Free Republic

My name is Sara and my husband is in special polish forces in Iraq. There are preparations by American forces on Friday to have 21 salutes according to my husband. He really didn't tell me much, but I think it will happen. (what is 21 salute?) On behalf of my husband and me Sara, we would like to send condolences to you all American people of great lost of Ronald Wilson Reagan. It is a great lost for many Americans, we in Eastern Europe remember him as a great man who not only unified Germany but also allow us in...

SYDNEY: A reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles could happen sooner than we think, according to Dutch scientists who report that the planet's magnetic field is becoming gradually less stable. A reversal could affect everything from navigation and communications equipment to the composition of the atmosphere, say experts. The report, published today in the U.K. journal Nature Geoscience, found that reversals have been far more common in the last 200 million years than they were deep in the planet's history. Wandering polesResearchers, led by Andrew Biggin of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, made the discovery by analysing rocks...

People who have been injured while walking and texting on their cell phones may be in luck. A London street is experimenting with padded lampposts to protect those not paying attention from banging into them, ITN reports.

Polar Fiction by: Bethany Stotts, January 22, 2008 Chicago, Ill.— Assuming the verifiable truth of global warming, some academics wish to circumvent the climate change debate and start teaching college students about importance of combatting this imminent disaster. Just as some environmentalists have co-opted the polar bear as a symbol for the predicted ecological crisis, Britt Rusert, a doctoral candidate at Duke University, visualizes polar exploration literature as a new outlet for this discourse. “How, I wonder, might such a polar canon help us conceptualize and historicize ecological crises, specifically the master discourse of global warming and their contemporary moments?,”...

Polish phrase cards handed out to firefightersFirefighters in Lancashire are being handed Polish phrase-cards with sentences including 'What is on fire?' and 'Are you hurt?' to help cope with an influx of eastern Europeans. Free Polish classes are also on offer to firefighters, to help make them understood by the 50,000 Polish immigrants who have settled in Lancashire neighbourhoods. Most have arrived since the country was admitted to the European Union. But Polish communities are said to be instinctively suspicious of any uniformed services due to experiences in their homeland. The card has been produced to try and gain their...

A disagreement over a Russian exhibit at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz has emerged as a new irritant in relations between Russia and Poland, where resentment of Cold War domination by Moscow remains strong. The camp museum has delayed the opening of the Russian-designed exhibition because it uses the term "Soviet citizens" to refer to people taken to Auschwitz from former Polish territory seized by the Soviet Union at the start of World War II, said museum head Piotr Cywinski. "Why is Russia still interpreting Stalinist times this way?" Cywinski said during an interview on Radio Tok FM....

The Polish government has announced that it plans to spend up to $6bn (£3.1bn) over the next seven years to support families. According to figures released this week, Poland has the lowest fertility rate in the European Union. Some estimates suggest there will be four million fewer Poles by the year 2030, if the current trend of falling birthrates continues. Poland is perhaps the most Catholic country in Europe. More than a half of the people here go to church every Sunday and 70% say family and children are the most important things in life. Incentives But the profound changes...

CHICAGO -- Anna Hebal says pierogi dumplings don't sell like they used to at her Czerwone Jabluszko Polish eatery in Chicago. She blames a lack of Poles immigrating to the city, the largest Polish community outside Warsaw. "There's no point in coming to the United States now that there's a united Europe," said Hebal, 54, who received refugee status in the United States in 1981 after Poland, then led by a Communist regime, declared martial law while she was visiting Chicago. "Poles have more freedom than ever, so less people are coming. It's kind of hard." As Chicago celebrated Pulaski...

Pristine seascapeA previously unexplored section of Antarctic sea floor lured marine scientists and their vessel Polarstern to the frozen continent for a voyage of exploration over Christmas and New Year.The trip yielded, said researchers, a wealth of useful information and some undiscovered species.(Image: G Chapelle, IPF/ Alfred Wegener Institute) Unexpected giantAmong the new species was this giant amphipod, a type of crustacean, which researchers caught in baited traps. About 10cm (four inches) long, it is one of the biggest amphipods found in the region.(Image: C d'Udekem, Royal Belgium Institute for Natural Sciences) Key creatureAlready well known to science is...

