Backseat Driver
Backseat Driver's JournalFed extends bank stock buyback ban till year-end
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3618598-fed-extends-bank-stock-buyback-ban-till-year-end?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=usb-fed-extends-bank-stock-buyback-ban-till-year-end&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-1Thread title is Article Title
snip
The buyback ban for banks with more than $100B in assets had been slated to expire today (end of the third quarter), but the Fed minutes ago announced it will be extended for one more quarter. Additionally, dividends will continue to be capped and tied to a formula based on recent income.
Capital positions at the large banks have remained strong, says the Fed, but "economic uncertainty" surrounding the pandemic response remains.
The central bank is planning another round of stress tests in Q4, with results to come before the end of the year.
Interestingly, Fed Governor Lael Brainard voted against the extension. A former high-ranking Treasury official in the Obama Administration, Brainard is reportedly on the short-list for Treasury Secretary in a Biden administration. At the moment, it's unknown whether she was against the extension of the buyback ban, or wanted something even stricter put in place.
snip
Well it's over: The first and only Family Pheasant Cook-off
I fulfilled the New Year's Resolution today: Do something you've never done before - so I cooked a pheasant in family competition with my SIL - His dirty birdie was delicious with high notes of citrus and his sides were simple yet elegant - polenta and mashed sweet potato and cauliflower.
My dirty birdie was lightly brined, marinated whole, and then roasted with a bacon-protected breast on a bed of apple, shallots, the crisp bacon from the roasted birdie and giblets with wild rice augmented by a cinnomine stick reduction of Stella Artois "Cidre" in the pan drippings." Sides included a Carrot-Butternut tart w/whole wheat crust dizzled with saged brown butter; a mushroom bread pudding; and a beet and red onion balsamic casserole with crispy topped crumbs.
Dessert: Lemon Cheesecake bars (from a box, lol).
I won the competition, but barely, and everyone contributed many excellent comments on our hard work! -
We were just a so-far-as-we-know healthy gathering of seven, always masked in public, stay-at-home,work-at-home, and one hybrid 2-days @ elementary school with on-line assignments - What Dinner @ Eight family fun!
I'm now exhausted and going to bed! I see I really missed some juicy Sunday news - I'll catch up tomorrow.
Pebble Mine CEO resigns after recorded comments released
Cross-posted today in Environment & Energy:
https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/pebble-mine-ceo-resigns-after-recorded-comments-released-rOdR6lVo-E-uvJxurb2sqQ
Can any Alaskan member weigh in on further information about this proposed project and how likely it is this very large open-pit mining operation will succeed to receive the okay to go forward?
Pebble Mine CEO resigns after recorded comments released
https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/pebble-mine-ceo-resigns-after-recorded-comments-released-rOdR6lVo-E-uvJxurb2sqQ
Joaqlin Estus
Sep 23, 2020
Indian Country Today
'We are dealing with a company that has lied to everyone’
Corrected: Added tribal affiliation for the director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay
Story edit by: Joaqlin Estus
The head of a proposed copper and gold mine near a prime Alaska salmon fishery has resigned after covertly filmed videos showed him talking about elected and regulatory officials and unreleased plans for the huge project.
Northern Dynasty, owner of Pebble Limited Partnership, announced the resignation of Pebble Limited CEO Tom Collier in a statement Wednesday.
The Environmental Investigation Agency, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, this week released secretly recorded Zoom conversations between Collier, Northern Dynasty CEO Ron Thiessen and activists posing as investors. The conversations occurred in August and earlier this month. [snip]
In its statement, Northern Dynasty said Collier’s comments “embellished both his and the Pebble Partnership’s relationships” with Gov. Mike Dunleavy, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and senior representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[snip]
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I'm afraid more monkeybusiness in in the future - the proposed open-pit mining operations would threaten a major salmon fishing operation that Native Americans rely on for jobs and food as well as being much bigger and likely last in the landscape for more than 200 years versus the 20 years initially parsed to last only 20 years. Further, such a large open-pit lasting so long would diminish the soil which is currently very green, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and protective of wildlife, and established native species above and below the ground. Can you say toxic consequences?
Well, shiver me timbers - ! missed it again!
https://nationaltoday.com/national-meow-like-pirate-day/
Epidemic Hazard in China on September 17 2020 08:07 AM (UTC).
