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piątek, lutego 22, 2008

REPUBLICANS IN POLAND

REPUBLICANS IN POLAND




Tens of thousands of American citizens live in Poland. If trends hold true, about 40% of them are Republicans. We Republicans are watching what will be a likely seminal election in our history. Assuming that the trend continues, we will be facing a stark choice in the November election:

- the most liberal United States Senator with a record of doing virtually nothing but voting to the Left vs. the Maverick Republican who espouses conservative values on defense, spending, and social issues, but occasionally has ventured across the aisle to lead other issues on a bipartisan basis;

- Amorphous rhetoric about "change" and "hope" that masks the most Liberal agenda and proposed expansion of taxes and federal spending since FDR;

- A Senator in the pocket of the special interests in his party (Obama) vs. a Senator who has made headlines by defying special interests from every direction;

- A candidate who was in the Illinois State Legislature four years ago and has led an undistinguished and very brief term in the U.S. Senate vs. one of the leading independent voices in the Senate;

- A candidate for Commander-in-Chief who would cut and run vs. one who will finish the job and keep terrorists on the run throughout the world;

- A candidate with no experience or vision who will be tested by our enemies vs. one who sends fear into their souls;

- A candidate who supports the erosion of our national identity in every sense of the word vs. an American hero;

- A candidate whose wife was never proud of America until her husband won some primaries vs. a candidate who was tortured by our enemies because he stood for America;

The list goes on and on. The election is too important to sit out. And it is easy to get an absentee ballot from the last place where you resided and voted in the U.S. For help in casting your vote, contact randymott AT ekotechnology.com.

If you would like to help out with Republicans in Poland, contact me as well. We are planning some functions and get-togethers surrounding the convention and the election.

Randy Mott











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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

piątek, lutego 23, 2007

Polbloglet: Fat Thursday!

Polbloglet: Fat Thursday!


"Polish Doughnuts" by Polska*ポーランド*Poland

For at least one moment in the dark days of winter, life is sweet in Poland. Marking the last Thursday before Lent, Tłusty czwartek (or, Fat Thursday) is a day of over-indulgence in sweets.

This past Thursday, in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of Communist days, the local sweet shops and bakeries were full of people, lining up to get their hands on the source of sweetness and symbol of this special day - the traditional Polish doughnut, or pączki. Unfortunately, by lunch break, our local bakery was sold out already!


Typical sight in Poland on Fat Thursday, Wikipedia

Interestingly, each country has its own way of marking the last day before Lent: in Greece, instead of sweets, they eat loads of meat on Tsiknopempti. In Latin and South America, they celebrate in a more dynamic way with the Carnival.

How does your country mark the start of Lent? Do you sit in a sweet shop and gorge yourself on baker's delights or do you take to the streets?


*This was cross-posted to Global Voices.

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niedziela, lutego 18, 2007

Polish Bards Unpoetic To Google

Polish Bards Unpoetic To Google

A group of Polish poets is standing firm against Google in a domain name dispute.

Google has launched legal action against a group of Polish poets, demanding that they give up their Internet domain name gmail.pl, a member of the cultural collective said.

Izabela Krawczyk of GMAiL -- the "Grupa Mlodych Artystow i Literatow," or Group of Young Artists and Writers -- told AFP that Google had turned to the country's IT and telecommunications tribunal to try to stop them using the Web site address www.gmail.pl.

There is quite an extended debate on Gazeta's forum site [PL] - with some subject headings like "Go to hell Google."

Are these poets in over their metaphorical heads?





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środa, lutego 14, 2007

Between a Hard Rock and Stalin's Place

Between a Hard Rock and Stalin's Place

The latest Polish mega mall, Zlote Tarasy, located in Warsaw and situated across from the Cold War Commie icon Palace of Culture and Science, has the first Hard Rock Cafe in Central Europe and the mall itself is said to have one of the largest glass ceilings in the world.

Reports Warsaw Voice:

The walls of the cafe display an original piece of work drafted by Jim Morrison when he was at high school, a shirt Elvis Presley wore in Jailhouse Rock, a postcard written by Janis Joplin to her friend, and a jacket that belonged to Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. For the younger generation, there are the trousers in which Shakira performed her latest world tour. The Grammy statuette presented to The Eagles for the song "Lyin' Eyes" in 1975 is also on display.


