Armed robbery streak. Chicago police report six of them over the course of three hours yesterday afternoon.
■ Siblings of kids killed by gun violence talk to the Tribune: “I just feel alone.”
‘Those who want the fighting to end—which I hope includes all of us—should not be calling on Israel to relent.’ Columnist Steve Sheffey makes the case against a permanent Mideast cease-fire—yet.
■ Semafor: “Influential members of the country’s largest journalist union are resisting calls to release a statement supporting a cease-fire in Gaza.”
■ The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin: “If President Biden had listened to demands from the left to … demand an immediate cease-fire, there is little chance any hostages would have been released.” (Gift link, courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters.)
■ The AP: As released hostages return to Israel, details of their captivity are emerging.
■ Rubin last week: “Sexual violence against Israeli women on Oct. 7 has gotten shockingly little coverage.”
■ Discourse Blog’s Jack Mirkinson on Twitter X owner Elon Musk’s views on the Israel-Hamas war: “This gibbering fool belongs as far away as possible from this conflict.”
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg on surging antisemitism: “Not being afraid, not even caring, seems the best revenge.”
‘Where are the Page 1 editorials against Trump?’ Ex-Trib and Sun-Times editor Mark Jacob calls on major papers to declare clearly that “a vote for Trump is a vote to end democracy.”
■ Robert Reich: “The contest is no longer between Democrats who want more government and Republicans who want less. It is between democracy and fascism.”
■ Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer: Trump is “an incredibly weak candidate.”
■ Popular Information: Univision’s biased coverage of the presidential campaign is “obscuring Trump’s radical immigration agenda.”
■ Media writer Tom Jones condemns Fox for “deceitful” reporting on Biden’s age.
■ The Daily Beast: “No member walking the halls of Congress is more hated than Matt Gaetz.”
‘An explosion of untruth.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch slams Fox for turning “a tragic, fatal car crash at the wrong time in the wrong way at the wrong place” into “a launching pad for a Big Lie about immigration and terror that circled the globe several times before the mundane truth put its pants on.”
■ The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes offers an “Anatomy of a Fake Attack.”
■ Axios: Chicago’s programs to help its influx of migrants are showing “signs of progress” …
■ … including tickets to help migrants travel to other towns.
■ Over the objections of the neighborhood’s City Council representative, construction of Chicago’s first tent encampment for migrants was reportedly to begin today in Brighton Park …
■ … but the city said it wasn’t so.
■ Brrr: Contracts with the company building the camp call for structures equipped to provide heat up to 70 degrees only with outdoor temperatures of 40 degrees or more.
Not so fast, Midwesterners. An Argonne National Laboratory science director advises against putting stock in that cliché about the Chicago region dodging the worst of global warming: “It won’t be what we are used to.”
■ The Lever: Telecom companies are dropping the ball on precautions to keep phones and the internet functional during disasters.
‘The recovery we’re looking for … will only happen when in-person work goes back to pre-2020 levels, which I think is probably never.’ Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss explains his tie-breaking vote in favor of Northwestern University’s new football stadium.
■ Eleven days after a crash that injured 38, service on the CTA’s Yellow Line remained suspended—with no reopening date set.
Word of the Year. Merriam-Webster’s 20th annual pick is authentic.
■ At the start of the month, Collins Dictionary bestowed that honor on AI.
What you (may have) missed. If you don’t follow Chicago Public Square on Facebook—you need not be a Facebook member to check in—here’s a taste of what you would have found there through last week’s break:
■ The Washington Post: “These look like prizewinning photos. They’re AI fakes.”
■ As of last week, the Post remained among a handful of major companies still pumping ad dollars into Elon Musk’s vile behavior.
■ NewsGuard says ads for 86 major advertisers ran alongside viral posts—seen by a cumulative 92 million X users—“advancing false or egregiously misleading claims about the Israel-Hamas war.”
■ Law and Chaos columnist Liz Dye: “Time for us all to get off Twitter—and I say this as someone who spent a truly appalling portion of the last decade scrolling the platform.”
■ Mark Jacob counted off “15 ways Tom Cotton is awful—and how the press sometimes amplifies his … fascist ambition.”
■ Popular Information turned its attention to “America’s most unhinged, unelected official.”
■ Following an Illinois Answers/Block Club investigation, the City of Chicago’s finally going after companies that owe $15 million in rat-related tickets.
■ Following an Illinois Answers/Block Club investigation, the City of Chicago’s finally going after companies that owe $15 million in rat-related tickets.
129,000 deals—and counting. That’s Wirecutter’s estimate of the Cyber Monday offers it’s reviewed to come up with 200+ recommendations.
■ Here are more picks from Consumer Reports and PCMag.
■ Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s proposed Scientific Integrity Policy “has a screw loose.”
Everybody’s doin’ it. ’Tis the season for discounts, so Chicago Public Square’s getting back in the game. You know how you can normally support this service for any amount you choose? Now you can support this service for half any amount you’d otherwise choose …■ … unless the amount you’d normally choose is less than $2. Because the minimum is $1, and half of less than $2 is less than $1.
■ So, to be annoyingly clear, you can support Square for half of any amount you’d normally choose—if the amount you’d normally choose is $2 or more.
■ Contribute anything and get $5 off an entire Chicago Public Square hoodie …
■ … and see your name listed here tomorrow (if you wish) alongside those of other supporters—such as Robert Feder, Gary Ashman, Mike Fainman, Tom O’Malley, Ann James, Brent Brotine, Tom Petersen, Timothy Mennel, Edward White, Patricia Skaja, Michael Johnson, Maria Garvy, Debbie Becker, Michael Mini, Steve Carlson, Ken Davis, Brian J. Taylor, Susan Benloucif, Katherine and Michael Raleigh, Phil Huckelberry, Joel Hood and Sherry Skalko, Judee Barone, Timothy Jackson, John Culver, Marj Halperin, Brian Rohr, Ryan Bird, Marc Blesoff, Ian Morrison, Andy Buchanan, Peggy Conlon-Madigan, Barbara Cimaglio and Ann Keating.
Sorry about that. We didn’t mean to email you two notifications about last week’s Thanksgiving news quiz.