] The Poles withstood almost six years of German occupation
] during which time they were continuously subjected to
] arrest, torture, imprisonment or execution. Many were
] sent to concentration camps where they died a slow death.
] Hundreds of thousands were rounded up and deported to
] Germany for use as slave labour

This page has documentation of specific murders and abuses by the Germans during WWII. It includes details of the deaths of some members of my own blood family, the Taczanowski's (my father's cousins, via his paternal grandmother).

] PART ONE: Persecutions, Murders, Expulsions
]
] Chapter One: The Deliberate Murder of the Civil
] Population During the Military Operations

I am not meme-ing the exact references, because the descriptions are extremely graphic.

This link is not for the squeamish. :/

Documentation of German Atrocities in Poland During WWII

] On July 4, 1958, [Karol Wojtyla] was appointed auxiliary bishop of
] Krakow by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958,
] in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Baziak.

I learned recently that a Papal Chamberlain during the time of Pope Pius XII was another of my great-uncles, a Polish nobleman by the name of Jan Czarnowski.

Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII and Poland

] President George W. Bush congratulates ninth graders from
] Hawken School of Geauga County, Ohio, on receiving the
] President's Environmental Youth Award in the East
] Room of the White House April 21, 2005. Members include,
] from left to right, Karoline Evin McMullen, 14, Angela
] Primbas, 14, and Amanda Weatherhead, 15.

The one on the left, in the green sweater, is one of my cousins (my father's sister's daughter's daughter, for anyone interested). She's been recognized as a child prodigy, winning all kinds of awards and getting written up in local press since her age was in single digits -- and yes I'm proud of her. :)

Elonka

whitehouse.gov - President Honors Environmental Youth Award Recipients

] The Greek spelling for the word fish is "ICHTHUS"
] (pronounced ikh-thoos) and was incorporated into the
] meaning of the fish symbol. ICHTHUS is an acronym coming
] from the first letters of the Greek phrase "Iesous,
] Christos, Theou, Uios, Soter" which spell out a secret
] message about our Lord. The individual letters I, X, O,
] Y, E, are the first letters of five Greek words each of
] which means "Jesus Christ, God, Son and Savior".
]
] I - Iota, the first letter in the Greek word Iesous, meaning Jesus
]
] X - Chi, the first letter in the Greek word Christos, meaning Christ
]
] O - Theta, the first letter in the Greek word Theou, meaning God
]
] Y - Upsilon, the first letter in the Greek word Uios, meaning Son
]
] E - Sigma, the first letter in the Greek word Soter, meaning Savior

I'd heard about early Christians drawing fish symbols as a secret identification sign, but I never knew the complete explanation...

Christian cryptography :)

Christian auto 'fish' emblem

Decius wrote:
] ] I have no idea what this is. I can't find anything
] ] similar on any google map referenced sites. It
] ] doesn't show up on terraserver and I live nearby so
] ] I know there are no towers in that area.

I checked with an aerial photography expert I know. He sent me a long detailed report analyzing light direction and shadow and focus elements and relative altitude, which all basically boil down to one line: It's almost certainly a weather balloon.

Fo reference, here are some other images of NOAA Weather balloons, seen from a distance.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/balloon2004.shtml

RE: Google Sightseeing - UFO

] The President of the United States of America, Elihu
] Root, Secretary of State of the United States; and
]
] His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia,
] etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary, Baron Ladislaus
] Hengelmuller de Hengervar, Grand Cross of the Orders of
] Leopold and Francis Joseph, 3rd Class Knight of the Order
] of the Iron Crown, His Majesty's Privy Counselor and
] Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the
] United States of America;
]
] Who, after communicating to each other their respective
] full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon
] the following Articles ...

I just learned that Baron Hengelmuller is another of the uncles (by marriage) in my family tree...

1909 Arbitration Convention Between the United States and Austria-Hungary

] VON NIEZYCHOWSKI, ALFRED.
]
] Germany's mystery cruiser. (In The
] Cincinnati enquirer, July 1-Aug.
] 19, 1928) © 1Jul28, A929310;
] 8Jul28, A929426; 15Jul28, A929427;
] 22Jul28, A929619; 29Jul28, A929620;
] 5Aug28, A928986; 12Aug28, A928987;
] 19Aug28, A929999. Alfred
] Niezychowski (A); 14Nov55;
] R159455, 159457-159458, 159456,
] 159459, 159462, 159461, 159460.

Found this at the gutenberg.org site. I'm not sure what the numbers mean yet, other than that it's something to do with copyright, so am blogging for future reference... (if anyone knows, please tell me?)

Copyright reference: Cruise of the Kronprinz Wilhelm

] Taczanowski, h. Jastrzebiec. Alfonso-Antoni-Felix (son
] of Maximilian by his wife Francoise Drweska) b. 11th June
] 1815, d. 10th May 1867 obtained the title of Count from
] Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia on 6th September
] 1854.

Alfonso-Antoni-Felix Taczanowski, uncle to my great-grandmother Lucia Taczanowska. Maximilian Taczanowski and Francoise Drweska are my great-great-great-grandparents.

So this is another famous great-great-granduncle in my family tree. He received his title, right around the same that the other one, Joseph (later to be Saint Raphael) Kalinowski, was studying at a Russian university. I have to wonder if they ever crossed paths...

The Titled Familes of Poland

Decius wrote:

] This will be coupled with increasingly cheap and automated
] surveillance of public space. Ultimately, the IDs WILL go
] wireless so that they can easily be scanned by the government
] without having to approach a suspect. You already have a
] license plate, right? Ultimately the Supreme Court will
] concede that its not unconstitutional to require every person
] to carry such a card. That will be the last straw. I put it 40
] years out unless there is another major terrorist attack. I'd
] be willing to make a long bet on this.

Hmm, in 40 years, you're saying that you'd bet that every citizen will be required to carry ID on them at all times, even if they're traveling on foot, on private property? Or that every citizen will be required to carry something that lets them be identified without their knowledge? Either way, I think I'd be willing to take that bet. Especially with Republicans in power, who I think are *less* likely than Democrats to want to promote anything like a mandatory national ID.

RE: UnRealID.com

Decius wrote:
] ] Members of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church say
] ] Chandler led an effort to kick out congregants who did
] ] not support President Bush. Nine members were voted out
] ] at a Monday church meeting in this mountain town about
] ] 120 miles west of Charlotte. Forty others in the
] ] 400-member congregation resigned in protest.

I agree, this is pretty appalling.

I don't care if I agree with their politics or their religion or not -- I hope this one gets seriously investigated. If a church is genuinely tying its membership to how its members vote, then it's endangering its own status as a church, and should not be allowed to maintain its tax-free status.

RE: N.C. Church Kicks Out Members Who Do Not Support Bush