News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Yes, it's a common theme with Kaczyński. He did it to Marcinkiewicz, he did it to Szydło and even did it to Morawiecki within weeks of him becoming PM. There's a very common theme of them being humiliated in public, and it seems to be a form of Party discipline. My suspicion is that he knows that if anyone gets too powerful in their own right, then they might oust him if things aren't going the way of PiS. In any normal party, he would have been gone after the 2011 election.


Wouldn't surprise me if Morawiecki is gone by the New Year. Ziobro going would be popular among people in cities, but I don't see it happening - they haven't completed the takeover of the Supreme Court, and Ziobro is needed for that as the perfect faceless bureaucrat. But yes, it wouldn't surprise me if several people lost their jobs, as Kaczyński will be well aware that politics can change very very quickly before elections.

Speaking of Marcinkiewicz's ex-wife, she's an acquaintance of mine (in the English context, not Polish context). Don't even ask how...

Incidentally, perhaps now the claim of "young people vote for PiS and right wing parties" can be put to bed.

Results from those aged 18-29:

PiS: 23,3%
KO: 18,7%
PSL: 17,6%
Kukiz'15: 13,6%
Bezpartyni Samorządowcy: 9,1%
SLD: 3,3%
Wolność: 3.3%
Ruch Narodowy: 2,8%
Zieloni: 1,6%
Local committees: 4,2%

Left/centrist parties: 41.3%
Right wing parties: 43%

Essentially nothing in it. The myth of the Polish youth becoming right wing has been completely shattered in this election.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Yes, it's a very fair observation. Their policies are popular, but that only works when you have a well known and liked face promoting them. In local elections where personalities are more important, they struggle because it's very easy for opposition candidates to pick them off. Look what happened in Łódź, where you had the immensely dislikable Suski trying to tell voters there that there's no point voting for Zdanowska, or in Warsaw where Jaki was trying desperately to pretend that he was a Varsovian despite not even knowing the result of the last Legia game.

About a likable PiS politician - Szydło, strangely enough. People like her, even though she's a screeching whining bureaucrat at best. She somehow connected with female voters, though I have no idea how or why.


Nice propaganda, but epic fail. They've actually dropped back 5.5% from the 2015 election, and they've lost by around 8% to KO/PSL. The claim that the results should be taken with a "pinch of salt" is also laughable, because more people voted in these elections than in the 2015 parliamentary elections.

PiS voters never "don't bother to vote". They are older and less educated voters with little mobility, hence they vote without fail. If PiS could only win 32.5% despite three years of non-stop propaganda and social transfers, then they've a hell of a lot of work ahead of them if they want to win in 2019.

What this election tells us is that PiS, despite controlling public media and with vast financial resources at their hands - still couldn't win more than 32.5%. It's actually 0.4% more than they got in the 2007 election, which was an electoral disaster for them.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


They might have won the most votes, but there's proportional representation in these elections. Final results will come in a couple of days, but it's definitely not a victory for them.

The most important thing is that big cities are essentially PiS-free zones now.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Well, well, well.

PiS have been comprehensively defeated in Warsaw, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Lublin and Białystok, where their candidates have all lost in the first round. They're well behind in Kraków and Gdańsk, and they're down over 5% on their 2015 election result. The opposition are ahead in terms of percent, and the only province I've seen so far (Świętokrzyskie), they're projected to tie 15-15 with the opposition.

In short, they've failed. To come in at 8% less than PO/PSL is terrible news for them, and even the votes from Kukiz'15 still put them 2% behind. They're not likely to win control of most regional parliaments, so voters have dealt a clear rejection to them.

The government-controlled CBOS opinion polls were claiming PiS would win 40% vs PO/N.'s 19%, so it just shows how badly falsified those polls are. They also had the PSL on 5%, yet the real result was nearly 17%.