Loyalists make Catholic Poles welcome Wartime debt to Britain's East European allies boosts a battle against racism on estate Henry McDonald, Ireland editor Sunday February 18, 2007 The Observer The contribution made by Polish pilots during the Second World War is being used as a weapon in the fight against racism in Northern Ireland. An estate infamous for the expulsion of Catholics during the Anglo-Irish Agreement protests is welcoming an influx of Catholic residents from eastern Europe. And the Ulster Defence Association is so keen to prevent the new arrivals from leaving, it has leafleted Lisburn urging loyalists to support...

Catholics in England outnumber Anglicans 16.02.2007 Poles in the UK are swelling the congregations and changing the face of British Christianity. Amy Drozdowska reports In the wake of England's biggest wave of immigration in three centuries, a new report finds that the face of Christianity in England is increasingly international. Polish migrant workers in particular are contributing to a huge growth in London's Catholic community - one that's set to overshadow England's own church. Thanks in large part to the huge influx of Polish migrant workers to the United Kingdom since Poland's entry into the European Union, Catholicism is set...

Is eight years old too young for a public school student to hear about homosexuality? Yes No

Polish Immigrants Leave America for Europe Nowy Dziennik, Posted: Jan 26, 2007 NEW YORK – A surprising number of Polish immigrants are packing up, closing their bank accounts, and leaving the United States, reports Polish Daily Nowy Dziennik. Banks such as Pekao U.S. Money Express in New York City are seeing a growing trend of Poles withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to take with them as they look for opportunity elsewhere. Reasons for the departure include frustrations with the process to become legal immigrants, disillusionment with American materialism and a lack of promising employment or financial prospects....

Poles in Scotland now have their own plaid EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- The latest Scottish clan now has its own tartan with colors that include the red and white of the Polish flag and dark blue representing Scotland. "I want to buy a kilt because I am living in Scotland," Sebastian Flasza, owner of Rock and Roll Tattoo and Piercing in Edinburgh, told The Times of London. "But I am a Polish Scot. I feel this represents me. Oh, aye." Poland and Scotland have a long common history. Bonnie Prince Charlie, the ill-fated Stuart heir, was half-Polish, and...

Polish love story in Gujarat Raja Bose [ 17 Sep, 2006 0121hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] AHMEDABAD: When about 500 children, all Polish refugees from slave labour camps in then USSR, reached the erstwhile Nawanagar state (now Jamnagar) in 1942, shaken and traumatised, it was a maharaja's welcome that awaited them. A recent study has traced a large number of these people, now settled across the world, who still get together and raise a toast to Jamsaheb Digvijaysinhji, the then maharaja of Nawanagar. "Do not consider yourselves orphans. You are now Nawanagaris and I am Bapu, father, to all Nawanagaris,...

Poles and Scots United to Celebrate 50 Years Since Poland's Re-Dedication to Mary Posted on August 21, 2006 By The Universe: Hundreds of Catholics from the Diocese of Aberdeen have gathered to celebrate fifty years since Poland was re-dedicated to Mary the Mother of God and re-declared Queen of Poland. Gathering at the Benedictine Abbey of Pluscarden, large numbers of native Scots and Poles working in the North East of Scotland participated in a Mass led by Bishop Peter Moran. At the beginning of the celebration, a group of 85 Poles, led by Fr Joe Kolasa, walked the six-mile road...

Staying slim as a Pole Shocked by chubby Brits, Dorota Bawolek explains why Polish women don’t get fat One of the first things that strikes people who come to the UK from Poland is how chubby everyone is. On the contrary, what is often noticed about the Polish influx — and there are a lot of us now, 350,000 registered workers since May 2004 — is how fit and healthy we are. My English friends at university in Birmingham often ask me how I stay so slim, but I’m not obsessed with dieting and have never considered myself fit. I...

