News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]

How else would you come up with a reliable rape statistic aside from police reports? Ask every single women? Just like with this report, some will be truthful some will not - in every country not just some. This UN report didn't do a bad job...

Again, we're comparing Poland with Belgium and Sweden - countries that are very similar in the fact that they are developed European countries that share a similar religious background. Even if we're assuming a good portion of the answers are bogus or that not all women reported a rape, the fact is still that according to the UN, more women reported rapes in Belgium and Sweden than Poland....

Crime is lower in Poland than many other European countries - I'm just using rape since we were discussing how German women were raped by migrants in Cologne and the Police in Sweden has been downplaying crimes committed by migrants and media outlets not reporting it.

time.com/4176681/sweden-police-sexual-assault-refugees-migrants-afghans/

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]


That's why this study is only measuring reported rapes per 100,000 people. Some of them could be legit rapes, some could be trying to get back at a boyfriend, some could be the girl was drunk the night before and regrets what she did, etc. There's no way to tell but this kind of stuff happens all over the world. Again, we're only comparing Poland versus the rest of Europe and the culture and the Human Development Index in Poland is not way different from that in Belgium, Sweden, Germany, etc. They are all classified as EU countries, have a high standard of living compared to the rest of the world, and even share a similar religious background. However, the incidence of rape is much higher in Sweden and Belgium than in Poland despite the fact that they are European countries, with pretty similar cultures, and similar Human Development Index scores.

I love Poland as I was born there, I have a home there, my entire family is there and I plan to go back to live the rest of my life, settle down, get married and have kids, and hopefully retire there. I don't want my Polish women or my Polish lands to get raped, whether it's physically or metaphorically.

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News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]


This information was gathered from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. As a business major who has taken many statistics classes I can tell you that many are bogus as it is very easy to manipulate data for the purpose of your bias. Yes there might be some errors but I don't see a whole lot of bias - plus it was made by the UN...

Yes, this list is of is rapes REPORTED to Police - not total rapes and not even rapes that resulted in a court case, prosecution, etc. So yes, there will be countries at the bottom of the list because perhaps there are little to no police stations, illiteracy among women is high, reporting rape is discouraged, it's a hardcore Muslim country, etc.


However, note that the top 4 countries are all sub-Saharan African countries where there is little to no infrastructure (aside from perhaps South Africa). Poor African countries spanned the whole spectrum from having lots of rapes - i.e. the top 4 - to very few rapes like with Kenya which was towards bottom. I'm guessing it's more difficult to report a rape in Lesotho or Botswana where there is hardly any roads let alone a car that the girl can drive to the police station or hospital. Also, Malta is a pretty rich country and the level of Human Development in Sweden, Germany, and France is much closer to Poland, Romania and Malta, than say like Estonia and Poland versus Kenya. Also, there are wealthy countries like Canada and Japan that are way at the bottom with very few rapes despite the citizens having easy access to Police.

The fact of the matter is this - developed rich countries like Belgium, Sweden, etc. have higher level of rapes, according to the UN, reported to the police per 100,000 inhabitants than Poland - that's what we were debating. There are cell phones, cars, lots of police stations in Poland, Belgium, Romania, etc. It's not sub-Saharan Africa where if you have 10 goats and a hut with electricity you're rich and there's only police stations in the major cities and few in the countryside. Wre're not debating whether it's easier to report a rape in Poland and Romania than German or Belgium but since you brought it up I'm sure it's roughly the same as Poland is not a 3rd world country. This list would show that the country's wealth doesn't really matter all that much because there are poor countries at the very top and at the very bottom just as there are rich countries at the top and bottom. Also, even some of the very poor countries seemed to have performed better in this 'rape' statistic than developed ones which seem to have a very high level of rape.

One of the suspects they're looking for is from Morocco but a Belgian citizen and actually studied at a Catholci school. The attackers had really long rap sheets and one was apparently just deported from Turkey and the government alerted Belgium that he's a terrorist - armed robbery, assault weapon possession, car jacking, terrorism, shooting at police... These are not the kind of people that should be allowed to settle into the EU

nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/brussels-attackers-what-we-know-so-far.html


Why? Saudi Arabia isn't letting of them in? They have more in common with the refugees than we do. We're not a Muslim country... let the Muslim countries let them in.

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]


If you understood the entire context and not posted just a phrase, you would see that I was stating that Polish women are not getting raped by Muslims like they were in Cologne during New Years. There was even a video released out of Sweden that the women deserve 'real' mean meaning the migrants and not Swedish men - perhaps they're right since it appears the the liberal men have lost their balls.

Polish men stand up to these invaders unlike those in Western Europe who are allowing a foreign group to dictate what the customs should be and trampling all over their beautiful culture.

And yes, violent crime is rather low in Poland...

