News / Should Polonia and expat Poles lose voting rights in Polish elections? [85]

The numbers are quite small so I never get upset about it - most of my US family don't vote and the Polish family I have in the UK have never even mentioned it.

I think there should be some kind of qualification - e.g. you lose it after 20 years, or you have to pay some one off community tax - say a few hundred dollars, or treat you would be eligible for military reserve etc.

I quite like the Italian system where there are a couple of MPs who represent the diaspora- and I think they cannot vote on certain domestic issues.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

Stupid laws about tobacco. Data protection etc - there are many small downsides

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

She never said that. Whete i can find that quote when googling it is normally only on right wing websites

And even then someone has swapped EU for unified Europe. The EU was called thr EC in her time as leader.

Someone has also inserted the word socialist there. In the 80s the EC was not considered a socialist project

And finally who cares what she said - like most long serving leaders she had some good ideas and some bad ideas

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

Nonsense - they pay plenty of tax in Poland and certainly way more than Polish retailers. Biedonka, Rossman, Auchan are all in the top 20 taxpayers in Poland.

There is no Tesco in Germany but there is Auchan in Italy, Carrefour in Greece, Spain and Belgium, Netto in Germany, ikea and Lidl everywhere. Supermarkets will expans wherever customers want them.

There are many Polish owned retailers.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

No you would not have an automatic right before the EU. You would need work permit, invitation, marketable skills and a whole bunch of queueing and extra costs. I have plenty of marketable skills but I couldn't just pitch up in Australia or Canada say and start working with no questions asked - And neither can you

You probably don't remember those times, Which is a challenge for the EU - it needs to market how successful it has been in creating mobility for people like you

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

If you are a British taxpayer then you are paying about 320 quid a year.

For that you get the right to work there or any of the other 27 countries, no rip-off bank charges when you send your money home, no rip-off roaming charges, cheap flights to Poland, transfer ability of your social benefits, a common set of standards for whatever industry you work in and probably a new playground and swingset for your relatives in the old country.

Its not a bad deal Spike

Law / How does a US & Polish citizen obtain a Polish bank account? (Without residency in Poland) [4]

It depends ob the bank so check each bank. Mbank used to be more lenient but that was several years ago. Most will require at least a PESEL.

There is no reason to do it five years in advance - it will be much simpler and cheaper to do it once you are here and have your meldunek

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

For Main Street then if I am going to a small town and want to find the center I normally put Pilsudskiego in my GPS and it will always be either the town square or one of the main streets. Other small town street names you get everywhere Koscielna, Dworcowa, Targowa (church st, station st, market st) or named after writers / composers - Slowackiego, Paderewskiego, Sienkiewicza, Moniuszki etc.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

Where it has been applies it has typically led to a large number of teachers leaving the profession - especially in maths and science whi feel undervalued and insulted, The result that the remaining teachers have far more negotiating power and end ip eith higher salariea

So ironically a perfect demonstration of the free market !

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

Johnny your quote about people whi cant do becoming teachers is absolute nonsense - I have had plenty of dedicated and wise teachers who I am sure would prosper in professional life, or the military, or whatever calling they wanted to follow

There are some people who value bringing on kids and contributing to society more than money. It is far from an easy job

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

Who would have thought it ?

Some uneducated people dont value educators

Cue some nonsense about thr Ivy League

Life / Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories [692]

Is there some English translation of this series Maf ?

Study / SGH Warsaw School of Economics vs Kozminski University vs Warsaw University [18]

Kozminski is a far more modern institution and more set up for international business. SGH has a long standing reputation dating back to before 89 and has lots of graduates in senior positions in politics but less so in business.

kozminski has good links with the business world and might have more possibilities in English. Really you should check out their facilities and teachers and then make a choice

Law / Cajun from Louisiana state seeking refuge/new life in Poland? Wishing to become Polish (is it possible?) [34]

Yes - which i noted un my post because Indians are cheaper than Poles

Law / Cajun from Louisiana state seeking refuge/new life in Poland? Wishing to become Polish (is it possible?) [34]

I would say the opposite - few companies are going to go out on a limb to arrange a work permit for someone who does not speak Polish unless you have a serious specialism or are a lower cost alternative to locsl workers.

