THE SARMATIAN REVIEW Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 April 2008 Ethnic America No Slack At All Kuryer Polski newspaper carrier with 40th anniversary issue (1928) in the Kuryer office, 435 Broadway Street, Milwaukee, WI. Courtesy of Collections at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries (“Milwaukee Neighborhoods: Photos and Maps 1885–1992,” Roman Kwasniewski Collection). 1376 SARMATIAN REVIEW April 2008 The Sarmatian Review (ISSN 1059- (review) . 1395 primitive religiosity. Some 5872) is a triannual publication of the Polish Institute The Last Mazurka, by Anna Muller postmodern religiosity is so of Houston. The journal deals with Polish, Central, (review) . .1396 and Eastern European affairs, and it explores their For More Than Bread: Community and sophisticated that it has lost touch implications for the United States. We specialize in with anything but itself. The ethnics the translation of documents. Sarmatian Review is Identity in American Polonia, by John indexed in the American Bibliography of Slavic and M. Grondelski (review). .1398 go to their churches and, while they East European Studies, EBSCO, and P.A.I.S. Letters . .1399 have not been trained to verbalize International Database. From January 1998 on, files On Just and Unjust Wars (excerpt), by their experiences, they more often in PDF format are available at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (www.ceeol.com). Stanisław of Skarbimierz . 1401 than not possess that sixth sense that Subscription price is $21.00 per year for individuals, About the Authors. .1401 gives rise to a genuine spiritual life. $28.00 for institutions and libraries ($28.00 for Thank You Note . .1402 The flowers they leave at the icons individuals, $35.00 for libraries overseas, air mail). The views expressed by authors of articles do not of the Virgin Mary signify a certain necessarily represent those of the Editors or of the Our Take detachment from such priorities as Polish Institute of Houston. Articles are subject to winning at any price. editing. Unsolicited manuscripts and other materials Ethnic America are not returned unless accompanied by a self- Professor Knasas’s apt hen Michael Novak addressed and stamped envelope. Please submit your deconstruction of an ostensibly contribution electronically and, if requested, send a published Rise of the W learned and refined tome on printout by air mail. Letters to the Editor can be e- Unmeltable Ethnics in 1972, some mailed to <[email protected]>, with an “security communities” (newspeak ethnics hoped that the book would accompanying mailing return address. Articles, letters, for “how to live in peace with your and subscription checks should be mailed to become a watershed, a Catholic neighbor”) is a good indication of The Sarmatian Review, P. O. Box 79119, Central European equivalent to how sturdy these ontological Houston, Texas 77279–9119. Martin Luther King’s “I have a The Sarmatian Review retains the copyright for all sensibilities are and how thin the dream.” Well, the money has not materials included in print and online issues. Copies discourse that tries to eliminate for personal or educational use are permitted by section been found, and the period of them is. 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Permission promoting underprivileged to redistribute, republish, or use SR materials in The ethnics described in Professor minorities seems to have passed. advertising or promotion must be submitted in writing Galush’s book are such people. to the Editor. American politics moves on with They read Henryk Sienkiewicz Editor: Ewa Thompson (Rice University). lightning speed, and the ethnics Associate Editors: Tamara Trojanowska (University rather than James Joyce. They of Toronto), Bogdan Czaykowski (1932–2007). remain left behind. No one has ever would identify with the defense of Editorial Advisory Committee: George Gasyna cut them any slack. They cannot (University of Illinois-Urbana), Janusz A. Ihnatowicz Sienkiewicz in the book reviewed claim minority status because they (University of Saint Thomas-Houston), Bozena by Professor Michael MikoÊ. Karwowska (University of British Columbia), Joseph are white, yet in many ways they In that connection, The Last A.Kotarba (University of Houston), Alex Kurczaba have been discriminated against (University of Illinois-Chicago), Marcus D. Leuchter Mazurka, Andrew Tarnowski’s because of their names, social (Holocaust Museum Houston),Witold J. Lukaszewski autobiographical book about the (Sam Houston State University), Theresa Kurk habits, and religious beliefs. Polish aristocracy reviewed in this McGinley (North Harris College-Houston), Michael This issue highlights these J. MikoÊ!