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    How many eggs fit in a box?

    By
    redakcja
    -
    How many eggs fit in a box?
    Wikipedia

    It came as a bit of a shock to my friend living in Poland that a box of eggs is not really a dozen. Why is that?

    Some claim that eggs were sold in England in twelves so that each could cost a penny and the whole box would make for a shilling (12 pennies). That This might be true, but the system of counting in twelves can be traced back to as early as ancient Mesopotamia and it was also present in Poland. Phraseology, which is a great vehicle and preservative for culture, still retains phrases like “tuzin jaj” (a dozen eggs) or “kopa jaj” (five dozen eggs), yet now they are sold in packs holding 6, 10 or 30 pieces.

    It might have changed during the time of partitions, which coincided with adoption of the metric system throughout Europe. In Russia, as well as in Germany and Austria, eggs are sold in packs of 10, so it might have been one of the numerous ways these countries influenced our culture. One way or another, be sure you stock up as Easter is just around the corner, and if you are going to spend it in Poland, you may need to get a box more.

    Polish PM: We will try to keep the budget deficit within the EU limit

    By
    redakcja
    -
    Polish PM: We will try to keep the budget deficit within the EU limit
    gazeta polska.pl

    Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, speaking after a cabinet meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday, said that Poland’s general government deficit would increase as a result of new spending pledges. “It is obvious that the budget is not a bottomless pit; it is not rubber,” he conceded, as quoted by Poland’s PAP news agency.

    Morawiecki did say, however, that the government would try to keep the deficit “in line with the Maastricht convergence criteria, which means the 3 per cent” target, the news agency reported. For her part, finance minister Teresa Czerwińska said on Monday she would do her best to make sure the deficit stays within the 3 per cent threshold required of European Union members.

    Poland’s 2019 budget assumes GDP growth of 3.8 per cent, with a target for the general government deficit of 1.7 per cent of GDP. But last month the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party announced an expansion of its flagship 500+ child benefit programme, in addition to a number of other promises, including a lower personal income tax rate, additional benefits for pensioners, and improved rural bus services. These promises, dubbed the “Kaczyński Five” are estimated to cost the government some PLN 40 billion (EUR 9.3 billion, USD 10.5 billion).

    The prime minister’s remarks came after a group of economists and finance experts, among them former finance ministers and deputy finance ministers, have warned that there is a “very serious risk” that this extra spending will cause Poland’s general government deficit to exceed 3 per cent of GDP next year and “then increase significantly further after 2020,” as reported daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza which is generally critical of the government. The experts, most of whom are also outspoken critics of the government, called on the PiS government to “respect the principles of public finance stabilisation.”

    Governments govern, and oppositions oppose. It is hardly surprising that in an election year PiS seeks to appeal both to its electorate and to continue to help those it considers have benefitted the least from Poland’s transformation. While there is not much room for manoeuvre, the prime minister is aware of this and keen that the government stays within the 3 per cent limit. This is not the irresponsible action the opposition would have us believe.

    Visit The PRL Museum in Warsaw, Poland

    By
    redakcja
    -

     

    The PRL museum was founded by Rafał Patla and Marta Patla who are also the owners of the Adventure Warsaw company. The initial idea was to collect a items and some of the family memorabilia to create a flat modeled on communist times in the garage in the Praga district in Warsaw.

    Polish EU MPs on Article 13

    By
    redakcja
    -
    Polish EU MPs on Article 13
    Pixabay.com

    The notorious Article 13 has been passed today in EU Parliament, despite numerous protests against it throughout many member countries.

    ACTA2, as it is often referred to by the people opposing it, is supposed to regulate the copyright laws of the creators of linked content in the European part of the internet. Some people say that it will finally put an end to massive theft of intellectual property on the web, while others fear that it will hamper or outright ban production of materials that cite other materials, which is basically how most of the internet works. Polish MPs were also divided on this issue with a strong skew towards voting against the directive (all of Law and Justice, a few members of Civic Platform and several others), with just a few members from Civic Platform voting for it. Here is the list of how Polish EU MPs voted on Article 13:

    For:

    Tadeusz Zwiefka (Civic Platform)

    Bogdan Zdrojewski (Civic Platform)

    Marek Plura (Civic Platform)

    Julia Pitera (Civic Platform)

    Barbara Kudrycka (Civic Platform)

    Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz (Civic Platform)

    Danuta Huebner (Civic Platform)

    Kazimierz M. Ujazdowski (unaffiliated but with bonds to Civic Platform)

     

    Against:

    Ryszard Czarnecki (Law and Justice)

    Edward Czesak (Law and Justice)

    Anna Fotyga (Law and Justice)

    Beata Gosiewska (Law and Justice)

