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USPS Awards Contract for New, Very Weird-Looking Delivery Truck

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USPS Awards Contract for New, Very Weird-Looking Delivery Truck

Unfortunately, the USPS has decided not to lead the way on the electric vehicle future as so many hoped just a few weeks ago. As I tried to warn you, it was always exceedingly unlikely the USPS would buy an electric-only fleet, and indeed that has come to pass.?

The new vehicle will have both an internal combustion engine and electric version, according to the press release, but did not say how many of each would be made. The electric versions "can be retrofitted to keep pace with advances in electric vehicle technologies," the press release added, although it's not clear what exactly this means. I initially read this as leaving open the possibility that gas versions could later be converted to electric, although that is a time-consuming, expensive, and laborious undertaking for one car, much less tens of thousands of them. It could also mean the EV versions can have batteries and drivetrains easily swapped, but as anyone who has, say, had an engine or transmission replaced in their gas car knows, that's not particularly novel. The USPS did not respond to a request for more information on these questions before publication.

NPR

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Larry Flynt, Porn Mogul And ‘Hustler’ Founder, Dies At 78 : NPR

His truly gross pornography, says sex columnist Dan Savage, made Flynt a necessary outlier testing the principle of free speech. "At the same time, he helped create Supreme Court decisions that further enhanced and strengthened the First Amendment that protects us. So we should be grateful for Larry Flynt even if his output wasn't something you're interested in," he says. "And I'm certainly not."

America lost a great man, a true patriot with the death of Larry Flint. He will be missed. 

A Brief History of Children Sent Through the Mail

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A Brief History of Children Sent Through the Mail

One of the most overlooked, yet most significant innovations of the early 20th century might be the Post Office’s decision to start shipping large parcels and packages through the mail. While private delivery companies flourished during the 19th century, the Parcel Post dramatically expanded the reach of mail-order companies to America’s many rural communities, as well as the demand for their products. When the Post Office’s Parcel Post officially began on January 1, 1913, the new service suddenly allowed millions of Americans great access to all kinds of goods and services. But almost immediately, it had some unintended consequences as some parents tried to send their children through the mail.

“It got some headlines when it happened, probably because it was so cute,” United States Postal Service historian Jenny Lynch tells Smithsonian.com.

Just a few weeks after Parcel Post began, an Ohio couple named Jesse and Mathilda Beagle “mailed” their 8-month-old son James to his grandmother, who lived just a few miles away in Batavia. According to Lynch, Baby James was just shy of the 11-pound weight limit for packages sent via Parcel Post, and his “delivery” cost his parents only 15 cents in postage (although they did insure him for $50). The quirky story soon made newspapers, and for the next several years, similar stories would occasionally surface as other parents followed suit.