Off-Topic / Eurovision - Today I will be ashamed to be Polish [580]


I quite enjoyed that one as well, actually.

The Italian one was quite different too, and Cyprus gave us our yearly dose of nonsense.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


I really wonder about you sometimes Ironside. Poland has an independent judiciary, yet you seem to regard it as something that should be under the control of governments.


How would having judges under political control be a change for the better?

It seems to me that you've got a longing for the pre-1989 system.


Except they aren't finished in the slightest.

Off-Topic / Eurovision - Today I will be ashamed to be Polish [580]


Could do well, but they had a crap place in the draw which will count against them. I don't like the song, but the guy is remarkably good looking for a Pole and the song should get a few votes.


.
No whisky here, unfortunately. Still gutted about that though, just doesn't seem the same after years of watching Children in Need and Eurovision. :(

Germany is my favourite so far...

Life / What's the best Polish radio station? [36]


Depends if she's a PiS voter or not.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


But they would. It's all about revenge, which is why Ziobro is planning to reform the court system so that it can be packed with PiS judges that are under political control.


Ask yourself why the "audit" was performed by politicians and not experienced auditors and you've got your answer.

As for the forest Polonius - anyone that knows the area knows that the beetle in question has attacked before. The point is that if you leave it alone, the forest adapts. The beetle in question is effective against managed forests, but will struggle to spread in unmanaged forests.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


The UK has four different systems, one of which is completely different to the others :D But it's probably the most logical of them all when you actually get to grips with it - it allows people to follow quite a personalised path of learning without mandating much.


Never quite seen the sense myself as well, if I may be honest. The American way of doing things seems to make much more sense, and the university way of doing things is vastly superior in terms of student choice. I'm still jealous to this day of friends that were able to attend a Liberal Arts programme for the fact that they really got to explore different fields.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Except there's no proof of anything that you've posted. It's a lot of nonsense made up on the spot, as witnessed by the way that several ministers were speaking off the cuff and others were relying on handwritten notes.

If this "audit" was in any way credible, they would get one of the Big 4 to do an audit. Anyone can "audit" anything and claim they found widescale problems - but most of it is clearly nonsense.

The real reason it was done like this was because Kaczyński got scared by the sheer number on the street last week. Nothing more, nothing less.


It's hilarious that they're actually trying to claim that PO risked fines for leaving the forest alone :D

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Amazing that you consider free elections to be "nonsense".

Says a lot about your real feelings about Poland, doesn't it?

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Something that Polonius failed to mention :

As is becoming typical of PiS, they've now decided to insult the anniversary celebrations of the 1989 elections on the 4th June by forcing all government employees to work on that day. Workers will be forcibly given the day off on the 27th May, and will be forced to work on the 4th June instead.

The 4th of June is a Saturday, and gatherings are planned all over Poland to celebrate the restoration of democracy to Poland. As everyone in Poland knows, the day is celebrated as the Day of Freedom and Civil Rights - so to make people work on this day is nothing but utter disrespect for Poland's democracy.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


And he's right. The rule of law will always win over the rule of Party.

Perhaps this time, Poland won't make the same mistake as in 1989 and those guilty of abuse of office will find themselves in prison for a long time.


You mean he's been on the out with the Kaczyński twins when he threw them out of the President's chancellery for scheming and manipulating behind his back. Tell the truth, now.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


He was the CEO of one of the biggest banks in Poland.

Doesn't take a genius to work out that he's going to know how to play the political game better than most, and he's not going to let himself go down in history for overseeing total disaster. He's already made it crystal clear that he expects other ministries to fall into line, after all.

Unlike Szydło and Duda, it's hard to imagine him being a marionette for anyone.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Morawiecki is up to something. He's young, he's got his entire reputation on the line (especially now that he's going to be announced as a vice-Chairman of PiS) and he's got potentially 8 years as Prime Minister ahead of him if he eliminates Kaczyński from PiS.

