For at least one moment in the dark days of winter, life is sweet in Poland. Marking the last Thursday before Lent, Tłusty czwartek (or, Fat Thursday) is a day of over-indulgence in sweets.

This past Thursday, in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of Communist days, the local sweet shops and bakeries were full of people, lining up to get their hands on the source of sweetness and symbol of this special day - the traditional Polish doughnut, or pączki. Unfortunately, by lunch break, our local bakery was sold out already!

Typical sight in Poland on Fat Thursday, Wikipedia

Interestingly, each country has its own way of marking the last day before Lent: in Greece, instead of sweets, they eat loads of meat on Tsiknopempti. In Latin and South America, they celebrate in a more dynamic way with the Carnival.

How does your country mark the start of Lent? Do you sit in a sweet shop and gorge yourself on baker's delights or do you take to the streets?

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A week of intermittent snowfall broke a dry spell, drawing kids outdoors for some winter games. It will be a short-lived affair as the winter has been a let-down for some with warmer temperatures and, as Our Man in Gdansk suggests, indoor games are sure to be in fashion soon. One such game is a perennial favorite but with a twist from Poland, get your chips out for “Health Care Bingo.”

Here I present a cut-out-and-paste version of office bingo to help you while away the hours of talking heads talking about why the Polish health service is in a jock. You have to choose just three of the following commonly proferred explanations of why the Polish health service is in a jock.

What happens when local authorities get to plan, but not pay for a highway to connect Helsinki and Warsaw? BINGO! An offer they can't refuse plus irreversible damage to numerous forests. But when the chips are down, bloggers become clicktivists. Varpho has set up a petition and encourages all to take action now:

By signing the list below you are protesting against routing Via Baltica through unique nature areas, such as the Augustów Forest along with the Rospuda River Valley, the Biebrza National Park and the Knyszyn Forest, and thus you are expressing your disapproval for the Białystok option of this road.

One refused offer however was greeted by collective sighs of relief by bloggers as a former Polish PM declined a top post at one of Poland's largest banks. Interestingly, the decision was announced on the former politican's personal blog (in Polish). According to Polish Matters, the news couldn't come soon enough as the whole idea seemed, literally, wrong-headed:

It's enough to say that Marcinkiewicz, a high school Physics teacher before his 9-month stint as Polish prime minister last year, had no experience in either banking or management.

Hold on though, experience doesn't always lead to wise decisions, according to the beatroot. Not only appearing wrong-headed, but donning a bad hair day icon, a Polish mayor decided to proclaim an alcohol curfew in one of Poland's hottest tourist spots.

You expect this kind of thing from the British, but a Pole banning drinking? Is the mayor of Sopot limbering up for a career in Brussels, perhaps?

Warsaw not to worry, boo provides some blogging about sans-curfew and trendy night spots, complete with a token cummunist pub, endearingly called The Red Pig. I wonder, do they serve Red Bull?

Staying with the educational angle, although a little textual bull, or embellishment, might implicate itself here, The Real Warsaw provides a post and response on life in Poland, by a USA student and an ex-pat resident of Poland. Watch this thread as opinions are exaggerated on both sides. Highlight for me: Buy real estate in Poland right now!

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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Polish bloggers are having a holiday break. Stuck between family and tons of food (both are obligatory parts of Christmas celebrations here), some only posted best wishes, and many didn't even bother to do even that.

Among these who managed to update after all, a great number seems to have been struck by the “recapitulation plague.” This disease, a type of melancholy, is particularly rampant around the end of the year. Its main symptom among the blogging community members seema to be a need to summarize and somehow evaluate the past twelve months.

Almost every post started with “This year was…”

The bloggers of Salon 24 (more about this initiative at a later date) seem to compete in summarizing. Its host, Igor Janke, in his Janke Post, proclaimed 2006 to be the lost year (PL):

This was a year of disappointments in the public arena. After the last elections I, like millions of Poles, expected a great renaissance. I counted on Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Donald Tusk and their parties. Both have wasted their chances. PiS maybe wasn't doing as bad as many were predicting. They did introduce some reforms. But they also introduced (populist) Giertych into the government. They introduced minister Jasinski, who's blocking privatization. They introduced minister Fotyga, who's not doing a thing. They make deal, split and make deal again with Lepper and his pathetic band. The levels of political discord have reached previously unknown heights. Although the economy is, thankfully, doing fine, I'm disappointed. From the politicians that were supposed to make a breakthrough I'd expected much, much more.

One of his guests - Adam Pietrasiewicz in Widziane z pozycji siedzacej was forced to confess: “I'm not dissapointed in 2006″ (PL):

Mr. Igor Janke is complaining that he's disappointed again. From what he writes, he's been also disappointed before. Even by those who haven't done anything - precisely because they haven't done anything. I don't understand how can you say: “but they promised that it's going to get better…” EVERYBODY always promises that, 'cause this is democracy - you make promises in order to get elected. Then the representative does whatever is needed by the people he's dependent upon. And these are not the voters, not in the Polish system anyway. I used to live in a system where you voted for a specified candidate. It also was a corrupted system, but still better than ours. During the vote, I always put in a slip with ONE name on it, and by the end of my stay, it was usually a name of somebody I knew PERSONALLY. Who in our system can say, not that he knows his representative, but that he knows what his name is? NO ONE. Simply no one. Our voting system is bad. I concluded that much after returning to Poland, and I don't participate. I don't vote, because it makes no sense. This way I don't get disappointed, like Mr. Janke.

