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October 21st, 2020

10/21/2020

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Building on diabolical strength

By MARION RENAULT • Associated Press

​Ironclad Beetle

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“Ironclad” beetle, Zopherus nodulosus haldemani Horn (Coleoptera: Zopheridae). Photo by Drees.
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JESUS RIVERA KISAILUS • Biomimetics and Nanostructured Materials Lab University of California Irvine via AP A cross-section of the medial suture shows the puzzle piece configuration key to the diabolical ironclad beetle’s durability.
It’s a beetle that can withstand bird pecks, animal stomps and even being rolled over by a Toyota Camry. Now scientists are studying what the bug’s crush-resistant shell could teach them about designing stronger planes and buildings.

“This beetle is super tough,” said Purdue University civil engineer Pablo Zavattieri.

The seemingly indestructible insect — aptly named diabolical ironclad beetle — owes its might to an unusual armor that is layered and pieced together like a jigsaw, said the study by Zavattieri and his colleagues published in Nature. And its design, they say, could help inspire more durable structures and vehicles.

The inch-long species, which can be found in Southern California’s woodlands, can withstand compression of about 39,000 times its own weight. For a 200-pound man, that would be like surviving a 7.8-million-pound crush.

Researchers then used electron microscopes and CT scans to examine the beetle’s exoskeleton. As is often the case for flightless beetles, the species’ elytra — a protective case that normally sheaths wings — had strengthened and toughened over time. Up close, scientists realized this cover also benefited from special, jigsaw-like bindings and a layered architecture.

When compressed, they found the structure fractured slowly instead of snapping all at once. “When you pull them apart,” Zavattieri said, “it doesn’t break catastrophically. It just deforms a little bit.”

Because the beetle-inspired design fractures in a gradual and predictable way, cracks could be more reliably inspected for safety, said Po-Yu Chen, an engineer at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University.

The study is part of an $8 million project funded by the U.S. Air Force to explore how the biology of creatures such as mantis shrimp and bighorn sheep could help develop impact-resistant materials. It is the latest effort to borrow from the natural world to solve human problems, said Brown University evolutionary biologist Colin Donihue. Velcro, for example, was inspired by the hook-like structure of plant burrs. Artificial adhesives took a page from super-clingy gecko feet.
​
Donihue said endless other traits found in nature could offer insight: “These are adaptations that have evolved over millennia.”
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The Club PUBlication   10/19/2020

10/19/2020

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Sustainable Safari

From petting zoos to indoor soccer, retailers search for alternatives to fill empty space amid the pandemic.

Story by NICOLE NORFLEET  
Photos by ANTHONY SOUFFLÉ  
Star Tribune staff

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Sustainable Safari night manager Sarah Overman held Hank the ferret.
The Maplewood Mall was literally a zoo.
Goats stretched their necks above their fences to steal treats as prairie dogs perched and lemurs sprung from their swings inside the mall’s Sustainable Safari.

But, the rest of the mall wasn’t nearly as lively.

Malls across the United States have scrambled to attract shoppers after the coronavirus pandemic and state restrictions shut down stores earlier this year with shopping centers, such as the Mall of America, falling behind on their mortgages and risking foreclosure. Now the country’s first indoor mall , Southdale Center, could also be in trouble.

However, as the holiday shopping season approaches, new stores have begun to open and Twin Cities malls and their tenants have gotten creative on everything from product pickups to photos with Santa Claus as they work to stir up sales and regain the business they lost.

“We have been trying different things to get people back in,” said David Harvey, president and chief executive of Sustainable Safari.

Sustainable Safari (formerly called Cock-a-Doodle Zoo) just finished a Renaissance Festival-inspired medieval fair complete with costume contests and live musicians. The indoor petting zoo plans to host a trick-or-treat event, and the owners also have an idea for a photo holiday display likely to incorporate the zoo’s furry friends.

Traffic has seen a slow-but-steady uptick since Maple-wood Mall reopened at the end of May after abruptly closing in March along with many other retail outlets as state officials issued a stay-at-home order to try to ebb the spread of COVID-19.

Sustainable Safari co-owner Bob Pilz , who goes by the name “Safari Bob,” had originally gotten the idea to open the space one day when he was walking through the Mall of America.

