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Go Ela go !
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Go Ela go !
I think She is the best minister we ever had. Ministry of Regional Development, which is headed by Mrs Bieńskowska has a best results in all government. Step by step we are closer to were we should be long - Western Europe.
So what happened to the post titled "Poland"s past: a difficult film" on Poklosie by one A.H.? The article suddenly, and very mysteriously, disappeared, as if never written... Someone A.H.-minded could summarize the outcome as "the Economist's past: a difficult post", and move on to ponder on the wicked nature of the English newsmen and their unbecoming conduct.
It is nice that the Economist's editors have noticed a bad product, even if belatedly and only after a massive outcry of enraged readers. But it would be much more appropriate to recognize own error, even if quite embarrassing, in a transparent manner, rather than try to sweep it under the carpet. If you mess up, own up to it.
This piece reads like a cover letter to a cv. And the subsequent article on Poland written by certain A.H. has been removed after blatant errors were pointed out by posters. Tut tut.
Are you naysayers serious when saying that Poland is now worse off than before joining EU???
Nope, I'm a naysayer to Tusk's government (which is as wrong in every possible respect as A.H.'s blog on "Poklosie", which The TE shamefully yet very tellingly removed) but a firm believer in the EU since always, i.e. since it was a twinkle in the eye of the likes of Schumann, Monet and Adenauer - the real founding fathers. The problem is that since the days of those great statesmen the integrators of Europe took a decided turn to the left (today few know or rather wish to know what those twelve stars really mean). But I still believe the EU should be reformed rather than simply dissolved (as much as instinct and emotions draw us to the latter, destructive option).
The EU may have veered even further left since Poland joined it in 2004, but that is not the root of the problem. The problem is more or less the same as in every other country of the former communist bloc. These are in essence post-colonial countries, whose citizens have for several generations been deprived of real ownership (99% per cent of the law), and that's why since 1989 there's been an insipid, sometimes blatant rush to deprive these citizens of what should be rightfully theirs. Economists have calculated that in the early 1990s former Marxist Leszek Balcerowicz did more to deprive the Poles of ownership than the Germans during WWII. And this process continues to this day. With two notable exceptions (such things happen when democracy is allowed to work), namely the regrettably short-lived governments of Jan Olszewski and Jarosław Kaczyński.
p.s. of course I meant "insidious"
Monet Schumann and Adenauer were all three statists ie they strongly believed in State direction and intervention in their respective economies, despite privately being conservatives in their social behaviour. Adenauer established the German social market econmic model which has been followed by nearly all European countries since the 1950s.
European conservatism has little or nothing to do with American conservatism or for that matter Thatcherism which is based on the American 'Chicago School" economic model. The British counterpart to Europe's founding fathers was Harold Macmillan, that great Conservative leader and Prime Minister who was directly responsible for the largest and most successful communal housing, New Towns and urban reconstruction program in British history, effectively socialism of the best type. Do not confuse western european socialism with east european pseudo "socialism" (ie communism). They are dramatically different! Macmillan strongly endorsed private ownership at the same time using State intervention and direction where it was clearly needed.
That Poland has not implemented a program of restitution of property to prewar owners and their descendants is the exception in eastern Europe. Why? Because of strong vested interests composed of current local municipal political leaders and their voting supporters plus local current occupiers of confiscated properties. The fact is that Poland by 1945 had been thoroughly decapitated of its middle and upper classes. Of 24 million surviving inhabitants in 1945 only 300,000 had secondary school or higher education leaving certificates (that's less than 1.5% of the total population of the time). Poland was a country of peasant farmers and unqualified industrial workers. They were moved into the towns and cities which were being rebuilt and in time their descendants became the new urban middle class. Thus Warsaw, as the extreme example, has less than 1% of its current population as the descendants of its prewar inhabitants. The result is that prewar Warsaw families have little or no possibility of regaining their communist confiscated properties, irrespective of which political party is in power be it the communist derivative SLD, the PiS of Kaczynski or the PO of Tusk or their predecessors.
Balcerowicz had nothing to do with restitution of property to prewar owners. What he did do was stabilise the currency, reduce hyperinflation to manageable levels, negotiate the reduction of Poland's foreign debt and cut the subsidies to State owned companies to force them to work as normal enterprises in a newly established social market economy. Some elements, particularly heavy industry such as the shipyards, coalmines and State railways, carried on behaving as if communism had not collapsed and they could continue to drain the State budget (ie taxpayers pockets) for ever. Fortunately, entry into the EU is putting a rapid stop to such endless subsidies. At Balcerowicz's time the banking sector was entirely State owned with a National Central Bank which also carried out retail and commercial lending activities, in clear contravention of Central Bank functions. The population was so confident of the Polish banking sector that less than 5% had bank accounts! So the retail banking centre was hived off, privatised and foreign inward investment encouraged to bring in desperately needed banking and industrial management expertise. The result has been the establishment of a a stable and continuously growing modernised economy for the past 20 years. More could have been done and should be done, but for that a dynamic, decisive and systematic political leadership is needed which has been clearly lacking in all governments in Poland without exception since 1991. Ironically, the right wing parties have been more socialist in their economic policies than the Left, pandering to public sector trade unions and delaying badly needed reforms. It was, afterall, the Left which took Poland into NATO and the EU. The hard right wanted to stay in "proud isolation" reflecting the disastrous policies of the Polish governments of the 1930's!
Nice analysis of why property restitution in Poland has been slow--it certainly makes more sense than suggestions that Balcerowicz's Marxist past is somehow at work. The process (be it for real estate or other property rights such as patents and copyright)is inevitably messy as it is a compromise between justice and economic development.
Mike, of course Leszek Balcerowicz had nothing to do with the restitution of property, I never said he did. Indeed, it is a scandal how little Polish governments have done to reclaim private property appropriated since 1939, especially in the east. But this is only part of the problem (besides, anyone else had any more success in asking Russia to give anything back?). Where Balcerowicz is totally culpable is state property, heavy industry and the so-called reclaimed territories especially in the north east (Mazury) and north west (Szczecin area). Most of the inhabitants of those regions were forcibly resettled from the east and therefore, through no fault of their own, totally reliant on the state. Balcerowicz totally neglected this admittedly very difficult problem. He simply closed down the state farms without providing the inhabitants the means (not even any infrastructure) to cope. This was a terrible thing to do and the consequences are even more apparent now than before. At the time unemployment shot up to 13% and over 20 years later it's still at 13 %, and again those regions are the hardest hit.
Of course hyperinflation had to be stopped and internal debt reduced, this was quickly achieved, but so much more could have been achieved at that particular point in time when Western powers were exceptionally concerned in making former communist bloc countries democratic and economically stable. This was a wasted five minutes. Balcerowicz was universally praised in the West, especially by this paper, because he wasn't asking too much. If that miserable apparatchik had cared a toss for his compatriots, he wouldn't have been so popular in the West, but the money would have been coughed up. Moreover, counter to the popular myth of "homo sovieticus" (such mentality does exist but not in the way propaganda presented it), Poles turned out to be a very business oriented nation and the concept of free trade was already very much on their minds after the introduction of Wilczek's law in 1988. A lot of money was actually dished out by the EU, e.g. the PHARE fund, but it was done willy nilly and simply squandered. Instead Balcerowicz began a quite wild (in terms of non-existent strategic planning) and never properly regulated process of privatisation. This was crony capitalism, political capitalism and essentially corruption. People went into politics to make money (kręcenie lodów) because there is never any shortage of clients eager to reward individuals for selling state assets cheap. This is essentially what has been going on in Poland (with, as I mentioned, two notable exceptions) ever since. Now, though perhaps too late, even Jeffrey Sachs concedes that rapid privatisation was a mistake.
