Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Might as well say about you Americans when you believe this ridiculous nonsense. What this scenario completely ignores that a hypothetical "tyrannical" government is likely not some foreign entity, but one that will have significant support from the population, or else it would not be in that position. That some guns would make a difference against a foe that additionally will have drones, jets et al. is ludicrous. Then again you Americans have been brainwashed enough by the NRA to accept maass shootings as a daily part of your life, so no surprise there.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Rich is not just disproportionate in his desire for safety. He is supporting laws that are actually making his life more dangerous without owning a gun himself. Furthermore he is also putting his family ar risk by owning a gun. He is more likely to injure/kill them with it than defending them against a possible intruder.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


Are you really ignoring here all the structural flaws and what Greece did to get those loans? Greece was not duped by the banks to accept loans it could not pay. It actively deceived those banks in order to get those loans.


The Euro itself is a solid but flawed construct, the main flaw was that the member states did not agree to mlre supervision by the ECB to make sure they were not lying. When the Euro was envisioned, it was not considered to let countries like Greece or even Italy in. Both only joined after some creative boook-keeping and a lot of lobbying in Bruessels. Against the resistance of the German finance minister mind you.


After joining the Euro, Greece suddenly only had to pay interests rate at the same level as Germany did, instead of its' far higher one when it had its' own currency. It saved billions each year because of that, but it did not use the money prudently.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

Well, they were of course comfortable hiding behind Merkel and Germans make a convenient scapegoat. Imagine the outcry if Germany had like Finland demanded special guarantees from Greece, which I think were to tied to its' gold reserves.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


Those transfers did in fact happen via the cheap loans that Greece received after entering the Eurozone. Greece could have used the money to modernize its' country. Instead the Greek government blew it on vanity projects like the Olympic games or to bribe voters. Let us be completely candid. Greece was driving towards disaster before it joined the Euro, because the structural problems were already there. Joining the Euro only accelerated it.

Another thing to consider is that Germany was by no means the harshest creditor towards Greece. Especially the small, often poorer than Greece, countries of the of the Eurozone had a hardline stance towards Greece, and their approval was needed as well.

google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/09/poorer-than-greece-the-eu-countries-that-reject-a-new-athens-bailout

Thirdly, the Greek governments, particulary the Tsipras government, was not helpful in finding a solution. The whole mess started when it was revealed that Greece had been systematically lying to its' partners, and it only got worse from then on. The Greek governments rarely upheld their promises and dragged their feet on reforms. And then there was this complete disaster that the maniac Varoufakis caused. None of that helped Greece's negotiation position.

Finally, Greece did in fact made some incredible advancements in e.g. reforming its' bureaucracy. As a Greek government report said, they made more progress in the time 2008-2018 than in the three decades preceeding it. But that also highlights how far behind Greece was. I mean they did not even have a central registry of the landowners in Greece, no wonder nobody paid landowner taxes. Even most African had one at this point.


Aside from the fact that French and Italian banks were actually more exposed to Greece, it is worth noting that most of those loans were made on a sound base, going from the knowledge that was available. The banks looked at the evaluation of Greece via the ECB, which was based on the (falsified) numbers provided by Greece. There was no way of knowing that Greece would be lying so brazenly about its' deficite. Again, Greece is not the helpless victim here. They actively asked for loans and even cooked the books to get them.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


You do know that the Greek governments were actively deceiving the other government and Bruessels about their spending and deficite right?

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

Case in point, here are a lot of examples listed on.

nationalpost.com/news/world/greece-zakyntos-island-of-the-blind-scam-822595

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


That would be even more ridiculous. If he wants to know about the Greek problems, he should google for "Island of blind people", Expenditure of the Olympic games in Greece and "Fakelaki" to get an idea.

History / BARBAROUS / BARBARIC / BARBARIAN tribes in Poland [62]

A good start would be your definition of "Barbarians". Because in the original sense of the word, Barbaroi were all non-Greeks. The Romans later applied the term to all people not under their dominion, so in the case of Poland, it would apply to all. Do you mean tribes that lived in what is now Poland during Ancient times?

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


The refugee crisis was caused by the breakdown of Arab societies and the rise of the Islamic state, both of which Germany played no part in. In fact it could be argued that Poland is more responsible since it aided in the destabilization of Iraq.

By 2015, Southern Europe and the Balkans were no longer able to cope with the arrival of refugees and asked for help. Northern Europe refused, so particulary Italy just started sending them North. Merkel only decided to help them when the BND told her that there was a chance that the Balkans might be destablized if they were forced to permantly have to deal with the 1m refugees that had arrived at this point. Merkel was at time the only European politician who actually thought off the bigger picture.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

Well, I hope that future generations can laugh about what happens in our time.

