Category: News
EEUU enviará sistema antidrones a Oriente Medio tras éxito en Ucrania, dicen funcionarios
Por EMMA BURROWS
LONDRES (AP) — Un sistema antidrones estadounidense que ha funcionado contra drones rusos en Ucrania pronto será enviado a Oriente Medio para reforzar las defensas de Estados Unidos contra drones iraníes, informaron el viernes a The Associated Press dos funcionarios estadounidenses.
Aunque Estados Unidos ha utilizado con éxito los sistemas de misiles Patriot y THAAD para derribar misiles iraníes, actualmente hay un número limitado de defensas antidrones eficaces en Oriente Medio, según un funcionario de defensa estadounidense, uno de los dos funcionarios que hablaron bajo condición de anonimato para tratar asuntos militares delicados.
La respuesta de Estados Unidos para contrarrestar los drones Shahed de Irán ha sido “decepcionante”, señaló el otro funcionario estadounidense, en particular porque los drones lanzados por Irán son una versión mucho más básica del mismo dron que Rusia está refinando y actualizando de manera continua en su guerra en Ucrania.
El intento de reforzar las capacidades antidrones de Estados Unidos en Oriente Medio subraya la preocupación por la planificación ante la represalia iraní en toda la región tras los ataques estadounidenses e israelíes contra Irán. Países del golfo Pérsico se han quejado de que no se les dio tiempo suficiente para prepararse para el torrente de drones y misiles iraníes que bombardearon su territorio.
El sistema que se envía, conocido como Merops, hace volar drones contra drones. Es lo bastante pequeño como para caber en la parte trasera de una camioneta pickup de tamaño mediano, puede identificar drones y acercarse a ellos, y utiliza inteligencia artificial para navegar cuando las comunicaciones satelitales y electrónicas son interferidas.
Los drones son difíciles de localizar con precisión en sistemas de radar calibrados para detectar misiles de alta velocidad, y pueden confundirse con aves o aviones. El sistema Merops está diseñado para detectarlos y derribarlos. El sistema también es más barato que disparar un misil que cuesta cientos de miles de dólares contra un dron que cuesta menos de 50.000 dólares.
El principal demócrata en la Comisión de Inteligencia de la Cámara de Representantes, el representante Jim Himes, manifestó esta semana que “somos bastante buenos derribando misiles. Lo que es mucho más problemático para nosotros es el enorme inventario de drones iraníes, que son difíciles de detectar y difíciles de derribar”.
Himes indicó que los ataques con drones plantean un “problema matemático”, en el sentido de que Estados Unidos no puede seguir dependiendo de interceptores militares costosos, como los sistemas Patriot, para derribar los drones iraníes, los cuales son fabricados rápidamente y a bajo costo.
“Es muy, muy caro derribar un dron barato”, comentó. “Un misil gigante persiguiendo un dron diminuto de mala calidad”.
El sistema Merops fue desplegado en Polonia y Rumania en noviembre, después de que drones de ataque rusos ingresaran repetidamente en el espacio aéreo de la OTAN. El funcionario de defensa estadounidense afirma que Estados Unidos ha aprendido lecciones del despliegue de ese y otros sistemas similares en Ucrania.
El presidente ucraniano Volodymyr Zelenskyy dijo el jueves que Estados Unidos pidió ayuda a su país para combatir los drones Shahed de Irán, que Rusia ha utilizado en enormes cantidades en Ucrania. Zelenskyy no especificó el tipo de asistencia que Ucrania proporcionaría, pero el funcionario de defensa estadounidense señaló que el sistema Merops forma parte de ello.
Al ser cuestionado sobre los comentarios de Zelenskyy, Trump dijo a Reuters el jueves: “Desde luego, aceptaré, ya sabes, cualquier ayuda de cualquier país”.
En Oriente Medio, el Merops será desplegado en diversas ubicaciones, incluidas algunas donde no hay fuerzas armadas de Estados Unidos, indicó el funcionario de defensa. La mayoría de los sistemas serán enviados directamente por Perennial Autonomy —el fabricante respaldado por el exdirector general de Google, Eric Schmidt— y no afectarán las defensas en Europa, agregó el funcionario.
Perennial Autonomy no respondió de momento a preguntas sobre el uso de Merops en Oriente Medio.
Funcionarios del Pentágono reconocieron esta semana, en sesiones informativas a puerta cerrada con legisladores, que están teniendo dificultades para detener oleadas de drones lanzados por Irán, lo que deja vulnerables algunos objetivos de Estados Unidos en la región del Golfo.
“Esto no significa que podamos detenerlo todo, pero nos aseguramos de que se estableciera la máxima defensa posible y la máxima protección posible de la fuerza antes de pasar a la ofensiva”, dijo esta semana el secretario de Defensa de Estados Unidos, Pete Hegseth, ante periodistas.
