News / Russian criticism of Poland - Soviet war memorial removal [332]


Yes, except for the lives of its citizens.

I'm not surprised you're willing to trade a Big Mac and a pat on the head from Biden, for the lives of millions of Poles.

Hey guys - Maf would have preferred to live under Hitler over Putin.

History / Why American military aid to Europe and Poland is important to America itself? [150]


It is one thing to dissect Russian operations in a classroom in West Point, and another thing entirely to command a Russian battalion through a year of the highest intensity combat Europe has seen since 1945.

After this war, Russian officers can easily go and teach in the United States. At the same time, there's nothing about counter-insurgency that America can teach Russia, that Russia doesn't already know better itself.

Experience is experience.

News / Russian criticism of Poland - Soviet war memorial removal [332]


What's so interesting and enlightening?

Idiots in America tear down Civil War era monuments. Idiots in Poland tear down Soviet-era monuments. Idiots have no nationality.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]


This is 2021 still

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]

Lol. Ok - so what's your problem with these stats published by Deutsche Welle (notice logo at bottom left)?

You think United Russia is below 30% or above it? I'm not even sure based on your post. Even in Russia, we need accurate polls for our Kremlin overlords to know which way the wind is blowing.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]


Attaching a graphic below, which shows support levels for parties. United Russia in first position with 30%+ (historically terrible for them, they used to be in the 60-70s a decade ago), and communists in traditional second with about 15%.

Putin himself is probably somewhere in the 60-70s now. He's been very careful to disassociate himself from United Russia. He hung that albatross on Medvedev's neck, who is head of the party now. Putin is officially non-party since his last stint in office.

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Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]


That's foolish. Those babushkas are drones - I know, my babushka was the same.

I cannot explain my babushka's psychology in one post on PF, but the most important thing you have to understand about her is that she was a child of the war generation. She grew up in poverty, sexual abuse, hunger, and constant PTSD. She told me she cried when Stalin died, even though he killed 90%+ of her family. Up until she died, she would tell me that one day they will come back. When I asked her who the "they" are, she could never quite accurately articulate.

Fear is the operative word, when you talk about these babushkas. I wouldn't believe even 1% of what they say, because they are not equipped to even understand the question. They think in categories of: Yeltsin - bad, Putin - good. Pension was low, now it's high. Hospital was under-equipped, now it has a Siemens MRI machine. And so on, and so forth. It's not worth explaining to people like my babushka that another talented Russian man might do as good a job at taking care of her, and that she does not have to sell her soul to United Russia for these benefits.

Now tell me, this is different in any other country in Eastern Europe?

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]

@Novichok

The "people" are never at fault. It's why Reagan would address the "Russian people", or Obama the "good people of Iran". Stalin famously said, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people remain".

However, PF is proof that the "people" are certainly at fault. Alternatively, it is proof that people are fearful animals, easily directed by familiar tools of manipulation.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]


Not a fair charge.

The Russian relationship with government has always been a different one to that shown by Westerners. If not the enemy, then the government is certainly not a friend. Popular aphorisms about the "Good Tsar" notwithstanding, Russians have always seen themselves in opposition to the "government", but stalwartly behind the "motherland".

Therefore it's not about swallowing their lies, but rather disdainfully ignoring them. If it shows something, then not our own propensity for lies but our passivity. They say what they want, and we pretend to be fooled - and everyone goes about their business.

An American libertarian preparing for the apocalypse in his bunker by stashing ammunition and canned food, cannot compete with an average Russian in his hate towards his government. In Russia the government and the people live on separate planets.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]

@GefreiterKania

I wouldn't categorize that story under "lying". It's what you do when you are planning to kill many people. Are Germans liars because they told the Jews they were going to be deloused? Does Mossad tells ex-Nazis in Argentina that they are employees of the Jewish state's intelligence service tasked with killing Nazis? That's different.

To me lying is saying "we did not kill thousands of Poles in the forest one night - the Germans did". Lying is saying - Turks did not kill hundred of thousands of Armenians as state policy - it was all a sad misunderstanding. Lying is saying that you invaded Cuba and the Philippines after Spain staged an unprovoked attack on an American ship moored in Havana harbor, or that you invaded Iraq because Saddam was trying to procure uranium in Africa.

