Posted on 07/03/2013 11:34:28 AM PDT by mandaladon
WASHINGTON Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: A handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home. Show all mail to supv supervisor for copying prior to going out on the street, read the card. It included Mr. Pickerings name, address and the type of mail that needed to be monitored. The word confidential was highlighted in green.
It was a bit of a shock to see it, said Mr. Pickering, who owns a small bookstore in Buffalo. More than a decade ago, he was a spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group labeled eco-terrorists by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Postal officials subsequently confirmed they were indeed tracking Mr. Pickerings mail but told him nothing else.
As the world focuses on the high-tech spying of the National Security Agency, the misplaced card offers a rare glimpse inside the seemingly low-tech but prevalent snooping of the United States Postal Service.
Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, but that is only a forerunner of a vastly more expansive effort, the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Yes, shocking.
Those reports of DHS opening packages did not involve the Post office, but other shipments.
“Not to mention that little room in the basement where demoted NSA hacks steam them open.”
They cut them open. I was surprised to see wrong address National Day of Prayer invitations returned - all opened and apparently scrutinized.
In fact one was returned in late June that was placed in a envelope. It had been opened too.
Very wise advice!
freekitty ~:” Gee, I wonder why. He was a member of ELF.”
Oh Sure ! They are after the ‘little people’,.. the ‘wee folk’ !!
The next thing you know they’ll be after the Leprechauns , and the woods fairies ..
You know what ? .. That’s racist , that’s what it is !
Citizens for Mordor unite !
Frodo ,..where are you now that we need you .. ? /s
I didn't say that there was or wasn't. The post to which I was responding was without qualification on that topic. I was inquiring as to whether he approved of surveillance against ELF without one as the current tendency of the Feds is to operate without proper authorization, which was the allusion in the topic of the thread.
You are a wealth of information!
The word, ‘Behemoth’ comes to mind. Good point about the Post Office’s being broke.
“he was a spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front”
He should be locked up for that alone.
Interesting.
When doing deliveries like that where postage is affixed but the letter does not go through the post office, is one allowed to use the mail box of the recipient?
Does the letter enjoy protection against theft as does other mail at that point?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Haven’t you ever heard of ELF? They are eco terrorist group and have been around for a long, long time.
Makes you wonder why the NYSlimes chose this guy to write about?
enter at your own risk
I was a “Casual” Mail Handler in Portland, Oregon for three six month tours during the early 00’s.
My timing was perfect.
After I left in 2003 they cut the pay, ended all OT, and the Unions got ultra strict about what Casuals could or could not do.
My most valuable skill was that I had the temperament and the maturity to get along with all the “Lifers,” even the completely insane ones.
Buncha terrorists.
If someone here is blowing up people and their property, yes.
I assume there is no one here doing that.
You are confusing and mixing issues. There really are people trying to kill us. The fact that there really are bureaucracies trying to enslave us doesn’t mean we let the terrorists run wild.
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