‘If you are human, this is your cause.’ Thousands turned out Sunday in downtown Chicago—and, separately, in Buffalo Grove—to [correction] protest express opinions about Israel’s attacks on Palestinian territory.
■ The Israeli government continued its heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip today.
■ News organizations including The Associated Press are demanding Israel explain its destruction of their Gaza City offices.
■ Acknowledging that “the backbone of America’s policy in the Middle East is that America is an unwavering friend to Israel,” HBO’s John Oliver suggests “a real friend would tell me … when I’m committing a fucking war crime.” (Cartoon: The Lisagor Award-winning Keith J. Taylor.)
■ A UCLA history professor calls this Israel’s “Black Lives Matter moment.”
Bribery works. The Conversation: Vaccine incentives like beer, doughnuts and a $1 million lottery can help the U.S. reach herd immunity against COVID-19.
■ The New York Times: “723 Epidemiologists on When and How the U.S. Can Fully Return to Normal.” (Hint: keep an eye on the kids.)
■ President Biden addresses the nation on the pandemic at noon Central.
■ Ease the sting of today’s pandemic-delayed income tax return deadline day with retail giveaways.
■ USA Today: 12 tips for last-minute filers.
Ready to ride? Here’s what awaits you as you return to Chicago-area trains and buses.
■ Two North Side CTA stations will close for the next three years—to be completely rebuilt.
■ The youth-fueled organization My Block, My Hood, My City this weekend will host a pop-up fashion show on the Red Line.
‘We are so behind on this [it] is ridiculous.’ Among the trove of hacked City Hall emails, the Sun-Times reports, was one sent out shortly after police pepper-sprayed demonstrators in Grant Park July 17: Mayor Lightfoot’s policy chief pleading for a statement declaring, “Protest is a healthy expression of a functioning democracy.”
■ A Sun-Times editorial: Government needs to step up cybersecurity.
■ Square mailbag: Reader Pam Spiegel writes, “The media hasn’t figured out that feasting on stolen emails isn’t ethical. As in 2016, when the media decided that the stolen emails of Clinton staffers were fair game–and used them to tilt the election to trump–these stolen emails from the Lightfoot administration are being treated like perfectly legitimate information though they shouldn’t be. Stolen emails are private correspondence not meant for public view and the writers of them still deserve the privacy they thought they had. The media’s gleeful reporting on the contents of those emails not only breaches privacy issues but also encourages hacks like this to keep happening.”
■ Your thoughts on anything in the news are always welcome here: Mailbag@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.
AT&T hangs up on TV. It’s spinning off WarnerMedia—including HBO and CNN—into a new company controlled by the CEO of Discovery, which owns TLC and Animal Planet.
■ The two companies promise “more investment on the screen, more resources for storytellers.”
■ Partly driving the deal: Consumers’ defection from traditional cable TV.
■ It’s an abrupt course change: Just three years ago, AT&T fought the Justice Department to acquire the media biz.
■ This probably isn’t the end of TV industry disruption.
‘It brings unwanted attention.’ That’s one of four big reasons business and civic leaders tell the Sun-Times’ David Roeder they’re not biting at the chance to save the Chicago Tribune from the clutches of a vampiric hedge fund.
■ Columnist Heidi Stevens’ “Dear Mayor Lightfoot” letter: “Reconsider your decision to cancel your Chicago Tribune subscription.”
Crickets. A Trib investigation finds two Illinois-based companies have for years failed to report their emissions of cancer-causing ethylene oxide.
■ Bloomberg: Teenagers around the world are winning climate fights one court case at a time.
‘At Mister Kelly’s, Black talent mattered.’ The Sun-Times’ Laura Washington celebrates Chicago’s gone-but-not-forgotten groundbreaking entertainment venue …
■ … ahead of a WTTW documentary special to air a week from Thursday.
■ See a preview here.
Cheetos cheat. A former Frito-Lay executive whose biography, slated to be turned into a major motion picture, claims he was working as a janitor when he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos … didn’t.
■ In fact, a retired Frito-Lay salesman from Chicago’s South Side claims, “I’m the one … responsible.”
■ A Chicago startup aims to crack Eggo’s lock on the waffle market.
Don’t look now. The troglodytic Parler app is back in Apple’s App Store …
■ … but it’s under new restrictions.
■ The Daily Beast: Now-deceased “bachelor sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein gave Bill Gates advice on ending his marriage with Melinda.”
Thanks to reader Ed Nickow for making this edition better.