How’s your broadband? / ‘I don’t give a f___’ / ‘I am afraid for my state’

How’s your broadband? Consumer Reports invites you to join a nationwide “fight for fair, affordable internet service,” beginning with a test of your present connection …
 … an interactive guide to determining how much speed you really need …
 … and tips for getting better service without busting your budget.
A broadband trade group says prices are falling.

‘Why is there never a story about the low life, scum bag gang bangers who have absolutely no respect for human life.’ A reader’s poorly punctuated question led to an exchange whose outcome left columnist Neil Steinberg gobsmacked.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown says the Biden administration is promising “a significant commitment” to helping stem gun crime.
As mayhem rises across the country, the AP reports that grief counselors are in short supply.

‘When the laws seek to control what teachers can say …’ A University of Kansas professor warns that bans on the teaching of critical race theory could have a chilling effect on classroom discussions of racism.
Popular Information spotlights the obscure foundation funding CRT “hysteria.”

‘I don’t give a f___. I’m just the middle guy.’ A Cook County Board of Review employee who allegedly used his clout to lower property assessments in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribes is reportedly under FBI investigation.
Thousands of county workers were set today to end a nearly three-week-long strike.
In what the Sun-Times calls “an explosive audit,” Chicago’s departing inspector general recommends taking away City Council members’ power to hire their ward superintendents—the people who oversee things like garbage collection, street cleaning and snow removal.

‘Ordinary people … can help stop destructive projects.’ Former Tribune transportation writer Mary Wisniewski sees a lesson in the tale of the Chicago expressway that wasn’t.
Prosecutors have charged two men with groping and threatening to rape two CTA workers Sunday after one of the workers asked the men to stop smoking on a platform.

‘I am afraid for my state.’ Tennessee’s top vaccine official—fired yesterday by the state’s Department of Health—says she was sacrificed to appease Republican lawmakers angry about her effort to get teenagers vaccinated.
The state’s refused to comment. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
A host on Fox News-wannabe Newsmax: “A vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature … where something’s supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people.”
The Conversation: COVID-19’s delta variant makes getting vaccinated more important than ever—even if you’ve already had the virus.

Rich get richer. The nation’s biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase, reports its profits last quarter more than doubled compared to a year ago, when it was hoarding cash in anticipation of a recession that didn’t happen.
Consumer prices rose this past year more than any year since 2008.
Desperate for help, McDonald’s franchisees are reportedly offering workers higher wages, paid time off, tuition payments and emergency child care.

‘Make the World Better Before You Leave the Ground.’ An appeal to “large-amounts-of-money-having” people from Tribune columnist Rex Huppke: “Anyone who can sink billions … into space travel should … donate an equal amount … to areas of earthbound need.”
A scholarly analysis of astronaut John Glenn’s fan mail reveals how the early space program thwarted girls’ dreams of the stars.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Meet more readers whose support keeps Chicago Public Square coming: Bruce Dold, Mary Dedinsky, Owen Youngman, Alan Solomon, Michael Romain, David Jones, Lizzie Schiffman Tufano, Katherine and Michael Raleigh, Helen Marshall, Werner Huget, Suzy Le Clair, Christine Cupaiuolo, Elan Long, Molly Besta Allscheid, Ryan Bird, Martin Berg, Maureen Stratton, Heather Alger, Mark Mueller, Anne Rooney, Lucy Smith, Meghan Strubel, Frank Heitzman, Stephen Schlesinger, Joe Hallissey, Gary Colabuono and Fredric Stein. You can join them for as little as—really—$1 here.

Subscribe to Square.