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 Life comes at you fast. Most of it is just smoke and mirrors. We're here to clear the air. Whether

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 it's the can't make this up moments or the hard truths hitting our streets in our state,

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 we're finding the signal in all that noise. No spin, no nonsense, just the facts, the fallout,

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 and the rain, and the rain.

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 Tiff, and the rain.

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 We received our 2026 notice of assessment for property tax. And property tax is one of those

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 hot button issues for a lot of folks. You can go back about two years now, somewhere between two and

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 three years. I have to go back and three years, and three years. I have to go back and look through the archives. I have to go back and look through the archives. And let me tell you, there were a lot of pissed off people. For starters, the county had not performed a reassessment in something like

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 20 years. And I had to go back, and I have to go back. I have to go back. And I had to go back. And I have to go back. And I have to go back. And I have to go back. And I have to go back and look through the far. And I have to go back and look through the whole.

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 the books for the properties here in Tiff County no longer matched, I guess, the national

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 average or the state average or something like that, because this is a state mandated

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 thing.

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 So let's say it's the state average.

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 And so Tiff County hired this third party company to essentially go around and reassess

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 all the properties.

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 And unfortunately, it seemed like if they could not do a thorough assessment, they made

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 some assumptions.

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 And you know what they say about assuming and they would go by some norms like the type

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 of roof that the house had and windows and various other little factors.

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 I think they even may have used drones a little bit because if they couldn't gain access to

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 the property, then that's what they did.

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 And there were some people out there that their property values doubled and tripled.

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 And they could have had a lot of people out there.

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 And they could have had a lot of people out there.

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 and they could have had a lot of people out there.

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 And so it caused so much heartache, heartburn and consternation that the appeal process took

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 so damn long that instead of the property taxes being paid, I think, by November, they were

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 postponed until like January, February of the following year.

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 And the reason why I'm saying all of that is because we recently received our 2026 notice

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 of assessment, received it a few days ago.

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 And there's already chatter on the socials about how property taxes have gone up or the assessment,

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 the fair market value, I should say, has already gone up anywhere from 10 to $100,000, depending.

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 Ours personally went up about $12,000.

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 But what I did not know, and I had to go searching for this, normally the assessments, as I've already

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 pointed out, will have a breakdown of what your potential property tax bill will look like with

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 a dollar figure because they base it on the current millage rates, which is the reason why at the

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 very top of the assessments, it always said, this is not a bill because that's not your final.

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 You know, the city and the county and the school board can all, and they have some regulatory

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 requirements, too, of where they can't do certain things, like they can't decide to raise the

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 millage rate over a certain percentage or something like that without calling for three public hearings

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 on the matter.

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 And I got to say, the city has been pretty good at trying to say, okay, well, you know, we don't

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 want to kill people with the property tax increases.

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 So they try to adjust the millage rates, they try to adjust their budgets, you know, whatever.

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 This bill, this time around, though, didn't have any of that.

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 No dollar figure, no listing of the current millage rate for the city, the county, or the

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 Board of Education.

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 And I was like, what, what's going on here?

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 So I went looking it up, looking, looking for it.

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 And here's, here's what I found.

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 And I knew that there's some laws had been passed, but here's, here's the reason your 2026

52
00:07:06,620 --> 00:07:10,340
 Tiff County Notice of Assessment does not include an estimated property tax.

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 It's due to updates in Georgia law, which is tied to state legislation, such as the property

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 tax reform under HB 581.

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 Previously, assessment notices were required to estimate potential property taxes, as we said.

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 But this always caused widespread confusion because the county millage rates are not set until

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 later in the year.

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 The final rates set by Tiff County Board of Commissioners, the Tiff City Council, and the

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 Tiff County Board of Education are not voted on until late summer or fall.

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 The estimated tax on earlier notices frequently differed from the actual bill.

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 So people would get that assessment clearly stating at the top that it's not a bill, but

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 it was an estimate of what your property taxes could look like if they maintain the status quo

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 on the millage rate, which was always a possibility.

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 So now the county is prioritizing giving you your property's current fair market value and

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 your applied homestead exemption on the notice.

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 The math part, you're not going to see that until you get the actual official tax bill.

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 I'm going to presume sometime in August, September, somewhere in there.

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 I'm not really sure.

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 So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.

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 If you're confused about why the assessment, we've got two things here.

