News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

Seems they were a sleepy bunch. wikiquote - "Theodoric the Great failed to rouse Crimean Goths to support his war in Italy." Guys missed the road-trip of a lifetime)

Correction: not lifetime, but millenium

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

Are you referring to history? In that case you are wrong.

Among other things he is excellent at, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is also one of the world's greatest archaeologists.

Evidence this picture:

• 
  Putin retrieved these two Ancient Greek amphorae from the bottom of the Black Sea, just after his first dive!
  

News / Which French candidate for president will be best for Poland? [512]

As he seems to be headed for a comfortable win in Sunday's run-off elections, I wanted to hear what forum members think about these comments Macron had made on the 2nd of May:

"We all know who Le Pen's allies are: the regimes of (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor) Orban, Kaczynski, Putin. These aren't regimes with an open and free democracy. Every day they break many democratic freedoms"

reuters.com/article/us-france-election-poland-russia-idUSKBN17Y1IE

This comes on the heels of his threat last week, that if elected, he would impose sanctions on Poland for violating democratic norms.

Looks like following the loss of its ally-within-the-EU, Great Britain, Poland is heading for increased isolation in Europe in the coming years. Daddy Trump who lives across the sea will be of little help, as it seems Frau Merkel and M. Macron are both intent on ignoring him.

Thoughts?

News / Which French candidate for president will be best for Poland? [512]

My post did not imply a bias towards Le Pen or Macron, I think.

In fact, I started by saying that he is headed for a "comfortable win" - the latest is that it will be something on the order of 20-25% (albeit, there's a chance that Macronists will get complacent and not show up at the polling booths in the right numbers).

I'm utterly confused by this last sentence:


What do you mean? That I'm a pro-Russian American?

Language / How Polish sounds to other Slavs [32]

I understand Russian fairly well, although I think that in order to translate this piece all one needs to know is how to read the Cyrillic alphabet - the language here is so simple.

Regardless, in the days since the original post I've found some other things on topic. It would seem that Russians have a peculiar brand of Polonophobia, which revolves to a great extent around the language itself.

It's purported that Catherine the Great (a German), whilst upset about something the Poles had done shortly after the first partition (second?), remarked that God had cursed the poles with a serpent tongue for their devious ways.

Vladimir Mayakovsky, in the 20th century said something very similar: "Змеиному народу - змеиный язык."

I found a few other Russian takes on Polish, but not from such august persons. Overall I'm afraid that Russians pretty much unanimously seem to think that Polish is a rather silly-sounding language. And as much as I looked for other genres of Russian jokes about Poles, they seemed to be few (when compared with jokes about Ukrainians, Georgians, etc).

I think this is because as a large country Russians can be self-absorbed and with a somewhat short attention span (like Americans), and thus just don't know enough about the Poles to personalize the humor more.

Does anybody know any good Russian jokes about Poles? Also vice versa?

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Ho-ho-ho... You have supplied a good laugh here Crow!

I regret to inform you, that the days of Winged Hussars, Janisseries, and Sich Cossacks has long since passed.

During the most recent Strong Europe Tank Challenge, Poland and Ukraine came last and second-to-last respectively (1st place Austria, Germany 2nd, US 3rd, and France 4th). Serbia did not participate unfortunately, but something makes me think they would join their Slavic brothers at the bottom of the list. Interestingly, Poland was bested by Ukraine despite Poland using the very non-Kosher Leopard 2s (albeit old ones), while the Ukrainians were using T-64 Bulats.

stripes.com/news/austria-blasts-its-way-to-first-place-at-tank-challenge-1.468111

If only the competition was in rakia, horilka, or wodka consumption - there, truly, this Slavic trio would be ahead of the entire planet...

Today these armies are only good as soil fertilizer in the cauldrons of Donbass (Ilovaisk), or as NATO bombing practice.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


What will these Serbian vets fight with? The venerable M-84, which performed so well in Kuwait and Bosnia? Are you able to procure spare parts, seeing as the 100+ primary contractors, and more than 1000 subcontractors are now spread over multiple countries, most of which are not exactly fans of Serbia?

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Such a good tank that not a single serial production unit has been made. I have only heard of a single "concept model" being carted around defense trade shows, without a single export customer in more than ten years.

No one wants a tank for which a real production supply chain does not exist.

