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A letter taken to the grave
Reported at https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk
A postal worker on the Isle of Mull went the extra mile to find the relatives of a woman who died almost a quarter of a century ago.
After being “unsure” where to deliver a letter to Mrs Peggy Stewart , staff from Tobermory Post Office took it to a gravestone on the Isle of Mull.
In a post on social media, the card was laid at the side of the grave with a note, hoping that the family of Mrs Stewart would see that it had been delivered.
The card was addressed to Peggy Stewart nee MacLean, who died in February 2000.
Staff carefully laid the letter by her graveside and called on anyone who knew her to pass on that the letter was there.
A post on Facebook from Tobermory Post Office read: “This card arrived in the post yesterday but the posties were unsure where to deliver it.
“After a wee bit of detective work and a walk round both cemeteries, the card has now been delivered to the right place.
“I hope this message reaches Peggy’s grandchild/ren.”
Many locals posted their appreciation for the post office going above and beyond.
At the same time, the island is said to be suffering from lack of postal workers and appeals have been made to the mainland for more staff.
Royal Mail has yet to comment.
Coronation stamps: cool or crude
Reported at https://www.theguardian.com
Four new stamps and a special postmark are being issued to mark the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla, with the stamps embracing causes close to the king’s heart.
Presented in a miniature sheet, it is only the third occasion in history that Royal Mail has issued coronation stamps, the previous two being for George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.
The four stamps depict: the coronation, diversity and community, the Commonwealth, and sustainability.
The coronation stamp depicts the moment when the St Edward’s crown is lowered on to the king’s head as he sits in the Coronation Chair. The scene is set in front of Westminster Abbey, with fireworks above, and a gun salute in the background, while celebrating crowds attend a street party and watch the ceremony on a giant screen.
The diversity and community stamp, reflecting the multi-faith community and cultural diversity of Britain, features figures representing the Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist religions.
The background shows aspects of rural and urban Britain including many places of worship.
The Commonwealth stamp reflects the themes of global trade, cooperation, democracy and peace. Images include an imagined Commonwealth meeting, Commonwealth Games, some flags of Commonwealth nations and a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery.
The sustainability and biodiversity stamp depicts natural landscapes alongside sustainable farming methods and features renewable sources of energy. Images of diverse forests, wildflower meadows and pollinating insects highlight conservation, while traditional crafts such as hedge-laying and beekeeping also feature.
The miniature sheet background design, also featuring a newly commissioned wood engraving by Davidson, depicts intermingling foliage, symbolic of the four countries of the UK: the rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock.
Not everyone has been a fan of the new minisheet. Various comments in the British press include:
“They’re like a GCSE art project showing miserable people at a funeral.”
“Sir Roland Hill must be turning in his grave.”
“Yokels with sickles and crowds watching the circus whilst the main characters chat together elsewhere.”
“The design/artwork could be depicting Tractor Factory 3784 in Tobolsk, USSR.”
“Why are Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury black? It looks like an old time minstrel show.”
Join in the discussion on Stampboards at https://tinyurl.com/crstamps
Hitting the road in Australia
Reported in https://www.speedcafe.com
This year, the Australia Post Legends Award recognises four Supercars racing greats, including Craig Lowndes, Mark Skaife, Dick Johnson and Allan Moffat.
“It is an enormous privilege to be recognised for my contribution on and off track,” said Lowndes.
“The Australia Post Australian Legends Award stamp series is a renowned, so to be included in this prestigious group is very humbling.”
Lowndes’ stamp shows his 2015 Red Bull Racing Holden Commodore VF as it appeared at the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Lowndes was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame at the end of 2022 and the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame in 2019, and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2012.
The Australia Post Australian Legends Award has been awarded since 1997, when Sir Donald Bradman became the first living Australian to be honoured on an Australian stamp.
Skaife’s stamp will show his 2002 Holden Racing Team VX Commodore.
Dick Johnson’s stamp depicts his 1981 ‘Tru-Blu’ Ford Falcon XD in which he won the first of three Bathurst victories.
“To be recognised for doing something that has been a lifelong job, of which I’ve enjoyed every single moment, is a great honour,” said Johnson.
Allan Moffat’s stamp will portray the four-time Bathurst winner’s most famous victory, leading a crushing one-two at Bathurst 1977 in the XC Falcon Hardtop.
“Supercars racing is the top category of Australian motorsport and unique to this country,” said Australia Post Philatelic Manager.
“This year’s Australia Post Australian Legends are also being recognised for their achievements off the track, including their continued involvement in the industry and in advocacy, education and charity work,” he said.
Hitting the skies in Finland
Reported at https://airlinergs.com
To celebrate Finnair’s centenary, the airline has partnered with the Finnish postal service to create a special stamp.
The stamps can only be used for post within Finland and, like all domestic Finnish stamps, don’t have currency values printed on them.
