Arm cut off of Reagan statue in Poland

[alp227]

Source: AP

Police were searching on Wednesday for a vandal who damaged a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II in the Polish city of Gdansk by cutting off one arm of the former U.S. president and stealing it.

The statue was unveiled just last year to honor Reagan and the Polish-born pope, who were both widely credited with helping Poland topple communism 24 years ago.

The vandalism in the Baltic port city was discovered on Tuesday, setting off the search for the perpetrator, said Lucyna Rykowska, a spokeswoman for Gdansk police.

The statue was inspired by an Associated Press photograph taken by Scott Stewart during the pope's second visit to the United States in 1987, and honors Reagan's support for Poland's struggle to end decades of communism.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/arm-cut-reagan-statue-poland

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In this Oct. 1, 2013 photo passersbys are seen looking at a former president Ronald Reagan statue with a severed arm in a park in Gdansk, Poland. The bronze statue is a larger than life rendering of Reagan and the Polish born Pope John Paul II, inspired by an AP photograph taken by Scott Stewart during John Paul's visit to the US in 1987 and honor's Reagan's support for Poland's struggle to end communism. The police are searching for the vandal who cut the arm off. (AP Photo/Mateusz Ochocki)

[onehandle]

1. Reagan was the President in the right place at the right time.

Other Presidents had much more to do with taking down the Soviet Union. Democrats and Republicans.

[Downtown Hound]

26. Most of the "modern weapons systems"

that are the backbone of our military and are considered to be the thing that eventually led the Soviets to conclude they couldn't beat us (The Patriot Missile, the Abrams tank, stealth bombers and fighters, the Apache attack helicopter, Bradley Fighting Vehicle) were actually programs that started in the 60's and 70's, some of them under Carter. They just came into being in the 80's because that's when the technology was ready.

Conservatives love to credit Reagan with modernizing our military and defeating the Soviets, but in reality he had virtually nothing to do with it.

[jakeXT]

2. $50 for scrap copper? /nt

[dipsydoodle]

7. Could well be funnily enough.

Did you know that Iraq after the invasion so much copper was stolen from their infrastucture that it upset the world price of copper !

[jakeXT]

11. Nowadays it's done by banks

In 2010, JPMorgan quietly embarked on a huge buying spree in the copper market. Within weeks — by the time it had been identified as the mystery buyer — the bank had amassed $1.5 billion in copper, more than half of the available amount held in all of the warehouses on the exchange. Copper prices spiked in response.

At the same time, JPMorgan, which also controls metal warehouses, began seeking approval of a plan that would ultimately allow it, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, a large money management firm, to buy 80 percent of the copper available on the market on behalf of investors and hold it in warehouses. The firms have told regulators that these stockpiles, which would be used to back new copper exchange-traded funds, would not affect copper prices. But manufacturers and copper wholesalers warned that the arrangement would squeeze the market and send prices soaring. They asked the S.E.C. to reject the proposal.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-considering-options-for-commodities-business-2013-7

[DJ13]

3. Venus de Bonzo

[lastlib]

10. LMAO!!!

[olddad56]

16. good one

[graywarrior]

18. OMG, lmao!

[BumRushDaShow]

23. DUzy!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

38. .... if there ever was one!

[Posteritatis]

24. Zing! (nt)

[City Lights]

25. LOL!

[Lost-in-FL]

4. Just a flesh wound

[reflection]

21. Awesome reference.

[texanwitch]

5. So sad.

Really.

I think old Ronnie can get along with just one arm.

[Blandocyte]

6. So sick of Europeans trying to disarm us

Sick of it!

[Mnemosyne]

8. Was that the arm he held the knife with? nt

[Common Sense Party]

9. It's his LEFT arm, so he doesn't need it. nt

[wicket]

12. That's terrible

[russspeakeasy]

13. He should be dug up and beaten.

[graywarrior]

19. LOL!

[Politicalboi]

14. Hopefully they cut off his head next

[LeftofObama]

15. Too bad they didn't find the sawed off arm

soldered up his ass.

[olddad56]

17. a more appropriate place for his head.

[SecularMotion]

20. Keep trying, maybe next time they'll succeed

[savalez]

22. Someone probably wants to use it to smack John Boehner in the head. n/t

[jberryhill]

29. DUzy!

[left on green only]

27. There Should Be A Caption-The-Cartoon Contest

A balloon for her to him, and a balloon for him back to her, or vice versa.

[dogknob]

28. Look for it in a high place; maybe it will eventually trickle down ;) n/t

[Liberalynn]

30. Hmmm

someone in California tries to burn his statue there. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023716859

and now this.

Does anybody smell a Zombie Apocalypse? Maybe it is the Pukes trying to find a way to bring old 666 back to life.

[kestrel91316]

31. I hope somebody cuts off his head.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

32. It was sold for the Contras.

[Zo Zig]

33. Vandals stole the handle...

Nt

[Zorra]

34. I'd really like to buy them a beer. nt

[sakabatou]

35. At least it's not going to cost both an arm AND a leg to fix

[KamaAina]

36. Maybe he needed it to trade for a hostage

h/t SalmonChantedEvening

[sofa king]

37. I pronounce you the winner!

You are my favorite person today. Thank you for making me smile.