Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has been declared the president-elect, but incumbent president Donald Trump is refusing to concede defeat, alleging “widespread voter fraud” fuelled by Democrats in a conspiracy to “steal” the election is behind the result of the presidential race. Instead, he’s filing lawsuits left and right, pressuring officials to back his baseless claims and using the power of government to block the transition of power from commencing.
What many political scientists and media observers deem to be a perilous attempt to overrule the will of the people and undermine democracy, the Trump administration sees otherwise: as a noble and justified fight for the rights of all American citizens to a free and fair democratic election process.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnamy declared in a press conference Monday, while aligning the Trump administration’s fight against the results of the 2020 US Elections with championing the rights of all Americans “who want to have faith and confidence” in the electoral process, “This election is not over – far from it.”
In the immediate aftermath of election day, as Biden began steadily gaining significant ground on Trump in key states and moving ever closer to the requisite 270 electoral college votes needed to win the election, the White House responded with an all-caps statement that claimed “illegal votes” were being counted to steal the election from the Trump administration.
“IF YOU COUNT THE LEGAL VOTES, I EASILY WIN THE ELECTION! IF YOU COUNT THE ILLEGAL AND LATE VOTES, THEY CAN STEAL THE ELECTION FROM US!” said the White House statement.
ADVERTISEMENT
Although there’s scant evidence of any vote tampering, the Trump administration has issued a flurry of litigation Michigan, Wisconsin. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada to back up the unsubstantiated allegations.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued his support of Trump’s legal challenges in the wake of his defeat to president-elect Joe Biden, declaring Monday that Trump is “100 percent within his right” to pursue recounts and litigation.
ADVERTISEMENT
US attorney general William Barr has authorised federal prosecutors to probe the “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities in the presidential election across the U.S. to determine one way or another if they do in fact exist, before the 2020 presidential election is officially certified.
Biden, when pressed for his thoughts on the Trump administrations stalling tactics on Monday, said “”I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly.” Adding tactfully that “I think it will not help the President’s legacy.”
According to SBR, president-elect Biden, who was the favourite to win the 2020 US Elections according to the odds and numerous respected polls, is on course to acquiring 306 electoral college votes and over 5 million votes more than Trump in the popular vote. The latter of which is being projected at 80 million votes approximately – by far the most votes of any presidential hopeful in American political history.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, Trump too is on course to amassing a historic number of votes – the second-most votes in American political history at above 72 million by recent count. By these numbers, Trump has not only already surpassed the number of votes that won him the 2016 election, but he’s also surpassed the number of votes that won Hillary Clinton the popular vote count in that election.
Therefore, while Biden’s victory may have been correctly predicted, the sheer record number of votes that both candidates received in the 2020 US elections is the big reveal – one that nobody predicted. In fact, quite the opposite was expected: from a humiliating defeat that would serve as a repudiation of Trump and his brand of politics to an unambiguous referendum on the Trump administration for its perceived failings, in particular this year in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic.
If presidential elections are revealing occasions that convey the will of the people, then the 2020 US Elections revealed a nation that is, at the very least, of two minds. So, while America-wide consensus has Biden the winner of the 2020 US Elections – his margin of victory is that great, meaning any challenge by Trump or vote recount would be a moot point – his victory earns him a deeply divided country that will put his campaign slogan “to heal the soul of America” well and truly to the test.
News
Yorkshire Tea is Manchester’s ‘favourite’ brand of teabags, according to new data
Danny Jones
The Great British debate of which teabag is best is one that will rage on for millennia, that’s just the way it is, but according to new data, it sounds like we might at least have an answer to which brand makes for Manchester’s favourite brew.
It won’t be a surprise to many of you and we can certainly confirm it on our end but the one and only Yorkshire Tea looks to have taken the cuppa crown when it comes not only to Manchester’s preferred teabag but seemingly the best-loved in Britain as a whole.
This is according to numbers pulled by local firm, TonerGiant. The Atherton-based ink and toner suppliers decided a poll around the office wasn’t enough and instead chose to turn their knowledge of the market and consumer trends into a bit of online research.
At the end of the day, tea is has got to be the most important of all the office supplies, surely?
According to the stats, Yokrshire Tea is Manchester’s favourite brand of tea bags. (Credit: Yorkshire Tea)
Using data from trusted online source Statista, which nailed down the top 25 teabag brands in the UK, each make was then ranked in relation to its average monthly searches via Google Keyword Planner to reveal that Yorkshire Tea was clearly the top dog.
With roughly 390 searches per month in Manchester alone, compared to PG Tips as the next best (260), it seems us Mancs have to concede at least one thing to our fellow Northern county: Yorkshire makes a bloody good brew.
The Roses rivalry raged for centuries but if there’s one thing that brings us together, it’s a good cuppa.
