text:
Nations in Transit
2013 Scores
Democracy Score(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Regime Classification
National Democratic Governance(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Electoral Process(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Civil Society(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Independent Media(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Local Democratic Governance(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Judicial Framework and Independence(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Corruption(1 = best, 7 = worst)
Capital: Warsaw
Population: 38.5 million
GNI/capita, PPP: US$20,260
Source: The data above are drawn from The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2013.
* Starting with the 2005 edition, Freedom House introduced separate analysis and ratings for national democratic governance and local democratic governance, to provide readers with more detailed and nuanced analysis of these two important subjects.
NOTE: The ratings reflect the consensus of Freedom House, its academic advisers, and the author(s) of this report. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s). The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest. The Democracy Score is an average of ratings for the categories tracked in a given year.
A series of political controversies and scandals contributed to growing dissatisfaction with Polish political leadership and institutions in 2012. In January, the right-wing Catholic television station TRWAM was denied a digital broadcasting license in what appeared to be a politically motivated decision by the National Council of Radio and Television (KRRiTV). Video footage released in July captured a conversation between a leading member of the ruling coalition's Polish People's Party (PSL) and the former head of the governmental Agriculture Market Agency (ARR), implicating the PSL-dominated ARR in offenses ranging from nepotism to mismanagement of the state-owned enterprises it oversees. The collapse of quasi-bank Amber Gold in August shook public confidence in the financial services industry and the institutions supposed to police it. In the fall, media revealed data on the surprising scale of surveillance activities by government agencies. Changes to the Law on Public Assembly in October and an aborted change to the Law on Access to Public Information were criticized for infringing upon civil liberties. In September, a website creator was sentenced under Article 135.2 of the criminal code, which penalizes defamation of the president.
National Democratic Governance. Changes to the Law on Access to Public Information—including a controversial provision granting state bodies the right to withhold information when protecting "important state interests"—were struck down by the Constitutional Tribunal in April, on procedural grounds. Data unveiled during the year showed that surveillance of citizens and collection of sensitive information has increased in recent years. In October, Prime Minister Donald Tusk won a parliamentary vote of confidence he himself had requested in order to slap down criticism of the way he has handled Poland's slowing economy. Poland's national democratic governance rating remains unchanged at 2.50.
Electoral Process. The next elections in Poland will be local elections and elections to the European Parliament in 2014. No changes to electoral legislation were made during the year. Poland's electoral process rating remains unchanged at 1.25.
Civil Society. In the name of forestalling violent clashes between competing demonstrations, the government passed an amendment to the Law on Public Assembly in October. Some nongovernmental organizations criticized the law for potentially hampering spontaneous political demonstrations. Overall, Polish citizenry and the nongovernmental sector remained extremely active in 2012, pushing back against perceived threats to their civil liberties and influencing policy decisions at the local and national levels. Poland's civil society rating remains unchanged at 1.50.
Independent Media. Polish news media are free and diverse, but operate under a legal framework that limits several forms of free expression. Political partisanship is a major feature of the media landscape, and was evident throughout 2012 in the actions of news outlets and media regulating bodies. In January, the right-wing Catholic television station TRWAM was denied a digital broadcasting license in what appeared to be a politically motivated decision by the National Council of Radio and Television (KRRiTV). In September, a website creator received a first-instance sentence under Article 135.2 penalizing the defamation of the president. In October, Poland's Constitutional Court ruled that a person may be found guilty of offending religious sensibilities, even if the defendant did not "directly" intend to do so, potentially paving the way for broader use of Poland's controversial blasphemy law. Poland's independent media rating declines from to 2.25 to 2.50.
Local Democratic Governance. The year witnessed efforts by a number of city councils to get citizens involved in policy design and monitoring. Local councils also continued to be effective in acquiring European funds and spending them on local infrastructure and environmental protection projects. The level of financial irregularities encountered by auditing bodies declined slightly in comparison to 2011, but local authorities limited public access to information on public spending. Poland's rating for local democratic governance remains unchanged at 1.75.
Judicial Framework and Independence. The Polish judicial system still suffers from deficiencies inherited from the communist era or produced by the irregularities of the transition period. Longstanding and recently adopted regulations limit freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, respectively. Poland's judicial framework and independence rating remains unchanged at 2.50.
Corruption. Poland has a well-developed network of institutions dealing with the problem of corruption. Nevertheless, corruption scandals remain a common feature of political life. Tapes released in the media in July implicated the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in nepotism and mismanagement of European Union funds. Poland's corruption rating remains unchanged at 3.25.
Outlook for 2013. The economic slowdown will emerge as a major issue in 2013, further undermining citizens' confidence in government. Constitutional Tribunal rulings on surveillance laws, including the practice of so-called "billing" (accessing information on phone and internet use), are due in 2013. With European Parliament and local elections scheduled for 2014, the coming year is likely to be dominated by covert but aggressive campaigning. A number of unresolved issues—including the Amber Gold case and the details surrounding the 2010 Smoleńsk crash—are likely to resurface in 2013, with the public demanding answers. The manner in which Polish legislative, executive, and judicial bodies conduct themselves in response will be crucial for the levels of citizens' confidence in the system and its political elites.
In 2011, Donald Tusk of the Civic Platform (PO) party became the first prime minister in independent Poland's history to be reelected to a second consecutive term. Since then, however, the popularity of Tusk's center-right coalition government has visibly declined. Though Poland was the only country in the European Union (EU) to avoid recession throughout the economic crisis, the country's economy slowed in 2012. The government pushed an agenda of difficult, long-postponed reforms, accelerating privatization and cutting the privileges of protected workers such as journalists, professors, police, and firemen. In May, the parliament finally approved the government's plan to raise the retirement age to 67 for both sexes, prompting protests from trade unions and the center-left. In October, Prime Minister Tusk won a parliamentary vote of confidence he himself had requested as an opportunity to reassert his legitimacy in face of so much criticism. Against this backdrop, the year 2012 produced a series of political controversies and scandals that fanned the flames of acute political polarization within the country and contributed to growing dissatisfaction with Polish political leadership and institutions.
In 2011, the Polish parliament introduced changes to the Law on Access to Public Information intended to improve access to information and harmonize Polish legislation with that of the EU. The bill was rushed through in an effort to meet a European Commission (EC) deadline and avoid a fine, though ultimately the government neglected to send word that the law had been passed and was fined, anyway. One specific element of the bill met with extensive criticism from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and opposition members of parliament (MPs) for giving state bodies the right to limit or deny access information when protecting "important state interests." The provision was removed from the original bill but resubmitted in the upper house of parliament (the Senate) by Senator Marek Rocki after the bill's initial acceptance in the lower house (the Sejm). Additions by the Senate are not supposed to substantively expand regulations that have already been approved by the Sejm, but the revised bill passed its second review in the lower house and became law. Very shortly after signing the bill, President Bronisław Komorowski responded to public criticism of the so-called "Rocki amendment" by submitting it to the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) for review. The court ruled in April 2012 that the manner in which the Rocki amendment had been added was unconstitutional, though it did not offer an opinion on the actual content of the amendment. Following the announcement of the TK verdict, Paweł Olszewski, a prominent member of PO, declared that the party would not abandon the idea of restricting access to public information, and would work to reintroduce a similar amendment in the future.[1]
The debate was significant in part because it touches upon a wider concern that public institutions conceal information that would enable effective monitoring of their activities. It took the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) three years to comply with a 2009 request from the Polish branch of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) for access to statistics on surveillance (mostly taping) activities, which are classified as public information. HFHR's initial application was rejected, leading to a lengthy legal case that went (twice) through all levels of the administrative legal system before the Highest Administrative Court (NSA) finally agreed in September 2012 that the HFHR as well as the public should have access to these statistics.
The data themselves caused a stir in the media by revealing that the CBA makes between 300 and 450 surveillance applications a year, and that an eightfold increase in surveillance applications took place in the election year 2007.[2] Data on subsequent years have not been revealed. In 2012 the Ombudsman for Civil Rights questioned the scale of surveillance of citizens by various public institutions in her application to the TK.[3] HFHR prepared an opinion supporting the Ombudsman's applications, showing that there are between 6,000 and 8,000 successful applications for surveillance made every year by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the army, and various police forces.[4] Data from the Office for Electronic Communications show that in 2011 various public institutions accessed information about phone calls made and text messages sent by citizens and their access to the internet over 1.8 million times. This constitutes the highest rate (per 1,000 inhabitants) in the EU, and is significantly higher than in previous years.[5]
A number of public institutions reacted to information on the scale of surveillance of Polish citizens and undertook actions to change to it. Like the ombudsman, the Attorney General applied to the TK for a ruling on the constitutionality of surveillance operations and of accessing information on phone and internet use. At year's end, the court was considering 5 relevant applications. In September, the National Chamber of Audits (NIK) started a wide-ranging audit, covering the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Agency for Internal Security, and some courts, over the allegations of abuse of the law on access to information about phone connections.
The April 2010 plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczyński and 95 other dignitaries remained a political lightning rod in 2012.[6] The Law and Justice (PiS) party continued to accuse PO officials of deliberately obfuscating the true facts of the crash and even of complicity in the events. In the summer, a parliamentary group led by Antoni Maciarewicz from PiS produced a paper pointing to a number of flaws in official Polish and Russian reports on the crash and claiming that explosions aboard the plane had caused it. Public opinion data show that even Poles who do not necessarily share PiS's view of the event are dissatisfied with the way the investigation and follow-up have been handled.[7] In September, media revealed that the bodies of two Smolensk crash victims, legendary Solidarity activist Anna Walentynowicz and Teresa Walewska-Przyjałkowska, the deputy head of the Golgota Wschodu Foundation,[8] had been mixed up and buried in the wrong graves, despite the fact that they had been correctly identified by their families in Moscow immediately following the crash. Ewa Kopacz, who replaced Bronisław Komorowski as speaker of the Sejm in 2011 and who had represented the Polish authorities in Moscow, claimed at the time that she had personally supervised the identification process; however, in 2012 she admitted publicly that neither she, nor Polish doctors, nor Polish prosecutors had been involved in the identification process. In October, it was confirmed that the corpse of the last Polish President in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, had also been accidentally switched with that of another crash victim and placed in the wrong grave.
No elections were conducted in Poland in 2012. Local elections and elections to the European Parliament will take place in 2014, while the next presidential and national parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2015.
Elections to the Sejm are held under an open-list proportional representation system. Seats are allocated in 41 multimember districts. Gender quota regulations enacted in 2011 require every party's district-level list to include at least 35 percent of candidates of each gender and the State Electoral Commission is legally obligated to refuse registration of any list that does not abide by this quota. Members of the Senate are elected in 100 single-member constituencies.
Legislative election results from 2011 confirmed the dominance of the rival PO and PiS parties, which together collected 70 percent of the popular vote, essentially the same as in 2007 (74 percent), and in the first rounds of the presidential elections in 2005 (69 percent) and 2010 (78 percent). The 2011 elections also illustrated the known demographic characteristics of PO and PiS: the latter has a devoted following in rural areas, particularly among people with elementary-level or vocational education, and among those over the retirement age. PO enjoys strong support among the urban middle class, especially voters with higher levels of education, and in the middle-aged and younger segments of the population. Postelection analyses published by the Center for Public Opinion Research (CBOS) indicate that the socially liberal Palikot's Movement (RP) party, which emerged as the third-strongest party in the Sejm in 2011, did particularly well among the country's young, non-religious voters.
In 2012, popular support for RP and the formerly communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) party seemed to stabilize below 10 percent but above the electoral threshold of 5 percent.[9] Polls showed that the ultraconservative United Poland party, whose leadership defected from PiS in November 2011 and officially formed a new party in March 2012, had just 1–2 percent public support in December 2012. At year's end, there was no political party on the scene with clear potential to challenge the dominance of PO and PiS or shift the balance of power between them.
Between December 2011 and April 2012, the Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ Solidarność) collected over 2 million signatures calling for a national referendum to keep the retirement age at 60 for women and 65 for men. Under Polish law, a proposal to hold a referendum must be considered by the Sejm if it is supported by more than 500,000 citizens.[10] However, on 2 April 2012, members of parliament representing the PO and the PSL voted against the referendum and the proposal was turned down. When the government passed the legislation in May 2012, major trade unions organized demonstrations in front of the presidential palace, joined by representatives of PiS, SLD, and other opposition parties.
Polish citizens participated in grassroots campaigns and demonstrations throughout 2012. The year opened with mass protests against Poland's participation in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which ultimately caused the government to suspend the process of ACTA ratification.[11] In May and June, Poles campaigned for civil partnerships.[12] Protesters, including union activists, also rallied against the new, long-anticipated retirement law that will gradually raise the retirement age to 67. Meanwhile, NGOs continued the campaign "Strike out 212 KK," whose aim is to remove an article of the penal code that criminalizes defamation and prescribes fines or even jail time for defamatory statements disseminated via mass media, including the internet. The organizers of the campaign say Article 212 is used to curb criticism of authorities, especially at the local level, rather than to defend personal dignity.
A 2012 report by the Warsaw-based Klon/Jawor research association estimates that there are around 4,200 active NGOs (foundations and associations) in Poland.[13] According to this report, 22 percent of NGOs operate on a full-time basis, 5 days a week, and another 29 percent work "a lot and regularly, but not full time." The most popular field of NGO activities is sports and hobbies (38 percent), followed by art and culture (17 percent). Only 12 percent of NGOs declare that all of their members are active, and as many as 63 percent declare that fewer than 50 percent of their members are active. The report also notes that the average Polish NGO has very little funding—as many as 48 percent do not own any property.[14] In a January 2012 study by CBOS, 32 percent of respondents claimed to actively support at least one nongovernmental organization.[15] In the same study, civic activism appeared to coincide with higher levels of education, professional achievements, and/or religiosity.
Public funds collection, including crowd-sourced fundraising ("crowdfunding"), has until now been regulated by legislation that dates back to the 1930s. In 2012, the Polish government initiated amendments to the old laws in order to bring them up to date. At the last minute, the Ministry of Administration and Digitization (MAC) proposed an allegedly "cosmetic" change to the amendments that effectively extended their reach to include online fundraising. NGOs criticized these changes for imposing a high level of institutional control and bureaucratic red tape on activities that can be successful only when they are grassroots-based and spontaneous. MAC Minister Michał Boni supported their position before the parliament and invited NGOs to cooperate on a new draft amendment.[16] In July, the NGO sector and the ministry reached an agreement on ten new basic principles for the regulation of funds collections; drafting of a new amendment was ongoing at year's end.[17]
Despite criticism from the nongovernmental sector, changes to the Law on Public Assembly were signed into law in October, making it almost impossible to organize two demonstrations in the same place at the same time. The changes also extend the minimum time that must lapse between registration of a demonstration and the event itself—radically reducing, if not eliminating, opportunities for spontaneous gatherings of more than 15 people. The official reason for the legislation was to preempt violent clashes between rival groups of protesters such as erupted on Polish Independence Day in November 2011. The original draft amendment was reviewed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which made a number of recommendations. In July, 167 organizations also wrote a letter to the speaker of the Sejm, criticizing the draft.[18] The combined input of domestic and international critics resulted in minor modifications, but did not change the substance of the amendment.
Even before the new regulations went into effect, there were quite frequent reports of local authorities' denying legitimate registration applications from would-be demonstrators. The most often cited reason for banning a public gathering has been that it may "endanger life or health by blocking traffic." Among other cases, this reason was used in May 2011 by the mayor of Szerzyny to prevent a freedom-of-speech demonstration directed against local officials; by authorities in Skawina who banned a demonstration against plans to build a crematorium in September 2011; and by officials in Kraków who barred demonstrators from gathering in protest of local urban planning policy a number of times in 2011 and 2012.[19] The new regulations introduced in 2012 may make such refusals easier to justify and therefore more frequent.
Although the Polish constitution guarantees every citizen the right to petition the government directly, Polish law does not define what a petition is. The nongovernmental sector believes that a law on petitioning would prompt a reengagement of citizenry into political decision-making, noting that 72 percent of Poles feel they cannot influence public institutions and public life.[20]
A number of racist and anti-Semitic incidents were noted throughout 2012. Some attacks were random acts committed by thugs, while others actions were pre-planned and organized by racist and nationalist organizations. In August, the radical nationalist organization National Revival of Poland (NOP) rented a tram from the Municipal Transport Enterprise in Wrocław, Poland's fourth-largest city, covered it with fascist symbols, and drove it through the streets of the city center for several hours while NOP activists on board called out for a "nationalist revolution." Nongovernmental organizations have accused the police and courts of lightly dismissing such incidents.[21] In June 2012, the HFHR applied to the Agency for Internal Security (ABW) to intervene in Lublin District, where repeated anti-Semitic attacks (some of them violent) had been taking place since 2010.[22] As a result of HFHR's application, state authorities organized a series of special training sessions in the Lublin area geared at teaching police, prosecutors, and judges how to recognize and deal with hate crimes.[23]
Educational materials in Polish schools are perceived as reinforcing gender stereotypes. Media reports in October 2012 highlighted sexist content—usually portraying boys as knowledge-hungry and girls as stupid—in a number of textbooks that had been approved by the Ministry of Education. The ministry responded with a promise to introduce changes in a new edition of the textbooks.[24] It has also been noted by a number of prominent human rights organizations, such as the HFHR, Amnesty International, and Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH), that children of foreigners (including refugees) in Poland live in conditions that prevent them from being integrated into society.[25]
Polish print, broadcast, and electronic media are diverse, but strongly partisan. Collectively, they serve the public interest well by playing a watchdog role with respect to government policies and the actions of all political factions. They typically act as agents of civil society, and in return receive support of NGOs and the public when threats to press freedom arise. The public response to ACTA—which included protests and marches in nearly all major Polish cities[26]—illustrates both Polish society's respect for media freedom and its awareness that that freedom is increasingly vulnerable to political and economic pressures.
Polish media operate under a legal framework that penalizes some forms of free speech. In 2011, Article 135.2 of the penal code, which forbids defamation of the president, was applied for the first time to a website creator and blogger—Robert Frycz, whose website Antykomor.pl is dedicated to mocking and insulting President Komorowski. In September 2012, Frycz was sentenced to 15 months of restricted freedom and 600 hours of compulsory community service.[27] This first-instance sentence is open to appeal, but has already been criticized by a number of relevant organizations, including the OSCE,[28] the HFHR,[29] and the Polish Association of Free Speech (SWS).[30] Over the years, a number of politicians, including Prime Minister Tusk, have declared that Article 135.2 should be removed from the penal code, though no actual steps have been taken in that direction.
Another regulation constraining the freedom of speech in Poland, Article 212 of the penal code, penalizes defamation of any person in the mass media. Campaigns advocating removal of this article have also appeared from time to time, but have yet to succeed. However, according to recent reports, penalties for defamation (currently up to 1 year in prison) will shortly be lowered. In October 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Polish authorities had twice infringed upon the right to free speech by imposing monetary fines on journalists for alleged defamation of local officials under Article 212; the journalists' sentences were revoked and the state compensated them financially.[31]
Article 196 of the Polish penal code makes "offending religious feelings" through public speech or actions a crime punishable by up to two years in prison. In October, Poland's Constitutional Court ruled that a person may be found guilty of offending religious sensibilities, even if the defendant did not "directly" intend to do so, potentially paving the way for broader use of the so-called blasphemy law.
Poland's main regulatory body for broadcast media, the National Council of Radio and Television (KRRiTV), was created in 1992 to provide unbiased control of both public and private media. Since its inception, however, the KRRiTV has been a highly politicized body. It is currently dominated by the ruling PO party and as such is highly vulnerable to political influences. An example of this vulnerability is the refusal to grant a concession to TV Trwam, an ultraconservative TV station linked to PiS, PO's primary political opponent. The decision was made on 17 January 2012.[32] In July, Ombudsman Teresa Lipowicz, declared that the decision had been arbitrary and made on the basis of unconstitutional regulations. She subsequently asked the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) to assess that case.[33] The court had not ruled on the case at year's end.
The Association of Polish Journalists (SDP), another body whose role is to protect journalistic standards, also faced accusations during the year of having an inappropriately close relationship with leading opposition party PiS. In October 2012, SDP chairman Krzysztof Skowroński hosted a press conference for PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, and only a couple of days earlier he hosted a meeting for PiS leaders with a group of economists. Many observers found this inappropriate, and some members of the SDP protested Skowroński's activities as conflicting with the journalists' ethical code.[34]