Crime in Poland is lower than in many countries of Europe.Surveys conducted in 2005 placed Poland below the European average, with crime victimisation rates lower than in Ireland, England and Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and Norway -

unicri.it/wwd/analysis/icvs/pdf_files/ICVS2004_05report.pdf

nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Rape-rate
Poland has half of the amount of rapes per 100,000 than Germany and Austria and a fraction of what Norway and Sweden have. Sweden has the 5th most rapes out of all countries measured - it has the same rate of rapes per 100,000 as poor 3rd world countries. Zimbabwe has less rapes than Sweden and Belgium...

Poland crime rates are very low - yeah vandalism might be high because the kids spray paint everything and there is a bit of police corruption but violent and property crimes are low:

numbeo.com/crime/city_result.jsp?country=Poland&city=Warsaw

even a British article on this topic:
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043004/Lifestyle-better-Poland-UK-Less-crime-violence--cheaper-too.html

News / Germany After the EU and the Russian Scenario - future of the European Union and Poland [310]

Poland's biggest trading partner is Germany though - 26% of Polish exports according to the source below. Hopefully they'll form better relations with the Visegard 4, Serbia, Russia, and the rest of Europe.

worldsrichestcountries.com/top_poland_exporters_trade_partners.html

The sanctions hurt Poland a bit since 5% of Polish exports go to Russia so it is several billion dollars that got affected. However, it's not like Poland would collapse because they couldn't export to Russia. Yes, it hurt a little but it's not like total devastation of the economy because of Russian sanctions.

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]

I know they weren't targeting Poles on purpose. The terrorists simply seek to kill as many innocent 'infidels' as possible and don't care if Muslims get killed in the process. That's what I thought you meant that 'Islamists' are fundamentalists. You are correct though - even Al Qaeda and Al Nusra labels IS as infidels and non-Islamic and vice versa.


Exactly! This is why either refugees need to be stopped since not all Muslims are 'Islamists' but all 'Islamists' are fundamentalist Muslims. A border guard doesn't ask are you a Salafist or hold fundamentalist beliefs? Until these 'refugees' are vetted properly, Europe ought to put the brakes on this although it's already too late. These people, Muslim, Islamic, fundamentalist, whatever breed like rabbits and are simply going to overtake the native population. I've travelled all over Europe and I don't want Beglium to turn into Belgistan in a couple decades although I feel it's too late. The problem too is that many of the young refugees come to Europe and don't have a sense of belonging so they go to the radical mosques where they are indoctrinated. That is how your average atheist or non-practice 'Muslim' becomes an 'Islamist.' If there weren't fundamentalist violent preachers in the first place this wouldn't be an issue.

I don't know why Europeans get their panties in a bunch when they hear some idiots went to Syria or Iraq to join ISIS. I'd say good - leave the country and don't come back. The government needs to track them and make sure they don't come back or even better send some drones to take them out. Quite frankly, I'd think that makes it easier to identify who they are once they leave and kill them. Unfortunately, the government is inept and can't catch them when they return like happened with the Paris attack. Then again, I don't know - sounds easy in theory but I'm not in the CIA or Interpol so I don't know how this works in practice.

Poland is protecting itself so that it doesn't have to deal with an incident like France, Belgium, England, Spain, etc. dealt with in the past. It's just a precautionary measure. Most likely, there won't be an ISIS attack but I'd imagine the chance of a lone wolf attack by someone who is unhappy with the way Polish society treats him and other Muslim refugees is likely.

Personally, if I were head of the EU, I'd round up all the Syrians and give them military training and give them a 1 way ticket to Syria so they can liberate their country. Then I'd build a great big beautiful wall around the EU borders so we can have a Schengen zone and not have to worry.

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]

Poland is MUCH safer than Germany, Belgium, Sweden, etc. Our women are not being raped, refugee centers are being torched, and police aren't being shot at when they enter a Muslim neighborhood.

However, the more Muslims you allow in, you're also letting in more of that 1% of Muslims that are violent extremists.

Poland most likely won't have any attacks in the near future - however that doesn't mean that the government and citizens won't take necessary steps to protect themselves.

Planes weren't grounded and travel restricted due to the attacks, but the government DID ramp up security AND refused to accept the 7,000 refugees they originally promised to let in as a result of the Brussels attack.

The fact is, the Muslim community is very small in Poland - by some estimates around 30,000. Most of these individuals are Tatars and are rather integrated into the society and even look like your everyday Polish citizen. However, there are small numbers of refugees that are from the Middle East and are facing discrimination in Poland, because well in general Polish people are rather xenophobic and are very concerned that their country will become like Germany. It only takes a few guys, or even just one, that feel Polish society hates them and they want to get revenge. I think that an attack in Poland would more than likely be a 'lone wolf' attack committed by a refugee who is dissatisfied with life in Poland and seeks vengeance rather than like a direct ISIS operative. However, ISIS did say that they will infiltrate the refugee population and attack Europe - which they did. Poland is on their list, granted probably at the very bottom, since they promised to attack countries allied with the US.

After seeing what happened in France and Belgium, the government is naturally going to step up security at the border. They wouldn't be doing their jobs if they didn't. However, for the average citizen, yes you are right, life will continue as normal.


