Postal Service Says to Stop Mailing Checks

[AnalogPackrat]

I went through hell 10+ years ago due to my bad luck/bad planning.

IRS had "first dibs" on whatever small amount of my meager assets at the time.

The big machine must be fed!

Cash is good IMHO.....but if IRS starts digging around...."how did you afford your groceries?? etc

None of their business.

I've recovered, but ASSume I'm being closely watched. I'm now a retired man on social security.

I'm also retired, but not yet taking S.S.

Bri

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Back on topic.....why I'm scared to send a check via the USPS?

Bri

Because bank fraud can start with a stolen check. Also, any information on the check can be used to build a profile for identity theft. I've had several instances of bank fraud.

One of the recent ones involved several fake checks on my account cashed in Delaware while I was living in CA. I've never been to Delaware. The perp had printed them with my correct name, address, and bank routing and account info. The checks were both in sequence and close in number to ones I had written, but the check design was different. The bank and police were not interested in pursuing any action despite there being a signature and name that matched a real person in Delaware (found him on FB--20 something punk living an expensive lifestyle and bragging online).

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Oh, don't disagree with that. Maybe not lack of enforcement in general, but misdirection of resources for sure. Many crimes are overpunished and others underpunished. It's a real issue. Reporting things to the police can do basically nothing these days!

Once people realize it's pointless to even call the police to report crime, the data on reported crime becomes less reliable. So your other post about declining property crime is really just declining reports of property crime.

On your stalking problem--not a good situation. We must always be cognizant of the simple fact (backed by a SCOTUS decision) that the police have no duty to protect you. Unfortunately in really bad situations it comes down to whether one or more responding officers are willing to go beyond their duty, risk their career and possibly their life, to do what's right for a citizen in distress. This has played out in many recent highly publicized events.

In my opinion it comes down to "all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." Fewer people these days seem willing to do what's right and assist their fellow citizen in need.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I've never managed to write my signature the same way any time I sign something. I decided to use a stupid signature when I was young and now I am stuck with it, because everything important in my life has that freaking signature. Anyway, no bank will cash my checks because the signature never matches their records, hence, I don't use checks.

I blame my bad signature on my time in the US Army... They made us sign for 3 meals a day, every day. That got old fast....

Most payments these days are done with direct transfers...

JR

 

[Recording Engineer]

I've never managed to write my signature the same way any time I sign something. I decided to use a stupid signature when I was young and now I am stuck with it, because everything important in my life has that freaking signature. Anyway, no bank will cash my checks because the signature never matches their records, hence, I don't use checks.

Interesting. I feel like signatures are a joke… I swear nearly every signature I’ve ever done my entire life has been completely different and not once has anyone ever questioned me at all about signature-matching.

 

[cyrano]

We no longer have checks. Haven't had them in many years...

I've always wondered why US banks seem to want to avoid security. No pincode on credit cards, no decent security in online payment systems, horribly insecure ATMs and anti-theft car systems...

I'm afraid Asimov was right. There really is a culture of ignorance in the USA.

 

[JohnRoberts]

We no longer have checks. Haven't had them in many years...

I've always wondered why US banks seem to want to avoid security. No pincode on credit cards, no decent security in online payment systems, horribly insecure ATMs and anti-theft car systems...

I'm afraid Asimov was right. There really is a culture of ignorance in the USA.

I bet we Americans appear really stupid in the EU press... Does that make you feel good about yourself and want to watch more news?

BTW there is a culture of ignorance everywhere....

JR

 

[user 37518]

We no longer have checks. Haven't had them in many years...

I've always wondered why US banks seem to want to avoid security. No pincode on credit cards, no decent security in online payment systems, horribly insecure ATMs and anti-theft car systems...

I'm afraid Asimov was right. There really is a culture of ignorance in the USA.

May I ask why you hate the US so much, and where in "Europe" you are which makes it so much better than those in the US who you despise?

 

[AnalogPackrat]

May I ask why you hate the US so much, and where in "Europe" you are which makes it so much better than those in the US who you despise?

He's mentioned before that he's in Belgium which was liberated from the Nazis by a bunch of ignorant hick Americans who had no business going over there to help the vastly superior Europeans.