On 30 October, the well-known conservative daily Rzeczpospolita published a frontpage article on the 2010 Smolensk plane crash titled "TNT in the wreckage of the Tupolev." Though the state attorney's office immediately denied that TNT had been discovered at the scene of the crash, the story provoked a widespread reaction, with Kaczyński calling for an immediate resignation of the government. In the days that followed, Rzeczpospolita's owner, Grzegorz Hajdarowicz, sacked the newspaper's editor-in-chief, the author of the article, and a few other journalists who had not been directly involved in writing the piece. This move was criticized by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as a violation of the rights of media.[35] Later on, military chief prosecutor Jerzy Artymiak testified before the Sejm that instrumentation used at the site of the wreck had indicated elements of TNT; he noted, however, that the instruments react the same way to shoe polish.[36] Some media subsequently reported that on the night before the article's publication Hajdarowicz had met with Paweł Gras—a government spokesman and his longtime friend—to inform the latter in advance about the content of the publication.[37]
Hajdarowicz is also an owner of Uważam Rze, a popular right-wing weekly. After firing the author of the Rzeczpospolita article, Cezary Gmyz, he also fired Uważam Rze's editor-in-chief, who had criticized Hajdarowicz for politicizing Rzeczpospolita and who had refused to ban Gmyz from contributing to his weekly. As a result, a number of journalists left both Uważam Rze and Rzeczpospolita to form a new weekly, called W sieci.[38]
Local governments, next to private companies, have been the main consumers of EU funds, receiving over 30 percent of all EU money made available to Poland since 2007. According to the Ministry of Regional Development, local authorities have made over 51,000 successful applications for funding in this period and 28 percent of these projects have already been completed. Their main spending goals are infrastructure and environment, which directly improves living conditions of citizens. Recent data show that the lowest (gmina) and middle (powiat) levels of local government have been more successful in obtaining and spending European funds than central state institutions.[39]
Public spending at the local level is not fully transparent. Inspections carried out in gminy in 2011 revealed a relatively high number (15,800) of legal and administrative transgressions, though the number declined significantly from the previous year's figure (16,480). Such transgressions cost taxpayers an estimated 4.9 million Polish złoty in 2011 (approximately $1.46 million), down from 6.9 million złoty (about $2 million) in 2010.[40] Certain spending decisions reported in 2012 were difficult to explain: in Warsaw, large sums of money were paid for outsourced legal opinions despite the fact that local government employs almost 200 lawyers.[41] Most local governments carry significant debt—an average of approximately 2,000 złoty ($600) per capita.[42]
In 2012, several larger cities in Poland experimented with participatory budgeting (so-called "citizens' budgets"), allowing local inhabitants to decide how a certain portion of their total city budget should be spent. Members of the public can submit investment projects, and later vote to select the ones to be implemented. The goal of this practice is to increase citizens' participation in governance, their sense of civic efficacy, and the legitimacy of local authorities' spending decisions. The first Polish city to introduce the idea of participatory budgets was Sopot, where in 2011 local inhabitants voted on the allocation of 1 percent of the Sopot city budget.[43] In most cities, this new approach is still applied only to small and narrowly defined policy objectives—in Warsaw, for example, citizens are designing the budget for the central Cultural Center. Citizens' interest in these projects is moderate, and a turnout of 10 percent is considered acceptable, but it is hoped that with time the idea will become more popular. [44] The idea of participatory budgets is also supported and promoted by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization.
In 2012 the Parliament began work on changes to the Law on Local Government. New amendments are intended to strengthen lower-level administrative bodies. These include a projected increase in local government's share of state income from personal income tax.[45] Another significant event affecting local governance in 2012 was a ruling by an administrative court at the province (województwo) level that clarified previously confusing rules for holding local referenda.
With respect to both its institutional framework and day-to-day practice, the Polish judicial system still suffers from a number of weaknesses inherited from the communist era or produced by the irregularities of the transition period. Polish judges and prosecutors are overworked, which leads to delays and hasty decision-making at all stages of the judicial process. They are also underpaid, which exposes them to the temptations of bribery and to undue pressure from elected and appointed state officials. New legislative proposals that seek to narrow the scope of civil liberties frequently emerge and are sometimes enacted successfully. Attempts to reduce or prevent the expansion of existing freedoms are sometimes made in the name of the dominant Catholic orthodoxy.
Article 212 of the penal code is an example of an infringement of the freedom of press (see Independent media), but also a more general violation of the freedom of speech and expression. In 2012, Izabela Lewandowska-Malec, a local councilor from a small town in the south of Poland, wrote a letter to the media where she criticized the mayor of her town. On the basis of the Article 212, she was brought before a criminal court and fined heavily. On 18 September 2012 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Lewandowska-Malec's letter belonged to the domain of public debate and as such should not have been of interest to a criminal court.[46] This case shows that not only does the Article 212 limit the freedom of press but also the freedom of speech and expression in general. The same is true of the so-called blasphemy law (Article 196) under which popstar Dorota Rabczewska was fined in January 2012.[47]
Flaws in Polish law enforcement expose the government not only to the criticism of the public, but also to scrutiny by international institutions, such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Polish citizens brought a number of cases against their state at the ECHR in 2012, usually related to violations of Articles 3, 5, and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Cases under Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, have often pertained to inhumane conditions in Polish prisons. Article 5 guarantees the right to liberty and security, and forbids unlawful arrest or detention, while Article 6 guarantees the right to a fair and speedy trial. In the case of Wenerski vs. Poland, the ECHR condemned inhumane living conditions (overpopulation) and inadequate medical care in Polish prisons.[48]
The costly collapse of a fraudulent financial services company in summer 2012[49] highlighted a lack of follow-through on the part of the judicial system. Amber Gold, a provider of quasi-banking services, was founded in the city of Gdańsk in 2009 by a young entrepreneur with several past convictions for fraud. The company promised its customers unusually high interest rates from investments in gold and platinum. The National Financial Audit Committee sent multiple alerts to the relevant authorities, including the State Attorney's Office and the Anti-Monopoly and Consumer Protection Office, stating that the company had acted according to the logic of a financial pyramid, a type of financial services effectively illegal in Poland. These messages elicited no reaction. Meanwhile, the company extended its activities by establishing an unusually cheap airline, OLT Express, that declared bankruptcy in July 2012, just 3 months after its first flight. Amber Gold itself declared bankruptcy in the summer of 2012, costing their customers approximately 290 million złoty (almost $90 million) in savings.[50] After the collapse, the judicial system was heavily criticized, especially the State Attorney's Office and the Consumer Protection Office. Amber Gold had not even been penalized for failing to file annual reports required by the Tax Office.
Media used the Amber Gold affair as an opportunity to highlight the extent to which courts are influenced by political and business pressures. One journalist phoned the chairman of the Gdańsk court dealing with the Amber Gold case, introducing himself as an employee at the Prime Minister's Office. According to the published recordings of the conversation, the judge openly asked the journalist for instructions of how to deal with the Amber Gold case and was ready to make an appointment with the prime minister to discuss the case in person.[51]
Most reports indicate that Polish courts have lost control over their respective domain of interest less because of political pressures (and their apparent willingness to submit to them), but due to understaffing. In June 2012, the National Audit Chamber's reports revealed that many courts had to hire private law firms to draft rulings.[52]
Poland has a well-developed network of institutions that deal with the problem of corruption. The Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA), established in 2006, has been charged with both coordinative and investigative tasks. The Internal Security Agency (ABW), the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBŚ), and other police units and state prosecutors' offices also participate in combating corruption. Nevertheless, the level of political corruption in the country is significant and has seen no notable improvement in recent years. Polish politicians continue to treat their positions as an opportunity to enrich themselves and advance private interests making politics a competition for finite resources, rather than a means of public service. This damages the functioning of public institutions and undermines citizens' confidence in them.
Political corruption scandals emerge quite frequently, usually resulting in dismissals and resignations. Video footage released in July 2012 captured a conversation between a leading member of PO's junior coalition partner, PSL, and the former head of the governmental Agriculture Market Agency (ARR), a state institution controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.[53] The conversation implicated the PSL-dominated ARR in offenses ranging from nepotism to fraudulent use of public funds and mismanagement of the state-owned enterprises it oversees. The revelations led to the almost immediate resignation of the minister of agriculture and rural development, Marek Sawicki, a prominent PSL politician.[54]
When allegations emerged that members of the government had been somehow complicit in the Amber Gold affair, the ruling coalition fueled conspiracy theories by voting against the establishment of a parliamentary investigatory committee to explore the extent of purported relationships[55] between prominent PO politicians and the owner of Amber Gold.[56] Though the allegations of the political opposition were unaccompanied by hard evidence, the PO's refusal to establish an investigative committee to dispel the rumors was interpreted by government critics as a sign of willful nontransparency. The same critics noted that PO had been consistently willing to support internal investigations when members of PiS had been implicated in previous years.
A few key corruption cases made progress or reached their conclusion in 2012. In April, Tomasz Lipiec was fined and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for accepting bribes when he was minister of sports in 2007. In May, former PO parliamentary deputy Beata Sawicka was sentenced to 3 years in prison for taking a bribe to rig a tender for the purchase of commercially desirable land on the Hel peninsula in 2007.[57] Mariusz Kamiński, the former head of the CBA, and his onetime deputy Maciej Wąsik, were awaiting trial at year's end for allegedly entrapping politicians from the populist Self-Defense party in a famous 2007 bribery investigation known as the "land affair" (afera gruntowa).[58] The case led indirectly to the collapse of the ruling coalition between PiS, Self-Defense, and the nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR) later that year.
[1] "PO o wyroku Trybunału Konstytucyjnego: poprawka potrzebna, wrócimy do niej w sejmi" [PO on the Constitutional Tribunal rulin: the amendment is needed, we will go back to it in parlament], WP.pl News, 18 April 2012, http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,PO-o-wyroku-Trybunalu-Konstytucyjnego-poprawka-potrzebna-wrocimy-do-niej-w-sejmie,wid,14420773,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=1fe4f&_ticrsn=5.
[2] Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), "ABW ma udostępnić dane statystyczne dotyczące kontroli operacyjnej" [Internal Security Agency has to release data concerning operational control], news release, 21 September 2012, http://www.hfhr.pl/abw-ma-udostepnic-dane-statystyczne-dotyczace-kontroli-operacyjnej/.
[3] Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich [Ombudsman for Civil Rights], "Wniosek do Trybunału Konstytucyjnego w sprawie Krajowego Systemu Informacji Policji" [Application to the Constitutional Tribunal in the Matter of the National Police Information System], 27 April 2012, http://www.sprawy-generalne.brpo.gov.pl/szczegoly.php?pismo=1641487.
[4] HFHR, Opinia przyjaciela sądu opracowana przez Helsińską Fundację Praw Człowieka dla Trybunału Konstytucyjnego sygn. K 23/11 [Opinion of a court's friend prepared by Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights for the Constitutional Tribunal K 23/11], 13 June 2012, http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/precedens/images/stories/opinia_srodki_techn_13_06_12.pdf.
[5] Ewa Siedlecka, "W śledzeniu obywateli Polska jest mistrzem Europy" [In citizens' surveillance, Poland is the master of Europe], Wyborcza.pl, 2 April 2012, http://wyborcza.pl/1,75478,11463553,W_sledzeniu_obywateli_Polska_jest_mistrzem_Europy.html; Panoptykon Foundation, "Ile razy państwo sięgało po nasze dane telekomunikacyjne w 2011 roku? Publikujemy najnowsze dane" [How many times did the state used the our telecommunication data in 2011? We publish the most recent data], news release, 1 April 2012, http://panoptykon.org/wiadomosc/ile-razy-panstwo-siegalo-po-nasze-dane-telekomunikacyjne-w-2011-roku-publikujemy-najnowsze.
[6] A delegation of Poland's political, academic, and military elite had been en route to attend a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Soviet massacre of Polish officers in Katyn Forest near Smolensk, Russia.
[7] In May 2012, only 16 percent of respondents polled expressed a belief that their government had done everything possible to explain the circumstances of the crash. See Center for Public Opinion Research (CBOS), Katastrofa pod Smoleńskiem: kto wierzy w teorię zamachu [The catastrophe at Smolensk: who believes in the assassination theory] (Warsaw: CBOS, 2012), http://cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2012/K_085_12.PDF.
[8] Golgota Wschodu is an organization whose official mission is the memorialization of victims of the Katyń massacre.
[9] "Sondaże TNS Polska i CBOS: Platforma spada, PiS odrabia straty" [Polls of TNS Poland and CBOS: PO loses, PiS gains], 8 December 2012, http://opcja.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/sondaze-tns-polska-i-cbos-platforma-spada-pis-odrabia-straty/.
[10] Adam Mrozowicki, "Retirement age raised despite trade union opposition," EIROnline, 30 July 2012,http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2012/06/articles/pl1206019i.htm.
[11] "'Internauci mają rację'—Tusk zawiesza ratyfikację ACTA" ["Internauts are right"—Tusk suspends ACTA ratification], WP.pl News, 3 February 2012, http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,Internauci-maja-racje-Tusk-zawiesza-ratyfikacje-ACTA,wid,14224470,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=1fe09.
[12] "Kampania na rzecz związków parterskich" [Campaigning for civil partnerships], Onet.pl, 1 June 2012, http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/kampania-na-rzecz-zwiazkow-partnerskich,1,5149235,wiadomosc.html.
[13] Jaga Przewłocka, Piotr Adamiak i Aleksandra Zając, Życie codzienne organizacji pozarządowych w Polsce [Everyday life of NGOs in Poland] (Warsaw: Stowarzyszenie Klon/Jawor, 2012), http://civicpedia.ngo.pl/files/civicpedia.pl/public/2012_Klon_ZycieCodzienneNGO.pdf.
[14] Ibid.
[15] CBOS, Aktywność społeczna w organizacjach obywatelskich [Social activity in citizens' organizations] (Warsaw: CBOS, February 2012), http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2012/K_018_12.PDF.
[16] "MAiC pracuje z organizacjami nad przepisami o zbiórkach publicznych" [The Ministry of Administration and Digitization collaborates with associations on the regulations regarding public fundraising], NGO.pl, 5 July 2012, http://wiadomosci.ngo.pl/wiadomosci/785090.html.
[17] Magda Dobranowska-Wittels, "Nowy dekalog zbiórek publicznych" [New decalogue of public collection], NGO.pl, 17 July 2012, http://wiadomosci.ngo.pl/wiadomosci/787007.html.
[18] "List otwarty do Pani Ewy Kopacz, Marszałek Sejmu" [An open letter to Miss Ewa Kopacz, the Speaker of the Sejm], Watchdog.org.pl, 12 June 2012, http://watchdog.org.pl/wwwdane/files/list_otwarty___ust_t5zi._o_zgromadzeniach_12.06.pdf; and HFHR, "Kolejny apel w sprawie nowelizacji prawa o zgromadzeniach" [Another plea concerning the changes to the law on public gatherings], news release, 18 July 2012, http://www.hfhr.pl/kolejn-apel-w-sprawie-nowelizacji-prawa-o-zgromadzeniach/.
[19] Ewa Siedlecka "Jak zakazują nam zgromadzeń" [How they ban us from gathering], Gazeta Wyborcza, 25 July 2012, http://wyborcza.pl/1,75478,12185342,Jak_zakazuja_nam_zgromadzen.html.
[20] "Prawo petycji ma pobudzić wspólnotę" [The right to petition should revive the community], NGO.pl, 29 June 2012, http://wiadomosci.ngo.pl/wiadomosci/783971.html.
[21] "'Otwarta Rzeczpospolita': Chcemy potępienia nienawiści" ["Open Republic": We want hatred condemned], TVN 24, 13 August 2012, http://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-wroclaw,44/otwarta-rzeczpospolita-chcemy-potepienia-nienawisci,270830.html.
[22] HFHR, "HFPC wystąpiła do ABW w sprawie antysemickich ataków w regionie lubelskim" [HFHR appealed to the ABW regarding anti-Semitic incidents in the Lublin region], news release, 18 June 2012, http://www.hfhr.pl/hfpc-wystapila-d-abw-w-sprawie-antysemickich-atakow-w-regionie-lubelskim/.
[23] Anna Gmiterek-Zabłocka, "'Stałem się ofiarą nienawiści, byłem w szoku. A prokuratorzy i policjanci byli kompletnie nieprzygotowani.' Będą szkolenia" ["I was a victim of hatred, I was in shock. And the prosecutors and police were completely unprepared." There will be training.], Gazeta.pl (Lublin edition), 5 September 2012, http://lublin.gazeta.pl/lublin/1,48724,12429607,_Stalem_sie_ofiara_nienawisci__bylem_w_szoku__A_prokuratorzy.html.
[24] "O głupich dziewczynkach i głodnych wiedzy chłopcach – stereotypy w szkolnych podręcznikach" [On stupid girls and knowledge hungry boys—stereotypes in school textbooks], Grupa Ponton, October 2012, http://ponton.natemat.pl/37293,o-glupich-dziewczynkach-i-glodnych-wiedzy-chlopcach-stereotypy-w-szkolnych-podrecznikach.
[25] HFHR, "Światowy Dzień Uchodźcy—organizacje alarmują o trudnej sytuacji dzieci cudzoziemców w Polsce" [World Refugee Day—associations sound the alarm on the difficult situation of foreigners' children in Poland], news release, 20 June 2012, http://www.hfhr.pl/swiatowy-dzien-uchodzcy-organizacje-alarmuja-o-trudnej-sytuacji-dzieci-cudzoziemcow-w-polsce.
[26] "Protesty przeciw ACTA w polskich miastach" [Protests against the ACTA in Polish cities], Interia.pl, 25 January 2012, http://fakty.interia.pl/raport/internauci-przeciwko-acta/news/protesty-przeciw-acta-w-polskich-miastach,1751282,7906.
[27] "Robert Frycz, twórca strony antykomo.pl skazany 'Najpewniej odwołamy się'" [Robert Frycz, the author of the antykomor.pl website sentenced: "We will certainly appeal"], Gazeta.pl, 14 September 2012, http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114883,12485832,Robert_Frycz__tworca_strony_Antykomor_pl_skazany_.html.
[28] "OBWE krytykuje polski wyrok za "Antykomora" [OSCE criticizing the Polish sentence for "Antykomor"], TVN 24, 18 September 2012, http://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-z-kraju,3/obwe-krytykuje-polski-wyrok-za-antykomora,277515.html.
[29] "Twórca blogu antykomor.pl: Nie chcę łaski prezydenta, przenoszę serwis do USA" [The author of the antykomor.pl blog: I don't want the president's mercy, I'm moving my website to the United States], Gazeta Wyborcza, 15 September 2012, http://m.wyborcza.pl/wyborcza/1,105226,12492081,Tworca_blogu_Antykomor_pl__Nie_chce_laski_prezydenta_.html.
[30] "Stowarzyszenie Wolnego Słowa o skazaniu Roberta Frycza za Antykomora: wyrok oddala nas od standardów zachodniej cywilizaji" [The Association of Free Speech on the sentence on Robert Frycz for Antykomor: the sentence takes us away from the standards of the western civilization], Wpolityce.pl, 18 September 2012, http://wpolityce.pl/wydarzenia/36494-stowarzyszenie-wolnego-slowa-o-skazaniu-roberta-frycza-za-antykomora-wyrok-oddala-nas-od-standardow-zachodniej-cywilizacji.
[31] "Kolejna wygrana polskich dziennikarzy w Strasburgu" [The next victory of Polish journalists in Strasbourg], Onet.pl, 23 October 2012, http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/swiat/kolejna-wygrana-polskich-dziennikarzy-w-strasburgu,1,5285016,wiadomosc.html.
[32] "Ojciec Rydzyk nie nada: TV Trwam bez koncesji" [Father Rydzyk will not broadcast: TV Trwam without a licence], Polskie Radio, 5 January 2012, http://www.polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/511874,Ojciec-Rydzyk-nie-nada-TV-Trwam-bez-koncesji.
[33] "RPO: Odmowa koncesji dla TV Trwam niezgodna z konstytucją" [Ombudsman: Refusal of license for TV Trwam unconstitutional], Polskie Radio, 5 July 2012, http://www.polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/640034,RPO-Odmowa-koncesji-dla-TV-Trwam-niezgodna-z-konstytucja.
[34] "Odlot Skowrona" [Skowron's departure], Polityka, 9 October 2012, http://www.polityka.pl/kraj/ludzie/1531151,1,sylwetka-krzysztof-skowronski.read?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss.
[35] "List EFJ do Grzegorza Hajdarowicza" [EFJ's letter to Grzegorz Hajdarowicz], Interia.pl, 13 November 2012, http://img.interia.pl/wiadomosci/nimg/u/c/List_Europejskiej_List_5968316.pdf.
[36] "Prokurator: urządzenia wykazały trotyl" [Attorney: devices indicated the presence of trotyl], Niezalezna.pl, 5 December 2012, http://niezalezna.pl/35547-prokurator-urzadzenia-wykazaly-trotyl.
[37] "Wróblewski: Hajdarowicz rozmawiał z Grasiem. Mnie tam nie było" [Wroblewski: Hajdarowicz talked to Gras. I was not there], Dziennik.pl, 8 November 2012, http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/media/artykuly/409979,tomasz-wroblewski-byly-redaktor-naczelny-o-spotkaniu-pawla-grasia-z-grzegorzem-hajdarowiczem.html.
[38] "Lisicki zwolniony z funkcji szefa 'Uważam Rze.' Kolejni dziennikarze odchodzą" [Lisicki fired from his post as a 'Uważam Rze' Chief Editor. More journalists leave], TokFM.pl, 28 November 2012, http://www.tokfm.pl/Tokfm/1,103085,12941853,Hajdarowicz_zwolnil_Lisickiego_z_funkcji_szefa__Uwazam.html.
[39] Artur Osiecki, "Gminy prą do przodu" [Local communities are going forward], Rzeczpospolita, 16 July 2012, http://www.rp.pl/galeria/706944,914375.html.
[40] "Uchybienia w gminach na 4,9 mld złotych" [Infringements in local communities amount to 4.9 billion złoty], Ekonomia24.pl, 15 August 2012, http://www.ekonomia24.pl/artykul/706229,924922-Uchybienia-w-gminach-na--4-9-mld-zl.html.
[41] Izabela Kraj, "Tajne informacje o umowach z prawnikami" [Secret information on contracts with lawyers], Rzeczpospolita, 6 August 2012, http://www.rp.pl/artykul/10,922524-Tajne-informacje-o-umowach-z-prawnikami.html.
[42] Piotr Aleksandrowicz, "Participatory budgeting or pocket money for voters," Obserwatorfinansowy.pl, 11 June 2013, http://www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl/tematyka/in-english/participatory-budgeting-or-pocket-money-for-voters/.
[43] "Budżet partycypacyjny w Sopocie" [Participatory budget in Sopot], 29 December 2012, http://edemokracja-polska.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14:budzet-partycypacyjny-w-sopocie&catid=40&Itemid=128.
[44] "Współdecydowanie wszystkim się opłaca" [Co-deciding pays for all], Maszglos.pl, 15 October 2012, http://www.maszglos.pl/2012/10/wspoldecydowanie-wszystkim-sie-oplaca/.
[45] "Sejm za pracami nad projektem zwiększającym udział samorządów w dochodach PIT" [The Sejm to proceed working on the amendment increasing local government's share of income from PIT], WP.pl, 6 December 2012, http://podatki.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,Sejm-za-pracami-nad-projektem-zwiekszajacym-udzial-samorzadow-w-dochodach-PIT,wid,15158455,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=110f8b&_ticrsn=5.
[46] HFHR, "Izabela Lewandowska-Malec przeciwko Polsce. ETPCz stwierdza naruszenie prawa do wolności słowa" [Izabela Lewandowska-Malec v. Poland: ECtHR confirms an infringment on free speech], news release, 18 September 2012, http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/obserwatorium/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4315:izabela-lewandowska-malec-przeciwko-polsce-etpcz-stwierdza-naruszenie-prawa-do-wolnoci-sowa&catid=41:etpcz&Itemid=53.
[47] "Mytkowska: Przepis o obrazie uczuć religijnych jest nadużywany" [The law on the defamation of religious beliefs is abused], Gazeta.pl, 29 October 2012, http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114883,12760266,Mytkowska__Przepis_o_obrazie_uczuc_religijnych_jest.html.
[48] "Wyroki Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka w sprawach wydanych przeciwko Polsce w dniu 24 lipca 2012 roku" [ECtHR verdicts in cases against Poland ruled on 24 July 2012], Public Information Bulletin, 6 August 2012, http://bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/prawa-czlowieka/europejski-trybunal-praw-czlowieka/aktualnosci/news,4184,wyroki-europejskiego-trybunalu-praw-czlowieka-w.html.
[49] "Raport specjalny: Afera Amber Gold" [Special report: Amber Gold affair], Wiadomosci.wp.pl, story installments span 2012–2013, http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,133954,title,Afera-ws-Amber-Gold,raport.html?ticaid=1f702.
[50] "Klienci Amber Gold stracili 290 milionów złotych" [Amber Gold customers lost 290 million złoty], Wprost, 7 September 2012, http://www.wprost.pl/ar/346607/Klienci-Amber-Gold-stracili-290-milionow-zlotych/.
[51] "Autor prowokacji opisanej w GPC ujawnił się we Wprost" [The author of the entrapment described in GPC revealed himself in Wprost], Rzeczpospolita, 15 September 2012, http://www.rp.pl/artykul/933726.html.
[52] "Sławomir Jastrzębowski: Polska 2012. Umowy o dzieło na wyroki!" [Slawomir Jastrzebowski: Poland 2012. Contracts on sentences!], Se.pl, 28 June 2012, http://www.se.pl/wydarzenia/opinie/sawomir-jastrzebowski-polska-2012-umowy-o-dzieo-na-wyroki_265778.html.
[53] "Nagrania z ukrytej kamery pogrążą PSL?" [Will recordings from a hidden camera destroy the PSL?], Fakt.pl, 16 July 2012, http://www.fakt.pl/Kompromitujace-tasmy-PSL,artykuly,169025,1.html.
[54] "Afera taśmowa pogrążyła ministra. Dymisja Sawickiego" [The tape scandal destroyed the minister. Sawicki's resignation], Dziennik.pl, 17 July 2012, http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/398188,afera-tasmowa-pograzyla-ministra-dymisja-sawickiego.html.
[55] Among other connections, much was made of the fact that Prime Minister Tusk's son was an employee of the airline established by the owner of Amber Gold, Marcin Plichta.
[56] "Nie będzie komisji śledczej. Sejm zdecydował" [There will be no investigatory committee. The Sejm decided], Gazeta Wyborcza, 31 August 2012, http://wyborcza.pl/1,75478,12395871,Nie_bedzie_komisji_sledczej__Sejm_zdecydowal.html.
[57] Bogdan Wróblewski, "Wyrok w najgłośniejszej aferze polityczno-korupcyjnej IV RP – Sawicka winna," GazetaWyborcza, 17 May 2012, http://wyborcza.pl/1,75478,11738595,Wyrok_w_najglosniejszej_aferze_polityczno_korupcyjnej.html.
[58] Andrzej Walaszczyk, "Ruszy proces Kamińskiego," Nasz Dziennik, 7 December 2012, http://www.naszdziennik.pl/wp/17310,ruszy-proces-kaminskiego.html.