    Czesław Hoc (Law and Justice)

    Marek Jurek (Right Wing of the Republic of Poland)

    Karol Karski (Law and Justice)

    Sławomir Kłosowski (Law and Justice)

    Zdzisław Krasnodębski (Law and Justice)

    Urszula Krupa (Law and Justice)

    Zbigniew Kuźmiuk (Law and Justice)

    Ryszard Legutko (Law and Justice)

    Stanisław Ożóg (Law and Justice)

    Bolesław Piecha (Law and Justice)

    Ryszard Piotrowski (Law and Justice)

    Tomasz Poręba (Law and Justice)

    Jadwiga Wiśniewska (Law and Justice)

    Kosma Złotowski (Law and Justice)

    Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (unaffiliated but with bonds to Law and Justice)

    Andrzej Grzyb (Polish People’s Party)

    Krzysztof Hetman (Polish People’s Party)

    Jarosław Kalinowski (Polish People’s Party)

    Czesław Siekierski (Polish People’s Party)

    Michał Boni (Civic Platform)

    Danuta Jazłowiecka (Civic Platform)

    Adam Szejnfeld (Civic Platform)

    Róża Thun (Civic Platform)

    Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg (Democratic Left Alliance)

    Adam Gierek (Democratic Left Alliance)

    Marek Marusik (New Right)

    Stanisław Żółtek (New Right)

    Robert Iwaszkiewicz (Freedom)

    Dobromir Sośnierz (KORWiN)

     

    Abstained:

    Janusz Zemke (Democratic Left Alliance)

    Bogusław Liberadzki (Democratic Left Alliance)

    Polish economy – Fitch ratings agency upgrades GDP forecast amid good news

    By
    redakcja
    -
    Polish economy – Fitch ratings agency upgrades GDP forecast amid good news
    Sutterstock

    Fitch, an international ratings agency, has upgraded its forecast for Poland’s GDP growth in 2019 from 3.8 to 4 per cent. It also revised upwards its GDP forecast for 2020 from 3 to 3.5 per cent. Fitch also revised downwards its estimate of Poland’s general government deficit for 2019 from 2.2 per cent to 1.7.

    Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted that the upgrades demonstrated that the government’s policies were effective and that experts saw Poland as “a leader of economic growth in Europe.” And the prime minister’s optimism is supported by recent statistics which show the Polish economy is still healthy.

    According to Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), the average monthly salary in February was PLN 4,949.42 (EUR 1,153), a rise of 7.6 per cent compared with February 2018. The figures are fir employers with more than nine employees. The average salary for the fourth quarter of 2018 was up 7.7 per cent up on a year earlier, with GDP growing 4.9 per cent in the same quarter.

    The news was also good for the industrial production, with GUS announcing a rise of 6.9 per cent in February compared with a year earlier, and up from January’s 6.1 per cent year on year rise, although in monthly terms, industrial production in February was 1.5 per cent lower than in January. Analysts has expected a rise of only 4.5 per cent in February.

    Retail sales in February rose 6.5 per cent compared to a year earlier, 5.6 per cent in real terms.  Sales of household appliances and consumer electronics were 14.3 per cent in year-on-year terms, while sales of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics rose 9.7 per cent. Sales of fuels increased by 6.9 per cent.

    Exports are also performing well, and exceeded imports in January, accord to daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita which quotes figures from the National Bank of Poland showing exports of almost EUR 18.5 billion, an increase of 4.1 per cent over January 2018 and following a 2.3 per cent rise in December.

    With imports up 2.2 per cent in January on a yearly basis, against analysts’ expectations of 4.1 per cent, Poland generated a trade surplus in goods of EUR 279 million. As the newspaper noted, May was the only month in 2018 when exports exceeded imports.   

    As one might expect, these figures were reflected in the unemployment statistics, with unemployment of 6.1 per cent in February, unchanged from January, according to GUS. There were some 1,016,700 jobless at the end of February, down from 1,023,100 in January. GUS reported at the end of last month that Poland’s unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent in January was up from 5.8 percent in December.

    All in all, a positive picture and, while there is never room for complacency, it seems there are good reasons for the prime minister’s optimism.

    New NATO storage facility in Poland: first steps towards US base?

    By
    redakcja
    -
    New NATO storage facility in Poland: first steps towards US base?
    Shutterstock

    “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. The words attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, which at least have the merit of being as self-evidently true as they are simple, and of universal application. Thus, may the decision announced by NATO on Saturday about storing military equipment here be seen as the potential first step towards a permanent US base in Poland, or merely an unrelated happy coincidence?

    On 23rd March, NATO confirmed that it plans to establish a storage facility in Poland for US military equipment. The facility, which will cost $260 million and be located in Powidz, some 200 km (120 miles) west of Warsaw, will house armoured vehicles, ammunition and weapons for a brigade. The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that work on the site will begin this summer and take two years to complete.

