After the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, about a dozen senior immigration officials \u201ctell me they have grown increasingly uneasy & frustrated with some of the claims & narratives DHS pushed in the aftermath of the shooting,\u201d reports Bill Melugin on X.<\/b>
\nMinneapolis beat: Homeland Security\u2019s Bunglers
After the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, about a dozen senior immigration officials \u201ctell me they have grown increasingly uneasy & frustrated with some of the claims & narratives DHS pushed in the aftermath of the shooting,\u201d reports Bill Melugin on X. \u201cWhile they say it was a terrible decision to show up with a gun and inject himself\u201d into the situation, \u201cthere is no indication Pretti was there to murder law enforcement.\u201d Rather it seems \u201cthe disarmed firearm may have had an accidental discharge that spooked the agents, and they shot.\u201d Although widely in \u201csupport of the deportation agenda,\u201d these insiders worry \u201cabout the way it is being carried out,\u201d \u201cthe messaging that comes with it\u201d and \u201cthat ICE is routinely blamed for the actions of Border Patrol, a completely separate agency.\u201dEye on energy: Greenies\u2019 Deep-Freeze Rx
\u201cThe weekend\u2019s arctic blast has put much of the U.S. grid through a stress test and served as another alert about the growing risks to electric-power reliability,\u201d explain The Wall Street Journal\u2019s editors. \u201cAmericans can be grateful the Biden crowd didn\u2019t succeed in forcing all coal plants to shut down\u201d as \u201cgrid operators, the utilities and the Trump Energy Department had to pull out all stops to keep the lights and heat on for tens of millions of Americans\u201d \u2014 even waiving \u201cemissions rules so fossil-fuel plants could run at maximum capacity.\u201d Solar, wind and battery \u201csources contributed little power,\u201d confirming they \u201caren\u2019t reliable during inclement weather.\u201d Is it the greens\u2019 goal \u201cto reduce carbon emissions by making Americans freeze?\u201dStorm central: Look What\u2019s Gone Missing
Conspicuously absent from media reports on winter storm Fern \u201cis the obligatory mention of \u2018climate change\u2019 as the cause,\u201d notes the Issues & Insights editorial board. \u201cIt seems that bad winter weather is just weather. Whereas bad summer weather is always \u2014 always \u2014 and prominently blamed on our burning fossil fuels.\u201d OK: One CNN piece cited \u201cexpert\u201d claims \u201cthat \u2018severe winter weather events are still possible \u2014 and perhaps even more likely\u2019 because of global warming,\u201d but last year a Bloomberg piece quoted \u201cclimate \u2018experts\u201d claiming that \u2018the long-term trend, especially in the normally colder parts of the U.S. and other countries, is one of warmer winters with less of the white stuff\u2019,\u201d while Time just last month cited \u201cclimate \u2018experts\u2019 explaining how \u2018climate change is causing shorter, warmer winters.\u2019 \u201d \u201cWhatever this is, it ain\u2019t science.\u201dCentrist: Why Credit-Card Caps Backfire
\u201cNot a single bank has complied\u201d with President Trump\u2019s call to cap credit-card interest rates at 10%, cheers The Free Press\u2019 Joe Nocera. Phew: Without \u201cthe ability to impose high interest rates,\u201d banks simply wouldn\u2019t extend unsecured credit to most people; high rates let them cover their losses as \u201cmore than 19 million accounts default each year. In 2024, that amounted to $59 billion.\u201d Under the cap, all but the rich and upper middle class would \u201close their cards\u201d because banks would lose money otherwise. Limiting credit-card rates \u201cwon\u2019t eliminate the need for credit,\u201d so higher-risk borrowers would have to use \u201cpayday lenders\u201d and \u201cloan sharks,\u201d whose rates are truly usurious.Campus watch: \u2018Free Speech\u2019 Isn\u2019t Free
\u201cI can tell you that \u2018free speech\u2019 isn\u2019t free,\u201d sighs Kristan Hawkins at RealClearPolitics. She sets up events at colleges nationwide, but \u201cmanipulative schools have worked hard to develop financial and logistical obstacles to student speech \u2014 from special, additional, and often last-minute insurance to requirements for bomb-sniffing dogs.\u201d Other barriers include a \u201creligious gag rule,\u201d endless delays, trigger warnings to discourage attendance, cancellations due to fear of violence and doxxing. Her group, Students for Life of America, \u201chas endured bomb threats, vandalizations, stolen and damaged property, physical attacks, urine throwing, stalking, student doxxing, and general cruelty.\u201d And \u201cthreats of rape and murder are common.\u201d Without better support, \u201cmany will be priced out of the public arena.\u201d
\u2014 Compiled by The Post Editorial Board<\/p>\n