ECA--are you in the mold of the PO not being as good as it:

A--could be? -or-

B--should be?

I can't tell from your post.  Yes, because it is government run, our Congress Creeps have loaded it up in response to special interests, bribes, and pandering for votes.  It certainly "could be" run at greater profit by removing the waste.  But what is government?

This demonstrates a common observation:  what the government wastes from inefficiencies and corruption PALES IN COMPARISON to what private enterprise does in the name of free market competition:  IE==44 cents vs $6.25.  Only 50-cents per letter to allow everything to stay the inefficient way it is now.

Of note, but not a big point:  the PO is mandated (to some measure, degree, and application) by the Constitution.  I wonder why PATRIOTS don't get concerned about restrictions in their right to shoot a letter?

http://gizmodo.com/5905096/the-postal-service-shipped-this-guys-package-across-the-country-twice-for-no-reason
THIS IS THE main PROBLEM WITH USPS..

they need another distribution location..they need 2-3..
But the COST of equipment is forbidding.

The real problem with USPS is that they do not get to change what they pay for their own required supplies like gasoline and even labor. And, they don't get to decide on the postage they can charge. Congress decides the cost of a stamp. So, it squeezes them from both sides.

Do you really believe that any significant number of the letters they send end up going back and forth across the country? Then why do my bills always arrive on time?

iV BEEN IN THIS DEBATE BEFORE..
1. THE PO is not part of the government..they are only supported by the gov.
2. they have to supply a report on COSTS and recommendations for price increases..

The PO is designed around a 20-40 mile area..  It starts in substations, then to Main PO..and if it cant be sent via one of the connected Subs...its sent to Distribution...and there is only 1.

NOW, you should check out the other delivery systems..they are JUST AS BAD..

We got another spam, I erased, but notified Yahoo.uk

You might think Republicans are not fascists....but what about TeaPublicans?

You might think TeaPublicans are not fascits....but what about Scott Walker?

This guy is I think sadly, all too typical:  attacking his wife who wanted to vote for "anyone but Walker."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/wife-drives-into-chippewa-falls-man-after-vote-argument-ke5bdap-150697635.html

You might think Republicans are not fascists....but what about TeaPublicans?

You might think TeaPublicans are not fascits....but what about Scott Walker?

This guy is I think sadly, all too typical:  attacking his wife who wanted to vote for "anyone but Walker."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/wife-drives-into-chippewa-falls-man-after-vote-argument-ke5bdap-150697635.html

He should be brought up on charges. The report is that she tried to drive around him. He jumped in front of the vehicle. So, he tried to assault her SUV with his body. He deserves what he got and some jail time for interfering with her right to vote.

Unfortunately, this is also one of those cases where there reporter is almost, but not quite lying. Most people won't read the whole article. So, from the headline, they'll get that the wife hit the husband with her SUV. From the first paragraph, they will get confirmation that "she struck him with her sport utility vehicle."

It isn't until way down in the article that we finally get the truth.

When she finally attempted to drive around him, Jeffrey Radle jumped in front of the vehicle and was hit. Aman da Radle left the scene and went to the police department to report the incident, the release said.

Why is it that I get so much better reporting on U.S. issues from BBC and The Guardian than from U.S. news sources?

Regardless, here's an interesting analysis of the party of mean, the party of NO.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/14/how-being-party-of-no-working-for-gop

You mean you had to read this article to know the TeaPublican Movement was reshaping the Republican Party and could play a decisive role in defeating Obama in the swing states?  I think you already knew that from USA sources?

Its like TV.  Maybe BBC is slightly better than USA but it too has a whole bunch of sludge.

You mean you had to read this article to know the TeaPublican Movement was reshaping the Republican Party and could play a decisive role in defeating Obama in the swing states?  I think you already knew that from USA sources?

Its like TV.  Maybe BBC is slightly better than USA but it too has a whole bunch of sludge.

I thought it was a good analysis of why it's working. Yes. Everyone and their mother knows it's happening. But, it makes no intuitive sense. Explanation helps ... a bit.

Here's a repugnican wacko you may not have heard of. Seriously, this party should be self-destructing in their own delusional insanity.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/05/allen-quist-michele-bachmann-campaign

Given the election season, it's probably time to resurrect this thread. Here's a good bit to discuss about it.

http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx

What effect will this have on this year's election?
What effect will it have on the Repugnican party?
What effect will Mitt Romney's comment that "we all believe in the same god" (said at the end of the first debate) have on this rising demographic?
Will it encourage young religiously unaffiliated "nones" to hit the polls in record numbers? (I certainly hope so!)

