-- PIOTR ZAREMBA ON THE REACTION OF MORAL GUARDIANS TO MATA'S SONG: “Some right-wingers simply do not accept such a vision of Polish youth. A Facebook acquaintance of mine, a journalist, wrote that a boy from a good family shouldn't act like that. She's about 50 years too late. It's common to mix drastic diagnoses and language with intentions. By singing about his drugged-up friends, Mata is supposed to make us numb to pathologies. Why? It's unknown. But it's only a matter of time before the most well-known, right-wing moral guardians chime in. Actor Jarosław Jakimowicz has already announced that his sons don't swear, and the song's author should end up in the army.” -- POLAND, A COUNTRY OF TRIBAL WARS OVER EVERYTHING - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “I myself wonder if Professor Matczak is doing the right thing by appearing in the background of his son's song. After all, if we take the song's diagnosis seriously, the absent but negative characters are precisely the wealthy parents, the elite. But that's their family problem, not mine. Mata didn't write the song to help the Wiadomości team find propaganda ammunition against lawyers or the wealthy. The politicization of this topic is intrusive and shameless. But Poland is a country of tribal wars over everything.” -- THIS NARROW-MINDEDNESS EMBARRASSES ME - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “The popularity of this track probably stems from the fact that while some of its themes concern a narrow group of people, the conviction about youth going astray can also be addressed to ordinary high schools or vocational schools. A good topic for reflection before Christmas. That it's not new? Then they should have written about it themselves, sounded the alarm, instead of getting outraged when someone else did it. The diagnosis is actually conservative, but conservatives won't accept it. Because the form isn't right. Because the author isn't who they want. This narrow-mindedness embarrasses me.” https://polskatimes.pl/patointeligencja-piotr-zaremba-mowmy-o-tresci-utworu-nie-o-glupotach/ar/c15-14670037 -- PIOTR WITWICKI ON SELFIE-OPPOSITION: “The success is enormous. In the last three days alone, the opposition has managed to take as many selfies as they have in almost the entire month. (...) Malicious people have complained that while working, MPs are not at… work. And even those opposition politicians who have recently garnered a lot of likes have recently been forced to listen to criticism directed at them. It's a bit as if the selfies were taking themselves. Critics, however, do not want to face the truth. And it's quite obvious: if a cat didn't let MP Marczuajtis leave the house, then she deserves credit for documenting that moment on Twitter. There will be many more votes she misses, and without good photos with her cat, democracy will not be defended.” https://opinie.wp.pl/ustawa-represyjna-selfie-opozycja-walka-o-demokracje-na-instagramie-6458722171508865a -- OPPOSITION MPS ABSENT FROM VOTING SHOULD BURN WITH SHAME - title of a GW commentary. -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON THE OPPOSITION'S COMPROMISE - WRITES IN FAKT: "The greatest compromise of the opposition in this term. PO and SLD politicians called for participation in protests against the aforementioned PiS law on Wednesday, and on Thursday, when the opposition could have thrown this law into the trash, many Civic Platform and Left MPs did not show up for the vote. Therefore, the law proceeded to further work.” -- PERHAPS THE POOR TURNOUT WILL MAKE THE JUDICIAL ESTABLISHMENT REALIZE THEY WENT TOO FAR? - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “But the real reason for the failure is different, and it can be reduced to a simple statement: the judges went too far. Specifically: that part of them that openly engaged first in open political struggle, and a moment later in demolishing the judiciary. By fighting for their privileges, for the current shape of the system, which has clearly exhausted its capabilities and simply aged out, the judicial establishment went too far. Instead of building authority, they squandered the last remnants of it. They showed all of Poland their clannishness, inability to compromise, politicization, readiness for essentially anarchic actions. Of course, they still have their defenders, but they are defenders 'ex officio'; they are simply our opposition and nothing more.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/478642-moze-frekwencyjna-klapa-uswiadomi-sedziom-ze-przegieli -- MARCIN FIJOŁEK WRITES ABOUT PIIS'S COMPLACENCY: “Returning to the absence of MPs, a lack of determination and mobilization within the PiS club is actually happening for the umpteenth time: somewhat complacent politicians of this party believe that everything will somehow be sorted out, managed, or at worst, a reconsideration will be carried out. In the worst-case scenario, they can still count on the opposition, whose activists will lend a helping hand. Moreover, in this last case, it's hard not to agree with the government. However, a moment will come when counting votes in advance will not be possible, and a vote on another supposedly crucial matter will simply be lost.” -- A FRONT WAS RISKED, BUT THE ISSUE DIDN'T MOBILIZE LIKE BEFORE THE VETOES - FIJOŁEK CONTINUES: “The fear of anarchizing the judiciary is so great within the PiS camp that they risked opening a front in this area, despite the course set from above towards mitigating disputes and Andrzej Duda's presidential campaign. However, since the issue did not mobilize (at the political and social level) as it did during the memorable turmoil before President Duda's vetoes, it is difficult to speak of even minimal losses, at least for now.