News Poland
In from
AFP
"WARSAW (AFP) - Mittal Steel Company has rejected demands made by Polish unions at the Czestochowa steel mill, which the global steel giant said were the sole obstacle to its acquisition of the steel works in southern Poland."
"After six weeks of negotiations, the trade unions are still insisting upon a privatisation bonus of 7500 zlotys (1,800 euros, 2,500 dollars), minimum 15 years of employment guarantee and 500 zlotys increase of the average salary in the company," Mittal said in a statement on Thursday.
For more, click
here
View
While I don't know the exact salary of steel mill workers, I imagine it would be an average salary for Poland, maybe a little lower. I see unions as a useful thing to have around in certain circumstances, but also under the wrong management, an organization looking for a way to make more money as well with little concern for the workers wants. The company is offering the workers a bonus of 2500 Zl and an pay raise of 150 Zl. That to me sounds reasonable for the empoyees of a company that will be out of work if they don't find a solution. Also the 10 year guarantee on the jobs of the employees over 55 seems very generous. I would expect most companies to be looking for ways to eliminate such employees.
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.
News Poland
Just in from
San Jose Business Journal
Hewlett-Packard Co. says it will spend $50 million during the next five years to build a new business process outsourcing center in Wroclaw, Poland."
For more, click
here
View
More good news for the Polish economy's continual growth. I've heard that Poland is attracting the most foreign investment in Central and Eastern Europe and is becoming the business capital of the region.
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.
News PolandIn from
Radio Polonia:
German government [is holding] secret talks with Polish government concerning Polish workers arriving in Germany...German labour market is closed to citizens of the new EU states until 2011 but they may open their companies there.
For more
Secret Polish-German Talks?
Link to
German Site (in German)
ViewAccording to the story, tens of thousands of Germans have lost their jobs to enterprising Poles in the last few months. In an ironic twist, while Poles cannot be employed in Germany, they can open businesses there -- the idea being that this would create more jobs for German citizens. But actually, Poles are starting one-person businesses, so you see thousands of people simply displacing Germans who had so called 'mom and pop' (Mutter und Vater) shops with their own at much lower prices for consumers. So who is the winner here? Well, the old adage that consumers "vote with their pocketbooks" seems apropos. So, if Polish enterprises offer lower prices and good service, then Germans will go there -- and in fact they must be. The problem could be that Poles have an unfair advantage because they may actually live in Poland and can therefore lower prices since it's cheaper to live in Poland than in Germany. But then the reverse is true too, Germans who set-up companies in Poland have more spending power than native Polish companies.
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.
The Pope is being secularized (News Poland)
The Pope is being secularized (News Poland)
News PolandSpecial Editorial CommentIt's been extraordinary, a flood of wonderful memories from people all over the world about how the Pope has
personally touched them. I have been listening to quite a few reports via internet and listening to personal tributes. I don't know if it's only me but I have noticed a common thread among most of the non-clergy regarding the Pope. People look at the Pope through their own particular faith or non-faith filters and so, for example, an atheist will present the Pope as a great humanist (
sans any mention of God). I heard a Muslim man characterize the Pope as a man of peace -- no mention of the profound Christian faith at the core of the Pope's being. Many mentioned the Pope's spectacular globe-trotting project to bring about dialogue and understanding among religions. A few people talked of the Pope as a grandfather, or uncle. Is this normal - I mean to reduce the Pope to a non-threatening caricature (
albeit wonderful) that fits nicely into our faith frameworks?
What about taking a moment to reflect on and confront the fact that what made the Pope such a great humanist, or man of peace, or a globe-trotting, inter-religious dialoger, was in fact the God whom he worshipped? If we fail to mention this,
are we secularizing the Pope?
In Poland especially, there is a temptation (and rightly so) to take ownership of the Pope as a great Pole. Poland should recall that there are over 1 billion Catholics around the world, the Pope belongs to all of us (to humanity in general). My gripe isn't with this tendency, it happens in all countries fortunate enough to produce from their ranks a truly exemplary person. Consider how much pride (even if ironic in some cases) the Jews could feel about Jesus -- but St. Paul shattered that reduction (ie. "Neither Greek nor Jew..."). Or Hindus could feel about Buddha. The lesson under threat of being lost is that the Pope was God's instrument, and it is God who deserves the glory, not the reverse.
The Pope's faith facilitated God's work, and due credit belongs to the Pope as a man of great, and steadfast faith (making himself available to God). But let's not forget that the warm and inspiring light that came from this Pope to millions of people, originated from somewhere -- and the Pope would be the first one to tell you it wasn't from himself -- And that it is available to and for all of us. The light didn't go out, it's been released. "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." (Mark 10:26-28)
********An overview/personal account of the Pope in
Poland Monthly******************************************************
PolBlog - News Poland 24/7
Poland's first daily English-language news blog.
Read the news then share your views
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News Poland
Pope John Paul The Great?