Featuring a classic blue and white colour scheme and emblazoned with a design to evoke flying and the Finnair logo, the stamps will be available to collectors around the world.
The special centenary stamps are the third time the airline has partnered with the Finnish post office, having earlier done so to celebrate its 50th and 70th anniversaries in 1973 and 1993, respectively.
Finnair CEO, said: “Since our first flight in 1924, Finnair has had a close relationship with the Finnish postal service.
“We have come a long way since that first commercial flight from Helsinki to Tallinn in Estonia and gone on to deliver exceptional service to our passengers and to companies looking to fly mail and cargo around the world.”
The Posti partnership also highlights the significant role played by the Finnish postal service which provided mail for Finnair to carry on its first commercial flight, from Helsinki to Tallinn in Estonia in 1924.
Puffin along in Guernsey
Reported at https://www.bbc.com
Stamps featuring puffins that arrive in the Channel Islands in spring have been released by Guernsey Post.
The stamps have been designed by Guernsey-based artist James Colmer.
A Guernsey Post spokesperson, said about 100 pairs of Atlantic puffins "reunite on a rocky island called Burhou" every spring.
She said the stamp designs "capture the beauty of these striking creatures" as they gather on Burhou, 1.4 miles (2.2km) northeast of Alderney.
In Spring, the puffins' grey bodies brighten to a costume of striking black and white and their beaks begin to glow with red, yellow and black stripes.
Each pair is incredibly loyal to each other and will often return to the same home every year where they will raise a single baby puffin, known as a puffling, until it fledges.
Guernsey Post said pollution, dwindling fish stocks and extreme weather variation all posed a threat to the Atlantic puffin and between 2012 and 2017 the island's population declined.
The RSPB said the puffin was included on the Red List of UK Birds of Conservation Concern after being listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Motherly love in Canada
Reported at https://www.linns.com
On April 18, Canada Post issued two extraordinary animal stamp designs created with embroidery and beadwork techniques.
“Issued in the lead-up to Earth Day and Mother’s Day, two new stamps celebrating the bond between sea otter and red-necked grebe mothers and their babies showcase beautiful First Nations embroidery and beadwork techniques — and help raise awareness of the importance of protecting our wild species,” a spokesperson for Canada Post, said.
Mother sea otters are highly devoted to their pups, a trait captured on the first stamp.
The second stamp image shows two baby red-necked grebes riding on their mother’s back.
The two species face many threats, including fishing gear entanglements, boat strikes, oil spills, pollution and other human disturbances.
Blushing brides in India
Reported at https://bittergrounds.com
The Indian Postal Department has issued a set of eight stamps based on the Bridal Costumes of India.
In India, the red colour has rituals for a bridal dress because according to our culture, red colour means new beginnings and also red colour represents the Hindu goddess Durga.
According to Indian culture, a woman leaves her entire family and goes to a new life to build a new family with the man she is married to.
This is the biggest change for a woman. The Indian bride wears a saree or a lehenga as per tradition in her century. Usually, the bride’s dress is taken from the groom’s house as a shogun.
Kashmiri brides complete their steps with woven sarees that are particularly attractive because of their ornate work. The bride adorns your face with a matching dupatta.
According to Indian culture, bridal jewellery includes many ornaments like a turban, anklets, bangles and mangal sutra.
A Punjabi bride wears a salwar kameez like a lehenga for her wedding.
Never on a Sunday in the US
Reported at https://www.pbs.org
The US Supreme Court has been wrestling with the case of a Christian mail carrier who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages.
While the court seemed in broad agreement that businesses like the Postal Service can’t cite minor costs or hardships to reject such requests to accommodate religious practices, it was less clear what they might do about the particular worker’s case.
The case before the court involves Gerald Groff, a mail carrier in rural Pennsylvania. He was told that as part of his job he’d need to start delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. He declined, saying his Sundays are for church and family. U.S. Postal Service officials initially tried to get substitutes for the man’s shifts, but they couldn’t always accommodate him. When he didn’t show, that meant more work for others. Ultimately, the man quit and sued for religious discrimination.
A federal law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so would be an “undue hardship” for the business. But a Supreme Court case from 1977, Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, says in part that employers can deny religious accommodations to employees when they impose “more than a de minimis cost” on the business.
Three current justices have said the court should reconsider the Hardison case. And on Tuesday other justices also suggested the “more than de minimis cost language” was problematic.
The case is continuing with no determination to date. Groff v. DeJoy, 22-174.
Israeli Post under attack
Reported at https://www.timesofisrael.com
A hacker group attacked the websites of Israel’s national mail service and major banks Friday, briefly bringing them down in an assault seemingly timed to coincide with a day of Iranian-promoted anti-Israel events.
The attack was quickly squelched, authorities said, with apparently no significant harm or data leaks, though the websites of two telecoms and more banks later went down, indicating that the cyber assault was not over.
