You won't believe these photos

[garybeck]

I've been selling and shipping stickers and books on the web for a couple years. I use US Mail exclusively because I live near a post office and it's cheaper than UPS, so it saves the customer money. I've been pretty happy with their service and NEVER has a package been lost or severely damaged (often it takes longer than it should but that's another story). Until now.

Seemingly by coincidence, or not, in the span of two days, I had one package mysteriously disappear and another one destroyed beyond reason.

The package that was lost was significant. It was 25 copies of the Election Truth CD-ROM, which was being mailed to a radio reporter, so it would have delievered the truth to a lot of people.

Then, amazingly, on the same day, it was determined that another package was lost. This was a copy of Fooled Again, Mark Crispin Miller's new (great) book on the same subject. I was about to ship another copy to the customer, when she contacted me to let me know it finally arrived (3 weeks after I shipped it). What was incredible, was the condition of the package. Now I have shipped and received hundreds if not thousands of packages in my life, and I have never seen anything like this. The customer said she took a look at it and couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't like the package was dropped and there is a little dent in the book. It actually looks like the book was ripped in half. and the customer commented that it appeared that the book may have been completely submerged in water at some point as well.

I think pictures are better than words at this point:





Big Hi-res photos here:

http://photobucket.com/albums/a181/livvy2/Fooled%20Again/

The customer commented that she has had packages damaged before, like most of us have, but there is usually an apology note attached. This time, just the book, which was basically torn to pieces, literally. And she did say she's never seen anything damaged this badly. And keep in mind, this is a hardcover book and it was well packaged in bubble wrap.

The paranoid side of me is thinking, with all this domestic spying going on, and reports of people's mail being opened, maybe it's not a coincidence that my first two lost/damaged packages happened at the same time. And it doesn't seem tht any form of normal accident or neglect could cause this type of damage to the book. The customer even commented, it seemed like somone had to do this on purpose. Does someone at the post office not like what the Solar Bus is doing?

The other side keeps saying, it's just a coincidence. Go back to sleep.

But I'll tell you one thing. If something like this happens in the near future, which would be the 3rd incident, I'm going to really wonder what is going on.

gary (the solar bus guy)

[Wickerman]

1. wow, I've shipped books for years

and never had a complaint. Received 'em, too with same result. No comment on your ill-fortune, but that is plain sad.

[wtmusic]

2. Don't think you're being paranoid

Simple case of probability. Could be organized or just some idiot individual at the PO.

[garybeck]

5. I'm not sure, but I may have shipped the two at the same time

that would make it even stranger.

now that I think of it, there is this one guy at the post office who gives me a weird vibe sometimes.

[havocmom]

10. We should all expect more 'acting out' by some people as time goes on.

Ever work with, or read about, delusional people? Really delusional people? As pressure is put on them that their version of reality is so off base, they can become pretty desperate to maintain their delusions. Not unheard of for them to destroy evidence they are wrong. Also not unheard of that some get pretty hostile in their actions.

Folks, there are A LOT of our neighbors out there living in varying degrees of delusion. A nice comfy delusion is so much more comfortable than facing truth. Hell, our whole society is based on the fact that we plod along avoiding reality.

As the facades crumble and more people are threatened with reality, there will be trouble.

Be damned careful out there. Most people are good and not dangerous. Trouble is, we think everybody is like ourselves and we don't always perceive the real threats from those who would do us harm. That is OUR delusion. Real evil people count on our (sometimes narrow) perceptions that others will be as good as we try to be. And the head cases can blow at any time when their delusions are threatened.

[glitch]

18. Yes - exposing the delusion is the most dangerous time.

Fear-based people do not like to be made to see reality and will fight it tooth and nail.

Everybody does need to keep fighting, but always stay aware of exactly who and what we are fighting. Fight smart.

[LaurenG]

3. MIHOP

The government already told us they're spying on us, I guess the post office is the first line of defense along with telephone wiretapping and studying the search engines on the "internets".

Trust your gut, that is all I have to say.

[Straight Shooter]

4. This incident needs to be reported.

Tampering with the mail is a federal offense, is it not? This book has been beyond tampered with. Send your photos to Miller, too. Let him know what someone in the U.S.P.S. thinks of his book. Maybe the attention will increase his book sales, so something positive can come out of it.

I don't think material things are critical in the priorities of life, but destroying a book has great socio-psychological significance and should not be ignored.

[Pacifist Patriot]

14. I could not agree more.

[mike_c]

6. to be frank, I think the side view tells the tale....

Looks like impact damage on the spine, with the original impact occuring on the bottom end, followed by upward tearing of the cover. Grab a book and rip off it's cover from the bottom up-- you won't crush the spine like that or crush the pages as shown in the open view on PhotoBucket. My guess is that the package hit a stationary support on a high-speed conveyor, or fell off of a high speed transport, or something similar. At any rate, it was moving fast and hit a stationary object that subjected it to both crushing impact and shearing force. This was not done with human hands, IMO.