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]


Yup, though I also don't like them for the neo Nazi overtones. The Serbian stuff was a bit better, especially because it led into some quite decent music during the early 1990's when everything else was crap in Serbia.

youtube.com/watch?v=LMPvplTWb-s - just utterly unashamedly silly!

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]


Now you're getting into my territory! I loved the madness of Eurovision last year (Romanian rap-yodelling? Croatian pop-opera? yes!), though one of my all time favourites was this piece of lunacy from Moldova in 2005 - youtube.com/watch?v=mVhtWfC7RF4 - and of course, a special mention to Lithuania's entry from 2006 - youtube.com/watch?v=DBAdOlQPbwg


Yes, absolutely. Not only the Yugoslav New Wave (which was better than the Anglo stuff if you ask me), but also a lot more was quite original. Estonian music is actually well worth checking out if you're into more folk stuff, because one way that they kept their identity throughout the centuries was through song. They actually seem to have kept this alive, too.

If you listen to what they're producing now in ex-Yugoslavia countries, it's either awful Serbian music with terrible Turkish melodies, or it's hyper-nationalist Croatian music. Having said that, I discovered quite a rich tradition of nationalist songs during the wars there - this is a particularly ghastly Serb song, but there's so much more - youtube.com/watch?v=Y9-mYg5VDzQ&index=4&list=PLHyyETA5ebv94EwLTyDw1R8E8tYn8cKoS - the lyrics are hilariously arrogant, and the music just defies any explanation.

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]


I have a huge soft spot for Yugoslavian music from that era!

youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uJQ4s6SSw for instance - just utterly shameless, or this masterpiece - youtube.com/watch?v=jSouEC8BFuI

A lot of Yugoslav New Wave was fantastic, too.

PS: culture.pl/en/article/the-musical-milestones-of-the-polish-radio-experimental-studio - well worth a read, IMO.

Genealogy / Abbreviations used in Polish gravestone inscriptions [63]


You've just definitely proven that you don't speak Polish.

Law / How do I verify a Polish company's existence? [240]


Did they ask you for cash?

History / Whom do the people in Poland hate more: Germans or Russians? [869]

And yet some posters on here from the West openly advocate collaborating with them. I don't get it.

Law / Opening a Mini Market Store in Poland. Starting cost / Expected monthly income? [22]

Don't bother with that. The real money is in convincing your fellow Indians to deliver food for 50% of the payment they'd get if they signed up by themselves.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]

That's a question with no answer. The technology is still so new that it's hard to tell what will happen, though the first generation of Leafs seem to be holding up well. I have severe doubts about engines from the last 4-5 years though, because many of them are being highly stressed to meet emissions limits.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


Not much point at all in buying American here, the dealership networks aren't strong and after market parts tend to be at a premium. Ford sometimes have reasonable deals, but what you get is pathetic compared to the offers from the likes of Kia. I remember Ford were offering a pathetic 2 year guarantee at the same time Kia offered their 7 year one, and even my new VW came with a 4 year guarantee as standard.

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]


Ed Sheeran is massive over there. Bush are/were an interesting one, as they were huge in the US and yet unknown in the UK.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


Absolutely, I looked at one as well, but a fully electric meets my needs more - I have a commute to work that has a lengthy bus lane, so I could save a considerable amount of time with it. Hybrids are nice though, my friend gets 4.5l/100km out of his without babying it.


Exactly. Tesla did a great job of promoting them, but they've done a poor job of actually producing and selling them. The fall in the share price reflects that.

Classifieds / Looking for a business partner in POLAND ..... [43]

Tell us more. How much are you willing to invest?

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]

There's a couple in Poznań and a charging station, but they're not popular at all. Hybrids are much more popular here, because of the lack of charging stations. I've got my eye on a Nissan Leaf though - great car, solid, quick as hell and without any of the issues associated with Tesla. They've just released a new model as well, so it might be possible to pick up a second hand model for nearly nothing.