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/478639-co-nam-mowi-nieobecnosc-sporej-czesci-poslow-obu-stron -- THE OPPOSITION HAS COMPROMISED ITSELF - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “MP Gdula is not right, however, in saying that 'actually nothing happened'. Because what happened is that the opposition compromised itself. One cannot mobilize social resistance without being mobilized oneself. How can one demand that conscious citizens stand in the rain or cold outside courthouses when they cannot even make it to the votes? Even if the Sejm apparatus, subordinate to the ruling camp, had bad intentions and misinformed MPs, it is their duty on session days to follow events in parliament, especially since democracy is supposedly dying and one must be ready for anything, in the name of noble goals and ideals.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/191219144-Zuzanna-Dabrowska-Nawet-mi-ich-nie-zal.html -- IT TURNED OUT PATHETIC - TOMASZ PIETRYGA ON THE OPPOSITION: “Rather, the war rhetoric and the conviction that there is no one to talk to constructively on the other side dominate. The opposition itself has provided arguments for this, by disrespecting the Sejm vote on Thursday. And a different turnout could have resulted in the law disciplining judges not being on the agenda. It turned out pathetic, and PiS will likely have no major problems passing the new regulations.” https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1418846-Ustawa-nie-wystraszy-buntownikow.html -- THE MUZZLE LAW DERRAILS THE CAMPAIGN - BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA IN RZ: Wouldn't this be a perfect gift for opposition candidates? If they can utilize this rare gift, they will significantly reduce Andrzej Duda's chances for a second term. How can the president, in the interest of his re-election and his mother party, deal with this? He will likely send the law to the Constitutional Tribunal. It will hold the controversial law until May, and after Duda's victory in the elections, it will confirm its legality. Could this be the party leader's secret plan? If I'm revealing it, I apologize to the author. I am doing so solely in the public interest. Perhaps the opposition will also learn from it? https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/191219147-Boguslaw-Chrabota-Kagancowka-pokrzyzuje-kampanie.html -- ŁUKASZ WARZECHA CRITICIZES THE STRICTENING OF ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATIONS: “The Prime Minister's announcements regarding the tightening of the road traffic code are the quintessence of populism. The government will be able to boast about how it cares for road safety, and the police will be able to boost statistics. It will not actually be even a little bit safer. (...) If the Prime Minister truly wanted to improve safety, he should announce a nationwide review of speed limits. First, let's improve infrastructure, then impose new requirements on drivers. But that's too difficult. It's easier to pass populist changes.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/warzecha-zaostrzenie-przepisow-na-drogach-nic-nie-da-sam-premier-ich-nie-odczuje/c2nb82q -- POLFA TARCHOMIN CAPITALIZED - NEWS 300GOSPODARKI: “Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has approved the application from Polfa Tarchomin in Warsaw, the last state-owned pharmaceutical factory in Poland, for capitalization in the amount of PLN 200 million, 300GOSPODARKA has learned.” http://300gospodarka.pl/news/2019/12/19/polfa-tarchomin-dostanie-200-mln-zl-dofinansowania-na-nowa-fabryke/ -- A STEP TOWARDS THE STATE'S DRUG SECURITY - POLFA CEO IN CONVERSATION WITH 300GOSPODARKA: “We are targeting drugs whose patent protection expires in 2023, and which will transition from innovative drugs to generics. We are not venturing into innovation; we are a generic company and will remain so for a long time – says Jarosław Król, CEO of Polfa Tarchomin, in an interview with 300GOSPODARKA. This is a step towards building the state's drug security. Our investment will actually increase the availability of important drugs for Polish patients, namely 'highly potent' drugs, i.e., mainly oncological and immunosuppressive drugs. This is a project unique on a European scale. Until now, no one in Poland has produced drugs from this group. In Central-Eastern Europe and the West, there are perhaps a few such places. This is a rare good, very expensive to produce, but also to maintain, and we will have it for our domestic use. The second line is intended for the lyophilization process (this is the method used to obtain injectable drugs, including life-saving ones), and apart from us, no one else in Poland performs this. And we already need to increase production capacity.” http://300gospodarka.pl/wywiady/2019/12/20/to-projekt-unikalny-na-skale-europejska-dotad-w-polsce-nikt-nie-wytwarza-lekow-z-tej-grupy-wywiad-z-prezesem-polfy-tarchomin/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Marcin Fijołek, Kornelia Wróblewska.