text:
More Videos...
2007 Roush 427R Dyno Pull
2.57" blower pulley and CAI with custom BBR tune. 402rwhp/376tq. : 84F/56%. I was hoping for about 420hp but it wasn't in the cards that day. Dynoed at Lethal Performance, San Antonio, TX.
Mustang gt roush 427R
warming the tires a little.
Kurt's first drive in the '04 Mustang Cobra (watch till end)
4 of us piled into the car for a quick test drive. And to act like dirty old men. Specs: Ported Eaton 2.76 pulley Upgraded heat exhanger Bassani Exhaust Fastlane motorsports tune
ROUSH Mustang 427R
The ROUSH 427R Mustang is one of the best looking, and most powerful Mustang's produced by ROUSH. This Ford comes equiped with a four-piece aerobody kit all around, 18 inch cast chrome wheels, and the brakes to stop on a dime.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
£260,000 Guide Price
3 Bedrooms Semi Detached House for sale
This extended and very nicely presented three semi detached home is situated in the popular area of ipswich known as the crofts. as agents, we recommend the earliest possible internal…
2 Bedrooms Maisonette Flat for sale
This two bedroom first floor maisonette is situated in the sought after area of ipswich known as the crofts and is being sold with no onward chain. the property does require some modernisation…
Free Instant Valuation
Find out if you are charging enough rent or what your property would be worth if you were to sell now


