-- CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION OF LOVE, NOT A CULTURE OF HATE THAT TRIES TO DISGUISE ITSELF AS SUCH - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “This love is accompanied by a certain anthropology and theology – a concept of God and a concept of man. And it is not a religion of combat. One does not take a rosary to brandish it with a clenched fist, to drive out strangers with it. Christianity is not a recipe for building paradise on earth, but a call to conversion and a fight against one's own sinfulness, against the evil within me. Christianity is a religion of love, not a culture of hate that often tries to disguise itself as Christianity, but has nothing to do with the love of one's neighbor.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/311299990-SzuldrzynskI-Kultura-nienawisci-Sluchajcie-Franciszka.html -- MOSTLY MEDIA NOISE, BUT ZANDBERG'S SPEECH IS A SIGNAL OF BREAKING THE DUOPOLY - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ: “On the one hand, this event was seen as a harbinger of fundamental difficulties for PiS, forced to fight a grouping that is more pro-social than the ruling camp. Prime Minister Morawiecki, usually reacting like a cyborg, was clearly nervous. On the other hand, it is a signal of breaking the duopoly where the opposition's tone was set by the somewhat shapeless Civic Platform. Although it's probably too early to announce that the left will take its place. For now, its support in polls has barely budged, and the noise is mainly media-driven.” -- ZAREMBA ON ELITES' CALCULATIONS REGARDING ZANDBERG - HE IS BEING CIVILIZED: “Once Kaczyński is sent into space, and Zandberg, sometimes compared in appearance to a Western lumberjack, is civilized, they will explain to him that many social and economic postulates smack of socialism and that they need to be at least postponed. This, it seems, is the scenario for many people.” -- BIEDROŃ'S STAR IS FADING, I DON'T THINK ZANDBERG WILL BE A SIMILAR EPHEMERAL PHENOMENON - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “Today, there is no doubt that Biedroń's star is fading, while Zandberg is on the rise. Of course, the goal is not presidential victory, but strengthening the left in parliamentary campaigns. This leads commentators unfavorable to the left to make sarcastic remarks that Zandberg will be as ephemeral as Biedroń. I don't think so.” -- SOMETIMES A DOSE OF PRINCIPLE IN POLITICS IS USEFUL - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “Biedroń got tangled up in personal calculations. Neither his insistence on his own project in the spring nor his easy renunciation of his independence in the autumn brought him glory. And especially not the clinging to his Member of the European Parliament mandate. Zandberg is not that kind of person and, moreover, would see it as a potential threat to his reputation. And in this sense, he seems to be a more lasting offer. Sometimes, a certain dose of principle is useful in politics.” -- ZAREMBA ON HOW "NORMALITY" ADDRESSES POLES' CONCERNS ABOUT MORAL NOVELTIES: “The slogan 'normality' addresses the real concerns of many Poles faced with moral novelties, especially the fear that they will invade schools. But it is also hard to resist the impression that the importance of spectacles must increase when discussing bread becomes more difficult. And that it is more convenient for the right to debate the threats posed by progressive extremists than to take money from the disabled from their fund to please pensioners. Although, on the other hand, the opposition, especially the left, also fuels the ideological fire. The grotesque war over feminine endings in parliamentary documents was the first sign of this.” -- THE ENTIRE SLD CULTURE WAS BASED ON ETERNAL DEALS - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “The division of the left into more idealistic and more pragmatic wings has always been natural. Here, however, the Zandberg followers seem like an addition on top of the cake. The structures, money, and connections are not theirs. They have been significantly weakened, but do we really see these people as fearless conquerors of, say, foreign corporations? Their entire political culture has been based on eternal deals – starting from the late PRL.” -- EVEN AS A LUMBERJACK, ZANDBERG IS MORE BRILLIANT AND HUMAN THAN THE TIRED TECHNICIAN OF POWER - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “Undoubtedly, however, the attempt to conduct opposition politics in the name of more concrete and substantive reasons is something new, because PO tries to represent all views and social groups simultaneously, even more so than PiS. And then there is the charm of novelty. Especially when Zandberg, lumberjack or not, is both more brilliant and more human than the tired technician of power, Grzegorz Schetyna. Which does not change the fact that the 'lumberjack' is still more of a banner than a real leader.