News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]


I might point out that Ireland stood up far more succesfully to their overlords than Poland did to theirs. We kicked their arses in a war. Irish men - and indeed women - fought, really fought and gave their lives for Irish independence, unlike Poland who had it handed it to them on a plate in 1918.


I'm not sure what extreme situation you think Poland is in at present that requires the measures which are being implemented.


And there you go, proving my point, referencing events of a hundred years ago, in a Europe that has changed immeasurably since, as a model to follow in today's world.

News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]

Polly despite your world view it is a fact that the majority of Europeans, (can't speak for America) are very normal people who lead ordinary normal lives. I'm not an anarchist, nor am I a debauched libertine nor am I an atheist but your attitude is that anyone who doesn't agree with Kaczyński is precisely those things, so in fact it's you Polly and those like you, who are the nutcases and extremists.

In any case Polly, the 'reality' from which Kaczyński is detatched, is that we live in the 21st century, not in the early 20th and we have to adapt to it. I come from a country that's managed to do that quite successfully whilst still retaining a distinctive and I might say very Christian culture and preserving the best of its heritage, so it can be done.

News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]

As opposed to having the home-grown variety........

News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]

That's another issue. I don't think 'destruction' is a very helpful suggestion, a touch of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, reformed certainly. But ironically it's partly as a result of admitting the former Eastern Bloc countries that the EU has gone into decline. The whole thing became too big, unwieldy and unmanageable especially when you have a group of countries who are so far removed from the princples on which modern Europe has been developed and who can be very uncooperative.

In any case at this point in time it's more in Poland's best interests to be in the EU rather than out of it.

News / Dodgy PRL-holdover judiciary finally reformed [420]

It seems that PIS is trying to create the Poland that might have been, had World War Two and Soviet domination not intervened and they think these kind of 'reforms' are the best way to go about it. That's the particular vision of Kaczyński, it's a type of obsession, completely detached from reality.

Sadly Poland and ordinary Polish people will pay the price for this madness. For one thing, Poland will definitely become a less attractive place for investors. I can't imagine anybody from a civilised country wanting to set up a major business in a land which is gradually turning into a police state and which is looking backwards a hundred years to the early twentieth century. I firmly believe that the ultimate goal of PIS is to take Poland out of the EU and they are deluded enough to believe that Poland is strong enough to go it alone and even achieve what they perceive as its rightful position as the leader of the former Eastern Bloc.

It's also very sinister in that this is the beginning of a process which starts with state mechanisms and gradually reaches out into the everyday lives of ordinary people so that they are eventually brought under complete control and personal freedoms are eroded. There's still a long way to go but if the flow is not checked Poland is heading down a very dangerous path.

UK, Ireland / Yerba Mate in the UK [2]

Do you mean you want to market your product to Polish customers in the UK?

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]

Well you can have hydro-electricity and wind powered. You don't have to make it from fossil fuel. Happy 4th of July by the way to all our American friends - and foes :)

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]


Yes, we have free public charging of your vehicle as well. In typically Irish fashion:

"the division responsible for rolling out and maintaining the public charging points network, did propose to introduce charges late in 2015 only to postpone the decision following a bit of an uproar"

Yes, public outrage at the idea that we would have to pay for it:D (In the same way there was a national crisis of unprecedented scale when the government introduced water charges a couple of years ago and sure enough they are now going to be scrapped).

Here's the full article on the electric cars which makes for interesting reading regarding real life running costs:
independent.ie/business/personal-finance/hit-the-road-to-cheap-motoring-by-switching-to-an-electric-car-35666752.html


I don't think so at 80,000 euros!! But there are lots of cheaper ones.

Life / How are electric cars doing in Poland? [413]

Interesing. Electric cars are getting more popular in Ireland and the ESB (Electricity Supply Board, a state body) will install the home charger for free. Also the there is a 5,000 euro government grant for any individual towards buying an electric car. You can also use the ESB public chargers for free at present. I can't see any of those things happening in Poland though. Different culture.

Food / Poles prefer pizza & kebab? [73]


God Almighty. It was just a throwaway, facecious comment.