text:
Under Armour Girls Heatgear Armour Tight
These Under Armour Girls Heatgear Armour Tights are made with a super light Heatgear fabric that delivers superior coverage without weighing you down. The Signature Moisture Transport System wicks sweat away and the soft and stretchy elastic waistband provides a comfortable fit.
- Fit: Fitted
- Material: 90% Polyester and 10% Elastane
- 25inch inseam
Style number: 8099537
$4.96 to $4.96
Available Now
Customer Rating
No reviews yet
Customer Reviews
- Fit: Fitted
- Material:
- 10% Elastane
- 90% Polyester


text:
SITES and MoMS (Museum on Main Street program) produce bilingual educational or instructional content for many of its traveling exhibitions.
Please download these FREE resources, and visit our publications page for additional FREE materials.
History & Cultural Exhibitions
American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music | Family Guide
Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente | Exhibition Script
Between Fences | Exhibition Script
Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 | Exhibition Script
The Dancer Within | Exhibition Guide
Freedom's Sisters | Exhibition Guide
IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas | Exhibition Script
Jim Henson's Fantastic World | Exhibition Guide
Key Ingredients: America by Food | Exhibition Script
Latin Jazz: The Perfect Combination | Exhibition Script
New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music | Exhibition Script
Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement | Exhibition Script
Science & Natural History Exhibitions
Earth from Space Poster Set | Exhibition Posters | Exhibition Script
A Magic Web: The Tropical Forest of Barro Colorado Island | Exhibition Script
More Spanish Resources from the Smithsonian
>>Smithsonian Latino Center
Read SITELINE
Update Catalogue
Search Publications
Teachers & Students
On the Blog
Order Publications
Spanish Resources
Mailing Address
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202.633.3168 (tel.)
202.633.5347 (fax)
Delivery Address
470 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Suite 7103
Washington, DC 20024
Mailing Address
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202.633.3168 (tel.)
202.633.5347 (fax)
Delivery Address
470 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Suite 7103
Washington, DC 20024


