Saturday, December 10, 2022

Poll: Politics drives religious Americans’ views on the environment

Religious people who lean Republican are less inclined to be concerned about global warming than people of the same religion who identify or lean to the Democratic Party.

Bruce McDougal watches embers fly over his property as the Bond Fire burns through the Silverado community in Orange County, California, on Dec. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

November 17, 2022

Yonat Shimron

(RNS) — Many reasons have been suggested as to why highly religious Americans are less likely to be worried about climate change or work to try to stem it. But in the end, a new Pew Research survey concludes, it’s all about politics.

“The main driver of U.S. public opinion about the climate is political party, not religion,” the survey of 10,156 Americans concludes.

Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to believe human activity is causing global warming or to consider climate change a serious problem. The same is true for the religious among them: Religious people who identify or lean Republican are less inclined to be concerned about global warming than people of the same religion who identify or lean to the Democratic Party.

Take evangelicals as an example — a group with a reputation for denying the dangers of climate change — 34% of evangelicals say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem. But if you break evangelicals down by political party, a bipolar picture emerges: 78% of evangelicals who lean Democratic say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem, compared with 17% who lean Republican.

The survey shows the same consistent pattern, if not quite as extreme, among other religious groups, including mainline Protestants, Catholics and even the religiously unaffiliated. In every group, the Democrats among them are significantly more likely to be concerned about climate change. The same is true when asked about the cause of climate change: Democrats in each group are much more likely than Republicans to lay the blame on human activity, regardless of religion.

These massive gaps in views among people claiming the same religion points to political partisanship as the crucial factor driving these opinions.

The study also shows a gap between those with high, medium and low religious commitments. The higher the religious commitment, the less likely to be concerned about climate change — and the more likely to identify with the Republican Party, according to the report.

While more than half of Americans believe the Earth is getting warmer because of human activity, only 39% of highly religious Americans — those who pray daily, attend religious services regularly and say religion is very important to their lives — agree. By comparison, 70% of those with a low religious commitment believe the Earth is getting warmer because of human activity, the survey found.

“Highly religious Americans are less concerned about climate change, less convinced human activity is causing warmer temperatures” Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center

Other theories for why highly religious Americans are less concerned about the environment — there are much bigger problems in the world today; God is in control of the climate; the end times are near, why worry? — were not as salient.

The survey found only a modest relationship between end-times beliefs and concerns about climate change. Those who say the “end times” are coming soon are less likely to think climate change is an extremely or very serious problem compared with those who do not believe the end times are near (51% vs. 62%) .

Overall, 57% of Americans believe climate change is an “extremely or very” serious problem.

Evangelicals are the only religious group in which a majority (66%) say stricter environmental laws and regulations will hurt the economy. It’s almost the reverse among unaffiliated Americans, 68% of whom don’t believe stricter environmental laws will hurt the economy.

The survey also found that climate change is not a topic discussed much in religious congregations. Only 8% said they heard a great deal about it in sermons; 70% say they hear little or nothing about it.

About half of Americans take steps to protect the environment, like reducing food waste, using fewer plastics, driving less or eating less meat. Here too, evangelicals scored lowest on these efforts, especially eating less meat.

“Within each major religious group, Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say climate change is not a serious problem” Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center

And, the survey found, religiously affiliated Americans are less likely to be civically engaged in combating climate change — donating money to environmental groups, volunteering with such groups or attending protests.

Among Americans who attend services at least once a month, 46% said their religious congregation has recycling bins; 43% said their congregation has taken efforts to be more energy efficient. Only 8% in this group said their congregation relies on solar energy.

Americans, regardless of religious affiliation, don’t view efforts to reduce carbon emissions in moral terms. Only 10% of U.S. adults — including 8% of those with a religious affiliation — say it is morally wrong to drive a car that gets poor gas mileage.

The margin of error for the survey was plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.

Indiana judge backs a religious right to abort

And poses a serious challenge to the Supreme Court’s religious liberty jurisprudence.

Marion County, Indiana, Superior Court Judge Heather Welch. Photo via Indy.gov

December 7, 2022

Mark Silk

(RNS) — Should religious liberty claims prevail over anti-abortion laws in the United States today? A county superior court judge in Indiana, Heather Welch, thinks they should, and she made the argument in an opinion that blocked the state’s new anti-abortion law last week.

In the case at hand, Hoosier Jews for Choice and five anonymous women of several faiths and no faith contend that the measure, which bans abortion after 10 weeks of pregnancy unless it’s the result of rape or incest, violates the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence in 2015. Welch granted a temporary injunction on the grounds that the plaintiffs would otherwise suffer irreparable harm and are likely to prevail when the case goes to trial in Indiana’s Supreme Court next month.

The opinion, which relies on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ever-more-robust embrace of religious rights, begins by citing a range of religious beliefs — Jewish, Muslim, Episcopalian, Unitarian Universalist and pagan — to the effect that human life or personhood begins well after conception. These not only tend to support the necessary determination that the plaintiffs are sincere in their beliefs but also underscore the judge’s position that the question of when life begins is theological and philosophical, not scientific.