You're wrong to claim that there ever existed a hard right government wishing to stay in "proud isolation" - that's a propaganda myth. Such people exist in Poland, but to a far lesser extent than in the UK for instance, and they certainly do not constitute a meaningful political force. And you obviously haven't any idea of how much was achieved in Poland in far more difficult economic and political circumstances before the war, when they built Gdynia and Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy. In terms of economic, industrial and trade strategy Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski was an absolute hero, someone badly missed in Poland today.
Kwiatkowski"s achievements were indeed remarkable, the more so that Poland had been devastated in the 1914-1920 period and three completely seperate infrastructures had to be rebuilt, repaired and integrated (eg railway lines had to be standardised on the western model from the Russian broad gauge). Kwiatkowski was, however, controlled by Poland's military thus COP was primarily geared to military production for domestic use. He did far better with the construction of Gdynia, its port and railway line. Over 80% of Poland's pre-war industrial production came out of the 1% of the territory that was Polish Upper Silesia. Kwiatkowski was successful because he had the full and active backing of all political parties, despite inter-party warfare in Parliament. Unfortunately in the past 20 years the only realised common goals of nearly all the elected political parties was NATO and EU entry.
The privatisation that took place in the grossly overlarge public sector in the past 20 years has its faults. But the process has had even greater consequences in other parts of the eatsern EU including eastern Germany. Reduction of subsidies to heavy industry (including to State farms) was bound to cause social hardship but the alternative would have been even worse as those monies would be completely wasted and thus denied to those parts of the economy where they could have positive effects.
The poor northeast, eastern "wall" and parts of the old German agricultural lands in the north west have had over-large populations. Out migration, in common with the rest of the poorer parts of Europe is inevitable. Its a question of how it is managed and at what speed. Most of the population of Poland's "Western Territories" were post-war rural migrants from the lands taken by the Soviet Union in the east, over 2.5 million of them. Their descendants have since migrated into the towns and cities. Others have migrated abroad (Poland has been an out-mgration centre since the 1850s due to severe rural overpopulation). Unfortunately, the PGRs (State collectives)were a dumping ground for the unqualified, disfunctional rural poor. They have emptied out over the past 20 years and that process will no doubt continue, as elsewhere in the eastern EU including eastern Germany. Polish agriculture has been heavily subsidised over many, many years. Unfortunately, much of the present funding is nothing else but a social security fund for the peasant subsistence farmers and smallholders. As such much of Polish agriculture is caught in a frozen time warp, not developing or re-organising. Farm holdings are still far too many and too small, excepting the 5% that make up the largest farms which produce over 90% of agricultural output.
Early EU donated monies such as the PHARE fund had one fundamental condition: they were given to projects organised and managed by western companies, in effect a form of export subsidy. Its only after 2004 and EU membership that monies started going directly into locally managed projects and funds. Poland has a far better rate of using EU funds than all the other new member states. And for how not to use EU monies its enough to look at Greece!
Glad we can agree about Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, and I also generally agree that today in many respects Poland is coping better than most. But here I immediately have to add that we can only say that because some others are coping so badly.
But let's start with the positives. If we look at the structure of Polish exports, it looks pretty optimal: in 2010 Agricultural goods 10.5%; raw materials 2.5%; fuels 4.1%; manufactured goods 41.8%; machinery and transport equipment 41.1%. This looks much more viable than Russia's statistics: 2.0; 3.6;69.1; 22.3; 3.2, respectively. But than again the UK export structure doesn't look all that pretty (6.1;2.6; 12.7; 47.0; 31.6) and yet a million or so Poles currently believe its a far better place to work, live and have children. And though of course Poland is not the worst, I always try to compare it with our most important economic partner, Germany, which happens to have the largest economy in the EU.
Ideally Poland should be a land of engineers and farmers, because such professions generate wealth (unlike those of lawyers, political scientists, psychologists, media experts and journalists). And here I have to categorically disagree with your demeaning remarks about Polish farmers. When we talk about agriculture, rather than agribusiness, it is not so much a matter of technological innovation (which actually spreads very rapidly) as often somewhat arcane and very local knowledge regarding arable farming and animal husbandry. The fact that, unlike the UK, Poland still has an agricultural tradition is actually an economic asset. Food prices are now rising and agriculture will always have a future.
The influx to the cities has at last stopped and the rural population is suddenly rising because wealthy town folk, understandably fed up of living in "osiedla", are moving out into the countryside. The problem is with the farmers, most of whom are past their retirement age but whose kids have fled to the cities or even more frequently abroad. The other problem is that they cannot afford to purchase land. Why? Because Polish agents of wealthy foreign investors have artificially raised the prices of land. This is what the farmers have been protesting about in Szczecin for a successive week. They are absolutely right to protest. They are quite neglected by this government, as they had been by most previous governments. This is indeed the only why they receive less EU funds than French and other West European farmers.
But Szczecin has been neglected in every other respect as well. This once important port city is cut off from the Baltic by the quite unnecessary Nord Stream pipeline (much to write about there), it doesn't even have a polytechnic and the former shipyard is now the site of the largest in Poland Biedronka hypermarket (the Portuguese budget-price chain - well, at least the Portuguese can boast this tiny economic success).
Ref "Polish farmers" Poland's farming community is divided between the mass of subsistence peasant smallholders (especially in the east of the country) and the few large modern farmers on the western model who own their own land and/or lease it from the State Agricultural Fund and contribute to over 90% of agricultural production. The modern Polish farmers are on the same technological level as their western European counterparts. Foreign farmers are few and far between and farm land which they lease or rent. Foreign owned agribusinesses concentrate on animal husbandry/food processing.
Poland's sale of State agricultural land has been restricted by Law to Polish nationals with agricultural "qualifications" which favours the existing rural population and severely discriminates urban dwellers who pay the bulk of Poland's taxes. The tax contribution of the rural population is minimal and it has historically always had a very favoured status. If anything, it is the farmers who have individually gained most from Poland's entry into the EU because their political patron the PSL, has "looked after its political voting base". EU agricultural subsidies are paid on the metrage held and used. This maintains the existing land ownership of tiny smallholdings which covers much of Poland, especially the east and gives such a medieval look from the air. Reform (consolidation) of land ownership has to be encouraged if Polish agriculture is to be an effective contributor to GDP (currently only about 5% in a country where 27% claim employment on the land).
Ref Szczecin, the city historically was and is slowly reverting to being Berlin's natural out-port on the Baltic. Its geographic position at the exit to the entire Oder River basin favours such a solution. Its main port competitors are therefore Rostock on the Baltic and Hamburg on the North Sea and not Gdynia-Gdansk. Basic heavy industry in Szczecin has gone the way of most heavy industry in Europe: Asiatic competitors do it cheaper and better. However, highly technical production is being developed, including the specialised needs of off-shore oil, gas and wind energy production. And this is supported locally by both the Akademia Morska and the Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny (Szczecin Polytechnic). As to the Nord Stream pipeline, that is buried in the part where it crosses the main access channel (which has been deepened)to Szczecin port, so it does not interfer in ship access to the latter (I should know as my company ships in bulk materials into the Eastern EU via Szczecin which we use as the regional EU distribution centre).
