Month: December 2020

Categories
Entertainment

The Artists We Misplaced in 2020, in Their Phrases

The Artists We Lost in 2020, in Their Words

Losing a favorite actor or musician is always difficult. But in 2020, a year of crisis, some of those losses were particularly painful, brought on by a pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands in the United States alone. The artists on this list could help us better understand the time we are going through, or at least get through it with a smile or a cathartic scream. Here is a tribute to her, in her own words.

– Chadwick Boseman, actor, born 1976 (Read the obituary.)

– Ann Reinking, dancer, born 1949 (Read the obituary.)

– Larry Kramer, writer, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)

– Luchita Hurtado, artist, born 1920 (Read the obituary.)

– Sean Connery, actor, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)

– Little Richard, singer, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)

– Alex Trebek, TV presenter, born 1940 (Read the obituary.)

– Othella Dallas, dancer, born 1925 (Read the obituary.)

– Eddie Van Halen, guitarist, born 1955 (Read the obituary.)

– Ennio Morricone, composer, born 1928 (Read the obituary.)

– Diana Rigg, actress, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)

– Helen Reddy, singer, born 1941 (Read the obituary.)

– Jerry Stiller, comedian, born 1927 (Read the obituary.)

– Christiane Eda-Pierre, singer, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)

– Milton Glaser, designer, born 1929 (Read the obituary.)

– Cristina, singer, born 1956 (Read the obituary.)

– Adam Schlesinger, songwriter, born 1967 (Read the obituary.)

– Anthony Chisholm, actor, born 1943 (Read the obituary.)

– Olivia de Havilland, actress, born 1916 (Read the obituary.)

– Krzysztof Penderecki, composer, born 1933 (Read the obituary.)

– Helen LaFrance, artist, born 1919 (Read the obituary.)

– Kirk Douglas, actor, born 1916 (Read the obituary.)

– Aileen Passloff, dancer, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)

– Kenny Rogers, singer, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)

– Peter Beard, artist, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)

– Charley Pride, singer, born 1934 (Read the obituary.)

– Elizabeth Wurtzel, author, born 1967 (Read the obituary.)

– Leon Fleisher, pianist, born 1928 (Read the obituary.)

– Zoe Caldwell, actress, born 1933 (Read the obituary.)

– Louis Johnson, dancer, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)

– Terrence McNally, playwright, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)

– Jean Erdman, dancer, born 1916 (Read the obituary.)

– Bill Withers, singer, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)

– Christo, artist, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)

– John le Carré, author, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)

– Mirella Freni, singer, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)

– Ming Cho Lee, theater designer, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)

– Lynn Shelton, director, born 1965 (Read the obituary.)

– Nick Cordero, actor, born 1978 (Read the obituary.)

– Toots Hibbert, singer, born 1942 (Read the obituary.)

– Regis Philbin, TV presenter, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)

– Mary Higgins Clark, author, born 1927 (Read the obituary.)

– Irrfan Khan, actor, born 1967 (Read the obituary.)

– Betty Wright, singer, born 1953 (Read the obituary.)

– John Prine, musician, born 1946 (Read the obituary.)

Categories
World News

Inventory futures rise as market tries to reclaim report highs in last days of 2020

Stock futures rise as market tries to reclaim record highs in final days of 2020

U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher early Wednesday morning as the market tried to regain record highs in the final days of 2020.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average scored 114 points. S&P 500 futures rose 15 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 48 points.

Key averages closed lower Tuesday, abandoning early gains that drove stocks to record highs on the opening bell. Both the Dow and S&P 500 snapped three-day winning streaks, each down 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.38%.

The Russell 2000 closed 1.85% lower for the third straight year.

In Washington, lawmakers continued to disagree on direct payments to Americans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked Chuck Schumer’s efforts to expedite the bill passed by Parliament late Monday that would increase checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000. The stimulus payments could run out on Tuesday evening, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

President Donald Trump backed higher payments and said in a tweet on Tuesday that the move should be approved “ASAP. $ 600 is not enough!”

With only two trading days a year left, the key averages are on the way to rising higher by 2020. The Dow was up 6.3% over the year, while the S&P 500 was up 15.36%. Despite recent selling pressures, the Russell 2000 is still up 17.4% over the year.

