POSTAL DEATH SPIRAL… STAMP BOMB: 5% HIKE
The Postal Service is sounding the alarm — and the warning is brutal: unless Congress acts, the agency says it could run out of cash in less than a year. Postmaster General David Steiner is pressing for drastic cuts, including fewer delivery days, higher prices and an overhaul of money-losing routes, as the USPS faces shrinking first-class mail and staggering losses of $9.5 billion and $9 billion over the last two fiscal years. On Thursday, it proposed a 5 percent stamp hike and a temporary pause in retirement-fund payments, underscoring how deep the crisis has become. The message is stark: the mail could soon cost more, arrive less often, and the entire system may be headed for a breaking point.
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This Day in History
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US Drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima (1945)
After Germany surrendered in May 1945, the Allied forces focused on ending the war in the Pacific. Japan refused to surrender, dismissing the Allies' vows to devastate the country. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was the first ever dropped on a populated area. At least 130,000 people were killed, injured, or declared missing, and 90 percent of the city was leveled by the blast. Another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. When did Japan surrender?
After Germany surrendered in May 1945, the Allied forces focused on ending the war in the Pacific. Japan refused to surrender, dismissing the Allies' vows to devastate the country. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was the first ever dropped on a populated area. At least 130,000 people were killed, injured, or declared missing, and 90 percent of the city was leveled by the blast. Another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. When did Japan surrender?Today’s Birthday
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Susie Baker King Taylor (1848)
Born into slavery, Taylor was secretly—and illegally—educated during her childhood. As a young woman, she served as a Union army nurse during the American Civil War. She became the first African American to openly teach former slaves in Georgia and the first African-American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers. How did she end up with Union troops in the first place?
Born into slavery, Taylor was secretly—and illegally—educated during her childhood. As a young woman, she served as a Union army nurse during the American Civil War. She became the first African American to openly teach former slaves in Georgia and the first African-American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers. How did she end up with Union troops in the first place?Today’s Holiday
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Busan Sea Festival
Every August since 1999, the municipal government of the seaside town of Busan in South Korea has sponsored a nine-day Sea Festival on its main beaches. The festival kicks off with an opening ceremony featuring performances by popular singers and other entertainers and culminates that night in a spectacular fireworks display. Over the course of the festival, a variety of water sports are offered, as well as the Hanbada Festival for the Disabled and championship competitions in windsurfing and beach volleyball.
Every August since 1999, the municipal government of the seaside town of Article of the Day
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Peyote
Native to the southwestern US, peyote is a spineless cactus whose active substance is mescaline, a naturally occurring hallucinogenic drug. Ritually ingested by indigenous people in Mexico and the US to produce visions, the plant is chewed, brewed for drinking, or rolled into pellets to be swallowed. Apart from its use by Native Americans in religious ceremonies, peyote is illegal in all 50 US states. Based on archaeological specimens, how long has peyote been used by Native Americans?
Native to the southwestern US, peyote is a spineless cactus whose active substance is mescaline, a naturally occurring hallucinogenic drug. Ritually ingested by indigenous people in Mexico and the US to produce visions, the plant is chewed, brewed for drinking, or rolled into pellets to be swallowed. Apart from its use by Native Americans in religious ceremonies, peyote is illegal in all 50 US states. Based on archaeological specimens, how long has peyote been used by Native Americans?