Ireland – a Polish home from home Even in the most distant parts of Ireland, a country which opened its labour market for new EU citizens only 2 years ago, any Pole will feel at home. Iwona Lajmen reports The streets, shops and offices are full of Polish people passing by, opening their businesses or assisting other Poles to help them order a coffee in Polish. This is how numerous Polish immigrants have made their way into a country on the other end of the European Community. Ireland, one of the few countries which decided to open itself to all...

Yesterday I visited Buchenwald concentration camp, the largest such camp in Germany (the larger ones Germany put outside of Germany.) Since it is my 4th time in Germany I felt kind of an obligation to visit it...a duty to face the truth in this beautiful land. Most of the camp is gone, almost all of the prisoner's barracks are. Outside the fence, about half the SS barracks are there--nicely painted yellow, with red tile roofs, resembling ten thousand other German buildings in other places. I had heard that birds don't roost inside the camp , and I think it may...

German stereotypes of Poles 29.06.2006 They are car thieving, backward and unemployed who can’t play football, apparently. Report by Slawek Szefs Although their image has been changing for the better, Poles are still negatively perceived by most Germans and are not fully accepted in the country of their Western neighbors. Those are the conclusions of a six-year study published in a report by the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw. In the eyes of an average German, Poles are mostly associated with car theft, cultural backwardness and unemployment. What's worse, they can't even play football! The latter opinion is fully...

WARSAW, Poland — Poland could be Europe's first "red state". "New evangelization"It was the late pope's fervent hope that the intense spirituality of his native Poland would spark a "new evangelization" of Western Europe. During most of his papacy, there was scant sign of that happening. But more recently Poland has emerged at the fore of a fledgling movement to restore Christian values to Europe. Beginning in 2003, the Polish government led the push — ultimately unsuccessful — to include some reference to Christianity in the new EU constitution. Aleksander Kwasniewski, the reformed communist who was Poland's president at the...

Chicago Poles out the stops for Constitution Day parade By Lisa Everitt Special to The Denver Post Two weekends ago, I was stuck in traffic in a cab on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. All the stoplights were flashing red, and police wardens were waving crowds through the intersections and into Grant Park for the annual Polish parade. The Lexis SUV in front of us was flying three flags: two Polish flags, one Stars and Stripes. "My grandmother came here from Poland," the cabbie said. "She made history. She went to work for the Bell System, as an operator. "She was...

Poles apart of charity boom JANE BRADLEY SCORES of Polish immigrants in the Capital are giving charities a massive boost - by offering their services for free. With many of the 20,000 Poles who have flocked to Edinburgh since the expansion of the EU working in unskilled jobs such as waitressing or labouring, many are turning to unpaid volunteering to improve skills and their chances of getting better jobs. Agency Volunteer Edinburgh, which matches people with opportunities, has seen around 35 eastern Europeans turn up at their Queensferry Street Lane offices every month to offer their help. While most want...

Jews in Poland Speak of Shoah Remembrance as a Curse. by Jane Ulman, Contributing Writer This tale is about two visions of Poland. In one, Poland is about pain and loss. It’s the place where 3 million of a total population of 3.3 million Polish Jews perished in the Shoah, where Jews have nothing left, where indeed there are almost no Jews other than a few languishing, aged survivors who can’t even scrape together a Shabbat morning minyan. Poland is Auschwitz; it’s Never Again. Defining this Poland is the March of the Living, an annual event that lays bare Poland’s...

German public sector workers fighting plans to extend their working hours have widened their strike action to cover most of the country. An estimated 20,000 local and regional authority staff including nurses, cooks and cleaners have joined the largest public sector strike in 14 years. They are protesting against plans to extend weekly working hours by 90 minutes, from 38.5 to 40 hours a week. The industrial action...has now spread to 10 of Germany's 16 states... Leaders at Verdi - Germany's biggest union with 2.4 million members - have warned that the strikes could last for up to six weeks.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2006 – The United States and Poland are friends in liberty, President Bush said while hosting Polish President Lech Kaczynski at the White House today. "I thank the president and the Polish people for their support of the democracy movement in Iraq," Bush said. "We're strong allies and friends. We're friends in liberty, and we believe in peace." Poland has troops serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In September 2003, the Poles assumed command of the Multinational Division Central South in Iraq, and along with their multinational partners have helped train Iraqi forces and stabilize the south...

