Trump’s ‘dark turn’ / Got glasses? / Mac price war

Donald Trump’s ‘dark turn.’ Law professor Joyce Vance reviews his scary rhetoric in Ohio …
 Columnist Brian Beutler says President Biden should deny Trump the classified-document access routinely granted presidential nominees.
 Ex-U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “No question Trump and his Republican allies want to cut Social Security and Medicare.”
 Historian Heather Cox Richardson notes the institutionalization of “Trumpism” at the reactionary Heritage Foundation.
 Public Notice columnist Lyz Dye: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ “horrendously bad decision to date an employee while working on the biggest case of her career” threatens to give Trump “the delay he’s sought from the beginning” in Georgia’s criminal case against him.
 Columnist Dan Pfeiffer: Ex-VP Mike Pence’s refusal to endorse Trump “should be a bigger deal.”
 Visionary author and filmmaker Michael Moore: Trump “may be an idiot and a bigot, but he’s also an evil genius (with the emphasis on genius).”
 Yeah, but President Biden got off some good shots at Saturday night’s Gridiron Club dinner.

‘Netanyahu’s coalition is taking Israel down a dangerous path.’ Pro-Israel Political Update proprietor Steve Sheffey: It’s not surprising that Republicans are criticizing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “pro-Israel speech for the ages.”
 The UN warns that “famine is imminent” in Gaza as Israel launches another raid.
 Popular Information on President Biden’s nomination of a man with “unimpeachable” credentials to become the first Muslim American to serve on a federal appellate court: “Will Senate Democrats cave to an Islamophobic smear campaign?

A write-in for ‘Gaza’? With Biden a lock for the Illinois Democratic presidential nomination in tomorrow’s primary, critics of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war are encouraging a protest vote tomorrow.
 Are you ready to vote? Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.

Three evicted. They were the first directed to get out of Chicago’s migrant shelters as the city begins enforcing its 60-day stay policy.
 Volunteers complain that the state’s apartment program for asylum seekers has been too slow to process applications and has cut off support too early for those still working to establish their independence.

‘Get rid of the grocery tax. Period.’ In a column published by the Tribune, Gov. Pritzker says critics of his plan are crying wolf: “Local governments in Illinois have seen a dramatic increase in funding from state government, and they can afford to lower your local tax burden.”
 Looking at police staffing in Illinois and four other states with one-and-only-one large city, Slow Boring concludes that cops are in the wrong places—and not where the crimes are.

Got glasses? You’re not ready for the April 8 eclipse (a partial one here in northern Illinois, full to the south) if you don’t have special viewing specs, so check the American Astronomical Society’s list of safe ones.
 The Tribune explains how the right clothing—“ridiculously bright colors”—can add to an eclipse’s sensory delight.
 Want a quiet day in Grant Park? Good luck: Block Club reports the park’s booked 73 days this summer for big events.
 ELO—formerly Electric Light Orchestra—has announced its “final tour”—with a stop in Chicago Sept. 27.

Balls = unemployment.’ Semafor deconstructs the factors at work as American journalism has “lost its nerve.”
 Press watcher Dan Froomkin: Reporters’ coverage of the presidential election like a horse race “ is utterly inexcusable. … It’s not just democracy at stake, it’s freedom.”
 Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob: “The right loves to cheap-shot Kamala Harris. And … the mainstream media sometimes go along.”

‘A better way to keep children safe.’ A Sun-Times editorial recommends a step lawmakers can take to protect kids from abuse online.
 Axios reports that a Chicago nonprofit’s offering something new: It’ll send anonymous cautionary emails on your behalf to alleged workplace harassers.
Pandemic flashback. Four years ago today in Square: “Researchers say we may need to live with ‘social distancing’ for a year—or more.”
 And on WGN Radio that evening: A struggle to understand just what it meant to “shelter in place.”

‘Let’s talk about pooping your guts, the best fake sleep of your life, and having no memory of getting a camera pushed up your butt.’ Fresh off her third colonoscopy, Culture Study columnist Anne Helen Petersen recommends one for everyone over 45.
 Dave Barry’s 2008 column on the subject remains timeless.

Mac price war. Hours after Walmart and Apple announced a deal to sell the aging but still solid M1 MacBook Air—the same device on which Square takes shape each morning—for a measly $699 …
 … Best Buy offered the same model for $649.

The typo was funnier. An error in Friday’s Square turned the phrase “firing a gun” into “firing a guy.”
 Thanks to the many (many!) readers who take seriously our commitment to accuracy—and who flagged the error.

A Square public service announcement

Literacy’s a fundamental human right. But the Illinois State Board of Education says fewer than 1 in 10 Black third graders in Chicago Public Schools were reading at grade level in 2022. Join Friends of the Children-Chicago for an online panel discussion to assess illiteracy’s price and learn what you can do to help. It’s free, Wednesday at noon. Register at friendschicago.org.

Chicago Public Square 2024 Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide

Illinoisans go to the polls Tuesday. Chicago Public Square’s here to help—with … um, let’s be clear about this … a guide to voter guides:


Be smart.
Generate a customized ballot for suburban Cook County or Chicago.
Outside Cook County? Learn more at your county’s website: DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, Kendall …
… or from the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Your ballot, explained: BallotReady and Ballotpedia.
Plan your vote with guides from the Tribune, WTTW, Axios, the League of Women Voters, the Sun-Times and WBEZ …
Check evaluations of all those judicial candidates by the bar associations, Injustice Watch and the For What It’s Worth law blog.
Consider endorsements from the Chicago Tribune (including its one-page “bedsheet ballot” printout), The Daily Heraldthe Sierra Club and the snarky Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide.

Do it.
See Block Club Chicago’s early voting guide.
Find where to vote early in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs.
Trouble voting? Call 866-OUR-VOTE.

Go beyond.
Get updates around the clock on the Square Facebook page.
Be informed for every election. Sign up for Square email, sent to your inbox (free!) weekday mornings at 10.
If you’ve found this useful, please help Square grow with a contribution.
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This is a work in progress.
Spot a mistake? Know of another source that’ll help people vote smart? Email Voterguide@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.



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