IT'S ABOUT HER 'HEALTH'

Aaron Rodgers defends Simone Biles, mental health in Packers presser

by Braulio Perez8 minutes ago Follow @BraulioEPerez

During his intro presser at Packers training camp, quarterback Aaron Rodgers defended Simone Biles for making her mental health a priority. 

Much has been said this week after United States gymnast Simone Biles withdrew herself from the team final at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Biles, citing her mental health, made the difficult decision to step down from her role. She’s without question one of the best in the sport, maybe the best ever.

While countless folks have come out to support her, others have tried throwing her under the bus. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made it more than clear he’s in Biles’ corner, saying athletes should feel more open to discuss their internal battles.

Aaron Rodgers came out in full support of USA gymnast Simone Biles

Rodgers of course isn’t the only star athlete to show Biles love. As much as she wanted to help the U.S. win gold – they ended up taking silver – Biles knew that she had to make her mental health a priority. Imagine if she would have forced herself to compete knowing something was off?

“We also have to focus on ourselves, because at the end of the day we’re human too,” Biles said in Tokyo. “So, we have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”

With her amazing acrobatics, there’s a good chance she very well could have ended up seriously injuring herself. That would have made things a million times worse for everyone involved.

Moving forward, Biles will work on getting herself back to 100 percent both mentally and physically before she competes. Until then, she’ll know that fellow athletes like Rodgers will fully support the decisions she ends up making.

Paul Krugman: GOP 'family values' rhetoric is as 'intellectually bankrupt' now as it was in 1992

Alex Henderson, AlterNet
July 28, 2021


Paul Krugman (Screenshot)

"Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance, who is seeking the GOP nomination in Ohio's 2022 U.S. Senate race, was cynically playing the family values card when he railed against the "childless left" during a speech on Friday night, July 23 — and he even mentioned some Democrats by name. Liberal economist Paul Krugman has responded to Vance's speech in his July 26 column for the New York Times, stressing that Republican "family values" rhetoric is as empty and vacuous in 2021 as it was when the GOP made "family values" the theme of the 1992 Republican National Convention.

Vance was speaking at an event hosted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and the Democrats he singled out as examples of the "childless" trend in the U.S. included Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City. And Vance praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — a far-right authoritarian — for encouraging more procreation in his country. Booker and AOC, reporter Martin Pengelly noted in The Guardian, don't have any children. Harris has two stepchildren with her husband, Doug Emhoff.

Vance's speech, Krugman writes, brought back memories of the GOP's "family values" rhetoric of 1992.

"For a few weeks in 1992," Krugman writes, "U.S. politics were all about 'family values.' President George H.W. Bush was in electoral trouble because of a weak economy and rising inequality. So, his vice president, Dan Quayle, tried to change the subject by attacking Murphy Brown, a character in a TV sitcom (and) an unmarried woman who chose to have a child."

Krugman continues, "I was reminded of that incident when I read about recent remarks by J.D. Vance, the author of 'Hillbilly Elegy,' who is now a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio. Vance noted that some prominent Democrats don't have children, and he lashed out at the 'childless left.' He also praised the policies of Viktor Orbán, the leader of Hungary, whose government is subsidizing couples who have children, and asked, 'Why can't we do that here?'"

The Washington Post's Dave Weigel, covering Vance's speech, noted that he failed to mention President Joe Biden's child tax credit — which, Krugman points out, "will make an enormous difference to many poorer families with children."

"It was also interesting that (Vance) praised Hungary rather than other European nations with strong pronatalist policies," Krugman observes. "France, in particular, offers large financial incentives to families with children and has one of the highest fertility rates in the advanced world. So why did Vance single out for praise a repressive, autocratic government with a strong white nationalist bent? That was a rhetorical question."

Krugman goes on to say that "family values" rhetoric coming from Vance and other Republicans is meaningless without economic policies that actually help parents.

"The whole focus on 'family values' — as opposed to concrete policies that help families — turns out to have been an epic intellectual misfire," Krugman stresses. "Dan Quayle, of course, was no intellectual. But his sitcom offensive took place amid a sustained argument by conservative thinkers like Gertrude Himmelfarb that the decline of traditional values, especially traditional family structure, presaged widespread social collapse. The demise of Victorian virtues, it was widely argued, would lead to a future of spiraling crime and chaos. Society, however, declined to collapse."

Krugman cites some specific economic policies that are helpful to families, and they aren't Republican policies.

The economist writes, "When politicians rant about values, or attack other people's personal choices, it's usually a sign that they're unable or unwilling to propose policies that would actually improve American lives…. Doing more to help families with children — with financial aid, better health care and access to day care — is at or near the top of the list. The point, by the way, isn't to encourage people to have more kids — that's up to them — but to improve the lives of the children themselves, so that they grow up to become healthier, more productive adults."