Yes - they were refusing to accept refugees but then renegotiated and said that they'd accept 5,000 or 7,000 or whatever the number was. Now they said because of the attacks they will not accept any.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3506450/Poland-abandons-agreement-EU-7-000-migrants-Brussels-suicide-bombings.html

breitbart.com/london/2016/03/24/poland-reneges-on-pledge-to-take-7000-migrants-following-brussels-attack/

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]


Can you explain the difference? Last time I checked, Islam is the religion and Muslims are the followers. Muslims read the Koran, which is an Islamic text. Yes, like with Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. there's different branches and levels - some more religious and orthodox, some less. However, all Muslims pray to Allah and believe Mohammed was the prophet which is what Islam is about. Yes, some will pray more, some less, some will kill you if you draw Mohammed, some may even laugh and understand it's satire. Is 'Muslim' to you just a general follower of Islam and an 'Islamist' someone who is rather extreme - perhaps like a Salafist? We usually call those individuals fundamentalists.


You realize two Poles were hospitalized due to the Brussels bombing? Yes, the markets are open, trains are coming and leaving, the airports are bustling, etc. however there has been already some change. For one, the Polish government has already refused to accept refugees as a DIRECT RESULT of the bombing in Belgium. So yes, perhaps for the average citizen you are right - most likely it's business as usual. However, the government has already made some changes because of this attack.

lodzpost.com/polishnews/poland-steps-up-security-at-airports-and-railway-stations-following-brussels-attacks/

News / Poland directly threatened by ISIS. Do Islamists planning terrorist attacks in Poland? [390]


Yes they do - what are you talking about? Poland has the 21st largest economy - over $1 tril GDP... Poland is in a very important geopolitical place because it is on the border of NATO allied countries and Russian allied countries.

Yes, ISIS did threaten Poland in one of their videos stating that any country allied with the US against them is a target. I'm not an ISIS commander but I think it's safe to say that Poland is low on the list of targets. It's one of the more recent videos they released - it'd post a link but I'm at work and don't want the IT guys to see me watching ISIS videos. Now, if we allow a bunch of 'refugees' to come into Poland it's only a matter of time before there is an incident.

The multi-kulti crowd loves to say - 'Oh well, the terrorists and extremist are only 1% of the Muslim population at most' ISIS said flat out that they're going to send operatives mixed in with refugees. I think people should listen to that considering the huge amount of Muslims that have entered Europe and the fact that there's already been too many innocent citizens killed by ISIS affiliated individuals in just the past 1-2 years. Almost 200 in just the 2 most recent large attacks! Yes, maybe there 5,000 operates or whatever number ISIS said that infiltrate Europe is too high but it doesn't really matter. Let's use the Polish figure of how many refugees they told the UN they'd let in - 2,000. If as the liberals say, only 1% of the Muslims are terrorists and extremists, that leaves you with 20 terrorists/extremists by that calculation. It only took 3 guys to murder 35 in Belgium just a few days ago and I believe 6 or so to murder over 100 in Paris. So yes, Poland is in trouble and is in danger and the more Muslim refugees that are let in the larger that 1% number becomes. They aren't in as grave danger as perhaps Germany, France, Belgium, etc. because the Muslim refugee population is much higher, but that doesn't mean there's no risk at all of a terrorist attack committed by Muslim extremists posing as refugees. Furthermore, the refugees in Poland are in a society where they are not accepted and their communities are very small. There's no areas like Molenbeek in Poland, yet, thank goodness, where they are the majority in an area. However, the individuals that aren't liked by Polish society may all the more be inclined to commit some act since they are not liked by the society and want revenge.

Poland isn't in as much danger as perhaps Belgium, France, England, etc. because thank goodness the people half some common sense and didn't allow their country to get invaded by a group with opposing religious views and customs. I'll take my Polish soccer hooligans over Salafists with Sharia 4 Poland banners anyday.

Polska dla Polakow


There is a video online of Russian soldiers shooting survivors of the Smolensk crash. I don't know what exactly happened and whether the Russians were involved or not. I can't say for certain but I do know that the Russians have repeatedly blocked investigation efforts by the Poles. Why would they do that if they had nothing to hide? Also, this video and the media reporting on it raises some further questions. I'm not saying for 100% the Russians shot it down and I'm not saying for 100% that it was pilot error. I am saying though there is a lot of things though that are being hidden from a proper investigation.

liveleak.com/view?i=3a0_1271277684
same video but enhanced and a bit longer: British article about this video:

witness who shot this video apparently committed suicide:
rt.com/news/polish-president-crash-suicide-483/

You need to stop taking everything at face value and believe everything that the media tells you. I'm not saying to walk around in tin foil hat - as there are some very ridiculous conspiracy theories. However, the point is they ask questions they don't just blindly believe.