And, they're hiring!

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wtorek, lutego 13, 2007

What's Shaking in Poland's Blogosphere

What's Shaking in Poland's Blogosphere

A rare bit of snow this winter brings families out for fun. (Warsaw)
Photo by Embe at warsawdaily

A week of intermittent snowfall broke a dry spell, drawing kids outdoors for some winter games. It will be a short-lived affair as the winter has been a let-down for some with warmer temperatures and, as Our Man in Gdansk suggests, indoor games are sure to be in fashion soon. One such game is a perennial favorite but with a twist from Poland, get your chips out for "Health Care Bingo."

Here I present a cut-out-and-paste version of office bingo to help you while away the hours of talking heads talking about why the Polish health service is in a jock. You have to choose just three of the following commonly proferred explanations of why the Polish health service is in a jock.

What happens when local authorities get to plan, but not pay for a highway to connect Helsinki and Warsaw? BINGO! An offer they can't refuse plus irreversible damage to numerous forests. But when the chips are down, bloggers become clicktivists. Varpho has set up a petition and encourages all to take action now:

By signing the list below you are protesting against routing Via Baltica through unique nature areas, such as the Augustów Forest along with the Rospuda River Valley, the Biebrza National Park and the Knyszyn Forest, and thus you are expressing your disapproval for the Białystok option of this road.


One refused offer however was greeted by collective sighs of relief by bloggers as a former Polish PM declined a top post at one of Poland's largest banks. Interestingly, the decision was announced on the former politican's personal blog (in Polish). According to Polish Matters, the news couldn't come soon enough as the whole idea seemed, literally, wrong-headed:

It's enough to say that Marcinkiewicz, a high school Physics teacher before his 9-month stint as Polish prime minister last year, had no experience in either banking or management.


Hold on though, experience doesn't always lead to wise decisions, according to the beatroot. Not only appearing wrong-headed, but donning a bad hair day icon, a Polish mayor decided to proclaim an alcohol curfew in one of Poland's hottest tourist spots.

You expect this kind of thing from the British, but a Pole banning drinking? Is the mayor of Sopot limbering up for a career in Brussels, perhaps?


Warsaw not to worry, boo provides some blogging about sans-curfew and trendy night spots, complete with a token communist pub, endearingly called The Red Pig. I wonder, do they serve Red Bull?

Staying with the educational angle, although a little textual bull, or embellishment, might implicate itself here, The Real Warsaw provides a post and response on life in Poland, by a USA student and an ex-pat resident of Poland. Watch this thread as opinions are exaggerated on both sides. Highlight for me: Buy real estate in Poland right now!

That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia i powodzenia!

This post was originally written for the Global Voices site.

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Welcome to "Afterthoughts: Because thought should come before you blog!"

1) Our Man in Gdansk has missed the boat in the post we note above. Poles aren't so cheap as to be selfish about who should get care or not. In my discussion with Poles, they are very concerned about the prospect of many people losing out on adequate health care. Where did you get your info?

2) The Real Warsaw needs to get real! The comments about Poland are simply too rosy and do nothing to help the interested student to realistically understand everyday life in Poland. Will this student really be prepared to live in Poland after reading your Disney-esque piece on Poland?

3) Hey beatroot! Do you really give a shake about the actual sanity and safety of the community you implicitly mock in your post about Sopot's mayor?


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niedziela, lipca 16, 2006

PolBlog's Talk Back Attack: Poles - Should they stay or should they grow?

PolBlog's Talk Back Attack: Poles - Should they stay or should they grow?

Not a stranger to firsts when it comes to blogging in Poland, PolBlog is unsure as to the reception of its latest foray. Audio-commenting, as we call it, adds another dimension to blogging -- think of it as audio SMS. It puts a voice to the text.

To listen to the first Talk Back Attack scroll down looking in the right column for a text box called "Talk Back." Simply click (once) on the username and listen. A Java applet will need to run if you want to talk back (record a message), we hope it's not a problem (sorry, we had no control over this).

So, back to the question posed...

While Poles working abroad are now what one could call economic refugees, in the nearest future they may very well be followed by their diseffected brethren, the political refugees. How to put a brake on it? Oddly enough, there won't be any religious refugees as Poland stands to become a country of unemployed, educationally undistinguished (and indistinguishable), Catholic zealots.

