Maya Angelou Gets "Forever" Stamp

Via the Los Angeles Times:

The U.S. Postal Service will release a "forever" stamp honoring writer Maya Angelou, the agency announced Monday. Angelou, best known for her memoir "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," died last year at age 86. In addition to being an author, Angelou was a professor, a Tony-nominated performer, an official with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a calypso singer who danced with Alvin Ailey, a streetcar conductor, an actress, a screenwriter and a film director. Her primary work was as a memoirist and poet; she recited a poem at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 by President Obama.

The stamp's artwork has not yet been revealed.

The Anti-Christ Runs The Post Office

AFA Refuses Donation With Milk Stamp

The Wire reports:

How much do anti-gay groups hate the new Harvey Milk stamps from the U.S. Postal Service? One organization refused to even open a mailed donation to their cause using one such stamp as postage. Staying true to their announcement that they would boycott all mail with the Milk stamps, the American Family Association told The Wire that the organization had mailed back our attempted $5 donation to their anti-gay group unopened. Speaking to The Wire, AFA's Director of Issues Analysis Bryan Fischer said that the very existence of the Harvey Milk stamp was akin to "honoring Jeffrey Dahmer on a postage stamp designed to honor the culinary arts." That's because Fischer and the AFA, citing a line from a biography of Milk, believe that Milk was a sexual predator. "He is not somebody that should ever be honored on a postage stamp," Fischer said.

Maybe the Wire shouldn't have announced the attempt two weeks ago? Focus On The Family and the Family Research Council both processed Milk-stamped donations sent by the Wire.

AFA: Don't Open Mail With Milk Stamp

"Unfortunately, the deed is done. The United States Postal Service honored a child predator at the whim of a drag queen. Furthermore, the radical homosexual lobby will undoubtedly encourage businesses to use these stamps - all in the name of inclusiveness, political correctness and diversity. This is not diversity; this is perversity. What you can do: 1. Refuse to accept the Harvey Milk stamp if offered by your local post office. Instead, ask for a stamp of the United States flag. 2. Refuse to accept mail at your home or business if it is postmarked with the Harvey Milk stamp. Simply write 'Return to Sender" on the envelope and tell your postman you won't accept it." - From a super-sadz message by the American Family Association.

TODAY: White House To Unveil Harvey Milk Stamp In Live Webcast Ceremony

Via White House press release:

This Thursday, May 22nd, the White House Office of Public Engagement, the United States Postal Service and the Harvey Milk Foundation will host a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp at the White House. The event will feature remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Representative John Lewis, Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman, and other distinguished guests including the Co-Founders of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Stuart Milk and Anne Kronenberg.

The ceremony will be live-streamed here at 3PM. I'll push this post back to the top of the blog a few minutes before things get going.

UPDATE: The ceremony is about to begin.

UPDATE II: The unveiling is done. Among those on stage in the photo below: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Mark Pocan, Stuart Milk (Harvey's nephew).

Haters Have The Harvey Milk Sadz

"Harvey Milk was a very dishonorable man -- a sexual anarchist who hated sexual boundaries, a homosexual predator of teens and boyish-looking young men, and a brazen attacker of moral standards and parental rights. The intolerant homosexual-bisexual-transsexual movement is guilty of trampling religious freedom, free speech, private property rights, parental rights and the innocence of children, If you believe in protecting children from bad role models, don't buy the Harvey Milk stamp. Harvey Milk's 'LGBT' agenda has been an extremely negative influence on religious freedom, which it crushes, and the health and well-being of children, whom it sexually targets,. Indeed, a moral disaster -- the unnatural, unhealthy, tyrannical homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda -- is being honored by the U.S. Postal Service, which is pushing negative outcomes on children through this harmful sexual movement." - Save California crackpot Randy Thomasson, renewing his annual call for parents to keep their kids out of school on next month's Harvey Milk Day. (Via Good As You)

USPS Begins Milk Stamp Pre-Orders

Via press release from the White House:

The U.S. Postal Service officially revealed the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp today. The stamp’s official first-day-of-issue ceremony will take place May 22 at the White House. The public is invited to attend the May 28 Harvey Milk Forever Stamp special dedication ceremony in San Francisco. Details on the time and location will be forthcoming. Customers may order the Harvey Milk stamp now for delivery following the May 22 stamp issuance. The stamp image is based on a circa 1977 black and white photograph of Milk in front of his Castro Street Camera store in San Francisco taken by Daniel Nicoletta of Grants Pass, OR. Antonio Alcalá of Alexandria, VA, was art director for the stamp.