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 We've got the issue of people being pissed off again because they haven't done a damn thing

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 to their home.

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 They haven't done any improvements whatsoever on their home, but yet their fair market value

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 seems to have gone up anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000.

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 And I say $100,000 because I've literally, my wife was reading through some of the rant and

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 raves and some other Facebook groups for Tiff and Tiff County.

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 And there's a bunch of pissed off people about this.

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 I mean, think about it.

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 This is something that you can't control.

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 And there's also been, because you're supposed to be able to appeal, which the appeal is kind

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 of funny now because, I mean, I guess the appeal has always been about you overestimated the,

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 you know, what my properties were, that kind of thing.

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 And so let's see, I'm going to pull up mine right here.

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 Date notice was mailed was June 12th, 2026.

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 You have until July 27th of this year to appeal.

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 It says appeals, Homestead applications or other specialized assessment applications must

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 be filed within 45 days from the date notice mailed.

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 That the, the, the, uh, yeah.

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 From the date notice mailed.

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 Now that's, they mean the headline, but there have been some complaints and some accusations

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 that they can't appeal.

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 Now I have not verified this information.

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 I'm getting this information second and third hand.

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 So take it with a grain of salt.

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 But there are some complaints that people are, are having that they can't even file their appeal

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 until after the deadline.

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 I don't understand that.

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 I don't know what information they've been given.

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 All I can say is that they're, they're complaining about it on the socials.

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 So if you had any questions about why the assessment looks a little different this time around, that's why.

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 They're no longer putting the estimated property tax on it due to changes in Georgia's law about property taxes.

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 There's also potentially coming up in the November elections that something could be on the ballot about allowing counties, municipalities, whatever, to add an additional sales tax, increase the sales tax so that it could offset the revenue that they would get from property taxes if they either reduced or completely outright abolished it.

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 Now, the thing that's interesting about that possibility here in Tiff County, we've already covered, I think it was last week, that they did a study that Tifton and Tiff County's sales tax revenue, over half of it comes from people who don't even live in the county or the city.

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 So in a strange way, if something like this were to come to pass, they could do the math, they could add another percent onto the sales tax.

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 So currently our sales tax is 8%, so they could, they could change it to 9%.

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 And essentially people who don't even live in Tiff County or the city of Tifton could be footing the bill for what would replace the property tax income.

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 And I think that'd be a win-win for Tiff County, the citizens of Tiff County and the city of Tifton.

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 I don't have a problem with that because Tiffton is kind of this nexus, you know, of I-75, Highway 82, 319, all of that.

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 We're in the direct path of the hurricane escape route.

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 Anytime Florida decides to get kicked in the nuts from a hurricane or a massive tropical storm, people head north.

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 They have a tendency to land here in all of the hotels and motels that we have here in Tiff County in the city of Tifton.

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 Not to mention you can fill up like gangbusters because we got more gas stations than we can shake a stick at.

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 So if they can do that, I have no problem with that.

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 If we could abolish property tax here in Tiff County and supplement it with an increase in the sales tax, yeah, we're going to pay a little bit more.

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 But that's a consumption tax and it offsets the cost from our property tax.

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 It offsets that revenue, I should say, that the county and the city would get from our property tax to over half of the people footing the bill don't even live in the county or the city.

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 I don't know.

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 Let me know your thoughts.

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 229-520-5957.

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 Again, the phone lines are open.

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 229-520-5957.

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 Shoot a text at that same number, 24-7, or shoot us an email, morningdrip at wrto.fm.

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 We're going to take a short break.

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 We'll be back and talk soon.

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 Your coffee is weak.

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 Your commute is long.

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00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:24,960
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 Join the revolution of the caffeine addicted.

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00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,300
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00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:30,960
 Every morning on wrto.fm.

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 It's not just a show.

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 It's your daily jolt of reality.

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00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:44,080
 Hey, everybody.

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 Welcome back to The Morning Drip.

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 It is The Morning Drip for Thursday, the 18th of June.

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 Getting ready to get into the weekend.

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 Looks like it's going to be another wet weekend.

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 I put off cutting my lawn last week.

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 Looks like I'm not going to be able to do it this week either.

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 Of course, Father's Day is coming up, I think, this Sunday, right?

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 So, all you fathers out there, hope you have a wonderful, wonderful Sunday.

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 I am a father of three.

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 My youngest is 29.

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00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:18,880
 Yeah.

