How to Tell if Your Neighbor is a Bombmaker | STRATFOR. Also, some truffle-searchers and bombmakers are missing THIS. D'oh! Maximum cards from USA.

 Please read: How to Tell if Your Neighbor is a Bombmaker | STRATFOR

In Italy, there were some men with missing fingers.
Were they amateurish bombmakers?
No, they were truffle-searchers, and they have used domestic pigs for that purpose, of sniffing out the underground truffles..

Look at his ears!!!

Ears, fingers...omnivorous diet!

Let's say that the pig's ear to the left of the image way up is a black heart shape, chipped as it is, upside, at an angle.

Yes, it's a stretch, but so is any political decision, pretty much.

"Never wrestle with a pig" is a book title.
Well, wrestling truffles away from a pig's mouth is a risky endeavor, coz they can go...digital.
Eventually, the truffle-searchers smartened up and switched to using dogs. Dogs don't fancy truffles.
Duh...Doh...D'oh...

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Please visit and join The Guest Heart Thursday meme!

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

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

Immaculate Intervention: The Wars of Humanitarianism | STRATFOR. Also, a metaphorical, symbolic image about several "ACTORS" trying to grab (and actually grabbing) a "TROPHY". The Trophy could be Libya, this time...Maxicard from USA. Also, Ariel The Mermaid / Disney maximum card.

Please read this interesting article: Immaculate Intervention: The Wars of Humanitarianism | STRATFOR

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Also, I show you below these maxicards from my collection.

A metaphorical, symbolic image about several "ACTORS" trying to grab (and actually grabbing) a "TROPHY". The Trophy could be Libya, this time...
Could Libya become...MARXist? :)

We only think that we know who these "ACTORS" are...

They look so different.

They ACT so differently: one is popping out his eye-bulbs, boldly expressing his interest.

Another one is disguising his hi-res scanning activity by "dimming" his eye-lids.

And yet another one is not even looking at the reality - he's already in a state of altered reality. He looks high, (or high up) but his mind is already in a different realm. But he still has a hands-on approach, to begin with.

What if these "ACTORS" are a certain..."BROTHERHOOD"?

Are they looking for FUN?

Or looking for FUND? [ask a Romanian to translate this word joke for you; or you can try translate.google.com]

"Oh, men...just want to have FUND" to paraphrase Cindy L.

If you financially support some combatants, you can hope that your help goes to fund-a-mentalist faction...the dissidents, the intelligentsia, the free-thinkers...

But what if you end up financially supporting a fundamentalist faction?

Here's a HUMANITARIAN / GOOD SAMARITAN intervention from a red-head mermaid, Ariel.

In this case, grabbing is justified and unavoidable.

She HAS to get him, in order to eventually get him.

For her.

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http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

Spring's "teen" brusque arrival is near! "The Boss" of all 4 seasons. Maximum card / maxicard / dorincard that I created in 2006, with a postcard and matching stamp showing a "Cherry Blossom Festival"-view and the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.

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Happy Sunday Stamps meme!

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

"Mayavin Agency proudly presents Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina “Desert Rain Tour” for the first time in the USA! Starting on the 15th of March in Seattle, the sound of hits like “Stereo Love” “This Is My Life” and “Desert Rain” will make vibrate cities like Tampa on the 16th, Las Vegas on the 17th and Los Angeles on the 19th March! Make sure you’ll be attending the shows for a night to remember!" Also, stamp showing the Space Needle Tower in Seattle, WA.

Welcome to USA! Bine aţi venit în SUA!

I'm glad to spread the word! :)

"Mayavin Agency proudly presents Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina “Desert Rain Tour” for the first time in the USA! Starting on the 15th of March in Seattle, the sound of hits like “Stereo Love” “This Is My Life” and “Desert Rain” will make vibrate cities like Tampa on the 16th, 

Las Vegas on the 17th and Los Angeles on the 19th March! Make sure you’ll be attending the shows for a night to remember!"

