USPS Ad Blasts Email. Snail Mail Keeps you Safe, Secure, and Connected.

[Kludge]

Happen to watch Jon Stewart's segment (http://www.iqmediacorp.com/ClipPlayer/default.aspx?ClipID=016a4b22-c2f4-4651-b094-dc2981afeac8&TE=6yrld1zlDMp3kTGQqoMcNQ%3d%3d&PN=bt9sZFac%2bKA%3d) on Senator McCaskill's claim that the USPS is valuable because physical letters are more enjoyable to receive from loved ones?

(http://www.iqmediacorp.com/ClipPlayer/default.aspx?ClipID=016a4b22-c2f4-4651-b094-dc2981afeac8&TE=6yrld1zlDMp3kTGQqoMcNQ%3d%3d&PN=bt9sZFac%2bKA%3d)Perhaps the USPS has taken the Senator's remarks to heart. They've launched a new ad slamming email for allowing your letters to "disappear at the click of a button," praising snail mail because "a refrigerator has never been hacked, [and] an online virus has never attacked a corkboard." Coincidentally, we just found out today that a package sent a couple weeks ago disappeared in a processing plant and we were never sent notification... or maybe our notification letter disappeared, too.

Video, comments & article @ http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111003/04161216180/new-us-postal-service-ad-campaign-email-sucks-so-mail-stuff-instead.shtml

[1836]

Gotta love government backed organizations.

[A Son of Liberty]

Buggy whip industry ad blasts horseless carriages

[amy31416]

In a sense, it is the obvious choice these days for terrorists, since the gov't can intercept all of your electronic communications quite easily, no?

[Lafayette]

Oh luady! What would i do without the 3 pounds of ads, sale papers and credit card apps i get everyday.

[Steve-in-NY]

At least they cant go through your snail mail without a warrant.
Right?

[specsaregood]

Oh luady! What would i do without the 3 pounds of ads, sale papers and credit card apps i get everyday.
I don't know about you; but that spot on my landing next to my frontdoor that I have set aside just for a paper recycle bin would look pretty bare.

[Krugerrand]

We can all rest easily knowing that physical mail has never been lost or stolen.

That said, I am all about having my various statements mailed to me rather than sent electronically.

[amy31416]

At least they cant go through your snail mail without a warrant.
Right?

The gov't can go through "media" mail without a warrant, but they allegedly can't go through first class mail without one. <---- Pretty sure that's accurate, but not 100% sure.

[specsaregood]

The gov't can go through "media" mail without a warrant, but they allegedly can't go through first class mail without one. <---- Pretty sure that's accurate, but not 100% sure.

If they can kill US citizens without due process you can damn well bet they have a secret memo in a drawer saying they can go through whatever mail they want as well.

[amy31416]

If they can kill US citizens without due process you can damn well bet they have a secret memo in a drawer saying they can go through whatever mail they want as well.

Yes. However, it'd be far more difficult and actually take physical effort for them to go through snail mail on a large scale--and it'd be obvious. Can you imagine all of our very competent postal workers standing there with their steam kettles going, covertly opening grandma's birthday card?

That said, I sent a bottle of wine to my cousin as a thank-you, and the bitches didn't deliver it. Probably drinking it and eating the chocolates too. Bastards.

[V3n]

Would you rather have your votes taken on paper ballots or electronic?

[V3n]

Amusing experiment on trying to get odd things through the post office:

http://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume6/v6i4/postal-6-4.html

[specsaregood]

Yes. However, it'd be far more difficult and actually take physical effort for them to go through snail mail on a large scale--and it'd be obvious. Can you imagine all of our very competent postal workers standing there with their steam kettles going, covertly opening grandma's birthday card?


I'm not so sure. The USPS was at the forefront of automation and most importantly OCR combined with automation. They really pushed the technology for OCR long ago. They could go much furhter with it if they had a reason to, problem is automation doesn't pay off for them because they are not allowed to lay employees off by law. So they now have thousands of employees that get paid to sit in a break room all day. So reducing the need for workers is pointless.

[donnay]

The problem is, in 1971 the USPS became a corporation and I am sure Benjamin Franklin is rolling in his grave!!

The U.S. Postal Department was the only agency authorized by the Constitution (1792). It was in 1971, under the Postal Reorganization Act, which was unconstitutional I may add, that was the beginning of their troubles... Postal Reorganization Act allowed the U.S. Postal Service to essentially become corporate-like entity. The Postal Service then monopolized how mail was sent and delivered in this country. That was until services like UPS and Fed Ex and other private companies started to compete with them and they cried foul, trying to use the government as their reason for monopolizing the market.


1792 Postal Department
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/United_States_Department_of_the_Post_Office_Seal.s vg/220px-United_States_Department_of_the_Post_Office_Seal.s vg.png

1972 Postal Service
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Uspslogo.png <----see the trademark

[specsaregood]

The problem is, in 1971 the USPS became a corporation and I am sure Benjamin Franklin is rolling in his grave!!


