It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, December 25, 2021
Norway Wealth Fund CEO Sees Market Weakness, Inflation Threat Iain Rogers Sat, December 25, 2021
(Bloomberg) -- The head of Norway’s $1.4 trillion wealth fund said he expects a lengthy period of weakness in financial markets and warned that inflation could be the most significant challenge ahead.
Nicolai Tangen, chief executive officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that after achieving an average rate of return of 6% for a quarter century, the fund is now preparing for “a decade of lower returns.”
“It might even turn negative,” the paper quoted him as saying in an interview. “We just have to accept that. The future will be less attractive for us than the past.”
Tangen said the “biggest potential problem” for the fund -- the world’s biggest owner of publicly traded stocks -- is inflation and predicted surging prices could have “far more serious consequences than is currently generally assumed.”
“I see inflation everywhere: in freight rates, in the prices of metals and food, in construction costs, and gradually in wages,” he told the FAZ.
“As a long-term investor, we don’t have that many options,” he added. “We have nowhere to hide from inflation.”
Built from North Sea oil and gas riches, Norway’s wealth fund has a portfolio of about 9,000 stocks. It has exited hundreds of companies over the past decade to avoid the environmental, social and governance risk it says they represented.
U.S. Consumer Spending Buffeted by Fastest Inflation in Decades Reade Pickert Thu, December 23, 2021,
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumers took a breather in November a month after an early holiday spending surge, but that pause risks becoming more lasting if Americans pull back when faced with both the fastest inflation in decades and the omicron variant.
Purchases of goods and services, after adjusting for higher prices, were little changed following a solid 0.7% gain in October. The government’s figures were the marquee of a pre-holiday burst of economic reports Thursday that showed stronger orders for durable goods, increased new-home sales and firmer consumer sentiment.
Underlying the spending figures are a series of crosscurrents. Buffeted by headlines about snarled supply chains, many Americans started their holiday shopping earlier than usual this year, helping to explain the strong advance in the prior month.
But consumers are also facing the fastest inflation in decades. With every trip to the grocery store and gas pump eating away a little more of their paychecks, people have less left over for discretionary purchases. And the new omicron variant of Covid-19 threatens to curb the incipient rebound in outlays for services.
The report showed Americans are spending more on essentials amid the pickup in prices. Money spent on housing and utilities increased last month, as did outlays on gasoline and food. The data showed inflation-adjusted spending on services rose 0.5%, the most in three months, while goods outlays dropped 0.8%, the first decline since July.
The personal consumption expenditures price gauge, which the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% inflation target, increased 0.6% from a month earlier and 5.7% from November 2020, the highest reading since 1982.
The data come on the heels of a hawkish pivot by Fed officials, who have been under pressure to take action against overheating prices. Last week the central bank announced it would accelerate the end of its asset-buying program, and new interest-rate projections indicated policy makers favor raising borrowing costs by three-quarters of a percentage point next year.
Consumers are saving less amid the rapid price increases. Adjusted for inflation, disposable personal income, or after-tax income, fell 0.2%, the fourth straight decline. The savings rate -- personal saving as a share of disposable income -- declined to 6.9%, the lowest since December 2017.
What Bloomberg Economists Say...
“A flat reading on real consumer spending in November -- even before omicron hit -- suggests inflation may be starting to weigh on consumer resilience into year-end... The increase in services was widespread, a positive sign of rotation out of goods spending going into next year.” -- Yelena Shulyatyeva and Anna Wong, economists
Though federal stimulus has waned, a host of companies have hiked pay this year to attract and retain talent amid widespread hiring struggles. In November, wages and salaries rose 0.5%, following a 0.8% gain in October, the report showed.
The core price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.5% from the prior month and 4.7% from a year earlier, the fastest gain since 1983.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said he’s scaling back his forecast for the gain in fourth-quarter consumer spending on the grounds that “the omicron Covid wave appears to be hitting spending at restaurants.” The firm now sees outlays rising at a 5.5% annualized rate in the period, down from the prior 6% forecast, according to a note Thursday.
Meanwhile, the outlook for both manufacturing and residential construction appears solid after a pair of Thursday reports showed stronger bookings for durable goods and the firmest pace of new-home sales in seven months.
Orders for goods meant to last several years increased 2.5% from the prior months, spurred by more bookings for commercial aircraft, motor vehicles, metals and communications equipment. While core capital goods orders softened, the figures follow steady increases in prior months that illustrate a robust pattern of business investment.
Housing demand is also flexing some muscle and keeping builder backlogs elevated. Purchases of new single-family homes increased 12.4% to a 744,000 annualized pace, although the prior was revised down sharply.
Of the homes sold in last month, construction on 221,000 had yet to be started, the most since May, suggesting backlogs are growing.
