Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Stamps & Maps.

This is coolbert:

Territorio en Litigio 

Here from the web site Big Think we have some items that within the context of my previous blog entry are absolutely so germane:

1. "581 - The Stamp that Almost Caused a War".

"in 1937, Nicaragua and Honduras almost came to blows… over a stamp."

"In August of that year [1937], the Nicaraguan postal service released a new set of Air Mail stamps, centred on a map of Nicaragua. The map also showed part of Honduras, north of the border, in the same shading as Nicaragua proper. Although the accepted border between both countries was also shown, the part of Honduras shaded as Nicaragua was labelled Territorio en Litigio (‘Territory in Dispute’)."

2. "587 - Maps as War by Other Means".

"sometimes, war itself is being continued by other means - cartographic means. Maps are an excellent propaganda weapon against a (geo)political enemy. We trust cartography instinctively to ‘show us the right way’, and thus be truthful; but maps always reflect the mapmakers goals"

Territory in dispute! Contested sovereignty the "mapmakers goals" indicated by stamps, maps, passports, etc. NOT necessarily WAR as that term defined but nonetheless a means to express displeasure at the "other" and make your intentions clear as a bell and FOR ALL TO SEE! Flag raising in a figurative rather than a literal sense. But getting close.

coolbert.


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