Michael Robbins, presidente y director general de AUVSI, un grupo de la industria de drones, afirmó que las lecciones de Oriente Medio y Ucrania muestran que Estados Unidos debe acelerar el despliegue de tecnologías sofisticadas contra drones, para que “nuestras fuerzas puedan defender bases y poblaciones sin gastar un millón de dólares para detener una amenaza de 50.000 dólares”.
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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Lisa Mascaro, Didi Tang, David Klepper, Michelle L. Price, Ben Finley y Seung Min Kim contribuyeron a este despacho desde Washington.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Bad Faith Noncompliance: Virginia Schools Flout Supreme Court And Trump With DEI ‘Rebrand’
Bad Faith Noncompliance: Virginia Schools Flout Supreme Court And Trump With DEI ‘Rebrand’
Authored by Teresa R. Manning via American Greatness,
Just over a year ago, President Trump issued two executive orders banning destructive diversity ideology (a.k.a. “DEI” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion”) from the federal government and its contractors, including colleges and universities. The EOs sought to restore merit as the basis of hiring, advancement, and college admissions.
Both EOs reinforced prior actions by the president as well as by the Supreme Court: In his first term, Trump signed EO 13950, Combatting Race and Sex Stereotypes, which banned divisive concepts based on race and ethnicity, a measure duplicated in many states; and in June of 2023, the Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard (“SFFA”), which found that diversity rationales for racial preferences in admissions were themselves discriminatory and therefore unlawful.
Notwithstanding these major legal developments against DEI, colleges and universities, especially in Virginia, are continuing business as usual to promote it, albeit under different names, a move known as rebranding. “To avoid scrutiny,” said one official at the University of Virginia, diversity offices are now called offices for “community and belonging,” while “queer brunch” is now marketed as “cozy brunch.” At George Mason University, the DEI office is now called the Office for Access, Compliance, and Community—same staff, same stuff. They do this even though Trump’s EO explicitly banned rebranding, stating such programs are illegal “under whatever name they appear.”
Obviously, bad actor schools are engaged in bad faith noncompliance.
In this 250th anniversary year of America’s founding, we should remember that the word “diversity“ is absent from our foundational documents: it does not appear in either the Declaration of Independence or in our Constitution.
How, then, did “diversity” become so ubiquitous—in education, government, and corporate America—and what does it really mean?
“Diversity” is in fact a top-down, divide-and-conquer strategy pitting Americans against each other based on race, ethnicity, and sex (and now including “gender” and gender ideology). It distracts from—and detracts from—talent and excellence, actually encouraging racial discord as everyone must have skin color or race in mind, rather than achievement or moral character. Accordingly, it destroys nations. Only corrupt politicians, owned and controlled by anti-American handlers, could parrot the lie that “Diversity is our strength.”
Many date the debut of diversity ideology from the 1978 Supreme Court case, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, where the medical school of the University of California at Davis had a special admissions program reserving 16 of its 100 open spots for minorities, often with lesser qualifications than white applicants, such as complainant Allan Bakke. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell announced in this opinion that “diversity” was a legitimate governmental interest. But he and the other justices rejected the medical school’s rigid quotas to get there—insisting, instead, that race should be one of many different criteria for admission even while stating that “racial and ethnic considerations are inherently suspect” under the Constitution.
These ambiguities guaranteed more fights about the role of race in college admissions and elsewhere.
In 2003, the Court made matters worse in Grutter v. Bollinger, where Justice Sandra Day O’Connor elevated “diversity” from a permissible state interest to a compelling one, finding that the University of Michigan law school’s racial preferences in admissions were lawful, provided they were tailored and individualized.
Historically, “compelling state interests” concerned public safety, national security, or the protection of minor children. With no history, tradition, or textual basis to do so, the Grutter Court not only shoved diversity onto this list but also put it above a citizen’s right to equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. For this reason, many called the decision illegitimate. In practice, this case was the official government stamp of approval for discrimination against Christian, heterosexual men of European descent, as they are the only demographic said not to contribute to diversity.
In short order, campus bureaucracies, federal programs, and corporate trainings trumpeted DEI—often barely defined. Now, however, documents show that employers such as Amazon benefit from “diversity,” but employees decidedly do not: a divided workforce helps prevent unions as well as other forms of protection for workers’ rights. Similarly, campus administrators with few real or marketable skills no doubt also benefit from DEI, while serious students decidedly do not: university bureaucrats in DEI “BS Jobs” are paid handsomely with unprecedented student loan amounts. Graduates get the debt; campus bureaucrats get the paychecks.