 

[Recording Engineer]

He's mentioned before that he's in Belgium which was liberated from the Nazis by a bunch of ignorant hick Americans who had no business going over there to help the vastly superior Europeans.

Remember, most people are stupid… So…

 

[cyrano]

May I ask why you hate the US so much, and where in "Europe" you are which makes it so much better than those in the US who you despise?

I don't hate Americans. Some of my best friends are from the USA. They no longer live there and a few no longer are US citizens.

I do hate US imperialistic policy. Deporting thousands of people to construct military bases, fi.

Take a look at US history. Cuba has been harassed for many decades. And the only reason is they are a communist country. Before, they were a maffia run dictatorship. Don't Cubans have a right to choose their own destiny? The same goes for a number of other countries. Do you know any other nation who has meddled so much in other countries?

Now, if this meddling would lead to more democracy for these nations, I would shut up. But it never results in better conditions for the locals. The only ones who benefit, is the oil industry. Of course, the US govt is run by the big corporations.

It also doesn't matter where in Europe I live. Lots of Americans can't even tell EU countries apart.

The worst part is that most Americans still believe they live in the greatest nation on earth. Only those who travelled a lot, or are already living abroad who realise this isn't true.

Nationalism and patriotism are killing progress. Yet, you see most Youtube vids, fi, with US flags. Have you ever seen a Youtube vid from another country prominently displaying their national flag?

That observation about security came from the fact that I was there when Banksys was born. I lived through the machinations from the US when Banksys turned out to be a success. Now, Banksys is a US company. They had to become a US company, or they would've been run into the ground by US banks, with some help from the US govt, of course. Banksys had to lower their security level because US banks argumented that it was too complicated for US citizens. Yeah, remembering four numbers is really difficult, isn't it? That's probably why you still have checks and the rest of the world doesn't.

And that imperialistic treat even messes up the lives of US citizens. Tuskagee isn't the only case where humans were treated worse than animals. It seems even Americans don't matter when it comes to the US govt.

That doesn't mean other nations are perfect. It just shows things derail when it gets too big. Russia and China, fi also are on my radar. But I don't see a black and white picture when it comes to "US is good, China is bad". I do find it worrisome that US and EU industry no longer can survive without Chinese manufactured goods. But I see no simple solution in the short term. War isn't an answer. It never is.

 

[living sounds]

The EU ended its paper cheque system more than 20 years ago. There's really no good reason to send hand written self-issued notes of credit via snail mail, is there? The government can view these transactions anyway, since they are all logged digitally later on...

The way countries and regions get ahead or lag behind each other in terms of technical/institutional progress can vary greatly in different fields. Often the earlier innovators in a field lag later on when it comes to updating a system. Currently the tech sector in the US is second to none. And in the banking / finance sector, pending - argueably huge - regulatory hurdles, grassroots innovation in the form of crypto has been happening. It remains to be seen if these options or state issued digital currencies win.

 

[scott2000]

The worst part is that most Americans still believe they live in the greatest nation on earth.

Saw a comedian joking how we have more deaths from over eating than starvation.. Woo hoo...

 

[JohnRoberts]

I don't hate Americans. Some of my best friends are from the USA. They no longer live there and a few no longer are US citizens.

nice

I do hate US imperialistic policy.

This century? Last century? when/where...

Deporting thousands of people to construct military bases, fi.

I just did a search and couldn't find that ugly morsel. I even tried google and found something about UK/US wrt Chagossians in the Indian Ocean (is that what you are referring to)? I did find one story about hundreds of deported US veterans in 20 countries. Military service does not automatically result in citizenship, and I don't think they were being forced to build anything.

Take a look at US history. Cuba has been harassed for many decades. And the only reason is they are a communist country.

The American history regarding Cuba goes back more than a few decades. I recall the Cuban missile crisis when Russia tried to base ICBMs there. History seems to be repeating themselves with China trying to build a new spying facility on the island.

Before, they were a maffia run dictatorship.

The US mafia partnered with Batista to use the island for alcohol and drug trafficking.

Don't Cubans have a right to choose their own destiny? The same goes for a number of other countries.

Yes, and Yes... The Cuban government oppresses the Cuban people. Castro overthrew Batista but did not liberate the people.

Do you know any other nation who has meddled so much in other countries?

there are several in the west with a shared history of ancient colonialism. The US was once a colony of Great Britain.

