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!

It's Year of the Rabbit, not Year of the Kumquats [the fruits depicted as the main (!!!) graphic element on the 2011 USPS stamp for YOTR, courtesy of the "vision" of the stamp illustrator Kam Mak]

This older Year of the Rabbit maxicard/ maximum card/ dorincard properly depicts a goddamn [ :) ] rabbit as the main graphic element of the stamp - as it should!

Now it's Year of the Rabbit, not Year of the Kumquats [the fruits depicted as the main (!!!) graphic element on the 2011 USPS stamp for YOTR, courtesy of the "vision" of the stamp illustrator Kam Mak]

http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2011/pr11_006.htm

I strongly believe that you could put any secondary symbol (narcissus, kumquats, General Tso chicken with rice - whatever) of the Chinese Lunar Year celebration in the BACKGROUND.

But put the image of the zodiac animal in the FOREGROUND - that's the main symbol!

:)

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Happy Sunday Stamps!

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

WWF maxicards about Kampuchea/ Cambodia: The Banteng (Bos javanicus), The Water Buffalo or Domestic Asian Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), The Kouprey (Bos sauveli), The Gaur (Bos gaurus)

Stay away (or at least stay alert) from the crowds...including celebratory crowds, pilgrims, rioters, etc.

Not only bulls can create a deadly stampede.

Best wishes to the people of Cambodia! 

A country whose history is written in deep blood, especially because of their own countrymen, The Khmer Rouge members.

Read about the genocide: it's mind-boggling how the local power-players (and several countries!) have shifted alliances among them. Foe-turned-friend-turned-foe-turned....

What a tragedy...The Killing Fields...

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

On a more peaceful note (but remember the Latin adage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si_vis_pacem,_para_bellum ):

UL(upper left image): The Banteng (Bos javanicus), also known as Tembadau, is a species of wild cattle found in Southeast Asia. Banteng have been domesticated in several places in Southeast Asia, and there are around 1.5 million domestic banteng, which are called Bali cattle. These animals are used as working animals, and for their meat.[2] Bali cattle have also been introduced to Northern Australia, where they have established stable feral populations.[3] *

UR: The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a large bovine animal, frequently used as livestock in southern Asia, and also widely in South America, southern Europe, north Africa, and elsewhere. * 

LL: Kouprey (Bos sauveli, from khmer [kuː prej] 'wild ox', also known as Kouproh or Grey ox) is a wild forest-dwelling ox found mainly in northern Cambodia but also believed to exist in southern Laos, western Vietnam, and eastern Thailand. It was discovered in 1937. *

LR: The gaur (pronounced /ˈɡaʊər/) (Bos gaurus, previously Bibos gauris) is a large, dark-coated forest animal of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The largest populations are found today in India. The gaur belongs to the Bovinae subfamily, which also includes bison, domestic cattle, yak and water buffalo. The gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the African buffalo, the extinct aurochs (the ancestor of domestic cattle), wild water buffalo or bison. It is also called seladang or, in the context of safari tourism, Indian bison. The domesticated form of the gaur is called gayal or mithun.

Thanks, Wikipedia.org - my most favorite website!

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

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

"Location, location and how the West was won" (BBC) - Does the keyword SNUB apply to politics, too, or just to zoology? Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) -> maximum card from China (PRC)

SNUB is a word that can mean many things, depending on the context.

It may apply to history, politics, and zoology, too. And then some (more).

Let's start with zoology.

"Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus Rhinopithecus. The genus occurs rarely and needs much more research. Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the Pygathrix genus.

Snub-nosed monkeys live in Asia, with a range covering southern China (especially Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou) as well as the northern parts of  Vietnam and Myanmar.

These monkeys get their name from the short, stump of a nose on their round face, with nostrils arranged forward. They have relatively multicolored and long fur, particularly at the shoulders and backs. They grow to a length of 51 to 83 cm with a tail of 55 to 97 cm."

