Category: News
Willie Colón es recordado en funeral en Nueva York
Associated Press
NUEVA YORK (AP) — Familiares, amigos y admiradores se reunieron en Nueva York la mañana del lunes para rendir homenaje a Willie Colón, el arquitecto de la salsa urbana nominado al Grammy y activista social que murió el mes pasado a los 75 años.
Se celebró una misa fúnebre pública en la Catedral de San Patricio, en el centro de Manhattan, tras un fin de semana de velatorios privados y públicos. Su entierro será privado.
El trombonista, compositor, arreglista y cantante, nacido como William Anthony Colón Roman, murió el 21 de febrero. La causa no se anunció públicamente. Su familia informó que falleció en paz, rodeado de familiares, en el Hospital New York Presbyterian en Bronxville, Nueva York, al norte de la ciudad de Nueva York. Según el programa oficial del funeral, le sobreviven su esposa desde hace 49 años, Julia Colón Craig; sus cuatro hijos, William David (Rose) Colón, Adam Diego Colón, Alejandro Miguel (Nell) Colón y Patrick Antonio Colón; su hermana, Isabell (Michael Johnson) Breston; seis nietos, tres bisnietos y muchos sobrinos y sobrinas.
“Mientras lamentamos su ausencia, también celebramos el regalo atemporal de su música y los recuerdos entrañables que vivirán para siempre”, manifestó su familia en un comunicado.
El funeral se transmitió en directo en la página de YouTube de la Catedral de San Patricio.
La misa, las lecturas y las canciones se realizaron tanto en español como en inglés. A continuación, algunos momentos destacados.
Homenajes cariñosos de familiares y amigos
Diego Colón, uno de los cuatro hijos de Willie, pronunció el primer elogio fúnebre. “Dejó una sombra gigantesca”, dijo. “El mundo entero cambió con su música… quienes de verdad lo conocieron cambiaron con su amor”.
Alejandro Miguel (Nell) Colón, otro de sus hijos, tomó la palabra después y señaló que Willie Colón siempre soñó con que su funeral se realizara en la célebre Catedral de San Patricio. “Lo logramos”, afirmó.
Bromeando sobre el activismo político de su padre y su apoyo a las fuerzas del orden, le comentó al público que, cuando era niño, solía decirle a la gente que su papá era “mitad cantante y mitad policía”, y añadió que lo último que comió fue un pequeño trozo de chocolate negro con frambuesa.
“Gracias a ti, todos nos mantenemos más erguidos”, concluyó.
“En realidad aprendí qué era el trombón gracias a él”, bromeó el obispo Joseph A. Espaillat en su homilía, antes de añadir que Colón era un hijo del Bronx, o de Puerto Rico, pero que “lo más importante es que es un hijo de Dios. Y por eso estamos reunidos aquí hoy”.
“Este es un momento muy importante”, continuó. “Espero que todos se vayan hoy con la esperanza de que esto no es el final”.
Celebración a un legado
Colón nació en el distrito del Bronx, en la ciudad de Nueva York, produjo más de 40 álbumes que vendieron más de 30 millones de copias en todo el mundo y colaboró con una amplia variedad de artistas, incluidos Fania All Stars, David Byrne y Celia Cruz.
Fue nominado a 10 premios Grammy y a un Latin Grammy, y era conocido por canciones como “El gran varón”, “Sin poderte hablar”, “Casanova”, “Amor verdad” y “Oh, qué será”.
Su mánager, Pietro Carlos, escribió en redes sociales que Colón no solo cambió la salsa, sino que también “la expandió, la politizó, la vistió con crónicas urbanas y la llevó a escenarios donde antes no se había escuchado”.
Colón también fue un líder comunitario que luchó por los derechos civiles, principalmente en Estados Unidos. Además incursionó en la política y se desempeñó como asistente especial de los alcaldes de la ciudad de Nueva York David Dinkins y Michael Bloomberg. En 1994, perdió su desafío contra el entonces representante Eliot Engel en las primarias demócratas.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/09/willie-coln-es-recordado-en-funeral-en-nueva-york/
Ending Iran War Will Be Mutual Decision With Israel, Trump Says
Ending Iran War Will Be Mutual Decision With Israel, Trump Says
Authored by Victoria Freedman via The EPoch Times,
U.S. President Donald Trump on March 8 said the decision on when to end the Iran War will be a mutual one that he will make with input from Israel.
