Libya's Terrorism Option - read from STRATFOR. Also, somebody said that sometimes,"terrorism is the poor man's revenge", just like, sometimes, "rape is the ugly man's revenge". Sure, many exceptions apply. Also, a metaphoric image for a crowd that may resort to a terrifying stampede out of fear and anger. "Prosti, dar multi!" Never MISUNDERESTIMATE [that's a BUSHism] a crowd, which gets dangerous when desperate.

Libya's Terrorism Option

A metaphoric image for a crowd that may resort to a terrifying stampede out of fear and anger. 

"Prosti, dar multi!" 

Involuntary comedy, courtesy of translate.google.com, who believes it should translate the above quote like this:

Italian to English translation

"Prost, create multi!"========In fact, it should translate it from Romanian, into:"Stupid, but many!"That's a literary quote, meaning "yes, they are stupid, but they are many!" :)

Never MISUNDERESTIMATE [that's a BUSHism] a crowd, which gets dangerous when desperate.

Part 2 - Side-by-side comparison between European bison (Bison bonasus) and American bison (Bison bison). WWF maximum cards / maxicards / dorincards with European Bison / Wisent from Lithuania. Also, an AUROCHS look-alike image.

"The wisent (pronounced /ˈviːzənt/) (Bison bonasus), also known as the European bison, is a species of Eurasian bison. It is the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe; a typical wisent is about 2.8 to 3 m (9 to 10 ft) long and 1.8 to 2.2 m (6 to 7 ft) tall, and weighs 300 to 920 kg (660 to 2,000 lb). It is typically lighter than the related American Bison (Bison bison), and has shorter hair on the neck, head and forequarters, but longer tail and horns.

Wisent were once hunted to extinction in the wild, but they have since been reintroduced from captivity into several countries in Eastern Europe. 

They are now forest-dwelling. 

They have few predators (besides humans), with only scattered reports from the 1800s of wolf and bear predation. 

Wisent were first scientifically described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. 

Some later descriptions treat the wisent as conspecific with the American bison. 

It is not to be confused with the aurochs, the extinct ancestor of domestic cattle."

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

WHAT THE HECK cattle is intended for, is specifically for reconstituting the extinct AUROCHS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heck_cattle_male.jpg

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

Now let's see if I can find in my collection American bison MCs that are somewhat similar with the European bison MCs above, in the animal posture from those images.

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

Once again, for close comparison, without much scrolling:

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

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!

My entry for today is a heart hollow contour that looks like it's spray-painted, having also a symbolic gunshot [how about shotgun?] wound at the top of the heart.

Now you tell me in which of those 4 MCs from Lithuania you see that, and where exactly in that image?

:)

If I can see it, then ANYBODY can see it.

[As if I am at the bottom of the totem pole...] :)

The most damaged postcard that I ever received! HOW TO avoid getting damaged postcards or maximum cards, with over-cancelling, scratches and missing chunks/corners?

I share here some useful info from the postcard exchange great website http://www.forum.postcrossing.com, where my username is dorinco.

That is also my username for the primary website http://www.postcrossing.com.
This website is good - it facilitates "blind" (you don't choose your partner) exchanges of postcards with addresses chosen at random by their computers.

But the forum http://www.forum.postcrossing.com is much better, in my opinion, because you can choose your exchange partners for postcards, stamps, maximum cards, and other items!

The messages below are about a Round Robin exchange of maximum cards - the thread path (sub-folders) is this:
Postcrossing Official Forum » General » Tags, Trades, Notebooks, Round Robins and Pen-Pals » Round Robins » NEW Maxicards/Maximum cards RR!! Group3 Need ONE for travelling!!New groups!!!(always OPEN)

dorinco [that's me, remember?] said:
"Thank you, gracefool, for the very cute MC from Gr.6!