[garybeck]

7. thanks, i hope you're right

what do you think about the apparant water damage though? the customer told me it appeared as though it had been submerged at some point, and if you look closely at some of the photos, it does appear as though some of the fraying on the pages gives the appearance that it was wet at some point.

and no apology note? I've gotten them before and it seems obvious one is warranted with this package.

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. I agree human hands could not rip a dry hard cover...

like that. At least most couldn't. I can't speak for Ahnold. ;)

But it could certainly be done if the water damage was inflicted prior to the spine split. I also agree that the postal service typically includes an apology note or some other indication of an accident if that were the case. Even if this was inflicted by a machine, I still suspect a human was involved.

But I'm in the paranoid tinfoil hat conspiracy theory crowd so take it for what it is worth.

Regardless, it is certainly worth a complaint to the Postmaster to establish a pattern of events if that becomes necessary.

Cheers!

[garybeck]

21. Please note, BOTH ends are smushed.

it seems like if it was rammed through some kind of high speed conveyor, that the end of the book that hit something would be smushed but the other end wouldn't.

if you look at the photo of the side view of the binding, it is clear that both ends were smushed. It's like it was put into a compactor, or it was rammed on one end, and then the other.

[DarkTirade]

24. It doesn't need to be going a high speed to be damaged..

I work in a warehouse, I've seen what happens when a packages gets stuck somewhere along the line in a conveyor belt. It doesn't need speed... just hundreds of pounds of force from the dozens of packages behind it. :)

[sinkingfeeling]

8. And this was wrapped in bubble wrap, inside another box? Hard

to believe a machine could have caused it.

[garybeck]

11. no, it was

a bubble wrap mailer. I ship books like that all the time and haven't had any problems until now.

I get packages from Amazon sometimes that have less packaging, with just a layer of cardboard folded tightly around the book.

but to answer your question, no it was not inside of a box. It was a bubble wrap mailer.

[EFerrari]

9. That's really creepy, gary.

And it's probably just a creepy coincidence. mike is proobably right.

[Algorem]

12. Newman!

[Pacifist Patriot]

13. I've been shipping books for years...

and many times in a lot flimsier shipping material than you described. I have never had a problem. Based on those photographs I would agree 100% that you are looking at deliberate destruction. File a complaint with the Postmaster. No, nothing will ever come of it, but it will be a matter of record. Save every scrap of paperwork.

[lostnfound]

16. I think you should take the photos to the head postmaster at the PO

where you mailed it from, and just let him know what happened. It's quite possible that one disgruntled hostile guy did this intentionally.

[Beam Me Up]

17. I wouldn't wait for a third time. I'd start using UPS, now.

THAT is deliberate sabotage. Childish and stupid but what else are the Freeper base?

[Stephanie]

19. geez!

I just sent this thread to Mark - he will be interested to see it. I will say however that I recently had a torn, wet package delivered to me two weeks late, wrapped in plastic and with no note of apology from the USPS. The package contained a photo book of a Canadian national park, sent by my mother. So maybe the incompetence of the USPS has increased and they are no longer bothering to apologize for it?

[elehhhhna]

20. They waterboarded your book!

[livvy]

22. You would really have to see this book "in person".

I really don't know if it was accidental, due to a machine malfunction, or intentional, or perhaps a combination of both. I do have to say, I got a pretty good chuckle out of its condition after my initial disbelief.
I had emailed Gary about the book a bit ago, and was actually thinking about it on my way home from work, and figured I'd drop him a note to let him know it was still on the lam, when I discovered it waiting on my doorstep. It was wrapped in a cellophane wrap over the paper/bubble wrap. I could see that the package looked like it had been through quite an ordeal, but I was not prepared for the condition of the book. I mean it was a hardcover in a sturdy bubble wrap envelope! I opened it up and was just dumbstruck. I turned it over a few times, and actually tried to open it up to see if it was readable. The longer I stood there and stared at it, the funnier it struck me. I kept getting this vision of some disgruntled postal worker, gone postal, ripping it apart in a frenzied rage. "Damn Liberal terrorists!"
I was still chuckling when I took the pics and sent them to Gary. I have never seen a hardcover book look like this. Every page is wavy at the bottom, which reminded me of when a book has gotten wet, and the cover hangs off the front like an overheated dog's tongue. It is an incredible mangled mess.
At lunch today I was describing it to a friend. I said it looked like the Incredible Hulk had gone amok on this book. She said, "Oh, I didn't know the Hulk was a Republican." Very funny.
If this was an intentional thing, it is very serious. Messing with the mail is a Federal offense. If it was an accident, an apology from the PO would have been nice. Perhaps it was a little of both.
Gary has been wonderful about this whole book thing, and in fact has already sent me a new copy. Thank you, Gary!:hug:

[DarkTirade]

23. I'm fairly certain that

if it was just some republican nutjob at the post office, then odds are if he gets caught, he'll be arrested.
What with mail tampering being a federal crime and all. (Unless of course it's the feds that do it. Go fig.)