art by Anders Nilsen
YES, you can vote early. HERE is a page that shows Pennsylvania residents the ins and outs of how to do so.
Already have your mail-in ballot, but worried about mailing it? You don’t have to mail it! You can drop off your mail-in ballot IN PERSON at a number of places spread throughout the state – with many locations here in Allegheny County. There's a list HERE (just scroll down a bit, and click on “Expand All”, then, if you live in the Pittsburgh area, look for Allegheny County; just keep scrolling down for other PA counties. Please be sure to note the dates and times that each location is open. Most are open only selected weekends.
UPDATE: The election is now almost upon us. Not sure how or where to vote? or whether you're registered? The International Rescue Committee has created a portal to connect you with the information you need to vote, regardless of which state you reside in, HERE.
And, Allegheny County residents, please note:
If you have a mail-in ballot, don’t wait any longer to have it returned! It may be too late for it to arrive on time through the Postal Service – but you can hand deliver to the County.
The County Office Building Lobby is at 542 Forbes Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.
They have extended hours to receive your ballots:
- Daily Hours: 8 am - 8 pm, including Saturday & Sunday
- Election Day Hours: 7 am - 8 pm
- Voters must return their own ballot & masks are required
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
UPDATE: Shop – OPEN | Site – OPEN
The shop is once again OPEN – Thursdays through Mondays, 11am - 6pm with appointments recommended.
The shop is overflowing with new arrivals, so please excuse the chaos as we work our way through them...
UPDATE: Shop – Temporarily – CLOSED | Site OPEN
PLEASE NOTE: Out of an abundance of caution the shop will be closed to walk in customers until at least next Thursday, July 23. Please check back for further updates.
We will continue to take orders over the site and employ best practices while packing.
Take care.
Status UPDATE 19 June 20: Shop OPEN! • Internet OPEN!
Yes, that's right, THE SHOP IS NOW OPEN* – with the following restrictions in place:
1) Masks are required to be worn in the shop at all times.
2) Complimentary medical gloves and hand-sanitizer are provided upon entry to the shop. One or the other is required to be employed by customers before handling any merchandise.
3) There is a limit of three customers in the shop at any one time (with the exception of a family traveling together, which may then exceed this limit). Given this limitation we are offering – and recommending (but not requiring) – appointments. We especially recommend appointments to anyone making a special trip to visit the shop.
*2 July 2020 UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE: With infection rates spiking in Allegheny County, we may close the shop with little or no advance notice. So, we recommend calling ahead before visitng the shop.
Regardless, orders may, of course, continue to be placed here at copaceticcomics.com for delivery, as well as for pick-up.
The current hours available to visit and/or make an appointment to visit the shop are:
Thursdays through Mondays
11:00am to 6:00pm
(We are currently CLOSED on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; please note.)
2 July 2020 UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE: With infection rates spiking in Allegheny County, we may close again with little to no notice.
Regardless, orders may, of course, continue to be placed here at copaceticcomics.com for delivery, as well as for pick-up.
“Racial inequity is a problem of bad policy, not bad people.”
—Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
It has been a devastating period here in the USA. On top of the unnerving daily anxieties we are all living through with the Covid-19 pandemic – which has been compounded by the failure of the federal government to treat the crisis with the attention and focus it clearly merits, leading to a chaotic, poorly coordinated response – we as a nation are once again confronting the horrific consequences of our failure to unconditionally address the gross underlying inequalities in how individuals are valued and treated as a result of perceived differences – differences that have been constructed by the dominant class with the primary purpose of maintaining power, and largely condoned by the presiding culture as a result of an unacknowledged desire to maintain privilege. These constructions of difference can – and must – be deconstructed to reveal their largely fictional, imaginary and false bases, and the debilitating effects of these hurtful constructions on those outside of the controlling group can – and must – be acknowledged. We can – and so must – do this, we can – and so must – change, as individuals and, together, as a nation.
Here is a link to the Policy Platforms of the Movement for Black Lives, to get a better idea of the work ahead.
