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To wrap up our week of semi-mystery guns, we have today a Sten gun copy made by the Polish Resistance. The gun’s owner didn’t have any details about its origin, and I have been unable to find any reference to it either. The gun is marked on the trigger housing and receiver endcap “BATHAU 19412 TDM”, and has no other visible markings.

A great video presenting Poland's victorious war effort to crush and repel the Ottoman invasion of Europe (English explanatory notes and subtitles)

Romney thanks Poles for their courage to fight for freedom   Peter Gentle 31.07.2012  Republican candidate in the US presidential elections, Mitt Romney has thanked Poles for their “courage” in joining the “fight for freedom” in Afghanistan and Iraq, on the second day of his trip to Poland.   Mitt Romney at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, Tuesday: photo - PAP Radek Pietruszka “I would like to express my gratitude to the Polish government and Polish people for the courage of your men and women in supporting the fight for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Romney said...

Marion Barry commits new gaffe while apologizing to Asians‎ Washington PostMay 24, 2012 D.C. Council member Marion Barry stepped up his campaign on Thursday to mend relations with the Asian community, apologizing again for disparaging remarks he made about Koreans and Filipinos and pledging to work to improve ties between them and African Americans... Representatives of the Korean, Filipino, Chinese and Japanese communities attended the meeting, held at a church in Southeast Washington. Asked later about his reference to “Polacks,” Barry at first denied using the word, then retracted it, saying, “I meant Poles.” His remark prompted a demand from...

Obama’s ‘Polish Death Camp’ Comment ‘Infuriates’ Polish Americans By Pete Winn May 31, 2012 (CNSNews.com) – President Obama not only angered the people of Poland with a comment he made on Tuesday referring to “Polish death camps” -- he also “infuriated” Polish Americans, many of whom live in Obama’s home town of Chicago. The Polish-American Congress, based in Chicago, has sent a letter to Obama saying as much and demanding an apology. “Our community in the United States and abroad was deeply hurt by your reference to the “Polish death camps,” Polish-American Congress President Frank J. Spula wrote. “This is...

Well, Obama put his foot in it again by insulting the Poles. Naturally, the thread of "Polish Jokes for Obama" begins on Twitter. Obama makes it too easy... #PolishJokesforObama Why does Obama love old-fashioned beer cans? Because they come with combination nose pickers and Columbia class rings. #PolishJokesforObama What happened to the Obama space program? The astronauts keep falling off the kite President Obama is busier than a set of jumper cables at a Polish death camp. #PolishJokesForObama #PolishJokesforObama What's an Obama 7 course meal? Arugula and a 6-pack of Cristal. Why did Obama sell his water skis? He couldn't...

The president referred to “Polish death camps” while awarding a posthumous Medal of Freedom to Polish professor Jan Karski, a hero of the anti-Nazi resistance. Poles believe they're blamed unfairly for the Nazi Holocaust, and the Foreign Minister led the outrage in a late night tweet. The remark, which barely drew notice in America, is all over the Polish news today. On the country's largest television station:

For the first time in the history of the mission – two soldiers of the Polish Military Contitgent in Afghanistan got married. Joanna and Piotr have taken their wedding oath in the Polish Embassy in Kabul. Joanna graduated from the Polish Air Force Academy and for several years has been serving in Polish Armed Forces as a helicopter pilot. Piotr has also been serving in Polish Special Forces for several years. This is his fifth deployment to Afghanistan, altogether he’s spent 2,5 years out there. He’s a special force operator, one of the most experienced Joint Terminal Attack Controller within...

Barbara Latasiewicz wept Thursday night as she waited to board a plane to Poland and thought of the hospital she called home for the last 2 1/2 years. "Two years, it was enough time ... they were so good to me," she said through an interpreter at O'Hare International Airport.

Hobbies...yeah,it's been around a while. I don't understand Polish, but the woman's statement and encouragement included the word "quick"....mmmm, not so good....

Walesa unveils one more for the 'Gipper'     Lech Walesa said that there would not be a free Poland without Ronald Reagan, during the unveiling of a statue in Warsaw of the late American president on Monday.   photo - PAP/Andrzej Hrechorowicz The former Solidarity leader said that “as a participant in these events,” it was “inconceivable” that such changes would have come about without the last American president during the post-1945 cold-war era.Walesa added that thirty years ago, it seemed that the fall of the communist system would not be possible without a nuclear war.The bronze statue of...

