Enjoy May the Sith Day!!

Spencer Wright's Flickr Page - Star Wars Darth Maul/Savage Opress Pumpkin: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spencer77/6295994505
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The older I get, the more the signs of aging reveal themselves.
Not a huge surprise or revelation, I know.
In this case, however, I am talking about politics. Or not just politics, because in this case, I feel that some of this has actually nothing to do with my political leanings. It has more to do with recognizing political realities in this country at the moment.
This was the second time that I ran into an article by Jason Miciak (I'm not actively seeking them out, I swear!). And while he and I certainly seem to have some similarities in our political leanings, at least in terms of opposing Trump, it feels nevertheless that we have entirely different understandings of political realities in this country. Miciak seems absolutely sure that Trump is finally going to pay for his blatant corruption and evils. Meanwhile, I am just as convinced that Trump has and will continue to get away with it all. Yes, with everything. He will get away with his role with the Epstein Files, with broken campaign promises, with war crimes, with blatant corruption.
All of it.
I mean, man, I wish that I could share in the enthusiasm and surety which many people have that Donald Trump does not represent the United States. Not really, that he is some sort of aberration. If that argument could ever be made, it certainly can no longer be considered that after he was elected to be the face and the voice of the country twice. It was hard to take seriously all of the people who were absolutely sure that Trump would never be elected in the first place, and hard to take them seriously when they were sure that he would be removed from office well before serving the entire term. It was hard to take them seriously after they assured everyone that he would spend the duration of his days in prison, and impossible to take them seriously when they suggested that January 6th and his 2022 Truth Social post suggesting that parts of the Constitution might need to be suspended would disqualify him. It becomes almost sad to watch them being certain that he will surely lose the 2024 election, and even sadder when they still are certain, despite past history and all of the evidence pointing to the contrary, that Trump is about to be removed from office. Any day now.
Another disturbing fantasy - perhaps because so many people actually believe it - is that Trump is so sick that he has one foot on the death bed. That his decline is obvious to everyone, and maybe Republicans will finally get on board recognizing that reality. Or that they won't have to, because Trump is surely about to expire. Again, he is in the White House, and has a team of medical experts at his beck and call. If anything goes wrong, he has the best possible medical team at his immediate disposal. So even while some friends who I respect engage in this fantasy (let's recognize it for what it is), it feels like another version of what other people are saying. That surely some kind of normality will be restored soon. Surely Trump won't win the presidency. Surely, Trump will be removed from office. Surely, Trump will spend the rest of his days in jail. Surely, Trump's recent medical concerns (he is almost 80, and has bruises on his hands and huge cankles and walks weird and stands funny and has some weird growth on the back of his neck and his mouth appears to be drooping and on and on).
Yeah, sometimes I wish that I could still actually believe all of that, because in some strange way, all of that remains hopeful that the damage that this man is doing to the country with his ridiculous farce of a presidency) will be undone. That the good things which he destroyed will soon be restored back to normal. But I suspect that what we took for granted as normal is now history. It's over.
It makes me feel frankly cynical (and even old) to dismiss all of that hopeful stuff, because it just does not feel real. But I also feel that we need to recognize the reality of the situation. He is the President of the United States.
And I am suspect that anyone else will be occupying his present position anytime soon.
Anyway, I wrote all of this after seeing yet another hopeful article about how Trump's time is finally coming to an end.
Take a look and see if you agree or disagree:
After all of these years of Trump's dominance of the American political scene - there still somehow are the occasional articles from professional news organizations and publications which seem to hint that the old realities that applied before Trump still apply today. The levels of naivete for such nonsense are off the charts. It's difficult to know whether to laugh or to cry. Personally, when I run into articles which seem to promise that the ridiculous - and seemingly endless - levels of immunity to the blatant corruption and scandals which President Trump routinely and, frankly, systematically - gets away with, I tend to roll my eyes and sigh.
By now, we should all know better. It reminds me of all of those people who were absolutely convinced that Trump was most assuredly heading to prison and would spend the rest of his days behind bars. There are still people who believe this.
Most of us, however, can now see more clearly. Seeing him get away with ridiculous scandals and, frankly, outright criminal behavior for years and years - both before and since his political rise - have grown so used to his immunity that we now know that this man will never spend a single minute behind bars. To think otherwise is to indulge in a guilty pleasure. It is to believe that this man has not proven, time and time again, that he is indeed above the law. That he can literally get away with anything, which is why he keeps pushing the envelope.