It is just a nice change of pace that Germans will be able to look back at recent history and be proud of how their country acted during a time of crisis.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

People often only realize later what they had in a leader. People were glad when long-time kings like Louis XIV and Frederick II died, because they craved change, but changed their mind later when it became clear that their successors could not live up to them. The same counts for politicians. People breathed a sigh of relief when Bismarck and Adenauer resigned, but their tenure is nowadays remembered as a really good time. People are now sick of Merkel because she has been so long in power, but in 20 years she will be remembered as the greatest European politician of her time.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

Yeah right, it was Merkel's fault that the Greek economy collapsed and not years of mismanagement, tax evasion and corruption by the Greeks.

News / POKO and LGBT lobby is trying to sexualize children in Poland. Now they aim for adoption [120]


Are also nowadays able to have children if they so desire, thanks to medicine. Of course that is easier for lesbian couples, but surrogacy is an option for gay people. But even if it were still impossible for homosexual couples to have children, that is no reason to discriminate against. There are many hetero couples who are unable to conceive children for medical reasons, and others do not intent to have children in the first place. There are even many hetero couples who engage in sexual practices that dont even a theoretical chance of conceiving a child. I would fully support the notion that only married couples with children get e.g. tax benefits, because the reason they do is because the state wants to encourage people to get children. But why should for example a childless married couple over 60 receive those bonuses, while homosexual couples do not? Neither of them have any children, but the homosexual couple might theoretically still conceive one via medical means.


That may become issue once full equality is achieved and hate crimes against LBGTQ are no longer an issue, but as long as those are not achieved or exist, this is certainly not the case.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


Well, families were no longer torn apart on slave auctions and they were no longer bred like cattle, and free black people did no longer face the danger of enslavement whwn they visited the South, so yes, things did improve for them.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_breeding_in_the_United_States

News / POKO and LGBT lobby is trying to sexualize children in Poland. Now they aim for adoption [120]


You are such an innocent snowflake in one way. I don't know if anyone has bothered to give you the "talk" but there are ways of sexual intercourse in which hetero couples engage in and which are not intended for reproduction (nevermind that most couples dont have sex with the aim of producing children and may even take active measures to prevent). And just because you dont like anal doesnt mean other hetero couples dont either.


Sure, but this has nothing to do with homosexuality. Unless you want to imply that you as a hetero are potential molester of girls.


But this is what your arguments ultimately feed fronm . Insecurities are the most benevolent interpretation mind you. You hate them, possibly for reasons you dont want to admit to yourself, and try to justify it with arguments that fall apart at the first glance. Because ultimately they are just window dressings for you empty hatred.

News / POKO and LGBT lobby is trying to sexualize children in Poland. Now they aim for adoption [120]


I am not talking about reproduction. There are lots of other species who engage in homosexual behaviour. Since most sexual intercourse is nowadays not done with reproduction in mind, this is hardly an argument. Science has shown that people are born with their sexual orientation and can not change. Trying to convince homosexuals that there sexuality is wrong is an act of useless cruelty.


It is more like you forcing your belief on others, namely that homosexuality is "deviant" when there is no rational argument for it. Poland will only advance as a society when it does not base its' values on superstition and hatred. But to Polands' credit, it is moving into the right direction.

@ Rich Mazur


Q.E.D.

News / POKO and LGBT lobby is trying to sexualize children in Poland. Now they aim for adoption [120]


Well, firstly there are a lot of people who don't believe in god, so that is hardly an argument. You might as well ask why Christians are sinners and will go to hell because they do not believe in Allah. Secondly, the god of the old testament is hardly a moral authority by modern standards. Remember how he tortured his most loyal servant just to make a point? Thirdly, if you actually knew this part of the bible, you'd would that homosexuality was actually the least of the sins commited in those cities.


Not like you ever made one that doesn't boil down to our insecurities and which are based on empty hatred.


Homosexuality is common occurence in nature, with many different species engaging into. Research indicates that people are born with those sexual orientations, with no way to change it. And since there is no harm in two consenting people engaging in sexual preferences of their choice, there is also no logical reason to discriminate against it. Why would anyone divulge hatred against a man who likes to date other men? As a man myself, it is not my concern, and if anything that makes one fewer competitor for the ladies.


Anyone who resorts to violence because they can not accept human nature is unfit to be a parent at all. And again, those stupid propaganda "phrases". People are in fact brainwashed to hate on LBGTQ, because there is no logical reason to do so in the first place.


I would take it more serious if they offered in terms in arguments than hypocrisy, superstition and empty hatred.

News / POKO and LGBT lobby is trying to sexualize children in Poland. Now they aim for adoption [120]


Always interesting how creative homophobes get when they try to rephrase perfectly normal endeavours. Teaching children that LBGT is perfectly natural and nothing to be either ashamed of, or discriminate against is "agressive LBGT propaganda" instead of a) common sense and b) based on scientific research. But some people just want to feel powerful by discriminating against people who were born with different sexual orientations to give some meaning to their empty lifes. It is so pathetic.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

Watching a Polish and German nationalist duking it out is really amusing (as long as they dont get their hands on guns).