Fragles this time opened his site to a fellow blogger Matka Kurka, to quote his rant published previously on one of the forums:

This year was an exceptional one, we haven't had one like it in 17 years. For the first time in 17 years a motion has been made to the speaker of the parliament to proclaim Jesus Christ a king of Poland. You can order pizza or a taxi at a police station. Everything started with a campaign by a party jokingly called Law and Justice, gracefully titled “We keep our word.”

Seventeen years is a reference to the latest statement of Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Puchatek has more:

Mr. Prime Minister revealed to us that the last year was the best of the last 17, Poland grows in strength, people grow in wealth, foreign policy is a success and in general, everything is super. Puchatek would like to add that we have especially beautiful holidays this year, fresh snow covered half of the country, kids are riding sledges outside and the squirrels are singing carols from the treetops. And the marmot's wrapping, of course.

Elenoir (Moje sluszne poglady na wszystko) complains about this flood of commentaries, rankings and summaries that prompt her to add her own:

It's hard to find any particular positives in politics or economy in the passing year. Some good memories relate to sports (volleyball) and that's all. Things “in minus ” I could list 'till morning. Calling this year the best one since the beginning of the transformation seems silly. It's hard to make any predictions, but, as you know, certainties are taxes (growing), death, and I could add stability of the current coalition - since even the tape scandal did not damage it…

Jah gives his own forecasts for 2007 (PL):

Saddam has been hung, which won't bring normalcy to Iraq, not at all. It will be rough in Afghanistan as well. After the New Year, Polish soldiers will have a rough time there; the Taliban - no one denies that anymore - are getting stronger.

Finally, Galba competes with mayor Polish magazines by offering internauts his own poll for the Man of the Year. His nominees are:

• polish football team coach Leo Benhakker;
• new mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz;
• Father Isakowicz-Zaleski who fights for lustration in the Polish Church;
• Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski;
• and Tomasz Sakiewicz - editor-in-chief of Gazeta Polska.

The results should be known in the first days of the new year.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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On Nov. 11, Poles observed Independence Day. Apartment blocks donned national flags, but there were no fireworks. Woodcraft in Poland places the holiday in its historical context. As noted by The Poland Dairies, there was a bit of fanfare in the public sphere:

…the cavalry rode past the building - about 30 men dressed in soldier's uniforms, riding down the street on horseback.

And, observing the Polish wanted ads with an anthropological eye, Our Man in Gdansk points out some rather interesting consumer trends while de-coding Polish prose.

Gynaecologists sometimes advertise a “full range of services.” This is a widely-understood code for “we do abortions.”… If you have the old-fashioned (read: communist) type of wardrobe door, which opens out on contraptions known as “hinges” you are a clod, a bumpkin. Remember: it's not “location, location, location” here. It's: “mozaika, glazura, terakota.”

So, what's wrong with being a bumpkin? Nothing of course, according to Go Jeronimo, if you own an apple orchard. A town called Warka was the apple of their bike excursion eyes, as the account of their day trip to the Polish countryside is blogged about.

From crisp apples to Internet Panels, Poland - IP news and resources both reports and celebrates as a case against a cyber-squatter is favorably decided upon by the EU:

I am happy to announce that that we won a case of Ericpol.eu domain against domain.com@gmail.com…

And for those expats in Poland who don't know squat about the upcoming elections (hint: EU citizens can vote in Poland), the beatroot posts the ABCs of expat voting marginalization perpetrated by local politicos:

The government web site on the municipal elections is dreadful. And when foreign media have covered it, they mostly don’t even bother to mention that we can be involved too…

Continuing with the expat indignation, P3 reports on the implications of homophobia on state policy and local organization who request funding. Apparently, a Warsaw project called “Campaign Against Homophobia” was rejected due to an incompatability with the official policy. Apparently, in the rejection letter from the Polish Ministry of Education, the following reasons were given:

The policy of [the] Ministry does not support actions that aim to propogate homosexual behaviour and such attitude[s] among young people. Also, the role of [the] Ministry is not to support cooperation of homosexual organisations.

Expats of the male persuasion need not fear that all is lost as The Real Warsaw passes along some tips from a Polish lady on how to meet the so-called fairer sex.

Polish-language bloggers were observing with amusement as a completely unknown candidate in local elections from the north-eastern city of Bialystok started gathering unprecedented popularity after placing his election spot on YouTube. Fragles reflects:

I must admit, if I’ve live there [in Bialystok]… I’d vote for him. He’s your guy! He says exactly the same things as Kaczynsk brothers, Lepper & Giertych together. But how he says them! Hapeau bas, ladies & gents.

Otherwise, local elections generated surprisingly little excitement. Most bloggers contented themselves with encouraging people to vote at all, and later posting the results.

Among others, Kurczeblade noted a complete defeat of the radical right LPR’s candidate for Warsaw’s mayor, who rated even behind a well-known comedian Waldemar Fydrych, of “Gnomes & morons election committee.

The YouTube hero managed to garner a suprising 3,3% vote, which gave him the fourth place in the run.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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Perhaps a Christmas footballing miracle has come early, as Kinuk reports on Poland's victory over the 4th-ranked Portugal last week:

Their victory surprised myself, N and my brother, P, who was texting us furiously throughout the game. If Poland had played like this during the World Cup and for the last few games, supporting them would be a whole different ball game, if you pardon the pun…Portugal had a bad night, but Poland had an exceptional one and they can walk away proud from their achievements.

