#united nations postage

[sohannabarberaesque]

As The Banana Splits begin the second part of their concert with the fan mail segment

BINGO, rather stunned at the fan mail in hand: Does it seem rather surprising, fans, that we've received fan mail this go-round with United Nations postage stamps? FLEEGLE, somewhat bewildered at the revelation: How did we know that the United Nations actually issued postage stamps in the first place, to begin with, let alone know such stamps would wind up on fan mail for us? DROOPER: I was about to ask that same question Fleegle had only asked just now....

[howsublime]

Got these matching dragon stamps to go with UN dragon postcards.

[stone-cold-groove]

Commissioned by the United Nations in 1957 - first day of issue cover artwork and stamp of a TWA Boeing 707 in flight.

[stamp-it-to-me]

a 1967 Iranian stamp depicting fireworks

[id: a postage stamp with a stylized illustration of several colorful fireworks against a dark blue sky. below and to the right of the fireworks is the United Nations symbol. end id]

[sacramentohistorymuseum]

July 1st is National Postage Stamp Day! This day commemorates when the first US stamp was issued on this day in 1847. Up until then, people would send a mailed item and the receiver would pay when it arrived. By 1855, the postage stamp became required for all mail.

In honor of today, Howard letterpress printed two cuts that to relate to postage stamps, and that would be in cases where postage isn’t required. In the print, the one on the right states, “NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SACRAMENTO, CA PERMIT NO. 393.” The one on the left comes from Donna from Kentucky and states, “No Postage Stamp Necessary If Mailed in the United States.” This was a common tag on old hotel keys. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

[barricadescon]

You are invited to join Barricades: A Les Mis Convention in showing support for our 2024 charity partner Black and Pink by participating in their holiday letter-writing campaign. The goal of their campaign is simple: to send holiday love to all the incarcerated people who are members of Black and Pink! Let’s do our part! When: Drop in with us on zoom on December 3rd between 1pm – 3pm EST (5pm – 7pm UTC) where we will go over the card writing guidelines and will write together. The zoom link will be available on our Barricades discord server on the day of the event.

Can’t make it to our event? You can still participate in Black and Pink’s Holiday Card Campaign by visiting https://www.blackandpink.org/. What you’ll need: Because of restrictions on mail, all cards must be sent on plain white copy paper. If you have access to a printer, you can print the 2023 holiday card design in color or in black and white. You can participate no matter where you are in the world by simply using the address of Black & Pink headquarters as the return address. Just place your letter in an envelope with a postage stamp and drop it in the mail! 

Why: The holiday season can be a difficult and isolating time for folks inside, especially for the Black & Pink National family, who might not have loved ones to connect with on the outside. Holiday cards help bring moments of joy, connection, and community, and send a clear message to correctional staff that people on the outside are watching out, and care for folks on the inside.

We hope you’ll join us in sending some holiday love and care to incarcerated LGBTQIA2S+ members across the United States.

[radiojamming]

This is another Hartnell question.

I soo want to know the relationship between the Hartnell brothers, they seemed very close.

Oh gosh, so I think it's a really good time to say that there's unfortunately a huge dearth between what I know and what I think about the Hartnell brothers. Currently, as of July 2024, there is a very small handful of primary sources from their family or themselves. I've consulted every written document currently available between SPRI, the National Archives, and church records.

Beyond that, I have only oral history from the family which can't be confirmed or denied as truth, and forensic evidence from John's grave. The stories I've heard are almost two hundred years removed from their original sources, which makes it very hard to put a stamp on them and pass them as authentic. John's grave content can tell part of a story, but it's like solving a puzzle with no corner pieces. We don't know for sure what was going on around him when he was buried.

All that to say is that I don't know. I hate saying that, and I hate having to default to imagination to fill in the blanks. Right now, we have no letters exchanged between the brothers, or any letters from family members either mentioning how they behaved toward one another (so nothing like "take care of your brother" or "you know how Thomas/John is") or referring to them in the abstract (i.e. "John and Thomas are doing this"). I can't even tell you for sure if Thomas was called Tom or if John had a nickname. It's a bummer, I tell you what.

So, what I think is that they had a good relationship. They were close in age, and they apparently tolerated one another well enough to agree to go on a multi-year journey to the ends of the known earth in isolation together. We know John was buried in Thomas' shirt, but we don't know if Thomas kept something of John's because his body's never been found. We know John's body was cared for in advance of burial, but we don't know if Thomas was the one responsible for this. Sarah and Charles Hartnell addressed their letters to both brothers as a unit and never specifically addressed one or the other. This may have been to save paper and postage, and maybe it suggests that they knew the brothers wouldn't mind being lumped together. I can't say for sure.

