Two winter-weather-related stories caught my attention in late January and early February 2026, in the form of a paralyzing storm that shut down much of the US; and a beloved folk tradition come to life in a prognosticating rodent.
On Saturday, 24 January 2026, federal ICE agents shot and killed another US citizen in the snowy streets of Minneapolis. And the term ‘agents’ is correct – unlike the killing of Renee Good two weeks previously, where a single agent discharged his weapon, Alex Pretti, 37, was set upon, wrestled to the ground, pepper-sprayed and shot by at least six ICE officers. Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, had attempted to help up a woman who had been shoved to the pavement by the same agents; his last words, addressed to her, were “Are you OK?”
Donald J. Trump’s “America first!” policies take on a whole new meaning in light of the COVID-19 pandemic: the US is now the global leader in infections and deaths from the virus. With almost a million known to be infected and more than 50,000 deaths, the US now accounts for nearly a third of infections worldwide, and a quarter of the fatalities. We’re lightyears ahead of our leading competitor in COVID-19 incompetence, with four times as many cases as Spain. No one can catch us! The Trump administration can be justly proud of the new records it’s setting. Hey, no such thing as bad publicity, right?