Not to be outdone by athletes, the Polish judiciary offered up its own legal miracle by beefing up the critical punch of journalists when it comes to overly sensitive, and litigious politicos. Writes Traveling Life:

Poland's top court has taken a step towards defending the freedom of speech, saying that one can only be punished for defaming a state official under a current law if the statements are made while he is performing his function.

And not to violate the “law of threes,” another miracle is noted by Poland - IP law news and Resources - no, it's not that Poles have stopped their incessant complaining, rather:

…[the] IP [intellectual property] awareness and creativity of Andrzej Lepper is stunning. As I check trademarks in the on-line database of the Polish Patent Office it is clear that actually none of the sings [signs] including word “samoobrona” was registered for TU Agricultures Samoobrona.

Apparently, the much maligned A. Lepper has miraculously demonstrated (given the media contruct of him as an inept, oafish MP) an advanced understanding of trademark law.

Not to be confused with either an oaf or ape, both the beatroot and Our Man in Gdansk blog about the League of Polish Family Party's (LPR) incredulity towards the metanarrative of evolution. In an ironic postmodern, or Lyotardian turn, Poland's vice prime-minister of education is qouted as saying “The theory of evolution is a lie.” The beatroot reports further:

Members of the League of Polish Families (LPR) have started a campaign against the theory of evolution. Miroslaw Orzechowski (deputy education minsiter) said:

“The theory of evolution is a lie, an error that we have legalised as a common truth….We should not teach lies, just as we should not teach bad instead of good, or ugliness instead of beauty….We are not going to withdraw Darwin's theory from the school books, but we should start to discuss it.”

And if that doesn't send a chill down your homo-sapien spine, P3 wrestles the Polish preoccupation with catching cold:

The Poles I’ve come across all seem to be obsessed with two things: The temperature and health matters, or, to be more precise, with the link between the two…I’m not a biologist or a doctor, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the real link between sickness and temperature was that if you’re sick, then you should keep warm…

Temperatures were on the rise in the English-language Polish blogopshere over the murder (or assassination?) of Russian journalists Anna Politkovskaya. A personal friend to some, the recent incident highlighted to blogger Boo that:

…a political murder touched something in me… Maybe it's because the thought that a prominent journalist, whose articles uncovered crimes, corruption and violence, could be silenced forever so simply, so coldly, so finally.

The proverb (even in Klingon) that “Revenge is a dish best served cold” is well-known, but As the Warsaw Crow Flies invites us to ponder whether or not absurdity is an art form best photographed in the cold (with plush Disney figures). “Piglet in Poland at Auschwitz: Tasteless Tourism or Art with a Message?” Is this in fact a juxtaposition that merits attention (albeit created accidentally)?

The Warsaw Crow waxes:

All three Piglet pictures look almost superimposed but they're not. I'm quietly sure the young woman who took them isn't aware of the many layers of truth and emotion to be found in them. Doesn' t that make them all the more richer?

Rich indeed we deem the beatroot's post criticizing the Nobel Prize for Literature …It's the most commented upon blog post of our latest blogosphere update and merits your attention, we invite you (and all literati) to join the debate!

And speaking of debate…In the Polish-language blogosphere emotions run high as the bloggers analyze the political scene. Within last two weeks the leaders of (now defunct) coalition keep astounding the onlookers.

The govermnent is in the process of closing down the WSI – a military branch of the Polish secret services. This institution, whose employees have never been through a proper verification process after the 1989 transformation, used to be often accused of influencing politics and being linked to many affairs. For a long time there was no political will to do something about this. The current leaders finally decided to take action - unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons, it seems.

In the wake of the recent accusations against them, they accused the media of “being inspired, and/or manipulated by the WSI.” Soon the government-friendly newspaper published an article accusing a high-ranking TVN employee (the station that highlighted the government wrongdoings) of being a registered informer. All that based on the supposedly confidential report. As Radetzky commented, after PiS reforms:

we’ll have MacService, that also serves everything up on a tray…

Kaczynski brothers and their close associates have a particular grudge against secret services ever since the early 1990s, and the fall of the last “truly” right-wing government in Poland. They have long since claimed that these events were a result of their political opponents’ using secret services to invigilate and destabilize their party. Now they managed to find evidence. Opening an archive dubbed for the media “colonel Lesiak cabinet,” they’ve proven that indeed, circa 1993, when they were in the opposition, a government official used the secret services in an illegal manner, to gather all possible compromising evidence (i.e. corruption) against them. Franciszekszwajcarski notes that these latest revelations might not, however, benefit PiS as much as they tought:

I don’t understand how – being in a state of war with most of the media in Poland – can you try to improve your political standings by publishing documents that clearly state that PC [previous Kaczynski brothers’ party] accepted bribes…

In the face of inability to form a majority coalition, PiS will be finally forced to quit stalling and agree to an earlier elections, despite a risk of loosing. However, some moves on the political stage may indicate that – for the sake of keeping power - the prime minister contemplates taking Andrzej Lepper and his party back in, despite all the reasons he had for kicking them out before.