I stand corrected with regard to Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny, but the fact remains that Szczecin is under-performing and that this has been happening not in the communist period but in more recent years. Why are the young moving out of the area? The answer is obvious, no jobs. Put it another way. Why does a polytechnic in such a potentially industrial and economically developed area rank ninth, whereas Wrocław Polytechnic persistently ranks near the very top, currently second only after Warsaw. Why is the Szczecin Maritime Academy at the very bottom of that table? Well, what do you expect with no merchant navy - that was done away with even faster than the shipyards? And the shipbuilding contracts weren't taken over by cheaper Asian shipyards, but by now flourishing German ones. Why does Germany invest so heavily in Wrocław but not in Szczecin? You can try and bury a gas pipeline as deep as you like but it will always pose a hazard for shipping. For the most part these pipelines can only be laid on the seabed and they physically move with fluctuations of gas pressure. In terms of safety and sheer economics the pipeline should be on land. Putin's insistence that it should run under the Baltic is political. Schroeder's inducement was blatantly venal, and Merkel has no inducement to pull out because Tusk is the last person to put any pressure on her.
As for farming, pleased don't confuse the Suwałki, Białystok, Lublin and Rzeszów regions, with the Warmia-Mazury and Szczecin Regions. The former you don't like because the majority of them vote for Law and Justice. And that is because (on account of the fact that small private farms were uniquely allowed to exist in communist Poland) most of them have been property-holders for countless generations and have a sense of local identity. But the problems are actually in Warmia-Mazury and the Szczecin region, which traditionally voted for post-communist SLD. Now they realise this was a mistake. The size of the farms is not the problem, since these two post-PGR regions have on average the largest farms in Poland. As I said, the problem is with the purchasing of new land. And I clearly stated that the prices were artificially hiked by Polish agents entitled to buy land in their own name but on behalf of much richer foreign investors, thus by-passing the law you mention. Farmers always think of the future and they know better than anyone else what will happen once this law dies out. Their grievance is genuine.
Poland has a long tradition in agriculture, its agricultural schools have been of the highest possible standard. The proof is of course in the eating, and Poland's agricultural products, meats, smoked meats, fruit, even bread have traditionally been superior to that of the West. Before the war, my grandfather's family owned an estate that was so vast it had to be reduced by law. He studied horticulture at the SGGW in Warsaw and set up orchards producing top quality apples. Now in Belarus, those orchards only produce crab apples - for a time a vinegar factory was set up, now even that's gone. Sometimes there's progress, at other times there's regression.
But it makes deep economic sense for the agricultural know-how to be derived from the academies and universities of a given region, because they are the best able to assess all the factors, including soil, climate, potential labour market, demand and infrastructure. Importing technology from abroad is far more expensive and not so effective. Leaving loopholes for the use of GMO, as Tusk and Komorowski have recently done, is agricultural suicide.
Ref your comparison of Wroclaw and Szczecin, the former has had stable, enlightened political municipal management over the past two decades with only 2 like-minded Mayors. Wroclaw is 50% larger than Szczecin and has leveraged its geographic location and skills base to maximum effect. Szczecin has been ineptly managed for the past two decades, particularly around the turn of the century when the then Mayor frightened off all foreign investors when he cancelled unilaterally all investment permits. Investors go there where they are made welcome in a competitive world. As to the Mayors, they are elected by the local voters...
Ref the sale of agricultural land in the "Western or Recovered Territories" this has been managed and controlled by the Regional offices of the State Agricultural Agency (ANR) which is the nominal owner. It still owns over 2 million hectares of farm land, of which it leases out 3/4. Polish individual farmers can bid for land put up for sale or lease. Foreigners cannot take part in the auctions process (nor can companies)until 2016 when the current restrictions will be removed. At the moment only about 50,000 hectares of land in all of Poland is owned and about 100,000 leased by foreigners or companies in which foreigners hold (minority) shares. Many of the Polish farmers have, therefore, been used to getting highly subsidised land for knock-down prices and incredibly long repayment terms at very low rates of interest and have got rich in the process. The Szczecin region is notorious for numerous scandals in farm land purchases/leases with officials in the Agency working hand in hand with the local (Polish) farmers on the basis of "I look after your interests and you look after mine".
Ref Poland's lost eastern territories, persons/descendants from those lands with clear title to pre-war properties (but not mortgaged ones) have the legal right to claim compensation from the Polish State, unlike Poles who had their property confiscated within the boundaries of post 1945 Poland. In that respect the situation is ridiculous: my family cannot recover property in central Warsaw or near Gniezno. I have left that continuing struggle to my sons.
State farms whether in Belarus, Poland, Russia or the Ukraine have always been grossly inefficient. The faster they are privatised and rationally managed, the better for all concerned.
With regard to the GMO issue, Poland already produces GMO based products as meat production of all types (pig, poultry, cattle and sheep)is all based on GMO soya and other GMO animal feeds. The issue is whether GMO derived crops, which are more disease resistant and use less pesticides and result in cheaper food production (Australia, Argentina, Brazil and the North Americans are all GMO based agricultures) are better for the consumer or whether more expensive non-GMO crops are. Farmers who want high prices for their product prefer the non-GMO option. The GMO option offers them the possibility of producing at a lower and therefore more competitive cost. And there is nothing to stop Poland's agricultural research institutes from patenting GMO crops if they are as advanced as you say they are.
It should be pointed out that all agricultural production (even in Poland!) is based on genetically engineered animals, grains, vegetables and fruits, which has been done for centuries. Selective elimination of "negative" genes and crossbreeding has been standard since mankind started farming. Your modern ziemiak or kartofel is nothing like its potato ancestor, first imported into Europe 500 years ago, nor for that matter is the standard black and white "Frisian" milk cow anything like its 17th century ancestor. Polish strawberries sold across Europe are nothing like their 18th century ancestor. GMO seed has simply speeded up the process of genetic engineering.
Two like-minded mayors who weren't all that competent in coping with two major floods during their respective terms in office. Not that building housing estates in polder fields was entirely their fault, but it never occurred to them that the vast funds pouring in from across the western border (i.e. Germany) could actually be used to channel the flood water away from densely inhabited urban areas. As a general rule, with one or two very notable exceptions, over the last two decades the mayors (or rather presidents, as they prefer to call themselves) of major Polish cities have been stooges for more major players. I repeat what I said earlier, Germany is investing heavily in Wrocław (Breslau) but not Szczecin for strategic reasons, regardless of who is mayor.
What you say about the State Agricultural Agency is generally true with one tiny exception: they are scratching the backs of foreign investors. This stands to reason, because who needs to and is better able to pay brides? Moreover, why else are Polish farmers protesting?
I myself am not a farmer, but I have enough knowledge to know that even in this day and age it's bloody hard work that can in no way be compared to any 9-5 job, especially in an office. As a consumer of food I am also able to distinguish between a Polish strawberry (from Kashubia, for instance) and those from China (p.s. never try Chinese garlic). Like most people, I instantly tell the difference between fresh, unpasteurised milk and UHT, which is now the only type that can be officially purchased in Polish shops (another excellent example of what wonderful lawmakers we currently have). As for GMO and the irreplaceable virtues of Agriculture, with the emphasis on Culture, including above all peasant culture, I refer you to Sir Julian Rose, who knows much more about it that you or me, and in this particular issue is absolutely right. If course, people can eat any type of food and live with backsides as vast as they can breed, but I'm into the quality of life and don't especially want my grandchildren to look like fried chicken Americans.
