News

Small Alabama Towns with Haitian Populations Should Take Note of Springfield.

Published

1 month ago

2024-10-06

(VOR News) – Sarah Jacques struggled to adjust to a small Alabama city in the southernmost Haitian Appalachian mountain range from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The 22-year-old adjusted to quiet after a year. Jacques worked at a car seat manufacturing, founded a Creole-language church, and liked Albertville’s safety after her country’s political unrest.

Jacques said additional hurdles have arisen after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate made false claims about Haitian immigration in Springfield, Ohio, creating crime and “eating pets.”

“People would wave at us, say hello, when I first arrived, but now it’s not the same,” Jacques said in Creole via a translator. “People see you and seem either quiet or scared.” In this hostile context, nonpartisan Alabama religious leaders, law enforcement, and citizens took Springfield’s outcomes as a warning. Little US towns are welcoming Haitians.

Haitian migrants supported President Joe Biden’s 2023 proposal to admit 30,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelans every month for two years and allow work. The Biden administration may let 300,000 Haitians stay until February 2026.

In 2023, Alabama had 2,370 Haitians. As of now, there are unknown numbers in Alabama.

The immigration debate is ancient, says Albertville mayor’s executive assistant Robin Lathan. Immigration has increased for over 30 years. The city doesn’t track Haitian migration, but Lathan said “it seems there has been an increase over the last year, in particular.”

Last year, 34% of Albertville’s 5,800 students learned English as a second language, up from 17% in 2017. An August Facebook post of people getting off a bus to work at a poultry company aroused fears that it was hiring illegal immigrants, weeks before Springfield made national headlines.

The chicken producer told The Associated Press that all its workers may lawfully work in the U.S. At a public meeting, some neighbors asked about the federal program that allows Haitians to work in Alabama legally, while others called for landlords to “cut off the housing” and said the migrants have a “smell to them,” according to audio recordings

These remarks touched Albertville community organizer Unique Dunson, 27. “Every time Albertville gets a new influx of non-white people, there seems to be a problem,” Dunson said.

Dunson community store distributes gifts. With national tensions rising, she put English, Spanish, and Creole “welcome neighbor glad you came” billboards throughout town.

Dunston said the billboards “push back” against migrant hate. John Pierre-Charles said he knew Albertville Haitians only from relatives. Within 14 years, his Creole-language church Eglise Porte Etroite went from seven members in 2010 to 300. He’s adding English, drivers’, and podcast studios to the church for growth.

Pierre-Charles deems the past few months “the worst period” for Albertville’s Haitians.

“I can see some people in Albertville who are really scared right now because they don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Pierre-Charles. Some fear Haiti deportation. People fear not knowing others’ emotions.

After August public meetings, Pierre-Charles wrote to city officials requesting more housing and food to help his growing community adapt economically and culturally.

“That’s what I’m trying to do, to be a bridge,” Pierre-Charles said. He cooperated. Gerilynn Hanson, 54, hosted the first session to answer Albertville residents’ valid migration questions in August. Hanson is going to “focus on the human level.”

In September, Hanson, an electrical contractor and Trump supporter, created a foundation with Pierre-Charles and other Haitian community leaders to address the demand for permanent housing and English language instruction.

“We can look at (Springfield) and become them in a year,” Hanson said of the city’s hate and threats. “We can watch without acting. We could make everyone productive and talkative.”

Even places with less than 0.5% Haitian population have state event issues.

Sylacauga residents question Haitian immigrants in public forum footage. Only 60 Haitian migrants dwell in the 12,000-person town southeast of Birmingham, officials say.

Open Door Baptist Church in Enterprise, Alabama, discussed Enterprise’s growing Haitian community in September. Many cars are parked there. After the accident, Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe chairman James Wright sympathized with the Haitians departing but worried migrants would affect Enterprise’s “political culture” and “community values.”

Other guests called Haitian immigration “lawless” and “dangerous.” To calm migratory anxieties, some arrived. Chief Michael Moore says Haitians haven’t increased enterprise crime.

“I think there were quite a few people there that were more concerned about fearmongering than the migrants,” Moore told AP.

Moore said his department encountered Haitian migrants in unlawful dwellings but rectified the issue by engaging them. Since then, his department hasn’t received reliable migrant crime complaints.

Moore said, “I completely understand that some people don’t like what I say because it doesn’t fit their own personal thought process.” “But those are facts.”

SOURCE: AP

News

Telehealth May Be Able to Stop Suicide in High-Risk Individuals.

