Santa Monica Beach

Postcard US-3841697 to Germany shows a January, 2003 photo at Santa Monica beach near Los Angeles, CA when I was visiting from Florida. The picture was taken on the 100-year-old Santa Monica Pier, looking north. It was fascinating to see beaches on the Pacific Ocean side.

It was before the US-led Iraq invasion in May, 2003. I had just watched the debates about starting the invasion on TV in my hotel room before taking a walk on the pier. In less a month, then US Secretary of State Colin Powell would go to the United Nations Security Council to present his now infamous speech loaded with flaws on February 5, 2003. I can't help but wonder what if we could turn back time and change the course of history?  Without the war, we would be in a much better world today.

World Oceans Day

World Oceans Day, celebrated on June 8 every year, was originally proposed by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. It was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008. The 2015 Theme is "Healthy oceans, healthy planet."

The United Nations Postal Administration issued three panes of 12 stamps on May 31, 2013 to raise awareness for World Oceans Day. The artwork by Yoshito Hirano on Postcard JP-240233 from Japan illustrates the important relationship between human settlements and the ocean.

International Day of Human Space Flight

United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight on April 7, 2011, in commemoration of the first manned space flight by the 27-year-old Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. Gagarin circled the Earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.

On April 12, 1981, exactly 20 years after the first manned space flight, Space Shuttle Columbia was launched for the first orbital flight as mission STS-1.

Postcard RU-2069606 from Russia shows Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968), a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who was the first human made into outer space.

Water and Sustainable Development

The United Nations designated March 22 as the World Water Day in Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The first World Water Day was observed on March 22, 1993. 22 years later, the theme for World Water Day 2015 is Water and Sustainable Development.

With a tag line "a day to celebrate, a day to change, a day to prepare," World Water Day is a day to celebrate water; a day to make a difference for the members of the global population who suffer from water related issues; and a day to prepare for how we manage water in the future.

Postcard US-2680017 to Australia shows a swamp view of the Everglades, a tropical wetlands ecosystem in South Florida. Sustainability was a major component in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan approved by Congress in 2000. A first-of-its-kind economic impact report has detailed the benefits of Everglades restoration that results in an increase in job creation, real estate values and water quality.

The theme for 2014 World Water Day last year was Water and Energy.

Sunset Over Sabang Bay, Indonesia

Postcard US-2293197 to Michigan shows a beautiful sunset view over Sabang Bay in Aceh Province, Indonesia. It was one of those postcards I bought when I was volunteering in Banda Aceh, Indonesia in 2005. A similar card was featured in this blog last year for the International Day for Disaster Reduction, which was designated as October 13 by the UN General Assembly in 2009, replacing the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction that was part of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in the 1990s. The theme for 2014 is "Resilience is for Life."

Best known for snorkeling and diving, Sabang Bay is located on the north side of Pulau Weh, an island north of Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra. On the sidebar of the postcard, Rubiah Island, Ulee-Lheu Beach, Lhok Seudu Beach, and Lhok Nga Beach are shown from top to bottom.

#HeForShe: Emma Watson on Women's Rights

Harry Potter movie star Emma Watson, a Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, calling on men to join her #HeForShe campaign for gender equality during a powerful speech in New York City on Saturday September 20, 2014.

Gender equality is not only a women's issue, as she pointed out: "I've seen young men suffering from illness, unable to ask for help for fear it will make them less of a man ... I've seen men fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don't have the benefits of equality, either. We don't often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that they are."

An anonymous user at 4Chan website had threatened to leak nude photos of the actress for speaking out. The incident highlights the current unequal social landscape in a long history of bullying against women both on and off the Internet. It adds urgency to act: "If not me, who? If not now, when?"

The featured postcard was a Harry Potter stamped card showing Hermione Granger, a fictional character played by Emma Watson in the Harry Potter series. It was sent in for a black and white or “hand cancel” first-day-of-issue postmark of 1.733" x 1.222″ in size.

400,000 March for Attetion to Global Warming in New York City

Earlier in the Sunday morning, People’s Climate March started with people lining up along 27 blocks on Central Park West, from 59th Street to 86th Street, in New York City. It was part of coordinated efforts, around the world from Hollywood, to London, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro, that demand the governments and world leaders to take action on climate change.