Perhaps a middle way is possible, India has prototyped it for the world, it goes by the name e-outsourcing (according to PolBlog). Poles might not have to leave mother Polska afterall -- telecommunting expanded across EU borders might just allow talented Poles to work abroad from home.

And this time, DO talk back.


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poniedziałek, czerwca 26, 2006

Poland Looks at Environmental Liability Directive: Major Problems with Proposed Transposition Law

Poland Looks at Environmental Liability Directive: Major Problems with Proposed Transposition Law


New EU Requirements Can Add a Layer of Complexity or Pave the Way for a Cohorent Regulatory Scheme

The transposition of the EU Environmental Liability Directive, 2004/35/CE, in Central Europe affects a broad range of companies in complex ways. The Directive generally is prospective, i.e. directed toward events that occur after April 30, 2007, the date it must also be transposed by Member States. The Directive creates liability for environmental cleanup and damages to natural resources, specifically habitats protected by EU Directives. Unlike some directives, the ELD leaves many issues to the Member States’ discretion. The scope of liability, the legal defenses available, the scope of habitats covered, and the financial security provisions are all largely open issues. Any business that handles chemicals or produces waste will face a new set of national rules arising out of the transposition process for the ELD. One UK small business organization commented: “The Directive is one of the most controversial, and potentially far-reaching, pieces of environmental legislation negotiated by the EU to date.”

There are also immediate effects of the Directive that extend to situations besides these future incidents. First, the Directive also encourages Member States to adopt financial security mechanisms for assuring that the operators of activities that handle potential pollutants have the financial means to address the future problems. The scope of this can be seen by the draft Spanish proposal that would require one million Euro for the lowest risk, covered activity in either insurance, a bond, or cash reserve. Similarly, the draft Czech law compels mandatory insurance, which is not now available (and may not be by 2010 according to the UK Environmental Minister). Without insurance, the mechanism for operators, if compulsory, will be prohibitively expensive. Alternatives do exist, as discussed below, that promote the objective of creating a market for these financial arrangements and satisfy the Directive without the major economic impact.

Second, the practical difficulties of determining when damage occurred, and what event caused them, make the cut-off date somewhat illusory. If a leaking petroleum tank in discovered in late 2007, is all of the damage at the site covered, even what occurred before 2007? Practically speaking, it is probably impossible to make distinctions within the same contaminated area over when the pollution occurred. Past damage from intentional dumping or inadvertent releases is vastly larger than the prospective releases after 2007; these cumulative problems will often get “bumped” into the “prospective” regulatory scheme of the ELD. The problem is added to by some member states’ proposed legislation, such as Poland, which
suggests that the date of “discovery” of the problem will be the controlling event (potentially limiting the April 30, 2007 date’s significance). The ELD also requires notification of the “competent authorities” when contamination is discovered by the operator, creating a new requirement that can open up issues related to old sites of contamination.

Third, there is an opportunity to use the ELD transposition to address other issues in national laws relating to existing contaminated sites. In Poland, for instance, the existing soil contamination standards are rigid numeric criteria that are unrealistically expensive. The ELD uses risk assessment procedures to make this determination, which are much more cost-effective. There is a logic and appeal to making the existing law use the same criteria, now advocated by the EU. In the Czech Republic, as in Bulgaria, there is no clear soil and groundwater contamination law; authorities use existing laws on water resources and other rules to provide some “make-shift” coverage. Using the transposition law to create an integrated, coherent legal scheme is also appealing.

So there are several issues in the transposition of the ELD that each have major financial impact to facility operators, transporters, and the insurance industry. Generally, speaking the interest of all business groups are virtually identical. Everyone wants a responsible regulatory scheme that will allow for the risk to become commercially insured on a realistic basis.


1. JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY AND APPORTIONMENT

The EU Directive broadly makes the “operator of an occupational activity” covered by the Annex liable for cleanup and environmental damages. Article 8 makes the terms of this liability up to the Member States. Liability can be “joint and several,” i.e. any one party can be held liable for the full amount of the claim, or it can be “apportioned” among multiple parties. Who bears the burden of proofing “apportionment” – if it is applied - is also an open question. Whether a party singled out by the Government can join other parties or file a subsequent claim against them for contribution is also left for member states to decide.

