David Kocieniewski, a business reporter for The New York Times has won the Pulitzer for Explanatory Journalism for his series on holes in the corporate income tax base. The Times explained: “David Kocieniewski devoted a year to digging out and exposing the obscure provisions that businesses and the wealthiest Americans exploit to drive their tax bills down to rock bottom. In a series called ‘But Nobody Pays That,’ Mr. Kocieniewski showed how federal tax law takes with one hand but gives – generously – with the other…. The Pulitzer jury said Mr. Kocieniewski’s work ‘penetrated a legal thicket to explain how the nation’s wealthiest citizens and corporations often exploited loopholes and avoided taxes.'”
Mr. Kocieniewski was born in Buffalo, N.Y. He graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1985, and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1986.
Congratulations and Sto lat!
“Feel” Connects on American Tour
By Raymond Rolak
HAMTRAMCK– After a standing room only concert here at the PNA Concert Hall on Conant Avenue, the rock-pop band FEEL from Katowice, Poland had to rush off to play a gig in Chicago. The entourage took the train from Detroit to Chicago the next day to play The Club in Burbank, Illinois.
Post concert, FEEL was gracious after their Detroit performance and signed CD’s and posters and mingled with their supporters. With a few piwa’s to re-hydrate, after concert talk was primarily in Polish and the band members all knew that Techno-Music had its roots and history founded in Detroit.
The PNA Concert Hall in Hamtramck rocked as lead vocalist Piotr Kupicha wowed with an over two hour set and energized his audience while interfacing with the crowd. It was obvious that his on-stage presence connected with an all-age audience as “Feel” went through their repertoire of Polish hit songs.
The evening was a Polish musical showcase as local Polish-American rapper Dzejo started with a warm-up set and then Magda Kaminski got things really moving along. Kaminski did a few numbers from her CD, “This is Me.” The venue lent a good platform as Marcin Kindla showed off his warm but powerful vocals with some softer stylings. He also really connected with the primarily Polish crowd that rushed in to be front and center of the stage.
The presentations started late so the audience was ready. Emcee Rafal Nowakowski kept everyone informed so the attendance was anxious and anticipating the main attraction. “Feel” worked without a break and Kupicha had the audience wanting more as he did a couple of interaction numbers. The group sang all their popular Polish radio hits with two encores.
Before the concert Kupicha told me music was in his in his heritage as his grandfather, also Piotr, was a professional musician in Silesia. “Dzia-Dzia was a violinist,” he said in broken English. “So strings are in my bloodline,” he added smiling. He laughed even more with my broken Polish and the band members giggled with halting sign language augmentations. There was no barrier with communication though and we talked a bit about the international language of music. “Music is the global ambassador, I agree,” added the talented songwriter. Polish native Anya Nowakowski helped with the tougher translations and in depth questions. She was laughing with enthusiasm also. Idioms don’t get translated well sometimes.
While relaxing in the ready room Kupicha had questions about the Detroit Red Wings as most of the group knew about the local long time NHL ice-hockey success of this area. Group spokesman, Wojtek Grzesiok, told of the time a few years ago that former Polish hockey star Mariusz Czerkawski got Kupicha to play in a celebrity ice-hockey game in Poland. “No one expected Piotr to be so fast,” added Grzesiok. “Just like on the guitar, Piotr skated fast.”
In one of Kupicha’s songs he reached the audience with a soft staccato feel, “Listen-Listen,” he sang in Polish. It was colorful and touching to the audience. Offerings from their new CD “Feel-3” were front and center throughout the sets. An old favorite, “And When the Dusk Comes” got the crowd really moving (A gdy jest już ciemno).
Grzesiok said they had been looking forward to the Detroit date as it was the first time for “Feel” to play in this area. After this performance it won’t be the last. The only wrinkle in the evening was that the very popular Sebastian Riedel popped a disk in his back and was trying to recuperate at the band’s hotel. He wasn’t able to perform in Chicago either.
Local music promoters from Telewizja-Detroit and Kozi Vodka had the small concert ballroom set just right. Co-producer Tomasz Czuprynski said, “This is a great location and with this response we will do it again here.”