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 All right.

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00:15:30,900 --> 00:15:36,480
 So, yesterday being Wednesday, today being Thursday, that's how calendars work, right?

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 Governor Kemp had called a special session of the state's congressional, of the House,

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 the government.

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 Boy, words.

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 I speak good English.

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 And basically, he did this so that they could start looking at the redistricting, which is

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 what every other boneheaded red state is doing.

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 And of course, before you jump and go, well, Democratic states are doing it too.

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 Yeah, as I pointed out before, the only reason why the Democratic states started doing it is

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 because the red states started doing it.

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 I don't agree with any of them doing it.

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 You're only supposed to do it after the census has been taken.

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 The next census is in 2030, but we're doing mid-census redistricting only because of one man.

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00:16:28,180 --> 00:16:31,840
 But the Georgia Republican leaders said, uh-uh.

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 Now, it's not that it's still not a good look for them because of the reasons why they did it.

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00:16:37,980 --> 00:16:38,640
 All right.

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00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,800
 You might look at this and go, oh, they've actually got a backbone.

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 They've actually got some balls.

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00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,180
 No, not really.

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00:16:46,180 --> 00:16:51,500
 But they unexpectedly postponed plans to redraw the state's congressional districts,

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 which shelved a controversial redistricting effort just hours before a special legislative session was set to begin.

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00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:04,800
 Again, Governor Brian Kemp had called the session to address redistricting following recent court rulings

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00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,720
 that weakened parts of the Voting Rights Act, the VRA,

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00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:14,200
 which created an opportunity for states to reconsider district boundaries ahead of the 2028 elections.

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00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,400
 In other words, it allowed them to be racist.

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00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:26,420
 You can challenge me on that, but anybody with half a brain can look at the districts that get wiped out in the red states

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00:17:26,420 --> 00:17:32,180
 whenever they implement this type of nonsense or minority districts.

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00:17:32,180 --> 00:17:33,120
 I'm just saying.

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00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:38,420
 The decision came after growing concern within Republican ranks that moving forward now,

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 and here it comes, could create political backlash during a critical election cycle.

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00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:50,880
 They didn't postpone it or stop it because it was the right thing to do.

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00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:57,560
 They looked at it and went, you know, if we do this, we might be shooting ourselves in the foot come November.

202
00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,580
 Maybe we shouldn't do this right now.

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00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:07,380
 Several statewide races, including the governor's race between Republican nominee Rick Jackson

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00:18:07,380 --> 00:18:12,740
 and Democratic Keisha Lance Bottoms, who I've deemed KLB,

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00:18:12,740 --> 00:18:17,860
 as well as the U.S. Senate race involving John Ossoff, those are on the ballot this year.

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00:18:17,860 --> 00:18:24,440
 And some Republican lawmakers reportedly worried that redistricting could energize Democratic voters

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 and become a major campaign issue.

208
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:29,180
 You know what Democratic voters need to do regardless?

209
00:18:29,180 --> 00:18:31,340
 We all need to be energized.

210
00:18:31,340 --> 00:18:33,240
 We need to be energized.

211
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:40,240
 We don't need to get necessarily pissed off when something like this happens.

212
00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,500
 We need to be energized all the time.

213
00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:46,220
 But that's the reason why I said they weren't being magnanimous.

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00:18:46,220 --> 00:18:50,940
 They looked at it and went, pardon my French, this could fuck us in November.

215
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:57,600
 Hopefully, every red state that decided to do this boneheaded maneuver will get fucked in November

216
00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,660
 when it comes to the Republicans, because this should have never happened.

217
00:19:01,660 --> 00:19:06,480
 Again, I'm not saying that it's okay for the Democrats to do it.

218
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,540
 The only reason why the Democrats did it was to counter the Republicans.

219
00:19:10,540 --> 00:19:12,700
 Neither party should have done this.

220
00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:17,300
 You are gerrymandering your state out the wazoo.

221
00:19:17,300 --> 00:19:20,960
 Gerrymandering should not be legal at all.

222
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,380
 Which I don't think technically it is, but we get around it, you know.

223
00:19:25,380 --> 00:19:30,880
 State House Speaker John Burns said changes to district boundaries deserve a deliberate

224
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,640
 and fact-driven process rather than a rushed effort.

225
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:43,180
 That is probably the most succinct and positive statement that has come out of the Republicans about this.