Pre-order your stamps here.

Matt Barber Has The Stamp Sadz

"This is a man who was known for a perverse sexual appetite for teenage, runaway, drug-addicted boys and the fact that this Obama administration and the postal service would choose to ignore that and go with the propaganda and the hype that this guy was some kind of hero and a pro-LGBT martyr – it just boggles the mind. That [Harvey Milk] would get his own stamp and that this other homosexual activist would get a stamp honoring a lifestyle that has led to the AIDS epidemic, that has led to the spread of syphilis and STDs and a decline in our culture's morality, just speaks to how far we have fallen as a nation." - Hate group leader Matt Barber, speaking to OneNewsNow. The "other homosexual artist" Barber refers to is Tom Of Finland, who will be honored this fall by Finland's postal service.

Harvey Milk Stamp To Be Dedicated At White House Ceremony On May 22nd

Via press release from the White House Office of Communications:

The official first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp will take place at the White House May 22. Harvey Milk was a visionary leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk’s achievements gave hope and confidence to the LGBT community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination. Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services. His remarkable career was tragically cut short nearly a year after he took office, when he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated. In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. May 22 is Harvey Milk Day in California. The stamp image will be previewed at a later date and a public dedication ceremony will take place in San Francisco May 28.

I predicts some super-sadz over this! I especially love that as a "forever" stamp, the text reads "Harvey Milk Forever USA."

UPDATE: The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund reacts.

“Harvey Milk urged LGBT people to seek public office because he understood the power of elected officials to create change. Since his high-profile election in San Francisco, thousands of LGBT people around the world have responded to his call to serve their own communities by seeking elected and appointed office, and indeed that is helping to change our world. We applaud President Obama and his administration for opening the White House to this historic occasion, and we are especially grateful to the Harvey Milk Foundation and everyone who worked to make this possible. We hope the issuance of the Harvey Milk stamp will inspire a new generation of young LGBT leaders to choose careers in public service and continue his important work.”

UPDATE II: From the Task Force.

"Harvey Milk was an extraordinary activist whose courage, tenacity, and legacy is alive today in everything we do to advance real freedom and justice for all LGBT people and their families. His life has been an inspiration to me, personally. For his service and sacrifice, it is entirely fitting that a forever stamp be dedicated to him and all that he stood for. This tribute would not have been possible without our partners: the Harvey Milk Foundation, the International Imperial Court System and Victory Fund Institute."

REPORT: Harvey Milk Stamp Revealed

I'm not finding confirmation elsewhere, but yesterday a philatelist site declared that this is the Harvey Milk stamp which will makes its debut next month.

A black-and-white photograph of Harvey Milk (1930-78) will be used for the central design of the forthcoming United States commemorative forever stamp honoring the San Francisco political figure and gay rights activist. The stamp will be issued on Harvey Milk Day, May 22, in a location or locations yet to be determined. Both Washington, D.C., and San Francisco are potential first-day cities. U.S. Postal Service officials announced the stamp subject in October 2013 but have not formally revealed the image. The stamp design includes the pride flag colors as six different color squares stacked vertically in the upper left corner. The stamp is likely to be issued in a pane of 20.

If this indeed is the official version, it's a great improvement over the stamp that the same site showed us last year.

Amazon Strikes Deal With USPS For Sunday Deliveries In LA And NYC

Amazon has struck a deal with the US Postal Service who will begin delivering their packages on Sundays.

Starting this week, the postal service will bring Amazon packages on Sundays to shoppers' doors in the Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas at no extra charge. Next year, it plans to roll out year-round Sunday delivery to Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix and other cities. Getting packages on Sundays normally is expensive for customers. United Parcel Service Inc. doesn't deliver on Sundays, according to a spokeswoman. And FedEx Corp. said Sunday "is not a regular delivery day," though limited options are available. The deal could be a boon for the postal service, which has been struggling with mounting financial losses and has been pushing to limit general letter mail delivery to five days a week. Spokeswoman Sue Brennan said that letter mail volume is declining "so extremely," yet package volume is "increasing in double-digit percentages."

