Thursday, April 28, 2011

"Gorillas in the mist", and gorillas in the midst [of us]. The Kaspersky Kidnapping - Lessons Learned | STRATFOR. Also, I show you a maximum card (with my American postcard) from UK, with The Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei), with a world-class, superb postmark made with a Low Speed Canceller (LSC4500). Here's the Clean Big Secret (not dirty little) of how UK makes the best postmarks in the world, perfecting the PAD PRINTING technology

Please read how an elderly Russian couple made "gorillas" / "muscles" out of their son and two of his friends.
Kidnapping, the future of stealing. 
Better than robbing banks.
But they didn't learn from the undoing of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian Lord of the Drugs, 
by his reckless cell phone call, a few minutes too long.
"Can you hear me now?"
Youbett Chorass.
Tracking and triangulation have allowed an airplane to be dispatched and it launched a deadly rocket.
Escobar was caught between a rocket and a hard place.

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

As a companion item, I also show you the full image of the postmark (no gorilla postmark was available, so I chose this one).
We, maximaphilists, should always have that kind of reference image, for better deciphering and appreciation of the pictorial postmarks.

Royal Mail insists that a valid mailing address should be on the back of a maximum card (MC).
I used my friend Ian's address, by permission, and I obtained the postmark on the First-Class stamp.
Otherwise, with my USA address, Royal Mail would have said that I have insufficient postage.
Even if, in both cases, this MC was not supposed to be mailed alone, like a simple postcard, anywhere!
However, I provided a self-addressed (but not stamped!) return envelope with my USA address.
Postage was considered paid by virtue of me giving up those stamps for postmarking on my MCs.
I love workarounds, loopholes, circumventing and innovating!
Some of my MCs for Royal Mail are "artists formerly known as book cut-outs, folded card halves, etc."
 I added self-adhesive big mailing labels on the back, so I stiffened them to satisfy Royal Mail.
I also added that UK address sticker on all.
I have postcardized the hell out of them! :)
The  International Federation of Philately, Commission for Maximaphily (FIP CfM) "laws of maximaphily" are nothing but subjective rules, guidelines for EXHIBITING in FIP stamp expositions.
Nothing to do with the Justice System.
So, with my MCs from UK, no real law was broken, no animal was harmed in the process, the sky did not fall - everybody is happy! :) :) :)
================

"The Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)[2] is one of the two subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla
There are two populations. 
One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National ParksMgahinga, in south-west UgandaVolcanoes, in north-westRwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The other is found in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Some primatologists say[3] that the Bwindi population in Uganda may be a separate subspecies, though no description has been finished. 
As of Spring 2010, the estimated total number of Mountain Gorillas worldwide is 790[4]."

"Adult males have more pronounced bony crests on the top and back of their skulls, giving their heads a more conical shape. 
These crests anchor the powerful masseter muscles, which attach to the lower jaw (mandible). Adult females also have these crests, but they are less pronounced.[8] "

"The dominant silverback generally determines the movements of the group, leading it to appropriate feeding sites throughout the year. 

He also mediates conflicts within the group and protects it from external threats.[12] 

He is the center of attention during rest sessions, and young animals frequently stay close to him and include him in their games. 

If a mother dies or leaves the group, the silverback is usually the one who looks after her abandoned offspring, even allowing them to sleep in his nest.[23]

Experienced silverbacks are capable of removing poachers' snares from the hands or feet of their group members.[24]

When the dominant silverback dies or is killed by disease, accident, or poachers, the family group may be severely disrupted.[11] 
Unless he leaves behind a male descendant capable of taking over his position, the group will either split up or be taken over in its entirety by an unrelated male. 
When a new silverback takes control of a family group, he may kill all of the infants of the dead silverback.[25] 
This practice of infanticide is an effective reproductive strategy, in that the newly acquired females are then able to conceive the new male's offspring.
Infanticide has not been observed in stable groups."

"Fears
For reasons unknown, Mountain Gorillas that have been studied appear to be naturally afraid of certain reptiles. Infants, whose natural behavior is to chase anything that moves, will go out of their way to avoid chameleons and caterpillars. 
Koko, the western lowland gorilla trained in sign language, is afraid of crocodiles and alligators, even though she was born in captivity and has never seen them. 
They are also afraid of water and will cross streams only if they can do so without getting wet (i.e. crossing over fallen logs). 
Dian Fossey observed and noted the Mountain Gorilla's obvious dislike of rain, as well.[28]"


Gorilla, a consular affair...