226
00:19:43,180 --> 00:19:47,080
 Senate President Larry Walker III added that Republican leaders want to watch how

227
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,920
 legal challenges to redistricting efforts in other states play out before proceeding.

228
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,660
 See, he just laid out his cards.

229
00:19:54,660 --> 00:20:00,500
 He's basically like, we don't want to start all this effort and then discover that the courts are going to knock us down.

230
00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:03,860
 We're going to wait and see how it plays out in these other states.

231
00:20:03,860 --> 00:20:08,460
 And then if we get the green light, then we're going to fuck everybody in Georgia.

232
00:20:08,460 --> 00:20:09,440
 Don't trust them.

233
00:20:10,220 --> 00:20:11,900
 Again, they're not being magnanimous.

234
00:20:11,900 --> 00:20:14,560
 They're not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

235
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:19,940
 They're doing it as a protective measure because they're afraid of losing their asses in November.

236
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:28,380
 And rightfully so, because a large percentage of the citizens in the United States, not just here in Georgia,

237
00:20:28,380 --> 00:20:34,840
 but across this great nation of ours, are fed the fuck up with this current administration

238
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:40,280
 and all the bullshit that has occurred since Trump took office again.

239
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:41,840
 We're tired of it.

240
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,640
 We were promised no more wars.

241
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,260
 Look at Iran.

242
00:20:45,420 --> 00:20:47,560
 We were promised the Epstein files.

243
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,740
 Everything would be blown open and exposed.

244
00:20:49,740 --> 00:20:51,940
 Look at how that turned out.

245
00:20:51,940 --> 00:20:55,080
 We were promised that current wars would be ended.

246
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:56,620
 Didn't happen.

247
00:20:56,620 --> 00:21:02,020
 We were promised the hottest economy, more money in our pockets.

248
00:21:02,020 --> 00:21:08,300
 The only people that are getting rich, or I should say richer, are the uber wealthy people

249
00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:11,100
 that can play the shit out of the stock market right now.

250
00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:14,560
 And I have said it before and I will say it again.

251
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,560
 The stock market is not the damn economy, folks.

252
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:26,120
 The economy is what your lower income to middle income, middle class, which is disappearing, folks,

253
00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:27,940
 their spending power.

254
00:21:27,940 --> 00:21:29,440
 That's the economy.

255
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,200
 That is the true economy of the United States.

256
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:39,300
 And when those demographics are having trouble making ends meet because prices have escalated,

257
00:21:39,420 --> 00:21:45,380
 as Trump would say, like never seen before, that's the economy that we're living with.

258
00:21:45,380 --> 00:21:48,160
 That's the economy that we're going to vote.

259
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,560
 That is the kitchen table issue right there.

260
00:21:52,100 --> 00:21:58,360
 When we go to the polls in November, it is incumbent upon all of us, whether you're a Democrat,

261
00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:05,060
 an Independent, or a Republican, to vote for people that are going to represent you and try

262
00:22:05,060 --> 00:22:11,120
 to get this great nation of ours back on track, especially when it comes to the economy.

263
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,100
 Most of us don't give a shit about immigration.

264
00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:17,140
 I can tell you, we need immigration reform.

265
00:22:17,140 --> 00:22:19,580
 We've needed immigration reform for 50 damn years.

266
00:22:19,580 --> 00:22:20,640
 We do need it.

267
00:22:20,740 --> 00:22:23,000
 The Democrats have failed.

268
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,460
 The Republicans, look at what they're doing.

269
00:22:25,460 --> 00:22:28,760
 You might as well just think you're living in 1930s Germany.

270
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:35,900
 The economy is the biggest issue I see that most people in America that aren't uber wealthy,

271
00:22:35,900 --> 00:22:42,300
 that aren't named Elon Musk, that aren't named Jeff Bezos, that aren't named Donald Trump

272
00:22:42,300 --> 00:22:44,400
 or the entire Trump family.

273
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,740
 The economy is what we care about.

274
00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:51,100
 Those other rich fuckers, they don't pay attention to when gas is over $4 a gallon.

275
00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:51,860
 They don't care.

276
00:22:51,860 --> 00:22:52,940
 They don't have to care.

277
00:22:52,940 --> 00:22:56,700
 They make that in a nanosecond every single day.

278
00:22:56,700 --> 00:23:02,420
 So they have a, you know, again, this did not come from the kindness of their hearts.