Krugman adds, "On the other hand, yelling at members of the elite over their personal life decisions isn't on the list at all. And when that's all a politician does, it's a sign of intellectual and perhaps moral bankruptcy."

Report says laws against hate crimes in U.S. inconsistent, incomplete



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi listens to remarks during a press conference about the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 18. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
| License Photo

July 28 (UPI) -- Federal and state laws against hate crimes nationwide generally lack uniformity and they often fail to address the root causes of the problem, according to a report Wednesday by equality advocates.

The 54-page report by the Movement Advancement Project gives a side-by-side view of state hate crimes laws, their limitations and an analysis of how well they address the problem.

The report examined laws across 10 categories -- criminal punishment, statute type, protected categories, institutional vandalism, collateral consequences, non-carceral sentencing, civil action, victim protections, data collection and law enforcement training.

The assessment says some of the challenges of hate crime laws include failing to address the root cause of the violence, widespread bias in the criminal justice system, flaws in hate crime data collection and reporting and changing the original intent of the law.

"At a time of rising hate violence, we need to re-examine and expand our responses," Ineke Mushovic, executive director of Movement Advancement Project, said in a statement. "Hate crime laws serve a necessary purpose, but they are inconsistent, sometimes flawed, and can even harm the very communities they are meant to serve."

For example, the report said while evidence shows that the majority of hate crimes are committed by White people, many states' law-enforcement-recorded hate crimes disproportionately list Black people as offenders.

Some entities have also attempted to add police officers as a protected class in hate crime laws, skewering its original intent, the assessment says.

The report also notes that hate crime laws vary greatly from state to state, meaning someone who experiences a hate crime may have a completely different set of protections, options or access to resources depending on where the crime occurred.  

"We need to improve our hate crime laws and engage in broader solutions to reducing hate in our country," Mushovic said. "Like any law, hate crime laws alone won't fix a problem as large as rising hate violence."

Little bear cub burned by wildfire recovering, but needs skin grafts

Tamarack the bear cub was found in the yard of a Markleeville after suffering burns from a wildfire near Lake Tahoe in California. Photo courtesy of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care


July 28 (UPI) -- A bear cub that was burned by a wildfire near Lake Tahoe is now recovering at a wildlife center in California, and caretakers say it's expected to make a full recovery.

The cub was named Tamarack after the Tamarack Fire, which has burned nearly 70,000 acres in California and Nevada. The fire was almost 60% contained by Wednesday morning.

A homeowner in Markleeville, Calif., came across the cub in their yard last weekend.

"We found the cub -- sedated it -- (tried to run down the hill in the pitch black dark but we found him)," the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care center said in a Facebook post Monday.

The center said Tamarack had burns on all four of his paws. They treated him with pain medication and fluids, and bandaged his feet.

The cub's being cared for at the wildlife center, where he's awaiting a tilapia skin grafting procedure.

"The wounds are progressing as expected & we are optimistic about his recovery!" the center posted Tuesday.

The center said Tamarack's recovery will be "long and expensive," and officials launched a donation page to assist with expenses.

Ship that blocked Suez, Ever Given, finally arrives in Rotterdam

BY FRENCH PRESS AGENCY - AFP 

HOEK VAN HOLLAND EUROPE
JUL 29, 2021 

The container ship Ever Given arrives at the ECT (Europe Container Terminals) Delta terminal in the port of Rotterdam, early on 29 July 2021. (AFP Photo)

Better late than never: After more than four months after blocking Egypt's Suez Canal and thus one of the world's busiest waterways, the gigantic container ship MV Ever Given docked into Rotterdam port Thursday.

Almost as long as New York's Empire State Building is tall, the ship entered Europe's port at around 3 a.m. GMT, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent saw.

"It was a great relief to see her and a special moment," said Hans Nagtegaal, the Rotterdam port's director of containers.

"Finally, we can get the job done offloading and hopefully get her back to a normal sailing routine," he told AFP.

Nagtegaal said the Ever Given will remain in Rotterdam until Monday, when she's expected to sail for Felixstowe in Britain, before going to into a dry dock in Dunkirk in France for a further inspection.

The MV Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal for six days in late March, finally steamed out of the waterway three weeks ago after Egypt and the vessel's Japanese owners signed a compensation deal.

The nearly 200,000-ton container vessel became wedged in the canal during a sandstorm on March 23, blocking a vital artery from Asia to Europe that carries 10% of global maritime trade and provides Egypt with vital revenues.

After an around-the-clock salvage operation to dislodge it, Egypt seized the ship and demanded compensation from owners Shoei Kisen Kaisha for lost canal revenues, salvage costs and damage to the canal.

Last month, the Suez Canal Authority announced it had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Japanese firm ahead of reaching a final deal.

Cairo initially demanded $916 million in compensation before slashing that to around $550 million, but the final figure was the subject of tough negotiations.