Separate data from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment picked up this month as households grew more upbeat about the economy and outlook for their finances.
And the Labor Department said new applications for state jobless benefits totaled 205,000 in the week ended Dec. 18, unchanged from the prior period and underscoring a subdued level of job losses.
Apple shareholders seek civil-rights audit following employee controversies
"They're spending money on racial and mostly philanthropic initiatives and don't really address the company's own policies"
Shareholders want Apple to conduct a civil rights audit.
That's because of recent employee controversies and a lack of diversity. Agroup of Apple shareholders wants the company to hold a civil rights audit over a lack of diversity at the company and a string of recent employee controversies.
Apple Inc. has declared its commitment to racial and gender equity, but it is now facing a shareholder call for a civil-rights audit amid employee controversies and slow progress in diversifying its workforce.
The first-of-its-kind proposal for Apple AAPL, +1.91% comes on the heels of recent news that the tech giant is being investigated by the U.S. Labor Department for alleged harassment of and retaliation against an employee who raised concerns about workplace safety, as well as other formal complaints from former employees. It is one of several governance- and sustainability-related proposals the company's investors are expected to face at its annual general meeting in 2022.
The proposals reportedly reference claims Apple shut down internal employee-run pay surveys and the controversial hiring of Antonio García Martínez. The report continues:
SOC Investment Group teamed up with the Service Employees International Union and Trillium Asset Management on the proposal; the group filed their proposal in the fall but only recently found out it will actually be on the proxy. The SEIU's pension fund's holdings include Apple, while SOC owns 21.9 million shares of the company and Trillium said it owned more than 1 million shares of Apple as of the end of the third quarter.
The news comes on the same day it emerged that the SEC has blocked Apple's bid to stop a shareholder vote on a proposal that would see the company report on its use of non-disclosure agreements and concealment clauses, which shareholders say stop employees speaking out on issues like harassment and discrimination.
TikTok moderator sues over mental trauma caused by graphic videos Steve Dent Fri, December 24, 2021
A TikTok moderator has sued the social media platform and its parent ByteDance over trauma caused by graphic videos, Bloomberg has reported. In a proposed class-action lawsuit, moderator Candie Frazier said that she has screened videos showing violence, school shootings, fatal falls and even cannibalism. "Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares," the lawsuit states.
Compounding the problem, TikTok allegedly requires moderators to work 12-hour shifts with only a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks. "Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time," according to the complaint.
Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares.
Along with other social media companies including Facebook and YouTube, TikTok developed guidelines to help moderators cope with child abuse and other traumatic images. Among the suggestions is that companies limit moderator shifts to four hours and provide psychological support. However, TikTok allegedly failed to implement those guidelines, according to the lawsuit.
Content moderators take the brunt of graphic and traumatic images that appear on social media, making sure that users don't have to experience them. One company that provides content moderators for large tech firms even acknowledged in a consent form that the job can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, social media companies have been criticized by their mods and others for not paying enough given the psychological hazards, and not providing enough mental health support. A similar lawsuit was filed against Facebook in 2018.
Frazier is hoping to represent other Tiktok screeners in a class-action suit, and is asking for compensation for psychological injuries and a court order for a medical fund for moderators.
TikTok Sued by Content Moderator Disturbed by Graphic Videos
Robert Burnson Fri, December 24, 2021
(Bloomberg) -- TikTok’s 10,000 content moderators are exposed to a regular diet of child pornography, rapes, beheadings and animal mutilation, according to a lawsuit filed against the video-sharing platform and its parent, ByteDance Inc.
It gets worse. Content moderator Candie Frazier says in her proposed class-action lawsuit that she has screened videos involving freakish cannibalism, crushed heads, school shootings, suicides, and even a fatal fall from a building, complete with audio.
And there’s no escaping it, Frazier claims. TikTok requires moderators to work at a frantic pace, watching hundreds of videos per 12-hour shift with only an hour off for lunch and two 15-minute breaks, according to Thursday’s complaint in federal court in Los Angeles.
“Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time,” her lawyers said in the complaint.
TikTok said it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation, but strives “to promote a caring working environment for our employees and contractors.”
“Our safety team partners with third party firms on the critical work of helping to protect the TikTok platform and community, and we continue to expand on a range of wellness services so that moderators feel supported mentally and emotionally,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
TikTok was a member of a group of social media companies including Facebook and YouTube that developed guidelines for helping moderators cope with the images of child abuse that their jobs required them to view, according to the complaint.
But TikTok failed to implement the guidelines, which include providing psychological support and limiting shifts to four hours, according to the suit.
Frazier, who lives in Las Vegas, said she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of all the disturbing videos she has had to watch.
“Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares,” according to the complaint.
