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)
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
REAL JOKESTER
Elon Musk posted a picture of him jokingly rehiring 2 guys who pretended to be laid-off Twitter employees just weeks after he cut half the company's staff
Sarah Jackson Tue, November 15, 2022
Elon Musk tweeted a picture Tuesday of him with two men who recently impersonated laid-off Twitter employees in media interviews.
"Important to admit when I'm wrong & firing them was truly one of my biggest mistakes," Musk wrote.
Musk culled half of Twitter's workforce soon after taking charge and has now taken to firing employees who challenge him on Twitter.
Weeks after slashing half of Twitter's jobs, Elon Musk has posted a picture of himself with two men who pretended to be laid-off employees.
In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Musk shared a photo of him smiling at Twitter's headquarters alongside men who go by the names Rahul Ligma and Daniel Johnson.
"Welcoming back Ligma & Johnson!" Musk captioned the shot.
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote, "Important to admit when I'm wrong & firing them was truly one of my biggest mistakes."
The men pictured with him made headlines late last month when they pretended to be laid-off Twitter employees leaving the office for the last time with their belongings in boxes. They gave media interviews under that guise, and severalnewsoutlets initially reported on their departures before later issuing corrections after the hoax came to light.
The man who goes by Rahul Ligma also recently pretended to be a laid-off employee of the crypto exchange FTX.
Lawmakers debate decriminalizing marijuana at federal level
Samantha Manning Tue, November 15, 2022
Recreational marijuana is legal in nearly half of U.S. states, but it remains illegal at the federal level.
Members of a House subcommittee on Tuesday debated if marijuana should be decriminalized nationwide and if some marijuana convictions should be expunged if marijuana becomes legal at the federal level.
Reforming marijuana laws had overwhelming bipartisan support on the subcommittee, including from the Chairman and Ranking Member.
“The war against marijuana has ruined so many lives,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
“The only place it’s controversial is here in the halls of the Capitol,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee.
Currently, 21 states plus Washington D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana and 37 states allow marijuana for medical reasons.
“Congress has failed to implement sensible cannabis reform,” said Amber Littlejohn, Senior Policy Advisor for the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce.
According to lawmakers on the subcommittee, marijuana arrests account for 43 percent of all drug arrests, with most being simple possession charges.
While white and Black people use marijuana at roughly the same rate, Black people are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for violating marijuana possession charges.
“I urge this committee and Congress to go beyond decriminalization and repair the damages that have been done,” said Keeda Haynes, a Senior Legal Advisor for Free Hearts.
While support for descheduling marijuana had bipartisan support, one Republican Congressman pointed to concerns about potential harm.
“Marijuana and drugs are crippling,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX). “They cause addiction. They cause crime.”
In response, supporters of marijuana reform pointed to the data.
“How many deaths have there been from marijuana overdoses?” Rep. Mace asked.
“So, I don’t believe the CDC, DEA, NIDA or any other federal agency has ever directly associated a fatal overdose with cannabis,” said Eric Goepel, Founder and CEO of Veterans Cannabis Coalition.
“So, that means zero,” reiterated Mace.
Our Washington News Bureau asked Paul Armentano, Deputy Director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), if he believes Congress will be successful in passing bipartisan legislation to decriminalize marijuana federally.
“It’s hard to say,” said Armentano. “If facts, cultural opinion, public opinion, science was driving this train, we would already have a very different cannabis policy than the one we have now in this country.”
The House passed a bill decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level.
A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate, but its chances of passing remain unclear.
After election, marijuana advocates look to next states
Jeremy Baldwin tags young cannabis plants at a marijuana farm operated by Greenlight, Oct. 31, 2022, in Grandview, Mo. Marijuana advocates are looking toward their next states to target after experiencing some mixed results in the recent elections. Cannabis legalization measures for adults passed in Maryland and Missouri but failed in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. Supporters already are looking toward a March legalization vote in Oklahoma.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
DAVID A. LIEB Mon, November 14, 2022
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Law-abiding marijuana enthusiasts could find themselves in a bit of a predicament following voter approval of a recreational cannabis initiative in Missouri.