Unfortunately, it is the most damaged postcard that I ever received! :flaming: [emoticon]

Australia Post/Adelaide put our MC face-down over a heavily-inked mailpiece, so ink migrated onto the face side of our kangaroo MC.
It also roller-stamped it across the address-side, although it says that it's PREPAID!

Then, between Australia Post and US Postal Service, a chunk was ripped of a corner!

See also some roll marks, near the left, at about 45 degrees angle.

Not your fault, but next time you either talk to your postal clerk, or you send it in a transparent bag to have the stamps on the postcard visible, or you just send it like a CIA agent - "undercover".

==========
gracefool replied:


"Dorinco - A self-made Wintery Lighthouse MC, I really love it thank you. Your cancellations are very nice.

Also, Dorin, I am so sorry about the condition the MaxiCard arrived to you in!! 
That is terrible!!! I have sent so so so many MCs and I have not had any report like this before. 
However I have received quite a few cards myself which have heavy cancellations on front and back (but not ripped), it is the risk we all take when putting mail through the postal system(s) I think. 
I have never sent in "transparent bag" before, can you explain this?"
==============
dorinco replied:

"Thank you, gracefool, I'm glad you like the unique/UNICATE/UNIKAT in the world MC that I created for you! :)

Transparent bag can be any transparent plastic bag that looks like a transparent envelope - you can cut and modify it to desired size.
After you get the needed postmarks on the due postage (that may or may not include the stamp for the MC), seal that bag with scotch tape.
Or you can use a re-sealable bag, like Ziploc - best option, since it allows postal postmarking in the arrival country, with re-insertion of your MC back in the bag to reach you.

This is a custom MC, that I made from a page from a book.
Why? Coz I like it! :)
To you (and any other viewer here) and my US Postal Service, it's just a postcard with a stamp.
It's not terribly thick, but it's thick enough to be accepted as a postcard by USPS.

Instead of mailing it as a naked postcard, subject to postal damage, I tested this: I inserted it in a transparent plastic bag/envelope and I put mailing address labels for sender and receiver (which is me in both cases) on the outside of the bag.
I could have postmarked it, but personalized stamps in USA don't necessarily require postmarking - their encrypted value (little B&W squares) is supposed to be voided by the scanner of the Post.

So I mailed it like this:

It arrived to me by mail, without any postmark and any damage.
The value of the stamp is presumably voided, as it should.

The point is that whenever you suspect that your MC sent as a naked postcard will get damaged or over-canceled, you can enclose it in a protective transparent bag, or a glassine envelope, etc.
You just tell your postal clerk that you have a "philatelic item, sent under protective cover/bag."
In USA, currently it's 98c to mail either a postcard or a First-Class (1 to 3.5oz) letter internationally, except Canada and Mexico.

The advantage of using a transparent bag instead of a normal opaque envelope is that:
you could use the maximaphily stamp as part of the postage, totaling from both sides,
IF that stamp is still valid for postage
and IF you get all the stamps postmarked with that date when you send it.

In your case, gracefool, I already had the MC stamp cancelled in December, so I had to put now 98c on the address side."

==========

Please visit http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome/

Wordless is good, but if you simply look at the above images, you may miss some of the important aspects about them.

Some images are best left wordless, but some could use some meaningful words. :)

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

Please visit and join ABC Wednesday meme!

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/

Today,  J is for JOEY = baby kangaroo.

Also:

"JUNK MAIL? No, protect your mail! Don't let the Automated Postal System or the postal associates ruin your mail!" :)

Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy | STRATFOR. Also, a vintage B-24 bomber maximum card.

Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy | STRATFOR

Speaking about bombers, here's a maximum card about the WWII bomber B-24.
Notice the superb quality of the ink, in this case, that did NOT smear or smudge on the glossy postcard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-24

Guess which country is this? Don't search anywhere - let's see if you know, or guess!

Quiz time, and no cheating allowed! :)

There are currently 193 sovereign states with general international recognition.

Plus 10 sovereign states lacking general international recognition, none of which are members of the United Nations.

