Am I the only person scratching their head over the 10% tariffs imposed on the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands? Has anyone told the resident penguins and seals about this, and if so, what was their response?

If someone understands how putting tariffs on uninhabited islands 1) is a "National Emergency" or 2) restores the "Golden Age of America," please let me know! 😵

Ooo, I like that!

they are extremely worried. the penguin interviewed, the seals remained silent at the moment, were concerned that the united states cutting of departments such as the epa and dei could effect them as well. and then there is the fish supply. are they now expected to pay a tariff on a product they consume in lieu of exporting?

smile

You never know when those clever penguins would create something to sell, and engage the seals to swim their products to Australia, for shipment to the US. Can't be too careful these days.

Green card, whaddaya mean? I've been here from the beginning! I was there when the colonists held the Boston Tea Party, I wore my tea-shirt. Why, my dog is a A Yankee Poodle.

Do you know there aren’t any knock-knock jokes about America?
Because freedom rings, dammit.

I've been here so long, the American flag doesn't even need to acknowledge me, it just waves.

Green card, schmeen card, I might have been born on Melmac but I'm a 'Merkin thru and thru.

I remember an animal plant episode showing that penguins give their mates rocks. So 10% of each rock?

😉

As a transgender letterboxer, I guess I will be banned from the hobby now...

Thank you phynstar. I needed that today. :)

Thankfully, AQ is a welcoming place. ❤️

No way, No how

If we added up all the stuff about which he is truly ignorant and taxed him for it. . .

If it's not postmarked, I will definitely reuse it!

Jerry's Artarama

I'll reuse them, too!

Even Elon couldn’t afford that!

Sorry, I assumed that your first trip here was in the 1980's. You would be eligible to run for president of these United States. I'd like to see you go for it.

Your other jokes are funny.

Never underestimate clever penguins.

Just smile and wave.

Unfortunately Alf might not have any luck running for president. Opponents start digging up past indiscretions and before you know it, we’re all reading about the tabby-gate scandal.

If it were a couple of days earlier, I could have used that in an April Fools Day joke.... ;o)

-- Ryan

New LTC tracker: due by October 1, 2025

https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.php?trackerId=12010

That was brilliant!!! :-D

I would have been thoroughly fooled, but that isn't saying much ;-) Thanks for showing me your brilliance!

I have one question...
WHY IS WASHI TAPE SO ADDICTING?? LOL

I reached out to Speedball company a while back and asked them if I could melt down my scraps to reuse them: I got a very legally worded and firm 'NO - don't do it, bad chemicals would kill everyone message' back. I was bummed that I had saved a huge bucket of shavings with no hope to reuse them. Still kinda want to try it one day (in a very well ventilated space and someone else's kitchen appliances).

I look forward to AQ's April 1st updates every year! Thanks for the smiles!

Just Catching up on this thread since Letter boxing itself (apart from Ameriquest) has no official rules just recognized etiquette and good practice. I don't believe you could be banned,( just keep to yourself).

However, since the Phoenix is a mythology creature which is associated with mythologies from foreign nations, it is a national threat you will have to change your trail name under AmeriQuest rules to use this important patriotic website. Sorry.

- Mush

Google has recently changed how they charge for the use of Google Maps and related products, and what used to be free for AQ to use is now costing actual money--so, I've turned it into a premium member perk.

Sorry for those who aren't premium members. It's not you--it's Google! They charged based on how much use it gets, so the fewer mapping requests they get from AQ, the less it costs! Since premium members are paying for it, I'll keep letting them use the maps despite the costs.

Note that this only affects the maps that are actually embedded into AQ such as when you run a search for boxes then have them all displayed on a map. The map buttons for an individual box that link to Google's website still work for everyone. It's just a link to a separate website (e.g. Google's!), and that they don't charge for. So you can still look up locations for individual boxes... but only one at a time. It's the maps where it looks like you're still on AQ's website and using a Google Map that won't work anymore.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

-- Ryan

Nah, that's just my cover story. As a member of the Orbit Guard, I sensed trouble was brewing on Melmac years before and sought out a planet to take refuge on... just in case.


Hey, we all have skeletons in our closets ! - mine just happen to be feline. In my defense, it was this cat whose actions led to Melmac's destruction. I consider myself a patriot on both planets!

Every beautiful pattern and color combination imaginable, and so simple to use. Just a guess?

Does anyone annotate their books?
Tabbing, marking, writing, and making notes in your favorite books. I started doing this last year and it is fun to go back and reread favorite quotes and such.
~Aurora

I will. I underline mostly, but occasionally highlight.

Conversely though, I consider it sacrilege to dog-ear the pages.