Anyway the bottom line is that in a country with a population lower than that of the UK, and if one classifies both fish and chips and kebabs as standard/popular, cheapish fast food, there are double the number of such outlets in Poland so therefore kebabs are indeed as popular in Poland as fish and chips are in the UK as I originally suggested, here's a little flashback:


but in fact even MORE popular so I'm right - as usual. You, on the other hand are as wrong as you usually are and as usual can't bring yourself to admit it. Take the shame :)

Food / Poles prefer pizza & kebab? [73]


Wulkan may I help you out here? Hooligan does not mean violent football fan. Hooligan means any uncouth individual, usually young and male, and quite likely to cause public disorder through not necessarily football related. Thus when the Prof referred to hooligans he wasn't suggesting that only football hooligans eat kebabs, but rather that they are eaten mainly by a certain type of working class male. He's wrong of course (academics frequently are when it comes to real life). I've seen all sorts of people in kebab shops.

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


Spot on as Jon would say. Polish people might decide to make their comments in English if they wanted to be sure that the targets of their 'abuse' could understand them but then how would they know that a group of middle easterners speaking Farsi would understand English. They would be far more likely to mutter to each other in Polish about towel heads or whatever.

Also bearing in mind that the students in question were teenage girls, a breed well known for dramatics ........I have plenty of experience in dealing with the tales that younger children (and I'm talking about 11 or 12 year olds, not the babies of the school) carry regarding the perceived wrongs that have been perpetrated against them, most of which on investigation prove to be without foundation. Not saying they lie outright with intent to deceive, they just either tell the part of the story that they consider important, rather than the whole story, or they put a certain slant on their version of events. Teenagers aren't that much different - nor adults for that matter.

Food / Poles have a more loving attitude to food than here in the UK [169]


There was a tradition of growing in orangeries and greenhouses dating back to Elizabethan times in England but at that time it was the preserve of the aristocracy. However it took off big time in the Victorian era so it wouldn't be that unusual to be served fresh cucumber and tomato for your afternoon tea sandwiches out of season especially if your host had a garden. But the amount that people could grow in their own domestic greenhouses was obviously limited so it was still a 'treat', not a daily thing. People still did a lot of pickling and preserving though just as Poles still do today. The1960s really changed everything with most people getting a fridge and the advent of frozen food. Then of course in the 1970s with the EEC you saw a lot of importing of fruits and veggies from other places so the 'season' for strawberries for example became earlier. The same thing is happening in Poland now.


My husband would eat them with zsiadłe mleko and koperek.


There could be something in it though. Most Polish posters here aren't old enough to remember those times but Mr Atch does. He was only a kid but he remembers going to the shop for something one day and there was nothing there except vinegar, wall to wall vinegar!


Have you read the diary of Parson Woodforde?? You'd love it! He lived in the 18th century, died in the early 1800s. It gives a very good account of the food of the period in a middle class household as he recorded what was served for dinner each day. You might be surprised. Here's an example:

"We had for dinner some Pike, a Couple of Fowls boiled and Piggs Face, green Peas Soup and a prodigious fine and fat Haunch of Venison ... The second Course was a Fricasse, a Couple of Ducks roasted, green Peas, plumb Pudding, Maccaroni, &c. ..."

I always remember one quote in particular from a Christmas entry when he didn't sleep well as 'mince pie rose oft' during the night :D

Food / Poles have a more loving attitude to food than here in the UK [169]

Interesting theory. I would add to that the demise of truly seasonal produce in the UK and the fact that obviously appreciating one's food came to be seen as vulgar. If you read etiquette books of the early part of the twentieth century aimed at the aspiring lower middle classes you'll see hilarious stuff such along the lines of 'never take too obvious an interest in food', 'when visiting do not comment on the host's decor, posessions or the food being served'. There's even a very funny one which advises men not to behave as if their dinner is the most important event of the day. I think Poles on the whole are more earthy people than the Brits.

Food / Poles prefer pizza & kebab? [73]


Yes dear, but you're not Polish. Poles are not known for their healthy eating. A meat based meal drenched in fat fits in quite well with some aspects of traditional Polish cuisine.


You'll find a kebab shop in any town of a decent size in Poland. There's even a kebab 'factory' in Śląsk. But according to a delightful chappie called Professor Pankowski of some university or other, "People who buy kebabs in Poland are often hooligans". Good to know. Bank manager asks hopeful entrepreneur 'So who is your target market?' 'Eh, that would be hooligans, my market research shows that there's an untapped market of hungry hooligans' :D

Food / Poles prefer pizza & kebab? [73]

Well now - where I live in Warsaw there are at least six kebab shops within a ten minute walk of my place.

