History / Why could some Czechs dislike Poles/Poland? [39]


It's absolutely awful. My friend is from Cieszyn, and she said that for many people, it's simply unthinkable that they can't move freely between Cieszyn and Český Těšín. It's made even worse by the fact that there's a sizable Polish minority in the town, and I've read several accounts of how people moved to Český Těšín (as it's cheaper / schools are better than Cieszyn) and now they're stuck on the wrong side of the border.

However, of course, some Polish guys got caught a few days ago trying to swim across the Olza/Olše so they could buy booze in the Czech Republic :D

Real Estate / Building a house in Poland need advice from anyone that has built [100]


Correct. These cabins are not intended for permanent use or overnight stay.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


I suspect they know it as well, especially if it turns into an Italian situation. I've just read one article saying that Salvini has been battered by the failure of Lega, as they govern two out of the three worst-hit areas, and their response has been less than stellar.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [940]

I fear it's going to end up in total chaos with every teacher demanding something different and using a different method to do so. We're developing a common e-learning platform this weekend, and I probably won't sleep very much between now and Monday as I'm one of the few teachers who has decent experience with developing/using such systems - but it's still an open question as to how teachers are supposed to actually teach.

The only thing we have agreed as a school is that situations where a teacher sends "do page 33, tasks 1/2/3' and nothing else will be banned. The proposal right now (being voted on via the virtual Rada Pedagogiczna until tomorrow lunchtime) is that we will prepare materials until Monday to cover 25-27.03 , then we'll go into the school to print them en masse. We'll then take all ~220 packages of work to the Inpost depot, where they'll be posted to the nearest paczkomat to the child's home. Kids won't have to work at certain times, we'll only ask that the parents return the work to the school by Friday at 17:00 so that they can be given to teachers on the following Monday.

It seems to be the most sensible solution to the problem, and we'll arrange a system so that teachers will be present in a virtual classroom during the time of the class, but attendance won't be obligatory - the idea is that kids will be able to log on and visit the virtual classroom if they need help with the work.

But again - this is a private school with resources. It won't reflect reality in 90% of schools.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

From a purely tactical point of view, I can't see any sense in it whatsoever. The opposition will be able to fully mobilise their electorate as they'll be at home anyway, and social media is full of reports about how hospitals are lacking basic equipment. People will really be feeling the economic issues by then, and if the coronavirus is running rampant, Duda will have far more enemies than supporters because people are going to blame him for not putting money in their pockets during a time of need.

Critically, polls are making it clear that the public doesn't want to have an election in May. If they force it, there's a very real chance that the electorate will punish Duda for trying to take advantage of a bad situation when everyone else has postponed elections.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [940]

I watched the press conference, and all I can say is that it's going to end in tears. The new regulation will oblige teachers to give and assess school work - which is going to work how, exactly?

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [940]

I imagine it will be prolonged, to be honest. I already sent a message to all the parents, telling them that I'll be sending work to be done at home during this time, and that they should hand it all in when the schools reopen.

Food / Which foods are generally disliked/unpopular in Poland? Which non-Polish foods are slowly gaining popularity? [140]

It's all exported, basically. The locals prefer to buy lots of poor quality meat for their money - I've never understood it.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


More lies as promoted by Nowogrodzka and eagerly repeated by Spike.

What was the average age of a judge? 36 or something? The idea that the current judiciary is connected to the communist era is laughable, although the Constitutional Tribunal has strong links to the PZPR.

But still, seeing as you're so keen to purge anyone connected to the PRL, I quite agree. Let's get rid of anyone who graduated from legal studies in the PRL from public life. That would be a very good start :)

Perhaps Spike can tell us if he approves of appointing Communist prosecutors to the Constitutional Tribunal.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


A close look at his biography reveals why he would believe this to be the case. For him, an independent judiciary is an alien concept, one that interferes with his goal of a Singaporean-style single party state.

It's notable that PiS haven't proposed a single reform to actually improve the work of courts.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


I remember how Kaczyński repeated lines about how he wouldn't allow PiS to lose power back in 2006 when they were fighting with Lepper. Let's not forget how he attempted to discredit the Constitutional Tribunal whenever they struck down Kaczyński-led laws, too. There were plenty of veiled comments and threats then as well, the only difference was that Lepper in particular wanted nothing to do with it.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

As witnessed by his behaviour as PM.

Anyway, Duda has just announced that he's not going to hold any mass events during this campaign. Is it really because of coronavirus, or is it because he can't cope with the opposition?

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


Women in general, I'd say.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


With a whole 5% declaring their willingness to vote for Bosak.


So, what's worth pointing out here is that Agata Duda has never been particularly good with PR. She's not comfortable in front of the camera, and it's clear that she would probably be happier teaching German quietly in a high school as she was before. Is it a bad thing? I would say it's rather neutral - she simply doesn't want to get really involved with politics. There were attacks on her by liberals for her silence during the Black Protests, there were attacks on her by the far right because of her family (Jewish grandfather), and even her own brother made it clear that he opposed Duda. She didn't really do anything - she didn't say anything, she just kept quiet. A dignified silence, if you will.