Quite frankly, citizens were told that we were safe from ISIS. I believe the shootings in the US and Europe prove otherwise. Poland ought to protect itself considering they let in some refugees. They may not be in as much danger as other invaded Western countries. That's something for the government, military, and intelligence agencies and citizens as well to determine how to react appropriately. Let's put it this way - Poland is at a much higher risk of an Islamist terrorist attack then they were 5, 10, 20 years ago because of the refugees they let in. It only takes a few individuals, even just one, to kill a bunch of innocent people. Granted yes, most of them were Catholic but there were a bit of Muslims as well. A lot of the refugees that Poland actually let in would get some money, get set up for a while, and then go to Germany anyways.

Life / Opinions about priests in Poland [10]

It depends on the individual... yes there are priests who change into an Armani t shirt and jeans and hit the clubs on the weekends and there are those who instead hear confessions and read the bible. There are rabbis that denounce genocide and there are those who extort funds for 'kosher' blessings. There are imams who support ISIS and others who are against it. Like with any race, faith, nationality, political view, job type, sexual orientation, etc. there are good and bad apples.

Poland in general suddenly began to experience a free market as communism fell and so consumerism and materialism became much more prevalent in society. Some priests stuck to their values and morals, some did not.

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

It's funny because I know exactly what you're talking about. Priesthood is sometimes thought of as a good paying, financially rewarding career rather than a job to serve the community and the faith. I have two members in my family that are priests - both in small somewhat rural towns outside of Wroclaw. One lives it up, drives a Mercedes, drinks all the time, and makes bank by Polish standards. The other is a counselor to the community and is very liberal in the sense that he doesn't judge alcoholics, divorcees, etc.


Not exactly. Polish Catholics didn't suffer that much losses at the hands of other Catholics when compared to the losses they suffered against other nations' religions. Throughout Polish history, the largest battles and losses that Poland incurred were usually against Russians, Prussians, Austrians, and prior to the partitions the Turkish Muslims and their allies. Poland fought a huge war against the invading Turkish Muslims but hasn't faced a large Muslim force since really Jan Sobieski's time. They were repelled and their power gradually diminished with only little outposts in the Balkans by WW1 they were already the sick man of Europe . I would say that Poland suffered the most casualties against Russians throughout its history due to the near constant wars with Russia - some they won like the Polish-Soviet War (1919) and Livonian War (1550-1580's) and Polish-Moscow war (early 1600s) but many they lost like WW2 when Russia invaded from the East (and killed far more Polish Catholics than the Nazis and deported hundreds of thousands - some of which are still living in Siberia to this day), the November Uprising (around 40k Poles dead), Polish Russian War and other battles during the Partitions. Before the Partitions, the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was spanking Russia left and right - driving Hussar pikes up the butts up of Smolensk and Moscow residents regularly. Then Russia got revenge and was making Poland is beyotch till a bit after WW1 during the Polish- Soviet war when Poland repelled the Russians but didn't really gain territory.

Russia was predominantly Orthodox (and still is) during the time of the Partitions and into Bolshevik revolution. When Poland was fighting Russia again after WW1, The Orthodox church was in decline in Russia. It was still popular but the Bolsheviks leaders, who were often Jewish, wanted to do away with Orthodox church as it threatened their power and control. So most of the soldiers were 'athiest' or Orthodox that were lead by Bolshevik Jews such as Trostky, Lev Kamenev, Moshe Uritsky (Cheka chief) and so on.

So no, most war casualties throughout Poland's history weren't actually caused by other Catholics but more so by Orthodox if anything and also Protestants from German-Prussian lands and perhaps 'atheists' from Bolshevik and Soviet Russia - although I guess in the broad sense yes we do all share the same God, prophet and basic beliefs.

News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

hmm suspicious institutions... well I could write quite a bit on the Polish Police hahaha... loosing evidence? claiming they never interviewed someone? very $u$piciou$...

News / What kind of Poland do most Poles want? [101]

Yeah Delph I do find that unfortunate. There's a lot of infighting among Poles - we aren't a very united people and aren't the 'help your neighbor out' types. I do hope that changes and I think the church could play a leading role.

There was a lot of political activism during the communist times and with the solidarity movement but that kind of fissiled out in the 90's and 2000's although it's resurging a bit as many in Poland, especially the left, are trying to make the country more 'Western.' There is some limited LGBT activism but hardly any for like the environment, homeless people, drug users, abused women, etc. Overall Poland is very conservative and most activism/volunteering is and will be tied to the Catholic Church and perhaps some foreign NGO's with offices in Poland.

fpif.org/meet-polish-activists-cutting-edge-possible-left-resurgence-eastern-europe/

News / What kind of Poland do most Poles want? [101]

And yes Polonius - I'd agree with the countries you listed. Poland has traditionally held a very strong relationship with Italy (due to Catholicism) and Hungary. Also, let's not forget Lithuania. In modern Poland I'd say relationships are best between the Visegard 4 nations.

Many Poles don't like Ukrainians but tolerate them. Poles are most fearful of Russians, Albanians, Turks, Romanis (Gyspies), and Muslims in general.