What will Kaczyński do? Will he attempt a Heraclitean walk twice into the same river? Or will he take a gamble in an early elections? Maybe he should look on the net for supporters? Jah observes the phenomenon of politicians utilizing such resources as MySpace and wonders:

The seed has been planted and now we can just wait until various presidential or parlamentary candidates set up their profiles on Grono or other (Polish) service, to tempt potential sympathizers, volunteers, voters with their virtual virtues. Unless you should outlaw such forms of campaigning beforehand. Stop political propaganda on the net? Is it even conceivable, and acceptable?

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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Here's the low down… After the break up of the coalition, the ruling PiS scrambled for majority. While courting PSL - “the other farmers’ party” in the parliament – they openly appealed to former partner’s MPs to leave Samoobrona and back up the government. Andrzej Lepper was swift to punish the few opportunists – he pulled out promissory notes which he apparently had each party member sign upon joining, and promised to execute the “debts” as penalty. Populists’ leader also told the press that ruling party members were approaching his MPs with “corruption offers.” Two journalists of the private TVN channel decided to follow the story. They came in contact (sources differ on “how”) with Samoobrona’s Renata Beger – a controversial MP with a pending court case for election fraud - and got her cooperation in taping two important PiS politicians negotiating her defection.

The Beatroot offers an English transcript of the secretly taped meeting. Among the demands that they were prepared to meet were: securing Beger a high post in the Ministry of Agriculture and mandates in local elections for her family members. “Negotiators” also suggested that they could help Ms. Beger with her legal problems, and pay off her promissory note with a special fund created with parliment's money.

Bloggers differ in opinion which offer was more outrageous.

Kurczeblade says:

Considering Ms. Beger qualifications - or rather lack thereof - it cannot be called transfering responsibility for a certain area of public administration. The post of the Secretary of State is then meant as a form of material gain, promise of prestigious and profitable function - a bribe for supporting the government.

Radecky is more upset about the nepotism, while Grzesiek sees the worst offence in this:

Minister Lipinski offered covering Samoobrona defectors' “debts” from the Parliment funds. As the Parliment doesn't generate any profit, said money would be coming from our taxes. This way all of us would be paing for certain MPs stupidity. Except for the MPs themselves, of course, as they don't pay taxes.

Switching linguistic gears to the English-language bloggers in Poland… Uplifting blogging from Boo, as she notes graffiti exchanges in a local elevator.

Each time I went up and down in the lift, I berated myself for having forgotten once again to bring any kind of cleaning supplies. It stayed for a couple of days and then someone a little less forgetful than me cleaned it off. I was happy to see it [anti-semite graffiti] gone, and then surprised when it was replaced with this:

Raw Translation: “All anti-semites are pitiful creatures with complexes, you are (backward?) too. Long live all races.” - by Becca

And writing is on the wall for Poland's coalition government, according to Edward Lucas. Unfortunately, the wall could be mistaken for Humpty Dumpty's as the coalition might be in an irreparable state.

RICKETY, ineffectual and quarrelsome, Poland's coalition has broken apart. If it cannot be glued back together, an election will be held, probably on November 26th.

And ballots may have a few less names on them in November over the potential fall-out of a Watergate-style scandal shaping up, according to The Warsaw Station:

I'm beginning to wonder whether PiS won't find a way out of this one. The fact that Lipinski is offering positions in the government - which we hear here - is hardly surprising. In fact, it's to be expected. From this American's point of view, this seems to be how parliamentary politics works.

However, even more scandalous for Warsaw Station is the threat of financial retribution by one of the coalition Party for members who abandon the cause:

Lipinski says he could find a way for the Sejm to pay the “penalty” (worth several hundred thousand zloty) that the deputies leaving Self-Defense will have to pay for deserting their party.

And while there aren’t too many pretty faces in Polish politics, Kinuk manages to remind us that the Miss World pageant was held recently in Poland.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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The Polish Farmer and the Dell? From bovinechips to microchips, Polish Matters reports on the largest single US investment in Poland from computer-maker Dell. The plant is slated for construction next year in Lodz and will employ 2,000 people. That's very good news for an economy already suffering from a serious brain drain pointed West.

While microchips are very small and shiny, and cowchips, well, are not, the Real Warsaw waxes on about the sizeable chips on Polish clerk shoulders. Why is it that there are more scowls than smiles in the shops? An answer:

The mainstream theory is it goes back to the communist days when shop assistants did not need to be polite. There were less goods than customers and the shop assistant was god, allocating the goods at a whim to the pour souls in the queue.

Makes sense, if you assume that being kind is counter to human nature (barring Mondays)…however, an alternative theory is forwarded by Camoloami. It follows the inverse proportion theory - the number of Polish dollars earned each month by clerks is inversely proportional to the number of scowls they don at work.

Average pole working in the shop earns the lowest rate! It's usually around 800zl to 1000zl/month !!! Would you be happy and nice to everyone working 8 hours for such money ???

Moving from Polish clerk scowls to Taliban head-towels, the Beatroot reports on the political infighting over the decision to send troops to Afghanistan next year.

…opposition parties have come out against the deployment. SLD leader Wojciech Olejniczak said Friday that Poland already had troops in Iraq and Lebanon and could not afford to “dispose of its forces with such ease. Poland is not a military power. We can’t afford this.”

Perhaps the Poles should re-consider and send troops to Italy where, according to P3, over 120 Poles have vanished:

…123 men and women…vanished over the past six years after saying they were going to Italy to work, usually as farm labourers or carers. The site also includes advice for those considering working in Italy. Among other things, they are advised to take with them enough cash for an escape.