The attack was claimed by a group of hackers that goes by “Anonymous Sudan,” in a telegram message posted by the shadowy collective.
The National Cyber Directorate said the site for Israel’s national mail service was back up and running after a few minutes.
The directorate noted that the hackers did not gain access to internal documents or files, but merely the customer-facing interface.
In recent months, Anonymous Sudan has claimed several short-lasting attacks on government services, healthcare and other operations in European countries. Some experts have speculated they may be linked to Russia’s Killnet hacking group rather than Sudan.
Your drugs are in the mail in The Netherlands
Reported at https://nltimes.nl
The Dutch Parliament has recently drawn attention to the vast quantities of drugs being disseminated through its postal system.
There have been calls for improved detection and reporting of "unusual shipments" and for postal companies to annually disclose the quantity of drugs seized with employees to be better equipped to handle such situations.
In 2009 the Dutch postal sector was deregulated which allowed multiple postal companies to enter the market.
Dutch Customs officers found drugs in nearly 27,000 pieces of outgoing mail last year, significantly more than the 15,500 mailed drugs intercepted in 2021. The majority of the seizures consisted of ecstasy or MDMA (the raw material for ecstasy) smuggled from the Netherlands to countries like the United States and Australia.
Customs officials attributed the rise in intercepted drug mail partly to their enhanced monitoring efforts. Moreover, smugglers are increasingly using letter mail over package mail as it allowed them to remain anonymous.
South African Post on the ropes
Reported at https://www.mondaq.com
The Pretoria High Court has placed the South African Post Office under provisional liquidation, signalling the end of the state-owned entity.
A recent court case revealed SAPO had total liabilities exceeding assets by R4-billion making the once-proud institution technically insolvent.
A final liquidation order, however, hasn't been issued just yet. Management, workers, and creditors have until 1 June 2023 to argue their case against such a fate. If they fail the Post Office would fall under a liquidator's control, with workers losing their jobs and over 7 million citizens who rely on the service for monthly grant collections left in the lurch.
The provisional appointed liquidators are tasked with managing the Post Office's assets, verifying creditors' claims, and determining the nature of those claims, all while collecting outstanding debts.
The South African Post Office's inability to adapt has created a vacuum, quickly filled by private companies offering speedier, more reliable postal services. And as the clock ticks toward 1 June, the state-owned enterprise clings to the hope of a government bailout and a chance to restructure.
Liberia on the up and up
Reported at https://frontpageafricaonline.com
Liberia has launched its first National Digital and Postal Address System which is expected to have a wide impact on service delivery.
It is planned that after the project’s implementation, the technology will become the foundation for the development of other digital solutions to solve specific challenges within the country.
“A computer science student can develop an eCommerce application on top of the NDPAS; a fashion student will be able to easily set up an online business delivering orders to customers on time and to their doorstep; and a Dumboy seller will be enabled to advertise their street stall to a larger market online,” a spokeman said.
A local postal worker explained –“before the system we would often have to spend hours searching for addresses, which has resulted in many missed deliveries and unhappy customers.”
With its improved addressing system, healthcare providers will be able to easily locate and reach patients in remote areas and slums, for example, a resident of West Point slum, Monrovia, who has fallen critically ill will be able to simply give their 6-digit address code to a helpline operator and receive first aid medication right at their front door.
Qatar goes robotic
Reported at https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com
Qatar Post has placed an order for a new parcel sorting system based on autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technology developed and supplied by Libiao Robotics.
Installation of the new system is set to commence this month and is expected to be completed in four weeks. Sortation robots provide an alternative to the fixed tilt-tray and crossbelt conveyor-based sortation systems that have historically been used within parcel service operations.
Designed to be cost-effective and flexible, sortation robots require a smaller floor than a conveyor-based sorter to achieve the same throughput. Furthermore, with no fixed infrastructure requirements, they are scalable and, because additional robots can be introduced as and when they are required, they offer the flexibility needed to cope with spikes in demand.
Robot sorting is in operation at a number of sites in the Middle East. In Dubai, for example, the introduction of 156 robots has led to increased productivity and workflow efficiency have increased since the switch to robotic warehouse technology.
Revenge of the turkeys
Reported at https://www.nbcboston.com
Two turkeys attacked a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Massachusetts, last month, according to the man, who had to have his hip replaced, and neighbours who helped shoo the birds away.
The mail carrier is recovering, but he says the aggressive behavior is becoming a big problem.
"I was horrified when they came flying in my face," Eddie Mitchell, who's carried the mail for roughly 20 years.
"They started to gobble gobble," Mitchell said. "I was like, let me get back to my truck. I turned my bag to defend myself. I walked back to my truck and that's when they started making noises. Then they flew right in my face and knocked me over."
A neighbour helped get the birds away from Mitchell when she heard a scream.
"They were sitting there acting like they wanted to be near him some more," she said. "I think they were attracted to his mail bag."
(and who doesn't love a puffin??)