279
00:23:02,420 --> 00:23:09,760
 They realized that if they did pursue this, that they would definitely get screwed in November.

280
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,400
 And there's still a high probability that they're going to lose their asses anyway.

281
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,320
 And I hope they do, quite honestly.

282
00:23:16,580 --> 00:23:17,160
 I hope they do.

283
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,600
 The other thing now that they've got to worry about, as far as the state of Georgia

284
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,680
 is concerned, is they got to figure out this thing with the QR code.

285
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:30,380
 Because as we talked about previously, effective July 1st, the state of Georgia, our current

286
00:23:30,380 --> 00:23:35,040
 voting machines, which are all electronic, the QR codes that are printed on those things cannot

287
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,320
 be used for the final tabulation and certification of the elections.

288
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,960
 But they don't have any other alternative right now.

289
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,920
 And all of the information is conflicting.

290
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,300
 You got the Secretary of State saying one thing.

291
00:23:47,300 --> 00:23:49,900
 You've got the voting board saying another.

292
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:56,560
 So they've got to come to some kind of resolution quickly because it's the 18th of June.

293
00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,180
 July 1 is fastly approaching.

294
00:24:00,180 --> 00:24:02,060
 So let me know your thoughts.

295
00:24:02,060 --> 00:24:03,200
 Phone lines are open.

296
00:24:03,300 --> 00:24:05,260
 2-2-9-5-2-0-5-9-5-7.

297
00:24:05,260 --> 00:24:07,520
 Or if you don't want to speak, hey, that's fine.

298
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:08,400
 Just send me a text.

299
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,520
 2-2-9-5-2-0-5-9-5-7.

300
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,580
 Or you can shoot us an email.

301
00:24:13,580 --> 00:24:18,240
 Email address is morningdrip at wrto.fm.

302
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,780
 We're going to take another short break, pay some bills, all that kind of good stuff.

303
00:24:22,780 --> 00:24:24,240
 And then we'll be back with you shortly.

304
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:25,880
 I asked for a car.

305
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:26,840
 I got a computer.

306
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,260
 How's that for being born under a bad sign?

307
00:24:30,260 --> 00:24:34,860
 This is wrto.fm, Radio Free Georgia.

308
00:24:34,860 --> 00:24:39,000
 Broadcasting from the Tifton Media Work Studios in Tifton, Georgia.

309
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:39,860
 Hey, good morning, everybody.

310
00:24:39,860 --> 00:24:45,640
 Welcome back to the morning drip for Thursday, June 18th, 2026.

311
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:47,220
 Little station ID there.

312
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:52,480
 Probably noticed that was Ferris Bueller from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

313
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,620
 I hope you are doing well this morning.

314
00:24:54,620 --> 00:24:58,920
 We got one more story before we get you on your way.

315
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:04,980
 So you've got very limited time if you want to call in because once the show is over, the

316
00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:12,940
 phone lines go dark, but you can still text us 24-7 at that same number, 229-5-2-0-5-9-5-7.

317
00:25:12,940 --> 00:25:17,240
 Or you can shoot us an email, morningdrip at wrto.fm.

318
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,520
 All right, final story of the show.

319
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,280
 I thought I'd end on a lighter note, somewhat lighter.

320
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,900
 Get off the political stuff.

321
00:25:25,900 --> 00:25:31,400
 Researchers are exploring a provocative theory.

322
00:25:31,980 --> 00:25:36,220
 Smartphones may have played a significant role in declining birth rates around the world.

323
00:25:36,220 --> 00:25:41,860
 A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that the introduction

324
00:25:41,860 --> 00:25:49,260
 of Apple's iPhone and the smartphone era that followed may have accelerated the decline in

325
00:25:49,260 --> 00:25:49,560
 U.S.

326
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,540
 fertility rates after 2007.

327
00:25:52,540 --> 00:25:58,960
 By comparing birth rates in counties with early AT&T mobile broadband coverage, the exclusive

328
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,060
 carrier for the iPhone at launch.

329
00:26:01,060 --> 00:26:01,780
 Remember that?

330
00:26:02,340 --> 00:26:06,620
 Which put a lot of us out because AT&T service in this area sucked.

331
00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:10,880
 I mean, when I got my first iPhone, it was iPhone 3GS, I believe.

