The United Nations Organization (UNO) presents a United Herd of American Bisons, Yellowstone National Park, USA. Maximum card / maxicard / dorincard from the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland office. No concordance of place for this maximum card, but I have the ultimate solution

According to the rules of (traditional) maximaphily http://www.maximaphily.info, this maximum card is NOT place-concordant.

Some [few] hardcore, purist, ultra-orthodox maximaphilists might even say that this is no good.

"It's not a proper maximum card, so...throw it away!"

I say collect want YOU want, and don't ever throw something just because somebody diktates you so.

Most maximaphilists would tolerate it, though. Even enjoy it, for what it is. 

Not for what it's not [concordant of place]

The postcard shows an image from the Yellowstone National Park, USA, but the postmark says Geneva (office of UNO).

"What's the postmarking device of the mayor's office got to do with Marioara's [thing]?"

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

After careful consideration, I have decided that in my personal, subjective opinion, 

the concordance of place should be recommended, but not obligatory!!!

The non-traditional maximaphily (and in the near future the traditional maximaphily, too) should allow, as second-best option, a postmark and stamp that are NOT "the most morally-entitled and related" to that place on the postcard.

For example (and we can choose ANY other example):

Traditionally, only a postmark from a Post Office in (or the nearest to) the Yellowstone National Park would have been concordant.

Of course, that would be the best situation.

But I recognize (and may I suggest that you do, too) the right of any other Post Office in USA to CELEBRATE, PAY TRIBUTE, BRING A HOMAGE to the Yellowstone NP with a pictorial postmark that is about Yellowstone NP!!!

Also, I recognize (and may I suggest that you do, too) the right of any other National Postal Administration to CELEBRATE, PAY TRIBUTE, BRING A HOMAGE, [make a profit, too] to the Yellowstone NP (YNP) with stamp(s) of their own.

If Germany, let's say, wants to issue stamp(s) with YNP, so be it!

["CBS cares." You shouldn't.] :)

It's not the best concordance of place for stamps and postmarks with YNP...but hey!

In our case here, it's The United Nations Organization (UNO) who issued such a stamp series.

Is there a herd roaming the UNO building hallways of Geneva?

Of bisons, that is?

No.

So what?

I say let UNO increase the awareness of more people about worthy causes, people, places, subjects, ideas...

This superb photo is in the Public Domain.

Click here to see non-truncated page info.

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

Let the public learn and enjoy! :)

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its description page there is shown below. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. You can help.

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Description	Aerial view of Grand Prismatic Spring; Hot Springs, Midway & Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. The spring is approximately 250 by 300 feet (75 by 91 m) in size. This photo shows steam rising from hot and sterile deep azure blue water (owing to the light absorbing overtone of an OH stretch which is shifted to 698 nm by hydrogen bonding [1]) in the center surrounded by huge mats of brilliant orange algae and bacteria. The color of which is due to the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoid molecules produced by the organisms. During summertime the chlorophyll content of the organisms is low and thus the mats appear orange, red, or yellow. However during the winter, the mats are usually dark green, because sunlight is more scarce and the microbes produce more chlorophyll to compensate, thereby masking the carotenoid colors. Español: Imagen aérea del Grand Prismatic Spring; aguas termales y geiser Midway (medio) y Lower (bajo), en el Parque Nacional Yellowstone, Wyoming. Français : Image aérienne du Grand Prismatic Spring situé dans le Parc national de Yellowstone aux États-unis.
Date	July 2001
Source	http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/thermalfeatures/hotspringsterraces/midwaylower/Images/17708.jpg ; English Wikipedia, original upload 1 April 2004 by ChrisO
Author	Jim Peaco, National Park Service
Permission (Reusing this file)	See below.

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

Happy Blue Monday! (meme)

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

!! Carta Postala sent on 13 JUN [18]97 by Mili [? not Vanilli] from Calafat, Romania, to C. Witt in New York, NY, USA!! Also, some WIT [white, in Dutch] roses, among other roses maximum cards / maxicards / dorincards from Romania

I think the handwriting was done with a so-called Chemical Pencil, except the 1867 (?) inscription on top of the front side.

!! Carta Postala sent on 13 JUN [18]97 by Mili [? not Vanilli] from Calafat, Romania, to C. Witt in New York, NY, USA!!

Why is the front hand-dated 1867?

http://www.zazzle.com/i_dont_know_postage-172393514525516229?rf=238693463283865848

What I see is that it's postmarked on 13 JUN [18]97, and it arrived on 24 JUN [18]97!

Is that true?

By what?

Transoceanic ship?

Zeppelin?

You know - tell us!

Also, I appeal again to any expert in German language, deltiology, philately, etc. to help us decipher the text and any other info related to this interesting piece of postal history.

And rare, too - how many pieces of correspondence do you think were mailed from the bustling metropolis of Calafat, Romania to the godforsaken small town of New York, USA?

(Maybe the other way around...)

http://www.zazzle.com/usa_romania_flag_customized_postage-172307917364418153?rf=238693463283865848

To participate in today's Sunday Stamps meme, the proposed theme is flowers, as spring finally came to USA, etc.

Witty as I am...

http://www.zazzle.com/yeah_right_postage-172546722024214047?rf=238693463283865848

vite, vite, mes amis...[vite = cattle, in Romanian, but that's NOT what I meant]...I found something to make a stretch.

Wit, in Dutch, means White, last time I checked.

So I show you now some White Flowers, and others, too.

From C.Witt postal card to Wit/White Roses.

A beautiful set of 4 maximum cards created by the Association of Philatelists from Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Sent to me by my friend, Colonel [no, not Gaddafi, who ROSE to power and won't fade away easily] (r) Victor Surdu, from the same great city of Cluj-Napoca, in the heart of Transylvania, Romania.