text:
$1,000 FRN's (1928 & 1934)
$1,000 Federal Reserve Notes - APMEX offers a fine selection of 1928 & 1934 $1,000 Federal Reserve Notes. A rare find today, $1,000 Federal Reserve Notes are genuine U.S. legal tender. Last printed in 1945, the government stopped distribution of this denomination by 1969. These $1,000 bills were mostly used for transactions between banks or for large private transactions, such as making a down payment on a house, and were seldom seen in circulation. These notes provide an excellent alternative to traditional Precious Metals coins or bars.
Are there thousand dollar bills? While they are technically still legal tender, large bills such as thousand dollar bills have not been printed since 1945 and are effectively out of circulation. Their distribution was officially halted in 1969 and large denominations like thousand dollar bills are now rarely seen.
Are $1,000 Bills Real?
Even though we do not see a wide array of $1,000 bills today, the bills sold at APMEX are genuine. Though people may have concerns about a bill so large, the question of is the $1,000 bill real is alleviated with APMEX. All $1,000 bills APMEX sells are inspected and quality assured. The face of the $1,000 bill features a portrait of President Grover Cleveland. When these Federal Reserve Notes were in circulation as currency, very few people and organizations had the opportunity to use them. Primarily used to make large transactions, $1,000 bills were issued instead of using smaller denominations to make those transactions.
Even though there are higher-denomination bills, the $1,000 bill is genuine and has high value, making it a good complement to any collection.
As recently as 1969, the Treasury Department announced it would stop issuing $5,000 and $10,000 notes, the second and third largest denominations on record. Though the $1,000 bill is rare, the $5,000 bill is even rarer, but don't expect this large of a denomination to be found in circulation or in many collector shops. The $5,000 bill was used primarily for institutional purposes. The public did not get a chance to see those bills very often, much less use them.
Buy $1,000 Bills from a Trusted Dealer
The back of the $1,000 Federal Reserve Note features abstract scroll-work with ornate denomination identifiers. These identifiers help ensure the authenticity of each bill. APMEX offers outstanding customer service along with a quality assurance standard that guarantees you are getting the highest quality product.
To view available $1,000 Federal Reserve Notes or to get prices, click on the image below representing the item of your interest:
Do they Make $1000 Bills?
Yes, but not any longer. They were last printed on December 27, 1945, and officially discontinued on July 14, 1969, by the Federal Reserve System, supposedly due to 'lack of use'. Some $1000 bills can be worth several thousand dollars each.
Is there really a $10,000 bill? There were Federal Reserve Notes printed in a $10,000 denomination. There are only 366 still in existence, and one can expect to pay more than $150,000 to add such an item to one's collection.