And the thing is, humans are complicated. Even humans in their early- and mid- twenties had just as many confusing and frustrating twists and turns in their lives during the Victorian era as they do today. So, maybe the Hartnell brothers were the best of friends. Maybe they tolerated one another. Maybe they'd had disagreements before and being on Erebus was a way for them to get along in close quarters. Or maybe it was worse between them. Or it was the best it had ever been. I wish I knew.

[leonsliga]

How to get football autographs: a crash course

Fair warning: this will be a long post.

We’ve all heard it by now: the best way to get footballer autographs is to attend open trainings or wait outside their hotels and stadiums on match days. But what if you live far away or can’t afford to fly to training or games? Not to worry! Whether you’re a collector, a fan, or a little bit of both like me, quite a few clubs are still willing to send out autograph cards, as long as you send them a stamped addressed envelope.

You’ll find helpful how-to videos on how to do just that, along with links to some country stamp websites, below. These videos actually inspired this post:

Postal service links:

United Kingdom

https://shop.royalmail.com/postage-and-packaging/first-and-second-class-stamps - You can’t print UK stamps, but you can buy them off the Royal Mail website (see above link) or off Amazon in most cases

Germany

https://shop.deutschepost.de/shop/internetmarke/selectPostageIM.jsp?invalidAccess=true#porto-international (you’ll want to buy the printable compact letter—Kompaktbrief in German—stamps for 1,70€)

Spain

https://www.correos.es/es/en/companies/send/stamps - Unfortunately, I’m completely useless at navigating the Spanish postal service (AKA Correos), but here’s the link regardless. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me 😅

France

You can buy printable stamps using the link above

Postage Questions:

What materials will I need to send a request?

You’ll need a letter containing your autograph request, 2 envelopes (one bigger and one smaller), a stamp/stamps (depending on size and weight) from your country and the stamp/stamps of the destination country.

I’ve bought my stamps. What size envelopes should I get?

I recommend getting c4 envelopes, as they’ll be big enough to hold your autograph request letter. These will be the envelopes you’ll mail out. If you go with a c4 envelope, I’d recommend purchasing c5 envelopes as your smaller envelope. These will be the envelopes the clubs return to you with the autograph cards inside, and you’ll slide them into your c4 envelope when you’re ready to mail them.

Be sure to include the club’s mailing address and your country’s stamp on the large envelope and your address + their country’s stamp on the smaller one

Where can I find a club’s mailing address?

You can usually find a club’s mailing address, along with their attitude towards fanmail, on the “contact us” tab on their webpage. If you can’t find it there, search the name of the club on fanmail.biz; they have the mailing address of just about every football club you can imagine.

What should I put in my autograph request letter?

The main thing here is to include which footballers’ autographs you want (if you don’t have a preference, you don’t have to do this; you can always say you’d be happy to add whatever player cards they’re willing to send to your collection, or something like that lol). Apart from that, what you include is entirely up to you! I wouldn’t recommend sending a super long letter, but if you want to add a personal touch, you can always mention one of your favorite memories of that club and their achievements. It doesn’t hurt to throw in a thank you at the end either :) one last note: you can address your letter to the club or the player whose autograph you’re requesting; it’s entirely up to you!

Do I have to send a stamped addressed envelope to every club?

Not necessarily. If you want to save money on stamps and envelopes, try emailing the clubs first. If you’re lucky, they’ll send the autograph cards directly to you and pay for the postage :)

Now onto the most important question: does it work? The answer is that it depends on the club you’re sending the request to and sometimes even the league they play in. I’ll break it down by league below, detailing either my own experiences writing to the club (if I’ve written to the club and heard back, I’ll state it outright) or that of YouTubers who have reached out to them. If you don’t see your club here, assume they either don’t reply to fanmail, or I haven’t heard of any success stories yet.

Premier League

Some Prem clubs still send out autographs, but not all. Here’s the ones that do:

Manchester United - pre-covid I’m pretty sure they sent out only hand-signed autographs upon request. Unfortunately, they seem to have cut back a bit on this in recent years; nowadays they tend to send a mix of hand-signed and pre-printed, facsimile signatures (this was the case for me when I wrote to them a few months ago and a few YouTubers that wrote to them as well). Still, pretty amazing given the size of the club that they’re willing to do this. As a United fan, I can’t help but feel a little proud :)

Liverpool - they definitely take the “you’ll never walk alone” motto literally, because they also still answer autograph requests with squad photos and signatures, at least as of 2021. To add a personal touch, they usually include a certificate with your name on it. Even though they’re United’s biggest rivals, I can’t help but respect them for this.

