-- TERLECKI ON TVN24 STUDIO, MORE KUKIZ MPS GO TO PIS, PARUCH ON DE-ESCALATING THE CONFLICT - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/07/26/ -- PIOTR ZAREMBA ON VEGA AND MISIEWICZ - writes in PTT: “Bogdan Rymanowski invited Misiewicz to the Polsat studio, and the next day Vega. The former, having lost 25 kilos after months in detention, simply complained. The latter… Well, one would be hard-pressed to find such a display of arrogance in Polish media, though one might think they’d seen it all. The filmmaker, posing as a spokesman for the common people, nonchalantly announced that his watch cost twice as much as Misiewicz's lawsuit. Clearly, there’s such a thing as political hubris, but politicians don’t have a monopoly on it. Vega didn’t stop there. His mockery targeted his opponent's alleged homosexuality. The director asked if Misiewicz had engaged in passive sex in jail and if he would get pregnant. When the journalist relayed the hero of the ‘spicy scenes’ complaint that he wouldn’t want his children to see such ‘truth’ about him in the future, he heard that it’s unknown if Macierewicz’s former associate will have any children at all.” -- ZAREMBA ON THE OPPOSITION’S CROCODILE TEARS REGARDING ANOTHER FILM: “Vega first announces he will influence the election results – implicitly against PiS. Then, for instance on Rymanowski’s show, he assures he’s attacking the entire political world. A caricatured portrait of Grzegorz Schetyna also appeared in the previews. I repeat, he will do as he pleases, unless the court stops him. But it’s painful to watch the opposition’s intelligentsia, who shed crocodile tears over ‘Solid Gold’. In Vega’s case, they secretly rejoice. Perhaps, just perhaps, through the hands of ‘that boor’ something can be done to Kaczyński and his detestable party.” https://polskatimes.pl/patryk-vega-i-polityka-piotr-zaremba-gdzie-sa-granice-wolnosci/ar/c1-14304963 -- A CHANCE FOR NORMAL POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN BRUSSELS - JERZY HASZCZYŃSKI IN RZ: “It looks optimistic, and it can be further sweetened by the gratitude that the German politician owes to PiS for saving her candidacy during the European Parliament vote. With a new beginning, it’s important for it to be lasting. So that the door doesn't slam shut with a bang. PiS sometimes likes to slam doors, under pressure from that segment of the electorate that dislikes making deals with Germany and Brussels. Thanks to the agreement with von der Leyen, matters concerning the rule of law can be definitively moved to the Luxembourg court, giving the PiS government a chance for normal political activity in Brussels. However, any failure to comply with a CJEU ruling would be slamming the door. That's what this game is about.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/190729574-Haszczynski-PiS-znow-moze-grac-w-Brukseli.html -- CIVIC COALITION LEADS ON TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY, KOROL HESITATES, WAŁĘSA WANTS TO ENTER THE SEJM - DZIENNIK BAŁTYCKI: “When asked about the lists, Chairman Neumann says little. He only announces that the top spots will be sealed soon. And Grzegorz Schetyna is to announce them next Tuesday or Wednesday. It is certain that all current MPs from Pomerania will run in these elections. Except for one, who is still hesitating. And that is Adam Korol, the number one candidate from Gdańsk four years ago. This former athlete is to inform the authorities of his decision next Monday. He tells us: - I'm still thinking about running. I won't hide that personal reasons are a factor. Four years ago, the situation was completely different. At that time, I was the Minister of Sport, and the decision on the placement was made by Prime Minister Kopacz. I think the person who will be 'number one' will certainly manage. The rest of the parliamentarians have confirmed their readiness to run, including former MP and former MEP Jarosław Wałęsa.” https://plus.dziennikbaltycki.pl/wybory-parlamentarne-2019-kto-wystartuje-na-pomorzu-trwa-ukladanie-list-wyborczych-kazdy-polityk-nosi-jedynke-w-plecaku/ar/c1-14304617 -- ON RIVALRY WITHIN THE LISTS - GRZEGORZ OSIECKI AND TOMASZ ŻÓŁCIAK IN DGP: “This is intended to maximize the coalition's results. Each list must have at least one or two people from each district. Statistically, for PO lists, 10,000 votes mean a mandate. District governors or mayors are capable of providing us with such results – adds a PO politician. However, such a strategy threatens the individual ambitions of politicians. It’s getting crowded. Two young people have already been added to my list. I don’t know if I should run – says another PO MP.