I sorta doubt that. The man that used his role as postmaster to the colonies in order to be one of the first corporatists by setting up the post office in his own general store so people would be inclined to shop there while sending mail? The guy that used his postion as postmaster to enable him to deliver his own for-profit newspaper for free using postal carriers? The nepotist, that give his son his job as postmaster of philadelphia when he got bumped up to a higher position?

You think that guy ^ is rolling in his grave over that?

[amy31416]

I sorta doubt that. The man that used his role as postmaster to the colonies in order to be one of the first corporatists by setting up the post office in his own general store so people would be inclined to shop there while sending mail? The guy that used his postion as postmaster to enable him to deliver his own for-profit newspaper for free using postal carriers? The nepotist, that give his son his job as postmaster of philadelphia when he got bumped up to a higher position?

You think that guy ^ is rolling in his grave over that?

Nope. He was one of the first corporatists, in my opinion.

[donnay]

I sorta doubt that. The man that used his role as postmaster to the colonies in order to be one of the first corporatists by setting up the post office in his own general store so people would be inclined to shop there while sending mail? The guy that used his postion as postmaster to enable him to deliver his own for-profit newspaper for free using postal carriers? The nepotist, that give his son his job as postmaster of philadelphia when he got bumped up to a higher position?

You think that guy ^ is rolling in his grave over that?

Go back and look at the history...Franklin was credited with being the chief architect, with regards to organizing it to work efficiently. Franklin only served briefly as the Postmaster General during the Revolution. It wasn't until 1789 that the Postal Department was written into the Constitution. Washington appointed Samuel Osgood to the post of Postmaster General around four days later.

So yes, I think Franklin is rolling in his grave.

[specsaregood]

Go back and look at the history...Franklin was credited with being the chief architect, with regards to organizing it to work efficiently. Franklin only served briefly as the Postmaster General during the Revolution. It wasn't until 1789 that the Postal Department was written into the Constitution. Washington appointed Samuel Osgood to the post of Postmaster General around four days later.

So yes, I think Franklin is rolling in his grave.

I didn't say postmaster general.
He was postmaster of philadelphia well before the revolution. It was the "job" that made him rich. He setup the city's post office in his shop and mailed copies of his newspaper for free. He was a coporatist. history about him didn't start at the onset of the revolution.

[donnay]

I didn't say postmaster general.
He was postmaster of philadelphia well before the revolution. It was the "job" that made him rich. He setup the city's post office in his shop and mailed copies of his newspaper for free. He was a coporatist. history about him didn't start at the onset of the revolution.

"Mailing copies of his newspaper for free" -- what does that mean? That he used the funds of the Postal Department? Or did he mail them out for free to people who signed up to receive them?

I am sure none of his inventions got him his wealth--the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass 'armonica'.

[specsaregood]

"Mailing copies of his newspaper for free" -- what does that mean? That he used the funds of the Postal Department? Or did he mail them out for free to people who signed up to receive them?


His job as postmaster of philadelphia "entitled" him to send copies of the pennsylvania Gazette through the mail for free. He didn't have to pay to send the mail because he was postmaster. I don't know how much more clear I can be.

And hundreds of people had to come to his print shop and general store because it was the city's post office.



I am sure none of his inventions got him his wealth--the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass 'armonica'.

They aren't what got him his wealth. By 1748 he was earning 2,000 pounds a year (about 300k/year in today's dollars).
Which put him as one of the wealthier people BEFORe a fair number of those inventions. Also he never sought patents an wanted to give his inventions away for the betterment of others.

edit: btw if you are interested in learning more on the subject I have an excellent book I recommend
"the intimate lives of the founding fathers" by Thomas Fleming.

[Carole]

At least they cant go through your snail mail without a warrant.
Right?

Isn't that likely covered under the Not Patriot Act? They can write their own warrents now. So they do not have to wake up the judge for a warrent. :D

[oyarde]

We can all rest easily knowing that physical mail has never been lost or stolen.

That said, I am all about having my various statements mailed to me rather than sent electronically. I love snail mail ! Would not use it in Saudi though ...

[oyarde]

Yes. However, it'd be far more difficult and actually take physical effort for them to go through snail mail on a large scale--and it'd be obvious. Can you imagine all of our very competent postal workers standing there with their steam kettles going, covertly opening grandma's birthday card?

That said, I sent a bottle of wine to my cousin as a thank-you, and the bitches didn't deliver it. Probably drinking it and eating the chocolates too. Bastards.What kind of wine ? To test the service , you should send me one :)

[amy31416]

What kind of wine ? To test the service , you should send me one :)

A lovely pinot grigio. Max out to RP, and you got a deal. :p

[donnay]

His job as postmaster of philadelphia "entitled" him to send copies of the pennsylvania Gazette through the mail for free. He didn't have to pay to send the mail because he was postmaster. I don't know how much more clear I can be.

And hundreds of people had to come to his print shop and general store because it was the city's post office.



They aren't what got him his wealth. By 1748 he was earning 2,000 pounds a year (about 300k/year in today's dollars).
Which put him as one of the wealthier people BEFORe a fair number of those inventions. Also he never sought patents an wanted to give his inventions away for the betterment of others.

edit: btw if you are interested in learning more on the subject I have an excellent book I recommend
"the intimate lives of the founding fathers" by Thomas Fleming.