Physical The-rapist is not needed for this species; mating occurs only in flashback:
"The impulse for mating starts with the female. She takes up eye contact with the male and runs away a short bit, then flashes her genitals. If the male shows interest (which does not always occur), he joins the female and they mate. The 200-day gestation period ends with a single birth in late spring or early summer. Young animals become fully mature in about 6 to 7 years. Zoologists know little about their lifespan."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snub-nosed_monkey

" Even within a band there can be smaller groups referred to as OMU, one-male units that are each led by an adult male. The male may stay solitary, often remaining away from the rest of the group members as they rest. Adult females tend to socialize more with one another than with other males or juveniles. Group members remain close to one another, interactions between different OMUs often result in confrontations.^[4]"

^{In Romanian language:}

^{Om = human being; man.}

^{Omul = the human being; the man.}

^{Omu' = [slang for] the human being; the man.}

^{The 11th highest mountain peak in Romania is Omu Peak.}

^{http://www.muntii-bucegi.ro/photo-gallery.html
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A2rful_Omu,_Mun%C8%9Bii_Bucegi}

But what happens when a mighty predator attacks a monkey band of several OMUs?
We're here to serve and protect.
Did you call for back-up?
"Protecting the young is a group effort. Mothers often have helpers assisting them with the care of their young.^[8] When faced with danger from a predator such as the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) [not too gentile with the prey], the young are placed at the center of the group while the stronger adult males go to the scene of the alarm. The rest of the day, the members of the group remain closer to one another with the young protected at the center.^[9]:


See here an image of a juvenile Goshawk - an adult is only meaner and stronger, of course:

http://www.post.ee/3321?id=3321&prod_id=630

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Snub-nosed_Monkey

Now, on to geopolitical and historical context: who was snubbing whom, throughout history?

The Imperial China, The Western Europe, The Mogul Empire, The Ottoman Empire, The Soviet Union [Empire], The-country-where-the-EMPIRE-State-Building-is-located, present-day China, etc. - everybody was snubbing everybody else, more or less, on and off. Alliances and enmities fluctuate, even coming full-circle, occasionally.

Please read this very interesting BBC article, along with the readers' comments.

"On his current visit to Beijing, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said China will soon reclaim its position as the world's biggest economy - a role it has held for 18 of the past 20 centuries. But how did the US, Britain and the rest of Europe interrupt this reign of supremacy? It comes down to location."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11721671

Think about it, baby ["baby" - that's not condescending; it's a term of endearment]. :)

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

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

To be mailed: covers/envelopes with Zazzle (personalized) stamps - only 20 stamps in the world, so far, from most of my stamp designs!

To allow you to see all the details, I have scanned these at a higher resolution (300dpi) than the default one.

If you click on each image and scroll, you'll see.

Click to ZOOM IN, then click again to further ZOOM IN.

Zazzle stamps, like these, are part of the future of philately, I think.

They are not your Grandpa's usual stamps, always designed by somebody else.

Today, YOU can design personalized stamps, and Grandpa can do it, too, with a little help in the IT department. :)

Designing is free. Owning is not, of course.

See examples of my designs (stamps, custom postcards, T-shirts, etc.) in the zazzle link below.

Philately (stamp collecting) in general, and maximaphily in particular, as a confluence of domains: learning, writing, web design, business administration, etc.
http://dorincard.blogspot.com
http://dorinco.webs.com
http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard
http://www.delcampe.com/stores/dorinco
http://www.zazzle.com/dorinco*/
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) 2 Postage Stamps from Zazzle.com

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) 2 Postage Stamps from Zazzle.com

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) 1 Stamps from Zazzle.com

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) 1 Stamps from Zazzle.com

A flavor of India - Bengal tiger maximum card, and a Pole Gymnastics videoclip

This is a postal card, not the back of the above viewcard. But here you can see the same pictorial postmark.

A future custom postcard that I'll create:

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Speaking about feline moves and physical strength...

[I'm just kidding] BREAKING NEWS: Stripclub performers, pole dancers, sex acrobats, etc. from around the world are outraged by the newly-approved, worldwide mandatory routines for Pole Dancer Licensing Exam.

The routines are inspired from Indian Pole Gymnastics.

They are another symptom of job outsourcing, unless you improvise, adapt and overcome what's boring in your usual moves in pole dancing.

Customers have voiced their frustration over the lameness of the current routine, which is so simple, a GEICO cave-woman can do it.

While clothes are optional, the spectators would like to see the dancers come up with more intellectual creativity and more physical ability, in more graphic detail of the choreo kind.

