Morning Reads for International Men’s Day (November 19)

Good morning, and happy International Men’s Day, an observance in its 20th year today. First celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago, International Men’s Day focuses on positive role models and men’s well-being, particularly men’s health. This year’s theme is “Making a Difference for Men and Boys.”

And now, the news:

Pat Conroy

• Aw, shucks. I’ve officially missed my chance to apply for the open Senate seat.
• Bad news for public transit fans in Fulton County as the referendum on the 30-year transit package may not happen until 2021.
• The test election on the state’s new voting machines had some hiccups earlier this month.
• Georgia ranks 45th – earning an “F” rating – in preventing pre-term births on the annual March of Dimes study on infant and maternal health.
• Those of you boycotting Chick-Fil-A can go back to eating chicken. (Maybe.)
• A daguerreotype of what may be the earliest image of enslaved African Americans has sold at an auction for $324,5000. It’s believed to have been taken at Samuel T. Gentry’s plantation in Greene County, Georgia sometime between 1850 and 1860.
• The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has released its list of the 2020 Places in Peril, and the Georgia Water Coalition has released its list of the 2019 Dirty Dozen.

Alice Walker

• Reversing 41 years of U.S. international policy, the Trump Administration says Israeli settlements on the West Bank do not violate international law.
• The federal government is now funded for another four weeks. After December 20th, no promises. (Remember when this used to not be news?)
• Rep. Adam Schiff wants to know if President Trump lied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team in his written answers. Relatedly, the president has said he’ll “strongly consider” submitting written answers to the impeachment investigators.
• Chief Justice John Roberts has put an indefinite hold on the case before the Supreme Court regarding the U.S. House of Representatives’ demand for President Trump’s tax returns.
• The United States has the highest rate of child incarceration in the world, followed by Bolivia, Botswana, and Sri Lanka, according to a United Nations report.
• I don’t think Kim Jung Un likes us anymore. Alas.
• Russian corruption is so bad, it has tainted Putin’s pet space project.
• That hasn’t stopped Russian troops from taking command of a former-U.S. airbase in Syria.
• Police in Hong Kong have stormed the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where 600 pro-democracy protesters are now trapped. This is the second university campus in the city to be stormed by police in a week.

Flannery O’Connor

• A Georgia driver has been credited with saving the life of an eagle in a ditch.
• A South Carolinian went to the McDonalds’ drive through and got a side of weed with his sweet tea.
• Rep. Eric Swalwell – did he or didn’t he? You decide.