Though it soon will become legal for adults to possess and ingest cannabis, it could take a couple more months before they can legally buy it.
Maryland residents will have to wait even longer — until the middle of next year — before a recreational marijuana measure approved this past week can take effect.
With the addition of Maryland and Missouri, 21 states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults over the past decade — even though it remains illegal under federal law.
Marijuana advocates are pressing forward with similar efforts elsewhere, undeterred by defeats last week in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Efforts to legalize psychedelic drugs for personal use also appear likely to spread, after supporters poured millions of dollars into a Colorado measure that won approval.
Here's a look at what's next in the effort to reshape state drug laws.
MISSOURI AND MARYLAND
Recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older will become legal in Missouri on Dec. 8. That’s the same day the state’s existing medical marijuana businesses can apply for licenses to grow, manufacture, transport and sell cannabis for recreational purposes.
But there won't be any immediate deals — at least not legally.
The newly approved constitutional amendment gives the state health department until Feb. 6 to consider applications. Though officials could act more quickly, the department doesn’t expect to approve recreational cannabis licenses until February, said the department's communications director, Lisa Cox.
In the meantime, people potentially could get free marijuana from those with medical cards or turn to the black market.
“No one needs to say how or where they acquired their cannabis in order for it to be legal,” said Dan Viets, Missouri coordinator for the drug policy group NORML.
Maryland’s new constitutional amendment legalizes the possession and use of marijuana for adults 21 and older effective July 1, and directs the General Assembly to come up with laws regulating it.
In the meantime, a law set to be in place from Jan. 1 through June 30 makes the possession of a personal supply of marijuana — defined as up to 1.5 ounces — a civil offense with a fine of up to $100.
Both states also have provisions to gradually expunge some past marijuana offenses for people. OKLAHOMA AND BEYOND
The next vote on legalizing recreational marijuana for adults will occur in Oklahoma. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt set a March election after a delay in counting initiative signatures and legal challenges prevented the measure from appearing on the November ballot.
Oklahoma already has one of the nation's most robust medical marijuana programs, with about 2,500 licensed dispensaries. About 380,000 people, nearly 10% of all residents, have state-issued medical cards allowing them to buy, grow and consume marijuana.
After Oklahoma, Ohio could vote next on cannabis legalization. A group that originally sought to get a measure on the November ballot reached a legal settlement with legislative leaders that could allow supporters to submit petition signatures for a 2023 vote.
After Democratic victories in last week's legislative and gubernatorial elections, Minnesota could be poised to legalize recreational marijuana next year without needing to go to voters. Legislative approval of recreational marijuana also could be pursued next year in Democratic-led Hawaii, said Matthew Schweich, deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
New citizen-led ballot initiatives are possible in Florida, Idaho, Nebraska, Wyoming and the three states where ballot measures recently failed.
This year was "probably the worst election cycle for cannabis reform since the first ones passed in 2012, but there’s still a belief that we can go win more states in 2024,” said Schweich, who ran this year's campaign in South Dakota.
Marijuana legalization campaigns raised about $24 million in the five states where they were on the ballot, according to pre-election finance reports. The vast majority of that was in Arkansas and Missouri, where more than 85% of contributions came from donors associated with medical marijuana licensees, according to an Associated Press analysis.
In Arkansas, some marijuana advocates opposed the initiative because it benefitted the existing industry while lacking provisions for people to grow their own cannabis and expunge past marijuana convictions. But advocates hope to return to voters in two years with a revised plan.
“I think the people still truly want to see this," said Eddie Armstrong, chairman of the group that campaigned for the Arkansas initiative.
PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS
Voters in Colorado made it the second state, behind Oregon, to legalize psychedelic mushrooms for personal use by people 21 and older.
Though the hallucinogenic drug remains illegal under federal law and won't be sold in Colorado stores, it will be available for use under supervision at state-regulated “healing centers.” Residents also will be able to grow psychedelic mushrooms at home and use them without civil or criminal penalties.
The initiative won't take effect until 2024. By then, similar legalization efforts already may have spread to other states.
The Colorado measure is “at the forefront of a new trend,” said Mandy Zoch, who tracks ballot measures at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more measures relating to things like psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs in the future.”