Because nobody knows that he can get away with anything better than Donald Trump himself. And I would put forward the idea that it is, frankly, both incredibly naive and even dangerous to think this late in the game that Trump will ever be held to account for anything. He most assuredly will not. No accountability for war crimes. No accountability for the Epstein Files. No accountability for the blatant and outrageous examples of blatant corruption which he and his family have clearly been guilty of, and no longer even bother pretending to hide it anymore.
Why bother when you have demonstrated - time and time again - that you are indeed above the law?
Yet, here we go again. Another article determine to show us that Trump's immunity is running out. That accountability and serious ramifications for his abusive actions are coming.
In this recent MSN article by Jason Miciak, he points out all of the apparently dire signs that the Trump presidency is going very badly - gee, you think? - and explains a bit, going into some details:
Only one out of every three Americans approves of Donald Trump's performance, according the latest AP polling — which is relatively meaningless until noting that the same poll last month had him at a 38% approval rating. If you challenged a president to purposefully drop approval by five percentage points, that'd be quite the task — but this administration seems uniquely qualified.
Not going to disagree with any of the points made there. Yes, Trump is hugely unpopular at the moment. And Miciak goes into more specifics as to why, particularly regarding the situation in Iran:
Of course, starting a war for reasons that pass understanding of even Trump's biggest supporters, leading to exploding gas prices and a possible ceasefire that looks like an own goal, goes a long way alone — ironic, since Trump alone started it.
Again, no arguments with anything that he is saying up to this point. Yes, Trump's poll numbers are down. And yes, the Iran war is a huge part of the reason for that. And also, yes, Trump and his administration are the only ones responsible for that, since they neither made the case for war with the American people or foreign allies, nor sought approval from Congress. No grounds to disagree with any of that.
Where I begin to disagree, however, is when he seems to suggest that all of this will seriously matter to Trump and his presidency. That, as the title of the article suggests, the sands of Trump's "scandal immunity" has indeed run out.
What proof is there that this is the case?
Miciak explains his rationale:
But it's all different now. No one is happy, none more upset than the ketchup thrower himself, and that's bad because we've seen what happens when he's furious, and we still had gatekeepers at that point. We have Stephen Miller now as the gate attendant.
Again, no arguments there. Trump clearly is not happy about how unpopular he has become, and how the finger of blame increasingly is directed right at him. However, nobody is suggesting that Trump is happy, or has been happy. In fact, by now we have all seen plenty enough evidence of Trump's rants and childish tantrums to understand that this kind of behavior is not indicative that we are dealing with a man content and at peace with himself or the world. For that matter, it is clear that we are not dealing with a well individual, frankly.
Still, that does not mean that Trump will actually be held to account for any of this. Miciak points out that Trump will finally pay with the upcoming midterms:
A president's party historically gets raked in the midterms. A president who polls in the low 30s gets fertilizer, and not the pellet kind. Trump doesn't like losing elections and has shown a willingness to toss them aside altogether. Our disapproval meets his disapproval. But he has an army.
Exactly, He does have an army. A literal one, of course. Also, he has his secret police. But he also has an "army" of loyal supporters numbering in the tens of millions. Something like seventy million loyal and unquestioning MAGA cult members, to be sure. Plus, he has both chambers of Congress as well as the Supreme Court on his side. And they just won a major decision that will help them do what the Republican party has been doing for decades now: gerrymandering and rigging elections to assure that they continue to "win" regardless of what the polls show, or how unpopular they are.
In short, it is questionable, at best, to think that Trump will actually be held accountable or made to pay for all that he has done. In fact, it is not a sure thing by any stretch that the Republicans will lose the upcoming midterms, or at least lose very badly in a blue tsunami.
And even if they do lose, even if it is lopsided, will it be so lopsided that Democrats, once they would actually get into power, will have enough of a majority to actually remove Trump from office?
Let me give you the short answer: no. No, they will not.
Maybe, at best, they get to impeach Trump again. Like they did already twice during his first term. A term which Trump served from beginning to end, by the way, regardless of his being impeached twice.
