Biological weapons, Chemical weapons, Brain machine interfaces … and that’s just the Covid-19 injections.

<p><strong>Neuro technologies are based upon various tools to assess, access and affect structures and functions of the brain that may be involved in cognition, emotion and behaviours. It’s not just a question of trying to figure out what makes the brain tick and the way it’s built, it’s “can we get in there to effect the ticking and, by affecting the way that brain is built, the way it functions.”</strong></p> <p>In 2018 <a href="https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014Tm4oAAC/james-giordano">Dr. James Giordano</a> gave a lecture, <em>The Brain is the Battlefield of the Future</em>, to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point.  Below is a brief outline of topics he covered. Keep in mind this is according to publicly available information at that time.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator" /> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dailyexpose"><img alt="Buy us a coffee! " data-recalc-dims="1" height="188" loading="lazy" src="https://eatingexeter.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/like-what-we-do_.jpg?w=640&resize=225%2C188" width="225" /></a></figure> </div> <hr class="wp-block-separator" /> <p class="has-custom-font"><em>By Rhoda Wilson</em></p> <p>Brain science or neuroscience, as a named field, has only been in existence for 40 years. Since then, it has grown exponentially.  Increasingly it has become an international, multinational and global endeavour which increases the capability of the brain scientists to develop not only new theories but have more sophisticated tools.</p> <p>In 2008 the National Academy of Sciences (“NAS”) and the National Research Council (“NRC”) concluded brain sciences were “not ready”.  In other words, they were not viable, valid and of value in national security, intelligence and defence. During subsequent years Dr. Giordano’s group and others internationally, including the Nuffield Council in the UK, conducted a deeper review of the international capabilities. The conclusion: not only were the brain sciences “ready” but they would become more so as countries, globally, developed the capabilities and the specialised agendas to be able to look into and affect the brain. By 2014 NAS and NRC recognised that brain sciences were “ready” and already in operational play.</p> <p>Brain science technologies can be categorised in two groups: neuro assessment and neuro interventional.</p> <p>Neuro assessment technologies include: neuroimaging; neurophysiological recording; neurogenomics and genetics; neuroproteomics; and, neuro-cyber informatics.</p> <p>“The more I know about what makes you tick the more my interactions with you can be geared to make you tick the way I want you to.”</p> <p>Genetic, biomarker, biological, social and psychological information becomes ever more important.  The more known about us and the way our brain works as individuals, groups, communities and even populations – the more non-kinetic means can be used such as informational means – narratives, iconographies, semiotics – to influence our emotions and behaviours.  This can be done subliminally through computer images or more supraliminally with the types of engagements and interactions through psychological and informational operations.</p> <p>Neuro interventional technologies include: cyber-linked neurocognitive manipulation; directed energy devices; novel pharmaceuticals; transcranial neuromodulation; implantable brain machine interfaces (“BMIs”); neuromicrobiologicals; organic neurotoxins; and, nanoneurotechnologicals.</p> <p>Interventional technologies can be used in ways that will directly affect the brain.</p> <p>Directed energy devices: There is the possibility to use some form of directed energy to affect physiology peripherally and also to affect the physiology and health of the brain.</p> <p>Pharmaceuticals: The more the specificity of the brain is understood, on a very granular level, the more the ability to derive and develop specific types of drugs.  Drugs that not only can enhance and optimise the performance of people but can also be used to mitigate, militate, or manifest profound morbid changes in people. Other drugs can be exceedingly specific and can be very much used to individualise weaponry in what is called ‘precision pathology’ or ‘precision effect’.</p> <p>Transcranial neuromodulation: The idea of going through the skull to modulate the node network activity of the brain to optimise, or otherwise, the performance of key individuals in certain tasks.</p> <p>BMIs: Many of the DARPA programs involve BMI implants. The most notorious is the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (“N3”) program. The idea is to put minimal sized electrodes in a network within a brain through only minimal intervention to enable reading and writing into the brain function in real-time, and remotely.</p> <p>Biochemicals: Drugs, bugs, toxins and, more increasingly, devices that may be able to be weaponised. Chemical weapons include drugs and other chemical agents. Biological weapons include microbes and toxins. Devices include neurotechnologies and hybrid “cyborg” systems (biological drones).</p> <p>You can watch Dr. Giordano’s full lecture <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N02SK9yd60s">HERE</a>.</p> <p>In the same vein is a video clip from 2005 of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spw5nmUrpWA">Pentagon briefing about FunVax</a>, a project to develop a “virus” or “vaccine for religious fundamentalism”.  One thing this clip demonstrates is that pharmaceuticals were weaponised and operational long before NAS and NRC officially recognised brain science technologies as “ready” in 2014.</p> <p>The idea of pharmaceuticals and biochemicals being used as weapons is very relevant today with the global rollout of experimental, and dangerous, gene therapy drugs under the guise of “Covid-19 vaccines”. The more that is discovered about them, the more their biological and chemical weapon nature is revealed. </p> <p>The <a href="https://brandnewtube.com/v/5a3Fe8">bioweapon component is the man-modified spike protein</a> – the mRNA or DNA for which is in all Covid injections.  The chemical weapon component is graphene.  <a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/10/the-real-pandemic-covid-19-or-graphene-oxide-poisonous-nano-material-found-in-covid-vaccines-and-face-masks/">Preliminary results from a recent study</a> showed Covid injections contain <a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/19/spanish-researchers-find-covid-19-vaccines-contain-toxic-levels-of-graphene-oxide/">toxic levels of graphene oxide</a>.</p> <p>It’s difficult to understand why governments and legacy media completely ignore the dangers of graphene being injected into people. Could it be that the Covid injections are serving an additional purpose? Graphene is highly integrative with brain neuron cells and has the potential to turn inoculated people’s brains into both senders and receivers of electrical signals or information. Could it be another experiment, one which involves neurotechnology: the injecting of <a href="https://www.afinalwarning.com/537351.html">self-assembling magnetic nanosystems</a> (BMIs)?</p> <p>We may not yet know all the answers but it cannot be coincidence that in 2013 the European Union launched two flagship projects: Human Brain Project and Graphene Flagship.  Nor can it be coincidence that <a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2020/11/27/the-dystopian-plan-to-hack-the-human-brain/">brain-computer interface technology’s core promise is to enable the brain to communicate directly with computers</a>. </p> <p>Who benefits from all this research, data collection and neurotechnology? Obviously, not us, the people with “the brains”.<br /> Add the fact that brain sciences have been weaponised to assess, access and affect the human brain and it leads to more questions: who are the “friendlies”, who are the “hostiles”, and, who gets to decide? Our brains ARE the battlefield of the future and that future is right here and right now!</p> <p>George Orwell’s book is a parody but he often proclaimed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/01/nyregion/the-message-for-today-in-orwell-s-1984.html">“1984” could happen if man did not become aware of the assaults on his personal freedom</a> and did not defend his most precious right, the right to have his own thoughts.  