Don't be surprised, next time you go to that kind of club, if you see moves inspired by these fine athletes from Bhārat Ganarājya, otherwise known as India.

Better than Ezra? No, better than Mowgli!

Watch this Indian Pole Gymnastics videoclip (cool music, too):

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2010/08/17

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

Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

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

"Men are not dogs. Dogs are LOYAL!" - Wanda Sykes. Shipping Labels from Zazzle.com

"Men are not dogs. Dogs are LOYAL!" - Wanda Sykes. Shipping Labels from Zazzle.com

Another element of a mailpiece, that can be personalized as you wish, is your address label.
This is an example of how you can add your favorite photo to it, such as your beloved puppy.
Then you personalize it online with your own mailing address.
The image above shows the bigger model - a shipping label.
The mid-size is the address label.
The smallest size is the return label.
You can see them all, customizable, in my zazzle store. Click on the links to visit, if you want.

Every day, in USA, about 11,000 cats and dogs (many of them are adoptable) have to be euthanized [translation: put to sleep] [further translation: killed] in animal shelters.
Those unfortunate cats and dogs can't "claim sanctuary"...

Please join the "Maximaphily, traditional and non-traditional" groups at Facebook and Linkedin! :)

Please join the "Maximaphily, traditional and non-traditional" groups at Facebook and Linkedin! :)

Size does matter for Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis larvatus) - WWF official maximum cards from Brunei Darussalam (Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace)

The bigger, the better.

"[It] is thought to be used to attract females and is a characteristic of the males, reaching up to 7 inches in length."

We're talking about the nose (proboscis).

"Proboscis Monkey belong to the order of Primates, from the family Cercopithecidae and subfamily Colobinae (Bennett & Gomber, 1993). According to Bennett & Gomber (1993), in the Old World, these monkeys are divided into two groups known as cercopithecines and colobines. Proboscis Monkey are colobines. Males are much larger than females, weighing up to 24 kg (53 pounds) and reaching 72 cm (28 inches) in length, with a tail of up to 75 cm in length. Females are up to 60 cm long, weighing up to 12 kg (26 lb). This large sexual dimorphic difference is greater than in any other primate.^[5]"

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

^"Brunei (pronounced /bruːˈnaɪ/ in English), officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace^[5] (Malay: Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: بروني دارالسلام), is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by thestate of Sarawak, Malaysia, and in fact it is separated into two parts by Limbang, which is part of Sarawak. It is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo, with the remainder of the island belonging to Malaysia and Indonesia."

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

Why a DOG EATS DOG World, and not a DOG LOVES DOG World? Maxicard (USA)

I am showing you that I used a folded postcard, and I don't care if anybody, including FIP Commission for Maximaphily, would say that it is NOT a maximum card.

So what if it's a folded postcard?

I like it, I use it.

As long as it's not meant to be exhibited by their rules, why play by their rules?

Make your own rules, for your private enjoyment.

Do what makes YOU happy.

Now, it can be cut in two, or it can be glued so it becomes "a thicker postcard".

Or it can be enjoyed just the way it is.

And IF I care to pacify the "righteous" crowd of ultra-orthodox, fanatical followers of traditional maximaphily rules (rules inherited pretty much from around 1950), then I COULD say that it's not a traditional FIP maximum card.
Instead, it's a non-traditional maximum card.
Either way, to me it's a DORINCARD [or whatever].
You, too, can name your creations any way you want.
:)

A Finnish reader might tell us the translation of the text from the other postcard, scanned in the same pass.
Or we could each use www.translate.google.com, for an imperfect translation.
:)

Dog literally ON the phone - maximum card (USA)

I added my MPP postmark on the back, too, for clarity.

Vive La France! Fragment from http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard, translated into French

This is the chosen fragment, in English:

Maximaphily

Maximaphily is a branch of philately, or stamp collecting, that means collecting maximum cards.
I do NOT make a strict distinction between Philately and Stamp Collecting, despite "academic belief" that there is.  I'll detail that in another post.
Generally, a maximum card is a postcard, with a stamp and a postmark on the picture side. Ideally, all these 3 elements should be concordant, but not identical.