It coincides with the United Nations Climate Summit that starts on Tuesday September 23, 2014. More than 120 world leaders will congregate in New York City to prepare a binding global climate treaty for the climate talks in Paris in December, 2014. The treaty aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing use of renewable energy. A similar effort failed in Copenhagen in 2009. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among the marchers in New York. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at the Climate Summit.

The featured postcard shows an illustration of the Cumulonimbus Hot Tower by Graeme Stephens in 2003. Cumulonimbus clouds are the kings of all clouds, rising from low altitude up to more than 12,000 meters or 40,000 feet. Tehy grow due to rising and falling currents, with their top flattening out into an anvil shape. Cumulonimbus clouds are a sure sign of severe weather, with heavy rain and possible hail. NASA has deployed Cloudsat, a mission using advanced radar technology to study clouds. It is part of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program. Along with other programs in NASA's Earth Observing System, it helps further understanding of the climate change issues.

The Answer

When I was assigned postcard US-2921298 to Maine, the recipient stated her loves of poetry in the profile and asked to include a line of a poem on the card. What came to my mind was from the Answer by a Chinese poet Bei Dao (北岛, born August 2, 1949 in Beijing): "卑鄙是卑鄙者的通行证，高尚是高尚者的墓志铭" that would be directly translated into: "Despicable acts are the passport for the Villain; Honorable deeds are the tombstone for the Noble." As Bei Dao is the most notable representative of the Misty Poets (朦胧诗), a group of Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in China, he opens his 1976 poem by reflecting what a twisted world was where the Villain got a free pass and the Noble was met with death. You can read the full poem with English translation in a blog on sciencenet.cn or a blog on sina.com.cn.

Bei Dao has won numerous awards, including the Swedish PEN Tucholsky Prize, International Poetry Argana Award from the House of Poetry in Morocco, and the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. He is a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, elected in 1996. He has been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

While China is moving toward a more open and free society, thanks to many advocates like Bei Dao, it is not lost on me that such a twisted world could exist anywhere where the power is absolute and without supervision. That's why we need to vigorously safeguard our civil rights and civil liberties so that we can maintain a society where the Villain will be punished and the Noble will be honored.

Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa

Postcard ZA-50304 from South Africa shows car lights brighten the busy national road from the north at Bellville, a city in the greater Cape Town metropolitan area. Originally called "12 Mile Post" as it is located 12 miles or 20 kilometers from the city center of Cape Town, Bellville was originally founded as a railway station on the line from Cape Town to Stellenbosch and Strand. It was renamed to Bellville in 1861, named after the Surveyor-General Charles Davidson Bell (October 22, 1813 - April 7, 1882),  who was also an artist and designer.

The postcard arrived a few days before what would be Nelson Mandela's 96th birthday on July 18, 2014. As the former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Mandela passed away at 95 last year on December 5, 2013. His birthday was officially declared as Nelson Mandela International Day by the United Nations in November 2009; and the first Mandela Day celebration hosted by UN was held on July 18, 2010. This is the first time the day has been celebrated since his death, in honor of his legacy through volunteering and community service.

Google Doodle made a beautiful tribute to Nelson Mandela today.

Water and Energy

Water and Energy is the theme of World Water Day in 2014, observed on March 22. On the official website, it states: "Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent. Energy generation and transmission requires utilization of water resources, particularly for hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal energy sources. Conversely, about 8% of the global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water to various consumers."

Postcard US-2367611 to Turkey shows the Black Canyon and the Colorado River downstream from the Hoover Dam. Arizona is on the left side of the canyon and Nevada is on the right side of the postcard. The U-shaped structure at the base of the dam is the power plant that hosts power generators insider. Now ranking in the 50th, it was once the largest hydroelectric power station in the world in 1939.

In Las Vegas, to highlight that millions of people around the world still do not have access to a safe and steady water supply and sustainable solutions can be found if we focus our efforts and our resources, Cirque du Soleil is presenting an one-night-only annual “One Night for One Drop” spectacular for the second year at Mandalay Bay tonight, with performs by guest star entertainers and casts from Cirque du Soleil shows on the Strip. As a result,  all eight Cirque du Soleil shows will be closed as the cast and crew are participanting the philanthropic show this evening.