“I think it’s mutual … a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” Trump told The Times of Israel in a telephone interview.
Asked whether he thought it would be necessary for Israel to continue their campaign even after the United States decides to stop its airstrikes, the U.S. president said, “I don’t think it’s going to be necessary.”
Trump also said that Iran was “going to destroy Israel and everything else around it,” adding, “we’ve worked together [with Israel]. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel.”
On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel jointly launched an attack on Iran, with the Islamic Republic’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, being killed in the first salvo of the war.
On March 9, the Iranian regime chose Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei, as the next leader.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a March 4 post on X that whoever is appointed to replace the deceased Iranian leader “will be an unequivocal target for elimination.”
“[Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and I have instructed the [Israel Defense Forces] to prepare and act by all means to carry out the mission as an integral part of the objectives of Operation ‘Lion’s Roar,’” Katz said, using Israel’s term for the military offensive against Iran and its proxies.
Trump similarly told ABC News on March 8 that Iran’s next leader is “not going to last long” if he does not get approval from the United States.
No Expansion of Objectives
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on March 6 that Washington expects Operation Epic Fury “to last four to six weeks” to achieve its objectives, “and we are well on our way to achieving those objectives.”
Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing outside the White House that, during the operation to date, more than 30 Iranian vessels and ships have been sunk and that the Iranian navy has “been deemed combat ineffective.”
She added that the United States has taken out the ballistic missile threat posed by Iran, and that in six days since the war started, “retaliatory ballistic missile strikes from Iran are now down 90 percent.”
“Ultimately, the president has made it very clear: He wants to take out the threat of Iran to the United States, and Operation Epic Fury as well on its way to doing that.”
Operation Epic Fury is the name for the United States’s offensive against Iran.
Last week, the Pentagon said there is no expansion of military objectives in Iran and that the operation was moving onto its next phase.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said on March 5 during a news briefing at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, that the next objective is to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base.
“We’re not just hitting what they have—we’re destroying their ability to rebuild,” Cooper said. “As we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systemically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress.”
Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/09/2026 – 12:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ending-iran-war-will-be-mutual-decision-israel-trump-says
Authorities investigate explosives thrown near NYC mayor’s residence as ‘ISIS-related terrorism’
NEW YORK — Two men suspected of bringing explosives to a protest outside New York City’s mayoral mansion were in custody Monday, as authorities probed whether the suspects were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, the police commissioner said.
No charges had yet been brought against the men, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, but federal prosecutors and police planned a news conference later in the day. In the meantime, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a morning news conference that the explosives episode “is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
Meanwhile, police searched a home in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Middletown Township, and a separate federal investigation was underway in nearby Newtown, local police said. Both inquiries were related to the incident outside New York’s mayoral residence, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, wrote in a social media post Sunday.
The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islamic demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office. Mamdani and his wife weren’t at the house, called Gracie Mansion, at the time.
Speaking outside the residence Monday morning, Mamdani said Balat and Kayumi “traveled from Pennsylvania and attempted to bring violence to New York City.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether 18-year-old Balat or 19-year-old Kayumi have attorneys who can speak to the accusations. Attempts to reach their families were not immediately successful.
Tisch said there are no indications that the men’s alleged activities were connected to the ongoing war in Iran. She declined to say more about why authorities believe the suspects were motivated by the Islamic State group, a Sunni extremist group. Iran’s population is almost entirely Shiite, the other main religious community within Islam.
While Mamdani and Tisch briefed reporters Monday, Lang heckled from outside the Gracie Mansion gates.
Lang’s sparsely attended protest Saturday drew a far larger group of counterdemonstrators, including one person who police say tossed a smoking object containing nuts, bolts, screws and a “hobby fuse” into the crowd.
The device extinguished itself steps from police officers, Tisch noted. The same person who threw it then dropped a second device that did not appear to ignite, the commissioner said.
The scene had grown chaotic even before the devices were thrown. Police said one person involved in the anti-Islam protest, Ian McGinnis, 21, was arrested after pepper-spraying counterprotesters. McGinnis, of Philadelphia, was released without bond after pleading not guilty Sunday to assault and aggravated harassment in a New York court, records show. A message seeking comment was left Monday for his attorney.
Three others were taken into custody but were released without charges.