Arsenal - another big club that’s not too big for their fans; to my knowledge, they still send out hand-signed autographs. In doing research for this post, I even stumbled upon a video of someone who got an Arsenal match program, 2 squad photos, and autographs on the back of one of them. Talk about a big haul!

Tottenham - usually send pre-signed, photocopied autograph cards

Chelsea - sent out pre-signed, facsimile autograph prints as of 2021

Manchester City - sends out facsimile signatures only, according to several YouTubers (I’ve never contacted the club personally, so I’m not sure if this is still the case). If you do reach out to them, let me know what you hear back!

Crystal Palace - hit-or-miss. They tend to reply with pre-signed squad photos. They usually include a “south london and proud” bracelet from what I understand though, which is a fun perk!

West Ham - you might hear back from them, you might not (I didn’t when I tried a few months ago, but I know several other people did). If they do reply, you’ll likely receive hand-signed photos.

Aston Villa - sent out mostly pre-signed cards as of 2021

Everton - sent out predominantly hand-signed cards as of 2020

Leicester - send out a mix of photocopied and hand-signed cards, as of 2020 - they generally include player cards from the entire squad

Bournemouth - sent out pre-printed cards as of 2021

Newcastle - still sent out hand-signed photographs as of 2020

Bundesliga

If you want hand-signed autographs, look no further than the Bundesliga. In my experience, they send out the most hand-signed cards of any football league, and it’s not even close. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a club that doesn’t send out hand-signed cards. I’m assuming it’s the same story for the 2. Bundesliga (I know Schalke sends out hand-signed cards at the very least).

Bayern Munich - generally, they prefer you purchase cards on their website. Unfortunately, you have to be a member to buy signed cards on there; otherwise, you have to settle for pre-signed prints. That said, I’m pretty sure that if you purchase the player cards on the website and send a few back to the club to be signed, they will return them with official autographs. I sent in a request for Manuel Neuer’s autograph earlier this year and enclosed his player card, and they sent it back hand-signed. I included my membership number in my request just in case, but I know they’ve sent hand-signed autographs to non-members in the past (i.e. the YouTuber mentioned towards the beginning of this post). If you do reach out to Bayern, let me know how it goes. My fingers are crossed for you regardless 🤞

Borussia Dortmund - probably the most reliable of the Bundesliga clubs when it comes to autograph requests. They now limit you to 4 footballers per request, so you’ll have to be selective. That said, they usually reply quickly and send out hand-signed autographs every time. I have yet to hear of anyone who hasn’t received something back when they sent an autograph request to BVB.

Bayer Leverkusen - when I requested autographs from them, they sent me some back. I requested 3 players’ autographs, along with Xabi Alonso’s, and received all 4 cards back hand-signed. Quite a few YouTubers have had success hearing from them as well. Even though they’re having a fantastic season, they clearly haven’t neglected their fanmail, which is cool to see :)

Eintracht Frankfurt - sends out hand-signed autograph cards, even as of this season (they sent hand-signed cards when I reached out to them two months ago). If they’re your club, you’re in luck.

VfB Stuttgart - hand-signed cards

RB Leipzig - hand-signed cards

FC Union Berlin - hand-signed cards (I haven’t heard back from them yet, but it’s only been a week and a half at this point)

SC Freiburg - hand-signed cards

Borussia Mönchengladbach - hand-signed cards (I just heard back from them a week ago, and I think I got a mix of hand-signed cards and pre-signed prints)

FC Augsburg - hand-signed cards

SV Werder Bremen - hand-signed cards

VfL Wolfsburg - hand-signed cards

VfL Bochum - hand-signed cards, sometimes of the entire team (I received 4 cards in response to my request)

TSG Hoffenheim - hand-signed cards, often of the entire team

FC Köln - hand-signed cards

FSV Mainz - hand-signed cards, often of majority of the squad

La Liga

If you’re a fan of a Spanish club, you might be a lot less lucky, sadly. Only one club still sends out hand-signed autographs to my knowledge, and only one other club sends anything back in response to fanmail.

Real Madrid - occasionally sends out posters with pre-printed, facsimile signatures.

Sevilla - this is the club to ask for hand-signed autographs. That said, you probably won’t get more than one or two. I’d recommend being specific about which player(s)’ autographs you want in order to avoid being disappointed.

Ligue 1

Maybe the French league is more your speed. It’s a mixed bag here; while few answer fanmail, the ones that do are more often than not the most generous of any football clubs on this list.

PSG - the Parisians do still respond to autograph requests, but pretty much exclusively send out facsimile signatures.

