Newzar is Moving!!

Newzar Takes Off

Some of you have probably already noticed that Newzar now has two sites. This particular site is parked at newzar.wordpress.com but our other (new) address is newzar.mekabima.com. The wordpress site (which, thanks to your readership, has managed a mighty one million hits) will continue to function but no additional articles will be added to the archive. However, newzar.mekabima.com will now continue to service our readers and will contain regularly updated articles and the latest information about Poland.

After racking up over a million hits, we have decided to give Newzar a new look and new direction. Over the next few weeks and months, the ‘new’ Newzar site will slowly begin to evolve and take shape with new capabilities, tweaks and widgets being successively added to make the site more interesting, more helpful and, above all, more reader-friendly. Newzar is dead, long live Newzar!

The 3rd Anniversary

Is Tusk Happy?

Today is the third anniversary of the Civic Platform – Polish People’s Party (PO-PSL) coalition. All government ministers have sent their reports to the prime minister in which they have presented their achievements. What can the  government be proud of? Probably with EU grant expenditure and investments for Euro 2012. What is interesting, the government has always willingly summarised its ‘anniversaries’. However, this time, the closer we get to the end of the government’s tenure, the less the government is willing to report on its achievements. Over the last three years, the government has not implemented many of its promises, often making decisions inconsistent with its pledges.

For example, it promised to reduce taxes but Poles are now having to face an VAT increase (from 22% to 23%) from January next year. The government blames this on the crisis, however, Civic Platform has also not succeeded in introducing a one-mandate electoral system for parliamentary elections, limiting the power of the diplomatic immunity of parliamentarians and reforming KRUS (the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund). A pension reform has only just been started. PM Tusk succeeded in withdrawing the Polish army from Iraq, introducing a ‘regular’ army, separating the functions of the minister of justice and the attorney general, implementing regulations regarding the extension of maternity leave and enabling 6-year-old children to go to school. The process of building stadia for Euro 2012 and so-called Orliks (school playing fields) also looks promising.
Rzeczpospolita

The Copernicus Science Centre

A Look into the Future

A tornado, earthquake and flutter of a butterfly wing will be experienced by us all at the Copernicus Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Kopernik). It opens today, on the 5th of November, in Warsaw. It is the most modern science institution in Poland. “The era of felt slippers and glass-case museums is over once and for all,” says Robert Firmhofer, director of the centre. The grand opening of the centre will begin with “Big Bang” directed by Peter Greenaway and Saskia Boddeke. This spectacular show presents seven myths concerning the creation of the world including the big bang theory. Organisers have also promised lots of fireworks, lighting effects and animations. Robert Firmhofer says, “We saw many science centres and museums all over the world, we talked with their directors and wardens, we took advantage of their good and bad experiences and we also have familiarised ourselves with all the necessary documents but we did not copy any of those places. The Copernicus Science Centre is an original project because we present exhibits that simply cannot be found in other countries like the “Robot Theatre”, the first theatre in which human actors are replaced by robots.”
Wirtualna Polska

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US Visas for Poles?

No More Visas?

During 2010, the American embasssy has refused visas to fewer than 10% of those applying. For Polish politicians, this will be an important argument in negotiations with the American government. At present, Polish people (together with Romanians and Bulgarians) are the only EU citizens who need visas to visit the US. For many years, this issue has been a thorn in the side of the usually cordial relations between the two countries. Successive Polish presidents, prime ministers and foreign affairs ministers have been promising to solve this problem. However, the US administration has been unswerving in its stance due to the high number of rejected visa applications. 2 years ago, the US increased the maximum threshold from 3% to 10%. According to the latest data from the Department of State, in the previous fiscal year, the percentage of rejected Polish visa applications came to only 9.8%. “This is great news for us because finally we managed not to cross this ‘psychological’ barrier of 10%. We therefore hope to join the other countries which are free from visas,” said Paweł Maciąg, Polish embassy spokesman in Washington.
Rzeczpospolita

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Catholic Church vs IVF

Bishops Battle Babies

Poland’s bishops have written a letter to Poland’s politicians regarding IVF. Some politicians claim that the letter “illustrates the dangers of science” and that it “points out Christian principles”. Others believe that the bishops do not understand the social effects of IVF and it proves the Catholic Church’s helplessness. Poland’s bishops wrote that IVF is “the younger sister of eugenics.” The letter, addressed to the president, prime minister and members of parliament warns against the “huge human losses” that are related to IVF. According to the authors of the letter, “many human beings die at every stage of the medical procedure only for one child to be born”.
Witrualna Polska