Frazier, who seeks to represent other TikTok content screeners, is asking for compensation for psychological injuries and a court order requiring the company to set up a medical fund for moderators.
“I'm Just Stuck In A Horror Movie”: Americans Saddled With Student Loan Debt Want Biden To Do More
Nicole Fallert Thu, December 23, 2021
When the COVID pandemic first struck, Johanna Daile, a third-year student studying history and psychology at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois, knew they would have trouble concentrating in virtual classes. Having already accumulated $58,000 of debt over three years of college, they decided to temporarily quit school during the pandemic to focus on paying back their loans.
But the pandemic continued — and got worse. Daile, then an assistant manager at Dairy Queen, relocated to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to be near family in September 2020. They transferred to another Dairy Queen location, working the same position for less pay. The 24-year-old switched jobs a few more times before finding their current position at Kay Jewelers.
Because they did not graduate, Daile wasn’t able to get their loans deferred, and going back to school isn’t possible without taking out even more loans. Their payments are up to $750 per month — over half of their paycheck. They want to resume their education, but the risk of taking on even more debt severely limits their options, Daile told BuzzFeed News. Now their goal is to return to school by 2025, if they are able.
Student loan debt is an overwhelming burden shared by over 40 million Americans. It can follow people throughout their lives and lock them out of significant milestones like buying a home or, in Daile’s case, obtaining a degree.
Under the CARES Act, student loan repayments were paused, and the federal student loan interest rates were set at 0% as of March 2020. In August this year, a month before the pause was set to expire, President Joe Biden pushed the deadline to resume payments to Jan. 31, 2022.
As COVID cases surged this past month, the president on Wednesday announced that he would extend the pause to May 1, 2022. But Biden — who promised on the campaign trail to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower — has not indicated that he will cancel student debt outright, as progressive lawmakers have demanded, a move that would provide immense financial relief to millions of Americans.
In his announcement of the extension, Biden acknowledged the difficulties that over 40 million borrowers have faced during the pandemic.
“Now, while our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever — with nearly 6 million jobs added this year, the fewest Americans filing for unemployment in more than 50 years, and overall unemployment at 4.2 percent — we know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” Biden said in his Dec. 22 statement.
Biden also promised that the Department of Education would offer support programs in the meantime and to help borrowers make payments come May 2022. But many borrowers told BuzzFeed News the extension doesn’t remotely solve the dire financial issue of $1.7 trillion owed in US student loan debt (including federal and nonfederal loans).
“I just wish that it could help those who cannot afford to finish their education and those with private student loans because it was their only choice,” Daile said. “Adults in [the] upper-middle class and upper class can survive, but lower-middle class to low class, we are barely surviving with our payments.”
Student loan debt is just not a problem for millennials, according to Alan Collinge, founder of StudentLoanJustice.org, a group that advocates for total cancellation. More than half of all borrowers are over 35 years old, according to Department of Education data from 2020. Older people owe more than younger people, even though they may have borrowed less money initially years ago, Collinge said in the group’s response to Biden’s extension this week.
BuzzFeed News reached out to members of the “Student Loan Justice” Facebook group, where borrowers share their stories and support one another. Many of them reacted to Biden administration’s recent extension with deeply personal stories.
Kristina Allen, 52, lives near San Francisco and has one more online class to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Regis University. She initially took loans out when she began studying to become a registered nurse as her twin daughters attended college. She graduated in 2008.
“I was a single mom in poverty, and I desperately wanted my twins and their little sister to have a better life,” Allen said, adding that her three daughters are all college graduates now. “My granddaughter doesn't know what hungry is, so the cycle of poverty stopped.”
Over the years, Allen has paid off $90,000 in loans but still owes about $75,000; her initial loan was less than half that amount. Between 2015 and 2016, around her third year of the bachelor’s program at Regis, Allen defaulted on her federal loans and was charged exorbitant interest and fees. She‘s also subjected to a wage garnishment, which means a percentage of her disposable income is being withheld until her loan is paid off or considered not in default. One-quarter of her pretax income has been garnished since 2017 until the first pause in loan repayment came during the Trump administration, she said.
Biden’s announcement of a loan repayment extension came as a relief. But once payments restart in the spring, Allen believes she’ll have to “drop her dream” of a master’s degree to focus paying off her loans with the wage garnishment.
“Retirement? A home of our own? Not even a thought,” Allen, who said she has lupus and a related blood clot disorder, told BuzzFeed News. The repayment pause has given her a much-needed financial break to afford care for her husband, who has end-stage cancer, as well as address her own health issues she’s neglected. But, Allen said, she can’t afford to move closer to family and friends in New England; she needs her current work-provided health insurance to pay for her husband’s chemotherapy, support herself, and pay the loans.