Thankfully, the high Court corrected itself in the 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, a case where DEI was rejected and its rationales found to be incompatible with the equal protection of laws. Chief Justice John Roberts explained that DEI itself presumes that skin color or ethnic background results in a “characteristic viewpoint,” a form of racial stereotyping forbidden by civil rights guarantees. Diversity ideology is also incoherent and incapable of judicial review. (Transsexuals now add diversity? Perhaps pedophiles will too?) If race is a plus for some, he pointed out, it is necessarily a minus for others—which is to say, even individualized approaches result in illegal racial discrimination. Finding racial preferences in college admissions unlawful, Roberts went on to broaden the holding, saying, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”
It is in this context that President Trump’s January 2025 executive orders were issued. The administration is following up on the Supreme Court’s landmark SFFA decision, a case that took years for the courts to decide and which corrected the destructive Grutter opinion.
It is also the context in which colleges and universities are brazenly flouting the law.
The actions of Trump and the Supreme Court have prompted Offices for Civil Rights at both the Justice and Education Departments to launch investigations into a number of colleges and universities, including in Virginia; a federal appeals court recently upheld the administration’s actions. Resolution agreements have been reached in some instances. And that is all to the good.
But the record shows that schools do not operate in good faith. That means that agreements on paper must be enforced, checked, and double-checked to have real effect in practice.
Let’s hope that will also happen—with special attention paid to bad faith rebranding.
* * *
Teresa R. Manning is Policy Director at the National Association of Scholars, President of the Virginia Association of Scholars, and a former law professor at Virginia’s Scalia Law School, George Mason University.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 17:40
Joliet plan commission advances plans for state’s largest data center
Despite residents’ objections, Joliet plan commissioners advanced a proposal Thursday for what would be the state’s largest data center.
Hundreds turned out for a public hearing, where the vast majority of public speakers expressed opposition to the development. The 795-acre site sits on top of an underground aquifer that’s running dry after 150 years of pumping.
Many residents expressed concern over water usage, noise pollution, demands on the electrical grid and traffic. Others described a “lack of transparency” from the city on the plans and urged commission members to vote no, or at least “no for now” to seek better information.
“It’s just not the right time to go ahead with this,” resident Rita Renwick said.
Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties and PowerHouse Data Centers, a Virginia-based developer, said the 24-building project would be constructed in four phases, each consisting of six-buildings and a power substation. The center also will include a switching yard to pull electricity from nearby high-power transmission lines.
When fully built out, the Joliet Technology Center would use 1.8 gigawatts of electricity, or enough to power all the households in Chicago. Mark Pruitt, a consultant for the developers, told commissioners that ComEd has evaluated the plans and determined it would not adversely affect service in northern Illinois.
PJM, a regional energy transmission organization that comprises 13 states, including Illinois, also reviewed the project and determined that there is enough capacity within the grid to supply the data center’s projected energy needs, Pruitt said.
A closed-loop system will be used to cool all the buildings in the development. Each building’s cooling system will require an initial fill of 100,000 gallons of water. When fully built out, the center’s daily usage is not expected to exceed 150,000 gallons of water a day.
Many residents questioned if the data center will drive up electricity prices for homeowners. Others asked why Joliet was considering the project at a time when the city is in the midst of building a pipeline to bring in Lake Michigan water as the city’s aquifers dry out.
“We are effectively handing a giant straw to a private entity during a regional water crisis,” said Felix Ortiz, a lifelong resident of Joliet.
Plan commissioners voted 7-1, with little discussion after the lengthy hearing, to recommend approval of the plans. John Kella, who heads the plan commission, cast the only dissenting vote echoing some of the concerns raised by objectors.
“There’s too many questions in the back of my mind,” Kella said.
After the meeting, Kella suggested Joliet should follow Aurora’s lead. Aurora placed a moratorium on data centers to allow the city to craft rules and regulations for such developments.
While many objected to the proposal, several union leaders spoke in favor of the project, noting it would bring jobs to the area and bolster property tax revenue.
“We’re going to hopefully put a lot of people to work out here,” said Tom White, executive director of the Three Rivers Construction Alliance.
Pipefitters Local 597 President Doc Gregory noted that many of his union’s members are traveling out of state to work construction jobs at another data center project in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
“We need a project like this in our backyard,” he said, noting that the last construction project of this magnitude was decades ago when the nuclear power facility in Braidwood was built. “We have a lot of guys and girls who need jobs.”
Joliet City Council members are expected to vote on the project at their March 16 meeting. Information on the data center proposal can be found on the city’s website.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelancer.