Academic integrity is also vanishing… Enklawa Dziennnikarza laments (POL): statistics show that 10 in every 100 thesis papers submitted at Polish universities (whether it is for a final degree or just for a term grade) are at least partially plagiarised, mainly from internet resources. Is it just the “sheer laziness of the students” or maybe

blame lays with the system itself. […] Poland has a great number of students, combined with a small number of didactic cadres. Each “promotor” copes with a couple dozen papers a year, and seldom can be thorough enough. They often lack time to browse other papers written on the subject to rule out plagiarism.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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Poland is a hotspot in a few ways this week. While the heatwave is starting to take its toll on fan stocks (Warsaw seems to be sold out of them), Blog from Poland reports on the annual outdoor rock concert called “Woodstock Stop”. Touted as the largest European music festival, The Woodstock Stop (repeat that 5 times fast!) will attract an estimated 400,000 people — I suppose this is where all the “fans” went?

The Woodstock Stop (Poland)

Far from the peace, love, and piwo, but no less the hotspot, As the Warsaw Crow Flies blogs about a live re-enactment of the Warsaw Uprising:

My inside man tells me the battle begins at 4pm with 'some' fighting expected in the streets near the Fort Legionów.

And while the ‘real-deal' fighting continues in Lebanon, Our Man in Gdansk, identifies some “uncritical acceptance” of the Israeli strategy by Poland's largest newspaper:

“Lebanese Children want to be Martyrs” is the surprising headline in Friday's Gazeta Wyborcza. The subhead: “Thousands of children are the victims of Hezbollah's war with Israel [not Israel's war on the Lebanon]. In photographs from the Lebanon one sees mostly the dead or those injured after the explosion of bombs. But most of them are those with sick souls.” I don't recall such sickly moralising accompanying the same newspaper's publication of a photograph of Israeli children writing messages on the bombs used to kill their Lebanese neighbours.

A country having twins as its Number One and Two in charge, Poland's gaffes also seem to come in pairs, not only in connection with unbalanced media, but as Traveling Life informs us that a PR specialist is being sought to find a way to boost the so-called Duck Republic's image abroad. Imagine that! According to P3, one such gaffe in need of immediate damage control is talk by the nationalist party about re-instituting the death penalty for pedophiles. In the comments section, Kasia appears to side with the nationalists:

For me death penalty it’s not a way of punishing criminals, it’s rather a way of preventing them from doing what they did again. Sadly, some people can not be stopped from ruining other people’s lives or from taking them away in other way. I will always be hoping that EU will change its attitude about death penalty someday.

Perhaps then it's the EU with an image problem? Image is our modus operandi this time, and Poland's architectural reputation is on the line as Boo suggests a solution to the “thick layer of neglect and sadness” caking the cityscape of Lodz (Poland's second city, and fondly nicknamed ‘Hollywoodz' due to several Oscar nominations from movies produced there; Roman Polanski studied film in Lodz). Unfortunately, the icing on this dilapidated cake is the people who “seemed uncared for, looking out from windows over crumbling balconies and sipping from cans on the streets.” The proposed solution to this unenviable dessert downer is ‘manufaktura':

Manufaktura is one solution to the problem of the old decaying factory buildings. They've been transformed into an enormous shopping centre, typical of the malls springing up all over Poland.

So, can the market forces give Lodz a much needed facelift? Who knows? Perhaps the invisible hand will also come with a scalpel.

…In the Polish-language blogosphere, there are some unspecified grand plans for Warsaw in the head of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, former Polish Prime Minister turned Mayor of the Capital, who - as of 31.07. - has also become a fellow blogger. In his first entry, he talks about brainstorming session he had with his friends over his ideas for Warsaw. “The potential of this city. Enormous. Still confined, but enormous,” - he writes. Well, we'll see what ways of unleashing that potential he has in mind. As a Warsawian myself, I sure am interested.

Later in this entry our ex-PM complains that his time in the office was viewed mainly in categories of maintaining good PR for the ruling party. O co naprawdę w tym wszystkim chodzi, commenting on Marcinkiewicz foray into the world of electronic media, points out that starting a blog itself is a PR move for any politician, and warns:

[…] there are a few politicians writing blogs, sometimes quite intimate ones. But rather none of them can be counted as a major league player. Honestly, it's not a coincidence.

In a case of blogging deja vu (again, the Polish twin effect), Poland definitely feels a need for improving its PR image in the world. Polandia reports on a new initiative of the government, alarmed at the amount of bad press our country has been gathering lately, to create a new office for protecting and promoting the image of Poland in the world. The head of this institution is yet unknown, and its tasks - unspecified. Some Polish diplomats already fear it will turn out to be something akin to a communistic Ministry of Propaganda.

By contrast, Polandia's author presents an idea of a PR campaign proposed by the Polish magazine “Wprost”: if the Kaczyński twins are the most criticized, and therefore most recognized abroad Polish politicians - why not use the image of brothers to promote the country in a series of humorous billboards?

Picture of two little boys talking: “When I grow up I will be a prime minister,” and the brother responds: “Ok, so I will consider the presidency.” Below the line: Two more reasons to visit Poland.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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Audio-commenting, as we call it, adds another dimension to blogging — think of it as audio SMS.

