-- KIDAWA GIFTED MACRON A PHOTO OF HER GRANDFATHER - PRESIDENT WOJCIECHOWSKI WITH MARSHAL FOCH AND JÓZEF PIŁSUDSKI - 300POLITYKA HAS LEARNED. According to our sources, Macron engaged in a conversation with Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska with great interest about pre-war Polish history and the regaining of independence. -- LOBBYISTS ARE USING THE SAME ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE SUGAR TAX AS TOBACCO CONGLOMERATES DID IN THE 60S AND 70S - JANUSZ CIESZYŃSKI - DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH IN AN INTERVIEW WITH TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Sometimes a retired spy publishes a book about what the job is like. We also found instructions on how to conduct effective lobbying against new regulations. If we look at the arguments used by the industry today to protest the tax, we will notice that they are the same arguments used in the 1960s and 1970s when governments seriously tackled nicotine addiction.” -- SUGAR ACTS LIKE DRUGS - CIESZYŃSKI CONTINUES IN KL: “This is not my opinion, but an expert assessment. Sugar has an effect similar to drugs and other addictive substances. Of course, we are not equating these substances. However, the arguments used by manufacturers of health-damaging substances have always been the same. For example, it is said that the government 'really just wants to plug a budget hole.' ” -- UNHEALTHY PRODUCTS WILL BE LIKE CIGARETTES - SALES WILL DROP - CIESZYŃSKI CONTINUES IN CONVERSATION WITH SAWCZUK: “The arguments are always the same. When the excise tax on cigarettes started to increase, their sales and the number of people who smoke dropped dramatically. We expect the same to happen with unhealthy products. Research shows that in terms of children's diets, as much as 40–50 percent of calorie needs are met with sugary drinks.” -- IT'S MOVING HOW CORPORATION PRESIDENTS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE POOR - CIESZYŃSKI AGAIN: “Of course, it is always touching when the presidents of the largest global corporations show so much solidarity with the poor. I repeat myself, but this is again an argument always presented by industries that are to be subject to any new fees.” -- "LITTLE MONKEYS" ARE ACTUALLY A SALES SEGMENT THAT IS THE ENGINE OF GROWTH FOR THE SPIRITS INDUSTRY: “All industries have the opportunity for self-regulation. It is worth noting that the law also introduces a tax on the sale of alcohol, the so-called 'little monkeys.' We see that alcohol producers are even investing in selling as many of these 'little monkeys' as possible. Dozens of new products are introduced in this category every year. This shows that the industry is not only not striving for self-regulation, but on the contrary – this sales segment is its engine of growth.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/02/04/cukier-ma-dzialanie-podobne-do-narkotykow/ -- WILL PHONES BE BANNED IN SCHOOLS? - Paulina Nowosielska in DGP: “The Ministry of Digital Affairs has initiated the work of the Working Group on Child and Youth Safety Online. Among the discussed threats was addiction to internet-connected phones. Voices have been raised to make schools a phone-free zone. 66 percent admitted that a complete ban on mobile phone use already exists in their schools. 27 percent – that there is no ban, but… it will most likely appear soon. Because the vast majority of teachers and principals are in favor of introducing one. And 88.5 percent are in favor of restricting phone use. Almost 59 percent of teachers believe the ban should only apply to students. And only 16.7 percent are in favor of it solidarity applying to the entire school community. 'Mobile phones should be banned, then students will be forced to communicate with each other. Then perhaps problems with the lack of ability to make friends and be accepted by others will disappear, and consequently – with the feeling of loneliness, which often ends in depression' – teachers tell us.” https://edukacja.dziennik.pl/aktualnosci/artykuly/6431714,zakaz-telefonow-w-szkolach.html -- A CLEAR INTENTION TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH POLAND - JERZY HASZCZYŃSKI IN RZ: “This clear intention to improve relations with Poland has several reasons. One, certainly not the most important, but journalistically interesting: a liberal president and a former socialist, along with the French authorities, seem to have reconciled themselves to the fact that the PiS government will not end any time soon, and that decisions about the future of the EU and the entire West must be made with this party, as it is an urgent matter. The second reason, partly related to the first: the realization that Poland, like other countries in the region condescendingly called New Europe, has emancipated itself. It no longer looks at Old Europe like a holy picture; it has its own opinion. PiS sometimes has extreme opinions, it can be anti-European, but it is an illusion that a change of the ruling party in Poland would mean a return to the situation from a dozen years ago, when new members of the Union did not feel confident and accepted what the old ones had developed.” -- MACRON SAYS WHAT WE WOULD WANT TO HEAR FROM AN ALLY - HASZCZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “The French are our key EU allies. And their president says in Warsaw what we would want to hear from an ally.