Can Polish Football Get Any Worse?

A Footballing Nightmare

The overall performance of the national team is top priority because it attracts the attention of all fans, and the team’s results have a tremendous effect on our mood. It is rather impractical to compare the qualifying rounds of today to the ones of past years but let’s do it anyway. The amateurs of San Marino were the only ones to face defeat at the hands of the Poles, only San Marino wound up below Poland in the qualifying group: Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Northern Ireland all did better. One would have to go all the way back to 1987 to find similar, disastrous results. Back then Cyprus was the only team Poland beat. Poland only faced one world-class opponent then and even managed a draw, with the Netherlands, who won the European Cup the following year. The conclusion? The performance of the Beenhaker-coached squad was the worst since the expansion of the qualifying-round groups. When we take friendly games into account, the overall result is only slightly more promising, at least statistically. The Polish team did record three victories against Wales, Greece and Canada but calling these teams ‘average’ would be praise they do not deserve.

Poland, however, did have worse years: 1996 began with a 0-5 loss to Japan. European cups? No Polish team has managed to get past the first, preliminary stage of any European competition, an embarrassing ‘achievement’ to say the least. The Polish league is ranked 26th in Europe, again, its worst place in modern history. How have Polish footballers fared abroad? Very poorly. Even the goalies have achieved little to make Poland proud. They either made no noticeable progress (Fabiański, Kuszczak) or played far below their own standards (Boruc). Polish league superstar Paweł Brożek’s search for a foreign employer failed miserably when Fulham decided instead to acquire a virtually unknown Swede who had not even played for his national team yet. Poland is currently 58th in the FIFA rankings, slightly above its 1998 record-low 61. The junior national team’s losses continue to mount, sometimes reaching embarrassing levels such as those against Azerbaijan and the Netherlands. Even the best Polish league games are rarely memorable. The Polish Football Association (PZPN) is losing sponsors. There is practically nothing good that can be said about 2009 for Polish football. One can only hope that the new national team coach Franciszek Smuda will build a team that will bring back memories of the past, if not the glory days of the 1970s and early ’80s.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

Eco- and Wallet-Friendly Home

A Green Future?

It is rather unfortunate that the participants of the climate conference recently held in Copenhagen could not reach an agreement on the very crucial issue of C02 emissions. Instead of looking to world leaders for advice and guidance there are certain things we can do ourselves in order to address the global warming issue, help the environment and save some money in the process:
1) Use less electricity. The average Polish family uses 1,700 kilowatt hours at a yearly cost of PLN 600. That translates into an emission of 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. In the West it is half that amount – not due to the fact that we use more electricity but rather that the Polish energy industry is dependent upon coal which is the most ‘emissive’ type of fuel. Electricity costs are due to maintain a rising trend which is all the more reason to try to use less.
2) Do the little things like not leaving the television set in stand-by mode; it is much better to turn it off completely. The same goes for leaving cell phone chargers in the wall socket for too long. It is also advisable to purchase a new refrigerator if the one we have is more than 10 years old. Modern ones are much more energy-saving than their older counterparts.
3) Replace old windows because most heat is lost here. An important factor is the heat permeability coefficient: the higher it is, the better the protection against heat loss.
4) Limit the amount of water you use. In the past, 70% of all our heat-related expenses were heating costs, the remaining 30% hot water costs. Nowadays, it is the other way around: water and sewage costs have gone up significantly. This is one of the reasons why we should invest in a perlator, a device that increases the amount of air in the water so that less water is used in a certain period of time.
5) Consider eco-friendly technologies and raw materials when building a new house so that it is not so dependent on heat energy. German and Swedish energy-saving standards are the ones we should adopt. Research clearly shows that in the long run they lead to considerable cost savings.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

We Will Have Our Own Dr House

A Polish House Awaits?

There are some issues that are no longer considered taboo in Polish sitcoms – homosexuals, the handicapped and AIDS testing, to name a few. Nevertheless, TV stations still avoid certain topics… The world of Polish sitcoms is a world of women. Certainly not by accident as it is women who constitute between 53%-68% of all viewers; only Świat wedlug Kiepskich has more male viewers than females. Strangely enough even thriller-type sitcoms attract more women than men. What do females expect from these types of television shows? “They want a programme produced in Poland, one that features well-known Polish actors,” says Piotr Jasek from BrzydUla. “The main character should be a woman, too”. It is great if the heroine in question ‘defeats’ men in some way. “She must have problems at work as well as at home”. BrzydUla’s main character is in love but it is an impossible love: she is an ugly girl from the countryside who falls for a handsome, intelligent and wealthy man, one who often deceives her. The viewers root for her, though. ‘Difficult love’ has also been a theme within Magda M., Ranczo and Dom nad Rozlewiskiem. Breaking patterns is not a strongpoint of Polish television stations. While in W labiryncie (the first Polish family sitcom whose 120 episodes aired between 1988 and 1991) God was sometimes presented in a rather negative light, now it would be rare to find a similar approach to religion in more contemporary TV programmes of the same kind. Topics such as abortion or in vitro fertilization are generally avoided. Politics is yet another topic rarely found in sitcoms because, “these are issues that divide people; if we mention them in our programmes, some people will stop watching. And in today’s competitive world every viewer is worth his or her weight in gold,” says a screenwriter.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

More Unemployed Graduates

Not Worth the Paper...