Published

10 hours ago

2024-11-13

Salman Ahmad

HealthDay

(VOR News) – The results of a recent study suggest that telehealth therapy may lower the risk of suicide. In the United States, a study was conducted.

The results of a study that was published in the journal JAMA Network Open on November 12 indicate that cognitive behavior therapy can help lower the number of suicide attempts and thoughts.

US Telehealth researchers conducted the study.

This predicament is still true even when therapy is delivered via telehealth for a little period of time. As a result of the information they discovered during the investigation, the researchers finally reached this conclusion.

According to a study conducted by clinical psychologist Justin Baker, a researcher at Ohio State University, this is information that should be promoted.

According to Baker, this is a result of the fact that, at this specific point in history, therapy is increasingly being delivered via the use of virtual methods.

Baker was said to have stated, “The nearly overnight shift from mostly in-person to mostly virtual therapy appointments following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was the impetus for this research question.” Ohio State published a press release that contained this message.

In making this claim, Baker was alluding to the fact that the shift occurred very immediately after the outbreak began. Baker was referring to the changes brought about by the pandemic outbreak spreading significantly.

It has long been thought that patients who are deemed to be at high risk are not suitable candidates for virtual healthcare. This is because the use of virtual healthcare is linked to both accountability and the possibility of harm.

We randomly assigned the following telehealth programs to 96 Americans:

They received instruction on how to control and alter the disturbing ideas and bad notions they were experiencing through telehealth cognitive behavioral therapy, with a special emphasis on suicide. They received this instruction while participating in the activity.

A treatment method called present-centered therapy is used to help patients deal with the difficulties they are currently confronting in their life.

The results of the study conducted by the researchers demonstrated that a present-focused approach to treatment is a successful way to reduce depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. Research has shown that therapeutic approaches that focus on the present moment are useful.

However, the results of this study show that when it came to reducing the proportion of patients who attempted suicide while getting telehealth services, cognitive behavioral therapy outperformed present-centered therapy.

Furthermore, the results showed that both treatments were effective in lowering the number of suicidal thoughts that patients thought about taking their own lives. The effectiveness of both therapies served as evidence for this.

Craig Bryan, a researcher and the chairman of telehealth Ohio State University’s Suicide Prevention Program, says, “We have good, tested treatments that will lead to significant symptom reduction and improved quality of life for those who are suffering from suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”

In addition, Bryan is currently the program’s leader. Additionally, Bryan is currently in charge of the program. “We have treatments that have been proven to be effective.”

Bryan said that a considerable percentage of therapists are still maintaining some aspect of their telemedicine practice following the epidemic, even though limitations are being loosened.

This leads to the scenario even when boundaries are being loosened. “The results of this study have the potential to expand access to essential treatments that are supported by evidence for people living in rural and difficult-to-reach areas.”

You should call the telehealth Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 if you or a loved one is experiencing an emotional or suicide crisis if you are experiencing emotional distress. They are available to listen to your issues as well as offer support.

SOURCE: USN

News

The Main US Inflation Tracker Increased For The First Time Since March.

Published

10 hours ago

2024-11-13

Salman Ahmad

(VOR News) – The challenging road to lower levels is demonstrated by the fact that one of the most important measures of inflation in the United States has increased for the first time since March.

The consumer price index (CPI), a metric that gauges price inflation across a variety of goods, at an annual rate of 2.6% as October reached its peak. The CPI has never been higher than it was at this time.

According to reports, the rate was 2.4% last month, the lowest in over three years. This rate is higher than the one that was noted the month before.

Eliminating food and energy, “core” inflation stayed at 3.3%.

This occurred upon completion of the computation. Following this stage, the index underwent a thorough analysis. A reading was considered accurate if it agreed with the estimates provided by economists.

Even though inflation has somewhat decreased since reaching its greatest level in four decades in the summer of 2022, many Americans still face financial hardship as a result of years of rising prices. This can be attributed to the fact that inflation peaked in the summer of 2022.

According to exit poll results, a significant number of Republican voters expressed dissatisfaction with their own financial circumstances as well as the state of the US economy.

Their voiced displeasure was a reflection of their dissatisfaction. A significant factor that contributed to the election was the ire generated by the rising cost of living. This rage was among the most important factors.

Concerns have been expressed regarding the real effects that these reforms would have on the inflation rate. Donald Trump proposed tax cuts and tariffs as workable answers throughout his campaign, but there have been questions raised over the real effects of these measures.

