“We have all lost the battle over the cross,” headlines Gazeta Wyborcza, commenting on the failure to remove the cross commemorating the victims of the Smolensk air disaster from outside the Presidential Palace to a nearby church, after hundreds of protestors scuffled with police.
The battle was a defeat for the state, the Church and citizens, writes the daily. The state failed because it did not manage to defend its secular character and proved too weak to confront a group of protesters. The Church failed because Catholic demonstrators ignored and insulted priests who wanted to take the cross to St Anne’s church and because bishops washed their hands of the conflict. Citizens also lost the battle because Poland’s religious symbol was profaned and used as a weapon against political rivals.
It was, however, a triumph of anarchy and fanaticism which proved that a cross can serve as a powerful political, not necessary religious symbol, concludes Gazeta Wyborcza.
The Rzeczpospolita daily describes the Polish Sky Marshals, the undercover law enforcement and counter terrorist agents on board of aircraft. The Sky Marshal unit was created in Poland in 2004 and is supervised by the Civil Aviation Office. Sky Marshals are recruited mainly from the Border Guard, police, army and military police between 27 and 35 years old. Entrance exams are so difficult that 80 percent of volunteers for the job fail them, writes the daily. Sky Marshals board a plane when secret services tip them off about suspected terrorist on board. Undercover sky agents are also provided on so-called risky flights on potentially hazardous routes. If Sky Marshals detect a terrorist on board, they must kill him with one shot. Therefore, they go through an intensive shooting training and are masters of short weapons, writes Rzeczpospolita.
Polish consumers have found a new way to express their disappointment with a company’s policy or products, writes Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Instead of suing a company for unfair practices or faulty goods an increasing number of consumers decide to boycott services or products, which is easier and cheaper.
This year international companies, such as BP, Carrefour or Nikon felt what consumers’ anger means. The mulitnationally owned brewer Kompania Piwowarska felt the wroth of some customers after billboards advertising a “Cold Lech [beer]”, which some felt had allusions to the late President Lech Kaczynski. After a boycott, supported by the Law and Justice politicians, led the company to remove the controversial advertisement, claims the paper – although the company itself says that the lease for the ad had come to an end.
Over two thousand Poles also decided to boycott the Carrefour supermarket for ridiculous regulations concerning lunch breaks and earlier Nikon was boycotted for faulty service. “Companies usually don’t know how to deal with it. They have emergency strategies in case of fire or employee protests but not a mass internet-generated boycott,” comments Sebastian Luczak, expert on crisis PR and adds that the only way to deal with it is to apologize and abandon a controversial idea or activity. Unfortunately, many companies try to bury their head in the sand, writes Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. (mg)
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