On the Gathering Storm
We recently attempted to send Christmas packages to our son in Iraq, and son-in-law in Kuwait. Our son's came back, having been rejected by a postal clerk because he or she didn't like the way the customs form was filled out.
I tried it a second time, and it was rejected again because it contained a sample-size plastic bottle of hand sanitizer gel, which they claimed probably contained alcohol 'with a flash point of ... blah, blah, blah.' (The various military support websites recommend sending hand sanitizer; that's why we included that item.)
Then they required that each and every item in the package would have to be listed on the customs form, complete with its
description (precise; not terse), quantity, weight and value. But our gift packages contained a couple dozen or more miscellaneous toys, treats and toiletries ... like a Christmas stocking, as it were. Since the PS Form 2976-A customs form has only five spaces for descriptions, one of which has to be used to certify that the listed items are a bona fide gift, I would have had to fill out five or more of the five page forms for the single small package.
As if that wasn't idiotic enough, the post office
had stickered the package "Surface Teansportation Only." So I presume it would have finally arrived in Kirkuk, Iraq after our son was long gone and safely back on his base in the States.
So I just decided to forget the whole thing. We'll divide the stuff up, and give it to our grandchildren instead. (Alex, the four-year old, will love the farting key chain.)
Our son's wife shared that she had tried to send him some brownies she had baked. She simply marked the customs form "cookies." They couldn't accept that, telling her she needed to list what kind of cookies on separate lines. When she told them they were actually all the same, just brownies that she had made herself, they wanted to know, "What kind of brownies?" She didn't know there were different kinds, so wrote down "Brown Brownies." Then she wanted to send him some deodorant (non-aerosol), which is also supposedly on the forbidden list since it probably contains alcohol (but which is also a recommended item on various "support our troops" websites), so she marked that package "Brown Brownies" also.
Or, according to the postal clerk, maybe he won't, since, she claimed, "It'll probably just be confiscated."
Isn't it really just too disgusting that Americans are expected to risk their young family members' lives to participate in politicians' military misadventures, yet by no means should anyone risk the safety of a cargo plane's crew by including a deodorant stick in a "care package" — something that thousands of merchants commonly offer on their shelves in stores all across the country, and millions of passengers commonly carry in their luggage aboard domestic and international flights?
Mr Obama; tear down this wall?
President Reagan challenged the Soviets with words like that some twenty-three years ago. Twenty-nine months later, the Soviet Union — the world's only other "superpower" — began its collapse. Today, that empire is no more. Who would have thought such a thing was possible?
Our country has become so encumbered with the sort of idiocracy described above — bureaucracy having absolutely trumped adhocracy, as it were — and our federal government has become so corrupt, I do think (as recently suggested by Newsweek), that we are rapidly approaching the end of our run. I expect that after the New Year we'll be seeing rioting on the mall in Washington D.C., and I fear that when that is put down with force, it'll be followed by car bombs and suicide bombers there, and elsewhere, during the summer.
It'll be called "domestic terrorism."
Young people in this country are now getting screwed over big time as our corrupted "representatives" in Washington grease the wheels for anyone who is willing to drop some big bucks into their so-called "campaign funds." Bankers and investment swindlers "too big to fail" get bailed out, while the young suffer the futility of job searching in an ever-shrinking market, and the shrinking middle class continue to get boned by credit card interest and fees schemes, in spite of the recent legislation (which gives the bankers plenty of wiggle room and time to figure out where the loopholes are and how to get around the so-called "restrictions." — source: Shailesh Mehta; former chief of Providian).
The pending healthcare legislation also appears to be shaping up as another bone-job for the young, purchased by the health-care industry — insurers, providers, and pharmaceutical power-houses.
Perhaps the only good thing about the growing problem of unemployment is that it discourages high school drop outs. Yet the drop-out rate here in Michigan, the unemployment capital of the U.S., is about 31% (source: Educational Testing Service — ets.org). Many drop-outs do eventually try to better their chances in life by achieving GED certificates, but those are mostly meaningless in today's job market; a buyers' market now rife with education snobbery, and typically requiring at least "some college" even for menial, low paying jobs.
Terrorism or Revolution?
The growing population of unemployed and deprived young people is a formula for trouble. At some point, they will realize that they have become a newly created class of
And rightfully so.
The powers that be will call it "terrorism." When Americans were being screwed over by the powers that were in 1776, we called it "rebellion." The British called it treason, cowardice, and terrorism.
Of the People, By the People, and For the People
Everyone in American has the right to expect recognition, and a fair shake, from government. It is not the function of government to support the demands of special interests, or to facilitate increasing success for the already rich and powerful. That is not, as they say, 'the reality of modern politics.' That is corruption.
When the moneyed and powerful own the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of those we now elect to be servants of all the people — when the cash and the perks that only the rich and powerful can provide are the only way to get their attention — what's left for the rest of us?
I tried it a second time, and it was rejected again because it contained a sample-size plastic bottle of hand sanitizer gel, which they claimed probably contained alcohol 'with a flash point of ... blah, blah, blah.' (The various military support websites recommend sending hand sanitizer; that's why we included that item.)
