The line you had on another video recently of "Alright everyone, America needs to run some errands, Poland's in charge until we get back" cracked me up and raised my spirits. Partly from the change from "Warsaw Pact" days but also how there used to be a lot Polish jokes back in the 70s.
Actually, Poland played a pretty major part in Warsaw Fact as well. I don't know if you ever got to see that that infamous Warsaw Pact-era strategic map that was declassified by the Poles back in 2005 (or in 2007), but Poland was the only country outside of the USSR that was supposed to have its own front (The Coastal (Maritime) Front). This front was tasked with busting through the Northern Germany and invading Denmark from the south and from the east (by naval landings).
If we pivot from Europe do you think with this current administration that they will honor article 5 if Russia makes it into a NATO Country or will it become a quid pro quo? I don’t have faith that Europe will not be abandoned especially with the way people in the administration such as VP Vance and others are speaking about Europe. It seems to me that Europe might be on their own to push Russia back in any incursion.
Maybe I'm stupid or just haven't wandered the right places but I've never felt unsafe in the U.S. Atlanta, Tampa, Austin, Kansas City. Well, I take that back. I've been out in the boonies and really, really hoped the car doesn't break down.
Since you mentioned funding levels I looked it up. The cutoff for data used in this list was June 0f 2024.
At around (7:33) you made a factual mistake. Poland was occupied for about 170 years and not for 50. It was completely erased from existence by Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1795 to be restored after WW1 in 1918. Then it was partitioned by the Soviets and the Germans in 1939, completely occupied by the Germans between 1941 and 1944-45 only to lose tits sovereignty to the Soviets from 1945 until 1989.
One could debate, of course, whether the 1945-1989 period could count as a full-fledged occupation. After all, Gomulka did tell Khrushchev to go pound sand in 1956 and Khrushchev acquiesced to Gomulka's demand....
Always fun to listen to. As you know; Poland, the Baltic countries, Finland and Sweden are on the pointy end of the sword. They are next on pariah Putin's list after Ukraine. The west was little help to Poland in WWII. I hope the mistake is not repeated. SLAVA UKRAINI!!!
Well, my mom and grandmother spoke Polish, but they didn't pass the language on to me. I think it was a mistake on their part. I am teaching myself to speak, read, and write in Russian. I looked at Polish, and I thought Russian would be easier. Poland is a stand-up country, and so are the Romanians. Politically, I am a conservative Republican, and I believe that every dime in aid and assistance to Ukriane is money well spent. It's where the fight is; Ukraine was the brain trust for Russia of the Tsars and the Soviets. They need to stay independent, Free and allied with the West. As for the Russians, well, I think they need to be under some kind of conservatorship so that as we advance, they can do better because the same old old is not working.
"I am a conservative Republican, and I believe that every dime in aid and assistance to Ukriane is money well spent. It's where the fight is; Ukraine was the brain trust for Russia"
We might not see eye to eye with some politics, but we're in lock step with Ukraine. The US spent trillions of dollars over the last 80 years fighting Russian aggression and expansion, and now we have the chance to see the Russian army decimated into a hollow shell of its former self and diminishing it so they're less of a threat to Europe and the US. This can be achieved without a single US soldier being involved. We can fund this with a mere fraction of what was spent before, and Ukraine will gladly do the fighting. Also, in addition to Ukraine being Russia's brain trust, they were the Russians best fighters in their previous wars. The Cossack blood runs deep in the Ukrainians.
The Latvians were used as the Tsar's personal guards as they were seen as the most incorruptible, and dependable (caveat: as told by my Latvian family), but I'm picking the Cossacks would have been the most fearsome to face.
Thanks for the tour and your thoughts about Poland, Ryan. Btw, why not use an app on your phone to translate to and from English (at least the difficult Slavic languages)?
They also have dedicated translation devices, such as devices that look like phones. They can nearly translate in real time both converting the language into English and then it has a speaker to translate your words to the foreign language. With it you can have a decent conversation. These devices also have a camera and they'll translate signs from the pictures. I've got one of these and it works remarkably well. The other main type of devices are ear buds that translate into your ear. I'm not sure what functionality they have but we're close to getting "Babel Fish".
Thanks for the travelogue. I played it at 1.5x so you would get a better workout!
It’s not weird to be worried about being unsafe it’s sad we have unsafe places where we live.
The Russians stole all the vowels when the Soviet Union ended.
The line you had on another video recently of "Alright everyone, America needs to run some errands, Poland's in charge until we get back" cracked me up and raised my spirits. Partly from the change from "Warsaw Pact" days but also how there used to be a lot Polish jokes back in the 70s.
