Lunchtime Reads for Bill of Rights Day (December 15)

Well, hello to you all, and a very happy Bill of Rights Day! Here’s the proclamation from President Joe Biden recognizing the importance of the Bill of Rights.

Also, you have 9 shopping days until Christmas. Godspeed.

Let’s get to the news!

Pat Conroy

• The still-dysfunctional rental aid distribution in Georgia has some families worrying they’ll be homeless for the holiday.
• Like a bad zombie flick, the chance that Sonny Perdue could be the next chancellor of the University System of Georgia is still not dead. (Alternate link.)
• A former Emory Law School student has sued the university for gender discrimination over its handling of a rape allegation. (Alternate link.)
• The Georgia Water Commission has released its annual Dirty Dozen list, featuring such menaces as coal ash and the shipwreck.
• Twenty-four people have been indicted on conspiracy charges in Waycross over their involvement with a modern-day slavery ring abusing the federal H2-A worker program.
• Questions surrounding contamination exposure at Dobbins Air Force Base have prompted a visit from Pentagon officials.
• German liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyd will move its international headquarters to Dunwoody. (Alternate link.)

Alice Walker

• 800,000 Americans have died of COVID, and now we’re facing another spike on the way.
• Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has plead guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
• The House of Representatives has voted to hold Mark Meadows in contempt over his refusal to cooperate with the January 6th Commission. (Alternate link.)
• A federal judge has thrown out former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit to keep his tax records from Congress.
• Republicans who were against President Biden’s economic recovery package are now embracing the money. (Alternate link.)
• The Fed is signaling that rate increases may be on the way to get inflation under control. (Alternate link.)
• German police have arrested several anti-vaxxers who planned to assassinate Saxony’s governor.
• The UK Supreme Court has ruled against gender-neutral passports.
• India’s Supreme Court has ruled that sex workers must be enrolled in federal and local government programs that grant access to things like voting and social welfare benefits. (Alternate link.)
• Kim Jung Un has been in power in North Korea for a decade this Friday.

Flannery O’Connor

• Two zebras that have been on the run for four months have been captured in Maryland.