Legislatures in several states, including California and New Jersey, are likely to consider psychedelic drug measures in 2023, said Graham Boyd, executive director of the drug policy group New Approach.
After spending more than $4 million on the Colorado initiative, New Approach expects donors concerned about veterans and mental health issues to step forward with more money for future initiatives.
“I think that we are at the beginning of a very hopeful period of expanding options for dealing with mental health. That’s what this is all about,” Boyd said.
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Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report.
Smoking marijuana and cigarettes may increase risk of lung problems compared to only smoking cigarettes, study suggests
LEGAL POT ALLOWED FOR THIS STUDY
Smoking marijuana and cigarettes may increase risk of lung problems
compared to only smoking cigarettes, study suggests
Allana Akhtar Tue, November 15, 2022 A small study found higher rates of a rare form of emphysema, a lung condition that causes shortness of breath, in marijuana smokers versus tobacco-only smokers.Crystal Cox/Business Insider
A study found higher rates of emphysema among marijuana smokers compared to tobacco smokers of the same age.
The study author told Insider her research raises concerns that marijuana smoking is not safer than cigarettes.
The results suggest smoking both marijuana and cigarettes is more harmful than smoking tobacco by itself.
A small study found higher rates of emphysema, a lung condition that causes shortness of breath, among marijuana smokers compared to tobacco smokers of the same age. The study also suggests marijuana and tobacco use together could be more harmful than tobacco use by itself.
Dr. Giselle Revah, a cardiothoracic radiologist at The Ottawa Hospital and the study's lead author, looked at chest CT scans at Ottawa Hospital from 2005 to 2020 and identified 56 patients who reported using marijuana.
The majority of marijuana users — 50 out of the 56 patients — said they also smoked cigarettes. She compared them to 33 tobacco-only smokers and 57 non-smokers.
The tobacco-only smokers' ages skewed higher because Revah collected these patient chest CTs through her hospital's lung cancer screening event, which was open to patients over 50 who self-reported as heavy smokers. Marijuana smokers in her sample tended to get a chest CT for reasons unrelated to emphysema.
When the radiologist matched tobacco-only smokers to marijuana smokers of the same age, marijuana smokers had higher rates of emphysema: 93% (28 out of 30) compared to 67% of similarly-aged tobacco smokers.
The radiologist found marijuana users overall — including younger people who hadn't been exposed to as much smoke — had significantly higher rates in particular of paraseptal emphysema, a rare form of the condition that damages tiny ducts which connect the lung's air sacs.
The way marijuana smokers use the drug might damage air sacs. Marijuana users tend to take deep breaths and hold smoke in for longer, causing pressure changes that can irritate the lung's air sacs, Revah told Insider.
"The main message of the whole study is there's this public perception that marijuana is safe; people believe that it's safer than cigarettes," Revah said. "And this study raises concerns that maybe marijuana's not as safe as everyone thinks it is, and suggests that ultimately we need more robust research before we can make sweeping conclusions."
The paper sheds light on the under-researched health effects of marijuana. Literature on the chest CTs of marijuana smokers is sparse, Revah said, since Canada only legalized the drug in 2018. The US has not legalized cannabis nationally, and getting funding for marijuana research involves cumbersome legal steps.
Lung doctors told Insider more research is needed on the health effects of marijuana use.
Dr. Philip Diaz, a pulmonary disease physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center who was not involved in the study, said because most marijuana smokers in the study were cigarette smokers, it's possible smoking both marijuana and cigarettes increases risk for lung damage. But Diaz stressed the results of the small study should not be overstated.
"You don't want to dilute the fact that it's really the cigarette smoking that's the problem," Diaz told Insider. "I think all you could say is there could be some increased risk if you do both."
Revah said she is working on a prospective study that asks patients how much marijuana they use, and hopes a larger study will confirm her findings.
Dr. Albert Rizzo, the chief medical officer at the American Lung Association, told Insider scientists and doctors need longer, in-depth studies on the long term health effects of marijuana, especially as the drug quickly becomes legalized in states across the US.