The argument is that the “polluter pays” principle requires that the polluters pay, not simply the deepest pocket the Government can identify regardless of their degree of fault and responsibility. The solution is likely to be provisions allowing the “joinder” of other others in the administrative procedures; this eliminates the expensive and unpopular notion of private litigation among respective parties. Others argue that the Government cannot be require to find everyone involved and only pursue each’s proportionate share. Allowing polluters to join other parties and proof relative apportionment among themselves is a reasonable compromise. This is not not possible under existing Polish law nor it the proposed changers to transpose the ELD.


2. WHO IS LIABLE

The Directive uses the term “operator” very broadly and seems intended to cover every party who is actually involved in causing contamination. Some language in the Directive (Article 9) even suggest that a producer of a chemical sold and used by third-parties might end up with liability of its eventual disposal. The national legislation will largely decide the scope of liable parties and whether the liability is truly “strict” or based on fault.

The new law should clearly state who is liable on the basis of fault, ownership of the land, or negligence. This should be done clearly and plainly and should be applicable to both existing sites and those covered by the ELD. One needs to remember that both the existing national laws and the ELD transposition law will cover the same “new” sites after April 30, 2007. Clear liability rules are essential in the development of an insurance market and there should be no inconsistencies between the two laws. This is major opportunity to clean up “bad law” in various CE countries.

3. DEFENSES TO LIABILITY

The EU Directive envisions a defense based on: (1) independent actions by a third-party causes the damage; (2) discharges of contaminants approved under permits or government orders; (3) the “state-of-the-art” defense that injury was an foreseeable given the technical knowledge then available. The battle in Brussels over whether to include these in the Directive itself was resolved by making them optional with the Member States. The Commission did state that: “An operator should not be required to bear the costs of preventive or remedial actions taken pursuant to this Directive in situations where the damage in question or imminent threat thereof is the result of certain events beyond the operator's control.” Finding 20, supra.

The possible exception to this principle is that owners of the land seem to have an obligation to address any condition of their land that adversely affects their neighbors, regardless of their fault, once they are on notice of the condition. This principle is centuries old and seems enshrined in European law. If the pollutant release in question was under a permit and within limits, then there is some equity in finding that the Government cannot come back and make a claim for cleanup or damages based on a release that it authorized.

The problem that exists in pubic policy for each of the defenses is that the alternative is for the Government to pay for the cleanup and damage. One solution may be the national fund approach (used in Sweden and Holland) to add a charge to each permit of an activity related to the ELD and to pool the money. If this is a supplemental mechanism to private liability, the fees might be reasonable and this mechanism might be a good “trade-off” for some relaxation of the liability rules.


4. EFFECTIVE DATE

Some national laws use very creative ways of addressing the cut-off date of the Directive. The Polish draft law on the ELD proposes that it will be effective on all contamination “discovered” after April 30, 2007. The “discovery” trigger is inconsistent with the EU Directive [no application to “damage caused by an emission, event or incident that took place before..” April 30, 2007, Article 17]. Damages from such prior acts are excluded, even if they were discovered later. Other national drafts have been confused about whether effects of a prior event are technically covered by the ELD. The Commission seems to have plainly intended that damage “caused by an emission, event or incident” before April 30, 2007 is excluded and, moreover, damage “that derived from a specific activity” before that date is excluded. Article 17, supra.

The issue is complicated by the fact that contamination itself moves and that the identification of the event that caused it is often difficult or impossible. This means that many “new” ELD sites will have potential elements of an “old” site involved. In any event, the existing national legislative scheme will continue to apply to “new” sites covered by the ELD. For example, unless the Polish Contaminated Land Law is amended to conform to the ELD, it will apply different standards to cases “discovered” after April 30, 2007. See Finding 29, Directive 2004/35/CE [“This Directive should not prevent Member States from maintaining… more stringent provisions…”]. Poland is set to have two remedial regimes and companies would have to meet whichever is the most stringent on a case-by-case basis. The transactional burden on companies and the Government will be simply doubled.

