-- PKO BP'S RECORD QUARTER HERALDS GOOD RESULTS - headline in Rzeczpospolita. -- PKO RESULTS POSITIVELY SURPRISED ANALYSTS - 300GOSPODARKA. -- THIS IS THE RESULT OF, AMONG OTHERS, TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION - ZBIGNIEW JAGIEŁŁO: “The Polish economy is developing at a rapid pace, and with it, the profits of PKO Bank Polski are growing. In the second quarter, the bank's capital group achieved the highest financial result in its entire history. It amounted to PLN 1.22 billion, was 30% higher than a year ago, and again decisively the best in the entire Polish banking sector. Such a good result is thanks to efficiently conducted business activities, which are additionally supported by the effects of technological transformation the bank is undergoing. Thanks to this, the profit generated is not only record-breaking, but above all, it is repeatable” – said Zbigniew Jagiełło, CEO of PKO Bank Polski.” http://300gospodarka.pl/live/2019/08/13/zysk-pko-bp-wyzszy-od-prognoz/ -- THE PRESIDENT COMPLIMENTS MARIUSZ KAMIŃSKI, CZARZASTY ON BREAKTHROUGH IN PO REGARDING SENATE PACT - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/08/14/ -- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON THE VILLA AND KARCZEWSKI'S WORDS ABOUT WORKING FOR IDEALS - writes in Rzeczpospolita: “The strangest thing about Karczewski's translations is that he believes nothing has happened. He doesn't see the disconnect between declarations of work, humility, and moderation and grabbing privileges that come with power with both hands. That living in a luxurious government complex, guarded 24/7 by State Protection Service officers, beautifully situated between the Belvedere, Łazienki Park, and the Embassy of the Russian Federation, in no way contradicts his earlier words to young doctors that one cannot work solely for money – but also for ideals.” -- PIS FALLS VICTIM TO ITS OWN POPULISM - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “Since it criticized the PO politicians for spending state money on dinners in good restaurants, it cannot claim that there is no problem with the Senate paying for the rental of Karczewski's opulent villa. PiS has abundantly appealed to populism, criticizing its predecessors, today it is itself falling victim to this populism.” https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1409746-Karczewski:-kolejna-ofiara-populizmu-PiS.html -- THE RIGHT HAS FOUND A SPIRITUAL LEADER IN ABP. JĘDRASZEWSKI, BUT IS THAT THE TASK OF A BISHOP - TOMASZ KRZYŻAK IN RZ: “The right has found a spiritual leader in Archbishop Jędraszewski. It is difficult to say whether he himself likes the role he has been cast in. However, one can assume that by remaining silent and not distancing himself from such actions, he seems to legitimize them. As if he didn't notice that instead of being an instrument of peace, which – as St. Francis prayed – sows love where 'hatred reigns,' he has become an instrument used to sow division and hatred. And yet, this has little to do with the Church's teachings, and this is not the role and task of a bishop.” https://www.rp.pl/Rzecz-o-polityce/308139908-Krzyzak-Hierarcha-narzedziem-politycznym.html -- THE CHURCH IS WORKING TOWARDS A PiS VICTORY - JACEK GĄDEK IN GAZETA.PL: “Until the elections, PiS will try to solidify the opposition with the 'LGBT ideology,' which is being portrayed as satanic. And just before the elections, the clergy will traditionally appeal to vote in accordance with a 'properly formed conscience.' This is how the Church in Poland, now led by Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, is working towards another significant victory for PiS. -- HE IS NOT UNYIELDING, HIS CREDIBILITY IS SCRAP METAL - GĄDEK ON JĘDRASZEWSKI REGARDING PAETZ AND THE ROMA-AMOR UNDERWEAR: “But is he 'unyielding'? When Archbishop Juliusz Paetz (now a senior living in luxury) molested young clerics in Poznań, he groped young men and handed them underwear with the inscription 'Roma,' asking if they could read backward, his very close collaborator was none other than auxiliary bishop Marek Jędraszewski. The scandal simmered for decades, but it exploded publicly in 2002. Below are all the proofs of Jędraszewski's unyielding stance when it came to defending the wronged boys. The end. The Archbishop is not unyielding. His credibility is scrap metal.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25081916,kosciol-w-polsce-pracuje-na-kolejna-okazala-wygrana-pis-analiza.html -- THE CULTURE WAR IS IRRELEVANT - STEFAN SĘKOWSKI IN NOWA KONFEDERACJA: “We are constantly bombarded with heated disputes, either about LGBT or abortion. These are substitute issues – not because they are unimportant, but because nothing has changed in these matters since 2005. And nothing is going to change. The reason is that the leaders of the groups that have a real chance of governing in the foreseeable future (or of being the main opposition force) are not actually interested in changes in this area. There is an eternal beating of the air around abortion or partnership unions, but since 1997, when the Constitutional Tribunal declared abortion for social reasons incompatible with the constitution, nothing has changed in such matters. And nothing will change, because there is an unwritten consensus on all these issues.” -- PIS IS NOT A PARTY OF CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION NOR PO OF ZAPATERISM - SĘKOWSKI CONTINUES IN NOWA KONFEDERACJA: “The top echelon of PiS – whether out of conviction or awareness that only a dozen percent of Poles support tightening the abortion law – does not want a conservative revolution. Similarly, PO