Relationships with Germany and Austria are improving although many older Poles are still wary of these nations due to the partitions and world wars. Older Poles are also suspicious of Western European nations like England and France for their lack of help during WW2 and many younger/middle aged Poles are becoming more euro-skeptic as they feel Poland has given up too much sovereignty by joining the EU. They feel that Merkel and Brussels call the shots and Tusk is her lapdog. Poland has become increasingly critical of the United States as well although most continue to view the US as a military ally. However, I highly doubt the US would do much to help Poland if Russia happen to invade.

For a while Poles also did not like the Swedes due to the Potop Szwedzski. I personally supported Serbia during the Nato invasion but I don't know what the overall opinion of Serbia is. I'd imagine that Poles are weary of Serbia since it has been Russia's little buddy throughout history but don't have as much fear of it as they do Russia itself.

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

Paganism is a bit more popular in the Ukraine that in Poland. There are several churches that still hold pagan masses in dedication to Svetovid (or Swiatowit as known in Poland). Paganism isn't very popular though and even if say a group of individuals identified as pagan they'd most likely hide their faith and not practice openly as paganism is frowned upon due to the strength of the Catholic church in Poland. . There were some movements to like instill pre-Christian Slavic pride in Poland but again they were more popular in Ukraine and other places. (There's actually even a Svetovid worship/Ukranian pride center in the old neighborhood I grew up in Chicago.) Poland is a very Catholic country - paganism is frowned up and in fact the year that Poland was baptized is essentially thought of as the same time that Poland began to exist as a state. Paganism in Poland, pre-996, is thought of by most Poles as the ignorant, heathen, barbaric times of Poland's history. I don't agree with it and I wish there was more archaeology and research being conducted into Lusatian culture and this period in general but alas it is what it is. One popular historic site from this pagan time period is the Biskupin Fortress.

USA, Canada / Any Poles in Texas! [61]

I've thought about it as Texas is a very conservative state. If I were going to move to another state in the US I'd definitely go for like Texas or Arizona or something that region. However, I've never been there so I'd have to at least vacation there first. That would be ideal though like I definitely want to go to Poland to eventually get married and raise a family. I don't want to do that in the US - married perhaps but not raise kids. I'd prefer to marry a Polish girl that's lived in Poland most of her life than the Polish girls that are here in the states. Of course this is generalizing, but the Polish ladies in the US have far different morals and approach to life than the ladies I've met in Poland. I'd like to live in a state where the wages are relatively high but housing cheap since I want to save as much money as possible to take with me to Poland. In Illinois it's ridiculous. On top of already expensive housing, the property taxes are ludicrous. This is why so many people and businesses are moving into Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. It makes sense for a business to relocate 30 miles north or east because they're going to save a fortune on property taxes alone. Rahm Emmanuel increased them 17% this year (for homes/business worth over $250k but lowered it for those under $250k) so like for example the Ford manufacturing plant here in Chicago will pay an extra $2 million a year now. A small hot dog fast food restaurant will on average pay about $10k more. Keep in mind even before this they were already ridiculously high. A friend of mine is an architect and lives in Skokie in maybe a 1,700 sq ft house or so, worth maybe $250-$275k, $300k tops, and he pays $9,900 a year which will be increased by a further 17% now. Lunacy...

I have lived in Cincinnati, OH, northern Kentucky (essentially the same as Cincinnati but more rednecks), southern Wisconsin, and Chicago/Chicago suburbs. I also use to live in Delray Beach, Florida which is a bit north of Fort lauderdale (about 20-30 minutes) and Miamia (about 45mins-1hour) so I'd drive through Atlanta whenever I had to drive to Chicago and back. I didn't like Florida all that much aside from the weather and that it was very easy to find a job at least for me. However, I must say I really like Atlanta when I drove through it in the sense that I found it a pretty city, very nice highways, little traffic, and I found out the homes were very cheap. A 3,500 square foot home in a nice area could be purchased for $400k-$500k depending on siding/brick, quality of materials, age of home, etc. However, the same sized home in a nice suburb in Chicago would go for at least $600k-$700k and if it's remodeled with a nice yard you're looking at $900k plus.

I like southern Wisconsin a lot too but there was very few good paying jobs and I had to commute over an hour to work. I loved the nature though - the outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, boating, offroading, etc. was better than any other place I lived.

Cincinnati and northern Kentucky was the worst place I lived in in terms of quality of life. The housing was very cheap but there was lots of crime. Students from my university would get robbed all the time like walking to the convenience store since it was in a bad neighborhood. The locals would often pretend to be students, crash parties, and walk away with some students' Xbox. Also, there was nothing to do! The bars and clubs all closed down at 2 AM, downtown Cincinnati was a ghost town after 8-9PM on the week days, and there was prostitutes and crackheads galore on like every corner in downtown. It was like a huge ghetto until you get about 20 minutes outside of the city and into neighborhoods like Madeira, Indian Hills, Kenwood, etc. The downtown is actually very pretty especially driving across the bridge from KY into Cinci but it is very dangerous.