Egypt, which earns more than $5 billion a year from the canal, lost between $12 million and $15 million in revenues each day it was closed, the SCA said.

In April, maritime data company Lloyd's List said the blockage by the vessel, which is longer than four football fields, held up some $9.6 billion worth of cargo each day it was stuck.

NAVWAR opens 'secret-level' security information pipeline



NAVWAR project manager Matt O’Neil, L, studies a data pipeline project with NIWC Pacific Deputy Project Manager Johanna Flores. Photo by Rick Naystatt/U.S. Navy


July 28 (UPI) -- The Overmatch Software Armory, connecting platforms to the Pentagon's All-Domain Command and Control, is operational at a higher level, the U.S. Navy said on Wednesday.

The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, or NAVWAR, said the commercially-based, cloud-enabled element of its development, security and operations, or DevSecOps, pipeline will transform the Navy's methods of protecting access to data and applications.

The Armory has operated at IL4 and IL5 levels of secrecy in dealing with Defense Department Controlled Unclassified Material since 2018.

This, however, is the first time the Overmatch Software Armory is operating at IL6, accommodating DoD Classified Information up to the Secret-level, NAVWAR said.

The software streamlines processes, increases the speed of data delivery to the Navy, and allows continuous updating and direct delivery of newer versions of applications. The announcement came from the Naval Information Warfare Center command in San Diego.

"Previously, if we wanted to have our own classified secret software pipeline, we would have had to build an on premise solution and host it in a secure location onsite," David Jenkins, deputy for project development at the Naval Information Warfare Center's Pacific Command and Control Division, said in a press release.

It connects platforms, weapons, and sensors in a Naval Operational Architecture which integrates with Joint All-Domain Command and Control, but at a higher level of secrecy, and develops networks, infrastructure, data architectures, and analytic tools connecting every Navy domain.

RELATED Navy's information warfare research effort gets $400M ceiling increase

"By implementing DevSecOps we get the benefit of commercial best practices that improve the quality and security of software," said Delores Washburn, NIWC Pacific chief engineer and Overmatch infrastructure lead, said in a press release in April.

"Furthermore, it's an important catalyst for modernizing our legacy processes that tend to slow us down and we are already seeing big dividends in new modern ways to deliver capability to the fleet," Washburn said.

Poll says more Americans today know someone who is transgender


The study found that those who said they know a transgender person was higher among Americans under 30 and Democrats. The share was lower among Republicans. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

July 29 (UPI) -- The number of Americans today who say they know someone who is transgender -- more than 40% -- has risen significantly over the past four years, according to a new survey.

The poll, taken by Pew Research Center, says 42% of U.S. respondents said they know a transgender acquaintance -- an increase of 5 points since 2017.
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Also, the survey found that a quarter of respondents said they know someone who goes by a gender-neutral pronoun, an increase of 8 points since 2018.

"Growing shares of U.S. adults say they know someone who is transgender or who goes by a gender-neutral pronoun. Yet Americans' comfort levels with using gender-neutral pronouns to refer to someone -- as well as their opinions on whether someone's gender can differ from the sex they were assigned at birth -- have remained static," Pew Research Center said in a statement.

About half of respondents said they feel comfortable using gender-neutral pronouns like "they" and "them," and 56% said a person's birth sex determines whether they are a man or woman. Both figures are mostly unchanged since 2017.

The study found that those who said they know a transgender person was higher among Americans under 30 (53%) and Democrats (48%). The share was lower among Republicans (35%) and persons with a college degree (46%).

Pop stars Demi Lovato and Sam Smith both have declared themselves to be non-binary, meaning they do not fit into a biological gender.

The State Department recently announced it would allow Americans to choose their gender on passports, without any medical denotation. New York state passed legislation last month to allow residents to identify as "X" gender on official documents.

The Pew survey was conducted last month and questioned about 10,606 adults nationwide.

USA! USA! STILL NUMBER ONE 
US reports highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the world
2021/7/28 15:35 (EDT)

A COVID-19 particle is pictured in this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - CDC/TNS/TNS

The U.S. has reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the world over the last seven days, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.S. saw 500,332 new cases (a 131% increase) the week ending July 25 compared with the previous week, the WHO said.

The world at large saw 3.8 million new cases (an 8% increase) over the same time period. More troublingly, the number of deaths related to COVID-19 (more than 69,000) represented a 21% jump.

“An average of around 540 000 cases were reported each day over the past week as compared to 490 000 cases reported daily the week before. This increasing trend is largely attributed to substantial increases in the Region of the Americas and the Western Pacific Region,” the WHO’s report reads.

Brazil, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and India rounded out the top five of countries with most new cases.

“If these trends continue, it is expected that the cumulative number of cases reported globally could exceed 200 million in the next two weeks,” the WHO said.