As portrayed in a 2003 BBC documentary, <em>Orwell: A Life in Pictures,</em> <a href="https://www.openculture.com/2014/11/george-orwells-final-warning.html">Orwell’s final warning to the world</a> was:</p> <p>“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever. The moral to be drawn from this dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one: don’t let it happen. It depends on you.”</p> <div class="wp-block-group" readability="3.058407079646"> <div class="wp-block-group__inner-container" readability="4.2053097345133"> <hr class="wp-block-separator" /> <p class="has-text-align-center has-custom-font"><strong><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/" target="_blank"><span class="has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color">We urgently need your help!</span></a></strong><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/" target="_blank"><br /> <strong>Support for our Fundraiser has fallen</strong></a><br /> <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/" target="_blank"><strong>dramatically</strong></a> <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/01/july-fundraising-campaign/" target="_blank"><strong>due to censorship by Big Tech</strong></a><br /> <a rel="noreferrer 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class="coblocks-slick pb-8" data-slick='{"slidesToScroll":1,"arrow":true,"slidesToShow":3,"infinite":true,"adaptiveHeight":false,"draggable":true,"rtl":false,"responsive":[{"breakpoint":1024,"settings":{"slidesToShow":3}},{"breakpoint":600,"settings":{"slidesToShow":2}},{"breakpoint":480,"settings":{"slidesToShow":1}}]}'> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="11.106299212598"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="11.464566929134"><time datetime="2021-07-24T20:00:00+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 24, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/24/bill-gate-funds-mhra-and-shares-in-pfizer/" alt="Bill Gates is the primary funder of the MHRA & owns major shares in both Pfizer & BioNTech – Is there any wonder the MHRA authorised the jab for use in children?">Bill Gates is the primary funder of the MHRA & owns major shares in both Pfizer & BioNTech – Is there any wonder the MHRA authorised the jab for use in children?</a> <p>An investigation has revealed that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="12.183486238532"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="12.94495412844"><time datetime="2021-07-24T19:00:00+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 24, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/24/doctors-taking-mhra-to-court-stop-children-covid-vaccine/" alt="Expert Doctors are taking the MHRA to court to put a stop to the outrageous decision to give children the experimental Covid-19 Vaccine">Expert Doctors are taking the MHRA to court to put a stop to the outrageous decision to give children the experimental Covid-19 Vaccine</a> <p>A group of Doctors, Scientists, and Lawyers are taking the MHRA to …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="13.591133004926"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="14.029556650246"><time datetime="2021-07-23T20:09:30+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 23, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/23/fiddling-the-figures-cdc-revises-number-of-deaths-due-to-the-covid-19-vaccines-by-removing-all-foreign-reports/" alt="Fiddling the figures – CDC revises number of deaths due to the Covid-19 Vaccines by removing all foreign reports">Fiddling the figures – CDC revises number of deaths due to the Covid-19 Vaccines by removing all foreign reports</a> <p>The CDC revised downward its official number of deaths reported to VAERS …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="10.947552447552"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="11.300699300699"><time datetime="2021-07-23T17:08:21+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 23, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/23/fully-vaccinated-people-are-65-more-likely-to-be-hospitalised-1540-more-likely-to-die-due-to-covid-19-than-people-who-are-unvaccinated-according-to-latest-public-health-england-data/" alt="Fully vaccinated people are 65% more likely to be hospitalised & 1540% more likely to die due to Covid-19 than people who are unvaccinated according to latest Public Health England data">Fully vaccinated people are 65% more likely to be hospitalised & 1540% more likely to die due to Covid-19 than people who are unvaccinated according to latest Public Health England data</a> <p>Public Health England have released the 19th technical briefing on Covid-19 variants …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="11.440476190476"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="11.809523809524"><time datetime="2021-07-23T14:06:46+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 23, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/23/south-australia-has-1-person-in-hospital-with-covid-19-and-just-forced-hundreds-of-diners-and-their-families-into-medi-hotels-under-supervised-quarantine/" alt="South Australia has 1 person in hospital with Covid-19 and just forced hundreds of diners and their families into “medi-hotels” under supervised quarantine">South Australia has 1 person in hospital with Covid-19 and just forced hundreds of diners and their families into “medi-hotels” under supervised quarantine</a> <p>Two-hundred-and-sixteen people who dined at a city restaurant or a winery in …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="13.828431372549"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="14.274509803922"><time datetime="2021-07-23T13:05:27+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 23, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/23/health-ministry-of-israel-confirms-the-pfizer-vaccine-is-useless-at-preventing-transmission-of-the-covid-19-virus/" alt="Health Ministry of Israel confirms the Pfizer Vaccine is useless at preventing transmission of the Covid-19 Virus">Health Ministry of Israel confirms the Pfizer Vaccine is useless at preventing transmission of the Covid-19 Virus</a> <p>The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 has dropped to 39 …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="15.166666666667"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="15.655913978495"><time datetime="2021-07-23T07:59:58+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 23, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/23/pfizer-covid-vaccines-destroy-every-system-of-the-human-body-warns-israeli-health-experts/" alt="Pfizer Covid Vaccines “Destroy Every System of the Human Body” Warns Israeli Health Experts">Pfizer Covid Vaccines “Destroy Every System of the Human Body” Warns Israeli Health Experts</a> <p>Image source: The Logical IndianThe IPC has warned that the Pfizer vaccine …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="12.929648241206"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="13.346733668342"><time datetime="2021-07-23T07:15:12+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 23, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/23/bill-gates-and-george-soros-are-teaming-up-to-launch-a-new-org-to-bring-more-covid-vaccines-to-third-world-countries/" alt="Bill Gates and George Soros Are Teaming Up to Launch a New Org to Bring More Covid Vaccines to Third World Countries">Bill Gates and George Soros Are Teaming Up to Launch a New Org to Bring More Covid Vaccines to Third World Countries</a> <p>The pair have invested $41 million into the venture which seeks to …</p> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__item" readability="13.170984455959"> <div class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__content" readability="13.59585492228"><time datetime="2021-07-22T22:24:25+01:00" class="wp-block-coblocks-post-carousel__date">July 22, 2021</time><a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/22/infertility-birth-defects-uk-government-release-25th-report-on-adverse-reactions-to-the-covid-19-vaccines/" alt="Infertility & Birth Defects – UK Government release 25th report on Adverse Reactions to the Covid-19 Vaccines">Infertility & Birth Defects – UK Government release 25th report on Adverse Reactions to the Covid-19 Vaccines</a> <p>The UK Government / MHRA have released the 25th update on adverse …</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h3 class="jp-relatedposts-headline"><em>Related</em></h3> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/24/bio-weapons-brain-machine-interface-covid-vaccine/">https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/24/bio-weapons-brain-machine-interface-covid-vaccine/</a>