Then they required that each and every item in the package would have to be listed on the customs form, complete with its
description (precise; not terse), quantity, weight and value. But our gift packages contained a couple dozen or more miscellaneous toys, treats and toiletries ... like a Christmas stocking, as it were. Since the PS Form 2976-A customs form has only five spaces for descriptions, one of which has to be used to certify that the listed items are a bona fide gift, I would have had to fill out five or more of the five page forms for the single small package.As if that wasn't idiotic enough, the post office
had stickered the package "Surface Teansportation Only." So I presume it would have finally arrived in Kirkuk, Iraq after our son was long gone and safely back on his base in the States.So I just decided to forget the whole thing. We'll divide the stuff up, and give it to our grandchildren instead. (Alex, the four-year old, will love the farting key chain.)
Our son's wife shared that she had tried to send him some brownies she had baked. She simply marked the customs form "cookies." They couldn't accept that, telling her she needed to list what kind of cookies on separate lines. When she told them they were actually all the same, just brownies that she had made herself, they wanted to know, "What kind of brownies?" She didn't know there were different kinds, so wrote down "Brown Brownies." Then she wanted to send him some deodorant (non-aerosol), which is also supposedly on the forbidden list since it probably contains alcohol (but which is also a recommended item on various "support our troops" websites), so she marked that package "Brown Brownies" also.
Americans are expected to risk their young family members' lives to participate in politicians' military misadventures, yet by no means should anyone risk the safety of a cargo plane's crew by including a deodorant stick in a "care package?"
The other package, sent our maybe son-in-law in Kuwait, was identical to the one sent to our son in Iraq, and was sent at the same time with the customs form filled out exactly the same way. That one hasn't come back. Maybe he'll get it.Or, according to the postal clerk, maybe he won't, since, she claimed, "It'll probably just be confiscated."
Isn't it really just too disgusting that Americans are expected to risk their young family members' lives to participate in politicians' military misadventures, yet by no means should anyone risk the safety of a cargo plane's crew by including a deodorant stick in a "care package" — something that thousands of merchants commonly offer on their shelves in stores all across the country, and millions of passengers commonly carry in their luggage aboard domestic and international flights?
Mr Obama; tear down this wall?
President Reagan challenged the Soviets with words like that some twenty-three years ago. Twenty-nine months later, the Soviet Union — the world's only other "superpower" — began its collapse. Today, that empire is no more. Who would have thought such a thing was possible?
Our country has become so encumbered with the sort of idiocracy described above — bureaucracy having absolutely trumped adhocracy, as it were — and our federal government has become so corrupt, I do think (as recently suggested by Newsweek), that we are rapidly approaching the end of our run. I expect that after the New Year we'll be seeing rioting on the mall in Washington D.C., and I fear that when that is put down with force, it'll be followed by car bombs and suicide bombers there, and elsewhere, during the summer.
It'll be called "domestic terrorism."
Young people in this country are now getting screwed over big time as our corrupted "representatives" in Washington grease the wheels for anyone who is willing to drop some big bucks into their so-called "campaign funds." Bankers and investment swindlers "too big to fail" get bailed out, while the young suffer the futility of job searching in an ever-shrinking market, and the shrinking middle class continue to get boned by credit card interest and fees schemes, in spite of the recent legislation (which gives the bankers plenty of wiggle room and time to figure out where the loopholes are and how to get around the so-called "restrictions." — source: Shailesh Mehta; former chief of Providian).
The pending healthcare legislation also appears to be shaping up as another bone-job for the young, purchased by the health-care industry — insurers, providers, and pharmaceutical power-houses.
Perhaps the only good thing about the growing problem of unemployment is that it discourages high school drop outs. Yet the drop-out rate here in Michigan, the unemployment capital of the U.S., is about 31% (source: Educational Testing Service — ets.org). Many drop-outs do eventually try to better their chances in life by achieving GED certificates, but those are mostly meaningless in today's job market; a buyers' market now rife with education snobbery, and typically requiring at least "some college" even for menial, low paying jobs.
Terrorism or Revolution?
The growing population of unemployed and deprived young people is a formula for trouble. At some point, they will realize that they have become a newly created class of
The growing population of unemployed and deprived young people is a formula for trouble.
"American Poor," with little opportunity to achieve the middle class status of yesterday's generations, much less "the American dream." That hopelessness will lead to rebellion.And rightfully so.
The powers that be will call it "terrorism." When Americans were being screwed over by the powers that were in 1776, we called it "rebellion." The British called it treason, cowardice, and terrorism.
Of the People, By the People, and For the People
Everyone in American has the right to expect recognition, and a fair shake, from government. It is not the function of government to support the demands of special interests, or to facilitate increasing success for the already rich and powerful. That is not, as they say, 'the reality of modern politics.' That is corruption.
When the moneyed and powerful own the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of those we now elect to be servants of all the people — when the cash and the perks that only the rich and powerful can provide are the only way to get their attention — what's left for the rest of us?
Labels: Politics
posted by BoysMind at
1:42 PM
1 Comments:
Update - The second package mentioned above arrived in a timely manner, and without incident. After fighting briefly with usps.com, they ultimately agreed that a refund was due. I am tempted to point out how one self-important horses-ass with no common sense and an attitude can so easily spoil one's day. Happily, the Postal Service has others who are above that.
-=glw=-
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