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A second round of Olympics stamps was issued by Italy this week. The stamps feature the towns of Pinerolo, San Sicario di Cesana, and Sestriere. The first set featured the towns of Turin, Bardonecchia, Pragelato and Sauze d’Oulx.

You know, it would've been better if they'd actually included images of the stamps. That would've been nice.

Check out my mention in the latest Stamp Collector (12 August). I chimed in on the "Why Aren't the Greetings FDC's leaving New Jersey?" fracas, and lo and behold, I was right!

Well, actually, Herself was right, but I wrote the letter to the editor to make sure her opinion got heard, darn it.

Well, at least the USPS is going all out in promoting those new stamps. They've got their own web site. Granted, it only sells the minutiae associated with the stamps like postcards, mugs, keychains, T-shirts, etc., but at least folks might know about them now. The stamps, not the gee-gaws. Found thanks to Willa.

I almost forgot that yesterday was also the first day of issue for the new Greetings From America stamps. Go out. Buy them. Use them. Save a sheet if you want, but use as many of these suckers as you can on your regular correspondence. Please!

In no real surprise to anyone, a plan has been issued to overhaul the US Postal Service. The surprise is that they're the ones suggesting it.

So that's where all that mail got to. Evidence of mail being opened and checks cashed was found. Gee, go fig. Found in the Obscure Store.

In philatelic news, Norwegian postal authorities are trying to track down who they put on their new stamp. The person remains a mystery because the image doesn't depict who they thought it depicted. The stamp celebrating the 100th anniversary of Norway's soccer federation will be issued anyway on April 12.

They hope the depicted person doesn't mind.

In the investigation into the anthrax scare currently occurring in the United States, a vital clue has turned up. The perpetrators used pre-stamped envelopes. The clue here is that these envelopes aren't commonly used. Most people use stamps, rather than the pre-stamped envelopes, and these are only sold (usually) a few at a time.

If you were looking for pictures of Britain's high-tech stamps, here are the pictures.

Mail is still arriving for zip code 10048. For those not in the know, 10048 was the zip code for the World Trade Center.

The British have just released their first high tech stamps. Some are scratch and sniff, some are holograms, some have heat-sensitive features ... pretty cool stuff. And it's only on a 25 mm by 25 mm piece of paper (measurements estimated).