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


Aside from the fact that this guy was a lunatic and intented to die from the beginning, there evidence whatsoever that this would deter mass shootings. Americans are armed to the teeth, yet there are constantly mass shootings. Evidence suggest that loose gun laws increase the number of mass shootings, so no thank you. We dont want mass shootings to become a regular thing here, and I am sure Polish peole will agree.

This is just a diversion of gun advocats after each mass shooting. Instead of admitting that there loose gun laws cause them, they instead claim that "only of there had been a good guy with a gun", no matter how unrealistic and silly this is.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

As if this scenario would have allowed for self-defense. The culprit smbushed his targets at different bars, took them by surprise, and then left.

This is one of the most stupid arguments gun advocates make. As if some untrained civilians could stop a culprit when caught by surprise. Even trained police officers would have been helpless. It is a testiment to Germany's gun laws that we only rarely have such crimes. In fact only a few days ago, the police a couple of nazis who planned something similar, because attempts to get guns had caught the attention of the police.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

No doubt the Polish partitions benefited Prussia, but it is worth pointing out that the events that are usually seen as marking the Prussian ascendence to one of the five major powers, the Three Silesian wars, happened before that. Crucially it was surviving the Seven Years war what confirmed Prussia's position. And while the land gained from Poland was significant, it is also important to state that Silesia - which was taken from Austria - remained Prussia's economically most important area until the acquisiton of the Ruhr Valley and the Industrial revolution.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


That was actually his father, and those guys lived actually a fairly confortable life and e.g. never went to war. Of pressing people into service was the standard back then, with the British navy being particulary infamous about this.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

It would have been in 1949, but moving the capital from one West German city to another in after 1949 would not have been a concialatory decision. And making the city that so perfectly embodied the German division the new division was a nice gesture. It was also a sign of of trust and hope towards the future development of Eastern Europe. You dont place your capital so close near the border unless you are sure that there won't be any future conflicts with your neighbours.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

We didnt vote on a new constitution after the Saar area joined Germany, why should it be done after East Germany joined? Yeah, it would have been a nice gesture, but an expensive one as well that would have required a lot of time and political effort that was needed for dealing with the more pressing problems of reunification. Imagine a legal limbo for many months, if not years. Furthermore, this constitution would have been mostly drafted by West Germans, since there were few prominent East German politician and no prominent constitutional experts. Would this really have been deemed as inclusive? Additionally there is also the question if there was even a majority of West Germans who would have wanted this, and changing the constitution without a referendum would have been problematic to say the least. You don't just draft a new constitution unless there is a real need for this, not for a symbolical gestures. Of those, we really had enough. Like changing the capital from Bonn to Berlin. That was and still is a hugely painful act for people in NRW.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]


Why? The Basic Law is really good constitution and served us well so far. Drafting a new constitution would have taken years, and it would probably would not have been much different from the one we have today.

News / Why is Poland so hostile against Germany? Do they realize how their reparations rubbish damages relations? [510]

Which is of course nonsense.

The American troops are stationed in Germany due to a treaty that can be ended by the German government. They are not an occuppation force.

Germany also has a constitution, the basic law.

There is also no lack of legal closure. The KSZE treaty, and later the treaty of final settlement between Germany and the four victorial powers solved all legal issues that needed a final settlement from the war.

Basically what those people say is, that because the constitution is not named "constitution", despite being one, and the final treaty not being called "peace treaty", despite being one, they are both lacking. Completely ridiculous. That is like claiming that the UK is an absolute monarchy, because it has no written constitution.

History / Why is Vatican traditionally on German and not on Polish side? [65]

Yeah no, what Hochhuth did was a defamation campaign likely sponsored by the SED to weaken the authority of the church with very little basis in reality. I mean I like to criticize the church for their sins in the past, but the slander of Pius was just unfair and unjust. I have read several biographies about him, and none thought that this was in any way justified. It is not that his pontificate was perfect - then again none is - but singling out some flaws and overlooking all the good he did is not a fair assesment.

Anyway the vatican has now declassified the last documents about Pius, perhaps there will be new revelations, but that seems doubtful.

News / Is NORD STREAM dangerous for Poland's natural enviroment? [516]


By the same logic, we should stop buying oil and gas from all countries that are dictatorships. Which, even if possible, would lead to a significant increase in heating bills for our citizen, thus making unfeasible. Trade with Russia helped eaasing tensions between East and West during the Cold War, and became an important bargaining chip during the negotiations for the withdrawel of the SU from Eastern Europe. And it remains one to this day, because it is one the most effective deterrences we have. Putin knows that he can not afford to lose it, so he will always take this into consideration, e.g. in his policies towards the Baltic states. I've read once that the Baltic states are prepared to destroy NSII if they are invaded, which means that Russia would lose billions, even if the West would still want to buy his gas.


I doubt there are many projects that have been better prepared for this than NSII, precisely because the designers knew that this could be used as an excuse to halt the project. I recently watched a documentation about this. If there is a leak somewhere, the flow of gas can be stopped within a second.


Do you think Poland does the same in case one of the LNG shipments have an accident, which unlike NSII, often travel through German naval territory? Of course not.