international postal news from all over

Ladies and gentlemen, the newest stamp from the Mexican postal service, commemorating a beloved cartoon character named "Memin Pinguin".

( cut for offensiveness )

Yeah, I actually had to lj-cut a stamp. I guess there must be about 8 black people in Mexico. Reminds me of the Sambo-ish caricatures in Japan.

"Least Wanted" feed

(crossposted to syn_promo:

leastwanted syndicates the Flickr photo stream of a collector of vintage "wanted" photos and mug shots. Great stuff.

Variety Meets (spasm of linksmanship)

The Knife Show meets the Congress. (Wonkette)

Christina Aguilera meets the Velvet Underground (MP3 from the WFMU blog)

Cockeyed Rob meets with the Foo Fighters (cockeyed.com)

Me and the corp'ral out on a spree

Here's two for the boys overseas, originally made for their compatriots from the last Empire.

"Banks of the Nile" - Richard Thompson

"Island of No Return" - Billy Bragg

"I get free medical care because we lost the war. I lost it real good for them, too. They look at my record and say 'How much Demerol would you like today, Mr. Trout?'" —Bob Trout (UDT veteran, Vietnam)

"When the flag comes out, it's only a matter of time before someone's handing you a rifle." —My great-uncle Richard Sears. (Army grunt, WWII, Sicily invasion)

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

—Kipling, "Tommy"

Joe Bell's Fourth of July

My friend and veteran journalist Joseph Bell gives you his Independence Day column.

http://www.dailypilot.com/columns/story/17272p-24159c.html

Go ahead, you tell the 80+-year-old WWII combat veteran he's disloyal. Old guys rule.

Pain music

Fiftyish hippie band that sounds like a tepid, sleepy Crosby Stills & Nash imitation: bad news.

That band covering Roxy Music: EMETIC.