“I'd like to work less and take care of my own health, but I can't, because of my loans,” Allen said.
Like Allen, Michael Goolsby, a 56-year-old who works at a Walmart in Fernley, Nevada, said Biden’s new deadline will postpone his wage garnishment; he told BuzzFeed News that, since 2019, 15% of his paycheck has been withheld to pay off his loans. Goolsby has a bachelor’s and master’s in history from Colorado State University; when he finished his master’s in 1991, he had $25,000 in student loan debt.
The following year, he was told he faced a default. As a result, his school would not release his transcripts to potential employers, he said. He accepted an offer in early 1994 to consolidate his debt under a Sallie Mae program, which required him to take out a $36,000 loan. But multiple payment deferments and defaults only compounded his debt, causing him to fall behind no matter how much he worked, he said, ultimately leading to a wage garnishment. He said he’s trying to keep other debts down so he can eventually declare bankruptcy.
His student loan debt now stands at more than $100,000, he said.
“I did many things over time for a job, from driving a truck, managing a fast-food restaurant, working on an assembly line, being a paralegal for a San Francisco law firm for six years, working in IT doing technical support for 15 years, and then driving a cab and leaving California for Reno, Nevada, because that's where the jobs are nowadays as I work towards retirement, which may not even be on my 65th birthday in 2030,” Goolsby said. “But here I am.”
Justin Schanck, 43, a teacher in Macon, Georgia, said he owes $80,000 in loans from his combined graduate and undergraduate degrees.
“I went to grad school to try and better my life and increase my income, only to add on more loans,” he told BuzzFeed News. Schanck said he blames himself for not thinking about the cost of a graduate degree, “but this predatory lending system certainly did not help.”
Not using his hard-earned money to pay off his loans during the pandemic has allowed his family to “reinvest” in his community, he said. They put a new roof on their house to stop a ceiling leak and have been determined to shop from local businesses.
“Once the payments start again, that money will essentially be taken away from the local economy,” Schanck said.
Yirzely Villanueva, 27, of Canyon Country, California, said she feels both “relieved and stressed'' by the extension. She told BuzzFeed News she has over $40,000 in debt from a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Southern California. She said she’s happy that interest is paused for now and she can pay back “exactly” what she borrowed.
“My loan is 60% of my savings and so I'm stuck,” she said. “I either pay off my loan and stay broke, or wait and be in debt indefinitely.”
As a Mexican American woman, Villanueva said she feels like the “deck is already stacked” against her when it comes to taking out loans for a home or a car. “With my luck, I'm scared once I hit ‘pay’ [my student loans] will be canceled.”
She said the extension makes her wonder why borrowers aren’t being allowed to just pay back their loans without interest.
“I feel like I'm just stuck in a horror movie waiting for the ‘interest monster’ to get me,” she said.
Like others, Lyndsey Summers, a 31-year-old in Portland, Oregon, said the extension is not enough. “I can’t say I’m unhappy about this extension, but it’s hardly enough for the millions of borrowers suffering,” Summers told BuzzFeed News.
She said she owes nearly $75,000 from her bachelor’s degree in communication media from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. She’s had trouble qualifying for public loan forgiveness and said she “struggles to get by” given her loans and her salary as a journalist. She said it’s been difficult trying to talk to the government and her loan servicer, with long hold times on the phone.
“It is the servicer who works with borrowers, and when you ask them for specific information, they point to the school,” Summers said. “The schools don’t have to keep records, by the way, for longer than 5 years — at least according to my institution. I wanted to see an itemized receipt for how my loans were applied to my education. I have no idea if I’ll get an answer. It would have been nice to be notified that records would be destroyed.”
Although state schools are “supposed to be more affordable,” Summers pointed out, it wasn’t for her. “I just want to be able to buy a home and get ahead.”
Amy (who asked that BuzzFeed News only use her first name for privacy), 55, is a former teacher in Louisiana. She said she originally borrowed $46,000 when she started her undergraduate degree in 1997; after “faithfully” paying off the loans for nearly two decades, she still owes $30,800.
“I really thought President Biden would follow through with his promises to help Americans such as myself that have been taken advantage of by a predatory loan system,” she said. “It looks like I was wrong.”
“I owe almost as much now as I borrowed, even after 20 years of payments!” Amy told BuzzFeed News. “I have resigned to the fact that I will never in my lifetime be able to pay them off. I will take them to my grave.”
Amy said she has applied for teacher forgiveness programs in the past but has always been denied. “I really thought President Biden would follow through with his promises to help Americans such as myself that have been taken advantage of by a predatory loan system,” she said. “It looks like I was wrong.” More on this
American health care is ‘broken’ and ‘expensive,’ Floridians say
END FOR PROFIT HEALTHCARE Margo Snipe, Tampa Bay Times Thu, December 23, 2021
Floridians are growing increasingly anxious about health care costs and unequal access to care as the pandemic continues with no end in sight, according to a new national survey. An estimated 100 million Americans would describe the health care system as either “expensive” or “broken,” according to the West Health-Gallup 2021 Healthcare in America Report. Almost half say their view of the system has worsened in the era of COVID-19.