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/603598,opozycja-pis-listy-wyborcze-wybory.html -- PIS IS CRUSHING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS - GW: “Less money will come from the European Union, and the only solution may be loans. Many municipalities may have problems adopting budgets, and the largest Polish cities will have to tighten their belts significantly – this is the vision presented by local government officials from all over Poland. They believe the blame lies with PiS, which is implementing government programs at the expense of local governments. An example is the planned changes in the tax system, i.e., lowering PIT from 18 to 17 percent, zero PIT tax for people under 26, and increasing the costs of obtaining income. As calculated by the Association of Polish Cities, which brings together over 300 cities, local governments that receive a portion of PIT revenues will lose PLN 7.2 billion.” http://lodz.wyborcza.pl/lodz/7,35134,25027070,rzad-dobija-samorzady.html -- OKO.PRESS JOURNALIST BEATEN FOR BEING OUTRAGED BY HOMOPHOBIC GRAFFITI: “Our colleague and collaborator was severely beaten on Thursday, July 25th, around 6 PM on the Nadodrze boulevard in Wrocław. Przemysław Witkowski loudly expressed his outrage upon seeing homophobic slogans on a wall. When he dismounted his bicycle to fix a wheel, he was attacked by a young man, whom he suspects to be from the so-called 'Szturmowcy' movement. He has a broken nose.” http://lodz.wyborcza.pl/lodz/7,35134,25027070,rzad-dobija-samorzady.html -- THE WAR OF ELITES REACHES THE COMMON PEOPLE - JAN WRÓBEL IN DGP: “In the dominant narrative, we have the condemnation of 'bandits' and loud promises of their severe punishment. In the secondary narrative, we have calls to ban both bandit-like events and LGBT events (so, if the Smoleńsk march blockers threw stones at PiS leaders, logically, these marches should be banned!). Representatives of all parties in Poland, quarreling and blaming each other, have, however, inadvertently sided – with the sad exception of one governor and one minister – with a state of shared space. One where participants of even controversial demonstrations (like anti-vaxxers) who adhere to the legal framework applicable to all, can take to the streets protected by the police.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/artykuly/603591,bog-honor-i-wspolna-ojczyzna.html -- THEY PLAY AS PIS PLAYS, PARTY LOYALTY OVERRIDES DECENCY - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “Today, these politicians, fearing being labeled as far-left, distance themselves not only from supporting LGBT communities but also from fighting hatred. They play as PiS plays. Bartosz Arłukowicz, Barbara Nowacka, Rafał Trzaskowski, or Paweł Rabiej are politicians who should not be absent from Białystok on Sunday. They don’t have to lead the march, they don’t have to be representatives of their groups. They should be there, even against party lines, to bear witness to their commitment to the values they profess.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/307259892-Nizinkiewicz-Partyjnosc-wypiera-przyzwoitosc.html -- WHAT IS THE MODERNIZATION OF OLD TANKS ABOUT? AN ELECTION STRATEGY FOR SILESIA? - MARCIN KACZMARCZYK IN NEWSWEEK: “The answer to the question of whether the modernization of over 300 heavily outdated T-72 tanks for PLN 1.75 billion makes sense should be sought primarily in PiS's election strategy, in which Silesia now occupies a very important place.” https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/modernizacja-ponad-300-mocno-przestarzalych-czolgow-t-72-za-175-mld-zl/9gypp6b -- WOULD JESUS STICK AN "LGBT-FREE ZONE" STICKER? - TOMASZ TERLIKOWSKI ON FB: “The fundamental question for a Christian is how Jesus would behave in my place. Would Jesus stick an 'LGBT-free zone' sticker on the door of Peter's house in Capernaum? The answer is quite simple. Jesus never rejected anyone. He met with public sinners, tax collectors, the excluded and condemned. Respectable Jews were scandalized by his openness, emphasizing that if he knew who he was associating with, he wouldn’t meet them. But he did meet them. He didn’t choose categories of sin or sinners whom he would exclude,” the Catholic publicist wrote on Facebook.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/603078,strefa-wolna-od-lgbt-naklejki-terlikowski.html -- ANDRZEJ LEDER: AFTER THE EVENTS IN BIAŁYSTOK, WE NEED "FREEDOM PARADES" - writes in Krytyka: “For those who feel they live 'on islands of freedom,' in Warsaw or Gdańsk, 'freedom parades' should be a lesson that I am never free as long as my neighbor is enslaved. We too easily look with indifference at the fate of those for whom their place of birth did not grant them the privileges we have. And for everyone, freedom parades should allow them to rebuild the feeling that we are the majority, a large democratic community, without which real change will not be possible in Poland, and a state of apathy will suppress the necessary political mobilization.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/bialystok-rajdy-wolnosci/ -- MARCIN KĄCKI ON THE FACT THAT IN BIAŁYSTOK, THE CHURCH RULES, NOT CIVIC COALITION - tells Łukasz Pawłowski in Kultura Liberalna: “The fact that he belongs to PO has no significance. All officials, his deputy mayor, people influencing education, work together with the Church. We imagine that Civic Platform is a carrier of certain liberal and secular ideas, but it is not a monolith on a national scale. PO in Szczecin is completely different from PO in Białystok. Mayor Truskolaski in Białystok must account for the fact that the archbishop summons him from time to time. And he receives a certain interpretation of what is permissible and what is not. I know this because I saw it at the level of Białystok’s local government. The introduction to the official program for schools – ‘Education in the Białystok Municipality’ – was written by the local Archbishop Ozorowski, providing the prevailing educational interpretation: ‘Only Divine Revelation, recorded in the Bible and passed down by the Church, constitutes the foundation of healthy anthropology.’ The ‘Framework Program for Family Life Education in the City of Białystok,’ signed by Mayor Truskolaski, was written by Andrzej and Lidia Dakowicz, opponents of in vitro – he is associated with the Białystok Civitas Christiana Association. I also saw the museum there, which was renovated for about PLN 20 million. Nothing is happening in it; it is merely a social facility for priests. And the entire local government agrees to this.” -- KĄCKI ON TRUSKOLASKI AS THE BISHOP'S PUPPET: “He didn't answer my question about ideas – he skirted around the topics. But he admitted that in vitro is one of the reasons why he never officially joined Platform. When the inscription 'Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna' [God, Honor, Fatherland] appeared illegally on a local monument, violating copyright, Truskolaski did not react, telling me: ‘Was I supposed to be the one fighting God?’. I was unable to determine whether he believed in the ideas he represented in a party-political manner, whether he didn't understand them, or whether he cynically manipulated them. But I saw the consequences, I saw a catechist who allowed anti-Semitic drawings to be made during a religion class. It wasn't an incident, but a result of the system's operation. The catechist was assigned to the school on the orders of some parish priest, and the school principal agreed because she knew that the superintendent of education, who in turn knew that the city hall was permitting it, also agreed.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/07/26/marcin-kacki-bialystok-lgbt-kosciol/ -- YOUNG LEFT WILL GIVE SLD CREDIBILITY - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “Therefore, Włodzimierz Czarzasty should now understand that true diversity will give him a larger piece of the pie and, consequently, greater strength than pushing only his own candidates and his own lists. Sometimes the big must step aside to become even bigger. For years, the biggest sin of SLD was that it was a party far from left-wing ideology, making social policy mistakes so significant that PiS still lives by fixing them. But it was always efficient, pragmatic, and organizationally sound. It doesn't have to fear the younger, more ideological generation. Only they will provide the Alliance with credibility.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/307259895-Zuzanna-Dabrowska-Duza-lewica-moze-wiecej.html -- WATER FOR PEOPLE IS AS IMPORTANT AS 500+ - Anita Błaszczak in RZ: “Meanwhile, water management experts as early as the 1950s (my mother remembers this) warned that our water resources are at the level of desert Egypt, which also floods regularly, and significantly below Spain's level. Except that the Spanish have long officially acknowledged they have a water crisis and have set about rectifying the situation, investing billions of euros in hundreds of retention reservoirs. Stopping water here will also not be cheap and will probably cost more than the planned PLN 14 billion. However, this money cannot be lacking. It's a matter of our security, not only food security but also energy and demographic security. Stopping the water crisis is no less important for our children – present and future – than the 500+ program, on which we are to spend PLN 30 billion next year alone. Perhaps it’s worth allocating the same amount by 2027 for water retention?” https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/307259881-Piecset-plus-woda-minus.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Zbysław Owczarski.