International Mountain Day

International Mountain Day was designated as December 11 by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that leads the observance, it is an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build partnerships that will bring positive change to the world’s mountains and highlands. The theme for 2013 is "Mountains - Key to a Sustainable Future".

Postcard US-2260961 to Belarus showcases one of the most beautiful mountains and major tourist destinations.in China -- Huangshan. Huangshan (黄山), literally Yellow Mountain, is a located in Anhui Province. The mountain ranges were a result of the uplift movement from an ancient sea during the Mesozoic era, about 100 million years ago; then they were carved by glaciers during the Quaternary. The area is now well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly shaped granite peaks, Huangshan Pine trees, and views of the clouds from above. Huangshan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography (source: Wikipedia). It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.

International Volunteer Day

International Volunteer Day is observed each year on December 5th since 1985. It offers an opportunity for both volunteer organizations and individuals to make their contributions visible; thus raise awareness for volunteering and encourage others to get involved. #IVD2013 

Postcard US-1834687 to Canada shows a volunteer's T-Shirt flying high over Banda Aceh in early 2005 during my volunteering trip to Indonesia to assist in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami relief efforts. The accompany poem from a friend reads:

The world is sadden by the tragic news;
Everything is destroyed by the giant waves on their paths;
Ruins are the all you can see and cries are the all you can hear;
Bodies are scatted on the beach covered with seaweeds from the deep sea;

The only thing left are our loving hearts that will last like the Sun and the Moon;
As well as our determinations like the thunders;
Crossing the suffering islands to lend a helping hand until exhausting our last energy;
While it adds nothing to our ages, the story will be with us for the rest of our life.

Just Move

November 14 each year is the World Diabetes Day. It was first introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization to increase awareness of the alarming rise of diabetes around the world. From 2009 to 2013, the theme has been Diabetes Education and Prevention. According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, nearly 350 million people worldwide live with diabetes. By 2035, ten percent of world's population, or 592 million people, will have diabetes. Researchers found that adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes could reduce their risk in half by losing 5 to 7% of body weight and exercising 3 to 5 times a week for 150 minutes.

Postcard US-2334513 to France shows skateboarding activities. I have been looking forward to a new series of stamps “Let’s Move” advocating physical activities that would make a good match for this postcard. However, USPS has placed the "Just Move" stamps on hold and may destroy them due to safety concerns from the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. While I considered those concerns well intentional, I also feel it's kind of over-reacted. First of all, those stamps are artist illustrations, not instructional graphs. Second, USPS should have consulted the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition before approving and printing the stamps. Now that the stamps has already been printed and in storage, it would be a waste to destroy the stamps especially when USPS is losing 4 billions this year. It will be a missing opportunity if the stamps are not brought back, with or without correction. In fact, the risks exposed by the stamps could be mitigated by educational campaigns accompanying the stamp issues.

United Nations Day

President Barack Obama, as every President of the United States has done each year since 1946, proclaimed October 24, 2013 as United Nations Day to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations. 
Postcard US-2373503 to Russia, shows the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, arrived in 62 days. It was sent to the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in New York City for mailing with the United Nations stamps on August 20, 2013. For procedures on how to send mails through UNPA, see my previous blog.

Some other postcards sent under a separated envelop on the same day, survived a mail catastrophe and arrived their destinations without any postmarks.

World Food Day

Today is the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945. Many organizations such as the World Food Program have observed October 16 as the World Food Day since 1981. The World Food Day theme is "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition" in 2013.

Postcard PL-496296 from Poland shows a variety of traditional food in Poland. It reminds us the food security and agricultural development is a global concern. Collaborative actions are needed in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

For more information, visit World Food Day USA.

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."

The Knotted Gun: A Symbol for Peace and Non-Violence

Postcard US-2373509 to Virginia, US shows the knotted gun, a bronze sculpture formally named as Non-Violence" and placed outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York in 1988. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Laureate said: “The sculpture Non-Violence has not only endowed the United Nations with a cherished work of art; it has enriched the consciousness of humanity with a powerful symbol that encapsulates, in a few simple curves, the greatest prayer of man; that which asks not for victory, but for peace”. 

