Only in America!!

One of the biggest indicators of why diaspora voting should be eliminated comes from our American cousins. Of the 27,000 people registered to vote in the US, 67% of them would choose PiS. As I recently mentioned on Beatroot’s blog, I do not vote in Britain as I feel that to influence the lives of others while not being there is a misuse of the vote. The American’s results I think show that I have a point as they are voting without having experienced the last two years of fear mongering.

All Saints Chaos

It’s a funny old world! It appears that the outgoing government have recently passed a law that not only does their own ministry which deals with the area of interest not fully agree with, but it could potential cripple the country. The law deals with trading hours for shops and heavily restricts trading on the 12 official public holidays. Unlike in the UK these days have great religious significance and even nominal Catholics adhere to these days. The one that may cause most problems is the upcoming All Saints Day. The Labour Ministry has noticed that the law covers petrol stations as well as the big shops, that most who voted for the law original thought it dealt with exclusively. This means that on Nov 1st, most petrol stations could be closed! Oh deer….. This is this busiest day of the year for Polish Motorists and may have potentially immeasurable implications. On the brighter side it could also save many lives, as this day accounts for the highest number of road accidents in a single day in Poland.

Where are the limits of law enforcement?

The recent case of PO Deputy Beata Sawicka being arrested by the Central Anti-corruption Bureau (CBA) is the latest in a line of worrying developments for the state of civil-libities in Poland. I am hearing the stories in a somewhat sanitised way as my level of Polish means that I can not read or understand the news articles first-hand. However, as far as I understand things, this is a case of provocation. The term entrapment is a difficult one for many to fully deliniate as often law enforcement agencies have to play the role of criminals if they are to gather hard evidence. However, in this case it would appear that there was no previous history of corruption (I stand to be corrected, if you know of one) and so I fail to see what was the case put forward to the prosecutors’ office to authorise such an operation. I assume that the CBA did have to justify its actions, and it is not just free to target anyone. The lady in question does seem to have been extremely foolish, however, without the CBA’s instigation then I doubt any crime would have been committed. Therefore it is pure and simply entrapment. The CBA seems to be acting as a branch of PiS and not as a state institution dedicated to the defence of Polish people.