Celebrity maid offered jail deal A housekeeper accused of stealing from celebrities including Robert De Niro has been offered a plea deal of between one and three years jail time. The deal would mean no extra charges would be filed against Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz, 35. She is alleged to have stolen jewellery belonging to De Niro's wife, Grace Hightower, and actress Candice Bergen. Polish-born Ms Turyk-Wawrynowicz is also accused of stealing the identity of an 13-year-old girl. 'Harsh treatment' Police allege they discovered a $96,000 (£53,205) necklace at her home which belonged to Ms Hightower. The judge in the case, which...

WARSAW, Poland-- The bishops of Poland issued a statement against the European Parliament resolution that labels as "homophobic" countries that do not recognize same-sex unions. The nonbinding resolution, passed Jan. 18, violates the autonomy of states and puts at risk the freedom of conscience of the citizenry, say the bishops of Poland at the end of the conference's plenary assembly. The resolution, the bishops say in their statement, published Tuesday, "rightly rejects the attitudes of discrimination, ridicule and violence against persons with homosexual orientation." "Concurrently, however, through an urge directed to the governments of member states to revise their legislation...

Commemorations to mark the Holocaust Memorial Day have begun in Poland. The UN last year passed a landmark resolution to make 27 January an annual day of remembrance for six million Jews killed during World War II. The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, southern Poland. As a mark of respect, the Archbishop of Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz, has called on Poles to light candles in their windows in remembrance. During the war, Poland's three million-strong Jewish community was almost completely wiped out. Survivors, government and religious leader will gather in Auschwitz later...

The Poles - a boon for me and Britain By Tom Utley (Filed: 25/11/2005) 'Vorter-pitter! Vorter-pitter!" Marek, our monoglot Slovakian painter and decorator, had just driven a nail into a pipe, and the kitchen was filling up with gas at a terrifying rate. Now he was studying his Slovak-English phrasebook, trying to tell me something, while I was frantically stubbing out my cigarette, throwing open windows and clambering over the junk in the cupboard under the stairs to find the lever to switch off the gas at the mains. I am never at my brightest first thing on a Saturday...

Why Some Riot and Some Do Not by Paul Belien, The Brussels Journal Friday, November 4, 2005 While Paris burns, Poland does not. Isn’t that strange? The Poles have an unemployment rate which is as high as the unemployment rates in French suburbs. Yet while “angry French youths” burn down their neighbourhoods, including their public transport buses and schools, Polish plumbers, construction workers and nurses are too busy to be angry. They travel abroad for several weeks at a time to work in foreign lands. One of the places they go to is France, where they work harder, often delivering...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Tough-talking Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski led Poland's presidential runoff Sunday after a campaign in which he stressed traditional Roman Catholic values and the need for a social safety net. An exit poll for Polish public television showed him leading with 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent over pro-market legislator Donald Tusk, and Tusk said he had lost. "Today I must tell myself I did not make it," Tusk told glum supporters at his election headquarters. An exit poll for TVN24 private television showed an even wider margin, Kaczynski with 53.5 percent and Tusk with 46.5 percent. Partial...

How many? 18.10.2005 The Institute of Strategic Studies, an NGO from Cracow, has initiated a research programme which aims to show the real number of Poles who died in the effort to support Jews during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Anna Szymañska-Klich says that this number has never actually been properly assessed. “We don't know how many Poles were murdered, only because they were decent people trying to help other people. It is our aim to prepare a publicly available list of people who were killed or punished.” Professor Daria Na³êcz, the director of the State Archives, said that the...

Twenty two Poles missing in the aftermath of Katrina hurricane 06.09.2005 Over twenty Poles are still missing after hurricane Katrina struck the US southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama a week ago – the Polish Foreign Ministry informed. According to the spokesperson of the ministry, Aleksander Checko families and relatives of the missing Poles as well as anyone having important information on the issue are requested to contact the Polish Consulate in Chicago. So far 24 Poles have been rescued and most of them are currently under the care of the Polish embassy staff in Washington. Several hundred people...