As for the restitution of property, we're all in the same boat. Those who close property in the east (and my mother's family lost a vast estate) could only make claims for two years up to the end of 2008, and if they were able to satisfy all the bureaucratic requirements they could at best hope a small fraction of compensation from the Polish government. My mother didn't get a single penny, and none of us are upset. My father's family flat in Zoliborz Warsaw remarkably survived the war. When in 1975 he visited Poland for the first time after the war he still had the key to it and whimsically wondered whether it would fit the lock. But he never dreamed of wanting it back, by then of course other people were living in it. I got carried away when I said the smallholders of Lublin were owners for "countless" generations, because a few generations back they were most probably serfs. But thank God they're still farming, they are the preservers of our European culture. Happy New Year!
Dear "from Gdansk", despite Soviet Union, the rest of former communist block countries were not "in essence post-colonial countries, whose citizens have for several generations been deprived of real ownership":) Just try to count, if you can do that: 44 years of USSR domination in this part of Europe gives: 1 st generatuion deprived (adult before 1945), 2 nd in communism (chidren before 1945, and these born after) and 3rd generation who got freedom again in 1989 (children and teenagers before 1989, now adult in transformed country. So were you see all these several generations? Before you start to write, try to think, because some of us use our rational brains, not only emotional... and because of such fundamental mistakes, your argumentation is like a fiction writting. And this part about Balcerowicz is strange, could you tell me the names of these "economists"? and what do you mead writting.
Minister Bienkowska is a highly effective Polish technocrat. The department she runs is a shining light in Poland's dismally inefficient bureacracy. As she has no party political role to play she is focussed on ensuring that allocated EU funds are properly and fully utilised. That includes open criticism of those ministeries, State owned utilities and local and regional governments which still cannot get their act together, of which the most notorious is the State railway network.
She is not averse to tonking (male) prima donna politicians of which there are many and who nowadays avoid getting into public argument with her as she shows them up for what they are: incompetent!
As a technocrat she s a leading example of what the fairer sex can achieve in what is a highly conservative traditional country. Would there were a lot more like her!
Just a PS:
Spending EU regional development monies is difficult for all new member States. Poland's greatest problems have been at the State level with the railways and motorways simply because for over half a century only 1.8km of new railway track was built and motorways until very recently were an unknown in Poland: The bureaucrats and public supervision engineers simply had no relevant work or project management experience.
In eastern Poland the problem has been related to its overwhelmingly agricultural economy based on small family farms and smallholdings. Industrial investors go where there are very good communications and an experienced workforce. Oherwise both have to be created from scratch at a high cost. The further from the west, the worse the problem and the fact is that the 4 eastern provinces of Poland are the EU's poorest excepting Romania and Bulgaria. Local politicians are of little help: I was recently at a successful Polish owned factory making electrical cables 35km from the Ukrainian border. The Polish MD stated he got zero help from the local municipality and its political leadership (Kaczynski's PiS) despite being the biggest tax contributor in the area. He was now looking to move the business to a more receptive and responsive part of the country as he cannot expand his factory where he currently is. No doubt the local politicians in power will start bleating when he leaves and takes several hundred jobs with him.
Regarding the construction companies that went bust, a market economy with fixed price public tender contracts is a Darwinian environment. Those companies competently run have survived and are doing well. Those incompetently run have gone bankrupt. That is normal in any economy: the weakest fail.
As to wastage of EU funds, the stadiums were a contractual commitment of the Kaczynski administration of 2005-7 which probably should have been avoided. They did, however, help to speed up the far, far bigger infrastructure investment, especially in roads. But even with the latter, wastage has crept in as the motorway infrastructure ministry was forced to install hundreds of kilometers of completely unnecessary steel road noise sound barriers as a result of the decision by the environment ministry back in 2006 (Minister Szyszko) to implement the most rigorous noise abatement controls in Europe. This has resulted in noise barriers being put up in open rural and forested areas where buildings are few and far between Fortunately the law has now been modified.....
Good informative comment. When will Poland have the first ever female Prime Minister and, eventually, historically first female Head of State ?
Let me add that it's very well said, Mike :)
There's still a lot to do but it's not as bad as you suspect.
"...first ever female [blah, blah]"? And here rational people would think its competence that matters. The things you learn talking to leftists?
Hanna Suchocka was serving as a PM in 1992
Ms Hanna Suchocka was Prime Minister back in the early 1990s. As to Head of State, anything is possible though unlikely for at least the next election as the incumbent , Bronislaw Komorowski, is likely to win as he is very popular.
Only to inform you: Poland had female Prime Minister - Mrs Hanna Suchocka, Prime Minister 1992-1993. Head of State ( in Poland - President) - not yet.
Emigration in Poland is a result of the no beneits policy, i.e. in other countries like the UK, France or Germany people dont emigrate much because if they dont have a job they will simply live off the state, i.e. off benefits. 87% of people who are unemployed in Poland are not entitled to any benefits. Bear in mind in Poland, if you dont work, you sleep on the street - and in the winter the tempaeratures drop to -20. This is however a short term problem.
What also needs to be mentioned is the cost of those benefits. The UK's debt will pass 100% of GDP within 3 years. Its credit rating is under pressure. Same with France. The only thing saving Germany is its large trade imbalance (surplus.) In the case of France and the UK these debts are not sustainable over the longer term. By 2040 Polands debt is forcast to fall to about 40% GDP. If things continue the way they are, with no reforms, by 2040 the UK and France will have gone bust.
"By 2040 Polands debt is forcast to fall to about 40% GDP"
With its population being 28mln of which 40-50% above working age.
As long as you people, who no longer feel Polish, dont come back here then we wont have a pension problem. Hopefully your life is now so good, and you live in a financially superior country, which has endless piles of gold and diamonds it can cash in at any time, so it will be able to provide u with a good pension. What we cant have is a situation where people who have emigrated, come back here for old days and attempt to live off the taxes of peple who work in Poland.
Better 28m patriots than 40 million schadfreude
Sad, uninformed article, that seems to lack any journalistic skepticism.
Poland is very poor, extremely corrupt country that has no hope of being prosperous country. If it is doing so good why have millions of Poles fled to the West. Surely not to invest their millions into yachts or race cars, but rather to find a job and decent life that their ruined country cannot provide.
Maybe the author should simply look on basic statistic like unemployment which practically remained changed since 1992?
They appear a lot more educated then yourself.
Another Tusk-propaganda article from TE correspondent.
Bieńkowska is the most disgusting person in Tusk government, next to Nowak, minister of infrastructure. They act, like there were only one, based in western side of the Vistula river, Poland, of course this part which votes for PO.
Nowak and Bieńkowska are the biggest enemies of so called "Poland B" (the term, born in 1930's, during the COP project, which was planned to revitalise and reindustrialise, central part of Poland, laying between the Vistula and San rivers).
Nowak so time ago said "There will be no motorways or expressways in eastern Poland, because...THERE IS NO NEED). Yesterday, in Lublin, where I live,new, built in only 2 years(from the scratch), airport was opened. It was built from our, local taxes, without any help from the "centre".