Appears to be a negligent accidental aerosolized release per link and 2nd alternative link -
https://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/database/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=EH-20200917-71304-CHN
(CNN)Several thousand people in northwest China have tested positive for a bacterial disease, authorities said on Tuesday, in an outbreak caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year. The Health Commission of Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, confirmed that 3,245 people had contracted the disease brucellosis, which is often caused by contact with livestock carrying the bacteria brucella. Another 1,401 people have tested as preliminarily positive, though there have been no fatalities reported, the city's Health Commission said. In total, authorities have tested 21,847 people out of the city's 2.9 million population. The disease, also known as Malta fever or Mediterranean fever, can cause symptoms including headaches, muscle pain, fever and fatigue. While these may subside, some symptoms can become chronic or never go away, like arthritis or swelling in certain organs, according to the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Human-to-human transmission is extremely rare, according to the CDC. Instead, most people are infected by eating contaminated food or breathing in the bacteria -- which seems to be the case in Lanzhou.
This outbreak stemmed from a leak at the Zhongmu Lanzhou biological pharmaceutical factory, which occurred between late July to late August last year, according to the city's Health Commission. While producing Brucella vaccines for animal use, the factory used expired disinfectants and sanitizers -- meaning not all bacteria were eradicated in the waste gas. This contaminated waste gas formed aerosols that contained the bacteria -- and leaked into the air, carried by wind down to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, where the outbreak first hit. People at the institute began reporting infections in November, and it quickly accelerated. By the end of December, at least 181 people at the institute had been infected with brucellosis, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. Other infected patients included students and faculty members of Lanzhou University; the outbreak even spread to Heilongjiang province, at the very northeastern tip of the country, where 13 positive cases had worked in the veterinarian institute in August, Xinhua reported at the time. In the months after the outbreak, provincial and municipal officials launched an investigation into the leak at the factory, according to the Lanzhou Health Commission. By January, authorities had revoked vaccine production licenses for the plant, and withdrew product approval numbers for its two Brucellosis vaccines. A total of seven veterinary drug product approval numbers were also canceled in the factory. In February, the factory issued a public apology, and said it had "severely punished" eight people who were determined as responsible for the incident. It added that it would cooperate with local authorities in the response and cleanup efforts, and contribute to a compensation program for those affected. The Lanzhou Health Commission also announced in its report on Tuesday that 11 public hospitals would provide free and regular checkups for the infected patients. The report didn't offer additional details on the compensation for patients, except that it would be launched in batches starting October. Brucellosis had been much more common in China in the 1980s, though it has since declined with the emergence of vaccines and better disease prevention and control. Still, there have been a smattering of brucellosis outbreaks around the world in the past few decades; an outbreak in Bosnia infected about 1,000 people in 2008, prompting the culling of sheep and other infected livestock. In the US, brucellosis has cost the federal government and livestock industry billions of dollars. About 60% of female bison at Yellowstone National Park carry the bacteria, according to national park authorities.
Alternative article here: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3101816/health-china-exhaust-fumes-animal-vaccine-plant-leave-thousands
Epidemic Hazard in China on September 17 2020 08:07 AM (UTC).
https://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/database/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=EH-20200917-71304-CHN(CNN)Several thousand people in northwest China have tested positive for a bacterial disease, authorities said on Tuesday, in an outbreak caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year. The Health Commission of Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, confirmed that 3,245 people had contracted the disease brucellosis, which is often caused by contact with livestock carrying the bacteria brucella. Another 1,401 people have tested as preliminarily positive, though there have been no fatalities reported, the city's Health Commission said. In total, authorities have tested 21,847 people out of the city's 2.9 million population. The disease, also known as Malta fever or Mediterranean fever, can cause symptoms including headaches, muscle pain, fever and fatigue. While these may subside, some symptoms can become chronic or never go away, like arthritis or swelling in certain organs, according to the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Human-to-human transmission is extremely rare, according to the CDC. Instead, most people are infected by eating contaminated food or breathing in the bacteria -- which seems to be the case in Lanzhou.
