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.

Law / Polish Police and Their Tactics [237]


Yes...

There's a reason even a Russian company, registered in Cyprus, engaging in relations with a company from Georgia, still wants their contracts governed by English law.

And this makes the City lawyers oh so rich...

Law / Polish Police and Their Tactics [237]


Disgusting arrogance.

What's more, it's not like the English invented a totally parallel system to the Romano-Germanic codices.

Your system emerged in the decades after the Normans took over. So thank the French.

Before the Normans, most English law worked like historic Russian law, on a folk basis in the various hundreds and shires. Given that you had earlier experience of Roman law, my conjecture would be that this is something the Vikings gave you.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [402]


Prove it.

Куйбышевский.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [402]


That's because you are Russian.

Your grandparent came in on a Russian passport - he's Russian.

Your grandparent is Russian - you are Russian.

Enjoy.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


Unlike you, who does not know South African history - whatsoever - they likely do know this history. That is to say, Africans know much more about European history, than Europeans do about African history (stupid term to begin with, because this continent is impossibly huge).

I have met many Africans at university and through work. Emphasis on Africans - not African-Americans. Their best is just as good as our best. They don't want to move to any New York, London, or Singapore. They want to improve the livelihood of their people.

All that educated Africans, that remained in Africa, have experienced from the West is: exploitation, lies, a grating paternalistic anttitude and finally a myriad of broken promises. The supposed window that English or French supplies onto the World, is balanced by the incredible xenophobia when arriving in those parts of the world.

I think Africans know why they support Russia.

They don't need your help in understanding your position.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


I understood your argument as: "The 'Global South' might have more sympathy for the Western coalition against Russia, if they had a deeper historical appreciation of how Russia had oppressed its near abroad."

I laughed out loud at the idea, because back then truly everyone was doing it. Hating on Russia for being rather more successful at it than others, seems comic. That's all.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


Ahhh....

Russia was colonizing, even before it was cool?

Really?

Would you apply this absolutely anachronistic and ahistorical lens to say, Prussia, or Austria?

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]

@Paulina

This is what the last two years of anxious articles by Western authors about losing the "Global South" has been about.

Chinese, Indians, Africans, and South Americans stubbornly refusing to see the Russians as the bad guys.

If you're so smart, you tell me what's going on?

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


70%+ of the world sees Russia as a liberator, and America as an oppressor.

Again, facts.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


Defending small helpless countries is Russia's middle name.

Nobody, in the history of humanity, has spent as much blood, treasure, or political capital as Russia on liberating small, helpless peoples.

Sorry, just a fact.

1) Slavs from Ottomans
2) Vietnamese from Americans
3) Cubans from Americans
4) Angolans from a whole host of a$$holes
5) South Africans from racists
6) Ethiopians from wannabe colonizers
7) and everybody else, too many to list

News / Time to clean the swamp - dePiSification of Poland [324]


This guy should relax.

Russia and America spy on their citizens 24/7. I won't even mention China.

Poland is in good company now.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


You are an idiot if you think this conflict is just that.

Sorry for calling you an idiot.

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


Your language... is not very Christian.

We have problems with migrants in Russia too. I judge those that argue for extreme measures. I ask them to look at our demographic profile, and then ask them if they want us to go extinct as a country.

Unless you can come up with some way to get white Americans to start making large families again - how do you propose to keep up America's competitiveness?

News / Time to clean the swamp - dePiSification of Poland [324]

Pegasus wrecked their business, when one of their Ugandan clients used it to snoop on the local US embassy employees.

This pissed off the State Department. It also pissed off Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


I think he was under the illusion Russia had 330M people like in the United States, but that they are simply too idiotic and corrupt to make it as rich as the US. Other explanations don't make much sense.

Yes, Miloslaw. Your bloc of a billion people is attacking 150M strong Russia, with just 73M labor force, and the fight still looks... close?

Also, your combined economies are about 25 times larger than Russia's.

Given how you usually like beating on liliputians like Gaza and Afghanistan - this must truly be a heroic battle on epic scale. I understand.

News / Time to clean the swamp - dePiSification of Poland [324]


Good Israeli tech.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


You have no proof either. I gave a wide ranging estimate that I scooped from reading a lot of academic literature on the subject of Russian demographics.

Bottom line - Miloslaw asked a retarded question.

I don't even accept the premise that 73M is something to be ashamed of. We have more working people than there are people in general in France or the UK.

France had the largest population in Europe for ages. Russia only caught up with it recently (in historical terms).

Why is it that through our enormous territory we are also expected to populate it like mice?

Why doesn't anyone come up to a Canadian or Australian, and ask him if he's ever looked at himself in the mirror and thought about why they have such tiny populations despite a continent-sized landmass?