The clear winner since the beginning of the year remains the Nasdaq Composite, which is up 43%.

“We expect strong economic growth to recover in 2021 after headwinds from the pandemic in 2020 and the US-China trade war in 2019,” said Brian Demain, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. “While the leadership so far has been tight – mostly limited to the digital economy – we expect a deepening recovery as vaccines become widespread and consumers can re-enter the physical economy,” he added.

The number of Covid cases is still higher. The US is currently seeing at least 180,905 new cases and at least 2,210 virus-related deaths per day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. On Tuesday, the US confirmed its first case of the faster-spreading strain of coronavirus, originally discovered in the UK

Some investors say another potential headwind for stocks ahead is the surge in some of the hottest stocks of the year.

Interactive Brokers Chairman Thomas Peterffy said on Squawk Alley on Tuesday that a “fantastically unusual” thing had happened in the past few days: his customers are net below the market for the first time.

“Our customers are usually on the sell side of options, and there is such a demand for these out of the money options that our customers tend to become sellers,” he said. “So the Robinhood people have long options and Interactive Brokers clients have few options,” he added. In other words, while this is not necessarily a direct bet on the downtrend, customers on the other hand take advantage of such high demand.

Charles Bobrinskoy, vice chairman of Ariel Investments, echoed the dangers of a dynamic market.

“It cannot be that the way to win investing is just to buy what has increased in recent years,” he said Tuesday on CNBC’s Closing Bell. “That works in momentum markets. Momentum markets are wonderful until they turn. But when they turn, it’s ugly,” he said.

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Categories
Business

Nikola, Weibo, DoorDash & extra

Nikola, Weibo, DoorDash & more

Nikola Corporation has rang the Nasdaq Closing Bell remotely from around the world.

Source: The Nasdaq

Check out the companies making headlines on Monday lunchtime:

Nikola – Shares in the electric vehicle maker rose nearly 6% after a JPMorgan analyst said he saw “less dramatic” news flow for the company in 2021. “We expect Nikola to post a video of a working Tre in January “We expect a steady flow of updates for the truck in 2021 as the test milestones are reached,” the analyst said.

Myovant Sciences – Shares rose 25% after agreeing to collaborate with Pfizer to develop prostate cancer drug Relugolix. The drug is also being studied for possible uses for women’s health.

Weibo – The stock fell more than 10% despite a better-than-expected quarterly report from the Chinese social media company. Weibo posted adjusted earnings of 66 cents per share, 6 cents above Refinitiv’s estimates. Sales were also above the analysts’ forecasts. However, some analysts pointed to the slowdown in business growth with average daily active users.

Astrazeneca – US-listed shares in the drug maker rose more than 1% after several reports said the company’s Covid vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, is expected to be approved in the UK this week. The AstraZeneca shot is expected to launch next week if approved in the next few days.

Apple – The tech giant’s shares rose more than 3% on the strength of big tech. Progress comes after Apple makes its fourth straight week of profits.

Novavax – Shares fell more than 2% after the biotech company announced that its coronavirus vaccine candidate entered a phase 3 study in the United States and Mexico. “This study is a critical step in building a global portfolio of safe and effective vaccines to protect the world’s population,” said CEO Stanley Erck in a statement.

DoorDash – The food company fell 3.8% after a column in the Wall Street Journal highlighted how a new bill in California could affect delivery service. The regulation would require companies to have agreements with restaurants, potentially affecting the growth strategy for some services.

CNBC’s Pippa Stevens, Jesse Pound and Yun Li contributed to this report.

Categories
Health

What Can Be Discovered From Differing Charges of Suicide Amongst Teams

What Can Be Learned From Differing Rates of Suicide Among Groups

It’s a much discussed connection. A recent systematic review of studies found that attending church services is not particularly protective against suicidal thoughts (thinking about or planning to commit suicide), but rather against attempted suicide and possibly suicide.

Other types of group activities can create a similar sense of belonging. According to a 2019 study, volunteers with caring responsibilities have a significantly reduced risk of suicide. According to a 1976 study, social support is anything that leads one to “believe that he / she is cared for and loved, valued and part of a network of mutual obligations”.