"I think this study's a good one in trying to show or support the fact that airway use of marijuana leads to problems, emphysema being among them," Rizzo told Insider. "Smoking marijuana is not safe, and we don't know really what the long term effect of smoking marijuana is."
Student-loan borrowers who applied for Biden's debt relief shouldn't have to worry about living with 'crushing student loan debt as a result of a court challenge,' the nation's largest labor federation says
Juliana Kaplan, Ayelet Sheffey
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden briefly visits with local labor leaders following a group photo at the state's AFL-CIO headquarters on Labor Day, September 07, 2020 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is currently paused after two court rulings.
A major labor federation "is extremely disappointed in the partisan legal effort" to stop relief for borrowers.
The White House is reportedly considering extending the current payment pause as the cases play out.
Millions of student loan borrowers are stuck in forgiveness limbo, as President Joe Biden's relief plan remains on ice.
Over the past week, courts handed Biden's student-debt relief plan two major blows. Last Thursday, a federal judge in Texas ruled the loan forgiveness illegal in response to a lawsuit filed by two student-loan borrowers who didn't qualify for the full amount of relief. On Monday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the temporary stay it placed on the relief nearly three weeks ago should remain in place. That decision was in favor of the six Republican-led states who sued the debt relief, arguing it would hurt their states' tax revenues.
The country's largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO, isn't pleased.
"The AFL-CIO is extremely disappointed in the partisan legal effort to shut down the Biden administration's life-changing student loan relief. Borrowers who have filed for forgiveness should not have to wonder if they will once again be forced to live with crushing student loan debt as a result of a court challenge," AFL-CIO director of government affairs Bill Samuel said in a statement. "With the payment pause end date of Dec. 31 rapidly approaching, the AFL-CIO will continue to advocate for the full implementation of the Biden administration's student loan debt cancellation plan."
The AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million American workers, was one prominent group in pushing for the initial forgiveness plan to go through. The federation's president, Liz Shuler, called on Biden to cancel student debt in the spring. Now, the administration's plans to do just that have been put on pause.
Advocates have already chimed in, calling for payment pauses to continue past December. Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed the decision from a Texas judge to block relief, saying that they're playing politics "instead of actually following the law."
The White House and Education Department have not commented on whether a further extension of the payment pause is on the table, but The Washington Post reported on Monday that White House aides are discussing an extension past December 31 as Biden's debt relief remains held up in federal courts.
At this point, the 26 million student-loan borrowers who have already submitted their online applications for relief are in legal limbo, waiting to learn if they will have to resume payments with any reduction to their balances. Biden's Justice Department has appealed the rulings, but it's a process that could take months, and during this time the administration is not accepting any new applications.
Still, the Biden administration remains confident the legal battles won't permanently block student-loan forgiveness.
"We believe we're going to prevail in court," Anita Dunn, a senior advisor to Biden, told NBC News on Sunday. "And at that point, we will swiftly move to make sure that the over 26 million people at this point who have — whose information this administration has — that we'll move swiftly for loan forgiveness."
The Trump-appointed judge who blocked Biden's student-loan forgiveness compared the debt relief to a law enabling Hitler
Ayelet Sheffey
A sign asking President Biden to Cancel Student Debt is seen posted on Pennsylvania Ave near the white house staff entrance during a demonstration demanding that President Biden cancel student loan debt in August on July 27, 2022 at the Executive Offices in Washington, DC.Jemal Countess/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million
Mark Pittman, a federal judge in Texas, blocked Biden's student-debt relief last week.
In a hearing prior to the ruling, Pittman compared the relief to a law that gave Hitler power.
Some legal experts have criticized the decision, arguing the plaintiffs did not have standing to challenge the relief plan in court.
A federal judge who just blocked student-loan forgiveness likened the relief to a law that gave Adolf Hitler absolute power.
On Thursday, Mark Pittman — a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas — struck down President Joe Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year, declaring it illegal. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by two student-loan borrowers who sued because they did not qualify for the full amount of debt relief.
But shortly after the ruling, a transcript of the hearing for the lawsuit was made publicly available. The Biden administration used the HEROES Act of 2003 to enact one-time debt cancellation, which gives the Education Secretary the ability to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency, like COVID-19. Replying to that argument, Pittman suggested that allowing loan forgiveness in response to an emergency is similar to a German law that gave Hitler power.
