New Polish Eatery

A brand new Polish eatery, Pyza, opened Feb. 13 at 46727 Van Dyke south of 21 Mile Road in Shelby Township, Michigan offering authentic homemade Polish cuisine with an old-world European atmosphere.

Pyza is one of the few Polish restaurants in the tri-county area outside of Hamtramck, and it is a must try for anyone searching for the tastes and aromas of a traditional Polish kitchen.

The food is prepared from healthy ingredients, including Amish meats, poultry, eggs and dairy products, and the dishes are based on recipes that have been passed down through the generations.

All dishes are made from scratch and cooked individually, made to order. Owner Tadeusz Baj also created everything in the restaurant, from its design and woodworking to the furnishings of the dining room. For more information, visit the restaurant or call (586) 726-6320.

Ports Expand in Poland

The number of containers handled by Poland's four sea ports - Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin, Swinoujscie - increased by 31% last year, giving Poland fourth place behind Russia, Sweden and Finland.

Cargo traffic in the Baltic sea is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years, and all Polish seaports plan major capacity expansion to capture a share of this growth. They stand a good chance as St.Petersburg, the largest transshipment port in the Baltic, which is operating at full capacity, has no possibility to develop further.

The four Polish ports plan to spend 600 million dollars on new capacity over the next five years, taking the total to more than eight million containers per year, up from 1.7 million at present.

Gdansk, in particular, is seeking to position itself as the Baltic's main transshipment hub.

Source: Rzeczpospolita

Ain't Exactly Lionel

High speed rail is coming to Poland with the help of experts from Spain. The head of the Spanish rail infrastructure is headed to Warsaw this week. Spanish companies have great experience in the construction and maintenance of fast track lines. At present, the Spanish rail network has 1000 kilometres, but is planning to build ten times more by 2020.

Still, there is a railroad line in north central Poland that runs entirely with steam.

[Click Here] for earlier post about Quixoticosity of the Old Rails in Poland and several links.

Wolsztyn is the center of steam in Poland. It is home to a wonderful open-air museum consisting of a steam locomotive shed / depot; turntable; and a wide collection of working, rare, mainline Polish steam locomotives. Every day several passenger and freight trains leave Wolsztyn on route to locations in Lubuskie, Wielkopolskie and other parts of western Poland.

These trains will help put off the next ice age, which is rapidly coming
[Click Here] Al Gore.

Veni, vidi, vici

According to the Ministry of Education next year Polish secondary school students will be learning Latin. The new curriculum stipulates that there will be as many as four hours per week of Latin in all Polish high schools.

There will be no problem in large cities, but in smaller towns there may be some difficulties with finding teachers. Currently Latin is a very rare subject in Polish schools.

Latin is commonly on the curricula in Germany, France and Italy.

A universal language ain't a bad idea either. But, what's wrong with

Esperanto? It's easier to learn and was invented in Poland. If you don't know about Esperanto click the link.

The solution to the problem, IMHO, is to enlist the aid of local parish clergy. Seems to me every neighborhood and village has a Catholic Church - and, I'd hope they all are familiar with Latin - the dead language.

I wonder when English will become a dead language.

Drink up.... More

Last year Poles consumed more alcohol than ever before. It's the economy, stupid. Spending on hard liquor is up 15 percent while wages in Poland are up 10 percent.

How much does the average Pole consume? Around 2.56 gallons of pure alcohol annually, compared to 1.74 gallons in 2001.

I wish the stock market and my mutual funds had such an increase.

Muslims have problems with Poles

Muslims in the UK are concerned about the influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe, and Poland in particular. "Poles work beyond the minimum wage, drink, abuse their women and offend us by putting up stalls with pork sausage everywhere," says a young member of the Muslim community in Luton, near London, quoted by the Polska daily.

According to the newspaper, U.K. newcomers from Eastern Europe are referred to as `Poles', regardless of their actual origin, by the local Muslims.

Meanwhile, however, over 16 Poles living and working in the UK have converted to Islam in the last two years, one anonymous Imam told Polska.

Tasty Polish pork knuckle pictured above to refute the anonymous claim of conversions.

9-12-1683

Solidarity, Again

Poland's top pole vaulter, Monika Pyrek, has called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the summer Olympic Games in Beijing. "The best solution is to boycott the opening ceremony as this isn't a sport event. This would be a manifestation of solidarity."

I support Monika's views. I wouldn't date her though -- she spends so little time in the horizontal position.

What's up Lech?

Lech says he feel like I'm 18 again after his recent heart operation in Houston. The 64-year-old is full of energy, often waking up in the middle of the night feeling he could get straight to work. (Maybe it's just enlarged prostate that wakes him at 3AM).

Walesa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and went on to be president from 1990 to 1995, is shortly to become Poland's representative on an "reflection group" of veterans tasked with producing a vision of the future for the European Union.

Note that Lech came to the USA for heart surgery, not a EU member nation where there is socialized / universal medicine. The reasons and debate should be posted on a political blog - not here.

Walesa also says the crackdown in Tibet is "bad and unwise" and is calling on the world to condemn it. "The world must say we don't agree with what is going on in China and with the Chinese government's crackdown on protesters. We must all fight for basic rights."

Wonder if Lech's family buys things made in China from Polish WalMart stores - nah.... He probably shows solidarity. (Ya think?)

A 'most beautiful gesture'

The Shalom Foundation wants Jews who were expelled from Poland in 1968 to regain Polish citizenship.

Because of the approaching 40th anniversary of what is known in Poland as 'March 1968' - when tens of thousands of Polish citizens of Jewish descent were forced to leave Poland by the Communist government - the foundation issued a letter to President Lech Kaczynski, which states that it would be a 'most beautiful gesture' if all Jews expelled from Poland automatically regained their citizenship on one day.

In 1968 the Communist Security Service took away their Polish passports and gave them a one-way ticket.

The Shalom Foundation is an American-Polish-Israeli organization based in Warsaw, promoting the culture of Polish Jews. The March 1968 events will be commemorated in Warsaw on March 5. Meetings, discussion panels, book promotions and exhibitions connected to the tragic events will take place.

Sorce: Polskie Radio

Canada 1 - USA still ZERO

Canada's lifted visa requirements for Poles. Sunday. Canada announced it would no longer require citizens of Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary to obtain temporary resident visas for a visit to Canada. Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley said the visa-free status for the four countries takes effect immediately.

America worries about legally documented Poles coming for a visit while illegal aliens pour into the country without any documents, visas or papers. What gives? What is wrong with this picture?

And, where is and what is M.C. Marcy Kaptur doing to promote visa free travel by Poles to our country? Time...way past time for a new representative to replace the 13 term Congresswoman in District 9.

Blood Sucking Taxman

Polish tax officials are offering Poles the chance to pay their tax bills in blood.

Every donation to the local blood banks will allow Poles to write $60 off their tax bill.

Donors have to get a certificate from the hospital for every litre donated that can then be sent to the tax department and written off against their final tax demand.

Regular donor Dariusz Gryka, from Bialystok, said: "I heard about it from an accountant friend and started to give blood last year. "I have only done it three times, but already it has been worth it."

Not sure if the Sejm will make the Blood Tax bite permanent. To stimulate the economy - it's only been a drop in the bucket so far.