Lying by states is second nature to what they are in their essence. I don't think Russians as a people are liars, however. We actually have a very specific feeling towards truth.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]


In their defense, they had seen it work before. In Crimea earlier, in Georgia - sort of. When America has a trillion satellites in the sky, and listens to your every conversation - saying one thing, and doing another is probably the only way to maintain some element of surprise.

It's also just a remnant of Soviet practice, where lying to the West was kosher because they were kafirs. The assumption was that we were being lied to on a constant basis, so we should simply reply in kind.

Also, Russia has had very bad recent experience with an "open kimono" policy towards information. The Yeltsin era was probably a high point for "transparency", and it was a non stop sh!t show. Generals on TV calling Chechnya a disastrous mistake, and saying we should surrender immediately. Competing factions daily pouring out tons of excrement on each other in the form of "kompromat", which often came in the form of videos of politicians having sex. People in the Kremlin must have understood at some point that there is in fact low demand from the population for such daily seppuku by the government, and started sending out a message people wanted to hear. The problem may be that at some point they started believing their own stories.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [382]


Where does this come from? I see it a lot, no doubt, but still am curious where does it come from? Is this just a modern phenomenon, because of Communism, or were Russians known as liars before as well? In Russia the negative stereotype we have about ourselves is that we are lazy and stupid (Ivanushka on the oven & the two perpetual problems of Russia - idiots and roads). Nothing about lying. Something more Tatar/Chinese to that.

Life / Poland: worst teeth in the world? [98]


I admit, there is probably not a connection between these two things.


Our football players are idiots who play with their dicks even when there is not a war. It's the hockey players I feel bad for...

Life / Poland: worst teeth in the world? [98]

Polish women are very pretty, but they rarely smile. Such is the stereotype.

Life / Vasectomy in Poland is illegal? Why? [123]

Is still illegal for Polish men to cut their balls?

News / Russian criticism of Poland - Soviet war memorial removal [332]


Very controversial opinion you have adopted.

Love / My husband is Polish and I was wondering why he drinks all the time. [66]

Let's be honest with ourselves here - Poles have many reasons to drink.

Life / Why there is always around a horrible smell of sweat in Poland [188]


Do you own a bidet?

Love / My husband is Polish and I was wondering why he drinks all the time. [66]


I am very curious indeed, if this man managed to stop drinking and if this couple is still together.

Life / Why there is always around a horrible smell of sweat in Poland [188]


Historically, the cleanest people in Europe have been Scandinavians and Russians. In these two regions, saunas or banyas were widespread, and regular bathing was a common practice. The plentiful forests in these two places, and easy access to fresh water meant that even the lowliest member of society could afford to clean himself with hot water.

It is curious then, how Poles managed to remain so smelly while living next to the two cleanest people around.

Funny Poles - teach the French how to eat with a fork, but will refuse to wash their ass.

History / Future of Kaliningrad Oblast - is it possible to annex by Poland or will it become an independent country? [137]


Look - genius - if it's nothing, then why do you do it? Does the government not have urgent problems needing solution? The Polish budget, welfare reform, pension reform, and so on and so forth?

The Poles did something meaningless and stupid - first. Then Russians reacted with a meaningless and stupid reaction.

Do people not have more important things to do?

Real Estate / Polish landlord - Walks into my apartment without asking or when i am not at home and wants half rent in cash. [36]


Have you considered she may be lonely? Next time she comes uninvited, offer her a cup of tea. Insist you will not let her leave without sampling some of your cooking. Offer to watch your favorite film together.

About halfway through the film, gently sit down next to your landlord, and propose to massage her feet.

Please report back on results.

Off-Topic / Serbia etc. thread 3 [383]

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Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]


I think it's common to all human beings, not just American criminals. Try Googling "Pedophile Killed in Prison", and marvel at the thousands of links provided.

The problem is so acute, that pedophiles are typically placed on watch, and kept separate from the general population.

Statistics show that the prison population has a higher percentage of people that were abused as children. It only makes sense then that they do not take kindly to pedos and sadists.

News / Life and work of Stepan Bandera - controversial figure of Europe [42]


Losers.