"You know, you could also make the argument that so was the authority given to Hitler after the Reichstag fire," Pittman said. "What is the Court's role if Congress has given away too much of the authority that is supposed to be deemed in that branch under the Constitution? There has to be some sort of recourse, doesn't there?"
The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on the German parliament in 1933, weeks after Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Pittman was referring to the Reichstag Fire Decree, which gave Nazis the power to supress and imprison anyone they considered their opponents. That decree was followed by the Enabling Act, which allowed Hitler and his government to directly enact laws without legislative approval. Historians said these laws gave rise to Hitler assuming full power over Germany.
Pittman didn't elaborate on the comparison in the transcript, but some legal experts have criticized Pittman's ruling because they argued the plaintiffs in the case did not have standing to sue. Leah Litman, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Law, wrote on Twitter that the court should never have taken up the case in the first place because the plaintiffs' arguments did not line up.
"At some point, Democrats are going to have to confront this -- and do something about our federal courts," Litman wrote. "Again this is a Trump-appointed judge invalidating student debt cancellation (after likening statutes authorizing debt cancellation to ... the rise of Hitler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)"
Biden's administration filed an appeal to Pittman's decision, which came right before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled the debt relief should remain paused on Monday, in response to a different lawsuit filed by six Republican-led states who argued the loan forgiveness would hurt their states' tax revenues.
For now, the 26 million borrowers who submitted their applications for debt relief are in legal limbo awaiting a final decision from the courts, and given that the legal processes could take months, the White House is reportedly considering extending the student-loan payment pause again, beyond its current expiration of December 31.
Mexico president dismisses massive protest against reforms
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures during his daily, morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022.
López Obrador said Sunday's demonstration -- the biggest against one of his proposals in his nearly four years in office -- was a kind of “striptease” revealing the intentions of Mexico’s conservatives. He estimated there were 50,000 to 60,000 protesters, an apparent undercount and well below the 200,000 estimated by the march’s organizers.
“They did it in favor of the privileges they had before the government I represent,” he said. “They did it in favor of corruption. They did it in favor of racism, in favor of classism and discrimination.”
The president said the demonstrators used the electoral reform as an “excuse” to protest and said they were really protesting “against the transformation taking place in the country.”
Despite the demonstration's size, analysts had little expectation that it would cause López Obrador to change course. Instead, they expected the president to use it to continue pushing the country's political polarization.
Opposition parties and civil society organizations had called on Mexicans to demonstrate Sunday against proposed electoral reforms that would remake the National Electoral Institute, one of the country’s most trusted institutions.
Protesters said they feared that López Obrador, who maintains high approval ratings and whose party controls more than half of the state governments, would use his proposed reforms would compromise the institute’s independence and make it more beholden to his party.
On Monday, López Obrador said his intention was the opposite: to protect and strengthen democracy.
The initiative includes eliminating state-level electoral offices, cutting public financing of political parties and allowing the public to elect members of the electoral authority rather than the lower chamber of Congress.
It would also reduce the number of legislators in the lower chamber of Congress from 500 to 300 and senators from 128 to 96 by eliminating at-large lawmakers. Those are not directly elected by voters, but appear on party lists and get seats based on their party’s proportion of the vote.
The proposal is expected to be discussed in Mexico’s Congress in coming weeks, where the president’s Morena party and allies hold an advantage.
Salazar saw the reform as part of a longer-term election strategy and a desire to make sure that López Obrador's party's candidate for president is victorious in 2024.
US Catholic bishops elect Timothy Broglio as new president Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, presides over the conference's fall meeting in Baltimore on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Smith)
PETER SMITH and DAVID CRARY Tue, November 15, 2022
BALTIMORE (AP) — Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services, who oversees Catholic ministries to the U.S. armed forces, was elected Tuesday as the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The archbishop of Baltimore, William Lori, was elected as the conference's new vice president.
