Sunday 27 February 2022

2035. 🇬🇬 Guernsey Post Celebrates Local Patois. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

 


New issues.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

4 April 2022 - Guernsey patois - 8 stamps. Designed from photographs by Aaron Yearndle. Rating:- ***.





4 April 2022 - issue inscribed Alderney - Alderney patois - 8 stamps. Further details and illustrations awaited. Rating:- ***.

Current events.

Royal Mail to issue a stamp to emphasise British support for Ukraine, innocent victim of Putin’s Russia? I don’t expect so but go on Royal Mail, do something spontaneous and meaningful for once:- 


Commonwealth philatelic entities which are not known to have yet issued stamps during 2022.

Anguilla
Australia Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Australian Antarctic Territory 
Bahamas 
Bangladesh 
Barbados 
Belize 
Bermuda 
Botswana 
British Indian Ocean Territory 
British Virgin Islands 
Brunei Darussalam 
Cameroon
Cayman Islands 
Cook Islands 
Cook Islands Aitutaki 
Cook Islands Penrhyn
Cook Islands Rarotonga 
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 
Dominica 
eSwatini
Ghana
Grenada Carriacou And Petite Martinique 
Jamaica 
Kenya 
Kiribati 
Lesotho 
Malawi 
Mauritius 
Montserrat 
Namibia 
Nauru
Nigeria
Niue
Papua New Guinea
Pitcairn Islands 
Ross Dependency
Rwanda
St Helena
St Kitts 
Saint Lucia
Samoa 
Seychelles 
Sierra Leone 
South Africa
Tanzania
Tokelau 
Tonga
Tonga Niuafo’ou
Trinidad And Tobago 
Tristan Da Cunha 
Turks And Caicos Islands 
Uganda 
Vanuatu 
Zambia 

Thus at the end of February, 55 of the 87 existing Commonwealth philatelic entities are not yet known to have issued, or have had issued in their name, any postage stamps, or items purporting to be postage stamps, during 2022. This figure compares with a total of 65 at the end of January. Plenty of time yet unless Putin blasts us all out of existence.

Saturday 26 February 2022

2034. 🇲🇹 WOPA Still Selling Maltese Stamps Which Indicated Crimea Is Part Of Putin’s Russia. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

 


🇲🇹 Current events.

The Gibraltar-based agency, WOPA, continues to feature on the MaltaPost section of its internet sales site, a disgraceful stamp to which this Blog drew attention in 2016 (see Blog 761). The stamp was part of a pair released as a joint issue between ‘MaltaPost and Russian Post’ to ‘celebrate their countries’ longstanding relations’. 


  The issue features two paintings by ‘Russian artist Nicholas Krassnoff’, one of which depicts the Dulber Palace in Crimea, a region of Ukraine, which was invaded and occupied by Russian forces at the orders of the increasingly megalomaniacal Russian President, Putin. Putin subsequently illegally annexed the Ukrainian territory to Russia in 18 March 2016. Just a few weeks later, on 24 May 2016, Malta Post issued the stamp which was designed by Marka, the Russian Post Office, clearly duped by the Russian authorities into depicting a scene in Ukrainian territory as though it was part of Russia. There was a mild kerfuffle in Malta at the time after this Blog drew attention to the way the authorities in Malta, a member state of the European Union and of The Commonwealth, had fallen into the clever Russian trap of apparently recognising, if only philatelically, that Crimea was part of Russia and not Ukraine but eventually the affair was viewed as not having any significance. 


  Everything that Putin does, and has done, has significance even if it is only the clever manipulation of the postal service of a member state of The European Union which results in one of its stamps giving tacit recognition to Russian ownership of Crimea.

  Now we see that Putin’s long game played against Ukraine has finally boiled over to full scale invasion of the whole of that innocent, peaceful, democratic country whose only crime was to be Putin’s next door neighbour. And we are seeing the deaths and destruction which result from the Russian tyrant’s increasingly mad obsession with restoring The Russian Empire and Soviet Union. And now there are scenes which remind us of Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland. The West has been pathetically weak in its response to his actions for years and with a particularly weak American President in office there can be little hope that Ukraine can be saved despite the valiant efforts of its President and people to repel the aggressors. If Ukraine falls, who can consider themselves safe while Putin remains Tsar?

