View Full Version : Save the Post Office
jon_norstog
04-14-2020, 01:11
Benjamin Franklin was Postmaster General under the Continental Congress and was the Founder who most clearly saw the need for a national post office. Through war and peace we have had fairly reliable mail and parcel service. Even today, when so much is being done on-line we need it.
I like being able to send a letter or card to a grandchild, a friend, a family member. The kids love getting something int he mail! I like being able to send a check and create a paper record of my payments and transactions.
I also like mail for another reason. It is slow but it is relatively secure. All out electronic communications are on plain view to government and non-government actors. Artificial intelligence can read them all in real time, and pass anything of interest on to human agents. Letters can be steamed open and read, but it would take an army of snoops to do what is being done with internet traffic by a few supercomputers with AI. I don't have anything I want to hide, at least not at this stage in my life, but I like my privacy and US Mail is as good as it gets.
Looks like USPS is going to run out of funding in a few weeks. The Administration has threatened to veto any bailout bill that funds USPS. My guess is its a move to have a privateer swoop in and pick it up cheap. Well, have you checked what it costs to send a letter by UPS or FedEx? Educate yourselves if you care, and send a letter to your Representative and both Senators.
End of speech.
jn
S.A. Boggs
04-14-2020, 01:15
According to the Constitution the government will have to fund it in some way.
Sam
Gun Smoke
04-14-2020, 01:27
Save the PO. Get rid of the UN, foreign aid, welfare, obamacare, WHO, and countless, worthless pork barrel bottomless pits.
I ship a pile of stuff weekly thru the USPS,
overall they do a good job, I have had very few problems,
Why leave it to twist in the first place? Because of absentee ballots?
jon_norstog
04-14-2020, 03:33
Why leave it to twist in the first place? Because of absentee ballots?
I think that is just gravy for them. The real prize is the same as public lands or public water supply: take something out of the commonwealth and convert it to a profit center.
jn
I think that is just gravy for them. The real prize is the same as public lands or public water supply: take something out of the commonwealth and convert it to a profit center.
jn
The post office subsidizes rural service with their flat rate products.
A few years ago I was selling nice collector cartons of WW2 AP M2 through the CMP's web site. I found $15 could get two cartons shipped to just about any zip code via UPS. So I sold them with shipping included. Then a guy in E. Kentucky bought some and UPS told me $25. $25? Looked his address up on Google Maps and saw why.
^It's all about how close you are to a shipping hub,,
near one,, cheaper postage,
farther away or in the sticks,, gonna cost you
works that way for all of the shippers,
USPS is a strange animal,
they partner with FedEx for Priority, UPS for smartpost,
and offer lots of discounts thru vendors, (I use XPS Shipper, with a few percent discount for using them)
stamps.com , endicia, pittney bowes etc offer business discounts as well
a postmaster actually called me and set up an appt to set me up with XPS, I was using Click n Ship before,
lots of bargains for some out there, depending on volume of course,
and that is how UPS and Fedex work as well, corporate discounts for big contracts,
barretcreek
04-14-2020, 05:35
My understanding is the USPS doesn't have a funded pension system, pensions are paid out of revenue. Oops, we didn't anticipate email. It's going to be a tough slog.
My understanding is the USPS doesn't have a funded pension system, pensions are paid out of revenue. Oops, we didn't anticipate email. It's going to be a tough slog.
I just checked on this. Postal workers are covered under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) just like other civil service employees. The FERS system is much less expensive to the 'gubmint than the old CSRS system and even more cost efficient than military retirement. A couple of years ago the DoD scrapped the old military retirement system and replaced it with a FERS clone. Our son, being vested in the old military retirement system, wisely opted out of the new system and stayed with traditional military retirement.
SloopJohnB
04-14-2020, 06:33
amen!
clintonhater
04-14-2020, 07:08
Save the PO. Get rid of the UN, foreign aid, welfare, obamacare, WHO, and countless, worthless pork barrel bottomless pits.
Yes, of course! But the chief enemies in Congress of fully supporting USPS have for many yrs been Repub "free-enterprise" fanatics who'd like to see mail delivery totally privatized--turned over to UPS & FedEx, in other words. Mail delivery in every other civilized country is & has always been regarded as a basic public service--like police & fire protection; should they, too, have to be self-supporting?
All the small, rural, one-room, POs around here have already been forced to half-day operation--that or be shut-down entirely! Those of you who live in cities (ugh!) cannot begin to appreciate the importance of "their" PO to country folk--they function (even with reduced hours) as the community centers of villages too small to have any other.
