History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


Not up to them.


You don't and your country is in terminal decline. Even the Pentagon admits that.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


Sort of. There have always been women who've had to take on a male role in order to be taken seriously in a male world.


Yes, because it happens. Mythologising the Stonewall riots is gonna happen because it's well worth mythologising. There are however photos and yes, some were trans, even if they did only present that way 'sometimes' because 'sometimes' was the only option they had. Nevertheless, there are plenty of photos of the weekend they were mourning Judy and those photos do show trans, dykes, poofs, straight-acting fags and anyone else who fought back (and won).

You may have strong views on it all and I'm not overly impressed myself by depraved straights who try to colonise LGBT, the bald divorced straight suburbanites who grow their hair long at the back, put bad makeup on and say they're lesbians. They're exhibitionists and fortunately there are few of them. Unfortunately bigots seize on them and the end result is yet more beatings, yet more killings of effeminate men who can't pass as straight, genuine 'third sex' people in Manila, Mumbai, Rio, Lagos, Moscow and yes Warsaw wherever who if they're lucky enough to get a job, cut hair, wiggle their tucases in bars and do blow jobs to buy cheap food. And the ones who beat or kill them are straight-identifying guys who get a hard on at night thinking about other guys and are so repressed that they express that as hate rather than love.


You're slowly getting it.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


A different continent and not especially relevant to Wrocław. One thing I'd say though is that extremes breed extremes. If the conservative lobby were a bit less rancidly aggressive, those who they try to hurt would hit them back with gentler hammers.


Yes. Oppressed people are oppressed people. And having strength on our side, we always but always win.


At least they bother reporting it now which is a plus.

The best answer to anyone being violent for anti-trans, homophobic, anti-Polish or whatever reasons is to give them a taste of their own medicine.

The last stranger to get violent with with me for homophobic reasons ended up in hospital with serious injuries. His football hool friends ran away like little pvssies as soon as they saw his blood on the street.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


There were many there who were certainly trans.


Not that conservatives ever use photoshop now do they.,,

History / Future of Kaliningrad Oblast - is it possible to annex by Poland or will it become an independent country? [146]


Especially on top of the hill. All that avant-gard 20s architecture by some of the best architects in Poland.

Krolewiec was probably once like that.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


No such thing.


That's never worked. Being very assertive and being far stronger than those who oppose you works. Perhaps Rosa Parks or the Stinewall rioters should have done nothing.


Get over yourself. If your kids are like you nobody will take the slightest interest in them.

Hard to know why you think that 'indoctrination' might change someone's sexuality. Perhaps you should share your wisdom with neurologists.

Perhaps you should 'stay low and quiet' rather than digging a deeper hole for yourself.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


Worth reading about Candaulism, a hetero fetish that certainly sprang from that.

History / Future of Kaliningrad Oblast - is it possible to annex by Poland or will it become an independent country? [146]


Parts of Wrzeszcz are like that. A nice place to go for a walk in.

And Gdynia us underrated whereas Sopot is the opposite.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


I guessed that's the origin however I'd tell the penitents that it isn't a sin and they should just enjoy.


Much the same except less guilt.

History / Future of Kaliningrad Oblast - is it possible to annex by Poland or will it become an independent country? [146]


We'd have had them even if communism had never existed.

Urbanisation brings blocks and if you think PRL era ones are bad, go,to ultra-capitalistic Hong Kong and see some of the awful homes there.

Off-Topic / Things We Love [330]


Lashings of it.

There's a good recipe from the Farmhouse Kitchen cookbook (from that 70s TV show out of Pebble Mill in Birmingham where farmers' wives used to send in recipes that had often never been written down before) however online, unfortunately some internet bottom-feeders have got hold of it and expect people to pay in dollars for a 'plan' to access them. Fortunately I've got the actual cookbook (if you see a used copy, I really recommend buying it. Mine was 99p and I use it all the time) and here are the relevant pages. They can sue me if they want.

Be careful though, the bottles do sometimes explode...

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Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


Only under international pressure. Their ultra-conservatives don't believe that women should do any sport at all. Not for religious reasons, just because their clerics are reactionary.

There are clergy in Poland who don't believe women should drive tractors due to the effect of the throbbing engines.

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]


They're generally very right-wing aynrandy libertarians.