Now, if this meddling would lead to more democracy for these nations, I would shut up.

that would be nice

But it never results in better conditions for the locals. The only ones who benefit, is the oil industry. Of course, the US govt is run by the big corporations.

many would disagree...

It also doesn't matter where in Europe I live. Lots of Americans can't even tell EU countries apart.

The EU efforts have been to make them all more alike... I have visited several but not every one.

The worst part is that most Americans still believe they live in the greatest nation on earth. Only those who travelled a lot, or are already living abroad who realise this isn't true.

I have done a fair amount of travel and that mainly reinforces the greatness of America to me. We are not perfect, far from it, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Where do you think is better? I hope you already live there. We have too many people trying to get in here.

Nationalism and patriotism are killing progress.

"progress" ?

Yet, you see most Youtube vids, fi, with US flags. Have you ever seen a Youtube vid from another country prominently displaying their national flag?

I do not go out of my way to watch youtube, but most nations prominently display flags, even non-nations. Even antifa waves their flags.

That observation about security came from the fact that I was there when Banksys was born. I lived through the machinations from the US when Banksys turned out to be a success. Now, Banksys is a US company. They had to become a US company, or they would've been run into the ground by US banks, with some help from the US govt, of course. Banksys had to lower their security level because US banks argumented that it was too complicated for US citizens. Yeah, remembering four numbers is really difficult, isn't it? That's probably why you still have checks and the rest of the world doesn't.

big business, crony capitalism, stupid americans?

And that imperialistic treat even messes up the lives of US citizens. Tuskagee isn't the only case where humans were treated worse than animals. It seems even Americans don't matter when it comes to the US govt.

I don't like using whataboutism but the Tuskegee syphilis experiment is a very old embarrassment (1932). While getting repetitive the abuses of the uighur in China are brutal and still going on right now.

That doesn't mean other nations are perfect. It just shows things derail when it gets too big. Russia and China, fi also are on my radar. But I don't see a black and white picture when it comes to "US is good, China is bad". I do find it worrisome that US and EU industry no longer can survive without Chinese manufactured goods.

That is a concerted effort by China to become the world's supply chain, which gives them economic leverage to apply during international negotiations.

But I see no simple solution in the short term. War isn't an answer. It never is.

Finally we agree.... WAR is bad.

Ukraine is getting pretty interesting at the moment. Too early to understand what is really going on.


JR

 

[user 37518]

Take a look at US history. Cuba has been harassed for many decades. And the only reason is they are a communist country. Before, they were a maffia run dictatorship. Don't Cubans have a right to choose their own destiny? The same goes for a number of other countries. Do you know any other nation who has meddled so much in other countries?

Untrue, Cuba pointed Soviet nuclear missiles, it wasn't just because Cuba was communist. BTW, do you know any Cubans? All I've met hate communism.

Seriously, the way you talk is straight out of the Babylon Bee:



Edit: To appease the search algorithms.

 

[cyrano]

So you learn history from comedians? Now I understand how you get your info...

Here's an article from Princeton about Diego Garcia and how the people living on the island were deported:

https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691149837/island-of-shame
The same goes for most US military island based bases.

Here's a list of US bases in the world:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases
How is it that it's OK for the USA to have bases all around the world, while it's a big problem if the Chinese follow the same strategy?

Besides Diego Garcia there are dozens of other islands where the local population was deported. If the Chinese or the Russians would have done the same, the US would have been up in arms.

Why are there always two standards? Oh, yeah, it's because of the mantra "We are the good guys".

 

[AnalogPackrat]

So you learn history from comedians? Now I understand how you get your info...

Here's an article from Princeton about Diego Garcia and how the people living on the island were deported:

https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691149837/island-of-shame

Ah, yes. Princeton, like most elite Universities in the US, is not known for having a balanced staff or viewpoint. It looks to me like the reality is more interesting. After being colonised by various European empires in the 1790s. Eventually the British controlled it (and still do). The kicker? The island was uninhabited until the late 1700s. Later the French established a slave colony to harvest coconuts. This enterprise continued until the joint UK/US base was established.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia

The same goes for most US military island based bases.

What? Guam was not depopulated. Nor Hawaii. Wake Island had no resources to support humans and was never inhabited. Midway Atoll the same. Yes, some South Pacific Atolls used for nuclear tests were depopulated.

