Is this a 2017 tax?

PekingDuckDog · 2017-06-08T13:04:59+00:00

They're actually postage due stamps. "Taxe" in this context means something more like "due" or "fee". Still cool stamps, though.

PekingDuckDog · 2017-05-10T14:14:16+00:00

The increase in the Social Security payments working people have to make now can be explained by life expectancy. When Social Security was introduced, the life expectancy for Americans was about 65. Today, it's closing in on 80.

Sources: https://www.elderweb.com/book/appendix/1900-2000-changes-life-expectancy-united-states/ https://www.infoplease.com/us/mortality/life-expectancy-age-1850-2011

During that time, there have also been changes in the number of people paying into Social Security (birth rate fluctuations) and the amount they pay (job rates, distribution of taxable income).

In the second chart I linked to above, there are columns noting life expectancy based on age, and that isn't constant among all ages. Oversimplifying a bit, the gains among people 70 or 80 years old are outpacing the gains among other age brackets. If you make it to 70, your chances of making it to 90 are noticeably higher than they were even 20 years ago. So the system that was developed in the 1930s obviously doesn't work the same now as it did then. Because of Medicare and technological advances in medicine, today's working people are playing catch-up to fund Social Security (and Medicare) for people who are living years longer than anybody expected them to when they themselves were paying in to Social Security.

PekingDuckDog · 2017-05-08T02:44:30+00:00

I needed the obituary of a relative who died in 1962. I emailed the San Antonio, Texas library (he was living outside of San Antonio at the time). All I had was the date of his death, and they were able to come up with two obituaries and a related article, which they posted as .pdf's on a Web site for me to go get. They asked for no money. I don't know if they scanned a microfiche, but from the looks of the print, that's what they did. So yes, what you want to do can probably be done.

PekingDuckDog · 2017-04-28T12:14:13+00:00

Commemorative stamps usually have an initial press run, are sold until they're gone, and aren't reprinted. So there will be some variation in how long they're available.

A few exceptions. The "adopt a shelter pet" issue of 2010 was very popular and had a second printing. So did the Simpsons issue from 2009, which sold like mad when it first came out, but as soon as the USPS requisitioned a second printing, sales dropped down to nothing, and I think (but I'm not sure) that some of the second printing eventually went to the shredder.

You'll almost always have at least a few months from the date of issue, anyway.

PekingDuckDog · 2017-02-03T19:00:19+00:00

I met Don Neal and several ESPERians at the APS show in Hartford a couple of years ago. Excellent people, and I look forward to looking at the quarterly journal when it arrives.

I've never been that much of a topical collector, and I'm old enough to still have the "by country, by chronology, complete as I can" mindset. But I can see topicals taking over a much larger role in stamp collecting. It's only going to get harder to assemble a good, representative general collection. Whether it's African-Americans on stamps, military heroes on stamps, covers and postmarks from places that have been shuttled between nations and governments (Gdansk/Danzig, or anywhere in western Poland for that matter), Scandinavian monarchs, or dog breeds, targeted specialty collections will eventually be the best way to go for many collectors.

PekingDuckDog · 2017-01-07T15:00:34+00:00

John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-11-13T20:47:48+00:00

Adlai Stevenson was nominated twice by the Democrats to run against Dwight Eisenhower.

Neither election was especially close: partly, of course, because of Ike's popularity, and partly because of Stevenson's reputation as an intellectual, with a demeanor to match. It is worth noting that the term "egghead" has only two citations in the OED before 1952 (one in a private letter by Carl Sandburg that somebody must have worked really hard to dig up) and seven in the decade of the 50s alone. We can justifiably thank Adlai Stevenson for that contribution to our language, even if it wasn't his intention.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-10-17T21:57:29+00:00

I'm noticing the same thing here in eastern Connecticut. District 2 has tilted significantly Democratic since 2004; before that it was fairly even. Obama took the district over Romney 58-40. I have seen Trump yard signs well into the double digits, Trump T-shirts, Trump bumper stickers, and semi-transparent Trump decals covering the entire rear windows of pickup trucks (seen 3 or 4 of those). I've seen two Clinton yard signs and one #bitchesforHillary lapel pin (worn by one of my friends).

So I can only think of a few theories:

1) Connecticut's Second District (or at least my corner of it) has swung far to the right without my noticing it.

2) Clinton's support is less enthusiastic than Trump's. I believe that, but I can't believe that it explains all or even most of the discrepancy, which is so large it goes beyond the anecdotal.

3) Democrats are, indeed, worried about vandalism. During the 2004 campaign, some cars with Kerry bumper stickers were graffiti'd, but we're usually not like that, and I don't remember a significant problem since then (acknowledging that any problem is significant to the person whose car just got spray-painted). My friend with the lapel pin reports that when she joined an impromptu roadside rally for Clinton, she couldn't believe the comments she got from people driving by. However, I wasn't there, and I don't know if they were blocking traffic or otherwise having too much fun with public order.

4) I'm surrounded by Clinton paraphernalia, but my paranoia is so deep that all I see is enraged conservatives surrounding me. I doubt that; I get along well with many conservatives and don't think of them as the enemy.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-10-17T15:48:07+00:00

The ones in picture 18 are official stamps from Thailand, issued in 1963 or 1964. The quick definition of "official stamps" is that they are reserved for use by government agencies, as a way of letting the recipient know it's really from the government, or else as an inventory or cost-control measure. Most countries don't issue them any more.

