New superpower policing the world? Not so fast Europe.

The latest article by Anne Applebaum from January 28th, 2013 in National Post, titled "Anne Applebaum on Europe: The world's new superpower", inaccurate at its core, raised some interesting points about the EU's military capabilities. In short, Mrs. Applebaum claims that EU, with it's 27 member states, out of which 21 are NATO members, has the potential to match the military power of the United States. Perhaps being married to the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, distracted Mrs. Applebaum from the rest of the political reality of the European Union.

Although the EU members came a long way modernizing their arsenals and coordinating EU defenses, the patchwork of member-states is no match for the global reach of the United States. This simple conclusion has nothing to do with being an American chauvinist or European Union critic. The crude facts and pure numbers may not expose the "new superpower" entirely, but the base of the EU weakness lays with the member states.

According to SIPRI Yearbook 2012, quoted in the euobserver.com, United States military spending was $711billion comparing to $496 billion of all 27 European Union members. EU spending sounds impressive until it's broken down to individual countries. United Kingdom ($62.7 billion), France ($62.5 billion), Germany ($46.7 billion), and Italy ($34.5 billion), top the list of the highest EU spenders. Proportionally to their size, rest of the EU members spend much less individually.

Right there, the numbers tell the half of the story. Only UK and France have the real muscle to conduct any real war effort. Short-lived that is, of course. Wiki provides even more info about the number of troops, planes, aircraft careers, submarines, tanks, and so on. Some counties look better than other. Poland for example, with it's recently purchased F-16s, and $9.7 billion military budget, looks like a bigger player among the former Eastern Block.

But what's more important than equipment and military budgets? In short, different agendas of the former colonial powers versus rest of the Europe.

Fighting terrorist in Mali by French using, most likely, the Foreign Legion, has too much of the cleanup undertone. Perhaps a deeper feeling of a colonial remorse? The world admires France for standing up to the al-Qaeda with the solders hitching a ride on whatever transport planes they could scramble from the US and private companies. However, hitchhiking is not a superpower. Besides, with 10% of the French population being Muslim, it's obvious that France just taking care of the business before the flames spread too close to home.

For counties like Slovenia, Hungary, Denmark, Poland, Belgium, this war is a distant conflict not worth loosing human lives and money. Yes, some counties will express support, lend some planes, but involving their soldiers in this war is just not worth the trouble. And why not you may ask? First of all, the myopic view of the Muslim extremists danger and secondly, because the United States kept out of this futile escapade. Let's be honest, without a full US support, chances of a prompt victory are limited. In reality, Mali could become another Afghanistan where today's allies become tomorrow's enemies.

Sooner or later, US will loose interest in Europe or NATO, and by then, one would hope EU is prepared to take over the real job of protecting the Old Continent. But that just it - the Old Continent.

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Chicago

Among Poles in Poland and abroad, Jurek Owsiak (and his pink glasses), is regarded as a national hero.  His monumental creation, The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (GOCC, Polish Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, WOŚP) raises millions of dollars every year to help purchase medical equipment for ill children.  Every January, during the Grand Finale, The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity holds the national collection event with thousands of volunteers in Poland and around the globe.  This year, the Grand Finale will be held on Sunday, January 13th.  

It is truly amazing that this non-governmental, non-profit charity can influence so many people to help the ones that need the most help.  Yes, this efficient organization puts the Polish government to shame. View the amounts collected since 1993 here.

Polish volunteers from New York and Chicago are also involved with the Grand Finale.  Information about the Chicago base of operations can be found here.

Jurek Owsiak is also responsible for the greatest annual collection of rock music bands called Przystanek Woodstock (Woodstock Station), a weekend long feast of greatest music in Europe.  Since 2004, the festival takes place in the western border town of Kostrzyn, not far from my old town.  If you ever visit Poland during summer, you must check that out.  Besides great music, the mud slides are the best attractions.  Happy rocking!

Polish Christmas Eve dinner

Polish traditions are rich and colorful. Christmas time is especially important to Poles because of the Jesus Christ’s birth celebrated by all Roman Catholics. After the first star is spotted, Polish family begins the Christmas Eve dinner with a passage from the Bible, Luke 2:1-14, The Birth of Jesus Christ. Next, everyone brakes the “oplatek” and goes around the table with wishes for the next year. Contrary to the Western traditions, kids open their presents after the Christmas Eve dinner.
I found a great description of the dinner here.