The next president has promised to levy tariffs on all U.S. imports that are at least 10 percent higher than the current rate, according to the results of a research by Yale’s Budget Lab.

The implementation of this strategy, which many industry experts believe would almost surely result in an increase in inflation of up to 5.1%, has already been made public.

It was the first time in four years that the Federal Reserve started lowering interest rates in September, which marked the first time in four years they had done so.

This was the first time they had ever implemented inflation.

The Federal Reserve has reached a significant turning point in its attempts to control inflation at this particular moment. Additional interest rate cuts were implemented Monday, lowering them to their lowest point since February 2023. Since February 2023, they have not been this low.

The Federal Reserve’s chairman, Jerome Powell, said the Fed “has gained confidence that we’re on a sustainable path down to 2%,” the target it has set for its inflation rate.

He hosted a news conference where he made this declaration. Considering the previously mentioned, he added that “the task is incomplete.”

As part of its “dual mandate,” the Fed is working to keep inflation from rising while also keeping the unemployment rate from rising. This is being done from the Federal Reserve’s point of view.

Over the past few months, the labor market has been significantly slowing down; in October, the United States created just 12,000 new jobs.

This suggests that there is a downturn in the labor market. In October 2023, the unemployment rate was 4.1%, which was a low figure that was similar to levels before the sickness started. Since the illness had not yet spread, this was the situation. This occurred following a reduction in the rate, which came to 3.4% in February 2023.

In response to a query concerning the impact of the election on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions, Powell said that officials “do not know the timing or substance of any policy changes.”

Powell was questioned on the significance of the election. As a consequence, we are unable to determine the possible economic impact of this. The current circumstances are to blame for this.

SOURCE: TG

News

Trudeau Government Forces Port Workers Back to Work

Published

1 day ago

2024-11-13

Geoff Thomas

The Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon forced striking union workers back to work.

The Trudeau government has invoked federal authority to halt union strike actions at the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, and Montreal, claiming economic damage and the loss of trading partners.

This is the second time in a few months that the Trudeau government has intervened to end a labor conflict. In August, Trudeau ordered work stoppages at the country’s two main railway corporations to cease.

Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon stated that the supply chain has been damaged and that it will take weeks to clear the container congestion affecting Canadian and US companies. He informed reporters that he had ordered the country’s industrial relations board to end the strike and impose binding arbitration.

“As the economic losses threaten the country and begin to mount, it is up to the government to ensure that … we can get on with the economic life of this country and avoid layoffs and other carnage,” he stated during a news conference.

“Canadians have a limited tolerance right now for economic self-harm.”

The issue, which MacKinnon claimed was hurting more than C$1.3 billion ($932 million) in goods every day, has already hampered shipments of canola oil, forest products, and other goods. Business organizations applauded the announcement.

Union Strike Action Heads to Court

International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, representing supervisory longshore workers at the core of the British Columbia conflict, has announced that it will submit a legal challenge to the minister’s instructions.

“We will fight this order in the courts,” stated Frank Morena, president of ILWU Local 514.

“And we will not forget how these employers and this federal Liberal government have attacked not only the ILWU but all of labor.”

MacKinnon said the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is independent but reports to Ottawa, will issue the required orders in a few days.

The left-leaning government has previously declared that it prefers to resolve labor problems through collective bargaining. MacKinnon said he was forced to interfere when federal mediators reported that discussions in Montreal and Vancouver had reached a stalemate.

The left-of-center opposition New Democrats, a pro-union group supporting the minority Liberal administration, accused Ottawa of giving in to employers.

“Back-to-work orders suppress wages for all Canadians, so billionaires get richer, and the rest of us fall further behind,” leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement but did not mention bringing the Liberals down.

Trudeau Government Sends Dangerous Message

The Teamsters union, representing employees at the two major train companies, has launched court challenges to labor board judgments that ordered them back to work.

“The government is sending a dangerous message: employers can bypass meaningful negotiations, lock out their workers, and wait for political intervention to secure a more favorable deal,” the Canadian Labour Congress said.

After rejecting a final offer for a new labor deal, the Montreal Longshoremen’s Union called a lockout. As a result, canola oil and forest products exports from West Coast ports, including Vancouver, have ceased.

“These work stoppages are impacting our supply chain, hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs, our economy, and our reputation as a reliable international trading partner,” said MacKinnon, who said employers and unions had not acted quickly enough.

“I’ve directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order that all operations and duties at the ports resume and to assist the parties in settling their collective agreements by imposing final and binding arbitration,” he told reporters.

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Geoff Thomas

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