Untitled (a.k.a 'a night') by Simon Pais-Thomas

Postcard US-2266937 to Germany shows a piece of artwork Untitled (a.k.a 'a night') by photographer Simón Pais-Thomas from Santiago, Chile. It was from the opening series of the exhibition "Little Endings" (Finales Pequeños), on display at Salón Tudor, Santiago, Chile through October 7, 2007.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is an annual event to promote reduced energy consumption for the planet Earth by turning off non-essential lights for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March. It was first organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then, 7,000 cities, 1,200 landmarks and 172 countries and territories have joined the action to raise the awareness of climate change.

Postcard US-1630412 to the Netherlands shows New York-New York Hotel & Casino before and during Earth Hour in Las Vegas on March 26, 2011. It features a quote from a Senegalese forestry engineer Baba Dioum: "In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught." Sent before and received on Earth Day, April 22, 2012, it also highlighted the theme for Earth Day 2012: Mobilize the Earth.

For Earth Hour 2015 on Saturday, March 28, Las Vegas City Hall and the properties from MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and Boyd Gaming all dimmed their exterior lighting, signage and marquees from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. In addition to dimming the lights, Venetian and Palazzo had put on a candlelight display at Doge's Palace Plaza in front of Venetian.

Candlelight display for Earth Hour 2015 at Venetian with Mirage dimming its lights in the background.

Earth Hour 2016 will be on Saturday, March 26, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time.

National Day of Encouragement

September 12, 2014 is the National Day of Encouragement in the United States.

It was started by the Encouragement Foundation at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas in 2007. The first proclamation for the Day of Encouragement was issued by Mayor Belinda LaForce of Searcy, Arkansas on August 22, 2007. Mike Beebe, the current Governor of Arkansas since 2007, made a proclamation for September 12, 2007 as the "State Day of Encouragement" for Arkansas. A U.S. Senator simple resolution designated September 12, 2011 as "National Day of Encouragement."

As we all need some encouragement from time to time, why don't we make every day a Day of Encouragement.  Joe Grace pointed out five easy ways to celebrate National Day of Encouragement:

1. Tell somebody "great job" today,
2. High-fives, high-fives, high-fives, 
3. Call, email or text a friend or family member you haven't contact in a while, 
4. Help someone along with their goals,
5. Smile more.

Señor Frog's in Las Vegas

Postcard US-2412914 to California shows a variation of the "Keep Calm" motivation postcards, purchased at the University of Florida store at Zazzle. Interestingly, contrary to the intention of the phrase that was originated from a U.K. government propaganda campaign during World War II,  a trademark dispute occurred over the phrase as a registered EU trademark. The EU Trademark Office rejected the cancellation request on July 31, 2013. However, since trademark rights are jurisdictional, "Keep Calm" products are still available from third parities in the U.S. Searching "keep calm postcards" at Zazzle yields 163,485 results as of today.

Groningen, the Netherlands

Postcard NL-2213389 from the Netherlands shows a city view of Groningen, the capital city of Groningen Province and the largest city in the northern Netherlands with a population of 198,108 in 2014. As a college town, students account for one-fourth of the total population with 28,000 from the University of Groningen and 25,000 from Hanze University of Applied Sciences.

Groningen was noted as the "World Cycling City" in 2007 because 57% of trips within the city were made by bicycle. A large network of bike paths make it convenient to cycle to various destinations. Groningen was named as Fietsstad 2002, the top BikeCity in the Netherlands for 2002.

The local football club, FC Groningen, founded in 1971, is playing in the Dutch highest football league the Eredivisie.

Today, the Netherlands National Football Team claimed third place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a 3:0 victory Over Brazil.

Giant Rubber Duck in Taoyuan, Taiwan

The yellow duck came from Taiwan as a private swap. It was one of those world's largest rubber ducks, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, usually at 16.5 × 20 × 32 meters in dimension and over 600 kg in weight. Since 2007, several ducks in various sizes licensed by Hofman have toured several countries and territories such as Amsterdam in Netherlands, Lommel in Belgium, and most recently Taoyuan in Taiwan.

Hofman created the giant rubber duck for a tour named "Spreading Joy Around the World" in 2007 by bringing back people's childhood memories. After the display at the Glory Pier in Kaohsiung went off without a hitch from September 19 to October 20, 2013, the Land Art Festival (桃園地景藝術節) in Xiwu Township, Taoyuan had its own debut of the 18-meter-tall, 18-meter-wide and 25-meter-long yellow duck on October 26, 2013. However, it became a high-profile victim of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake when an air pump went out of service on November 1 during a power outage triggered by earthquake. As a result, it deflated before exploding during an attempt to re-inflate it in high wind.

Organizers at the Taoyuan County Cultural Affairs Bureau borrowed the duck commissioned by Kaohsiung city government that drew 4 million visitors. Yet the strong winds kept the alternative duck on dry ground for another few days, which made it the first Hofman's duck displayed on land. You can watch a video clip "Giant rubber duck pops in Taoyuan following earthquake" on Youtube.

International Day of Democracy

Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street Protest Camp Site

In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to observe September 15 as the International Day of Democracy for the purpose of promoting and upholding the principles of democracy. Part of the resolution reads: “ while democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy and that democracy does not belong to any country or region... democracy is a universal value based on the freely-expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems, and their full participation in all aspects of life."

I made this postcard to commemorate the International Day of Democracy from one of my photos at Zuccotti Park, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest camp site, in New York City in 2011.

Occupy Wall Street is a protest movement that focuses on issues such as social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government, especially from the financial industry. It uses the slogan "We are the 99%" to highlight the income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. To achieve their goals, protesters acted on consensus-based decisions made in general assemblies which emphasized direct action over petitioning authorities for redress. The moment symbolizes a democracy process with the freely-expressed will and the full participation of the protesters.

The postcard shows the protesters gathering in the park by "Joie de Vivre" by artist Mark di Suvero, a 21.3 m or 70 ft tall sculpture of bright-red beams.

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Postcard NZ-91131 from New Zealand, showing a Maori carving, arrived on September 13, 2013, the 6th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly during its 61st session in New York City in 2007.

According to Wikipedia, the purpose of the Declaration is to "set out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues". It also "emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions, and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations". It "prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples"; and it "promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development". The goal of the Declaration is to encourage countries to work alongside indigenous peoples to solve global issues, like development, multicultural democracy and decentralization. There is a major emphasis that the indigenous peoples will be able to protect their cultural heritage and other aspects of their culture and tradition.

New Zealand, along with Australia, Canada, and United States, initially voted against the Declaration. All four countries have since endorsed the Declaration. New Zealand's endorsement came on April 19, 2010,

On the postcard, it noted "Traditional Maori carving designs feature human or near-human figures, with the spiral also an important element."

Peace

Postcard US-2378823 to Germany shows a section of the Forbidden City's outer wall and moat at its East Glorious Gate. The photo was taken on October 7, 2007 during my trip to Beijing, China.

The Forbidden City had been the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty for almost 500 years. It is now houses the Palace Museum. Built from 1406 to 1420, the Forbidden City, with 980 buildings on a 720,000 sq m or 7,800,000 sq ft ground, exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture that has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and around the world. 

The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO. The rainbow-colored character on the top right means "PEACE" in Chinese.