The Blank Check Kid spotted these mailboxes being hauled away on Washington Street in Brighton Center around 4 p.m. today.
Now, once, we might have assumed there was a good, perfectly legitimate reason, like they're replacing the old boxes, which were prone to mail theft with newer, more secure boxes. In fact, that's what the Postal Service told WCVB.
But with a president who admits he will fight efforts to help ensure mail-in ballots get delivered and with news that the Postal Service is deactivating mail-sorting machines like nobody's business? Who knows.
US Rep. Seth Moulton reports he's gotten similar photos from constituents in Gloucester:
My office has spoken with the Postmaster. The Postmaster assured us that all but one of the removed boxes in Gloucester will be replaced with more secure boxes. I can understand everyone's concern given the recent reporting about other cities and the president's comments this week. I will continue monitoring this and fighting to protect the postal service and our elections.
Meanwhile, back in Brighton:
This is really happening. Wow. pic.twitter.com/kLqZb5Srii
— The Blank Check Kid (@BleachDaiquiri) August 14, 2020
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Comments
About those mail-sorting machines ...
By adamg
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 4:57pm
And the postmaster general ...
By perruptor
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 7:20pm
has $millions of stock in USPS competitors.
Can you say "conflict of interest?" Sure.
DeJoy spent 30 years as the
By Refugee
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 2:10pm
DeJoy spent 30 years as the CEO of a logistics company that had 6,800 employees. It would be odd if he [i]didn't[/i] invest in the freight, logistics, and shipping sector which he's knowledgeable about.
that’s fine
By berkleealum
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 10:49am
but it doesn’t mean it’s not a potential conflict of interest
They made Jimmy Carter sell
By Scratchie
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 12:45pm
They made Jimmy Carter sell his peanut farm.
"They" = Jimmy Carter
By Refugee
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 2:21pm
"They" = Jimmy Carter
"made" = decided it would be a good idea if
More relevant, though, is that DeJoy is not a "Secretary of Shipping" who's regulating companies in the trucking industry. He's only managing USPS.
?
By berkleealum
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 4:01pm
holding assets totaling nearly $100m in USPS competitors isn’t relevant to managing USPS?
i find it hard to believe that any rational person would apply this logic in any other situation.
Fool
By perruptor
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 4:55pm
Either you're a fool, or you think we are. The guy who has bunches of money invested in parcel delivery companies is actively working to cripple the main competitor of those companies, which is an essential public service. If you don't see a problem with that, you're a fool.
Also really means that any
By anon
Mon, 08/17/2020 - 3:10pm
Also really means that any seeming screwups of the USPS under his watch are unlikely to be actual screwups and more likely sabotage. Willful incompetence and all that.
Anyone else notice..
By cybah
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 11:00pm
Anyone else notice where the large clusters of sort facilities are
California
Texas
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Michigan
New York
Ill also give honorable mentions to 'how convenient' clusters in
Florida
Wisconsin/Illinois
Oh how swinging convenient....
(well swing states with the exception of CA and NY)
Not that I agree with this
By anon
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 11:37pm
Not that I agree with this reduction of mail processing capacity in any way, but these states are the most populous. These 8 states are #1 through #7, plus #10. So it's not surprising that they have the most mail sorting machines, or the most being removed, since they should have the most of *anything* in this country.
...some of the largest
By Rob
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 3:21am
...some of the largest population states that therefore would be likely to have the most sorting machines?
They're targeting furries?
By xkcd
Mon, 08/17/2020 - 5:01pm
https://xkcd.com/1138/
Is it worth noting
By Waquiot
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:11pm
That relay boxes (bottom photograph) are used in the delivery of mail to customers, not for the pickup of mail?
Sometimes the least nefarious answer could be the right one.
the blue ones
By Fenway Crank
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:17pm
on the truck are legit mailboxes not relay boxes
Delivery of ballots
By Tim Mc.
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:22pm
is also a possible point of attack.
If someone tells you he is being deliberately nefarious...
By Irma la Douce
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:35pm
believe him:
"They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,†Trump said in an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it."
