-- KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ PROPOSES A JOINT COALITION CANDIDATE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/08/14 -- TUSK CAN BEAT THEM ALL. THE PRESIDENTIAL SCENARIO IS BACK - KAMIL DZIUBKA ON ONET: “In the government camp in recent weeks, the topic of Donald Tusk potentially running in the presidential elections has resurfaced, which is confirmed by representatives of all parties forming the government today. For the coalition partners of Civic Platform, this is an extremely important thread. They are making their decision on whether to field their own candidates in the battle for the Presidential Palace at all dependent on it.” -- I CAN IMAGINE A SCENARIO WHERE RAFAŁ TRZASKOWSKI BECOMES PRIME MINISTER, AND FOR EXAMPLE, CEZARY TOMCZYK HEADS CIVIC PLATFORM - ONE OF THE MINISTERS TELLS US - FURTHER ON ONET WITH DZIUBKA: “- I can imagine a scenario where Rafał Trzaskowski becomes Prime Minister, and for example, Cezary Tomczyk heads Civic Platform - one of the ministers tells us. Our interlocutor simultaneously recalls Donald Tusk's statement from spring 2023, when the parliamentary election campaign was heating up – victorious for KO, PSL, and the Left. During a rally in Lublin, the current head of government painted a vision of the first dozen or so months of his administration.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/tusk-moze-wszystkich-ograc-wraca-prezydencki-scenariusz/b963qt2 -- BOSAK RESIGNS FROM PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. JOY IN PIS - KAMILA BARANOWSKA IN INTERIA: “PiS calculates that Krzysztof Bosak would be a threat to the PiS candidate, as he would take votes away from the PiS candidate in the first round, whoever they may be. Bosak appeals to the same electorate as PiS – patriotic, national, valuing conservative principles, etc. (...) Meanwhile, according to our sources from PiS, Sławomir Mentzen is a problem, but more so for the Third Way and its candidate, who will most likely be Szymon Hołownia. Both appeal to a similar electorate, count on economically liberal voters, and focus on a message directed at entrepreneurs.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/wybory/prezydenckie/news-krzysztof-bosak-rezygnuje-z-wyborow-prezydenckich-radosc-w-p,nId,7756685 -- MENTZEN CAN GET UP TO 20 PERCENT - AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK ON OKO.PRESS: “After the experiences of that campaign, Confederation is preparing a 'facelift' for Mentzen. 'Sławomir Mentzen's support ceiling is set high. He has a chance to improve Confederation's result from the European Parliament elections. He could get up to 20 percent,' a spokesperson for Nowa Nadzieja tells OKO.press.” -- IT TURNS OUT BOSAK'S BIOGRAPHY IS CONSIDERED A BURDEN EVEN BY CONFEDERATION POLITICIANS - FURTHER ON OKO.PRESS WITH SZCZĘŚNIAK: “What else decided that Mentzen is to be the better candidate? It turns out that Bosak's biography is considered a burden even by Confederation politicians. 'Krzysztof Bosak represents the national environment. And Sławomir Mentzen represents the conservative-liberal one,' spokesperson Machulski tells OKO.press. This is expected to translate into Mentzen's greater chances for a better result.” -- PSL BELIEVES THE CANDIDATE WHO COMES IN THIRD WILL DECIDE WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IN 2025 - FURTHER ON OKO.PRESS WITH SZCZĘŚNIAK: “As a PSL politician told OKO.press recently, the candidate who finishes in third place will decide who becomes president in 2025. 'It's important whether it's a Third Way candidate or Confederation's. And Confederation voters will likely support the PiS candidate,' our interlocutor said.” https://oko.press/dlaczego-bosak-nie-bedzie-kandydatem-konfederacji -- YOU CAN'T GOVERN A COUNTRY IN PERMANENT ELECTION MODE, SOLELY BASED ON PUBLIC OPINION POLLS AND WITH THE HELP OF POLITICAL MARKETING EXPERTS - RYSZARD WOJTKOWSKI, WHO IS BEHIND HOŁOWNIA'S POLITICAL SUCCESS - WRITES IN RZ: “You cannot govern a country in permanent election mode, solely based on public opinion polls and with the help of political marketing experts. It is necessary to build a cross-party agenda and ensure effective coordination in the central administration for the implementation of adopted goals. It would be naive to expect this government to solve all the challenges facing us.” -- THERE ARE NO PROJECTS CAPABLE OF CAPTURING THE SOCIAL IMAGINATION, THE BEST PROOF OF WHICH IS THE DUSTING OFF OF PREVIOUSLY CRITICIZED CPK AND IZERI TOPICS - FURTHER ON RZ WITH WOJTKOWSKI: “The rapidly growing minimum wage and, consequently, the average salary are changing the economic outlook, which must