Jonathan Lee Walton, dean of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University, sees a different angle on black religiosity that could lower the suicide rate. “It is in black theological tradition that in this life you will face difficulties and difficulties,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is the result of tragic experiences in this nation. This prepares one for the path of desperation, the lonely path of heartbreak, perhaps in a way that white Americans do not learn equally or from a young and formative age. “

Single parents are another possible explanation. Black women are more likely to be single parents than white women and have the lowest suicide rate in any race / gender group. (Suicide is generally less common in women than in men.)

“For single parents, the fact that they are the only financial, instrumental and / or emotional supporter for children can deter suicide, even in times of extreme need,” said Professor Mouzon. Another way single parents can reduce the risk of suicide is to bring together extended family and community support to care for the child. It is possible that this support, once in place, will also provide mental health benefits that reduce the risk of suicide for the mother.

Experts say that some reasons for the relatively low suicide rate among Latinos – who also tend to be poorer and face discrimination – are close social and family networks that can build and maintain resilience, and moral objections to suicide based on religion. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that migrant families can lose some of this protection as they adapt to Latino culture and lose their bond.

While it is impossible to predict who will attempt or complete suicide, the general risk factors that contribute to suicide across all races and ethnic groups are largely documented. These include mental health problems and psychiatric disorders, suicide by others, bullying, substance use, loneliness and social isolation, and exposure to stressful life events.

Categories
Politics

Improve the pandemic stimulus funds

Increase the pandemic stimulus payments

Sheila Bair, former FDIC Chair.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

For his critics, President Trump has an annoying habit of being right sometimes. Case in point is the long-awaited Pandemic Aid Act.

We were all grateful when he signed it on Sunday. It had been delayed for months by political gambling and jockeying. However, his criticism of the relatively low cash payments on this bill – $ 600 per adult and per dependent child for those earning up to $ 75,000 per year – was accurate.

Most middle- and low-income Americans have suffered financially in one way or another from this pandemic, and their suffering has deepened in recent months as Congress faltered. Most will continue to suffer from the economic plight of Covid-19, which will last much of 2021.

Those $ 600 payments – only half the amount Congress approved in the CARES bill last March – will soon be exhausted. The Senate should approve the House’s legislation to increase it to $ 2,000. If not, the Biden administration should make this their first job next year.

The idea of ​​unconditional financial aid has been around for some time. With this pandemic, it’s finally due. Experiments dating back to the Nixon administration show that low-income families lower the poverty rate, improve family health, and improve children’s test scores.

More of Invest in you:
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In the past, such payments have been countered with obnoxious arguments that such “freebies” are wasted on cigarettes and alcohol, or that they put work off. The research available shows that they are used to cover the basic cost of living with little impact on the recipients’ employment.

This also applies to how American households spent the first payment round approved in March. According to a study by the American Research Institute, the bulk of this funding was spent on living expenses.

For households with a combined income of less than $ 75,000, nearly 80% said they spent most of that on things like groceries, utilities, and rent. About 54% of wealthier families – those making more than $ 150,000 – also used most of the money to meet basic household needs. Some families said they put most of it into savings: 9% of lower-income households versus around 30% of wealthier families.

Critics of the payments argue that money used for saving instead of consumption does not provide economic stimulus. This is true when the goal is solely to stimulate the economy.

However, given the pervasive economic devastation from Covid-19 and the overall declining financial health of middle and low income families in America prior to the pandemic, we should also worry about propping up their precarious financial condition. A recent CNBC poll shows that 61% of Americans will have used up their emergency savings by the end of this year.

Another benefit of the unconditional cash support: It can be distributed quickly, making it particularly suitable for sudden economic shocks. Thanks to yeoman’s work by the Treasury Department, the vast majority of eligible families receive the second round of cash payments within three weeks.

Compare this to state unemployment benefit schemes collapsing under the weight of millions of claims. It takes time to accept and process applications and to verify eligibility. According to a recent Pew study, only three states currently meet the federal guideline that at least 87% of applicants receive their funding within three weeks. Residues have become the norm. 14 states, including New York and California, meet this standard less than 50% of the time.

