News / A devestating verdict on the Polish church [279]

Verdicts that were supposed to be devastating on the Polish (and other churches) have been happening for centuries. And yet the churches survived.

What is much more devastating on the Polish church is the culture of spiritual emptiness that came along the influences of the West.

News / A devestating verdict on the Polish church [279]


Yeah, I bet most Poles can't wait for RC to collapse and be replaced with a much better alternative that Swedes have had the taste of as of late. After all, Islam is a religion of peace :)

News / Poles are getting rich... [63]


That's how it was in 1950's, 60' and early 1970'. America seemed to have been on top then. Those low prices are not working too well for Americans. Wages stagnated since 1970's and the middle class has been decimated.


Give them what they borrowed - papers with pretty pictures.


I'm not sure I'd call the March on Washington "Wild West". Would you?
I'd say what big corporations have been doing for the last 100+ years doing is in fact Wild West.

News / Poles are getting rich... [63]


True, but it's like putting a dollar bill from the left pocked to the right pocket and pretending there is income. That money would still have to be paid, unless my proposal in regards to the Fed was implemented.


They had enough time to change and they did - they became more greedy. So time won't do much. Very serious social disobedience might, kinda like the March on Washington.

News / Poles are getting rich... [63]


That wouldn't solve the problem. In fact, it would require even more loans.

IMO, two major things need to change in the US:

- trim import from China and shift towards production at home
- refuse to buy anything from China until they stop keeping their currency artificially low
- abolish the Federal Reserve (hanging its senior administrators on lamp posts would be nice, but not necessary from the purely economic angle)

The first two would be probably the best stimulus package possible.
The third one would wipe out the debt on money the banks never had but claimed they loaned them to the government


Not at all.
Just a lowly bureaucrat ;)

News / Poles are getting rich... [63]


One of the reasons I heard about are the irregularities that took place during the repo process by some banks. It's just to dicey to buy a house that might be later claimed by prior owners. Canadians haven't been hit as hard as Americans so there are plenty of those willing to buy across the border, but there are also plenty of warnings to first make sure you buy what will remain yours.


Yup. There sure are secure jobs :)

News / Poles are getting rich... [63]


In some places they are exactly 0%.
Just the other day I received loan offers from two of my banks, 0% for 12 months, no administrative fees of any kind. I'd be silly not to go for it. Even at 3.5 measly percent that some of my accounts pay, it's easy money.

I imagine the banks' hope is that some payers will default on the payments (too late, below minimum monthly payment etc) at which point they are hit with a substantial interest.

History / Ghetto Uprising better known than Warsaw Uprising? [111]


That example doesn not explain a whole lot. It does suggest though that there can be one sortie used for multiple missions. For instance, a plane takes off, bombs city A (first mission), on its way back, via a different route, takes aerial photographs of an area (second mission).

But why complicate it?
The definition is clear and simple:
Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortie

Hence, there can be a sortie without a mission, but there cannot be a mission without at least one sortie. A group of planes, say 10, participate in the same mission. That one, single mission required 10 sorties.

Ergo, the alleged "hundreds" of missions the Brits flew to try to help the Warsaw Uprising is hogwash.

Please get back on topic or start a new thread


A little late with this comment. It was due a few posts before mine.

Oh, and thank you for the swift action.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


My impression was that (apart from the 1945/46 expulsions agreed on by the US, UK and USSR) only those who wanted to leave did. That's how you got some of the best soccer players in the world.

I knew two German families (neighbors of mine) in Western Poland who never went to Germany.

History / Are Poles happy with the current Polish borders? [134]


You might be right about the effects of inbreading, but looking at the USA, well... the example is a little unfortunate ;)

Your general thesis flies in the face of the Jewish intellectual accomplishments. Few nations are as inbread as Jews.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


In fact, some Ukrainians have exactly the same problem.
I have seen numerous times, in Poland, elsewhere in Europe, in the US and in Canada, Ukrainians who claimed to be Polish when it was more convenient than to be Ukrainian.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


That was a few papers.


I don't either. But the point is Harry's misleading post.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


Yes. As per a British paper they were "ILLEGAL" (emphasis theirs).

The Department for Transport said they breach traffic regulations and the council had failed to get permission to put them up.


I put my bet on the Zaolzie takeover.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


It's not like road signs in Polish are a norm or a trend in UK. That is a very unusual occurrence. So unusual that a newspapers decided to write about it.

What you also failed to mention is that those signs in Polish were actually deemed illegal, so for now Poland has nothing to reciprocate in this respect.

Nice try, but as usual, you like only those itsy-bitsy fragments of reality that help you spit at Poles.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


Are you suggesting that the speakers of English in Poland are not allowed to use detour routes?

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]


I don't think that was ever a secret.
I'd have to think hard to remember an example of an official government form where they did not ask about ethnicity. Not that I saw all government forms in the US, but in all of 8 years I'm pretty sure I had to relevant boxes.

One of the first times I had to do it was actually kinda hilarious, though what I did was done in good faith. I went to a DMV office in NYC to register a car. The form asked "Are you a visible minority". I'm Polish, therefore I am a minority so I checked the box. The nice lady (of African descend) looked at me angrily and told me I was not a visible minority.

I explained my rationale: I am Polish (therefore a minority) and you can surely see me, so how am I not a visible minority?
Well, it didn't work so I guess I am an invisible minority.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [534]


Harry, you responded to a wrong post. It said nothing about governmental offices.

Here is a list of localities in Poland with geographical names in Polish and in the languages of the local minorities.