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

The creator of all these 4 designer rose varieties is dr.eng Stefan Wagner (Romania, I guess).

The superb pictorial postmark from 25 MAY 2005 says "15 years from the founding of  

The Friends of Roses Association".

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

Happy Sunday Stamps meme!

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

It doesn't look like a mandarin [orange], but it's still a Mandarin [duck]. The Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) - set of 4 W.W.F. maximum cards / maxicards / dorincards about DPR Korea, otherwise known as North Korea

"Mandarin (bureaucrat), a bureaucrat of modern Japan, Imperial China, Vietnam, and by analogy, any government bureaucrat."

Any government bureaucrat, such as House Speaker Jim Boehner (R).

Mandarin Jim.

He's a FED...and we are fed-up.

But he's not a silver spoon-fed fat cat.

"Early life, education and career

Boehner was born in Reading, Ohio, the son of Mary Anne and Earl Henry Boehner, the second of twelve children in a family of German and Irish descent.^[2][3][4] 

He grew up in modest circumstances, having shared one bathroom with his eleven siblings in a two-bedroom house in Cincinnati. [MY NOTE: is "confrontational" a keyword?]

His parents slept on a pull-out couch.^[5] 

He started working at his family's bar at age 8, a business founded by their grandfather Andy Boehner in 1938.^[5] He has lived in Southwest Ohio his entire life.[MY NOTE: does that increase the intellectual magnitude?]

All but two of his siblings still live within a few miles of each other; two are unemployed and most of the others have blue-collar jobs.^[6"] 

^{[MY NOTE: other politicians think that there's no fun in having political power,} 

^{if you don't abuse it]}

He is not known as Gentleman Jim.

"Gentleman Jim may refer to:

Nicknames of:

• James J. Corbett (1866-1933), a heavyweight boxing champion
• Jim Reeves (1923–1964), a country and popular music singer
• Jim Lonborg (born 1942), a major league baseball pitcher
• James K. Woolnough (1910-1996), a U.S. Army general
• James J. Yeager, head football coach at Ohio State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1940s
• Jim Kramer (born 1958), a champion Scrabble player" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentleman_Jim

He is not Jungle Jim, either.

But is he a BAYNER?

"The German pronunciation of the name Boehner/Böhner is [ˈbøːnɐ] BUH-nair. 

However, Boehner's biography at House.gov recommends the pronunciation BAY-ner." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehner  

http://www.zazzle.com/oh_really_postage-172747913297627772?rf=238693463283865848

UPDATE: I have googled the name Boehner, to see if this blogpost is already indexed by the search engines, and I saw this website below, in the search results. I never knew about this website. :)

http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=John_Boehner

Anyway, the point about a mandarin (bureaucrat) is what he does as "a public servant", not how he fancies his name pronounced.

"In one speech, Obama mentioned Boehner's name nine times^[39] and accused him of believing that police, firefighters, and teachers were jobs "not worth saving."^[40]"

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

Memory refresher for all those Mandarin bureaucrats, including Scott "Walker, Wisconsin Ranger":

when disaster strikes and everybody rushes out, 

THE FIREFIGHTERS are supposed to RUSH IN.

And they do it!

This is a custom postcard, that I designed front and back, at zazzle. You can further customize it.

WTC2, with Public Domain photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WTC-Fireman_requests_10_more_colleagesa.jpg

http://www.zazzle.com/wtc2_postcard-239331173870369136?rf=238693463283865848

http://www.zazzle.com/now_where_was_i_before_i_got_interrupted_postage-172442505130559121?rf=238693463283865848

Ah, yes! We were Speaking in the House about the Mandarin duck.

"The Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata), or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41–49 cm long with a 65–75 cm wingspan.

The adult male is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to female Wood Duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.^[2]

Unlike other species of ducks, most Mandarin drakes reunite with the hens they mated with along with their offsprings after the eggs have hatched and even share scout duties in watching the ducklings closely.^[3] However, even with both parents securing the ducklings, most of them do not survive to adulthood."

"In the eyes of ancient Chinese, Mandarin Ducks form a life-time couple, unlike many other species of ducks. Hence they are frequently featured in Oriental art and are regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity.

A Chinese proverb for loving couples uses the Mandarin Duck as a metaphor: "Two mandarin ducks playing in water" (simplified Chinese: 鸳鸯戏水; traditional Chinese: 鴛鴦戲水; pinyin: yuān yāng xì shuǐ). The Mandarin Duck symbol is also used in Chinese weddings, because in traditional Chinese lore they symbolize wedded bliss and fidelity."

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

"North Korea (ⁱ /ˈnɔrθ kəˌriə/), officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK)"

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union and a series of natural disasters, a famine occurred, causing the death of 900,000 to 2 million people.^[18]

Facing these circumstances, leader Kim Jong-Il adopted Songun, or a "military-first" policy in order to strengthen the country and its government.^[19] 

Although North Korea is officially a socialist republic,^[20] many outside media organizations report that it is a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship^{[13][14][21][22][23]} with an elaborate cult of personality around the Kim family and one of the worst human rights records of any country.^[24] 

North Korea is the world's most militarized nation with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel.^[25] 

It is a nuclear weapons state, and has an active space program.^[26] 

Due to the government's secretive nature and its reluctance to allow in foreigners, North Korea is today considered the world's most isolated country and has thus been given the moniker "The Hermit Kingdom" by some.^{[27][28][29]"}

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

In the duck images from the top, I'm sure you'll see some pink spots, enough to make a stretch/related post for Happy Pink Saturday meme. :) .

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

Happy Pink Saturday! (still open on Sunday!)

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

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