Postal system

The World

What Should Become of the USPS?

The current Postmaster General is retiring this week with a nearly $5.5 million retirement package. The U.S. Postal Service has lost over 100,000 jobs and about $8.5 billion over the past decade. The numbers do not look good, and as electronic communication leeches away more and more business, they’re not expected to improve. So, what […]

These homoerotic stamps celebrate the work of Tom of Finland

Arts, Culture & Media

These homoerotic stamps celebrate the work of Tom of Finland

Arts, Culture & Media

U.S. Postal Service proposing to slow down delivery of first class mail

Global Politics

The Postal Service Used to Make Multiple Deliveries Per Day

Mystery Donor Leaves Envelopes of Money in German Town

A small town in Germany has found that a mysterious person is leaving envelops filled with money around in an overwhelming display of generosity. Envelopes stuffed with 10,000 Euros, or about $13,000, have been found recently in the town of Braunschweig. Steve Evans of our partner the BBC reports from the scene of a generosity […]

The World

US Postal Service faces default

[waitingforcorrection: invalid GUID, no audio attached] We all remember how the US government narrowly avoided default last month when we reached the limit on our public debt. Now we’re facing a brutal reminder of that saga as the U.S. Postal Service faces default  because of a huge $9.2 billion deficit. The Postal Service could shut down […]

Nearly 4,000 US Post Offices at Risk of Closure

Yesterday, the United States Postal Service released a list of 3,653 post offices it will be reviewing and could potentially close because of low activity and workload. Most of these threatened branches are in rural areas of the United States. Postmaster General  Patrick Donahoe  has proposed outsourcing many of the basic services a post office offers, like […]

Junk Mail Begone

Steve Curwood talks about junk mail with Jim Calhoun, the Chief Executive Officer of Popular Demand, Incorporated. The company operates a website, “unlistme.com,” that removes people from junk mailing lists and signs them up for a new type of commerce.

THE LIVING ON EARTH ALMANAC

Facts about… the new Preserve the Environment U.S. postage stamps.