text:
Canvas Print
Turkey Creekby Roger Wedegis
Fine art print on bright white, fine poly-cotton blend, matte canvas using latest generation Epson archival inks. Individually trimmed and hand stretched museum wrap over 1-1/2" deep wood stretcher bars. Includes wall hanging hardware.
The Turkey Creek Sanctuary is a small nature reserve in the city of Palm Bay in Brevard County, Florida, and incorporates both salty hammock and sand pine ridge habitats. It has 1.85 miles of boardwalk paths and 1.5 miles of jogging trails through native forest to Turkey Creek, an excellent site for seeing turtles as well as other local wildlife; there is a canoe deck on the creek. The creek is an important breeding ground for both salt and fresh water fish. The Sanctuary is part of the East Florida section of the Great Florida Birding Trail
The property was donated to the Florida Audubon Society and the city of Palm Bay in 1978.


text:
|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|Robert Ionescu <robsie...@googlemail.com>
|Re: RewriteRule [C] flag
|Tue, 08 Nov 2005 19:46:23 GMT
Hi. > The documentation for mod_rewrite states the following for the [C] > flag: > > > For instance, use it to remove the ``.www'' part inside a > per-directory > rule set when you let an external redirect happen (where the ``.www'' > part should not to occur!). I think this note is based upon an example in the rewrite guide: RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.[^.]+\.host\.com$ RewriteRule ^(.+) %{HTTP_HOST}$1 [C] RewriteRule ^www\.([^.]+)\.host\.com(.*) /home/$1$2 but the same can be also achieved with RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.([^.]+)\.host\.com$ RewriteRule ^/(.+) /home/%1/$2 [L] may be more useful: an other trailing slash fix (per-dir context) RewriteEngine On RewriteRule !^.+\.[a-z]{2,4}$ - [C] RewriteRule ^(.+[^/])$ /$1/ [R=301,L] The difference is: With that one in the rewrite guide, rule and condition are tested. With this one, the pattern is tested if there's no extension present. Only if this is the case, the 2nd rule with the wide and slow RegEx .+ is tested against the filepath, if there is no trailing slash present. Of course, this snippet doesn't check, if the path is an existing directory at all, but if you don't have extension-less files, nothing could go wrong. With this one from the rewrite guide, RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d RewriteRule ^(.+[^/])$ $1/ [R] rule-pattern and condition are always tested for every request (if no trailing slash is present). So every /abc.html request would be testet against the rule + condition. An other case might be: Setting ENVs RewriteRule ^abc - [E=var1:test,C] RewriteRule \.html$ - [E=ext:html,L] If the filepath starts with abc, the env var1:test will be set. (If it starts with abc CHAINED) and ends with .html, E=ext:html would be set additionally. Of course, the following does the same: RewriteRule ^abc - [E=var1:test] RewriteRule ^abc.*\.html$ - [E=ext:html,L] There are sometimes different ways to create a ruleset - one is using the C-Flag... :-) HTH, Robert --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com For additional commands, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
|View raw message


text:
Match Questions
- Begin typing to search
- Explore questions by category:
- What they care about
- Explained answers
- About sex
- About dating
- About lifestyle
- About ethics
- About religion
- Other topics
Do you prefer sex rough or gentle?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Did you join OkCupid just so you could find people to have sex with?
Answer publicly to see my answer
How confident are you in your sexual abilities?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Would you be concerned if your partner still masturbated, even though you were sexually active together?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Orgasms are clearly the most important part of sex.
Answer publicly to see my answer
In your ideal sexual encounter, do you take control, or do they?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Would you need to sleep with someone before you considered marrying them?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Say you've started seeing someone you really like. As far as you're concerned, how long will it take before you have sex?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Have you ever made a booty call (invited over or visited someone you were not actively in a relationship with, just for sexual activity)?
Answer publicly to see my answer
Answer publicly to see my answer
Block this person
Is this person bothering you? Blocking hides you from them and prevents further messages from being exchanged.
If you're being harassed by this person, please report them.
Report user
Report submitted!
Our moderators will look into this shortly. Thanks for helping out.
In the mean time, why don't you check out some other matches? Go to matches
And guess what else? You're currently eligible to be a flag moderator. Help OkCupid out by voting on flags set by other people. Check out flagmod
Report this photo
How does this violate our Photo Rules?
You must be in the photo! Full nudity, extreme close ups, pets, cars, baby photos, artwork, images you've added yourself to, etc. are not allowed.
Thanks! We'll look into the issue soon.
Flagging inappropriate content keeps OkCupid awesome. You're now eligible to be a flag moderator!
Connect your existing OkCupid account
Sign in
Welcome Back!
Restore your account to continue meeting new people.
Reset your password
We'll email you a link to reset it.
Email sent!
An email is on its way to .
If you don't see it, try checking your Spam folder.
Enter Authentication Code
Sign in
Not so fast!
You need to complete your basic info on the mobile app before you can use the desktop site.


text:
Bayern Munich's Bundesliga form will count for nothing when they host Juventus in the quarter-final of the Champions League tonight.
Bayern are just one win away from clinching the title after setting a new club record of 10 consecutive league victories, culminating in Saturday's 9-2 humiliation of Hamburg.
They have scored 34 goals in that run of matches, conceding just six, but the Champions League is a different competition and, as Arsenal showed in their 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena in the last round, it's not as easy as they are making the Bundesliga appear this season.
"It's going to be a very high-quality game between two evenly-matched teams," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
"Juventus are one of Europe's top teams. They are very Italian, yet they are also very creative. They are very strong physically. Antonio Conte has done a great job with them in recent years and you can see his signature on this side."
The last time Bayern failed to reach the last eight of the Champions League was when they were defeated in the first knockout round by Internazionale in 2010/11. The German national team does not have the best of records against Italy either with much of Bayern's squad involved in the semi-final defeat to the Azzurri at Euro 2012. That could suggest more struggles for Bayern against the Old Lady, but midfielder Toni Kroos (left) does not reckon much of such statistics.
"The past doesn't matter," he said. "What's gone is gone. We don't care about Germany-Italy games, or our previous matches with Juve or Inter. We are in really good form so we do not have to fear Juventus."
Conte has a doubt over the fitness of Mirko Vucinic but he has no doubts about who is favourite at the Allianz Arena this evening.
"We know we are the outsiders," he said.
- More about:
- Bavaria
- Bundesliga
- Hamburg
- Hamburg Sv


text:
Skip to comments.
|Free Republic 1st Quarter Fundraising Target: $88,000
|Receipts & Pledges to-date: $75,501
|Woo hoo!! And now less than $12.5k to go!! Let's git 'er done!! Thank you all very much!! God bless6
Posted on 04/27/2014 8:17:39 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
click here to read article
Buuuuump for more donors!
Thank you all very much!!
Woo hoo!!
New thread, everyone: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3149989/posts
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
Insightful research content.
Across 16 business disciplines.
Informing better business decisions.
All at your fingertips.
Aberdeen research is 100% free for members. Sign Up
Small and mid-size contact centers face challenges that impact their ability to delight their empowered
customers. Using a cloud-based delivery model helps firms address these challenges and enjoy superior
results - which are elevated particularly across the mid-size contact centers.
This report shows how leading organizations manage their travel risk for their employees and maintain Duty to Care policies. It demonstrates that mobile access, visibility, and policy are tied together to manage the key aspects of risk.
Adoption of cloud contact centers is on the rise. Findings from Aberdeen research shows that 31% of contact centers are deployed in the cloud, and more companies anticipate adoption of cloud technology to throughout 2014. This report outlines opportunities through which public cloud contact centers would deliver better customer experiences. It also...
This report will illustrate how companies using analytics as part of customer service activities perform, compared to those without analytics. It will also outline key capabilities that enable effective use of analytics in converting customer and interaction data into actionable insights.
In this report we will examine the latest end user feedback from our latest B2B Integration and Collaboration survey, May 2014. We will investigate how companies are rising to the B2B challenge through adoption of collaboration initiatives, the prioritized strategic actions they are taking, and the tools they are leveraging to make it happen.
The 2017 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance survey is intended to examine industry-wide pressures, identify operational trends, and particularly investigate the strategies, best practices,...Take Survey
Project management is a foundational discipline for organizations of all types and sizes. This is true whether projects are intended to provide customers with goods or services, or intended to...Take Survey
Thank you for participating in our Trends in Sales and Use Tax Compliance Survey.
This survey is designed to identify the challenges that organizations face when managing Sales and Use Tax....Take Survey
Heading into 2017, HR initiatives are focused on refining individual top talent in the quest to drive better alignment between employee qualifications and the achievement of management goals and...Take Survey
See All Open Surveys


text:
Astrophysics and Space Science
An International Journal of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science
Astrophysics and Space Science publishes original contributions and invited reviews covering the entire range of astronomy, astrophysics, astrophysical cosmology, planetary and space science and the astrophysical aspects of astrobiology. This includes both observational and theoretical research, the techniques of astronomical instrumentation and data analysis and astronomical space instrumentation. We particularly welcome papers in the general fields of high-energy astrophysics, astrophysical and astrochemical studies of the interstellar medium including star formation, planetary astrophysics, the formation and evolution of galaxies and the evolution of large scale structure in the Universe. Papers in mathematical physics or in general relativity which do not establish clear astrophysical applications will no longer be considered.
The journal also publishes topically selected special issues in research fields of particular scientific interest. These consist of both invited reviews and original research papers. Conference proceedings will not be considered. All papers published in the journal are subject to thorough and strict peer-reviewing.
Astrophysics and Space Science features short publication times after acceptance and colour printing free of charge.
Commonly used title abbreviations: Astrophys Space Sci, Ap&SS
Latest Articles
Original Article
LRS Bianchi type-II string cosmological models in a modified theory of gravitation
T. Kanakavalli, G. Ananda Rao, D. R. K. Reddy (February 2017)
Original Article
Improved Solar System bounds on the cosmologically viable f ( G ) $f(\mathcal{G})$ gravity
Xue-Mei Deng, Yi Xie (February 2017)
Original Article
Low-acceleration dwarf galaxies as tests of quantised inertia
M. E. McCulloch (February 2017)
- Impact Factor 1.678
- Available 1968 - 2017
- Volumes 362
- Issues 723
- Articles 17,643
- Open Access 76 Articles
Stay up to Date
Find a Volume or Issue
- Journal Title
- Astrophysics and Space Science
- Coverage
- Volume 1 / 1968 - Volume 362 / 2017
- Print ISSN
- Online ISSN
- Publisher
- Springer Netherlands
- Additional Links
- Topics
- Industry Sectors
Continue reading...
To view the rest of this content please follow the download PDF link above.