I don't believe for one second that this is his real face - he's simply putting himself in a position of power to eliminate Szydło to begin with.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Now, instead of reposting crap mentioned in the Sejm by PiS, let's look at some real facts.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-11/polish-stocks-count-50-billion-cost-one-year-after-duda-victory


The numbers don't lie. $50 billion wiped off the WIG20 in one year says it all. This quarter, the WIG20 has lost 12% - which can directly be pinned on PiS.

There's also this quote by a equities manager :


Says it all, says it all.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Not really a nuclear bomb at all, because of two simple facts :

1) There was no evidence whatsoever presented, beyond the word of politicians
2) The "audit" was performed by the government without any credible independent oversight whatsoever

The latest poll results say it all : 38% support the anti-PiS coalition vs only 33% for PiS.

No nuclear bomb at all, but rather proof that PiS are yet again obsessing over political enemies while ignoring economic issues. It's all a smokescreen to cover up the fact that they have no hope in hell of funding their pre-election promises.

The nuclear bomb was today, as it's now been discovered that PiS pushed through a change in the law meaning that the State Forestry Service now have a veto over the sale of land zoned as forest. The same veto can be used to force someone selling their property to sell the forest to LP, at a price determined by the court.

Effectively, anyone with a garden that's partially zoned as forest is now at the mercy of Lasy Państwowe.

*that* is a nuclear bomb, as many sellers are now discovering that their properties are suddenly worth a lot less.


I'll disprove this one, because it's what I'm most interested in. The claim was that the roads being built were the most expensive in Europe.

The actual truth was on the GDDKiA website - tvn24bis.pl/z-kraju,74/polskie-autostrady-nie-najdrozsze-w-europie,643114.html

The report performed by PwC for the GDDKiA reveals the truth :


Such simple facts, and ones that make a mockery of your entire post.

Work / South African wants to move to Poland, please provide some input? [59]


Why? Isn't the sign of a developed society one which is highly educated in all areas?


I suspect they'll rather be working with large companies with global presences while people like you collect their money in public conveniences.

Work / South African wants to move to Poland, please provide some input? [59]


So that Polish students can be well educated in languages.

Perhaps education is an unfamiliar concept for you, but it is what it is.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Any proof of that beyond what some politicians claimed?

Given the lack of anything written and any actual hard evidence obtained through an independent audit, it seems that PiS came up with this idea over the weekend once they realised just how strong the opposition is. They'll now try and blame the inevitable downgrade on PO.

It's all very predictable, and people aren't falling for it.

Life / Warsaw is a difficult city to adjust to (coming from Canada and having lived in South Africa) Prague? [46]


It might be very recently, but for years, they were only ahead because they started from a pretty decent level compared to East Germany and Poland.


Wages are a bit higher, but only because Poland has that massive black market rural economy that the Czechs don't have. If you took into account all the undeclared income, they would probably be about equal.

Life / Warsaw is a difficult city to adjust to (coming from Canada and having lived in South Africa) Prague? [46]


Yeah, Łódź is still a pain in the neck. Once the A1 opens, it'll be much more pleasant - especially as there won't be (at least until 2018) any tolls between Warsaw and Wrocław.


Depends which roads, really. The A1 around Katowice is immense fun for instance.


Not in some ways. The Czechs are totally incapable of constructing roads for instance, so it's highly unlikely that the R52 will be finished to the Austrian border (it's the main road to/from Poland towards Vienna and Croatia) anytime soon, and they haven't got a clue how to get the D11 built to connect to the Polish S3.

The country has been stagnating for years - Slovakia isn't far behind at all, and if it wasn't for the large rural populations in both PL and SK, they would be ahead of the Czechs by now. I like the country, but it has some severe issues.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Bear in mind that this is PKO BP we're talking about, as in the biggest bank in Poland and under State control.


I'm surprised you're suggesting revoking the licence of the biggest Polish-owned bank.

