My fellow Americans: ask NOT what your country can do for these tens of thousands of PENGUINS; ask what your country CAN do for these tens of thousands of your fellow Americans [from Wisconsin and more states - The Union Revolution? Watch it, be aware and beware...] forced to defend their right to unionized labor, against corporate abuse. Just as a 'ricochet' visual metaphor: WWF maxicards from the Falkland Islands - The King Penguin ((Aptenodytes patagonicus))

"The King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is the second largest species of penguin at about 11 to 16 kg (24 to 35 lb), second only to the Emperor Penguin."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_penguin

Don't read now too much about the penguins.
As I said, the images that I provide here are just as a 'ricochet' visual metaphor for The Union Revolution, which may happen "unbeknownst to you", if you are the unsuspecting, average Joe Sixpack from USA.
Maybe you're not.


The metaphor is about tens of thousands of individuals that come together for a cause, because their [instinct?] belief is that their survival depends on this.
This is a cause for concern. Smile if you want, but don't laugh it away.


I'll repeat, in case you overlooked it:


Ask NOT what your country can do for these tens of thousands of PENGUINS; ask what your country CAN do for these tens of thousands of your fellow Americans [from Wisconsin and more states - The Union Revolution? Watch it, be aware and beware...] forced to defend their right to unionized labor, against corporate abuse.

"In Wisconsin, State police have been sent to apprehend Wisconsin senators who have left the Capitol building and force them to participate in the legislative session, in order that quorum be satisfied.^[15] The Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, said that he would call the National Guard, a military reserve force in the US^[37]."

[edit]

Read more: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Wisconsin_budget_protests

If "Walker, Wisconsin Ranger" thinks that he can go home Scot-free, after unleashing The National Guard upon the huge crowd of protesters, then he may be in for an awakening of the rude kind.

If Walker needs air-superiority support to supplant the NG, he better hurry-up and ask Gaddafi for help - he still has a few fighter jets available.

Gaddafi has just said: "Don't listen to the dogs!"

Upcoming famous last words will be: "Who let the dogs out? Who?...Who?"

But don't quite laugh: smile, if you have to, then seriously think about it.

=================

Please visit and join The World Bird Wednesday meme!

http://worldbirdwednesday.blogspot.com/

Guest Heart Thursday meme! Also: not really mute, just less vocal - The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), dorincard created with a rare educational card (not a "real postcard")

How many hearts do YOU see in this image of a dorincard (in this case, the dorincard is a non-traditional maximum card/ maxicard)?
I see 2.
Hint: they are NOT bi-dimensional, 2-D in the context of the image.

One heart is suggested by a joint venture. To find such a heart, you have to look for a DEER one, after you get tired of living the WILD LIFE, using your EAGLE vision, multi-TUSKing and wandering from BUSH to BUSH [there are two bushes in the postmark, I might specify].

The other heart is suggested by a temporary pose, like The Cotton Tale of  The Missing Chunk. Not cotton-tail , the rabbit.
There might be many incomplete, fragmented, or broken hearts out here, "in the wild".
How about "in the domestic"? Domestique...
:)

"The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan, and thus a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species.^[1][2][3] Measuring 125 to 170 centimetres in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange bill bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the bill."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_swan

===========

Guest Heart Thursday #45

http://clytie-randomhearts.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Guest Heart Thursday -
A place to share YOUR hearts!

Rail against the Keeling zone: The Cocos Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi). WWF maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards from Cocos/Keeling Islands. Also a list of memes for each of the 7 days.

"The Cocos Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi, is an endangered subspecies of the Buff-banded Rail endemic to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian Offshore Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean.^[2] The local Cocos Malay name of the bird is Ayam Hutan("Chicken of the Forest").^[3]"

^"Population size is estimated as 850-1000 birds, with a population density of 7-8 birds/ha.^[4]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos_Buff-banded_Rail}

So 7-8 birds/ha...Huh? So there are fewer birds, 850-1000, than the number of stories that this woman told: "Scheherazade (pronounced /ʃəˌhɛrəˈzɑːdᵊ/), sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād (Persian: شهرزاد Šahrzād, Arabic Šahrazād), is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheherazade

=======================

Please visit the World Bird Wednesday meme!

http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/world-bird-wednesday-xiii.html?showComment=1297808501189#c4454000911280491119

Here's a list of various memes for each of the 7 days:

http://l.wbx.me/l/?instId=54ea593a-1f58-499a-b8a7-792698221e1a&token=57f05a5bb1a360a4918974a9c8a7a648719085710000012e1eb6b606&u=http://www.memeaholics.blogspot.com

Ruby Tuesday (meme). Not creepy: ʻIʻiwi or Scarlet Hawaiian Honeycreeper (Vestiaria coccinea). Dorincards: one created with a folded card, and the other one with a cut-out from a book.

