USPS Balks at Dem Plan to Turn Post Offices Into Electric Car Charging Stations

The U.S. Postal Service is pushing back against a pressure campaign from Democrats to turn thousands of post offices into a network of electric car charging stations for the public, saying the plan would slow down mail operations and conflict with its mission to provide "prompt, reliable, and efficient postal services."

The post USPS Balks at Dem Plan to Turn Post Offices Into Electric Car Charging Stations appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

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Insane Libs Are Mailing Sh*t to Republican Senators

Insane Libs Are Mailing Sh*t to Republican Senators

USPS halts mail service to California neighborhood over repeated violence against carriers



The United States Postal Service has temporarily stopped its mail delivery service to a neighborhood in Santa Monica, California, citing repeated incidents of violence against its mail carriers since the start of the year.

In a letter sent Thursday, the agency notified all residents on the 1300 block of 14th Street in the city that, in order to maintain the safety of its mail carriers, paper mail would no longer be delivered to their homes.

The agency called the decision "unfortunate" but advised residents that "the Postal Service does not enter into decisions to suspend service lightly."

"Multiple carriers have been subjected to assaults and threats of assault from an individual who has not been located or apprehended. The safety of our employees and of the mail they deliver to you is our highest concern. Until we can ensure the safety of both, delivery services will remain suspended," the letter stated, according to KCBS-TV.

In the meantime, mail will be available for pickup at a nearby post office, USPS noted.

It was not immediately clear how long the service suspension would last, though it appeared from the letter that service would only resume after the safety issue is resolved.

CBS News reported that the first incident of violence occurred on Jan. 19, when a resident who lives near the intersection of 14th Street and Arizona Avenue physically attacked a mail carrier, swinging a broomstick at them.

The Santa Monica Police Department's public information officer told the outlet that the suspect is a male who is well known by area police. He has reportedly been the subject of frequent domestic incidents in recent months.

In the letter, USPS cited multiple incidents, though only one appears to have been officially reported to the police.

Speaking with Fox News, however, USPS spokeswoman Natashi Garvins stated that three separate incidents involving three different mail carriers have occurred since January. She declined to go into further detail but called the suspension "an unusual, but necessary step to protect our employees."

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the USPS, told Fox News it "is aware of the recent reports of suspicious activity towards Postal Carriers in Santa Monica, California," and is "currently investigating" the matter.

Neighborhood residents are obviously upset over the suspension, though perhaps unsure about what actions should be taken.

"My immediate reaction was just disappointment ... frustration," one resident, Courtney Smith, told CBS News.

"I feel a lot of compassion for the mail carriers," Smith continued. "They shouldn't have to deal with that. Likewise, I feel compassion for the people that are instigating these things because who knows what's going on."

USPS suspends services in Santa Monica neighborhood after reports of repeat attacks youtu.be

US Postal Service's surveillance program acted illegally, according to inspector general probe



In April 2021, there was a bombshell report by Yahoo! News that the United States Postal Service had secretly been collecting data on social media made posts by Americans. The United States Postal Inspection Service – the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service – conducted sweeping searches "that were not legally authorized," according to a probe by the inspector general.

The Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) was established in 2018 to provide analytics support for online investigations for the USPIS. The majority (56%) of investigations by iCOP from October 2018 through March 2021 were investigating narcotics shipped via the USPS and mail theft.

The inspector general probe found that iCOP was reportedly tracking social media activity by Americans in search of any "inflammatory" postings and planned protests.

Last year, the Postal Service Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into iCOP at the request of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. The inspector general's office "reviewed 434 online analytical support requests from a statistical sample of 160 cases and 70 reports produced by iCOP to assess whether these activities were authorized." On March 25, the inspector general released a report on the findings of the probe.

"We determined that certain proactive searches iCOP conducted using an open-source intelligence tool from February to April 2021 exceeded the Postal Inspection Service’s law enforcement authority," the inspector general report states. "Furthermore, we could not corroborate whether other work analysts completed from October 2018 through June 2021 was legally authorized."

"From February 19 to April 21, 2021, iCOP used one of the 10 profiles established in the intelligence tool to conduct searches that were not legally authorized," the report notes. "This tool manages proactive intelligence gathering by constantly monitoring open-source websites, including social media and message platforms, for predefined sets of keywords."

"The keywords iCOP used for one of the profiles during this time did not include any terms related to the mail, postal crimes, or security of postal facilities or personnel," the probe reveals. "Examples of the keywords include 'protest,' 'attack,' and 'destroy.'"

"We also found that management did not develop a records management policy or sensitive information storage and retention standards for iCOP," the report adds. "Finally, contracts supporting these activities did not include all required documents upon award."

After the Yahoo! News report was published in April 2021, iCOP changed its name to the "Analytics Team."

Following the audit, the inspector general made six recommendations, including that "management conduct a full review of the Analytics Team to ensure activities are authorized; revise the Analytics Team’s Standard Operating Procedures; and develop storage and retention policies."