Ready?

Let's start the hints about our mysterious country.

1) It maintains no military. It has NO ARMY.

So it's not DPRK/ North Korea, who reportedly has about 1 million men under arms. :)

2) Its head of state is not a dictator.

So that rules out Libya.

But that head of state has the power to hire and fire the whole government, despite public's fear that the development could invite dictatorship.

He has "an estimated wealth of USD $5 billion".

3) It is more than landlocked.

So it's not Madagascar. :)

4) It is an alpine country.

So it's not The Maldives.

"The Maldives are the smallest Asian country in both population and land area. With an average ground level of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, it is the lowest country on the planet.^[11] It is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world, at 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in).^[11"

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

5) It's "a large producer of ceramics and is the world's largest

 producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units and

false teeth."

Sausage casings? Doesn't sound like India. :)

6) It has the second-highest gross domestic product per capita in the world.

Then it can't be Kiribati.

7) It has more registered companies than citizens.

Definitely not Cuba.

==========

Which country is it?

The answer - tomorrow.

Unless you're gonna google the hell out of it...:)

World's Cutest Baby Alternates Between Terror & Delight [VIRAL VIDEO]. Also, a philatelic cover ("a symphony of blue elements") with my Big, Bad Wolf zazzle personalized stamp, that COULD be slightly more terrifying than Mommy's nose, for Baby Emerson.

See at mashable.com: World's Cutest Baby Alternates Between Terror & Delight [VIRAL VIDEO]

A philatelic cover ("a symphony of blue elements") with my Big, Bad Wolf zazzle personalized stamp, that COULD be slightly more terrifying than Mommy's nose, for Baby Emerson. 

I will mail/ post this cover today! :)

There are currently only 20 such stamps of this exact design of mine, large size, in the world.

I have previously bought a sheet of 20 stamps, medium size, of a slightly different design.

Can you spot the differences?

Se more: http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/#!cpZZ11QQtppZZ16

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

Happy Blue Monday! (meme)

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

My fellow Americans: ask what VARIOUS news media outlets can do for you. "International forces bombard targets in Libya" - Africa - Al Jazeera English. Also, "The Libyan War of 2011" from STRATFOR. Also, "resting in a hollow scraped out in the sand": The Rhim Gazelle (Gazella leptoceros), also known as the Slender-horned Gazelle or the Sand Gazelle. WWF maxicards from Libya!

International forces bombard targets in Libya - Africa - Al Jazeera English

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110319-libyan-war-2011?utm_source=SpecialReport&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110319a&utm_content=readmore&elq=1621940155e343128d7d68bfd40afe8a

"The Rhim Gazelle (Gazella leptoceros), also known as the Slender-horned Gazelle or the Sand Gazelle, is a slender-horned gazelle, most adapted to desert life. There are fewer than 2500 in wild."

"The palest of the gazelles, this animal has adapted to desert life in many ways. Their pale coat reflects the sun's rays instead of absorbing them, and their hooves are slightly enlarged to help them walk on the sand, although occasionally they occupy stony regions. The horns on the male are slender and slightly S-shaped, and the horns donned by the female are even thinner and lighter, and they don't curve as drastically."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender-horned_Gazelle

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

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

Happy Sunday Stamps meme!

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

The proposed theme for March 20 is anything Irish, or green...

Well, here's the funny, true story of a high school student from Romania who knew "all about ants", and "nothing about anything else", for an upcoming written biology exam.

The subject given at the exam was PACHIDERMS.

Another student whispered to him "that's about elephants!".

Dumbfounded, our student started to wing it:

"The elephant is an animal with, uh, four legs...two ears...and... uh, two eyes.

Ah! The eyes are very good!

With his eyes, the elephant sees...THE ANTS!!!

Now, as far as the ants are concerned...."

And then he spilled ALL  his expertise about ants...:)

Here, as a GREEN element for this meme, I'll say that Sahara was once a green place, with luxuriant vegetation, according to some experts.