So, Bieńkowska is good minister for POLAND A, mainly for bigger cities like Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, Poznań, Wrocław or Silesia conurbation, but for the rest of the country, she is simply a TORTURER.
However, we, living in Lublin, Rzeszów, Białystok or even in smaller cities in "Poland A" (especially in Lubuskie or Zachodniopomorskie voivodship)ALSO PAY TAXES. If we pay taxes, we also want new roads or other infrastructure,Mrs. Bieńkowska. Now, we pay for the investment projects in western part of the country, so we should be exempted from the taxes.
"I'm not a politician. I'm a technocrat." not even a technocrat, just another Donald Tusk "zderzak".
And Donald Tusk would love a comfy job in Brussels, more than ever before.
What is really amazing to read here is not the article itself but the comments by those extreme-tending Poles who miss completely the perspective and facts. Fact is that the first round of EU funds which Poland received were spent in much better way if one compares with previous similar beneficiaries like Portugal, Greece, Spain and Ireland. Fact is that Poland navigated the first period of receiving EU funding in much better shape than other EU members. These are relevant comparisons in which Poland indeed excels and she, the Persian-fluent minister, deserves high notes. It is also due to the political environment which leaves this area free from destructive interference.
All this should obviously be seen in a perspective that Poland is still far behind the richest EU members. However the distance to those members who were living on borrowed money beyond means has shrunk and is shrinking by the day.
One final word should be added about the migration which happened after Poland joined the EU in 2004. This was numerically significant (est. 1.5 million) but not unproportionally high relative to the total population of 38 millions. But what is the most critical factor here is that the time of labor market openings was, as we see it now, perfectly synchronised with the peak of the bubble: Ireland, UK, Spain were the main targets of migration where unlimited job opportunities were present. These times are obviously over forever and there is nothing to speak about the migration from Poland now. It was thus just a temporary fad caused by the overheated economies.
As anyone living in the UK will confirm, the Poles are still there. And with perhaps the highest birth rate in the UK, their number is physically increasing, not falling. By contrast, in Poland itself Poles have one of the lowest birth rates in the whole of Europe. Surely these facts mean something, e.g. regarding Polish welfare.
Another undeniable fact is that after a rapid drop, since 2008 unemployment has been rising steadily in Poland and this winter its expected to rise much more. I don't blame Italians for looking after their compatriots first, but I do blame my compatriots (admittedly this was long before Civic Platform) for selling Polish car factories cheap to the Italians in the first place.
The problem with Civic (or rather Crony) Platform is that they've been selling to foreigners and privatising all the state assets they can get their grubby hands on ever since 2007. The other problem is that all of them, without exception, Donald Tusk, Ewa Bieńkowska, Sławomir Nowak, Boni, Grad or now probably also Budzianowski are unbelievably incompetent. That's why for example in once prosperous Silesia from where Mrs Bieńkowska, the daughter of railway workers hails, for the second week in row all the trains are suddenly cancelled. One of the reasons are the schoolboy mistakes of Crony Platform administrators, ordering for instance several different types of locomotives with quite different stopping times, or "investing" millions into PR, for rail staff to tell passengers jokes when there are cancellations and sending delegates on "fact finding missions" to Disneyland when those same millions could be invested in cleaning carriages. Trains ran faster and more regularly in the 19th century. A journey from Szczecin to Wrocław now takes 9 or 10 hours and means changing trains in Berlin!
And here we come to the crux of the matter. The lion's share of those billions of euro, ostensibly called "structural and cohesion funds" actually goes back to the biggest contributor, Germany. It's very simple, for instance German companies win contracts to build Poland's Euro 2012 football stadiums, the most expensive stadiums ever. The difference between a stadium and a factory or a shipyard is that in the long run only the latter generate wealth and employment. Unlike Portugal's Euro stadiums, Poland's stadiums are still standing but that's only because they've only just been built. What makes you think we're any different to Portugal? Especially that contrary to any common sense, Tusk is now again eagerly campaigning for Poland to join the eurozone asap.
Common sense tells me to be against joining the single currency, but I'm not against the EU per se. I'm not against Germany, they've never had it so good and good luck to them. I'm certainly not against Angela Merkel, without doubt the most competent politician in Europe at present. However, the general pattern whereby Germany steadily grows richer while other states go bankrupt cannot continue and if the EU is to survive this sick arrangement must change.
Not sure what the point of this article was. Reads like a minister profile written by a government communications hack for some newsletter. Does the Economist believe this funding was well spent and this minister did a good job? Should Poland receive more funds in the future while the EU cuts funding from other programs/countries? These are questions I would expect raised and discussed in an article, even a blog post, from this newspaper.
I agree 100%. And 'carefully manicured finger nails' are neither here nor there.
Under the post-Soviet Civic Platform regime Poland spends on R&D only 0.74% of its GDP (average of the European Union is 2%, Germany spends 2.6%). Gap between Germany and the Poland deepens and the Polish economy from year to year is becoming more complementary peripheral economy of Germany.
Gap between PL and GER narrows. It is currently estimated (Balcerowicz) that Poland needs another 20 years to close the gap.
Absolutely agree R&D spending should be immediately increased.
However, please note that spending a smaller part from the bigger total may be still more than spending even 3% from a low total. Please remember at what GDP level Poland started the pursuit.
To sum up - one needs to EARN for own means to research, develop and then invest. If anyone knows a method how to earn in 21 century without good infrastructure and promoting investment please publish your paper.
Soviet apparatchik Leszek Balcerowicz (member of PZPR, "explorer" at Institute of Basic Problems of Marxism-Leninism) is very naive. Poland has 20 years to close the gap with Germany, assuming that Germany will stay in place. During socialist Civic-Platform regime
Poland has no chance to catch up Slovakia and Lithuania just overtook Poland in 2012.
Nobody would argue against the need to inrease R&D spending relative to growing GDP but that's only part of the overall picture. While governments should stimulate industrial R&D by offerong tax incentives, R&D in educational institutions must be financed largely from government budgets. That, of course, means raising more, not less, money from corporate taxation. Most advanced economies rely on the flow of innovation from research labs into private enterprises because of potentially attractive investment returns. Thus simple statistical data on R&D spending tell us very little about effective transition from laboratories to the manufacturing stage and even less about potential market demand for the newly invented products. Like it or not, but to be competitive in a broad and free EU market is a lot more difficult than to operate in a closed domestic market behind tariff and non-tariff barriers. When Poland and other countries joined the EU the options were clear. Given Germany's domination of the EU markets it is not unexpected that Poland's manufacturing "is becoming more complementary peripheral economy of Germany".
During 20 years in Poland only 2 cabinets pursued libertarian conservative policy: Jan Olszewski government in 1992 and Jarosław Kaczyński government in 2007. Remainder focused on socialist redistribution and cooptation into the Post-Soviet system by the growth of bureaucracy and public expenditure.
"It is currently estimated (Balcerowicz) that Poland needs another 20 years to close the gap"
Funny, I remember 1992, and media saying we only need 20 years to close the gap with the West, 20 years later, they are still saying we need 20 years.
Nice additional feature of Tusk's government revealed!
Some ministers -
Elzbieta Bienkowska - Regional Development
Barbara Kudrycka - Science and Higher Education
Krystyna Szumilas - Education
Joanna Mucha - Sport and Tourism
Agnieszka Kozlowska-Rajewicz - formerly Equality
Now how exactly do you spell Misogynist?