Olympique de Marseille - have sent out pre-signed cards of their entire team in the past, along with a poster

FC Metz - sent out a mix of hand-signed autographs and pre-signed prints as of 2021

LOSC Lille - sent out autograph cards as of 2021

OGC Nice - sent out autograph cards as of 2021

RC Strasbourg - sends out autographed postcards, and if you’re lucky, they might include a squad photo and some stickers along with it :)

AS Saint-Étienne - send out hand-signed cards, although I’ve also seen them send squad photos addressed to the recipient, along with 2 issues of their club’s magazine

Eredivisie

PSV Eindhoven - sometimes send out autograph cards with facsimile signatures (pre-prints)

Swiss Super League

FC Basel - sent out hand-signed cards as of 2021

BSC Young Boys - sent out hand-signed cards as of 2021

Austrian Football Bundesliga

SK Rapid Wien - sent out hand-signed cards as of 2021

LASK - hand-signed cards (as of 2021)

Scottish Premiership

Glasgow Rangers - occasionally sends pre-signed prints (at least, as of 2021)

Ekstraklasa

All clubs listed below have sent out hand-signed autograph cards in the past:

Śląsk Wrocław

Legia Warszawa

Lech Poznań

A-League

Western Sydney Wanderers - signed squad photo

MLS

Whether you’ve got a particular club in mind or you’re just a fan of one of the big stars (i.e. Messi), you’re probably in for disappointment. Autograph collecting isn’t super big in the U.S., and MLS treats autograph requests accordingly.

Seattle Sounders - one of the only two clubs in MLS that actually sends a response to autograph requests - one lucky collector was even able to get a hat signed by the entire squad! (see here)

NYCFC - sends out hand-signed autograph cards occasionally, usually only one or two

*side note: unfortunately, it seems like most people have only reached out to European clubs, (with the exception of the A-League and MLS), so I can’t speak to whether clubs on other continents fulfill autograph requests. If you reach out to any clubs in leagues not mentioned here, let me know and I’ll update the list :)

Lingering questions:

How long does it take to hear back from clubs?

In my experience as someone living in the UK, I’ve heard back from every club I reached out to within 2-3 weeks (closer to the 2 week mark in most cases). It depends on how far away you live from the club though. I heard back from Manchester United within a week of mailing my request, but they were the exception, not the rule.

Tldr: expect to hear back within a month (maybe a month and a half in extreme cases)

Do clubs answer autograph requests during the off-season?

In my experience, no. I tried this a few years back with no success.

Can I send a shirt to be signed by a player?

I wouldn’t recommend it, as you may not get it back. If you do, the club will probably just return it to you unsigned. You’re better off just requesting an autograph card imo.

Do national teams send autograph cards?

Some do! Last I’ve heard, the German national team still answers requests with authentic signatures and the Croatian national team has sent out signed cards previously as well. The Czech Republic sends out unsigned squad cards. Last but not least, the Dutch national team has sent out fan posters in the past.

Apart from David MC’s autograph series, here’s some of the other videos that helped form this list:

[lickmystamp]

US postage stamp, 1989 “Washington Statehood” Scott #2404

Issued: February 22, 1989 - Olympia, Washington Quantity: 264,625,000 Designer: Howard Rogers Printed By: American Bank Note Company (Photogravure)

Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington state to distinguish it from the national capital, both named for George Washington.

[tomorrowusa]

Postcards from Ukraine to members of Congress – a suggestion 💡 🇺🇦 🇺🇸 📮

It's clear that House Speaker Mike Johnson is acting on orders from Donald Trump to prevent a Senate bill which includes aid to Ukraine from getting a vote in the House of Representatives. Johnson is a craven careerist who would sell his mother into slavery to please Trump.

The Senate bill ("Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act") could still be taken up – and would almost certainly pass – if just a handful of Republicans from moderate districts decided to support a parliamentary procedure called a "discharge petition" in order to bypass Speaker Johnson.

There are 17 Republicans in the House of Representatives in 2022 who won in congressional districts where Joe Biden had beaten Donald Trump in 2020. These Republicans from moderate districts would be a good grouping to entreat to support the discharge petition. A number of them have already expressed support for Ukraine in the past. It's a matter of getting them to put conscience ahead of their fear of Trump.

Below is a list of addresses of the district offices of those 17 Republican Representatives. If you are in Ukraine, buy a postcard and clearly write a short message which tells how you love freedom and how Putin's illegal war has affected you. It can be in English or Ukrainian. Use a Ukrainian stamp for postage and mail it as soon as possible.