Los Paralímpicos de Milán-Cortina se inauguran con el regreso de la bandera rusa a la ceremonia
Por ANTONIO CALANNI y TALES AZZONI
VERONA, Italia (AP) — Los Juegos Paralímpicos de Invierno de Milán-Cortina se inauguraron oficialmente el viernes en medio de las tensiones de la guerra en Oriente Medio y con algunos países boicoteando la ceremonia de apertura debido al regreso de la bandera rusa al escenario deportivo mundial.
La bandera rusa reapareció durante el desfile de las naciones, lo que marcó la primera vez que ondeó en unos Paralímpicos desde 2014 en Sochi y señaló un posible regreso pleno a los círculos olímpicos de cara a los Juegos de 2028 en Los Ángeles.
Se escucharon algunos abucheos cuando los atletas rusos entraron al escenario durante el desfile. Cuatro integrantes de la delegación representaron al país con un uniforme rojo intenso. Saludaron al público mientras desfilaban en la antigua Arena di Verona, que fue adaptada con nuevas rampas para sillas de ruedas y baños accesibles, además de otras mejoras de seguridad.
El himno nacional de Rusia podría sonar para los medallistas de oro por primera vez en el escenario de un gran evento deportivo mundial desde la invasión de Ucrania en 2022. Los atletas rusos fueron vetados inicialmente por un programa de dopaje patrocinado por el Estado, y las sanciones continuaron tras la invasión.
Hubo aplausos cuando se anunció a Ucrania, pero no se vio a ninguno de sus atletas, ya que el país mantuvo su boicot a la ceremonia. Otras seis naciones habían previsto no asistir por razones políticas, según el Comité Paralímpico Internacional: República Checa, Estonia, Finlandia, Letonia, Polonia y Lituania.
También regresó la bandera de Bielorrusia, estrecho aliado de Rusia, que tuvo a dos atletas participando en el desfile.
La bandera de Irán estuvo ausente porque el único atleta previsto para competir por la nación, el esquiador paralímpico de fondo Aboulfazl Khatibi, tuvo que retirarse apenas unas horas antes de la ceremonia de apertura, después de que no pudiera llegar a Italia de forma segura en medio del recrudecimiento del conflicto en Oriente Medio.
Solo unos 45 atletas —de los más de 600 que compiten— representaron a sus naciones en la ceremonia. Debido a que los Juegos son de los más extendidos de la historia, con competencias y sedes en distintos grupos de localidades por toda Italia, muchos atletas no pudieron asistir.
El esquiador alpino italiano con discapacidad visual Gianmaria Dal Maistro encendió el pebetero en Milán.
Entre las actuaciones durante la ceremonia en la Arena di Verona —el primer sitio declarado Patrimonio Mundial por la UNESCO en albergar una ceremonia paralímpica— estuvieron Stewart Copeland, el reconocido baterista de The Police, y el DJ Miky Bionic, conocido como el primer DJ del mundo en pinchar con un brazo biónico.
Los Juegos de Milán-Cortina marcan el aniversario 50 de los Juegos Paralímpicos de Invierno.
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El redactor deportivo de AP Tales Azzoni informó desde Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italia.
La redactora deportiva de AP Daniella Matar contribuyó a este informe desde Milán.
Mills: Trump Admin “Reveling In The Carnage” As Tehran Burns
Mills: Trump Admin “Reveling In The Carnage” As Tehran Burns
Last night, Bret Weinstein joined ZeroHedge to moderate a debate on the Iran war featuring Curt Mills, executive director of The American Conservative (magazine founded by Pat Buchanan), and Max Abrahms, Northeastern University professor and terrorism expert.
The discussion went far and wide. From Chabad to whether the war has strengthened Iranian hardliners to the question of Israeli influence over U.S. policy to how this war affects Russia-Ukraine.
Below are some of the most notable exchanges for those who missed it:
Can Trump Wrangle Israel?
Abrahms argued that claims Israel dictates U.S. policy ignore numerous cases where Washington has acted against Israeli preferences. He pointed to the influence of Tom Barrack, Trump’s ambassador to Turkey who is “absolutely reviled by many Israelis,” and policies such as ending sanctions on Syria, inviting the new Syrian president to the White House, and cultivating close ties with Qatar, Pakistan, and Turkey’s Erdoğan. On Gaza, Abrahms said Donald Trump “told Netanyahu, you need to stop prosecuting this war against Hamas,” adding that even critics like Steve Bannon acknowledge Trump has been “telling [Israelis] what they can and cannot do.”
Abrahms also cited last June’s “12-day war” with Iran, saying Israel wanted to continue strikes but Trump intervened. “Israel had planes over Tehran and Trump said, ‘I don’t like this’… Literally in the skies over Tehran, the Israeli planes were sent home.”