In other words, even if the Democrats manage to sweep into power after Republicans have rigged the rules against them, and even if the Democrats manage to impeach Trump, they still very likely will fall short - way short, frankly - of actually removing Trump from office. Which is what should have happened a long, long time ago, frankly. That is what accountability is supposed to be about, and that is how it is supposed to work.
But it is not how it works in this country. It has not worked that way, really, since Watergate. It seems that the scandal which rocked and defined the Nixon presidency also marked the exact point when Americans lost their appetite for holding their leaders accountable. Think about it: since then, Reagan came to be known as the "Teflon President." Then Clinton came to be known as "the real Teflon President." Then George W. Bush had even more scandals, and people felt that he was, in fact, the "real Teflon President."
Yet, they are all lightweights compared with Trump. This president has gotten away with far more than any of those past presidents, and it's not even close. In fact, Trump has gotten away with far more scandals - and far more serious scandals - than any and all of those past presidents combined.
That's the reality which we are facing. That is why I say with full confidence that indeed Trump is above the law.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not happy about it. Far from it. To me, he's destroying the country. Destroying what's left of the good things that we used to have and represent. By all rights, he should have not only been held accountable, but removed from office permanently.
Yet, still he sits in the Oval Office.
And that's the clear and indisputable fact that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump is indeed above the law, to the detriment of our country and our traditional democratic institutions.
Trump's scandal immunity finally ran out | Opinion Opinion by Jason Miciak • 1d • 4 min read
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-scandal-immunity-finally-ran-out-opinion/ar-AA21xiW6?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=69eb067d14854ce0b2c5026534e4014c&ei=12
On this day in 1312, Pope Clement V closed the Council of Vienna. In 1527 on this day, Spanish and German Imperial troops sacked Rome; ending the Renaissance. Ville Marie - now the modern day city of Montreal -was founded by a group of French settlers led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve on this day in 1642. Louis XIV "the Sun King") of France moved his court to Versailles on this day in 1682. French King Louis XV observed the transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle on this day in 1753. Haiti, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, revolted against French colonial rule on this day in 1794. Suriname was sold to the English on this day in 1804, although it was a temporary sale to last until Feb, 1816. The first adhesive postage stamps (known as the Penny Black) were issued on this day in 1840 in Great Britain. On this day in 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi's Mille set sail from Genoa to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1861 on this day during the American Civil War, Arkansas and Tennessee became the 9th and 10th states to secede from the United States and join the cause of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis approved a bill on this day in 1861 declaring war between his Confederate States and the United States. In 1877 on this day, Chief Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops in Nebraska. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act over President Chester A. Arthur's veto on this day in 1882. It ceased Chinese immigration for ten years. The Universal Exposition opened on this day in 1889 in Paris, marking the completion and dedication of the major attraction, the Eiffel Tower. Also at the exposition was the first automobile in Paris, the Mercedes-Benz. The Battle of Holkrans or Holkrantz took place on this day in 1902 at Holkrans, near Vryheid in what is now KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, during the second Anglo-Boer War. The abaQulusi, a Zulu tribe led by Sikhobobho, attacked a Boer commando camp at night, with heavy losses on both sides. It was the final victory for the abaQulusi. The Paris Peace Conference disposed of German colonies on this day in 1919. German East Africa was assigned to Britain & France, German South West Africa (now known as Namibia) was handed over to South Africa. In 1937 on this day, the Hindenburg, largest dirigible German airship ever built and regarded as a major source of pride to Nazi Germany, burst into flames and crash-landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 of the 97 people on board. American author John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath on this day in 1940. On this day in 1942 during World War II, the Japanese seized control of the Philippines. About 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese. German Generaloberst Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz surrendered to the Allies in Netherlands on this day in 1945 during the final days of World War II in Europe. In 1945 on this day during the last phase of World War II in Europe, Axis Sally delivered her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (the first had been on December 11, 1941). West Germany joined NATO on this day in 1955. On this day in 1960, American President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned on this day in 1974. On this day in 1978 during the days of white-minority apartheid rule, the South Africa military intervened in Angola. In an event steeped in symbolism on this day in 1992, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev reviewed the Cold War in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, which was the site of Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech 46 years earlier. On this day in 1994, the Channel tunnel linking Great Britain with France (and mainland Europe) officially opened with a ceremony presided over by England's Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterand. In 1994 on this day, Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress (ANC) were officially confirmed as the winners of the first multiracial elections in South African history, assuring black majority rule in the "new" South Africa. On this day in 1997, the Bank of England was given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history. In Greece on this day in 2012, the parliamentary election results showed 60% support for parties opposed to austerity measures.