I just returned from a short trip to Europe, including Poland.
What brought my attention was an excellent metro, super
modern trams and fantastic buses. At least 10 new very tall
high-scrapers, the beautiful stadium, all designed in a fancy way,
were just recently constructed.
I drove the car around Warsaw – the highways were reaching or
over-passing the German quality. A relative prosperity hit
my eyes.
Just by sheer coincidence I expressed my opinion to Polish
President Bronislaw Komorowski, during an ad hock reception,
at Polski Theater in Warsaw. He was visibly moved and said:
"…from now on I must stress our achievements with more rosy
glasses…". Yes, Poland today became a big thing…
The only scary aspect for some is the speed how fast privatization
is progressing. Poles, seem to do not care. They are privatizing
even the national railways… Scary, indeed.
What you have seen is superficial, Warsaw does not reflect what is happening in Poland. Many of the "fancy" new projects have no economic justification, for example the national stadium is already deep in the red with no hope of ever generating sustainable revenue. Building this stadium resulted in
bankrupting local developer Hydrobudowa SA as well as many
local businesses.
Yes it is scary, Poland thanks to "generous" EU founds is quickly
following Greece. We have fancy infrastructure with "over-passing the German quality" and close to 13% unemployment with millions of Poles working in other EU countries just to survive. Quite and "achievement" for a star economy! I guess president Komorowski
and the current government should be proud of that!
But I guess true reality must be hard to spot while driving in limo around Warsaw.
I wonder what would be the unmployment rate without new infrastructure being built, and without already built one. The latter enables investment and rises whole towns and regions from economical non-existence into greenfield investment sites as is very well observed along/near road interchanges/new airports etc. Ie. Nowy Tomysl, Stryków, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Modlin, Mszczonów, to name a few I know personally, used to be 'middle of nowhere', shabby places. They are now blossoming now with industry, logistic and other service firms literally rushing to catch opportunity. Today Lublin opened a new airport with 15 minutes rail connection to the centre of the town. Which is not to say that all is rosy in Poland but let's keep some perspective, certainly EU created opportunity and the opportunity was well used - and that's what TE article very well stresses.
New infrastructure could have been built with local founds no EU funds were needed. If you want to know what the unemployment would be then do simple calculation on the rate of capital return that old EU countries get vs the new ones like Poland. It is estimated that Poland gets between 0,2 to 0,5 euro of economical benefit for each euro invested, on the other hand Germany gets between 1 and 1,5 euro. So let's take middle of that to be 1 euro of economical return for 1 euro invested. Apply that return to Polish investment and you get at least 200% increase in return on capital. With this kind of capital growth rate in just few years local founds would easily eclipse any matching founds from EU. The only conclusion one can draw is that taking EU founds is economically irresponsible, not to mention the corruption that comes with it.
So who is really benefiting from cohesion founds?
You mention number of infrastructure projects being developed. The cost of 1km of polish autostrada is 50% to 100% more then comparable road in Germany! I guess quality comes at a price. At the same time once you get of the sound barrier tunnels surrounding the autostradas it is a different world of potholes everywhere! You do not have to live in the 'middle of nowhere' to experience that, just take the express road from Krakow's airport to the city center.
If everything is so good then why so many people had to leave? When was the last time you have checked Balcerowicz's debt clock?
Also, If you want to have a meaningful discussion then get some courage and use your name, internet is full of propaganda spreading trolls.
Most Poles don't live in Warsaw, and those who do, don't live in places for rich tourists.
Average Pole counts himself lucky if he earns 400 euro and has a flat with two rooms. He counts himself as rich even.
"I wonder what would be the unmployment rate without new infrastructure being built, and without already built one"
Unemployment in January 1992 was 12%, and in January 2012 13%.
No stadium pays for itself. Warsawa has been redeveloping it self very well. There needs to me much more done to connect the rest of the country, but the capital has not gone for want.
"Poland was awarded nearly €68 billion ($89 billion) of structural and cohesion funds (SCF) in the EU's 2007-2013 budget."
That's very generous funding indeed. But I would have liked to see the author stressing real results (apart from the LNG port at Świnoujście) rather than talking about generalities of 80,000 projects. Are there lessons to be learned both for the EU as the donor and for other receipients of EU generosity ?
"Poland was awarded nearly €68 billion ($89 billion) of structural and cohesion funds (SCF) in the EU's 2007-2013 budget."
This totally misleading, it is not "generous" hand out but simply EU investment with some of the best returns ever. Just to cite the European Commission.
"The Commission argues that cohesion policy over the 2000-2006 period resulted in a return of €2.1 for each euro invested. By 2020, the return is estimated at €4.2 per euro invested."
The price for this "generosity" is foreign domination of the
key sectors of the economy and destruction of many local businesses.
>The price for this "generosity" is foreign domination of the
key sectors of the economy and destruction of many local businesses.<
True. Now - would that process not happen without EU, her generous funds etc? Would a process called globalization and corporation-era by-pass Poland were she not in the EU? I doubt that. Or maybe it would, if Poland would have had chosen Belarusan or Iranian way. Is that what we wish? I don't think so.
Who knows what would happen with globalization but I can tell you that polish people are very very resourceful and they would do fine. If you want an example then compare agricultural subsidies that EU awards. Polish farmers despite being discriminated to the tune of about 1000% per farm(!) still produce great tasting food at competitive prices.
Do not even try to bring Iran or Belorussian ways into this discussion!
But observing what is currently going in Poland I think you would be happy to bring the Belorussian way to Poland.
You said "..it is not "generous" hand out but simply EU investment with some of the best returns ever"
Maybe you should elaborate what was (and will be) the cost of that EU capital investment to the Polish population at large ? Presumably, in purely economic terms, the Commission's calculations showing Eu. 2.1 return for each euro invested more then justifies continuation of the same 'generosity' for the next 5-year term, or longer. But WHO has actually derived benefits from this RoI ? Has it dramatically reduced Poland's unemployment creating secure jobs for expatriates now living in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, etc ? Is that EU generosity instrumental in, for example, making housing more affordable and better medical care more readily availale ? You have hinted on "foreign domination of the key sectors of the economy" without elaborating how Polish economy could be modernised without foreign investment that contributes not just capital resources but technological skill, marketing experience, etc. ?
The bottom line, from my perspecive, is that the article is really all about one young and apparently talented lady (plus !) with little, if anything, about modernisation of what used to be Poland's typical Soviet era neglegted infrastructure 'supporting' a typical Soviet era uncompetitive manufacturing based on typical Soviet era labor concept defined as "They pretend to pay, we pretend to work" ! Frankly, I am convinced that a great majority of Poles don't give a damm about EU calculations on the 'return per Euro invested'. They simply want to live the way the Germans do, or the Dutch, or the Danes, the Austrians and others. And that includes having a reasonably comfortable retirement guaranteed by their employers ( whoever they may be !).
Who are you Didomyk?
Why are you trying to reduce Polish people to a subjugated EU workforce unable to comprehend simple economical concept like RoI? Perhaps this is your personal experience or is this the EU vision?
You have completely distorted my point that the so called old EU is deriving *most* benefits of the EU cohesion founds.
Yes, polish people want to live like Germans, Dutch, or the Austrians, and just like them they give a damm about who the employer is, convince me otherwise.