Hamtramck sausage provider Srodek’s was popular with the band and their post concert smoked sausage and pierogi offerings were well received. On this tour, “Feel” had previously played in New Britain, Connecticut, Brooklyn, New York and Passaic, New Jersey.
FEEL- Piotr Kupicha– Lead Vocals and Guitar, Łukasz Kożuch– Keyboard, Michał Nowak– Bass, Michał Opaliński– Percussion, Paweł Pawłowski- Guitar
A brand new news site, Latitude News, that I have found to be really excellent. I’ve been using their beta site for a couple of weeks now. What I particularly like is their world view. Founded by Wojtek Szczerba and Maria Balinska, Latitude is not the pre-programmed, corporate-speak journalism that you might get from major media sources. The wider perspective comes from the fact that readers can be co-creators of international journalism (which includes local journalism). Co-creation is founded upon the fact that: “international isn’t ‘foreign’ anymore.” The American community is both local and connected to the world. Those connections are prime territory for exploration. Check Latitude out. Latitude describes themselves as follows:
Are you curious about how the rest of the world affects your everyday life?
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For the next few months we invite you to collaborate with us at Latitude News as we navigate new media territory: the co-creation of international journalism with you as a crucial contributor. We’ll be posting different stories to kick start conversations with you. We’ll be testing different discussion technologies together. We want your feedback as to what you think works – and what doesn’t. Our promise to you is that we are responsive, respectful and committed to reliable, fact based reporting
Here at Latitude News our starting point is that international isn’t “foreign” anymore. Scratch the surface of any American community and you’ll find loads of exciting connections between Americans and the rest of the world just waiting to be explored. Most of the issues that we’re debating around the water cooler or online don’t exist in isolation: they have relevant and useful parallels abroad. Our approach is simple. We’re looking to tell stories about the world that connects with your heart and soul: because they’re relevant; because they’re engaging; because they’re entertaining.
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The BBC Program, Who Do You Think You Are speaks with Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1)/Dancing With the Stars (ABC) judge Len Goodman. Mr. Goodman discovers the role his Polish great great grandfather had in 1830 November Uprising.
What’s special about Poland? Together with Val Kilmer, Natalie Portman, Russell Crowe, many more world celebrities discover the uniqueness of Poland!
An insightful set of reasons seekers and others searching for Christian witness on the web may be well turned away by your church/parish website. The articles lessons apply across the board. If they can’t stand a quick visit to your sight to learn more, they are not going to show up in the pews.
From Econsultancy: 25 reasons why I’ll leave your website in 10 seconds
What makes people press the back button, shortly after visiting your website? Why do they bail out so quickly? And what can you do about it?
I’ve been thinking about this and realised that there are many more negative factors than I’d originally anticipated.
Taken at individual level some of these factors might not be enough to make visitors back out, but when combined together they may give off entirely the wrong impression.
It’s not easy to create a beautiful, brilliant user experience, and the reality is that most sites have issues of one kind or another. But keep an eye open for the following – often avoidable – negative factors and try to eliminate them, to create a stickier website for users…
“The Way Back” just opened last Friday across the United States. The film, directed by award-wining director Peter Weir, is loosely based on the book called “The Long Walk” about a Polish Army officer who escapes from a Soviet camp in Siberia during WWII with a group of prisoners. Those who survive the journey end up making their way to freedom through the dessert and the Himalayas.
The film Stars Colin Ferrell, Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris.
This is the first widely distributed film that shows the Polish WWII story from the side of the Soviet occupation and persecution. Those of you who are familiar with the Kresy-Siberia Group, will be pleased to know that they advised Peter Weir in the making of the film.
Anne Applebaum, a Washington Post Reporter who recently wrote the book “Gulag”, and is married to Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radek Sikorski, wrote in her review of the film: “…The Way Back” is a unique and groundbreaking film: It represents Hollywood’s first attempt to portray the Soviet Gulag, in meticulously researched detail.” Another review can be found here, and two in Polish here and here.
In the Buffalo, NY area, the film is being shown in Regal Cinemas (Galleria, Orchard Park, Williamsville and Elmwood).
From FOX News 8 in Cleveland: ON TAPE: Bishop Lennon Recorded Talking About Church Closings
The entire conversation is available for listening. It runs a little over 28 minutes.