• In 1527 on this day, Spanish and German Imperial troops sacked Rome; ending the Renaissance.
1529 - Battle at Gogra or Ghagra in India: Mogol emperor Babur defeats Afghans and Bengals
1536 - King Henry VIII, orders bible be placed in every church
1542 - Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
1576 - The peace treaty of Chastenoy ended the fifth war of religion.
1598 - Arch duke Albrecht & Isabella become monarch of Southern Netherlands
1604 - Leon VII Spanish poet's first poem is published: La Cocina.
1626 - Dutch colonist Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island from local Indians for 60 guilders worth of trinkets
• Ville Marie - now the modern day city of Montreal -was founded by a group of French settlers led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve on this day in 1642.
1644 - Johan Mauritius resigns as governor of Brazil
1648 - Battle at Zolty Wody-Bohdan Chmielricki's Cossaks beat John II Casimir
1672 - Brandenburgs monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands
• Louis XIV "the Sun King") of France moved his court to Versailles on this day in 1682.
1733 - First international boxing match: Bob Whittaker beats Tito di Carni
• French King Louis XV observed the transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle on this day in 1753.
1757 - Battle at Prague: Frederik II of Prussia beats emperor army
1787 - 1st Black Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston
• Haiti, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, revolted against French colonial rule on this day in 1794.
• Suriname was sold to the English on this day in 1804, although it was a temporary sale to last until Feb, 1816.
1833 - John Deere makes 1st steel plow
1835 - James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald (price 1 cent).
• The first adhesive postage stamps (known as the Penny Black) were issued on this day in 1840 in Great Britain.
1844 - Johan Thorbecke argue general right to vote
1848 - Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony
1851 - Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine"
1851 - Linus Yale patents the Yale clock-type lock
1851 - New slave regulations go into effect in Suriname
1851 - San Francisco Chamber of Commerce starts
1853 - First major US rail disaster kills 46 (Norwalk, Connecticut)
1860 - San Francisco Olympic Club, first US athletic club forms
• On this day in 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi's Mille set sail from Genoa to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
• In 1861 on this day during the American Civil War, Arkansas and Tennessee became the 9th and 10th states to secede from the United States and join the cause of the Confederacy.
• Jefferson Davis approved a bill on this day in 1861 declaring war between his Confederate States and the United States.
1864 - Battle of Port Walthall Junction, VA
1864 - Battle of Wilderness-Gen Longstreet seriously injured
1864 - General Sherman begins advance to Atlanta Georgia
"I will return to you in stone."
– Crazy Horse, prediction made before his death, confirmed by his friend Black Elk
• In 1877 on this day, Chief Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops in Nebraska.
• Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act over President Chester A. Arthur's veto on this day in 1882. It ceased Chinese immigration for ten years.
1882 - Epping Forest England dedicated by Queen Victoria
1882 - Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed and killed during the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin.
• The Battle of Holkrans or Holkrantz took place on this day in 1902 at Holkrans, near Vryheid in what is now KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, during the second Anglo-Boer War. The abaQulusi, a Zulu tribe led by Sikhobobho, attacked a Boer commando camp at night, with heavy losses on both sides. It was the final victory for the abaQulusi.
1904 - American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting
1906 - "Temporary" permit to erect overhead wires on Market St SF
1907 - 33rd Kentucky Derby: Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in 2:12.6
1910 - King George V ascends to British throne
1910 - George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII.
