Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]

Bear in mind something - the birth rate is very low in Poland among the people who are likely to be able to afford a private kindergarten. Those who actually are rich enough to afford it are also able to slip a bribe or two to get a place for their children - or be well connected enough to make a bribe pointless.

On the other hand, the birth rate among those who cannot afford private kindergartens is higher.

Out of interest, how much do you want to invest in this? My feeling is that you'll be looking at around 15,000 pounds minimum - and that's assuming that you can use an existing location that's already suitable for children.

UK, Ireland / Polish and Irish people are related? [137]


I don't know - you're the one that seems to link "swine" with "mother" on a constant basis.

Perhaps you might need therapy for this? I mean, I know it's tough when you spend your days fighting imaginary enemies of Poland on the internet...

UK, Ireland / Polish and Irish people are related? [137]


Interestingly, if you look at the previous years - Poland was hovering about 30th place in the world, except during the PiS years when it went down to around 60th. You can clearly see that during SLD and PO years, the press has been much more "free" to report on things.

Life / Walking on other people's property in Poland - cultural difference? [51]


Yep. Not to mention that if someone is paranoid enough to put a big fence round the front of their property, then there must really be something worth stealing inside.

I'm not convinced as to the sense of having a postbox well away from the house as well - surely that just makes it easy for people to steal your mail?

Life / Walking on other people's property in Poland - cultural difference? [51]


Because it's exceptionally ugly - anyone British in Poland will normally comment about how horrifically ugly all these fences are. It's especially bad in villages that have had a development built - all steel fences in the countryside.

As for why they're not allowed - it simply detracts from the visual appeal of the area. The typical Polish fence is exceptionally ugly and brings down the area - why would anyone want to allow this?

Trevek's picture illustrates this perfectly - though I'm not sure fences would have made much difference in that particular street ;)

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Realistically, with this sort of project, you want to approach it from the point of view of not getting any funding (except the specific kindergarten funding that's available to all - as Olaf outlined) at all. EU funds are in very short supply in any sort of prosperous Polish area (especially cities, with the possible exception of Rzeszow, Lublin(?) and Bialystok) - and Poland isn't too good at administering the EU funds either.

City/Provincial/National funds are a possibility, but again - there's intense competition for this kind of thing in cities, especially given the vast amounts of unemployed graduates being churned out. However, if you can bring something "new" to an area that doesn't have it, there's a chance - think (for example) Montessori in a small rural city.


Yes, sensible idea. I'd investigate renting rooms from already existing educational establishments - it would be the easiest "path".


Before you pay anything to him, give me a shout as to what he's charging. Lawyers in Poland have a nasty habit of charging a small fortune for foreign clients ;)


Any idea where you plan to move to?

If you have the funds to do so, then a private nursery run according to UK standards rather than Polish standards could do very very well - people here very much perceive "foreign is best".

Food / Bologna & onions in Poland? [44]


No. It's an American dish.

News / WOSP in Poland [161]


Funny that those most in need of funds like WOSP (uneducated village alcoholic peasants) are the ones who attack WOSP the most. Surprise, surprise.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Well, which fund did you use and who administered it within Poznan City Council? That's not such a difficult question, surely?

I'm going to check with them on Monday about this - 85% is still rather unheard of.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


No, me neither. If there was 90% funding available, almost everyone would be at it - which makes me wonder what fund he got this 90% from.

I'm tempted to call this Michał guy directly and ask him about it.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


He hasn't said anything noteworthy really - apart from making it clear that Poland isn't too impressed with the Russian handling of things, which isn't news - because Kilch already said something more-or-less to that effect a while ago. But really, most of us are fed up of speculating and just want to read the final report.

About the only interesting thing that Tusk said was that some of the conclusions made by MAK were "without foundation" - it would be interesting to know just what these conclusions were. It could very well be that Russia has pointed a big finger at the Polish Air Force, who have (instead of sorting themselves out) decided to cry to Tusk instead.

I just cannot figure out what the hell the relevant authorities were doing in allowing this flight to Smolensk in the first place.

In a sense, you're right MediaWatch - the pilot isn't to blame, but rather the mentality within the Polish Air Force.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]

You know better than me, but the fact that no specific department of the council has been mentioned, along with a rather strange claim to 90% funding - couldn't possibly be commercial spam, could it? ;)

I'd certainly love to know if there's 90% funding being handed out here - quite a few people will be beating the doors down for funding if it's the case!

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]


Surely the only sensible prediction of Poland's future is of a not-quite-at-the-top-table EU power, where she regionally dominates and plays a role similar to Spain or Italy today, combined with supporting German policy within the EU?

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]


The problem is that the same system produces some absolutely bizzare judgements in Poland - everyone here knows that the court system is unreliable for actually delivering justice.


Not in anyone's memories, though.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]

Which department of the city council? I'd like to have a chat with them.

Usual amount is 2/3rds EU, 1/3rd private, so I'm wondering why they were funding 90%.

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]

Sadly, Poland can't talk about this as if she's a saint either.

The rule of law in Poland is incredibly twisted at times, and innocence before guilt? In a country which doesn't try people by a jury of their peers? Let's not forget the abuse of institutions by political parties too.

Russia is more extreme, sure - but we saw very similar, creepy parallels between United Russia and PiS.

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Who was the organisation that administered the grant?

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Something I know about this (in addition to what Olaf says) -

Parents expect ridiculously high standards from truly private nurseries. If there's public funding involved, not so much so - but those that are 100% private and unfunded have to be a truly high standard for Polish mothers. They're actually even worse than British mothers when it comes to being overprotective and paranoid - you can fully expect that unless the place is at least private British standard, you'll struggle with clients.