Very well put as usual. It's part of what makes America and any other country Great. Maybe it's not efficient, but it's nice anyway. Missed you.
S.A. Boggs
04-15-2020, 01:15
In our little village the general store is that along with being the P.O., restaurant and many other things. The mail itself is delivered from the P.O. @ the county seat.
Sam
Vern Humphrey
04-16-2020, 07:48
Ettene Bergeron, he get out of dem Army. He say to his daddy, "I got to get me a job, me."
His daddy say, "Try dem Post Office. Dey be hirin' dere."
Ettene, he go to dat Post Office. He fill out all dem papers. Dey ax him all dem questions. "You got any allergies, you?"
"Me, I'm allergic to caffeine, dat's it."
"You been in de Service?"
"I'm just get out of dem Army."
"Dat's good! You get five points just for dat!"
Den they ax him, "You got any disabilities, you?"
"When I'm in Afghanistan, I get blowed up by dem IED and los' bot' my testicles."
"You don't got to say no mo'! You got so many points, I hire you right now. De job is from 8 to 5. You come in at 10 every day."
"If de job is from 8 to 5, how come I don't got to be here until 10?"
"Dis is de Post Office. For the first two hours, we stan' aroun', drink coffee an' scratch our unmentionables. You don' got to be here for dat, no!"
Hint: if a joke can't be told in standard English without losing whatever humor it holds, then there may be an issue with it. What's next? Pickaninny jokes from your youth?
Sandpebble
04-16-2020, 02:07
Eliminate funding to the the US Postal Service ? ...shame on the thought as its a wonderful public service that benefits us all
If you believe UPS and Fedex taking over will offer a more efficient service that will save you tax dollars... you're dreaming .
Where do we go next... privatized fire departments... privatized military ? .... some public services are just plain worth the tax expenditure ...
that's the great part of living in an advanced nation... not "all" the benefits need to go to a corporate stock dividend
Roadkingtrax
04-16-2020, 03:20
Hint: if a joke can't be told in standard English without losing whatever humor it holds, then there may be an issue with it. What's next? Pickaninny jokes from your youth?
What dialect of english language is that typed in?
What dialect of english language is that typed in?
One that gets flagged to the admins.
On the plus side, no more bigotry lectures from Vernon. So there's that to look forward to.
clintonhater
04-16-2020, 05:00
Eliminate funding to the the US Postal Service ? ...shame on the thought as its a wonderful public service that benefits us all
If you believe UPS and Fedex taking over will offer a more efficient service that will save you tax dollars... you're dreaming .
Over the last few yrs, I found the USPS charge to ship something I was wanting to mail so exorbitant that I took the same package to UPS thinking it HAD to be less. Don't do that any more because in every case I found UPS to be even more exorbitant. But Trump is right about Amazon & all the other big shippers--they are NOT paying the same shipping prices charged ordinary postal customers. Anytime I've wanted to return something I paid $X shipping for, the cost to return it is at least $2X, often more.
Big shippers buy their services in volume and get a better unit price. It should be different?
Years ago I wanted to ship some Christmas gifts to some friends in Switzerland. Nothing fancy...some beer glasses, T shirts, homemade candy. At the Kinko's, a hairy declarations form. I get to the front of the line, stay there for awhile. It's Christmas so line stacking up behind me. Shipping cost - $200! After all that time I couldn't walk away so...Merry Christmas, Swiss friends! A guy at work who knows shipping said that same package would cost $50 to ship on the corporate rate.
Oh...and the Swiss Government asked my friends to pony up 50 CHF in import duties. The gift that kept on giving.
What dialect of english language is that typed in?
read like cajun to me, and sounds like a cajun name,
yall need to get out more,
- - - Updated - - -
Over the last few yrs, I found the USPS charge to ship something I was wanting to mail so exorbitant that I took the same package to UPS thinking it HAD to be less. Don't do that any more because in every case I found UPS to be even more exorbitant. But Trump is right about Amazon & all the other big shippers--they are NOT paying the same shipping prices charged ordinary postal customers. Anytime I've wanted to return something I paid $X shipping for, the cost to return it is at least $2X, often more.
I ship a lot,
if USPS seems too high,, I check UPS and or Fedex, (fedex is called Fedup around here cause service is so poor)
anyhoo,
sometimes, UPS is cheaper,
this is usually due to a UPS hub being closer to the address than a USPS (or Fedex, since they carry a lot of Priority mail)
sometimes, it is the exact opposite,
UPS has a new simple rate as well,
4 size ranges, must be under 50 lbs, and a lot cheaper sometimes than USPS,, for weight,,,,even using USPs Flat rate
- - - Updated - - -
Big shippers buy their services in volume and get a better unit price. It should be different?