Plans to implement a flat rate for personal income, corporate income and value-added tax, as proposed by lead opposition party Civic Platform (PO), are feasible at a level slightly higher than the 15% proposed by the party, current deputy Finance Minister Jaroslaw Neneman told a radio audience Tuesday. "We made such estimations some time ago," Neneman said in an interview for Radio PiN. "Tax receipts levels would be sufficient with flat tax rate a little above 15%." "It could be 15.5-16%," he added. PO officials have said that its shift to a "3x15" tax system would be accompanied by the...

Russians Have Mixed Views on Poland (Angus Reid Global Scan) – Adults in Russia are divided in their assessment of a neighbouring nation, according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 24 per cent of respondents believe Poland is a strategic and economic partner, and 18 per cent perceive it as a friendly state. Conversely, 24 per cent of Russian respondents think Poland is an economic and political rival, and 13 per cent deem it a hostile state and a potential enemy. Following the end of World War II, Poland lost some of its traditional territory to...

Poles pleaded with Hitler to free them from Stalin's grip New documents on attempts to Polish officers from Soviet POW camps have been found in the archives of the German Foreign Office. Russians continued negotiations concerning freeing a few hundreds Polish army officers even long after they had been shot death in the spring of 1940 - a Polish institute probing Nazi and Stalinist crimes has found out. Families of a few hundreds of Polish officers wrote letters to German Foreign Office pointing out their German origin or other kinds of connection to get their husbands, brothers and fathers back...

Belarus special forces storm Polish Union building 28 Jul 2005 09:45:37 GMT Source: Reuters MINSK, July 28 (Reuters) - Belarussian special forces stormed a building used by ethnic Poles in a pre-dawn raid on Thursday near the border with Poland, a witness said. It is the latest in a series of moves against ethnic Poles in the ex-Soviet state in the last three months after President Alexander Lukashenko -- described by U.S. officials as Europe's last dictator -- accused Poland of plotting an uprising. "At first, the building was encircled by police cars. Then police demanded everybody leave the building....

Here to stay? By Denise Winterman BBC News Magazine The UK's army of Polish workers have built up a reputation for reliability and fair prices. But while the nation has fallen in love with them, are they here to stay? A year on from Poland joining the European Union and much of the UK appears to be in a full-blown love affair with the nation. The country's army of Polish workers have built up a reputation for quality, reliability and fair prices since becoming officially eligible to work in the UK last May. While not everyone's happy with the idea...

Poland As Victim, Not Victimizer David Lincoln I was pleased to read recently in Haaretz that the Israeli government is considering changes in the March of the Living youth trips and concentration camp visits. Polish organizations have complained about the ignorance of youth leaders, with the result that young people (joining many Jewish adults in the United States) cannot distinguish between the German killers and Polish victims, and hold the Poles responsible for the fate of Polish Jews. The recent history of Poland is a most tragic one. During the horrors of World War II, not only was there suffering...

Poland's Jewish community questions Council of Europe report The Council of Europe has expressed concern over a number of acts of anti –Semitism in Poland. A report published this week notes that though positive steps have been taken in recent years to broaden society’s perception of Poland’s Jewish heritage, incidents of vandalism against synagogues or Jewish cemeteries still exist. But the country’s Jewish community leaders say the report doesn’t do justice to Poland’s efforts to make Polish-Jewish dialogue smoother. Poland’s Jewish community is questioning the validity of the Council of Europe report. Its leaders say that the report is based...

Back during the Presidential Election, Kerry enthusiasts were constantly gushing over the perceived intelligence of John Kerry. If it was not praises toward his “nuanced” approaches of how to creatively surrender to the United Nations and international terrorists then it was how all of his aides had to run around carrying dictionaries just so they could understand his “big words.” Well, the truth is out. Eight months after everyone quit caring about John Kerry’s records, he has finally released them to “The Boston Globe.” Chance of chances, these records show that Senator Kerry was a “C” student with a virtually...

