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Meth Prairies

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A word of introduction: this article narrates the story of the silent plague that has been creeping across the United States for almost four decades, consuming and corrupting everything it touches like an unstoppable river of acid and filth, taking away lives, livelihoods and hope. It is the story of the American meth epidemic, and its blight upon rural and small-town America. It is, in fact, a chapter taken out of a book which I'm writing. The book tells the tale of a decade-long spree of serial killings in a small American town, which - like so many others - fell victim to the meth invasion at one point. It was a backdrop to the story of the murders, and one of the reasons why the serial killer was able to operate in his rural environment for so long. As such, I decided that it was a tale worth being told in full on its own, and I chose to devote a chapter to the phenomenon, from its earliest roots to its grimmest effects. I n the America of the 1970s and the 19

Scene of the Crime

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Jaromir Król SCENE OF THE CRIME How Roman Polanski nearly died at the hands of a serial killer -- 20 years before Charles Manson. It is not by coincidence  that the thousand-year-old city of Kraków in southern Poland has been described as Vienna’s little cousin. During its tumultuous existence, Kraków – once the country’s capital – was annexed by Austria, as Poland was attacked by three countries at once, and split into three parts as a result. But compared to the German and Russian partitions, Austria’s takeover proved so gentle, and its Emperor Franz Joseph so friendly and benevolent, that to this day Kraków considers him nothing short of a patron, and there are more memorabilia bearing his portrait to be found throughout the city than in any other place outside Vienna. Today, Kraków is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a place where history and culture come alive, and where scores of Poland’s foremost creators and thinkers have spent their days. Among them is Roman Polans

Scena zbrodni. Park, Polański i przestępca.

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Jaromir Król SCENA ZBRODNI Park, Polański i przestępca Tekst jest poszerzoną wersją artykułu opublikowanego w nr. 36 (870) Tygodnika „Przegląd ” . Park Krakowski to skrawek zieleni w sercu Krakowa, na tyle niewielki, iż z okien niepozornego budynku przy jego północnym krańcu swobodnie da się go objąć wzrokiem. Wśród traw ledwo widać dwie szare, niemal zlewające się z ziemią plamy, w których dopiero z bliska można rozpoznać ciężkie, betonowe płyty, jakby porzucone we wgłębieniach leżących po przeciwległych stronach parku. Choć codziennie mijają je dziesiątki ludzi, nikt nie zwraca na nie uwagi; niektórzy zauważają ich istnienie dopiero zapytani, czy cokolwiek o nich wiedzą. Odpowiedzi padają różne, najczęściej mylne. Szarość betonu kojarzona jest zwykle z latami 70. Kilku przechodniów zgaduje trafnie, choć z niepewnością – jakiś poniemiecki bunkier? Wejście do schronu w Parku Krakowskim wiosną 2016 r.  Znacznie większą rozpoznawalność ma niepozorny