The topic for the inaugural Talk Back Attack (TBA) is the very hot issue of the Polish brain drain. PolBlog pontificates:

While Poles working abroad are now what one could call economic refugees, in the nearest future they may very well be followed by their diseffected brethren, the political refugees. How to put a brake on it? Oddly enough, there won't be any religious refugees as Poland stands to become a country of unemployed, educationally undistinguished (and indistinguishable), Catholic zealots.

And speaking of the devil(s), religious zealotry may be just what Poland needs if Edward Lucas is correct in his latest report pinning much of the blame for Poland's fall from EU grace on the twins currently serving as President and PM:

It is easy to argue that the Law and Justice party has done disappointingly little in the nine months since it won Poland's parliamentary and presidential elections. But in one respect it has done a lot: once a regional heavyweight, respected in America and around Europe, the country now attracts ridicule and condemnation. The main culprit is the president, Lech Kaczynski.

The twins of Polish politics are providing tons of newfound grist for the satirists. The Real Warsaw waxes instrumental, anticipating a potential windfall of success should the ‘wonder twins' fail (or succeed, depending on the POV):

…it would be impossible to set Poland any lower on the world respect ladder. good news for me…I want this country to fail so I can prosper.

But would-be emigrants don't think about flipping the bird to Poland just yet. Giving the finger is now more than an aggressive, pseudo-phallic, primal gesture — it is a passport requirement, according to Poland IP law news and resources: “A fingerprint will identify the document holder. New law will come into force in the end of August 2006.”

And while my fingers are still unpoliticized, it just wouldn't be a Polish Blogosphere Update without typing something from the diligent, far from vegetative beatroot. Perhaps in a story to give pause to the open-armed Londoners when it comes to Polish workers, the infamous Jack the Ripper may have been Polish!

The Ripper was a Polish Jew. That was the opinion of the head of the investigation into the Whitechapel murders in 1888, according to ‘evidence’ released today.

Clearly, there's been alot of ripping into Polish politics throughout the blogopshere recently, and so a change of direction is welcomed. As the Warsaw Crow Flies informs us that the blog has re-prioritized to focus mainly on “…stories about everyday life in Warsaw.” We look forward to future posts from the Crow.

And now, from the Polish language blogging scene…

The holiday season has taken hold of Polish bloggers. “As far from daily newspapers as possible” - exclaims Kurczeblade. And rightly so, for the recent news doesn't really help us to relax. As the situation in the Middle East heats up, you can tune into Polish Orientophile hub - Arabia.pl for recent news from the region as well as hot comments from Poles living there.

Most of the native bloggers seem to be in the state of detachment though, as the infamous “cucumber season” settles in. The daily absurdities of life in the “Land of the Ducks” (now in double role of President/Prime Minister) instigates the usual rants - from the authors of “Krótkowzroczność“, “To oko” - among others who'd been seeing double lately.

One subject managed to get more feedback from seething internauts - our dear nationalistic-radical-turned-minister-of-education Mr. Roman Giertych's recent plan to pardon these poor unfortunate youth/lazy bastards who managed to fail the so called “maturity exam” at the end of this high school year. Effectively granting them a passing score - and the right to get to college. M. Karnowski writes:

[Giertych's decision] damages the law, the state, youth’s upbringing. It strengthens kids' already prevailing belief, common for the Poles, that everything is relative, everything's negotiable. Even “matura” can be called off afterwards - the minister just did it. Let the exams go their way, the score's going to be what we want it to be!

At least Polandia managed, in accordance with their motto, write “something positive about Poland” for the summer. An article about Kraków's “Crazy Guides” - a merry band of entrepreneurs offering western tourist an alternative to the well-known landmarks - tracking the remnants of communistic Poland among the blocks of Nowa Huta. Herring and vodka, tacky music by the local band, a tour aboard 1960′ original red city bus, and for the de luxeclients - a visit in an authentic private flat “from the era” for a serving of traditional Polish hospitality - and equally traditional Polish sour soup.

If you're ever in Kraków, try it out!

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

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…following Christ is much more than going to church and paying homage to a religious icon.

Now if that ain't taking a swipe at Polish Catholicism (watch out Radio Maria!).

Swipes aside, kicking is king (sorry Jesus) for some Catholics, and boo describes the familial ambivalence of watcing (from a Catholic country) her Protestant team loose to a(nother) Catholic country. Perhaps sympathetic to her World Cup woes, gs says in the comments section:

One fundamental problem with the way the World Cup is organised is that there are many more teams that get eliminated compared to the number of teams who end up winning (1).

But hey, defeat is part of life isn't it? In fact, according to The Real Warsaw, the little (or, little-ish) failure inside each of us needs to rear its head in order for success to be possible at all. So go ahead, awaken the failure within…

That is… unless you live in Poland, in which case failure seems to be mainlined directly into political culture. And looking like failure on steriods, lawmaker Renata Beger was convicted of forging her electoral petition list. Like it was stated, a little failure can prompt positive results, as the beatroot has launched the tongue-in-cheek Polish Pro-Corruption Party with Ms. Beger as its leader. An appropriate motto: “Nothing succeeds like failure.”

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia y po widzenia!

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Under the heavy critique of the public opinion the Ministry of Culture withdrew some most criticized provisions (inter alia changes to the penal code) but the situation is still unclear - there is no official version of the text.

A small, provisional victory for ‘clicktivists' and yet according to Poland IP, it's demonstrable proof that a critical mass in Poland sees the internet as a legitimate means of expressing and organizing public dissent.