He and his wife, Mishelle , had hosted mobile petting zoos, but the Minnesota cold limited the seasons and anchoring in a mall gave the business a chance to expose a larger audience to exotic animals.

“It’s just going to really bring people to the mall,” Pilz said, as ring-tailed lemurs pilfered marshmallows from his fingers. “We are really hoping that it really brings the mall to life.”
​

This year’s holiday shopping season is difficult to predict with some experts saying spending will likely be more subdued because of virus concerns and economic worries, but online shopping is expected to continue to boom.


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Sustainable Safari President and CEO Dave Harvey held Fabio the Fennec fox, his favorite animal at the zoo, Tuesday.
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Gandalf an Alpine goat stuck his head over the railing of his enclosure as he tried to be the first in line for a treat.
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Bounty the badger waited for an egg treat to be dropped his way at Sustainable Safari. "He's actually really sweet," said President and CEO Dave Harvey.
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Sustainable Safari night manager Sarah Overman held Duchess, an opossum, by her prehensile tail.
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A rescued red squirrel snacked on a piece of kale in its enclosure at Sustainable Safari.
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Jasmine Barnhart held potato the prairie dog
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Jasmine Barnhart gave a kangaroo a neck scratch as she cleaned their enclosure.
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Bob Pilz aka Safari Bob, carried Roger an American Alligator to an off exhibit holding area as workers cleaned her enclosure at Sustainable Safari.
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Sustainable Safari night manager Sarah Overman held Hank the ferret.
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A pair of goats climbed atop their playground Tuesday at Sustainable Safari.
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The Club PUBlication  10/12/2020

10/12/2020

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NOTE: Each article reprinted by the Club PUBlication has been vetted and fact checked for accuracy.
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​​


​White House nixed CDC mask rule
​

It would have required them on planes, transit.

By SHEILA KAPLAN New York Times


​The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials.

The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency’s “quarantine powers” and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex Azar, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said the order would have required face coverings on airplanes, trains, buses and subways, and in transit hubs such as airports, train stations and bus depots.

A task force official said the decision to require masks should be left up to states and localities. The administration requires the task force to sign off on coronavirus-related policies.

“The approach the task force has taken with any mask mandate is, the response in New York City is different than Montana, or Tuscaloosa, Alabama,” said the official who asked not to be identified because he did not have permission to discuss the matter. “Local and state authorities need to determine the best approach for their responsive effort depending on how the coronavirus is impacting their area.”

Most public health officials believe that wearing masks is one of the most effective ways to protect against the spread of the virus, particularly in crowded, poorly ventilated public places that attract people from all over, like transportation venues. Many feel that the Trump administration has turned the wearing — or not wearing — of masks into a political expression, as seen most dramatically on Monday evening when President Donald Trump whipped off his surgical mask at the White House door after returning from the hospital where he was treated for COVID-19.

“I think masks are the most powerful weapon we have to confront COVID and we all need to embrace masks and set the example for each other,” Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the CDC director, who oversaw the drafting of the order, said in a recent interview.

Redfield has been publicly at odds with Trump for promoting mask wearing along with social distancing, and for warning that a vaccine for the virus won’t be widely available until next year.

The thwarting of the mask rule is the latest in a number of CDC actions stalled or changed by the White House. Late last month, the coronavirus task force overruled the CDC director’s order to keep cruise ships docked until mid-February. That plan was opposed by the tourism industry in Florida, an important swing state in the presidential election. Political appointees at the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services have also been involved in rewriting the agency’s guidelines on reopening schools and testing for the virus, bypassing the agency’s scientists.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House committee on transportation and infrastructure, criticized Trump for ignoring public health experts from his own administration on the mask issue.

“It’s especially outrageous because the science is so clear: Masks save lives,” DeFazio said. “The millions of Americans who work in and use our transportation systems every day — from bus drivers, train conductors and flight attendants, to the front-line workers who rely on public transit — deserve to know their president is relying on experts’ best advice and doing everything possible to keep them safe.”

The transportation trades department of the AFL-CIO, which represents 33 unions with what it describes as “millions” of transportation workers, said that the administration last week rejected its July petition to require passengers to wear masks on public transportation.

Larry Willis, president of the department, said his members were being endangered by a patchwork of rules.