Individuals need pick just 1 of the 17. But schools, businesses, clubs, and military units with at least 17 people can arrange to send one to each of the listed Representatives.

Be polite but urgent. Perhaps remind them that Ronald Reagan understood the dangers of Russian imperialism.

Rep. David Schweikert 14500 N. Northsight Blvd., Suite 221 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 USA

Rep. Juan Ciscomani 1636 N. Swan Road, Suite 200 Tucson, AZ 85712 USA

Rep. John Duarte 90 S. First Street Turlock, CA 95380 USA

Rep. David Valadeo 2700 M Street, Suite 250B Bakersfield, CA 93301 USA

Rep. Mike Garcia 27200 Tourney Rd., Suite 300 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 USA

Rep. Young Kim 180 N. Riverview Dr., Suite 150 Anaheim, CA 92808 USA

Rep. Michelle Steel 10805 Holder St., Suite 225 Cypress, CA 90630 USA

Rep. Don Bacon 13906 Gold Circle, Suite 101 Omaha, NE 68144 USA

Rep. Tom Kean Hopatcong Borough Municipal Building 111 River Styx Road Hopatcong, NJ 07843 USA

Rep. Nick Lalota 515 Hauppauge Road, Suite 3B Hauppauge, NY 11788 USA

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito 229 7th Street, Suite 102 Garden City, NY 11530 USA

Rep. Mike Lawler 60 McAlpin Ave Mahopac, NY 10541 USA

Rep. Marc Molinaro 49 Court Street, Suite 210 Binghamton, NY 13901 USA

Rep. Brandon Williams 421 Broad Street, Suite 7 Utica, NY 13501 USA

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer 621 High Street Oregon City, OR 97045 USA

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick 1717 Langhorne Newtown Rd., Suite 225 Langhorne, PA 19047 USA

Rep. Jen Kiggans 283 Constitution Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23462 USA

FAQ

Why physical mail instead of email or phone calls? There's an enormous chance that your email would end up in a spam folder. Also, the Congressional email system tends to prioritize email originating from the districts of each individual House member. Phone calls from outside the US are likely to be filtered out. Unlike email or phone calls, a physical piece of mail has a real world presence. The recipient has to do something with it. You can't simply press DELETE to get rid of it.

Why postcards and not letters? For security reasons. It takes less time and effort to inspect a postcard than a letter or parcel. Your mail will arrive sooner.

Why use postage stamps instead of a postage meter? You want the recipient to know that you are REALLY from Ukraine. Using official Ukrainian stamps is a simple way to do that. When people see Україна or Ukraina on the stamp then they will know it originated in Free Ukraine. FYI: the letter Ї does not exist in Russian, recipients should look for this on the stamp. Also, your stamp automatically turns the postcard into a collector's item. It is more likely to be saved and to serve as a continuing reminder of your urgent request.

Why send the postcards to district offices instead of offices in Washington? Postcards from Ukraine will get more attention locally by local staff; if a sizable number arrive, it might even get mentioned in local media. In Washington, people tend to be more blasé about such things.

What is the proper form of address for House members? Rep. or Representative before the surname – no distinction based on gender.

FOR REFERENCE: Here are electoral stats for the districts. The column marked R margin indicates the size of each Representative's winning margin in 2022. Rep. Duarte, for example, beat his Democratic opponent by a very narrow 0.4%

[tanadrin]

Internationalization of the Ruhr area and separation of the Saarland followed WW1 not WW2

Saarland was first established as a distinct political entity in 1920 after World War I as the Territory of the Saar Basin, which was occupied and governed by France under a League of Nations mandate. Saarland was returned to Nazi Germany in the 1935 Saar status referendum. Following World War II in Europe, the territory was occupied by France then became the Saar Protectorate on 17 December 1947. After the 1955 Saar Statute referendum, it joined the Federal Republic of Germany as a state on 1 January 1957. Saarland used its own currency, the Saar franc, and postage stamps issued specially for the territory until 1959.

The International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR) was an international body established in 1949 by the Western Allies to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany. Its seat was in Düsseldorf. The Ruhr Authority was set out in the communiqué issued on 7 June 1948, after the London Six-Power Conference between the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and the Benelux countries. It was abolished following the 1951 Treaty of Paris, and its activities were given to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). An Agreement to terminate the IAR was signed at Paris on 19 October 1951, and agreement on termination of the functions of the IAR came in to force on 25 June 1952.

[todaysdocument]

“Food has now taken a dominant position in the war, and we must ask the American people to sacrifice far more than was at first thought necessary.” Herbert Hoover, U.S. Food Administration, 12/1/1917. 