News / Life and work of Stepan Bandera - controversial figure of Europe [42]


I think everybody involved would be very happy if there was a new country in West Ukraine. Well, maybe not the Hungarians (they want the Carpathians back) and the Poles (Lvov), but everybody else would be very happy.

News / Life and work of Stepan Bandera - controversial figure of Europe [42]


Yes, I think I understand now what you mean.

To understand how we can hate Ukrainian nationalists, and call Ukrainians brothers at the same time - please read this excerpt from the book above:

Because of the nationalist discourse that took place in eastern Galicia, the province was labeled as the Ukrainian "Piedmont." Because of their loyalty to the Habsburg Empire, Galician Ukrainians were known as the "Tyroleans of the East." In Russian Ukraine, on the other hand, the majority of the political and intellectual stratum assimilated into Russian culture and did not pay attention to Ukrainian nationalism."

We never knew these as$hole Ukrainians who hate us, they are a new element within our ecosystem. They were raised within greenhouse conditions by a Cossack-loving Austrian prince, with the express purpose of irritating Poles and Russians. It is why we want to kill every Banderite - exactly because as you said - "why the hell would he fight Russians?"

The East is the same as us, and so is the Center. The West of Ukraine is however a strange land, with strange people. It was easy to ignore them for a long time because it was primarily agricultural and poor compared to the other regions. Turns out ignoring those hillbillies was a big mistake.

News / Life and work of Stepan Bandera - controversial figure of Europe [42]


Well, first of all they are much more similar to each other, than they are to neighboring Germans. This is proof of a common origin, despite the huge geographical area over which Slavs are spread out. There are exceptions to this of course. Northern Russians, have more in common with Baltic, German, and Finno-Ugric people than with other Russians. The identifying genetic markers are the R1a and I2 haplogroups.

Second factor of difference, is probably that we are relatively new. From a European perspective, and kind of from our own as well. Germans are ancient, and you can read about them all the way down to tribes and individuals in texts like Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. They appear throughout antiquity, play an important role through the various Gothic kingdoms, and then eventually play a key role in the Holy Roman Empire. Slavs during this period are shrouded in myth and legend. This newness plays out in all sorts of ways, from feelings of inferiority to the other extreme of superiority because we are "wilder".

Finally, the fact that we are descended from the same people, means we inevitably carry some similar traits. These make us closer to each other, than to our German or Romanian neighbors. Germans are organized, we are disorganized. Germans are pedantic, while we paint with a broad stroke. Germans are hard workers, while we need a good incentive to put out. I think these things are common, from Prague to Vladivostok.

News / Life and work of Stepan Bandera - controversial figure of Europe [42]


Don't know how you define ethnicities... I think most people would say these are different people, while some Russians might say that Russians and Ukrainians are the same (DNA mapping also proves this to a large extent). If you believe that Slavs are a separate race from other white people, then yes.

They are definitely cousins/brothers, but still - as is evident - some of them act like the brother that wants to cut himself off from the family.

Not sure if Poles are considered cousins/brothers in the same regard. It's more broad with the Poles. Like second or third cousins, I suppose.

News / Life and work of Stepan Bandera - controversial figure of Europe [42]


Stalin didn't care about Russians, Georgians, Poles, Jews, Martians... Stalin only thought in categories of influence, leverage, control. He never wrapped his murderousness in a guise of martyrdom or heroism. Instead, he preferred to do it quietly, in the night, and not to be shared with a soul until years after his death

Today, even the most autistic Stalinist, does not try to justify the excesses - but instead focuses on industrialization, rearmament, the war, etc.

Bandera is another fruit entirely. His mission was a Ukraine free of Russians, Poles, Jews and Gypsies. He allied himself with the most murderous regime in human history. His supporters perpetrated mass terror against millions of people. His name is glorified in modern Ukraine as some Joan de Arc or George Washington.

A quote @Alien:

Modern Ukrainian nationalism, as manifested in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Galicia, became increasingly hostile to Poles, Jews, and Russians. The hostility to Poles was related to the nationalist interpretation of their socio-economic circumstances, as well as the feeling that the Poles had occupied the Ukrainian territories and had deprived the Ukrainians of a nobility and an intelligentsia.