Having been newly elected to the Polish Parliament, forty MPs of Janusz Palikot's movement started a new session demanding the Crucifix to be removed from the main hall of the parliament, which has already ignited a political war in Poland. (...)  Gazeta  checked out the opinion of the Polish people regarding the presence of the cross in Seym (the name of the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) According to the poll, 70% claim  the cross should be there to stay and never removed, which is opposed by 20%. What is more, the cross in the Polish parliament is also...

KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP — When they heard screams coming Friday from the front yard of their boisterous and fun-loving neighbor, Ben Woodworth and Scott Rouse didn’t immediately pay much mind. But the two men said they soon realized Carol Woodley’s shouts were cries of pain and pleas for help: Woodley was on fire.

Memorial to commemorate the murdered unborn children erected in Poland. [Papal Hill, the outskirts of Lubon near Poznan, Poland]In the place named Papal Hill in Lubon, Poland, the local people erected a monument named "Testimony of Love" which aims at paying tribute to the murdered unborn children and bearing witness to their innate right to live in dignity.The inscription on the monument (the words in the red below)  is an excerpt taken from DEUTERONOMY, 30.19[Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose...

WARSAW, Poland – You won't get to build hotels or collect rent in a new Polish board game reminiscent of Monopoly. In fact, you may be lucky even to get a pair of shoes. Poland's state-run National Remembrance Institute has created the new game — called "Kolejka," which means queue or line — to help young Poles understand the hardships of life under communism...

A Portuguese historian believes he has solved the age-old mystery surrounding the nationality of Christopher Columbus. According to Manuel Rosa, a lecturer at Duke University, North Carolina, the explorer was in fact the son of Polish King Władysław III. It has always been thought that King Władysław III fell in battle against the forces of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Varna in 1444. According to Mr Rosa, however, the king managed to survive the battle unscathed and fled to the Portuguese island of Madeira where he lived out the rest of his life as a hermit and married...

THE Russian parliament agreed in principle a declaration that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin personally ordered the Katyn massacre of Polish officers in World War II. The lower house, the State Duma, agreed a text that breaks several years of official reluctance to admit that Stalin and the Soviet leadership ordered the killing of thousands of Polish officers in 1940.

(translation from Polish) The world biggest statue of Christ the King has finally been erected in Swiebodzin, Poland. [Swiebodzin, hour 15:57]"Consumatum Est! I stało się!  Exactly at 15:57 in the vicinity of Swiebodzin the world biggest monument of Jesus Christ has been finally erected.The builder of the monument, father Sylwester Zawadzki does not hide his emotions. "I'm just overjoyed. It's one of the greatest moments of my life", he said.Asked about the conception of the idea, father Sylwester Zawadzki said, "It was an idea of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I was only to erect it."The head and shoulders of the statue have...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Teen idol Justin Bieber is launching a line of nail polish inspired by his biggest music hits, nail care company OPI said on Monday. With shades like One Less Lonely Glitter (lavender), Prized Possession Purple (grape), Give Me the First Dance (silver) and Me + Blue (dark blue), the first six colors in the line for Nicole by OPI will be sold exclusively through Wal-Mart retail stores in December 2010. The remainder of the "One Less Lonely Girl" collection from the 16 year-old singer will be released in Wal-Mart stores in January 2011 before being distributed...

Had Lora Hunt been eating a sandwich or dialing her cell phone instead of polishing her nails when she struck and killed a motorcyclist, she would not now stand convicted of reckless homicide, her lawyer contends. But prosecutor Mike Mermel said there's a big difference between polishing nails and other forms of distracted driving. "It is not the same as biting a sandwich … it's a voluntary disablement," he said. "She might as well have been in the back seat making a sandwich."

" Author of the video seen by everyone by now has been stabbed near Kijow on 4.15 and transported in critical condition to the hospital in Kijow. On 4.16 three unidentified individuals unplugged him from life support system and stabbed him 3 more times. Andrij was pronounced dead that afternoon. Russian government claims it was a coincidence. "

A new study by Dr. Chavi Dreyfuss Ben-Sasson analyzes the experiences of Polish Jewry as they dealt, or didn’t deal, with their neighbors and friends who suddenly became enemies and Nazi collaborators. The study appeared several months ago in a book entitled, “We are Polish Jewry?” The book researches the relations between Jews and Poles during the Holocaust – relations that have been termed the “most complex and charged” of the entire Holocaust period.