revolution Biological weapons, Chemical weapons, Brain machine interfaces … and that’s just the Covid-19 injections.

Neuro technologies are based upon various tools to assess, access and affect structures and functions of the brain that may be involved in c...

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The Simone Biles scoring controversy, explained

<p>As children, we’re often told that we can do anything we put our minds to. I guess we’re okay with deceiving children because this is a complete lie. No matter how hard we try, there are things Simone Biles can do that none of us will ever achieve.</p> <p>Over the past eight years, Biles has dominated the competition, winning four Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship medals and getting four maneuvers named after her. She hasn’t lost a major competition since her debut in 2013, a time when Barack Obama was still president. Her talent at strong tumbling combined with execution has made her a transformative and unsurpassed gymnast — she’s taken a sport that is judged to the decimal and won by full points.</p> <p>At this year’s Olympics, she’ll be the heavy favorite again. Barring injury or getting locked in her hotel room by a jealous rival, little could stop Biles from adding to her gold medal total.</p> <p>Hence, Biles’s storyline this year isn’t about whether she’ll win, but whether her skills will be fully appreciated. Specifically, the controversy is that Biles is doing moves that few, if any, gymnasts can do, including her male colleagues. But instead of getting full points for her moves, she and those who watch the sport feel that the judges aren’t scoring her fairly and are not giving her moves their proper value. With Biles’s overall dominance, missing a few tenths here and there can feel trivial. But try to imagine the absurdity of shortchanging greatness and why it’s happening to arguably the greatest athlete of all time.</p> <p>To understand the controversy over Biles’s score, you have to understand how scoring in gymnastics works. A <a href="https://usagym.org/pages/gymnastics101/women/scoring.html">gymnast’s score</a> on any apparatus is the combination of an execution score graded out of a perfect 10 and a difficulty or starting value score. The latter is the important thing when it comes to Biles.</p> <p>A routine’s difficulty score is the sum of all a gymnast’s moves in a routine: the higher the difficulty of the move, the more it’s worth, and the higher the total value goes. Provided you attempt those elements, that difficulty score value is yours to keep. What sets Biles apart from mortals is that her difficulty scores are much higher than those of her competitors.</p> <p>For example, here’s the scoresheet from the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. Take note of the figures next to the (D) from each competitor. That’s the difficulty score, and look how Biles is consistently tallying scores of 6s and above on all four apparatuses. Her competitors don’t have the difficulty.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1627189232_384_21179" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22714765,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1EoC6Qv0pA-JQUBUqmq41CpFe4U=/0x0:1192x486/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KS8J1Bp3DGD_IrIaIpZgoX9oMLM=/0x0:1192x486/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NhdcsAqeX28dMJ06vlc46HbrpWw=/0x0:1192x486/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tevaxZNHtL0IJActFho8YDfa9cg=/0x0:1192x486/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q1pey9MQikJMzv5GLGzmsf6xCTg=/0x0:1192x486/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZHThihrReNQ3lVVrZ57s5ZIFl-s=/0x0:1192x486/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ki1blOW79_GiLiHvyFmH5sOwwsw=/0x0:1192x486/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SG4uHV2NdJtid4IlD0lii-AoVNI=/0x0:1192x486/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/npyPCy6-6iwCpUz3mGtE79ftW_Y=/0x0:1192x486/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1192" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sDJN_kS-XbuoLfWkKL8l3zilS_U=/0x0:1192x486/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RzepKXlPoW7GRMrAQgb0CB_DHAU=/0x0:1192x486/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4Gq1_Da2jZSa0Yy-DqAHHxPFdi8=/0x0:1192x486/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dOQ9GJQM_r-6pGHxdN9ZZTHK5JM=/0x0:1192x486/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rTwzPgOfl6RiNPNcpOHcZmuQH2A=/0x0:1192x486/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/t_xFlo6uGldMzgpgxQPaq3yhSVI=/0x0:1192x486/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0rR2wtlcNXYYH2pNPeoyk9ac0yg=/0x0:1192x486/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y_TXr2bul6QVYCdr8hlh93YxDYA=/0x0:1192x486/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ppAKUenkvG8iaWDyrCGQy4woCiQ=/0x0:1192x486/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kRDC1GGGRsHAaJD56zTpjdBi2CM=/0x0:1192x486/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1192x486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22714765/Screen_Shot_2021_07_13_at_10.48.05_AM.png 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">2019 World Championships scoresheet.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>USA Gymnastics</cite></span></figure> <p>This means that Biles’s potential scores are much higher than her competitors. You’ll also notice that in terms of execution (the “E” scores), she’s executing her harder skills at a similar clip, if not better (e.g. the vault in the first column), than her opponents. So she’s not only performing more difficult routines, but also executing them well. That leads to, as it did at the World Championships, a win by more than 2 points in a sport that — until Simone Biles — was decided by tenths and hundredths of a point.</p> <p>The current controversy surrounding Biles is that she’s added new, more difficult skills but isn’t getting what should be the full credit reflected in her difficulty score. One of those moves is her vault, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/sports/olympics/simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike.html">which has the difficulty value of 6.6.</a></p> <p>“Simone does something that’s called a Yurchenko double pike, which is misleading because she’s actually doing three complete flips during the vault,” said Dave Lease, who runs the gymnastics and figure skating site The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSkatingLesson">Skating Lesson</a>. “This is something that only a handful of men can do without serious bodily harm. She actually did the vault extremely well. But the judges went conservative on the score.”</p> <p>The other element, as Lease points out, is her dismount off the balance beam: a double-twisting, double-back.</p> <p>“The double-twisting double on the floor is what Shawn Johnson and Jordyn Wieber were mounting their floor routines with. Ending this off the balance beam is truly mind-boggling,” Lease said.</p> <p>Johnson and Wieber were Olympic gold medalists in 2008 and 2012, respectively. At their peak, both were considered two of the best gymnasts in the world and, like Biles, they shined in events like the floor routine, which showcases a gymnast’s power and tumbling skills. Biles has taken their best floor routine move and is performing it on a completely different apparatus, a 4-inch-wide platform.</p> <p>Regardless of how mind-boggling or death-defying her elements appear, some gymnastics insiders say that both elements deserve to be scored higher. Lease says that he would score her around two-tenths higher on both elements and that even her floor routine is underscored. Biles herself said she believes that the International Gymnastics Federation (IGF) and judges are underscoring the elements.</p> <p>“They’re both too low and they even know it,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/sports/olympics/simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike.html">Biles told the New York Times</a> in May. “But they don’t want the field to be too far apart. And that’s just something that’s on them. That’s not on me.”</p> <p>The IGF has no explanation for why Biles is scored the way she is, but as the New York Times pointed out, one of the reasons inferred was a safety issue. By underscoring Biles, it could have a chilling effect in which other gymnasts don’t attempt those skills and decrease the risk of harming themselves.</p> <p>A problem with this argument is that there are a lot of skills in gymnastics that aren’t safe. Underscoring some moves doesn’t necessarily make sense in a sport where risk is inherent and handsomely rewarded.</p> <p>What Biles told the New York Times seems to be a more believable explanation: that by underscoring Biles, the IGF can keep the competition closer and Biles less dominant.</p> <p>The last time Biles lost a major competition was in 2013 when she first started competing at the Senior level. Since then, it’s been gold medals in every all-around (the individual portion of a competition) and team finals. She’s arguably the most dominant athlete in any sport. But the bonkers thing about her dominance is that Biles turned gymnastics into a sport defined by the slimmest of margins and absolute drama into blowouts. Adding more points to her difficulty would mean even bigger demolitions.</p> <p>And while she is currently the apex athlete in gymnastics, she’s part of an American dynasty that goes back to 2012. After nabbing silver in the 2008 team competition, the US clinched gold in 2012, thrashed the competition in 2016, and are heavy favorites to win again in 2021.</p> <p>Lease told me that in 2016, the American team was so stacked that they could have invited anyone as the fourth member and they still would have won. That team won by an astronomical 8 points.</p> <p>For 2021, “it remains that your next-door neighbor could have been the last person on the team. With Simone, Jordan Chiles, and Sunni Lee, it doesn’t really matter,” Lease said.</p> <p>Biles was a huge part of that 2016 win and will be a huge part of 2021’s competition. But the US’s key to winning has been to outscore teams in power events like the vault (e.g. McKayla Maroney and the rest of the US team landing the “Amanar” vault in 2012) and floor exercise (e.g. Biles, Wieber, and Aly Raisman’s powerful, high-scoring routines) and to keep pace on their traditionally weaker event, the uneven bars. American dominance has proven that highly difficult, well-executed power gymnastics is a winning formula, but it’s drawn criticism from purists who say the current scoring system is robbing artistry from the sport.</p> <p>“What happened is that the gymnasts who are good at tumbling and doing really difficult skills wound up being more rewarded than they would have been in the past,” Lease said. “I think that there is some potential backlash from other countries about the athleticism of Americans racking up so many points with tumbling. Yeah, but that’s the way the rules are written. And they pushed through those rules do not have judging scandals, and the Americans are just better at it!”</p> <p>Sometimes that ire manifests itself in explicitly racist ways, like in Biles’s 2013 debut: Italian gymnast Carlotta Ferlito made a comment that she and her teammates should have donned blackface to win. Ferlito’s federation backed her up, with its spokesperson <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-xpm-2013-10-09-chi-italian-gymnast-federation-spokesman-apologize-for-racial-insensitivity-20131009-story.html">David Ciaralli saying at the time</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Carlotta was talking about what she thinks is the current gymnastics trend: the Code of Points is opening chances for colored people (known to be more powerful) and penalizing the typical Eastern European elegance, which, when gymnastics was more artistic and less acrobatic, allowed Russia and Romania to dominate the field</p> </blockquote> <p>Valeri Liukin, who is the former coordinator of the US women’s gymnastics team and current coach of Brazil’s women’s team, said in a <a href="https://eng.gymnovosti.com/valeri-liukin-im-more-proud-of-nastias-medals-than-my-own/">2019 interview</a> that the current scoring system favors black athletes because they’re more “explosive”:</p> <blockquote> <p>But yes, gymnastics is changing. In the Code of Points, difficulty is very valued now. Of course, this suits African Americans. They’re very explosive — look at the NBA, who’s playing and jumping there?</p> </blockquote> <p>Yikes!</p> <p>What these generalizations missed are extremely talented white athletes like Wieber and Raisman who preceded Biles and benefited from the current scoring system as well as 2012 all-around gold medalist Gabby Douglas, who beat out the likes of Wieber and Raisman and is considered a finesse gymnast. The comments fit a pattern of how transcendent Black athletes (see: the Williams sisters) are spoken about in crude and pseudoscientific terms — that their greatness stems from blackness as a kind of physical advantage rather than greatness being a product of talent, hard work, and practice.</p> <p>Biles’s underscoring is something that we’d find ridiculous in any other sport, Lease notes. He covers figure skating primarily, a close cousin of gymnastics because it’s also a sport whose elements are subjective and graded. The equivalent would be penalizing skaters for landing “quads” (jumps with four revolutions). And it’s even more absurd when you compare the situation to other sporting events.</p> <p>“It’s telling Michael Jordan to score 20 points per game and no more,” he said. “You watched the Michael Jordan documentary, right? This is like <em>Justice for John Stockton</em>, who’s just not as good. It’s like if in the early 2000s, we told Venus and Serena [Williams] ‘let’s not break 100 miles per hour, please.’ Could you imagine that?”</p> <p>I, for one, couldn’t imagine that. But as the gymnastics competition begins, we may all see it for ourselves. And see if and how Biles perseveres.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22575301/simone-biles-olympics-scoring-explained-gymnastics-yurchenko-double-pike">https://www.vox.com/22575301/simone-biles-olympics-scoring-explained-gymnastics-yurchenko-double-pike</a>

vox The Simone Biles scoring controversy, explained

As children, we’re often told that we can do anything we put our minds to. I guess we’re okay with deceiving children because this is a comp...

