News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Same difference, Rich!What's the problem with serving G-d from the Parliament vs. the pulpit? The Lord hears both as the same plea:-)

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

John Paul was in the Polish Underground Resistance, wrote for "Tygodnik Powszechny" and was front and center regarding sexual abuse in the Catholic Church along with absolving the Jews of wrong, well ahead of any other Pontiff.

Language / Having a really hard time with Polish cases [59]

Seven actually, paw, if one counts the Vocative/wolacz! Modern English no longer has case endings as we had in Old English.

Case as such gave way to context information from Middle English onward, therefore, English gradually became a more analytic as opposed to a purely synthetic one.

Cute quip about that. Apparently, Sir Edmund Spencer's "Fairie Queene" was chided when first published for its allegedly self-conscious Chaucerisms LOL

Language / "Poles" or "Polish people" - which is better to use? [200]

Either nomenclature is just fine with me.
Eternal debate seems merely hair splitting.

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

@jon,
All I'm saying is that if there's a choice between which Pope I'd favor, Benedikt or John Paul, the latter is the one not laden with such weighty baggage!

Language / Having a really hard time with Polish cases [59]

Honestly, Lenka?
Historically Poland was always more drawn to France than to Germany:-)

@jon,
Germany now boasts one of the, if not THE, top chef on the Continent and he is head chef of Das Hotel Saechsischer Hof in Leipzig!

Can't attest either to the implication that Germany is lacking in either taste tempting cuisine, down to earth people, style or passion.

Language / Having a really hard time with Polish cases [59]

Instinctively though.
I will agree that Poles, as with all native speakers of their mother tongue, acquire their first language by listening, not via the institutional methods of foreigners trying to learn a foreign language!

Often times, I remember asking rank-and-file Polish native speakers both here and in Poland, which case was required in any given instance. Except for one young woman who was a teacher/translator or Polish, the rest balked at providing an explanation....in Polish OR English.

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Although far too many hide behind a cloak of respectabilty, while their deeds don't match their "holy" words.

Don't forget either that for every Niemoeller and Bonhoeffer, there was a Bishop Dr. Ludwig Mueller of Berlin, an ARDENT Hitler supporter!

Language / Having a really hard time with Polish cases [59]

Polish cases MUST once again, be learned in context rather than as isolated grammar!

"Grammar" is an abstraction anyhow and obscures actually getting a handle on the nuts and bolts of speaking another language.

While nobody denies that the cases in Polish are crucial, merely going down a list of each seven cases in singular and plural, will create more headaches and disillusionment in the long run than true learning success:-)

Furthermore, many Poles will say that they don't know their own grammar perfectly either, not even close, except for university-educated ones.

Off-Topic / In Germany the Reichsbürger movement denies the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany [30]

Those putschists" in Germany who tried that foiled attempt at a gov't.
takeover remind me of the German version of Polish PiSlers.
An obvious point, but one which bears at least some consideration.

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]

I appreciate the factual difference, yes, of course.
However, do you think that were others apart from PiSers were in power in present-day Poland, no such claims would have been filed?

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]

'Couldn't agree more, Tacitus.
Yet, it seems to me that both sides are being quite unreasonable.
The entire discussion is fraught with so many legal ramifications (Veraestelungen), I wouldn't know where to begin!

Off-Topic / In Germany the Reichsbürger movement denies the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany [30]

Not "everything", Gefreiter Kania, but enough, considering how much half the planet relies both on trade unions for worker rights and protection as well as Social Security benefits:-)

Language / Some German loan-words in Polish language [17]

Admittedly though, the less highly schooledcwould undoubtedly eschew extreme dialect usagecin their daily speech.
However, perhaps the relationship of locals toctheir own homeland regionalisms is slightly differentcfrom that in Northern Germany.

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]

...as did the Poles reject those Rightist German nut jobs who demanded that ALL of former Prussia along with much current Polish border territory be "rightfully returned" to Germany!

Insanity cuts both ways, my friend.

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Regarding your first, undoubtedly correct, observation, the problem remains how to find THAT one school master who wasn't a Nazi adherent!