    Stoltenberg said that the storage facility would help “underpin the increased U.S. presence in Poland.” Poland has been lobbying hard for a greater US military presence in the country beyond the 5,000 American troops that are already stationed here on a rotational basis as part of NATO operations, with the suggestion that a permanent base be created – for which Poland has offered to pay – dubbed “Fort Trump”, doubtless as a way of appealing to the current US president’s ego.

    Secretary General Stoltenberg also said NATO will complete some 250 other infrastructure projects across Europe by 2021 which are designed to increase the capacity of airports, harbours, railways, and roads to handle heavy equipment. These are all part of NATO’s stepping up its defences in the face of increased Russian assertiveness, especially increasing defences along the eastern flank in response to Russia’s annexing of Crimea in 2014 and its role in the continuing conflict in Ukraine.

    Since then, battlegroups have been deployed on a rotating basis in the three Baltic states and Poland and NATO has launched an overhaul of its command structure and is working to improve the speed at which it is able to move troops and equipment around Europe in case of incursion. This practice of pre-positioning equipment in strategic locations is also designed make it easier to deploy resources quickly in a crisis.

    Maintaining close military and other ties with the US, going beyond NATO membership, is a key element of Poland’s foreign and security policy. Last month Poland agreed to buy American mobile rocket launchers worth $414 million, and a year ago signed a $4.75 billion contract for the US-made Patriot anti-missile system.

    Another long-running issue, and a reason for staying close to the US, is that of Poland’s becoming part of the US Visa Waiver programme. The US ambassador to Warsaw, Georgette Mosbacher, in an interview with Polsat News on Thursday, said she was working to make Poland part of the US Visa Waiver Program by the time she leaves her post in Warsaw, if not by the end of this year. During a visit to Warsaw last month, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said he hoped visa requirements for Poles traveling to the US would be revoked “soon.” “There are a set of requirements that we have in place. Poland is getting closer and closer”, Pompeo said.

    The threshold for a country to enter the US Visa Waiver Programme is a three per cent application refusal rate. According to the US State Department, American consulates in Warsaw and Kraków in 2017 rejected 5.9 per cent of visa applications submitted by Poles, up from a record low of 5.37 per cent in 2016. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia are the only EU member states not included in the US Visa Waiver Programme.

    It is hard to see any Polish government pursuing a different policy. Unyielding the US may appear, especially on the visa issue, and however small the rewards to date for Poland’s unceasing support of the US, including taking part in military operations in the Middle east, there is for Poland little realistic alternative, from a security point of view, of staying close to the US. Not every member of NATO is as committed to meeting its obligations as Poland. Given its geography and history, this “NAT0 plus” approach seems sensible and realistic as, step by step, Poland seeks to achieve long-term security.

     

    The Left’s Deceptive Obsession with Poland’s “Far Right”

    By
    redakcja
    -
    The Left’s Deceptive Obsession with Poland’s “Far Right”

    On the weekend of 23rd March, activists Beata Geppert and Izabela Mozdrzén addressed an Amnesty International conference. Irish broadcaster RTE reported how the two women, who had previously attempted to unveil a ‘Stop Fascism’ banner during the Independence Day celebrations in Warsaw, told their Irish audience that Poland was facing a threat from the far right.

    Speaking about the recent Independence Day march, Mozdrzén told RTE News:

    “We knew that this protest wouldn’t be nice. We knew that racist and homophobic and hate speech will be there and banners and we knew that fascist symbols would be there…They were spitting, shouting, swearing, cursing, everything you can imagine. Some of us were pulled to the ground. One girl was dropped on the street, so she hit her head and she lost consciousness for some time”.

    These two women are part of a wider, international group of activists who are wilfully deceiving people about the nature of the far right in Poland. I’ve seen the Independence Day march with my own eyes, and I’m sure many readers will have attended also. It is true that far right activists are present at the march, but it is wrong to suggest they are in any way the majority. In fact, the far-right element of these marches is shunned by the vast majority of attendees every year. It would be a stretch to suggest that 100 activists in attendance each year are genuinely far right.

    The remaining 60,000 or so? They are simply Polish citizens celebrating independence.

    The idea that Poland is a nation infested with far-right ideologues and activists who pose a threat to Europe is insane – and it is deeply cruel and dishonest for activists like Mozdrzén and Geppert to perpetuate this lie. Even worse, outlets like RTE give them credibility they do not deserve.

    For any European news outlet to report on the Polish Independence Day march, they must surely have first-hand information and footage of their own that supports their claims. None of the outlets that have made assertions like this have any such footage.

