10th Anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Marked

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that happened on December 26, 2004 and devastated Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other countries around the Pacific Rim as one of worst natural disasters in modern history.

Banda Aceh in Indonesia's Aceh province was among the hardest hit areas. More than 160,000 people died in Indonesia, accounting for more than 50% of the total 230,000 victims killed from all affected countries. Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla attended a ceremony in Banda Aceh today where many ambassadors of countries that assisted in the massive recovery effort 10 years ago were also present.

The stamped card was purchased at the Banda Aceh Post Office in early 2005 when I was volunteering in the recover effort. It has two of the four birds stamps issued on January 7, 1992: a 100 Rp White-crested Laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus) and a 200 Rp. Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense) with a remark "Dijamin Asli" (guaranteed authentic) on the bottom of the card.

View image | gettyimages.com

Santa in an Airship High Over the Panama Canal

A wrong number listed on a Colorado Springs newspaper advertisement by Sears started NORAD's Santa Tracking program in 1955. Google also started to track Santa's movement in 2004 as a Google Maps service. However, the radar tracking may reveal Santa is not on a sleigh after all, as the vintage postcard US-3141511 from Virginia shows that Santa Claus on an airship overlooks the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.

LOSAC

Reddit is a social networking and news website where registered users can submit contents to be voted "up" or "down" by other users, so that the contents' positions on the site are determined by their popularity. Content entries are organized by areas of interest called "subreddits."

Reddit Gold is its premium membership program with extra features such as turning off ads as well as special benefits from gold partners for promotional products and services. The membership costs US$3.99/month, or US$29.99/year.  You can also send a postcard for a free one-month Reddit Gold membership.

Postcards 3579, sent to Reddit for a free one-month Reddit Gold membership, shows a parody photo made via Adobe's Photoshop from the Biggest Little City in the World sign in Reno, Nevada. One of my projects LOSAC - Lake Okeechobee Stage-Area-Capacity System - won the 2004 Exemplary System in Government award at the 2004 URISA Annual Conference in Reno during November 7-10, 2004. The parody photo was used for the opening of a slide show introducing my project.

In Memory of Chinese Linguist Ji Xianlin

Professor Ji Xianlin (季羡林), born August 6, 1911, was a Chinese Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian, and writer. He passed away in Beijing five years ago on July 11, 2009.

The postcard shows the campus of Peking University where Professor Ji founded the Department of Eastern Languages soon after his return from oversea in 1946. He became dean of the department and held a long career as one of greatest scholars in China in the field of Eastern studies, specialized in ancient Indian languages and culture. In 1978, Prof. Ji became vice president of Peking University and director of the Chinese Academy of Science's Research Institute on South Asia.

Coincidentally, another Chinese scholar was lost in the same day. Philosopher Ren Jiyu (任继愈), born April 15, 1916, was a scholar in religious studies and historian, and the Honorary Director of the National Library of China. He passed away in Beijing on July 11, 2009 at the age of 93.

In September 2004, Professor Ji Xianlin and Ren Jiyu, along with three other prominent scholars, jointly issued the 2004 Cultural Declaration at the 2004 Cultural Summit Forum in Beijing, The Declaration emphasizes the necessity of coexistence of a diverse-culture, and promotes equal rights for cultural exchanges, under the background of accelerating globalization.

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) is celebrated every year on May 17. According to Wikipedia, "the day aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide."

The date of May 17 was chosen to commemorate the decision to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1990.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on May 17, 2004. Since then, more states have followed suit, and public awareness and support has increased. Nationwide, same-sex marriage is now legal in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Bans have been struck down in Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and most recently, Arkansas and Idaho, pending appeals.

Locally, the Las Vegas steering committee of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is celebrating its Ninth Annual Gala Dinner with Golden-Globe and Emmy Award-Winning actor John Lithgow at Wynn on May 17, 2014. Celebrity appearances by screenwriter of the HBO “Big Love,” Dustin Lance Black; the cast members of Le Rêve, Melody Sweets of Absinthe, TV personality Chris Saldaña are expected with red carpet at 4:30 p.m. and the gala at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, businesses are taking notes and have been increasingly embracing LGBT friendly approaches. The advertising card from the Tropicana Las Vegas promotes the hotel as a transformed LGBT friendly destination and boasts a score 90 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) 2013 Corporate Equality Index on their website. The Tropicana has also been hosting Xposed!, a new weekly LGBTQ beach party at at Tropicana Beach Club, on Saturdays since March 29, 2014.

The Latter Days

Thirty five years ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) opens its priesthood to "all worthy men" on June 9, 1978, ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men. A line in the lyrics of "the Book of Mormon" alluded above event: "I believe that in 1978 God changed his mind about black people..."

I realized that I still had a couple of the advertising cards of the movie "Latter Days" from its screening at the Gateway Theatre in Fort Lauderdale on February 20, 2004. According to IMDB, the movie is about a promiscuous gay party animal who falls for a young Mormon missionary, leading to crisis, cliché, and catastrophe. You can watch Latter Days' official trailer on Youtube.

So, I hope some day the LDS church will recognize LGBT members are belong to "all worthy men", not someones who have mental diseases to be cured. Indeed, changes are in the air. Stephanie Mencimer from MotherJones had a pair articles on Mormon Church Abandons Its Crusade Against Gay Marriage, and How the Mormons Ensured Victory for Gay Marriage. Recently, LDS Church accepted new Boy Scout policy on gay members.

I bought a copy of the Latter Days movie when it was out in DVDs. I feel It still resonate with anyone who has ever fallen in love when I watched it again after all these years. Now you can own a copy in Blu-ray from Amazon. 

Ronald Reagon and DCA

Ronald Reagon Washington National Airport (DCA)

Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, passed away 9 years ago on June 5, 2004,  after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. I received a card US-2060886 showing Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) that was renamed from Washington National in 1998 to honor the former U.S. President. 

In the same year of 1998, Florida's Turnpike was designated as the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, originally known as the Sunshine State Parkway, by the Florida Legislature. There is a List of Things named after Ronald Reagan on Wikipedia.