You are wrong about the comfortable retirement guaranteed by their employers like who Fiat, Opel, Unicredit or perhaps Amber Gold? Polish retirement system OFE was and is plaundered (there is no better word) through fixed maintenance fees paid to so called pension funds which is guaranteed by law! Our current demographic trends points to a bleak future for any future pensioner, just check how Greeks are doing.
Stop this Soviet rant, I know what it was and what it is like now. I can give countless example of how EU investments have destroyed local business in Poland.
For no reason whatsoever you have resorted to attacking the messenger when you don't like the message.
"Why are you trying to reduce Polish people to a subjugated EU workforce unable to comprehend simple economical concept like RoI?"
Don't blame me for what was and still is a real gap between Polish economic development and that of most of Western Europe. The EU has provided generous assistance to Poland to overcome that economic lag and is very likely to continue helping for years to come. Without prejudice, I posed a valid and important question about "..who has actually derived benefits from this RoI ?". I expected an intelligent response on realistic policy options instead of your 'challenge' that EU "investments have destroyed local business in Poland". Surely, these are not EU investments but by corporations that see a future in serving not just Polish consumers but Poland's neighbours as well. Of course, in a free competitive market there are always winners and losers. Transition from the 'old' mentality of operating under state-legislated protective barriers to competing in the EU-wide market with many times more demanding standards of performance was not going to be easy. Responsible Polish leaders knew that some firms will fail. And that without foreign investment a country like Poland has no future. And that other enterprises, led by forward looking younger generation, will spring up from nowhere. This is what is happening everywhere, including in most technologically advanced countries. For you to cry because apparently in your view Poland's "...current demographic trends points to a bleak future for any future pensioner" is , to put it mildly, a look backwards, certainly not a vision of the future.
I am not attacking the messenger, I am just asking who you are Didomyk!
The so called "generous assistance" is such a misconception. It is an assistance to the old EU not Poland, this should answer your question as to "..who has actually derived benefits from this RoI ?".
You want intelligent response then consider this. I remember talking to a high level EU bureaucrat at the time of discussion of EU enlargement about the conditions of Polish accession. Privately he could not believe that Poland is willing to agree to such bad terms, granted the guy was British but that only supports my point.
There is NO free competitive market in the EU, to this day Polish people and others from the so called "new" countries are discriminated in the EU. At the same time one of the conditions of joining EU was free flow of foreign capital into Poland for a decade before joining in 2004!. Do your own thinking as to what it means and do not patronize me with talk of 'old' mentality.
I do not know who you are but your talk about "other enterprises, led by forward looking younger generation, will spring up from nowhere. " is simply ludicrous!
They will spring out of what? The ruble that was left? You need to educate yourself on the capital formation before making statements like that.
" "...current demographic trends points to a bleak future for any future pensioner" is , to put it mildly, a look backwards, certainly not a vision of the future."
Tell it to my mother trying to survive on 800 pln a month, it is already happening.
"They will spring out of what? The ruble that was left? You need to educate yourself on the capital formation before making statements like that."
Your obviously blind economic nationalism would lead your country back into the 1930s. Stubborn ignorance is no substitute for economic policy for the 21st century. Amen.
Sad, when there are no arguments left accusations will fly.
But let's see the "economic policy for the 21st century".
Poland's 2013 budget assumes 37,4 proc increase in fees collected from citizens, that comes to about 500 pln per head or 2000 pln per statistical family! Must be EU mandated Greek Style (Sorry Psy) revenue increase so Poland can finally commit eurokiri.
Can you even comprehend what it means?
On a practical side I suggest we just give it to them to avoid all the extra trouble of contact with the "enforcers". This new bunch of them is way more dangerous then "old" commie style.
Be stubborn not ignorant!
Open your eyes, take a look around you and start asking some simple questions this how sound economic policy for the 21st century will start.
"Or maybe it would, if Poland would have had chosen Belarusan or Iranian way."
How about Chinese or South Korean way?
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Percale Border Bedding
- Summary
Bold, colorful borders lend a modern touch to our crisp 300-thread-count percale Italian bedding. Masterful tailoring ensures even lines of color on the flat sheet, cases, duvet cover and shams.
- Loomed in Italy from 100% long-staple Egyptian-cotton
- 300 thread count.
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Duvet Cover
- Full/Queen: 92" x 88"
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Queen Sheet Set
- Flat sheet: 106" x 96".
- Fitted sheet: 80" x 60"; fits mattresses up to 16" deep.
- Standard pillow case (two): 32" x 20"
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Flat Sheet
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Pillow Cases
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This item is shipped from our warehouse by UPS to arrive within five business days of our receiving your order.
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Return Policy
Our products are designed with your comfort and style in mind. Made-to-order items (as marked) are not returnable but may be cancelled only within 24 hours of order placement. We cannot accept cancellations or returns on monogrammed items. Should your item arrive damaged or with a defect, please contact us at 888.922.4108 within 7 days so that we may arrange for a replacement. All other items (with the exception of those marked as Final Sale) may be returned within 30 days of receipt for a refund of merchandise only. Final Sale items are not returnable or cancellable.
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subset: commoncrawl


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<fc?rtf> une lebtai 0 Y*m In Bcrfjp H'e SERVING BETHPAGE, ISLAND TREES, OLD BZ7HPAGE, PLAINVIEW., SEAFORD AND PLAINEDGE VOL. 42 NO. 18 May 28 - June 3,2004 FORTY CENTS A ft For the fourth consecutive year, the United Spinal Association, formerly the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, has teamed-up with the White House Commission on Remembrance to remind Americans about the true meaning of Memorial Day. The National Moment of Remembrance (Moment) will take place on Monday, May 31 at 3 PM, local time, and at that time the public is asked to pause for one minute to reflect upon and honor those who died in service to our country. At that specific time, businesses, hospitals, organizations, and media entities nationwide will simultaneously play a 60-second tape that includes "Taps," on TVs, radios and sound systems. Participation is voluntary and informal. Suggestions on how to observe this minute include ringing a bell to signify the beginning and the end of the Moment or if you are driving a vehicle, turning on your headlights. "For this moment we are all Americans - not hyphenated Americans. Our hope is that this shared remembrance might help unify a fragmented society. We need to reclaim this historic national holiday as the noble event that it is intended to be," said Carmella LaSpada, Director of the White House Commission on Remembrance. "It is the goal of the Commission to put the 'Memorial' back into Memorial Day." A Gallup Poll indicated that only 28% of Americans know the meaning of Memorial Day and most view it as a "day off" or the "official start of summer" rather than a day to connect with our Nation's history and virtues by honoring those who gave their lives for us. The Moment of Remembrance was established by an act of Congress (P.L. 106-579) on December 28, 2000. The Commission is dedicated to educating this and future generations of Americans to remember the sacrifices and costs in human life made to preserve our liberties, and to instill in them an understanding of what it means to be an American. For more information about the National Moment of Remembrance, you can contact Ms. LaSpada at 202-783- 4665 or visit the Web site at www.remember.gov. ONE NATION ONE MOMENT NATIONAL MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE emoriai uay, 5PMi Pause to Remember Americas Fallen! Wherever You Are f "The mystic chords of memory, : stretchingfrolnevery^b patriot grave to every living heart., should swell into a mighty chorus of remembrance, gratitude and rededication on this solemn occasion.' ' ABRAHAM LINCOLN' Please join us to remember and honor America's fallen heroes as we participate in the National Moment of Remembrance this Memorial Day. What is the National Moment of Remembrance? It is an opportunity to put "memorial" back in Memorial Day - to reclaim this day for the purpose in which it was intended - to honor those who died in service to our nation. When is the National Moment of Remembrance? Memorial Day, 3:00 PM local time. How can we participate? Pause wherever you are and take a Moment, in your own way, tc remember the sacrifice of those who have died serving our country. Encourage others to participate. If you know someone who lost a loved one in service to our country, let them know of your gratitude. Why should we remember? To demonstrate gratitude for those who died while defending the freedoms we enjoy. United Spinal Association
Object Description
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Title | Bethpage-Tribune_2004-05-28 |
Subject | Newspaper |
Description | This is a Newspaper distributed locally within Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Island Trees, Plainedge and Seaford. |
Creator | Florence Cullem |
Publisher | Florence Cullem |
Contributors | Scanned and Prepared by Hudson Microimaging, Port Ewen, New York 12466. |
Date | 2010 |
Type | Periodical |
Format | PDF; TIFF |
Source | Bethpage Public Library |
Language | English |
Coverage | United States |
Rights | The Newspaper is in the public Domain and Digital Rights Held by Bethpage Public Library. |
Title | Bethpage-Tribune_2004-05-28 1 |
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Fit to a T, the US Bone & Joint Initiative's (USBJI) free public education program on bone health and osteoporosis, reached a milestone last week with the presentation of its 500th session. APTA is a founding member of USBJI.