Typical dishes include barszcz wigilijny z uszkami (Christmas Eve borscht with mushroom uszka dumplings), carp in aspic, herring (sledze), breaded whitefish, meatless cabbage rolls (golabki), and noodles with poppyseed. Desserts might include nuts, tangerines, chocolates, makowiec (poppyseed roll), mazurek (a jam-filled flat pastry), piernik (honey-spice cake), pierniczki (gingerbread cookies), kompot (fruit compote), cognac, liqueurs, mead and krupnik (a honey-spiced vodka). Kutia, a kind of gruel with cracked wheat and honey, is also eaten in some parts of Poland on Christmas Eve.

Take a look at couple of sample pictures of this year’s dinner. The Christmas Eve borscht with mushroom dumplings was so delicious that I haven’t had a chance to take a picture before it was gone.  Merry Christmas.

cabbage stuffed croquettes – krokiety

dumplings – pierogi

rice with fruit – ryz z owocami

herring with onions in oil – sledzie z cebula w oleju

“Chytra baba” aka “Cunning old woman” takes over Poland’s web

The town square Christmas Eve celebration intended for the less fortunate residents of Radom, turned into a shameless freeloading frenzy. 

It took about 30 seconds for the grabby people to clear the tables. One liter bottles of soft drinks and loaves of bread disappeared before anyone had a chance to taste anything. The spread was to accompany traditional hot Christmas dishes: borsch with dumplings, pierogi, and bigos (cabbage and meat stew). Distribution of hot dishes went fairly smoothly with everyone enjoying the meal.

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So why the excitement? Over 50 cent bottles of citrus flavored water?

The outrage goes deeper than the monetary value of soft drinks and bread. It's the way the people behaved at the tables. Personally, the whole scene reminds me of the lines to the empty stores during the 80's when a delivery truck unloaded the goods and people would go nuts. But that was communist Poland. Today, Poland is an economic miracle country with positive growth numbers among the unlucky European countries ran down with recession and unemployment. Are people that greedy? 

One woman in particular, labeled, "chytra baba" or "cunning old woman", gives a black eye to all the values cherished by Poles, when she grabs not one, not two, but three bottles from the table and casually walks away with her loot. Just take a look at the YouTube video. Pay attention to a woman in a white hat. She does not look like a homeless person in need of food. The football-like bottle pass was amazing. That alone upset a lot of folks.  

Not surprisingly, the "cunning old woman" is a new Internet hit in Poland. Her photo-shopped persona is plastered everywhere trying to grab all kids of items from the famous scenes. Take a look at her Facebook page. The sarcastic side of fame reminds us once again that nothing in the world can hide from a judging eye of the Skynet.

Merry Christmas everyone. Don't get slapped at the table for grabbing your favorite pierogi too quick.

60 years of the Radio Free Europe

For millions of people who lived behind the Iron Curtain for over 40 years, Radio Free Europe was the only source of the factual and independent news. Year 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast on May 3rd, 1952, from Munich, Germany. Between the Polish Pope, John Paul II, Solidarity leader and Polish President, Lech Wałęsa, and the American President, Ronald Reagan, Radio Free Europe shines with its own accomplishments.

Founded by the United States, Radio Free Europe gave hope to all Eastern European countries terrorized by the communist regimes. Among the Polish broadcasters, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański(1914-2005), the Polish section leader, is the most recognizable person of his time.

As a young boy, during the 80′s, I vividly remember the family friend glued to an old radio turning the frequency knob every 10 seconds to catch the Radio Wolna Europa news. For people who realized how evil the communist regime was, listening to the station was a must. Radio Free Europe was an inspiration to portable Solidarity movement radio stations (Radio Solidarność) in several Polish cities. Reaching couple hundred meters and broadcasting from a tape recorder, those makeshift radios provided another avenue for the Solidarity movement to be heard.

The Polish-language history, photos, articles, and movies about the Radio Wolna Europa are available at www.wolnaeuropa.pl. The 1964 movie, “This is Radio Free Europe”, gives the inside glimpse of the RFE.

One would think that the collapse of the communism in the Eastern Europe would be the end of the Radio Free Europe. Not so. In 1995, the RFE headquarters were moved from Munich to Prague, Czech Republic, to continue the broadcasting work as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Some interesting facts from their website:

Countries: 21 (including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia )
Languages: 28
Platforms: Radio (AM, FM, Satellite), Internet, Television
Broadcast Hours: approximately 1,100 hours/week
Audience: 24 million/week (radio, web, streaming audio) (FY2011)
Employees: 500+ in Prague and Washington and 750 freelancers in 19 bureaus across the broadcast region.
Budget: $92.7 million (FY2011)

Judging from the broadcast map, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is here to stay. At least until all the craziness in the Kreplakistan-like states finally disappears.

