News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

Given that you posted at 17.33 do you have a time machine?

Law / Is it safe and legal to use torrents / downloads in Poland? [29]


They do. One heavily criticised law firm in the UK. It's actually unenforceable.

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


So right in fact.

It's clear you aren't a supporter, however almost anything would be a better alternative than them. The current national mood is really pessimistic.


Basically Nationalist + Socialist = National Socialist...


I'd say it's more complicated than that IS. There's long been a healthy contempt for the behaviour of the church, and the RCC in Poland is currently very problematic. If it weren't for their role in the last years of communism and the JP2 effect they would be in a far worse position - as it happens things have been normalising since JP2's death and the episcopate do not in any sense like that.

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


Precisely.

So far, a great chunk of the PIS regime's efforts have been about dragging over that whole period vindictively whereas most people have moved on and are deeply uninterested.

I suppose it helps them distract from the attacks on law, justice and the constitution as well as their gross economic mismanagement.

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

Sadly, Po, that post sums up the hysteria that we are seeing at the moment from that largely rural section of society who support PIS and various other right-wing groups.

They genuinely do believe that there's a conspiracy to keep Poland down. As I say, a post-communist mindset that everyone else has moved on from.

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


What is decaying (and they absolutely can't stand this) is the inward-looking, rooted in spurious tradition, and largely derided neo-Endek tendency that JK and his gang are very much part of. That and the fact that they are in every sense post-communist, with mindsets stuck 25 years in the past, whereas everyone else has moved on.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

Looks younger than the late general, doesn't she...

Not that there's anything wrong with that at all.

His death and decline wasn't sudden so it isn't as if he just forgot to burn the alleged documents. Perhaps he intended that his wife should sell them, however she seems to have gone about it in rather a ham-fisted way.

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


This will cause him huge problems after his term of office ends.


Hardly surprising. A president in name only who isn't actually a president but just a placeman who stood because the party leader is electorally toxic.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


It very much existed, is online even now in a searchable form and was leaked to the public domain by the PIS figure Bronisław Wildstein - hence the name.

And it caused huge rancour in small communities.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

It has echoes of the Lista Wildstein that PIS leaked a few years ago. Half the names on the list were retired Headteachers, university lecturers etc that the SB had contacted to ask for references for new-hire staff and a great chunk of the rest were either people they'd interviewed for exit visas etc, officials from voluntary bodies like trade unions, housing co-operatives etc or just civil servants that they'd had professional contact with for mundane reasons.

But the mud still stuck and caused huge problems for some people living in small communities who were falsely branded Stasi-style collaborators.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


There were some articles in the media about 10 years ago alleging various things - all quite complicated.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


Exactly. Anyone intelligent can see exactly how it was.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


You aren't the only crank here with that name. To quote the wonderful Carly Simon " you're so vain, you probably think this song is about you".


More that others peopl sought to smear him for their own personal and political gain


Bingo.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

So, Greggy (undercover!) the level of formal education that someone received has something to do with the content of their character and their life's achievements (Nobel prize winner, KBE, President of Poland) in your world...

Law / Is it safe and legal to use torrents / downloads in Poland? [29]


Why would someone use an unknown American VPN that has a 'plan' when there are plenty of good ones here.

It isn't necessary to use one anyway for downloading in Poland.

News / Poland to return to Catholic tradition? [177]


"Present their view" or

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


Really quite transparent, isn't it...

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


Only one of those three words is accurate. He isn't respected and he certainly isn't any sort of statesman. And he hates Poland.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


This will one day come back and bite him. The more they push the smears against Lech Wałęsa, calling him 'Agent Bolek' etc, the more likely that scrutiny will fall on JK and those close to him.

News / Poland to return to Catholic tradition? [177]

Quite. It's when religious groups try to make others follow the precepts of their religion, tell them that they can or can't conduct business on certain days, try to impose their beliefs about family planning on society as a whole that problems emerge - hence the haemorrhage of churchgoers in Poland and elsewhere.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


Absolutely. Unfortunately more highly respected outside Poland than inside where people consider him to be not particularly intelligent and given to extreme comments and behaviour. Though he is not generally considered to have been a career informer except among the lunatic fringe.

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

Don't be silly Po.

The parallel between PIS and the Soviet systems use of public office is very telling indeed. Elected leaders that aren't leaders of anything at all and a real leader who doesn't hold office except as a backbencher.

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

In fact a very accurate description of his role so far, Po. Very accurate indeed...

A name? Nope. An apt description and breaks no forum rules.

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


Basically she and the dud Duda are in the same position as people who held essentially meaningless (in this situation) titles like prime minister or president back in the Soviet Union. For decades the president was Anastas Mikoyan and there were a few prime ministers however the true leader was Stalin, Krushchev etc...

Just another abuse of democracy.

Genealogy / Are Sorbs Polish? Does anyone know about Sorbish enthnicity? [62]


That language was never spoken across the whole of modern Scotland - in fact it was only ever spoken by a minority. More people spoke Scots and Cymric.

With Sorbs, they're an interesting cultural group and very well integrated. They have language rights, schools and cultural associations. Some may well want to immerse themselves in everything that is Sorbian and others may want to assimilate completely. Most somewhere in between.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

It just adds to the long long list of misdemeanours and felonies which damage PIS' reputation, not that they have much of one to begin with.

News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]


It was expected the second his old enemy Jaro took office (not that he's dared to actually take office yet).

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


Look at the IPN fiasco last time round and Wildstein's List.

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


I do. There's know suggestion of journalistic wrongdoing by them, and PIS have a long history of misusing organs of the state for their own political ends.

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


If you read the media, he wasn't being investigated.