The unconditional cash support also has significant collateral benefits. When families spend the money on goods and services, businesses as well as state and local governments benefit from higher sales tax revenues. Such support is also arguably more efficient in allocating resources than complex programs that limit help to specific purposes. Families know their own needs better than anyone, and optimal economic distribution of these resources can be better achieved by spending accordingly.

Americans seem to be “getting” the benefits of cash payments even if Washington politicians have been slow to prevail. According to a survey, two in three Americans support a second round of payments. A similar proportion considers the checks in the current business cycle to be too few.

Given the proven inability of our elected officials to respond promptly when Americans are in need, the Biden administration should not only seek a new round of payments, but also put in place a permanent system that automatically distributes funds when our economy suffers a major shock.

Categories
Business

Britain Authorizes Covid-19 Vaccine From Oxford and AstraZeneca

Britain Authorizes Covid-19 Vaccine From Oxford and AstraZeneca

These setbacks have not dampened the UK craze for the country’s leading homegrown vaccine. According to analysts, this could improve Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tenure if rolled out quickly.

The UK has made AstraZeneca the linchpin of its vaccination strategy by ordering 100 million doses, 40 million of which should be available by March. The UK has vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people since the Pfizer vaccine was approved on December 2nd. However, the country has struggled to manage it beyond hospitals and doctor’s offices, and some of its highest priority recipients, like nursing home residents, are still at risk.

A small number of volunteers in the UK clinical trial received their first dose at half strength due to a measurement problem. Oxford had hired an outside manufacturer to manufacture the vaccine for the trial. When the researchers received a sample of the vaccine, they found that its strength was twice what the manufacturer had found using a different measuring technique. Unsure of which measurement to trust, the researchers decided to cut the dose in half to make sure the volunteers didn’t get double the intended dose. The Oxford researchers later confirmed their reading was too high and switched back to the originally planned dose for the second shot.

In the smaller group of 2,741 people who received the first half-strength dose or a meningococcal vaccine as a control, the vaccine was found to be 90 percent effective. However, none of these participants were over 55 years of age, making it difficult to know if these results would apply to the elderly.

Scientists at AstraZeneca and Oxford have said they don’t know why the half-strength starting dose was so much more effective. However, they have expressed confidence in their results, particularly in finding that no one who received the vaccine in the clinical trials has developed severe Covid-19 or has been hospitalized.

“We think we’ve figured out the formula for success and figured out how to get the effectiveness that everyone else has after two doses,” Pascal Soriot, managing director of AstraZeneca, told The Times of London in an interview published on Saturday. The company has not released any evidence of efficacy rates as high as Pfizer or Moderna. “I can’t tell you more because we will eventually publish,” Soriot told the Times.

The Oxford scientists published interim results from clinical trials of the vaccine in The Lancet earlier this month. The upcoming final results of these studies are not expected to differ significantly from the interim data, as is typical in clinical research.

Categories
Health

Her Abdomen Harm Unbearably. Her Medical doctors Have been Baffled.

Her Stomach Hurt Unbearably. Her Doctors Were Baffled.

She called her mother. What have birth control pills done to you? She asked. It was horrible, said her mother, and it took months to find out. The first attack was just days before their wedding. She started taking birth control pills weeks earlier so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting pregnant during her honeymoon. One morning she woke up with a terrible stomachache. Her father had to carry her to the car to take her to the hospital. The doctors there couldn’t go wrong. A day later, she started feeling better. But it kept happening and no one could figure out what was going on.

After months of these seizures, she found that they started after she took the pill and stopped taking it. And miraculously the pain stopped. Recently, her mother added, the patient’s cousin had the same pain after starting the pill. So maybe it runs in the family.

The patient told all of this to Budhraja’s partner, who looked after her during this hospital stay. It was a compelling story, the doctor agreed. She ordered the HAE test and warned the patient that it could be days before he comes back. In the meantime, they could help her with the pain and make sure nothing else was going on.

