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Posts by jon357  

Joined: 15 Mar 2012 / Male ♂
Last Post: 10 mins ago
Threads: Total: 75 / Live: 24 / Archived: 51
Posts: Total: 24866 / Live: 14821 / Archived: 10045
From: Somewhere around Barstow
Speaks Polish?: Not with my mouth full

Displayed posts: 14845 / page 488 of 495
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jon357   
2 Sep 2012
History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [239]

Now Kuklinski (whose name has cropped up here a few times in the past week) is seen as both, depending on one's opinion of his deeds/misdeeds. Also Lech Wałęsa is revered by some and is an object of calumny for others.
jon357   
2 Sep 2012
History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [239]

That description could fit quite a few people, not least in modern history. Views, however, are sharply divided about Stanislaw August Poniatowski.
jon357   
30 Aug 2012
Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

In the sense that we are also made up of what our immediate environment bestows on us?

That and the complexity of DNA/RNA.

BTW, I find my own family tree of passing interest only, however it does go back reasonably reliably to the Mongol Horde
jon357   
29 Aug 2012
History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]

argumentum ad personam is no argumentum at all

And ignoring the main point of the argument but replying only to an afterword is indisputable proof that you acknowledge that your argument was just plain wrong. Stupid and disrespectful even :-(

But Hej, Poles and Czechs as cultures owe quite a bit to each other, for what it's worth.
jon357   
29 Aug 2012
History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]

and what about these rapes by Red Army soldiers

What about them? Did every single soldier (including the female ones) do that? Did all of them (or even most of them) stay alive long enough to do that.

Put your brain in gear before you open your mouth.

Give up their lives? As if they had a choice.

It makes a difference?
jon357   
29 Aug 2012
History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]

They deserve the utmost respect. They gave up their lives

I second that. They were not politicians, they were ordinary men and women who were drafted into the army.
jon357   
29 Aug 2012
Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

There are perhaps as many Scots and English with Mongol ancestry as Poles. Queen Elizabeth of Hungary, whose daughter married the Kings of both Scotland and England was a descendant of the Mongols. She has millions of descendants.
jon357   
20 Aug 2012
UK, Ireland / Hitler gagdets in Britain and Poland? [24]

More a case of it not happening enough to be much of an issue.That and freedom of political opinion.There obviously are people who favour things like that, however the expression of their views would need to generate widespread offence before anything happened.
jon357   
15 Aug 2012
Love / Are Polish girls open to foreigners? [78]

Harenda? It's never been a particularly classy place and since EU entry I've never needed to go near the foreigners' office. Try Platinum, Kom or the still urbane Panorama Bar.
jon357   
10 Aug 2012
Life / West-East life in Poland? [45]

is there a continuum of less as you go East?

More or less, however the real divide is between urban and rural with plenty of exceptions.
jon357   
10 Aug 2012
Love / Native Polish Muslims.... how do they get into relationships? [32]

Tatars are Tatars not Polish

The Muslims in Kruszyniany are as Polish as it gets. A rather remote place but worth visiting.Not many people live there but judging by new graves in the cemetery (a Polish style rather than Islamic one) there's still a small community.
jon357   
9 Aug 2012
News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

It could handle a Lithuania or Czech Rep, maybe Belarus but not Germany or Russia.

It's part of the EU and NATO so that won't happen.

Poland never had a large standing army

In the PRL and until very recently, their army was larger than many European countries with larger populations.
jon357   
8 Aug 2012
Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

Yes.

I was told that the established distributors oppose the sale.

I was quite impressed by it. Very much in the German tradition which isn't to everyone's taste but it was very drinkable.

There's also one grower who makes a red wine near Krakow (within the city limits even) but again he can't sell it.
jon357   
8 Aug 2012
Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

Stalowawola? Must be something new. Try the wine in Zielona Gora. It's been made there ever since the town was Grunberg. Very German in style and not bad for white. They have the problems selling it though so the best time to try some is during the annual wine festival.
jon357   
8 Aug 2012
Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

I went to a wine tasting and some of the wines weren't bad, they could not sell them however are the government makes it difficult.

In Zielona Gora?
jon357   
4 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]

Exactly. As for alienating customers, it's the basic rule of hospitality that they shouldn't at all cost. A bigger issue is maybe alienating potential customers. If they bother to put such a nasty bit of text in their advert about Americans and Israelis as well as openly advertising that they charge three times as much to people who don't live in Poland then it's a huge red flag to anyone either Polish or foreign.

What the holiday centre's proprietor is essentially saying is that they are an awkward prickly individual - an arsehole even - and the advert is giving potential paying customers a warning that there is probably all sorts of other unpleasantness in store for anyone daft enough to stay there.
jon357   
4 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]

once or twice in Great Britain.I

No. That doesn't ring true. Some pubs in holiday resorts used to have a cheaper price for the town's regulars but that was never done openly and has gone out of fashion. Discriminating on the basis of different EU nationality just wouldn't happen.

The US/Israel are not EU citizens, so they have the same rights as EU citizens do in the the USA, ie on the same level as dogs.

As usual you've got the wrong end of the stick. If you read my post you'll see that I'm talking about the holiday centre's dual pricing.
jon357   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]

Czech used to be notorious for it, but as far as I know it tailed off after EU entry. Russia and Turkey don't surprise me, however in the EU trying any kind of discrimination on the grounds of nationality is a legal minefield.

They probably think they're getting around it by doing it on the basis of residence rather than nationality, but they're wandering into a legal minefield unless they have a tangible reason affecting cost of service delivery. A foreigner with Polish residency could get a very nice payout from the courts if they were told in front of witnesses that they have to pay a different rate to a Pole.
jon357   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]

This hotel however would charge a Czech many times more than a Pole. Here's the relevant EU statement:

The principle of non-discrimination means that service providers cannot, for example, grant less favourable terms on the sole grounds of the nationality or place of residence of the recipient. This would for example prevent EU citizens being charged different access fees to museums based on nationality or different fees for participation in sports events, such as marathons, based on their Member State of residence. However, this does not prevent service providers from applying different tariffs and conditions if this is justified by objective reasons, such as additional costs resulting for example from the distance involved.

jon357   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]

Overwhelming majority of commentators support this guy and so do I.

An overwhelming majority of people who leave comments on internet sites can support whoever or whatever they want. Poland however has laws. I look forward to the proprietors being prosecuted.