  Meanwhile, a gesture of disapproval, which of course will not benefit the unfortunate Ukrainians in any way, would be for WOPA and MaltaPost to finally withdraw from sale the appalling stamps which ‘celebrate’ Malta’s close friendship with Russia. 

WOPA page selling Malta-Russia Friendship stamps.


  Better still,  postal services of those nations which admire the courage of the Ukrainian people might choose to rush out postage stamps acknowledging the free world’s solidarity with the brave Ukrainians and their repulsion at Putin’s behaviour. In practical terms, no philatelic response to the vicious Russian invasion can help the Ukrainian people but an issue of stamps, with its accompanying publicity, by well-wishing friends might help to reinforce their resolution to fight the invaders. And besides, various Russian regimes - Tsarist, Communist, Kleptocratic - have known how to use postage stamps as a practical form of propaganda and the post offices of the Free Nations could learn a lesson or two from them.

  In conclusion - once more - WOPA and MaltaPost STOP selling these 2016 stamps which you were duped into marketing 6 years ago.


Megalomaniacal tyrant of Russia, Putin “gone full tonto”.

Post scriptum.

Just to show that stamps really can have an impact here’s a remarkably apt and meaningful Tweet just posted by Linn’s Stamp News. For the map of Austria substitute that of Ukraine. Replace the Hitler mask with one with Putin’s face on it. I hope WOPA and MaltaPost take notice.




2033. 🇲🇻 Real Maldives Stamps Commemorate 50 Years Of Tourism. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦


New Issues.

🇲🇻 Maldives Post:-

16 February 2022 - 50th anniversary of the establishment of organised tourism in Maldives - 1 sheetlet containing 6 different stamps. Rating:- *****.




🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia -

?2022 - 25th anniversary of Kuala Lumpur Tower, Personalised stamps (setem ku) - 4 different stamps in a sheetlet of 8 (2 x 4) with attached labels.


🇺🇸  IGPC -

Various issues produced by the New York-based agency with the names of ‘client’ territories printed on them - 

Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II - all products said to have been issued on 6 February 2022 - 

🇦🇬 - Antigua And Barbuda - 2 miniature sheets-



🇬🇲 The Gambia - 2 miniature sheets - 



🇬🇾 Grenada - 2 miniature sheets - 



🇬🇾 Guyana - 2 miniature sheets - 



🇰🇳 Nevis -



🇻🇨 St Vincent And The Grenadines - 2 miniature sheets -



🇹🇻 Tuvalu - 2 miniature sheets - 


🇰🇳 St Kitts -

13 December 2021 -  Queen Elizabeth II - 4 stamps issued as a se-tenant strip of 4 in sheetlets of 8 stamps.





13 December 2021 - Pope Francis I - 4 stamps issued in sheetlets of 8 (2 x 4 stamps).



Other IGPC products - 

🇦🇬 Antigua And Barbuda

1 October 2021 - Apollo spacecraft missions to the moon - 3 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps, 1 containing 6 different stamps and the third containing a single stamp.

🇬🇾 Guyana -

1 October 2021 - US space shuttle programme - 3 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps, 1 containing 6 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

1 February 2022 - Chinese New Year, Year of the Tiger - 1 miniature sheet, containing 6 different stamps.

🇰🇳 Nevis -

1 December 2021 - 50th anniversary of Apollo 15 - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 6 stamps and the other a single stamp.

🇹🇻 Tuvalu

1 October 2021 - Communications satellites - 3 miniature sheets, 2 containing 4 different stamps and one containing a single stamp.


Thursday 24 February 2022

2032 🇬🇮 Gibraltar EUROPA Stamps Feature Legend Of Hercules. 🇺🇦

 


New Issues.

🇬🇮 Royal Gibraltar Post Office -

25 February 2022 - EUROPA, The legend of the Pillars of Hercules - 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing both stamps. Designed by Stephen Perera from art by Leslie Gaduzo and lithographed by bPost. Rating:- **.



🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post

18 February 2022 - The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Development Area - 11 stamps each issued in sheets of 20 ans I miniature sheet containing all 11 stamps. Designed by Tong Wai-pang and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 14. Rating:- ****.













🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Post -

25 January 2022 - Handicrafts of Sri Lanka - 10 stamps and 2 miniature sheets each containing 5 different stamps. Rating:- ****.