Matt Drudge is very upset!

USPS To Announce Harvey Milk Stamp

From the Facebook page of the Harvey Milk Foundation:

Breaking! It is official! The USPS will confirm this week that my uncle, Harvey Milk will be commemorated on a 2014 US postage stamp. Another first! My deep gratitude to everyone that supported this effort! More details including the image to come via USPS soon! "Hope Will Never Be Silent" and will be on millions of letters soon!

Get ready for some super-sadz!

Going Postal

The above is somebody's mailbox in New Jersey. The Daily News has the story:

Roger Buchko, 49, built an oversized replica of a Smith & Wesson firearm to replace his old letter box, drawing attention from across the globe. The business end of his faux firearm points out onto the road with the mailbox installed in the muzzle. The cylinder, mounted on ball bearings, spins in a good breeze. Buchko said the unusual lawn ornament wasn’t designed as a political statement. He was just hoping to pick up work for his cabinet-making and metal fabrication business.

The gun is bolted to a 1200-pound base, just in case.

USPS Suspends Service To Chicago Frat House After Racist & Homophobic "Prank"

The Postal Service has suspended mail service to the University of Chicago's Phi Delta Theta fraternity after a racist and homophobic "prank" was pulled on a mailman.

Postal carrier Iran Becton said about a week after Memorial Day he had an order to deliver dozens of postal supply boxes to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at 56th Street and University on campus. The Sun-Times Mary Mitchell reports, it took Becton six or seven trips to deliver the packages until one of the fraternity members told Becton to read the name on the order “Reggin Toggaf” backwards. Reversing the names, the first name is a racial slur. The last name is a slur for gay men.

Phi Delta Theta's chapter president claims that a rival fraternity is to blame. The University of Chicago is working with the USPS to identify the culprit and has issued a statement calling the incident "deplorable."

REPORT: Harvey Milk Stamp Approved?

Citing a leaked document, the Bay Area Reporter says that the USPS may issue a commemorative Harvey Milk stamp next year.

Linn's Stamp News, a weekly publication that covers the mail service, is reporting in its May 27 issue that Milk was among the special stamps chosen for next year by the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee during its closed door meetings earlier this year. An anonymous source sent Linn's a copy of the panel's January 31 and February 1 meeting minutes where 2014 stamps were debated and chosen. It included a notation that the minutes regarding the Milk stamp, along with a number of other choices, had been approved at an April 13 meeting.

The BAR notes that "there is no certainty" that the Milk stamp has made the cut.  According to the office of the Postmaster General, the final list of next year's commemorative stamps will be issued in August or September. (Tipped by JMG reader Homer)

USPS To Suspend Saturday Mail

Starting in August, you won't be getting mail on Saturdays.

The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service plans to stop delivering mail on Saturdays starting Aug. 1, the agency is set to announce Wednesday. This means that for the first time Americans will receive mail only five days a week, a significant shift for the storied mail agency, which has suffered tens of billions of dollars in losses in recent years with the advent of the Internet and e-commerce. USPS plans to continue Saturday delivery of packages, which remain a profitable and growing part of the delivery business. Post offices would remain open on Saturdays so that customers can drop off mail or packages, buy postage stamps, or access their post office boxes, officials said. But hours likely would be reduced at thousands of smaller locations, they said.

USPS - Sweater

USPS Reports $16B Loss

The Postal Service has reported a record $15.9B loss for the year, more than three times last year's loss.

Much of the red ink was due to mounting costs for future retiree health benefits, which made up $11.1 billion of the losses. Without that and other related labor expenses, the mail agency sustained an operating loss of $2.4 billion, lower than the previous year. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the agency has been able to reduce costs significantly by boosting worker productivity. But he said the mail agency has been hampered by congressional inaction on a postal overhaul bill that would allow it to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and reduce its $5 billion annual payment for future health benefits. Earlier this year, the post office defaulted on two of those payments. It is forecasting additional losses next year of roughly $7.6 billion.

The Postal Service is the only government agency required to make prepayments into its healthcare plan.

USPS Caves To FRC

Emergency Alert From Tony Perkins!

Obama's commie postal employees don't allow righteous glory-bound Christmas carolers to screech their mythology in the faces of customers! Outrageous! Sign the petition to allow one specific religion to proselytize on government property! It's what Jeebus wants, people.