Obama thorn in Poland's side

Poles have been upset by Obama's move to scrap a Bush-era missile defense plan, fearing it may embolden a more assertive Russia especially after Russian intrusion in Georgia and threats of interfering with Ukraine politics.

Poland has been a loyal NATO ally of America supporting with combat troops missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping the U.S. regarding the war on terror. The missile shield and batteries of partiot defense missiles were the expected quid pro quo.



Russia's deputy defense minister said that Moscow would scrap a planned deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, in response to the move by the US. But, Russia's top general said on Monday that no such decision had been taken.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, has been very critical of Russia and strongly supported the shield as a sign of a greater U.S. military commitment to ex-communist central Europe.

Last week, Kaczynski -- whose twin brother Jaroslaw pushed hard for Poland to host the shield while prime minister until autumn 2007 -- said Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government bore part of the blame for Obama's decision.



Under the Bush plan, Washington would have installed 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a related radar system in the Czech Republic as protection against possible attack by Iran. It denied claims that the shield was intended to deter Russia.

According to thenews.pl: Following the US decision to scrap the anti-missile shied in central Europe, Poland’s state owned arms manufacturer Bumar has proposed an alternative anti-missile “protective umbrella” for the region.

According to Bumar, the “Polish shield” project - in development for a few years - would consist of three layers. The first would be constructed around the Polish designed surface-to-air GROM (thunder) portable missiles system, with a range of 4 to 6 kilometres.

The second and third layer would give defence range capabilities of 20 and 200 kilometres. The project would be based on Polish radar and command systems as well as Aster 30 rockets built by the French based Eurosam consortium.

“We are capable of designing protective umbrellas not only for Poland but also neighboring countries, too” claims Edward E. Nowak, the president of Bumar. According to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, he has already presented Defense Minister Bogdan Klich with details of the project.

Estimates are that the Polish Shield alternative can be up and running in about 4 years.

Use keyword search missile defense for past entries on this subject.

Nazi's Now

In the region of Germany near the border with Poland, a court has ordered the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) to remove election signs declaring "Stop the Polish invasion".

The court in the state of Mecklenburg said the signs were illegal and an incitement to racial hatred. The NPD hung more than 50 of the signs up in the Ueker-Randow district of the state which borders Poland and counts more than 1,000 Polish citizens as residents. Local authorities removed the placards, prompting a lawsuit by the NPD.

In the first phase, the NPD succeeded in getting the support of a lower court to declare the district's actions improper. A recent decision by a higher court overturns the lower court's action.

A court spokeswoman told the DPA news service that the text and picture elements of the NPD placards were an affront to the human dignity of others and posed a danger for public security and order.

The NPD's only recourse now is to appeal the case to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on the grounds that the party's constitutional rights have been violated.

The party, which is under observation by German domestic intelligence agencies for its anti-foreigner message, has been successful gaining votes in the economically weak region.

In 2006 state elections, the NPD pulled in 7.3 percent of the vote, enough to gain representation in the state parliament. The party also holds 4 out of 47 seats on the district council.

Polish Woodstock 2009

Thought it probably wouldn't be possible in the old Communist Poland -
About half a million people attended this year’s Przystanek Woodstock, one of Europe’s largest open-air music festivals, held in Kostrzyn-nad-Odra, on the German-Polish border. The festival in its 15th year is organized by Jerzy Owsiak, a famed Polish philanthropist. The event raises tons of money for charity, something the freaky, long haired, dope smoking, "capitalistic pigs" who organized the original American Woodstock did not.

Besides Polish and Euro acts, there is usually at least one American headliner in the three day event. Juliette Lewis, the American singer and actress, performed a tribute to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Woodstock held in upstate New York. Known for playing in movies like Natural Born Killers and What’s Eating Gilbert rape, Lewis played her new songs from the CD Terra Incognita. She was also joined on stage by Polish pop star Kasia Kowalska for a duet.

This year’s festival was also an opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the end of communism in Poland. Lech Walesa and Tadeusz Mazowiecki were the guest during the festival. The audience thanked Walesa for his fight against communism and its leaders.

I can't imagine Richard Nixon attending the original Woodstock in 1969 even thought both Lech and Tricky Dick in their own way fought Communism's ill affects on society and economics. At least Nixon opened up access to China which was absolutely brilliant. Luckily, we found an unlikely nation to finance our huge out of control national debt - - "For What it's Worth". - Buffalo Springfield.

Maybe Obama would be a hit at a modern day Woodstock in the U.S., but I'm thinkin' he might not be so welcome in a country that struggled so long to break the Communist yoke and inspiring the oppressed Eastern Block to good old fashioned American Liberty. Good Gosh! People in Poland today can actually afford to buy Levi's and stores actually are allowed to stock them like they did on the 1920's.

Pol-Am's paying attention to student indoctrination

Parents in Farminton, Utah (a suburb just north of Salt Lake City) are upset over a 'leftist propaganda' video shown to their grade school children. Incredibly, the parents featured in the Salt Lake Tribune news account are Polish-Americans.

Eagle Bay Elementary showed a short video called "I pledge" on Aug. 28. The video opens with an image of President Barack Obama and part of a speech in which he says, "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other." The video then features celebrities making pledges about how they will help the president and the world -- and that's where some say the problem lies.

Many pledges, such as supporting local food banks,smiling more, and caring for the elderly are noncontroversial. But other pledges, such as "to never give anyone the finger when I'm driving again," "to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid" and to advance stem cell research cross the line, some say.

The principal has apologized for showing a video approved by the local PTA at an assembly that a politically conservative group leader is calling "radical, leftist propaganda."

"Showing the video in a public school is completely inappropriate,"said Jennifer Cieslewicz, whose daughter is a first-grader at the school. "I don't believe a video such as this that promotes certain values should be shown to elementary students, especially without parents being aware."

Gayle Ruzicka, president of conservative Utah Eagle Forum, said the video was blatantly political. She said other offensive pledges included, "I pledge to be of servant to Barack Obama," "I pledge allegiance to the funk, to the united funk of funkadelica," and pledges to not use plastic grocery bags and not flush the toilet after urinating.

"It's very inappropriate to show a radical, leftist propaganda piece that political to children," Ruzicka said. "If parents want their children to learn about those things and do them in the home, wonderful, fine, but it's not the place of the school to show a one-sided propaganda piece to children without parents knowing about it."

"They shouldn't be troubling our youth with the woes of the world and making them feel like we're in slavery or they have to worry about how many times they flush the toilet or if they have a plastic water bottle," Cieslewicz said, referring to pledges in the video to "end slavery."

Cieslewicz said such values should be decided in the home, not at school.

So much for the three "R's", huh?

Ruzicka said she contacted local media about the video after receiving complaints from several parents. Ruzicka said she worried the video's messages would confuse children whose parents might choose to use plastic bags when shopping or who want their children to flush the toilet after every use. Also she said she didn't like a pledge "to be of service to Barack Obama" as he is here to serve Americans, not the other way around.

Ruzicka said she'd like to see the school district send a link to the video to all parents before an upcoming back-to-school night so they can voice their opinions and discuss it with their children. Williams said it's unlikely the district will send out a link, but parents are welcome to access the video on YouTube.

Link to the video

I Pledge




Penn Jillette an American illusionist, known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism offers his response. [Click Here] Warning: Penn is pissed off and uses the "F" word at least three times. Embedding of the Penn video was disabled by his company. But, you can still see it by clicking the link.

Source: An article in the Salt Lake Tribune By Lisa Schencker
Updated 09/02/2009 10:07:30 AM MDT