The United States spends nearly $4 trillion on health care, making it the most expensive system in the world. Yet it produces the worst outcomes in categories such as life expectancy, obesity rates, chronic disease burdens and suicide rates, compared to other high-income countries, according to the Commonwealth Fund. “Health care is an industry,” said West Health chief strategy officer Tim Lash. “We do one thing really well in the U.S. health system, and that’s cost.” The nation’s top one percent experience the best health outcomes, Lash said, but those outcomes get worse as income decreases: “It is all of us (who) can struggle and be affected by these costs.”
The survey was conducted online by Gallup and West Health, a group of organizations aimed at reducing healthcare costs. It’s billed as the largest health care survey since the start of the pandemic, querying 6,663 participants across the nation. They answered questions over two time periods, one Sept. 27-30 and another Oct. 18-21. The survey shows the majority of Americans are more worried about the cost of services and prescription drugs amid the pandemic. Nine in 10 people surveyed said they expect their health care costs to increase. Many are worried they won’t be able to pay those costs, adding to their daily stress.
The Floridians surveyed feel the same as their fellow Americans.
Nearly 30 percent of Floridians report health care costs are a major financial burden. Seven in 10 Americans agree that their household pays too much for the quality of care they receive. The number of Americans who’ve skipped needed medical care due to cost is also spiking, the survey shows. A third of the respondents said they had done so, which is the highest that number has been since the onset of the pandemic.
The negative feelings are being felt across a number of different income levels. About 20 percent of households earning more than $120,000 a year say cost still impedes them from seeking care. One in 20 adults report knowing someone who died because they could not afford treatment. For Black Americans, that likelihood doubled.
“It has a human impact in terms of lost lives and lost years,” Lash said. “It’s clear that there is this awakening in terms of the challenges families are facing, but there is a disproportionate impact on families of color.”
Mounting health inequities nationwide — driven in part by unequal access to care — is an added cause of concern for 60 percent of the survey participants. Among Black Americans, that concern rises to almost 75 percent.
“The sharp worsening in public opinion regarding the affordability of care and medicine is startling,” said a statement from Gallup senior researcher Dan Witters. “From rapidly rising inflation, to deferred care pushed into 2021, to more people having to pay for COVID-19 care itself, the U.S. healthcare cost crisis is now coming to a head.”
The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg provides partial funding for Tampa Bay Times stories on equity. It does not select story topics and is not involved in the reporting or editing.
Indiana AG Todd Rokita says he doesn't believe COVID-19 stats his own state releases
Rashika Jaipuriar, Indianapolis Star Thu, December 23, 2021
Screenshot from WSBT CBS 22's interview with Indiana Attorney General
Todd Rokita, Friday, Dec. 17.
Health care workers are pleading for help as Indiana is seeing record numbers of hospitalizations, but one of the state’s top elected officials said he doesn’t believe it.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita appeared in an interview with WSBT 22 in South Bend on Friday, Dec. 17.
"Well, you know, first of all, I don't believe any numbers anymore," Rokita said. "And I'm sorry about that, but this has been politicized."
"From your state health people, huh?" Connor asks.
"This has been politicized since day one," Rokita continues.
Screenshot of Indiana's COVID-19 hospitalizations from the Indiana Department of Health dashboard, on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021.
Surging COVID hospitalizations in Indiana
Indiana reported nearly 3,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Dec. 21, the latest date for which data is available on the Department of Health dashboard. This latest surge has surpassed the numbers seen in the fall delta surge, and it is nearing the levels reached last winter.
Indiana University Health, the state's largest hospital system, has requested help from the Indiana National Guard. At IU Health Methodist Hospital, a 23-person U.S. Navy team will be deployed to relieve exhausted health care workers.
On Sunday, health care workers at IU Health, Community Health Network and Eskenazi Health put out a full-page ad in the IndyStar, with a simple message, urging Hoosiers to get vaccinated: "We can't do this alone." An advertisement by health care workers in the Indianapolis Star on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021.
"The situation is dire ... it's a daily challenge to treat incoming COVID-19 patients, as well as those who suffer from strokes, heart attacks, car accidents, cancer and appendicitis."
Rokita's interview took place just one day after state lawmakers heard public testimony on House Bill 1001, a bill that would discourage private employers from imposing vaccine mandates.
In the public testimony, IU Health's Dr. Gabriel Bosslet warned lawmakers that if current trends continue, by Christmas Eve, Indiana will have more patients hospitalized with COVID than at any other time in the pandemic.
