Midday Reads for Pink Cadillac Day

Happy Pink Cadillac Day to you all! Of course, this means some Natalie Cole is in order.

Now that this particular ear worm is stuck in your head, let’s move on to the news.

Pat Conroy

• Georgia set a new record for positive COVID tests in the state on Tuesday, thanks largely to the number of children getting it while in school.
• A 13 year-old boy from Rome died of COVID yesterday morning. His name was Porter Helms.
• About 84% of ERs in the state are completely full.
• Governor Brian Kemp has deployed 1,500 additional National Guard troops to help overwhelmed hospitals while still refusing to stop the problem before it hits the ER with mitigation measures.
• The money from the federal government that Georgia got for COVID now won’t go out until 2022. (Alternate link.)
• Attorney General Chris Carr is suing the federal government over having to give transgender people access to bathrooms and lockers.
• A superior court judge has ruled that the three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery cannot use his imperfect past in their defense. (Alternate link.)
• Georgia has more schools named for Confederates than any other state.

Alice Walker

• In a speech yesterday, President Joe Biden defended the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan and promised the end of “nation-building.” (Alternate link.)
• The White House has committed to evacuate the Afghan interpreter who helped rescue President Biden in 2008.
• Those dogs abandoned at the Kabul airport weren’t U.S. military dogs, and the military had to make the hard choice between evacuating people or dogs. (Alternate link.)
• An Oklahoma Congressman tried to go to Afghanistan to showboat, and he threatened embassy staff that refused to help him. (Alternate link.)
• House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is trying to threaten telecoms companies into not turning over records requested by the January 6th Committee.
• Senator Ron Johnson was caught on tape blaming former President Donald Trump for his 2020 defeat.
• Wealthy GOP donors are putting their money on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis anyway.
• Florida has blocked money to two school districts over their mask mandates, defying a court order.
• Due to the Supreme Court’s inaction, the very strict Texas abortion law has taken effect.
• Social Security will now run out of money in 2034, a year earlier than expected.
• Delta variant? Meet the Mu variant. (Alternate link.)

Flannery O’Connor

• Some cows in Switzerland were airlifted off a mountain ahead of Urnerboden’s annual cow parade.