By the way, I stumbled across this article:

Divorced husband that wants to have sex with your ex wife? No problem under Islam!

frontpagemag.com/point/216697/maldives-president-rejects-law-banning-husbands-daniel-greenfield

"With the exception of forbidden forms of sexual intercourse, such as during menstrual periods and anal intercourse, it is not permissible under any circumstance for a woman to refrain from it when the husband is in need," Latheef said.

Work / Living in Wroclaw... Any tips on jobs and salaries (sales/marketing) in Poland? [17]

It depends on the type of product/service, industry, market, type of sales job, etc. The job I have now I have a significantly higher base salary than my last job but overall my earnings are a bit lower since the commission structure isn't as good. However, my commission gets taxed at 37% while salary is taxed quite a bit less and I don't have to pay for my insurance at this job at all, plus it's a 8 minute drive from my house so it comes out about the same in the long run. 3k Zloty netto would be livable but it'd be hard for the first few months till I got a book of business going and learned the sales cycle because at every company it's different even if they're selling similar products or services. I've looked into some sales jobs in Poland but there were only two that seemed serious about hiring me. A lot of the companies don't advertise the salary on the job posting like they do in the US so after spending a bunch of time filling out an application, sending emails, etc. they'd finally tell me the salary and it was super low. I know I would kill it since I've worked in sales ever since college and that's all I've worked in since graduating. I love it because it's a chase and I'm good at it.

Yeah some people get into sales because even the base salaries are oftentimes higher than other positions in marketing, advertising, HR, etc. and with the commission added on it's like you're earning double. However, it's a very sink or swim type of job. Some people can't handle talking to a stranger let alone trying to sell them something - especially over the phone. A lot of people take rejection way too seriously too. Even worse, a lot of people come into sales just to do the bare minimum and collect their base salary because it's oftentimes better than what their last job offered them.

In the US the salaries and total compensation for sales reps are all over the place. For an entry level B2B sales person right out of college, they might get a salary of $30k-$40k a year and make another $20k to even as high as $50k with commission. Real estate agents typically have no salary and can make anywhere from $0 to $100k plus a year in commission. A good corporate B2B sales person will make more commission than their base salary. A pharma or med device rep which usually takes 4-6 years of B2B experience/2+ years medical industry to obtain will see salaries of $50k (small company) to as high as $90k for the elite pharma companies like GSK and Abbott with a commission of $30k - $150k. Average base for pharma and med device is usually $60-$75k with pharma making a bit higher base but less commission and med device making less base but far more commission and ultimately a higher overall income. The sales managers typically see no less than $150k to as high as $250k total compensation. Also, B2C tends to make a bit less than B2B. A sales rep at an insurance agency like State Farm might make like $25k-$35k a year with maybe another $10-$15k a year in commission if they're lucky. Retail store managers that get a percent off their products sold don't fare too well either - usually around $40k total compensation like with Menard's.

I usually stick to sales jobs in the medical industry or technology since they seem to be where the high salary, high commission jobs are.


Do you mean like Polish companies that are looking to sell in English markets or more Western companies with an office in Poland but perhaps still selling to English markets?

News / Amber Gold and other Poland's suspicious institutions [139]

As a former commodity broker I can tell you that if anyone 'guarantees' returns of over 8% to be highly highly suspect..

You can absolutely make returns of 8%, 10%, even 100%+ on an investment - it all depends on the type of security, the volatility, when you bought it and sold it, were you leveraged, etc.

I have made over 10% on certain investments like silver and off BoA stocks - but that was more just timing. I made around 25% ROI in 2014 off a mutual fund I held with with State Farm that was a basket of US small cap firms. That was rare though and investing in small caps is risky even if it's a mutual fund although at least that mitigates a lot of the risk as opposed to investing in individual small caps. This was a small part of a balanced portfolio that happened to do well and if I lost on it, it wouldn't of been a huge deal. However, since I only had about $3-$4k in this fund, the profits after the fees and taxes were only a couple hundred anyway.

It's important to be balanced and know how much risk you can live with and how much loss you can afford before you invest.

Work / Living in Wroclaw... Any tips on jobs and salaries (sales/marketing) in Poland? [17]

Yeah that seems about right. I was looking into pharma sales in PL and the salaries were in the 4k-4.5k range brutto so 3k netto seems about right. I definitely want to stay in sales because the commission was great. My first job right out of college was actually working for a medical corporation (S&P 500) doing B2B sales. I worked there for 3 years and I'd still be there but they kept changing the commission structure till eventually it just wasn't worth my time. It was messed up because even though I was selling more and had more experience in my 2nd/3rd year, I was making less than I was within my first like 1- 1 1/2 years. You'd think you'd make more money as you gain experience and make more sales but the opposite happened so I left. It was still a good paying job - I was making $70k-$80k a year (combined salary, commission, bonuses, benefits) where my friends were working at electronic stores for $12 an hour, real estate for straight commission and no benefits, and the luckier ones found something around $40-$42k a year.