The situation on the Polish labour market is getting worse. According to the latest estimates of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) there are 183,000 graduates who do not have a job. Thus, there are 66,000 more unemployed youngsters than a year ago. There are over 400,000 unemployed Poles at the age of 25 or younger, which is 40% more than in 2008. The latest survey by the Public Opinion Research Center (CBOS) brings equally alarming results. The great majority of respondents confirms that young people from their neighbourhood who have just graduated have serious difficulties finding a job. This was confirmed by 80% of those interviewed by CBOS. The result of such a situation is lack of workplaces (according to 82% of those interviewed), lack of acquaintances and contacts (73%), as well as lack of work experience (67%). Also, some respondents claimed that school knowledge is useless (40%) and that young people are not qualified and educated (29%). Specialists say, however, that it is poor experience and inappropriate education that cause high unemployment among youngsters. “The sad statistics mainly result from the unfitness of school education to the demands of today’s labour market. Many professions lack qualified employees whereas crowds of marketing and finance specialists are unemployed. As long as the Polish education system is not adapted to the market, the situation will not improve,” says Henryk Michałowicz from the Confederation of Private Employers. “Another cause for the unemployment is the economic slowdown. Companies are still too afraid to invest in young inexperienced employees,” adds Michałowicz.
Dziennik

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

Layoffs Almost Over

Labourers

Nowadays only casual labourers, recent university graduates and former emigrants are signing up at unemployment offices. According to data provided by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), in November of this year 1,811,000  people were registered at unemployment offices. In spite of the fact that the figure has increased from last year, labour market experts believe that the worst is fortunately behind us. A pessimist would find plenty of disturbing information in the data coming from the market: since November 2008 the total of unemployed people has increased by 30%, 1.44 million people are not eligible for benefit. Economists are setting the record straight though: the recovery is just about to start. “The situation is much better than it was during the previous economic slump.

Employment was at 20% then as companies, after initial layoffs, underwent a thorough restructing. There has been no second wave of layoffs now as companies believe that they cannot afford to decrease their production capacities. It is often wiser to wait a few months until the demand for your products returns to normal,” says Ernest Pytlarczyk, a BRE Bank economist. According to the Ministry of Finance, the current increase in unemployment is not triggered by a decrease in the workforce but rather by increased economic activity of working-age individuals. There are increasingly more former emigrants and recent university graduates registered at unemployment offices and the reason for that is not necessarily because they have recently been laid off. “A 12.5% rate of unemployment was foreseen in the 2009 budget but it is unlikely that we will reach that level. That is indeed proof of the fact that the economy will soon get back on its feet,” says a Polish Employers’ expert. According to recent research, 80% of companies have no plans for layoffs in 2010 while 17% are planning to hire new employees at the beginning of next year.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

Adamek: Arreola On My Mind

Another Battle?

Tomasz Adamek will fight Chris Arreola on April 24 next year, and this might be a stepping stone to a duel against a world champion, possibly even Wladimir Klitschko. The fight will be the main event of the Boxing Fight Championship evening to be broadcast on HBO. Arreola, a Mexican by birth, was considered a heavyweight rising star until his first loss, a 10th round knock-out at the hands of Vitali Klitschko. He is still high in the boxing rankings and is seen as a true American warrior. In his last fight, a win against Brian Minto, Arreola weighed in at about 120 kg, slightly more than Gołota did before his bout with Adamek and it is Arreola who is likely to be a much more formidable opponent for Adamek than his Polish counterpart. The Mexican, although not very quick, packs a very powerful punch. Adamek, a former world champion in two weight categories remains undaunted though: “Adamek is number 1, Adamek will be world champion. Arreola has got what it takes but I have more,” says Adamek. In order to get the chance to fight Arreola, Adamek will have to defeat Jason Estrada, a former bronze medalist from Sydney which might prove a difficult task. On top of that, the 11-week period between the two fights is slightly shorter than ‘normal’. “You don’t say ‘no’ to HBO. I wish there was more time for me to recuperate and prepare for the next opponent but I agreed immediately anyway,” adds Adamek. If the Pole keeps up his winning record, his heavyweight career just might be picture-perfect. First an easy opponent, Gołota, followed by the demanding Estada, then the tough, well-known Arreola and eventually a world champion. As long as he continues winning, Adamek’s salary will certainly keep increasing.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

