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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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POLISH COAST GUARD FIRES ON GERMAN CRUISE SHIP

Admit it…...your first impression of that headline was that it presaged a joke, right?

Why not - “Polish Coast Guard”? Where is Poland’s COAST, for pity sakes!! And then there’s the history of anything starting out with something about the Polish…..

But, this is real! First of all, Poland had an outlet to the Baltic even before WWII - at Gdansk. And today, East Prussia is gone, so there’s quie a coastline over there - as I learned by checking the Web!

Anyhow, German tourists buy cigarettes and liquor every year while on short cruises on the Baltic…..the requirement is that they must land in a foreign port, and that is commonly in Poland. Polish customs inspects the tobacco and alchohol, and the German captain says that they occasionally confiscate the ship’s supply for no particular reason.

So, when the customs officials notified him that they wanted to inspect his stores, he turned tail and ran back toward Germany, rather than continuing in toward Swinoujscie. Shots were fired, and there is a LOT of disagreement about how many, why, and a myriad of other things.

Relations between Germany and Poland have long been a bit dodgy, for obvious reasons, and this certainly doesn’t help! You can READ THE WHOLE THING in Der Spiegel.

Hat Tip: K-Lo at THE CORNER

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/20 at 01:17 PM

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