I don’t have the heart to explain all the “lustration” shenanigans in Poland so I will just throw out a few comments for those who have been following it, but perhaps not that closely, and perhaps relying on English language sources. Unsurprisingly, the lustration law was found to be largely unconstitutional on Friday by the […]
May 3rd is the day on which Poles celebrate the anniversary of their 1791 constitution, which is considered by some (mostly Poles) the most progressive in Europe of its day. Only the American constitution beats it, the national mythology goes. It did not liberate the peasants but it did take on some of the worst […]
“Unknown Man: I’ll be around for some time. I have a mission to accomplish. […] Unknown Man: And all the time the volcano beneath our feet is seething and boiling. We are riddled through and through with conspiracies, secret societies, plots… Onek: Yes! The dirty bloody hunchbacks are plotting! Unkown Man: What hunchbacks… Onka: My […]
Taking Poland by storm right now and for the next eight — no, make that seven — days is one Krzysztof Kononowicz, who ran for president of Bia?ystok. You can watch his appearance on a teevee show if you search around but it’s a slightly unpleasant experience. The question of manipulation comes up and — […]
“It’s War,” says today’s Dziennik, referring to further political revelations, machinations and deteriorations of relations in parliamentary politics which I won’t go into here. But there is one intriguing item in the article: once, many years ago, Donald Tusk made fun of Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski’s voice. Kaczy?ski repsonded by pulling a (legally held) gun on Tusk! […]
Andrzej Lepper, leader of Samoobrona, a farmers’ party, has left the coalition government. Primesident Kaczy?ski accused him of warcholstwo – brawling, troublemaking. In response, Lepper called this accusation “chamstwo,” which might be translated as “boorishness” but has also been translated on occasion as “assholeishness.” Although “warcho?” (troublemaker) may seem innocuous enough, the word has interesting […]
As you might have guessed from the long gaps between posts, I am on holidays — holidays in dial-up land, also known as Ireland. Here, without links or diacritics, are some random observations: As the number of Poles in Ireland continues to rise, journalists continue to make no attempt whatever to spell their names right. […]
During a visit to a rescue team in July President Kaczy?ski was introduced to a sniffer dog. The dog’s handler said: “Ira siad!” (“Era, sit!”). Poor Lechos?aw is reported to have said “Irasiad jest bardzo zdenerwowany” (“Erasit is very agitated”). I won’t say I wouldn’t have made the same mistake.
Asked by Niedziela (“Sunday,” a Catholic weekly) if he was in favour of withdrawing Polish troops from Iraq, Lechos?aw Kaczy?ski, primesident of Poland, replied: We have gained a few things thanks to it [our engagement in Iraq]. It’s completely senseless, Polish soldiers have died there — that’s the most important thing because the life of […]
Sometimes you have to admire Poles their openness. The new head of the state TV channel is the right wing Bronisław Wildstein. In the puling adolescent west the new boss of a TV station or newspaper might be expected to trot out some feelgood cliches about how he does not intend to interfere in anyway […]