Food / Poles prefer pizza & kebab? [73]

Kebabs are clearly very popular in Poland in the same way as fish and chips are in the UK, otherwise you wouldn't see so many kebab shops all over the place. There are some kebab shops in Warsaw anyway which have been in business for over twenty years and you don't stay in business unless you have customers.

To answer the OP's question, I think there's a few reasons. They're meaty (Poles like their meat), they're cheap, they can be taken away and eaten on the go and they're very filling. They are thus a popular choice with guys who do manual labour. Any kebab shop near a building site gets plenty of customers but I know loads of upwardly mobile, professional types who enjoy a kebab at the weekends, especially after a few drinks.

Law / Polish inheritance law in Canada [37]

The term common law spouse suggests that the person has some designated legal status but that isn't the case, not even in the UK which has a common law legal system, unlike Poland which has a system of civil law. There are no automatic rights or entitlements for a common law partner.

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


Youth with a capital 'Y'?? ja mein Komandant.


I think you mean 'ze Fazerland' ja?

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



Exactly Ziemowit that was my point, just in case the irony was lost on anyone......

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


And there's the rub, to quote our old friend Spokeshafe. Oh the irony. You're not a trolley-dolly by any chance are you?


Yes, a totalitarian one party state, that's the best way alright. Sure hasn't history shown us that time and time again, a recipe for success - peace, prosperity, the whole kit and caboodle.



Pray enlighten us, oh sagacious one, a policy of right wing socialism? How intriguing. Expand on that as Larry King would say.

News / Polish LGBT activists perform tribute to George Michael [38]

Hey Roz, let's have our own tribute to George here. How about some more classic 80s cheese from Rick Astley, let's hear it for Rick and George - the Gays, a great bunch o' lads :))

youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

God be with the days when they knew how to make a budget video!

News / Polish LGBT activists perform tribute to George Michael [38]

That's right. Wasn't he from somewhere around Highgate or that neighbourhood. From a Greek background wasn't he?

This is for him, he'd like it I'm sure:))

youtube.com/watch?v=1_RL0ZF-owM

News / Polish LGBT activists perform tribute to George Michael [38]


That's absolutely true. One example is the charity Childline who said he gave them millions over the years but never wanted it made public. He also gave all the royalties from at least five singles to charity and frequently gave large sums of money, thousands at a time to random strangers who were in financial difficulties.

UK, Ireland / Polish drink-driving murderer sentenced to 5.5 years in prison [99]

It's not so much alcoholism Bieggers but people having a normal drink in the pub, feeling fine and not realising that they're over the limit. The stats you give regarding accidetnts are not all alcohol related remember. The figure for that is 38% of the total you quote and included pedestrians who basically walked out in front of a car because they themselves were drunk. It's still a high figure though even at 38% and needs to come down. Also sentencing needs to be much harsher on those found guilty of causing a fatality.

News / Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day- March 23rd [20]

Crow, the article though from a reputable source, is poorly researched, highly subjective and written from an American point of view by somebody who clearly knows very little about the EU and probably less about Poland and Hungary. The EU is not 'attacking' Poland or Hungary. It is implementing legitimate sanctions for failure to comply with things both countries signed up to and for failing to observe EU policies, in other words breaking a treaty. Simple as that.

Food / What Polish foods do foreigners generally not take to? [139]


I make it with boczek wedzony. (Sorry I can't do the Polish diacritics on my keyboard). Gives it a lovely smoky under-taste. It's actually very much the same recipe as English split pea soup except the English stuff is made with green split peas which you don't seem to have in Poland, I've never seen them anyway and when I asked about them I was told there was no such thing!

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


Well off you trot then Missy and find the evidence. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

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

Very easily verified and in fact any Polish journalist who wanted to get a scoop and discredit Ms Kopacz could very easily confirm the fact and publish an article to that effect. I wonder nobody has done so, if it's true............

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

The Polish military currently has a fleet of 29 helicopters but they're all late Soviet era models. So they need some new ones:

"Eight are being sought to fill an urgent need for special forces missions, while eight more are required to fill a 2019 naval requirement for anti-submarine warfare and maritime search and rescue operations. The urgent nature of the acquisitions will allow Warsaw to bypass certain lengthy procurement procedures and they are believed to be talking to Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters and Sikorsky. Despite the apparent urgency, however, the government is still insisting on offset requirements, which must be an "integral part of the contract."

Information courtesey of Reuters.