Usually the election of a new USCCB leaders is a formality, with the bishops elevating the conference’s vice president to the post. But this year’s election was wide open because the incumbent VP — Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron — will turn 75 soon, making him ineligible to serve.
The 10 candidates ranged from the relatively moderate Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, a staunch conservative. Cordileone made headlines this year by barring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Franciscan, from receiving Communion in the archdiocese because of her support for abortion rights.
The candidates were nominated by their fellow bishops, who bypassed several of their colleagues who have been elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis.
While Broglio was not considered as hardline a conservative as a few other candidates, his election was not welcomed by some left-of-center Catholics who empathize with Pope Francis in his occasional conflicts with the U.S. bishops. “I’m disappointed Catholic bishops chose a new president who has a history of being a culture warrior," said John Gehring, Catholic program director at a Washington-based clergy network called Faith in Public Life. “Even as Pope Francis offers a better path forward for the church, too many American bishops double down on old strategies that have failed to engage and energize the faithful."
The bishops’ annual fall meeting will conclude its public sessions on Wednesday. It is the bishops' first gathering since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the Roe v. Wade decision which had found a constitutional right to abortion and returned the question of legal abortion to the states. Lori, chairman of the bishops Committee on Pro-life Activities, acknowledged that many Catholics favor legalized access to abortion. “The demise of Roe is a great victory, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory if we fail to win in the minds and hearts, first and foremost of our fellow Catholics,” said Lori, who was elected vice president of the bishops’ conference.
“We cannot credibly speak in a polarized society as long as our own house is divided,” he said. “At the same time, we cannot wait until perfect unanimity has been attained before we bear witness to the ambient culture about human life and dignity.”
AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of voters in the 2022 midterm elections, found that Catholic voters in Michigan split about evenly on a referendum enshrining abortion rights into the state constitution, while 60% of Catholic voters in Kentucky voted against an anti-abortion constitutional amendment.
Broglio — a staunch opponent of abortion — has extensive experience outside U.S. borders, having studied in Rome and serving in the Vatican's diplomatic corps. And his current archdiocese is based in Washington, D.C, which also is home to the USCCB's head office.
Broglio attracted national attention last year when he asserted that servicemembers should be able to get religious exemptions sparing them from the Pentagon’s mandate that all troops receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Notwithstanding the moral permissibility of these vaccines, the Church treasures her teaching on the sanctity of conscience,” said Broglio. “Accordingly, no one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience.”
Broglio grew up in the Cleveland area, attending Catholic schools there before attending Boston College and then earning a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He was ordained to the priesthood, for the diocese of Cleveland, in May 1977 at a chapel in Rome.
In addition to serving as an associate parish pastor and as a college lecturer, Broglio engaged extensively in the Vatican's diplomatic service. He served as secretary of the apostolic nunciatures in Ivory Coast and Paraguay, and from 1990 to 2001 served as Chief of Cabinet to Angelo Cardinal Sodano, secretary of state to Saint Pope John Paul II and desk officer for Central America.
Broglio was ordained as an archbishop by St. John Paul II in March 2001. In 2007, he was named the fourth archbishop of the Military Services USA.
As a member of the USCCB, Broglio currently serves as secretary of the conference. In the past he has served as chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace and chairman of the Canonical Affairs and Church Governance Committee.
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Crary reported from New York.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
COP27
Climate activists slam fossil fuels, protest restrictions
COP27 Climate SummitDemonstrators hold signs as part of a protest demanding no more stolen relatives and stolen land with the group Indigenous Women Action at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)More
FRANK JORDANS and SAMY MAGDY Tue, November 15, 2022
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate slammed world leaders Tuesday who persist in backing new fossil fuel projects as other activists held a symbolic human and environmental rights protest and called for financing for vulnerable nations suffering devastating impacts of climate change.
Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris climate accord to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century if possible. But scientists say that with about 1.2 Celsius (21. Fahrenheit) of warming already reached, that target is likely to be missed, pushing temperatures to dangerous highs.
“The focus for many leaders is about making deals for fossil fuel lobbyists, surviving the next election cycle and grabbing as much short-term profit as possible,” Nakate said at an event on the sidelines of the U.N. climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
She warned that the annual meeting is being infiltrated by oil and gas representatives who are turning it into “a sales and marketing conference for more pollution and more destruction and more devastation.”
