Weeklies reviewed by Krytsyna Kolosowska.

‘Protest show’ – that’s how Polityka calls the latest spate of demonstrations staged by the trade unions in Poland, which is to see a culmination next Tuesday, when the unions intend to block a major railway junction. Polityka says that strikes are becoming increasingly professional undertakings, adjusted to media requirements. A group of two thousand to five thousand protesters looks best on television. A smaller one may be ignored or ridiculed, sending a bigger one is too big an effort. A strike is flanked by PR specialists. Trade unions hire firms to run their strike websites. There is demand for people with good contacts, who can turn the strike into a show, a product suitable for television. Even strike hymns are written for the crew to sing when tv cameras are in sight. The snag is that the trade unions attract few young people. Over the past twenty years, they have lost momentum and members. Solidarity was most badly hit. It has about 700,000 members today, compared with four million in 1990, Polityka points out.

‘Drunk as a Pole. Poles are anti-Semites and Russophobes. The incurable Polish penchant for risking their life. Constantly complaining Poles’. This is what foreigners tend to say about Poles and what some Poles think about themselves, writes the weekly Wprost. Is this true or false? Wprost argues that most of these opinions are myths, which originated many decades ago. Poles as a nation have changed as a result of border shifts, the massacre of World War II and years of living under communism. Genetically, they are Europeans like the Germans or the French. Popular characters in jokes about drunkards, Poles actually drink much less alcohol than, for example, the British, the French or Spaniards. They manifest less anti-Semitic attitudes than other European nations. Often referred to as lazy bones, in reality Poles are as creative as other West Europeans. They are no longer the beggars of Europe and have long cut themselves off from the notorious Polish readiness to complain, says Wprost.

In the early 1990s Poles were in the European lead in terms of alcohol consumption, today they are on the bottom of the list. But drinking has been what turned media and public attention at the Parliament these days. In an article on politicians under the influence of alcohol, the weekly Newsweek reports on a recent scandal in the House, where a woman politician from the biggest opposition party turned up drunk. This sparked off a battle of accusations between political parties and a dispute over whose representatives drink more. A new weapon has appeared in the political fighting – alcohol. Who will be the next victim of a public scandal? – Newsweek asks.

This same weekly writes that the global warming has given rise to a series of storms, hurricanes and torrential rains across the world. It is not surprising, therefore, that demand for state-of-the-art rescue equipment is on the rise. It turns out that Poles are renowned constructors of such equipment. A unique apparatus for water treatment, specialist fire engines, vehicles transporting tissues for transplantation and movable command centers for rescue teams have all been designed and are made in Poland. A Polish fire engine, which can also filtrate waste and turn it into mineral water has attracted attention in the US and is a good example of the achievements of Polish scientists and constructors, says Newsweek.

Tygodnik Powszechny writes that atheists, non-believers and agnostics account for two to six percent of Poland’s predominantly Roman Catholic society. Though credible statistics are hard to come by, it is clear that we can observe an atheistic revival in Poland, as indeed in the world. A breakthrough – in terms of institutional activity – was the registration of the Polish Rationalists Society which took place in 2006. It is now the most active such Polish organization, with 200 members and several hundreds supporters. In 2007 a web page for atheists and agnostics was launched, encouraging them to come out and fight for their rights. By the end of November it was signed by over 13 thousand people.  Last month the Polish rationalists Society organized a conference  under the motto: Believers and non-believers: co-habitation or confrontation. No priest cared to take part in this meeting. The only representative of Catholics was the editor in chief of a Catholic monthly, who proposed a third road: cooperation, says Tygodnik Powszechny.

December is a busy time for crib-makers. Europe’s biggest Christmas crib is under construction in a Franciscan church in Poznan, mid-western Poland, writes Przekroj. It will comprise 200 wooden figures, which are from 20 to 180 cm tall. About sixty new figures will be added this year, including rabbits, herons, frogs and hares. The expansion of the crib calls for a larger sky above it – the monastery tailor is busy sewing new fragments, which will be added to the exiting heavens.