Just the other day I had been lurking around the internet looking for interesting things that have been happening with the Polish government. We all know that politics can create some heated discussions, but it's pretty amusing seeing politicians get into arguments that aren't even about politics. A group of representatives from two parties in Poland, PiS and PO, were in a very heated "discussion" about a movie that they had just seen. One representative ended up calling another a [jerk] as he was walking out which caused that representative to turn back and shout towards the accuser. This brought up a point among the public: If politicians are arguing, that's typical, but should they be arguing about movies or politics?
Among other news are the upcoming fall elections.There are two major groups, ironically Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (PiS) is one of them, along with Soljusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (SLD) that are talking about forming a coalition. This would cause a huge change in the parliament because it's very unheard of the fact that two major parties would actually join together. This could be seen as a big pusz for party votes and more seats in parliament. However, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the brother of the former Polish President Lech Kaczynski, is the leader of PiS had said a few months ago that this would not occur. Now he has changed his mind and is saying that the two parties might be formed into one by as early as this November.
For a quick follow up on the Polish tragedy from a year ago, the lawyer of the families hurt by this tragedy had filed a report regarding General Andrzej Blasik, who was also on board of the plane when it crashed. The report says that Gen. Blasik pushed for the pilots to land, and despite arguments about poor conditions, he kept pressing for the pilots to land in Smolenks rather than go to a nearby airport. The defendant's side (Blasik's wife's lawyer) has said that these accusations are absurd and hold no truth. A report has also been leaked saying that one of the pilots on the plane would be offered a promotion by Blasik. No comments have been made yet on the report from investigators, but again Blasik's side is denying these accusations.
Lastly, to go a little off topic, one of my and Poland's favorite athlete Adam Malysz has announced that he will retire right after this year's ski jumping world championship. Malysz has won 4 World Cup Titles in his career and is in the top 5 in this season. He will be greatly missed by Polish fans of the sport because aside from Malysz, there has been little flash from the rest of the ski jumpers. Here's a nice little video of his best moments in this career.
Enjoy the read! Till next week.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Continuous Issue!
As far as I'm concerned, for almost a year now, the biggest issue in the Polish news is the ongoing investigation of the plane crash that occurred on April 10, 2010 which ended up killing President Lech Kaczynski among with 95 other heads of the Polish Government and crew. The list of all the passengers on board can be fonud on this Polish website. The ongoing investigation has caused a lot of tension between the Polish and Russian Governments. The Russian government released a statement which concluded that it was the error of the crew that lead to the plane crash. However, the Polish government has refuted that statement with one of their own which question the authenticity of the black box recordings released by the Russians. This debate has been going on for almost a year now, and more and more statements have been traded between the two sides.
As for my opinion on this argument, I think that this is an issue that will be ongoing for many more years to come. Ever since the crash happened, not a day goes by that the Polish news doesn't mention something about the crash, and something that is suspicious about the way the Russian Government has been dealing with the crash. To be honest, when I first heard the news, I too was a little suspicious that it was just a freak accident, but I'm not sure we will ever really know what actually happened. The Russian air controller that was taking the plane through the landing procedures is nowhere to be found, and obviously all of the passengers on board have been killed. The problem is raised towards the pilots flying the plane.
Reports say that those two pilots have just went to Smolensk, the city where the crash occurred, just a few days before with the Polish Minister Donald Tusk. While landing on the day of the crash, the pilots experienced dense fog which limited visibility very drastically. Reports from the Russian side say that it was the pilot's choice to land the airplane despite many claims that the Russians warned them of the risks and offered a nearby airport as a safer choice. Whether this is true or not, is really hard to find out because Poland and Russia have always had some tension between the two countries. On that day, both sides were supposed to make the next step in becoming closer friends, but this accident has only made things worse.
That's it for now, enjoy the read!
'Till next week.
As for my opinion on this argument, I think that this is an issue that will be ongoing for many more years to come. Ever since the crash happened, not a day goes by that the Polish news doesn't mention something about the crash, and something that is suspicious about the way the Russian Government has been dealing with the crash. To be honest, when I first heard the news, I too was a little suspicious that it was just a freak accident, but I'm not sure we will ever really know what actually happened. The Russian air controller that was taking the plane through the landing procedures is nowhere to be found, and obviously all of the passengers on board have been killed. The problem is raised towards the pilots flying the plane.
Reports say that those two pilots have just went to Smolensk, the city where the crash occurred, just a few days before with the Polish Minister Donald Tusk. While landing on the day of the crash, the pilots experienced dense fog which limited visibility very drastically. Reports from the Russian side say that it was the pilot's choice to land the airplane despite many claims that the Russians warned them of the risks and offered a nearby airport as a safer choice. Whether this is true or not, is really hard to find out because Poland and Russia have always had some tension between the two countries. On that day, both sides were supposed to make the next step in becoming closer friends, but this accident has only made things worse.
That's it for now, enjoy the read!
'Till next week.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Off we go!
As you all know, this is the first blog post that I will be making on this topic, so I figured it would be easiest to just give people the background information on Poland. I chose Poland partly because this is a country that I know quite a bit about. I grew up there for the first 8 years of my life and still visit about two times a year. It's a country that I have grown accustomed to, and even though I know a lot about its' culture and politics, there are always new things to learn and that's what my intentions were when picking Poland as my country of interest for this project.
Also, the picture at the top of the blog is from the Polish Tatry mountains in Zakopane. More information on this city can be found here. This is a place that I have visited before and highly recommend to anyone that's nearby.
As for Poland, it is a beautiful country that is occupied by 38 million Poles. The major religion is catholic and the capital is Warsaw. Poland is a member of the European Union since 2004, and is a democratic country on the Eastern bloc of Europe. The current President is Bronislaw Komorowski who has been chosen over this past summer after the tragic death of former President Lech Kaczynski. The crash which many of you may have heard about has not been left alone without any controversy. To read a little more about the crash and the details of what actually happened, you can check out this New York Times article.
Poland's currency however has remained the "Zloty" but there are few speculations that it may change to the Euro in the future. As for now, Poland's economy isn't the strongest one among most countries, and the change to the Euro would prove to be very difficult on its' people since the GNI per capita for a Polish person is roughly $13,000. For more background information you can go to the BBC website which outlines a full Poland profile.
Check back next week to find out more about what is currently going on and what the major news of the week are. While waiting for the next blog posts there are some major Polish news on the widget that's on my blog. Enjoy!
Dave Szymanski
Also, the picture at the top of the blog is from the Polish Tatry mountains in Zakopane. More information on this city can be found here. This is a place that I have visited before and highly recommend to anyone that's nearby.
As for Poland, it is a beautiful country that is occupied by 38 million Poles. The major religion is catholic and the capital is Warsaw. Poland is a member of the European Union since 2004, and is a democratic country on the Eastern bloc of Europe. The current President is Bronislaw Komorowski who has been chosen over this past summer after the tragic death of former President Lech Kaczynski. The crash which many of you may have heard about has not been left alone without any controversy. To read a little more about the crash and the details of what actually happened, you can check out this New York Times article.
Poland's currency however has remained the "Zloty" but there are few speculations that it may change to the Euro in the future. As for now, Poland's economy isn't the strongest one among most countries, and the change to the Euro would prove to be very difficult on its' people since the GNI per capita for a Polish person is roughly $13,000. For more background information you can go to the BBC website which outlines a full Poland profile.
Check back next week to find out more about what is currently going on and what the major news of the week are. While waiting for the next blog posts there are some major Polish news on the widget that's on my blog. Enjoy!
Dave Szymanski
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