The Polish president, army chief of staff, head of security, head of the central bank, and other high officials were killed in a plane crash in western Russia. A total of 97 died. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that he will personally head the investigation of the crash. There, don’t you feel reassured? The pilot is already being blamed. One must admire the efficiency of an investigation that reaches conclusions before it begins. Ironically − but perhaps not coincidentally − the Poles were there to observe the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre. In 1940, the Soviets murdered...

(CNN) -- Experts say the deaths of senior military chiefs in Saturday's plane crash could have more serious implications for Poland than the loss of the country's president. President Lech Kaczynski was killed Saturday when a plane carrying senior Polish officials on their way to a memorial service in Russia crashed at an airport in Smolensk.. Ninety-seven people were killed including the president's wife, the deputy parliament speaker, the deputy foreign minister and the head of the National Bank of Poland. "The entire top military brass, including the chief of defense and all the services, were on the plane," said...

Pilot error blamed as witnesses report three or four attempts to land in thick fog Poland in mourning as Prime Minister calls emergency meeting Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria have been killed after their plane crashed on approach to Smolensk airport in western Russia. There were conflicting reports today of the number of people on board the flight. Russian news agencies reported at least 88 people died in the crash near Smolensk airport in western Russia, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry. They reported 132 people were aboard the Tupolev Tu-154. But Polish officials said 88 people were...

[translation from a Polish website] Supreme Polish leaders, including the President of the Republic of Poland, Mr Lech Kaczynski and his legendary predecessor, the President of Poland In Exile, Mr. Ryszard Kaczorowski, as well as almost entire Staff of the Polish Armed Forces die in the crash near Smolensk, Russia. According to official information (confirmed),  supreme commanders of the Polish Armed Forces died in the crash, adding to thousands of the military commanders that had been killed there in 1940. Upon the Constitution of Poland, in case of President's sudden death, the Speaker of the Parliament, automatically becomes the President of...

[translation from Polish]  Polish Parliament officially condems the verdict of the ECoHR banning the presense of Crosses in classrooms. The Polish Parliament, Seym, has stood up for the freedom of religion and for the endorsement of the values which belong to common heritage of the nations of Europe. The Seym of Poland rejects the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights banning Crosses in classrooms in Italy and calls the parliaments of the countries belonging to the Council of Europe to reflect on the issue.The resolution of the 460-seat Polish Parliament was accepted by a huge majority of...

Poles protest US Stalin memorial plan23.11.2009 11:06 The Polish community in the United States is outraged by a plan to honour Josef Stalin by placing his bust on a pedestal at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia.  According to William McIntosh, the director of the Bradford museum, which is coordinating the project, the Soviet dictator deserves to be acknowledged alongside Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt has he was an ally of the US after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The plans have met with protests from Polish war veterans in New York.  President of the Kosciuszko Foundation,...

[translation; excerpt] Crosses in classrooms. President of Poland condems the verdict of The European Court of Human Rights. This week the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg said," The presence of religious symbols in schools is in violation of the freedom of the parents to raise their children according to their own convictions. It is also a violation of the child's freedom of religion". Today, Nov.11, in his official speech at the ceremony of the Poland's Independence Day, the President of the Republic, prof.Lech Kaczynski, strongly condemned the verdict, saying,"  Nobody in Poland will not ever accept that crosses in...

Special Navy forces discovered weapons and ammunition on a cargo ship overnight Tuesday, after boarding the Francop some 100 nautical miles west of Israel flying an Antiguan flag. Defense officials said the 140-meter long Francop, captured near Cyprus, was carrying arms sent by Iran and destined for Syria and Hizbullah. More than 60 tons of weaponry were on board, in dozens of containers. The Francop carried hundreds of containers. A significant amount of 122 mm. Katyusha rockets, likely made in Iran, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades were found on board. Israel Radio reported that advanced anti-aircraft platforms not before...

Treason!   USA sold us to Russia.   ( http://www.efakt.pl/Zdrada-USA-sprzedaly-nas-Rosji,artykuly,52626,1.html ) (translation from Polish)[The end of anti-missile shield! Americans break promises. There will be neither a US base in Poland nor a radar in Czech Rep.What about our security now?! We've been left on the thin ice.] The strategic ally? The solid rock of our national security? The end of illusions. United States, which could always rely on us, turned its back to us. The President of USA just threw to the garbage bin  the project of building the Anti-Missile Shield in Poland and Czech Rep. The powerful military fascility could strengthen our...

