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Posts by Varsovian  

Joined: 23 Nov 2006 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 22 Feb 2016
Threads: Total: 91 / Live: 89 / Archived: 2
Posts: Total: 634 / Live: 547 / Archived: 87 		From: Warsaw

Displayed posts: 636 / page 2 of 22
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Varsovian   
10 Jul 2015
Love / Polish women and fertility [24]

The birth rate among Polish women is quite high ... if they live in the UK. I read this somewhere - can someone find the stats, as I'm actually at work!!
Varsovian   
8 Jul 2015
Study / British School of Warsaw in Wilanow [73]

Thanks.
I've had various dealings with international schools in Warsaw - and they are united in their cupiditas! Seeing as I was a UK teacher for many years, I can also see that the Polish system is following the UK idea of dumbing everything down ... which is why people are switching to the Swiss IB system when they can. The good Warsaw schools knock the spots off the international schools - but children with shaky Polish simply wouldn't gain entry, so you're caught between a rock and a hard place.
Varsovian   
8 Jul 2015
News / Afera taśmowa (recordings scandal) in Poland - media coverage [17]

Firstly, with many, many more damaging recordings yet to be made public, one wonders whether the Polish media will (i) report it in brief then concentrate on football results and the weather, or (ii) do the unthinkable and not let the story drop until the unspeakably corrupt and morally bankrupt Platforma fiasco of a party is kicked out of power.

Secondly, will more recordings be released before the elections?
Varsovian   
8 Jul 2015
Study / British School of Warsaw in Wilanow [73]

If you're rich go to an international school and forget about it. The Canadian School - hmm ... find out the background of the people in charge. Your kids are young and their Polish will improve remarkably quickly if they are the reading types. My bilingual kids are both in higher education - my daughter has just passed IB (International Bac) with an impressive score of 41 points and will start studying in England this autumn ... after going through the Polish state system (village school until 16, then a Warsaw high school).
Varsovian   
19 Jun 2015
History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

Merged: Polish pagan temple Chram Mazowiecki?

I've just found where the pagan temple Chram Mazowiecki is - extremely well-hidden. I've walked past it countless times without ever suspecting. I must admit I find Slavonic mythology fascinating.
Varsovian   
11 Jan 2015
News / Self-important Warsaw mayor [18]

I have absolutely no connections whatsoever. As for the PiS intelligentsia comment ... HA HA HA!!!!!!! Good to see you support theft by the "right people" - at least we know where you stand.
Varsovian   
9 Jan 2015
News / Self-important Warsaw mayor [18]

The husband of Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz was one of the co-owners of the privatized tenement, to which his uncle had bought the rights from scammers in 1945. In fact, the house belonged to Jewish families whose authorizations were faked by one of the fraudsters - reported in the latest edition of the "W sieci" magazine. The President of Warsaw replies: "the matter is the subject of a substitute for substantive discussion about the future of Warsaw and is part of a dirty political struggle."

m.warszawa.gazeta.pl/warszawa/1,106541,16945339,Co_prezydent_stolicy_wiedziala_o_kamienicy_odzyskanej.html

Theft isn't something to be dismissed with "Get over it".

Property should go back to its rightful owners. Thieves should be punished and people in authority who help them should be punished. I was recently involved in the sale of a plot of land near to the Palace of Culture. Real owners got real money, because people like GW's husband hadn't "acquired" their property. Or perhaps we should thumb our noses at Jewish heirs who don't live in Poland? Why? Would that be because Jews aren't good enough to have their property rights respected?
Varsovian   
1 Dec 2014
News / Self-important Warsaw mayor [18]

All the Polish press reported it, but the politically-correct media decided that stealing from dead Jews wasn't a big crime. Essentially, from what I can remember, a fraudster presented a forged power of attorney in the late 1940s, saying he had the right to sell 2 properties belonging to a dead Jew. The courts convicted him of forging the POA, jailed him and nullified any dealings connected with any supposed sale. Unfortunately, the fraudster's heir turned up much later and said he had the right and a friendly fellow at Warsaw City Hall said "Fine, go ahead" amazingly, astonishingly, unbelievably without checking the full documentation regarding HGW's husband's fake title to the property. HGW's hubby (the heir to the fraudster), with grubby paper in hand, then sold the property at half-price as quickly as possible. Now the heir of the dead Jewish owner (they've traced one) has to overturn a "sale in good faith" based on "public warranty of title" - as the title to the property was in the public property register. A tall order - one that'll take years. In which time the property developer will have sold the property on ...
Varsovian   
1 Dec 2014
News / Self-important Warsaw mayor [18]