More Poles honoured for saving Jews from Holocaust 2005-05-24, 08:52 A successive group of Poles was honoured with Righteous Among Nations medals for saving Jews from the Holocaust during World War II. Anna Niemirowska-Mikulska and her brother Jerzy as well as two Latoszynski sisters received the medals from the Israeli ambassador to Poland David Peleg. Among 19,000 Righteous all over the world there are 6,000 Poles.

Polish lawmaker assails Belarus' treatment of Polish minority May 24 2005, 11:22 GRODNO, Belarus (AP) - Right-wing Polish lawmaker Roman Giertych on May 23 accused the authorities in Belarus of violating the rights of the ex-Soviet republic's Polish minority. During a brief visit to this city about 280 kilometers (174 miles) west of the capital Minsk, the Polish legislator said Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko was seeking to control the country's main Polish association. In March, the Union of Poles of Belarus elected a new leadership but Minsk authorities refused to accept its legitimacy. "We express our support for the...

It's All Good By Michal Jeziorski 18 May 2005 European Commission research reveals that in no other European country do consumers and entrepreneurs look to the future with so much optimism as in Poland. According to EC experts, this could herald dynamic development of the Polish economy in coming years. Satisfaction with the economic situation is again on the increase in Poland: the economic sentiment indicator (ESI), used by Brussels to evaluate public moods during the past 15 years, is highest in Poland among European Union countries. EC experts believe that considering the level of optimism, Poland's domestic economy is...

WARSAW, Poland - A Polish magazine has called on its readers to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a picture postcard depicting him as the long-nosed lying fairy tale character Pinocchio for presenting a "Stalinist version of history." The Wprost weekly campaign comes amid a rise of anti-Russian sentiment in Poland, which was most recently stoked by Putin's May 9 Red Square speech marking the end of World War II in Europe, in which he failed to condemn the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland as many had hoped. In response, this week's issue of the magazine comes with a pre-addressed postcard...

THE Ministry of Defence has paid for a senior aircrafts-woman to train as a pole dancer after leaving the forces. Stephanie Hulme, 23, was given funding to take up the profession after completing five years’ service. Her training was carried out through an RAF resettlement and training progr-amme which reportedly cost more than £2,000 over four weekends. Miss Hulme, who spent time as a senior aircraftswoman at RAF Aldergrave near Belfast, submitted an application form towards the end of her service stating her wish to undertake a pole-dancing course. She said: "I got the idea after a bit of banter...

Sixty Years Later By Andrzej Jonas 11 May 2005 Two, maybe three, generations have passed since the end of World War II. For an individual this is almost a lifetime, but, in the historical sense, it is only a fleeting moment. A horrible event such as this stays in the memory of people and shapes the policies and worldview of societies and nations. But for how long? Sixty years after the war, everything seems different. Poles seem to be a different people and society. Poland is a different country and European alliances are much different now than in May 1945....

On a Friday night in San Anselmo, 18 women are invoking the goddess. Before them isn’t a New Age crystal or a statue of some Hindu goddess. No, before them is a pair of black satin, 7-inch-high platform heels, and the women, sitting on colorful mirrored and tapestry pillows in a semicircle, are listening to Diane Greenberg talk about women’s divine sensuality and the gift of sharing it with others. Of celebrating one’s beauty. Of the sacredness of stripping. Soon, there will be nudity — Greenberg’s and theirs — and the women, curiosity aside, are nervous. In Sausalito, a half-dozen...

Mass exodus to double number of mourners A mass exodus of Poles from cities, towns, and villages all over the country began yesterday, with up to 2 million determined to get to Rome to witness the funeral of the only Polish pope. Their arrival in Rome over the next 48 hours will place the city, its police, transport and accommodation systems under even more strain in hosting the largest event in its long history. As many as 2 million Italians are also expected, as are representatives from many other nationalities. Achille Serra, the prefect of Rome, said last night: "The...