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Posts by jon357  

Joined: 15 Mar 2012 / Male ♂
Warnings: 2 - OO		 Last Post: 6 hrs ago
Threads: 74
Posts: 22,204 		From: In the Heart of Darkness
Speaks Polish?: Tak

Displayed posts: 22272 / page 737 of 743
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jon357   
24 Apr 2012
Life / Why is circumcision not practiced in Poland? [701]

Dodgefan07
You do realise that the site you linked to is a highly partial one, advocating circumcision for Islamic reasons.

Darwin's notion that Asians evolved from Oranguatans and Blacks from Gorillas, or any other myth you want

Charles Darwin didn't say anything of the sort, however evolution has been proved beyond all reasonable doubt - and European society has evolved enough not to get involved in silly and pointless practices like circumcision.
jon357   
24 Apr 2012
Travel / Anybody VERY familiar with bars in Warsaw? [22]

I need help trying to identify a bar from a picture

Post it and there's a good chance I'll know it. It's a shame Harry isn't here any more - he'd be the best person to ask.
jon357   
24 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

Have you had a sex change?

No, however there's a story I don't want to tell...

Re abortion, not all very young women are the same, nor are all slightly older women with careers, nor is every woman who already has a family. Each has their own reason for having the procedure. Nobody has ever compared it to having a tooth out, but for some it is a huge relief.
jon357   
24 Apr 2012
Food / Name of this particular Polish sausage [18]

I'll try that then! Thanks for your help everyone!

Try adding some chopped onions (to the very hot roasting tin) a few minutes before pouring in the batter. Yorkshire style, and always goes down well in Poland. It also helps offset the dense texture of the kielbasa! BTW, don't be tempted to use those sausauges they sell in packs for barbecues. I tried that once and they are just too thick.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

everything is so simple and clear-cut

In a lot of places yes - neutral, dispassionate information is available before the procedure. Nobody advising anyone to have it, nobody trying to persuade them not to.

Mine happens to be based on experience. So please don't be so rude and call it 'tosh'. Frankly it has a better foundation than your posturing.

If only you knew.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
News / Why is PO still in power? [9]

You mean say like a party which was created less than a year ago and now has 42 MP's?

Ruch Palikota? I prefer them to the others, but they need a direction. And the views of their members are so diverse it's a split waiting to happen.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
News / Should Poles care who becomes French President or is it irrelevant? [45]

As the Euro-zone falls apart, it could be useful to have a French President not so heavily personally invested in the whole project.

I see what you're saying, however it's in France's very best interests to preserve the Eurozone. Merkozy may be on the way out, but the new leader will be as close to Germany as he possibly can be.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
Food / Name of this particular Polish sausage [18]

. I say, take your pick of many of the delicious types of kielbasa available.

It's traditional British sausage which has a much lower meat content and much more cereal to absorb the fat and give a lighter texture. When using a Polish sausage, the important thing is that it isn't hard or too fatty. It wouldn't work with Krakowska, Jalowcowa or even Wiejska. You could do it with Kaszanka, however it would have to be chilled when it went in the pan and the taste would be very different to the authentic Toad in the Hole. I've found that Biala is the least inauthentic.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
Food / Name of this particular Polish sausage [18]

n I remembered that Polish sausage and English sausage aren't exactly the same. Is there a type of sausage I could buy in Poland which would be good for this?

Not exactly, but it works with kielbasa biala better than any other.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

Again, not quite right ... rather for all who are told it is the 'sensible' option, and are too young/naive/inexperienced to understand even what they are doing,

That's pure tosh. Information on every aspect of the procedure is freely available, and women right from puberty to the menopause undergo terminations.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
News / Why is PO still in power? [9]

Sometimes at the expense of looking at wider/more important issues?

Many people say this. EU membership and migration to the UK/Holland etc have averted a possible demographic and financial crisis, and anyone over about 40 or 45 has experienced more political change than anyone needs, hence the appeal of any sort of stability.

Sometimes it feels like Poland is waiting for the next political movement to come along. The Ziobrysci don't count, and Ruch Palikota is just plugging a gap. The issue is that PO won't change as long as they have voters and despite many of the activists being unhappy with th way the party is run, no new political camp has emerged.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
News / Should Poles care who becomes French President or is it irrelevant? [45]

Monsieur Hollande looks to be the most leftist leader France will have had since Mitterand, so we can expect plenty of social programs, government hirings, and a raise in the minimum wage. For the working class Polish, especially in the mining regions and Calais, this will certainly prove beneficial and popular, n'est-ce pas?

Very beneficial, but the real effects will come through France's influence in the EU.
jon357   
23 Apr 2012
News / Why is PO still in power? [9]

Why is PO still in power?

Because they won the election and have a clear majority.

How on earth did they win the elections then?

People voted for them.

2 possibilities

1/ It was a fix.

No - Poland isn't Belarus or Myanmar, and if one thing can be said about Poland it is that there is huge media scrutiny of political minutiae.