See my previous posts with images and links:

http://dorincard.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-is-that-accordion-song-played-like.html

http://dorincard.blogspot.com/2011/02/part-2-edward-maya-feat-vika-jigulina.html

http://dorincard.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-pink-saturday-meme-part-1-pretty.html

http://mayavinrecords.com/releases

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Panoramic view of  Seattle, Washington.

"Researchers at Central Connecticut State University consistently rank Seattle and Minneapolis as the two most literate cities among America's largest cities.^[21][22]Additionally, survey data from the United States Census Bureau indicate that Seattle has a higher percentage of college graduates than any other major American city, with approximately 53.8% of residents aged 25 and older holding a bachelor degree or higher.^[23]"

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

Like a song says: "Where have all the COWBOYS gone?..."

Them rednecks, too...

:)

REPUB[L]ICANS "in the Wisconsin state senate have approved a plan to strip public-sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights." - BBC. "Starve the beast" Reaganomics. "The richest 1% of the American population, who were paying an income tax rate of 70% had that rate chopped down to 50% and then to 28% under the Reagan administration." "Between 1978 and 1990 the government lost $840 billion in tax revenue whilst 1% of Americans accumulated $1 trillion. When Reagan first entered the White House the national debt was at around $700 billion, by the time he left the debt had exceeded $3 trillion." - read from Living in Philistia.

I'll say it again, coz you may have missed it in the fog of media wars and spin-mastering:

REPUB[L]ICANS "in the Wisconsin state senate have approved a plan to strip public-sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights." - BBC. 

"But Democratic senate minority leader Mark Miller said the Republicans had shown disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights.

"Tonight, 18 senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people," he is quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

"Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government."

State unions had said they would agree to Mr Walker's proposed changes to their benefits - which would amount to an 8% pay cut - as long as they retained collective bargaining rights."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12695313

"Starve the beast" Reaganomics. 

"The richest 1% of the American population, who were paying an income tax rate of 70% had that rate chopped down to 50% and then to 28% under the Reagan administration." 

"Between 1978 and 1990 the government lost $840 billion in tax revenue [DORIN'S NOTE: that's "starve the beast"] whilst 1% of Americans accumulated $1 trillion." 

"When Reagan first entered the White House the national debt was at around $700 billion, by the time he left the debt had exceeded $3 trillion." - read from Living in Philistia.

http://livinginphilistia.blogspot.com/2011/02/reaganomics-review.html

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Please visit and join The Guest Heart Thursday meme!

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

My entry for today would have been a [Republican] politician's "heart for the American people".

I haven't found one in the Wisconsin Senate.

I'm still looking...

If this symbolizes "the heart of the American people", then it looks already chewed up by the greedy profiteers at the top:

It's nice to nurture a hobby, and find beauty even where it isn't, except thru the lens of our mind.
It's even more important to be acutely aware of what's going on in the world around us.
On-the-scenes, and especially behind-the-scenes.
Have a heart for the people, you greedy millionaires! :)

I am not against rich people, in principle.

Who wants to be a millionaire? Everybody, including me and including you, I guess. :)

The point is that while you are getting rich, you shouldn't take an assholistic approach towards your fellow countrymen.

Don't drive your fellows out of their jobs...

out of business...

out of their homes...

out of their hopes...

out of their mind!

Coz if you do, then all hell might break loose, eventually.

And you might lose big, or...everything! [oh, your God!]

"Beware the fury of a patient man."

"Be afraid of a man who has nothing left to lose."

Get rich, and help others get prosperous, too, at least at a reasonable level.

Live, and let live.

What! You prefer to "not let live"?

The Khmer Rouge regime has exterminated 1/4 of the population of Cambodia/Kampuchea.

Are records meant to be broken?

"A politician  does not see the light until he feels the heat."

Politicians from around the world: 

do you entertain the idea of finding out, first-hand, the euphemistic weight of

 "a ton of bricks"? 

Happy Sunday Stamps! meme. Stamps with artwork BY children, and stamps with artwork FOR children.

The above maximum card is created with an ad(vertisement) card.