USPS seeks temporary relief from the Biden admin's ‘vaccine or test’ mandate, warning of 'potentially catastrophic impact' to service



The United States Postal Service is seeking a temporary waiver from the Biden administration's mandate that will require large employers to ensure that workers are either vaccinated against COVID-19 or that they test negative weekly.

Deputy Postmaster General Douglas Tulino noted in a letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that USPS could lose employees at a critical time as a consequence of the mandate.

Fox News noted that the letter warned that the mandate "is likely to result in the loss of many employees — either by employees leaving or being disciplined – particularly given the higher level of temporary employees at this time of year."

"Given our essential role to the nation, particularly during these challenging times, we believe that it is critical to avoid disruption to our vital operations," Tulino declared. "For that reason, we are seeking temporary relief from the ETS and maintenance of the status quo on an interim basis."

"While the impact to our service could be devastating at any time of year, requiring the Postal Service to absorb what could inevitably be a dramatic loss of employees at a time when the labor market is extremely tight and in the middle of the Postal Service’s Peak Season would have a potentially catastrophic impact on our ability to provide service to the American public when demand is at its highest," Tulino noted in the letter, according to the outlet.

The vaccine or test” mandate applies to employers with 100 or more employees.

OSHA has declared that it "will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard."

The nation's high court is slated to hear arguments regarding the controversial mandate this Friday, according to reports.

"The Postal Service is seeking temporary relief because it wants to ensure that its ability to deliver mail and packages is not hindered amid the current disruptions in the nation’s supply chain," Postal Service spokesperson Darlene Casey noted in a statement, according to the Washington Post and Fox News. "In addition, the Postal Service wants to adopt policies and procedures that comply with the [OSHA standard] while also fulfilling the organization’s other legal obligations."

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The post Postal Service Unions Spent Big on Biden. Now They’re Exempted From the Federal Vaccine Mandate appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

US Postal Service is secretly keeping tabs on Americans' social media posts as part of 'covert operations program'



The United States Postal Service has been secretly collecting data on Americans' social media posts, Yahoo News revealed Wednesday.

According to a March 16 government bulletin obtained by the outlet, the USPS' law enforcement arm is tracking citizens' social media activity to gather data on a host of topics, including "inflammatory" postings and planned protests, that it shares across multiple federal agencies as part of an effort called the Internet Covert Operations Program, or iCOP.

Yahoo News said the document, which was marked "law enforcement sensitive," specifically mentioned an examination of alleged planned activity for March 20 and was distributed through Homeland Security's fusion centers.

"Analysts with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) monitored significant activity regarding planned protests occurring internationally and domestically on March 20, 2021," the bulletin said. "Locations and times have been identified for these protests, which are being distributed online across multiple social media platforms, to include right-wing leaning Parler and Telegram accounts."

The report said iCOP's intelligence admitted that nothing pointed to the alleged threats as actually being legitimate:

A number of groups were expected to gather in cities around the globe on March 20 as part of a World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy, to protest everything from lockdown measures to 5G. “Parler users have commented about their intent to use the rallies to engage in violence. Image 3 on the right is a screenshot from Parler indicating two users discussing the event as an opportunity to engage in a 'fight' and to 'do serious damage,'" says the bulletin.

“No intelligence is available to suggest the legitimacy of these threats," it adds.

The bulletin includes screenshots of posts about the protests from Facebook, Parler, Telegram and other social media sites. Individuals mentioned by name include one alleged Proud Boy and several others whose identifying details were included but whose posts did not appear to contain anything threatening.

“iCOP analysts are currently monitoring these social media channels for any potential threats stemming from the scheduled protests and will disseminate intelligence updates as needed," the bulletin says.

Constitutional concerns

Civil liberties experts told Yahoo News they were concerned about both the surveillance and why the USPS would be tasked with such an undertaking.

"It's a mystery," said University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone, who, Yahoo noted, reviewed the NSA's bulk data collection during the Obama years following the Edward Snowden leaks. "I don't understand why the government would go to the Postal Service for examining the internet for security issues.

"I just don't think the Postal Service has the degree of sophistication that you would want if you were dealing with national security issues of this sort," he continued.

“That part is puzzling," Stone said. “There are so many other federal agencies that could do this, I don't understand why the post office would be doing it. There is no need for the post office to do it — you've got FBI, Homeland Security and so on, so I don't know why the post office is doing this."

Rachel Levinson-Waldman, who serves as deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice's liberty and national security program, told Yahoo that the program “seems a little bizarre."

"Based on the very minimal information that's available online, it appears that [iCOP] is meant to root out misuse of the postal system by online actors, which doesn't seem to encompass what's going on here," she added. "It's not at all clear why their mandate would include monitoring of social media that's unrelated to use of the postal system."

She also pointed to the constitutionally dubious nature of the program.

"If the individuals they're monitoring are carrying out or planning criminal activity, that should be the purview of the FBI," Levinson-Waldman said. "If they're simply engaging in lawfully protected speech, even if it's odious or objectionable, then monitoring them on that basis raises serious constitutional concerns."

Yahoo News said the U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not respond to specific questions about iCOP.

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