Booze blues. The U.S. surgeon general’s calling for adding a cancer warning to the others now required on alcoholic beverages …
■ … but it’s just a recommendation—whose implementation would require an act of Congress …
■ … which may seem a stretch, but—as The New York Times notes—President-elect Trump doesn’t drink, and his pick to lead Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., swore off alcohol decades ago.
■ Cook County’s opioid deaths last year fell precipitously.
■ Sun-Times commentary: Pharmacy benefit managers are making decisions about what drugs patients can access without taking patients’ best interests into account.
■ Healthcare journalist Merrill Goozner: U.S. life expectancy lags far behind other advanced nations.
Congressional cliffhanger. Updating coverage: In a struggle that could bollix the confirmation of Donald Trump’s next presidency, the U.S. House convened today to elect—or re-elect—its speaker.
■ Evan Hurst at Wonkette boils it down: “If one (1) (uno) (eins) (un) Republican tells [present Speaker Mike] Johnson to go eat a … (bolsa de penes) (Tüte voller Schwänze) (sac de bites), then he’s done-zo.”
Prelude to a massacre. Hours before the attack, doorbell cam video caught the man who plowed a rented truck through New Year’s celebrants in New Orleans, killing at least 14.
■ Updating coverage: President Biden was set to visit New Orleans today Monday.
■ A Tribune editorial: “Outdoor festivals in Chicago … are going to have to pay renewed attention to this question: Could someone drive a vehicle into this event?”
■ CNN: Fox News’ erroneous report about the New Orleans attack is warping the political dialogue about terrorism and immigration.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg perceives an unlikely symbiosis: “Terrorists want to dismantle our liberal, tolerant society because they rightly see it as a threat to their harsh, religious fanaticism. And the right wing boosts them by suggesting, shamefully, that all immigrants are terrorists.”
■ Law professor Joyce Vance fears the resurrection of Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy: “6,000 children were separated from their parents and guardians. About 1,000 have still not been reunited.”
■ Columnist and Trump niece Mary L. Trump: “The best bulwark against the fascism that is now here will be Democratic governors, especially governors of blue states like J.B. Pritzker of Illinois.”
Steel fence. In a victory for steelworkers concerned about potential layoffs—in the Chicago area and beyond—President Biden’s blocked Nippon Steel’s proposal to buy U.S. Steel …
■ … but The Washington Post says the decision “leaves the future of the once-iconic American business in doubt.”
Snoopy Siri. Apple’s agreed to pay $95 million to settle a suit accusing its virtual assistant of eavesdropping on people using Apple gadgets.
■ That could amount to $20 per Siri-enabled device you’ve owned since 2014.
■ If Google smart speakers or displays have been ignoring your questions about things like the weather or the time, Google says it has a fix.
■ Media watcher Oliver Darcy (behind a hard paywall, sorry): Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon overlord Jeff Bezos “seem to be duking it out for the title of biggest tech wimp of the Donald Trump era.”
■ Witness: Facebook parent Meta’s new chief of global policy is the company’s most prominent Republican.
■ Law Dork: A panel of three Republican-appointed federal judges has used new Supreme Court-unleashed power to block a rule aimed at protecting open access to the internet.
■ Your Chicago Public Square columnist’s score: A disappointing 60%.
Dingus of the Year. Columnist Lyz Lenz’s pick exemplifies “what happens when you put eyeliner on a potato, give it a Bible and send it to Yale Law.”
■ Her readers’ choice: The Undecided Voter.
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