(University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Jan issue, shows that as citizens and as Rybicki (Kraków Pedagogical University), Dariusz unmeltable ethnics. The first part of human beings the Tarnowskis and Skórczewski (Catholic University of Lublin), Piotr Mary Grabar’s novel about Wilczek (University of Silesia). their kin rank well below the ethnics Slovenian Americans sounds Copy Editor: Cyndy Brown that Galush’s book speaks about. Web Pages: Lisa Spiro (Rice University). strangely familiar to Polish ears. Their sense of social responsibility Web Address: <http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia>. Indeed, Grabar might as well have Sarmatian Council: James Burns (Houston), Iga J. is nil, and their interest is mainly in given her heroines Polish, Henderson (Houston), Marek Kimmel (Rice themselves. Perhaps one of the University), Leonard M. Krazynski (First Honorary Moravian, or Lithuanian names, for reasons why the Central European Polish Consul in Houston), James R. Thompson (Rice they partake of a life that has also University). ethnics have fared so poorly in been described by Suzanne claiming a share of political life in In this issue: Strempek Shea and Anthony America is that the upper classes of SR Data . .1377 Bukoski. their societies (who also emigrated) Mary Grabar, The Secret of Little Sister. Among the redeeming features of refused to discharge the Chapters 1 through 3 . .1379 these ethnics is their ontological BOOKS Books . 1392 responsibilities that used to be part sensibility. This is not a highfalutin Thinking Peaceful Change, by John X. of their station. ! Knasas (review) . 1393 name for something that has been Po co Sienkiewicz? Sienkiewicz a contemptuously dismissed as toÏsamoÊç narodowa, by Michael J. MikoÊ April 2008 SARMATIAN REVIEW 1377 Sarmatian Review Data Borderless Europe forever? Percentage of Austrians opposed to 21 December 2007 enlargement of the Schengen area in Europe (i.e., area without border controls): 75 percent. Countries admitted to the Schengen areas: the postcommunist countries of Central Europe including Poland, the Baltic Republics, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Source: TV poll, as reported by BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7154196.stm), 21 December 2007. The mythology of Vladimir Putin Putin’s approval rating at the end of 2007: 80 percent. Health spending as percentage of GDP under Putin (between 2000–2005) and before Putin (1996–1999: 6 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively. Average number of murders per year in the “anarchic” years 1995–1999: 30,200 per year; in the “orderly” Putin years 2000–2004: 32,200 per year. Alcohol consumption per adult at the end of the 1990s and in 2004: 10.7 liters and 14.5 liters, respectively. Percentage of Russian men between 25–54 who die of alcoholism: 18 percent. Estimated percentage of Russians infected with HIV virus: 0.9 percent. Source: Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, “The Myth of the Authoritarian Model,” Foreign Affairs, January-February 2008. Vladimir Putin’s personal wealth Estimated amount of money President Putin indirectly owns by means of equities and partnerships: 40 billion dollars. Source: Russian politologist Stanislaw Belkowski in “Ist Putin bereits der viertreichste Mann der Welt?” Welt Online, 20 January 2008. Putin’s personal wealth as stated in official documents: 4,698 euro in salaries per month, 77 sq. meter apartment in Petersburg, two cars, 1,500 sq. meter lot in the suburbs of Moscow, 89,000 euro worth of stock in a Peters- burg bank. Source: “Ist Putin bereits der viertreichste Mann der Welt?” Welt Online, 20 January 2008, <www.welt.de/politik/article1568401/Ist_Putin_bereits_der_viertreichste_Mann_der_Welt.html>. Drug use in the Russian Federation Number of Russians who have used drugs: 5.9 million, or 4 percent of the population. The registered number of drug users in 2007: 231,000. Source: Interfaks, as reported by <gazeta.ru> on 17 January 2008. American deficits, capital flow, and Russian observers Capital flow into the United States in December and November 2007, respectively: 60.4 billion dollars and 150.8 billion dollars. U.S. trade deficit in December 2007: 58.76 billion dollars. Source: <gazeta.ru>, 16 February 2008, quoting U.S. Department of the Treasury. Roman Catholic vs. Anglican Mass attendance in Great Britain Number of people attending Sunday Masses in Britain, in 2006 in Roman Catholic churches and in Anglican churches: 862,000 and 852,000, respectively. Source: Telegraph (Internet edition), 12 December 2007. Sacrament of confession among Polish Catholics Percentage of Polish Catholics who said that they went to confession several times a year: 51.7 percent. Percentage of those who do so at least once a month: 47 percent. Source: Catholic Statistical Institute poll, as reported by Łukasz Cybiƒski in Rzeczpospolita, 26 February 2008. Polish exports soaring Percentage increase of Polish exports in 2007 (by comparison to 2006): 15 percent. Monetary value of Polish exports in 2007: 101 billion euro, or 152 billion dollars. Increase in value of the Polish zloty against the U.S. dollar: from Zl.2.80 per dollar in spring 2007 to Zl. 2.30 per dollar in spring 2008. Source: Polish Statistical Bureau (GUS), as reported by Michał Pawlak in Donosy, no. 4616 (29 February 2008). 1378 SARMATIAN REVIEW April 2008 Salaries of medical doctors in Poland Hospitals that pay the highest salaries: clinical hospitals where doctors make up to Zl.12,000, or about $5,000 per month.