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As the pandemic wears on, some Americans could need booster shots

<p>The Biden administration now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">believes</a> that fully vaccinated people who are older or immunocompromised may need a booster shot.</p> <p>Though all three vaccines authorized for use in the United States — Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson — are highly effective in preventing Covid-19 infections, recent data suggests that the efficacy of Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine can wane slightly four to six months after vaccination, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">according to the New York Times</a>.</p> <p>However, a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22555898/covid-19-booster-shots">booster shot</a> could lift antibody levels even more substantially than the current two-dose regimen for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and could be especially beneficial for people 65 and older and those who are immunocompromised.</p> <p>People who are immunocompromised may receive significantly less <a href="https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/covid-19-vaccines-and-immunocompromised-people-fully-vaccinated-and-not-protected.html">immune protection</a> than the general population after two vaccine doses, increasing the upside of a potential third shot.</p> <p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2021-07/07-COVID-Oliver-508.pdf">According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee</a>, which met <a href="https://twitter.com/HelenBranswell/status/1418235230691938306?s=20">earlier this week</a> to discuss the potential need for booster shots, about 2.7 percent of the US population is currently immunocompromised in some way, whether due to ongoing medical treatment like chemotherapy, their status as organ transplant recipients, or another reason.</p> <p>Immunocompromised people are also more likely to become severely ill from Covid-19, and they have a markedly higher chance of experiencing <a href="https://www.vox.com/22575227/covid-19-post-vaccine-breakthrough-infection-cases">breakthrough infections</a> despite being vaccinated — a concern magnified by a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/us/politics/delta-variant-usa.html">delta variant</a>-fueled <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1418910365862318084?s=20">resurgence</a> of Covid-19 cases in the US.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">10. I am not clear if <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ACIP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ACIP</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CDCgov</a> are legally able to recommend additional doses of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Covid?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Covid</a> vaccines while <a href="https://twitter.com/US_FDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@US_FDA</a>'s EUAs stipulate the mRNA vaccines are 2-dose vaxes & J&J's is 1 dose. But CDC is making clear it isn't going to move on this till FDA alters the vaxes' status. <a href="https://t.co/DMMIU0uKfZ">pic.twitter.com/DMMIU0uKfZ</a></p> — Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) <a href="https://twitter.com/HelenBranswell/status/1418284749915885568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>As things stand, data from Pfizer indicates that its vaccine — the first to be <a href="https://www.vox.com/22167841/fda-vaccine-approval-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-eua-coronavirus">authorized</a> in the US, and still the <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations">most common</a> among US vaccine recipients — declines from 95 percent to 84 percent effectiveness against symptomatic infection after four to six months, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html">according to the Times’ Sharon LaFraniere</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/science/covid-vaccine-israel-pfizer.html">Data from Israel</a>, where Covid cases are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html">once again rising</a>, suggest that an even sharper decline in effectiveness against symptomatic infections is possible — but even then, the vaccine remains “more than 90 percent effective in preventing severe disease,” and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/science/covid-vaccine-israel-pfizer.html">small sample size</a> means there is still uncertainty about Israel’s findings.</p> <p>“The goal of this vaccine is not to prevent mild or low, moderate infectious disease,” Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s outside advisory committee, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">told the Times</a>. “The goal is to prevent hospitalization to death. Right now this vaccine has held up to that.”</p> <p>A booster shot administered at the six-month mark could increase antibody levels as much as tenfold, according to data <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/09/pfizer-booster-shots-hhs/">released earlier this year</a> by both Pfizer and Moderna, underscoring its potential value to older and immunocompromised people.</p> <p>Israel is already <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-vaccine-pfizer-booster/2021/07/12/ce5ceed4-e30e-11eb-88c5-4fd6382c47cb_story.html">offering a third Pfizer shot</a> for immunocompromised residents — though millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-pa-vaccine-diplomacy/2021/06/20/fd718aee-d18f-11eb-a224-bd59bd22197c_story.html">have yet to be vaccinated</a> — and Pfizer has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/09/pfizer-booster-shots-hhs/">previously suggested</a> that a booster shot could be needed in the US.</p> <p>Though the US currently has tens of millions of <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2021/07/20/states-are-sitting-on-millions-of-surplus-covid-19-vaccine-doses-as-expiration-dates-approach/">surplus Covid-19 vaccine doses</a> on hand, making a third Pfizer or Moderna shot available to millions of immunocompromised or elderly Americans likely won’t be a quick process.</p> <p>Currently, all three Covid-19 vaccines in use in the US are being administered under an emergency use authorization, or EUA, issued by the FDA, which sets specific regimens for each vaccine: two doses several weeks apart for both Pfizer and Moderna, and a single dose for Johnson & Johnson.</p> <p>Changing that, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/22/coronavirus-booster-shots-immunocompromised/">according to the Washington Post</a>, would require either full FDA approval for the vaccine or an amendment to the EUA. And until <em>that</em> happens, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices can’t go forward with recommending a third shot for vulnerable populations in the US.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">According to the New York Times</a>, “doctors would have vastly more leeway to prescribe a booster for their patients” once the vaccine is fully approved by the FDA.</p> <p>However, there are some potential workarounds to get third shots in arms more quickly. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/22/coronavirus-booster-shots-immunocompromised/">According to Dr. Amanda Cohn</a>, chief medical officer for the CDC’s immunization and respiratory diseases center, the US is “actively looking into ways ... to potentially provide access earlier than any potential change in regulatory decisions” — including through “a study, or through an investigational new drug format.”</p> <p>As the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/22/coronavirus-booster-shots-immunocompromised/">reported</a> after the advisory board meeting earlier this week, that strategy could open up access to a third shot under the FDA’s compassionate use program, which “would require enrolling individuals in a clinical study where additional doses can be given.”</p> <p>President Joe Biden also struck an encouraging tone on the prospects for the FDA’s full vaccine approval in coming months, at a recent <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-town-hall-cincinnati-07-21-21/index.html">town hall</a> in Cincinnati, Ohio.</p> <p>“They’re [the FDA] not promising me any specific date, but my expectation, talking to the group of scientists we put together... plus others in the field, is that sometime, maybe in the beginning of the school year, at the end of August, beginning September, October, they’ll get a final approval,” Biden <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/health/covid-19-vaccine-approval-when/index.html">told</a> CNN’s Don Lemon on Wednesday.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1627189245_9472_16967" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22738203,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oofrgtu7rX7sf8MYpgpNcFOp4A4=/0x0:4770x3034/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/V43QdK8fsdcnVxjeIJB2gWdzaPY=/0x0:4770x3034/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yFmm7ww80xLFpcaFoQDReAkLCNs=/0x0:4770x3034/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K_gLPYzA0W5P9huf_WzNUMrnvd8=/0x0:4770x3034/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/62MrvBE0XIxMPJWTpwf9viqg4Sg=/0x0:4770x3034/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/atopQCf4Anfhe1HJYw1FLLeRsQA=/0x0:4770x3034/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qhjPmLFgrLm24jjfgU_ZpPVmHW8=/0x0:4770x3034/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5qVpwSF4HMzBYAeNXb54JMlAljo=/0x0:4770x3034/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xC1h698dsCs5h3DlaIgRqRUpmmU=/0x0:4770x3034/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="President Joe Biden gestures on stage at a town hall in Cincinnati, Ohio" data-upload-width="4770" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oDLQckmEYYDQzn8KWIX_xWrRRs0=/0x0:4770x3034/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YFqbPEEc2HsYyHL8LftJ3Yprb0I=/0x0:4770x3034/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mJrlLwQ1yIRR3fYH2zneblrjtnw=/0x0:4770x3034/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6Ux5_OMd_0clgy_3B6WHjVvSmZg=/0x0:4770x3034/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n6Zem5Bq-k5VqnS63ewhqHJTfZ8=/0x0:4770x3034/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ICSdAIunKMmsTV7l3KNWrfGHLH0=/0x0:4770x3034/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VHHGN5Mn-1rbk1cEwE38WjSZ8eE=/0x0:4770x3034/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Jr3Xdya1y9UyR5wl0POABju9ZgY=/0x0:4770x3034/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GhbCyc0u5uQLFFPrlDFGZsHxTxQ=/0x0:4770x3034/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q4GTeHpmNMtvQXDZ5XsE1WNG2Vc=/0x0:4770x3034/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4770x3034):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22738203/1234101095.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">President Joe Biden participates in a CNN town hall hosted by Don Lemon at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 21, 2021.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Full FDA approval requires a massive amount of data, including at least six months of vaccine efficacy data, and it usually takes about 10 months for the agency to review license applications and reach a decision.</p> <p>“When we were reviewing applications back when they were on paper, there was so much, it would not fit on the freight elevator,” Norman Baylor, the former head of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/health/covid-19-vaccine-approval-when/index.html">told CNN</a>. “That’s how big the application is.”</p> <p>However, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has already been granted a <a href="https://cdn.pfizer.com/pfizercom/2021-07/BLA_Acceptance_Media_Statement_FINAL.pdf">priority review</a>, which shortens the potential timeline to six months, and multiple officials have said approval will likely come even sooner, potentially clearing the way for booster shots for older and immunocompromised people.