The event took place at the Catonsville Senior Center in Catonsville, Maryland. APTA member Laxmi Suryanarayana, PT, presented the session.
"We developed Fit to a T as a sustainable public education program, in response to the Surgeon General's Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis. Bone health has a significant impact on overall health for everyone, regardless of race or whether you are male or female. Participants in the program learn how to maintain their bone health and how to identify their own risk factors for bone loss and osteoporosis. Being able to celebrate the 500th session demonstrates the continued public interest in this topic," said Kimberly Templeton, MD, USBJI president and chair of the USBJI Fit to a T Task Force.
Relevant to all ages, Fit to a T is targeted at men and women in their mid-40s to late 60s, as well as seniors and others who have or are at risk of having a broken bone. To schedule a session in your community, contact Shari Maier, USBJI program coordinator, 847/430-5054 or email@example.com.


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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Unravelling a distrust of cops
I used to be scared of cops. It goes back to when I was about 11 years old.
Back in the 1980s, we lived on Charles Street in a big brick apartment block. We lived on the third floor, and I had aunties who lived on both the first and second floors.
My parents left me at home while they went grocery shopping so I didn't think much about it when there was a knock on the door.
I opened it and realized I had a gun pointed right in my face. I don't remember much of anything in great detail after that. I felt like screaming but I was too scared. I couldn't even say anything.
The guys said they were the police, so I backed up and let go of the door. A bunch of police came inside the apartment.
The one guy pointing his gun at me put it away, and I was told to sit down. Then a police officer started asking me questions about my family, one of my aunts and one of her friends.
It took a while for me to start talking because I was still shocked about what was going on.
I guess the guy my aunt knew was suspected of robbing a bank and the police went looking for him at her place. They didn't find what they wanted so they ended up at my door. I guess they thought he might have been hiding in our apartment.
While they searched around, one guy asked me lots questions over and over. They'd make me repeat stuff like they thought I was lying, and I kept getting more stressed.
After a while I started guessing at what they wanted me to say.
It seemed like hours but eventually my parents showed up and the interview was over.
Needless to say, the guy my aunt knew ended up getting arrested, but I didn't have much to do with it. After all, I barely knew him.
Life returned to normal but I never forgot the experience.
A few years later, J.J. Harper was killed by a police officer. Our parents wouldn't let us go out at night; worried we'd get shot, too.
Every time I'd see a police officer or a police car my heart would start thudding in my chest. I'd avoid looking at them, dealing with them, and even being near them.
I didn't grow up to hate cops, but I see how it can happen.
If you are afraid of cops for too long -- or have too many bad experiences with them -- it can turn into anger, and then you hate cops.
This is why we still have aboriginal people who don't like police officers. The mistrust often starts during childhood and the teen years, then continues into adulthood. You can see it even today in my North End neighbourhood and all the way to northern Manitoba.
Mistrust created a wall of silence that's gone on for generations now and hurts both sides; even making it tough to solve crimes when nobody will talk to you.
-- -- --
I never really thought much about my fear of police until I had a kid of my own.
Walking my son home from school one fall day -- he was about four -- I looked up and saw a police car in front of us and that old fear showed up. My son felt my grip on him tighten and I realized I had to do something about it.
I didn't want my son to grow up with my old baggage.
I stopped avoiding police. I made a point of looking them in the eye when I met up with them. I learned to stop seeing them as "cops" and more like regular people in uniforms who happened to work as cops.
It helped a lot when I met aboriginal police officers, and other minority officers. Somehow I thought they didn't see me as a bad person.
You can't generalize and say all cops are bad, just like you can't generalize and say all aboriginal people are bad.
I even learned more about my own family tree and took note of relatives who'd become police officers over the years. I started to see the good things they do in the community and at different events.
It was a gradual process, but eventually my fears wore off. Most importantly, I don't think my son will ever feel that way.
Colleen Simard is a Winnipeg writer.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 29, 2012 J6
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- Return to First Nations
Africa is one complex and gloriously unmanageable 'theme' to choose to kick off our 2012 series, Our City Our World, which is why it took up the whole newspaper on Jan. 18.
Hard-working Chinese immigrants, once banned, have risen to the highest echelons of Manitoba.
German immigrants have played a surprisingly large role in the development of the province.
Arriving in Manitoba in the 1870s unprepared for a brutal winter, Icelandic settlers and their descendants have left their mark on our province.
Industrious Italians rose from peasant roots and adapted to Canadian society by mastering L'art d'arrangiarsi (the art of getting by).
It used to be the only time Prairie folks met Spanish-speaking people was when they vacationed down south. More often now, they're the people next door.
When the first Middle East families immigrated to Manitoba, mosques were unheard of and even yogurt was exotic. But now all that has changed.
A booming Filipino community nearly 60,000 strong has transformed Manitoba.
As the city's Indo-Canadian population experiences dramatic growth, its pioneers recall their warm Winnipeg welcome.
Scarred by Holodomor, the Ukrainian community helped shape Winnipeg's cultural mosaic.
Manitoba's history is built on a foundation provided by settlers from the U.K., who came here seeking better lives.
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Financial Planning for Women -- Evening Session
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January 24, 2012
Brian Perroni Rivals.com Football Recruiting
The Texas Longhorns usually have their class pretty much set well in advance of National Signing Day, but this year they are still after LB Dalton Santos and others. We go around the Big 12 in the recruiting blitz. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now!
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Wedding Registry Checklist
Your wedding registry is designed for your guests to help you prepare for your new home together. It lets them know exactly what gifts you want and can also help them get an idea of your tastes. Use this checklist to cover all the basics when you're setting up your registry. You can register for these items all at one store or combine registries from multiple stores. Make sure you register several months before your wedding date to allow guests time to choose gifts, especially if you plan on having bridal showers before the wedding.