Tag Archives | United States Postal Service

New Postage Stamp Accidentally Features Las Vegas Statue Of Liberty

By on May 3, 2011 in News 19

libertyBoing Boing notes USPS’s unveiling of a brand new Statue of Liberty stamp with “an illustration of the Lady Liberty replica at Las Vegas’s New York-New York casino as opposed to the real statue in New York Harbor.” (The image used came from a stock photography website.) Many details are different between the two.

It’s an example of how we are living in a state of hyperreality, in which symbols or images become more real to us than the original reality they were supposed to represent. Now, in the minds of millions of unaware people (and the government itself), Las Vegas’ fake, amusement-park statue has become the “right” one.

lasvegas… Read the rest

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U.S. Postal Service Letter Carriers Will Deliver Drugs To Combat Terror Attacks

By on August 3, 2010 in News 5

UspslogoThis is not the most confidence-inspiring example of our tax dollars at work. In fact I’m trying to decide if it’s more scary or sad. Report from USA Today:

The Postal Service is ready to deliver lifesaving drugs to about a quarter of the residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the only metropolitan area in the nation where letter carriers have been trained to dispense medication after a large-scale terrorist attack involving biological weapons.

Six years after the government began exploring the idea of using postal workers as rapid-response medicine dispensers and eight months after President Obama ordered government agencies to develop a plan to do so, efforts are underway in six cities to train workers to deliver the drugs needed to counter anthrax or other potentially deadly agents, the White House says.

The White House won’t name the six cities, and Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa says she can’t talk about whether more cities are interested in the voluntary program.

… Read the rest

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