Main page and Index of Breeds
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Golden Retriever Index Main page and Index of Breeds |
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not of enough value to mail a letter any more, so to remedy the situation, the local Post
Offices have taken blocks of five "old" printed stamps and overprinted them with
a new image and a new value. The Golden Retriever shown above on the right
is one of these "Russian Overprints" from Udmurtia. These stamps come in a
set of five different colored stamps all with the same overprint. Last time that I got in
some overprints, I assumed that they would remain available. I was wrong and I never
saw more copies of those. I expect these to be equally as rare and collectable. There
is no telling how many of the overprints they produced (not many), since they were never
designed to be sold on the world market. They are of value only for a short while until
the actual stamps can be printed. On the left is the stamp that was ultimately issued
with the Golden Retriever image from the overprint, put out by Abkhazia.
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a democratic republic known as Czechoslovakia was broken up
during World War II, but was re-established at the end of the war in 1945.
From 1948 to 1989 the republic was ruled by a communist regime. In
November 1989 the Communist government was ousted and Czechoslovakia
again became a democratic state. During the 1990s, political and economic
conflicts developed between the Czechs and Slovaks, and leaders of both
groups decided to dissolve the Republic. In January 1993 Czechoslovakia
was replaced by two independent states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Czech Republic has relatively few natural resources and is heavily
dependent on imported energy and raw materials. It has a humid, continental
climate with cold winters and warm summers. Prague is the Capital and largest
city of the Czech Republic. The official language is Czech, a language
of the West Slavic subgroup of slavic languages. The principle religion
is Christianity. About 40% Roman Catholic. Protestant 3% and about 5%
are atheist. Prior to World War II the country had a large Jewish population.
Most of the Jews died in the Holocaust, the Nazi campaign to exterminate
the Jews of Europe. Pork is a staple in their diet which resembles that
of Germany. Traditionally the Czech lands have been among the most
economically developed regions of Europe.
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island a colony in 1805. In 1980, two years after independence,
Dominca's fortunes improved when a corrupt and tyrannical administration
was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia CHARLES, the first female
prime minister in the caribbean, who remained in office for 15 years.
It is slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC.
The climate is tropical and the terrain has rugged mountains of
volcanic origin. It is known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean"
due to its spectacular, lush, and varied flora and fauna, which
are protected by an extensive natural park system. The official
language is English. The capital is Roseau.
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The Gambia is a long and narrow country in West Africa that parallels and takes
in both sides of the Gambia River. It is surrounded by Senegal on
all sides, except on the Atlantic coast, and for this reason the
two countries have a lot of ethnic and cultural ties. In contrast to Senegal,
a former French colony, The Gambia was colonized by Britain and gained its
Independence on February 18, 1965.
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especially Grand Anse, a dazzling two-mile stretch of white sand, are very fine,
but the rest of the island is just as beautiful, rising from a generally rugged
coast to a spectacular mountainous interior. The island is green, well forested
and cultivated and is blessed with plenty of rain in the wet season. Grenada is
the most southerly of the Windward Islands. In contrast to other Windward Islands,
which have had a similar history of disputed ownership between the French and
English, the French cultural influence in Grenada has completely died out. The
population is very young; 38% are under 15 years old and nearly
26% are in the 15-29 years’ age bracket. Grenada has two dependencies in the
Grenadines chain, Carriacou and Petit (often spelt Petite) Martinique.
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Kalmykia is a republic within the Russian Federation. The Kalmyks
settled the Volga River region in the seventeenth century. A Mongol people, they were
originally Buddhist in faith. Annexed to Russian in 1771, a Kalmyk Autonomous Province
was created by the Bolsheviks in 1920. This was abolished during the Second World War,
when, in common with many other ethnic minorities, the Kalmyks were deemed to
have displayed insufficient enthusiasm for fighting for Communism. The customary mass
deportations followed. An Autonomous Republic was re-established in 1958.
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This sheet from Liberia obviously makes the Dalmation its 'centerfold'. However
the detail to the right, of the Golden Retriever, brings the chosen one into
greater significance. A soulful expression.
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Tadjikistan plays a fascinating role in the power struggle in central Asia.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the declaration of independence
by the former Soviet republics, Tadjikistan acquired national sovereignty for
the first time in history. Inexperience, in conjunction with a particular
clan-oriented, regional-based, political culture established the foundation for
the prolonged conflict that ensued in post-Soviet Tadjikistan. The intensity of
this conflict has been further fueled by the ethnic and historical externalities
of the unresolved political situation in Afghanistan.