Here's a list of US bases in the world:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases
How is it that it's OK for the USA to have bases all around the world, while it's a big problem if the Chinese follow the same strategy?

Besides Diego Garcia there are dozens of other islands where the local population was deported. If the Chinese or the Russians would have done the same, the US would have been up in arms.

What of the European colonialists who enslaved millions all over the Pacific, Asia, and Africa?

Why are there always two standards? Oh, yeah, it's because of the mantra "We are the good guys".

Well, we have definitely done some bad things (CIA, I'm pointing at you), but on the whole I would think a rational human might prefer our system to the CCP or Russia. No?

 

[user 37518]

So you learn history from comedians? Now I understand how you get your info...

You can't deny that you sound just like that frat boy.

 

[cyrano]

I've never known written stuff to "sound" like anything. But since you prefer to listen to comedians in stead of reading some scientific paper, I'll leave it at that. Believers will believe...

 

[JohnRoberts]

I have been wrestling with the USPS for years to get my daily newspaper delivered close to the publication date. Decades ago the papers arrived daily like clockwork, over the last several years the on-time delivery has deteriorated, randomly sometimes being almost a week late. Today I received three papers, one on time, and two days late.

I have traced the problem to the regional sorting center about 60 miles away. I am the only person in my small town receiving WSJ papers, so mine gets bundled together with a bunch of other small towns in the area. Sorting these odd mixed bundles is what causes the delays. If misrouted to a different local PO that can add several days, apparently they don't sort all mail every day.

I found a press release about the fancy million dollar automatic sorting machine installed into my regional sorting center a couple years ago, including the name of the guy in charge of that facility. Over 2 weeks ago, I wrote him a letter asking for assistance in getting on time delivery. Today that letter came back, return to sender. Undeliverable because of no mail receptacle, and not forward able.

Gotta love the USPS...

JR

PS: Lately I have been seeing lots of scams promising to sell forever stamps for half price. Stamps are like money so nobody ever sells them at deep discounts. I just bought a book of forever stamps at normal price, because next year the price of first class postage is going up.

 

[sahib]

Wasn't a big problem when citizens and government employees had morals and people respected each other and the rule of law. That's the basic fact. Decay.

Decay in human quality.

We were taught by our parents not to steal.

We used to live in an area where there were quite "undesirable" people living across the street and their little brats used to ransack our mailboxes. I once caught one of them as he literally pulled out a bunch of mail from our mailbox which included a chequebook sent by the bank. When the police arrived his mother and her neighbour pals were watching from across the street with pride as her son was getting into trouble with the police.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Decay in human quality.

We were taught by our parents not to steal.

We used to live in an area where there were quite "undesirable" people living across the street and their little brats used to ransack our mailboxes. I once caught one of them as he literally pulled out a bunch of mail from our mailbox which included a chequebook sent by the bank. When the police arrived his mother and her neighbour pals were watching from across the street with pride as her son was getting into trouble with the police.

back in the 80s when I was renting a nice condominium near Hartford CT, I looked out the window early one morning and saw a young kid rooting around inside my parked car, probably stealing loose change out of my ash tray. I grabbed him, and dragged him into my apartment. Asked for his name and tried to scare him some. I doubt he gave me his real name, but I never saw him around my car again.

To say culture has changed over the decades is an understatement. Watching old B&W movies even the bad guys wore suits and ties...

JR

 

[sahib]

...... I grabbed him, and dragged him into my apartment......

To say culture has changed over the decades is an understatement.......

JR

Not only the culture, but the law has also changed beyond belief. I do not know how it is in the US, particularly within different states, but you can not do it here as you would be charged with assault. In fact even swearing at a person can be a verbal assault.

Where my old business premises used to be, people used to park their cars literally in front of my door, bumped on the pavement early morning and walk to the city centre for their work. We could not get anything in and out of the building for a whole day. I once stuck a sheet of A3 paper on the windscreen saying please do not park here, and got almost done by the police for vandalism.

Where my current office is, we have designated parking spaces with signs and people from one particular office still park in my slot even though they have their own. Of course I go round and tell them to move. In one case it was a girl who snarled at me as if to say what's the problem. No apology, nothing.

It all starts from these little disrespects.