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Voting by mail? Did you know that 28 states use signature matching to verify ballots?

They compare the signature on your ballot with one they have on file from voter registrations, ballot applications or the D.M.V. California apparently does this. NC apparently does not (we have to have two witness signatures, instead (Edit: Actually just one witness. Wasn’t it two for the primary?? Definitely appears to be just one now)).

All but 4 of those states have a process to allow voters to fix a mismatched signature. This process is sometimes referred to as “curing.”

So if you’re voting by mail, you may wish to be careful with your signature. Or if you think your signature is inconsistent and you’re in a swing state (Edit: or you’re voting for any close race that you care about) and don’t have a lot of confidence in the cure process and want to be extra sure your vote is counted then you may wish to vote in person.

Wondering what your state does? There’s a color-coded map near the bottom of this NY Times article.

I had a thought that there was some federal decision stating that all states must give voters an opportunity to fix invalid ballots, but I can’t find anything indicating such. Somewhat related, this WRAL article discusses uncertainty about how NC will handle incomplete vote-by-mail ballots.

For those of you who might otherwise vote a straight Republican ticket in NC, I’d like to draw your attention to two races.

State Auditor

An N&O article says this about the Republican candidate: “put on probation in connection with a stalking charge, and also has been accused of refusing to obey orders from police, causing a scene at a concert and threatening a man’s family over money.” To be fair the article also says he “has not been convicted on the criminal charges.” And I guess he has a master’s degree in public administration, which is maybe relevant. But! The Democratic candidate is so much better. Beth Wood has a degree in accounting and is a CPA. She’s the incumbent (first elected in 2008) and before that worked in the state auditor’s office as well as the state treasurer’s office. So she’s experienced and qualified. And political party shouldn’t even really come into play in this office!

Sources:

• The News & Observer: NC auditor candidate was put on probation after stalking charge
• Rhino Times: Republican State Auditor’s Race Doesn’t Make Much Sense
• The Daily Tar Heel: Meet the candidates vying to protect taxpayer funds as N.C.’s state auditor

Lieutenant Governor

Sure, you might like some of the things Mark Robinson says. He hits a lot of talking points Republicans care about. But he also has no experience in state politics. As a reminder, the lieutenant governor presides over the senate, and I’d argue that he is not qualified to do so. He makes a lot of offensive statements on Facebook, and also says weird things like “The looming pandemic I’m most worried about is SOCIALISM” and “When the TRULY innocent are murdered leftists could care less. In fact, they champion such” and “When will the Crips, Bloods, and Planned Parenthood start believing black lives matter?” He sounds unfocused and angry at everything. He does not sound like someone who would help a legislative body operate more effectively. The Democratic candidate Yvonne Lewis Holley, on the other hand, sounds fine. She has served in the NC house since 2013 so she’s familiar with the legislative process. The issues she cares about demonstrate compassion and I’d argue that that’s a valuable virtue.

Sources:

• Mark Robinson’s candidate website
• A Facebook post
• Another Facebook post
• A third Facebook post
• Indy Week: The NCGOP’s Lt. Gov. Candidate Apparently Thinks the Coronavirus Is a “Globalist” Conspiracy to Destroy Donald Trump
• Yvonne Lewis Holley’s candidate website

Emily and the kids and I went camping for one night only at Hanging Rock State Park last night. It was good! A lot of work, but I think we all had a good time and it was definitely nice to get out of the house.

I mostly just want to make a record of this so I remember what it was like at their ages. They both did good in the car. They might not have napped at all.

We had a campfire. With s’mores. The marshmallows were especially popular. Three deer meandered through the campsite next to ours. Emily and I thought it was cool. The kids mostly didn’t care. It rained overnight while we were in our tent and we all stayed dry, so it was pleasant without being inconvenient.

Ruby did a three mile hike yesterday and a one mile hike today, which impressed Emily and I. Edie stumbled a lot and I carried her in our hiking backpack most of the time. Ruby ate pasta out of a bowl without too much trouble. Edie had a hard time holding a bowl without spilling or dropping it.

I’m still very happy with the roof cargo box we bought (Yakima SkyBox 16 Carbonite). Good size. Works well. Super functional. And the built-in roof rails on our Subaru Outback are great, too. I didn’t factor factory roof rails into our decision process when we bought the car but I probably should have.

The artist Jane Kim has created some huge and amazing murals of monarch butterflies. See this photo of the side of a building in San Francisco. See the Migrating Mural section of her website for more murals, the featured work page for non-butterflies, and her Instagram page for more frequent postings. I think The Wall of Birds at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is particularly great.

There’s also an absurdly awesome $295 shoe, if you’re into that kind of thing.

In 2008 I said “I’m gonna make a prediction that someone will make a movie based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series within the next 8 years.”

Today Apple announced that they’re making a series to be released on Apple TV next year.

So they’re five years late, according to my prediction. And series rather than movie, which isn’t surprising. That’s kind of the way of things these days.

It takes hours for carbon monoxide to leave your body

That means low exposure over a long period of time can be a serious problem.

“Once inhaled, carbon monoxide passes from your lungs into your bloodstream, where it attaches to the hemoglobin molecules that normally carry oxygen. Oxygen can’t travel on a hemoglobin molecule that already has carbon monoxide attached to it. As exposure continues, the gas hijacks more and more hemoglobin molecules, and the blood gradually loses its ability to carry enough oxygen to meet your body’s needs. … In fresh air, it takes four to six hours for a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning to exhale about half of the inhaled carbon monoxide in their blood.”

Those quotes are from Harvard Health.

I only learned about this recently, from an episode of The Sharp End podcast. (The podcast is ok overall… good for adventurers. This particular episode got a bit repetitive.)

“For cleaner air, set car vents to ‘recirculate'”

I used to usually turn off the “recirculate air” button in my car until some years ago when I read an article in the LA Times. Since then I’ve tended to leave “recirculate air” on.

Some quotes:
“Using that setting…can cut pollution concentrations inside a typical car to 20% of on-road levels.”

“Particle pollution is linked to respiratory illness, heart disease, cancer and premature death.”

“There’s one downside to keeping the windows up and using recycled air, especially if you’re carpooling: It can get stuffy. That’s a product of carbon dioxide from breathing, which can build up on longer drives in tightly sealed new cars with several passengers, according to the study.

‘To prevent this, outside air should be pulled in every 10 or 15 minutes for a minute or two, especially if there are two or more people in the vehicle'”

It makes me think that car review websites should measure and publish air filtration quality. I would take it into account when car shopping.

Classroom air filters might improve test scores

A study indicates that installing air filters in classrooms improved test scores. For more, see the Vox writeup or the original paper.

Another Vox article has a good collection of info about how poor air quality affects cognitive ability.

Five years ago a friend posted a link to Wikipedia’s list of cognitive biases with this message, “Note to self: review this at least once a year.” And it really stuck with me. I think about it a lot. It’s a fantastic list. It’s challenging and beneficial to try to recognize and account for your own biases.