Among mankind's signature events, Neil Armstrong's first step on the lunar surface is one of the greatest. Rest in peace, Neil Armstrong
Showing posts with label Excursions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Excursions. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Charles Taylor Guilty on 11 Counts at The Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague
Today is a great day, partially for reasons of justice, but mostly because Taylor will now be unable to gain his freedom and return to the West Africa region to destabilize it once more. Taylor was found guility today at a court in The Hague in The Netherlands of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity on 11 counts.
I lost many friends to Mr. Taylor and his men. I also spent years of life working to buffer the cruel effects of his rule and warlordism. While neither Liberia or Sierra Leone will shake off the effects of years of coups and wars, in part led by Charles Taylor, they can now definitively be on the way to putting this terrible history behind them.
Taylor's sentencing process starts today. You can access the Court's website by clicking here.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Theodore Roosevelt's Proposed National Parks Tax
A little known moment in US fiscal history finally comes to light today at 1898 Revenues. As the title of this post indicates, President Theodore Roosevelt, the first great conservationist President, considered extending certain Spanish-American War taxes in order to support and expand his goal of preserving some of America United States were placed under public protection by Roosevelt . And the President considered how these great reserves would be cared for, and in turn, how that care would be supported.
Practically, Roosevelt wondered whether the American public would tolerate new taxes or fees to cover what was, at the time, a radical concept. Preservation of natural wonders was not something the common man considered a public priority. So Roosevelt considered whether a minor extension of existing taxes set to expire would be little noticed and accepted.
Realizing that the Spanish-American War taxes on checks and drafts were to expire at the end of June, 1901, Roosevelt proposed to some of his trusted advisors whether a one-year extension of the check tax (2 cents per check) could raise the revenue necessary to support to National Parks programming through the end of his term.
In a short time, John W. Yerkes, Roosevelt's Commissioner of Internal Revenue had done the calculations and assured Roosevelt that not only would the revenue be sufficient for expected costs of the national parks, but would far exceed the needs. Roosevelt then devised a strategy to make these "new" yet old taxes acceptable to the American Public.
Looking over a 2 cent battleship documentary stamp while at his home at Sagamore Hill, New York, Roosevelt took it upon himself to create a redesign. If the check tax was to be extended to make the tax seem as non-intrusive as possible, why not make a subtle change to the existing tax stamp, one more in-line with the ruggedness and the spirit of park preservation? Just as private die proprietary users like Johnson and Johnson made subtle changes to the battleship design, Roosevelt thought that the replacement of the battleship with a canoe, the well known water craft of the rugged and self-reliant American Indian, would make a perfect center for a new stamp.
Four water colors of canoes were on the wall of his study at Sagamore Hill, and Roosevelt took his inspiration from one of these. Carefully scraping away the battleship off the stamp with a new razor blade, Roosevelt created a blank center in the stamp for which to draw his own vessel.
One canoe was chosen for the design, much like the single battleship in the original stamp. Roosevelt used a fountain pen and placed a canoe on the waves, with two native -Americans with paddles in the canoe. He then sketched in mountain outlines above their heads.
Once back in Washington, Roosevelt took the stamp design to Yerkes to be considered for engraving and actual use. John Yerkes liked the design, but while Roosevelt was in New York, Yerkes began to look into whether general revenues might cover Roosevelt's new and growing parks program. After consultations with the Secretary of the Treasury Lyman J. Gage, Yerkes and Gage agreed that an extension of the check tax would be unnecessary. This would make Roosevelt's search for revenue much simpler. Yerkes promptly told Roosevelt of the lack of a need for a tax extension, and the matter, and the stamp above, were soon forgotten.
Looking back on this little known moment in philatelic history, it is amazing that this stamp and story have survived. But Roosevelt family members preserved the stamp and the legend, and 1898 Revenues is proud to finally tell the story.
BTW: Roosevelt would often place hidden messages in his letters, often by coding them in the first letter of each paragraph. 1898 Revenues uses the trick on occasion.