After the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Lang was charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes. He was later freed from prison as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency. Lang recently announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.
Earlier this year, he organized a rally in Minneapolis in support of Trump’s immigration crackdown, drawing an angry crowd of counterprotesters who quickly chased him away.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/09/explosives-nyc-mayoe-isis/
Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere found guilty of computer tampering
Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere was found guilty Monday on two counts of computer tampering, both misdemeanors, and not guilty of a third count of computer tampering after a 2024 incident in which she accessed a member of the opposing party’s email without permission.
Judge Derek Ewanic rendered his verdict after a two-day bench trial last week.
The charges stemmed from March 2024 when Traynere, a Bolingbrook Democrat, went into the email of board member Judy Ogalla, a Monee Republican, who was the County Board chair at the time.
Traynere testified last week she was testing a rumor she heard at the county office building the day before that all board members had the same email password when they were issued new computers.
During the trial, Ogalla testified she never authorized Traynere to enter her email account.
Traynere said she never expected Ogalla’s email to open when she entered her own password. She testified she closed the email after about 10 seconds and contacted the county’s Information Technology Department and the county executive to alert them to a security vulnerability. Later that day, Traynere called Ogalla to inform her about the incident.
After the verdict Monday, Traynere said she didn’t look at anything in Ogalla’s email when she opened it.
“I told Judy at the time this was not me trying to do anything malicious to her,” Traynere said.
Traynere’s attorneys contend she was “sounding the alarm” that all board members had the same email password.
William Elward, a special prosecutor in the case, argued that Traynere instead was “tripping an alarm.”
Elward said Traynere was using the email to gain a political advantage and learn what members of the opposing party were thinking. He argued that Traynere is sophisticated and intelligent but got caught sneaking around in someone else’s inbox.
Ewanic said he sided with the prosecution that Traynere tripped the alarm. He said there are 21 other board members, and Traynere accessed a rival party member’s inbox.
Ewanic likened the alarm to a “dumpster fire” in the county that was small and contained.
Traynere testified last week she believed she had logged out of Ogalla’s account and was opening her own email when she forwarded an email from County Board member Steve Balich, a Homer Glen Republican.
In finding her not guilty of this count, Ewanic said he believed that Traynere thought she was in her own account when she forwarded that email.
Colin “CJ” Haney, Traynere’s attorney, said he plans to file a motion for a new trial. Sentencing is set for April 7.
Traynere said after the verdict that she is a “go-getter” and she gets things done. When she heard the rumor about the passwords, she sprung into action, she said.
“It was a bad judgement on my part,” Traynere said.
She said she was busy in her job as an administrator at DuPage Township and as a County Board member, and said she acted too quickly without thinking it through. She said it would have been better had she waited instead of testing the theory about the same passwords herself.
“I did sound the alarm when I sent the email to IT,” Traynere said. “This violates every IT rule there is.”
Traynere said she believes politics played a role in the judge’s decision, noting he is a Republican.
She said she is not a political rival of Ogalla’s since they are from two different districts and cannot run against one another in elections. Rather, they are two board members with differing viewpoints, Traynere said.
Traynere said she plans to ask for an audit of the county’s information technology system.
April 7 will also be the next court date for a pending traffic ticket.
Elward last year refiled a case that alleges Traynere failed to yield to a pedestrian crossing the roadway in March 2025. The original traffic case was dismissed last May after a complaining witness did not show up to court, records show.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/09/will-county-jacqueline-traynere-guilty-email/
Colombia: partido de Petro se consolida como la principal fuerza política en un Congreso fragmentado
Por ASTRID SUÁREZ
BOGOTÁ (AP) — El partido político del presidente colombiano Gustavo Petro hizo una buena elección y resultó la fuerza más votada en el Senado, pero de un Congreso fragmentado en el que ningún partido tendrá mayoría.
El izquierdista Pacto Histórico obtuvo en el Senado más de 4,4 millones de votos, seguido del opositor Centro Democrático con más de tres millones. Ambos aumentarán escaños, según el conteo informativo del 99% del escrutinio.
“El Pacto Histórico recoge aproximadamente el 34% del Poder Legislativo. Eso no le da las mayorías absolutas, pero le permitiría consolidarlas porque hay políticos afines al petrismo que lograron escaños en otros partidos”, dijo a The Associated Press Carlos Arias Orjuela, consultor en comunicación política.