332
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:19,000
 I actually, for it to work at my house, had to buy, I had to go to Albany to the AT&T store

333
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:28,500
 and buy what was known then as the Femta cell, what they eventually rebranded it as an extender.

334
00:26:28,500 --> 00:26:36,960
 But it essentially put a little mini cellular tower in your home that connected to your network

335
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:46,060
 and then converted everything over into a data connection back to AT&T's head in, if you will.

336
00:26:46,060 --> 00:26:53,460
 Nowadays, everybody's got Wi-Fi pretty much in their home and our phones support what's called Wi-Fi calling.

337
00:26:53,460 --> 00:26:58,680
 So as long as you have a, like right here where I live, even Verizon signal sucks.

338
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,060
 And I'm on Visible, which uses Verizon, but it still sucks.

339
00:27:02,060 --> 00:27:05,080
 So all my devices are on Wi-Fi calling.

340
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:11,680
 And if I go into a client where, you know, I'm on their Wi-Fi network, I still use Wi-Fi calling.

341
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:17,320
 But yeah, the original iPhone was an AT&T exclusive.

342
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,680
 Most of us forget that.

343
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,140
 Not those of us who work in the industry, in the tech industry.

344
00:27:23,140 --> 00:27:25,240
 We don't forget that, but yeah.

345
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:26,940
 Oh my God.

346
00:27:26,940 --> 00:27:31,920
 So they compared birth rates in counties with early AT&T mobile broadband coverage.

347
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,420
 Again, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone at launch.

348
00:27:34,420 --> 00:27:36,240
 To counties with less coverage.

349
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:45,900
 And the researchers estimate that smartphones may account for as much as half of the U.S. fertility decline between 07 and 2011.

350
00:27:45,900 --> 00:27:50,000
 There are several explanations that have been proposed.

351
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,640
 Smartphones and social media may have reduced face-to-face social interaction.

352
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,800
 Yeah, it's kind of hard to screw if you're not face-to-face.

353
00:27:58,460 --> 00:28:01,180
 Leading to fewer romantic and sexual encounters.

354
00:28:01,180 --> 00:28:07,620
 Easier access to online pornography may have substituted for some sexual activity.

355
00:28:07,620 --> 00:28:13,280
 While smartphones also made information about contraception and reproductive health more accessible.

356
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,280
 Potentially reducing unintended pregnancies.

357
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,120
 Which is a good thing.

358
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:20,440
 The effects appeared strongest among younger people.

359
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:27,540
 Particularly members of Generation Z, known as Zoomers, who grew up with smartphones as a constant presence.

360
00:28:27,540 --> 00:28:33,360
 There was a separate study from the University of Cincinnati that found a similar pattern across 128 countries.

361
00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:39,800
 It's linking the spread of mobile, broadband, and smartphones to falling teen birth rates worldwide.

362
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:46,240
 However, as you do, researchers caution that these studies show correlation rather than a definitive proof of causation.

363
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,300
 That's something a lot of people struggle with.

364
00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:50,600
 You can correlate something.

365
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:58,540
 It happened during, you know, this thing happened and the result was this other thing was also happening.

366
00:28:58,540 --> 00:29:00,620
 That's called correlation.

367
00:29:00,620 --> 00:29:06,020
 Causation is when the other thing happened and caused the first thing.

368
00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:11,740
 So, this shows correlation, but not hardcore proof.

369
00:29:11,740 --> 00:29:12,880
 See what I did there?

370
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:13,760
 Of causation.

371
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,420
 Economic pressures, changing social norms, delayed marriage.

372
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:25,920
 Increased educational opportunities, and broader cultural shifts all remain major contributors to declining birth rates.

373
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:34,100
 The smartphone may just be one piece of a much larger demographic puzzle, rather than the sole explanation for the global, quote, baby bust.

374
00:29:34,100 --> 00:29:39,260
 Yeah, education is also a big part of that, especially when it comes to women.

375
00:29:39,260 --> 00:29:48,980
 You can look at the statistics over the last 20 years, I believe, and you can see that more women,

376
00:29:48,980 --> 00:29:53,280
 are going to college or getting a degree than men.

377
00:29:53,900 --> 00:30:10,180
 And an educated woman is less likely to jump in the sack without proper protection because she doesn't need a baby screwing up the plans for her life.

378
00:30:11,180 --> 00:30:16,680
 Now, unless, and I'm not saying this for every educated, degreed woman.