1913 - King Nikita I of Montenegro vacates Skoetari, North-Albania
1914 - British House of Lords rejects women suffrage
1915 - Allies attack Cape Helles, Hellespont
1915 - German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland
1915 - Red Sox Babe Ruth pitching debut and hits first HR, loses to Yanks 4-3 in 15
1916 - Belgian troop march into Kigali, German East-Africa
1917 - St Louis Brown Bob Groom no-hits Chic White Sox, 3-0
• In 1937 on this day, the Hindenburg, largest dirigible German airship ever built and regarded as a major source of pride to Nazi Germany, burst into flames and crash-landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 of the 97 people on board. The Hindenburg bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crewmembers. Frenchman Henri Giffard constructed the first successful airship in 1852. His hydrogen-filled blimp carried a three-horsepower steam engine that turned a large propeller and flew at a speed of six miles per hour. The rigid airship, often known as the "zeppelin" after the last name of its innovator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, was developed by the Germans in the late 19th century. Unlike French airships, the German ships had a light framework of metal girders that protected a gas-filled interior. However, like Giffard's airship, they were lifted by highly flammable hydrogen gas and vulnerable to explosion. Large enough to carry substantial numbers of passengers, one of the most famous rigid airships was the Graf Zeppelin, a dirigible that traveled around the world in 1929. In the 1930s, the Graf Zeppelin pioneered the first transatlantic air service, leading to the construction of the Hindenburg, a larger passenger airship. On May 3, 1937, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt, Germany, for a journey across the Atlantic to Lakehurst's Navy Air Base. Stretching 804 feet from stern to bow, it carried 36 passengers and crew of 61. While attempting to moor at Lakehurst, the airship suddenly burst into flames, probably after a spark ignited its hydrogen core. Rapidly falling 200 feet to the ground, the hull of the airship incinerated within seconds. Thirteen passengers, 21 crewmen, and 1 civilian member of the ground crew lost their lives, and most of the survivors suffered substantial injuries. Radio announcer Herb Morrison, who came to Lakehurst to record a routine voice-over for an NBC newsreel, immortalized the Hindenberg disaster in a famous on-the-scene description in which he emotionally declared, "Oh, the humanity!" The recording of Morrison's commentary was immediately flown to New York, where it was aired as part of America's first coast-to-coast radio news broadcast. Lighter-than-air passenger travel rapidly fell out of favor after the Hindenberg disaster, and no rigid airships survived World War II.
1938 - Dutch writer Maurits Dekker sentenced to 50 days for "offending a friendly head of state" (Hitler)
1939 - First performance of Honegger/Claudel's "Jeanne d'Arc Ouch B-cher"
1939 - 65th Kentucky Derby: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:03.4
• On this day in 1994, the Channel tunnel linking Great Britain with France (and mainland Europe) officially opened with a ceremony presided over by England's Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterand. The rail tunnel under the English Channel was officially opened, connecting Britain and the European mainland for the first time since the Ice Age. The channel tunnel, or "Chunnel," connects Folkstone, England, with Sangatte, France, 31 miles away. The Chunnel cut travel time between England and France to a swift 35 minutes and eventually between London and Paris to two-and-a-half hours. As the world's longest undersea tunnel, the Chunnel runs under water for 23 miles, with an average depth of 150 feet below the seabed. Each day, about 30,000 people, 6,000 cars and 3,500 trucks journey through the Chunnel on passenger, shuttle and freight trains. Millions of tons of earth were moved to build the two rail tunnels--one for northbound and one for southbound traffic--and one service tunnel. Fifteen thousand people were employed at the peak of construction. Ten people were killed during construction. Napoleon's engineer, Albert Mathieu, planned the first tunnel under the English Channel in 1802, envisioning an underground passage with ventilation chimneys that would stretch above the waves. In 1880, the first real attempt was made by Colonel Beaumont, who bore a tunnel more than a mile long before abandoning the project. Other efforts followed in the 20th century, but none on the scale of the tunnels begun in June 1988. The Chunnel's $16 billion cost was roughly twice the original estimate, and completion was a year behind schedule. One year into service, Eurotunnel announced a huge loss, one of the biggest in United Kingdom corporate history at the time. A scheme in which banks agreed to swap billions of pounds worth of loans for shares saved the tunnel from going under and it showed its first net profit in 1999. Freight traffic was suspended for six months after a fire broke out on a lorry in the tunnel in November 1996. Nobody was seriously hurt in the incident. In 1996, the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
1994 - Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on Tonight Show
1994 - House passes the assault weapons ban
1994 - Lennox Lewis TKOs Phil Jackson in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
As a stamp collector myself, I thought I would delve a little further into the history of the first adhesive postage stamp ever issued, on this date in 1840. Here is a bit of history from: http://www.pennyblackstamp.com/History.htm
Here is another short history of the Penny Black, the first ever modern postage stamp: http://www.pennyblackstamp.co.uk/history_of_penny_black_stamps.html
HISTORY OF PENNY BLACK STAMPS
Pre 1840
In the year 1840, the United Kingdom introduced the Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp. It was followed one day later by the 2d blue and at the beginning of 1841 the 1d red appeared.