Mills rejected the framing. “It’s an archetypal straw man.” Conceding that the administration has taken steps “certain people in Israel… don’t prefer,” Mills argued the larger objective remains unchanged: “The holy grail of the Israeli hardline and neoconservatives… has for a long time been an Iran war… and they just got it done.”
— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) March 6, 2026
Tucker And “The Jews”
Abrahms accused Tucker Carlson of blaming “the Jews” for the war, pointing to Carlson’s claim that Chabad-Lubavitch and Christian Evangelicals were at least partially behind the conflict, a theory outlined in his latest monologue.
Both Mills and Weinstein rejected that accusation. “That’s a far cry from the Jews,” Weinstein said. “There is all the difference in the world between an organization to which some people belong and many do not and the Jews, which is a large lineage.”
— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) March 6, 2026
“Crystal Meth Rumsfeld”
Mills argued that the most serious consequence is diplomatic. “I think currently the biggest macro problem actually is that the U.S.’s diplomatic word is getting crushed.” In his view, the war will “harm Trump’s ability to make a deal with the Russians to end the war in Ukraine” and “permanently scar any future president’s maneuverability and diplomacy.”
Mills questioned whether the purported strategic gains are gains at all.
“If you think the Iranians are bad dudes, they just replaced the 90-year-old Khamenei with a 58-year-old Khamenei,” he said, adding that the conflict has “further entrenched their military and economic elite, the IRGC.” At home, it’s also emboldened the worst factions, politically vindicating hardliners like Rubio, Graham, and Cotton who argue “you cannot deal with the United States… that the U.S. only responds to force.”
Rumsfeld: “I can’t tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn’t gonna last any longer than that.”
Hegseth: “ It may or may not take four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up, it could move back.” pic.twitter.com/xSLEbGaniZ
— Home of the Brave (@OfTheBraveUSA) March 2, 2026
Mills also directed criticism at Pete Hegseth, comparing him to “crystal meth Rumsfeld.” The rhetoric about “lethality” and a “reign of terror… over Iranian skies” suggested officials were “reveling in the carnage.”
Lastly, and possibly the worst blunder of all, the fatwa discouraging nuclear weapons came from Iran’s deceased supreme leader, and “it’s very possible they’re just going to chuck that now and lunge for a crude nuclear device.”
— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) March 6, 2026
Listen to the full debate below or on our Spotify and YouTube channels.
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 5, 2026
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 17:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mills-israels-holy-grail-was-iran-trump-just-delivered-it
Illinois attorney general sues Lockport McDonald’s owner for alleged child labor law violations
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a lawsuit Thursday against the owner of a Lockport McDonald’s restaurant, alleging more than 550 violations of the Illinois Child Labor Law.
Raoul alleged owner Nicholas Kory, president and manager of Lockor LCC, employed at least 26 minors aged 14 to 15 years, without a work permit and for excessive hours, without rest and meal breaks, during the school year at McDonald’s on the 1000 block of East 9th Street in Lockport.
The lawsuit alleges children worked at the restaurant at night, including as late as 1 a.m., and for shifts as long as 17 hours, which Raoul called the most egregious in the lawsuit.
“Employment can teach minors valuable lessons in responsibility and money management,” Raoul said in a statement. “It is absolutely unacceptable that a local business owner would take advantage of young employees who are just starting their time in the workforce.”
Kory said in a statement provided by a McDonald’s spokesperson that he and the company have taken steps to address concerns that were raised. McDonald’s did not provide its own statement.
“We take these allegations seriously,” Kory said in the statement. “They do not reflect our organization’s values or the standards we set for ourselves as a local business or an employer in the community. We are committed to ensuring that all our employees feel safe, respected and valued.”
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the owners from violating the child labor law and asks for civil penalties to be distributed to the affected minors and to the state’s child labor and day and temporary labor services enforcement fund.
The owners also face a $2.1 million dollar fine from the Illinois Department of Labor, issued in November 2023.
This case was referred to Raoul’s office by the Illinois Department of Labor after the department received a complaint in 2023 that alleged Lockor and Kory were allowing employees under 16 years old to work late-night shifts at the restaurant.
The Labor Department investigated the restaurant’s employment practices from Jan. 1 to July 8, 2023, and found 26 of the 36 employees were children between the ages of 14 and 15 and that only six of the minors had employment certificates, according to the lawsuit.
The department also alleged in its investigation that in 55 instances, Lockor and Kory permitted the minors to work more than five hours without a required meal or rest break, according to the lawsuit.
Following its investigation, the department sent a formal notice of 568 violations of the child labor law and assessed over $2.1 million in civil penalties, which the company allegedly has not paid, according to the lawsuit.
“This case should send a clear message: exploiting children in the workplace will not be tolerated in Illinois,” Illinois Department of Labor Director Jane Flanagan said in a statement. “These are not technical violations — they are serious breaches that put young people’s health, safety, and education at risk.”