Practically, Roosevelt wondered whether the American public would tolerate new taxes or fees to cover what was, at the time, a radical concept. Preservation of natural wonders was not something the common man considered a public priority. So Roosevelt considered whether a minor extension of existing taxes set to expire would be little noticed and accepted.
Realizing that the Spanish-American War taxes on checks and drafts were to expire at the end of June, 1901, Roosevelt proposed to some of his trusted advisors whether a one-year extension of the check tax (2 cents per check) could raise the revenue necessary to support to National Parks programming through the end of his term.
In a short time, John W. Yerkes, Roosevelt's Commissioner of Internal Revenue had done the calculations and assured Roosevelt that not only would the revenue be sufficient for expected costs of the national parks, but would far exceed the needs. Roosevelt then devised a strategy to make these "new" yet old taxes acceptable to the American Public.
Looking over a 2 cent battleship documentary stamp while at his home at Sagamore Hill, New York, Roosevelt took it upon himself to create a redesign. If the check tax was to be extended to make the tax seem as non-intrusive as possible, why not make a subtle change to the existing tax stamp, one more in-line with the ruggedness and the spirit of park preservation? Just as private die proprietary users like Johnson and Johnson made subtle changes to the battleship design, Roosevelt thought that the replacement of the battleship with a canoe, the well known water craft of the rugged and self-reliant American Indian, would make a perfect center for a new stamp.
Roosevelt at the stand-up desk in his study at Sagamore Hill. The design for the stamp below was created by Roosevelt at this desk.
Four water colors of canoes were on the wall of his study at Sagamore Hill, and Roosevelt took his inspiration from one of these. Carefully scraping away the battleship off the stamp with a new razor blade, Roosevelt created a blank center in the stamp for which to draw his own vessel.
The Roosevelt designed "Canoe" check tax stamp. This is the actual stamp created by Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill.
One canoe was chosen for the design, much like the single battleship in the original stamp. Roosevelt used a fountain pen and placed a canoe on the waves, with two native -Americans with paddles in the canoe. He then sketched in mountain outlines above their heads.
Once back in Washington, Roosevelt took the stamp design to Yerkes to be considered for engraving and actual use. John Yerkes liked the design, but while Roosevelt was in New York, Yerkes began to look into whether general revenues might cover Roosevelt's new and growing parks program. After consultations with the Secretary of the Treasury Lyman J. Gage, Yerkes and Gage agreed that an extension of the check tax would be unnecessary. This would make Roosevelt's search for revenue much simpler. Yerkes promptly told Roosevelt of the lack of a need for a tax extension, and the matter, and the stamp above, were soon forgotten.
Looking back on this little known moment in philatelic history, it is amazing that this stamp and story have survived. But Roosevelt family members preserved the stamp and the legend, and 1898 Revenues is proud to finally tell the story.
BTW: Roosevelt would often place hidden messages in his letters, often by coding them in the first letter of each paragraph. 1898 Revenues uses the trick on occasion.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Excursion: Postage Due Cancels
Envelope received from an Ebay purchase
cancelled with "Postage Due Unit" CDSs
This is obviously not a revenue document. But it was used to ship 1898 revenue stamps. I had saved it when it came in last year since I thought it was interesting. I've never received anything like this in the mail, and the careful handstamp cancelling of the 1960s vintage commemorative postage stamps with the Postage Due Unit CDS stamp makes for an interesting curiousity.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Excursion: Kenya Documentary Revenue
This past weekend I drove down to Tsavo West National Park from Nairobi with my family. Tsavo is famous for its lions and other wildlife, especially elephants. In preparation for the trip I had my Toyota Landcruiser serviced. Above is the receipt for the services, including a close up of the Kenya revenue stamp used to pay the 2 shilling documentary tax.
The park is one of the lesser known parks in Kenya compared to internationally famous parks like Amboselli and Masai Mara. But the park is worth a visit. We stayed in the park warden's former house with a waterhole in front and the elephants and lions kept us awake during parts of the night.
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