Record Group 4: Records of the U.S. Food Administration

Series: General Correspondence

File Unit: No. 36 -Window Cards & Home Cards

Transcription:

United States Food Administration ADDITIONAL DIRECTION TO FIRST HOME FOOD CARD Read again your original Home Card. If you have lost it, apply for another, to the Federal Food Administrator for your State. 

The Food Administration, aside from those general directions, asks everyone to maintain rigidly a minimum of at least: 

ONE WHEATLESS day each week and one WHEATLESS MEAL each day; the wheatless day to be Wednesday. By wheatless we mean to eat no wheat products. 

ONE MEATLESS day each week which shall be Tuesday and one meatless meal each day. By meatless we need to eat no red meat — beef, pork, mutton, veal, lamb; no preserve the meat — beef, bacon, ham or lard. 

ONE PORKLESS day each week in addition to Tuesday, which shall be Saturday. By porkless we mean no fresh or salted pork, bacon, lard or ham. 

SUGAR. — You can materially reduce sugar by reducing the use of candy and sweet drinks. We will make every endeavor to see that the country is provided with a supply of household sugar on the basis of three pounds of sugar for each person per month. Do not consume more. 

HUMAN FOODSTUFFS COMPRISE THREE PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: 

PROTEIN: Mainly present in meat, bacon, fish, poultry, milk, and to some extent in grains. 

FATS: That is, butter, cream, lard, bacon, margarine, cooking fats, beans, cottonseed oil and other vegetable oils. 

CARBOHYDRATES: Grains, sugar, potatoes and other vegetables. 

As a nation we eat and waste 80 percent more protein than we require to maintain health. Therefore, we can reduce the amount of meat we eat without harm. 

We eat and waste 240 percent more fat than is necessary. 

Of the carbohydrates we can just as well consume corn, oats and the other cereals as wheat and we have abundant supplies of potatoes and vegetables. 

Do not limit your supplies of milk and table butter, but consume it all. Don't waste any. 

You can reduce the consumption of fats by reducing pastry and fried foods. 

Remember the gospel of the clean plate, the serving of small portions, the purchase of less supplies. 

HOARDING. — Any person in the United States who buys more foodstuffs than he customarily keeps at home in peace times is defeating the Food Administration and his purpose to secure a just distribution of food and its great endeavors to reduce prices. The hoarding of food in households is not unnecessary, as the Government is protecting the food supply of our people, but it is selfish and is a cause of high prices. 

Such actions multiplied by thousands increase the demands upon our railways for cars and already, because of our military demands, it is with extreme difficulty we can now move the vitally necessary food to markets. 

There is much insidious propaganda in the country against conservation and increase production. All opposition to these services is direct assistance to the enemy.

[page 2]

UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION FOR WISCONSIN OFFICIAL BUSINESS PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE TO AVOID RETURN AFTER 5 DAYS TO PAYMENT OF POSTAGE, $300 STATE CAPITAL To Members of the United States Food Administration: 

The food situation in Europe is far greater than when the preliminary survey of the food supply of the world for this year was made. We have an abundance for ourselves, and it is the firm policy of the Food Administration, by the prevention of exports, to retain for our people an ample supply of every essential foodstuff. The harvest of our Allies have proved less than we had contemplated, and the great curtailment of shipping by the submarines during the last few months has further prevented them from access to more remote markets. Beyond the demands of the Allies there is a call upon us by the friendly neutral for food supplies, and if we cannot at least in parts respond to these neutral calls, starvation on an unparalleled scale must ensue. 

Food has now taken a dominant position in the war, and we must ask the American people to sacrifice far more than was at first thought necessary. We have exported the whole of the surplus of the wheat from the harvest after reserving to ourselves an amount sufficient for our normal consumption of seed and flour until not the next harvest, and therefore the amount of wheat flour that the United States can contribute to mix with the war bread of our Allies during this winter will be simply the amount that our people reduce their consumption month by month. In other words, every grain of wheat or its products that the Allies received from the United States from now on will be exactly the amount which our people have save each month on their behalf. 

The Allies today ask for 25 per cent more meat and fats (pork, dairy products and vegetable oils) then we consider our monthly production permits us to send them without trenching on our own supplies, or, on the other hand, unless we can consume less. Due to the shortage in shipping, our available sugar supplies must be less than normal from the present time forward. 

Thus every particle of diminished consumption by the American people is one particle more for the soldiers, men, women and children of our Allies and for the starving people in other countries. This is a personal obligation upon every one of us towards some individual abroad who will suffer privatization to the extent of our own individual negligence. 