The Illinois Child Labor law requires employers to obtain an employment certificate issued by a local school authority if hiring 14- or 15-year-old students.
The law also limits when minors can work and the total hours they are allowed to work each day and week.
The next court date is at 10 a.m. on May 4 before Cook County Judge Joel Chupack at the Richard J Daley Center.
Raoul encouraged workers who believe their rights have been violated to call his Workplace Rights Hotline at 1-844-740-5076, or file a complaint in English or Spanish by visiting the website www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov.
awright@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/lockport-mcdonalds-sued-child-labor-violations/
USPS Could Run Out Of Funds Within A Year Without Congressional Action: Postmaster General
USPS Could Run Out Of Funds Within A Year Without Congressional Action: Postmaster General
Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General David Steiner said on March 4 that the service could run out of cash reserves within a year unless Congress removes a decades-old cap and allows the agency to borrow more money.
If it doesn’t, the service risks not being able to pay employees and vendors as early as February 2027, Steiner told The Associated Press.
“How long are employees going to work and vendors going to show up if we’re not paying them?” he said.
The Postal Service is an independent agency funded mostly by postage revenue and the services it provides, rather than federal appropriations. It reported a $9 billion net loss for fiscal year 2025. In 2024, the agency reported a $9.5 billion net loss.
Operating revenues grew by $916 million, or 1.2 percent, largely due to its Ground Advantage shipping product.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, ending Dec. 31, 2025, the USPS recorded a net loss of about $1.3 billion, in contrast to a $144 million gain in the same period the previous year. Total operating revenues decreased by $264 million, due primarily to reduced mail and package volumes.
Steiner took over the role in July 2025 after heading the nation’s largest waste management firm. He also served on FedEx’s board. He called for broader reforms, including expanding revenue streams.
“We have to have a conversation with the American public,” Steiner said. “If you want us to deliver everywhere, every day, we’ll do it. That’s not a problem. But who is going to pay for it?”
He proposed raising the cost of a first-class stamp from 78 cents to 95 cents, saying it could solve the fiscal issues. A decade ago, stamps cost 47 cents. USPS officials stress that U.S. rates are among the lowest among industrialized nations.
Steiner said the Postal Regulatory Commission wouldn’t allow the adjustment.
“If the Postal Regulatory Commission adopted our pricing model, problem solved,” Steiner said, noting that profitable package operations could stabilize mail services.
Additional reforms entail changing pension and retiree health benefits, and permitting investments beyond Treasury bills. Mail volume has decreased by half from 220 billion pieces annually to about 110 billion, as people increasingly opt for digital alternatives.
“Take those 110 billion and put a 78-cent stamp on them. That’s $86 billion of revenue that evaporated in 15 years,” Steiner said. “If either FedEx or UPS lost $86 billion of revenue, they would have no revenue.”
He said regulatory mandates would not bode well for the agency.
“I like to say we sort of got thrown overboard on a ship into the cold water, right? And instead of throwing us a life preserver, we get thrown an anchor,” he said.
Steiner plans to testify before Congress this month on issues facing the USPS.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 17:00
Big Ten Tournament: Lauren Betts and top-seeded UCLA win 23rd straight to advance to semifinals
INDIANAPOLIS — Big Ten Player of the Year Lauren Betts had 26 points and eight rebounds and Kiki Rice added 18 points and six assists to help No. 2 UCLA overcome a sluggish start and beat Washington 78-60 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.
The regular-season champion and top-seeded Bruins (29-1) won their 23rd consecutive game, matching last season’s mark for the longest winning streak in school history. UCLA also has won 22 straight Big Ten games, a streak that began with last year’s march to the conference tournament crown.
The Bruins will play No. 11 Ohio State (26-6) in Saturday’s first semifinal (1 p.m., BTN).
Avery Howell scored 18 points to lead the Huskies (21-10). Brynn McGaughy had 12 points and all-conference guard Sayvia Sellers had 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting after scoring 25 in Thursday’s win over USC. Washington had a two-game winning streak snapped with its second loss to the Bruins this season.
Still, this game didn’t follow the expected script in front of a sparse, midday crowd in Indianapolis.
Washington charged out to a 13-6 lead after one quarter and UCLA coach Cori Close called timeout when the Huskies extended the margin to 22-12 with 6:26 left in the second.
The game then turned quickly. UCLA responded to the stoppage with 15 consecutive points while allowing just one basket the rest of the half as they rallied to take a 27-24 halftime lead.
The Huskies started fast again in the third quarter, retaking a 34-33 lead on Elle Ladine’s 3-pointer.