Now, as far as Sahara is concerned, one of the animal species that lives there is...the one shown above! :)

Not a true spider, but a true swinger: Geoffroy's Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) also known as Black-handed Spider Monkey. WWF maximum cards / maxicards / dorincards from Honduras. Postmark says Tegucigalpa.

"Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, also known as Black-handed Spider Monkey,[3] is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central America, parts of Mexico and possibly a small portion of Colombia. There are at least five subspecies. Some primatologists classify the Black-headed Spider Monkey, A. fusciceps, found in Panama, Colombia and Ecuador as the same species as Geoffroy's Spider Monkey.
It is one of the largest New World monkeys, often weighing as much as 9 kilograms. Its arms are significantly longer than its legs, and it has a prehensile tail that can support the entire weight of the monkey and that is used as an extra limb. Its hands have only a vestigial thumb, but long, strong hook-like fingers. These adaptations allow the monkey to move by swinging by its arms beneath the tree branches."

"females are sometimes mistaken for males by human observers.<sup>[15]"


"Although they do not use tools, spider monkeys, including Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, are regarded as intelligent primates. 


A study performed in 2007 concluded that spider monkeys were the third most intelligent non-human primate, behind only orang-utans and chimpanzees, and ahead of gorillas and all other monkeys.[22] 


This mental capacity may be an adaptation to spider monkeys' frugivorous diets, which require them to be able to identify and memorize many different types of foods and their locations.[23]"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffroy%27s_Spider_Monkey</sup>

A pink element in the above picture would be the lips/mouth of the baby monkey in the lower-left image, I guess. :)

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

Happy Pink Saturday!

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

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

What mammal has the most colorful face in the world? The world's largest species of monkey: The Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx). WWF maximum cards / maxicards / dorincards about Equatorial Guinea.

What mammal has the most colorful face in the world? 
Besides some Hollywood "queens", "drag queens" and "whatnot"?
Not a Drill Sergeant.

"The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Cercopithecidae (Old-world monkeys) family,[3] closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the Drill.
Both the mandrill and the drill were once classified as baboons in genus Papio, but recent research has determined that they should be separated into their own genus, Mandrillus.[3]
The mandrill is the world's largest species of monkey."

Unlike the humans:
"The mandrill is recognized by its olive-colored fur and the colorful face and rump of males, a coloration that grows stronger with sexual maturity; females have duller colours. 
This coloration becomes more pronounced as the monkey becomes excited and is likely to be an example of sexual selection. 
The coloration on the rump is thought to enhance visibility in the thick vegetation of the rainforest and aids in group movement."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrill

Seeing is believing.

Image is everything.

What you see is what you get.

Show me the [money?].

Look at the upper right maximum card: notice that the face is NOT the only body part that is brightly colored.

Also, notice the huge canine teeth!

There have been documented cases when a coordinated gang of several muscular males have had enough testosterone-induced courage, aggressivity and stamina to counterattack and kill a powerful leopard!

Eat it, too, while they were at it.

The trick is that they attacked simultaneously, not just one at a time.

"One-at-a-time Attack Rule

Ebert also refers to the One-at-a-time Attack Rule "In any situation where the hero is alone, surrounded by dozens of bad guys, they will always obligingly attack one at a time."^[1] This can traditionally be observed in many martial arts movies. During a typical fight, the hero will engage against one opponent. Upon knocking that man out, another will attack. The surplus enemies will circle the fighting pair striking fearsome poses, indicating willingness to fight at a second's notice, yet be unwilling to help the current aggressor attack the hero. The real world reason for this is that if the hero is simultaneously swarmed on all sides by enemies, it becomes difficult for the film director to frame the fight scene while still having an unobstructed shot of the action."

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

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

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

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 (yes, YOU, my reader here and now) should have started your personal contingency plan long ago! Anyway, here are some good ideas for you to implement now, before your next emergency strikes. Read:Taming Chaos with a Personal Plan | STRATFOR. Also, I show you a nice Boy Scouts maximum card / maxicard / dorincard from my good friend Terry (USA).