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/311299993-Adrian-Zandberg-Drwal-kontra-PiS.html -- OK, BOOMER IS AN IDEOLOGICAL REALIGNMENT - DARIUSZ GAWIN IN THEOLOGY OF POLITICS:“It therefore appears that the phrase 'ok, boomer' is a kind of counter-attack on their part. And it is not just a counter-attack conducted in the realm of language or internet memes. Behind it lies an ideological realignment. It concerns the self-awareness of the progressive new left, which dominates American universities. For the past dozen or so months, its main focus has no longer been just the fight against Trumpism as a modern form of fascism, but an attempt at a complete social transformation in the face of ecological apocalypse. From this perspective, the excesses of political, right-wing populism, although important, pale in comparison to the scale of the planetary threat. Because, as young activists say with all seriousness, we only have a few, at most a few years left. After that, humanity faces an ecological doomsday.” -- BOOMERS ARE THE PRIVILEGED CLASS IN THIS STORY - GAWIN CONTINUES: “The career of the titular phrase is another symptom of the evolution of Western politics. Just as in the case of opposing the interests of men and women, or white people and other races, the conflict described in terms of age also changes the boundaries of what is political. Boomers are no longer old grumps in this narrative, but a privileged stratum that has stolen the future from the young, just as it has stolen resources from the planet. A ruling class whose power must be overthrown. Naturally, not in their own egoistic interest, but in the interest of the threatened planet. And so, what began as a malicious joke ends as a harbinger of another, as always altruistic, revolution.” https://teologiapolityczna.pl/ok-boomer-czyli-wojna-pokolen-trwa-felieton? -- HOŁOWNIA TO ANNOUNCE HIS CANDIDACY IN A FEW WEEKS - ŁUKASZ KIJEK IN GAZETA.PL Szymon Hołownia will officially announce his presidential campaign within the next two to three weeks at the latest. This information has been confirmed to us by one of the journalist's associates. Hołownia already has a program written.” -- CLIMATE AT THE CENTER OF HOŁOWNIA'S PROGRAM: “According to our information, Szymon Hołownia and a team of people have been working on his own program for many months. He invited several trusted experts from various fields to collaborate with him, and volunteers were also to assist him. As we have learned, one of the important points of the program will be issues related to the environment and the fight against climate change. One of his recent Facebook posts may also indicate this.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25460248,to-juz-pewne-szymon-holownia-bedzie-kandydowal-na-prezydenta.html -- WPOLITYCE WRITES ABOUT THE LEFT "OVERTAKING" PO - BASED ON A SOCIAL CHANGES SURVEY WHERE THE LEFT HAS 18 POINTS: “As usual, the Law and Justice party received the highest support in our survey, with 40 percent of respondents wanting to vote for them; this means the same result as last week, and at the same time a result lower than that party achieved in the parliamentary elections in October. The Civic Coalition came in second, with 24 percent of respondents choosing them; this means a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to the previous wave of our surveys. Third is The Left (SLD, Wiosna, Razem) with 18 percent support; this is 1 point more than a week ago. In fourth place is the Polish People's Party with 10 percent support. This means an increase of 2 percentage points. Konfederacja, on the other hand, is losing support, with 6 percent of respondents choosing them; a week ago it was 9 percent.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/475362-lewica-coraz-blizej-koalicji-obywatelskiej-bedzie-mijanka -- THERE WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE A DRAMA WITH A LEFT-WING CANDIDATE LIKE WITH MAGDALENA OGÓREK - ALEKSANDER KWAŚNIEWSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH JAKUB SZCZEPAŃSKI ON INTERIA: “Robert Biedroń and Adrian Zandberg are different figures, but both have a chance to stir things up. I'm not saying they will win – that's rather impossible. Regardless of whether Zandberg or Biedroń is the candidate, we will be dealing with a good choice for the left. It will certainly not be a drama like it was with Ms. Magdalena Ogórek.” -- PIS WILL MAKE BIEJAT A HERO - KWAŚNIEWSKI CONTINUES: “If The Left loses the family committee, it will be a mistake of those who take it away from them. PiS has a majority in every committee, so they can do as they please. First, it will be a breach of accepted principles. Second, in politics, nothing pays off more than being a victim. A martyrological narrative always comes in handy, it won't hurt The Left. Taking away the committee from Magdalena Biejat, who hasn't had a chance to show herself in any way yet, will make her a hero.” https://fakty.interia.pl/autor/jakub-szczepanski/news-aleksander-kwasniewski-lewica-ma-dwoch-dobrych-kandydatow-na,nId,3359437 -- WPOLITYCE ON THE UNPRECEDENTED POLITICALIZATION OF THE SENATE CHANCELLERY: “The new director of the Center is Grzegorz Furgo, who unsuccessfully ran for parliament this year. His deputies are Anna Godzwon – a former close associate of Bronisław Komorowski, and former PSL spokesperson Jakub Stefaniak, who also failed to win a parliamentary seat. However, this is not the end of the political appointments. The head of the new media department is Adam Kądziela, a former member of Nowoczesna, a close associate of Ryszard Petru. The new director of the Office of Senatorial Affairs is to be, as Pęk informs, former Civic Platform MP Anna Białkowska, who also failed to win a parliamentary re-election.