In terms of other tea brands that came in high on the leaderboard, Pukka Tea (170), Twinings (140)and Teapigs (90) made up the rest of the top five most-searched tea brands in Greater Manchester. It’s also interesting to see how those figures looked when extrapolated nationwide. Here’s the full ranking:
Rank
Tea
Average UK monthly searches
1
Yorkshire Tea
27,100
2
PG Tips
18,100
3
Pukka Tea
14,800
4
Twinings
12,100
5
Teapigs
8,100
6
Whittards Tea
6,600
7
Tetley
4,400
8
Clipper Tea
4,400
9
Lipton Tea
3,600
10
Barrys Tea
3,600
11
Thompsons Tea
1,300
12
Typhoo
1,300
13
Taylors Tea
1,300
14
M&S Tea
1,300
15
Tesco Tea
1,000
16
Tick Tock Tea
880
17
Sainsbury’s Tea
720
18
Lyons Tea
720
19
Asda Tea
590
20
Aldi Tea
590
21
Waitrose Tea
590
22
Lidl Tea
480
23
Morrisons Tea
320
24
Bewleys Tea
90
25
Cafedirect Tea
40
Few of these on here we’ve never heard of. Taste test, anyone?
While Yorkshire Tea was found to be Manchester’s and the nation’s favourite, Belfast was the only UK city where Yorkshire Tea didn’t take the top spot. Instead, it was Irish-owned Barry’s Tea that came out as their favourite – we definitely need to hold a ‘brew-off’ between the two. The Hoot, you up for it?
As for supermarket’s own-brand offerings, out of the eight options on the list, Marks and Spencers teabags were found to be the most popular, closely followed by Tesco and then Sainsbury’s.
Commenting on the findings, TonerGiant’s Stuart Deavall said: “With so many office workers opting for tea to get through the day, it’s no surprise that the UK has a day dedicated to the drink.
“In light of National Tea Day on Sunday, 21 April, our new data shows that Yorkshire Tea is the nation’s favourite, with over 27,000 Brits searching every month… We can expect many Brits to be celebrating in style this Sunday, no doubt with a mug of Yorkshire tea in hand”. Speaking of, anyone fancy a brew?…
Featured Images — Yorkshire Tea/Rumman Amin (via Unsplash)
News
Manchester palaeontologist unearths bones of what may be the largest known marine reptile
Emily Sergeant
A Manchester-based palaeontologist has unearthed the bones of what may be the largest known marine reptile.
This new identification is a crucial part of a fascinating eight-year long discovery journey.
It all started when a seasoned fossil collector named Paul de la Salle found a giant jawbone on Lilstock Beach, near Bridgewater in Somerset, back in May 2016, and then father and daughter, Justin and Ruby Reynolds from Devon, found the first pieces of a second jawbone and another giant bone while searching for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor, also in Somerset, in May 2020.
And now, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester (UoM) Dr Dean Lomax, has identified the fossilised remains of the second gigantic jawbone that measures more than two metres long.
Experts have identified these bones as belonging to the jaws of a new species of enormous ichthyosaur – which is a type of prehistoric marine reptile – and astonishing estimations suggest the oceanic titan would have been more than 25-metres long.
Dr Lomax has been working together with Justin and Ruby Reynolds, along with Paul de la Salle and several family members, since the father-daughter duo first contacted them about their groundbreaking discovery in 2020.
A Manchester palaeontologist has unearthed bones of what may be the largest known marine reptile / Credit: UoM
“I was amazed by Justin and Ruby’s find,” Dr Lomax commented.
“In 2018, my team and Paul de la Salle studied and described Paul’s giant jawbone, and we had hoped that one day another would come to light.”
He explained that Justin and Ruby’s new specimen was “more complete and better preserved” than the first find, and that he “became very excited” at the chance to learn more following their discovery.
As mentioned, the Manchester-based research team, led by Dr Lomax, revealed that the jaw bones belong to a new species of giant ichthyosaur that would’ve been about the size of a blue whale, and they have called the new genus and species Ichthyotitan severnensis – which means ‘giant fish lizard of the Severn’.
The bones – which represent the very last of their kind – are around 202 million years old, and date back to the end of the Triassic Period in a time known as the Rhaetian.
During this time, the gigantic ichthyosaurs swam the seas while the dinosaurs walked on land.
The University of Manchester, where Dr Dean Lomax works as a palaeontologist / Credit: UoM
Ichthyotitan is not the world’s first giant ichthyosaur, but the discoveries by Paul, and Justin and Ruby, are said to be “unique among those known to science”, as they appear roughly 13 million years after their latest geologic relatives – including Shonisaurus sikanniensis from British Columbia in Canada, and Himalayasaurus tibetensis from Tibet in China.
Speaking on the confirmation of the bones’ identification this week, Dr Lomax said: “This research has been ongoing for almost eight years.
“It is quite remarkable to think that gigantic, blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs were swimming in the oceans around what was the UK during the Triassic Period.
The Manc -
20th November 2020 
