News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


Gotta hand it to Madison....

The way he wrote the Bill of Rights is simply stupendous.

The entire logic of democracy is spelled out in sequential order:

1) Religion - the government cannot control what is in your head. That is, it can't tell you what to believe or what to think.

2) Speech - once you are thinking something in your head, you should be able to talk about it as well without fear of punishment.

3) Press - now that you're talking, you should also be able to get your message to as many people as you possibly can.

4) Assemble - now that you got everybody riled up, it's your right to gather with other likeminded people to draft wider plans.

5) Petition - the government cannot ignore you and your group of peers, and has to provide a response to your demands.

All of that, in just one single Amendment! The whole anatomy of democracy, within a single paragraph.

Incredible.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]

@Bratwurst Boy

I'm reading someone's manuscript right now regarding Germanisms in Russian.

The number one category is "military" - with 123 words. Starting with the word soldat.

Source: nsportal.ru/ap/library/drugoe/2017/11/08/nemetskie-zaimstvovaniya-v-russkom-yazyke

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


How does that happen? Why does Russia get debil from the French, and you get it from the Germans?

It must be a mistake in the Russian dictionary.

Russian is up to its ears in Germanisms. Here's a list of some more modern ones:

der Bruderschaft - Брудершафт
der Schlagbaum - Шлагбаум
der Büstenhalter - Бюстгалтер
die Spritze - Шприц
das Zifferblatt - Циферблат
die Wanne - Ванна

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]

Происходит от лат. debilis «слабый», из de «из, от», из праиндоевр. *de- + habilis «управляемый, послушный, удобный». Русск. дебил заимств. через франц. débile.

Translation:

Originates from Latin debilis, from de meaning "of/from", and proto-Indo European de* + habilis "domesticated, tame, comfortable". Russian "debil" is borrowed through French débile.

I wonder - did Poles borrow it from Russians by a roundabout way, or also got it from the French?

Why is there no debil in English?

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


Poles have this word as well?

News / Ups and downs of the democratic government 2023-2027 in Poland [363]


Pro-Democratic and Patriotic?

What could be better?

News / Poland says no to flood of Immigrants [670]


You should be more grateful to the institution of PF, than to call it vomit inducing.

To me, it gives mere stomach cramps.

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [345]


You are such an as$.

What can you give as advice to Grunnie, you dog?

Can you not see it is a man adrift? Put aside our little dialectics, and give advice from what I know is a deep well of experience.

News / Poland says no to flood of Immigrants [670]

I love your guys' conversations.

What is PF for you, Jon?

And for you Novi?

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


You won't hear me say a bad thing about Christianity, as it lives in the World.

I'm an atheist, but I still find the message of kindness profoundly powerful.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]

@Novichok

I'm trying to imagine what would happen if someone brought a Menorah to the State Duma.

I think, probably, nothing would happen?

Putin invests a lot of effort in appearing with imams, rabbis, lamas and bishops.

But this is Poland - the most hardcore Christian country on Earth. That's why I ask.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


Also, he acted as the defender of the principle of separation of church and state.

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [345]


What I meant by Anglo-Saxon, was being cold-blooded and reptilian.

As Oscar Wilde once said, "knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing".

Regardless of what is said about your kind, you are a pragmatic and calculating bunch.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]

@Torq

Ok I will say it!

Why should there be Hanukkah candles in the Sejm?

At risk of sounding like Grunnie, is not Poland the Maiden of Christ?

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [345]


Well.... everyone wants this, or nearly everyone.

However, there is probably a good reason why this is not for everyone.

Life / In need of good Polish jokes about Polish culture, people, etc [239]





Harry Potter and the Alcoholic's Kidney Stone.

Harry Potter in Poland.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


In what other country, has the highest ranking police officer in the land fired a grenade launcher in his office?

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [345]


How very Zen.


The political elites do not give a f*ck about you. Trust me on this.

Your problem is typical Polish romanticism of the brain. Some Russians have similar mental issues.

Be a little more Anglo-Saxon in your ways - see the world for what it is.


On this we agree.

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [345]


Why so pessimistic, Mr. Grunwald?

Guys in prison, with one eye, and a hairy forehead manage to get married.

That is to say - it can be done.

However, self pity has never been attractive - to either sex. Cheer up, fella.

News / Poland says no to flood of Immigrants [670]


Send them to Russia.

We will teach them how to love the Motherland.

Off-Topic / What's your connection with Poland? Penpals. [595]


Worse.

He is Australian.

That is, a sheep f*cker.

News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]


People with compromised immune systems, or some kind of respiratory illnesses may be harmed through wearing a mask - and have to employ other methods to stay safe. For a normal, healthy person, however, I think it is sufficient to change the mask frequently.

Also, understand - I'm talking about people that have Covid. I agree the earlier blanket mandates were stupid.

I think it's a mistake to think, that when someone is coughing or sneezing, that those drops fly towards the other person's mouth like a homing missile or a torpedo.