"The ʻIʻiwi or Scarlet Hawaiian Honeycreeper (Vestiaria coccinea) is a Hawaiian"hummingbird-niched" species, of the Hawaiian honeycreepers, subfamily, Drepanidinae, and the only member of the genus Vestiaria. One of the most plentiful species of this family, many of which are endangered or extinct, the ʻiʻiwi is a highly recognizable symbol of Hawaiʻi."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'iwi

================

Please visit and join The Ruby Tuesday meme at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

Sunday Stamps (meme)! Look at these superb animal stamps from Burundi! What is the 'Be my Valentine [mate for life?]' attitude of these 48 different species? How many of these choose their 'Valentine' for Social monogamy, or Sexual monogamy, or Genetic monogamy?

Do animals mate for life? How do they go about..."Be my Valentine"?
Animals don't technically get married, so they have (IF they have) only one (or a combination) of the first three types of monogamy that humans can have:

"Aspects of monogamy

• Social monogamy refers to two persons/creatures who live together, have sex with each other, and cooperate in acquiring basic resources such as food, clothes, and money.
• Sexual monogamy refers to two persons/creatures who remain sexually exclusive with each other and have no outside sex partners.
• Genetic monogamy refers to two partners that only have offspring with each other.
• Marital monogamy refers to marriages of only two people."

"Whatever makes a pair of animals socially monogamous does not necessarily make them sexually or genetically monogamous. Social monogamy, sexual monogamy, and genetic monogamy can occur in different combinations."

"In animal sexuality, serial monogamy often means that an animal will have a different, but exclusive, breeding partner each mating season. Generally, any animals that do not mate with one partner, for life, but do mate exclusively with one partner per mating season can be considered serially monogamous, including those who find a second mate only upon the death of the first."

"Mating system

Main article: Animal sexuality

Monogamy is one of several mating systems observed in other animals. The amount of social monogamy in animals varies across taxa, with over 90% of birds engaging in social monogamy but only 7% of mammals engaging in social monogamy. With birds the locomotion method has meant that the sharing of genetic material with non-local sources is far less difficult, and reproduction is far more successful when both the male and the female contribute food resources to the offspring. The incidence of sexual monogamy appears quite rare in other parts of the animal kingdom. It is becoming clear that even animals that are socially monogamous engage in extra-pair copulations.[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogamy

====================

Click, and click again to zoom in.

One of the most beautiful wildlife stamp series in the world, from Burundi!

I have two versions, as they were issued, so I was able to separate one set into individual stamps and place them accordingly, in my taxonomic stamp collection, by species. 

At the bottom, you can see the zebra stamp from the separated set, which set is of larger size - even more beautiful! :)

The other stamps at the bottom are for comparison purposes: they are nice (but not AS NICE), and of regular size.

The CCCP/ USSR one has a forced, unnatural juxtaposition of American Bison and Zebra -  I don't like that! Yes, it was done to cram more species featured on a stamp series with few available slots - they doubled the number of species featured.

That American Bison stamp from USA, unlike newer stamps from USPS, is too simplistic for my taste - "look what brown can do for you!".

Since USA and some other countries are such global economic powers, WHY shouldn't they also be philatelic/ stamp design global powers?

Why let the stamp design excellence be a competitive advantage of much smaller countries, such as Burundi, Bhutan and Serenissima Reppublica di San Marino, for example?

The Romanian one (POSTA ROMANA) is a famous EFO = Errors, Freaks and Oddities.

The Grevy zebra stamp should have been denominated 1,55 Lei, meaning 1 Leu and 55 bani (like 1$ and 55 cents). Instead, the whole print run went out with 1 55 bani. They did not issue a recall.

The Romanian Post may have pulled a proto-chronistic ceelogreen on this, like "Forget you!". :) 

"I'm not gonna recall you." So the stamps remained all out with that error.

http://www.zazzle.com/yes_thats_an_euphemism_postage-172784866997600135?rf=238693463283865848

Burundi has done a great promotional job for wildlife and for Burundi, even if these stamps may have been created by some foreign contractor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Drummers_of_Burundi

"Burundi (pronounced [buˈɾundi]), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its size is just under 28,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,700,000. Its capital is Bujumbura. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.