</p> <p>Moderna is currently “in the process of completing our rolling submission” to the FDA, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/health/covid-19-vaccine-approval-when/index.html">according to a Moderna spokesperson</a>, and approval for the Moderna vaccine will almost certainly take longer. The company <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/health/covid-19-vaccine-approval-when/index.html">told CNN</a> this week that it has no specific timeline in place yet.</p> <p>Full FDA approval could also have a number of other benefits, in addition to opening up the possibility of booster shots for vulnerable groups. As NBC’s Shannon Pettypiece <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/vaccine-mandates-more-likely-once-fda-grants-full-approvals-health-n1274288">explained</a> on Tuesday, “the official regulatory signoff would remove a significant legal and public relations barrier for businesses and government agencies that want to require vaccinations for their employees and customers,” and could also boost vaccine confidence.</p> <p>Thus far, the US has largely held back from imposing vaccine mandates, though other countries, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/world/europe/france-covid-vaccine-coercion.html">France</a>, have embraced them to <a href="https://twitter.com/redouad/status/1415286691615678471?s=20">positive effect</a>.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday that a proof of vaccination (or a negative test) would very soon be needed to access public events, restaurants, cinemas, stations & airports…</p> <p>Since then, more than 2.2 million vaccination appointments have been booked in less than 48 hours. <a href="https://t.co/9lAr52iDgf">pic.twitter.com/9lAr52iDgf</a></p> — Edouard Mathieu (@redouad) <a href="https://twitter.com/redouad/status/1415286691615678471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>As the Biden administration consensus coalesces behind the need for a booster shot for vulnerable groups, the delta variant of Covid-19 is gaining ground quickly in the US, fueling a sharp rise in new cases.</p> <p>On Saturday, the US reported a rolling seven-day average of nearly 50,000 cases per day — the highest level since early May, <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1418910365862318084?s=20">according to CNN’s Ryan Struyk</a>, and almost <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1418911259530039309?s=20">39,000 more</a> cases than the same seven-day average in late June.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">The United States is now reporting 49,386 new coronavirus cases per day, the highest seven-day average since May 3, according to data from <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> and Johns Hopkins University.</p> — Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1418910365862318084?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>Additionally, at a Thursday White House briefing on the pandemic, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/22/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-46/">warned</a> that the delta variant “now represents more than 83 percent of the virus circulating in the United States.”</p> <p>“Compared to the virus we had circulating initially in the United States at the start of the pandemic, the delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains,” Walensky said. “It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of and that I have seen in my 20-year career.”</p> <p>As Vox’s Umair Irfan <a href="https://www.vox.com/22547537/delta-coronavirus-variant-covid-19-vaccines-masks-lockdown">explained</a> in late June, when delta accounted for just 20 percent of new Covid cases in the US, the CDC has identified delta as one of five “variants of concern.” Not only does it spread far faster than the original strain of Covid, but it’s better at evading vaccine protections, and, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22547537/delta-coronavirus-variant-covid-19-vaccines-masks-lockdown">as Irfan reports</a>, there’s some evidence that it can cause “more severe outcomes from Covid-19 compared to the original versions of the virus.”</p> <p>Despite those breakthrough cases, however, the delta surge is overwhelmingly proving to be “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1017002907/u-s-covid-deaths-are-rising-again-experts-call-it-a-pandemic-of-the-unvaccinated">a pandemic of the unvaccinated</a>,” as Walensky put it earlier this month. In the US, more than 99 percent of recent deaths and about 97 percent of recent hospitalizations from Covid-19 have been among unvaccinated individuals.</p> <p>As a result, this latest virus outbreak has been especially bad in parts of the US with low vaccine uptake, such as rural <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/delta-missouri-pandemic-surge/619456/">Missouri</a>.</p> <p>As <em>The Atlantic</em>’s Ed Yong <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/delta-missouri-pandemic-surge/619456/">reported</a> from Missouri earlier this month, “ICUs are also filling with younger patients, in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, including many with no underlying health problems.”</p> <p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/delta-missouri-pandemic-surge/619456/">According to Yong</a>,</p> <blockquote> <p>Almost every COVID-19 patient in Springfield’s hospitals is unvaccinated, and the dozen or so exceptions are all either elderly or immunocompromised people. The vaccines are working as intended, but the number of people who have refused to get their shots is crushing morale. Vaccines were meant to be <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/">the end of the pandemic</a>. If people don’t get them, the actual end will look more like Springfield’s present: a succession of COVID-19 waves that will break unevenly across the country until everyone has either been vaccinated or infected.</p> </blockquote> <p>A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">swath of southern states</a>, including Louisiana and Florida, are currently reporting more cases per 100,000 people than anywhere else in the US, with <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronavirus/os-ne-coronavirus-florida-covid-surge-20210716-ntxwkk4hbvhedew77e4lrkihdq-story.html">Florida</a> alone contributing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">more than one-fifth</a> of all new cases in the US.</p> <p>“Folks [are] supposed to have common sense,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/23/alabama-governor-covid-vaccinations-500638">said</a> this week. “But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”</p> <p>Currently, only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/alabama-covid-cases.html">34 percent of Alabamans</a> are fully vaccinated — the worst vaccination rate of the any state in the US, along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/mississippi-covid-cases.html">Mississippi</a>.</p> <p>As of Saturday, about 57 percent of the vaccine-eligible population in the US — more than 162 million people — have been fully vaccinated, <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations">according to data from the CDC</a>. Another 15 million or so more have received at least one dose of the vaccine.</p> <p>That level of widespread vaccination is unequivocally good news, but with US Covid cases on the rise and the delta variant running rampant, it invariably also means some of the new Covid cases in the US are “breakthrough infections” — fully vaccinated people nonetheless testing positive for Covid-19.</p> <p><a href="https://www.vox.com/22575227/covid-19-post-vaccine-breakthrough-infection-cases">As Vox’s Umair Irfan explains</a>,</p> <blockquote> <p>The CDC definition of a breakthrough infection is a laboratory-confirmed infection more than 14 days after the final dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, as it can take a while for the full protection of a vaccine to spool up. This definition includes everything from infections that produce no symptoms at all to cases that result in death. “People often think about ‘infection’ and ‘disease’ as being the same thing, and that is not the case,” said <a href="https://bbarkerdrew.com/"><strong>Brianne Barker</strong></a>, a virologist at Drew University.</p> <p>It’s only when a virus starts causing symptoms that an infected person is said to have disease, so not all SARS-CoV-2 infections cause Covid-19. But as we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, people can carry and transmit the virus without falling ill themselves, creating a major route for the spread of Covid-19. That’s why tracking breakthrough cases is so important.</p> </blockquote> <p>The <em>good</em> news about breakthrough infections, though, is that if you’re vaccinated and get sick with Covid-19, you’re far less likely to get severely ill than you would without a vaccine. With a vaccine, the chance of hospitalization and death are both reduced compared to unvaccinated individuals, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease expert.</p> <p>“If you look at the number of deaths, about 99.2 percent of them are unvaccinated. About 0.8 percent are vaccinated,” Fauci <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-july-4-2021-n1273065">told</a> NBC’s Chuck Todd on <em>Meet the Press</em> earlier this month. “No vaccine is perfect. But when you talk about the avoidability of hospitalization and death ... it’s really sad and tragic that most all of these are avoidable and preventable.”</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">9/12<br /> Breakthrough infections shouldn't be taken to mean vaccines don’t work; but they SHOULD be taken as even more reason to get that shot in your arm. If everyone was vaccinated, there would be far less reason for the virus to spread & fewer people for it to spread btwn. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/velshi?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#velshi</a></p> — Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AliVelshi/status/1418971892833193991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>Currently, the country is administering about 537,000 doses per day on average, down from more than a million per day on average at the start of July — and that dropoff could fuel a brutal, self-reinforcing cycle.</p> <p>Specifically, according to Irfan, “with vaccination rates slowing, reports of people becoming infected after their immunizations could feed vaccine hesitancy, which in turn can <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-vaccine-hesitancy-is-driving-breakthrough-infections-in-nursing-homes">fuel more breakthrough cases</a>.”</p> <p>In reality, however, getting vaccinated actually heads off the risk of further breakthrough infections by making it harder for the virus to spread. And by the same token, getting more people vaccinated will also go a long way toward protecting older and immunocompromised people who have already been vaccinated but may now need a booster shot.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">13. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ACIP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ACIP</a> member Keipp Talbot made an impassioned plea for people to get vaccinated as a way to protect those who cannot get enough protection from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Covid?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Covid</a> vaccines. We all know someone in this situation, she said. We live with them, work with them, worship with them.</p> — Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) <a href="https://twitter.com/HelenBranswell/status/1418289069713498122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>“Each day, hundreds of thousands of Americans are choosing to protect themselves, their kids, and their neighbors by getting their first shot,” White House Covid czar Jeff Zients <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/22/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-46/">said</a> this week. “These Americans are stepping up and doing their part. Each shot matters. Each additional person fully vaccinated is a step closer to putting this pandemic behind us.”</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/24/22591591/covid-vaccine-booster-shots-immunocompromised-older-americans">https://www.vox.com/2021/7/24/22591591/covid-vaccine-booster-shots-immunocompromised-older-americans</a>

