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Trump Supporters Call For Ballot Counting To Stop in Michigan But Continue in Arizona

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  • As the race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden gets tighter in key states, Trump has urged for counting to stop.
  • In Michigan, his supporters echoed his rhetoric, protesting in Detroit for counting to stop outside of an election center. The state has already been called for Biden, whose lead gained ground as more absentee votes were counted.
  • However, in Maricopa County, Arizona, Trump is inching in on Biden’s lead. There, Trump’s supporters departed from his messaging and protested for every vote to be counted, hopeful that their candidate could pull out a win.

Stop the Count Protest in Michigan

Two days after Election Day, the race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is getting tighter. Trump’s supporters are calling for vote counting to either stop or continue, depending on how their favored candidate is doing in that state. 

Michigan has been called for Biden, who is leading the sitting president. His lead grew as more mail-in ballots were counted.

After seeing this, on Wednesday, Trump’s supporters went to the TCF Center in Detroit to call for counting to stop. Local reporters captured video of them chanting outside and even trying to get into the building. Security stopped them at the door and asked them to spread out for health reasons. 

All the ballots being counted are valid ballots and any decision to not count them would be both unprecedented and undemocratic.

That same day, the city of Detroit was met with another set of protesters, with this batch calling for every vote to be counted. Protests calling for every vote to be counted also happened in major cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Portland, and New York. 

Protests in Maricopa County

The most notable gathering calling for this, however, was in Maricopa County in Arizona. There, Trump supporters rallied for the votes to be counted as the president began to inch in on Biden’s lead in the state. 

Fox News and the Associated Press have both already called the state for Biden, but a significant amount of votes still remain untallied in Maricopa County, which holds a huge chunk of Arizona’s population. As Biden’s lead shrinks, Trump supporters began chanting for the votes to be counted, hopeful that the president would edge him over. 

This is a change of pace for Trump and his following, as the president has repeatedly called for votes to stop being counted, has asked for a recount in Wisconsin, and is threatening legal action in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. But, where it could aid his election, his supporters are departing from his rhetoric in hopes of a victory in Arizona. 

No arrests were made and reports indicate the demonstrations were largely peaceful. Some of the protesters did carry guns though, and election workers were escorted to their cars to ensure their safety. 

One of the most shocking moments of the protest came when demonstrators chanted things like “Fox News sucks” and “shame on Fox.” Fox News is usually the most Trump-friendly news source, but the group was quick to turn on the conservative network for calling the race in Biden’s favor so early. 

Why Mail-in Votes Lean Blue

Part of the reason races in battleground states are so close and subject to change has to do with mail-in voting and the way these votes are counted.

Some states, like Pennsylvania, could not start counting those votes until polls closed on Election Day. Across the country, states were seeing more mail-in ballots than ever before because of the pandemic, with many election officials warning it will take a while to count all of them. Many of these mail-in votes lean in favor of Democrats.

While Trump and others on the right would like to paint that as a suspicious image, the fact that these ballots favor Democrats is a mess of Trump’s own making. The president has spent a large part of the year making repeated unfounded claims about absentee voting. He has urged against it, saying it is unreliable and could lead to mass voter fraud, despite there being no evidence to support this.

He has also played down the pandemic, urging people to continue on with their normal lives. Because of this, his supporters were much more likely to vote in person instead of by mail, while Democrats were more likely to send their ballots via post. This has lead to Biden taking strong leads in absentee ballots in key states.

This has long been expected, and Trump’s efforts to make this look suspect contradict the warnings election experts have been giving since the summer. Many have been trying to prepare Americans for the fact that mail-in votes will take a while to count, and that they will likely turn states blue as they trickle in.

See what others are saying: (New York Times) (Detroit Free Press) (NBC News)

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White Supremacist Propaganda Reached Record High in 2022, ADL Finds

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 “We cannot sit idly by as these extremists pollute our communities with their hateful trash,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.


White supremacist propaganda in the U.S. reached record levels in 2022, according to a report published Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center of Extremism.

The ADL found over 6,700 cases of white supremacist propaganda in 2022, which marks a 38% jump from the nearly 4,900 cases the group found in 2021. It also represents the highest number of incidents ever recorded by the ADL. 

The propaganda tallied by the anti-hate organization includes the distribution of racist, antisemitic, and homophobic flyers, banners, graffiti, and more. This propaganda has spread substantially since 2018, when the ADL found just over 1,200 incidents. 

“There’s no question that white supremacists and antisemites are trying to terrorize and harass Americans with their propaganda,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “We cannot sit idly by as these extremists pollute our communities with their hateful trash.” 

