Naughty Elf Ends Santa Mail Program 6
Since 1954, the US Postal Service, with the help volunteers from the small Alaskan town of North Pole, have responded to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. All that has come to an end. It was discovered last Christmas that one of the volunteers opening children's letters was a registered sex offender. The scare was enough for the Postal Service to drop the program. North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson said, "It's Grinchlike that the Postal Service never informed all the little elves before the fact." I can see how it would be confusing for a child to get a letter back with all the things Santa wants for Christmas.
Program is not shut down (Score:3, Informative)
If one were to read the rest of the article, one would see that the program is still up:
"The agency now prohibits volunteers from having access to children’s family names and addresses, said spokeswoman Sue Brennan. The Postal Service instead redacts the last name and addresses on each letter and replaces the addresses with codes that match computerized addresses known only to the post office"
This system was put into place last year when the sex offender was discovered. It worked then and it is working now.
It is true that not all post office sites have the capacity to use this new system, however many of the major hubs are still open. Seems odd to me that with this service being such a central part of the North Pole, Alaska operation that they wouldn't find a way to meet the system requirements.
What kind of sex offender? (Score:4, Insightful)
I refuse to panic because ZOMG SEX OFFENDER.
What did he do to become a registered sex offender?
The name has become so diluted that I am simply going to ignore it. You can’t say “sex offender” and raise my eyebrows anymore. In a country where a “sex offender” may have just been someone who was caught urinating in some bushes or a 18-year-old guy who had sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend, you’re going to have to tell me what the person did.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:What kind of sex offender? (Score:4, Insightful)
Not really. Unless, as I implied, they are registered for something that would present a credible threat to children.