Actually, Poland played a pretty major part in Warsaw Fact as well. I don't know if you ever got to see that that infamous Warsaw Pact-era strategic map that was declassified by the Poles back in 2005 (or in 2007), but Poland was the only country outside of the USSR that was supposed to have its own front (The Coastal (Maritime) Front). This front was tasked with busting through the Northern Germany and invading Denmark from the south and from the east (by naval landings).
Nice thoughts you share about Poland. I'm sure it is greatly appreciated.
If we pivot from Europe do you think with this current administration that they will honor article 5 if Russia makes it into a NATO Country or will it become a quid pro quo? I don’t have faith that Europe will not be abandoned especially with the way people in the administration such as VP Vance and others are speaking about Europe. It seems to me that Europe might be on their own to push Russia back in any incursion.
I really don’t know
if you are a republican shill you are doing a pretty bad job at it..
Maybe I'm stupid or just haven't wandered the right places but I've never felt unsafe in the U.S. Atlanta, Tampa, Austin, Kansas City. Well, I take that back. I've been out in the boonies and really, really hoped the car doesn't break down.
Since you mentioned funding levels I looked it up. The cutoff for data used in this list was June 0f 2024.
In percentage of GDP:
Poland 3.9%
United States 3.49%
Greece 3.01%
Estonia 2.73%
Lithuania 2.54%
Finland 2.45%
Romania 2.44%
In U.S. dollars:
United States $860,000
Germany $68,080
United Kingdom $65,763
France $56,649
Italy $31,585
Poland $29,105
At around (7:33) you made a factual mistake. Poland was occupied for about 170 years and not for 50. It was completely erased from existence by Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1795 to be restored after WW1 in 1918. Then it was partitioned by the Soviets and the Germans in 1939, completely occupied by the Germans between 1941 and 1944-45 only to lose tits sovereignty to the Soviets from 1945 until 1989.
One could debate, of course, whether the 1945-1989 period could count as a full-fledged occupation. After all, Gomulka did tell Khrushchev to go pound sand in 1956 and Khrushchev acquiesced to Gomulka's demand....
Always fun to listen to. As you know; Poland, the Baltic countries, Finland and Sweden are on the pointy end of the sword. They are next on pariah Putin's list after Ukraine. The west was little help to Poland in WWII. I hope the mistake is not repeated. SLAVA UKRAINI!!!
Well, my mom and grandmother spoke Polish, but they didn't pass the language on to me. I think it was a mistake on their part. I am teaching myself to speak, read, and write in Russian. I looked at Polish, and I thought Russian would be easier. Poland is a stand-up country, and so are the Romanians. Politically, I am a conservative Republican, and I believe that every dime in aid and assistance to Ukriane is money well spent. It's where the fight is; Ukraine was the brain trust for Russia of the Tsars and the Soviets. They need to stay independent, Free and allied with the West. As for the Russians, well, I think they need to be under some kind of conservatorship so that as we advance, they can do better because the same old old is not working.
"I am a conservative Republican, and I believe that every dime in aid and assistance to Ukriane is money well spent. It's where the fight is; Ukraine was the brain trust for Russia"
We might not see eye to eye with some politics, but we're in lock step with Ukraine. The US spent trillions of dollars over the last 80 years fighting Russian aggression and expansion, and now we have the chance to see the Russian army decimated into a hollow shell of its former self and diminishing it so they're less of a threat to Europe and the US. This can be achieved without a single US soldier being involved. We can fund this with a mere fraction of what was spent before, and Ukraine will gladly do the fighting. Also, in addition to Ukraine being Russia's brain trust, they were the Russians best fighters in their previous wars. The Cossack blood runs deep in the Ukrainians.
The Latvians were used as the Tsar's personal guards as they were seen as the most incorruptible, and dependable (caveat: as told by my Latvian family), but I'm picking the Cossacks would have been the most fearsome to face.
Thanks for the travelogue! Poles are a force to be reckoned with.
Thanks for the tour and your thoughts about Poland, Ryan. Btw, why not use an app on your phone to translate to and from English (at least the difficult Slavic languages)?
Sometimes I do that, mainly I usually print out a list of common phrases, and I just memorize that
They also have dedicated translation devices, such as devices that look like phones. They can nearly translate in real time both converting the language into English and then it has a speaker to translate your words to the foreign language. With it you can have a decent conversation. These devices also have a camera and they'll translate signs from the pictures. I've got one of these and it works remarkably well. The other main type of devices are ear buds that translate into your ear. I'm not sure what functionality they have but we're close to getting "Babel Fish".
Hawaii got all of the vowels. 😊
What happened to the idea of buffer states?
Do you want to live in one?
Good stuff. I'm tried just watching you walk.