Day 81

 

We're back to the rain-every-day weather cycle that Atlanta saw earlier this year before the covids hit and shut down everything.  But in the summer, that means we also get thunder and lightning, very, very frightening, and all-day, saturation-point humidity.  It's been pretty much like this since July 4th and I, for one, am sick of it.  Bring on September - we'll be one month closer to 2021 and the end of this horrible, very bad year.

Meanwhile, America's deadliest governor, Brian Kemp, has finally stopped pointlessly wasting taxpayers' money and has withdrawn his lawsuit against the City of Atlanta for trying to enact a face-mask requirement.  The settlement agreement doesn't come out and say it's okay to pass such an act and maintains that State law still forbids requiring businesses to mandate face masks, but does say that Kemp isn't going to litigate over it ("Today I learned that I'm going to lose this case").

Meanwhile, Trump's coronavirus task force has warned that Georgia continues to see "widespread and expanding community viral spread" and that the state's current policies (like suing mayors who require face masks) aren't enough to curtail the covids.

In other words, even the White House is saying that Kemp needs to wake up and get with the program.  

What else?  Today, Atlanta's DeKalb County School District suspended all sports, including precious high-school football, until at least October 1.  With 16 high schools, DeKalb County is a prime recruiting location for top-tier NCAA football programs (which in turn provides players for the NFL), so this is a major disruption to the football-talent pipeline.  Suburban Newton County, with three high schools, has suspended all sports indefinitely.

Say what you will about Georgia, but last week I successfully voted by mail in the primary run-off election.  I voted by mail last June in the actual primary as well, and am registered to vote by mail in November's general election.  As bat-shit crazy as Brian Kemp is, even he can see that voting by mail carries no more threat of cheating that any other form of voting, which is to say almost none.

I was concerned about my vote last week because the return envelope I received wasn't sealed at the bottom (my ballot would fall right through the bottom and out of the envelope).  I had to tape the bottom of the envelope to mail it, and was concerned that some poll worker would say it was "tampered with" and disqualify my vote.  But the Georgia Secretary's of State's web page confirmed that my ballot had been received and accepted, so I'm cautiously optimistic about at least the mechanics of mail-in voting working here come November.

That's all I have to say today.  Go on and enjoy your weekend!