Life / Warsaw is a difficult city to adjust to (coming from Canada and having lived in South Africa) Prague? [46]


Another few months and you'll be able to do the journey from Okęcie to Wrocław's Rynek in 3 hours maximum. The motorway connection on the east side of Łódź is almost finished - they might not get it open by August, but October is certain. Once that's in place, there'll be a direct expressway/motorway connection from Okęcie to Psie Pole.

Likewise to Poznań - almost all of the S5 is now under construction, meaning that in 3 years, you'll be able to drive from Wrocław to Poznań in about 1:15 or so. The train line is also undergoing massive reconstruction, and journey times should be cut to roughly 1.10-1.20 by 2020.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Interesting article here.


Strange. How could it possibly be that PKO BP, controlled by the government, only recorded a fall in profits of 9 million złoty when they had to pay 148 million złoty in taxes? Something doesn't add up here... wait.


Aha! So PKO BP managed to keep their previous level of profits by simply cutting what they paid to clients of the bank. The bank tax hasn't affected the biggest bank in Poland at all - but it has resulted in people earning less money.

bankier.pl/wiadomosc/Klienci-pokryli-podatek-bankowy-PKO-BP-7384612.html

It never ceases to surprise me just how economically illiterate most people are. PKO BP tends to be used by poorer people in society that may not have access to as many banking options as people in cities and bigger towns - which means that the bulk of the bank tax was in fact paid by the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

News / New European Council's report: "Poland oasis of racism, xenophobia and homophobia" ... [343]


Don't worry, the number will drop to 0 next year unless it's directed towards good Catholic Poles.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Couldn't agree more. It's why you see Polish politicians making comments about the Polonia for electoral purposes, but you'll notice that no Polish government ever really backs it up with serious cash. It's all tokenism.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

What a day.

It's funny as hell watching all these PiS supporters resort to abuse and childish insults as well as trying to cover up just how many people were on the streets, but there's plenty of video evidence that shows that there was a huge amount of people out there. Reuters wrote that the crowd stretched for 3km, AFP wrote about record turnouts and Die Welt estimated 250,000.

What makes the whole thing hilarious is the web chat with Kaczyński organised at exactly the same time. Anyone with any basic understanding of politics can see that it was an attempt to divert PiS voters away from what else might be shown on TV - it's actually hilarious how bad it is from a propaganda point of view. It's even more painful to see how TVP Info spent the time focusing on Kaczyński and not on something genuinely newsworthy.

Still, hilarious to see that the counter-demonstration only picked up 2000 at the most. PiS had a chance to mobilise their supporters on the streets at the same time - why didn't they? Is it because after the disaster of the 13th December march, they know that they simply can't get people out there anymore?

Life / Do you think that Polish people are rude? [951]

Agreed. A friend actually makes serious cash out of teaching Poles the rules of public behaviour.

In particular, the Polish habit of talking over each other loudly is seen pretty badly. I was in Croatia (not a country known for quietness) and even there, the Poles stood out a mile alongside the Russians.

Probably it's the only thing I genuinely despise about Poland is just how loud people are.

Language / Slavic languages words similarities with Polish [240]

:D From what I know, there's a lot of difficulties with the case system. I've got a Russian friend that speaks excellent Polish, but she makes sometimes very queer mistakes with the cases.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Retail margins. You need to sell a lot to turn a small profit, because the sector is so competitive. Nothing unique to Poland.


I imagine it would only be acceptable if the business was actually making no profit, or even losing money to make sure that those greedy owners can't benefit.


Not just on this forum, sadly. People still haven't figured out that the freedom to run a business means that businesses also have freedom to fail.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


From a quick look, Tesco are making no more than 3.5% profit on their revenue in Poland, which hardly seems excessive.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


How can Polish industry compete against foreign companies that benefit from tax breaks and large amounts of state aid?

I don't see Germany providing such deals for Polish companies, so why are PiS handing them a large amount of cash and allowing them to crowd out any domestic Polish engine producer?