Well according to this historian it was the practice of the times since there was no numbering of houses and businesses.

In Scharf and Westcott's "History of Philadelphia" there is a list, compiled from many sources, yet incomplete, of the names of the postmasters of Philadelphia. From this it appears that Henry Flower filled the position in 1698, Captain John Hamilton in 1707, and Henry Flower again in 1722. It is reasonable to suppose that each of these gentlemen received and distributed the mail at his own home, whose exact location, could it be determined in each case, would establish the position of the Post Office building of that day.

In 1728, Andrew Bradford became postmaster. He was the son of William Bradford, the printer, and had established a printery and bindery of his own at his house in Second Street — "at his paternal sign of the Bible" — where he published his newspaper, the "American Weekly Mercury," and kept, besides, a large store. One of his advertisements reads:

"choice parcels of stationery lately imported from London, Dutch quills, blank books, royal, medium, demy and post paper, good slates, choice ink powders and japanned ink, sealing-wax and wafers, including crown and half-crown wafers for offices, folio letter cases, very good paper, as royal demy, superfine large post, foolscap, gilt paper for letters, fine glass ink fonts, very fine inkstands of various sort, and most kinds of stationery ware."

The printing office was the Post Office as well, according to the "Mercury's" issue of April 4, 1728, which announced that "the Post Office will be kept at the house of Andrew Bradford."

The postmaster seems to have combined the two with profit to himself, much to the discomfiture of his rival, Benjamin Franklin, publisher of "The Pennsylvania Gazette," who found it impracticable to have his own newspapers delivered by post as long as Bradford held office. But in 1737 the tables were turned when Bradford, whose returns had been unsatisfactory, was removed by the Postmaster General, Colonel William Spotswood, who thereupon appointed Franklin to the office. "I accepted it readily," says Franklin in his "Autobiography," "and found it of great advantage; for, tho' the salary was small, it facilitated, the correspondence that improved my newspaper...My old competitor's newspaper declined proportionately, and I was satisfy'd without retaliating his refusal, while postmaster, to permit my papers being carried by the riders."

http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/philadelphia/postoffice.htm

[specsaregood]

Well according to this historian it was the practice of the times since there was no numbering of houses and businesses.



Right, what you quoted just backs up what I said. thanks for that though.

[Kludge]

BTW, USPS contacted me about the package which disappeared in a nearby post office on September 20th.

"Dear Mr. Malec,

Please accept our apology for the inconvenience you have experienced regarding late delivery of a Priority Mail shipment.

We work very hard to offer good service to our customers, and it is genuinely disappointing to hear about instances when we simply do not meet your needs or achieve our service standards. Our operating standard for Priority Mail is 2-3 days, measured from Post Office™ to Post Office™. Due to the economical and competitive rates of Priority Mail, we do not provide a guarantee like our Express Mail service, nor can we track shipments as they move through our network. The delivery period you reported is certainly beyond our service standard, and I apologize for the inconvenience you incurred as a result. It is also possible that the item may have been delivered without the required delivery scan.

The Postal Service™ monitors feedback from customers like yourself, identifying patterns that permit us to take corrective measures in certain areas. Despite your obvious disappointment with this mailing, we assure you it does not reflect our usual service and hope you permit us another opportunity to serve you in the future.

**Your case has been investigated and a solution has been provided to you. Should you have any additional concerns, please return towww.usps.com (http://www.usps.com/) to send them to the appropriate office. Please do not reply to this message.**"

1) tracking was paid for. It clearly went from the post office I dropped it off at to another office, and was not sent out again.





Processed through Sort Facility

September 20, 2011, 2:11 am

WARRENDALE, PA 15086

Expected Delivery By:
September 21, 2011

Delivery Confirmation™





Acceptance
September 19, 2011, 1:23 pm
ERIE, PA 16508






Electronic Shipping Info Received
September 19, 2011









So.... Yes, you track shipments as they move through your network.

2) "Your case has been investigated and a solution has been provided to you." ..... No.

[specsaregood]

you do realize it isn't legal to send beer, wine or liquor through the USPS, right?

[Kludge]

you do realize it isn't legal to send beer, wine or liquor through the USPS, right?
It can be confiscated if they suspect it enough to open it, but AFAIK, there are no penalties beyond that. There'd be no reason to suspect it, unless the bottle broke, but it was packaged quite well.... they would have had to jump on the package or something.

In fairness to USPS, I once sent cooked bacon via mail as a joke since I couldn't get an urn open to send a cremated corpse, and the bacon in the envelope stuck in a processing machine, ending up tearing open the envelope. The USPS was generous enough to re-package the contents of the envelope and finish delivery.

[specsaregood]

It can be confiscated if they suspect it enough to open it, but AFAIK, there are no penalties beyond that. There'd be no reason to suspect it, unless the bottle broke, but it was packaged quite well.... they would have had to jump on the package or something.


Ok, just checking. I mail homebrew to friends back and forth all the time; but just wanted to make sure you knew since you were getting them all into investigating. I too just package it up really well. I haven't had one break, yet. *knock on wood.