tyb and ty for posting dat.
din't see the bun before da post.
some pf housekeeping
A very bright and glowing French AF in at Norfolk and SAM arrived at JBA
A reminder that NATO made Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk operational at the end of July.
French AF CTM1011 A330 on final at NAS Norfolk from Brussels Int'l airport depart
SAM381 USAF G5 on ground at JBA from Appleton Int'l, WI
Brazil Pledges Third 100 Basis-Point Hike as Inflation Soars
Brazil’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point and pledged another hike of the same magnitude for October as it seks to control inflation that’s soaring toward 10%. Policy makers led by Roberto Campos Neto on Wednesday lifted the Selic to 6.25%, as anticipated by 35 of 39 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The other analysts expected even bigger hikes.
“For the next meeting, the Committee foresees another adjustment of the same magnitude,” policy makers wrote in a statement accompanying their unanimous decision. “This pace is the most appropriate to guarantee inflation convergence to the target at the relevant horizon and, simultaneously, allow the committee to obtain more information regarding the state of the economy and the persistence of shocks.” The central bank has raised borrowing costs by 425 basis points since March in an aggressive tightening cycle that has done little to rein in prices. Not only has annual inflation accelerated since then, but expectations for 2022 continue to rise further above target. Fueling prices is a severe drought that has forced the government to increase electricity rates, as well as concerns about growing public spending that have weighed on the currency. “Inflation has surprised to the upside, and fresh surprises can also occur,” Alvaro Frasson, economist at Banco BTG Pactual SA, said before the bank’s decision. “What remains to be seen is whether or not the hike will help calm 2022 consumer price forecasts, which keep on accelerating.”
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to maintain the target range for its benchmark policy rate at zero to 0.25% while signaling it could begin scaling back asset purchases in November. Brazil’s rate decision comes after Campos Neto said last week that the bank won’t react to every piece of high-frequency data. Investors interpreted the remarks as a sign policy makers wouldn’t accelerate the pace of rate hikes now even after consumer prices rose more than forecast last month. Annual inflation hit 9.68% in August, with eight out of nine product and service categories surveyed by the statistics institute rising on the month. Analysts see consumer prices rising 8.35% this year and 4.10% in 2022, well above central bank targets of 3.75% and 3.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian economy is further reopening as the pandemic eases in the country. Brazil’s 7-day rolling average for virus-related deaths has fallen below 600, compared with roughly 3,000 in April, and some states have begun immunizing teenagers.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/brazil-pledges-third-100-basis-point-hike-as-inflation-soars-1.1656065
AMC CEO suggests Dogecoin could be accepted at theaters: 'Stay tuned'
AMC CEO Adam Aron indicated Wednesday that the movie theater chain would explore accepting Dogecoin cryptocurrency as a form of payment after the idea drew a positive response from Twitter users.
Aron, who asked his followers to weigh in through a Twitter poll, said about 77% of respondents, or approximately 140,000 people, voted in favor of the concept. The AMC CEO said the poll was "by far my highest ever read tweet." "It’s clear that you think AMC should accept Dogecoin," Aron wrote. "Now we need to figure out how to do that. Stay tuned!"
Dogecoin, a "meme token," has experienced a surge in popularity in recent months, with billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Tesla founder Elon Musk among its prominent backers. A single Dogecoin is currently worth about 22 cents, an increase of more than 8,000% over the last 12 months, according to crypto trading platform Coinbase.
AMC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. AMC has signaled an openness to cryptocurrencies as a form of payment as it looks to turn around its business during the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie theater chain has already announced plans to accept Bitcoin, Etherum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash for online payments starting later this year.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/amc-ceo-dogecoin-accepted-theaters
Japan to donate 30 mil. additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Japan will provide 30 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries as part of international efforts to ensure fair access to the life-saving shots, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.
The pledge, made at a virtual summit on the pandemic hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden, brings Japan's total commitments to 60 million doses. Japan has already delivered more than 23 million domestically-made doses of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine, about half of which were sent directly to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The other half were distributed through the COVAX Facility, a U.N.-backed program providing shots to poor countries, for which Japan has also pledged $1 billion in funding.
According to the Foreign Ministry, that makes Japan the world's third-largest contributor of doses as of September, behind the United States and China and ahead of India and Britain. Suga said Japan has been helping other countries shore up their coronavirus response by supplying oxygen concentrators and ventilators and "will continue such assistance in order to overcome this public health crisis." Japan has also focused on "Last One Mile Support," which includes providing refrigerated trucks and other cold chain equipment necessary to distribute vaccines to remote areas.
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/09/53c510f1bc83-japan-to-donate-30-mil-additional-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine.html
was me dis time.