Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


Go into a full packed cinema and yell "fire" and then see how far your right to free speech gets you if there is a panic. Everybody recognizes that there are limits to what you can say. Even Trump may find out that his words have consequences. Saying that we have no freedom of speech because we are not permitted to engage in hate speech is like saying that we do not have sexual freedom because we are not allowed to sleep with underage girls. It says more about the person making this claim than about the society he criticizes.

Once again a non-argument.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

We have both access to gun and free speech in Europe We just realize that both come with responsibilities. The USA is warning example with its' gun nut culture and the attempted coup two years ago.

I could get a gun if I wanted to. All I'd need is joining a hunting association/ a sports club, undergo various background checks and safety training. I choose not to because guns do not interest me as a hobby and I'd put myself and my family at risk by doing so, so why bother?

Gun advocats have no arguments on their side. Hence they use either those that have been long-time debunked (as protection against nightly intruders) or make up some by linking it to "liberty". You are living in the USA, not Somalia. Not that Rich has any idea what freedom and democracy really are, judging by his comments about Russia and Ukraine.

Switzerland is a democracy par exellence and they have a very high gun ownership rate. In fact, arming their citizen is part of their defense doctrine But they are smart enough to make sure that only reliable people with training and above a certain age can get them.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


It is when you claim that they are representative of Europe when they are clearly not. The countries you selected make up less than 10 percent of Europe's population while mine make up 50. Are you familiar enough with basic math to understand which is a more meaningful selection?


Repeat after me. Most burglaries happen when no is at home. Guns usage against intruders is exceedingly rare. You are far more likely to hurt yourself or loved ones than any intruder. Trying to make yourself look tough won't change that. You are a pathetic man whose need for reassurance is more important than the safety of his family.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


They are really not, as I have shown you. You just cherry-picked the few countries that have higher burglary rates. Germany has around twice the population of all those European countries combined, but has a burglary rate of 105.

Besides as mentioned, guns as self-defence for burglaries are mostly a myth and are disproportionally more dangerous to the owner and his loved ones than to any hypothetical burglar.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


Why don't you mention that most European countries have a significantly lower burglary rate?

Germany: 105
Austria 110
Poland: 186
Netherland 249
Italy: 274
Span 306
France: 346
Belgium: 418
budgetdirect.com.au/home-contents-insurance/home-safety/home-security/global-burglary-rates.html#:~:text=The%20US%20has%20a%20high,through%20open%20windows%20and%20doors.

Btw. most burglaries happen when people are usually at work, not by nightly intruders: "Curiously, American researchers found that the most likely time for a burglary is not at night but between 10 am and 3 pm when a home is least likely to be occupied."

It would be interesting to know how many burglaries end with murder vs the number of people accidentally killed by guns.

Claiming that guns are useful for self-defense is long debunked myth anyway. Instead of an intruder you are most likely to never encounter you are more likely to accidentally injure or kill a family member.

latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-31/gun-defense-myth

In an analysis of victims of gun violence from 2007 to 2011, the Department of Justice found that people were nine times as likely to be injured or killed by a firearm rather than protected by them.

But enough of statistics. Let's just use some common sense. What's more likely? That someone will break into your home and threaten your family, or that a member of your family, in a moment of anger or drunkenness, will resort to wielding that same weapon against you? Or that in a moment of despair, a loved one will turn that easily accessible gun on themselves? Or that your 5-year-old, who knows exactly where you keep your gun, will accidentally shoot himself?

Certain behaviors - not wearing a seat belt and shoulder harness, or smoking cigarettes, for example - increase your risk of injury and death. Having a handgun in the home is no different. The presence of a gun in your home dramatically increases the risk of homicide, suicide and accidental deaths.

Checkmate.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Unbelievable. And in the same state, people are allowed to drink beer only after they turn 21. The sheer madness of it.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


At least you were not one of the kids who accidentally shot another person.

edition.cnn.com/2014/08/26/us/arizona-girl-fatal-shooting-accident/index.html

But the fact that you seem to believe that owning a gun at an age when children are usually not allowed to drive or drink a beer is a good idea just shows how braim-washed you are. It is utterly bizarre.

It is really simple. Children should not have access to guns. Most people should not have access to guns. Follow those rules and you will feel and live much safer as any statistic will tell you. Australians learned that, and they are the toughest sons of b... out there.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


You mean statistics that show the USA leading in gun related violence and mass shootings in the Western world?


He is simply saying what any rational outside observer thinks. The only people who believe otherwise have been brain-washed by this American gun cult that defies rationality.

Common sense dictates that people should only have access to guns when they are mature (say at least 21 years old), pass thorough background checks, are mentally healthy and need them for a special task (as hunter, police officer or athletes). Those guns should be stored safely, so that no children get their hands on them.

If you live in a war zone, it may be prudent to own some hand grenades. But if not, you are usually not allowed to. People in Western countries do not live in lawless jungles that require weapons. In fact people who own guns are more likely to hurt their family than to protect them.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


Our families are already much safer than yours because there is no chance of our children shooting each other accidentally with a gun. They also do not have to practice emergency drills for mass shootings.