But Kiki Rice answered with the Bruins’ first 3 of the game before making two free throws, and Betts scored in the post to give UCLA a 40-34 edge. Washington continued to stay close — until UCLA closed the quarter with a 7-0 spurt to make it 49-41 and pulled away in the fourth.
Ohio State 60, Minnesota 55
Ohio State center Elsa Lemmila (12) grabs a rebound over Minnesota guard Mara Braun in the first half of a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal Friday, March 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (Michael Conroy/AP)
Elsa Lemmila had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jaloni Cambridge also scored 17 and No. 11 Ohio State beat No. 19 Minnesota in Friday’s second quarterfinal.
Fourth-seeded Ohio State (26-6) plays No. 1 seed and second-ranked UCLA — which beat the Buckeyes 82-75 on Dec. 28 — in a semifinal Saturday.
Cambridge added six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Chance Gray hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.
Mara Braun hit a 3-pointer that cut Minnesota’s deficit to 58-55 with 1:32 left in the game. Neither team scored again until Cambridge made a jumper with 16 seconds left.
Grace Grocholski led No. 5 seed Minnesota (22-9) with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophie Hart had 12 points and a career-high 19 rebounds and Amaya Battle added 10 points. Hart has 1,000 career points, 966 for the Gophers. Tori McKinney had two points on 1-for-4 shooting in just 16 foul-plagued minutes.
Kennedy Cambridge had six of Ohio State’s 12 steals and added five points, four assists and three rebounds.
Ohio State, which lost 71-64 at Minnesota on Feb. 18, has won 10 of 11 against the Gophers and leads the series 66-17, 11-2 at neutral sites.
Big Ten Tournament schedule
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Friday’s quarterfinals
(1) UCLA 78, (8) Washington 60
(5) Ohio State 60, (4) Minnesota 55
(2) Iowa vs. (10) Illinois, 5:30 p.m.
(3) Michigan vs. (11) Oregon, 8 p.m. (approx.)
Saturday’s semifinals
Games on BTN and the Fox Sports app
UCLA vs. Ohio State, 1 p.m.
Iowa/Illinois winner vs. Michigan/Oregon winner, 3:30 p.m. (approx.)
Sunday’s final
Semifinal winners, 1:15 p.m., CBS-2
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/big-ten-womens-basketball-tournament-quarterfinals/
AIPAC-Targeted ‘AK Guy’ Set To Take GOP House Seat After Sex-Suicide Scandal
AIPAC-Targeted ‘AK Guy’ Set To Take GOP House Seat After Sex-Suicide Scandal
His reputation shredded by a sex scandal involving a staffer who committed suicide, incumbent Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales said he was no longer seeking re-election, handing the GOP nomination to YouTube gun personality Brandon Herrera. If his last bid for office is any indication, the self-nicknamed “AK Guy” could soon find himself in the crosshairs of AIPAC and other pro-Israel organizations. If he prevails in November, Congress could gain a Republican who feels no need to pander to the tiny, far-away country and its stateside boosters.
🚨 BREAKING: Embattled Congressman Tony Gonzales, who had an affair with a staffer who later kiIIed herself, has DROPPED his re-election bid in Texas’ 23rd District
2nd Amendment fighter Brandon Herrera is OFFICIALLY the Republican nominee for the deep red districts
LET’S GO!!! pic.twitter.com/r8F0OUkKLd
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 6, 2026
Before the Thursday-night announcement, the two were headed to a runoff after Herrera beat the moderate Gonzales in the March 3 primary by 1%, but fell short of the required 50% to seal the nomination. Now, the nomination defaults to Herrera. One of the sharpest differences between the two was on the issue of gun control, with Herrera attacking Gonzales for backing a gun control bill after the 2022 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas — a town that lies in their district.
However, Gonzales’ hold on the seat was doomed by a scandal in which he at first denied, then admitted, that he had a sexual relationship with a staff member, who killed herself last year by setting herself ablaze. The House ethics committee is set to investigate the matter. On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson asked him to drop out of the race. Hours later, Gonzales did just that, but said he would serve out his term. Notably, Johnson didn’t push him to resign — as that would cut the GOP’s already-thin House margin pending a special election.
The general election pits Herrera against Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, a former teacher-turned-lawyer. In the 2024 midterms, Gonzales trounced his Democratic opponent, by a 62%-to-38% margin. As of February 6, the Cook Political Report rated the seat as “Solid Republican.” Democrats have expressed optimism for their prospects in a general election against Herrera. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the district by 3.5%, but a sea change has seen this and other heavily-Mexican-American districts swing hard toward the GOP.
I’m not anti Israel, I’m anti Israel buying American elections.
How many millions did you spend on this race alone? You make “Russian collusion” look like a fucking joke.
