Our Man in Gdańsk

Chomsky in Dziennik

In an interview in this weekend’s Dziennik Noam Chomsky says that Hitler, when he invaded Czechoslovakia, claimed he was doing so to bring peace. The Soviets also claimed to have Poland’s interests at heart in the 1940s. The US claimed to be bringing democracy to Iraq. What is the newspaperman’s response?

Imperialna Ameryka niczym się nie różni od nazistowskich Niemiec czy sowieckiej Rosji - to bardzo atrakcyjna teza.
That imperialist America is in no way different from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia is a very attractive thesis.

Or, by the same masterful use of logic, I differ in no way from Elton John and Johnny Depp since we all have one thing in common: we wear glasses. Well some of us, sometimes. But – hey - it’s probably close enough for Dziennik. Chomsky does not respond to this clumsy smear by Maciej Nowicki, which makes me wonder…

History Repeating Itself To The Surprise Of Journalists

There is a scene in “Boogie Nights” where the luckless ex-porn stars go off to do some drug dealing. The dealer spends a good part of the scene bragging about his mix-tape. It’s not a blunder on the part of the film makers. They really did have mix tapes in the 80s. I am reminded of the film's ludicrous, vain and downright nasty character every time I read another fawning journalist’s article about the Ipod and How It Has Changed Our Lives. (I particularly like those that wonder philosophically: for the better or the worse?) There’s one in the ever-loyal Gazeta Wyborcza of May 30th. I say ever-loyal because at the behest of the machine’s producers – and in common with 99% of the world’s journalists – they call it an iPod, in flagrant contravention of Polish (and English) orthography. It was written not by journalists, but media researchers, so this is serious business – even if the piece is illustrated by the vain, ludicrous and downright nasty George W. Bush. There’s no real need to describe the rest of the article because anyone over 30 (who is not a journalist) will know it all from first hand experience of the “walkman revolution.”

Looking Out For Number One

Headline in last week's Polityka: "How to demand a pay-rise that will give you a good living and not bankrupt your employer." In the olden days employers were expected to look out for their own interests. Now it seems this burden is also to fall on the employee.

Clever Lawyers

In the case against Dr. G, the doctor falsely and publicly accused by Poland’s minister for justice of murder, the prosecution intends calling on expert witnesses, from abroad if necessary. Marek Celej has this to say about it in last week’s Polityka

Nie bardzo sobie wyobrażam, jak taki biegły miałby zeznawać w sądzie. Przecież język sformułowań medycznych jest hermetyczny i pełen niuansów. Dla tłumacza to szalenie trudne zadanie, boję się, że niemożliwe.
I can’t really imagine how an expert would testify in court. The language of medical formulations is hermetic and full of nuances. For a translator it is a very difficult task, one, which, I fear, is impossible.

Yes, we are stupid, we translators. How could we possibly hope to understand the nuanced language of doctors? Celej could, even though he is not, as you might think, a doctor. No, he is a judge - a lawyer. Of course lawyers are clever enough to understand expert testimony – as is the jury of twelve average people – but a mere translator would be all at sea.

Poles Keep Digging

With hindsight, I suppose it was inevitable that the ruling establishment in Poland turn its guns on the teletubbies. Inevitable, too, that I would at least mention it, even though Beatroot already has too.

The Spokesperson for Children's Rights, Ewa Sowińska, thinks one or all of them is propogating homosexuality. She thinks they should be investigated. The best comment must be that of Leszek Miller, former Prime Minister, who suggested Sowińska call in the psychologists to examine her rather than the tubbies.