Anecdotal but observed
By brianjdamico
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:19pm
Anecdotal but observed firsthand: Needing something from my doctor's office during this pandemic, normally I'd just go pick it up in person but they aren't exactly fond of people coming in just to pick up a piece of paper right now. So they mail it to me. I live less than 10 minutes from their office. It's taken 5 days several times to get the piece of mail from their office through USPS and into my hands.
Based on their own timelines, you are supposed to be able to get a First Class letter from across the continental US in 3 days.
https://postalpro.usps.com/mnt/glusterfs/ribbs/ser...
All over the country
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:25pm
But, GUESS WHAT? Some states have had "mail in" voting for DECADES.
Those states make heavy use of drop boxes at government buildings. My parents used to drop theirs at the county offices a few blocks away.
So who does this hurt most? RURAL PEOPLE!
So long as states like NY and MA don't try to play the "we invented this and innovated and blah blah fart ignored decades of experience blah" game, we are okay.
Before you can drop off your
By Adrian
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:49pm
Before you can drop off your ballot at the elections office, they have to get it to you THROUGH THE MAIL. I'm still waiting for mine. Back in July, when I sent in the request for a postal ballot, USPS was already slow and unreliable...I wanted to take it directly to the town hall, but of course they are doing all business remotely because of the pandemic.
Same
By cybah
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 8:54pm
Im concerned I won't get mine soon. I put the card in the mailbox in front of the post office 2 weeks ago and mind you it has to go about 1/10th of a mile to the clerks office and back again.
of course I know they do not sort in Chelsea.. it goes to Charlestown I think.
I received my ballot from the
By anon
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 8:58pm
I received my ballot from the Boston Elections Department in less than a week from the time I mailed in the request.
Could be the town's delay rather than USPS
By Ron Newman
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 12:53pm
I mailed my ballot request on Saturday, July 18, the day after I received it. But Somerville only mailed my ballot to me last Friday, August 14. With luck I'll receive it tomorrow.
(As for Chelsea, isn't that the main sorting center for a large number of suburbs? My mail in Somerville is processed there.)
Rural people don't have that
By Don't Panic
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 11:55pm
Rural people don't have that many drop-off mailboxes in the first place so I think the idea is to minimize voting in the cities.
Rural people put mail in
By anon
Mon, 08/17/2020 - 3:18pm
Rural people put mail in their own mailboxes and put the flag up. Blue boxes typically only appear outside the actual post office in such small towns.
Of course the going theory here isn't that Trump is trying to outright suppress the vote, but create a level of chaos that allows the results to be deemed unreliable. A simplified example, say 10M ballots go uncounted and Trump loses by 1M votes, he can "legitimately" claim the result isn't certifiable because had those ballots been counted he could come out ahead. He could then tie the election up in court, attempt to legitimize not conceding, and who know what chaos would break out on social media and then RL between his loyalists and everyone else?
WAAAH
By Dave
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:41pm
WAAAH
Orange Man Bad!
https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-count...
If you are unaware of Trump's systematic
By MC Slim JB
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:03pm
dismantling of the USPS in an effort he has publicly admitted is designed to suppress mail-in voting, I must ask: how did you manage to get your head so far up your own ass?
(It never fails: trotting out "Orange Man Bad" is a reliable indicator of a howling Trumpie dipshit.)
OK moonbat
By Dave
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:21pm
OK moonbat
Also a reliable indicator of a
By MC Slim JB
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:44pm
howling Trumpie dipshit: having nothing in tow but feeble insults when someone points out they're oblivious to one of the biggest news stories of the past couple of weeks. I'm guessing they're finding comfort up in that deep, dark hole.
There, there.
By Dave
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 8:32pm
There, there.
It's going to be OK.
Is that what your handlers say?
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 9:58am
I'm surprised you are allowed internet access, as cognitively limited as you are.
Perhaps that is how you were so easily taken advantage of.
Ever hear "never give a sucker an even break"? You are that sucker.
Ooooooh, "moonbat"
By Wiffleball
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 9:10pm
I haven't read that one since I stopped reading boston.com.