    Make no mistake – this is part of a campaign to wear down the Polish people and shame them into voting differently. Claim that something as ordinary as celebrating independence is far right, and the far left will hope to embarrass enough people into voting for centre-left and progressive parties like Wiosna in the upcoming European elections. Donald Tusk has already called for a “pro-European” movement to unite in Poland to stop Law and Justice from gaining seats this May. This conspiracy is real.

    The people attacking Polish patriots for celebrating their independence are as deceptive as they are disingenuous. Some believe the nonsense they peddle, others know it is inaccurate but don’t care.

    There is an attempt across Europe to silence Eastern European conservatives, nationalists and patriots who are taking the fight directly to the globalists in the European Union – but it is transparent, and doomed to fail.

     

     

     

    Visit The National Library in Warsaw With Poland Daily Culture

    By
    redakcja
    -

    The National Library in Warsaw is located on Niepodległości street as well as in the Krasiński Palace. The baroque palace was built in the 17th century and renovated between 2014-2016.

    The most popular Polish book abroad

    By
    redakcja
    -
    The most popular Polish book abroad
    Poland Daily

    It was burned, rewritten, banned, accepted, and finally: available and recommended. And, oh, how we craved for it.

    “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” writes St. Paul in Romans 5:20 and it does not take a lot of imagination to see the first part of that sentence realised horribly in the 20th Century. But if one believes that Paul’s words came from the Holy Spirit, the remaining part of the verse must also hold true. The horrors of WW2 cannot be erased or dealt with, but God has ensured that His children are not left in total despair without a way out. And, as usually, He did that through the hands of a single humble person. Sister Maria Faustyna Kowalska was up for the task.

    St. Faustina, as she is known today, was supposed to bring the message about God’s mercy to the whole world. It was not meant to change or add to the way we understand God or anything about the Revelation, but to give new power to one of His attributes that might have been put in question by the upcoming events. Faustina wrote, and later rewrite, her diary inspired by her spiritual directors and remained faithful to the precept in spite of numerous doubts. She started in 1934 and finished in 1938, three months before her death, a year before WW2 broke out.

    Apart from documenting daily events from conventual life, with common struggles of relations with other nuns, battling weaknesses and deficiencies of human nature, the Diary contains a detailed record of Faustina’s spiritual life, her mystical communion with God, and most of all, the words of Jesus directed to her and the whole world. It is the antecedant of the image of Merciful Jesus, better known as “Jesus, I trust in you”, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Novena, and other ways of devotion to Divine Mercy.

    The goal has been achieved: the message spread to even the most remote ends of the Catholic Church. It fueled the faith of today’s Catholics with new hope and love, and let the Church prevail. With that, “Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul” became the most popular and widely translated book by a Polish author with some claiming that it is the second most important book in the world.

    Polish Art And Culture During World War II

    By
    redakcja
    -
    Polish Art And Culture During World War II


    The Second World War was a particularly difficult time for Polish art and culture, as the country was completely overrun, pillaged, purged and ruled by the Nazi German Third Reich for most of the six years of the war, and later also by the Soviet Red Army as it advanced westward towards Germany. Polish society quickly became subordinated to the rule and order of the invaders, and over time was completely fragmented and ultimately destroyed. As a result, Polish art and culture was not only endangered, but became increasingly difficult to create and partake in.

    Both during and after the war, the Catholic Church – together with some affluent and resourceful Polish citizens, and with the cooperation of the Polish Underground State in London – was active in saving national treasures in the form of artwork, as well as living artists themselves from the pillaging and murdering campaigns of the invaders. About 25 major museums were destroyed during World War II in Poland, while libraries, theatres and universities were either closed or designated for use only by the Germans following the outbreak of the war. The invaders looted public and private buildings, and took countless pieces of artwork and treasures to Germany.

    Under the circumstances, the challenge of saving significant artwork and other assets of national culture was a formidable task, let alone create new works of art. Yet despite the tremendous challenges to artistic expression and censorship in almost every aspect of their lives, Poles did not give up for one moment.

    Secretly, a rudimentary education system was maintained, and even the theater was active in some places. At the same time that people were sentenced to death for owning radios and listening to Polish-language broadcasts, there were over 1,000 underground newspapers in print during the war, and clandestine theatres remained. Music also went underground. Amongst the most famous musicians of the time were: Eugenia Umińska, Kazimierz Wiłkomirski or Witold Lutosławski. Other underground artists included Stanisław Ostoja-Chrostowski, Eryk Lipiński and Konstanty Maria Sopoćko.
     
    It is also worth mentioning that many artists did not survive the war, but nevertheless contributed to the Polish art scene of the period. Examples of such artists include Bruno Schulz, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer or Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński.

     

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