HAE is an inherited imbalance in the complex chemical systems that control swelling and inflammation. Most people with HAE make insufficient or ineffective amounts of C1, a protein that blocks swelling and inflammation. If the patient has too little C1, it is HAE type 1. If there is enough C1 but not working, the patient has HAE type 2. The patient went home the following day after the pain had subsided and was excited Having found cause for her in pain. But when Budhraja saw the results of her test, he was surprised. Your C1 was completely normal. If she didn’t have HAE, what did she have?

Budhraja quickly turned to an online medical resource called UpToDate. In the article on HAE, there was a single paragraph entitled “HAE with Normal C1”. Budhraja was relieved to see that such a thing existed. New research, he read, showed that there are many genetic abnormalities that can cause HAE, and while most affect C1, others don’t. The most common of these rarities mainly affects women, usually causes bowel swelling, and is often triggered by exposure to estrogen during pregnancy or after starting birth control pills. The doctor couldn’t believe his luck. This newly described disorder, HAE 3, seemed a perfect fit for his patient and her family.

Most people with this rare variant of this rare disease have an abnormality in the gene that makes factor XII part of the machinery that causes blood to clot. How exactly this defect causes the swelling is still unclear. The only way to test this is to look at the gene that codes for the factor XII protein. It took another six weeks for that answer to come back: She had HAE 3. And one of her daughters and probably her mother too.

There is no cure for this disease, but medications exist that can stop an attack once it starts. The patient now has this medication – just in case. She has taken a closer look at her family background and believes that many of the women on their mother’s side had this disease and some may have died from it. She is grateful to Budhraja for making this diagnosis. The doctor sees it differently. “I would like to appreciate that,” he told me. “Really I would. But it was the patient – she did it. “

Categories
Business

American Airways sees capability cuts by means of February as Covid instances rise

American Airlines sees capacity cuts through February as Covid cases rise

American Airlines Flight 718, the first US Boeing 737 MAX commercial flight since regulators lifted a 20-month primer in November, will take off from Miami, Florida on December 29, 2020.

Marco Bello | Reuters

American Airlines believes the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will continue to weigh on demand and flight schedules through 2021, the airline’s president said Tuesday.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline is flying about 45% of its 2019 schedule this month, Robert Isom told reporters at Miami International Airport, before the Boeing 737 Max’s first U.S. flight carrying commercial passengers ceased almost two years ago .

“We expect it will stay that way through January and February. We hope the vaccine will show promise,” he said.

American and its competitors have warned investors over the past few weeks that a spike in Covid-19 cases and new travel restrictions hurt sales in the fourth quarter, although the number of travelers on vacation rose towards the end of the year.

Categories
World News

A congressman-elect from Louisiana died from Covid-19 problems.

A congressman-elect from Louisiana died from Covid-19 complications.

Luke Letlow, a Republican who was elected to the House of Representatives this month to represent Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District, died Tuesday night of complications from Covid-19, a spokesman said. He was 41 years old.

Mr. Letlow was due to take office on Sunday. His death was confirmed by several politicians, including Louisiana representative Garret Graves, who said in a Facebook post that the death of his friend and “former employee” was “a great loss to Louisiana and America.” Mr Letlow died at the Ochsner LSU Health Hospital in Shreveport, La., Said spokesman Andrew Bautsch.

Mr Letlow said on December 18 that he was isolating at home after testing positive for the coronavirus. He was later hospitalized in Monroe, La., Before being rushed to the Shreveport hospital, Mr Bautsch said on Dec. 23. Mr Letlow was given the antiviral drug remdesivir and steroids to treat his infection, Mr Bautsch said.

On December 21, when he was hospitalized in Monroe, Mr Letlow urged people who had recovered from Covid-19 to donate their plasma. “Your plasma is especially needed by those who suffer,” he wrote in a tweet. “I cannot stress this enough. Please remember to save lives by going out and donating at your local blood bank. ”

Dr. GE Ghali, a doctor at Shreveport Hospital, told The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La that he had no underlying medical conditions that would have increased his chances of dying from Covid-19.

Mr. Letlow was elected to replace Rep. Ralph Abraham, whom Mr. Letlow had appointed as chief of staff, in a runoff earlier this month against another Republican.

Mr. Letlow is survived by his wife Julia and their two children Jeremiah and Jacqueline.

Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said in a statement: “Tonight the United States House of Representatives is sadly mourning the death of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow.

“Congressman-elect Letlow was a ninth generation Louisian who fought passionately for his point of view and dedicated his life to public service,” she said.

Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, said: “Our hearts break tonight as we process the news of the death of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow.”

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said Tuesday evening that Covid-19 had “taken Congressman-elect Letlow from us far too early”. Mr. Edwards, a Democrat, said he had ordered flags to be hoisted halfway on the day of Mr. Letlow’s funeral.

Representative Mike Johnson, a Republican representing the state’s fourth congressional district, made a statement on behalf of the state’s six-member Congressional delegation: “We are devastated to hear of Luke Letlow’s death. Luke had such a positive mind and he had an incredibly bright future ahead of him. He looked forward to serving the people of Louisiana in Congress, and we were pleased to welcome him to our delegation where he was ready to make an even greater impact on our state and nation. “

Bobby Jindal, the former Louisiana governor for whom Mr. Letlow had previously worked when Mr. Jindal was a Congressional candidate, agent and governor, said the congressman-elect had “spoken in recent days about his excitement about being able to serve him “Circle.

“I first met Luke when he was a student and spent countless hours with him in his truck driving the back streets of Louisiana,” said Jindal. “His passion for service has been constant throughout his life.”

Ballotopedia says Mr. Letlow is the first federal elected official to die of Covid. The first member of the federal government to die from it was a judge.

Other elected officials to die from Covid include multiple lawmakers: a Republican Senator from Minnesota, New Hampshire’s new Republican House Speaker, and in North Dakota, David Dean Andahl, a Republican named “Dakota Dave” was posthumously elected to the House after he died from the virus.

Categories
Business

Alaska Airways Clamps Down on Emotional Assist Animals on Flights

Alaska Airlines Clamps Down on Emotional Support Animals on Flights

If you’re flying with Alaska Airlines from mid-January, don’t plan on getting on board with your support pig or miniature horse.

The airline, which acted in the wake of new federal guidelines aimed at curbing a number of at times exotic animals that passengers had brought on airliners as emotional support animals, simply announced on Tuesday what it would allow: only qualified assistance dogs the up lie on the floor or be held in your lap.

Ray Prentice, director of customer advocacy at Alaska Airlines, who said it was the first major airline to publicly change its animal policy in light of updated federal guidelines, said the airline’s decision was a positive move.

“This change in the law is welcome news as it will help us reduce disruption on board while accommodating our guests traveling with qualified service animals,” Prentice said in a statement.

The airline said that as of Jan. 11, service dogs will only be allowed who have been trained to work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.

A December 2 ruling by the US Department of Transportation that amended the Department’s Air Carrier Access Act gives airlines the power to classify animals as pets rather than service animals with emotional support. According to the verdict, only dogs that meet certain training criteria may be admitted as service animals for people with physical, sensory, psychiatric, mental or other mental disabilities.

The new regulation has been criticized by disability rights advocates who said the restrictions would weaken protection for people with disabilities by restricting the definition of a service animal. According to formal guidelines from the Ministry of Transport from 2019, common service animals include dogs, cats and miniature horses.

“Although it is no secret that we are still a long way from having a truly accessible transport system in this country, the DOT rule will only serve to exacerbate existing inequalities for people with disabilities who travel by air, and instead almost exclusively for them The airline’s interests to be considered industry, “Curt Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, said in a statement earlier this month.

Despite criticism, airlines and others in the air travel industry, such as lobby group Airlines for America, have hailed the recent changes and stated that they will do more to reduce animal misbehavior on flights and prevent individuals from setting rules regarding the service abuse animals.

In the past, passengers have attempted to travel with a wide variety of animals, from everyday to downright unusual animals such as pigs, monkeys, and birds. (One unsuccessful attempt even included a peacock.)

The Disabled Americans Act defines dogs and miniature horses as service animals “that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” Under the law, dogs that only provide emotional support are not designated as service animals.

Alaska Airlines’ revised policy allows for a maximum of two service dogs per guest and includes psychiatric service dogs. Passengers must also submit a form developed by the Ministry of Transport confirming that a dog is a service animal and has received appropriate training and vaccination.