Wikipedia among other things of note, tells us that on this 20th day of February there was adopted in 1792 The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department signed by United States President George Washington.
Here’s to the USPS! Happy Birthday!
If my calculations are right, it’s USPS’ 227th. thank you, Ben.
from USPS site:
Benjamin Franklin, First Postmaster General
Born in Boston in 1706, Benjamin Franklin left school at age 10 to work in his father’s candle shop.9 In 1718, Franklin apprenticed to his brother James, a printer and founder of Boston’s New England Courant. Franklin read voraciously, contributed anonymous articles to his brother’s newspaper, and managed the paper while his brother was imprisoned for a political offense. At 17, Franklin ran away and ended up in Philadelphia, where he found work as a printer. Franklin started his own print shop by 1728 and purchased The Pennsylvania Gazette. His wildly successful Poor Richard’s Almanack secured his fortune.
Postal Career Begins
Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia by the British Crown Post in 1737. Newspaper publishers often served as postmasters, which helped them to gather and distribute news. Postmasters decided which newspapers could travel free in the mail — or in the mail at all.
Postmaster General Elliott Benger added to Franklin’s duties by making him comptroller, with financial oversight for nearby Post Offices. Franklin lobbied the British to succeed Benger when his health failed and, with Virginia’s William Hunter, was named joint postmaster general for the Crown on August 10, 1753.
Franklin surveyed post roads and Post Offices, introduced a simple accounting method for postmasters, and had riders carry mail both night and day. He encouraged postmasters to establish the penny post where letters not called for at the Post Office were delivered for a penny. Remembering his experience with the Gazette, Franklin mandated delivery of all newspapers for a small fee. His efforts contributed to the Crown’s first North American profit in 1760.
In 1757, while serving as joint postmaster general, Franklin went to London to represent Pennsylvania’s government. In 1763, back in the colonies, he traveled 1,600 miles surveying post roads and Post Offices from Virginia to New England.
In 1764, Franklin returned to London, where he represented the interests of several colonial governments. In 1774, judged too sympathetic to the colonies, he was dismissed as joint postmaster general.
First Postmaster General under the Continental Congress
Back on American soil in 1775, Franklin served as a member of the Second Continental Congress, which appointed him Postmaster General on July 26 of that year. With an annual salary of $1,000 and $340 for a secretary and comptroller, Franklin was responsible for all Post Offices from Massachusetts to Georgia and had authority to hire postmasters as necessary.
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ZIP code = Zone Improvement Plan
speaking of going postal
from plain dealer:
one year ago, a headline to keep in mind for 2020.
are they still “helping” him? and how? bros bots? $$$ ?
usatoday::
Indictment: Russians also tried to help Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein presidential campaign
I do like the postal service and think they do an amazing job that is often not appreciated. Too often take them for granted which tells you that they are doing something right. Happy Birthday USPS
Remember when email first came out and everyone predicted it would mean the death of the post office. At the time, no one envisioned that one could shop for everything and anything online…. and then of course, it would be delivered by the post office.
Happy Birthday Post Office! My PO Box is worth every penny.
This is kinda my mood for today
I’m thrilled when a merchant ships thru the USPS
Found this little jewel and thought it worth sharing. Enjoy!
British view of Trump…..
Someone asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”
Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:
“A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.
I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
* You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
‘My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”
We just moved and it took three days for our forwarded mail to begin arriving at our new address. I think that is pretty good service. We haven’t missed a thing.
Do you have the same carrier??
jace, perfect description of the twit. it should be inscribed forever in the history books.
thanks for sharing it with us
Yes, preserve a pictorial version for his base as well.
flatus, will this do for a visual version?
Mrs P and I do online shopping from a number of merchants from the largest to very small ones and I can say without reservation that the USPS does a lot of business for them.
We are fans of the USPS– and receive more shipped goods via the post office than other carriers which is a change.
Roger Stone – lock him up! I’m sure he thinks SFB is going to pardon him. And his former partner too.
I hope Judge Berman glues his mouth shut and orders his fingers cut off. I think he had the Saudis as clients for a while so I think sort of punishment is appropriate.
Sounding like SFB is getting really nervous. Must be pre-invasion jitters getting ready to invade Mexico or even Iran. Or, it could be the monster is feeling heat, lots of heat.
Pat, at least the emperor isn’t known to tie one on.
I just got back from a trip to our local independent bookstore. I picked up a copy of McCabe’s book plus a used hardcover copy of Rick Wilson’s “Everything Trump Touches Dies”. Both should be good reading.
I did watch McCabe’s interview on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show last night. As pogo said… I too found him compelling. Lawrence mentioned that the book isn’t only about trump… said there was big section on the Boston Marathon bombing which McCabe was in charge of finding and capturing those 2 boys. I’d like to read about that.
We ae fortunate to have a regular mail lady who engages with the community, worries about some of the children and finds dog food for people who can’t buy food for their dogs. She is a jewel and now that she knows who we are will tell us about problems so we can help with solutions. It is why last Christmas she got a card with a big thankyou and a $100 bill in it. When she moves on we will miss her. Regular mail deliverers become a vital part of Urban communities as they walk and chat and trade stories.
A Mrs, Jack update, she went back to work full time last week, a bit rough for her but she is glad to be back to work and out of the house. and her first post chemo scan shows everything in good shape
Jack
I was disappointed when a. cooper asked mccabe if he thought trump could be a russian asset. As an answer, “possibly” doesn’t cut it. At this time the only Qs are, ‘beginning when’ and ‘is he paid a salary, or is it piecework ?’
NYTimes: Michael Cohen Wins 60-Day Delay to Start of Prison Sentence
Michael D. Cohen, the former lawyer for President Trump who was to report early next month to begin serving a three-year prison sentence, was granted a two-month delay on Wednesday before he must surrender to the authorities.
Mr. Cohen, 52, must now report to the Bureau of Prisons on May 6, a federal judge in Manhattan, William H. Pauley III, said in a brief order.
Mr. Cohen’s lawyers had asked for the delay in their client’s surrender date, saying he recently underwent a serious surgical procedure and needed to undergo intensive post-surgical physical therapy under the monitoring of a physician.
They also said he needed to prepare to testify before three congressional committees at the end of the month.
jack, glad to hear the good news for mrs. jack.
X-R, he’s possibly and probably an asset. absolutely an ass.
Jack, good for the Missus! On the count of three, Kick Cancer’s Butt!!
Jack… great news about Mrs. Jack! Yeah… I’m with Flatus… kick cancer’s butt!
On this day in 1895 from the New York Times The original obituary for Fredrick Douglass
A very interesting obituary much different than current styles, it seemed to be part obituary, part news and part gossip. But worth the read a remarkable man.
Jack
Just watched Kamala Harris on the Daily Show. Yep, like her a lot.