You can always try but your opening gambit at interviews about wanting to live in a white anti immigrant society is probably not going to help

So you have your advice and good luck. I am sure you will now hang around for a few weeks to provide your wisdom on muslims and other people who offend you

Law / Cajun from Louisiana state seeking refuge/new life in Poland? Wishing to become Polish (is it possible?) [34]

I think you are yet another troll following a pattern - that their home country is decadent and they want to move to a reactionary paradise called Poland.

If not then one piece of advice - If catholicism is your main reason to move i would suggest somewhere more devout like Philippines or Ivory Coast.

About 50 percent of people go regularly to church but at least half of them are like me - just to give some structure to the weekend and keep older family happy.

I would say 25 percent of Poles are serious believers but that is also the 25 percent who are least able to speak English.

Law / Cajun from Louisiana state seeking refuge/new life in Poland? Wishing to become Polish (is it possible?) [34]

Maybe Russia would be nice ?

There are a few Russians here who can give you the lowdown

Travel / Pot in Poland for tourists [285]

Not A big stretch of the imagination for you - you come from a country that contaminates tea and perfume to kill people you don't like

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]

But even America does not share its nuclear know how with Poland - probably wise move given the amount of Russian influence in the MON at the moment.

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]

But they signed up to this at the instigation if the US govt. now that some other moron is in office they have to unsigned ? And what happens if the next guy wants them to re-enter the agreement.

Trump is the self proclaimed best deal maker in the world but this is an other example of how rubbish he is.

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]

I meant why not have it in a forest or a mountain spa ? Or even how about Israel ? Or somewhere else in the Middle East. That would make more sense. Would also be cheaper for the Israeli taxpayer - there must have been a few hundred penpushers, soldiers and security men in my hotel.

News / Poland and USA vs Iran and the EU [38]

Why did they have this nonsense in Warsaw - shut down half the town for no reason. Couldnt they do it at some forest or mountain place ?

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]

You know I have met German police at football games or traffic stops and they never seem the type to lose sleep about Ukraine and pipelines.

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]

What do you mean by comrades ? The people you work with - most Germans would translate mitarbeiter as workmate or colleague ?

Or your friends ? Most people would translate Kamerad as mate or pal or friend.

Strange use of language that.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

1401 ! Do your bit for the country man

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

There are plenty of other answers apart from immigration

Raise the retirement age - PiS lowered it and I don't see any of the other parties talking about it
Cut or hold benefits - PiS raises them
Increase ZUS rates
Increase birth rates - to be fair they are increasing
Crack down on ZUS fiddles in umowa o dzielo etc

I can't see any of these being tried soon but a broken system is better than no system. You are in the UK Spike so you can see what it is like to take a massive leap in the dark on a huge economic issue.

Opting out is nuts by the way - you are forgoing the free money from your employer and the govt, so you are obviously not the best advocate for wise pension planning.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

You are talking about opting out of your employers pension scheme ? In the UK that is normally an unwise thing to do so I hope the upsides and downsides were explained to you before you did it.

As for scrapping ZUS that is just nuts - still Korwin has put it to the Polish voters many times and surprisingly they have not been interested

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

Communism has never worked in the long run but there are many social market economies that have worked very well for 80 years now and they are mostly at the top of the charts for living standards and wealth - Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, Austria etc.

State education is also a pretty good invention - check before and after results for any country where it was introduced. Where it is a free for all then obviously you are going to get an entrenched class system of people that can afford it. Everybody should get the same chance in life and then it's up to them how they use it.

News / Goodbye Sunday Shopping in Poland - Hello Electoral Reform [246]

I think Solidarnosc got wise to that trick Terri and complained to the govt about it and want the loophole closed :(

Genealogy / Polish & Prussian/German town name cross-reference. [100]

Altgrabau Could be Grabowo near Koscierzyna.

leopoldsberg was the German name of Stare Grabowo - a few km from the Grabowo above

This site is pretty useful for that kind of thing

westpreussen.de/cms/ct/ortsverzeichnis/ortssuche.php

Note there are quite a few Grabowo s in Poland but that is the closest one to Gdańsk