Rostowski Preparing Miracle

Miracle Worker

“Those same politicians and economists who were heralding a complete economic breakdown last year are now spreading panic all over again,” says Jacek Rostowski, Minister of Finance, in his letter to Gazeta Wyborcza. In 2010 Poland’s debt will reach PLN 740 billion or approximately PLN 20,000 per person. Rostowski admits that the debt is nearly at 55% GNP and calls it a “potentially high-risk figure”. However, it is not a reason to “spread catastrophic visions,” he adds. This is the minister’s reply to a letter written by a group of 10 economists who, worried by the dramatic rate of increase of the national debt, are calling on the government to implement appropriate reforms.

Leszek Balcerowicz also agrees that reforms need to be introduced as soon as possible. Balcerowicz insists that the government ought to limit certain retirement benefits, speed up the privatization process and ensure that social needs will be adressed in a more sensible manner. Rostowski has promised that at the beginning of 2010 the government will adopt a new economic agenda which will: focus on the review; take away some retirement-related privileges; implement a privatization programme (the government intends to gain approximately PLN 25 billion from the sale of public property) as well as introduce an “expense rule” or a limit on the yearly increase of budget expenses. According to Rostowski, this plan will make it easier for Poland to be considered one of the top five least-indebted European countries after the end of the world economic crisis unless the parliamentary opposition and President Kaczyński “get in the way”. Should that be the case, the implementation of the economic reforms will have to be postponed until a “responsible person” is elected president, adds Rostowski.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

Baby Boom Coming

Future in Their Hands

The Warsaw demographic explosion is imminent. In 2009 the number of births in the capital was twice as high as at the beginning of the decade. We are closing in on the records of the 1980s. In 2000 about 11,700 babies were born in Warsaw. Based on data provided by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the number of births in 2009 is expected to be around 20,000. “The current situation is perfect for construction companies as the demand for housing is steadily rising. The number of births per 1,000 inhabitants is nearly as high as it was in the record year of 1985 – the peak of the demographic boom,” says a Reas analyst. “But the current peak is yet to be reached, and that will take place around 2011-12″.

The increasing birth rate of today is related to the baby boom that occurred in the 1970s and ’80s – those born then have families of their own now. In Warsaw the number of marriages is following a similar upward trend – from 8,100 in 2000 to about 10,000 this year. The baby boom will soon have one adverse effect – the overcrowding of nursery schools, especially in those developing districts where many young couples are already residing or are planning to move to. Before the need for a higher number of nursery school arises though, more day-care centres will be needed also. “For many families the high cost of providing individual care for their child is a huge financial obstacle, often one they cannot overcome. Day-care centres located near the workplace and financed partly by the employer is a solution that is not only very convenient for parents but also one that takes much pressure off Warsaw’s authorites,” says Magdalena Janczewska, a social issues expert.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly

Merry Chrimbo from Newzar

Merry Christmas

Holiday time! The Newzar team would like to wish all our wonderful readers a particularly Merry Christmas and festive holiday period. May all your Yuletide dreams come true, may you all be healthy, hearty and happy. Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas.

Love and Peace,

The Newzar Team

Easter Eggs at Roundabout

Eggs on the Landscape

As many as five skyscrapers will be built in the vicinity of Daszyński roundabout. They could be egg-shaped so that they do not block out the sunlight. The towers will be constructed on a 2-hectare plot of land enclosed by Prosta, Towarowa and Sienna streets. The land is owned by two companies, Pro Urba from Spain and Ghelamco from Belgium. All the buildings are being designed by Andrzej M. Chołdzyński, well-known for his work on the Wilson Square metro station as well as the new stock market.

A triangle-shaped plot of land along Towarowa Street will be the site of three buildings, one of which is 86 metres in height, the other two are 130 metres high. The egg-like shape is thought to be ideal as it will limit the blocking of sunlight by the skyscrapers. The three buildings will be connected to each other at the top by a three-floor structure, on the roof of which grass will be planted. The towers will offer 100,000 square metres of office space, nearly twice as much as the total area of the large business centre in Galeria Mokotów. The lower levels are expected to have as much space for shops and the like as one third of Galeria Mokotów, while the underground garages will be large enough for 1,000 cars. All the investments are in the very early stages of preparation and development. The buildings are likely to be completed around 2015, after the Warsaw Spire building is finished and after the completion of the main part of the second subway line.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Newzar can be emailed to you directly