Last week PD leader Walter Veltroni made a dramatic move, excluding Ciriaco de Mita from the list of candidates to be presented at the upcoming elections. De Mita, who turned 80 in february, first served in parliament in 1963, has long been a significant voice in the fuzzy waters best termed ‘the centre’, after the […]
A week or two ago a bunch of sociologists published the shocking (to Poles) results of a survey they took among Polish academics. They cautioned that the study was biased because mostly those who were frustrated responded. Gazeta Wyborcza ran with it all week and judging by the latest cover, Wprost is taking it up […]
In the late 1960s, in a bold and unorthodox move, the government of Ireland introduced the free milk scheme for primary school children. Under the terms of the scheme, pushed through an unwilling Dail by the socialist minister for education, every child aged from 4 to 7 and in full time education would be supplied […]
A momentous time has come to Poland. For my eldest daughter it was time to take herself to the “hundred days ball” – a kind of a disco in gladrags held one hundred days before the school leaving exam. People will tell you it starts with the pupils dancing a Polonez but this is not […]
Watching a God-awful soap the other night I saw somebody pay for two or three items in a supermarket. The cost was exactly four zloties, which aroused my suspicions. Those suspicions were confirmed when the money was simply received. If you can’t be bothered faithfully reproducing simple things like the fact that everything costs 3.69, […]
A particularly vile right-wing blog, here in Italy, has been all over the news after having published a long list of Jewish Professors working in Italian Universities. The blog has been taken down by its service provider, and Italian police are investigating the incident, with a view to prosecution for incitement to hatred. That the […]
Janusz Głowacki used to smuggle criticism past the censor by dressing it up as extravagant praise, comparing favourably, for instance, the since-forgotten socialist realist book Głupia sprawa (A Silly Matter) by Dobrowolski with the publication of the first Polish translation of Ulysses. He says he got letters from some readers saying: you know, that Głupia […]
“Don’t worry, trade unionists. The government is not going to change the law to emasculate you.” “What? The government is going to change the law to emasculate us?” “No, no. You misunderstand. The government is not going to change the law to emasculate you.” “But why would the government want to change the law to […]
Government by opinion poll is probably not the best way to run a country: bye bye art, culture, education; hello football, soap operas and institutionalized bribery – no wait, that’s not what I was trying to suggest. Hang on… But surely you can’t ignore the public all the time? For instance, this week’s Polityka reports […]