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Poland Takes 1st Place

Polish Roads

For 10 years, Poland has been the EU’s leader not only with regard to the number of fatalities on the roads but also regarding costs that the country bears from road tragic accidents. In 2008, one casualty ‘cost’ PLN 1.47 million. Since 2000, this amount has doubled. According to the World Bank, road accidents make up 2% of the GDP. This includes not only direct costs of the accidents themselves but also lost production possibilities of the people who have died. As statistics show, most casualties are people between the ages of 15 and 45 and 80% of are males. Therefore, Poland loses the most productive members of society. As the Independent Laboratory of Economics at the Road and Bridge Research Institute (SPE IBDiM) has calculated, 1,000 km of highway will lower the number of fatalities by 200 individuals and injured people by 1,300 a year. Traffic on highways is better organised and this, in turn, means a lower number of accidents. The experience of other EU countries shows that a decent infrastructure, speed cameras and strict fines for those who break rules can enable a significant reduction of road accidents.
Dziennik

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Designer Drugs Dumped

Designer Drugs Known as 'Boosters' in Poland

Polish MPs voted through a bill which enables a ban on  the production and sale of designer drugs (pl. dopalacze). Most likely, these regulations will come into force at the beginning of November. 400 MPs voted in favour of the bill, three were against and three abstained from the vote. The government bill introduces regulations which forbid the production and sale of ‘boosters’ (a literal translation of dopalacze) in Poland. According to the bill, the term ‘designer drugs’ refers to substances derived from plants or mushrooms which can be used as a narcotics or psychotropic substances. Sanitary inspectors can stop the sale of ‘suspicious’ substances or even close the building in which it is produced or sold if they believe the designer drug is dangerous (i.e. a health risk). This only applies to products not encompassed by other regulations. This would prevent the Department of Sanitation closing down shops selling alcohol or tobacco because the principles of their sale are defined in separate laws. According to members of the opposition, the previous legislative proposal created such a situation. Fines for the sale of designer drugs vary from PLN 20,000 to PLN 1 million.
Dziennik

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Palikot Attacks PO

Palikot Making Waves

Janusz Palikot, the colourful Civic Platform (PO) politician and member of parliament, has declared that he will be leaving the party in order to set up his own organisation. Today’s Palikot congress (2nd October) is, according to the man himself, set to be the biggest political and social campaign since 1989. Palikot, who has had only positive words for his party, has now decided to attack Civic Platform. On his blog, Palikot asked the question whether we shall find out who has the stronger media presence – the tired Prime Minister who is asking Polish people to tighten their belts or thousands of other people who see that the once seductive young PO has become an old, tired and irritable granny.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Free Wise Men

PO Gives Us a Royal Gift

The representatives of all parliamentary clubs (parties) have declared their readiness to support Civic Platform’s (PO) project of making the 6th of January (Epiphany) a day free from work. Simultaneously, PO has proposed the removal of the labour code regulation which gives employees the opportunity to take a day in lieu for a holiday which falls on Saturday. The party wishes to introduce the amendments to the labour code in such a way that an additional holiday would not increase the amount of holidays. The concept is supported by the coalition partner, the Polish Peasant Party (PSL). “This will bring back the traditional Polish holiday, which was abolished by the Communists. On the other hand, this solution will not be a burden on the economy and it is therefore worth supporting,” according to PSL member Janusz Piechociński. On the 6th of January, the Catholic Church celebrates the Revelation of God the Son, the Epiphany, the feast of the Biblical Magi: Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Epiphany was a holiday free from work in Poland until 1960.
Dziennik

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Mushroom Map

Mushroom Heaven

Would you like to go mushroom picking but have no idea which forest you should choose? Now, you can get advice on the internet. On internet fora, mushroom pickers brag about how many kilos, baskets, buckets and even boots of this forest delicacy they have collected. Those who have no experience mushroom picking can make use of the internet service grzyby.pl. You can find ‘mushroom’ maps with information about where to find boletuses, xerocomuses and suilluses in Poland. The maps are based on internet user ‘reports’ on where they have been picking mushrooms and the ‘intensity of harvest’. You can also discover how you to collect mushrooms in order to avoid bringing home a basketful of toadstools.
Dziennik

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