Merged: Gronkiewcz-Waltz: Mayor of Warsaw's family made a fraudulent fortune from Holocaust theft

Her husband """""inherited""""" a property and got a compliant City official to legalise it for him, knowing it was unlawful, then sold it on """"in good faith""" at half-price because it was hot goods. Normal people would be massively embarrassed, but not the Mayor of Warsaw. She's above and beyond it all.
Varsovian   
16 Nov 2014
History / People the Soviets planted in Poland [75]

Has anyone in a prominent position acted in a peculiar way recently? In particular, in a way that could damage Polish relations with one of Russia's neighbours? Just asking ...
Varsovian   
9 Oct 2014
Food / Clotted cream - where I can buy it in Wroclaw? [9]

You can't buy milk in Poland. Homogenized stuff, yes. Normal pasteurized, no. I get it from a farmer when I visit my parents-in-law. You can't get whipping cream either. People add chemicals to it to make it stand up. Pathetic.
Varsovian   
9 Oct 2014
Real Estate / Inheritance & House Valuation - how does it work in Poland? [8]

You can't get a valuation done in Poland. We don't even have proper property surveyors. I'd pay estate agents to value the property - but you'd have to be there when they did it, or they would chat with the person living in the house and undervalue it (for a little fee). I suggest a little holiday to Poland if you know what's good for you.
Varsovian   
26 Aug 2014
Travel / Warsaw airport baggage handlers - long delays on slow days [2]

I arrived at Warsaw Chopin airport on Monday morning (August 25) and had to wait over an hour for LS Airport Services to get the bags on the carousel. After 35 minutes I went to find a supervisor, who didn't believe me - because she knew (!!) that the Athens bags had arrived. Yes, the baggage handlers deliver the first 2 bags for every plane quickly so they can achieve good stats. Very Polish.

We couldn't make an official complaint, because we would have had to queue 30 minutes to get it countersigned.
Pathetic. Oh - to add insult to injury - I had to tell non-Polish speakers what the announcements meant, because no-one could make them in English.
Varsovian   
12 Aug 2014
News / Closet homosexual politicians in Poland [83]

So I take it PO wouldn't have a problem if a married politician had a gay affair with a shady character and there was photographic evidence. Well, that's set my mind at rest then.
Varsovian   
12 Aug 2014
News / Closet homosexual politicians in Poland [83]

But would a married politician have to resign if he had a gay affair? I mean, you never know - these things sometimes happen and photos are sometimes taken. Would Platforma find it embarrassing, especially if the lover was involved in shady dealings? I mean, PO is supposed to be open-minded, isn't it?
Varsovian   
11 Aug 2014
Study / Where I should study journalism(in Poland ) [32]

Look, realistically, you are not going to get a journalism job in Poland. So, forget it. And if you feel you're being discriminated against, most big journalism jobs in Poland go to people whose parents were well-connected decades ago - especially in the secret police. So, most Polish journalists stand no real chance of a good job either :)
Varsovian   
11 Aug 2014
Genealogy / Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw Poland [11]

Belated thanks for all the answers - I've been going to his grave for some time now - and sending photos to his English widow. Factoid - he was involved in the longest single air combat in history. Intercepted by German fighters over the Bay of Biscay, flew back at sea level - you can read all about it somewhere online. Stan was the navigator. Great bloke and family friend.
Varsovian   
20 Jun 2014
News / Poland's interior minister and the central bank chief recorded [28]

Polish TV broadcast clear images of ABW agents who are involved in counter-espionage operations. Clear voices too. Boris can stay in bed and see exactly who's been tailing him. Illegal TV coverage. And now the neighbours know - and the schoolteachers too. I was visiting parents-in-law yesterday - and the neighbour came round, saying "Have you seen X on TV?" Fantastic. Bravo.
Varsovian   
10 Jun 2014
History / Poles slaughtered during World War 2 by partisans in Koniuchy [10]

Just one of those sad little stories of people doing their best to survive the war. This time round, the ragtag self-defence force failed to stave off a raid for revolutionary supplies (i.e. pillage by rabid Commies). This story gets little airing, and when it does the lies start flying, because "the right people died at the hands of the good guys."