2372 - Encinitas, California, USA

Fred sent me a "Keep Calm and Drink Coffee" card. He lives in Encinitas with his wife and pets.

While looking up what Encinitas is all about I came across "The Surfing Madonna."

The Surfing Madonna is a 3m x 3m square concrete mosaic that was originally installed on a concrete wall under a railway bridge. Mark Patterson, the creator, and friend, Bob Nichols, installed it covertly on 22 April 2011. It features the Virgin of Guadeloupe on a white surfboard, hands in an attitude of prayer, with her green cloak waving in the wind. The words "Save the Ocean" are featured on the mosaic.

The City of Encinitas considered the artwork graffiti and ordered it removed, Patterson was fined $500 and had to pay $6000 to have it removed intact. Patterson kept the mosaic.

"The Surfing Madonna" is now located and displayed across the street where it was originally installed. It inspired the creation of a non-profit society - created by Patterson and Nichols - called the "Surfing Madonna Oceans Project. Since 2013, it has raised and donated over $100 000 to local ocean/beach/park and humanitarian projects.

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3584 - Blaine, Minnesota, United States of America

The sender was in Las Vegas recently and bought this card from The Mob Museum. The Mob Museum, officially known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is located in downtown Las Vegas. It open in 2012. It features artifacts, stories, and the history of organized crime in the United States, but also the actions and initiatives by law enforcement to prevent such crimes. The museum is found at the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, which was built in 1933. The quote on this card was from John Gotti. John Gotti (1940-2002) was the mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. After ordering the killing of Gambino boss Paul Catellano in 1985, he took over the family and led what was the United States' most powerful crime syndicate. He was known as The Teflon Don after three high profile trials in the 1980s resulted in acquittals. Later it was revealed that the trials had been tainted by jury tampering, juror misconduct, and...

3564 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany

A wonderful message on this card that translates to to those wh o can wait, everything comes with time.

3566 - Bakhmach, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Bakhmach is locarted in northern Ukraine. I'm taking this next paragraph straight out of Wikipedia: During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 26, 2022, at least 65 units of Russian military equipment moved through Bakhmach, with about a hundred more on the outskirts. Local residents tried to stop the convoy on their own by blocking tank tracks with makeshift objects and convincing Russian soldiers not to move towards Kyiv . One man attempted to climb onto a tank and block the road with his body (he was not hurt). However, the military equipment continued to move, and Russian forces fired several shots into the air. Слава Україні!

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