En el Congreso siguen teniendo fuerza otros partidos tradicionales —de derecha y moderados— como el Liberal, el Conservador, la Alianza Verde y La U. Especialmente en la Cámara de Representantes donde, junto al Centro Democrático, obtuvieron los primeros puestos y en quinto lugar se posicionó el Pacto Histórico.
Petro celebró el domingo en la red social X el triunfo de su partido e indicó que es “indudable que el Pacto arrasó en las elecciones de Congreso”, aunque dijo que deberán impulsar una “alianza por la vida”.
Bajo el gobierno de Petro el Congreso ha sido un contrapeso de sus políticas en un cambio respecto del pasado, cuando la legislatura tendía a estar alineada con el presidente. Los analistas vaticinan que el próximo gobierno también tendrá ese contrapeso.
“Claramente esas concesiones con el Congreso van a ser mucho más duras para un gobierno de derecha o para uno de centro que para un gobierno de izquierda que llegaría más fortalecido en cuanto al apoyo legislativo”, aseguró a AP Sandra Borda, profesora de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de Los Andes.
La primera vuelta presidencial se celebrará el 31 de mayo y un eventual balotaje se realizaría a mediados de junio.
Polos opuestos
Borda consideró que en la elección “los extremos salieron fortalecidos” y ahora son las dos fuerzas dominantes en el Congreso, lo que muestra que el electorado está privilegiando a las plataformas políticas con posiciones más definidas y radicales que a las moderadas.
Para la izquierda se trata de una mejora notable, dado que en Colombia solía ser minoría y alcanzó por primera vez la presidencia con Petro en el 2022, rompiendo con la tradición de gobiernos conservadores y moderados.
“La izquierda ha demostrado que tuvo una curva de aprendizaje superrápida en materia de cómo se hace política. Estas personas entraron a ser parte del escenario político hace muy poco tiempo, después del proceso de paz” firmado hace una década con la extinta guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), explicó Borda.
Borda cree que al Centro Democrático le sirvió para ganar presencia en el Congreso participar en las consultas presidenciales de tres corrientes políticas que, en paralelo, se celebraron con las legislativas y en las que su candidata Paloma Valencia resultó ganadora entre nueve aspirantes de derecha.
Las consultas presidenciales también mostraron mayor votación para la derecha, con el 82% de los votos, que para sectores de centro y de centroizquierda que lograron cada uno un 8%.
“Creo que el país cambió y no quiere voces de centro, está polarizado, porque en el Congreso y en las consultas muchos de centro perdieron”, aseguró Arias Orjuela.
Aunque no participó en las consultas, esos resultados catapultaron al izquierdista Iván Cepeda, del partido de Petro, como el principal candidato de izquierda, dado que no resultó un contrincante fuerte de este sector en las consultas.
Del otro lado está el ultraderechista Abelardo de la Espriella, quien tampoco participó en las consultas y aparece como uno de los punteros en encuestas. El partido que lo apoya, Salvación Nacional, alcanzó una representación menor en el Congreso.
Los analistas creen que Valencia intentará quitarle a De la Espriella electorado de derecha para la primera vuelta presidencial. Aunque tanto la derecha como la izquierda deberán buscar votos del centro para aumentar sus posibilidades.
Chicagoland could see tornadoes and hail Tuesday after warm Monday afternoon
The Chicago area gets another glimpse of spring on Monday, but storms with the possibility of tornadoes and large hail may follow Tuesday.
Temperatures Monday afternoon will reach the low 70s, according to Kevin Doom, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Expect gusts of wind 20 to 25 miles per hour that will cool the air a bit, Doom said, but added that Monday seems “pretty nice” overall.
Doom said there’s a small chance some areas of the metro — mainly Northwest Indiana — may see showers pop up Monday, but Chicago will likely remain storm-free.
Tuesday is a different story. Doom said those in the metro area should be prepared for severe weather. Tornadoes are possible in the afternoon and evening, and large hail and strong winds may come in the evening and stay overnight.
“Should a strong or severe storm be headed into your area, you kind of know the drill,” Doom said. “Head inside, and then, if there’s a tornado threat, obviously take shelter if you need to.”
