MY POSTINGS ON PHILATELIC NEWSGROUPS

Original message. This was an outstanding American with an outstanding voice. World-famous by all accounts, but despised by his own government. Have they righted this terrible wrong and shown this great man on a stamp in the US? I would like to create a "Paul Robeson" collection for my children to learn about him. I'm also interested in stamps from other nations honouring him. He was unable to sing in Canada because the US Government confiscated his Passport and threatened him with severe judicial penalties if he left the States. Peter .

My posting. I think that not only East Germany, but also Soviet Union commemorated him on a stamp. He had an outstanding voice, for sure. He was famous there in the late 50th and I can well remember (I was there then too) how the Soviet propaganda machine presented him as a fighter for the freedom, for the American workers, for the communism and against the greedy American capitalists (= imperialists). And that at a time when the Soviet Union, under Generalissimus Stalin, was the most oppressive and imperialist country in the world! By supporting this kind of policy, P.R. has made more difficult the fight of all real defenders of liberty and individual rights.

Now concerning the collecting of P.R. stamps, it is of course up to your child and up to you. My daughter and I wouldn't.

P.S. But I strongly agree [with the idea] that no government should have the right to restrain the personal liberties (by confiscating passports or by other means) because its bureaucracy judges as politically incorrect someone's ideas.

Q: Why not have living persons on stamps?

My posting. Imagine the following Souvenir Shit: Format 5" x 4". On the left Mr. President, his First Lady and The Dog. In the middle the US and China banners and the place Tien An Men. On the right Mr. President of China and his Mr. Minister of Interior. Printed on gold foil, price: 5 c. In small print below: sponsored by the governments. Two known errors: 1. Dog missing 2. Chineese President inverted.

Original message. I'm interested 'bout Russian (soviet) Stamp collection featuring "Lenin" . Is there an URL providing details 'bout the series released in 1969-'70-'71 period concerning Lenin's activities .

My posting. Apparently, no such pages on the Web! An old joke tells about Yitzhak, who, shipwrecked on an uninhabited island, built two synagogues. He built one of them for himself and his prayers to God and the other one to never put his feet inside of it. Like him, I should create a site consecrated to Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and Ceausescu on stamps, to never visit it afterwards.

Original message. Since there are some people here who think that some of us aren't into philately / stamp collecting - but would rather get on-line and cause nothing but trouble, so let's see what a philatelist / stamp collector truly is and then move on with our collecting interests.

My posting. A few quick thoughts to what and how is a philatelist.
- By definition, it is a stamps collector
- It is somebody searching for special, rare, unusual, great, beautiful
- He (=she) is friendly (and as such does not spam newsgroups)
- Has a passionate character and usually loves to speak about and to show his personal treasures
- Has also a strong personality, being capable to make clear choices.
- Most of us folks, especially on the Net, is really sympathetic and interesting people.

Back from my vacation, I read in the "Canada's Stamps DETAILS", Vol. VII No 5, 1998:

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written by John Peters Humphrey, a Canadian born in ... Humphrey became Director of the Human Rights Division in the UN Secretariat and was tasked with drafting the Declaration. Unfortunately, his contribution somehow became obscured and a representative from France was credited as the "Father of the Universal Declaration" and awarded with the 1968 Nobel Prize". More recently, however, researchers uncovered Humphrey's draft, typed with his hand-written notations and he was subsequently honoured with a UN Human Rights Prize".

- Does anybody know who was the France representative who "was credited" as the author of the Declaration and also why was he credited, instead of Mr. Humphrey?

- And another question, probably more difficult to answer: How is it possible, especially concerning a living person who could have and probably has told the truth, that "his contribution somehow became obscured"? Shouldn't the Article 27 (2) of his own Declaration, in the organization that issued it and had the duty to enforce it, protect his rights too? I think this was a big injustice toward Mr. Humphrey.

Note: Article 27 (2) - "Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author". I quote here from the UN stamp issued in 1993. Even if some Articles of the Declaration are questionable, this one isn't for sure. My point is that the Declaration itself pertains to the "scientific production" and therefore offers the moral protection of the rights of his author (by the recognition of his merits).

Original message. I recently obtained a copy of a Russian stamp (Scott #918) which clearly shows a Soviet soldier bayoneting a German soldier. Several Russian stamps of this period show combat scenes, but none is quite so openly violent as this one. The thought naturally crossed my mind that one does not often see violence on postage stamps despite the prevalence of violence in our world. It's ok for the evening news, but not for stamps, which normally portray our world the way we would like it to be rather than the way it is. Anyway, is anyone aware of other stamps which portray violence. It could be an interesting, if somewhat grim, topical area to pursue. Bob.

My posting. I found your message very interesting. After Merriam-Webster, violence is 1: exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse 2 : injury by or as if by infringement or profanation 3 : intense or furious often destructive action of force.

Violence is often expressed on stamps, but usually in a hidden way, not so explicitly as in your example. I assert that this fact doesn't make the"hidden violence" stamps less violent. I'll try to illustrate it by a few examples, taken from the stamps of only one country - Rumania (not because the stamps of this country are more violent then others, but because I know them and their history better).

- 1940. Iron Guard Fund. Stamps with surtax (till 400%). Official help of the state (at most offices only these stamps were offered = use of force) for the fascist (known as a extremely violent) movement.
- 1941. Occupation of Cernauti. Stamps with surtax (till 2000%). The occupation of Cernauti by the Rumanian troops started with a three days plunder of Jewish population and later by the establishment of a ghetto.
- 1948. Census of 1948. The first stamp of the new Popular Romanian Republic. Census forms obliged to declare everything (money , properties, ...), information used for later expropriations.
- 1952. Currency revalued. Over 80 quickly overprinted stamps. By taken from the population the last reserves it had, it set up the full dependency of people from the state and its jobs.
- 1956. Collective Farming. Two stamps, one with the inscription 1951-1956 (the error), the second with 1949-1956. A meaningful blank of the postal authorities! It stayed for the expropriation of farmers (land, beast) and the obligation to work in collectives.

Now Bob, please let me know what do you think, are the stamps I quoted less violent? Another question please, against whom do you think is it easier to fight, against the visible enemy on the front or against the less visible enemy I refer to earlier? Anyway, I think that my examples could represent an interesting extension of the topic you proposed.

BTW, I like the stamps that "portray our world the way we would like it", or, in my words, they portray our world the way it should be [free of violence].

Original message. i have some Deutsches Reich Hitler 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, ... RM, 2 RM + 1x 20 unused tell me what you want to pay! greetings Gerd

My posting. DM 1.00 if you send me their ashes. You asked, I answered!

Subject: Non Value Indicator. Stamps with a figure, letter or symbol in place of a value expressed in a currency are in use by several postal administrations worldwide.

My posting. I like this term: Non Value Indicator! You know the old saying: a business without sign is no sign of business. The new one would be: a stamp without value is no sign of stamp (and no sign of value either ;-) See my page (click here) for some indications about these indicators.

Subject: FS. This week's Hitler cover. This week's Hitler cover is also my first attempt at selling on Ebay. Please bid early and often!...Myron may even approve of this, since Adolf's face is obliterated!

My posting. I think that everyone can try to sell everything he wants, but not on RCSD. That 'D' stands for discuss, not for Marketplace, isn't it? But because it was posted to Discuss, I will take advantage of it and shortly comment the last sentence. I am sure that for Mr. L., as for myself, the fact that Hitler's face is obliterated don't make of him a better Hitler. We know that Hitler lost his face a long time ago, and forever. Who's next?

Revised: 07/12/00.	Please click the banner to visit the site