If we are to reduce the consumption of the few products which we should export abroad, we will need to eat a larger proportion of many different foodstuffs which we cannot export in which we have at home. For this reason we MUST NOT waste ANY foodstuffs. A great many individuals in our population need far more food than is necessary to maintain their health and strength. In this emergency only the simplest of living is patriotic. We want no person in the United States to be less than is required for good health and strength, or in this emergency America requires every atom of the productive power of our people. While many can eat less, all of our population can substitute other foodstuffs for the few that are vitally needed for export. 

We must not overlook the fact that Russia collapsed not because of the Germans on her borders but largely because of the failure to organize and feed her own citizens, and, if we are to emerge victorious from this war, we cannot risk the collapse of another of our allies from this same cause. There is no waste of food among any of our allies — there is the most drastic reduction in their consumption; there is actual privation among their women and children; there is starvation in Belgium. 

We have already issued a series of suggestions in the Home Card - a card that is now hanging in over ten millions of homes. These suggestions have already shown important results, and to these we now add others. The problem of saving and food is a local and individual one, so that more precise and definite rules just to all cannot be formulated. It is a matter for the conscientious consideration of every individual that he or she should eat only that which is necessary to maintain bodily health and strength and unselfishly to select those foodstuffs the use of which relieves international necessities. In this winter of 1918 lies the period when there will be tested in this great free country of ours the question as to whether or not our people are capable of voluntary individual self-sacrifice to save the world. 

HERBERT HOOVER, Washington, December 1, 1917. United States Food Administrator.

[chromaslip]

saw on quara had to share

saw on quara had to share

What would happen if former President Trump was kidnapped and arrested by a nation enemy of the United States? Would the White House do anything? Would it be a problem for National Security?

Day 1: “Hello, this is the president of Berzerkistan. We have your former President Trump. He is alive and unharmed. If you ever want to see him alive again, deliver One Million Ounces of Gold to the Prime Minister of Vietnam. After the gold is safely in our hands, we will return Former President Trump to you.” “Hello, this is President Joe Biden. It is the policy of the United States never to negotiate with terrorists. We will not pay a million ounces of gold to get Donald Trump back.”

Day 3: “Hello President Biden? This is still the president of Berzerkistan. Your Former President Trump is truly a pain in the ass, but we still have the upper hand by retaining him here. As a gesture of goodwill, we now demand One Thousand Ounces of Gold for his safe return.” “Good morning, President of Berzerkistan. We still don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Day 5: “Hello President Biden? Look, we’ll give the motherfucker back for free. What do you say?” “Nope. We still don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Day 7: “President Biden, I know that you are a good humanitarian man. My entire army has defected so they don’t have to watch Trump. What would it take for us to be rid of this worthless piece of shit?” “Look pal, you took him. He’s yours.”

Day 9: “I beg of you, President Biden. PLEASE come get this bastard. The little prick has started holding MAGA rallies in the town square. Only five people in the entire country speak English so no one knows what the hell he is saying, but we’re quickly running out of eggs and tomatoes.” “Nope. We don’t care what happens to him as long as it’s in your country. Deal with the mess you made yourself.”

Day 11: “Look asshole, I gave you guys plenty of chances to take this worthless fuck. Now you’re going to pay the penalty.” “You and whose army? Remember, yours all left the country in the middle of the night thanks to you taking Trump for yourself.”

Day 13: A very large box arrives at the FedEx terminal in Baltimore, MD. It is addressed to President Biden. When opened, Trump is in there. He was shipped with fifty pounds of whatever passes for a Big Mac in Berzerkistan, and a 55-gallon drum of Diet Coke. President Biden, with a flourish, writes the sacred inscription “return to sender” on the box and puts it back on the plane himself.

Day 15: The president of Berzerkistan files charges against President Biden in the International Criminal Court, alleging that the return of Donald Trump to Berzerkistan violates the Laws of Land Warfare, nineteen different environmental laws and four laws banning crimes against humanity. President Biden relents and offers to pay return postage if they address the box “General Delivery, Point Barrow, Alaska.”

[rabbitcruiser]

Salt Valley Viewpoint/Delicate Arch Overlook, Arches National Park (No. 2)

Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park, near Moab in Grand County, Utah, United States. The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1996. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch.

Because of its distinctive shape, the arch was known as "the Chaps" and "the Schoolmarm's Bloomers" by local cowboys. Many other names have been applied to this arch including "Bloomers Arch", "Marys Bloomers", "Old Maids Bloomers", "Pants Crotch", "Salt Wash Arch", and "School Marms Pants". The arch was given its current name by Frank Beckwith, leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, who explored the area in the winter of 1933–1934. Although there is a rumor that the names of Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch were inadvertently exchanged due to a signage mixup by the National Park Service (NPS), this is false.

