News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]


"You know how happy I was to be pregnant again? Well, imagine my disappointment! We found out it's a girl! We really wanted another boy.... but I'm gonna go in on Monday and have her scraped out so we can try again."

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]



And those who want abortions have every right to be very frank in their answers, of course.

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

As I always say, there's no societal consensus on the moral status of fetuses so laws don't 'solve' anything and serve primarily purposes of moral signalling or preening.

I'm perfectly okay with opponents of abortion not getting them and trying to convince women to not have them. But trying to force them to accept their moral standard is like vegetarians trying to make meat illegal (bad analogy but close enough for government work).

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]


the leadership doesn't care, it's just a useful distraction that can reappear and disappear as needed, rather like reparations from Germany

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Soros and Russia are about equivalent in my book, I wouldn't trust either as far as I can throw an elephant.

Has Soros made any public appearance lately? There are rumors....

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


That's a joke, isnt it? How much time and how many resources did he sink into his sick Smolensk fixation? What does he have to show for all the time and effort and money?

And... he has one coup attempt on his conscience, I'm not anxious to give him another chance. Appointing that mentally unfit goon to office was a slap in the face to the electorate that had been promised he was history.

Good riddance.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Anyone wanna talk about the changes in the government?

Macierewicz, Waszczykowski and Szyszko (three of the biggest stinkbombs) are out!

Health minister is out too (healthcare is the achilles heel of the current government).

I'd say this is clearly a sign that they want to make nice with the EU getting rid of a couple of the biggest impediments thereto.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [402]


It's written (with Polish orthography) choroszo (with the stress on the final o) but pronounced charaszo (since unstressed o turns into a in standard spoken Russian)

Life / Polish and Czechs [191]


A number of people I've known rather like a lot of Czech movies both classic and more modern, not to mention the classic tv series hospital on the edge of town and woman behind the counter (and a couple more).

Life / Polish and Czechs [191]


As someone said, most ethnic guilt is about feeling that your descendents will think you were too xenophobic, most jewish guilt is about feeling your ancestors will think you weren't xenophobic enough...

Life / Polish and Czechs [191]

Trusting Russia..... always a miscalculation.

Life / Polish and Czechs [191]

that raises the question.....what kind of weirdo freaks are czech people?

They can say "Strč prst skrz krk" and they can't say Polska (even when Polska is the genitive case of Polsko?)

Boring weirdos you are.

Life / Polish and Czechs [191]


Do you know crow? You'll probably really get along....

News / Americans incite hatred towards Russia in Polish media [75]


I've never met any Poles in real life that support Russia, it's just people who won't live in Poland (and may be being paid for their support)

Life / To Poles: some food for thought [31]


How does this apply to Poland at all? I don't get it....

Work / Are there any jobs for Americans in Poland? [46]


oops, should be ciężko

Work / Are there any jobs for Americans in Poland? [46]


your Polish needs work (esp written) how often do you read online news and stuff like that?


Dziękuję .... rodzice przyjechali .... wiem cieżko .... znaleźć....kicał (jak królik?) ale chciałbym

Food / 'Wigilia', the traditional Christmas Eve supper in Poland [77]

Okay that makes sense, it's a remnant.

Food / 'Wigilia', the traditional Christmas Eve supper in Poland [77]


Yes, that's my point. I had assumed it was catholic doctrine but the other day was reading about Christmas Eve in other countries and in a bunch of catholic ones people eat meat on that day. The Polish tradition is more likely an orthodox borrowing or folk catholic practice.

Food / 'Wigilia', the traditional Christmas Eve supper in Poland [77]

I have a question that never occurred to me before (since I'm not a catholic).

Why no meat on Christmas Eve? Other nominally catholic countries (France and Spain and Latin America) have meat on that night (Italy seems a bit all over the place on that issue) so I assume it's not part of Catholic dogma

In Orthodox (Prawosławne) practice abstaining from meat is a thing on Christmas Eve, is it maybe borrowed from them? Anyone know?

News / EU triggers Article 7, could strip Poland of voting rights [91]


By making them stay in the good graces of the current government?

News / EU triggers Article 7, could strip Poland of voting rights [91]


Okay how will the judicial "reform" actually address that?

How will it make the system less politicized?

How will it make the system less corrupt?

News / EU triggers Article 7, could strip Poland of voting rights [91]


That's PiS party line rhetoric with no real basis in reality.


Doubt that will happen unless Orban actually starts enacting policy that most people don't like. Several months ago I was talking with a Hungarian who also has Polish citizenship, they're not crazy about PiS but they tend to admire and support Orban. Aslo don't forget that the government he replaced was far worse than anything Poland has had post 1990...

News / EU triggers Article 7, could strip Poland of voting rights [91]


A. The idea that the EU is oppressing Poland is ridiculously stupid

B. Opinion polls show a majority want to stay in the EU and more blame Poland for its current problems with article 7 than other actors...

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


When was the last time they were on TV?


It's hard to rebuild those connections and the first three sound to me like they're running away from Polish traditions as much as connecting with them (don't recognize the last, I'll try to check them out).

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


In terms of music Poland is very cut off from and alienated from its own past. Much more so than other countries in the region. There was no Polish Maria Tanase

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_T%C4%83nase

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


Yeah, I think it's probably a combination of communism and over-fascination with western music. Church choirs, they hardly seem to exist anymore. I do remember once visiting in the countryside (near Sandomierz) and before the service began the congregation was singing along with the organist which was nice.

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


The standard "Merry Christmas" in Poland is "Wesołych Świąt", literally "Happy Holidays" (sometimes people add in words like peaceful and happy and only much more rarely do they actually say the words Christmas in the wish). And Christmas Eve (Wigilia) is more important than Christmas Day in Poland.

Harry's playing word games as usual.

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


A friend of mine (originally from the countryside in Świętokrzyskie) makes a delicious wigilia soup with buckwheat (kasza gryczana) dried mushrooms and żurek... he said where he's from they just call it 'barszcz'... is yours similar?

for me kutia is kind of disgusting and inedible I've had it twice and it was differently nasty each time....

News / EU triggers Article 7, could strip Poland of voting rights [91]


Direct political appointment of judges and (de facto) mass firings of sitting judges. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's probably partisan political control of the court system and the dismantling of the rule of law (also see Ziobro's use of public prosecutors in his jihad against a private doctor who was cleared of any wrongdoing).


Yeah I want a healthy gin and tonic that makes me lose weight and improves muscle tone, wishin' and hopin' won't create a healthy system.

Please provide the opinion of international experts who say the reform doesn't like a third world (or communist era) horror show.