The storms will be scattered, according to Doom, mostly near a warm front that is expected to cover the southern portion of the area. The threat of tornadoes lies mainly along I-80 — give or take some tens of miles — near where the warm front will set up, Doom said.
On Tuesday, Chicago will be just north of the warm front, Doom said, so temperatures in the city will drop back into the 50s. The southern suburbs may see highs in the 70s, reaching toward 80 degrees.
Doom said it’s important to be aware of Tuesday’s weather because even though storms will scattered, they’ll certainly be in the area, and windstorms could occur in late evening and overnight as Chicago’s cold front pushes through.
“Keep a loose eye on the things,” Doom said. “Maybe turn the news on every once in a while.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/09/chicago-weather-forecast-tornadoes-hail/
US Orders Americans Out Of Southeast Turkey After Reports Of CIA Arming Kurds
US Orders Americans Out Of Southeast Turkey After Reports Of CIA Arming Kurds
Within the opening days of the Iran-US-Israel war, the State Department urged Americans across 14 countries in the Middle East region to urgently depart. There’s since been an ongoing US government facilitated evacuation effort. Private tour groups have also been coordinating to get people out.
For example, stranded tourists in Israel have rushed south, across the Egyptian border on buses, where they can safely arrange flights from Cairo. For the first time of the war, Turkey has just been added to the list – a rarity given it has long been viewed as a place of stability and is a prime tourist destination.
But the new State Department travel advisory has yet to be extended over the whole of the country, instead Americans are being warned not to visit southeast Turkey and for anyone currently there to depart immediately.
It warns of the potential terrorism, armed conflict, and arbitrary detentions, according to the advisory – at a moment bombs between Iran, Israel, the US and Gulf countries continue to fly. And importantly, a staff draw down:
Washington has advised non-essential staff to leave its consulate near the southern Turkish city of Adana near a key NATO base and ordered US citizens to leave “southeast Turkey,” the US embassy to Ankara said Monday.
There are American troops at several bases in Turkey, particularly at NATO’s major Incirlik air base, near Adana
“On March 9, 2026, the Department of State ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Consulate General Adana due to the safety risks,” the US embassy said on X.
It further declared that “Americans in southeast Turkey are strongly encouraged to depart now.”
Last week saw a couple of very serious developments which impact Turkey. First, a ballistic missile from Iran flew over the large Asia minor country and was intercepted by NATO defenses in the Mediterranean.
Also, days ago there was an avalanche of global headlines alleging the CIA was preparing Kurdish groups based in Iraq for a cross-border attack on Iran.
Some of these are the very groups Turkey has long been bombing just across its eastern border in northern Iraq. While Iraq as well as the Iraqi Kurdistan government of the north denied that this was happening – the alleged plan has the potential to destabilize part of southeast Turkey.
U.S. Embassy in Ankara has ordered all non-essential personnel to leave its consulate in Adana, located near NATO’s Incirlik Air Base. It has also urged Americans to leave southeastern Turkey immediately. https://t.co/ImrW3rRWvi
— OSINT Spectator (@osintspectator) March 9, 2026
The State Dept alert could be alluding to the tense geopolitical situation with the Kurds in the following: “Terrorists may attack tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets, malls, hotels, and places of worship,” the advisory warned.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/09/2026 – 12:25
Oil Vey!!
Oil Vey!!
Via Rabobank,
Anybody thinking US payrolls, even at -92K, matters much in the current environment is probably at the head of the queue to be replaced by an AI soon. That data series is always volatile and 2.5m undocumented workers are estimated to have left the US since Trump was re-elected: 394K foreign-born workers lost their jobs in the reported month while the native-born series rose 877K, albeit after a shocking 2.5m drop of its own the month before. How can anyone take these numbers seriously even if the underlying signal is deadly serious?
This is eclipsed by Brent oil this morning trading over $110 with WTI at $107: both look to be going exponential, perhaps even opening up the $150 scenario the GCC warn of. Worse, that doesn’t account for more dramatic moves in diesel, jet fuel, fertilizer, key chemicals like sulphur, and gases like helium, without which not a lot moves in the industrial economy, grows in the agricultural economy, or is produced in terms of metals like copper and tech goods like chips.
In short, this is now starting to look like a potential combination of the 1973 post-Yom Kippur War oil shock, the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War commodity shock, and the 2020-21 Covid supply chain shock.