Absent provisions that conform existing law to the obligatory portions of the ELD, there will be two sets to requirements and rules for contaminated sites after April 30, 2007. Frankly, lacking the trained and experienced personnel to administer one set of rules, most CE countries will be buried by this burden and the resultant confusion. Obtaining a government sign-off on a remedial plan will be significantly more difficult than it already is.

5. FINANCIAL ASSURANCE MECHANISMS

The EU Directive does not require insurance or other specific financial mechanisms for operators. A compulsory insurance provision was deleted from the draft in Brussels. The Directive only broadly states that: “Member States should take measures to encourage the use by operators of any appropriate insurance or other forms of financial security and the development of financial security instruments and markets in order to provide effective cover for financial obligations under this Directive.” Findings Para. 27.

This provision has a major impact under many national proposals across the whole range of covered industries (irrespective of whether there are any incidents within the scope of the ELD). The easiest approach for a policy maker is to simply “require” compulsory insurance (Spanish draft, Czech draft, etc.). Since the commercial insurance industry cannot be obligated to issue these policies, then other substitute means must be authorized. They involve bonds or cash reserves which are prohibitively expensive because they do not result in any pooling of the risks. The Spanish proposal last year included a minimum one million Euro financial assurance for the “low risk” operators. The Czech draft mandates insurance or cash equivalents. The Polish draft simply authorizes the Ministry to create rules that require insurance or other forms of financial security (This follows the German proposal from 2005). It makes no decision of what will be required or how the rules will help the “development of financial security instruments and markets.” The UK Environmental Minister just stated in May that he did not feel that environmental insurance for these problems would be available there until after 2010. The Danish EPA commissioned a study by KPMG on the subject which concluded: “Markets for financial security should be developed gradually and as a statistical basis becomes available.” KPMG makes recommendations on the steps necessary to develop this market for insurance and its approach should be incorporated into the national legislation.

5. CLEANUP STANDARDS

Poland currently uses rigid numeric standards for soil cleanup under the Contaminated Land Law. These standards require removal of all soil above the numeric concentrations regardless of the risk, or lack of risk, at the specific site. This approach has proven unworkable in Poland and in other countries that initially tried it. The ELD uses risk assessment procedures to determine the levels of cleanup as do virtually all EU member states in their existing national laws and administrative rules.

Both the ELD law and the existing Polish Contaminated Land Law will apply to sites “discovered” after April 30, 2007 in Poland. See above. This creates an administrative nightmare and needless burden of all the parties involved, since both sets of procedures must be followed at every “new” site. The existing law should be amended to adopt the same cleanup rules as the ELD. This will encourage remedial actions by being more reasonable and will reduce the burden on responsible parties as well as the government agencies involved. Some other CE countries do not have clear risk assessment legal mandates in their national legislation (Bulgaria) and the ELD transposition is an opportunity to create one coherent set of common rules of the scope of remedial action.

6. HABITAT DAMAGE

The EU directive caused quite an uproar on the issue of damages to “biodiversity.” The Directive in the end only applied this concept to narrowly defined habitats protected by prior EU Directives, the so-called Natura 2000 sites. These represent a small part of most CE countries, even if the national conservation and protected wildlife sites are added (discretionary with member states). It is unlikely that most of this land will be the subject of industrial operations covered by the Directory. Moreover, if established protocols are used to evaluate the habitats, the amount of financial exposure will be relatively small. The United States has allowed natural resource damage claims for about twenty years and has developed extensive experience with evaluation methodology. Generally, a “Habitat Equivalency Analysis” is used to find the price of land with the same natural features and wildfire. Thousands of US claims have been made and paid and they generally do not involve large amounts.

The rational apporach is to simply put into the Polish law that “established methodologies” for habitat evaluation will be utilized. This will help to avoid some wild-eyed theory about habitats that could create financial havoc.

CONCLUSION

Of course, there are other issues with the ELD, but these are the major ones. The number of businesses affected is very large and the impact of some of the rules, especially the financial assurance schemes, will affect everyone. Companies with existing, known contamination will likely face the issue of reporting it under the ELD (depending on the circumstances and the national law). Any company with existing contamination issues should also be extremely interested in using the transposition process to get a single set of workable and cost-effective requirements that will apply to all cleanup activities.


For more infpormation, CONTACT: "Randy Mott"

FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

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