March 17th’s Gazeta Wyborcza hilariously describes Warsaw as “the most prestigious constituency” in the European elections. You hear that Hillbilly Boy? Your votes are not as good as our votes. They are not as prestigious.
A senator Misiak has been kicked out of Platforma Obywatelska for what I don’t quite know. He has blotted his copybook so often and so completely it’s hard to say. For instance, while in opposition he lobbied the government on work visas for Ukrainians. He was also involved in (if he did not simply own) […]
You know… well, that crisis and all? It isn’t really all that bad. No. Not at all. It’s been hyped up out of all proportions. Yesterday’s Gazeta Wyborcza has the real deal. Page one’s main headline is about the cheerful sounds coming from the United States Federal Reserve (which GW clubbily refers to as “the […]
The strapline on the TV over the bar last night had some exciting news. Through the fumes of pure alcohol rising in wavy lines from the gin-soaked counter I made out the words “US stock market rises for second day in a row.” Wow… two whole days.
One of the banks was kind enough to post a flyer to me advertising their credit card. On one side is written the benefits of using a credit card. Life is too short to read that but the other side has three pictures that say a great deal about the contempt we are to have […]
Andrzej Czuma, the new minister for justice here, did not just leave angry creditors behind him in the US. He also tangled with the courts in a number of car accidents. Not to be outdone, the chief of one of the opposition parties, the League of Polish Families – remember them? – has also had […]
Well, perhaps the Times Online misquoted him: ‘Dermot Ahern, the [Irish] Justice Minister, said: “Legislation is in place to bring to justice those who may have played hard and fast with the financial security of this country”.’ There’s nothing wrong with playing hard and fast. What Ahern should have said was “fast and loose” but […]
Sylwia Chutnik again: “All the time the old gits are blowing their big noses into flannel handkerchiefs and snorting the leftover phlegm back into themselves, into their lungs. Maybe it’ll come in useful later? Maybe, when that rainy day comes, you go for the phlegm and eat it for dinner.” Chutnik easily avoids the intellectuo-philosophising […]
The government assigned me to a pension fund (the one that was stung by Bernie Madoff) run by one of the big banks here. In their very first letter to me, an unwilling and forced customer, the managers of my money write: “In the attached prospectus you will find the conditions of your membership.” Oh […]
Olga Tokarczuk, my most favouritest writer of them all, has an article in the latest Polityka. It’s travel literature, my most favouritest genre of them all. She’s been to China: “His [Mao’s] face is found in the most unlikely places: on the walls of buildings–” Hold on, hold on a minute there. The wall of […]
