Poland Über Alles

Twenty years ago, the deeply Catholic Poland was a backward agricultural and provincial country. Yet, since then, it has experienced an almost nonstop boom. Even during the 2009 recession, which we’re still recovering from, Poland’s economy grew by 1.7 percent. And thanks to its accession to the EU in 2004, unemployment fell from more than 20 percent to about 8 percent today. No surprise that Poles are among Europe’s most optimistic people… Read the article at Spiegel Online International.

English Identity: A New Report

An interesting new report (“Fear and HOPE”), commissioned by Searchlight Educational Trust, explores the issues of English identity, faith and race. With 5,054 respondents and 91 questions, it is one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys into attitude, identity and extremism in the UK to date.

“This report paints a disturbing picture of our attitudes towards each another and the unknown,” says Nick Lowles, Chief Executive of Searchlight. While highlighting the dangers that lie ahead if the issues explored in the research are not addressed, Fear and HOPE also “shakes the confidence of those who believe that all is well in Britain’s multiracial society.”

The full report will be available here from Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9.00pm (Greenwich Mean Time). In the meantime, you can read the executive summary here. Via Harry's Place.