One'd have to sift awfully hard.

Off-Topic / In Germany the Reichsbürger movement denies the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany [30]

On the other hand, he DID in fact begin the first labor unions and as such, helped lay the foundations of Social Security:-)

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Hardly a comparison, jon.
I merely wonder out loud the extent to which anyone of us inculcated with the virulence of Nazi teachings from early adolescence, can even gradually expunge such filth from their system!

Indeed it can be done. A dear acquaintance of mine who recently passed away at the age of ninety-nine was to be sure that flagrant exception. It can be done...but instances of such are all too rare in my experience.

Language / Some German loan-words in Polish language [17]

Among lesser educated dialect speakers from the former Silesia, it's apparently still common to use German-altered loan words instead of "pure" Polish one, for example BANA instead of POCIAG etc..

Off-Topic / In Germany the Reichsbürger movement denies the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany [30]

The entire concept of a "Reichsbuergerstaat" dates back to the 19th century, roughly around the Bismarck Era, and, like the name suggests, indicates citizenry of an "Imperial State" as opposed to a democratic constitutional democracy.

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

A matter of personal taste, I suppose.

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Scarcely, jon! As you're very much aware, the Hitler Youth was NOT like the Boy Scouts; what little Joey learns, big Joe will never forget.

All I'm saying is that he was in my opinion a truly mixed bag and was all too controversial for beatification in future.

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Well jon, about Benedikt I as a Jew definitely have serious reservations!
First off, he was aptly described on several occasions as a "Rottweiler" when it came to his unbending view of Church doctrine, e.g. abortion and the usual suspects.

Secondly, he was indoctrinated into the Hitler Youth while still a teen, too young to have committed any crimes, old enough to have become poisoned by the noxious ideology of the Nazi creed.

While he did agree to meet with a fellow German several years back, former Rabbi Arthur Schneier of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, one cannot help but think it was all for appearances.

Hitler after all agreed to meet with certain representatives of the Judenraete, and we all know what that meant LOL

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

@Novichok,
Just because you disagree is no reason for foul talk!
You're wrong, simply admit it-:)

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

John Paul deserves beatification!
He was the first, indeed the only, sitting Pope who "absolved" the Jews of killing Christ by acknowledging the Romans' guilt.

Plenty of former Pontiffs might easily have brokered some deal with the Jews and declared them to be innocent, but they didn't.

Wojtyla was an unusual man.

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

Once again, the woman decides what she does with her body.
The definition of murder under US law has grey areas as well!

Genealogy / Do I look Polish? (my picture) [378]

I quite agree.
Actually, the group originally the butt of the above were the natives of Ostfriesland, one of the Frisian islands:-)

Travel / Bilingual signs and notices all over Poland [20]

Although only a visitor in Poland, I always found English bilingual signage annoying to say the least.
However in the above matter of the current topic thread, it sounds perfectly reasonable.

In the latter instance, presumably the signs and notices are written by native or truly bilingual Polish dialect speakers!

After many years experience both travelling as well as living abroad in Europe, I can safely say that bilingual signage in English is often a recipe for disaster, or at least, comical misunderstanding.

Think I must have shared my story regarding a sign ONLY in English at a pub in Copenhagen which read: "DON'T HAVE CHILDRED AT THE BAR!" Apparently, the barkeep was not amused when I off handedly quipped that normally people have them in a hospital LOL

When once in Amsterdam, this time a bilingual sign above a coffee shop restroom stated: "JOHN FOR MEN AND WOMEN OR OF DIFFERENT SEX!"

If anybody can explain that one, they're good:-)

Genealogy / Do I look Polish? (my picture) [378]

Warsovian to a Highlander: How many Highlanders does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Highlander: Screw in a what?

lol

Food / Half-free Christmas bigos. SMACZNEGO at Christmastime! [99]

True, yet I wonder how many older, Communist Era Poles, grown up with sooty smoke stack factories, unfiltered cigs.
alcohol swilling and so forth, take to those newer ,"healthier" menu choices!