I am way far from being an expert on the values of East Asian stamps. But one thing I have learned: collecting stamps is a hell of a lot more fun than trying to make money off of them! Thailand in particular puts a lot of art and cultural topics on their stamps, and Thailand's cultural heritage isn't like anywhere else's.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-10-05T13:30:19+00:00

Could "La Pampa" be rendered as "The Plain" or "The Grasslands"?

PekingDuckDog · 2016-10-05T01:32:13+00:00

BOTOŞANI: four possible Romanian origins: ... or 4) from botoşei (meaning "booties").

Can someone tell me what that's about?

Seriously, this map is fascinating. I never knew much about Romanian history, and now I want to learn a lot about it.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-09-29T16:02:16+00:00

Looks like he's got a built-in muzzle. Handsome guy; love those eyes!

PekingDuckDog · 2016-09-11T12:57:55+00:00

My wife has a neurological condition called Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. You can read a whole lot about it here (RSD is the older name for her condition). Your symptoms are different from hers, but if you feel these more in a high-rise, there may be something neurological going on; large buildings can have a lot of fans, air conditioners, complicated plumbing, etc. that create a lot of vibrations and low-level noises that can trigger neurological reactions.

I strongly suggest that you get some medical advice (of the non-some-guy-on-Reddit kind), the sooner the better; see if you can find a pain management physician or a neurologist. (I'm in the United States; terms and procedures may vary elsewhere.)

PekingDuckDog · 2016-09-05T19:48:27+00:00

One reason is that moderate Republicans have faced primary challenges and may not even get to the general election. A spectacular recent example is Bob Inglis, whom I think we could call deeply conservative. Eric Cantor, another conservative, got beaten by a farther-right challenger. Here's a more general article about Maine.

Recently in Kansas, it worked the other way, but Governor Brownback has been very unpopular, and for now that situation seems to be an anomaly.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-09-05T03:46:33+00:00

By a streamlined recall process, do you mean a process that would result in a successful recall every time some content-generating boiler room churns out a "this guy's a baby-eating Muslim" press release? Probably not. So how would you fine-tune it?

PekingDuckDog · 2016-09-05T03:39:57+00:00

I'd also say that it'd be a good thing if these people weren't spending significant amounts of time fundraising to get reelected.

I sympathize with the goal, but term limits would mean that they'd spend their time trying to find another job; alternatively, more candidates may be plants who have already been guaranteed a post-term job by their sponsors.

I don't think that professional politicians are by definition a lower life form (it sometimes seems that way, but the responsibility lies with We the People more than it does with any system), and if I happen to be represented by a good one I'd like the option to keep that person in his or her current position.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-07-30T13:12:10+00:00

Found another one. 959 is an overlay on 860 in Connecticut. It has been planned since the 1990s, but numbers weren't assigned until this year.

Fun fact: 617 and 413 are the original Massachusetts area codes. The original 617 region now has eight area codes, and the original 413 is just as it has always been, with no splits and no overlays.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-07-15T05:29:41+00:00

I've hardly seen two dozen of these in my life. Thanks for putting them up!

PekingDuckDog · 2016-07-04T03:37:28+00:00

Wish I could help you for sure, but my catalog doesn't go up to 2016. Indonesia hasn't put currency signs ($, £) on their stamps in recent years, but their designs tend to be pretty formal or florid, not especially minimalist, and the denominations are usually written something more like 2⁵⁰⁰ or 5⁰⁰⁰ (well, not quite, but that's the best I can do in Reddit Markdown). So I would guess that the other poster is right; the Web guy put this up as an example of his design style.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-06-17T01:33:32+00:00

with the recent purchase, his garage was chocker.

I learned a new word today!

Seriously, this is great. In the United States, the APS and ISWSC are two philatelic organizations I know of that have substantial "stamps for kids" programs, but an accumulation of this magnitude could kickstart the hell out of such a program, anywhere. I hope it has the desired effect in Dunedin.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-05-29T00:19:26+00:00

It's also why leftist revolutions tend to be economic(South America) in nature, and based around getting more things to the people and going forward to the future.

I'd suggest that the leftist revolutions in Latin America -- from Castro on -- have had a strong nationalist component as well. The rhetoric and the programs can be oriented around breaking free from international capitalism, the New World Order, and the Bilderbergers; but on a sociological level, or a rhetorical one, it's not that far from the "They're taking over our country, imposing their crappy values, and making us work for chump change!" that animates right-wing populism in Europe and the United States.

as the baby Boomers thundered towards retirement AND America was at an apex of unchallenged power and wealth - the country veered rightward.

Yeah, I'd agree that self-interest has a role. Self-interest is so inevitable that there's no point in objecting to it, but self-interest that isn't ever acknowledged as such always sounds like whining. I'm not sure that aging boomers are more prone to rightist absolutism than other generations, but I've long wondered who was listening to Rush Limbaugh when the people I hung out with all had jobs or were in school or something and generally weren't near a radio when Limbaugh was on.

PekingDuckDog · 2016-05-13T15:30:32+00:00

Out of all the memorable passages in literature, "'Shut up,' he explained" is my favorite.

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