White Flag: “Chicago is one of the nation’s gun violence hotspots and a seemingly ideal place to employ Illinois’ ‘red flag’ law that allows police to step in and take firearms away from people who threaten to kill. But amid more than 8,500 shootings resulting in 1,800 deaths since 2020, the law was used there just four times. It’s a pattern that’s played out in New Mexico, with nearly 600 gun homicides during that period and a mere eight uses of its red flag law. And in Massachusetts, with nearly 300 shooting homicides and just 12 uses of its law.” AP: Red flag laws get little use as shootings, gun deaths soar.

+ Stating the Obvious: “As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise.” Biden speaks the obvious truth about Trump and his enablers. He’s facing a GOP backlash today, but just in the hours since his speech we’ve learned how election deniers could sway the 2024 election, that Ginni Thomas lobbied Wisconsin lawmakers to overturn 2020 election, and that Donald Trump says he plans to pardon US Capitol attack participants if elected. (Which makes sense, as he was the chief participant.)

+ Jam Session: “Argentina’s vice-president has narrowly avoided assassination after a gunman’s weapon jammed as he aimed at her. Footage shows the moment Cristina Fernández de Kirchner found herself face-to-face with the loaded weapon.”

+ Join the Booster Club: “Sometime this weekend or early next week, pharmacies and doctors’ offices are going to start to receive Covid-19 boosters that have been reformulated to include protection against one of the sub-variants of Omicron.” Your questions on the new Covid vaccine boosters answered.

+ The Incredible Bulk: Jared Kushner’s White House memoir sits atop the NYT bestseller list. But there’s just a little symbol under that ranking that you should take note of. It has to do with bulk sales. (These guys cheat at everything.)

+ Pottify: “As it turns out, there are quite a few songs that will fill Alexa requests for the whole gamut of things a kindergartener might dream up: poop, diapers, dog poop, stinky butt.” Kids Yell ‘Poop’ At Alexa, And These Musicians Profit.