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Philately will get you nowhere

Aussie Dale Smith and OJ PittmanSpare a thought for the Australia Post philatelic division. Having bitten the bullet in 2000 and deciding to issue a postage stamp featuring every Australian gold medallist at the Sydney Games, they have now stretched their policy to include the Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

That's sixty-seven new stamps and counting at M2006. I'd been wondering which of Our Jana's sullen expressions was going to grace her 50 cent stamp, but instead we get an image which only vaguely looks like her.

But harking back to Torino 2006 for a minute, we can at least hold our heads high with the knowledge that Australia is the first country to feature a spyware millionaire on one of its stamps. Word of warning however: for the Aussie Dale Begg-Smith stamp to stick to the envelope, you have to spit on the reverse side...