“I think it creates an uncertain level of health and safety for workers and passengers,” he said. “This is a global pandemic, this is a national emergency. We should have a national standard.”

Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said that while airlines do technically require passengers to wear face coverings, enforcement can be difficult.

“If there is a requirement by regulation or law, then there’s typically a consequence for not following that regulation or law,” Nelson said. “So that gives us backing and it often serves as a deterrent from bad behavior.”
​

“It’s especially outrageous because the science is so clear: Masks save lives.” Rep. Peter DeFazio, on the blocking of a transportation mask mandate
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The Club PUBlication (SE)  10/11/2020

10/11/2020

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NOTE: Every article reprinted by the Club PUBlication has been vetted and fact checked for accuracy.
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WEBMD BLOGSWEBMD DOCTORS
​

What We Know So Far About Masks and Coronavirus

BY NEHA PATHAK, MD Board-certified internist
​
OCTOBER 06, 2020

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​It’s been a half year since we started wearing masks and other face covering to guard against the new coronavirus. Yet confusion and controversy still surround masks.

The good news is that experts are learning more every day about how and how much facial coverings safeguard you and those around you.

Do Masks Actually Work?
In a word, yes. Remember that we primarily protect others, not ourselves, when we cover our faces. And other people’s masks shield us from their respiratory droplets.

A growing number of studies show that when entire communities mask up, the virus loses its power to spread from person to person. That’s especially important now that studies suggest that large droplets from coughs or sneezes aren’t the only way to transmit the virus. It may also happen when we talk or breathe heavily and exhale aerosols, which are lighter, smaller particles that can hang in the air for much longer and travel farther than socially distanced 6 feet.

Two unwitting hairstylists in Missouri demonstrated the protective power of masks when they went to work for days despite showing symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. None of the 139 customers and others they came into contact with caught the virus. The reason? The stylists and all their clients covered their faces the entire time in the salon

When and Where Should We Mask Up?
It’s a good idea to wear a mask unless you’re alone or isolated with your family. So cover up if you’re in these “three Cs”:

Crowded places. Staying 6 feet apart may not be safe or possible if people are packed around you. That goes for both indoors and outdoors:
  • Restaurants and bars (it’s probably best to keep your mask on between bites and sips)
  • Gyms (keep your face covered during all exercises)
  • or exercising outside is probably safe even without a mask. But if you’re nervous about someone huffing and puffing past you, by all means put your mask on for an extra peace of mind.

For Gatherings 
in your backyard or porch, going without a mask might be OK if you have just one or two guests. But it's still important for everyone to keep their distance.  


Closed spaces. 
This is especially important in poorly ventilated rooms. Open windows and good airflow let outside air in, which helps lower the concentration of airborne viruses. Places to watch for include:
  • Offices
  • Schools
  • Churches
  • Grocery stores
  • Elevators
  • Hair salons
  • Your home, if you live with someone who has COVID-19​
  • Masks are a necessary safety accessory whenever you get up close and personal with anyone outside your “safety bubble.” That includes when
    you:
  • Hug and kiss
  • Talk close face-to-face
  • Have sex or get intimate

What Type of Mask Should I Wear?
First, any type of covering is probably better than no covering at all.

We are still learning about how well different mask styles and materials work. But we do know that there are three key factors for effectiveness.

Right fit. 
This means tightly covering both your mouth and nose. And be sure to leave it on; a mask that dangles by the loop from your ear is a useless mask. It should fit snugly over the bridge of your nose down to your chin. Any gaps will let droplets and aerosols escape. Take care not to touch the mask itself when you put it on and take it off to avoid contamination.


Fabric. 
Lab studies show that tight weaves are best for filtering microscopic viral particles. If you can see individual fibers when you hold the mask up to a light, the material likely is too thin and loosely woven. Pure cotton is better than synthetic material such as polyester. The CDC recommends masks with at least two layers. Homemade ones are one choice. You can add a coffee filter in between to boost filtration. Masks with a wire that you pinch over the bridge of your nose may keep your glasses from fogging.


Breathability. 
If you can’t breathe well through your mask, chances are you are not going to use it. Some materials are great at blocking particles but may be uncomfortable to wear. And even if you can tolerate, say, a layer from a vacuum bag, do some research. Some HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters have fiberglass, which is harmful if you inhale it.


