[meteorite-list] What a surprise! (not)
From: Mark Ford <mark.ford_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 11:27:38 +0100 Message-ID: <29A9DB45B84970458190D7D39BD42C492C2373_at_gamma.ssl.atw> Hi .. On the other hand, here in the UK, our postal '''service''' is slowly being privatized TO DEATH, already most parcels are shipped by separately run companies, and the profit making part of the royal mail has been basically given away. The postal system is in tatters, moral at an all time low, most of the post offices are closing and the whole service now can't possibly make a profit. So next time you dis your own US postal service for being totally state run and anti-competitive, spare a thought for what was the worlds first and best postal system, which is rapidly going to the dogs... sometimes things need to be run as a service and not as a profit making enterprise! Best, Mark F. -----Original Message----- From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Sterling K. Webb Sent: 02 May 2008 07:38 To: meteoriteguy at yahoo.com; meteoritekid at gmail.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com; mexicodoug at aim.com Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] What a surprise! (not) Postal Doug, Of course, the U.S. Mail is subsidized and supported by law -- it's a government service, as the National Posts of many nations are. I believe, as Mr. Franklin did, that governments exist to provide useful and necessary services for its citizens, and a mandate to establish a postal service was part of the Constitution, one of the first National Posts in the world. Originally, the price of post was prohibitive for the ordinary citizen. In 1792, long distance mail (450+ miles) cost 25 cents per sheet of paper, and that 1792 "quarter" was worth many dollars in today's money (OK, I didn't look it up). When stamps were introduced in 1847, the cost plummeted. In 1855, you could send an entire letter of several sheets, in an envelope now, 3000 miles for 3 cents, a rate that persisted for a century. It made a single communicative entity out of a scattered nation. During that century, telegrams were costly and the later long distance phone call was too; they were reserved for deaths, births, wars, and occasionally true love, but you could write someone a letter every single day of the week for no more than the cost of a loaf of bread. One consideration to bear in mind about overseas shipments is that a single rate applies to an entire nation, even though Southern California to London is twice as far as Maine to London, whereas any part of the UK is no more distant from another than the ends of a state like Illinois. And all National Posts are only doing "half" the work when they each reciprocally entrust a package to the National Post of any other country. (The UK Royal Post once directed a 12-string guitar intact to my door from London for less money than UPS charged to damage a guitar from Wisconsin, one state away, in transit.) As for "sacred" mailboxes, they are sanctified by an extension of the personal privacy of the recipient; mail "delivered" there has become part of the "every man's home's his castle" right, and the prohibition against others entering it long precedes the invention of FedEx. Who, since they came up, once "delivered" a brand-new hard drive to a mud puddle in my driveway, and tossed another parcel behind my neighbor's shrubbery to languish there for a week until discovered by them whilst raking leaves, and once, by accident I think, they got a package within six feet of my door. Remind me to tip the FedEx man next Christmas, will you? In between my drinking toasts to the virtues of free enterprise, that is. Postal Sterling ---------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: <mexicodoug at aim.com> To: <meteoriteguy at yahoo.com>; <meteoritekid at gmail.com>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 10:31 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] What a surprise! (not) "Actually cheaper to send overseas for less than one ounce packet, than to send to my next door neighbor. The US government shows us how smart it is again." Hi Mike, List, You're mixing apples and oranges. It should be cheaper, since when does reason have place in corrupt systems of any nation? The US postal service is only doing half the work for intentionsl shipments. They put it on a cargo flight from their hub and forget about it. Meanwhile in the USA they have a monopoly on home delivery so they milk the cash cow, so why shouldn't you pay more? It's a US federal crime for anyone to send regular mail through a private service for anyone to offer the service, and for anyone else delivering anything to open their sacred mailboxes - even though they are the homeowners' personal property and expense. Only urgent mail is excluded from the monopoly; provided the competing service charges at least twice as much. So next time you are pissed about fedex, ups, dhl, etc., keep in mind that they are more expensive because your government forces them to charge at least twice as by law much AND denies them participation in the economies of scale of the bulk of mailings. Something to keep in mind next time you pat the USPS on the back for being the cheapest of shipping options. Going postal, Doug -----Original Message----- From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy at yahoo.com> To: Jason Utas <meteoritekid at gmail.com>; Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Thu, 1 May 2008 2:52 pm Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] What a surprise! (not) A 20 gram Henbury can be shipped to the UK for under $2.00. The minumum for one ounce to the USA in a bubble envelope is now $1.13, yet I can send the same bubble envelope to the UK for $1.01. Actually cheaper to send overseas for less than one ounce packet, than to send to my next door neighbor. The US government shows us how smart it is again. Michael Farmer --- Jason Utas <meteoritekid at gmail.com> wrote: > Hello Herman, Dave, All, > Regardless of whether or not he discounted shipping, > he did still > 'lift' a description that was written by someone > else - without asking > for the right to use it. > This has been noted as an issue in the past, and it > is clear that > (although he did well to find a cheaper shipping > service) wayner44 > still made a mistake in copying a description which > he could easily > have, at the very least, credited to the author. I > see no excuse for > doing what he did - except for laziness. > Furthermore, who on earth would pay more than a few > dollars to ship a > twenty gram bit of Henbury? I think you're looking > at this the wrong > way; it should have cost only a few dollars to ship > it in the first > place. He discounted it $9 from...what, exactly? > Needless to say, it > would have been ridiculous had he *not* changed the > shipping cost. > What he did was not a shining example of charity, > ingenuity, or > intelligence. What he did was reasonable, nothing > more - to say > nothing of his plagiarism. > Regards, > Jason > > On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 10:01 AM, > <Metorman46 at aol.com> wrote: > > Hello Dave; > > > > Thanks for the positive,pleasant post about > wayner44.He sure made your > > day,i'll bet,and you sure made my day with such a > positive post about someone who > > did good and we never would have known about it if > you hadn't taken the time > > to inform us.My hat is off to you. > > > > Best Regards;Herman Archer IMCA 2770. > > > > > > > > **************Need a new ride? Check out the > largest site for U.S. used car > > listings at AOL Autos. > > > (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851) > > ______________________________________________ > > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > > Meteorite-list mailing list > > Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com > > > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > > ______________________________________________ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential. 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