But that's not all… Internet activism, or clicktivism, comes in a variety of forms this month. Combining the PC mouse and camera, Fotosia, clicks together a compelling photo display of a much blogged about (see the beatroot, boo, and P3) recent Equality Parade in Warsaw. Starting with perhaps the protagonists ('heroes‘?) of the parade, on to the antagonists (the bad folks - they even wear black!), and ending with a display of faceless state power (a perspective reflecting the photographer's own ambivalance to the state?), Photosia captures the parade.

And not to rain on anyone's Polish parade…but the World Cup is well underway and the Polish football team is probably already home (ahead of many fans I reckon). Polska＊ポーランド＊Poland provides some interesting photos of the Poland- Germany match (0-1), televised in the center of Warsaw. P3 adds some heart-wrenching match afterthoughts; while the beatroot identifies a scapegoat (or legitimate solution?) to Poland's last-minute loss. In the comments section, anonymous defends the Polish coach:

“… Janas should be fired but some arguments of his are valid.. anyway please note that IT IS NOT THE ERA OF coaches teaching players how to play. All players do play in their respective leagues aroung Europe or at home and in 3 weeks Janas had with them not much could be changed.”

Continuing the search for a scapegoat, this time in the field of crime prevention, the beatroot outlines a controversial thesis put forward by Freakonomists, Steven Levitt and Dubner. The suggestion made in the post, that re-legalizing abortion would reduce the crime rate in Poland, was not necessarily the beatroot's but it did spark a lively debate in the comments section.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia y po widzenia!

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From shutterbugs to Papal-inspired censorship (that's right, Poland has it all), P3 reports that in preparation for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Poland at the end of May, officials are planning to “purge from television programs ads for personal hygiene products and underwear…”

In the comments section, M. Farris adds a translated Polish idiom for some cultural context: “I've heard an expression in Polish for this, called ‘painting the grass green' (before the arrival of a bigshot).”

Perhaps the grass is greener on the political front? To help add some clarity, the beatroot announces his very own political barometer called the PiS-ed off Index:

The methodology to the PiS-ed off Index (PoI) is simple: compare the PiS-led government’s opinion poll ratings to their share of the vote in last September's general election.

The Index will provide a measure of how “…unhappy and disappointed Law and Justice party (PiS) voters have become since last autumn’s general election.” At the moment the PiS party PoI Index is zero.

Far from wanting a zero on anything, millions of Polish high schoolers have taken their final examscalled “Matura.” According to Kinuk in Poland, in what might appear at first a spectacular invasion of Agent Smith (of Matrix fame) progeny:

Maturzysci, as the students taking the end-of-school exams (the equivalent of British A-levels) are called, still dress up to write their exams. Black trousers or black skirts for some, white shirt or blouse and often a black jacket or cardigan sets them out from the rest of the crowd on the bus or the street.

Apparently, student procrastination is universal in scope, and even memorialized in Poland, according to Kinuk, in a 60's song entitled “The exam’s in a day, in an hour, soon, getting closer, in a minute!” (In Polish: Oj, za dzień matura, za godzinę, już niedługo, coraz bliżej, już za chwilę!).

During last week Polish language bloggers were mostly preoccupied by the newly reformed government, with not one, but two populistic leaders - made ministers in exchange for their parties support. Andrzej Lepper, who was recently convicted for libel, and Roman Giertych, right-wing radical with a record of hate speech, barely started to adjust to their new functions, and already one Pole has decided to renounce his citizenship:

…[he] decided to leave our rejuvenated homeland and go into inner emigration - literally.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia!

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Continuing with the amateurish spectacles, the beatroot reports on a misguided plan by The Lublin Musical Theatre group to stage a performance on the grounds of a former WWII death camp. Alas,

…much to the surprise of the organizers, there were protests. Lots of them. From Jewish groups.

In the comments section, however, DBN wonders where the Polish version of the ACLU is:

Hmm, no protests from the “enlightened liberals” about the “hinderance of free speech”.

Though they were enraged when a university didn't let them exhibit t-shirts with slogans, such as “I had an abortion” or “I jerk off” during a human rights film festival, that dealt, amongs others, with the genocide of the Chechens.

Arguing for a bit more restraint roman comments:

Who comes up with these hair-brained schemes? What part of the word “solemn” don't they understand?

From hair-brained ideas to a brush with the hairless heads of the purported ‘no future' youth generation in Poland, P3 fears that the burgeoning punk culture in Poland is on a crash-course with disaster; even “in a country that prides itself on character and with a government that prides itself on morality.” Is it really the case of a dearth of male role models, or just good old-fashioned teenage rebellion? P3 laments:

Where are this country's strong male role models these kids so desperately need? What kind of people are teaching in the high schools? Where are their parents?

A real tear-jerker…and to help wipe those dampened peepers dry (albeit, only if they are peering from an expensive ride), those same public enemy teens are quite the (self) enlightened ‘public servants,' according to The Warsaw Crow. In the Polish version of “Pimp my Ride,” city youth have been spotted risking life and limb (believe me, on Warsaw streets it's not hyperbole) selling and fitting select vehicles with windshield wipers:

They look for men who can be convinced that their 3-tonne pride and joy suffers from fluid distribution issues. The very instant a target shows a moment's doubt he is stripped of his existing wipers. Lips are bitten and faults are pointed out.