How Often Should I Wash Cloth Masks?
It’s best to launder after each use. Use soap or detergent and hot water. You can air dry it. Just make sure it’s fully dry before donning it again. Damp fabric makes it hard to breathe through and may encourage bacterial growth.

Which Is Better: Gaiters or Face Shields?
Neither, at least when compared to cloth masks.  Gaiters are a tube of fabric that hangs on your neck and which you pull up over your mouth and nose. They’re probably better than going barefaced. Researchers don’t really know how much protection gaiters offer. Plastic face shields may be even less protective. Without a mask underneath, it’s unclear that a shield alone can keep people safe.

Should I Get Medical-Grade Masks?
​
Two main ones are surgical masks and N95 masks. Both are meant to be disposable.

Surgical masks are often blue and pleated. They’re designed mostly to contain large droplets and spit from your mouth and nose from reaching other people.
N95, on the other hand, are tight-fitting respirators that protect both the wearer and those near them. You don’t need an N95 mask unless you regularly are near people who have COVID-19.

If you are a front-line worker in a school, grocery store, airplane, or similar places, the CDC advises that you wear a reusable cloth face mask to stay safe.

Some N95 masks and reusable masks have exhalation valves or vents to make breathing easier. But those aren’t recommended because they can release your viral particles into the air. That raises the risk of getting others sick if you’re positive for COVID-19.

WebMD Blog
 © 2020 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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October 10th, 2020

10/10/2020

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NOTE: Every article reprinted by the Club PUBlication has been vetted and fact checked for accuracy.   The article published here is frightening and hints at more ominous  plans afoot.  I thought you should know.  Harv

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​Alarm over plan for poll ‘guards’


Fearing voter intimidation, state warns Tenn. firm after recruitment call for armed veterans.

​ By ANDY MANNIX andy.mannix@startribune.com


Minnesota election officials say they’re working with law enforcement to ensure voters won’t face intimidation at polling locations next month, responding to reports that a private security company is recruiting U.S. special operations forces veterans to protect the polls from “Anti-fas” intent on “destroying the election sites.”

Atlas Aegis, a Tennessee-based company, posted a job listing this week calling for “security positions in Minnesota during the November Election and beyond to protect election polls, local businesses and residences from looting and destruction,” according to a Washington Post report.

Minnesota election rules prohibit private security or other related individuals or groups from entering polling places, said Secretary of State Steve Simon in a statement Friday afternoon. Only one challenger per major political party is allowed inside, and anyone else who isn’t voting or working at the poll site must stay 100 feet away.

“We are actively working with state and federal law enforcement to ensure that these laws are strictly enforced, as they always have been,” said Simon. “In addition, our 30,000 election judges at nearly 3,000 polling places are well-trained on those laws. Any outside effort to supplement election judges or local law enforcement is counterproductive, unwelcome, and possibly unlawful.”

A spokesman for Atlas Aegis didn’t immediately respond to comment. But on the company’s Facebook page, a job listing solicits applicants for “armed security” positions in Minnesota during and after the November election “to protect election polls, local businesses and residences from looting and destruction.”

The positions will “last well beyond the elections,” according to the advertisement, with 15 to 30 hours of work per week and a salary and per-diem reimbursement totaling $910 a day. Experience in U.S. Special Operations Forces is mandatory, according to the listing.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison released a statement asking the company to cease and desist, emphasizing that their presence at polling places would violate state and federal law.

“I join the Secretary of State and election authorities in strongly discouraging this unnecessary interference in Minnesota’s elections, which we have not asked for and do not welcome,” said Ellison.

“Minnesota has a history of running the safest and most secure elections in America,” Ellison continued. “Minnesotans have every reason to expect that the same will happen this year. We don’t expect to have to enforce our laws against voter intimidation, but we will use every resource available to us and all the power of the law if we have to.”

In recent months, President Donald Trump has stoked fear, without evidence, of a grave impending threat of massive voter fraud.

“I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully, because that’s what has to happen. I am urging them to do it,” Trump said at the first presidential debate on Sept. 29, before suggesting he may not accept the results of the election if he loses.