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/302039918-Haszczynski-003-Francja-ktora-nas-kocha.html -- THE GREATEST BENEFIT FROM MACRON IS THAT HE FORCES GERMANY TO SEEK ALLIANCES ELSEWHERE THAN ACROSS THE RHINE - MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI IN KRYTYKA: “Whether Macron will manage to realize all this is unknown – but unlike the German coalition government, the French president at least doesn't pretend that the status quo in Europe can be maintained, or, to use the phrase of Dr. Marcin Kędzierski from the Jagiellonian Club, that water won't spill from the pot if we sit on the lid. However, for us, in the dreamt-of Europe of the golden child from Amiens high school, there is simply no place. His greatest benefit to us is that he forces Germany to seek alliances elsewhere than across the Rhine. -- SUTOWSKI'S ELEGANT PASSAGE ABOUT MACRON - WITH HIS PRIVATE LIFE HE SPITS IN THE FACE OF THE CULTURE OF UNDERDEVELOPED MACHOS, PATRIARCHAL LOSERS: “At first glance, it's not hard to determine why the Polish right dislikes Emmanuel Macron so much. A golden child of elite schools, bastions of secular enlightenment and liberalism. An ostentatious European, constantly repeating the mantra of the need for closer integration. A proponent of ambitious climate policy, who with his private life spits in the face of the culture of underdeveloped machos, patriarchal losers. In addition, a French arrogant, looking down with condescension on the benightedness from the European Wild Fields east of the Elbe. Finally, rhetorically brilliant and so aptly malicious when he announces in a widely publicized interview for 'The Economist' that together with his ally Viktor Orbán, they will persuade Poles to adopt a different policy towards Russia.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/swiat/macron-wizyta-w-polsce-sutowski/ -- PARIS WANTS TO EASE TENSIONS WITH POLAND - headline in DGP. -- MACRON EXTENDS A HAND - lead story in GW. -- MACRON PROPOSES A NEW OPENING TO POLAND - headline in GW. -- ALEKSANDER SMOLAR ON MACRON'S INTENTIONS IN OKO: “And here comes the evolution of France's policy towards Central Europe, not just Poland. Recently, the French Foreign Minister visited Prague; his speech was clearly open to the region's policy, which France had previously criticized. In one interview, he even expressed hope that Orbán, who had previously been considered an enemy of Europe in France, would be able to persuade Warsaw to adopt a more open policy towards Russia. The visit to Warsaw aims to improve relations with the country and the entire region with which it has had worse relations. France is no longer looking for comprehensive solutions but for partial agreements with Warsaw. Macron has made a significant gesture; he announced the convening of the Weimar Triangle Summit for the first time in 7 years. This is a great gift for the PiS government, supplementing the Paris-Berlin axis with Poland, which has operated for decades to the satisfaction of the Germans and the French.” https://oko.press/rzad-pis-dostal-argument-macrona-prezydent-francji-szuka-porozumienia/ -- GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON ON BUSINESS WITH FRANCE: NUCLEAR, RAILWAYS, CPK - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/02/04/ -- THE RULING PARTY DOMINATES THE POLLS, BUT ITS LEAD IS ERODING - ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Andrzej Duda is unequivocally identified with the United Right camp, specifically with PiS. However, while – as I have already mentioned – in previous elections Duda's success helped the United Right, today the United Right's troubles may drag Duda down. Admittedly, the ruling camp still dominates the polls, but its lead over other parties seems to be decreasing slightly. Nor are there any potential successes on the horizon that would reverse this trend.” -- PAWŁOWSKI ON PEOPLE REALIZING THAT THE COSTS OF THE SECOND WAVE OF PRIVATIZATION EXCEED THE REVENUES FROM SOCIAL BONUSES: “However, it may soon turn out that social emotions, so well read by PiS in recent years, will be directed elsewhere just before the elections. This is not so difficult to imagine. The crisis in education and healthcare has long caused many Poles to opt for private services in these areas. It is enough for opposition candidates to make voters realize what we have been showing for a long time in 'Kultura Liberalna': that the costs of the 'second wave of privatization' sometimes significantly exceed the income to household budgets, for example, from the thirteenth pension or the 500 plus program. Then Duda's boasting about the achievements of the previous term, instead of fostering gratitude, will only deepen the irritation of the recipients. Exactly like in the case of slogans about the 'golden age' and the historical success of Polish transformation proclaimed by Bronisław Komorowski five years ago.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/02/04/duda-kampania-wybory-prezydentura-pawlowski/ -- PAWŁOWSKI'S BOOK ON THE SECOND WAVE OF PRIVATIZATION WILL BE PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY. -- CANDIDATE DUDA IS SEDUCING THE LEFT AGAIN - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “In recent years, PiS has waged war against LGBT communities and their demands. The president accepted this. Now he is again counting on votes from the left, which strongly dislikes PO.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25661737,kandydat-duda-znow-uwodzi-lewice.html -- ROBERT BIEDROŃ ON HIMSELF AS KWAŚNIEWSKI 2.0 - he says in an interview with Grzegorz Osiecki and Tomasz Żółciak in DGP: “And that is why an upgrade is needed today, a 'Kwaśniewski 2.0.' A president who will impose higher standards on other authorities. We need to take toys away from politicians, depoliticize public media, state-owned companies, depoliticize – it's terrible that we're even talking about this – the courts. After all, today judges are Piotrowicz or Pawłowicz. We have hundreds of such people appointed or subordinate to party will today. To change the entire system, an agreement for the rule of law is needed, something that will be a new constituent assembly, a gathering where we will find a place for dialogue and develop new rules.