The report found that there were at least 50 white supremacist groups behind the spread of propaganda in 2022, but 93% of it came from just three groups. One of those groups was also responsible for 43% of the white supremacist events that took place last year. 

White supremacist events saw a startling uptick of their own, with the ADL documenting at least 167, a 55% jump from 2021. 

Propaganda was found in every U.S. state except for Hawaii, and events were documented in 33 states, most heavily in Massachusetts, California, Ohio, and Florida.

“The sheer volume of white supremacist propaganda distributions we are documenting around the country is alarming and dangerous,” Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL’s Center on Extremism said in a statement. “Hardly a day goes by without communities being targeted by these coordinated, hateful actions, which are designed to sow anxiety and create fear.”

“We need a whole-of-society approach to combat this activity, including elected officials, community leaders, and people of good faith coming together and condemning this activity forcefully,” Segal continued. 

See what others are saying: (Axios) (The Hill) (The New York Times)

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Adidas Financial Woes Continue, Company on Track for First Annual Loss in Decades

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Adidas has labeled 2023 a “transition year” for the company. 


Yeezy Surplus 

Adidas’ split with musician Kanye West has left the company with financial problems due to surplus Yeezy products, putting the sportswear giant in the position to potentially suffer its first annual loss in over 30 years. 

Adidas dropped West last year after he made a series of antisemitic remarks on social media and other broadcasts. His Yeezy line was a staple for Adidas, and the surplus product is due, in part, to the brand’s own decision to continue production during the split.

According to CEO Bjorn Gulden, Adidas continued production of only the items already in the pipeline to prevent thousands of people from losing their jobs. However, that has led to the unfortunate overabundance of Yeezy sneakers and clothes. 

On Wednesday, Gulden said that selling the shoes and donating the proceeds makes more sense than giving them away due to the Yeezy resale market — which has reportedly shot up 30% since October.

“If we sell it, I promise that the people who have been hurt by this will also get something good out of this,” Gulden said in a statement to the press. 

However, Gulden also said that West is entitled to a portion of the proceeds of the sale of Yeezys per his royalty agreement.

The Numbers 

Adidas announced in February that, following its divergence from West, it is facing potential sales losses totaling around $1.2 billion and profit losses of around $500 million. 

If it decides to not sell any more Yeezy products, Adidas is facing a projected annual loss of over $700 million.

Outside of West, Adidas has taken several heavy profit blows recently. Its operating profit reportedly fell by 66% last year, a total of more than $700 million. It also pulled out of Russia after the country’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which cost Adidas nearly $60 million dollars. Additionally, China’s “Zero Covid” lockdowns last year caused in part a 36% drop in revenue for Adidas compared to years prior.

As a step towards a solution, Gulden announced that the company is slashing its dividends from 3.30 euros to 0.70 euro cents per share pending shareholder approval. 

Adidas has labeled 2023 a “transition year” for the company. 

“Adidas has all the ingredients to be successful. But we need to put our focus back on our core: product, consumers, retail partners, and athletes,” Gulden said. “I am convinced that over time we will make Adidas shine again. But we need some time.”

See what others are saying: (The Washington Post) (The New York Times) (CNN)

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Immigration Could Be A Solution to Nursing Home Labor Shortages

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98% of nursing homes in the United States are experiencing difficulty hiring staff. 


The Labor Crisis 

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research paper has offered up a solution to the nursing home labor shortage: immigration. 

According to a 2022 American Health Care Association survey, six in ten nursing homes are limiting new patients due to staffing issues. The survey also says that 87% of nursing homes have staffing shortages and 98% are experiencing difficulty hiring. 

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) outlined in their paper that increased immigration could help solve the labor shortage in nursing homes. Immigrants make up 19% of nursing home workers.

With every 10% increase in female immigration, nursing assistant hours go up by 0.7% and registered nursing hours go up by 1.1% And with that same immigration increase, short-term hospitalizations of nursing home residents go down by 0.6%.

The Solution 

Additionally, the State Department issued 145% more EB-3 documents, which are employment-based visas, for healthcare workers in the 2022 fiscal year than in 2019, suggesting that more people are coming to the U.S. to work in health care. 

However, according to Skilled Nursing News, in August of 2022, the approval process from beginning to end for an RN can take between seven to nine months. 

Displeasure about immigration has exploded since Pres. Joe Biden took office in 2021. According to a Gallup study published in February, around 40% of American adults want to see immigration decrease. That is a steep jump from 19% in 2021, and it is the highest the figure has been since 2016.

However, more than half of Democrats still are satisfied with immigration and want to see it increased. But with a divided Congress, the likelihood of any substantial immigration change happening is pretty slim. 

See what others are saying: (Axios) (KHN) (Skilled Nursing News)

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