Source: Wikipedia

[stamp-it-to-me]

this blog just hit 22k followers!! thank y'all very much!!

here's a 1967 Iranian fireworks stamp to celebrate! (will be posting it as a regular post soon if you'd prefer to reblog it like that)

[id: a postage stamp with a stylized illustration of several colorful fireworks against a dark blue sky. below and to the right of the fireworks is the United Nations symbol. end id]

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.7

451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town. 529 – First Corpus Juris Civilis, a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. 1141 – Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England, adopting the title "Lady of the English". 1348 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV charters Prague University. 1449 – Felix V abdicates his claim to the papacy, ending the reign of the final Antipope. 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu. 1541 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies. 1724 – Premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion, BWV 245, at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig. 1767 – End of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67). 1788 – Settlers establish Marietta, Ohio, the first permanent settlement created by U.S. citizens in the recently organized Northwest Territory. 1795 – The French First Republic adopts the kilogram and gram as its primary unit of mass. 1790 – Greek War of Independence: Greek revolutionary Lambros Katsonis loses three of his ships in the Battle of Andros. 1798 – The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and the Spanish Empire. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812. 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River. 1805 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. 1831 – Pedro II becomes Emperor of Empire of Brazil. 1862 – American Civil War: The Union's Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee. 1868 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation, is assassinated by a Fenian activist. 1906 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples. 1906 – The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco. 1922 – Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leases federal petroleum reserves to private oil companies on excessively generous terms. 1926 – Violet Gibson attempts to assassinate Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. 1927 – AT&T engineer Herbert Ives transmits the first long-distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover). 1933 – Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.) 1933 – Nazi Germany issues the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service banning Jews and political dissidents from civil service posts. 1939 – Benito Mussolini declares an Italian protectorate over Albania and forces King Zog I into exile. 1940 – Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp. 1943 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Terebovlia, Germans order 1,100 Jews to undress and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka, where they are shot and buried in ditches. 1943 – Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation. 1943 – The National Football League makes helmets mandatory. 1945 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, one of the two largest ever constructed, is sunk by United States Navy aircraft during Operation Ten-Go. 1946 – The Soviet Union annexes East Prussia as the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. 1948 – The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations. 1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference. 1955 – Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health. 1956 – Francoist Spain agrees to surrender its protectorate in Morocco. 1964 – IBM announces the System/360. 1965 – Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate in Washington, D.C. against the termination of the Colville tribe. 1968 – Two-time Formula One British World Champion Jim Clark dies in an accident during a Formula Two race in Hockenheim. 1969 – The Internet's symbolic birth date: Publication of RFC 1. 1971 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces his decision to quicken the pace of Vietnamization. 1972 – Vietnam War: Communist forces overrun the South Vietnamese town of Loc Ninh. 1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party after being arrested for faking his own death. 1977 – German Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light. 1978 – Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter. 1980 – During the Iran hostage crisis, the United States severs relations with Iran. 1982 – Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh is arrested. 1983 – During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first Space Shuttle spacewalk. 1988 – Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov orders the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. 1989 – Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, killing 42 sailors. 1990 – A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people. 1990 – John Poindexter is convicted for his role in the Iran–Contra affair.[25] In 1991 the convictions are reversed on appeal. 1994 – Rwandan genocide: Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda, and soldiers kill the civilian Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. 1994 – Auburn Calloway attempts to destroy Federal Express Flight 705 in order to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy. 1995 – First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya. 1999 – Turkish Airlines Flight 5904 crashes near Ceyhan in southern Turkey, killing six people. 2001 – NASA launches the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. 2003 – Iraq War: U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime falls two days later. 2009 – Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces. 2009 – Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent. 2011 – The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever. 2017 – A man deliberately drives a hijacked truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people and injuring fifteen others. 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump orders the 2017 Shayrat missile strike against Syria in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack. 2018 – Former Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is arrested for corruption by determination of Judge Sérgio Moro, from the “Car-Wash Operation”. Lula stayed imprisoned for 580 days, after being released by the Brazilian Supreme Court. 2018 – Syria launches the Douma chemical attack during the Eastern Ghouta offensive of the Syrian Civil War. 2020 – COVID-19 pandemic: China ends its lockdown in Wuhan. 2020 – COVID-19 pandemic: Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigns for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on USS Theodore Roosevelt and the dismissal of Brett Crozier. 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant has become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. 2022 – Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed for the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming the first black female justice.