Serbia should stick to manufacturing small arms, where there is at least some competency preserved. Only one request, please stop selling them to insurgents throughout North Africa and the Middle East, and find yourself some real customers.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/27/weapons-flowing-eastern-europe-middle-east-revealed-arms-trade-syria

Im reference to above post regarding Serbian weapons in terrorist hands (to be fair, many other Balkan countries are in on the fun).

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Ehh? Are you saying that there are Chetniks fighting within the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics armies? That would be highly unusual, since these two statelets are the result of a weird mix of neo-Bolshevik and Great Russian ideas. Russians have always been big fans of Yugo partisans, but not so much of Chetniks or their spiritual kin the Ustase.

Though if a credible link were provided I am willing to accept this fact. War can breed strange bedfellows.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Of course the USA would support the irredentist, monarchist, and anti-communist Chetniks and not Tito's partisans. Simple geopolitics my friend.

You lost Yugoslavia because you sold your soul.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


I would have expected them to fight within Ukraine's Azov battalion (pet battalion of Arsen Avakov, current Minister of the Interior), who, amongst other things, fight for a Ukraine free of communists and Jews, but oh well... Like I said - strange bedfellows. Also, Russians and Serbs have a thing (the great distance allows them to admire each other without noticing the flaws which close neighbors can't ignore), which goes some way towards explaining why they are fighting for DPR and LPR and not Azov.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Actually, at the beginning of the war they supported the monarchy, but as soon as they saw that Tito was the only actual effective fighter in the territory they kinda sat back and didn't lift a finger.

Don't take my word for it, here's a good link:
pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4397&context=open_access_etds

Already by the Spring of 1943 it was clear the Nazis would lose, and the Big Three were busy carving up the future oundaries of Europe. Churchill and Roosevelt had no interest in helping Stalin acquire yet another satellite.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Please. If you make nice movies about me, and extend at least some hope of helping me regain relevancy in a war where I clearly picked the wrong side, I will also save your airmen.

Evidence the huge support for America amongst Ukrainian nationalists, who decry spineless Europe. It's a matter of convenience, and as in the case of Russians and Serbs - great georgraphic distance which obscures realities. The two barely knew anything about each other.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Believe you me Harry, if Poles had the wherewithal to invade and successfully occupy Russia (once they came pretty damn close), they would have no such qualms about waging war on neighbors. Instead, they are perpetually butthurt. Regarding it being a minority, just look at the pages of this forum, many of which are full of rather scary nationalist talk.

Finally, and I'm really playing devil's advocate here now, unlike Poland and Serbia which are virtually mono-ethnic countries, Russia has a centuries old history of being a multi-ethnic and multiconfessional state. More than 200 nationalities, and a sizeable Muslim and until recently Jewish minority.

All I'm trying to say is, don't make Poles out to be saints. They did their fair share of invading and looting while they had the strength.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

Off-topic, but funny Russian meme about Poles:



Translation: Such different Poles

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]


Good point! However, I'm not sure Ukrainians will like being equated with refugees from Syria and North Africa. On the other hand, who's asking them...

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

@Dirk diggler

You make a great point Dirk. It's astonishing that this narrative is not being promoted more. On many levels, one can argue that Poland is at the forefront (behind only suicidal Germany) of dealing with the current humanitarian crises developing on Europe's peripheries.

As regards the Ukrainians themselves, I agreee with you that a very small part are actual refugees. Most people that have relocated from the occupied areas of the Donbass resettled inside Ukraine or moved to Russia (depending on their beliefs and biases). The migrants coming into Poland are for the most part people from parts of the Ukraine not touched by war. However, one cannot deny that the general situation in Ukraine which is driving the migrants to emigrate (collapse of institutions, rampant corruption, explosion of violent crime) are due in no small part due to the conflict in the east fueled by Russian weapons and money.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

This article from the FT says that 1.3 million Ukrainians received temporary work registrations last year, and 116,000 more received longer term work permits. That's quite a bit more than the 1 million figure being discussed on the forums:

ft.com/content/aeda9ebe-3afa-11e7-ac89-b01cc67cfeec

The article also makes clear that unlike Syrians, very few of the Ukrainians are refugees fleeing from the war torn east, with only 6,000 claiming asylum since 2014. The majority are working-age economic migrants attracted by the prospect of earning fives times as much as they can in the Ukraine doing the same job.