How many issuing countries contributed to the above selection of stamps? :)

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

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

Never Fight a Land War in Asia | STRATFOR. Red is the blood, red in the flag...Maximum card/ maxicard/ dorincard about the Vietnam War Memorial, in Washington, D.C. Please visit and join Ruby Tuesday meme!

Never Fight a Land War in Asia | STRATFOR

Whether you agree or not with all the ideas from that article, it's still an interesting read.

 

=============
Please visit and join Ruby Tuesday meme!

http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

President Abraham Lincoln - I created a set of dorincards with the 4 stamps from the 2009 series 'Lincoln 200th Anniversary of birth'. As postcard support for that, I used a multiview real postcard, two educational cards with explanatory text on the back, and a circulated ad(vertising) postcard 'commercially available' only for Sprint to send as junk mail to ITS [not IT'S] customers. Happy Postcard Friday meme!

"We interrupt this broadcast" to specify that I dedicate this blogpost, during the Presidents Day week-long unofficial celebration, to Beth Niquette, blogger extraordinnaire and all-around good person [unless she lives a double life...OMG!] , who commits a lot of resources (time, intellectual effort, etc.) for us to enjoy several blogs, including

http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

where every Friday anybody can participate in the Happy Postcard Friday meme!

She discovered, thru genealogic research and evidence, that she is a descendant of Abraham Lincoln!!!

I took this series of 4 stamps about Lincoln:

and I decided to create non-traditional maximum cards, since I didn't have "real, commercial postcards" to create traditional maximum cards.

See other stamps with US presidents here:

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

Read about Lincoln:

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

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).

You may play Macao-the-card-game, but don't play with Macao-the-parrot! It may remove your eye (then you'll need an...iPatch) or it may give you the finger (after it cuts it from you). The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) - a beautiful, engraved stamp on a 2004 maximum card/ maxicard/ dorincard written and sent to me in 2011 as a simple postcard from the Czech Republic, by my Czech-German friend Wenzel.

Can you see the hearts here?

What we can't see anymore is the miniature sheet that was affixed on the left half of the postcard.

LESSON LEARNED: never overestimate your BODILY EFFLUVIA, such as saliva. Or a weak glue. Instead, affix with enough glue to make it stick.

Make it hard for the postal thieves or the impersonal, brutal Automated Postal Systems to tear off the stamps from your mail piece.

Many years ago, I casually played Macao, a version of the French card game "21".

That's not the point here.

However: here's how to play Crazy Eights / Macau / Macaua:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau_(card_game)

"Macau (traditional Chinese: 澳門), also spelled Macao ( /məˈkaʊ/), is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. 

It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong provinceto the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.^[6]

The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism but also includes manufacturing.

Macau was a Portuguese colony and both the first and last European colony in China.^[7][8] Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December 1999. 

The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.^[9]  [DORIN'S NOTE: then what???]

Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the PRC's Central People's Governmentis responsible for the territory's defense and foreign affairs, while Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy. 

Macau participates in many international organizations and events that do not require members to possess national sovereignty.^[9][10] 

According to the CIA factbook, Macau has the highest life expectancy in the world.^[11]"

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

But that's not the point here, either.

The point is Macao The Parrot: The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

"The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, colorful macaw. It is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in lowlands up to 500 m (1,640 ft) (at least formerly) up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). It has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas. It can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the national bird of Honduras."

"As Pets

Scarlet Macaws are quite demanding of time and resources, and in general, make for a rude, noisy, messy, and destructive house guest. 

One should spend a lot of time reading about these birds before inviting them into your home. 

Any large macaw can easily remove a finger, or remove

 your eye while perched on your shoulder. 

Not always aggressive, they are always somewhat unpredictable, even around experienced handlers."

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

Scarlet Macaw, less dangerous than Scarface [gangster Al Capone - he gave a new meaning to Be my Valentine: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre eliminated some of Capone's enemies, but outraged the general public].

Scarlet Macaw, more brightly-colored than ScarJo [actress Scarlett Johansson].

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scarlett_Johansson_with_soldiers_3.jpg

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Please visit and join The Guest Heart Thursday meme!

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

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