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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
We are happy to report an exemplary cooperation of all East
Bay Polish organizations. They are planning together the
traditional Polish celebration of Christmas Eve Dinner - WIGILIA. The
celebration will take place on December 11, 2004. They would like to
share the Polish Christmas spirit with everyone. Please support this
wonderful example of Polonia joint effort by attending. Participating
are: Polish Pastoral Center, East Bay Polish American Association,
Polish School, Polish Veterans and Polish Scouts.
The celebration will include Traditional Blessed Wafer
wishes and dinner, visit by Santa and artistic performances about Christmas -
jaselka. Our local poet and singer Maciej Danek will warm up the
evening with Polish Christmas poetry and songs recital. Everyone is
warmly welcomed. Please come and rejoice at the Christmas Polish
celebrations.
Location: 1543 Sunnyvale, Walnut Creek, easy access (1 minute) from 680,
west side of freeway, exit Treat Blvd. Sunnyvale Ave is one
block north from Treat Blvd. (Treat becomes Geary on the West side of N
Main Street)
Tickets: Adults $20, children $5.
Reservations and info: 1-925-689-8008, 1-925-825-9609, 1-925-825-1804
DECEMBER 11, 2004, Saturday, Walnut Creek
6:30 p.m. - WIGILIA - 1540 Sunnyvale Avenue
http://www.polishschool.org
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Polish Christmas tree at the San Francisco Symphony
Once again the Polish Arts and Culture Foundation has been
asked to decorate a 16 foot Christmas Tree on the Main Floor at Davies
Symphony Hall. Directly across from Lech Walesa Street in San Francisco, the
beautiful fir has been adorned with traditional Polish hand-painted glass
ornaments, dolls, toys and apples. "The Polish Tree" as it has come to be known,
always draws a lot of attention because of the unusual elements used. This is the
eighth year that we have participated in the San Francisco Symphony's
Holiday Gala. Please include a visit in your holiday plans. The trees will be
lit from 4:00 p.m. to midnight and from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. between December
3rd and 26th. Tree Tours are available on Wednesdays and Saturdays by
contacting the San Francisco Performing Arts Center at 415-552-8338.
An elaborate children's party called DECK THE HALL is
presented again this year on Sunday, December 5th at either 11:00 a.m. OR at
3:00 p.m.
Please call the Symphony for more information at
415-552-8000 or visit:
http://www.sfsymphony.org
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Santa Clara 1944 Warsaw Uprising 60th Anniversary exhibit
There is a major presentation at the County of Santa Clara
Government Center of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising 60th Anniversary exhibit
commissioned by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland, Los Angeles,
which has been shown in several other cities. The impressive exhibit consists of
twenty large lighted panels, each displaying a montage of photos, maps, and text
depicting the epic story of the heroic 1944 Uprising. It is on display in San Jose for the
period of early November through January 3, 2005.
The exhibit Is in the breezeway gallery of the County
Government Center building, 70 W. Hedding Street San Jose. Except for holidays, it is
accessible to the public on weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. It
can be viewed also on those evenings when the building is open for various
County meetings or events (call 408 299 5001 for specific evening hours).
A showing of Polish films in Isaac Newton Hall, adjacent to
the exhibit, along with appearances by the Consulate General, Chair Pete McHugh,
and Polish Home Army veterans of the 1944 Uprising, among others, is being
scheduled for Tuesday, December 14 from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.
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Polish software world champions
For the third time in a row Tomasz Czajka of the University
of Warsaw has won the annual Top Coder world software programming
contest sponsored by Microsoft, Intel, Yahoo and Nvidia.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com
This year in the university competition, Czajka's
University of Warsaw was 3rd behind MIT and Stanford. In the country
competition, Poland finished second to the U.S. On the
following link, see the charts in the right had margin. The article
itself uses the screen names of the programmers and is very
awkwardly written - probably not a native English speaker:
http://www.topcoder.com
In 2003 University of Warsaw won the global university team
title in the ACM-ICPC contest held at Baylor University:
http://icpc.baylor.edu
In 2004 University of Warsaw was 10th and Jagiellonian
University was 27th. I was told that in 2003 University of Warsaw had
two or three different teams, all of the same ability, but
chose to send only one. Most of the major universities (including
academies and polytechnics) in Poland do not even enter
these contests. The U.S., Russia and China all have a dozen or
more entries.
Thank you Clay for this info.
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Visa Waiver for Poles - update
I am presenting two responses from Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
It looks like her office is interested and getting details on the
issue:
From: senator@feinstein.senate.gov
Sent: Nov 9, 2004 12:56 PM
Subject: Senator Dianne Feinstein responding to your
message
November 9, 2004
Dear Mr. [PoloniaSF.org subscriber]:
Thank you for your letter regarding the Visa
Waiver Program. I welcome the opportunity to respond.
The Visa Waiver Program, as presented and
managed, presents a major security loophole for our
country. I will do all I can to push for reform and to plug
the huge security loopholes that exist.
Again, thank you for writing. I hope you will
continue to keep me informed on issues of importance to
you. If you have any further questions or comments,
please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C.
staff at (202) 224-3841.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Second response 10 days later:
--- senator@feinstein.senate.gov wrote:
> From: senator@feinstein.senate.gov
> To:
> Subject: Senator Dianne Feinstein responding to your
message
> Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 15:43:12 -0500
>
>
> November 19, 2004
>
>
> Mr. Edmund Lewandowski
>
> San Mateo, California 94403
>
> Dear Mr. Lewandowski:
>
> Thank you for your letter requesting that Poland be
> included in the Visa Waiver Program. I welcome the
> opportunity to respond.
>
> To the best of my knowledge, the bill which would
> add Poland to the Visa Waiver Program is being held up
> by both Republicans and Democrats. My main concern
> regarding this legislation is the fact that Poland has an
> extremely high rate of refusal for non-immigrant visas.
> In order to participate in the Visa Waiver Program,
> countries must have a refusal rate of less than two
> percent for the past two years. In 2002, Poland's refusal
> rate for non-immigrant visas was 47 percent; and it was
> 46 percent in 2003. It would be difficult to justify placing
> Poland in the Visa Waiver Program when every other
> participating country has met the strict criteria. Please
> know that I will keep your views in mind as the Senate
> considers this legislation.
>
> Again, thank you for writing. I hope you will
> continue to keep in touch. If you have any further
> questions, please contact my Washington, D.C. staff at
> (202) 224-3841.
>
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Dianne Feinstein
> United States Senator
>
> http://feinstein.senate.gov
> Further information about my position on issues of
> concern to California and the
> Nation are available at my website
> http://feinstein.senate.gov. You can also
> receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing
> to my e-mail list at
> http://feinstein.senate.gov/issue.html
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