Years ago I wanted to ship some Christmas gifts to some friends in Switzerland. Nothing fancy...some beer glasses, T shirts, homemade candy. At the Kinko's, a hairy declarations form. I get to the front of the line, stay there for awhile. It's Christmas so line stacking up behind me. Shipping cost - $200! After all that time I couldn't walk away so...Merry Christmas, Swiss friends! A guy at work who knows shipping said that same package would cost $50 to ship on the corporate rate.
Oh...and the Swiss Government asked my friends to pony up 50 CHF in import duties. The gift that kept on giving.
Corporate rates or plans are very inexpensive, volume etc, and exclusivity,
lots of chains sign contracts, only use whatever carrier, and get a substantial rate reduction for the volume
Roadkingtrax
04-16-2020, 06:27
"Get Out More" he says. Yeah, well...global pandemic and all.
"Get Out More" he says. Yeah, well...global pandemic and all.
virtual touring??
start here maybe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK4umRMJlrs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK4umRMJlrs
Roadkingtrax
04-16-2020, 06:36
virtual touring??
start here maybe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK4umRMJlrs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK4umRMJlrs
Oh yah, Ooonyun and a purrrfect teespone of sault.
Dont share too much PBS...some think its socialistic propaganda.
clintonhater
04-16-2020, 07:14
read like cajun to me, and sounds like a cajun name,
You're right, it does (or English as the Quebecois speak it), but it's also the sound of Ebonics.
Roadkingtrax
04-16-2020, 07:22
You're right, it does (or English as the Quebecois speak it), but it's also the sound of Ebonics.
Ditto.
You're right, it does (or English as the Quebecois speak it), but it's also the sound of Ebonics.
Came across as ebonics to me too. "Ax" for 'ask' was a dead giveaway.
clintonhater
04-16-2020, 07:49
Dont share too much PBS...some think its socialistic propaganda.
That's not exactly correct (as someone who watches it continuously, & records many programs on DVD).
The best illustration of PBS' idea of journalistic objectivity is the PBS News Hour: without elaborating on the countless leftist academics invariably recruited as their "experts" to pontificate on any given subject, their alleged "Conservative" commentator, David Brooks, who's presented as the "counterpoint" to radical leftist Mark Shields, is someone who has publically advocated for monetary reparations to all persons of Negro ancestry. THIS is PBS' conception of a "conservative"!
Came across as ebonics to me too. "Ax" for 'ask' was a dead giveaway.
and that's bad?
and that's bad?
Important question. Your best bet might be to share the joke widely and get a broad set of opinions.
Important question. Your best bet might be to share the joke widely and get a broad set of opinions.
and the answer is ?
and the answer is ?
You're the one looking for answers. So go get some.
jon_norstog
04-18-2020, 01:54
Big shippers buy their services in volume and get a better unit price. It should be different?
Years ago I wanted to ship some Christmas gifts to some friends in Switzerland. Nothing fancy...some beer glasses, T shirts, homemade candy. At the Kinko's, a hairy declarations form. I get to the front of the line, stay there for awhile. It's Christmas so line stacking up behind me. Shipping cost - $200! After all that time I couldn't walk away so...Merry Christmas, Swiss friends! A guy at work who knows shipping said that same package would cost $50 to ship on the corporate rate.
Oh...and the Swiss Government asked my friends to pony up 50 CHF in import duties. The gift that kept on giving.
Man! Last year I built a racing bike for this man in Kenya, Ibrahim Wafula. He races big events even though he only has one leg. Raced against Lance one year at Leadville ... Anyway I took his physical situation into account in the build, along with the race - a 2000-mile race over bad roads from Nairobi to Mecca. I boxed the bike up sans wheels, saddle and handle bars (bulky items I figured he could pick up in Nairobi) and shipped it DHL. It cost almost $1,200! Plus when it got there Mr. Wafula couldn't come up with about $300 in duties. He was supposed to have a waiver of duties on specialized handicap equipment. I wrote a letter to their revenue director explaining all the differences between this bike and an ordinary bike for the able-bodied ... got the Commerce Section at the Kenyan Embassy involved, and eventually Mr. Wafula got his waiver. In the meantime the bike sat a few weeks at DHL then customs swooped in and seized it. By the time the waiver had come through customs had lost the bike. Or maybe someone at DHL had taken advantage ..
Wafula ended up riding along on the support van instead of racing.
rant rant
jn
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