(I'm just into resurrecting dead threads at the moment.)

Politics and religion on this thread.... and I advocated for pedophilsim on the other.  The Trifecta.

I am on a mailing group of 50 people planning a class reunion and 5 days ago the organizer forwarded an email criticizing the ACLU for filing suit against the military to prevent prayers during military formations that ended with "In Jesus's Name, Amen."  So--I emailed the group saying that I did not support requiring people in uniform to pray to Jesus.  I then added that the email was wrong and the ACLU had never filed such a suit according to Snopes and others.  Now--3 members of this group have asked that I not copy them on email responses where I am "so confrontational."  Seems it ruins class spirit.

All very demonstrative of "the conservative mind set" not wanting any disagreement in their lives.  Just bow down and agree with what we think.  Quite amusing in one way, disturbing in the other.

I'm about 55/45 split on creating a separate mailing list so the three names are not on it---but WHAT DO YOU GUYS THING?===should I tell them to use the delete button or learn how to block addresses?  I haven't found any net etiquette on point and given you all think I'm a troll, what better source of advice could there be?

Back on point though==these ARE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.  Abysmally stupid like my class mates.  What ya gonna do but let the process proceed?  Watch America fall in world rankings for science and math but rise in fundamentalism?  Its a pendulum.  It will swing back eventually.

I'm about 55/45 split on creating a separate mailing list so the three names are not on it---but WHAT DO YOU GUYS THING?===should I tell them to use the delete button or learn how to block addresses?  I haven't found any net etiquette on point and given you all think I'm a troll, what better source of advice could there be?

Back on point though==these ARE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.  Abysmally stupid like my class mates.  What ya gonna do but let the process proceed?  Watch America fall in world rankings for science and math but rise in fundamentalism?  Its a pendulum.  It will swing back eventually.

On the mailing list, I would create a separate one. I'm all for in-your-face debates with the religiose, but not at knife point. It has to be with people willing to have the debate, willing to have their views challenged and capable of defending themselves. In a battle of wits, it's best to come armed. And, if you're the only one armed, there isn't much of a battle. You can assume that you already verbally slit the throats of those who had no response other than to request not to have such debates in the future. They're willfully ignorant, and so, cannot learn anything, not even how to defend their own views.

As for waiting for the pendulum to swing, I'd rather help it along. The Pew study indicates that the pendulum is starting to swing. But, if Romney gets in, appoints more SCOTUS justices, brings back the global gag rule, and implements a drill baby drill policy, there will be insufficient time for the pendulum to swing back. More justices put the time frame at a minimum of several decades. Global gag rule would create another few hundred million people, as W did, thus pushing us much closer to the precipice. Drilling ANWR, the tar sands (Canadian, I know, but requires a U.S. pipeline), and the arctic ocean will seal the fate of the planet with catastrophic climate change.

We cannot wait passively for the pendulum. It will be too late.

Well thanks Scotty.  So.... you counsel to arrange my affairs so that those who wish to be willfully ignorant can continue in such manner?  Like Bachman et al==isolated and thinking they can force their values on others>>>>because we let them do it.  It is only polite after all.  And thats exactly how the fundamentalist know nothings grow and wield their power.  Ha, ha.===my emotions tell me to really get in their face:  call them a bug I want to study.  My brain tells me they aren't worth the effort. 

I think my brain and guts are in harmony.  So==I think the more relevant issue is the other 47 guys?  Or---is the most important guy .....  ME!!!!!!!!  Ha, ha.  I was thinking my next response should be to say I'm just offering my opinion and not even being confrontational "but" I did characterize a certain opinion (that could not fail but be theirs) as "nascent American Taliban."  I do love the slice and dice.  Its not as much fun though when the Luddites are too stupid to recognize they just had a learning experience and threw it away.

Which way would the pendulum swing with what amount of force?===I don't know, and it would be "variable."  I am not shocked, but have to admit a teensy weensie bit of surprise that they react this way.  "Don't challenge me to think---even as obliquely as you have."  Instead of arguing that separation of Church and State was good for Religion, I should have hypothecated what if the Air Force made the recruits pray to Allahu Akhbar?  I think the point would have been more clear to them.   ....  could that be true?  I'm such a liberal==thinking the brain dead can still think.

While i agree the SCOTUS has more influence on many "rights" than most people realize, I don't think they will have that much impact on Climate Change.  I think most of those decisions are going to be very traditional regulatory and funding issues.  I don't think whether or not some agency has jurisdiction over certain pollution has that much sway.  It could in a Sci-Fantasy way, but not with the pendulums I have seen===or are you thinking of anything quite specific?