— Brandon Herrera (@TheAKGuy) May 29, 2024
When Herrera challenged Gonzales in 2024, he lost by less than 400 votes. The vaguely named United Democracy Project, a super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), spent more than a million dollars against Herrera. His offense? Opposing all foreign aid, including aid to Israel. He hasn’t even been vocal about Israel — ZeroHedge could only find five tweets in which he has ever mentioned the country. One of them condemned the Oct 7 Hamas invasion of Israel, and accused President Biden of giving billions of dollars to Iran and thus “fuel[ing] Iranian aggression.” As is typically their tactic, AIPAC’s 2024 attack-ads against Herrera didn’t mention Israel — and yet, when he lost, the group said it proved that “being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics.”
A Navy veteran and gun-maker from San Antonio, Herrera is vying to represent the enormous and largely rural 23rd Texas congressional district. Stretching from suburban San Antonio to suburban El Paso, it encompasses about 58,000 square miles — and a third of the entire US-Mexican border. About two-thirds of residents are Hispanic.
The pro-Israel lobby and other Herrera foes have tried to use his humorous YouTube videos against him, particularly one that recreated Hitler’s suicide with a Walther PP pistol. In the introduction, Herrera jokingly says, “I may not know his name, but I do know this: the man who killed Hitler has got to be a personal hero of mine.” In the performance, a producer steps in from off-camera to whisper in Herrera’s ear that Hitler is the person who killed Hitler. Herrera then looks into the camera as if realizing he’s made a major blunder. His disingenuous detractors want you to believe he was dog-whistling his admiration of Hitler.
Former Republican candidate Brandon Herrera joking about Hitler being his hero pic.twitter.com/OmCUFLLqVt
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) March 5, 2025
He’s also been attacked for reasonably referring to the Civil War as the “War of Northern Aggression,” and having been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. As for modern issues, Herrera has said he will “oppose any spending bill that does not fund the completion of the border wall.” Even for immigration hawks in his district, that could prove a controversial take, as the prospect of a wall in Big Bend National Park and other public and private land in the district is animating opposition.
As you’d expect, Herrera supports national concealed-carry reciprocity and opposes Red Flag laws. He says he’ll vote against “new firearms restrictions.” Failing to challenge the current gun control regime, Herrera’s stance is not exactly going to ignite passions and inspire donations from American gun owners.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 16:40
Highland Park event spotlights city’s women-owned businesses: ‘There are so many hidden gems’
In a display of the health of downtown Highland Park’s women-owned business community, several dozen owners mingled at a Port Clinton event Friday morning, with some marking decades in business and others still waiting to open their doors later this year.
The “Great Gathering of Women of Downtown Highland Park,” as organizers called it, is the precursor to the upcoming second-annual Whistle-Stop Trolley tour on May 7, which is centered around celebrating the more than 140 identified women-owned businesses in the city’s downtown.
Much like last year, participants will be able to tour the numerous businesses, hopping on several trolley buses going around downtown to see various free demonstrations, specials and giveaways. Each business will provide them with a ribbon, which will give them a better shot at winning gifts at the event’s afterparty.
This year’s event is taking key lessons from last year, said Ilyse Strongin, the owner of Ripple Media Relations, who is both participating in the event and helping get the word out. Organizers have begun advertising earlier, she said, and the event will run longer. Businesses “off the beaten path” have also been invited to a shared event space in the center of downtown.
Primarily organized by Sandy Saldano, owner of massage therapy business Therapeutic Kneads, the Whistle-Stop tour has grown from 25 participating businesses last year to more than 40 for 2026.
It includes a healthy mix of different businesses, from coffee shops to dance therapy studios. Strongin said part of the idea with the tour was to connect the many different businesses’ client bases, making everyone stronger.
Several dozen female business owners gathered at Port Clinton Friday morning, a precursor event to the city’s second-annual Whistle Stop Trolley Tour in May. The city’s downtown boasts more than 140 identified women-owned businesses. (Joe States/Pioneer Press)
Marlena Jayatilake, owner of artisan spice and tea shop Love that Spice and a repeat tour participant, spoke glowingly during Friday’s mingle event. Last year, her shop was packed throughout the evening.
“Last year was fantastic,” Jayatilake said. “All of the women getting together, bringing that fantastic energy, that positive energy, basically being a big community.”
As attendees filmed brief social media videos on Friday, she highlighted the sheer variety of businesses represented.
“There are so many hidden gems in Highland Park,” Jayatilake said. “Look at what we’re doing, I don’t think any other community has this many women-owned businesses.”
Niki Schwartz and Carrie Goodman, owners of longtime specialty candy store Goodies, praised the support of Highland Park businesswomen, as well as the broader community.
“There’s community-driven support here,” Goodman said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/highland-park-women-owned-businesses/