"According to an article [34] published by San Francisco State University in 1999, "Between four and eight million years ago [...] man, chimps, and gorillas began to evolve along three independent paths (Kimbel & Martin 1993). [...] We are not sure what the early relative of the gorilla was, but it can be traced back to an early ape known as Proconsul africanus. [...] 
Gorillas developed during the Pleistocene era (2 million years ago)."

Researchers recently have discovered that about 800,000 years ago, the mountain gorilla had evolved from the eastern gorilla.[citation needed"

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

Here's the answer that I received from my good philatelic partner and friend Ian Billings (UK):
[DORIN]: Please explain this - and we could post your answer in some websites, too:

4) Why those great, world-class pictorial postmarks are available only for 1 day? Isn't a waste to create so exquisite cancellers, then retire/destroy them after only 1 day?
[IAN BILLINGS (UK)]: They aren't physical cancellers.  
Despite their appearance as hi-quality steel or polypropylene handstamps, they are actually thin plastic foils and use a process similar to off-set.  
The ones that run for more than one day, ie with a rollable date bar below the design, are rubber handstamps.  These are generally shown on our website with no date using the image supplied by Royal Mail."
==============

So, please read this and ask your national postal administration, and many other companies from various industries, to cooperate with the Royal Mail about PAD PRINTING technology:


===================
For gorillas, the nose print is an unique identifier of individuals.
But all their noses look like a heart shape, don't they?
Say Yes. :)

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

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

"Y'all know", don't you, about the gymnastics powerhouse Romania, with Nadia Comaneci and many other champions, having "flexible stretching accounts"...Bend it like Beckham? No, bend it like Razy! Watch the YouTube sensation. "Britain's Got Talent: 28-year-old dancer Razy, originally from Romania, is trying out for Britain's Got Talent with quite a unique act, taking queues from the film The Matrix"

Maximum card with Darth Vader, and others, from Star Wars movie series.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's borrow that cape for a moment (instantly transforming it into a long coat with sleeves) and give it to a neo-Neo from the Matrix movies, an amazing in-Vader from Romania, now an unemployed artist in Manchester, UK.
I bet he'll soon be deluged with lucrative deal offers...

Watch and DON'T try this at home!
It takes natural flexibility and rigorous training, over the years.


Bend it like Beckham? No, bend it like Razy! 
Watch the YouTube sensation. 
"Britain's Got Talent: 28-year-old dancer Razy, originally from Romania, is trying out for Britain's Got Talent with quite a unique act, taking queues from the film The Matrix".
===============

Now, if you dispute that Romania is a "gymnastics powerhouse", then watch this short compilation, "highlights, without the lowlights".
Without the mistakes, failures and accidents that occur in every national team, including Romania.
Your mileage may vary.
In this videoclip, just because "everybody and their teammate" is doing it, "easy, breezy, beautiful", it doesn't mean that "the lowlights" didn't happen, over time.
Even Nadia has fallen, occasionally.
Just so you know.
Keywords: "blue moon".


A few years ago, an American TV sports commentator of the Gymnastics World Championship "complained" that "the Romanians are killing you with THE CONSISTENCY" of the performances.
Meaning no frequent failures.
In fact, almost no major failure of a routine, at that competition.
As if Consistency is not a major achievement, highly respectable, in a sport where it's all too easy to fall, fail, or even get badly hurt.
Gymnastics has become maybe too acrobatic - check out the Rhythmic Gymnastics, for less acrobatics and more grace.
But that's another discussion.
(to be continued)

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

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http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/
Today, O is for Outstanding Razy! :)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) maximum cards with The Red-fronted Gazelle (Eudorcas rufifrons), from Burkina Faso (= "Men of integrity from father's house")


"The Red-fronted gazelle (Eudorcas rufifrons) is a species of gazelle that is widely but unevenly distributed across the middle Africa from Senegal to north-eastern Ethiopia
It is mainly resident in the Sahel zone, a narrow cross-Africa band south of the Sahara, where it prefers arid grasslands, wooded savannas and shrubby steppes."

"The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organizationworking on issues regarding the conservationresearch and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. 
It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 90 countries, supporting around 1300[4] conservation and environmental projects around the world. 
It is a charity, with approximately 60% of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private individuals. 45% of the fund's income comes from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.[3]"

"Burkina Faso (Listeni /bərˌknə ˈfɑːs/ bər-KEE-nə FAH-sohFrench: [byʁkina faso]) – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.