Polish Army crushes Wehrmacht  at Mokra, Sep.1,1939 - 70th anniversary of WWII first battle  The Battle of Mokra took place on September 1, 1939 near the village of Mokra in Silesia, Poland. It was the first crutial battle of  World War II and one of the first Polish victories in the war.In brief: On  September 1, 1939 gen.Reinhardt's 4th Panzer Division  and German 31st Infantry Division were crushed by Poloish Volhynian Cavalry Brigade. Germans lost about 150 tanks and armored vehicles and more than 1,000 soldiers. The remnats of the 4th Panzer Division were forced to withdraw back to Germany....

Polish official intercedes on behalf of mothers of slain Brooklyn Marine Sgt. Pietrzak and his wife By Corky Siemaszko DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Monday, August 24th 2009, 12:30 PM The grieving mothers of a slain Brooklyn Marine and his wife have won the support of the Polish government in their push for a face-to-face meeting with President Obama. A top Polish official urged the U.S. ambassador in Warsaw to "employ all your personal and institutional authority" to make it happen, according to a letter obtained by The News. An Obama sitdown with the mothers of Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and...

 Today marks the  65th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising against Nazi Germany. [Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President of Warsaw H.G.Waltz, President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, Chairman of the Polish Parliament B.Komorowski]   Sirens will wail and church bells will toll across Poland on the stroke of 5:00 pm., the exact time when the Polish Home Army started the rising. In line with long-established tradition, private vehicles and pedestrians are to stand still for a minute of silence. The president and prime minister laid wreaths at the monument to the Warsaw Rising at the Powonzki cemetery, which on August 1 is visited...

7/28/2009 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFNS) -- Thought not traditional Air Force linguists, two multilingual Airmen bring a unique skill to Manas Air Base. Capt. Jecek Dempnaik and Staff Sgt. Maria Hudgeons, who speak a combined seven languages, reduce communication barriers between Air Force members and coalition forces through written translations and verbal interpretations. They are the ears and eyes to the director of the Transit Center here. When acting in this capacity, they are referred to as the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing coalition coordinators and linguists. Shifting tongues between English, French and Spanish is as easy as breathing...

Nun becomes top-selling Polish cookbook writer By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer Saturday, July 18, 2009 Emerging from the quiet of her convent, Sister Anastazja Pustelnik was confronted by a jarring image — her smiling face on posters plastered around town to hawk the cookbooks that have made the 59-year-old nun one of Poland's best-selling authors. It's fame Sister Anastazja never bargained for when she left the material world as a young woman, expecting to toil in obscurity for God. But her ability to create easy-to-follow recipes for delectable cakes and traditional home cooking has resulted in five cookbooks since...

Editorial: RCMP suffers another blow Times Colonist Published: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Staggering incompetence or coverup? Those are the only two explanations for the fact that a critical RCMP e-mail was kept from the inquiry into Robert Dziekanski's death until last week, on the day final arguments were to begin. The failure to disclose the critical evidence has undermined the work of the Braidwood inquiry, forced a long delay in the completion of its report and -- once again -- tarnished the RCMP's already shredded reputation. The e-mail cuts directly to the heart of the issues before the inquiry. RCMP...

Barack Obama is no Ronald Reagan. One need look no further than President Obama's cautiously timid response to the demands of freedom from Iranians. Contrast this with Reagan's response to similar demands from Poles in the 1980s and the miserable inadequacy of the Obama foreign policy is thrust into a stark and shameful relief.

Lednica 2000 – The Holy HappeningJune 6,2009One hundred thousand young boys and girls gathered at the Lednica Lake, the place of the Baptism of Poland, where the first historical ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, accepted Christianity in AD966. Since 2000 this has been a place of annual  Polish Catholic youth meetings that last for two days. The high point of the celebration is a nocturnal walk under a massive steel fish structure, a symbol of Christianity. Doing this, the Polish youth solemnly confirm its faith in Jesus Christ, passed down from generation to generation.            See videos: 1. Lednica - 6.06.2009...