Creator of Polish cartoon, “Reksio”, lives in poverty

Growing up as a kid in Poland in 70s and 80s, everyone knew the cartoon characters: “Bolek i Lolek” and “Reksio”. 

By today’s standards, those plain, family friendly, uplifting cartoons are bleak and unattractive. However, in a communist Poland, kids loved Reksio and played Bolek and Lolek games. Let’s now forget about Tola, the female friend of Bolek and Lolek. Both movies are forever imprinted in Polish history. 

In fact, the movies were so popular at the time, they were distributed by many all over the world. Not surprisingly, “Bolek i Lolek” is known even in countries like Iran.
Today, Polish kids watch the “Sesame Street” and “Pokemon”. The old, hand drawn cartoons, lost their appeal but their creators are still around. 

Just recently, the 86 years old animator who created “Reksio”, Marian Wantoła, was featured on Polish TVP show “Case for a reporter” (Sprawa dla reportera). Shockingly, the animator who spent 47 years at the studio since the age of 25, now lives in town of Bielsko-Biała in a run-down house without running water, gas, with mold and coal stove for heating. Being a honest, hard working guy in a communist Poland, pretty much put him in a state of poverty. 

Polish vlogger, Krzysztof Gonciarz, who first reported on this disgrace, started a website to raise funds to help Marian Wantoła. 

You can watch the video and check out the website at http://www.indiegogo.com/Reksio
And some Bolek and Lolek.



Update: December 8th, 2012.
So far, the http://www.indiegogo.com/Reksio website, collected over $30,000 for the animator, Marian Wantoła.  That's a great response.  However, an article from gazeta.pl sheds some new light on the whole situation.  

First of all, the animator lives comfortably in his own apartment, paid off years ago.  There is running water, no sign of mold, and working coal furnace.  It might not be a Ritz, but the conditions are far from what it was reported by the media.  

Second of all, just to make sure that everyone understands, Mr. Wantoła is not a creator of the famous "Reksio".  He's the animator and never claimed to be a creator.  Lechosław Marszałek is the true creator of "Reksio". 

Were people duped by the sad story to extort some money?  It's for you to decide.

Polish terrorist-wannabe, Brunon Kwiecień, arrested for planning to bomb government buildings

Source: nasza-klasa.pl

Polish style of filthy-mouth politics just became more serious.  On November 9th, 2012, the Polish Internal Security Agency (Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego aka ABW), arrested 45-year old chemist, Dr. Brunon Kwiecień, charging him with planning to bomb the Polish Parliament, office of the Polish President, and the other Polish government buildings.  Dr. Kwiecień works at as a research fellow at the Agricultural University in Kraków.  You can check out his university profile here. 

According to wyborcza.pl, his actions were not based on his social or economic situation considering his steady employment and salary of about $15,500 a year plus $2,500 flat rental income.  His wife also works at the same university as a biologist.  Newsweek.pl describes his actions as "nationalist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic" based on the recent wave of hatred spread by mass media in Poland, mostly owned or controlled by foreign entities.

Whatever his reasons have been, this person is not to be taken lightly.  So it seems.  His neighbor stated that Kwiecień loved the explosives as a kid and even lost some fingers in a firecracker accident. Thenews.pl and ABW report that he was able to accumulate 4 tonnes TNT and other pyrotechnic materials, detonators, fuses, remote detonators, firearms, ammunition, bulletproof vests, Kevlar helmets, ghillie suits, Polish and foreign registration plates, sniper and bomb-making manuals.

How was he able to prepare such a details operation?  He's job as an explosives chemist for the university provided a perfect cover.  Kwiecień was able to recruit 4 people that were later arrested but promptly released by a judge without any charge.  Strange.

Now, let the games begin.  Paraphrasing the words of the poplar Polish movie character, captain Hans Kloss, from the 1968 TV series "Stawka większa niż życie": Nie ze mną te numery Brunon!

Polish media already exploded, yes, pun intended, with reports of the Internal Security Agency provocation.  Although, Kwiecień's wife reported his behavior to the authorities after he started asking questions about the biological germ-ware, the question of motive still remains.  Is Kwiecień just a misguided and frustrated psycho fantasizing of destroying current Polish government run by Civic Platform (PO = Platforma Obywatelska)?  Or, was he pushed by the ABW agents to the extreme?  We'll find out soon enough.  Or will we?

On another note, the Polish Army really dropped the ball on this one.  The guy is a MacGyver of explosives.  With a resource like that, they could be producing some mean bombs.  Their loss.