Environmental groups have counted more than 600 delegates with links to the fossil fuel industry at the two-week meeting.
This was being undermined by massive public spending on fossil fuel subsidies, partly as a result of the fallout from Russia's attack on Ukraine which has triggered a scramble for alternative sources of oil and gas.
“You are sowing the wind and frontline communities are reaping the whirlwind,” she said. “You are sowing seeds of coal, oil and gas while frontline communities are reaping havoc, devastation and destruction.”
Jochen Flasbarth, a long-time German climate negotiator, said Nakate was right to highlight the urgency of tackling climate change but questioned her criticism of politicians concerned about elections.
“You might be right that politicians sometimes have a short-term view, but (you should) still make the best out of these elections,” he said, adding that “it is young people who increasingly did not go to elections over the last ten years” in many democratic nations.
Flasbarth told Nakate that young people “need to collaborate” with democratic processes to help “strengthen democracy around the world.”
Later Tuesday, a handful of climate activists gathered outside the conference venue in a symbolic protest to highlight what they said was restrictions and clampdowns on environmental and human rights defenders.
Organized by the Fridays for Future Movement, the brief demonstration took place in the official designated protest area amid tight security. Organizers said they received the required permission from the Egyptian authorities, but they declined to speak to media at the protest venue saying they didn't want to legitimize it.
They said the symbolic protest aimed to showcase “restrictions on civil society and protest” at this year's conference.
"We are protesting on behalf of and in solidarity with all those who can’t raise their voices, we are here demanding the liberation of those who have been silenced,” said activist Luisa Neubauer in a speech.
Protests at this year's conference have so far been broadly limited to the ‘Blue Zone,’ which is considered a U.N. territory.
Climate activists have repeatedly complained that restrictions and costly accommodation has discouraged large protests this year, in a stark contrast to previous years that featured large demonstrations. Last year's COP26 in Glasgow in Scotland, saw some 100,000 people marching through the streets in one rally and protesters frequently gathered in public squares and parks.
Street protests are virtually banned in Egypt, but the government set up a designated area outside the negotiating venue for demonstrations.
Activists also called for the establishment of a new body to be in charge of climate-related loss and damage for developing funding for nations vulnerable to global warming.
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Israel PM rejects US probe into killing of Shireen Abu Akleh FILE - Yellow tape marks bullet holes on a tree and a portrait and flowers create a makeshift memorial, at the site where Palestinian-American Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed in the West Bank city of Jenin, May 19, 2022. Relatives of late journalist Shireen Abu Akleh have met Pope Francis on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, during his weekly general audience.
(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)
ISABEL DEBRE Tue, November 15, 2022
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's departing Prime Minister Yair Lapid doubled down Tuesday on his government's harsh condemnation of a reported investigation by the United States Department of Justice into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, in the occupied West Bank.
A Justice Department spokesman had no comment. There were no details about when an investigation might begin and what it would involve, nor what the ramifications might be. But an FBI probe into the actions of an ally would mark a rare — if not unprecedented — step, threatening to strain close ties between the countries as Israel heads toward the most right-wing government in its history.
After a swearing-in ceremony for Israel's newly elected parliament on Tuesday, Lapid vowed Israel would not participate in an American investigation into the fatal shooting of the prominent 51-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent last May in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. Echoing remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz the day before, Lapid said that Israeli soldiers “will not be investigated by the FBI or by any foreign country or body, however friendly.”
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority welcomed the news and promised to cooperate fully with a U.S. investigation, reflecting how Abu Akleh's case has become a point of contention in competing narratives by Israelis and Palestinians.
“This decision, even if it came late, reflects the birth of an American conviction in the absence of any serious investigation by the Israelis,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said. “(Their investigations) are no more than attempts to cover up the criminals.”
Palestinian officials, Abu Akleh’s family and Al Jazeera have accused Israel of intentionally killing Abu Akleh. Several independent investigations, including by The Associated Press, have concluded that Abu Akleh was most probably killed by Israeli fire.