In a recent video on the Team Trump Facebook page, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., put out a call for people to enlist in the “ARMY FOR TRUMP’s election security operation,” in which he suggests, also without proof, “the radical left are laying the groundwork to steal this election from my father.”

“We need every able-bodied man, woman to join Army for Trump’s election security operation,” he said. “We need you to help us watch them. Not just on Election Day, but also during early voting and at the counting boards.”

The Atlas Aegis advertisement doesn’t elaborate on why it’s recruiting only for Minnesota.

In May, following the death of George Floyd in custody of Minneapolis police, civil unrest led to massive protests and rioting, including the burning of a police station.

Civil unrest and protest demonstrations have persisted in Minneapolis this summer, including this past week, when Derek Chauvin, the former officer charged with murdering Floyd, was released on bail pending his trial.
​
Staff writer Torey Van Oot contributed to this report.
Andy Mannix • 612-673-4036

​
NOTE:  If you disagree with this article and wish to have an alternative article published justifying these actions please send them to me immediately for publication.  Please make sure your article is properly fact checked.  Harv





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The Club PUBlication   (SE)  10/07/2020

10/7/2020

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Stocks fall after tweet by Trump
The president ended talks on another stimulus bill.

By STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA Associated Press

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Stocks dropped on Wall Street Tuesday after President Donald Trump ordered a stop to negotiations with Democrats on a coronavirus economic stimulus bill until after the election.


​In a series of tweets, Trump said:


“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, 

​
we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and small business.”

The comments from the president came just hours after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell urged Congress to come through with more aid, saying that too little support “would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.”

The S&P 500 fell 47.66 points to 3,360.97. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 375.88 points, or 1.3%, to 27,772.76. It had been up by more than 200 points. The Nasdaq composite lost 177.88 points, or 1.6%, to 11,154.60. The tech-heavy index had been on pace for a 0.5% gain before Trump cut off the stimulus talks.

Small stocks also fell, but less than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks gave up 4.67 points, or 0.3%, to 1,577.29.

Stocks had been drifting between small gains and losses for much of the day before gaining momentum into the late afternoon, then Trump’s tweets knocked the market into reverse gear. The move to nix the negotiations with Democrats dashes Wall Street’s hopes that another round of stimulus would soon be on the way.
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The Club PUBlication   10/05/2020

10/5/2020

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President’s debate antics turn off voters
By NATE COHN New York Times

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TUESDAY, SEPT. 29 IN CLEVELAND, OHIO President Donald Trump and Joe Biden met for their first presidential debate. Their podiums stood 12 feet 8 inches apart, and the candidates did not shake hands.

​By overwhelming margins, voters in Pennsylvania and Florida were repelled by President Donald Trump’s conduct in the first general election debate, according to New York Times/Siena College surveys, as Joe Biden maintained a lead in the two largest battleground states.

Overall, Biden led by 7 percentage points, 49 to 42%, among likely voters in Pennsylvania. He led by a similar margin, 47-42%, among likely voters in Florida.


The surveys began Wednesday, before the announcement that Trump had contracted the coronavirus.

The debates long loomed as one of the president’s best opportunities to reshape the race in his favor. He has trailed in Pennsylvania and Florida from the outset of the campaign, and he does not have many credible paths to the presidency without winning at least one of the two — and probably both.

Instead, a mere 22% of likely voters across the two pivotal states said Trump won the debate Tuesday. It leaves the president at a significant and even daunting disadvantage with a month until Election Day.

In follow-up interviews with half a dozen mainly Republican respondents, some said the debate affected the way they were thinking about the election, with all but one using the word “bully” to describe the president.

Voters disapproved of the president’s conduct in the debate by a margin of 65 to 25%. More than half of voters said they strongly disapproved of his conduct.

“I think that Donald Trump acted like a big bully on the stage,” said Cindy Von Waldner, 63, a lifelong Republican from Titusville, Fla. The president began to lose her support when the pandemic hit, and she said she did not believe he took it seriously enough or was transparent enough with the American people. She said she would most likely vote for Biden, her first time casting a Democratic ballot.
​

The revulsion against Trump’s performance extended well into his reliable base. One-third of the president’s supporters said they disapproved of his performance, including 11% who did so strongly. A modest but potentially significant 8% of people who backed him in the survey said the debate made them less likely to support Trump’s candidacy.

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