The increase in cases is largely being fueled by the spreading delta variant as well as a slowdown in the U.S.’s vaccine drive. According to the CDC, only 49.2% of the country is fully vaccinated, well short of the benchmark needed for herd immunity.

REVEALED: NRA'S Wayne LaPierre and his wife turned elephant they killed into trash can and handbags

Travis Gettys
July 29, 2021

NRA's Wayne LaPierre. (Screengrab.)

New details have emerged about an elephant hunt that Wayne LaPierre and his wife took part in that was funded by the embattled NRA he leads.

Newly revealed emails show the couple arranged to have an elephant they killed on a 2013 hunt shipped from Botswana and have its body butchered and turned into trophies, and they tried to keep the shipment and related taxidermy work secret despite the involvement of multiple individuals and companies in various countries, according to records obtained by The Trace and published in partnership with The New Yorker.

"Taxidermy work orders containing the LaPierres' names called for the elephants' four front feet to be turned into 'stools,' an 'umbrella stand,' and a 'trash can,'" wrote The Trace's Mike Spies, who obtained the records. "At their request, tusks were mounted, skulls were preserved, and the hyena became a rug."

The couple felt secrecy was necessary, according to the emails, after hunting show host Tony Makris sparked public furor after killing an elephant on his NRA-sponsored "Under Wild Skies," which also filmed the LaPierre's hunt for an episode that never aired.

"The [taxidermy arrangement] represents a rare instance in which the gun group's embattled chief executive is captured, on paper, unambiguously violating NRA rules," Spies wrote. "The emails show that Susan directed the process while Makris's company, Under Wild Skies Inc., which received millions of dollars from the NRA, picked up the tab."

The records appear to confirm allegations by New York attorney general Letitia James, who has regulatory authority over the NRA and is currently seeking its dissolution, in a complaint filed last August that describes the trophy fees and taxidermy work as violations of the nonprofit's own rules, which cap gifts from contractors at $250.

The shipping and taxidermy cost thousands of dollars and benefitted the LaPierres only, and not the NRA.

"Susan noted that the couple also expected to receive, along with the elephant trophies, an assortment of skulls and skins from warthogs, impalas, a zebra, and a hyena," Spies reported. "Once the animal parts arrived in the states, the taxidermist would turn them into decorations for the couple's home in Virginia, and prepare the elephant skins so they could be used to make personal accessories, such as handbags.

Dresses, skorts, hijabs: Women shuttlers in Tokyo dress as they please

BY REUTERS TOKYO SPORTS
JUL 28, 2021

Iran's Soraya Aghaeihajiagha in action against China's He Bingjiao in Tokyo 2020 Olympics badminton women's singles match, Tokyo, Japan, July 28, 2021.

Female athletes have fought long and hard for the right to choose what they wear when they compete at the Olympics, and at the Tokyo Games more and more athletes and fans are speaking out and taking action.

Of the more than 30 women who played badminton on Wednesday, including India's PV Sindhu and Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying, about two-thirds wore shorts, while others were clad in skorts, dresses and skirts, and one wore a hijab.

"I'm lucky that we can wear whatever we want," said Sindhu, the Rio Olympics women's singles silver medalist, who wore one of her blue dresses when she defeated Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi 21-9, 21-16.

Iran's Soraya Aghaei Hajiagha, along with her coach, wore a dress, leggings and a hijab in her match with China's He Bing Jiao. Skirts and skorts – loose-fitting shorts that look like skirts from the front – were also a popular choice among players including Belgium's Lianne Tan and Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.

On Sunday, the German women's gymnastics team wore full-body suits in qualifications, hoping to promote freedom of choice and encourage women to wear what makes them feel comfortable.

But the Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined 1,500 euros last week for wearing shorts rather than bikini bottoms and jeopardizing "the ideal presentation of the sport," according to the European Handball Federation and the International Handball Federation.

Rules state that the bikini bottoms must be a maximum width of 10 centimeters and have a "close fit and cut on an upward angle."




About a decade ago, ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, some officials at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) drew fire because of a similar rule saying women had to wear skirts to make the sport more "feminine" and "attractive" to fans and sponsors. That rule was scrapped prior to the Games, however.

"In hindsight, we went around the wrong way, but we've learned from that and so have our manufacturers," said Nora Perry, two-time world champion and a council member of the BWF, whose suppliers include Adidas and Yonex.

"Yonex have embraced it because there are a lot of Koreans and Chinese girls who don't want to wear skirts."

Perry, who has over 75 international titles in individual competitions, said when she played in the 80s, the fashion was to wear skirts and dresses with "frilly things underneath."

"It was nice that the women's voices were heard on that," British player Kirsty Gilmour said, "I personally don't feel comfortable in a skirt so I like the choice of short shorts, long shorts; Tai Tzu Ying likes her tops sleeveless."

"We're lucky we don't feel pressure on how we should look.