This outbreak stemmed from a leak at the Zhongmu Lanzhou biological pharmaceutical factory, which occurred between late July to late August last year, according to the city's Health Commission. While producing Brucella vaccines for animal use, the factory used expired disinfectants and sanitizers -- meaning not all bacteria were eradicated in the waste gas. This contaminated waste gas formed aerosols that contained the bacteria -- and leaked into the air, carried by wind down to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, where the outbreak first hit. People at the institute began reporting infections in November, and it quickly accelerated. By the end of December, at least 181 people at the institute had been infected with brucellosis, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. Other infected patients included students and faculty members of Lanzhou University; the outbreak even spread to Heilongjiang province, at the very northeastern tip of the country, where 13 positive cases had worked in the veterinarian institute in August, Xinhua reported at the time. In the months after the outbreak, provincial and municipal officials launched an investigation into the leak at the factory, according to the Lanzhou Health Commission. By January, authorities had revoked vaccine production licenses for the plant, and withdrew product approval numbers for its two Brucellosis vaccines. A total of seven veterinary drug product approval numbers were also canceled in the factory. In February, the factory issued a public apology, and said it had "severely punished" eight people who were determined as responsible for the incident. It added that it would cooperate with local authorities in the response and cleanup efforts, and contribute to a compensation program for those affected. The Lanzhou Health Commission also announced in its report on Tuesday that 11 public hospitals would provide free and regular checkups for the infected patients. The report didn't offer additional details on the compensation for patients, except that it would be launched in batches starting October. Brucellosis had been much more common in China in the 1980s, though it has since declined with the emergence of vaccines and better disease prevention and control. Still, there have been a smattering of brucellosis outbreaks around the world in the past few decades; an outbreak in Bosnia infected about 1,000 people in 2008, prompting the culling of sheep and other infected livestock. In the US, brucellosis has cost the federal government and livestock industry billions of dollars. About 60% of female bison at Yellowstone National Park carry the bacteria, according to national park authorities.
Alternate story here: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3101816/health-china-exhaust-fumes-animal-vaccine-plant-leave-thousands
Info re US livestock vaccine: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=39151
Every state decides on the requirement for brucellosis vaccination in cattle. In California, assembly bill 1801 repealed the mandatory calfhood vaccination for intact female beef breeds 12 months of age or older and sold within the state as of January 1, 2020. In other words, it is not a requirement anymore that beef breed heifers or cows show evidence of Bangs vaccination before they can be sold within this state. To be clear, there was no requirement to vaccinate beef breed heifers before this law was passed in California if they didn't change ownership. For dairy breed heifers, the story is quite different. They still need to be Bangs vaccinated if they are moved within the state as young as 4 months of age, with some exceptions, e.g. if they are sold directly to slaughter or an approved feedlot.
The new freedom raises the question: should I continue vaccinating my heifers for brucellosis? Let's first take a step back and talk about what brucellosis is: brucellosis is a serious and contagious livestock disease that causes late-term abortions in cattle. The causative agent in cattle is Brucella abortus. The disease poses a significant public health risk because it can be transmitted to people. Drinking raw milk or eating soft cheese made from raw milk from infected animals is a common risk factor to contract the disease. Exposure to tissues and fluids from cattle aborting due to brucellosis is another way that farm workers can catch brucellosis. In humans, the disease is also known as undulant fever because of its ability to cause intermittent bouts of fever. Other symptoms include joint and muscle pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and orchitis (inflammation of the testes) in men. Brucellosis in people often results in chronic disease lasting months or years. No wonder there was a huge effort in eradicating this disease from cattle in the United States. Through a combination of vaccination, testing and quarantine, removal of positive animals and continued surveillance, we have reached a state where the entire United States has been officially declared brucellosis free. The last infected herd in California was found in 1997 and there hasn't been a case here in cattle since. The only pocket where brucellosis is still around in the US is the Greater Yellowstone Area in the Montana/Wyoming/Idaho region, where brucellosis still lingers in wildlife such as elk and bison and occasionally spills over into a cattle herd. Regulations around vaccination and testing of cattle in the Designated Surveillance Area of that region are strict, e.g. a negative blood test is required for movement or change of ownership for all breeding cattle with few exceptions.
Here in California, far away from any possible brucellosis cases, why one should still vaccinate for a disease we don't have seems to be a legitimate question. Here are some thoughts on what the advantages and disadvantages may be: [snip] (for pros/cons)
Question: If and when we're all walking around w/the fast-tracked vaccine induced antibodies,
will this still be relevant and neccessary? Considering this "Never Forget" anniversary date, we've seen the importance of "cadaver" dogs who served heroically following 9/11 as well as many other catastrophies.
https://www.cbc.ccdc.army.mil/newspost/mans-best-friend-joins-covid-19-fight/
Separate question: What breed is pictured?
Interesting, taken together.
and noting one can't study something one does not have in a quantity to study (or use?).
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/how-german-military-scientists-likely-identified-nerve-agent-used-attack-alexei-navalny
https://www.cbc.ccdc.army.mil/newspost/army-scientist-plays-key-role-in-international-ban-on-nerve-agent/
Do these people vote?
https://www.cbc.ccdc.army.mil/about-us/leadership/Can we research their political stances? Might investigative journalists or Congressional Committee members be interested? Seems only one is actually military.
His job: In this capacity, he communicates the practical capabilities offered by the Center’s products and services to leadership at both CCDC, AFC and the Army.
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