find instruments for development other than low labor costs. Polish companies are left to face this task alone. There are no projects capable of capturing the social imagination, the best proof of which is the dusting off of previously criticized CPK and Izera topics.” -- IT IS PROBABLY CLEAR TO EVERYONE THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO IMPROVEMENT IN THE WAY OUR NATIONAL ASSETS ARE MANAGED - FURTHER ON RZ WITH RYSZARD WOJTKOWSKI: “It is probably clear to everyone that there has been no improvement in the management of our national assets. The selection for supervisory boards was done solely by invitation based on unclear criteria, and then management boards were assembled through formal competitions which, in practice, eliminated objectively the best candidates on the market. It seemed that after various Obajtk-like figures in State Treasury companies, things could only get better. If this does not happen, and such a scenario is realistic, it will be difficult to explain to voters.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-polityczno-spoleczne/art40961131-ryszard-wojtkowski-koalicji-rzadzacej-pod-rozwage -- THE THEATER THAT DONALD TUSK PRESENTED WITH 100 BILLION ZŁOTY ALLEGEDLY STOLEN BY PIS HAS ONLY ONE GOAL: TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM WHAT IS CURRENTLY THE REAL PROBLEM FOR VOTERS – RISING INFLATION AND INCREASES IN ENERGY PRICES, OR THE EXPECTED RISE IN WATER PRICES - ŁUKASZ WARZECHA IN RZ. https://www.rp.pl/opinie-polityczno-spoleczne/art40963481-warzecha-przemysl-przykrywkowy-kolejna-odslona-czyli-o-co-chodzi-tuskowi-ze-100-mld-pis -- HOW THE LEFT IS STEPPING INTO PIS'S SHOES - LESZEK KOSTRZEWSKI IN GW: “As calculated by Dr. Łukasz Wacławik from the Faculty of Management at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, after the reform, a farmer's widow who, together with her husband, paid only PLN 50,000 into KRUS (the farmers' insurance) throughout her life, will receive a higher widow's pension than a single shopkeeper who has paid over PLN 500,000 into ZUS. This is extremely unfair. According to the 2021 National Census, over 1.9 million women were raising children alone. These women may now feel like second-class citizens.” https://wyborcza.biz/biznes/7,147880,31224830,zmiany-w-rencie-wdowiej-sa-niesprawiedliwe-czyli-jak-lewica.html *** -- TOMORROW - 15.08 - FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF HENRYK WUJC'S DEATH. Photo: Drawing by Matylda Damięcka on FB: https://www.facebook.com/MatyldaD -- WALKING GOODNESS – EWA SIEDLECKA WROTE FOUR YEARS AGO: “He was about quiet, persistent work without reward, for which he never sought recognition or sympathy in any situation. His friends learned he was terminally ill just a few days before his death. Impossibly modest, but when it was beneficial for the cause, he could take on the burden of leadership. In Buddhism, there is the concept of a bodhisattva – a perfectly compassionate being who has freed themselves from the bonds of 'self,' but does not rest in nirvana, instead serving others, liberating them from suffering. For me, Henryk Wujec was the embodiment of a bodhisattva.” https://siedlecka.blog.polityka.pl/2020/08/15/pozegnanie-henryka-wujca/ -- FOUR YEARS AGO, EWA DEMARCZYK ALSO PASSED AWAY: The singer was 79 years old. “She presented what is noblest and most valuable in song to several generations,” wrote Wacław Krupiński. https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,114526,26212207,ewa-demarczyk-nie-zyje-miala-79-lat.html -- TODAY IS JULIA HARTWIG'S 103RD BIRTHDAY. -- JULIA HARTWIG'S POEM "THE GIFT": Thank you for the thorny gift of solitude And though solitude was meant to be like infertile land like a desert it nevertheless grew a bush From roots to the tips of branches night and day the bush plays in the wind and everything is remembered I will return to it. -- JULIA HARTWIG: TRAVELING: https://www.zeszytyliterackie.pl/1380/ -- HARTWIG'S MODESTY AND SIMPLICITY FROM HER DIARY: “The guests have left. Yesterday I also 'toured' their five-star hotel, where they stayed enjoying a significant seasonal discount. Everything in the hotel standard was perfect, but I suspect it would be easier for me to adapt in a more modest hotel, the kind I usually stay in during my travels. Here – complete alienation. There is a table, but certainly not for writing on, two enormous, luxuriously equipped beds take up most of the space. It is a luxurious place to sleep, but how to move around in this space?” https://kubanowacki.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/dziennik-julii-hartwig/ *** -- BIRTHDAYS: Marek Matuszewski. TOMORROW: Danuta Kuroń.