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/6431713,biedron-wywiad-kwasniewski-20.html -- IT'S ABOUT RESTORING THE MEDIA MONOPOLY - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “In essence, the goal of all this pressure on public media is to restore the monopoly of one side of the dispute in Poland, which functioned until 2015 – all major media were outraged by the same thing, amused by the same thing, they played like a big orchestra. It's about replicating the German system of silent censorship here. The situation where everyone within reach of a TV or radio remote control, as is the case in Poland today, has the option to choose a radically anti-government station, one that attempts apoliticality, or supports the latest changes in the country, is seen as the main obstacle for the opposition to regain power – one that is not coping in the conditions of freedom of speech. It is also not true that the voters of the United Right camp are manipulated by propaganda. Loud studies from a few months ago showed that they actually watch all stations and compare media images. Supporters of the current opposition do this much less often. The stake in these skirmishes is a value fundamental to democracy: real diversity of views, true pluralism, not regulated like sugar in the PRL. Let us remember: freedom once lost is very difficult to regain.” https://wpolityce.pl/media/485379-o-co-naprawde-chodzi-w-tyradach-sekielskiego -- NATIONAL SEIZURE OF PADEREWSKI - headline on the lead story of GW. -- THE DMOWSKI AND PADEREWSKI INSTITUTE IS AS NECESSARY TO POLAND AS A HOLE IN A BRIDGE - MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI in Krytyka: “The Institute for the Heritage of National Thought named after R. Dmowski and I. J. Paderewski, announced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, will be another propaganda mouthpiece for a Poland that is overly pleased with itself.” -- SUTOWSKI ON THE AMBIGUOUS ROLE OF DMOWSKI: “To be clear: I am not claiming that Roman Dmowski – let's not kid ourselves, the main patron of this event – was not an outstanding figure. His early political journalism is masterfully crafted, his geopolitical analyses are inspiring, and his diplomatic work from World War I and its immediate aftermath secure him a lasting place in history. Although his concept of Polishness seems deeply harmful to me, it was coherent and characteristic of the era enough that it cannot be erased from the history of political thought. Despite all this, the author of Jewish Separatism and Its Sources pathologically hated Jews and harbored an anti-Masonic obsession for years – radically so, even by the standards of his generally anti-Semitic times. The ideology he attached to his anti-Jewish politics of hatred was ammunition in the public sphere, which Eligiusz Niewiadomski turned into bullets from a Browning pistol fired at Warsaw's Zachęta against President Narutowicz.” -- "BEATING JEWS BEFORE THE WAR IS PART OF PATRIOTIC HERITAGE"? - SUTOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “During communist times, we heard that the Germans murdered Poles, and in a whisper – that some of those Poles were Jews. In 2001, thanks to Gross, we learned that Poles also murdered Jews, and our president apologized for it. Since PiS came to power, we hear that Poles mostly saved them, and Gross should apologize for defamation. Soon, we may learn that beating Jews before the war is part of patriotic heritage.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/instytut-dmowskiego-i-paderewskiego-jest-polsce-komentarz-sutowski/ -- ALL OF THIS A WEEK AFTER TURSKI'S WARNING - EDWIN BENDYK ON DMOWSKI: “Yes, a critical confrontation with this heritage is needed. The new institute will have its work cut out for it. After the change of government. For now, the lack of imagination of people like Piotr Gliński, who are piecing together Golems and Frankensteins from various historical-ideological scraps, believing that such a monster will ensure their dominance, is astonishing. Unfortunately, historical awareness of similar tinkering suggests that these monsters sooner or later break free from the control of their creators. All of this is just a week after Marian Turski's memorable warning.” https://antymatrix.blog.polityka.pl/2020/02/04/powstaje-narodowy-instytut-mysli-narodowej/ -- ELITES ARE SOCIAL YEAST - JANUSZ LEWANDOWSKI in GW: “In the propaganda of the ruling camp, the word 'elite' is an epithet. Meanwhile, social elites are civilizational yeast. I believe that in Poland under PiS rule, they will remain unyielding. (...) Elites are civilizational yeast, guides on the path of progress. They organize collective imagination around new challenges, open new possibilities. To properly fulfill their extra-professional function, without being accused of group egoism, they need environmental codes of decency.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25661919,elita-wykleta-stawia-opor-rzadom-prostactwa.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Joachim Brudziński, Stefan Niesiołowski, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Marek Sowa, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, Grzegorz Jarzyna.