The death of the veteran journalist, who covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for a quarter-century, reverberated across the region and drew global outrage, throwing a spotlight on Israeli actions in the West Bank. Abu Akleh's families and supporters, along with 57 Democratic lawmakers, called on the Biden administration to launch a full probe following an inconclusive State Department assessment of the fatal bullet and the equivocal results of an Israeli military investigation.
Abu Akleh's family said it was “encouraged by the news” of an investigation on Tuesday, expressing hope that the U.S. “will use all of the investigative tools at its disposal to get answers about Shireen’s killing and hold those who are responsible for this atrocity accountable.”
A probe “gets our family closer to justice for Shireen,” their statement said.
Israel's critics contend that history has showed that the Israeli military cannot credibly investigate or prosecute itself. Israel says its investigations are independent and professional.
“We will not abandon our soldiers to foreign investigations,” Lapid told the new lawmakers. "Our strong protest has been conveyed to the Americans at the appropriate levels.”
Although Lapid was ousted from office after Israel's Nov. 1 elections, his likely replacement, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will likely maintain the same stance.
Israel initially raised the possibility that Abu Akleh had been killed by a Palestinian gunman during clashes between Israeli soldiers and militants before acknowledging in September there was a “high probability" she was killed mistakenly by an Israeli soldier. Nonetheless, Israel has vigorously denied its troops had intentionally targeted her and ruled out a criminal investigation.
Shireen Abu Akleh: Journalist's family welcome US probe into her killing
The family of Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed when covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank in May, have said they welcome a recently opened US probe into the journalist's death. Lina Abu Akleh, the journalist's niece, said it was 'painful beyond words' to think about how her aunt died [source: Getty]
The family of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by an Israeli soldier, on Tuesday praised a US decision to open a probe into her death.
"This is an important step," a statement from the Palestinian-American family said, adding that US authorities have a responsibility to investigate, "when a US citizen is killed abroad, especially when they were killed, like Shireen, by a foreign military".
This follows months of calls from Abu Akleh's family as well as Palestinian solidarity groups and human rights defenders for an independent probe in order to hold the killers accountable.
Collating evidence from eyewitnesses, videos, and 3-D reconstructions, the Al-Haq-Forensic Architecture investigation showed that Shireen's press vest was clearly visible when she was targeted and that no other shots were set off in the area.
Israel has said it conducted its own investigation, however, no action has been taken against any Israeli soldier.
Israeli military investigations have long drawn criticism from rights groups and Palestinians who charge that they are not independent or effective, citing a low indictment rate.
The killing of the veteran Al Jazeera reporter took place during an army operation in Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 11.
Israel says it will not cooperate with US investigation into journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing
Akleh was shot dead in the State of Palestine on May 11 while she was covering Israeli raid in Jenin.
Israel said on Monday that it will not cooperate with the United States’ investigation into the killing of the Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli army.
Akleh was allegedly shot in the head on May 11 when she was covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. The city lies in the West Bank, which was captured by the Israeli military in 1967 during the Mideast War
While Al Jazeera had alleged that the Israeli forces deliberately shot Akleh, Tel Aviv denied the claims.
On Monday, the US Justice Department informed its counterpart in Israel that the Federal Bureau of Investigation will investigate Akleh’s killing, reported The Guardian.
The FBI investigation into the killing of the journalist comes after pressure from Akleh’s family and members of the US Congress.
“The decision taken by the US Justice Department to conduct an investigation into the tragic passing of Shireen Abu Akleh, is a mistake,” Israel’s Minister of Defence Benny Gantz tweeted on Monday. “The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has conducted a professional, independent investigation, which was presented to American officials with whom the details were shared.”
In June, an investigation by the United Nations had concluded that Akleh was not near Palestinian gunfire when she was killed and that Israeli forces were almost certainly responsible. The UN said that Israeli soldiers fired “several single, seemingly well-aimed bullets” at Abu Akleh and other journalists.
The Israeli military had alleged that the Palestinian gunmen were responsible for the journalist’s death. However, in September it admitted that one of its soldiers had probably shot Akleh but said there would be no criminal prosecutions because no laws had been broken and declared the case closed.