Facts about the process of human zygotic, embryonic, and fetal development do not answer the question of when life begins. The “personhood” status of a zygote, embryo, or fetus cannot be stated as matters of fact. For many individuals, such as the Plaintiffs, questions such as the beginning of life or when personhood begins cannot be stated without reference to moral, ethical, spiritual, and religious beliefs.

You may disagree with this position and contend that science does indeed establish that there is a human being or person from the moment of conception. However, as the judge points out, the U.S. Supreme Court’s position, put forward by Justice Samuel Alito in his majority opinion in the Hobby Lobby case, is that what counts from a religious liberty standpoint is when a person believes that life begins.

Even if the court should take the position that, as a factual matter, life begins at conception, its free exercise jurisprudence would seem to allow the women in question to procure otherwise prohibited abortions. That’s because, in Welch’s terms, Indiana’s anti-abortion law is “underinclusive” — as restrictive as it is, it nevertheless allows abortions when the life or health of the mother is seriously at risk, when there’s a lethal fetal anomaly and, early on, in cases of rape and incest.

As the U.S. Supreme Court has made abundantly clear (for example, regarding in-person worship attendance during COVID-19), where exceptions for secular reasons are permitted, so must exceptions for religious reasons. So if abortions are permitted for such secular reasons as the mother’s health, the survivability or the fetus and the circumstances of a pregnancy, then abortions grounded in sincerely held religious beliefs must also be permitted.

To be sure, the state of Indiana contends that prohibiting the plaintiffs from having abortions would not meet the standard of “substantially burdening” their religious exercise because abortion is “a secular means to a religious end.” But this, according to the judge, is contradicted by Hobby Lobby, where the secular means of refusing to provide employees with certain kinds of contraception coverage was recognized as a legitimate way to serve the religious end of opposing abortion.

One other thing. Among the plaintiffs in this case is a woman who claims no specific religious basis for her belief. The opinion recognizes her as having a legitimate claim comparable to that of nonreligious conscientious objectors to military service.

Long story short, Judge Welch’s opinion indicates that any woman who sincerely believes that her fetus is not a person should be able to procure an abortion in any state of the Union — as the Supreme Court’s religious liberty jurisprudence currently stands. To that jurisprudence it poses

RELATED: The Satanic Temple takes aim at Idaho, Indiana abortion bans no trivial challenge.

US leaders gather to discuss rights of nonreligious people across the world

'Discrimination against the non-religious is often caused, not by a desire to hurt atheists, but by the desire to help one or more religions,' according to a new report by Humanists International.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, center, virtually addresses a meeting about the rights of nonreligious people around the world, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Washington. Photo courtesy of American Atheists

December 9, 2022

Alejandra Molina

(RNS) — Religious freedom leaders — including a United States ambassador, commissioner and elected representative — gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday (Dec. 8) to shed light on the rights of nonreligious people in countries across the globe.

The convening was part of the launch of the “Freedom of Thought Report” by Humanists International, an annual look at how non-religious individuals — comprising atheists, agnostics, humanists and freethinkers — are treated because of their lack of religion or absence of belief in a god.

It was hosted by American Atheists, a civil rights organization that works to achieve religious equality for all Americans. Among those in attendance were U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a congressman for much of California’s Bay Area; U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussain with the Office of International Religious Freedom; and Frederick Davie with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

To Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, it was meaningful that the Biden-Harris Administration, along with other U.S. leaders and the global human rights community “are recognizing our rights are just as worthy of protection as any other religious or belief groups.”

Emma Wadsworth-Jones, a coordinator for Humanists International who presented the report, underscored that nonreligious people are a distinct category within freedom of religion or belief “who have universal human rights,” which include the right to freedom of religion and belief and to freedom of thought and expression.

“Discrimination against this community is pervasive,” she said.

Wadsworth-Jones underscored that “true secularism is inclusive of all,” adding that “where secularism is upheld … rights tend to be better respected for all.”

Emma Wadsworth-Jones presents Humanists International’s “Freedom of Thought Report,” Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Washington. Photo courtesy of American Atheists

The report — which is in its 11th year — rates all countries and highlights “Key Countries,” where the organization updated the ratings in 2022, and a “Watch List,” which includes countries that Humanists International continues to monitor despite their rating holding steady.

Humanists International creates ratings by focusing on global human rights agreements “that most affect nonreligious people,” such as the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and the right to freedom of expression.

Ratings factor in apostasy laws that make it illegal to convert to a religion or declare oneself as nonreligious, as well as blasphemy laws that outlaw criticism of protected religions and religious figures and institutions, according to the report.

The organization also considers family laws that exclude atheists from getting married as well as other laws requiring citizens to identify their religion on state ID cards, forbidding citizens from identifying as atheist or nonreligious.

“Discrimination against the non-religious is often caused, not by a desire to hurt atheists, but by the desire to help one or more religions,” according to the report.