The longer this goes on, the more exponential the damage becomes in a domino effect, which is exactly what oil is now showing to a market that saw some takes last week that ‘things could be a lot worse.’ Well, now they are: and if we are still in the same position this time next week, things could be quite terrifying.
Yet while credible estimates today are that if all fighting were to suddenly cease, it would take two weeks to start to right the ship and a further two months to get back to normal, what we should call Gulf War 3 is showing many signs of widening its geography and escalating within it.
On geography: even if Trump is reportedly now against using the Kurds as a military wedge against Tehran (perhaps due to Turkish opposition), Azerbaijan, which was recently struck by Iran, is another matter. So is Pakistan, which has underlined its mutual defence pact with the Saudis. EU member Cyprus has reported that the drone which struck it was fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and was a Russian Shaheed model, not an Iranian one. Russia has also openly said that it isn’t neutral in this conflict, and favours Iran, alongside reports that it’s providing Tehran with data to help it strike its opponents. In Lebanon, Israeli actions are intensifying.
On escalation: after an apology to its neighbours from Iran’s president was rebuffed by the IRGC, the weekend saw strikes on energy facilities against both sides, where Iran came off worse. Moreover, we saw several reports of attacks on desalination plants: if those critical facilities were to go in the region, much of its population would have to as well. Trump is reportedly weighing the introduction of special forces ground troops into Iran, while a third carrier strike group is now on the way. Moreover, Tehran has appointed Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the former Supreme Leader, to replace him. He is clearly unacceptable to both the US and Israel and reflects the hardest of lines from the regime rather than any possible compromise, Venezuela style.
It’s also time to take a deep breath and note energy expert Anas Alhajji is asking if this is a gigantic US error or part of a plan.
I’d flagged 2026, besides telling 2025 to “hold my beer”, was logically going to see the US use its military to disrupt upstream supply chains heading to China to counterbalance the downstream and rare-earths midstream (i.e., processing) dominance Beijing can coerce it with. The goal was cheap commodities for them and pricey ones for others.
Alhajji takes this further to note that the US is *relatively* less impacted by the tidal wave of economic and market chaos heading our way:
the US (with the Americas) is relatively energy self-sufficient: what if the US were to stop exporting oil, its historic policy norm, to bring WTI down sharply, for example? Could we, as others float, see $200 oil globally and $50 oil State-side?
Likewise, US LNG is now the lowest risk global choice: who will trust the Gulf as a secure provider again unless the entire region is brought under a true Pax Americana?
The US, with the Americas, is also self-sufficient in many commodities being choked off directly or indirectly via Hormuz. That includes fertilizer, which means US and LatAm food supplies could remain secure when others’ aren’t. It also includes helium, which allows for the manufacture of semiconductors, when others may be about to fall short.
By contrast, Europe is again in a bad position in this looming crisis, as are energy- and commodity-reliant Asian exporters already struggling with US tariffs.
China will have to rely on its stockpiles for a while, then Russia, which greatly strengthens Moscow’s hand in that relationship.
Perhaps this is paranoia or looking for a strategy in a geopolitical miscalculation; or it could have been a plan B if Iran didn’t ‘do a Venezuela’; or it might just be a happy coincidence the US can now take advantage of if it wishes.
Yet the Donroe Doctrine ‘Shield of the Americas’ project launched at the same time as Gulf War 3, the increased likelihood Cuba flips to the US camp, following the pressure on Greenland, and the evident lead set by US economic (and military) statecraft is quite the coincidence if this is all just random.
Indeed, it’s incredibly important to grasp that this *might* be the Great Game being played, because if it is, assuming “because markets” will bail us out (“Iran/Trump can’t let this happen”) could be false hope.
Oil vey, indeed.
Week ahead
Tuesday: sees more of Japan Q4 GDP, Aussie NAB business confidence, German trade data, Chinese trade data, and the US NFIB small business survey and existing home sales.
Wednesday: has US CPI. Again, irrelevant right now.
Thursday: it’s US trade data and initial claims, housing starts and building permits.
Friday: sees UK industrial production and trade data, Canadian employment, US personal income and spending and the PCE deflator, durable goods, initial claims, JOLTS data, and Michigan inflation expectations.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/09/2026 – 12:05
Alisson no viaja con Liverpool para el partido de la Champions en Galatasaray
LIVERPOOL, Inglaterra (AP) — El arquero Alisson Becker no formó parte de la convocatoria de 21 jugadores de Liverpool que viajó a Turquía el lunes para el partido de octavos de final contra Galatasaray en la Liga de Campeones.
