The ceasefire deal broke down early last week after Israel unilaterally changed the terms of the agreement and then blamed Hamas for not meeting them. Violence against civilians has rapidly accelerated to pre-ceasefire levels, with many hundreds dead already, aid once again cut off, and Israeli soldiers once again entering and occupying the attritional labyrinth that is Gaza.
I'm not yet in a position to make any solid predictions or analysis, as the geopolitical situation in and around Israel has changed fairly substantially over the last 6 months; in some ways benefiting Israel, and in other ways not. We know for sure how Hamas and Ansarallah are reacting (thankfully, with open hostility to both Israel and the United States), but the state of Hezbollah has been a giant question mark for months now, and precisely what Iran plans to do (beyond the usual level of supplying weaponry and intelligence to all the allies it can) is unknown. Syria will be almost certainly be a big wildcard, and we'll have to see if the compradors in Damascus can weather the storm.
Dead Letters: Neoliberalism Kills Mail Delivery In Denmark
Postal services in the Nordic hermit kingdom will cease at the end of this year after 401 years of continuous operations. Postal operator PostNord, a neoliberal "run it like a business" abomination jointly owned by the Danish and Swedish states, has announced that it is no longer profitable to distribute letters and that they will end the service. The iconic red letterboxes will be removed from the streets, postage stamps will no longer be issued and 1.500 mail carriers will be fired.
when the U.S. is not as neoliberal as you that is a very bad sign
Workin' on it, though.
(I kinda half have to wonder if the mountains of junk mail we get is an op to make us not care whether the Post Office is abolished, too.)
Hva faen
Thats crazy, obviously people dont send recreational letters much anymore, but its still a key aspect in a lot of business stuff. Getting a new passport, setting up bank accounts. As someone who doesn't regularly check their email or phone I kind of rely on the post to tell me important shit, in my mind if the company wont send you a letter it isnt important enough.
A reason why the amount of mail has dropped is that most of these things have been moved to digital platforms and they already require you to go to a municipal office and pick up your new passport in person.
People are required and expected to communicate with public authorities digitally. A few thousand people, mostly elderly, has been granted exemption and still receive physical letters. The government will now have to pay a private company to deliver those.
Dumbass social democrat in Burgerland: I wish the US was more like the Nordic countries.
This is crazy. How are they going to deliver official sensitive mail that I assume is protected in the state run postal service?
In my work I send people a lot of old fashioned mail still and these rely on the laws and regulations of the postal services. It would not be possible to mail these via any private operator without breaking the law. I assume this is similar in all the nordic countries, but maybe not?
Official mail is delivered digitally. A couple thousand of mostly elderly people have been exempt from having to use digital mail. The government will now have to pay a private business to deliver those letters. They recently changed the law to "liberalise" the "postal market" so it is completely legal.
Well that sucks, so many struggle with digital services, not just the elderly but this also fully futher excludes people with no papers or phones etc. Just like the move away from cash which has genuinely made public transport inaccesible to the poors. Afaik Stockholm with its endless brainworms about gangs is a real poster city for this exclusion atm.
The digital boom is a thing here too, but it's still mandatory to deliver anything official by mail if it has anything to do with the persons rights, healthcare, services etc. People can opt in to a digital service though.
Pretty sure we will follow on this one too, whatever shitty thing the big boi nordic countries do, we follow a decade later latest.
Damn that is dark. Mail service is one of the fundamental pillars of civilization.
They really hate the idea of the government doing stuff because stuff needs to get done. Utilities, transit, public housing, mail delivery, periodic car inspections, getting a new passport - it all has to work like a busines and be profitable.