is not a party of Zapaterism. What's more, the further away from big cities (especially Warsaw), the more conservative it is in practice. And again: it is unknown whether out of conviction, or out of fear of the Church or their own voters, it is a fact that it was a prominent member of Platforma, Krzysztof Żuk, who banned (ultimately ineffectively, but that's irrelevant) the Equality Parade in Lublin, just like Bogdan Wenta, formerly associated with PO in Kielce, or currently associated with KO, Tadeusz Ferenc in Rzeszów.” -- THE CULTURE WAR IS A SUBSTITUTE ISSUE - SĘKOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “Therefore, the moral and social issues are a substitute issue. Not because they are unimportant, but because individual demands have no chance of being realized anyway. Participating in these disputes, especially when supporting one of the large political groups, is futile action, as nothing will come of it. And, probably, it will not come of it in the foreseeable future.” https://nowakonfederacja.pl/wojna-kulturowa-nie-ma-znaczenia/?success -- THE SCALE OF WASTED VOTES WILL BE KEY - MARCIN FIJOŁEK: “Declarations are therefore only one level of this campaign; nevertheless, the battles between Platforma and Lewica, and PiS and PSL-K‘15, will hold the decisive details for forming the political landscape after the October elections. Another matter is that the biggest rivals today (in both cases) will find it easiest to form coalitions and alliances after the elections, but this is quite an obvious paradox of our politics. The scale of 'wasted' votes (on movements and groupings that will not get into the Sejm) plus the flows on the PO-Lewica and PiS-Koalicja Polska lines may turn out to be key factors that will likely not overturn today's political table, but they can correct the balance of power at that table.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/459085-glowna-os-sporu-tej-kampanii-jest-inna-niz-moze-sie-wydawac -- SINCE THE ELECTIONS, WE HAVE BEEN FUNCTIONING IN A REALITY WHERE PiS'S POLLING NUMBERS ARE STARTING FROM '4' FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A CREDIBLE AND LASTING WAY - Prof. Rafał Chwedoruk in wiadomości.co. -- WHAT IF THE OPPOSITION, INSTEAD OF FALLING INTO BIPOLAR NARRATIVES, FOCUSED ON A MORE ANGLO-SAXON ROLE OF OPPOSITION, AS OPPOSED TO THE SO-CALLED LATIN OPPOSITION MODEL - CHWEDORUK CONTINUES: “This is an opposition that would not structurally reject the government of the other side, but would pragmatically review the dysfunctions of power. Due to the historically determined problems of PiS, or the right in general, after 1989 with personnel at lower and middle levels, this could bring a much better effect. PiS would probably still be the poll leader, but I believe the scale of its advantage would be smaller, and Kaczyński's party would probably suffer more tactical defeats. Bringing about such extreme polarization in a situation of effectively implementing socially popular reforms had to result in a decisive polling advantage for PiS.” https://wiadomo.co/prof-rafal-chwedoruk-dla-pis-u-realizuje-sie-scenariusz-wymarzony/ -- PIS CONSIDERS CITIZEN'S PENSION - LESZEK KOSTRZEWSKI IN GAZETA WYBORCZA: “Over 250,000 Poles already receive pensions from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) ranging from a few groszy to several hundred zlotys. PiS fears that this growing group of poor pensioners will eventually turn against them. Therefore, they are considering introducing a citizen's pension.” -- MORAWIECKI IS A PROPONENT OF THE CITIZEN'S PENSION - ACCORDING TO KOSTRZEWSKI: “According to our information, after the parliamentary elections, there will be an 'analysis of the current pension system and possibilities for its reform' within the government. - People with starvation pensions are increasing, and we want to find a solution that will stop this negative phenomenon – a person associated with the government tells us. According to them, the citizen's pension has the greatest support in the government. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is a proponent of such an idea. 'One can imagine that in 5, 10, 15 years, we will decide on a citizen's system while maintaining the solidarity component' – he said two years ago.” http://wyborcza.biz/biznes/7,147880,25081916,w-pis-wraca-pomysl-rownej-dla-wszystkich-np-po-1100-zl-emerytury.html -- GAZETA WYBORCZA ON LOT'S DEFEAT IN HUNGARY - PLANES FLY EMPTY: “August 2019. Two years after the grand announcement, a little over a year after the launch of connections, LOT is suddenly abandoning the Budapest - Chicago flights and significantly reducing the frequency to New York. The reason? The planes are flying half-empty; in the worst months, the load factor barely reaches... 24%. As a result, the expansion on the Danube, instead of boosting profits, is bringing losses.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,155287,25081560,kleska-lot-na-wegrzech.html -- IF WE CELEBRATE THE HOLY CROSS BRIGADE, THEN WHY SEPTEMBER 1ST? - KONSTANTY GEBERT IN OKO.PRESS: “If the Holy Cross Brigade was right, then cooperation with the Germans was not collaboration, but a clever tactic serving Poland's interests. The culprits of collaboration were all other Polish forces, both those allied with the West and those with the Soviets, because they were fighting the wrong occupier.” https://oko.press/jesli-uczcilismy-brygade-to-1-wrzesnia-jest-rocznica-tragicznej-pomylki-trzeba-bylo-isc-z-hitlerem-na-rosje/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Jerzy Klechta turns 80, Marek Matuszewski turns 60, TOMORROW Danuta Kuroń turns 70.