vox As the pandemic wears on, some Americans could need booster shots

The Biden administration now believes that fully vaccinated people who are older or immunocompromised may need a booster shot. Though all ...

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How to become an Olympic sport

<p>An amazing six new sports will be contested at the Tokyo Olympics. That’s the most new additions to an Olympics since 1920, when 11 sports entered the mix.</p> <p>The “new” label Is a bit elastic. Two of the sports added to the Tokyo Games — the closely related baseball and softball — were featured at the Olympics as recently as 2008, before being dropped in 2012 and 2016. But the other four are complete newcomers: karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing. All six will join Olympic favorites like track and field, swimming, and gymnastics.</p> <p>For the incoming sports, inclusion in the Olympics offers an important global spotlight — and crucially, the opportunity to grow.</p> <p>“The Olympics are the highest, largest, most visible stage for any sport. Surfing being in the Olympic Games will be great for surfing. We’ll be allowed to communicate our message and our lifestyle to billions of people,” said Fernando Aguerre, president of the International Surfing Association. “It’s developing surfing, taking it to Africa, to Asia, to Latin America — to areas where there are incredible waves,” but there aren’t as many surfers.</p> <p>There’s just one catch: These six new-for-Tokyo sports won’t all be part of the Paris Summer Games in 2024. Skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will be featured in 2024, with the surfing competition located in Tahiti, nearly 10,000 miles away from Paris. The Paris Games will also add breakdancing for the first time ever. But baseball, softball, and karate will be left out.</p> <p>Yet come 2028 in Los Angeles, the Summer Games will likely re-expand to incorporate baseball and softball again. Whether breakdancing will survive to 2028 is anyone’s guess.</p> <p>This endless shuffling of events all stems from an initiative designed to update and revamp the Olympics. Called “Agenda 2020,” the program was adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2014. It aims to give individual host cities more control over which events are medal sports. The goal, overall, is to make the Olympics less of a behemoth and an economic boondoggle.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the shuffling also leads to uncertainty for a number of sports, which might be included for one Olympics and then cut from the next. The variety of events on offer will perhaps provide more adventurous choices for Olympics viewers who like watching sports they might not be able to see easily. (When was the last time you saw competitive karate broadcast in the US?) Yet, given how much stability and economic freedom is granted by a sport becoming a permanent part of the Olympics, that uncertainty can be devastating.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1627189313_7016_93995" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22736305,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/whWzJzbBhbybu959ylElQPUj2Kk=/0x0:4206x2803/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LFDIhN4KBllnw3VALM1JQyZOafg=/0x0:4206x2803/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/i_PCZhivW8SGan0b1BuIk7MkZr8=/0x0:4206x2803/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uDHugMEX5VEQaCUKyk2BlY-k3cg=/0x0:4206x2803/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e3VkeaFGvNvScSEGvmlQ0Vnx8g0=/0x0:4206x2803/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T5z0L7H2536FCoo24IgZpDi2cp8=/0x0:4206x2803/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Or7o7PRUNvFJRktTBthQbDd7RC0=/0x0:4206x2803/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qqiCCUR6UznDzFJqB2hVmv2ftKE=/0x0:4206x2803/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QAdsGPrq89twDF75GbeEQMzkxU8=/0x0:4206x2803/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4206" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ck2en5U5furpSwZ1AdcQ3CgOMww=/0x0:4206x2803/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FJ-CcZ_QsKRSYx-lUQHowZRbIwk=/0x0:4206x2803/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hPGyUVtpxZqFAop9sj8FUrFKoOA=/0x0:4206x2803/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LyTAF8SgnB-VTGrIS8qr_gONfL0=/0x0:4206x2803/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MjB-dAqOkjQgdIhI7c3ssbIO1uE=/0x0:4206x2803/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JxQOPTZWH5i7EDoITWGb2KejL1g=/0x0:4206x2803/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LFuqL-v8Jihh2UF_k8fWxwSvddY=/0x0:4206x2803/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GyTR6XX64vEWqQmo1ILF087de3c=/0x0:4206x2803/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SMNzNdUS-NRGd-9yTJ0WdHZtMeQ=/0x0:4206x2803/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HBEt2QcboJ5vhI0_bNX1VUyDRBA=/0x0:4206x2803/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4206x2803):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736305/593249436.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">The USA’s Kyle Frederick Snyder (in red) wrestles with Azerbaijan’s Khetag Goziumov during the men’s 97kg freestyle wrestling final match at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Laurent Kalfala/AFP via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>The Summer Games will always feature a number of “core sports.” These sports have long histories within the Olympics, and they are so closely associated with the event that the Olympics would feel weird without, say, gymnastics or track and field or swimming.</p> <p>An IOC working group suggested that the number of core sports be <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-session-approves-25-core-sports-for-2020-games">set at 25 in 2013</a>, with weightlifting, wrestling, and modern pentathlon competing for slots 24 and 25 in that number.</p> <p>At the time, the group initially recommended that wrestling be dropped from the program. It was seen as a sport prone to doping scandals, with ineffectual leadership failing to keep corruption in check. Yet just a few weeks later, the threat against wrestling petered out as the IOC’s full voting membership opted to keep the sport in the games. Wrestling has been part of the roster at every Olympics since and has yet to be dropped from the core sports program. In addition, golf and rugby sevens, first presented at Rio in 2016, have continued to make the cut for inclusion at subsequent Olympics. Thus, the Summer Games sure seem like they have 28 core sports, not 25. But the IOC keeps feinting toward bumping that number back to 25, presumably to keep everybody on their best behavior.</p> <p>The threats against wrestling are a good example of how that IOC pressure works to externally police the sports federations that it recognizes.</p> <p>“When wrestling was potentially going to be dropped from the Olympics, it was a huge shock. The wrestling federation [United World Wrestling, which oversees the sport at the games] got rid of its leadership and got new people in,” said Sydney Bauer, a freelance journalist who has covered the Olympics for nine years. “And the IOC had a vote at its [main] session, and then just put wrestling back in the core sports. So nothing changed. This was an excuse for the IOC to use its political pressure to change the Wrestling Federation.”</p> <p>At any rate, if you’re a core sport, you’re theoretically always in the Olympics. (The IOC can change whatever it wants whenever it wants via a vote, but let’s assume for a second that that isn’t true.) What if you’re not a core sport, though? How do you get onto the program?</p> <p>Before each Olympics, the organizing committee from each host city narrows down a list of proposals from <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/recognised-international-federations">IOC-recognized sports</a> (more on this in a second) to a shortlist of events it thinks it has capacity to host. The host city then further narrows down that list to a bid that it submits to the IOC for approval. Tokyo initially considered nine sports — the six already mentioned (baseball, karate, skateboarding, softball, sport climbing, and surfing), plus squash, wushu, and roller sports — before narrowing that list to the six that will be featured in the Tokyo Games.</p> <p>(Perhaps confusing matters: Baseball and softball have consolidated their organizing bodies into one group since the 2008 Olympics, so while the IOC counts baseball-softball as one sport, “the Tokyo Olympics considered eight sports for inclusion, including baseball-softball” doesn’t make a ton of sense, which is why I’m referring to the two as separate sports.)</p> <p>By the way, pour one out for squash, a constant also-ran at the Olympics despite the sport having grown over decades so that it has a robust international presence. “Squash missed out again, which was a huge shock,” said Bauer. “They’ve been doing everything right but can’t get on the program.”</p> <p>The Paris Olympics, meanwhile, opted not to include baseball, softball, or karate from their shortlist of seven sports, ending up with the four previously mentioned: breakdancing, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing.</p> <p>There’s also a historical precedent of introducing new sports at the Olympics based on what’s popular locally. From 1912 to 1992, events called “demonstration sports” were included in the Olympics as an opportunity to allow audiences to check out sports popular in the cities hosting the Games. Sometimes, those sports even went on to become full Olympic sports. In 1984, for instance, Los Angeles presented demonstrations of baseball and tennis, both of which were later added as medal events at future Games.