Culture

When Postage Stamps Are Too Dangerous for Children's Eyes

Headstands without helmets, people!

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
USPS

Courtesy of Walter Olson of the Cato Institute and Overlawyered comes this silly piece of news regarding a series of postage stamps meant to commemorate first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" youth anti-obesity program. The existence of the postage stamps in the first place is not the silly news, though it certainly is silly. No, the United States Postal Service (heavily in debt, mind you) is destroying the entire run of stamps because some of the activities illustrated on them have been deemed unsafe:

"Three of the stamps in the fifteen stamp series raised safety concerns among sports figures on the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. The stamps in question depicted children performing a cannonball dive, skateboarding without kneepads, and doing a headstand without a helmet. The unsafe depictions came to light after USPS Marketing chief Nagisa Manabe asked Michelle Obama to take part in a first day ceremony for the stamps. That was apparently the first time the stamps had been reviewed by the Sports Council."

Cannonballs! Headstands without helmets! The horrors!

I don't have any idea what they were worried about, though. It's not as if any kid today has even seen a postage stamp or even know what they're used for.

Update — Here's a picture of all the stamps in the run, courtesy of this blog:

Are we free to gambol?
USPS

The baseball player is not wearing a batting helmet! Outrage!