Its size is 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) with an estimated population of more than 15,757,000. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Voltait was renamed on August 4, 1984, by President Thomas Sankara to mean "the land of upright people" in Mòoré and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. 
Figuratively, "Burkina" may be translated, "men of integrity," from the Mòoré language, and "Faso" means "father's house" in Dioula. The inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabè (play /bərˈknəb/ bər-KEE-nə-bay)."

"On August 4, 1984, as a final result of President Sankara's zealous activities, the country's name was eventually changed from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which translates to "land of honest people".[7]

[edit]Burkina Faso

On October 15, 1987 Sankara was killed by an armed gang with twelve other officials in a coup d'état organised by his former colleague, Blaise Compaoré."
"Compaoré immediately reversed the nationalizations, overturned nearly all of Sankara's policies, returned the country back under the IMF fold, and ultimately spurned most of Sankara's legacy. 
As of 2010, Compaoré is entering his 23rd year in power. 
He "has become immensely wealthy" and purchased a presidential plane to reflect his personal prestige, while landlocked Burkina Faso ranks as the third least developed country in the world."


"The median age of its inhabitants is 16.7"!!!

"According to the World Health Organization in 2005 an estimated 72.5% of Burkina Faso's girls and women have suffered female genital mutilation.[23]"
"Map: Estimated Prevalence of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in Africa. Data based on uncertain estimates."


Cruel traditions?
Don't read, if "you can't handle the truth": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation

"The United Nations Development Program Report ranks Burkina Faso as the country with the lowest level of literacy in the world, despite a concerted effort to double its literacy rate from 12.8% in 1990 to 25.3% in 2008.[34]"
===============
"The name Upper Volta indicated that the country contains the upper part of the Volta River system. The river's three tributaries are called the Black VoltaWhite Volta and Red Volta, and the colors of the national flag corresponded to these parts of the river system."

What else means Volta?
Alessandro Volta, for example.
He invented several things that were already invented...:) [teasing him].
Coz there's nothing new under the sun*.
--------------
*Certain exceptions apply.

"{Alessandro Volta] improved and popularized the electrophorus, a device that produces a static electric charge. His promotion of it was so extensive that he is often credited with its invention, even though a machine operating in the same principle was described in 1762 by Swedish professor Johan Wilcke.[3]"

"In announcing his discovery of the pile, Volta paid tribute to the influences of William NicholsonTiberius Cavallo and Abraham Bennet."



"Baghdad battery" does NOT refer to family violence, or any other type of violence.

"Recently there is a growing dispute over the invention of the battery. It has been suggested that the Baghdad battery discovered by Wilhelm Konig in 1938 at Khujut Rabu near Baghdad has priority. The Baghdad battery may have been used by Persians some 2000 years ago for electroplating and may be the first known chemical battery.[11][12]"

====================
Red-fronted gazelle, near some red trees in Burkina Faso...

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Top 30 Stamp Collecting Blogs, by guidetoartschools.com

#2:
"Dorincard: Blogger Dorin C is a stamp and postcard fanatic, and luckily he's more than pleased to write prolifically and charmingly about his obsession. He has a particular bent for stamps with wild mammals on them, but his blog demonstrates an affinity for stamps of all forms and backgrounds, as long as they offer a special narrative that's worth sharing with his readers.


  • Source: http://www.guidetoartschools.com/library/best-stamp-collecting-blogs#ixzz1KirbuA4p
    "

    Some feedback received about me and my blog here

    [DORIN'S NOTE: There are over 100 million websites.]

    From alexa.com traffic rank site

    "There are 1,699,250 sites with a better three-month global Alexa traffic rank than Dorincard.blogspot.com.
    About 43% of visitors to the site come from France, where it has attained a traffic rank of 152,077.
    About 80% of visits to the site consist of only one pageview (i.e., are bounces).
    Dorincard.blogspot.com's visitors view an average of 1.5 unique pages per day.
    Visitors to the site spend roughly two minutes on each pageview and a total of three minutes on the site during each visit."



    inkling (Enthusiast)

    The best use of this site is Other.

    Likes
    • Good content

    Comments:
    Postcards and stamps, mainly featuring mammals and birds but Dorincard also has other creations
    and interests he likes to share.
    His enthusiasm for Maximum cards (a postcard and a similar themed stamps sent through the
    postal system) shines through.
    He shows how he gets the right card, stamp and postmark together.
    Visiting his site you will also learn things about the natural world told with a dry sense of humour,
    possibly with a play on words, and a unique style of headings.
    Topical and informative both for the enthusiast and casual visitor.
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    • 1 out of 1 person found this review useful.



    1 Review
    Global 1,699,251
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