On the Polish language blogging front: somebody's finally worrying about a high number of young, qualified Poles leaving the country to seek their fortunes abroad. The city of Wrocław, having apparently run out of skilled construction crews and half-competent plumbers, is launching a billboard campaign in London to persuade the Polish immigrants to come back and live at Wrocław. Oops! comments (POL):

They forgot to sign the poster: “With regards - Polish Tax Office.”

We shouldn't worry, however: Poland will not become completely deserted. In place of young professionals leaving by hundred thousands, we'll be getting coach-loads of western tourists, looking for some of that former soviet block exotics - not to mention cheaper healthcare services:

Poland is currently one of the bigger tourist magnets: we're 11. on the list, before not only Czech Republic & Croatia, but even such tourism giant as Turkey.

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia!

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Having only read his novel Solaris, I can't say I'm at all familiar with his work. But from that one book it was clear just what an exceptionally imaginative chap he was.

Not to be confused with Lem's science fiction, The Real Warsaw reports on a recent strike of doctors protesting their paltry incomes.

Currently an average Polish doctor at a state hospital makes less than 10 złoty per hour. That's equal to about 2.5 Euro or 3 USD per hour.

According to Real Warsaw, Poland's health care professionals are demanding a 100% increase in salary by 2007. In the comments section, Hikin Mike argues that Poland needs to spend a higher pecentage of its GDP on the health care sector if things are to improve:

…within your country you need to pay specialized prices for it or you will lose all of the talent to countries willing to pay more (the United States pays 15% of GDP compared to Polands 4%). When it comes to maintaining a healthy society, health care is not where you want to cut corners - pay them what they deserve.

According to P3, Poles won't have to worry about doctors if they keep eating all the fresh fruits and veggies from their local green grocers. But be warned, the vendors are in no mood to haggle over prices:

Me: I'd like some tangerines.
Her: How many?
Me: Well, I'm not sure. How about 2 zl worth? (Not even knowing how much that'll be)
Her: Prosze (she then grabs about 15 tangerines and weighs them out.
Her: That'll be 2.50.
Me: ??
Her: 2.50
Me: Well, it could be worse. (Hands over the money)

Yes, it could be worse, she could be basing her voting choices on the latest transmission from Radio Maryja. Perpetually in somebody's doctrinal doghouse, this time Pope Benedict XVI's, the beatroot reports that Vatican “top collars” (perhaps in move to indirectly indict the Polish Church) sent a letter to Polish Church authorities requesting a concrete response to the station's cosy relations with the ruling political party (PiS). Already infamous for its anti-Semitic, conspiracy-theorist audio screeds, Radio Maryja is now under increased Papal scrutiny for its close ties to politics. I suppose there's room for only one theocracy in this neck of the woods.

And if that wasn't “putting one's foot in it all,” spring hungry Poles might wish it was according to As the Warsaw Crow Flies. As a new season thaws the “glad to see your back” winter, additional shortfalls are afoot: Warsaw Crow marvels from “Dog Poo Avenue” at the “testament to artistic capabilities of the canine digestive system, for about eighty metres 'solid' it represents a pantheon of perfectly preserved doggie deposits.”

Perhaps not the most appealing note to end on, but we promise that next time we will bring you some additional updates regarding Polish language blogs (we will translate some).

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia!

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Poland is a country full of great people, but the resistance to change and red tape is sickening. It was obvious to me the first day I came to Poland. I don't see Poland being a major player even in the next 20 years…

But is Poland to blame in all cases? In the spirit of passing the buck, Poland - IP news and resources reports that the dearth of Polish patents (an important index of national creativity) is the fault of “the European patent system.” In 2005, just 79 Polish inventors applied for patents, compared with 13,000 applications in Germany.

Not only having trouble at home, according to the beatroot, Poles are taking a beating abroad as well. Incidents of scuffles between Poles and local residents are not isolated, particularly in Ireland. The beatroot makes a religious connection, arguing that beatings are less common in Catholic areas. To be fair, Ireland is one of the few countries that have opened their borders to work-hungry Poles. A point that Michael M. reiterates in the comments section:

I think it has to do with the fact that the UK and Ireland both opened up their labor markets to new EU member states right from the get-go.

Maybe Susquatch can help? Coming right out of the X-Files, according to Polish Ufological Journal, a Yeti-like creature has been spotted in south-eastern Poland.

Attention Polish literati, Indian poems are available in Polish. In a ceremony hosted by India's Ambassador to Poland, and attended by the who's who of Polish literary circles, the Urdu poetry of 19th century poet Mirza Ghalib (translated by Janusz Krzyzowski and Surender Zahid) was released.

Polish political satire is on the rise. “We can observe a true renaissance of political humour” in Poland, according to Kurczeblade, that quotes a handfull of new political jokes in circulation (in Polish, regretfully).

Main opposition party leader Donald Tusk takes a beating this week from several bloggers. Michał Karnowski writes:

First Commandment for an opposition party is: always aim for early elections, always be ready to take over. It's a clear situation for voters, obvious element of a healty democracy. For the ruling party it's a constant treat. Although I understand an argument that “the longer Law & Justice stays in power, the bigger support for Civic Platform will get,” I do not accept it. If the rule of the PiS party is as bad as opposition claims, they need to be stopped immediately. And if there's no need to do it right away, then somebody's been using too strong words…

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia!

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