DJ Synikus Makisimus
DJ Synikus Makisimus's JournalChange in USPS postmarking policy will affect mail-in ballot counting.
OK so first of all, this information comes to me via a philartelic magazine called Postal Stationery, the publication of the United Postal Stationery Society, of which I am a member. Yes, I AM that big of a nerd. In the March-April 2026 issue (p. 54) I just received, society President Wayne Menuz notes the following:
“The Postal Service is changing the postmark process. From the time when. stamps were first used, the postmark contained the year date when the letter was given to a post office. Later, the month and day were added. The date was either the day the letter was handed to a post office clerk, or when dropped into a post office slot or external box prior to the last collection time advertised on it. For both scenarios, if the mail was processed the next day (or later), the postmark would be backdated to the actual day the letter was placed at the post office to provide a record of its official receipt. This ensured that if the post office processing was behind schedule, the postmarks would still show the day they were recieved and should have been postmarked.
"It has now been annouced that, in the future, the postmark will reflect the date an envelope or card is first processed by an automated sorting machine, and not the drop-off date. By this process, people will no longer be able to determine how long a letter takes to reach its destination based on the postmark. This is because a delay between the day of deposit and the day it is postmarked will no longer be recorded. As far as the Postal Service metrics are concerned, a letter postmarked one day and delivered two days later took 3 days to process, but it could have spent one, two or more additional days waiting to be processed. Good news for Postal Service management and workers (whose bonuses are partially based on delivery metrics), but not so good for their customers.
"Another potential consequence is the requirement in most states for mail-in ballots. Their laws require such ballots be mailed on or before election day, with the postmark used as proof. With the new Postal Service policy, mailing a ballot even a few days before election day is no guarantee the postmark will be on or before the cutoff date.” (snip - emphais added on last part-paragraph)
Menuz’ column goes on to note that Norway has ended mail delivery service, due to lack of volume and expense; while Denmark has stopped delivering letters for similar reasons, concentrating on parcels only. Perhaps that is the trend coming for USPS as well. While I would expect the LOGICAL response to be to move “mail-in” ballots to the internet somehow, even with the inherent security risks that implies, I have stopped expecting any sort of logic from our elected officials. OK, I never really have since I was old enough to critically reason.
What does seem to be the case is that USPS management has, intentionally or not, severly impacted voting-by-mail with a single bureaucratic decree, and it is now for citizens to urge their elected officials to swift action. Sure, that’s likely. The mail-in part of the 2026 elections are likely, therefore, to be a total nightmare.
Two more Iranian football team members granted asylum in Australia as rest of squad land in Kuala Lumpur
Source: The Guardian (London)
A total of seven members of the Iranian women’s football team have now been granted humanitarian visas in Australia, home affairs minister Tony Burke has confirmed, with another player and member of the team staff being given protection before the squad departed on Tuesday night.
The additional two women – who Guardian Australia understands are squad member Mohaddeseh Zolfi and support member Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Kar – sought asylum before the rest of the Iranian team departed Sydney on a flight to Malaysia on Tuesday night, Burke told a press conference on Wednesday morning. He said the pair were offered humanitarian visas, and both took up the offer. The visas were processed overnight, after they were cleared by security agencies.
Burke said one other woman, who reportedly tried to resist getting on the plane in Sydney, had been in conversations with her family until late in the process, but had ultimately decided to leave.
The two extra women, along with their five teammates who were granted humanitarian visas by the Albanese government on Tuesday morning, will have access to “the full range of settlement services and supports”, Burke said. That includes support to learn English and find employment, as well as access education and training.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/11/iran-womens-football-team-asylum-tony-burke-labor
Matildas gonna be unbeatable if/when they get the citizenship sorted with FIFA. Not that they were at all shabby before.
Trump-backed Clay Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris advance to runoff in race to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene
Source: NBC News
Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris advanced Tuesday from a crowded field to a runoff in the special election to replace former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, NBC News projects.
Fuller, a district attorney who was one of 17 Republicans on the ballot, benefited from President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the solidly GOP district in the northwest corner of the state. Harris, a retired Army brigadier general and cattle rancher, lost to Greene in the 2024 general election in the 14th District.
With 52% of the expected vote in, Harris was at 41% while Fuller was at 33%. But Fuller enters the April 7 runoff as the favorite in a district Trump carried by 37 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/trump-clay-fuller-shawn-harris-runoff-special-election-georgia-rcna262592
Large parts of Dresden to be evacuated after 250kg WW2 bomb found
Source: BBC
Much of the centre of the German city of Dresden will be evacuated on Wednesday, after the discovery of a large unexploded British World War Two flying bomb. The 250kg (551lb) device was discovered near the former Carola Bridge, which collapsed in the Elbe River in 2024. The fire brigade in Dresden says this is the city's largest evacuation to date for such an incident, affecting around 18,000 residents, tourists and commuters.