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/475402-karczewski-bezprecedensowe-upartyjnienie-kancelarii-senatu -- IWONA ŚLEDZIŃSKA-KATARASIŃSKA IN CONVERSATION WITH ELIZA OLCZYK IN RZ ABOUT HOW THE MATTER OF HER ANTI-SEMITIC ARTICLE FROM 1968 WAS HANDLED: “Newspaper headlines appeared featuring the anti-Semite Katarasińska, who wants to be the Minister of Culture. I was simply stunned because the matter of my article from May 1968 surfaced in a local paper a few years earlier. I went to Geremek then and said I was ready to leave the party, even resign my parliamentary mandate. Geremek read the article and said: 'Ms. Iwona, Marek Edelman recommends you everywhere, and since there are no complaints about this article, why should I have any.'” -- ŚLEDZIŃSKA ON HER ARTICLE FROM 1968: “I was a budding journalist, and in those times, one didn't quit their job in protest. Besides, I had no one to consult. My husband was in the barracks at the time, and there was no friendly soul around me. Moreover, at the time, I didn't think I was committing a crime – I extracted information from the chronicle of the Łódź Ghetto, believing I was helping the editor-in-chief, who was accused of his origin, but the editorial agents (as it turned out later) 'wrapped it up' with information from special bulletins about Zionists and other such matters. It was a kind of polemic with the American Jewish community. The matter was quickly forgotten in the Polish People's Republic, but in free Poland, this material was unearthed and recalled in 'Życie' with a dot. Two people defended me strongly then – Marian Krzaklewski and Leszek Balcerowicz. Krzaklewski said that before there was Paul, there was Saul, and that it was a youthful mistake. And Balcerowicz added that there is no proof of my anti-Semitic views or that I personally harmed anyone. But I withdrew my candidacy, apologized, and said the article was stupid and vile. I couldn't do anything more.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/311299979-Sledzinska-Katarasinska-Nie-widze-nikogo-kto-moglby-mnie-zastapic.html -- I RECEIVED KIND WORDS FROM TUSK THROUGH GRTYCH - JACEK JAŚKOWIAK IN CONVERSATION WITH DONATA SUBBOTKO IN GW: “Even if we spoke in Brussels some time ago, I don't know him as well as other people from the Platform. But I received kind words from Donald Tusk through Roman Giertych; we met at his law firm.” -- JAŚKOWIAK ON ADAMOWICZ: “Whatever is meant to be, will be. By the way, after the decision was announced, Magda Adamowicz supported me, and her parents sent a touching SMS saying that I reminded them of Paweł. I am 55 years old – how much longer will I live? Because I don't know if I would like to live to an age when one enters Alzheimer's, dementia, and similar illnesses, when one is weak and becomes a burden to others. I see the deterioration of my stepfather's health – and I probably fear that more than a quick death. Pragmatism. So, these security measures irritate me, but I don't want to be reckless.” -- JAŚKOWIAK ON WEARING A BULLETPROOF VEST: “No, although there was pressure. But I agreed to many measures that are intended to reduce the probability of an attack and increase the chances of survival. I wear an electronic device that will send a signal to law enforcement services in case of an attack. In addition, in certain public situations, I have to wear a bulletproof vest and I can't cycle to work as I used to. But I still cycle during other hours.” -- JAŚKOWIAK ON BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: “When we negotiate strategic matters for the city now, I can read from certain behaviors, gestures, and eye movements what the reaction is to what I am saying. It's not that someone offers me a wish list and I go along with it. I understand the business world too well, I can be tough, and use the tools I have.” -- JAŚKOWIAK ON HIS CONNECTIONS WITH JACK KACZYŃSKI: “He would be the first to persuade me. I was named by him in his will as the person responsible for Jack's copyrights. A year after his death, there was a presidential campaign, and Lech Kaczyński's staff started using his song 'Mury'. I called and said that I absolutely did not consent and that if they didn't stop, I would take legal action. They had to remove it. Jacek didn't like Kaczyński – although he invited him somewhere when he was the mayor of Warsaw.” -- JAŚKOWIAK ON HOLLAND: “I highly value my contact with artists, I like listening to them, and I get along well, for example, with Agnieszka Holland – I probably don't offend her with the roughness of my language or my background.” https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25453560,jacek-jaskowiak-ojciec-jest-kims-kto-broni-a-jak-go-nie-ma.html -- JUSTYNA KOPIŃSKA IN CONVERSATION WITH NEWSWEEK ABOUT HER EXCHANGE WITH KRYSTIAN LUPA: “Indeed, I don't usually do that. Krystian Lupa is an excellent director whose work I greatly appreciate, but I disagreed with his words about Law and Justice voters. The reaction was