The Twa, Tutsi, and Hutu peoples have occupied Burundi since the country's formation five centuries ago. Burundi was ruled as a kingdom by the Tutsi for over two hundred years. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Germany and Belgium occupied the region, and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi.

Political unrest occurred throughout the region because of social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, provoking civil war in Burundi throughout the middle twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic. Sixty-two percent of Burundians are Roman Catholic, eight to ten percent are Muslims and the rest followindigenous beliefs and other Christian denominations.

Burundi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. 

It has the lowest per capita GDP of any nation in the 

world.^[5] Burundi has a low gross domestic product largely due to civil wars, corruption, poor access to education, and the effects of HIV/AIDS. Burundi is densely populated, with substantial emigration. Cobalt and copper are among Burundi's natural resources. Some of Burundi's main exports include coffee and sugar."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi

Another set, almost as beautiful to me, is this (click, and click again to zoom in):

Happy Valentine's Day!

==========

Happy Sunday Stamps!

Please visit http://viridianpostcard.blogspot.com/

Happy Pink Saturday (meme)! [Part 1] Pretty in pink (or any other color): Vika Jigulina, who sings in Edward Maya's "Stereo Love" (Best International Song nominee). The haunting accordion sounds and rhythm...

Pretty in pink: "The Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaja ajaja), sometimes separated in the monotypic genus (Ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States.^[1][2]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseate_spoonbill}

^{Please visit "Pretty in pink"/ "Show us your pink" [objects, that is :)] meme here:}

^{http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/}

"I'll spread my wings/ And I'll learn how to fly"...to international success...

Now, who else is pretty in pink (or any other color)?

Vika Jigulina, for example.

Look at her dress at the top of this page:

http://mayavinrecords.com/vika-jigulina

Have you heard the beautiful, haunting, ("progressive house"-category) song "Stereo Love"?

Watch the videoclips from the above link! :)

The rhythm, the voices, the images...and the accordion virtuoso's supreme timing and instrumental skills. 

World-class! :)

Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_Love

Stereo Love, the new hymn/hit song of dance clubs, etc. from around the world! :)

Another videoclip (that I like, too), with a cover version an official remix of Stereo Love, sung by Mia Martina:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Martina

Another version, beautifully sung by Alicia, in Spanish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfd96rck28A

There's also a Portuguese version by DJ Osman, "image-intensive".

I expect that every country will come up with at least one version - why the hell not?

I am curious to see the exotic versions from Vatican City, Holy Mount Athos, Greenland, Saudi Arabia, French Polynesia...:)

Read from BBC: "Saudi Arabia 'detains' Israeli vulture for spying". Hands on the Griffon. See world stamps featuring the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)

From my personal collection: Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) - Romanian stamp from a nice series of 8 stamps from 1967.

Yes, it's a CTO (cancelled-to-order) stamp.

So what? I like it - I keep it.

It would have been cool to have it really circulated, or still on a cover, or on a maximum card, but hey!...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12120259#

See other world stamps featuring the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus):
http://www.birdtheme.org/species/imagespage.php?spec=1206&fl=G

Gyps, not Gypsy
"The Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.

The Griffon Vulture is 93–110 cm (37–43 in) long with a 230–269 cm (91–106 in) wingspan, and it weighs between 6 and 13 kg (13.2 and 29 lb). "

"Like other vultures, it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals which it finds by soaring over open areas, often moving in flocks. It grunts and hisses at roosts or when feeding on carrion."

Don't mess with a Griffon while it's eating HISS food - it may become DISGRUNTLED.

CARRION, child!

The Griffon Vulture can live as long as a longeviv human.

Since when is CARRION a healthy diet?

"Little is known about the average life-span of these birds, but it is approximated at 50 to 70 years in the wild, but the oldest death recorded in captivity is 118 years old.^[1]

It breeds on crags in mountains in southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia, laying one egg. Griffon Vultures may form loose colonies. The population is mostly resident."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffon_Vulture

See cool maximum cards with Griffon Vulture (and dogs, and other subjects) in the photobucket album of my philatelic friend and fellow maximaphilist [strictly traditional FIP, I might specify :) ] "Tangorn", from Israel:

http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa153/Tangorn/#!cpZZ7QQtppZZ16