This is a list of 30 villages in Poland where Polish authorities have no problems with dual names:

Boksze-Osada/Bokšiai
Buda Zawidugierska/Vidugirių Būda
Buraki/Burokai
Dowiaciszki/Dievetiškė
Dziedziule/Didžiuliai
Giłujsze/Giluišiai
Kalinowo/Kalinavas
Kompocie/Kampuoèiai
Krejwiany/Kreivėnai
Nowiniki/Navinykai
Ogórki/Agurkiai
Oszkinie/Ožkiniai
Pełele/Peleliai
Poluńce/Paliūnai
Przystawańce/Pristavonys
Puńsk/Punskas
Rejsztokiemie/Raistiniai
Sankury/Sankūrai
Sejwy/Seivai
Skarkiszki/Skarkiškiai
Szlinokiemie/Šlynakiemis
Tauroszyszki/Taurusiškės
Trakiszki/Trakiškės
Trompole/Trumpalis
Widugiery/Vidugiriai
Wiłkopedzie/Vilkapėdžiai
Wojciuliszki/Vaièiuliškės
Wojtokiemie/Vaitakiemis
Wołyńce/Valinèiai
Żwikiele/Žvikeliai

Here are some graphical samples from other regions:

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


Oh, those little riddles kids create when they have nothing better to do.

How about this one created by the Jews in Soviet occupied Wlodzimierz:

Nasi Żydki siędy tędy
Wszystkie pójda na urzędy
Ukraińcy do kołchozu
A Polaki do wywozu

(Our little Jews, this way or another
All will get cushy jobs
Ukrainian [will do] to collective farms
And for Poles the deportation [to prisons in Siberia])

Life / My experience in Poland 15 years ago as an American trying to live and work there. [167]

Are you sure that the American on this forum are the same ones who employ 10 Mexican landscapers?

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]


so why didn't youstate right away that you follow stereotypes, instead of reliable information?
So now... isn't Poland the place where Rydzyk thrives? do you hate Poles in Poland too?


Yeah, I guess that's why elected Obama and Liberal Congress the last time around, huh?

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]


Still nothing about the number of Rydzyk's supporters in the US, or in Poland. The only number I see is the ticket price.

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]


No, I can't so you guessed incorrectly. But since you've read it many times I'm sure you'll give us those numbers. Or are these numbers also just a guess?

The name "Rydzyk" doesn't appear even once in the article.

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]

So could you give us a link to some stats with the numbers of Rydzyk's supporters in the US and Poland?

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]

I didn't know a whole lot of cops so I stand corrected, and thanks for the info.
This would confirm that staying away from the PZPR membership was nowhere near as heroic as landora would have us believe.

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]


You are juxtaposing bravery with stupidity. What would stupid bravery do? How much more useful some of those abroad would be if they spend 1980's in jails instead of helping those in Poland?

How would you imagine a lot of Polonia could have "came back" to do something useful if many were actually stripped of Polish citizenship by a decree, so they would have to apply for a visa which would have been likely refused. If granted, many would have likely gone straight to jail or be under careful surveillance.


You are overemphasizing the PZPR membership. Party membership guaranteed nothing, although it was a prerequisite for some jobs (militia, professional military force, most government positions). There were some potential perks if you were a party member - emphasis on "potential". A lot of schmucks thought they'd get a coupon for Fiat 126p, or a bigger apartment, and that was pretty much it.

Nobody in their right mind thought that staying away from PZPR was in any way, shape or form dangerous or brave - over 90% of Poles were never the members. In fact, during 1980's a vast majority attended churches. There was nothing heroic about that, although in many cases it was actually comical.

Again, your concept of bravery is a little bit on a childish side.

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]


That' a myth told to little girls, but it wasn't quite that bad. PZPR had some 3 million members. Solidarnosc about 10 million. I was not a member of any communist organization, neither were any of my friends or family. All of them members of either Solidarnosc or NZS. We did not consider ourselves brave on that account.


Why are you limiting the help from abroad to the government-in-exile? How about Polonia, every day people, Polish and foreign? Haven't you heard about million$$$ in currency and goods that Polish underground received from the US, FRG, France etc?


Few homes did not have illegal literature of one kind of another. It had been like that practically since 1945.

Did you parents tell you where that literature was printed? And if some of it was printed in Poland, did they tell you where the printing presses came from? Do you know who paid for the portable radio stations smuggled to Poland before, during and soon after the martial law? Do they knw any persons who actually brought that stuff to Poland?

Solidarity was undoubtedly a great movement and some of its members (not all) displayed a lot of courage, but they were not alone and they had important help from abroad. A lot of things Solidarnosc or NZS did would have been not possible without that help. Even though I don't respect Reagan all that much, he was in fact a critical factor in bringing the USSR down to its knees. So was JP2 and even Gorbachev.

You need to be careful with statements about the part of Poland's history that was witnessed and shaped by people who are still very much around.

Law / The best job in the World - Polish farmer. [50]


Far from it!

The best job in the world - banker.

- you lend money you don't have
- you get interest on money you never had
- when you screw up the tax payer bails you out
- taxes you pay come back to you in the form of interest on money you never had but still lent to individuals and governments.

Genealogy / How did Leszek Miller get the surname Miller - is it a Polish name? [30]

Not necessarily. The name Miller predates communism in Poland by quite a bit:

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_%28herb_szlachecki%29

Genealogy / How did Leszek Miller get the surname Miller - is it a Polish name? [30]


Nothing of the sort.
Miller is polonized Műller so the name is as British as MacClusky is Polish.

Mac = in Polish mak - poppy
Clusky = in Polish kluski - noddles

i.e. MacClusky would have to be a short form of "kluski z makiem" (noodles with poppy seed)

News / SHOULD POLAND HAVE NUKES?? [154]


If we consider the health care systems of nuclear countries such as India or Pakistan, I think Poland is more than ready for its own nukes.