The big advantage in Poland is free parking in cities and free use of bus lanes. Tesla doesn't have any presence here at all, while other manufacturers are pushing their models strongly.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


That was absolutely absurd, all because they didn't want to use his toy that he made. Calling someone a paedophile repeatedly because they don't agree with you isn't the actions of a stable person.


I'd say that it's the other way round. Big institutional investors don't like risk, they like returns. The people working there will burn out sooner rather than later with the way he's been pushing them, too.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


I wouldn't be surprised if he does. He's really deep in trouble now, and he looks like a complete wreck during public appearances. If the stock continues to freefall on Monday, he's going to get more and more desperate.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


Nothing at all. They've burnt through a lot of cash, and I saw that they owe around $3bn to suppliers while only having enough cash in the bank to last them until early next year. The fundamentals are all wrong, and anyone who actually knows anything about business would know that the whole thing was built on media hype around Musk, not on the actual product.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


Looks like Tesla are finished. The stock is at $260 and in freefall, Musk is about to get banned from serving as a company director and the company needs cash badly. They can't get the Model 3 out the door, Musk is losing it and the legacy manufacturers are doing a much better job at the same thing. All those people shorting Tesla are laughing right now, and the stock is headed for the basement.

I doubt Musk will be at the helm by the end of 2019, and it wouldn't shock me if Tesla were finished as an independent manufacturer by then.

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]


A serial alcoholic who can't even testify in public is hardly a reliable witness.

He better get ready, because his career is finished. He can explain to his daughter why he was a drunken rapist and why he felt it was appropriate to force himself on women. I'm sure she'll be proud of him, LOL!

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]

HAHAHAHA even the Republicans can't even pass a vote in the committee stage without screwing it up. Now there will be an FBI investigation, and Kavanaugh is toast. They're going to find out all about his history as a rapist, and his career is rightfully over. We warned you repeatedly to take your time and do things properly, and instead of listening, the GOP gambled and lost badly.

Oh man, this is going to be hilarious. No investigation, no Kavanaugh. It's that simple.

Aaand bang. Two Republican senators now want an investigation, so there's no way he's getting confirmed next week.

And after all the abuse of the FBI by the orange baby and his supporters, well... well well well.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]


More likely to be Irish, from Orlaith - babynamesofireland.com/orlaith

Orla is the English spelling.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


Yup, it was understandable in the beginning, but now it's just become a pyramid scheme. They're actually quite expensive for larger amounts, especially as in my experience, Polish banks will negotiate hard if you want to exchange large amounts of cash. I've once seen the bank offer 0.3gr over the interbank rate at that minute, which blew Transferwise out of the water.

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [239]


Is it any surprise when Trump has been offending all sorts of different nationalities?

I still laugh when I look at Trump's "coat of arms", which appears to have been designed by a 4 year old. It's exactly what you'd expect of an American with very little understanding of Britain.

Study / Coming to study at UITM Rzeszow, Poland [10]


Rzeszów is the center of Polish aviation, so it's certainly worthwhile.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

I wouldn't be shocked if Transferwise goes bust spectacularly. There's a lot of questions over Estonian banking right now with the Danske Bank money laundering there, and I remember when another one went bust - Crown Currency Exchange. The rather loathesome "Money Saving Expert" Martin Lewis was heavily pushing them, and a lot of people lost cash because of that. He never once apologised for getting it wrong, as well.

History / Not proud of my Polish heritage [110]


Indeed, wasn't this one reason why priests were seen to hold such intelligence? I seem to remember something from the dark and distant past about priests being storytellers and the source of information for people who simply didn't travel, especially back in the times of Chaucer.

History / Not proud of my Polish heritage [110]


It's interesting to see how they go about these things, isn't it? The way that the forum is used to push a certain narrative (Piłsudski wasn't Polish, Poland is dependent on the EU/USA, political leaders are all Jewish, etc etc) that isn't necessarily pro-Russia, but the whole object is to push propaganda that leads Poland away from the current path.

Perhaps the OP can be so kind as to provide these claims in written Polish. Until then, not a word should be taken seriously.