/Fuck boston.com.
For someone who claims to hate socialism,
By erik g
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 10:05pm
you sure do enjoy being publicly owned.
..slow clap...
By anon
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 11:53am
..slow clap...
When people say "Trump Supporters Don't Believe in Facts"
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 08/16/2020 - 9:59am
You are exhibit A.
This attempt to destroy democracy and loot the public coffers has been outlined by your own God and Mother Trump.
I don't think you are stupid, I think you are brainwashed. Or you are profiting somehow from this raping of the country.
Shouldn't you be inspecting pizza store basements?
More theft-proof mailboxes
By Ron Newman
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:14pm
The one closest to me, Mass Ave at Day/Dover Streets in North Cambridge, was replaced with the new, more secure model some time since I last used it. Really confused me the first time I tried to deposit a letter, especially since it was at night.
That was my thought too
By bph
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 6:27pm
There are new theft-proof mailboxes near me too. It took me a minute to figure it out.
I understand why this is
By anon
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 9:12pm
I understand why this is necessary. But it's too bad that our society as a whole is no longer trustworthy enough for the mailbox design that has worked since at least the early 50s. And the tamper-proof design makes it impossible to mail packages in a mailbox.
Theft proof mailboxes?
By Camberville
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 11:26pm
If it's the same kind I'm thinking of, they started popping up around Back Bay a year or two ago (a slot for letters instead of a pull-open door). I had assumed they were designed so people couldn't put bombs or dangerous items inside (marathon route and all).
Was it really possible to steal mail out of the old design? That seems like it would take a lot of agility/bendy bones.
Yes. There have been a lot of
By anon
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 11:45pm
Yes. There have been a lot of news articles about this. People have figured out how to steal mail out of the traditional mailboxes, and it's become a big problem.
A glue mouse trap on a string
By anon
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 3:45am
A glue mouse trap on a string. Pretty common.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/04/metro/polic...
Mail theft method
By Ron Newman
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 6:35am
from the Globe, February 4, 2020: Police departments in Mass. hunting for thieves who are ‘fishing’ mail out of mailboxes
The thieves typically use string attached to a glue mouse trap or a plastic bottle covered with glue, to fish envelopes from mailboxes. They erase the writing on personal checks with chemicals, then rewrite the checks to themselves and cash them. They can use the victim’s bank account information to forge more checks, D’Innocenzo said.
...
The Postal Service is also replacing old mailboxes with newer ones that are more secure. Maureen Marion, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service, said several hundred “security-enhanced collection boxes†have been installed across the state.
“The upgraded boxes have proven to be a strong deterrent in mail thefts," she wrote in an e-mail.
The rash of thefts began in the Metrowest suburbs last summer and was a problem in Wellesley until new mailboxes were installed in November.
“The newer ones have smaller slots, so you can only put letters in,†D’Innocenzo said.
They’re removing the new ones, too
By tblade
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 10:02am
Trump is orange and bad - and I truly wish nothing but the worst for him as soon as leaves office - but they are also removing the newly-installed anti-theft mailboxes as well.
When President Obama was in office
By StillFromDorchester
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:45pm
The Right saw black helicopters everywhere, now the left is seeing their version of black helicopters around every corner. .
товарищ Ñнова не в порÑдке
By Lanny Budd
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 5:59pm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence
Black Helicopters
By StillFromDorchester
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 10:23pm
https://twitter.com/jamieleecurtis/status/12932460...
Yes, let’s go back 15 years
By anon
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 1:36am
Yes, let’s go back 15 years and complain about Hollywood libruls. Good grief.
What are Hollywood libruls?
By StillFromDorchester
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 11:59am
And what does 15 years ago have to do with today? You lost me.
Oh...
By lbb
Tue, 08/18/2020 - 9:46am
...you're lost, all right.
Get to know that feeling well.
i guess i’d see your point
By berkleealum
Sat, 08/15/2020 - 1:48pm
if the president didn’t just straight up admit that it’s what he’s doing.
i don’t need to link to it, do i?
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