"Our hospitals are bursting," he said. "We are tired. We have been able to scale up ICU beds and ventilators, but we have not been able to scale up people. There are no more of me."
Vaccine mandates
In the WSBT interview, Rokita explains away overwhelmed hospitals with vaccine mandates:
"The reason hospitals are filling up is because their own health care workers won't come to work because of the mandates that have been put on them," Rokita said. "A year ago, we are calling them heroes, and now they're some kind of villains."
WSBT's Connor pushes back, "Well, many are calling themselves burnt out because of all the work they've been having to do and that's why they left. Not because of the mandate."
"Mas o menos," Rokita replied.
In October, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that just 5% of unvaccinated adults said they left a job due to an employer's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Morning Consult reported that the exodus has been "driven largely by pandemic, insufficient pay or opportunities and burnout." Another survey by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses found that 66% of critical care nurses have considered leaving the profession due to their experiences during the pandemic.
The reasons cited by the majority included "afraid of putting their family's health at risk" and that "patients who are unvaccinated undermine nurses' physical and mental well-being."
'Words matter'
Rokita concludes the interview by saying, “I think the best advice is don't listen to politicians.”
When the interviewer asked him who people should listen to, he replied, “Listen to your doctor.” Bosslet called Rokita's comments in the interview "absolutely insane." "I try to avoid being political," Bosslet tweeted, "but hospitals are on fire with #covid19 ... This is leadership malpractice."
"If I’m honest about my feelings here this hurts and makes me sad. We need support from those elected to lead us. At the very least we need them not see us as enemies. Words matter when you are a leader. And these words hurt." IndyStar reporters Kaitlin Lange and Shari Rudavsky contributed to this report.
Spanish eruption's end brings 'emotional relief,' rebuilding A house is covered by ash from a volcano that continues to erupt on La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands on Oct. 30, 2021. Authorities on a Spanish island are declaring a volcanic eruption that has caused widespread damage but no casualties officially finished, following ten days of no significant sulfur dioxide emissions, lava flows or seismic activity. But the emergency in La Palma, the northwesternmost of the Atlantic Ocean's Canary Islands, is not over yet, said the director of the archipelago’s volcanic emergency committee, or Pevolca, Julio Pérez. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)More
Sat, December 25, 2021
MADRID (AP) — Authorities on one of Spain's Canary Islands declared a volcanic eruption that started in September officially finished Saturday following 10 days of no lava flows, seismic activity or significant sulfur dioxide emissions.
But the emergency in La Palma, the most northwest island in the Atlantic Ocean archipelago, is not over due to the widespread damage the eruption caused, the director of the Canaries' volcanic emergency committee said in announcing the much-anticipated milestone.
“It's not joy or satisfaction - how we can define what we feel? It's an emotional relief. And hope," Pevolca director Julio Pérez said. "Because now, we can apply ourselves and focus completely on the reconstruction work.”
Fiery molten rock flowing down toward the sea destroyed around 3,000 buildings, entombed banana plantations and vineyards, ruined irrigation systems and cut off roads. But no injuries or deaths were directly linked to the eruption.
Pérez, who is also the region’s minister of public administration, justice and security, said the archipelago’s government valued the loss of buildings and infrastructure at more than 900 million euros ($1 billion).
Volcanologists said they needed to certify that three key variables - gas, lava and tremors - had subsided in the Cumbre Vieja ridge for 10 days in order to declare the volcano’s apparent exhaustion. Since the eruption started on Sept. 19, previous periods of reduced activity were followed by reignitions.
On the eve of Dec. 14, the volcano fell silent after flaring for 85 days and 8 hours, making it La Palma's longest eruption on record.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the eruption's end “the best Christmas present.”
“We will continue working together, all institutions, to relaunch the marvelous island of La Palma and repair the damage," he tweeted.
Farming and tourism are the main industries on the Canary Islands, a popular destination for many European vacationers due to their mild climate.
La Palma volcano eruption declared over after three months of destruction
The Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma
Sat, December 25, 2021 By Nathan Allen and Silvio Castellanos
MADRID (Reuters) - Scientists declared the eruption on Spain's La Palma officially over on Saturday, allowing islanders to breathe a sigh of relief nearly 100 days after the Cumbre Vieja volcano began to spew out lava, rock and ash and upended the lives of thousands.
After bursting into action on Sept. 19, the volcano suddenly went quiet on Monday Dec. 13 but the authorities, wary of raising false hope, held off until Christmas Day to give the all-clear.
"What I want to say today can be said with just four words: The eruption is over," Canary Islands regional security chief Julio Perez told a news conference on Saturday.