text:
Copywrite a sales page for Website
This project received 16 bids from talented freelancers with an average bid price of $263 USD.Get free quotes for a project like this
Project Budget$250 - $750 USD
Total Bids16
Project Description
Hi I need a complete page re written to take into consideration our strategy of "buy property at wholesale", it is a similar strategy to the one below
[url removed, login to view]
[url removed, login to view]
I am looking for a low budget job as we are just starting out.
Skills Required
Looking to make some money?
- Set your budget and the timeframe
- Outline your proposal
- Get paid for your work
Hire Freelancers who also bid on this project
Looking for work?
Work on projects like this and make money from home!Sign Up Now
- Forbes
- The New York Times
- Time
- Wall Street Journal
- Times Online


text:
Integrated Master's in Materials Engineering
- Academic degree: Bachelor (Bologna 1st cycle degree), Master's degree
- Duration: 5 curricular years
- Regime: Normal
- Place: Azurém Campus, Guimarães
- Main Scientific area: Material Science and Engineering
Materials Engineering is a multidisciplinary and cross course a key area for the development of new materials and technologies. Trains engineers with a vast knowledge of the properties of materials, characterization techniques, methods and manufacturing technologies. The goal is acknowledge the structure-processing-property relationships that determine products' performance. The materials engineer is able to analyse the raw material, understand and manipulate their properties for the development of new materials. It is also able to select materials, design and build more innovative products and technologies. Graduates will be able to work in various industries and services, as in the production of raw materials, product development industry, processing industry, micro and nanotechnology industry or aviation, consulting and sales, quality control and research.
The graduates will be able to take on the role required by telecommunications operators of various kinds, by companies working with computer networks, by companies which develop telecommunications equipment and applications and also by content suppliers, bearing in mind the research and development centres which develop their activities within this domain.
This school offers programs in:
- Portuguese (Portugal)
Last updated May 11, 2016


text:
More Videos...
Climb - Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a Monster
Ride on the bumper of a screaming 910hp, Twin-turbo, All-wheel Drive, 150 mph Suzuki SX4 as it races up one of the world's most dangerous hills. An attempt by the "Monster" to break his own record of 10:01:41... COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (June 29, 2010) -- For the fifth consecutive time, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima combined experience, skill and Falken Tires to claim overall victory in the 88th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Although he did not set a new Pikes Peak record, one day before his 60th birthday, Tajima continues to hold the current overall record for reaching the peak, beating hill climb veterans Paul Dallenbach and Rhys Millen in the Unlimited Class. He drove his new 910-hp Monster Sport Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special on Falken WildPeak A/T tires, the powerful new line of all-terrain, all-season tires Falken launched this past April. Following Exhaustive tests in a Japanese wind tunnel facility, Monster's 2010 Pikes Peak race car underwent extensive aerodynamic changes to better adapt to the modified road surface on the race to the clouds, which assumed a smoother tarmac and less gravel than last year. Thinning air ascending the mountain robs most motors of their power by 30 or more percent, but the increase in horsepower over last year's race car helped push the driver forward.
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb - Crash Compilation | HD - ReLoad
A compilation with the best crashes. Those footages are not mine. *ALL DRIVERS SURVIVED THE ACCIDENTS A BIG Thanks to: Michael Craig: https://www.youtube.com/user/michaelcraig123 PunkFictionProdction: https://www.youtube.com/user/PunkFictionProdction ApacheAshley: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkdPU7qryvqhDoXLNUcllsQ armada14arv: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIJuRGDaZHlJz-y4A_nnP0g zambo167: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrfMHpSl69bCTg9HZo2o6A TheJaytiler: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheJaytiler 5280livin: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmECRExjInRAOwYKBm9vbg dallrace: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpm3K9pUZRVMnrmInAQBTg Joey Vincent: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKUfvU8n8Up8WqgDUcrs3eA Dustin Kirk: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxtb7WjbyD-0x1MiEz9CtaQ culpracing: https://www.youtube.com/user/culpracing hambergerz99: https://www.youtube.com/user/hambergerz99 LovellRacing: https://www.youtube.com/user/LovellRacing supremebeholder: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ_EgrAGnljU1VASSnIA6mw Joel yust: https://www.youtube.com/user/joelyust Bobbie Richmond: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1xgXSQ9z-KWsyrM_Evw3rg My Life at Speed: https://www.youtube.com/user/TripleNickelFilms john somethin: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgnh5I8R-YcylDtqTiXXrUg aaggfg: https://www.youtube.com/user/aaggfg EvolutionDynamics: https://www.youtube.com/user/EvolutionDynamics JohnSandyProductions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSXOOauJJIfprLszzW5Smww subaruofvegas: https://www.youtube.com/user/subaruofvegas Logan McAuley: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc2qoDz5pkJN0E-sgp8liSQ Hofftastic Voyage: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Rn4yeJgvJCXcKQ6vwl6ng Please Rate Comment and Subscribe! ;) SuperMirco1998©: http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperMirco1998?sub_confirmation=1 Video edit: Sony Vegas Pro 130 Copyright ©: SuperMirco1998© Mr. M©
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb: 2011
Spencer Steele, Jimmy Olson, Dave and Allison Kern and Savannah Rickli take you up pikes peak with no speed limits and a ton of skill. Ride along and check back for their individual race runs soon!
KZ camaro 72 VS SUPRA


text:
2017 NFL Mock Draft
With names featured such as Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette, and Deshaun Watson the 2017 NFL Draft class is looking very strong. Check to see who we have projected as the #1 pick and who your team might take.
More Stories
3 SHOCKING Trades that Could Happen on Draft Day
The 2017 Draft is creeping up on us. According to the clock, we currently have about 65 days left... Read more »
Pittsburgh Steelers 3 Round 2017 Mock Draft
The Steelers are looking to bring home the Lombardi in 2017. Don't get me wrong, going to the AFC... Read more »
Two Round 2017 NFL Mock Draft!
We are back with the latest NFL Draft projections. The 2016-17 season ended in the most exciting Super Bowl... Read more »
New York Jets 2017 NFL Draft Big Board
What do the Jets need to do in 2017? jbassetta22 has composed a 2017 big board for the NY J-E-T-S!... Read more »
Latest 2017 Mock NFL Draft!
The Super Bowl hangover is finally over. Everyone can finally calm down after seeing Tom Brady put one on... Read more »
The Ultimate Redskins 2017 Mock Draft I
Can the Redskins improve on last year's record and win the NFC East? The Dallas Cowboys look like formidable... Read more »
At Least the Atlanta Falcons Won the Super Bowl Battle Rap [Video]
The New England Patriots completed the greatest comeback in NFL history Sunday night and took home the NFL's 51st Super... Read more »
Latest 2017 NFL Mock Draft Picks: Super Bowl Edition!
The wait is finally over. In just a few hours we will figure out who will win the big... Read more »
Super Bowl LI NFL Mock Draft Version 1.0
Super Bowl LI is ready to set things off in Houston! The Falcons and Patriots are getting ready to... Read more »
Chicago Bears 2017 NFL Mock Draft: 7 Rounds
The Super Bowl will be played this weekend. While the Atlanta Falcons are at the top of the NFC,... Read more »
New Dallas Cowboys 2017 Mock Draft: January Edition
Dallas was a Super Bowl favorite but ultimately we know happened. All but two teams eventually end up gone... Read more »
2017 NFL Mock Draft Round 1: Super Bowl LI Edition
The 2017 Draft is a few months away. With draft season in full swing, it is already time for... Read more »
Dallas Cowboys 7 Round 2017 Mock Draft!
The Cowboys had a great season but now it is over. There are big questions to ask in Dallas... Read more »
Petition Calls For Migos and Rae Sremmurd to Perform at Super Bowl 51
Super Bowl LI will be here before we know it. The Atlanta Falcons are going to try to take down... Read more »
2017 Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft & Offseason: Super Bowl Edition
The Cowboys are going to be reloading in 2017. However thankfully, the team has a powerful offense and young... Read more »
Pittsburgh Steelers 3 Round 2017 Mock Draft
The Steelers are looking to bring home the Lombardi in 2017....
Two Round 2017 NFL Mock Draft!
New York Jets 2017 NFL Draft Big Board
Everything Else
At Least the Atlanta Falcons Won the Super Bowl Battle Rap [Video]
The New England Patriots completed the greatest comeback in NFL history...
Petition Calls For Migos and Rae Sremmurd to Perform at Super Bowl 51
Group of White Athletes Committed a #BLMKidnapping In 2016
Yesterday on twitter a horrific story trended over the assault of...


text:
June 3, 2015 10:25 pm
Download audio
Your agency is working on new performance goals, part of the new GPRA Modernization Act.
That law includes many requirements for agencies, including one that requires them to choose performance improvement officers.
The Government Accountability Office is watching closely to see if the law is effective in improving performance. GAO says the law can help your agency in five areas.
Berniece Steinhardt, GAO's Director of Governmentwide Management Issues, explains how agencies can adopt more coordinated approaches to achieve meaningful results.
Hiring freeze: Some answers, some questions
Hiring freeze: Some answers, some questions
Sen. Warner: budget is tip of the debt spear
Photos of the amazing, moving, important and amusing things happening in the federal community.
A daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.