The article cites a Polish-born economist at Barclays in London, who says the Ukrainians are filling the same types of jobs that Poles fill in Germany - mainly in the service industry and hospitality trade, and that the influx has slowed wage growth in Poland.

Different interviewees express different opinions on the question. One government adviser is quoted as saying that it is absurd that's Poland spends vast amounts of money training people that leave, and then has to educate newcomers from the East. Others have a more positive view, like the Foreign Minister who argues it makes it easier to deflect German attacks on the migrants question. Finally, some are concerned that now that they have visa free travel the Ukrainians will stop in poland only briefly before heading further West.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

Ukrainians Celebrate Visa-Free Travel To EU
rferl.org/amp/28539873.html

Border service reports some 2,555 Ukrainians travel visa-free to EU in first 42 hours
kyivpost/ukraine-politics/border-service-reports-2555-ukrainians-travel-visa-free-eu-first-42-hours.html

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

Ah, Monsieur is an optimist...

Between 1991 and 2016 Ukraine's population went down by almost 10 million without any visa-free help.

Travel / Finding molly or coke in Poland [3]

Whenever in a new place - cab drivers, bouncers, and hotel concierge's are your best friends. However, this requires being able to read body language and eyes well, and having not a little amount of charm.

Classifieds / Sony Ericsson A1018s Polish Manual for sale [9]

Are you aware that the manual is available on-line?

I must say I'm very intrigued by this post. Both by the seller and who a potential buyer may be.


This is a hoot! "Very good condition"! Are there collectors of old phone manuals out there? The low offering price seems to indicate the answer is "no", as otherwise I would have expected the collectibility factor to produce an appropriate mark-up.

Could one ask the OP to please post an update later if someone did indeed reach out and purchased the manual?

Classifieds / Sony Ericsson A1018s Polish Manual for sale [9]

@Nathans

I would think old phones are definitely easier for intelligence services to monitor since it's only unencoded traffic, with no option to use What'sApp, Skype, Telegram, etc.

Also, even if you did have this phone and desperately needed a manual - it is STILL online.

I remain mystified by this post.

Classifieds / Sony Ericsson A1018s Polish Manual for sale [9]


I'm by no means trying to get in the way of a successful sale here, but I must say that this is precisely what I meant when I said old phones are easier to monitor. Most any mobile operator will cooperate with the state, even in the freest of countries, and there is nothing simpler for them than to provide call recordings or SMS traffic whether be it to the police, or intelligence services. Now if you were using a VoIP application on a smartphone which encoded the conversation, the mobile operator can be of much less help to the government, and they will be forced to take other avenues to get to your data. Not impossible, but certainly harder.

You're absolutely right regarding the location tracking however.

News / Future of Polish-Ukrainian relations [560]

@polinv

I appreciate your post very much. Balanced and informative. It's good to hear "on-the-ground" reports.

News / Poland has accepted over a million Ukrainian refugees. Why does the EU keep telling propaganda about Poland? [304]

I think there's a few recent threads on Ukraine now that could be merged for simplicity. At least this one and the one concerned with the future of Polono-Ukrainian relations. Mods?

News / Poland being the powerhouse of Europe [40]

Merged:

Poland the Next Economic Powerhouse

The article's just a few days old, and there shouldn't be a paywall - so please read and discuss:

nytimes.com/2017/07/05/opinion/poland-economy-trump-russia.html

The Times rarely write about Poland, or at least not as much as I feel they could (more coverage of the PiS government would be nice). So it's nice to see an article like this.

Some excerpts for the lazy-bones out there:

"Now Eastern Europe is rising, just as quietly, with small nations like the Czech Republic leading the way. Poland is close on its heels. With a population of nearly 40 million and a half-trillion-dollar economy that is already the world's 24th largest, it is now big enough to put all of Eastern Europe on the global economic map."

nytimes.com/2017/07/05/opinion/poland-economy-trump-russia.html

Law / Roof Access in Poland - what is the law? [9]

It depends on your building by-laws, or in the absence of a "homeowner's association"-type entity it would depend on local-level ordinances. However, I imagine this issue could be solved without being litigious.

It's also not clear from your post how the damage is occurring. Is the roof door being left unsecured, and then rain is blown in, or are people trampling on old shingles allowing cracks to form?