Monday afternoon, I was watching beach volleyball on NBC and the US was losing to Poland. I though it was ironic that we would be losing to a country with less than 500 miles of coastland (the US has nearly 20,000) in something with the word “beach” in the title. So I sent out a tweet.
Watching beach volleyball. We’re losing to Poland. Do they even HAVE beaches in Poland?
— Jonathan Howe (@Jonathan_Howe) July 30, 2012
What I didn’t know is that the Polish people are sensitive about their beaches. My sarcastic tweet was put on a website in Poland and for the past few days I’ve been inundated by Poles defending their Baltic beachfront property.
So to the people of Poland – I’m sorry for questioning your skills in beach volleyball…and I love your sausage. Not so much your music, though.
Now, to the video below. (via 22words)
The Warsaw Uprising began on August 1, 1944. For the next 63 days, Poland’s army fought the Nazis, trying to liberate their capital. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union’s advance that should have left the Germans vulnerable, but…
…various military and political miscalculations, as well as global politics — played among Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt — turned the dice against [Warsaw]. [source]
The effort lasted nine weeks and failed, leaving 200,000 Polish dead, mainly civilians. Every year, Warsaw commemorates this horrific tragedy with a minute of stillness. It is tremendously moving, needless to say…
I’ve been in Warsaw for the past 4 years on August 1. It’s an amazing experience to be there for the ceremonies and moment of silence they hold all through the city. There is also a time in the afternoon when the bells ring all over the city. One year we were having a church service outside when the bells rang. Talk about a moving experience! Even after all of these years, the Poles are proud of their stand against the Nazis… and rightfully so.