moving blog

Dear All

This blog has now moved here (http://talkingbear.typepad.com) for the duration (many thanks to David for that). As a result, please can you ensure to do the following things:

1. If you link to me in your blog/website, please update your link to http://talkingbear.typepad.com.
2. All posts currently from this blog will remain here on Blogger, so there's no need to update links to posts already posted...
   

Many thanks to all my readers so far; see you at the new address!

viewing this blog

I have noticed (thanks to comments from Joachim), that the blog sometimes doesn't load properly in IE. I've sorted this out for now (oversized image forced the sidebar down...), but here are some tips:

1. view this blog in Firefox
2. if you insist on using IE, then change the text size to "smaller"
3. er...
4. that's it

Thanks.

gazeta wyborcza does its thing

Gazeta Wyborcza is in the process of delivering 30000 specially prepared newspapers to Ukrainians protesting in heart of Kiev.

Dziś rano samolotem prezydenckim dotarło na Ukrainę 30 tys. egzemplarzy specjalnie przygotowanej "Gazety Wyborczej". Teraz są już na pl. Niepodległości, tuż przy podium - w samym sercu ukraińskiej "pomarańczowej rewolucji". Ok. godziny 12.30 będzie rozdawana w centrum miasta. Część artykułów została przetłumaczona na język ukraiński.

This morning 30000 copies of a specially prepared edition of Gazeta Wyborcza arrived in the Ukraine by presidential plane. They are now in Independence Square, right by the podium - at the very heart of the Ukrainian "Orange Revolution". At 1230 they will be handed out in the centre of town. Some of the articles have been translated into Ukrainian.


Well, if there ever was solidarity, I think Gazeta has done a good job...

The front page of the special edition (from Gazeta Wyborcza)

ah, the joy of haloscan...

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been (painfully) added to this blog.

As a result, I seem to have lost all previous comments made thus far. Sorry about that. Feel free to Trackback and Comment as of now...

Bo.

local news...

I know that hardly anyone from Kraków reads this blog, but:

Friday (26.11) at 1800 on the Rynek (by Adaś)
Demonstration in aid of the Ukraine
Wear orange!

Over and out...


Piątek (26.11) o 1800 na Rynku krakowskim (koło Adasia)
Manifestacja na rzecz ukraińskiej demokracji

Koniec nadania...

мы с тобой, ющенко!

Lech Wałęsa and Wiktor Jushchenko in Kiev today (Gazeta Wyborcza)

Well, it seems as if the Ukrainians have finally got the balls to revolt. Here in Kraków I went to the Rynek yesterday to see if I could some find some action (I had heard that there was a demonstration afoot), but everybody had gone home. Admittedly it was pretty chilly, but that doesn't seem to be stopping the Ukrainians in Kiev. The opposition (Jushchenko's) party has blocked roads, got Wałęsa in on the game, and Kwaśniewski's making the trip to the capital tomorrow... Poland is making an effort to try and help these people, as the West helped Poland when it needed it most. However, the western portions of the EU are experiencing the NIMBY effect, albeit on a much larger scale. The Hague or Brussels can say whatever they want, hell, I can too. Yet actions speak louder than words, as my mother taught me. Big up Yushchenko (Ющенко)!! I have placed a button on this blog linking to his party to show my solidarity. Niech będzie wolna Ukraina!


Wirtualna Polska shows solidarity with the Ukraine on its front page by showing an orange ribbon. Other sites, such as Gazeta Wyborcza, urge Poles to wear orange as a sign of solidarity.


One last thing... what's the OSCE doing at the moment? Has it disappeared off the face of the planet? I thought they dealt with this sort of thing!

mikulski-santorum bill rejected

It looks as if Poles will still have to queue for visas. Ridiculous.

From Wirtualna Polska:

Wszyscy republikańscy senatorowie popierali tę inicjatywę, ale niestety nie mogliśmy jej jednomyślnie uchwalić z powodu obstrukcji ze strony Demokratów - poinformował senator Santorum w specjalnym oświadczeniu.

"All Republican senators agreed to this initiative, but unfortunately we couldn't get it ratified because of Democratic obstruction", said senator Santorum [Republican] in a special interview.

This comes to me, and many others I'm sure, as very sad news. Poland has managed to become one of the USA's best allies, alongside the UK. There's not much more I can write on this, but if you want to know where Poland stands in world politics today, read this. Excerpt below. The article's amazing...

From Chrenkoff:

If and when the Mikulski-Santorum bill to abolish visa requirements for the Poles passes the US Senate, Poland will not suddenly empty of all its wretched masses yearning to breathe free, but America's wealth, dynamism, optimism and imagination will undoubtedly continue to fascinate and inspire generations of Poles.

I can't agree with this more fully. The EU had the same scare when it opened its borders to the East, and nothing much has changed here at all. It's time for the US to open its arms to the people who helped out with her interests, at least, and to stop being so up itself for a change. Thank-you.

it's getting a touch windy

Image from Dziennik Bałtycki via Wirtualna Polska

From Wirtualna Polska:

Siedem osób, w tym strażak i 6-miesięczne dziecko, zginęło podczas szalejących w całym kraju wichur. Co najmniej siedem osób zostało rannych.

Seven people, including a fireman and a six-month-old child where killed by gales that are raging across the whole country. At least seven people have been injured.

Here it was blustery too, made worse by the halny. The picture was taken up in the north by the Baltic coast, where winds in the port of Ustka exceeded 120 kph (that's around 75 mph for you imperialists...). Wrap up tight!

state of affairs

Well, well, well. Not much to say from my end at the moment, apart from the fact that Polish politics is starting to drive me nuts. Scandals abound, mafia dealings and general chaos. That's how we like it here, didn't you know?

Enough.

PS I have a new bookcase, if you hadn't noticed...

which biological molecule are you?

Came across this quiz whilst aimlessly browsing... It tells you what kind of a person you are by asking you a mere 4 questions (or was it 5?). Worth a shufti, if you have time to kill and don't feel like going outside (brrr...). Anyway, it sums me up quite nicely. Now, where was I...?

You are DNA. You're a smart person, and you appear
incredibly complex to people who don't know
you. You're incomparably full of information,
and most of it is useless.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla