Pain is temporary. Glory lasts forever.

New address.

2005-07-13T21:45:00.000+02:00

My blog can be found on dhost.info.

Strips preview 02: Alien Loves Predator

2005-07-11T20:49:00.000+02:00

From Alien Loves Predator. (Click for bigger versions). If you have like an hour of free time, I strongly recommend looking through the whole archive section.

Punishment

2005-07-10T14:08:00.000+02:00

Punishment is a complex concept which arouses great emotion. It involves the infliction of pain on one person by another. This pain is usually justified on the grounds that the first person has been guilty of some wrong-doing and that the second has a legal or moral right to respond by inflicting punishment. The right to inflict pain in this way comes, it is argued, from the authority of one party in relation to another, whether it be parent to child, teacher to pupil or judge to offender. It is generally accepted that any such punishment should be proportionate to the wrong which has been done. The emotion surrounding this subject arises when one begins to consider the nature of punishment and the purpose which it is meant to achieve. It is an emotion which has loomed large in recent years, particularly when the discussion is about the punishment which is to be meted out to those who have been found guilty of breaking the criminal law. The most extreme form of punishment which can be imposed in Polish society is imprisonment. One oft-quoted aphorism is that People are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. In other words, the punishment consists solely of being deprived of liberty. The only additional punishment should come about as a direct consequences of loss of liberty and not through any added penalties imposed by the prison system, such as restriction of diet or prohibition of contact with family or insanitary living conditions. This debate very quickly leads on to a discussion about the purpose of punishment. If it is purely retributive, one can argue that conditions of improsonment should be as punitive and restrictive as possible. But most commentators wish to add an element of reform or rehabilitation to the concept of punishment. One of its consquences, they argue, should be that the person who is subjected to the punishment will be less likely to commit further offences or crimes in the future and will be helped to lead a useful life in society. The change in behaviour will come about either because of the deterrent effect on the punishment or because it has led the person being punished to a greater awareness of the need to live differently in the future. The judge, like the parent of the wayward child, punishes an offender for his or her own good, in order to help the offender to become a better person. The difficulty with this worty ambitions is that the Polish cirminal justice system finds it very difficult to cope with such complext objectives. The offender who goes to prison regards imprisonment primarily as retributive and is not convinced by arguments about their potential for rehabilitation. The victim of the original offence is likely to be confused by a series of mixed messaged about how he or she is meant to benefit from the outcome of court proceedings. The public is at best ambivalent - unsure, that is, as to whether the process of justice is working or not. One of the unfortunate results of this confusion is that all parties are left dissatisfied and in a state of ambivalence about the whole system. As we begin a new century, it may be that the time has come to review the place of punishment in society. In particular, we need to consider the extend to which any criminal justice process is used as a means of repairing the harm which has been done by one individual to another. Certainly, this process is probably best equipped to deal with extreme acts of violence or breach of trust. However, there are already a number of successul examples, both in Poland and internationally, of forms of justice in lieu of imprisonment which better meet the needs of the victim, of the offender and of society.

Found on the net: Strip.

2005-07-08T09:57:00.000+02:00

From bigger than cheese:

Internet2 :)

2005-07-07T18:15:00.000+02:00

From the public root site: "he Internet, as it is today, is so congested that it does not allow for the development of cutting-edge applications. Internet congestion and reliability problems derive partly from the Internet's inability to set priorities. In an ideal environment mission-critical traffic would take precedence over spam, particularly when the network is congested. The shortage of good domain names and TLDs on the Internet deprive most primary users of the network the capability to access the right web sites. Internet2 is intended to be both an addition and a replacement for the congested Internet, without the need for a separate physical network. The availability of new domain names under many new Public TLDs (pTLDs) makes Internet2 orderly and easy to use. Internet2 and other next-generation Internet initiatives worldwide provide high-speed test beds for next-generation technology. Although many business people do not realize the practical, long-term business benefits of research projects (such as Internet2, Canada's CA*net, and Singapore's SingAREN) the ultimate solution for the deficiencies of today's Internet will be discovered through the efforts of research and educational networks. These test networks serve as an incubator for next-generation applications and networking technology that will form the cornerstone of the future of the Internet. The next-generation Internet protocol (Internet2): Several international networks are examining Internet2, including the Asia-Pacific Advanced Network, TransPAC, Russia's MirNET, and the Committee for Intercontinental Research Networking. Leading-edge networking technologies are being deployed today. The role of ATM in next-generation networks has been defined. Just like Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) IP over WDM, CA*net3 IPv6, the implications and aspects of QoS features including the reservation protocol (RSVP), differential services (Diff Serv), and Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). We are beginning to explore the requirements for security in next-generation Internet initiatives. The Internet2 users are about to access many next-generation services such as Globus and Cactus, and applications such as telelearning, multicasting, the multicast backbone (Mbone), videoconferencing, and digital libraries. Internet2 will enable information systems (IS) managers to strategize their corporations approach to 21st century Internet technology." WTF, "Jewish homosexual anti-catholic anti-polish communistic lobby" from Pentagon loosing their control over global communication? I am like 150% sure Bush' next target is Turkey :-)

Russia voids border treaty with Estonia

2005-07-03T23:09:00.000+02:00

From June 27, 2005: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told RIA Novosti during a visit to Helsinki that the Russian Federation had decided to revoke its signature from the border agreements it signed with the Estonian government in Moscow on May 18. The move comes just one week after the Estonian Riigikogu ratified the border document which slightly amends the border that has been used since Estonia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. A source inside the Russian Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass that the preamble to the document as ratified by the Estonian parliament was "unacceptable" because it mentioned the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, by which the Russian Socialist Federal Republic recognized the independent statehood of Estonia. Alexander Yakovenko, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry told Gateway 2 Russia, another Russian news wire, that this set up a situation where Estonia could claim land from Russia. Estonia lost 5 percent of its territory to Russia when authorities delineated the Estonian Soviet Federal Republic from the Russian Soviet Federal Republic in 1945. However, the Estonian Foreign Ministry has reiterated its stance that the border treaty seals the border with Russia, and the preamble makes no claims to Russian territory. "The Estonian side has repeatedly assured that it has not linked any new issues to the border treaties, and thus, the Russian side's assertion that Estonia has added new aspects to the treaty is ungrounded," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Estonian and Russian officials first agreed upon the border treaty in 1996, and then initialed them in 1999, according to the website of the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The preamble included with the treaty signed in May stated that the agreement would have no impact on other issues concerning Estonian-Russian bilateral relations and Urmas Paet, the Estonian foreign minister said in a statement on June 27 that Estonia has no land claims to Russia. "Russia does not have the will to normalize relations with Estonia and, I would say, even with the European Union and NATO," explained Marko Mihkelson, the deputy chairman of the Estonian foreign relations commission in a statement. "This is because here, indeed, we are talking about Estonian-Russian border, which is not only a border between the two states but also a border between the European Union and Russia," he said. Estonia is now urging Russia to reconsider its stance, while Lavrov told reporters in Helsinki that the two parties will have to start from scratch.

Big sell, tiny targets.

2005-07-02T12:29:00.000+02:00

Big companies are using increasingly intensive marketing techniques to promote their products - so what is new about that? They have been doing it for years. But what is disturbing is the fact that they are now targeting the very young, aiming to establish brand loyalt at an age when children have no ability to be discerning or to recognize the exploitative nature of the advertising wars being waged against them. Anyone who doubts this should watch the commercial breaks on children's television in the early afternoon or on a Saturday morning. Some of the advertisements for toys may be more or less acceptable to parents although the pressure on toys can be irritating and is always expensive. But many ads are for foods and soft drinks, most of which have high fat and sugar contents and are not particularly good for children. Sweden has banned ads during children's television programmes, and other countries have introduced restrictions at these times. Even if television advertising is controlled, what happens when the family hits the supermarket? Marketing people say that the big sell to the tinies began for them with the invention of the child-carrying supermarket trolley. Their most powerful weapon in the fight to sell is sitting right under the nose of the parent, bored, seeking attention and absolutely bound to spot anything whose packaging features a logo or a cartoon character seen regularly on the television. Children are easy targets. They begin pestering their parents to buy brand-name items almost as soon as they can talk, and the pressure doesn't let up. It takes until the age of about six for the young consumer to understand the difference between ad advert and a programme on the television, and even longer to appreciate what the ad is trying to do. Even then, the child does not necessarily care. Marketing managers are well aware of children's desperate need to keep in with the peer group. If they can start a craze with, for example, collectable toys given away in packets of cereal or crips, sales of that product will probably go through the roof. It does not stop with leisure and pleasure pursuits. It is a small step from the playground into the classroom, and the marketing men have already taken it. Most schools are acutely short of cash. Who can blame them for welcoming offers of wonderful 'freebie' educational resource packs? Does it matter that these include subtle or not so subtle references to the products of the generous donor? Even excercise books are now donated by companies who make sure that their logos are prominently displayed on the covers. Such marketing is aimed at a very impressionable age group, and although companies claim that it is the responsilibity of parents to monitor what their children eat, drink or play with, it may be that the time has come for a little more social responsibility to be shown by these people who are exploiting children for their own financial gain.

Penal reform.

2005-06-27T19:03:00.000+02:00

The reform of the penal system is something to which we all ought to turn our attention, and in particular, we need to examine, in the light of our philospohical justification of the process of imprisonment, what happens when those who have served their time are released. The fact that prisoners today do not have to endure the humiliating and degrading conditions of the 19th century reflects a general attitude that the prupose of prison is more than retribution, punishment and the protection of the society. The concept of rehabilitation has become far more significant, but we must strive to ensure that the practical measures needed for this are implemented. Far too many prisoners return to society at the end of their sentence with no support whatsoever. The prisoner who is released only to be confronted with the prospect of unemployment, homelessness and possibly family breakdown is in grave danger of returning to crime as the only viable way of making a living.

Evaluation system.

2005-06-26T17:24:00.000+02:00

I don't normally write nationalistic posts about how shitty it was in Poland for over fifty years but this time I will make an exception. From my exercise book: "As the 1984-85 miners' strike in South Yorkshire approached, miners were confident of victory. Their successes in the strikes of 1972 and '74 had helped to sustain the idea that the miners could not be defeated. Yet, very early on, it became evident that this was a different kind of strike. The miners were facing a different kind of regime. The struggle became one of political will. After what was to be a period of great austerity for the miners and their families, the strike eventually collapsed. Mining communities found themselves destitute, and the end of the strike marked a turning point for all workers. The economic and social restructuring which followed have barely been contested since. It is a tragedy how people's fate became a tool in the politicians' hands." Tragedy? OK, an example of how mining strikes were dealt with in Poland at that period: "Wujek" mining facility 1981 - nine victims and twenty-one people injured. "Manifest lipcowy" mining facility 1981 - four injured. Workers' manifestation in Poznan in 1956 - seventy-four victims. Gdansk 1968 - four thousand people arrested. Gdansk 1970 - forty-two victims. Lublin 1982 - three victims. English sissies.

Can the Earth keep up with human consumption?

2005-06-23T18:16:00.000+02:00

English exercise books can sometimes prove very useful sources of information. According to one of them, as a part of an experiment in sustainability, four intrepid bioneers were sealed in Biosphere 2, a massive airtight structure of glass, steel and cement domes covering 1.25 hectares of the Arizona desert. After two years, the occupants quit due to the inability of the ecosystems contained inside the biosphere to sustain human life and returned to Biosphere 1: the Earth. The experiment clearly showed that 1.25 hectares were far from enough for four people. The book says that the average Briton requires close to 5 hectares to support their lifestyle. A North American currently requires almost twice that, whereas the avarage Mexican gets by on less than half the UK level. We only have so much land. The text also mentions very interesting quote of Mark Twain: "The problem with land is that they stopped making it some time ago". The planet's 10 billion hectares sounds a lot, unless one considers that the population is 6 billion and likely to rise, and not forgetting that further space will need to be set aside for other species. By 2050, space per global citizen will have reduced to one hectare, if population projections of 9 billions are realised. More nations will be approaching US consumption levels in years to come, but this won't be a viable way forward. At least four additional earths would be needed to sustain such a level. Unlike the inhabitants of Biosphere 2, when Biosphere 1 fails, we will have nowhere else to go. I don't know how about you guys, but I am wondering how many hectares do I need for living with my level of consumption.

I typed "freedom". No Chinese visitors on my blog!

2005-06-22T18:56:00.000+02:00

Microsoft's new Chinese internet portal has banned the words "democracy" and "freedom" from parts of its website in an apparent effort to avoid offending Beijing's political censors. Users of the joint-venture portal, formally launched last month, have been blocked from using a range of potentially sensitive words to label personal websites they create using its free online blog service, MSN Spaces. Attempts to input words in Chinese such as "democracy" prompted an error message from the site: "This item contains forbidden speech. Please delete the forbidden speech from this item." Other phrases banned included the Chinese for "demonstration", "democratic movement" and "Taiwan independence". Read the whole article.

School is for those, who know nothing.

2005-06-18T15:56:00.000+02:00

As the end of a school year in Poland is getting closer and closer, I've decided to write a few sentences sumarizing current situation in Polish education. Just a few years ago, in 1999 if I remember correctly, a reorganization of learning system was introduced. An old 8-4 (eight years in a primary school and four years in a high school) system was replaced with a new 6-3-3 (six in primary school, three in secondary school - called gymnasium -, three in high school). The idea was that the teenagers during, so called, "tough years" need a special attention the new type of school could provide. However, because of the economical issues, most of the gymnasiums were created in the same buildings and under the same leadership as the primary schools. The result was that the teenagers don't get that special attention (the question is whether they really need it...) and they lose one year of education in the high schools (thus the high school teachers have one year less to make students the adults). The school year in Poland lasts from 1st September to ca. 20th June with a two-week interval between the terms and few shorter ones like ten days Christmas holidays, four days Easter holidays, or three days "long weekend" (1st-3rd May). Quite the contrary to the Western countries, the holidays between the school years last about ten weeks. I think this is dump. First of all, no one spends all that time away from home. Secondly, it is very easy to forget some things during so long break. Thirdly, after spending ten weeks on doing nothing, we have a real learning-spree till the second half of December (four months). I would prefer having only one month of the holidays, but also regular two-week intervals every two-three months of learning. Like it is in some countries. The funny part is, although being in a group with extended maths and biology (it also includes physics and chemistry), I will have only one hour of biology and chemistry per week during the next year. Of course, there are many other important subjects that will have two hours per week - like music or religion classes. PE with its three hours is one of the most frequent subjects - just behind Polish and maths. Oh, and during those music classes, instead of learning about the history of art and famous musicians, we gonna sing and play the flute.

A lot of shit.

2005-06-13T20:24:00.000+02:00

The chairman of U-Tech Media, the biggest Taiwan corporation producing the optic discs of all kind (like CDs, for example), has revealed the market statistics. During the whole 2004 there were as many as eighteen billion CDs containing data, music and movies produced. Being completely astonished by such a great number I have made some calculations. After a serie of thorough measurements, it seems that a tube of eight CDs occupies 144 cubic centimeters. Therefore, a cubic meter can be occupied by as many as circa 6,900 CDs. Assuming that an avarage pool situated in an avarage courtyard (well, we don't have such courtyards in Poland, but I believe - at least want to believe - people on Florida has) is 15m x 10m x 2m, it takes 150 cubic meters. Thus an empty swimming-pool can be used as a storage place for 1,035,000 CDs. Eighteen billion CDs will need like 17,391 pools. If there is one swimming-pool every 2,000 houses and in each house live four people, 17,391 pools can be found in ca. 130-milion-people country. Like Nigeria. Though I doubt they have any pools there. By the way, today I have watched "Fight Club" and I can tell you - this film is weird. Really, really weird. But nevertheless, you should watch it, if you haven't done so already. It has a plot complicated like Memento, thrilling like the Storm Of The Century and freaky like Edward Scissorhands ;) 7.5/10 in the Rythin's scale (eights and nines reserved for the greates movies of the all times, tens just don't happen :)).

How easy it is to become a hero...

2005-06-10T16:26:00.000+02:00

Yuliya Tymoshenko, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, has stated that she supports the idea of opening a cementary of Lviv Eagles. "I would like our nations to respect each other, respect our history, remember it", she said during her few days visit in Poland. Lviv Eagles are child soldiers who defended the city of Lviv during the Polish-Ukrainian war of 1918-1919. After the annexation of Lviv by the Soviet Union, their graves were destroyed and the mausoleum was turned into a magazine and truck depot. The funny part is, Yuliya Tymoshenko, along with Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine", were the organizers of an Ukraine-wide action called "Volhynia - Ukrainian Land, OUN and UPA - our heroes". They have then manifested in front of a Polish embassy and encouraged the president not to apologize Poles for Volhynian Massacre. What are OUN, UPA and Volhynian Massacre? The Massacre of Poles in Volhynia refers to the action of ethnic cleansing of the area of Volhynia (Polish Wołyń) by forces of Ukrainian nationalists. During World War II, approximately 100,000 Poles were massacred in Volhynia by units of the Ukrainian Uprising Army (Ukrainska Povstanska Armiya). The campaign lasted from 1943 to 1944, with the most casualties (between 40 and 60 thousands) reported in the summer and autumn of 1944. The wiki's article also mentions Polish retaliations, but I couldn't found any proof for that. A few months later, Tymoshenko stated that she has nothing to do with the Ukrainian nationalists. "(...) Respect each other, respect our history, remember it." Well, I am not going to forget about it, am I? Oh, and in case any Ukrainian is reading it - I wouldn't vote for her in the next elections if I were you.

School.

2005-06-09T21:11:00.000+02:00

Ah, a month before the end of a school year. Probably the worst period of my annual calendar, the only thing that can prove more exhausting than two hundred push-ups. On only one hand. For last three weeks I have been living from Sunday to Sunday, eagerly awaiting next weekends and holidays. Doing completely nothing in the afternoons, I have been just waiting for a next day to start and thus to end quicker. I live in a completely different world, a world of holiday plans and dreams about July and August. Now, when there are only seven days to go I feel like this year's stress is reaching its culmination. I hope I won't do anything stupid before the term comes to the end... At today's uber-boring religion class I have almost left the classroom after yet another teasing taunt from our teacher. He actually accused my friend of behaving like me. Can't say it is reasonable. Well, anyway, I was planning to go to France on a language camp but couldn't find any Polish organisation that would agree on anyone younger than eighteen. And I think it is too late now to look at direct French offers, as they are probably all full. If any of you have any info on that kind of stuff I would appreciate the contact. Either via ICQ (222553833), mail (nick+gmail.com) or the blog.

Old food adventures.

2005-06-08T21:50:00.000+02:00

I have came across a very interesting scientific project, stinkymeat.net. It is really fascinating how a piece of pork can change when the time passes. And it is even more interesting how a man can fall in love with the maggots. It is also full of additional reports in which they include a description of minor projects, like placing a plate of livers at the gas station or planting a potted meat with biscuit in someone's mailbox. Gotta see that.

Interesting articles: Sealand

2005-06-05T13:48:00.000+02:00

The Principality of Sealand is a micronation that claims to be an independent sovereign principality, though it is not officially recognized as such by any member of the United Nations. If considered as a country, it is by far the smallest one on earth: it has a population that rarely exceeds five, and an inhabitable area of some 550 m^(2). Sealand occupies a structure that was created when a purpose-built World War II-era Royal Navy barge was towed to a position above Rough Sands sandbar in the North Sea and had its hold intentionally flooded. It is sited six statute miles (10 km) off the coast of Suffolk, England, at 51° 53? 40? N 1° 28? 57? E (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=51_53_40_N_1_28_57_E_), and has been occupied since 1967 by the family of Paddy Roy Bates and their associates. It is probably the world's best-known micronation, and although its "national" sovereignity and legitimacy is hotly contested by many, it is nevertheless sometimes cited in debates as an interesting case study of how various principles of international law are applied to a contested territory. n 1942 during World War II, HMS Fort Rough was constructed in England as one of the Maunsell Sea Forts. It comprised a floating barge with a superstructure of two towers joined by a deck upon which other structures could be added. The barge was towed to a position above Rough Sands sandbar where its hold was intentionally flooded so that the hulk sank to a resting place on the sandbar. The structure now visible above the waterline is the superstructure of the vessel. The facility was occupied by 150-300 Royal Navy personnel throughout World War II; however, after the war all personnel were evacuated and HMS Fort Rough was left derelict. On September 2, 1967, the fort was occupied by Paddy Roy Bates, a British subject and pirate radio broadcaster, who ejected a competing group of pirate broadcasters and claimed it as his own. At that time, the United Kingdom claimed territorial waters of three nautical miles (5.6 km) from its coast, and therefore Roughs Tower was located in international waters, outside the territorial jurisdiction of any state. After taking legal advice, Bates declared the fortress to be an independent state, named it Sealand, and declared himself and his wife, Joan Bates, to be its sovereign rulers. In 1968, Michael Bates was summoned to court as a result of an incident during which shots were fired at a British navy vessel in the vicinity of Sealand. According to some reports the vessel's occupants were intending to evict Bates from the fortress, while others state that they were simply attempting to repair a nearby navigation buoy. In delivering its decision on November 25, 1968, the court stated that because the incident occurred outside British territorial waters, the court possessed no jurisdiction to rule on the matter. In 1978, while Bates was away, the "Prime Minister" he had appointed, Professor Alexander G. Achenbach, and several Dutch citizens staged a coup d'état, forcibly taking over Roughs Tower and holding his son, Michael, captive, before releasing him several days later in the Netherlands. Bates thereupon enlisted armed assistance and, in a helicopter assault, retook the fortress. He then held the invaders captive, claiming them as prisoners of war. The Dutch participants in the invasion were repatriated at the cessation of the "war"; in contrast, Achenbach, a German citizen, was charged with treason against Sealand and imprisoned indefinitely. The governments of the Netherlands and Germany petitioned the British government for his release, but the United Kingdom disavowed all responsibility, citing the 1968 court decision. Germany then sent a diplomat to Roughs Tower to negotiate for Achenbach's release, and after several weeks Roy Bates relented – subsequently claiming that the diplomat's visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany. (Germany has not confirmed this interpretation.) Following his repatriation Professor Achenbach established an "exile" government in Germany, in opposition to Roy Bates, assuming the title of "Chairman of the Privy Council". Upon Achenbach's resignation for health reasons in August 1989, the rebel government's "Minister for Economic Co-operation", Johannes Seiger, assumed control, with the position of "Prime Minister and Chairman of the Privy Council". Seiger continues to claim that he is Sealand's legitimate ruling authority. For a period, Sealand passports were mass manufactured and widely sold (mostly to Eastern Europeans) by a Spanish-based group believed to be associated with the Seiger "exile government". These passports, which were not authorised by the Bates family, were involved in several high-profile crimes, including the murder of Gianni Versace. Due to the massive quantity in circulation (estimated at 150,000), in 1997 the Bates family revoked all of the Sealand passports that they themselves had issued in the previous thirty years.

Pixelart II

2005-06-04T14:18:00.001+02:00

Updated it a bit.

Pixelart I

2005-06-03T23:11:00.000+02:00

I have recently been trying to draw a pixelart. Any comments appreciated (bear in mind that I am a noob and can be easily discouraged :)).

Poland in NATO - Belarus to be killed?

2005-06-03T21:19:00.000+02:00

Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has expressed his fear of probable military intervention in Belarus. He also stated that currently Belarus is under heavy pressure and "the Western lobbies" are only waiting for any Belarusian mistake so that they could start a war. War? Who are you kidding, boy? Last time I checked you had no oil thus I doubt you could be a threat towards a democracy. Lukashenko said that the biggest supporters of the cause are the countries that used to be Soviet Republics and the members of Warsaw Pact and has recently joined the North Atlantic Alliance. He is then refering to Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and the Baltic states. Well, I wouldn't be so surprised if I were him - as some of you may know there are currently very hard tensions in the Polish-Belarusian diplomatic relations, as the Belarusians terrorize the members of Polish community in their country, delegalize Polish non-political organisations and have even recently expelled few diplomats from Poland. They have also ceased any negotiations concerning on all the Polish cemeteries in Minsk. If there is anyone looking for a military conflict, that would be Lukashenko himself. What's funniest, he also said that those countries (told to do so by their new, western administrators) started to teach Belarus a democracy, not understanding this complex conception because of their roughness. Lukashenko also accused them of trying to hide their own social problems. I, however, don't believe there shall be an any kind of military action. First of all, NATO is too afraid of possible Russian intervention and would have to attack from the Baltic states and Poland. I am more than sure those countries would never agree on something like that as there is a big chance that the war would cross the border (personally, I can't imagine Belarusians' troops penetrating Mazovia, but still).

EU's constitution

2005-06-02T20:22:00.001+02:00

More than 61% of the Dutch people voted against the European Constitution. The 'no' follows a similiar vote in France last week that lead to the resignation of the prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. In France the goverment was highly pro-treaty and Dutch Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, pleaded over the past few days with voters not to be influenced by the French result. While the citizenship's vote is legally non-binding, the PM and the Dutch parliament have said they will support it. The Eurospecialists claim that the major reason for the 'no' vote were a worry over Turkey's inclusion and the rapid expansion of the EU. Well, I wouldn't personally call it rapid, especially as the countries who joined on the 1st May 2004 had been applying for more than ten years. If it is rapid, I presume a chess party is a blitzkrieg. I, however, agree that granting much responsibilities to a body of unelected political appointees is rather a big mistake of the European Constitution. It also grants a lot of legislative power to the Europen Council, a body that represents the executives of the various countries. This seems to be a bad solution as it ruins the Montesquieu's separation of powers system, which is a pillar of nowadays democracy. In spite of those objections, I would definately vote for the Constitution. I am simply afraid that the European Union won't manage to deal with any kind of division, and the division is very likely to appear after the referendums (unless all the countries vote for no, which seems to be highly unlikely). As for today I find EU a rather weak organisation that shall soon decline without a strong leadership and clear laws. I am not saying Europe is doomed, but I think a lot of time passes before we will live in a strong and united community. Haha, the Russians shall invade sooner :)

NBC and taxes.

2005-05-29T15:55:00.000+02:00

In December 1992 the Sejm passed the Broadcasting Act, which came into force on March 1, 1993. Under the law, the KRRiT (National Broadcasting Council) was appointed as a state organ competent as regards matters connected with radio and television. Earlier, a draft had been prepared to change constitutional regulations introducucing the NBC to the basic act. The NBC has worked since April 28, 1993. It consits of nine members representing different social and political circles. Four of them are appointed by the Sejm, two by the Senate and three by the President (very different social and political circles, eh). The term of office of each of the members is six years. Every two years one-third of the Council is replaced. Recently, the NBC has released a document called 'The Strategy of Poland in the field of electronic media in 2005-2020". It has even declared itself there as a guardian of the freedom of speech and the right to information. It seems, unfortunately, that this is just a platitude, because NBC announced that it is going to introduce a taxation of PCs. According to them, it is possible to watch TV and listen to the radio via PC, so it counts as a radiophonic and television tax. Also, they plan to ban Internet radio broadcast sites that has no broadcasting concessions (and buying one is much more than such sites can afford). They argue that it has been already introduced in Germany and France -- hm, well, but they have much cheaper and faster Internet and earn relatively more money. A Dane, who also happen to be a friend of mine, pays the same amount of money as me for four times better Internet connection and a fellow Finn says that 1Mbit connections are becoming a standard throughout Finland. Funny to hear that, as the most popular providing solutions offered in Poland are 56Kb/s and 115Kb/s (not, not KB, but Kb). Why not introducing a tax for beer? You can sometimes watch a match on TV in pub, so it would be reasonable.

Beach.

2005-05-29T13:34:00.000+02:00

I have been to the seaside on Saturday and after observing about twenty thousand different women I came to the conclusion that some rules need to be introduced in order to keep the beaches safe. I am thinking about men who can be a serious threat against the safety, when seeing a big-boobed dark-skinned long-legged hot blondes. 1. Women should be always wearing a bra, even under a swimming suit. 2. A swimming (or rather a sunbathing) suit should be always bigger than the breasts are so that the nipples couldn't be seen. 3. Women higher than 170 cms have to wear a dress not shorter than to the knees. 4. Showing thighs should be prohibitied. 5. Showing the tongue during licking the ice-creams should be prohibited. 6. Women should be aware which men are currently looking at their breasts and should then neither look nor smile to them. 7. Women who have perfect belly should cover it with a blouse. 8. Women with beautiful, perfect asses shouldn't be let into the beach before 2300. 9. Touching yourself and grunting should be penalized with death. I am a Polish boyfriend, Yes, yes, yes I am.

You will never walk alone

2005-05-25T23:55:00.000+02:00

When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of a lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

Two poems.

2005-05-25T21:12:00.000+02:00

I have recently read a beautiful poem, written by William Butler Yeats. Well, in fact, a part of it was used in Equilibrium, but I think that the whole poem is needed to fully enjoy a beauty of the composition. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899) Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. Inspired both by the previous poem and a little chat I have had with a friend recently, I tried to write something on my own. I find it deplorable that I dared to post my scribble along with the Yeats' output, but fine... A relict How fool I was, I ask myself, How could I lose so much, I wonder, It wasn't that hard, I lost to a human nature. I once had everything, Was adored, and respected. Now I have nothing but dreams, Dreams of the time that is gone. I once was searched by all the men, And reached by the individuals. I could choose among the hordes, While now I am being chosed. I became a platitude, An empty word written on the flag, Just a motto, a simple war cry, The one all the men laugh at. Hello, meet me. I am a glory, an honour, a good name. I am a relict of the old times. Please, choose me. Uh it schucks. If you don't like it as much as I do, please feel free to express your opinion.

Equilibrium

2005-05-22T22:29:00.000+02:00

I have added the fanlistings' banners recently, because I think it is trendy ;) and reflects my watching/listening habits quite good so that average visitor could learn what this all is about as my profil site is somewhat neglected (uh, that was a long sentence). Also, I have recently watched Equilibrium movie, both in Polish and English. To tell the truth, I think it is the best sci-fi movie that concerns on anything more ambitious than mech warriors. Equilibrium is set in the year 2072, in the dystopian city-state of Libria. The film explains how, in the early years of the twenty-first century, a Third World War breaks out, the impact of which brings civilisations across the planet to their knees. After the war ends, world leaders fear that the human race cannot possibly survive a Fourth World War, and so set about building a new society which is free of conflict. Believing that human emotion is responsible for man's inhumanity to man, the new leaders ban all materials deemed likely to stimulate strong emotions, including art, music, and literature (these materials are rated "EC-10" for "emotional content" and typically destroyed by immediate incineration). All citizens of Libria are required to take regular injections - "intervals" - of a liquid drug called Prozium, collected at distribution centres called Equilibrium. Prozium suppresses strong emotions, creating a sedate and conformist society. The loss of emotions is a heavy price, but it is considered to be one paid gladly in exchange for the elimination of war and crime. Libria is governed by the Tetragrammaton council, which is led by the reclusive figurehead known as "Father". Father never interacts with anyone outside the ruling council, but his image is omnipresent throughout the city in a strong cult of personality. The Tetragrammaton Council strives to create identical lives for all Librians, and uses its police state apparatus to enforce unity and conformity; nevertheless, there is a formal procedure of "processing" and trial pursued via the Palace of Justice prior to terminating enemies of the state (except in the case of unidentified persons, subject to summary destruction). At the pinnacle of Librian law-enforcement are the Grammaton Clerics, a special order of police trained in the deadly martial art of Gun Kata, an art which teaches users to predict the actions of opponents during firearm combat. The Clerics exist for the purpose of locating and destroying EC-10 materials, and for pursuing, apprehending, and (as necessary) terminating "sense-offenders," people guilty of feeling emotions. Despite the efforts of the police and Clerics, a resistance movement exists in Libria, known as "The Underground". Members of this movement believe that war and crime are a small price to pay in order to experience human emotions, and consequently they are responsible for terrorist activity against Libria, targeted specifically against the Prozium factories. The leaders of the Underground believe that if they can disrupt the production and distribution of Prozium for a short period of time - even a single day - then the Librians will rise up and destroy the Tetragrammaton Council. The Underground operates within Libria itself, but also has contact with resistance groups hiding in "The Nethers" - the ruins of the cities destroyed during the Third World War. These groups hoard objects and artifacts from the old society before World War III, including art and literature. Subsequently, they are the targets of Librian death squads composed of police and Clerics. The film's protagonist, Grammaton Cleric First Class John Preston, is one of Libria's highest ranking Clerics, whose success stems from his intuitive ability to identify sense-offenders. After a raid on a group of resistance members in The Nethers (which ends with the destruction of the Mona Lisa), Preston notices that his partner, Grammaton Cleric First Class Errol Partridge, has personally taken a copy of the poems of Yeats under false pretences. Preston discovers that Partridge has not turned the book over for destruction, so follows him to a ruined cathedral in the Nethers, where Partridge talks of the loss of everything that makes them human, most notably the right to experience emotions. When Preston argues that emotions lead to jealousy, hatred, and destruction, Partridge admits that it is a heavy price to pay, but one worth paying. Preston summarily executes Partridge for sensecrime. Shortly afterwards, Preston accidently breaks his morning dose of Prozium, and begins to experience emotions. Preston is assigned a new partner, the career-conscious Brandt, who claims to have similarly perceptive abilities in identifying sense offenders. Following a standard police raid on Mary O'Brien, a Librian woman who has stopped taking Prozium, his emotional confusion is exacerbated during her interrogation. Subsequent attacks and raids into the Nethers expose Preston to illegal objects salvaged from the ruined cities, such as music, and his fledgling emotions are further stimulated by seeing the sunrise over the skyscrapers of Libria, and being ordered to execute a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy in the Nethers. Preston has by now ceased taking Prozium, and is forced to try and maintain his monotone and emotionless facade in front of his son and the increasingly suspicious Brandt. Over the course of the film, Preston's behavior increasingly mirrors that of Partridge in the beginning, even to the point of repeated dialogue. The movie represents an emotional fight of Preston, who, being completely confused by the love he feels to Mary, has to make a choice whether he should actually join the Resistance and unleash the dogs of war the society can suffer from or simply do nothing and observe how his mates work as soulless robots. The love plot makes the choice much easier, but personally I don't know how I would behave under such circumstances. Feeling is good, but I can't imagine how terrible the Third World War could look like, especially when nowadays conflicts are aweful even without nuclear weapon. I don't know if I could live with a conscience that I exposed a humanity to complete anihilation. Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one. -- Benjamin Franklin Hmm, a very good quote. I think it cuts off all the ifs.

On +

2005-05-20T19:35:00.000+02:00

I have been terribly sick for last four days and enjoyed full range of evil symptoms, like a fever of 39 degrees, rigors and nausea. As I have announced at Lewis' blog, I am going to post a short summary concerning on a state of religion in Poland. I was encouraged by my Most Glorious catechist, Mrs F., who appears to be the most ridiculous person I have ever had to work with. And believe me, I have worked with many. Polish constitution (the newest one, proclaimed in 1997) states, that churches and denominational unions are completely equal in rights and the authorities should remain unbiassed in the matters of religion, ideology and philosophy, assuring a freedom of expressing them in a public life. Let us, however, compare it to the actual activities of the government.

In 2004, Polish 'Ecclesiastical fund' (aided and maintained by the government) has been given a dotation of 78.3 milion zlotys (over 23.8 milion US dollars).
Catholic Universities (e.g. Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski, Papieska Akademia Teologiczna, Chrzescijanska Akademia Teologiczna) have been granted a dotation of 67.5 mln zlotys (20.5 mln dollars).
Catholic priests (and only them) do not have to pay income taxes (only much smaller lump sums).
Catholic education in schools (catechisms) are financed by the country. According to MENiS, in 2002 it took more than a half of billion zlotys (whether you are from the States or UK - by billion I mean one thousand million). Not mentioning renting the classes and any other infrastructure.
Catholic church is not charged with custom payments.

The whole subsidy granted to the Catholic Church in Poland in 2004 is estimated to total 1,500 million zlotys (460 million US dollars, 250 million pounds sterlings). It is like 12,500 brand-new Mercedeses (assuming one costs 120,000 zlotys). Situation in schools is even funnier. I go to a normal, secular school, but still I am simply expected to attend to religion lessons. Of course, such lessons are not dedicated to the history of religions, their culture, influence, principles, etc. but are simply yet another sermons, just like in a church during a mass. Old, crazy catechists explain to us every verse of the Bible, one by one, teach about dogmas and order to learn long, boring prayers, which they find in a church weekly. If I don't want to attend to the religion classes, I have to show an excuse signed by my parents (thank God not parson or the Pope himself). Since I publicly admitted that I am an atheist I have been verbally attacked by the catechist many times. If I don't know the answer for her most pathethic questions, I am accussed of being caddish (caddish, really). For example, why do we say that the Catholic Church is *common*? Because, obviously, our Lord, Jesus Christs, redeems our souls. Yeah, right, you stupid bitch, go, buy yourself a dictionary and check what 'common' means. I am not anticlerical or something but as for a secular country, some things have to be changed in Poland.

Jozef Pilsudski

2005-05-14T20:49:00.000+02:00

A few days ago, just after the celebrations in Moscow, there was an anniversary of a death of Jozef Pilsudski, Polish dictator from 1926 to 1935. He is very controversial and problematic character of the Second Polish Republic. Just after the Treaty of Versailles, when independent Poland was formed from the territories of former Germany, Russia and Austria, he was released from the imprisonment in Magdeburg and appointed as a Commander in Chief and a Chief of State of renascent Polish state. He wanted to create a federation of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, so called Miedzymorze (Tween-Seas, myetsciMOSHee), also refered to as the Baltic Reich. Pilsudski's plan was, however, to be dashed by the outcome of the Polish-Soviet War that broke out in 1919 and lasted till 1921. He was aware that whoever wins in Russia, be it the Reds or the Whites, they will all soon declare war upon Poland. He knew that and decided to be quicker than them. In April 1920, Marshal Pilsudski signed an alliance with Ukraine to condunt joint war against Soviet Russia. The Polish and Ukrainian armies, under his command launched a successful offensive against the Russian forces in Ukraine. By 7th May, having done remarkably little fighting, they had captured Kiev. The Soviets launched their own offensive from Belarus and counter-attacked in Ukraine, advancing into Poland in a drive toward Germany in order to consolidate the communist revolution underway there. It was Pilsudski's risky, unconventional strategy at the Battle of Warsaw (August 1920) that would halt the Soviet advance. The Battle of Warsaw is probably the most famous battle in a history of Poland, just behind the Battle of Grunwald (GROONvald, Tannenberg). Thanks to the witty strategy of Pilsudski and braveness of his soldiers, the Russian attack was repulsed. In 1921, in Riga, the treaty between Poland and Soviets has been signed, giving the bulk of Belarus and Ukraine to Russia and recognising Polish independence. After the proclamation of March Constitution, which severly limited the powers of the presidency, Pilsudski refused to run for the office. In December 1922 he turns over his powers to his friend, the newly elected president, Gabriel Narutowicz. Two days later, Narutowicz was shot to death by fascist, antisemitic painter, who originally planned to kill Pilsudski. When a right-wing goverment came to power in May 1923, he resigned as a chief and went into retirement. Poland was in a very difficult situation. The goverments were falling one after the other and there was no sign of the end of a chaos to be seen. Three years after the resignation, in May 1926, Pilsudski performed the May Coup. He initiated Sanacja (Sanitation) goverment - conducted at times by authoritarian means - directed at restoring moral health to public life. Those few years, between 1926 and 1939 are very controversial. He actually led Poland to a political and economical stability and ensured its independence. He initiated a lot of reforms and signed non-aggression pacts with Germany and the Soviet Union. Many historians from all over the world claim that if Pilsudski had lived, the war with Germany would have never broke out as Hitler was panicly afraid of everything related to Pilsudski. In 1934, on the other hand, he proclaimed the law that would let him arrest people without a verdict of the court. It was used mainly against Ukrainian nationalists and the communists. Well, to tell the truth all his political enemies were persecuted and/or made to emigrate. But before you judge him, you must take into a consideration that the Polish political scene was torn between various parties eager to take over the power. He had to temper them down in order to keep everything in one piece and don't let the vile powers to attack Poland again. There are no evidences that anyone has been sentenced to death because of political opinions during Pilsudski's reign. When I think of all the circumstances he had to face, I must say I would do exactly the same. Exactly. If I had had to choose between the violation of the rights of subversives or the annexation of Poland by Russia, I would have picked the violation, no doubt. "To be defeated and not submit, that is victory; to be victorious and rest on one's laurels, that is defeat." - Jozef Pilsudski Some of the facts and dates taken from English wikipedia.

Sixty years ago, the world has started to breath again.

2005-05-09T22:55:00.000+02:00

Sixty years ago, the Second World War has ended. It was a global conflict that started on 7 July 1937 in Asia and 1 September 1939 in Europe and lasted until 1945, involving the majority of the world's countries and every inhabited continent. Virtually all countries that participated in World War I were involved in World War II. It was the most extensive and inexpensive armed conflict in the history of the World. Attributed in varying degrees to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, nationalism, and militarism, the causes of the war are a matter of debate. On which date the war began is also debated, cited as either the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, the Japanese invasion of China on 7 July 1937 (the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War), or earlier yet the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Still others argue that the two world wars are one conflict separated only by a "ceasefire". Fighting occurred across the Atlantic Ocean, in Western and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, the Middle East, in the Pacific and South East Asia, and it continued in China. In Europe, the war ended with the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 (V-E and Victory Days), but continued in Asia until Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (V-J Day). Approximately 57 million people died as a result of the war, including acts of genocide such as the Holocaust. As a case of total war, it involved the "home front" and bombing of civilians to a new degree. Nuclear weapons, jet aircraft, and RADAR are only a few of many war-time inventions. I find the anniversary celebrations in Moscow as a good time to sum up few things. The only real winner of this war is Soviet Union. The rest of Allies only lost people, resources, money and economical stability. Soviet Union, on the other hand, has been granted a huge sphere of influence. The 'Western' sphere of influence (British and American) actually didn't contain any influence at all and was merely a name for a democratic and econimic transformations, that occured in 50s and 60s. US also got a good excuse for leaving their isolationism policy, but in a long-term, when the Cold War is concerned, it would be better for them to stay in America and do nothing. I mean it. Soviet Union, however, got a complete control of almost half of Europe, not mentioning their influence over China after its civil war. It changed the Reds from a colossus on clay legs to a colossus on colossal legs. Following World War II, the Red Army occupied much of the territory that had been formerly held by the Axis countries: there were Soviet occupation zones in Germany and Austria, and Hungary and Poland were under practical military occupation, despite the fact that the latter was formally an Allied country. Soviet-friendly governments were established in Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and homegrown communist regimes existed in Yugoslavia and Albania. Finland retained formal independence, but was politically isolated and economically dependent on the Soviet Union. Greece, Italy and France were under the strong influence of local communist parties, which were at the very least friendly towards Moscow. Stalin hoped that the withdrawal of the Americans from Europe would lead to Soviet hegemony over the whole continent. The foundation of Trizonia and American help for the anti-communist side in the Greek Civil War changed the situation. East Germany was proclaimed a separate country in 1949, ruled by German communists. Moreover, Stalin made a decision to switch to direct control over his satellites in Central Europe: all of the countries were to be ruled by local communist parties that tried to implement the Soviet template locally. In 1948 this decision led to the establishment of Stalinist governments in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, later called the "Communist Bloc". Communist Albania remained an ally, but Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito broke with the USSR. Stalin viewed Soviet consolidation of power in the region as a necessary step to protect the USSR by surrounding it with countries with friendly governments, to act as a buffer against possible invaders. This action reversed the hopes of the West that Eastern Europe would be friendly to the West and form a cordon sanitaire (buffer) against Communism. It confirmed the fears of many in the West that the Soviet Union still intended to spread communism across the world. The relations between the Soviet Union and its former World War II western allies soon broke down, and gave way to a prolonged period of tension and distrust between east and west known as the Cold War. (See also Iron curtain.) At home, Stalin presented himself as a great wartime leader who had led the USSR to victory against the Nazis. By the end of 1940s, Russian nationalism increased. For instance, some inventions and scientific discoveries were reclaimed by ethnic Russian researchers. Examples include the boiler engine, reclaimed by father and son Cherepanovs; the electric bulb, by Yablochkov and Lodygin; the radio, by Popov; the airplane, by Mozhaysky; etc. Stalin's internal repressive policies continued and intensified (including in newly acquired territories), but never reached the extremes of the 1930s. According to some witness accounts, the anti-Semitic campaigns of 1948-1953 (see Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, rootless cosmopolitan, doctors' plot) were only the precursors of greater repression to come, but if such plans did indeed exist, Stalin died before he could implement them. I was born after the transformations and to tell the truth I could live with a Russian as my neighbour and friend. I would, however, need to hear that he feels pity of what had happened. And Wladymir Putin... well, he has his own policy of refering to the glory of SU and presenting it as the world's saviour. He denies Soviet's crimes during 2WW, especially when refering to Polish Katyn (see wiki's article), he claims the desintegration of SU as the biggest tragedy of 20th century, restored an old anthem, et cetera. I am sad to announce that there will be no reconcilation, sorry. When the 2WW's soldiers die and their sons die and sons of their sons die, there may be some hope. But not earlier.

WCS2k3

2005-05-08T21:29:00.000+02:00

The Snooker season has ended, but not my adventure with that magnificient sport, oh no. World Championship Snooker 2003 (and 2004, as soon as I shall take it from the friend) has been my entertainment since Friday. My dazzling and stunning carreer set off with China Open. I managed to win two games before I was beaten by Anthony Hamilton (who, by the way, won the whole tournament). For now, my biggest achievement was reaching the quarter finals in English Open in Plymouth. Damn, this game is really tough. Side spin, top sin, bottom spin and all this crappy stuff is very hard to be learnt, not mentioning the AI is very likely to play like an idiot in the beginning and make maneuvours completely impossible in the late game. IMO the funniest was a game with Stephen Maguire, who made 147-pointer and I didn't come up to the table even once in that frame. Currently, in the British GC I have won with some qualification guy, Jon Oldham-Malcom and Ryan Done-something. Now it is 1/16 stage of the tournament I will be playing with someone from top 32. Evil, I say. Being fully aware, that this is tremendously boring, I swear I will make a few updates concerning only on my astonishing carreer in WCS2k3 ;)

UK elections.

2005-05-06T16:08:00.000+02:00

Hiya everyone. Today's the day of UK elections. Both CNN and BBC says that according to the pre-election pools, the Labour Party of Tony Blair shall win. Personally, I don't care, but if that happens to be true, Poland may get some benefits in EU. Though I doubt. I have bought "The History of Germany 1648-1789". Only read few chaptes but it seems to be quite cool thing. Oh, and I have enrolled to 1558 RPG at Paradox forum as a Kingdom of Navarre. Wondering what Spain shall say about my claims on Aragon. Stay cool. PS. Oh, my friend, Benny the Satan and I (along with some other guy who I thought to be a skate) have won the movie competition. Woodie Allen, Woodie Allen!.

Blog from Baghdad

2005-05-03T22:53:00.000+02:00

I have recently read Blog from Baghdad, a non-digital version of what used to be at http://dearraed.blogspot.com. It is very sad and depressing description of both American-Iraqi conflict and a war as phenomenon in overall. He described queuing for water, petrol, hiding the supplies in the ground, bombings, the movements on the political scene and the cruelties of inva... changing the regime. Although I have never been to a war - at least in a military meaning of that word - I think I can imagine what he had to go through and I really admire him for his courage. He didn't show it in the battlefield, but just by writing his blog, he has described his everyday life and was brave enough to face all the insults and accusations. Oh, by the way, you can read a lot about the courage in the battlefield at Victorian Cross article at en.wikipedia. Victorian Cross is the highest award for valour that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces of any rank in any service and civilians under military control. At the bottom of the article there is a link to the list of the recipients with the short story of what they had done. Really, it is worth to be read, these are such stories people make later movies about. On 1 March 1858 near Amethi, India, Lieutenant Aikman, commanding an advanced picket with 100 of his men, was informed of the proximity of a body of 500 rebel infantry and 200 horse and guns. The lieutenant attacked and utterly routed this large enemy force, cutting up more than 100 of them, capturing two guns and driving the survivors over the River Goomtee. This feat was carried out over broken ground and partly under flanking fire from an adjoining fort. Lieutenant Aikman himself received a severe sabre cut in the face. Not everyone was lucky though -- On 13th November 1965 at approximately 1300 hours, a Vietnamese Civil Irregular Defence Group company commenced a search and destroy operation in the Tra Bong valley, 15 kilometres east of Tra Bong Special Forces camp in Quang Ngai Province. Accompanying the force were Captain F. Fazekas, senior Australian Advisor, with the centre platoon, and Warrant Officers K. A. Wheatley and R. J. Swanton with the right hand platoon. At about 1340 hours, Warrant Officer Wheatley reported contact with Viet Cong elements. The Viet Cong resistance increased in strength until finally Warrant Officer Wheatley asked for assistance. Captain Fazekas immediately organised the centre platoon to help and personally led and fought towards the action area. While moving towards this area he received another radio message from Warrant Officer Wheatley to say that Warrant Officer Swanton had been hit in the chest, and requested an air strike and an aircraft, for the evacuation of casualties. At about this time the right platoon broke in the face of heavy Viet Cong fire and began to scatter. Although told by the Civil Irregular Defence Group medical assistant that Warrant Officer Swanton was dying, Warrant Officer Wheatley refused to abandon him. He discarded his radio to enable him to half drag, half carry Warrant Officer Swanton, under heavy machine-gun and automatic rifle fire, out of the open rice paddies into the comparative safety of a wooded area, some 200 metres away. He was assisted by a Civil Irregular Defence Group member, Private Dinh Do who, when the Viet Cong were only some ten metres away, urged him to leave his dying comrade. Again he refused, and was seen to pull the pins from two grenades and calmly awaited the Viet Cong, holding one grenade in each hand. Shortly afterwards, two grenade explosions were heard, followed by several bursts of small arms fire. At least he didn't die for an oil. By the way dying for the oil, Polish PM announced that Polish army is about to leave Iraq at the beginning of the next year. It is just a political trick to cripple the opposition's main argument before the autumn elections. As for me both the current goverment and the PM could stay - other parties won't make any good, and they can even damage something. Managing a society isn't an easy thing, is it? After four-day weekend most of the people get back to work/school. Yes, evil foreigners, here in Poland 1st May is a national holiday (not if that matters, it was Sunday anyway). And I have an idea for my new hobby - underwear designing.

Shaun Murphy vs. Matthew Stevens

2005-05-03T12:04:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I have seen the most wonderful game of the whole this year's championships. Well, a final has to be neat after all. I am little embarassed, because I have expected Ebdon and McCulloch to play in the final, while it was semi-final's second pair who figthed for the most prestigious title in the snooker world. Shaun Murphy is this year's phenomenon. He was forty in the rank before the cahmps started, he had to play two games in eliminations and now - tada - the World Champ. It is bad that Stevens, who has been playing for eleven years at the same, magnificient level, didn't manage to keep the advantage after the second session. He is highly unlucky, you know - he was in many finals and semi-finals but during those eleven years he managed to win only one tournament. Nevertheless, he is in top 10 in the rank, so it says something about his skills. The title of World Champ would be a great prize for all those disappointements, but well, apart from skills and abilities, you have to be lucky as well. Like Jimmy White who was losing in the WC finals for five years in a row. Anyway, after a beautiful match it was 18 to 16 and 250,000 pounds for Murphy. My God, 250k pounds for playing with your stick for thirteen days. Nice. I find myself as a candidate for the world champ in the future. The second finalist gets only 125,000. Now I know why they were sweating so much. And this is the end of the snooker season. They won't resume the coverage before October, that's a pity. I have to find a new hobby. Parachuting, maybe?

Pre-election pools

2005-04-30T13:11:00.000+02:00

According to OBOP, Polish biggest survey agency, PiS has enjoyed enormous increase of popularity for the whole last month. Now it is leading in pre-election pools with 20% support, just before PO with 19% and Samoobrona with 16%. I don't know whether it is good or bad. If either Samoobrona or LPR (right-wing nationalist parties) had bigger support, I would probably be happy that the winning group isn't a bunch of cheuvinistic, amusing idiots, but quite Western-orientated party. But they don't and PiS seems to be a bad option as well. First of all, they do not have any economic election programme. They just keep talking about settling accounts with mafia, corrupted politics and tightening the law. They want to introduce death sentence for murderers and rapers and life sentence for everyone else. Everyone, really. If while driving a car at night, you have killed a drunkard who suddenly jumped out of the darkness, you should be sentenced to either life imprisonment or just twenty-five years. For owning an illegal copy of computer program or warez, you would have to pay huge fine, your PC would be confiscated and you shall be imprisoned for one up to three months. Lovely. But that's not everything. PiS has two leaders, who also happen to be brothers. One of them announced that he will be a candidate in the presidential elections (he already has the biggest support) and the second one says he is going to be a PM if his party wins. Now that's very good example of the separation of power - in this case the president shall neither veto the law or do anything against the ruling party. Ever. The second party and the only one that can compete with PiS is PO (Citizens' Platform, or something). They are right-wingers, but in some issues they incline to the views of the center. They announce social reforms and more friendly attitude towards the European Union. They appear to be more conservative than PiS but still very liberal. As far as I know they plan to do something with gay marriages (not neccessarily legalizing them, maybe just letting gays to have property bonds, or something). Both Samoobrona and LPR are typical right-wing nationalist parties. They scream about both Catholic and Polish values, they both say no to UE and US, they announce reducing export and promoting Polish products, want to build new public Catholic schools, ban buying Polish land by foreigners (the most stupid things I have ever heard). Oh, and they say they want to get Lithuania and Ukrainian terrains back. Riight. But why do 20% of society vote for them? Personally, I would prefer either PO or SdPl. SdPl is a new socialist, liberal party. They want to continue the politics of previous goverment, but spend more money on social reforms and creating new job possibilities. Riight. But when compared to those fascists, their programme is the best. The elections are announced to be performed in the Autumn.

Peter Ebdon vs. Ronnie O'Sullivan

2005-04-29T23:38:00.000+02:00

It was the first game with Ronnie O'Sullivan I have seen for a long time. And although he lost 11 to 13 I must say that he didn't disappoint me. It was a match full of dramaturgy, simple mistakes and terrific masterpieces. Ronnie O'Sullivan is a typical showman. He made stupid faces, laughed at the opponent, played with his teeth, hid his face somewhere behind the chair, chatted with an audience and so on and so forth. His main problem is that when he does all those commercial tricks (maybe they are not commercial and he is just an amusing idiot) he deconcentrates very quickly. When he is focused and thinks only about winning, he appears as the best player of all times. But when he tries to hit a forcemeat ball when laughing, the result is easy to predict. I don't blame him for that - it is very similiar to what I used to be doing when I played tennis. When it was my time, I could do all those things you can see on the Eurosport (much weaker and slower, but still quite nice for an amateur). But when I had a bad day, I played like it had been my first training. Peter Ebdon is a complete negation of Ronnie O'Sullivan. He plays slowly, think for long minutes about every play, travels around the table, asks for cleaning the ball every ten seconds, etc. He doesn't smile even when winning and he simply hates Ronnie's attitude. He plays boring, defensive snooker and manipulates with his eyes all the time (I suspect health problems). He would be an ideal player for snooker from 50s or 60s when the public weren't interest in the game at all, but now, when there is a full TV coverage and satellite channels fights with each other for broadcast's hours, he is just boring and unspectacular. Well, winning is winning, but it doesn't change the fact he simply sucks. When the final session begun, O'Sullivan was winning 10 to 6. Then 10 to 10 draw came and I thought he would spend 20-minutes break on speaking with his friend and psychologists (who AFAIK used to be a very good snooker player). Well, maybe he did, but it changed nothing, because he lost 11 to 13. I have heard that he announced quiting pro snookering for a year. Well, it would be a pity, because I think that if he had focused, he could have won with Ebdon 13 to 0. In a Peter Ebdon vs Shaun Murphy game it is 12 to 12 and I hope Murphy will win (but he won't and then Ebdon shall beat McCulloch in the finals and become a champ). He is a very good, young player. Along with that Jap from China Open he shall dominante pro snooker one day. But not yet...

The Pope, Snooker and laziness.

2005-04-27T18:43:00.000+02:00

Many things have happened recently, but I was too lazy... er, busy to write a post. Well, now finally I am sitting in front of PC so here it is. First of, I have finally finished beta testing of my brand-new eu2wiki project. It is a wiki encyclopaedia covering topics related to Paradox' Europa Universalis 2. I tried to unite all FAQs, guides, strategies and articles about gaming in this one big datebase. And honestly, I must say I am quite disappointed with EU2 community. There were only few people who really supported the idea and all those know-it-alls who post a lot didn't type a single letter for eu2wiki (no, not Hive, he typed as much as two sentences ;)). It is yet another example of how people are lazy - they are so enthusiastic about giving advices, but when it comes to real contributing, they disappear just to reappear when there is almost nothing left to do. Secondly, a new pope has been elected. I wouldn't normally care about Vatican's policy towards some issues, but as Poland is rather Catholic country, I do. If Benedict XVI is going to maintain the policy of John Paul II, well, God bless him. Although I do support gay marrages (if they want to marry, I don't care, but I don't believe a kid being raised in such family will be normal in later life), and even euthanasia in the most drastic cases (all the people against euthanasia has probably never seen a person dying from a lung or stomach cancer), but I can't imagine how huge turmoil would broke out if the Pope would hug a gay on TV. We already have enough political problems with a matter of faith. Thirdly, there is a full TV coverage from Sheffield's Snooker World Champs on Eurosport, so I spend at least few hours every day on watching those funny Brits playing with their sticks. Stephen Henry lost with Matthew Stevens today, so now there is no one I could look on. This year's champs are full of disappointments. First, John Higgins lost with Shaun Murphy (who IMO has big chances for a title, if he won't lost his nerves during the match with Ronnie O'Sullivan), then Jimmi White lost 5 to 13 with Stevens. Ken Doherty, who I expected to reach at least the quarter-finals, lost in the second round with Alan McManus. It is also a pity Mark J Williams was beaten by Ian McCulloch, but let's be realists - it is a surprise he managed to win as much as twelve breaks. I like him, but he sucks in long hits. BTW, I have started my private pic gallery. I want to be a hobbyst photographer and that's the place where I will upload my next scribbles. From now on, every post will have it's dedicated pic (not neccessarily mine). Today's one - the most intelligent face of Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Motivations.

2005-04-23T17:18:00.000+02:00

We know what drives you. It's a duel. It's a challenge. It's a victory. We know what you feel. It's a pain. It's a joy. It's a sense of victory. Welcome to real life. Yesterday doesn't belong to you. Tommorow is uncertain. Only today is yours. - His Holiness John Paul II.

I KAN SPEL - part two.

2005-04-15T20:32:00.000+02:00

Wasn't that bad after all.

I KAN SPEL - fears of a young man.

2005-04-14T22:47:00.000+02:00

“Face the brutes.” That is a lesson for all life—face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them. - Swami Vivekananda Tommorow I will face my brute - I will write the final test of this year's English competition in my voivodship. Not that I am surprised I managed to go that far, but it just scares me. I don't know why, but I am much more worried than I was on 15th December, when I was about to write a certificate examination (which was much important). Now, four months later, after spending A LOT of time on reading English forums, sites, books and newspapers, when I am really aware of my weaknesses (writing, this is my real pain), I am afraid like a shit. It may sound like boasting and overestimating myself, especially if you are the one who I have been talking to (via ICQ) for months, but I really speak English well. It may not be seen here or on the ICQ, as from the set of competences, my writing is the worst one, but in fact, I am quite proud of my knowledge (now THAT is a boasting). But still, I am afraid like a shit. When I look at all these people from the net, who form wonderful sentences so easily, I fall into a depression. I fall into a depression everytime I see an old man on TV who speaks English much better than I do. I fall into a depression everytime I have to write something and think about every sentence for long minutes. I fall into a depression when I forget about an article (or worse - when I choose a wrong one) . I fall into a depression when I have to look up words like 'prerequisit' or 'wacky' in the dictionary . On such moments I realize how much there is yet to be learned. And a form of such competitions - it also scaries me. After the sixty minutes of writing you have to sit in one room for three hours. Then, after those three hours of thinking about your test and possible mistakes, the results arrive. When 5/6 of all competitors leave, there is a time for oral examinations. Which is evil as well - you can get either very simple or very hard question and your success is determined purely by your luck. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt I hope that this contest will be like the previous ones - a lot of nerves and then a success. But who knows, my run of luck may end one day. And this day may be tommorow. Or may be not. Uncertainty is scary. "Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales. It is not good either to forget the questions that philosophy asks, or to persuade ourselves that we have found indubitable answers to them." - Bertrand Russell Maybe he is right. But I do like fighting till the end -- "The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers." - Erich Fromm

Clouds over Prussia - part one.

2005-04-12T21:11:00.000+02:00

Von Moltke didn't like such parties. Dealing with a bunch of old, snotty, parochial aristrocrats, who just loved recollecting those famous old, good times, was something really tiresome. Not mentioning all those old, conservative ladies, who, although being devouted Christians, were constantly trying to rub and tickle him. Unfortunately, he was forced to visit Pappenheim's mansion, as Prinz Karl Pappenheim was a generous donator to the von Moltke's division. The famous Pappenheim's Mansion, a gloomy castle of Kirstenchau, the only place on the Earth, which Satan himself was too afraid to enter. Who knows how big perversions its halls had seen before. Anyway, attending to the annual banquet at which Prinz Karl's birthday was celebrated was rather safe. This time von Moltke, however, was highly unfortunate. He had to sit between two politicians, who really hated each other - Klemens Birdau from a conservative Zentrumpartei and Wilhelm Pappenheim, a nephew of Prinz Karl himself, from Liberaldem. Partei. If von Moltke had been a lucky man, maybe those two wouldn't have talked about the politics. But he hadn't. "I tell you, my dear Klemens, Germany doesn't need any kind of further unification." Wilhelm said "I mean, well, the thing that unites all the Germans is the feeling of being a German - it can't be measured and justified by borders between the countries." "If we indeed care about Germans and our feelings, the first thing we should do is unifying lands in one, strong German country. It is not so hard to predict what will happen, if we don't. Someone shall invade us, whether it will be Hungarians from Austria or France supported by those pesky Belgians." Birdau stated. "Indeed, but only if your outmoded views and doctrines prevail. You will remember my words - Europe is changing, Klemens. Conservative, imperialistic beliefs are regarded as outdated more and more often. The true power lies in a liberal goverment, and people will learn this soon. But anyway, how come it is so important for your party to seed those chauvinist thoughts in the minds of a society? Why is, so called, unification so important?" "Because it shall strengthen the economy, increase the manpower and create a new possibilities of further industrial development. Not mentioning our, as you like to say, outmoded desire of living in a single, strong country led by strong German people." Pappenheim laughed ill-boding. "Your desires are also things you loath, it seems. You want the leadership to be focused in hands of one, strong ruler. But you forgot your conservative friends from the other German minor states, I mean those, who also happen to be dukes and princes, shall never accept a superior authority. And what do you plan to do with it?" "Nothing much. It is just a matter of right words. The Emperor of all Germans is a bit more neutral than the Emperor of Germany, don't you think? And the thing that will trigger their acceptation is a war with France." Pappenheim frowned with a repugnance. "It will never happened." he said. Von Moltke rolled his eyes. He had nothing to do, so listening to the politicians wasn't that bad idea. He was just about to take some tomatoes from a nearby plate, when the messanged came in. He grabbed the letter and read it discreetly. He clicked loudly. Both Birdau and Wilhelm Pappenheim looked at him. "I regret to inform it already did." he said.

The Matrix

2005-04-08T10:32:00.000+02:00

Mr. Anderson, welcome back... we missed you. It has been some time since I blogged anything, but finally I've decided to get back to blogging. There are just two things that have changed, but I hope they won't discourage my old, faithful readers. The first thing, well, as you may have noticed, is changing the primary language to English. There are many reasons to doing so, but the biggest is that I *somehow* have to improve my skills and well, recently some things have caused an interruption in my learning. The second, also important factor is that it will surely help me in expanding my community - now I'd like to thank both a big, evil Finn and a Nazi, Balkan-complexed Dane, who had been with me in tough moments. Also, it would be evil to forget about my Polish friends, both those from the school and those from wild orgies. I hope the language won't be any kind of an obstacle to them. The second thing that has changed is leaving a conspiracy. As some of you may remember, last time we met this blog was somewhat secret as I was trying to run away from evil Poles, who really *loved* putting their big, crappy noses in my life. Now feel free to copy the address anywhere you like (including Vamp-like Pussy with dragon wings ;)). I am quite sure this blog won't be similiar to those, which refer to everyday life (including listings of school grades and amount of alcohol the writer had drank a day before) . Maybe some reviews of my recent projects and a coule of thoughts from time to time. Who knows. And now it is time to get know with each other ;-) Feel free to comment. Stay cool, R.