The American fascists have recently stormed Capitol and tried to overturn an election. Not like any citizens with guns tried to stop them.

Australia has shown that it is easy to get rid off the guns. Just follow their example and you will be much safer down the line. More guns do not deter crime or violence, they enhance it.

You would also have less police violence because your officers would not have to be on edge all the time.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Just restrict gun ownership to police officers, hunters and athletes (with thorough background checks and regular checks if guns are atored safely) and your society will be much better off. Less gun violence, suicides, mass shootings and children killing others accidentally.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

More like trying to not paint everyone with the same brush.
No doubt there are some hardcore believers among those gun nuts, but I see no reason why they would form the majority.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Or so they claim. Most of them are probably insecure p*ssies who need guns to feel tough. Faced with the prospect of getting into legal trouble, they'll fold quickly.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


Australia managed to get rid off its' guns a few years ago. Just make it illegal to own a gun with mandatory prison sentences and offer a buy back program and you'd be surprises how fast people will give away thir guns. And how fast public shootings an hun related crimes and violence decline.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Virginia shooting of teacher by six-year-old 'not accidental', authorities say

google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/08/virginia-teacher-shooting-by-six-year-old

Guns really add to safety, don't they? You read about elementary children (accidentally or not) killing others all the time in countries with strict gun laws... .

News / John Paul II's Beatification [134]

Can't say that I shared Benedicts' orthodoxy and there are some questions still about the protection of pedophile priests when he was an arch bishop, but one has to give him massive credit for his fight against sexual abuse first as a cardinal in Rome and then as a pope. Even his fiercest critics must admit that he was a massive step up from his predecessor in this regard.

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]

What people really want is peace and prosperity.

News / Unfulfilled promises by PiS [559]


It is your fault if choose to believe that conspiracy theory despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Poland is getting punished for the indefensible actions of the PiS government. They are so indefensible that PiS has to resort to this sort of conspiracy theory, because everybody knows that trying to controle the judiacary in the way PiS wants is a bad idea.

Some facts. The EU Commission acted because PiS has violated European laws. Leading figures within the comission on this subject are Vĕra Jourová (from the Czech Republic) and Didier Reynders (from Belgium).

euronews.com/my-europe/2022/07/13/poland-hungary-in-european-commissions-rule-of-law-spotlight-again

The EU Comission acting within a mandate from the member states. Nobody is siding with Poland on this. Except Orban, but that is telling in itself. Not the Baltics or other otherwise close allies. This is not about Poland vs Germany but PiS and Orban against the democracies of Europe.


It would be fine if Poland under PiS were just refusing to listen to Berlin, but as pointed out, they are also refusing to listen to reason from all the other countries. The EU will continue to look after Poland, and Berlin should do everything it can that this succeeds. We have a special responsibility for Poland's future due to our past, and ensuring that it becomes a mature democracy should be part of this. Besides, a second Orban regime would be horrible for us too.


The Czechs seem to be doing just fine, they have no government with autocratic tendencies as far as I know.

News / Unfulfilled promises by PiS [559]

@GefreiterKania

If you want to treat a knife wound and prevent another, should know from which direction it came. Poland got hurt by PiS from the inside, and sadly they are still in a position to stab you once more. The EU is there trying to prevent the worst, but only the Polish people can stop PiS. You have the chance next election.

Just goes to show how powerful PiS propaganda is though. Distortion of facts, mixed with historical enmity and a victim complex. Frightingly powerful stuff. It even affects people who have access to non-poisened information in other languages.

News / Unfulfilled promises by PiS [559]


Which I am grateful for, because everything I wrote can be backe up by the relevant sources.

That Germany offered non-lethal aid to Ukraine before the Russian invasion in February.

cnbc.com/2022/01/27/germanys-offer-to-send-5000-helmets-to-ukraine-provokes-outrage.html

That Germany started to send lethal aid shortly after the invasion started.

politico.eu/article/ukraine-war-russia-germany-still-blocking-arms-supplies/

And I also provided you with an overview of the Ring exchange programe.

Sorry facts are facts.


And to their credit, they are willing to reconsider their opinions if the facts have changed (something you could learn from). Hence their decision to welcome Steinmeier in Octobre while German Iris-T rockets and Gepards were defending the Ukrainian sky.

News / Unfulfilled promises by PiS [559]


It really isnt, that is a statistical fact. Those Ukrainian arrival will help a bit, provided they stay, but Poland would need permanent migration of a few 100k per year to avoid the worst.


Why would a supposedly German-aligned Polish government not have sent old Soviet equipment to Ukraine when it was Berlin that encouraged other countries to send their Soviet weapon systems to Ukraine via the Ring exchange program? Why would no Krab howlitzers have been sent when they were part of Western initiative to send modern artillery to Ukraine?

There is no reason to believe that PO would have send fewer weapons. On the other hand, the European Ukraine policy might have been implemented more swiftly at times, because a PO government would not have protected the Orban regime as shamefully as PiS did.

