Poland Sues 50 Cent over Cancelled Concert

American rapper 50 Cent is being taken to court in Gorzow, western Poland, for cancelling a concert that the city spent 100,000 zloty promoting.

Legal teams from Gorzow and 50 Cent met Wednesday to discuss the case.

50 Cent was supposed to play in Gorzow in August 2008 as part of a promotional concert series for the city. After cancelling the concert, 50 Cent’s handlers did not refund the city the money spent, or set up alternative arrangements.

“We signed a contract for 200,000 zloty [47,000 euro]. The city logo appeared on posters. In every advertisement for the rapper, the city’s name appeared. We were convinced it was a good idea,” says Jolanta Ciesla, spokesperson for the city’s legal team.

The concert was to take place in the sports stadium in Gorzow with a capacity to hold 10,000 of the rapper’s Polish fans. Initially, when the city realized that the event was not turning out as planned, they attempted to push the concert back a month. Still, no tickets were sold.

The city had paid out 100,000 zloty in sponsorship, with plans to pay the second 100,000 zloty after the event. “Organizers expected to fulfill the contract and gain publicity for the city. We are of the opinion that this was not an advertisement for us at all but the opposite: an ‘anti-advertisement,’” adds Ciesla.

The concert organizers have not publicly disclosed why the event was cancelled. “Our legal department is handling the case,” says Michal Torz, from the Gdansk Shipyard Centre, the organizers of the concert.

From thenews.pl

Krakow to fine noise-makers during hejnal

Ah, this was one of the highlights when I visited Krakow - however the thought of a fine seems ludicrous.

The hejnal or Crakovian Hymn is played four times every hour in all directions from the tallest tower of St. Mary’s Church in Krakow. According to a popular 20th century legend, during one of the Mongol invasion of Poland (usually the invasion of 1241), Tatar warriors approached the city. A guard on the Mariacki church tower sounded the alarm by playing the Heynal, and the city gates were closed before the Tatars could take the city by surprise. The bugler, however, was shot in the throat and did not complete the tune. According to the legend, that is why it now ends abruptly before completion.

A little history that I found interesting: Originally the tune was played by the town guard, however since the 19th century the tune has been performed by active members of the fire brigade, who use the church tower as a lookout post. Currently there are at least four different buglers serving in rotation at the tower.

Krakow City Guards will start giving out fines in one month’s time for talking during the historic hejnal anthem, also known as the Cracovian Hymn played hourly from the highest tower of St. Mary’s Church on the city square.

The city government wants tourists and other passers-by to stop talking and for restaurants to turn off their music for a five-minute period of silence to pay respect to the hymn, which is played every hour, on the hour, every day of the year.

“We have in mind a very small fine, up to 20 zloty (about 5 euro). That should be enough,” claims Pawel Bystrowski, member of Civic Platform and the city official who conceived the idea, adding that first offenders will receive a warning with a second offence garnering a fine.

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Warsaw, Poland - Celebrating the Fall of Communism

A worker hung a giant poster in Warsaw Monday ahead of the 20th anniversary in June of when Poland held semi-free elections that led to the fall of communism. The poster shows a cowboy resembling the sheriff from the film “High Noon” walking over the Communist Party headquarters. (Alik Keplicz/Associated Press)

For a good chronology of the fall of communism in Poland Click Here

U.S. says latest missile defense test a success

U.S. says latest missile defense test a success
Fri Dec 5, 2008 4:16pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military conducted a successful test of its system built to knock out long-range missiles that could be fired by North Korea or Iran, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The target missile for the test over the Pacific was launched from Kodiak, Alaska and an interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, officials said. The intercept took place at 3:29 p.m. EST .

Boeing Co is prime contractor for the system, called the ground-based midcourse defense.

The Pentagon will hold a briefing on the results of the test at 5:15 p.m. EST (0015 GMT), officials said.

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U.S. officials had billed the test as a particularly realistic simulation of a possible missile attack but critics of the system disputed that description.

Before the latest test, the Pentagon said 12 tests of the ground-based system had been conducted since 1999 and seven of them had been successful.

Advisers to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama have said he favors missile defense in principle but the program, a flagship policy of the Bush administration, will face more scrutiny after he takes office.

President George W. Bush has been spending roughly $10 billion a year on all aspects of missile defense, the Pentagon's costliest annual outlay for an arms development program.

The United States and Russia are at odds over a Bush administration plan to extend the Boeing-managed system into Eastern Europe, using 10 silo-based two-stage interceptors in Poland and a related radar system in the Czech Republic.