In the last 1,500 years of the Catholic Church, there have only been 2 Pope's whom have been honored with this title
(ST GREGORY THE GREAT and
ST LEO THE GREAT ).Only Papal authority can proclaim a
Doctor of the Church.
There are therefore now [1997] thirty-three Doctors of the Church, of whom eight are Eastern and twenty-four Western. They include two Carmelites, two Jesuits, three Dominicans, three Franciscans, a Redemptorist, and five Benedictines. For some of these the Office had previously been granted to certain places or orders--St. Peter Damian to the Camaldolese, St. Isidore to Spain, St. Bede to England and to all Benedictines. St. Leander of Seville and St. Fulgentius are kept as Doctors in Spain, and the former by Benedictines also, as he was in earlier times claimed as a monk. St. Ildephonsus has the Introit "In medio" in the same order (for the same reason) and in Spain without the rank of Doctor.
Info on the Churches in Central and Eastern Europe --
here CNS STORY: Church officials reject making late pope an instant saint: "Church officials reject making late pope an instant saint"
View:Pope JP II would certainly be a top candidate. According to official doctrines, the title Doctor of the Church requires 3 main criteria be met -- "The requisite conditions are enumerated as three:
eminens doctrina, insignis vitae sanctitas, Ecclesiae declaratio (i.e. eminent learning, a high degree of sanctity, and proclamation by the Church)." It's not clear to me, but a huge hurdle (though not in this case for many) is that the candidate be an official Saint of the Church.
In your opinion, does Pope JPII have what it takes to be a Church Doctor?
******************************************************
PolBlog - News Poland 24/7
Poland's first daily English-language news blog.
Read the news then share your views
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.
News PolandIn from
blog:
An African lecturer has delivered the world's longest lecture after talking non-stop for more than three days.
He talked for 88 hours and four seconds as he lectured on democracy at Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland.
Blog link,
here Source link --
here View:I attend
this University. And have been told personal stories of the decline here -- lack of funds. The good faculty are leaving (I personally know of such a case). What is the motivation for hosting such an event? It looks like the
news about the decline in prestige of Polish universities is true as this event most certainly gets two thumbs down on the image boosting front.
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.
News PolandIn from
IHT:
Pope John Paul appeared close to death on Friday after heart failure, the Vatican said, sparking an outpouring of emotion and anxiety around the Roman Catholic world.
Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 84-year-old Pope had received the ‘‘Holy Viaticum’’ communion, reserved for those near death, and had told his aides he did not want to return to hospital for treatment.
For more go here
UPDATE: Poles throughout Poland are gathering in public squares and churches for prayer. For example in Krakow, people gathered at around 5am in front of Archbishop's residence and began praying. On the TV news there are reports of prayer for the Pope going on in Mosques and Synagogues around Warsaw.
The Pope is refusing to go to the hospital according to TVP1 reporting from the Vatican. He appears to have very good medical care at the Vatican (and a move to the hospital would be superfluous).
"The growth of the Internet in recent years provides an unprecedented opportunity for expanding the Church's missionary outreach, since it has become a primary source of information and communication for so many of our contemporaries, especially the young" ~Pope JPII (February 21, 2003)
UPDATE [4/3/05]: A good informational blog about the Pope -
here UPDATE [4/4/05]: Link to NYT article (
Pope's obit)
UPDATE [4/4/05]: According to
The Global Language Monitor, Record
35,000 news reports on Pope -- "
More than 3.5 Million Internet Citations & 35,000 Major New Stories in First 24 Hours; Words most frequently associated: Historic, Conservative, and Beloved"
View:I saw the Pope in Philadelphia, Pa (USA) many, many years ago when I was a kid. He drove around the Cathedral, the scene was parade-like and electric. With the
Terri Schiavo affair still so fresh (she died yesterday), I cannot help but make comparisons. For example, like the Schiavo affair, there are conflicting reports about the condition of the Pope -- the internet news media I read are all painting a dark picture, while
Vatican sources (connection is slow) deny that the Pope is in the final throes. A huge contrast in the two situations is the Pope's reported refusal to be sent to the hospital (and therefore hooked up to machines). Is this really the Pope's decision - as some reports say he is in a coma? Regardless, the phrase
'death with dignity' appears a bit more accurate in the Pope's case than in Terry S.'s May they both rest in peace.
From all the stories, Poles are not as ready for death as the Pope himself. Many prayers are for his health, while the Pope is sending signals that he has accepted death. But this view is not the full picture either as I heard that today it was observed that, for example, along the Royal Road in Warsaw, the churches were not packed with devotees - in fact, they were rather empty. This could be due to the fact that it is still a work day for many, or the Polish media is exaggerating the concern and interest. Either way, this is an important moment for Poland, and the world in general. In general, the mood of the news reporting here in Poland is subdued.
Please, share your reactions to the Pope's death.
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.