But before 1840, the post service was prohibitively expensive for most people to use. In fact the cost of sending a single letter could cost of much as a working man’s daily wage. Postage was charged by the sheet and the distance travelled. (This led to the habit of writing a letter, then turning the page upside down and writing the second page of the letter between the lines of the original – thus saving sheets as four pages of letter could be written on one piece of paper.)
But cost was not the only issue. There were many oddities. Certain items of post went free of charge, newspapers could be sent very cheaply and most mail was paid for by the person receiving the mail, not the sender.
Postal reform ideas – James Chalmers
It’s not surprising then that for many years prior to 1940, there were calls for reform of the postal system. As early as 1822, James Chalmers, a bookseller and printer from Dundee, was interested in postal reform. Some say that he was the actual inventor of the adhesive postage stamp. He also advocated the introduction of standard prepaid letter folders, letter sheets or envelopes which were eventually introduced in 1840 using a design by William Mulready. He printed samples of his idea for printed gummed labels in August 1834.
James Chalmers Inventor of the Adhesive Postage Stamp edited by W.J. Smith, and published in Dundee in 1970 gives an account of James Chalmers’ activities in the area of postal reform.
Later reformers - Rowland Hill and Robert Wallace
Rowland Hill and Robert Wallace (Member of Parliament for Greenock) were notable campaigners. In 1837, Rowland Hill proposed the radical reform of wapping a letter in an additional piece of paper (now known as the envelope) and attaching a ‘label’ (now known as a stamp) to indicate prepayment of the postage charge.
1839 Penny Postage Bill
Eventually, on 17 August 1839, Penny Postage Bill was passed by Parliament. The act required that the basic postal rate for simple letters should be set at one penny. It also required that prepayment should become the standard for sending letters and that prepayment should be indicated by ‘labels’. There labels were the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue. Like today, the stamps were cancelled by a cancellation stamp, although this mark was red rather than the black used today.
Competition for design of new stamps
In 1839, the British Treasury announced a competition to design the new stamps, but none of the submissions was considered suitable. Instead, Rowland Hill launched the service in 1840 with an envelope bearing a reproduction of a design created by the artist William Mulready and a predominetly black stamp bearing a reproduction of the profile of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria facing to the left. Hill believed this would be difficult to forge. The head of the reigning monanarch has featured on postage stamps eversince. Because Penny Blacks and Twopenny Blues were the world's first postage stamps, they did not show a country of origin. Brisitsh stamps today are still the only stamps in the world that do not name their country of origin.
Design of Penny Blacks
Queen Victoira’s head was engraved and based on a sketch done by Henry Corbould. who was influenced by the work of William Wyon. Wyon orignially drew a caneo-like head of Queen Victoira for a medal that commemorated her visit to London in 1837, the year that she was crowed queen at the age of 15. Penny Black stamps were printed by Perkins, Bacon & Petch..
The top of the stamp featured word "POSTAGE" intended to distinguish it from ‘revenue’ stamps that had long been used in the United Kindgom. The words "ONE PENNY" appeared at the bottom of the stamp, indicating the amount that had been pre-paid for the delivery of the letter to which it had been fixed. The background of the stamp featured finely engraved engine turnings. Positioned in the two upper corners were star-like designs. Positioned in the lower corners were letters indicating the position of the stamp in a sheet of 240 stamps. For example, "A A" indicates the stamp located on the top left position, and "T L" indicates the stamp on the bottom right position.. Penny Blacks were printed by Perkins Bacon.
Date of release
The new Penny Black stamps first went on sale 1st May 1840 although they were only valid for postage from 6th May 1840 (some were used between the date of introduction and the official launch day on the 6th). All London post offices received ample supplies of the new Penny Black stamp, but provincial post offices throughout the United Kingdom did not. As result, post offices outside London continued to accept postage payments in cash only for some time.
The Mulreadies (letter sheets) were issued at the same time as Penny Blacks. Public reaction to these new items not what Rowland Hill's expected. The Penny Black stamps were well-received and admired whereas the the Mulready letter sheet design was intensely disliked.