News / Unfulfilled promises by PiS [559]


Which - given Poland's demographic outlook - is coming back to bite them in the future. Some debt increase during the difficult Covid years would have been justified, but that they failed to reign it in even during the booming years is inexcusable.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

Still a bit disappointing. This could have been a nice sign of reconciliation in the face of a common enemy. But of course PiS had to stick to Berlin one more time before accepting.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


The EU was always more than that. The idea to share coal and steel in order to prevent future wars was a deeply political one and without the deep conviction behind its founding fathers, the EU would not have become one of the few unambigiously forces for good in the world.


European law trumps national law. It is Poland that will have to make adjustmends down the line.Or eventually be forced to leave the EU.


It is actually based on Roman law that predates the Common Law (which also drew inspiration from it). The Code Civil waa an important addition, but Roman law as foundation had been used for centuries before that.


How can this be an argument for reforming the judiciary more than 30 years after the communist regime fell? Hardly any judge who is still active can have been appointed before 1989, and why would it be justified to dismiss him if he was as long as he has not broken the law with his rulings?

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


Wrong. The EU Comission is responsible for controlling if the member states are adhering to the treaties. Poland signed up to respecting the rule of law, thus Bruessels is fully authorized to take action, which the European Court of Justice has also confirmed.


I think I have pointed out several times that this is not true. If not then in short: If PiS agreed to increase the majority needed to confirm judges to 2/3 of the parliament, and having the Senate approve every 2nd judge, then this would be true. If PiS still insists on enabling themselves to appoint all judges with a slim parliament majority and no input from the opposition, then no, it is far from the German system and still very dangerous for Poland's rule of law.


I disagree. Many such steps taken, if unopposed, can hollow out any democratic system. It is important to act now before more damage is done. Orban did what PiS probably dreamed about, the EU did too little too late and now we have a de facto autocrat who is getting bribes by Russia and China. That PiS was chiefly responsible for letting Orban get away with this is another matter.


They don't need to be identical, but they ought to be similar in the sense that they uphold basic requirements for a democracy like the rule of law.

Allowing a government to select their supreme court judges without any input from other parties is a terrible idea and hardly justfiable except for the need of the government to gain more power.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


Let us be very clear here. This is not an issue the EU vs Poland or Germany vs Poland but the Polish government vs the Polish people. Undermining the rule of law like PiS intents is not going to be helpful to anyone but their intentions to stay in power.

Everybody with some understanding of democracy knows that PiS reforms are dangerous. Hence nobody outside of Hungary and its' wannabe dictator is willing to side with PiS with them. Even your other neighbours, including your Visegrad allies don't think it is a good idea.

News / The Baltics states rely on Poland as their main defender against Russian aggression?? [213]


We should come back to this post in 6 months.

History / What do Poles owe to Hungarians? [275]

It is at the very least in incredibly poor taste, given that Russia has suggested that Ukraine should be partitioned between Russia, Poland and Hungary.

What makes this quite concerning is that Putin is evidently Orban's hero and he has done his best to undermine the European support for Ukraine.

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]


Not true. The matter of reparations was not only settled in the agreement between the GDR and Poland (a perfectly valid legal agreement) but also later in the treaties between the FRG and Poland and the 2+4 treaty. Poland has waved his right to reparations multiple times implicitely and explicitely and thus has forfeited any legal claims.


That is not true either. This is not a matter that is settled in Berlin but Bruessels. If you have trouble accepting that legal fact, then there is really no point in discussing the legal status of the reparation issue.


If the other party confirms multiple times that it has no further claims ( in addition to receiving 1/4 of your house) then of course.


You mean aside from publically apologizing, forgiving the crimes comitted to expelled Germans, signing friendship treaties and supporting Poland on its' into the EU and its' evolution into a stable democracy and keep smiling while Polish politicians hurl the worst kind of insults at you? Germany managed to get friendly relationships with all of its' neighbours. But yeah, it is Germany who does not want reconciliation.

If you ask for 1.5 tn in repartion without legal claim for crimes that have been commited 75+ years ago, you are not after reconciliation.

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]


Everything that came before us may or may not have influenced us before. You don't see Germas asking for reparations from Napoleonic occupation or the French for Caesar's conquest of Gaul.


I think I know enough, but past crimes by previous generations do not justify new payments to people who were not directly affected.

Everything is relative in the end. Poles may have been affected by WWII more than others, but nevertheless lived better than other people who suffered historical injustices (like many people in Africa).


Since the grudge is entirely fed and held up by Polish politicians, it is up to them to solve it (by accepting that the matter is settled and telling as much to their voters). Germany only hast to wait. Each passing year makes more and more a mockery of auch demands.

News / Poland to officially demand $1.32 trillion WW2 reparations from Germany [457]

Just pointing out historical facts here. Claiming that Germany never paid for its' crimes is hardly true given all of that happened because of the war.

As for playing the victim. It is silly that people born after WWII claim to be victims deserving of reparations to begin with.