New Postal Rates woes!

I hope to continue our Japanese travels this week, but I had to post something new I just found out about. They are discontinuing the small global priority envelope (around $5) and now there will only be the large envie (around $11). I use the small ones to send packages to my friends overseas and I'm so sad they will be going away!

Here's the information online:
http://www.usps.com/ratecase/simplified_international_rates.htm

You can write them using the contact us button on the left.
http://www.prc.gov/

Below is the letter I wrote them:

I just heard you are eliminating the small international priority envelope with the new rates in May. I am so sorry to hear this because I love to use them for swapping cards with my overseas friends.

You may not be aware but there is an artistic community all over the world that makes hand-crafted cards and Artist Trading Cards. We support the USPS in these days of email and electronic communications by mailing our cards to each other frequently.

I am involved in monthly swaps to my pals in Canada, UK and Netherlands and it gives us great pleasure to mail groups of cards to each other to spread joy and learn new ideas and techniques. It fosters a great feeling of the world-community between us.

If our mailing option is now that we have to use the large priority to mail our packages, this will double the cost and I'm sure it will curtail our swaps and may people will be limited to US only swaps. We will swap less and spread less joy.

I'm very sad about your new policy.