Instead of laminar flow, think of turbulent flow.

The mask is like a chain link face, which can trap pebbles at a beach.

It's not a perfect defense, but it substantially increases your odds.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

Maybe there is something that Poles, Ukrainians and Russians can finally all rally around.

Do Poles like putting salt on black bread?

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News / Coronavirus in Poland - part 2 [599]


This makes no sense.

An aerosol can travel by air.

I think masks are still necessary if one has COVID.

Travel / What are the best countries to live in? [161]


If I can't be a troll for Russia, I would like to become a bodybuilder.

Travel / What are the best countries to live in? [161]

Depends on what one means by "live".

America is definitely not a good country to "live" in, but it provides potentially more opportunity than any other place.

Similarly in Russia - Russia may not be as nice a place to live as Georgia, or some place like Kyrgyzstan (I love Kyrgyzstan) - but the opportunities are simply on a different scale in Russia.

So for me, it depends on your system of moral coordinates, and where you are in your life at that point.

When I visited Hawaii, I thought I had discovered paradise on Earth. Perfect climate, stunning views, warm people, amazing food....

But after being there for two weeks I wanted to hang myself. I started to view the locals with extreme contempt, for their laidback lifestyles, and couldn't wait to get back to NY.

So for me, with no kids, no wife, and still relatively young parents - the best place to live is where I can maximize my potential.

News / Polish Parliamentary Elections 2023 [933]


Sounds like the American Democrats.

Their candidate in the 2016 elections, Hillary Clinton, was famously caught saying this:

"You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. (Laughter/applause) Right? (Laughter/applause) They're racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic - you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice...

The racists, xenophobes, sexists, homophobes and Islamophobes did not receive this message very well.

They already felt that Hillary was a typical representative of the arrogant coastal elites, but being called "deplorable" really rubbed them the wrong way - even if few of them understood what the word meant.

Along with James Comey's reopening of the FBI investigation, this comment of hers probably cost her the presidency.

News / Polish Parliamentary Elections 2023 [933]

I wanted to write a post in the Polish Army thread, about new purchases of Krab and K9 Thunder artillery systems - worth billions of dollars - by the outgoing Minister of Defense.

Then, I decided I'd rather write about my theory of how PiS is attempting to lay the groundwork for their return into power.

So here it is:

1) PiS puppet Duda, appoints short term PiS government. Short term PiS government proceeds to stuff all state companies, and government ministries with loyalists that will be difficult to remove in speedy fashion by KO.

2) PiS takes strong protectionist approach on Ukrainian grain and truckers question. This is despite constant pressure from the EU to disperse the protests and enforce the law on EU border transit. Expectation is that Tusk will come in, and lift the grain and transit embargos. This will immediately dent his popularity, since he will be seen by those two constituencies as betraying Poland's national interests. PiS talking heads will immediately capitalize on the drama.

3) PiS contracts enormous quantities of weapons, that Polish budget cannot sustain (read articles on this subject). Tusk comes in and inevitably has to curtail these orders, or delay their implementation. PiS attacks him for being weak on defense and a Putin stooge. "When we were in power, Poland received more weapons than in its entire history of independence."

4) PiS purposefully runs relations with Germany into the ground, on a farcical premise. Tusk comes in and repairs relations with Germany - perhaps even apologizing for some past excesses of PiS government. PiS of course initiates "Operation German Agent", and Tusk is once again painted as a German lapdog.

This is what I think this past year of insanity has been. A long desperate attempt to push all the possible populist buttons in a politician's arsenal, and now that's its failed - a deliberate attempt to create a "bridgehead" from which to attack KO in the future. The central pillars of that "bridgehead", will be the above points:

1) Active sabotage through loyalists remaining in non-elected government positions. This includes both state companies like PKN Orlen, and government ministries.

2) Accusations of abandoning Polish farmers and truckers interests.

3) Accusations of being weak on defense matters

4) Accusations of being a German/Russian puppet.

Let's see if it will work for PiS.

Law / Polish Police and Their Tactics [237]

@jon357

I had the pleasure of working on two cases which appeared before the High Court in London. I'm not a lawyer, so my involvement was limited to me producing several white papers as part of my internship at a firm in NY.

It was most impressive to observe English judges and barristers in action.

Some of the most intelligent people I had ever listened to.

History / Good enough for British - Joseph Conrad? Poland-born novelist. [30]


Can't speak for the others, but can speak for Nabokov.

Nothing extraordinary here, except the size of the family fortune.

Nabokov's father was the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, in the last Duma before WWI. He came from an aristocratic family, tracing their lineage back to the Horde in the 14th century.

His mother was a heiress, daughter of a famously wealthy gold mine owner.

He read in English and French, before he ever learned to read in Russian.

As a Russian aristocrat, he didn't have to do anything at all - and could devote his time to whatever he wanted.

I'm sure Joseph Conrad was not the son of a plumber either.