Please read, think about it, and DO something about it.
It may save your life, and the lives of significant others around you, even as far as some "dear, dear friend in Argentina", or something.
[Governor, you know who you are.]

Do you have scouting experience and skills, to survive off-road, in the wilderness, if necessary?
You better learn a thing or two. Or more.

Taming Chaos with a Personal Plan | STRATFOR

I called zazzle.com 1-888-8ZAZZLE and here's how YOU (wherever you live in the world) can design zazzle personalized stamps, sell, buy, and receive them. Tips and tricks. News you can use. Read carefully!

UPDATE 16 MARCH 2011

I spoke on the phone 1-888-8ZAZZLE (1-888-892-9953)with Jillina @zazzle, and she checked with her supervisor.

Zazzle stamps can ONLY be shipped 

to an US address!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best procedure is this:

1) you can design zazzle personalized stamps (gratis, not to say the redundant "for free") by registering at zazzle.com (the main US website of Zazzle), regardless of where in the world you reside.

Put them in the Public Gallery so you can receive royalty payments (thru PayPal or check) from Zazzle, should your products find buyers!

2) you can order zazzle stamps ONLY from zazzle.com (not the regional zazzle portals!), regardless of where in the world is your billing address associated with your credit card.

3) you can ONLY receive those stamps at an address in USA! 

So you better get a partner/friend in USA! :)

I don't say BUY any of these creations of mine; I say LOOK at them, get some hints and inspiration, if at all, and then you can create your own, even sell, buy...

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Japan, the Persian Gulf and Energy | STRATFOR. I also show you a nicely-franked cover, containing 12 superb postcards that I received in 2010 from my Japanese partner/friend Cockie

Please read this interesting article: Japan, the Persian Gulf and Energy | STRATFOR

Thank you again, Cockie!

Best wishes to the Japanese people, under such a catastrophic situation.

We should count our blessings, not our troubles...:)

Maybe you know what BONG means. How about BONGO? The Western or Lowland Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus) and The Eastern or Mountain Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) - WWF maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards about Ghana

"The western or lowland bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species.

Bongos are characterised by a striking reddish-brown coat, black and white markings, white-yellow stripes and long slightly spiralled horns. Indeed, bongos are the only Tragelaphid in which both sexes have horns. Bongos have a complex social interaction and are found in African dense forest mosaics.

The lowland bongo faces an ongoing population decline and the IUCN Antelope Specialist Group considers the western or lowland bongo, T. eurycerus eurycerus, to be Near Threatened on the conservation status scale.

The eastern or mountain bongo, T. eurycerus isaaci, of Kenya has a coat even more vibrant than that of T. eurycerus eurycerus. The mountain bongo is only found in the wild in one remote region of central Kenya. The mountain bongo is classified by the IUCN Antelope Specialist Group as Critically Endangered with more specimens in captivity than in the wild.

In 2000, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) upgraded the bongo to a Species Survival Plan (SSP) Participant and in 2006 named the Bongo Restoration to Mount Kenya Project to its list of the Top Ten Wildlife Conservation Success Stories of the year."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bongo_(antelope)

===========

As a side note, look what I saw in the FEEDJIT LIVE TRAFFIC widget of this blog, where I (and you, too) can see where the visitors come from (what country, what search terms, what referring websites...).

"Klang, Selangor arrived from search.yahoo.com on "Dorincard: The second-biggest owl in the world: The Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) - maximum card from Romania" by searching for the buboos biggest girls photos. 00:36:35 -- 4 hours 8 mins ago"

Man, oh, man...:)

The correct search terms should have been..."Photos of girls with the biggest Bubo bubo owls", I guess.

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

Please visit and join ABC Wednesday meme!

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/

Today,  I is for Interesting color patterns for some animals. :)