Work / Living in Wroclaw... Any tips on jobs and salaries (sales/marketing) in Poland? [17]

Thanks Delph for finding out to me. That's good to know. What kind of business would this be in and also is it B2B or B2C type of sales? I would love to go to move to Poland but I feel it'll have to be once I finish my MBA or if I'm lucky and find an international company that is like desperate to send someone there and offers a comp package similar to that in the US. The total package is actually pretty nice but 3k zloty base salary net is like $200 a week. When I compared that to 2014 Eurostat data I was actually surprised to find that 36.4k Zloty net is what a family with 2 kids brings is so actually this kind of salary for 1 person is pretty damn good. I guess my expectations are just too high at the moment = / I just don't know how I'd live off $200 a week haha. It's hard for me not to spent at least $200-$300 on a weekend night out let alone during a whole week. I guess maybe I'd live off savings till I made a book of business and gradually started making like $1k plus a week. You never know what life holds.. I got offered $100k to move to Angola from a previous employer but I declined haha

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage

Work / Living in Wroclaw... Any tips on jobs and salaries (sales/marketing) in Poland? [17]

I wish Porky. I just spent two months in Wroclaw dealing with the property issues I've been having. I'll be going back in the summer/fall though. Thanks for the offer though!

Real Estate / What do you think of my house in Poland? Pictures and description. [66]

Yose I'll trade you my 2 story on 1.3 hectars with 'hotel possibilities' as the agent called it for your villa XD

I do like it though very quality work. You got a good price on the roof considering the size. What kind of heating do you have in there? Is it a modern one or does it run on the old school kaloryfery? I personally preferred the old cast iron column radiators but they're very rare in the US unless the home is old and hasn't been remodeled.

I can't wait till I can build my dream house in Poland. At least the property taxes won't kill you. If you had that house in Crook County you'd be paying $25k+ a year or even as high as $90k if it was near the lake.

Also, did you have to get any special permits or anything to remodel? I know some places are sticklers about what you can and can't do to historic homes.

Work / Living in Wroclaw... Any tips on jobs and salaries (sales/marketing) in Poland? [17]

I treat construction more as a hobby and side job. My dad is a contractor by trade (was a jeweler under communism) but got into remodeling and flipping houses once we moved to the us. He taught me the trade since I was a preteen but it's not something I'd want to focus my career on. I'm more the corporate sales manager, especially business to business, type.

Yeah 8k zloty a month wouldn't be too bad but it just seems like so little money as a lot of things cost as much or even more than in the US - like electronics, cars, gas etc. but at least rent and food seems to be a bit cheaper. If I could get a job that paid me in USD in the range of even $35k-$40k a year I'd definitely move. I think I may have to wait till I finish an MBA before that happens though. The 30k EU a year job I'd sooner take than the google one because the commission potential was much higher. It involves selling leases for cargo ships and tankers as well as the ships themselves. I do know people that do something similar but with trucking and although they make a pretty small salary like around $40k with their commission they're at the high 5 figure low 6 figure range. Money isn't the end all to be all but I'd like to maintain a lifestyle where if I moved to Poland I could afford a nice small flat, a car, buying nice suits, and travelling. I think with at least $40k USD I could live comfortably in Poland and put aside a little money for retirement. Before this tragedy with my house in Poland, I wouldn't of had to rent - just remodel the place which I could've done most the work myself.

Ultimately, I'd probably want t open up my own business in Poland in due time but I'd like to at least have a full time job for 1-2 years so I can learn the laws, customs, taxes, bureaucracy, come up with a SWOT analysis, etc.

One business I was thinking about opening that I think would be very good in Poland is a pawn shop in a major city. I haven't really seen one around yet. I did post here earlier that prior to the current exchange rate, my friend was shipping Jordans and Rolex's from the US to Poland and couldn't fill orders fast enough. Now it's completely stalled out though - the Jordans still sell but not so much the watches.

Work / Living in Wroclaw... Any tips on jobs and salaries (sales/marketing) in Poland? [17]

Merged: Average sales salaries in Poland

Hello,

I wanted to ask the members what they know about sales positions in Poland and their relative earnings. I am interested in mostly Sales Representative, Sales Manager, and Sales Director/Vice President. I'm interested in both the base salary as well as what like the total package would be (bonuses, commissions, etc.) Of course this will vary from company to company and region to region - I'm just interested in an average ballpark figure for the larger cities - Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw.

I'd love to also hear any personal experiences of people living in Poland, either now or in the past, that were employed in sales, finance, or marketing.

The only real experience I have is from some info I got from Hays/Hayes (forget the exact name) and two offers that I got around 1.5 years ago - 2k USD + commission working as a sales rep for Google in Wroclaw and 30,0000 Euro + commission as a sales manager for a British shipping company in Gdansk (forgot the name).