Much of the old town will be cordoned off by 09:00 (08:00 GMT), including some of the city's most famous buildings - the iconic Frauenkirche Lutheran church, the Residenzschloss Palace and the Semper Opera.
...
Dresden was attacked by British aircraft on 13 February 1945. In the days that followed, the British and their US allies dropped nearly 4,000 tons of bombs in the assault on the city. The ensuing firestorm killed 25,000 people and ravaged the city centre, once known as the Jewel Box because of its Baroque and Rococo architecture. Four other bombs were found during demolition work on the Carola Bridge last year.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1781gr5n9go
Makes you wonder about the future of Tehran and Beirut, assuming there is one.
Donald Trump admits he's 'thinking about taking over' Strait of Hormuz
Source: The Mirror (UK)
Donald Trump appears to be searching for an off-ramp to take the US out of the conflict with Iran as soon as possible after declaring the war was "very complete, pretty much"
Donald Trump has admitted he is "thinking about taking over" the Strait of Hormuz as he said the US "could do a lot" about the waterway.
The US President claimed the war was "very far ahead of schedule" after he and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a comprehensive bombardment of targets in Iran. The strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and wiped out much of the country's leadership.
Conflict in the Middle East has seen the busy Strait of Hormuz shipping lane grind to a halt. About 20 per cent of the world's oil supply flow through the shipping lane and Trump's intervention in Iran has seen prices spike worldwide.
Read more: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/donald-trump-admits-hes-thinking-36841317
OK it is The Mirror, whose politics are as irritating as its format. Still, it is a quote, apparently. Imagine the luxury beachfront properties and golf courses that could be developed in that lovely climate! Donnie must be drooling (more than usual).
Just what AmericKKKa needs, a colony under perpetual attack. I seem to remember Britain abandoning Aden for that very reason.
James Carville demands Democrats dump Ilhan Omar.
Have you seen this shit? Seems "we" NEED those white male racist Reagan Democrats to come back so we can have more Fetterman's, Cases and Cuellars. Now more than ever. Sooner the better. All that.
Sure, dude. Someone needs to tell Carville that his 15 minutes ended, like, ages ago. Right-wing Clinton Democrats are SO 1990s. Buy Carville a ticket to the GOP convention where he and the misses can bipartisan with their friends to their hearts content.
I wonder if it's OK to use the words "woke" or "LatinX" around Carville yet. Probably not.
Wonkette has it pretty spot on:
Hey James Carville And Rahm Emanuel, It's Shut The F*ck Up Friday!
https://www.wonkette.com/p/hey-james-carville-and-rahm-emanuel
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The nauseating "news" reports can be found at:
Carville doubles down on urging Ilhan Omar to leave the Democratic Party after she blasted White males
https://www.foxnews.com/media/carville-doubles-down-urging-ilhan-omar-leave-democratic-party-after-she-blasted-white-males
James Carville Doubles Down, Tells Ilhan Omar to Leave Democratic Party
https://www.filmogaz.com/181705#google_vignette
James Carville’s Ilhan Omar ultimatum exposes a party dilemma: can Democrats win by scolding their own?
https://www.el-balad.com/16870807
There are more of these on your AI interwebs search engine of choice, but they all say basically the same thing.
Finland plans to lift decades-old ban on hosting nuclear weapons
Source: BBC
Finland plans to lift its long-standing ban on having nuclear weapons on its territory, in a move the government says would align the country more closely with Nato's deterrence policy.
Defence minister Antti Häkkänen Finland and Europe's security environment had "fundamentally and significantly changed" since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
The Nordic nation abandoned decades of military neutrality to join Nato in 2023 over mounting concerns about the threat posed by Russia.
Under Finland's 1987 Nuclear Energy Act, the import, manufacture, possession and detonation of nuclear explosives is prohibited on Finnish soil - even during wartime.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14m5llnrlpo
Huh.
Ordered your Spice Girls commemorative coins yet?
Yes, really. Civilization is truly doomed. Didn't even take AI.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04312q7x4wo
https://www.royalmint.com/shop/limited-editions/music-legends/spice-girls/the-spice-girls-2026-5-pound-brilliant-uncirculated-coin/
A Serenade for Noem: Manic Street Preachers "Stay Beautiful"
This is a live version because the studio one lacks the audience participation lyrics:
"Babes on the run with poisoned lips
Wrap your arms round this everlasting kiss
Clinging to your own sense of waste
All we love is lonely wreckage"
Gasoline is up 50 cents per gallon over last week here, so far.
Prices rose immediately on Monday, and I suspect that’s just the beginning.
Whats it like where you are?
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