SNOW DAYS: Air flights and school have been cancelled and grocery shelves emptied in advance of a severe winter storm expected to travel from today in the southwest through Tuesday in Maine.

  The storm could affect 200 million people, many of whom could be expected to lose power and be trapped in their homes. Temperatures in wide areas will be zero or below.

  While deep snow is expected in the north and the National Weather Service is warning of “catastrophic ice accumulation” south of the primary snow band because of widespread freezing rain. The Weather Service said that freezing rain could affect portions of the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southern Plains, and Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys.

ANTI ICE:  Roughly 100 clergy were arrested yesterday  during a protest against deportation flights at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport as hundreds of business in the Twin Cities remained closed in protest of immigration operations in Minnesota. 

  Organizers of the action, named “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom,” have called for Minnesotans to boycott work, school, and shopping. Ruth Kashmark, who closed her bar, said, “This is what the world’s going to look like if you take our hardworking neighbors away.”

  In further aggravation of the situation, ICE has given itself authority for warrantless search of private homes. An internal memo tells agents they can act on an “administrative warrant,” a warrant signed by an ICE supervisor rather than a judge. It’s a policy contrary to established law and constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizures.

  One man in Minneapolis whose home was entered with an administrative warrant has already been released by a federal judge.

NATO INSULT: Britain’s Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan, is a leading voice of outrage among veterans of that war who are outraged by President Trump’s declaration this week that NATO has never done anything for the United States. Harry said British veterans “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”

  The Afghanistan war is the only time NATO forces have fought in defense of a fellow member … the United States following the 9/11 attacks. Trump said, “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

  Britain lost 457 soldiers in Afghanistan, Canada 158, France, 90, Germany 60, Denmark, 44. Other countries had soldiers killed as well.

 Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “ I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling, and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.”

CRIME STATS: Murders dropped a dramatic 21 percent in 2025 according to numbers collected from 35 American cities, according to the independent Council on Criminal Justice. The report says that there were 922 fewer murders in 2025 than 2024. 

  Analysts say they don’t know the reason for the dramatic drop, but they note that murders and other violent crimes had spiked during the Covid pandemic.

THE REGIME:

— Dr. Kirk Milhoan, the pediatric cardiologist who chairs the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said he believes vaccines against polio and measles — and maybe all diseases — should be optional. 

  Speaking on a podcast, Milhoan admitted some  “concerns” that children might die of measles or be paralyzed by polio, but, “I also am saddened when people die of alcoholic diseases,” adding, “Freedom of choice and bad health outcomes.”

— The City of Philadelphia is suing the Trump administration for removing a display commemorating slaves owned by George Washington in accordance of Donald Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks.

  Trump is trying to put a rosy gloss on American history.

THE SPIN RACK: Five people were arrested in the attempt to kill an Indiana judge in a plot to derail a trial he was to set to preside over. Judge Steven P. Meyer, 66, of Tippecanoe County, and his wife were wounded when a man fired a shotgun through their front door. One of the men arrested was to go on trial for a variety of charges, including domestic battery, two days after the shooting. — Former Canadian snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 44, who competed in the 2002  Olympics, has been charged with murder and smuggling cocaine into the United States after a manhunt that lasted years. Wedding was grabbed in Mexico City Thursday night. FBI Director Kash Patel called him “the largest narco-trafficker in modern times,” although, coming from Patel you have to give that a steep discount. — Rain has delayed the attempt by rock climber Alex Honnold for a ropeless climb of Taipei’s tallest tower, 101 stories.

BELOW THE FOLD: Bend it like the Beckhams. The tabloids have been busy all week with the news that Brooklyn Beckham, son of retired soccer star David Beckham and former Spice Girl, Victoria, has declared a divorce from his parents.

  “I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life,” Brooklyn said in a lengthy statement. He accused his parents of trying to control his life in a constant focus on social media and public image. He said, “Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they’ll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade.”

   He said his mother tried to ruin his wedding to actor Nicola Peltz and that, “Weeks before our big day, my parents repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name, which would have affected me, my wife, and our future children. 

  and the last straw was that she stepped in on his first dance moving “inappropriately” with him. “He said, “I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”

  Beckham, nil, Beckham, nil. 

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