</p> <p>The big difference between the current system and the demonstration sports system is that demonstration sports weren’t full medal events. Now, every sport that makes it into the games sends its victors home with shiny new hardware. If you win a baseball gold medal in the 2020 Olympics, you’re a gold medalist, even if baseball is never played at the Games again.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1627189313_4529_93996" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22736308,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/479Bkd-vj3j6kuxFI9h-WiUqmF0=/0x0:3720x2176/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YM-_vHH2mSGu4VkLgZVjst_LnyA=/0x0:3720x2176/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h1OpDKFAKQuK0ZGV8Y4sIfrZxSs=/0x0:3720x2176/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hsfyp5GrEkfCoMkqoqXP2k3dpZY=/0x0:3720x2176/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xe_irrOLPe_d4RFYOaTGOQIPWoo=/0x0:3720x2176/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XGBqUsF4lq-yW05cNcwZa71HjuM=/0x0:3720x2176/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kX-dxcQ8Ztl0p8Qswz-ZUNqkpP8=/0x0:3720x2176/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-xzDoqlfIQqzgxrff1gAKxBshIM=/0x0:3720x2176/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ibf2FGf67ffLV_7-OBC8zZU7V7I=/0x0:3720x2176/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3720" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FX9ml4_r6uaHk8xLoBcgXq3wX60=/0x0:3720x2176/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zekQ51J9JtXru7JcGOkRiFfj6sU=/0x0:3720x2176/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yHdrKzGmq5xhOh6KKckwqqYjXJY=/0x0:3720x2176/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Oa8OaGQ0W8jjs96Vi3KMCxjTRjE=/0x0:3720x2176/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/clYQ1-Wm8S04TJVyGrMwp2DQ5BA=/0x0:3720x2176/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SFb9u3wKGcablprfaAsG585pXLI=/0x0:3720x2176/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cevsC6K2X94qTEiPgWEkfwX1uqk=/0x0:3720x2176/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e5U6xTQtSfq3cW3ZnSXq4C4LEwk=/0x0:3720x2176/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zzsVD5DbhERmZw-WESZ3qEhqZv0=/0x0:3720x2176/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EgWuUj4IrEfUn0NucfvOhAlYqPs=/0x0:3720x2176/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3720x2176):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22736308/1051945312.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Breakdancers compete at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Fabian Ramella/picture alliance via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Becoming an IOC-recognized sport is a long process crowded with bureaucracy, but in essence, it involves building out national, regional, and international organizations that can then be collected under the banner of “IOC-recognized sport.”</p> <p>Essentially, lots of countries need to love your sport, which will give you an athlete base and an audience to hold regional events, which will then allow you to expand to international events, which will hopefully eventually land your event in the Olympics. The IOC has a list of criteria it checks off for inclusion, but those criteria are somewhat nebulous, as you can see discussed <a href="https://muaythai.sport/the-path-to-becoming-fully-ioc-recognised/">here by the international federation governing the sport of muaythai</a>, which was granted provisional recognition by the IOC just this year.</p> <p>There’s also a lot of glad-handing and politicking involved in this process. Building the right connections within the IOC is a must, as is navigating many other sports federations and competitions.</p> <p>Yet you likely have a leg up once you’re a recognized sport if you either appeal to young people or to the citizens of the country hosting that current Olympic Games.</p> <p>In particular, there’s been a pronounced focus in the events that have been added recently on finding sports that will appeal to “the youths.” The IOC has increasingly used the Youth Olympics, a perpetually beleaguered event for athletes between 14 and 18 years old, as a way to try out events that might merit Olympic inclusion. Breakdancing, for instance, will make its Olympics debut in 2024 after <a href="https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/10/08/break-dancing-youth-olympics/">a successful trial run</a> at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. (The Youth Olympics are held every four years but on an alternating schedule, so the Winter Youth Olympics happen in years when there is a Summer Olympics and vice versa.)</p> <p>The use of the Youth Olympics to try out new sports is a hallmark, Bauer said, of the IOC under current president Thomas Bach, who took office in 2013.</p> <p>“It’s an ethos of, ‘Okay, we need to appeal to young people. We need young millennials and Gen Z to be interested in the Olympics, and they don’t care about wrestling. They don’t care about weightlifting. They don’t care about track and field. So how can we get young people interested, but also not change everything we’ve done with these core sports because they’re very old Federations and make a lot of money?’” she said.</p> <p>Bach has kicked off numerous efforts to streamline the Games and make them more flexible. Even with four sports added to the 2024 Games, for instance, the overall number of events will decline from 339 to 329, with most of the cuts coming from the boxing and weightlifting programs.</p> <p>What’s more, the IOC’s efforts to include events that will allow for full parity between men’s and women’s events have improved considerably under Bach. The number of women competing in Tokyo should be 48.8 percent of the total number of competing athletes, and the 2024 Games hope to hit 50 percent on the dot. That’s well up from 38.2 percent at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.</p> <p>The flexibility developed under Bach also allows individual sports to be tried out one Olympics at a time. If they prove wildly popular, they might be added in future Games — especially if they’re sports that don’t require building expensive facilities. (Surfing, for example, mostly just requires having an ocean.)</p> <p>This approach also allows recognized sports an opportunity to compete to be included in Games hosted by countries where they are popular. Baseball, softball, surfing, and skateboarding seem like cinches to be added to the Los Angeles Games in 2028 because all four sports are wildly popular in the US and in California more specifically. (Aguerre points out that California is the home of surfing and skateboarding culture worldwide.)</p> <p>Any sport that is popular in America (and some sports that are not but that are growing more popular around the world) might bid as well. Already, cricket (which is not super popular in the US but is <a href="https://www.usacricket.org/">growing in stature</a>, especially in areas with large South Asian immigrant populations) and flag football(!!) are vying to be added to the 2028 Games. Other sports with a footprint in the US, such as ultimate Frisbee (known as “world flying disc” internationally) might have a shot as well, should they vie for inclusion.</p> <p>Finally, these more recent reforms allow for shifts in the longtime stranglehold that events popular in Europe have had on the Olympics. Baseball fought for years and years to be included, and its struggles have been widely attributed to the fact that while the sport is incredibly popular in East Asia and the Americas, it’s not popular at all in Western Europe.</p> <p>The case against baseball in the Olympics is slightly more nuanced than “people in Europe don’t like it.” Baseball is a sport played only by men, and its previous Olympics inclusions were not commercially successful. The consolidation of baseball and softball into one federation took care of the first problem; a successful event in Tokyo could take care of the second. Baseball is also making great strides internationally, with federations spinning up all over the globe in places like South Africa, Israel, and Brazil.</p> <p>Still, the pro-Europe bias at the Olympics was real — and the IOC is taking steps to combat that problem too.</p> <p>“The IOC has been on a big blitz to make its membership not just be Western European,” Bauer said. “The IOC is huge now. It’s up to around 105 members. There’s an IOC member now from Afghanistan. There’s one from Bhutan. There’s one from Palau. These are countries that are represented now because they’re trying to create geographic diversity, where in the past, if you weren’t from Western Europe, you were being held back because [the IOC is] based in Switzerland.”</p> <p>In the end, even if your sport is selected for the Olympics, there’s no guarantee your event will be a success. That lies with forces beyond anyone’s control. But Aguerre, the ISA president, has high hopes for surfing in Tokyo.</p> <p>“The biggest thing that made me so happy was realizing that there are going to be waves [in Tokyo], plenty of waves,” he said, citing local forecasts. “The only uncertainty is: Are there going to be waves? And we’re gonna have a week of waves. It’s nice.”</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22584397/tokyo-olympics-2020-new-sports-surfing-skateboarding-baseball-softball-karate-sport-climbing">https://www.vox.com/22584397/tokyo-olympics-2020-new-sports-surfing-skateboarding-baseball-softball-karate-sport-climbing</a>