Anybody can collect them, just like collecting simple stamps. But that's too passive.
The fun and challenge are in CREATING YOUR OWN maximum cards! Then you can exchange some with partners/friends from around the world!
I do that, and it's very interesting! :)

The traditional way is to comply with the rules of FIP (International Philatelic Federation). http://www.maximaphily.info
The non-traditional way, as I call it, is to follow nobody's rules! Unless YOU want it, of course.
I call DORINCARD any postcard that was personalized by adding a stamp and a postmark, on the picture side of the postcard. Traditional way, or not. :)

------------------------

With translate.google.com, and edited by me:
English to French translationShow romanization

Maximaphilie
Maximaphilie est une branche de la philatélie, ou la collectionnement des timbres, cela signifie collectionner des cartes maximum.
Je ne fais pas une distinction stricte entre la philatélie et à la collectionnement des timbres, en dépit de la «croyance académique» qu'il existe. Je vais detailler dans un autre article.
En règle générale, une carte maximum est une carte postale, avec un timbre et un oblitération de la poste sur le côté image. Idéalement, tous ces 3 éléments doivent être concordantes, mais non identiques.
Chacun peut les collectionner, tout comme collectionner des timbres simple. 
Mais c'est trop passive.
Le plaisir et le défi sont la création de votre carte maximum propre! Ensuite, vous pouvez échanger avec quelques partenaires et amis du monde entier! Je fais cela, et c'est très intéressant! :) La voie traditionnelle est de se conformer aux règles de la FIP (Fédération internationale de philatélie). http://www.maximaphily.info
La manière non traditionnelle, comme je l'appelle, est de suivre les règles de personne! Sauf si vous le voulez, bien sûr.
Je nomme DORINCARD chacune carte postale qui a été personnalisé par l'ajout d'un timbre et d'un oblitération, sur le côté de photo de la carte postale. 
Manière traditionnelle, ou non. :)

Contribute a better translationHere, Eric Contesse kindly gave a better translation:[Please visit Eric's blog, very informative, interesting, in French and English: http://timbredujura.blogspot.com/ ]"Bonjour Dorin,
here is an exact version in French of your post :

La Maximaphilie est une branche de la philatélie, ou de la collection de timbres, qui consiste à collectionner les cartes maximum.
Je ne fais pas de distinction stricte entre la philatélie et la collection de timbres, en dépit de la «croyance académique» qui existe. Je détaillerai cela dans un autre article.
En règle générale, une carte maximum est une carte postale, avec un timbre et une oblitération apposés sur le côté illustré de la carte. Idéalement, ces 3 éléments doivent être concordants, mais non identiques.
Tout le monde peut les collectionner, de la même façon qu'on collectionne des timbres. Mais cela manque de créativité.
Le plaisir et le défi consistent à créer vos propres cartes maximum ! Vous pouvez ensuite les échanger avec quelques partenaires et amis du monde entier ! C'est ce que je fais et c'est très intéressant ! :) La voie traditionnelle est de se conformer aux règles de la FIP (Fédération internationale de philatélie). http://www.maximaphily.info
L'autre façon de procéder, est de ne suivre aucune règle ! Sauf si vous le souhaitez, bien sûr.
J'appelle "DORINCARD" toute carte postale qui a été personnalisée par l'ajout d'un timbre et d'une oblitération, sur la face illustrée de la carte postale. 
En faisant appel aux règles traditionnelles, ou non. :) "

Joint-issue stamps France-Romania about "Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ]; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose works, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for numerous modernist sculptors."

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

These are from Monaco, not France, but they still are in the francophone and francophil world, n'est-ce pas? :)

Merci, Bartholdy et France! "Je me souviens..."

"France is a member state of the European Union, the largest one by area. It is also the third largest in Europe behind Russia and Ukraine. It would be second if its extra-European territories like French Guiana were included. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong economic, cultural, military and political influence. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands."

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

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Philately (stamp collecting) in general, and maximaphily in particular, as a confluence of domains: learning, writing, web design, business administration, etc.
http://dorincard.blogspot.com
http://dorinco.webs.com
http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard
http://www.delcampe.com/stores/dorinco
http://www.zazzle.com/dorinco*/
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/

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

Happy PFF!

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