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


I'm glad.

As I told you it's not a competition.

30M is used as shorthand for when discussing WW2 losses for the USSR. The actual number is more like 26M.

As Velund argued, there's many ways you can slice that data. To many of those 6.8M Ukrainian dead it would be a surprise to learn that they were written down as Ukrainian in the afterlife. They very well could have been Russians, living in what was then known as the UkrSSR.

The same story you can tell about Belarus. Even countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan sent many thousands of Russians - surprise!

That's why I LOLed. Your nitpicking over the dead is stupid.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


LOL.

Ok. Russia lost 14M people, Ukraine lost 6.8M. The other 13 republics make up the remainder.

Feel better?

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


It's not a competition, or at least a competition anyone wants to participate in.

The gentleman asked me a bewildering question regarding why Russia's labor force only amounted to 73M.

I tried my best to answer it, without being too snarky.

History / Recommended Poland's history books [257]


The current Thai King appears to be a not so moral person.

Germany has not affected him well.

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News / How strongly are Poles sure that president Duda defend Poland's interests ? [265]


Milton Friedman used to say that, "Nothing was so permanent as a temporary government program."

But I joke, of course.

Life / Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk [241]

@Alien

That's a funny story.

Not as funny as one that happened in Chicago a few years ago, however.

Famous French-American gay black actor, Jussie Smollett, claimed he decided to walk several blocks at 2 AM in the dead of winter, to buy himself a Subway sandwich. Tragically, on the way he was accosted by two white men, wearing MAGA hats. First they insulted him, by asking "Hey, aren't you that fagg0t nigg*r from Empire?", and then they proceeded to pour bleach on him and beat him up for good measure. As they left, they yelled "This is MAGA country!"

Hoot! As JR would say.

Subsequently, the nation was enraged. Such a thing should not happen in the 21st century!

But then it emerged that Jussie had hired two Nigerian brothers, who were his work acquaintances, to stage the attack.

The brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, had worked as extras on the set of television drama Empire, in which Smollett was a cast member. It is not known how their political views align with Donald Trump's.

News / Polish Parliamentary Elections 2023 [933]


Ah, so then Morawiecki's premiership of several weeks, will not yield any important appointments.

Noted.

Will check back with you in a few weeks.

History / What should Russia and Poland do to become if not friends, then at least not enemies? [945]


Why do you think so badly of me?


Yes?


I'm quite sure. This is data from the World Bank's website. Do you know that there are actually many more, secretly working for Russia somewhere? It sounds like you do.

One reason our country has such a tiny labor force, as you say, is that we lost almost 30 million people recently - in part, because we were defending your ass.

Estimates for what Russia's population would be had it not been for the world wars, range from 200M to 300M+. However, I think it's a very strange question to ask me, and also strange that you think there's something about it that would offend me.

Outside the war shocks, Russia has a demographic picture which is pretty typical for Eastern Europe.

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


The reason the Zloty has recovered so much in the past month, is because investors expect PiS to be replaced by a government led by Tusk.

The hope is that Tusk will mend relations with Brussels, unlocking 37 billion euro in EU aid that was blocked over the judicial scandal.

Beyond EU aid flows being restored, there is a general hope of an improved investment climate.

Another way to look at it, is that foreign investors were so fed up with PiS, that the market priced in a "fair price" for the Zloty that was discounted to a far greater degree than even the fundamentals would indicate. In this interpretation, the strengthening of the Zloty is just a return to its fair value - again, because PiS has been voted out.

It's hard to overemphasize how bad PiS was for Poland's image among the global investors.

News / Polish Parliamentary Elections 2023 [933]


Well - the topic is sort of sarcastic to begin with. This Morawiecki fella, is all but certain to lose his post in a matter of weeks.

PiS is doing some strange things, in a bid to extend their hold on power.

You can appoint a lot of people to various unelected positions in two weeks, and then it may take years to get rid of them.

News / Polish Parliamentary Elections 2023 [933]

Wishing to congratulate dear Polish members on the appointment of Morawiecki as the new prime minister of Poland, by Pan Duda!

Wishing many years of successful rule to Pan Morawiecki over his loyal serfs!

May all power accrue to him and only to him, and let his opponents all be vanquished.

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

@Atch

Thinking of Russian history, I can't think of any leader in modern times that I could "trust".

Gorbachev - I suppose - was trustworthy in delivering to his Western overlords on the promise of selling Russia down the river. So, he was trustworthy, but unfortunately an idiot. I don't know which is worse.

Yeltsin was also somewhat trustworthy, or rather - he was sincere. But he was weak, and fully compromised by his family and his alcoholism.

Russian history seems to teach that trustworthy guys are somehow unreliable.