2/ PO know that they are unable to promote themselves with what they have done, so all they have left is to say 'Yeah this government might be bad but look at what it could be like if you vote for the racist psychopathic conspiracy theorists known as PiS.

It's true that there isn't really any opposition capable of forming a government. PiS couldn't without the helpof an openly racist fringe party and couldn't last a whole term of office.

It is a sad state of affairs when you vote for party not because you think they are the best choice and would do well in charge but because you think they are the best looking piece of trash on the scrap heap.

The same the world over.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

The 1968 abortion act

A great breakthrough, but not far enough. In practice, doctors allow it for all who ask.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Life / Catholic "Telewizja Trwam" from Poland - your thoughts? [98]

The link you supplied was 2006.

That makes it less valid? Or that a polite message has somehow cancelled it out? No. Unless you're suggesting the Rydzyk has somehow changed since then, sold his Maybach and started to avoid politics, which judging by the protests in Warsaw, he clearly hasn't.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

As far as the woman's hormonal system and the way her body is operating at 3 months into a pregnancy, to remove that pregnancy is catastrophic.

Were that true, healthcare professionals in developed countries would not routinely offer the procedure more or less on demand.

So, it is convenient in a teen pregnancy to say 'it isn't a baby', but when someone has been desperate for a child and paid thousands for IVF, they are cracking the champagne and crying with joy when they see it a few stages after zygote in a petri dish.

Pretty well true, though we can't expect one group to share the same feelings or priorities of the other.

Is it ok to be pregnant and a teenager in Poland?

If you're married, yes. If you're not married, it isn't so much of a scandal as it used to be.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Life / Teenage Pregnancy in Poland [108]

The baby is about 5 or 6 cm long, and has had a beating heart for some weeks

It isn't a baby at that stage. It isn't sentient, doesn't have a thought process and removing it isn't murder.

If teens are raised with the right values, they can be trusted out in the world. No need to keep them locked up in towers.

You'd think so, but teenagers have always been and always will be teenagers.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

I'm actually on a ship travelling between between the Gulf of Mexico and the Ekofisk oil field at the moment (currently sort of between Greenland and Scotland) but I'll be back in Warsaw in a couple of weeks. The rate at the one I use is usually a little better than most others. The best advice is to avoid ones in touristy locations and shopping centres (especially the one in Zloty Taras). The 24 hour one on ul. Krucza isn't usually bad.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

Zielona Gora

Have a wander round the centre of Zielona Gora - there are certainly kantors there. They all have a table of the exchange rates they offer. 'Kup' means 'buy' (that's the column with the number of zloty you'd get per pound) 'Sprzedaż' means 'sell' (that's the rate if you change zloty to pounds). British pounds are usually listed on the table as 'GBP'.

It's worth checking the bans (who often have a similar table on display). their rates aren't usually as good, but from time to time they can be.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

The kantor is usually the best bet. Always better than in the UK and at cash machines. If you're going to Warsaw, PM me - I can recommend one that always has a very good rate for sterling - it's tucked away a bit, so you'd need directions to find it.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
Life / Catholic "Telewizja Trwam" from Poland - your thoughts? [98]

So much for the Vatican shunning RM.

Really?

"The Holy See urges Poland's bishops to gather together to try to overcome the current difficulties brought about by some of the broadcasts and positions taken by Radio Maryja," Kowalczyk said in a separate letter sent to the Polish episcopate.

In January, the Roman Catholic Church already issued a sharp rebuke to the fundamentalist Polish priests, led by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, who run Radio Maryja, the Trwam cable television station and the Nasz Dziennik newspaper.

freerepublic.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
News / Presidential elections and debates 2015 Poland [472]

It's a toss up between Kaczynski, Ziobro and Korwin-Mikke. Given that the latter stabbed himself in a restaurant toilet and blamed it on a 'Chinese Assassin', I'd say he's pretty near the front of the queue.
jon357   
22 Apr 2012
News / Forbes: Boot Argentina from the G20 and include Poland [44]

The Elite are angry at Argentina because they want to nationalize the oil industry down there and why not?

'The elite'?? Ha.

One problem with Argentina (the main problem for economists) is the litany of broken promises, the endemic corruption, the mounting public debt and the absolute lack of fiscal transparency.

Only if Argentina takes over Falkland Islands again

In Kirchner's dreams.

You know she recently called on Argentina to stop importing British goods and eventually have a ban. Despite the fact that all they import from the UK are speciality teas, whisky and biscuits whereas the UK is a major buyer of Argentinian goods.
jon357   
21 Apr 2012
Life / Catholic "Telewizja Trwam" from Poland - your thoughts? [98]

, on some website in Polish and English if my memory serves me correctly.

The Vatican website roundly criticises the Rydzyk organisation for engaging in politics under the name of religion. Also, on his last visit to Poland, John Paul II refused to to come to the window for or even acknowledge the Family when they turned out to greet him waving their mohair berets. Something of a sore point for them.