Incidentally, is your girlfriend a graduate of the specific kindergarten teaching programme?


It would seem to me that the beset bet would be to start small - when you see what some of the private kindergartens have (and the costs...) - it's really suicidal to try and compete with them. But there is a very real lack of capacity in the quasi-public sector - wasn't there some news story recently about people queuing up in Wroclaw to get their kids into nursery for next year?

Law / Starting a private kindergarten in Poland [44]


Wouldn't this mean meeting all the requirements, such as disabled access, etc?

The examples I know where the local authority has funded nurseries have all been spare classrooms in schools - there's quite a few examples in Poznan of these.

History / Tuchola in Poland - roots of Katyn? [220]


And that same sideshow taught Poland a lesson in how to win wars.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]

Hey, MediaWatch, I suggest you read this.

naszdziennik.pl/index.php?dat=20110105&typ=po&id=po01.txt

Do you trust the integrity of this article?

Life / Babcia or Busha - any social class difference? [359]

Nah. Once a Polack, always a Polack.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


Dreadfully familiar - I really wonder if they're going to bring this up in the Polish version of the report.

Worst case scenario is that the pilot gets all the blame and no blame is put towards the Polish administration side of things.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


You're relying on the words of the lawyer that represents only a few of the families - the same families who are part of the Kaczynski-clique of dragging up Smolensk for political purposes constantly. His view is biased as hell - he's nothing but a puppet of Jarek (or more accurately, the ones controlling Jarek).

It's also one man's observation - most people seem to accept that Tusk is furious about the technical aspects of the report, rather than what the report actually says. We don't know this for certain, but bear in mind that all reports about Poland's response is based on the words of the Prime Minister, nothing else.


And I wonder if Poland is going to have the guts to admit that there are serious problems within the Air Force?

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]

I've explained this a thousand times, but for the last time.

Nasz Dziennik is well known to make up complete nonsense for political purposes - it's not regarded as serious journalism by anyone in Europe as a whole. It's a tabloid, on the level of the National Enquirer - except with a "Catholic" slant designed to cater for the uneducated and easily brainwashed.

But to give you some idea - the 30 minute capacity isn't the capacity of the tape, but rather what international agreements have agreed upon for civilian flights. Given that the TU-154M was being used for VIP transport for the highest officials in the land, it's obviously going to be specified to a far higher standard than civilian aviation.

As for RMF - it's a single source. RMF is credible enough, but they could just have been reporting whatever they were told. The Smolensk report will clear this one up for definite, though - as the Polish black box will collaborate the Russian-made boxes.


I'm keenly interested in aviation - and I saw post-Smolensk reaction for myself.


What else can he be, if he ignored the rules and the plane crashed as a result?

You still haven't answered my question - will you accept the authority of the Polish investigators?

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


What unexplained gaps?


Nope, no such issue here. As convex says - they were cleared down to 100m and should never have gone below that. The fact that they even tried an approach after being told that the airport couldn't accept them - well, that's a huge question.

The problem is that the controller didn't close the airport. I suspect that the Poles will be looking to attribute some blame in the direction of the airport staff for this - but really, the Russians didn't force the plane into making a landing.

Some blame should almost certainly be laid at the feet of the Yak pilots for landing the plane without permission - this was obviously playing on the mind of the pilots at the time.


Induced pilot error? All he had to do was pull up after reaching the decision height. In fact, he should have started the maneuver at about 150m or so - his failure to do so is what caused the crash. Tell me - what would have prevented him from doing this?

But yes, it's possible that the fog caused the captain to become disorientated - in a situation of high stress, with seconds between safety and disaster, it's far too easy to happen. Haven't you ever found yourself veering to the side of the road when driving in fog?


Could be - but if so, why attempt a landing when they were already told by the Yak pilots that the conditions were dreadful? The Yak pilots haven't denied having this conversation.

Tell me, MediaWatch - are you going to accept the authority of the Polish investigators when they release their report?

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]

I suppose it all comes down to this in the end -

Are the transcripts genuine? No? Then the fog clearly seen at the crash site is a fabrication, and with it, the videos shot in the immediate aftermath. That means that any footage of Russians killing Poles is false.

Are the transcripts genuine? Yes? Then they put the plane into the ground beyond all reasonable doubt.

My feeling is that Poland is questioning certain aspects of the investigation report, rather than the contents of the report itself. Komorowski wouldn't have came out and said that the pilots were to blame unless they really were, after all.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


We don't know. We have to wait for the report, like I've been saying all along.


The controller at Smolensk-North told them quite clearly that "conditions for acceptance : none". The weather reports (including from CNN, which I saw a couple of hours after the crash) quite clearly indicate dreadful conditions there at the time. Where's convex when you need someone to explain how weather can change in an instant?

If anything, the Russians should be blamed for not closing the airport. But can you blame them, when they were dealing with a flight with a President that would use absolutely any opportunity to attack them?

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]


Bear in mind that the TU-154B and TU-154M are different variants, and on top, the Polish one had been totally overhauled in recent months.

You also have to consider what the TU-154 base model was designed for - for operating into difficult conditions throughout the Soviet Union - so it's understandable that we'd see accidents. They're also now being operated by smaller operators - so it does make sense that accidents are now happening more and more.

You see the same thing with the A300 - a glut of accidents towards the end of the last decade.

Work / Is it going to be hard for me to find a part time Job in Warsaw? [25]

In a bar/restaurant, you can expect between 8-12zl an hour. Use 10zl as a benchmark.

So - you can get about $3.50 an hour or so. Bear in mind that there's a lot of competition for jobs too - and you've got the disadvantage of not being seen as "native".