spontaneous. (...) For some time now, we've seen many creators, journalists, and politicians attacking Law and Justice voters. They call them stupid, label them as ignorant. Recently, a well-known journalist wrote on Facebook: 'Everyone who voted for PiS, get the f*** out of my friends.' I don't know if there's a better way to have no influence on the situation than to cut yourself off from a large part of society. Such a strategy could lead to this party achieving even higher support in the next elections, even 70 percent.” -- POLAND IS NOT A JUST COUNTRY - KOPIŃSKA CONTINUES: “I spend a lot of time in small towns, with the heroes of my reports, excluded people who have suffered physical and psychological violence. I see how disappointed these people are with state institutions, with the system that should support them. I'm talking, for example, about the judiciary, about judges who, in nearly half of proven rape cases across Poland, including gang rapes and those involving young girls, decided on suspended sentences. Victims met their rapist on the street. He often laughed in their faces. Influential perpetrators usually had excellent lawyers hired (paid for by the groups they belonged to, e.g., clergy who abused children had lawyers paid for by their order), while children didn't even have legal representation. In cases of abuse, long-term physical and psychological violence, and complicity in rape, scandalously low sentences were handed down. Many victims have stopped believing that Poland is a country of justice.” -- YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO RUN OVER A NUN AT A CROSSWALK: “People can be convinced to defend others, to be guided not solely by their material well-being, and even to perform heroic deeds. But not by shouting, not by threatening: 'the current politicians will go to prison,' 'all who support them are complicit.' People can be convinced by listening to their stories, by responsibility and vision. That is, by everything that Bronisław Komorowski, from whom the series of defeats for his political option began, never did. To lose people's respect, you don't need to drunkenly run over a pregnant nun at a crosswalk. It's enough to disregard a part of society. And stop looking people in the face.” -- WE LACK RESPECT IN POLAND - KOPIŃSKA CONTINUES: “I care that we start thinking of ourselves as a community and stop dividing ourselves. Let's not write 'backward countryside,' let's not mock that someone was bribed with 500 plus. We should treat each other with mutual respect, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, origin, or needs. Respect is what we are sorely lacking in Poland right now.” https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/justyna-kopinska-o-tym-dlaczego-ludzie-glosuja-na-pis/pm35yte? -- MIKOŁAJ KUNICA IN BUSINESS INSIDER ON THE SITUATION IN PEKAO S.A. COMPANIES AFTER THE SUPERVISORY BOARD MEETING: “Today, the confusion is enormous, and no one in their right mind wants to reveal anything hastily and interpret what actually happened. If someone knows the inside story of today's decision, they are silent. If they speculate publicly, they either don't know or have lost their self-preservation instinct – or perhaps their sanity. One thing is certain – PR teams in all key state-owned companies will have sleepless nights and likely a busy weekend. The reshuffle at Pekao SA is a clear signal to every CEO and his team. Ladies and gentlemen, things are about to happen.” https://businessinsider.com.pl/polityka/rezygnacja-michala-krupinskiego-prezesa-pekao-sa-komentarz-mikolaja-kunicy/0097g9s -- NORBERT MALISZEWSKI WILL REPLACE PROF. PARUCH IN THE CHANCELLERY OF THE PRIME MINISTER, ACCORDING TO WPOLITYCE: “As the wPolityce.pl portal has learned, in the new term, Prof. Norbert Maliszewski will head the Center for Strategic Analysis. Previously, this function was held by Prof. Waldemar Paruch.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/475413-nasz-news-prof-norbert-maliszewski-szefem-cas -- PIOTR ZAREMBA REVIEWS 'DZIADY' AT TEATR POLSKI: "Dziady" at Teatr Polski is not a production as great, electrifying, or breathtaking as Konrad Swinarski's "Dziady," for which pilgrimages from all over the country traveled to the Stary Theatre in Krakow for years in the 1970s and 1980s. Janusz Wiśniewski's version is decent, a bit illustrative, some might say: academic. -- 'DZIADY' AT TEATR POLSKI DOES NOT SERVE CURRENT TRENDS - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “However, I will not leave the reader with the impression of complaining. This is an important performance because it offers a conversation about the past, about Polish tradition. Because it resists the temptation of deformation for deformation's sake. Because it offers various keys. Teatr Polski should be congratulated for presenting a non-conspiratorial production, one that does not serve current trends. It inspires hope for at least limited cultural continuity.” http://www.e-teatr.pl/pl/artykuly/283457.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Jacek Gdański, Eugeniusz Morawski, Tomasz Rożek, SUNDAY: Wojciech Szczurek, Artur Domosławski, Jarosław Bauc, Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz, Paweł Wujec.