No Square today / New policy

No Square today. Chicago Public Square returns in full force Tuesday.

■ Until then, as usual, get continual news and commentary updates via the Square Bluesky account.

■ You’ll find plenty to scroll through there already today—including John Oliver’s new guide to making yourself less valuable to Meta/Facebook/etc. Meanwhile …

New policy. Lifting the curtain on the vast Square merch operation: A few months back, our friends at Raygun changed things up. Instead of requiring Square to buy a bunch of T-shirts or hoodies in a variety of sizes and styles at once—guessing at reader preferences and then distributing inventory mindfully—Raygun’s shifted to an on-demand system. The result: Squarewear’s easier to offer. So we’re happy to announce an upgrade in perks for those who support Square on an ongoing basis:

■ Pledge just $15/month—about 60 cents an issue—and get a Square T-shirt free.

■ Make it $25/month—cancel anytime—and get a T-shirt or a hoodie.

■ Or pitch in as little as $1, just once, and get a code good for $5 off the purchase of any or all of these haute couture items:

Already paying at least $15/month to support Square and haven’t gotten a shirt? Drop your size, color preference and shipping address to shirts@ChicagoPublicSquare.com and we’ll get right on that.

‘Gravedigger of American democracy’ / Mail call / Quiz!

Chicago Public Square will take Monday off. Get your news and commentary between editions on the Square Bluesky account.

‘Gravedigger of American democracy.’ That’s New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie’s assessment of Sen. Mitch McConnell …

■ … who says he won’t seek reelection next year …

■ … making for interesting politics in his old Kentucky home.

‘An election denier who comes to office with a published list of enemies he wants revenge against.’ Law prof Joyce Vance reflects on Senate confirmation for Kash Patel as director of the FBI.

■ An FBI alumnus tells Rolling Stone: “An unnervingly large percentage of the agency will be sympathetic to what Patel wants to do.”

■ Author and tech watchdog Cory Doctorow calls Google and Facebook parent Meta’s ability to target ads “an existential threat” to, among others, “protesters whose identities were served up to cops, teenagers who were tracked to out-of-state abortion clinics, people of color who were discriminated against in hiring and lending.”

■ Platformer proprietor Casey Newton says Meta’s concessions on “censorship” seem only to have emboldened the right.

Mail call. The Washington Post reports President Trump’s planning to dissolve the U.S. Postal Service and absorb it into his administration.

■ An Obama-appointed federal judge has given Trump and Elon Musk a green light for mass firings of federal workers.

■ Politico: The National Science Foundation went beyond the administration’s layoff demands.

■ The Sun-Times details how the cuts are playing out at the Chicago area’s biggest wild space, the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

■ ProPublica: The “Department of Government Efficiency”—not really a department—is getting even more cash …

■ … even as Wired reports DOGE has imposed a $1 spending limit on government employees’ credit cards.

■ Quartz: “Musk’s DOGE is going after the agencies that regulate his companies.”

■ Trump’s (or is it Musk’s?) Justice Department has dropped a discrimination case against Musk’s SpaceX company.

■ Voting rights advocate and Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias answers Musk’s insult with an open letter: “I am Jewish, though many on your site simply call me ‘a jew.’ Honestly, it’s often worse than that, but I’m sure you get the point.”

■ The Treasury Department’s agreed to block Musk and DOGE’s access to personally identifiable taxpayer data at the IRS—for now.

‘I generally avoid obsessing about polls.’ But conservative columnist Charlie Sykes sees reason for cheer: “Reports of Trump’s ‘honeymoon’ were greatly exaggerated to begin with; his approval numbers are historically flaccid; and the public generally hates a lot of what he’s doing right now.”

■ Veteran Washington reporter Jamie Dupree (“Yes, I’m the radio guy who lost the ability to speak”): Republicans are starting to feel the heat on Trump’s cuts.

Bad cops database dead. Trump’s administration has shut down a nationwide tool for tracking misconduct by federal police officers—even though Trump himself proposed it in 2020.

■ A Chicago City Council member’s proposing to fire cops and other city employees linked to extremist organizations.

■ The Trump administration says the president’s clemency for Jan. 6, 2021, rioters also covers unrelated crimes discovered during investigations that ensued.

‘America will never bow before any king not named Burger.’ Stephen Colbert’s not buying Trump’s royal aspirations.

■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Kings.

■ Columnist Evan Hurst: “It’s time to make fun of JD Vance” …

■ … who, HuffPost explains, yesterday told a conclave of regressives that America’s “broken culture” wants a world full of “androgynous idiots.”

‘If something happens, how is my mom going to know?’ Illinois students are skeptical of Gov. Pritzker’s call to crack down on phone use in public school classrooms.

■ To be clear, he’s not advocating for a ban in hallways, cafeterias or other non-instruction spaces.

Health insurance giant scrutinized. The Justice Department’s reportedly launched an investigation of UnitedHealth’s Medicare billing practices …

■ … following Wall Street Journal reporting that found “patients examined by UnitedHealth-employed doctors had huge increases in lucrative diagnoses after joining the company’s Medicare Advantage plans.”

‘If you’ve ever been sunburned by snow, followed the Aga Khan or scrubbed key words from a federal website, this week’s quiz is for you!’ Past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel lays down his latest challenge …

■ … on which your Square columnist flubbed Qs 2, 4 and 8, for a measly 5/8 correct.

Retail tales. After Target slunk away from its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, Retail Brew reports that foot traffic dropped at its stores—while business rose at Costco, which refused to bend that knee.

■ CNN: Target’s getting hit on all sides over its DEI retreat.

‘Killer Death Rock of Doom update: Never mind.’ Columnist Dave Barry walks back his earlier alarm about an asteroid that no longer seems likely to strike Earth in 2032. But …

■ Beware a Chicago-made granola bar brand being recalled for the “potential presence of a piece of metal.” And …

■ Immunologist Zachary Rubin warns that bird flu’s spreading to indoor cats.

‘A chilling message to any journalist.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch flags an FCC investigation into coverage of federal agents’ immigration raids broadcast by a San Francisco radio station …

■ … owned by the company that also owns Chicago’s all-news WBBM, WXRT and others and that— probably not-so-coincidentally—has benefitted in bankruptcy proceedings from an investment by billionaire and conservative boogeyman George Soros. (September link.)

‘Just right for a chilly morning on the porch in Key West.’ That’s reader John Teets, sporting a Square hoodie.

■ Wherever you’re catching up with Square, thank those whose financial support keeps it coming—people such as Craig Dellimore, Sheila Flaherty, Steve Chapman, Paul Crossey (again!), Alison Thomas (again!), Scottie Kersta-Wilson, Andrew Nord, Frederick Nachman, Kathy Catrambone, Katherine and Michael Raleigh, Michael Carniello, Shelley Krause, Eric Davis, Jean Johnson, Reginald Davis, Andy Simon, Susan S. Stevens, Jamie Aitchison, Christine Mackey, Valerie Denney, Alan Dikty, Beth Kujawski, Frank Heitzman, Mike Cramer and Diane Scott.

■ Join their ranks for as little as $1, once—any amount you choose.

■ Make it $25/month or $250/year and get a free hoodie or T-shirt.