Off-Topic / Things We Love [330]


It was an English thing once, however most ginger beer there is either very regional (fortunately my region) or in shops with Jamaican products. Canada Dry is seen as a 60s/70s thing and that's a shame since it's a good drink.

Home made ginger beer is the nicest, either the soft or the alcoholic version. The bottles can easily explode though, so store with care!

If you see ginger wine (probably not in Poland) it's worth buying. Stone's is a little nice IMO than Crabbie's however there isn't much difference.

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]



This is key.

Remember that a significant proportion of kids whose Polish parents came to Britain after 2004 came from villages or small country towns, often in the hinterland between Poznan and Szczecin or from the far South East where there weren't jobs and moved to urban places in the UK where the jobs were. The places they moved to were far more multicultural and it must have seemed to the teachers that the kids had stepped out of a Time Machine from the early 50s.

Fortunately, schools there have decade of experience combatting racism.

I've even heard Poles on Ryanair to the UK saying "I don't like them" ('them' meaning people with darker skin than them) in English. Hopefully their kids (who identify primarily as British now) don't share those sentiments.

With time and effort, attitudes change.

History / Polish Army Day [82]


Quite. On the London memorial on Park Lane (near Speakers' Corner) the words are inscribed in stone "THEY HAD NO CHOICE".

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]


I'd not heard that however at least school pupils are of an age where they are open to learning about life, including the wickedness of racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism and all the other things that can potentially diminish them as people.


True, however often the standards are reduced to the level of the Super Ekspres or Daily Mail or Newsmax BTL field.

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]


Quite. Normal people, not noble and quit frankly too many of them in terms of population size to be a 'nobility'. Gentlefolk is a better term and they are people who did at least have some standards and values.


Probably not in any sense the biggest, however attitudes need to be addressed or it's just a powder keg for later when migration hs increased and when 'new Poles' and their descendants start to be more assertive.

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]


Most of the 'szlachta' were anything but noble.


The words have to speak for themselves. nd there have been some very sordid words about people of colour, Jewish people etc here over the last 15 years.

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]


It doesn't.


You could say that about anywhere. What matters is whether or not there's discrimination within recruitment, housing, land ownership, access to political office, treatment by police etc.

History / Polish Army Day [82]


It doesn't though, does it.


It was, however given the temperature, they could have scratched that part. The parade would have been much the same without them.

Did you know that most capital cities in larger European countries have a memorial to animals killed in War? The one in London is impressive.

Off-Topic / Things We Love [330]


I was thinking of ginger wine, Stones or Crabbies. Made in Scotland to be added to whisky. Not much use for anything else except putting in cakes or perhaps as an alternative to sweet sherry or Marsala.

For a soft alternative, ginger ale is better than ginger beer IMO. Canada Dry though, not the stuff they have at Dealz which is too sweet.

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [558]


There is certainly racism here.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


So it's a no. Nobody makes you do that.


It isn't.


It's been tried (homophobic 'laws' were long the default) and didn't work. You can't turn back the clock.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]

Some women (with proper cloppers) are XY and don't usually find out unless they go to a fertility clinic because they aren't getting up the stick.

Some are XXX or even XXXX. Plus there's XYY men.


People don't die of HIV in developed countries nowadays.it doesn't progress to AIDS and of it does, it's now reversible.

Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]


None of those are 'jumping through hoops, at all, are they, and you seem more concerned that the society you live in devotes resources to things you don5 5hink that society should pay for. That's democracy. I don't approve of everything the government does here however they have a majority.

If your concerned that the way your society uses capital is profligate, worry more about tax breaks for the rich than safe spaces for the vulnerable.


In fact this doesn't 'come from the US' and in Europe were usually way ahead of you.

News / "POLISH death camps" term used by "Parade Magazine" Anti-Polish Bigots [249]

Yes, maybe one did.

News / "POLISH death camps" term used by "Parade Magazine" Anti-Polish Bigots [249]


Did anyone say that?

Or did they point out an aspect that hadn't been theretofore mentioned?


And leave with better critical thinking skills than some in places where they had to stay until 18

News / "POLISH death camps" term used by "Parade Magazine" Anti-Polish Bigots [249]


Did anyone say it wasn't?

They should have acknowledged that their interpretation of another language was limited though.

News / "POLISH death camps" term used by "Parade Magazine" Anti-Polish Bigots [249]


Then it's not up to them to criticise how the English use their own language. It's not Esperanto.


And they have their own newspapers.


They should have tried harder at school.