Eight women with university degrees have applied without success for a cleaning job at the prosecutor's office in the northern Bulgarian city of Pleven. If academics can't even get cleaning jobs there's no alternative but to emigrate, writes the daily Trud: "In times of crisis and rising unemployment a growing number of people are willing to take on any job they can get just to survive. It's most difficult for university graduates and young people. Hundreds of thousands of them now scour the country for work - a completely new trend in Bulgaria, which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Nevertheless the decision by Pleven's prosecutor's office is logical. They're looking for a cleaning lady, not an expert in economics or finance. So the 'superfluous' graduates and many other young Bulgarians have no other choice but Terminal 2 at Sophia Airport. No doubt our academics will get jobs as cleaning staff abroad." (07/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Migracja, » Rynek pracy, » Bułgaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Irena Nikolova

Several Lithuanian municipalities have recently launched initiatives for erecting new monuments, a trend the liberal daily Lietuvos Rytas finds highly laughable: "The deputy mayor of Kaunas has demanded that a commemorative plaque for the Ukranian pre-war partisan Jevhen Konovalec be hung in Lithuania's second-largest city. However he doesn't know exactly where Konovalec lived during his stay in Kaunas, or even how he was of any help to the city. Perhaps the deputy mayor simply wants to adorn his house with a pretty plaque? And there are even more original attempts to render eternal the memory of famous personalities in Lithuania. ... Be that as it may, the city of Rokiskis has outdone all the others. The mayor of this provincial town has decided to erect a monument to John Lennon, the co-founder of the legendary music group The Beatles. Because to his mind the name of the town [Rokiskis] is intimately connected with rock music ['Rokas' in Lithuanian]." (02/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, litewski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka kulturalna, » Kultura pamięci, » Litwa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Karaliunas, Arunas

A growing number of people in the UK, Ireland and the US appear in public dressed only in their pyjamas, prompting some social services, supermarkets and schools to introduce a pyjama ban. The conservative daily The Times looks into the reasons for the trend: "Why? Partly because rules of dress are now so relaxed that City bankers arrive at work on dress-down Fridays in outfits their fathers wouldn't have worn to fix the septic tank. Partly because Lady Gaga has stretched the concept of 'outdoor clothes' to include 'dress made of steak'. Partly because the increasing numbers who work from home don't bother to change out of their Spiderman pyjamas when they're spending all day in front of a laptop: as a result, there are home-workers who have been in pyjamas since 2008. Hugh Hefner, the ultimate home-worker, hasn't changed out of his trademark silk pyjamas since the Eisenhower Administration." (26/01/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » społeczeństwo, » Wielka Brytania, » Irlandia, » USA

The Portuguese President, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, expressed doubts in an interview on Friday about whether his pension would cover his expenses. In his blog 100 Reféns, Tiago Mesquita voices his indignation over such an insensitive remark: "He's about as socially sensitive as a Black & Decker drill. How can this man be Portugal's president? His public statements are like elevator music. At first no one notices, but the longer you're in the elevator the more irritating it becomes until you feel sick. Cavaco Silva's remarks are vacuous. ... And by the way, Mr President: what expenses? Your government car? Food? Travel? Clothing? But who pays for all that? ... I can only see two dignified solutions: the first is a formal apology to the Portuguese for this lamentable, despicable and unfitting remark followed by your immediate resignation. The second is to resign immediately and then apologise to the Portuguese. It's up to you." (23/01/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, portugalski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » społeczeństwo, » Portugalia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Tiago Mesquita

Inhabitants of the village of Vevčani in the western extremity of the Republic of Macedonia staged a symbolic burial of Greece last Friday during carnival celebrations. This has further deteriorated the relations between the two countries, already tense because of the ongoing name dispute. The Greek Foreign Ministry has called on the government in Skopje to denounce the act. The Greeks can do a better job of digging their own grave anyway, comments blogger and journalist Stavros Theodorakis on the news portal Protagon.gr: "Burying Greece is a matter for Greek politicians, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, trade unionists, socialists, communists, liberals, right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists, but also for the Greek tax evaders, crooks, those wearing masks, the police, the bandits and in fact all Greeks. It may be that we Greeks differ from each other considerably, that we fight with each other, but over the last two years we have proven that we all agree on one thing: We ourselves - and no other - will bury Greece. ... Greece belongs to the Greeks and it will have a Greek burial. Both our friends and our enemies need to understand this." (19/01/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, grecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Grecja, » Macedonia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Stavros Theodorakis
Aktualne debaty » Kryzys przygniata Grecję

A Warsaw court on Monday convicted the singer Doda of insulting people's religious feelings. In 2009 she said in an interview that she believed more in dinosaurs than in the Bible. It is difficult to believe in something written by someone who was drunk on wine and had smoked some weed or other, she commented at the time. The journalist Maciej Kawiński comes to Doda's defence in the conservative news portal Wprost: "Every child knows the dinosaurs existed, and we have irrefutable proof that they did. The Bibel, by contrast, contains both academically proven facts and myths better suited to a fantasy film than a historical chronicle. As a result I have no problem at all with someone who believes more in dinosaurs than in the Bible. Did the authors of the Bible drink wine and smoke hash? In some cultures marijuana is believed to be a 'wisdom weed'. ... The court should regard Doda's statements as expressions of opinion and not an attempt to insult people's religious feelings." (17/01/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Religia, » Sądownictwo, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Maciej Kawiński

Many Finns traditionally renounce alcohol for the month of January. According to a recently published British study this practice is not particularly beneficial to their health. But we shouldn't listen to the British, the liberal daily Aamulehti scoffs: "It may of course be possible that in the organism of some people who consume large amounts of alcohol suffer a shock through the sudden cold turkey, but exceptions are exceptions. Our alcohol-free January is a fantastic Finnish invention that is growing increasingly popular. One reason may be that the Finns know that they drink too much and therefore opt for a month of abstinence. ... Regular drinking poses a major social and health risk. A month of abstinence is good both for those who drink too much and for more moderate consumers of alcohol, because according to doctors blood pressure sinks and sleeping patterns improve after just two weeks of abstention." (16/01/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, fiński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Zdrowie / Medycyna, » Finlandia