The knotted gun was originally created as a memorial tribute to John Lennon for his vision of a world with less violence when he was shot and killed outside his home in New York City on the December 8, 1980. 

In his song Imagine, John Lennon centered around the message of a world without violence and invite you to join the effort for Peace.

“You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I am not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one…”

The Non-Violence sculpture has been placed at more than 30 strategic locations around the world so far, including, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland; the Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa; and the Peace Park in Beijing, China. If you have a postcard or photo of the knotted gun sculpture in your country, I will appreciate it if you can send a copy to me.

Survivor of a Mail Catastrophe

Postcard US-2373513 to Finland shows a poster "Apathy is Boring" from the third session of World Urban Forum, established by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies and policies. The session was organized by the UN-Habitats and hosted by Vancouver, Canada from June 19 to June 23, 2006. The poster was to promote a broader participation of the world affairs from the youth generation.

The postcard was put into an envelop, along with six other postcards all affixed with United Nations' stamps, to be sent to the United Nations Headquarter for cancellation and mailing. The envelop was posted at a post office counter in the afternoon on August 20, 2013. However, I received the empty envelop back at home next day, indicating the mail was damaged during the processing.

I went back to the post office on August 24, 2013 to ask about the contents of the damaged envelop. I was told they were likely destroyed in the accident. Unconvinced that all the seven postcards would be torn up beyond recognition, I asked what would happen in case any of the postcard was separated from the envelop but otherwise survived. Those postcards, with valid recipients' address but only United Nations' stamps which were not valid for mail directly through the United State Postal Service, became "items found loose in the mail". Since they did not have my return address and were separated from the damaged outer envelope, they couldn't be returned to me. I was told that if that were the case, they might end up at so call Dead Letter Office, officially the Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, Georgia. I was given the Mail Recovery Center's address and a phone number to call. However, when I later read the Mail Recovery Center Guidelines, I realized that if they were domestic first class postcards, they would not be sent to the Mail Recovery Center since the value was less than 25 US dollars. They would be sent to waste or recycle locally. For foreign mails, their destination would be the "Exchange Office" (per IMM 772). However, my postcards were not exactly the (inbound) foreign mails. They were in fact mails without valid postage once they were separated from the outer envelop. So, I wasn't sure what happened to them. I was able to get the refund of 66 cents postage I paid for the 2 oz first class mail after filling out a refund request form.

To my surprise, the postcard reached Finland on September 3, 2013, without the intended UNPA's postmark, (as a matter of fact, without any postmarks). It appears to be sent through the "Exchange Office" as an item found loose in the mail. I also found this blog "the True Story of Undeliverable Mail" informational. To avoid become a victim of "mail catastrophe", follow the Boxing and Packing Tips at the end of the web page. Make sure to include a return address, even it's a postcard. So that it can be returned to you in case something happens. Register and insure your mail if it is important to you.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from U.N.

A PostCrosser friend traveled to New York City and tried to send me a postcard from the United Nations stamps and post office. However, when I received the card today, the card was sent through a US post office with a USPS stamp. It turns out that a guided tour ticket for visitors is now required to enter the UN Headquarters Visitor Center where the stamps and post office is located starting June 2013. A ticket costs 16 US Dollars; however the tour tickets are NOT sold on the spot.

Another notice from the United Nations Postal Administration says: "As part of the renovation project for the General Assembly Building at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the UNPA Stamp Shop has been relocated to a temporary Visitor's Centre in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library on the south end of the campus. Due to security limitations, visitors are not allowed into the Centre without prior notice of arrival. To schedule a visit to the UNPA Stamp Shop, please call 212-963-7698 or 1-800-234-8672 for access instructions. The updated UNPA Stamp Shop will reopen to unannounced visitors in the Fall of 2014." Send me an email if you have successfully scheduled a visit without paying the guided tour. I will update the information here.

You can still forward your prepared mails to the United Nations Headquarters to be released in the mail streams there by following the steps mentioned in a previous post.