During the eruption, lava had poured down the mountainside, swallowing up houses, churches and many of the banana plantations that account for nearly half the island's economy. Although property was destroyed, no one was killed.
Maria Jose Blanco, director of the National Geographic Institute on the Canaries, said all indicators suggested the eruption had run out of energy but she did not rule out a future reactivation.
Some 3,000 properties were destroyed by lava that now covers 1,219 hectares - equivalent to roughly 1,500 soccer pitches - according to the final tally by the emergency services.
Of the 7,000 people evacuated, most have returned home but many houses that remain standing are uninhabitable due to ash damage. With many roads blocked, some plantations are now only accessible by sea.
German couple Jacqueline Rehm and Juergen Doelz were among those forced to evacuate, fleeing their rented house in the village of Todoque and moving to their small sail boat for seven weeks.
"We couldn't save anything, none of the furniture, none of my paintings, it's all under the lava now," said Rehm, 49, adding that they would move to nearby Tenerife after Christmas.
"I'm not sure it's really over. I don't trust this beast at all," she said.
The volcanic roar that served as a constant reminder of the eruption may have subsided and islanders no longer have to carry umbrellas and goggles to protect against ash, but a mammoth cleanup operation is only just getting underway.
The government has pledged more than 400 million euros ($453 million) for reconstruction but some residents and businesses have complained that funds are slow to arrive.
Lava flows as volcano continues to erupt on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain, on Nov. 29, 2021. Authorities on a Spanish island are declaring a volcanic eruption that has caused widespread damage but no casualties officially finished, following ten days of no significant sulfur dioxide emissions, lava flows or seismic activity. But the emergency in La Palma, the northwesternmost of the Atlantic Ocean's Canary Islands, is not over yet, said the director of the archipelago’s volcanic emergency committee, or Pevolca, Julio Pérez. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
Spain declares end to La Palma volcano eruption
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described the end of the eruption on the tiny Canary island as the "best Christmas present." The volcano flared for more than 85 days, causing nearly €1 billion in damage.
The volcano on La Palma erupted for 85 days and 8 hours, making it the island's longest eruption on record
The announcement followed 10 days of low-level activity from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma — one of the Canary Islands, just off Africa's northwest coast.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the news "the best Christmas present."
The eruption on September 19 sent ash plumes containing toxic gases into the air and created rivers of molten rock that crashed into the sea.
More than 2,900 properties — homes, schools, churches and health centers — along with large swathes of farmland were damaged, at an estimated cost of €900 million ($1 billion).
The eruption — which was accompanied by frequent earthquakes — was the first on La Palma since 1971.
A photo from November of red-hot lava flowing down a mountain near someone's home
Record for longest eruption
The volcano fell silent on the evening of December 14 after flaring for 85 days and 8 hours, making it the island's longest eruption on record.
"We will continue working together, all the institutions, to relaunch the wonderful island of La Palma and repair the damage caused," Sanchez tweeted on Saturday.
His government has so far promised €225 million to fund recovery efforts, including temporary housing and financial assistance to people who lost their jobs.
A spokesperson for the Canaries' volcanic emergency committee Miguel Angel Morcuende tempered the good news, stressing that the volcano remains unpredictable and could suddenly become active again.
"It's not joy or satisfaction — how we can define what we feel? It's an emotional relief. And hope," Julio Perez, the emergency committee's director, said. "Because now, we can apply ourselves and focus completely on the rebuilding work.''
Nearly three thousands buildings, including many homes, were destroyed or damaged by the lava flow from the volcano
Residents return home
People returning to their homes were told to open their windows to make sure any toxic gas that had accumulated could escape, state broadcaster RTVE reported.
The lava will also take a long time to cool to a safe level.
Experts have warned it will take several years to clean up the land destroyed by the lava and remove huge amounts of ash from buildings and roads.
Soldiers from an emergency unit have been removing ash from rooftops to prevent buildings from collapsing.
La Palma is roughly 35 kilometers (22 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide at its broadest point.
WHAT ABOUT THE DOGS (AND OTHER ANIMALS) LEFT BEHIND?!
Thomson Reuters ·
An aerial view of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma in Spain on Dec. 16. On Saturday, scientists declared the volcano's eruption, which has ebbed and flowed since it first began spewing lava in September, to be over. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
Scientists declared the eruption on La Palma in Spain officially over on Saturday, allowing islanders to breathe a sigh of relief nearly 100 days after the Cumbre Vieja volcano began to spew out lava, rock and ash, and upended the lives of thousands.
After bursting into action on Sept. 19, the volcano suddenly went quiet on Dec. 13, but the authorities, wary of raising false hope, held off until Christmas Day to give the all-clear.
"What I want to say today can be said with just four words: The eruption is over," Julio Perez, the Canary Islands regional security chief, told a news conference on Saturday.
