Lunchtime Reads for World Peace Day (November 17)

Happy Food O’clock! It’s World Peace Day!

This is not to be confused with the UN’s International Day of Peace, which is celebrated every September. Nonetheless, Miss Congeniality is always appropriate, but doubly so today.

Let’s get to the news, shall we?

Pat Conroy

• Early voting has begun in the runoff races, including the race for Atlanta mayor. (Alternate link.)
• The new state legislative maps have passed both houses of the General Assembly. (Alternate link.)
• Here’s what Georgia can expect as a result of the recently-passed infrastructure legislation.
• MARTA will cut routes in December due to staffing shortages.
• In this week’s windmill chase, the state of Georgia has sued the Biden Administration over the vaccine mandate for businesses.
• A Gwinnett County state court judge has ordered sanctions against Messer, a German company that made the freezer that caused the nitrogen gas incident in Gainesville last January, for destroying evidence related to the incident.
• A federal judge in Alabama has sided with the 13 Republican Attorneys General – including Chris Carr – who sued the Biden Administration over its prohibition on COVID relief funding going toward tax cuts.
• Ben and Erin Napier are bringing their show, Home Town, to Thomaston.

Alice Walker

• The definition of “fully vaccinated” may change to include three doses.
• The Biden Administration will purchase 10 million of the Pfizer COVID pills with an eye toward finally getting the country out of the pandemic. (Alternate link.)
• There were a record number of overdose deaths in the United States in 2020. (Alternate link.)
• President Joe Biden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to examine whether oil and gas companies are inflating prices. (Alternate link.)
• The “Q-Anon Shaman” will receive 41 months in jail for his participation in the January 6th insurrection. (Alternate link.)
• The Wyoming GOP has voted to stop recognizing Liz Cheney as a Republican.
• The Kyle Rittenhouse jury continues to deliberate.
• Schools are closed indefinitely and some coal-burning plants have been shut down in New Delhi amidst an air pollution crisis that has turned toxic.
• A Russian anti-satellite missile test has scattered hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk into space.
• Poland has warned that its escalating border crisis with Belarus could last months.
• The United States and its allies accounted for an outsized share of global democratic backsliding in the last decade, bringing into question long-held assumptions about American influence. (Alternate link.)

Flannery O’Connor

• A 10-point buck in Michigan sought sanctuary in a church on the opening day of hunting season.