text:
Congratulations to Professors Costas Spanos, Chief Technology Officer of BEARS. He has been selected as the Graduate Assembly's 2016 Faculty Mentor Award winner.Each year, the Graduate Assembly solicits nominations for faculty and teaching staff that have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring graduate students. The selection committee has found that Professor Spanos exemplified the principles of graduate student mentorship that lead to a successful graduate student experience.
Nelumbo has developed an omniphobic nanocoating which accelerates water shedding and reduces contaminant build-up on surfaces. We are using our OMNIPHOBE™ coating in air conditioning systems to raise efficiency by up to 25%. Our coating is 200X thinner than a human hair, conducts heat, and adds less than 2% to the manufacturing cost of an AC unit, allowing for cost-effective universal application on any scale or geometry.
SinBerBEST held its Annual Symposium in which its researchers presented program goals and research accomplishments over the past four years, and their vision for the future on the SinBerBEST theme: Building Efficiency and Sustainability in the Tropics. They also heard from local and international experts on topics related to energy and the built environment. Lastly, tours and demonstrations were offered in the Cyber-Physical testbed that was designed to facilitate research on sustainable tropical buildings.
In 2015, BEARS had its annual holiday party as organized by the Staff Welfare Committee in Singapore. It was a great success!
Daphne Pakiam, with over five years of administrative experience for companies that include the National Cancer Centre of Singapore, has joined BEARS as the SinBerBEST Project Officer. We look forward to working with her on coordination and management projects.
Elky Loh, an administrative and logistics expert with over 10 years of experience for companies including Canon Singapore, has joined BEARS. With her experience in supporting programs, we look forward to having her on the team.


text:
Storm Chasers: Greatest Storms DVD
This special event geatures the all-time most intense chaces in Storm Chasers history. Extreme chasers Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor, IMAX Filmaker Sean Casey, and renowned meteorologist Dr. Josh Wurman Describe their most dangerous and exciting moments ever, including getting up close to tornados, harrowing night intercepts, baseball-sized hail, lightning, flying debris, accidents and downright devastation.
Read MoreLess
More Details
- Format: DVD
- Studio: Discovery Channel
- DVD Release Date: January 17, 2012
- Genre: Documentary
Availability: In Stock
Ready to ship in 5-7 Business Days
2.02.0(1 review)See all 1 review


text:
������� Every day, I (1)� early in the morning. I�(2)��my teeth and (3)� my face. I (4)� a shower. Then I (5)� my uniform and shoes. I (6)� breakfast at home. My school is very close to my home. I (7)� the school bus. I (8)� to school with Joyce, my classmate. We (9)��many friends at school. We (10)��with them. We�study�with them in the same class too.
Link to this exercise from your website or blog:


text:
Posts: 399
Registered: 06-00
Attachment: rs-h1137.zip
This has been downloaded 108 time(s).
Last edited by Rich on Nov 6 2003 at 02:29
Posts: 1360
Registered: 05-01
Happiness is a warm SSG ;)
Searcher said:
Great run Rich.
Damn thats a beautiful map. Slowed my system right down.
Last edited by Rich on Oct 31 2003 at 19:16
Posts: 562
Registered: 09-02
I kill dead people.
Everyone should die.
Rich said:
If I do one for the DSDA it will be a bit smoother. Just need to practice it a bit.
< Contact Us - Doomworld
Powered by vBulletin
Copyright vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


text:
Current Products
The 2015 Trax offers versatility, connectivity and turbocharged performance in an efficient package.
Sporty and modern, Trax blends small-car agility with the utility of an SUV, including up to 1,371 litres (48.4 cubic feet) of cargo space.
The Trax will accommodate customers' increasingly connected lifestyles with available OnStar 4G LTE and built-in Wi-Fi hotspot, as well as MyLink technology featuring the segment's only seven-inch colour touch screen. Trax is also the first in its class to offer Siri Eyes Free.
Trax technologies also enhance passenger safety, with more standard air bags than its competitors, an available rear-view camera and available rear park assist.
Additional vehicle highlights include:
Trax is offered in LS, LT and LTZ trims.
A Chevy inside and out
With its signature dual-port grille, prominent bowtie emblem and swept headlamps, the Trax is immediately identifiable as a contemporary Chevrolet. Its grille design – with chrome accents – emulates other Chevrolets and provides a more cohesive appearance across the brand's lineup of crossovers and small cars.
Available cues such as front fog lamps and simulated front and rear skid plates lend a sportier presence, while vertical tail lamps flank the tailgate, accenting taught body lines and pronounced wheel arches that give the Trax a confident stance.
The 10 exterior colours are: Blue Topaz Metallic, Sunset Orange Metallic, Cyber Grey Metallic, Summit White, Black Granite Metallic, Sable Metallic, Silver Ice Metallic, Victory Red, Deep Ruby Metallic and Champagne Silver Metallic.
Inside, Trax's distinctive styling carries over to a dual-cockpit instrument panel. In the centre, it houses a seven-inch, high-resolution, full-colour display for the standard MyLink voice-activated infotainment system. It also features displays for available SiriusXM satellite radio and available rear-view camera, as well as the available GPS-enabled app navigation system that customers can download.
The instrument cluster is inspired by the bold design in the Sonic, featuring a large, performance-style analogue tachometer combined with a prominent digital display for the speedometer and other readouts. A small-diameter, thick-rimmed steering wheel enhances the sporty ambience. The wheel is leather-wrapped on LT and LTZ models.
LS models feature standard cloth seating, with deluxe cloth standard on LT, along with an available cloth/leatherette seating trim. LTZ models feature standard full leatherette trim. Interior colours are Jet Black, Jet Black/Light Titanium and Jet Black/Brownstone.
For versatility, the 60/40 flat-folding rear seat features a fold-down armrest with cup holders, storage in all four doors, four bins in the dash, pockets in the seatbacks and bins under the rear load floor and a hidden storage drawer under the front passenger seat. It also offers 530 litres (18.7 cubic feet) of storage behind the split-folding rear seat and 1,371 litres (48.4 cubic feet) with the rear seat folded. The front passenger seat also folds flat to extend the cargo length and accommodate items up to eight feet long.
Connectivity and infotainment details
Available Siri Eyes Free for iPhone iOS 6 and iOS 7 users enhances connectivity and convenience. Each enables voice-controlled connectivity so customers can keep phones stored and their hands on the wheel.
Additional standard and available features include:
With Chevrolet's connected by OnStar 4G LTE connection, Trax provides an available Wi-Fi hotspot that allows passengers to connect multiple personal devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, to high-speed wireless Internet.
Turbocharged performance
Trax is powered by a power-dense Ecotec 1.4L turbocharged four-cylinder engine backed by an efficiency-enhancing six-speed automatic transmission. The engine is rated at an SAE-certified 138 horsepower (102 kW) and 148 lb-ft of torque (200 Nm) between 1,850 and 4,900 rpm.
The wide rpm range for the maximum torque – a specific trait of turbocharged engines – helps it deliver a more confident driving experience, with a strong feeling of power across the rpm band. The turbocharger's on-demand performance also contributes to efficiency because it enables greater power when needed with the lower fuel consumption of a small-displacement engine when it's not.
The turbocharger is integrated within the exhaust manifold, for reduced weight and greater packaging flexibility. A solid cast crankshaft and forged connecting rods deliver additional durability to support the engine's pressurized power and torque.
A Hydra-Matic 6T40 six-speed automatic transmission with TAPShift control is matched with the 1.4L turbo engine. It has a unique design, with the planetary gear sets positioned on the same axis as the engine crankshaft centreline, making the entire powertrain unit shorter fore-to-aft. This design enables a shorter overall vehicle length, increased interior space, enhanced safety crush zones and lower weight.
A "steep" first gear and a "tall" overdrive top gear to achieve a wide ratio spread of 6.14:1. This allows Trax to achieve robust acceleration, as well as fuel efficiency and lower engine noise at highway cruising speeds.
Refined ride and handling
Trax is built on a robust global platform and engineered with precise suspension tuning to deliver one of the segment's quietest and most refined driving experiences. Available all-wheel drive seamlessly shifts power to the rear wheels when required for better traction and handling.
A 2,555 mm (100.6-inch) wheelbase and wide stance – 1,539 mm (60.6-inch) front and rear tracks – contribute to a confident driving experience, while a strong structure enables greater suspension precision and a quiet ride.
A MacPherson strut front suspension is used with coil springs, a large stabilizer bar and side-load-compensated front strut modules.
The rear suspension incorporates a compound crank (torsion beam) design, with a double-wall, tubular V-shape beam profile with gas-charged twin-tube shocks. It combines all the advantages of a conventional torsion beam axle, including minimal space requirements, with low weight and consistent camber control. Noise-damping urethane spring isolators improve ride isolation and dampen noise.
Trax also features a column-mounted, variable-effort electric power steering system that saves fuel compared to a conventional engine-driven power steering pump.
Sixteen-inch wheels are standard on LS and LT (aluminum wheels on LT). LTZ has standard 18-inch aluminum wheels.
Built to protect
Trax incorporates technologies that help avoid crashes and protect occupants in case one occurs. Crash-avoidance technologies include:
The body structure forms a protective cage around the passenger compartment, with 66 percent of the structure composed of high-strength steels, including ultra-high-strength steel. That structural protection is complemented with 10 standard air bags:
Trax's safety and security features also include exclusive OnStar technology with Advanced Crash Response System, emergency assistance and more.
About Chevrolet in Canada
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.5 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.ca, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chevroletcanada or by following @ChevroletCanada on Twitter.


text:
Invaluable cannot guarantee the accuracy of translations through Google Translate and disclaims any responsibility for inaccurate translations.
Show translation options
Lot 24: Pablo Picasso, Passage De Dinard, Lithograph
Fine Art Auction Featuring the Prudential Collection
by RoGallery
October 4, 2012
Long Island City , NY, USALive Auction
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Please Register/Login to access your Invaluable Alerts
Past Lot
Looking for the realized and estimated price?
Description: Artist: Pablo Picasso, After, Spanish (1881 - 1973) | Title: Passage De Dinard, 22-D | Year of Original Artwork: 1922 | Medium: Lithograph on Arches Paper | Edition: 500, 34 AP's | Size: 22 in. x 29 in. (55.88 cm x 73.66 cm) | Ref #: 22-D | Chromist: Laurent Marcel Salinas | Published btw. 1979-1982. Estate of Picasso, (Marina Picasso) pencil signature and embossed blindstamp lower right. Ink stamp verso 'Approved by the heirs of Pablo Picasso
Browse more items