Any info would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Law / Can an unpayed electricity bill in Poland be a problem for visa? [2]

I doubt it - if anything it might affect your credit as not paying utility bills are the worst thing you can do for your credit. Losing your visa over it though? Highly unlikely.. You'll lose a visa if you commit a serious crime or do something that the government isn't fond of but not paying an electric bill, you should be fine I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Real Estate / What do you think of my house in Poland? Pictures and description. [66]


That's a great price!!! How many square meters (or square feet is it) is the actual house? I can't wait to buy a home and move back to Poland.. As someome who's been helping my dad remodel homes since like 10-12 years old, I can tell you that I am very very impressed. One of my hobbies is remodeling homes like I really enjoy it. I don't really get to work with my hands as a career but I love it and I'll even go like paint my girlfriend's deck or something for fun on a Saturday afternoon.

I'm kind of obsessed with home remodeling and just like looking at homes in general. Houses are built so much better in Europe than in the US. Here they're built so cheaply and they're so weak - no wonder entire towns get destroyed by tornados. During high school and college I ran a business where I would go to tile stores and buy their broken granite, marble, and stone tiles - sometimes I'd get them for free if they were nice as they'd usually get thrown out anyway but if not $20-$30 for all the broken unusable tiles would usually do the job. I would then cut them into small squares and triangles, about 1-2 inches in length/width, put them on a plastic net and glue the tiles to the plastic.That's how I'd make mosaics out of them. For about $0-$30 in tiles, $20 worth of tile glue, 1 day of work (for a 1 meter/3 foot circumference mosaic - average size) I would then sell my mosaics from $600 and up. The largest mosaic I made was nearly 8 feet in circumference. By comparison, in a retail store they go for around $800-$1.2k (depending on style and materials) for a 3 foot circumference one and mine were way nicer plus I could make any color combination, design, shape and size that a person wants. At my height I was doing this for about 20-25 hours a week and making a very nice profit as I had hardly any material costs - it was all labor. It got to the point where some of the same tile stores that I'd get my broken tiles from were offering to buy my designs if I could lower the prices a little. I'd still be doing it but alas school and a full time office job gets in the way. Cutting tiles in your garage won't exactly help you a whole lot in climbing corporate ladders.

I'll post some pics of the home I live in now - I did all the remodeling myself and I also have one of these mosaics on the floor as you walk in.

You could totally turn that into a business or even rent it out. There's several websites where people rent out their homes for like vacationers or even travelling businesspeople. Weddings, bachelor/bachelorette, or even corporate retreats would be a good idea. Or you could become a cult leader and get a bunch of people to give you their assets and live in that house lol. That place really has a lot of potential. As someone who is familiar with remodeling and residential construction, I can tell you put a lot of time and money into that place. The work is very high quality and come out very nice. Sometimes people buy expensive materials but the project comes out looking very cold, overly minimalistic, and not cozy at all. Your place looks awesome! I especially love the wooden staircase, arched doorways, and the moldings. The only thing I'd personally change is the tiles to a more contrasting color but that's just personal choice but the color and style you have is at least very neutral and easy to match.

Also.. what is this whole people hiding in the bushes thing I keep hearing about on PF lol? Also, if you don't mind asking how does the labor costs for like a contractor, painter, etc. compare to the US, UK or the West.

Real Estate / What do you think of my house in Poland? Pictures and description. [66]

that's beautiful reminds me of the old 'dworki' but even nicer because it looks like you really remodeled it - very nice. i especially love that tower it almost looks like a lighthouse at the very top. that's an awesome house. nice place man.

USA, Canada / Is there anyone in the US who has a Maluch that is legal to be driven? [13]

I remember seeing a maluch during the parade in Chicago - don't remember the year or the color but there is always at least 1 in the parade every year. Belmont street is like the polish street in Chicago - it gets wild on May 3.

USA, Canada / Is there anyone in the US who has a Maluch that is legal to be driven? [13]

Hahaha unfortunately we don't have it anymore. I loved that car - it use to have like zebra striped seats. My grandma (the lady standing next to the car) called it her 'poorsche.' I think Maluchs are like 35-40HP 2 cyl engine - VROOOOMM.. My grandma bought a Daewoo Matiz (basically a Chevy Aveo) after that. The very first car I learned how to drive was a Fiat Cinquecento (or however it's spelled - basically the 90s version of the modern Fiat 500). I was like 14... See that kind of stuff wouldn't fly in America. If a Polish cop pulled us over (this was in Oborniki so it's a small town) he'd most likely complain, maybe give a ticket, but probably not arrest us. In the US, oh my goodness I can't even imagine what would happen if an adult got caught by a cop teaching a 14 year old how to drive.

I remember when I was in Poland around 12 years ago or so the government was passing some kind of law where people couldn't register new Maluchs. They let the current owners keep them but they didn't want them to be sold and then registered to a new individual since they were very unsafe cars.

Law / File complaint against Poland's police [97]

Here's a picture that's at least 20 years old... you can't really see the house but it's the white structure on the side of the photo. As you can see there use to be lots of trees around it. Now there are none.

I'll try to find some more photos on how the house use to look like - this one in particular is one of my favorite pictures and I took it out of the frame to scan it. I'll go through my photo albums and see if I can find more although most of the older pictures of Poland would be at my parents' house.

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