Why you shouldn’t expect decisive election results tonight – National & International News – TUE 8Nov2022

Why you shouldn’t expect decisive election results tonight. National Park Service asks visitors to please stop licking their toads. Far-right Italian government turns away migrants rescued at sea.

NATIONAL NEWS

Why you shouldn’t expect decisive election results tonight

Even though the last of the nation’s polling places will close in a few hours, the public probably shouldn’t expect any decisive results by tonight. It’s highly unlikely we’ll even know by tonight which parties control each chamber of Congress. Election experts say we may be facing at least a week of uncertainty. 

As election day has approached, races in key swing states have tightened up considerably. This includes two of the most-watched Senate races in the country, Fetterman v. Oz in Pennsylvania, and Warnock v. Walker in Georgia. That means that in some of these states, the results may come down to counts in early and mail-in ballots. These take time to process and state laws in some swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin prohibit any processing of early or mail-in ballots before election day. With 1.4 million mail-in ballots requested in Pennsylvania alone, that will mean many hours of work for poll workers that could go on for several days beyond election day.

Another factor that is likely to delay results is litigation. As of Nov. 3, 120 court cases had been filed concerning elections. Over half of these cases seek to restrict access to the ballot in some way. Even as poll workers work to process the early and mail-in ballots, a judge somewhere will be hearing arguments as to whether or not those ballots are valid. While the ballot counting could take days, court cases could potentially stretch into weeks. Of course, the bulk of these cases concern voting in battleground states, meaning the courts could have the last say in who gets control of Congress. 

National Park Service asks visitors to please stop licking their toads

The National Park Service Facebook page cautioned visitors against licking or handling a type of toad known for secreting a powerful psychedelic toxin. The Sonoran desert toad, a.k.a the Colorado River toad (Bufo alvarius), is one of the largest North American toads, measuring about 7 inches. They can be found in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. Instead of ribbit-ing, the toads emit a “weak, low-pitched toot, lasting less than a second”. 

When stressed or threatened, Sonoran desert toad secretes 5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic compound that is four to six times stronger than the related compound DMT, or dimethyltryptamine. However, a Sonoran desert toad’s secretions are also toxic enough to kill an adult dog.

With its characteristic humor, the NPS’ Facebook page reminds visitors, “As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana slug, unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glowing eyes in the dead of night, please refrain from licking. Thank you. Toot!”

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If you’re looking for some light-hearted and uplifting content while waiting for the election results, I highly recommend following the National Park Service on Facebook.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Far-right Italian government turns away migrants rescued at sea

For over a decade, Italy has seen a huge influx of migrants arriving by sea. The migrants include men, women and children from all over North and Central Africa, the Middle East and as far away as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Libya’s coast has become a popular departure point for the migrants attempting to reach Europe. Most often, they are sailing for Lampedousa, Italy’s southernmost Mediterranean island.

Unscrupulous traffickers frequently pack dozens or hundreds of migrants into flimsy rafts, fishing boats and other unseaworthy vessels. They put out to sea on a perilous journey that has already claimed many thousands of lives since 2010. In many cases, their only hope is to be spotted and rescued by Italy’s coast guard, or by a ship operated by a volunteer rescue organization.

A far-right party called Brothers of Italy recently took power in Italy. The party is known for its veneration of Italy’s WWII-era fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Georgia Meloni, the party’s leader and Italy’s new Prime Minister, promised among other things a hardline stance against immigration. And now we’re starting to see where they are drawing the hard line.

“Selective entry”

Right now, several charity ships bearing German, French and Norwegian flags are either waiting at sea or in Italian ports. Italian authorities are applying “selective entry”, allowing only women, children, and ill people to come ashore. The government is not permitting any of the male migrants to disembark, demanding that the charity ships instead carry them to the countries whose flags they bear to apply for asylum. It’s likely that many of these men are husbands and fathers of the women and children who were allowed to disembark.

SOS Humanity, a charity who operates one of the ships held in port, has filed legal action in Italy’s own courts. The charity claims that the government’s selective entry violates both Italian and international law regarding persons rescued at sea. UN refugee agencies and European Union officials have also called for Italy to allow all the migrants to disembark and apply for asylum.

Brothers of Italy MP Lucio Malan made a statement that was as absurd as it was telling about his government’s criteria for selective entry. “Ukraine migrants are women and children,” Malan said. “African migrants are young males who shouldn’t abandon their women and children. And then they staged these organized shipwrecks as if they were victims of the Titanic”. 

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