It is interesting to compare the coverage so far of the US’s torture bill in Gazeta Wyborcza with that of those radical firebrands at the New York Times. GW (page 7, today) says it’s a key law in the fight against terrorism (this presented as fact, not as Bush’s or Cheney’s position), whose purpose is […]
As you might have guessed from the long gaps between posts, I am on holidays — holidays in dial-up land, also known as Ireland. Here, without links or diacritics, are some random observations: As the number of Poles in Ireland continues to rise, journalists continue to make no attempt whatever to spell their names right. […]
How does one measure the intellectual capital of a person? I came across this intersting philosophical/rhetorical question while looking over the shoulder of a fellow bus passenger the other day. How indeed? Well, it turns out from my studious passenger’s lecture notes (photocopied, inevitably) that there is a mathematical formula. I think there was a […]
On a recent visit to Empik, the chain of book shops which appears to be approaching monopoly in Poland, I saw a book adorned by the image and likeness of Donald Trump. I have not been able to find the book on the internet and it is already gone from the displays of Empik but […]
As a westerner, it’s hard not to feel cheated sometimes when a book goes Eastern European, as does Sandor Marai’s A gyerty�k csonkig �gnek (Embers). The deep, abstruse contemplation on the Nature of Things is in full swing. You are following. It’s difficult but somehow, with the help of your abundantly stocked classics library, you […]
A few weeks ago I mentioned in passing newspaper reports that the president of Poland was displeased at the continued rule of a lefty in PZU, a state controlled insurance company. The incumbent was duly sacked and his successor was announced by treasury minister Wojciech Jasi?ski. The lucky man, whose appointment is still to be […]
Two old soldiers meet again after 41 years to settle – it seems from the carefully built up tension of the novel – an old score of some sort. The first half of the book is an artistically faultless evocation of the Austro-Hungarian empire and then, exactly half way through, it goes all Eastern European: […]
‘Sweet Sufferin Jayzus!’ as this Monkey is prone to utter at moments of wide-eyed disbelief. A tense Quiz show studio holds its breath. The question is asked – “What rite would one use to expel demons?”. Furrowed brows from the two contestants, chemicals firing blindly across brain synapses, until Fr. Giorgio* surges for the buzzer […]
Another ad, this time for some kind of a quasi-bank offering loans. Among the lender’s selling points: no guarantor required no need to get permission from your spouse The Fatima Mansions used to sing “only losers take the bus.”
Here’s a sign I saw on a bus today: We will be buying hair on June 12th. Hair to be longer than 35 cm. Grey and dyed hair to be longer than 45 cm. Price depends on length of hair.
