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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations November 8-9, 2003:

Serious Stamps For Serious Subjects.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

Last month, the U-S issued its third semi-postal, or "charity," stamp, raising money 
for domestic violence prevention and aid. President Bush used the new stamp to enhance 
his signing of a domestic violence bill. The extra 8 cents in price goes to designated 
charities.

Two weeks later, the United Nations issued stamps that hadn't been announced in advance, 
in memory of the 22 U-N staffers killed in a suicide bombing in Baghdad. The stamps are 
simple and stark: The U-N flag at half-mast, the U-N seal, the words "In Memoriam" and 
"Fallen in the Cause of Peace."

While most countries' stamp programs are full of light-hearted subjects these days, 
designed to sell as many stamps as possible, some issues deal with serious subjects 
important to those nations. Despite e-mail, the telephone and postage meters, a postage 
stamp often is the best way to make a statement about a country's soul.

And that's stamp collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News. 

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