to become Irish, he can keep his Polishness.

Absolutely. Unless they are there only on a work visa...which should ONLY be given if the if the skill isn't available in country, not because the labor is too expensive in the country...
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport to close in September [27]

They should have probably told the airlines who use the runway that it is being closed to avoid any problems.

Completely agreed...even though it is clearly in the AIP, that's not how to tell your customers..

That part goes back to what I was arguing in another thread with regards to quality management (or lack thereof). Baby steps, baby steps. Maybe another 20 years...maybe another 50...
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Should Poland Remove Visa Restrictions? [285]

I am saying that the two can coexist without one having to become the other.

Integration needs to happen. It should be the basis of any residency permit for reasons other than employment. The person has to want to be part of Polish culture, not just live on Polish soil.
convex   
15 Jan 2010
Life / Internet / Telephone provider in Krakow [28]

UPC has treated me well. 20/2 package right now... the 120mb fiber to the house isn't much more expensive...might be time for an upgrade.
convex   
15 Jan 2010
News / Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport to close in September [27]

This country really is the epitome of incompetence, its just laughable.

Why do you say that? What's incompetent about closing a runway to perform needed maintenance on the slowest weekends when it is still safe to do so?
convex   
14 Jan 2010
News / Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport to close in September [27]

Alternatively they could do the runways one at a time: not idea from a flying point of view but better than shutting the airport.

The airport will be closed for a total of 6 non consecutive days (sat and sun). They are fixing the slab of concrete where the two runways intersect. Building a parallel runway would be ridiculously expensive and not worth it. Warsaw sees less traffic than Birmingham, Alicante, Malaga, and those airports don't even have crosswind runways.

LOT will have to cancel some (weekend) flights, and the tourist bombers won't be able to fly there for 6 days in September. Modlin won't be finished for a while to come.