379
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,300
 I'm not saying that that's true for all of them.

380
00:30:19,300 --> 00:30:23,640
 Some of them get the degree, but want to have it all.

381
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,160
 So, they want to have the baby.

382
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:26,560
 They want to have the career.

383
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,280
 They want to have the husband.

384
00:30:28,660 --> 00:30:31,300
 Or they could, you know, they could be gay.

385
00:30:31,300 --> 00:30:37,420
 And they wind up, you know, having another woman as a significant other.

386
00:30:37,420 --> 00:30:38,260
 I'm not judging.

387
00:30:38,260 --> 00:30:39,460
 I'm cool with that.

388
00:30:39,460 --> 00:30:43,000
 It's not, you know, there's nothing wrong with that is what I'm saying.

389
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:47,460
 Before I paint myself into a corner and people, people that know me are going,

390
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:48,320
 what do you mean?

391
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,380
 Are you, no, I don't care who you love.

392
00:30:51,380 --> 00:30:52,500
 I don't care who you marry.

393
00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:54,000
 Gay rights are human rights.

394
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,340
 All right.

395
00:30:55,340 --> 00:30:56,920
 We're all human.

396
00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:58,320
 We all love who we love.

397
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,000
 The heart wants what the heart wants.

398
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,580
 But the point that I was making was the fact that, yeah, there are some women that want it all.

399
00:31:04,660 --> 00:31:06,080
 They want the, they want the career.

400
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:07,080
 They want the family.

401
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:07,800
 Okay.

402
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:08,440
 That's fine.

403
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:15,080
 But I think, and I'm not stating this as fact, but I think if you go and look at the statistics,

404
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:22,060
 there's a higher percentage of educated women who have decided not to get married,

405
00:31:22,060 --> 00:31:26,440
 postpone getting married, and definitely postpone having children.

406
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,800
 Now, that's kind of an offshoot from the whole smartphone thing.

407
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:33,080
 But again, correlation, not causation.

408
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:33,620
 I don't know.

409
00:31:33,620 --> 00:31:34,340
 What do you think?

410
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:40,020
 We're about to end the show, so you can text me at 229-520-5957.

411
00:31:40,020 --> 00:31:49,080
 Again, that's 229-520-5957, 24-7, or you can email the show, morningdrip at wrto.fm.

412
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:57,340
 Let me know your thoughts on what do you think about the smartphone theory that has led to

413
00:31:57,340 --> 00:32:02,700
 the global baby bust redistricting here, right here in the state of Georgia.

414
00:32:02,700 --> 00:32:03,780
 What do you think about that?

415
00:32:03,780 --> 00:32:05,020
 And did you have questions?

416
00:32:05,020 --> 00:32:09,260
 If you live here in Tifton, Tiff County, did you have questions when you got that assessment

417
00:32:09,260 --> 00:32:10,380
 about your property tax?

418
00:32:10,380 --> 00:32:11,320
 Was it confusing?

419
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:12,520
 It was confusing to me.

420
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,360
 And I like to think that I'm smarter than the average bear.

421
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,760
 Maybe not the average human, but at least the average bear.

422
00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:22,880
 All right, folks, that's going to be it for me for this week.

423
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,720
 Thank you if you joined us live on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

424
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,200
 We try to start the show around 730 in the morning.

425
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,160
 It's kind of a moving target, but usually no later than 740.

426
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:38,060
 And if you didn't get an opportunity to listen to the broadcast live, don't you worry.

427
00:32:38,460 --> 00:32:43,220
 It gets converted to a podcast right at morningdrip.show.

428
00:32:43,220 --> 00:32:45,260
 Go grab it.

429
00:32:45,260 --> 00:32:47,100
 It's free for seven days.

430
00:32:47,100 --> 00:32:54,400
 And then just for a measly $7 a month, you get access to the back catalog of the morning drip.

431
00:32:54,980 --> 00:32:58,020
 And there are other shows over there, too, at tiftonmediaworks.com.

432
00:32:58,020 --> 00:33:04,260
 All right, folks, I hope you have a fantastic Thursday, Friday, Father's Day weekend.

433
00:33:04,260 --> 00:33:05,640
 Take care of yourselves.

434
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,080
 Love, kiss, and hug your loved ones.

435
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,960
 And we'll see you next Tuesday right here on the morning drip.

436
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:13,100
 Good morning, everybody.