Now you have someone making it clear that they see the First Lady as having a role in the Presidency. What happens from here? If Agata Duda stays silent, she leaves Paulina KK with open goal after open goal as it can be pointed out how weak and ineffective she is. If she gets involved, she'll probably do badly - she's not known for PR or her public skills, and Paulina KK is much more media-friendly. So, the masterstroke here is exactly this: there's nothing to lose for Paulina KK. If she charms voters, then Duda loses votes. If voters don't like her, there's no harm done, because WKK is quite far behind anyway.

In a normal election, it wouldn't matter so much. But we're talking about a situation where Duda is in a dogfight for votes, and even 50,000 votes being lost because of Paulina KK could decide the election.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


Paulina Kosiniak-Kamysz has pulled one of the best moves I've ever seen in an election. By directly throwing the gauntlet down and challenging Agata Duda, she's effectively opened up another front against PAD himself. It's a masterstroke, not least because Agata Duda appears to be incredibly uncomfortable with being in the public eye, while Paulina seems relaxed and comfortable.

Still, I don't sense any great enthusiasm from PiS towards this election. Duda's campaign has been dull and uninspired, too.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


I think the critical question is whether it wins him any votes. I don't think so - it reassures the existing PiS electorate, but not much else.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


Facts are facts.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


10 billion for TVP, nothing for cancer patients.

No matter what he says from now on, it's going to haunt him.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

The bigger picture which involves repeating the government line word for word? For someone that claims not to be paying attention, you seem to have views that are far closer to PiS than any other party.

Anyway, if you're looking at the bigger picture, you'll be well aware that Duda was trapped and could only lose.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


By repeating word-for-word what people from Nowogrodzka say?


Perhaps it would be best to actually watch it before passing comment. Morawiecki's body language suggested very much that he was desperately unhappy with the whole situation.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

Astonishing, Spike yet again defends Duda while Konfederacja themselves are laying into Duda over this. His nationalist credentials are flawed, to say the least.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


I'd be shocked if he didn't take his revenge on Duda.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


I think he knew just how bad the backlash was going to be, and so he wisely tried to limit the damage by demanding Kurski's head as the price of his signature. He clearly pushed Kaczyński into a corner, and you have to wonder what will happen now - Kurski is one of Kaczyński's most loyal comrades, after all.

He's made the most of an impossible situation, but it's still a huge loss for him. Biedroń, Hołowina, MKB, WKK and Bosak have all absolutely torn into him for it, as have their supporters, and it's clear that "Duda gave 2bn to TVP rather than cancer patients" will be repeated time, time and time again.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

So, as speculated, Duda signed the law giving 2bn to TVP rather than cancer patients. Kurski will be sacked on Monday as a result from TVP, which was Duda's condition of agreeing to sign the law.

It may well be Duda's death warrant. Politicians from across the political spectrum have been attacking him for it, and Bosak is demanding an urgent investigation by the Supreme Audit Office into TVP's finances. Meanwhile, politicians from PiS are also clearly not happy with Kurski getting the sack, as he's been very reliable with producing propaganda.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

It's embarrassing and shows that he has no respect for the office.

Anyway, Duda has been putting off the decision on whether or not to give 2 billion PLN to TVP, and he has until midnight to decide what to do. Unofficially, the hated Jacek Kurski has got the sack from TVP (as demanded by many people within PiS, not just by Duda), which points at Duda choosing to give 2bn to TVP rather than to cancer patients.

If Kurski goes, Kaczyński will have lost one of his most important generals.

Work / Is it difficult to make a living playing Soccer (football) in Poland? [54]

Forget about the top league teams. They won't touch you unless you're in demand already.

With teams in the II Liga, it really depends on the individual team as to what they can offer. Some are wealthy teams, others are struggling.

If you're planning on coming here, I'd suggest finding a team in the III Liga so that you can get noticed - a player that dominates in the III Liga will almost certainly be signed by a higher profile team during the winter break.

Work / Is it difficult to make a living playing Soccer (football) in Poland? [54]

Well, what's your footballing CV? What level are you currently playing at?

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]


And no real prospects. He essentially piggybacked off Korwin, Winnicki and Braun to get into the Sejm.

His "look i got married" stunt was particularly laughable.


I know what a free market is, one in which employers are free to use the labour, services and materials that they wish in order to achieve their aims.

Bosak is just another neo-communist who believes that the State should direct and control people's lives.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

So in other words, Bosak is a communist who believes that the State is more important than the individual.

Glad we've cleared that one up. The free market talk is just a facade, really.

News / Presidential elections 2020 - your opinions about campaign, candidates [2222]

Another day, another poll.

Duda: 41.2%
Kidawa-Błońska: 23.1%
WKK: 11.4%
Hołowina: 7.6%
Biedroń: 6.1%
Bosak: 4.8%

Concerning numbers for Duda.