Printing and perforations
Eleven different plates were used during the short lived, one year long, production period of the Penny Black stamps. Unlike stamps of today, Penny Blacks were not perforated and the postmaster or mistress of the time had to use scissors to cut out the stamps. Between 1848 and 1854 trials were carried out in order to find a better and more acceptable way of separating stamps than the scissors and in early 1854 the first ‘perforated’ penny red was issued.
Demise of the Penny Black stamp
Penny Black postage stamps were only in circulation for one year because the red cancellation mark was hard to see on the black background colour of the stamp and easily removed, making it possible to re-use stamps, even after they had been cancelled.
In response, the Treasury decided to reprint the stamp as a red stamp. The cancellation mark was changed to black as they were easier to see and harder to remove.
http://www.pennyblackstamp.co.uk/history_of_penny_black_stamps.html
Here are the links to the websites that I used to get most of the information used in this blog entry.
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may06.htm
Meant to publish this a lot earlier.
This was an article which came out almost a month ago, after another of Trump's trademark childish tantrums. It is an MSN article by Jason Miciak, who suggests that the time for Trump's immature tantrums is growing short.
Really?
Because I have been more or less hearing some version of this ever since Trump began to rise politically in this country. Sorry, but he's still in the Oval Office, and I see no real shot of him being taken out of seeing the 25th Amendment finally forcibly removing him from office.
In other words, I cannot see him finally going away anytime soon. Period.
Even if the Democrats sweep their way to power, and even if they stand united and decide to impeach, it is nothing that we have not seen before. By now, having seen three impeachments of sitting presidents in modern history, I think that we all recognize the difference between one chamber of Congress impeaching a president and the reality of actually removing a president from office. They are two wildly different things. Clinton stayed in power after being impeached, and Trump, who was impeached twice, remained in power both times, as well.
Hell, his being impeached did not even prevent him from running for the White House again, and of course, winning another term, much to the detriment of the entire country and, frankly, the entire world. No exaggeration, either.
Yes, most of us are sick and tired of his nonsense. But there lingers about 30+% of the population who absolutely still love him and continue to support him loyally and unquestioningly, despite how badly everything is going. And despite the clear and obvious evidence that he is at least protecting pedophiles, if not actually likely a pedophile himself. And despite his breaking some hugely important campaign promises, including keeping us out of wars, ending the war in Ukraine, releasing the Epstein Files, and lowering the price of gas and groceries (and generally reining in inflation), they just keep on supporting him without any questions or, frankly, any justifications for supporting him based on merit.
Everyone is making a big deal of all of those sinking poll numbers. Some people have already eulogized Trump and his political movement.
But is this not extremely premature, given the indisputable fact that Trump is still sitting comfortable in the Oval Office? And again, without any serious threat of being removed from office, regardless of all of the propaganda and hype. Because you have to know that the Republicans in Congress are simply not going to go along with it. Period. Not maybe, or perhaps under certain circumstances. It's been ten years since this guy has dominated American politics, and nobody on the Republican side has even come close to challenging his supremacy of the party. You think, suddenly, that's going to happen now.
Under what basis would that happen?
To me, this is yet another form of all of those people who were absolutely, positively certain that Trump was going to jail. That justice would catch up with him and make him pay for all of his crimes.
There were four years between his terms. And yes, he was found guilty of 34 counts of felony.
Again, though, did he spend a single minute behind bars? Did he actually pay the original sentence amount, which was a lot of money? Hell, did he pay anything, really?
Some people were equally adamant that Trump would never return to the presidency, much like some people, back in 2016, were absolutely sure that he would never become president in the first place.
Personally, I'm tired of hearing these half-baked determined notions that "the end is near" regarding Trump. It sounds more like wishful thinking and, frankly, harmful escapism rather than facing reality.
Nobody like Trump's tantrums, much like most people right now don't like Trump's presidency and the policies which he brought forth.
The problem is, Trump is here, right now. He is powerful. And frankly, whether or not we want to hear it or recognize it as the truth, he does not appear to be going anywhere.
End in sight as Trump's childish rampage reaches its limit | Opinion Opinion by Jason Miciak • April 12, 2026 •
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/end-in-sight-as-trump-s-childish-rampage-reaches-its-limit-opinion/ar-AA20HdkK?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=69db88ae96f0499fa3a2268385826f1e&ei=12
End in sight as Trump's childish rampage reaches its limit | Opinion