CLEVELAND — Behind closed doors, Bishop Richard Lennon, head of the [Roman Catholic] Diocese of Cleveland, is straightforward about the need to close churches.
“Let me be very blunt: why haven’t the people of Cleveland done this over the past years,” asked Bishop Lennon.
The bishop took part in a conversation back in May with Pat Schulte Singleton. She was a member of St. Patrick’s — a church on Cleveland’s west side that has since been closed.
Schulte Singleton was hoping to get the bishop to reverse that decision. She went to the meeting alone, and she recorded the conversation without his knowledge. Why?
“To have an accounting of what happened,” she says now. “When you go to talk to the bishop, especially Bishop Lennon, you’re a bit intimidated…”
A few things:
- In most places people have a right to record conversations to which they are a party. I have no problem with Ms. Schulte Singleton’s doing so. It is her right.
- The bishop hits all the right points on technical issues. Being catholic means more than just “place.” It also means a life of sacrifice. No one in the rest of the hierarchy will fault him on those points. You won’t likely get a co-adjutator or an apostolic administrator unless the Bishop goes completely off (becomes a heretic or a scandal to the Church) although the early change in Scranton looked to be a result of too heavy a hand by the R.C. Bishop there.
- The Bishop is a good businessman who is cutting losses and moving to where his customers prefer to be (the suburbs). He knows the financials and the statistics.
- He is equally wrong about place, because place is important, not just because of individual’s attachment to it, but because the presence of church and Christian witness changes the character of place. Yes church is more than place, but it is present in place and time to bring grace, life, and community.
- He is absolutely wrong in his assessment of neighborhood change. If I were the folks living in, or moving into that neighborhood I would be deeply hurt by his attitude. I sense a subtle bigotry there. He could have just said, ‘I don’t want to minister to THOSE people in THAT neighborhood. I’ve written them off.’
- The PNCC model works (as our Prime Bishop Emeritus often said – we have a gem of a Church because we are Catholic with a democratic form of governance) because parishioner ownership results in commitment to working for the home that no one can take from them. It allows parishioners to innovatively approach evangelization as well as solutions to issues. You would never hear – ‘we didn’t know about the financials,’ from the member of a PNCC Parish Committee (as opposed to Ms. Schulte Singleton noting that they didn’t know anything about assessments in arrears). Thanks be to God that the clergy in the PNCC can concentrate on the spiritual. You will never hear money preached from the pulpit. The people handle it and contribute toward what they own.
- Whomever is hitting her people up for money to run appeals up the Vatican flag pole has quite the racket. Milk the dolts back in the states while we sip wine in Roma. O Solo Mio! The answer three years hence — Negato!
The Cosmopolitan Review is published by the alumni of Poland in the Rockies, a biennial symposium in Polish studies held at Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Here is a video from last summer’s sessions:
Each Review is a wealth of information on everything from books to politics, history to poetry. The following are links to articles from the Summer 2010 and Fall 2010 editions I thought you might find interesting and enlightening:
Summer 2010, Vol. 2, No. 2
Poland
… And beyond
- What a Difference an Afghan (business)Woman Makes
- Big Mary and Slavic Miners’ Battle with King Coal
- Poles and Hungarians: “Dwa Bratanki”
- Not Your Grandma’s Pierogi: A Guide to Polish Food in Chicago
- A Passionate Life Lived: Aneta Naszynska
Art
Essays
- The Clock is Ticking: Bridging the Gap Between Young and Elder Polonia
- Echoes from the Past: Awakening Agency and Advocacy in the Young Polish Diaspora
- Finding our Brand, Building Legitimate Pride
Books & Docs
- Polish Orphans of Tengeru: The Dramatic Story of Their Long Journey to Canada
- A Long Time Ago and Essentially True
- Uprooting Halina: A Journey From Siberia to Iran and Canada
Poetry
From the Past Into the Present
- Chivalry Remembered in the UK: The Old Poles and the New
- “The Officer’s Wife”: A Conversation with Director Piotr Uzarowicz
Fall 2010 Vol. 2, No. 3
Poles & Poland
- The Spy Who Dazzled Churchill
- On the Edge: Poland’s Role as Border State of NATO and the European Union
- The Media’s Slander of Poland: Ignorance, Lazy Editing, or Malicious Libel?
… And beyond
Books, language, poetry…