vox How to become an Olympic sport

An amazing six new sports will be contested at the Tokyo Olympics. That’s the most new additions to an Olympics since 1920, when 11 sports e...

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First Task For Afghan Forces Is To Slow Taliban's Momentum: Pentagon Chief

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="First Task For Afghan Forces Is To Slow Taliban's Momentum: Pentagon Chief" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/9a9ch98g_lloyd-austin-650_625x300_25_July_21.jpg" title="First Task For Afghan Forces Is To Slow Taliban's Momentum: Pentagon Chief" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">US military is set to end its mission in Afghanistan on August 31</p> </div> <b class="place_cont">Alaska:</b> <p>U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that the Afghan security forces' first job was to make sure they could slow the Taliban's momentum before attempting to retake territory, as Afghan forces plan to consolidate forces around strategically important parts of the country.</p> <p>Reuters reported that Afghanistan's military is overhauling its war strategy against the Taliban to concentrate forces around the most critical areas like Kabul and other cities, border crossings and vital infrastructure.</p> <p>"They are consolidating their forces around the key population centers," Austin told reporters during a visit to Alaska.</p> <p>"In terms of whether or not it will stop the Taliban, I think the first thing to do is to make sure that they can slow the momentum," Austin said, speaking as the U.S. military is set to end its mission in Afghanistan on Aug. 31, on orders from President Joe Biden.</p> <p>Austin added that he believed the Afghans had the capability and the capacity to make progress, but "we'll see what happens."</p> <p>The politically perilous strategy appears to be a military necessity as over-stretched Afghan troops try to prevent the loss of provincial capitals, which could deeply fracture the country.</p> <p>Taliban insurgents are gaining control of more and more territory, which the Pentagon estimated on Wednesday now extends to over half of half Afghanistan's district centers. The Taliban are also putting pressure on the outskirts of half of the provincial capitals, trying to isolate them.</p> <p>The Taliban's swift territorial gains are rattling Afghans just as the United States withdraws from a war that succeeded in punishing al Qaeda following its Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington but failed to deliver anything close to peace for Afghanistan.</p> <p>The United States has continued to carry out air strikes to support Afghan government forces that have been under pressure from the Taliban as U.S.-led foreign forces carry out the final stages of their withdrawal from the country.</p> <p>Biden has promised to provide financial assistance to Afghan forces and to redouble diplomatic efforts to revive stalled peace talks.</p> <p>Biden on Friday authorized up to $100 million from an emergency fund to meet "unexpected urgent" refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa applicants.</p> <p>For years, the U.S. military has been trying to get Afghan troops off of far-flung checkpoints - static positions that can easily be overrun by Taliban forces.</p> <p><i>(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/first-task-for-afghan-forces-is-to-slow-talibans-momentum-pentagon-chief-2493930">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/first-task-for-afghan-forces-is-to-slow-talibans-momentum-pentagon-chief-2493930</a>

news world First Task For Afghan Forces Is To Slow Taliban's Momentum: Pentagon Chief

US military is set to end its mission in Afghanistan on August 31 Alaska: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that the...

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Angered Brazilians Protest Against President Bolsonaro Over Covid Response

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Angered Brazilians Protest Against President Bolsonaro Over Covid Response" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/3dc93qqo_jairbolsonaroreuters650_625x300_11_June_21.jpg" title="Angered Brazilians Protest Against President Bolsonaro Over Covid Response" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">Jair Bolsonaro is enduring his worst stretch since coming to power in 2019 (File)</p> </div> <b class="place_cont">Rio de Janeiro:</b> <p>Tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Saturday to demand the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing increasing pressure as the pandemic exacts a devastating toll.</p> <p>It was the fourth weekend of protests called by leftist political parties, labor unions and social groups against Bolsonaro, who is being investigated for allegedly turning a blind eye to a scheme to embezzle government funds in the purchase of vaccines.</p> <p>Protest marches were planned in 400 cities and towns.</p> <p>In Rio de Janeiro, thousands of people in red clothes and wearing face masks marched with banners bearing slogans berating the embattled leader, including "No one can take any more" and "Get out corrupt criminal."</p> <p>Organizers said they were part of a day intended to galvanize the country "in defense of democracy, the lives of Brazilians and getting Bolsonaro out."</p> <p>In Rio and elsewhere, protesters complained about Brazil's late-starting vaccination program and high unemployment rate, and demanded more emergency aid for poor people grappling with the pandemic.</p> <p>"It is very important that everyone who feels offended or oppressed by this government comes out to the streets, because we need to fight for the return to democracy," Laise de Oliveira, a 65-year-old social worker, told AFP.</p> <p>Brazilian press carried images and reports of streets thronged with anti-Bolsonaro demonstrators in 20 of Brazil's 26 states through early afternoon.</p> <p><strong>Record low approval</strong></p> <p>Neither the organizers nor the authorities have released an overall estimate of the number of people attending the marches.</p> <p>But large demonstrations were planned in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous city with 12.3 million residents, and the capital Brasilia.</p> <p>Bolsonaro, criticized for remarks in favor of exploiting protected areas of the Amazon, his views on guns, and an ambitious privatization program, is enduring his worst stretch since coming to power in 2019.</p> <p>His approval rating is at a record low 24 percent and polls suggest he could lose October's presidential election to his main rival, leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose Workers Party was one of the forces behind Saturday's demonstrations.</p> <p>Brazil has suffered nearly 550,000 deaths because of Covid, a toll surpassed only by that of the United States, which has almost 120 million more people.</p> <p>Bolsonaro has been famously dismissive of the health crisis, the need to wear face masks, and lockdown measures to halt the spread of the virus.</p> <p>On June 30 the opposition in congress presented an impeachment complaint that is an amalgam of some 100 others already filed with more than 20 different charges against the president.</p> <p>But Bolsonaro still has enough support in congress to block these initiatives, including that of the speaker, who decides whether the complaints are allowed to proceed.</p> <p><i>(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/angered-brazilians-protest-against-president-jair-bolsonaro-over-covid-response-2493925">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/angered-brazilians-protest-against-president-jair-bolsonaro-over-covid-response-2493925</a>

news world Angered Brazilians Protest Against President Bolsonaro Over Covid Response

Jair Bolsonaro is enduring his worst stretch since coming to power in 2019 (File) Rio de Janeiro: Tens of thousands of Brazilians took ...

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