During the eruption, lava had poured down the mountainside, swallowing up houses, churches and many of the banana plantations that account for nearly half the island's economy. Although property was destroyed, no one was killed.
WATCH | See volcano spew gas, lava earlier this month:
More lava and toxic gas are spewing from the volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, 80 days into its eruption. Since Sept. 19, more than 2,800 buildings have been completely destroyed. (Credit:IGME-CSIC) 0:50
Maria Jose Blanco, director of the National Geographic Institute on the Canaries, said all indicators suggested the eruption had run out of energy, but she did not rule out a future reactivation.
Long rebuilding ahead
Some 3,000 properties were destroyed by lava that now covers 1,219 hectares — equivalent to roughly 1,500 soccer pitches — according to the final tally by the emergency services.
Of the 7,000 people evacuated, most have returned home, but many houses that remain standing are uninhabitable due to ash damage. With many roads blocked, some plantations are now only accessible by sea.
The volcano, pictured from El Paso, spews lava on Dec. 13. The eruption forced thousands out of their homes as the lava burned its way across huge swaths of land on the western side of La Palma. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images)
German couple Jacqueline Rehm and Juergen Doelz were among those forced to evacuate, fleeing their rented house in the village of Todoque and moving to their small sail boat for seven weeks.
"We couldn't save anything — none of the furniture, none of my paintings, it's all under the lava now," said Rehm, 49, adding they would move to nearby Tenerife after Christmas.
"I'm not sure it's really over. I don't trust this beast at all."
The volcanic roar that served as a constant reminder of the eruption may have subsided, and islanders no longer have to carry umbrellas and goggles to protect against ash. But a mammoth cleanup operation is only just getting underway.
The government has pledged more than 400 million euros ($580 million Cdn) for reconstruction, but some residents and businesses have complained that funds are slow to arrive.
See images from the September and October eruptions: 1 of 19 A second 4.5-magnitude earthquake in two days has rattled the Spanish island of La Palma — the strongest to hit the Canary Island off northwest Africa since the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted Sept. 19. Rivers of molten rock that scientists described on Friday as 'a true lava tsunami' forced the evacuation of more than 300 people late Thursday. About 7,000 people in all have had to flee since the eruption. Here, civil guards point out the volcano during their patrol outside the exclusion area in the municipality of Los Llanos de Aridane on Oct. 15.
Sergio Perez/Reuters
Lebanon's top Christian party signals possible end of Hezbollah alliance
Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil
is seen after a news conference in Beirut
Thu, December 23, 2021
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's top Christian party has indicated it is considering ending a political alliance with Iran-backed Hezbollah, threatening a fragile union that has shaped Lebanese politics for nearly 16 years.
Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement party said earlier this week there would be "political consequences" for action taken against his party by Lebanon's two main Shiite parties Hezbollah and Amal.
Prominent figures close to the party have also said the 2006 Mar Mikhael Agreement between FPM and Hezbollah is at an end.
"Mikhael is dead," FPM pundit Charbel Khalil tweeted on Tuesday.
The party's support was critical in bringing President Michel Aoun, the FPM's founder, to power in 2016, and the FPM has provided critical Christian political cover for Hezbollah's armed presence under Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system.
Hezbollah has not publicly commented.
Pro-Hezbollah Sheikh Sadiq Al-Nabulsi said on Wednesday that Hezbollah had "a very high tolerance for pain and criticism" but Bassil was at risk of losing its support.
"Today the FPM has no real ally other than Hezbollah, so why are you letting go of your last ally?" he said.
Bassil's party has faced growing political pressure to distance itself from Hezbollah since the country's 2019 financial meltdown.
Traditional allies in the Arab Gulf have been unwilling to provide Lebanon with aid, as they have in the past, because of what they have said is Hezbollah's grip on the country and its support for Iran-backed Houthi rebels battling Saudi-backed forces in Yemen.
The group is classified by the United States and major western nations as a terrorist group.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah has taken a hardline stance against the judge investigating the August 2020 Beirut blast, causing a row that has left Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government unable to meet since Oct. 12 even as poverty and hunger worsen.
But Hezbollah remains Bassil's strongest ally. And with presidential and parliamentary elections due next year, some analysts say the FPM could be posturing.
"The FPM is stuck between a rock and a hard place today. they certainly realise that the Christian street no longer condones any form of acquiescence to Hezbollah's demands," said Karim Emile Bitar, director of the Institute of Political science at Beirut's Saint Joseph University.
"But they simply cannot afford to completely let go of this alliance because it would ruin Bassil's presidential ambitions and would certainly prevent them from getting a significant parliamentary bloc."
(Reporting by Timour Azhari Editing by Barbara Lewis)