After 24 years, polka has had its last dance at the Grammys. The Recording Academy, which bestows the Grammy Awards, announced late on Wednesday that the polka category would be eliminated, saying in a statement that it had been cut “to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape.” To many in the polka world, that read as a kind of industry code meaning that their genre — once capable of supporting artists with million-selling hits, but long since relegated to micro-niche status — had slipped off the mainstream radar entirely. “It’s devastating,” said Carl Finch of...

President Obama's model for spending the nation out of recession is Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. A better example is the Reaganite bearing of post-communist Poland. In the midst of the global financial crisis, Poland's economy is forecast to grow by almost 1 percent [...] likely will be the only European country with a growing gross domestic product in 2009. Germany's GDP is expected to shrink by more then 5 percent, Britain's by almost 4 percent, France's by 3 percent and the Czech Republic's by 3 percent. With a projected GDP drop of about 3 percent, the United States doesn't...

A man who fell 300ft (91m) to his death from the top of a cliff was posing for a photo at the time, holding on to a tuft of grass, coastguards said. The "tragic accident" at Seaton in Devon on Sunday afternoon was witnessed by the 39-year-old Polish man's friends and nearby tourists. The victim was found in bushes at the foot of Beer Hill and rescuers said he would have been killed instantly.

Millions of people attend the Resurrection Processions in Poland. The Warsaw processions, including the one that is traditionally led by the Military Guard of Honor and the officers of the General Staff with the Supreme Commander of the Polish Armed Forces, gathered hundreds of thousands of citizens of Warsaw.  The Military Guard of Honor at the Holy Sepulchre represented by all kinds of armed forces: Navy,  Air Force and Land Forces Resurrection Mass at the Cathedral attended by the Supreme Commander and the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Resurrection Procession led by the Military Guard of Honor  Jesus Christ has...

Good Friday. Countless thousands of people of Warsaw attended the Way of the Cross through the streets of the city led by the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces carrying the Cross of Jesus.  

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistan on Tuesday condemned the Taliban's killing of a Polish engineer as "absolutely barbaric", after Warsaw blamed his death on Islamabad's "apathy" towards tackling extremism. Piotr Stanczak, who was abducted in late September in volatile northwest Pakistan, was beheaded at the weekend by his Taliban captors, who then released a graphic video of the execution to several media outlets. Warsaw has confirmed the authenticity of the video and vowed to find Stanczak's killers, who are believed to come from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pakistan's umbrella Taliban organisation which has links to Al-Qaeda. "Officially the ministry of interior has...

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – A Pakistani militant group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed Saturday it beheaded a Polish engineer kidnapped last year to pressure Islamabad to release detained insurgents. A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told AFP by telephone that its men decapitated Piotr Stanczak early Saturday after the Pakistani government failed to meet the group's demands by a Friday midnight deadline. No Pakistani government comment regarding the group's claim was immediately available, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country received "informal confirmation" of the engineer's death. A spokesman for the Polish embassy in Islamabad, Piotr Adamkiewicz told AFP: "We...

WARSAW - The remains of 1,800 German civilians who perished in 1945, towards the end of the World War II, have been exhumed from a mass grave in Malbork, northern Poland, officials said Wednesday.

Rod Blagojevich, the Stupidest Governor in the Country, Puts Obama in a Bad Light... Blagojevich as Dick Mell's son-in-law, with a Slavic name (this had long been thought of as a Polish seat), managed to get the endorsement of Mayor Daley and to engage the consulting services of David Axelrod.http://www.usnews.com/mobile/blogs/barone/2008/12/11/rod-blagojevich-the-stupidest-governor-in-the-country-puts-obama-in-a-bad-light.html

Poland has been forced to deny its foreign minister 'joked' that President-Elect Barack Obama's grandparents were cannibals. Writing in his blog, Mr Czarnecki, an MEP, quoted the foreign minister as saying: "Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary." A spokesman for the Polish foreign office conceded that Mr Sikorski had made the controversial comment, but denied that the foreign minister had intended to insult Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan. Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has made no comment on the affair. It appears that Mr Sikorski's position is not...

The brutal murders of Brooklyn-raised Marine Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife had nothing to do with the fact that he was white and she was black, a top cop said Thursday."There's nothing to suggest what happened was a racial crime," Investigator Josh Button of the Riverside County Sheriff's Central Homicide unit said. "I've seen that reported, but it's just people looking at the case from the outside and making up their own minds."RELATED: MURDERED MARINE'S MOM WRITES OBAMA Button addressed the sensitive question of race after four Marines - all of them black - were charged last week...