No se dio de inmediato ninguna razón para la ausencia del internacional brasileño de cara al encuentro del martes en Estambul.
Alisson disputó el partido completo en el partuido más reciente del Liverpool, una victoria 3-1 en Wolverhampton por la Copa FA el viernes.
Es probable que el portero georgiano Giorgi Mamardashvili sustituya a Alisson.
Mamardashvili ya atajó en el feudo de Galatasaray esta temporada cuando ingresó como suplente para reemplazar a Alisson en la segunda mitad de la derrota 1-0 de Liverpool en septiembre.
El guardameta georgiano luego disputó las tres siguientes rondas de la Liga de Campeones, con triunfos contra Eintracht Frankfurt y Real Madrid, y después una derrota 4-1 en casa ante PSV Eindhoven.
___
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Column: Gov. JB Pritzker gives shout out to plans for former Rich East campus
Two-thirds of the way through his 2026 State of the State speech, Gov. JB Pritzker forecast, in 40 words, the future of the crumbling building that was once called Rich East High School.
“I propose we create a vocational training grant program,” the governor said, “which will provide school districts a regional vocational center with support to build and expand a specialized workforce program like the proposed Southland Career and Technical Education Center in Park Forest.”
The governor’s proposal puts a hammer in the hands of High School District 227 and Superintendent Johnnie Phillips, in his public five-year campaign to turn the unused building which was once the pride of the community into a vocational training ground in everything from plumbing and policing to flying a plane.
And thank you for asking how much it would cost.
According to a Chicago marketing group which is collaborating with the school district, it would take an estimated $100 million to replace the deteriorating building with a new structure.
If all the I’s and Ts are dotted and crossed, plans are to turn over the first shovelful of dirt in summer 2027 with financial support coming from both federal and state grants. School programs would be funded through money doled out by the Illinois State Board of Education.
When in operation, students in other schools would be transported to the Park Forest school but according to the marketing group, school districts would not have to tap into their budgets.
For the record, Rich East has been closed for six years and was seen as the symbol of a community’s hope for the future when, in 1951, pioneer residents of the new village voted 1,828 to 12 to tax themselves by creating a high school. Among its list of graduates are actor Tom Berenger, opera singer Dawn Upshaw, NBA star Craig Hodges and major league baseball players Pete and Steve Stanicek.
A sign over the front door of the former Rich East High School in Park Forest. There are plans for a vocational center in the vacated building. (Penny Shnay/for the Daily Southtown)
When the Rich East campus closed, depending on home addresses Rich East students were funneled into the two remaining high schools, Rich South in Richton Park or Rich Central in Olympia Field school.
Frustration station
The 11 members of Park Forest’s Civic Leadership Academy got an earful and then some last Friday from two members of the state legislature who discussed the difficulties of getting anything done in Springfield.
Both state Sen. Patrick Joyce and state Rep. Anthony DeLuca expressed exasperation in what they said were their attempts to pass legislation that would alleviate the large property tax burden inflicted upon residents as well as checking the economic clout of school districts.
DeLuca spent time arguing that school funding, which is the biggest reason for high property taxes, is an ongoing problem with the hungry financial appetites of some districts to always ask the maximum and criticized the plethora of school districts.
“The system is broken,” DeLuca said.
Joyce agreed.
“We have to reform school districts who ask for the maximum,” he said.
According to the nonprofit group Illinois Policy, Illinois has more than 850 school districts with more than half serving fewer than 1,000 students.
Economic drivers for the south suburbs, such as a third airport and a “racino” (a combined horse racetrack and casino) was also discussed. A bill which would allow two racinos to be built in the state, including one in Richton Park, is still awaiting passage in the legislature.
In 2015, Park Forest, which has one of the highest property tax assessments in the state, started this academy which offers residents the opportunity to pry open village government and see how it ticks.
Perhaps there was a reason when Joyce asked the audience how many of them were willing to use tax dollars to keep the Bears, one person slowly raised a hand and then pulled it down.
That can happen when “we need” clashes with “we want.”
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/09/column-gov-jb-pritzker-rich-east/