The report found that only 4% of the global population “live in societies that are truly secular, where there is a clear separation of religious and political authorities, that do not discriminate against any religion or belief community.”

Countries like Afghanistan and Iran, which are on the organization’s “Watch List,” were found to have grave violations and poor ratings due to state legislation being largely or entirely derived from religious law or by religious authorities.

In Iran, the country’s morality police have triggered months of protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The report noted that Iran’s government periodically jails and executes dozens of individuals on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh).

“Although this crime is framed as a religious offense and may be used against humanists and other religious dissenters, it is most often used as a punishment for political acts that challenge the regime (on the basis that to oppose the theocratic regime is to oppose Allah),” the report reads.

Just as Humanists International launched the report, the Center for Human Rights announced on Thursday that 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari was hung under the charge of “moharebeh,” after he was accused of wounding a paramilitary officer during a protest.

In Pakistan, the country’s legal environment is “notably repressive,” Wadsworth-Jones said, with “oppressive blasphemy laws, impunity for violence on religious grounds and systematic religious discrimination.”

When looking at Barbados, while its constitution declares the state to be secular, “symbolic trappings of state religion remain,” Wadsworth-Jones said. The preamble to its constitution, for example, states that the people of Barbados “acknowledge the supremacy of God,” she said.

In France, where secularism is a fundamental principle of the state, Wadsworth-Jones noted that strict enforcement of such principles has been criticized “for leading to discrimination against religion or belief minorities by limiting their freedom of worship.” Discrimination against Muslims in France has increased in recent years, particularly after the 2015 terrorist attacks and during COVID-19, she said.

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussein speaks at a meeting about the rights of nonreligious people, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Washington. Photo courtesy of American Atheists

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussain speaks at a meeting about the rights of nonreligious people, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Washington. Photo courtesy of American Atheists

The United States received a relatively good rating due to “strong constitutional protections in favor of freedom of thought, religion or belief.”

It remains on the “Watch List” because, according to the report, those freedoms mixed with Christian conservatism and a wealthy Christian right lobby, “means that secular, humanist and civil liberties groups find themselves facing a battle to preserve the inherent secularism of the constitution.”

This threat to secularism “gained a greater foothold” under the presidency and influence of Donald Trump, resulting in the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe and the federal right to an abortion, according to the report.

“Extremism and religion continue to pose a severe threat to our democracy,” said Huffman, who identifies as a humanist, adding that white Christian nationalist groups “continue to export their dangerous, violent ideology and to find more traction in the mainstream.”

“My colleagues are feeling more confident in calling out the threat of white Christian nationalism directly,” he said.

Huffman, who helped establish the Congressional Freethought Caucus, highlighted a bipartisan resolution passed by the House of Representatives last year that condemns “heresy, blasphemy and apostasy laws.”

He also noted legislation he introduced that would require health care sharing ministries to disclose a range of information to federal agencies.

Hussain, with the Office of International Religious Freedom, spoke about Nigerian humanist and atheist Mubarak Bala, who was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison “following accusations he had committed blasphemy against Islam and Muslims,” he said.

Bala was arrested in 2020 and formally charged in 2021 “for causing a public disturbance by posting ‘blasphemous’ content.”

Early this month, the USCIRF called out the U.S. Department of State after it failed to include Nigeria or India in its latest designations of “Countries of Particular Concern.”

“Governments do not only weaponize blasphemy laws against humanists and atheists, they use them against Christians, Muslims and many more,” Hussain said.

The report highlighted that “any rights violations and discrimination are important, even when only small numbers of people are affected,” adding that “the non-religious are not a small group.”

It cited findings from the 2012 WIN-Gallup International Association showing that atheism and the non-religious population have grown rapidly, with religion dropping by 9 percentage points and atheism rising by 3 percentage points between 2005 and 2012.

This story has been updated.

As their World Cup team faces the Dutch, Argentines call on folk saints for help

One expert said that while official Catholic saints tend to be invoked in church, ‘folk saints tend to be more visible in public spaces, including soccer fields.’

Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Argentina and Australia at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

December 9, 2022

Eduardo Campos Lima

SÃO PAULO, Brazil (RNS) — In the weeks before the World Cup tournament got underway in Qatar, Claudio Tapia, who heads Argentina’s national soccer federation, visited the sanctuary of Difunta Correa, in Vallecito, a district in Argentina’s western San Juan province.

He was there for two reasons. First, he had to thank la Difunta Correa, a folk saint in Argentina and parts of Chile, for Argentina’s success in the 2022 Finalissima, when South America’s champion defeated the European champion, Italy.

He also planned to ask la Difunta for Argentina’s victory in the World Cup.

“The important thing is not what is promised, but what is fulfilled. Finalissima 2022. Now, more than ever, go Argentina,” he said on social media, when he posted pictures of his visit to the shrine.

Claudio Tapia, President of the Argentine Football Association, visits La Difunta Correa shrine with the 2022 Finalissima trophy in Nov. 2022, in western Argentina. Photo via Twitter/@tapiachiqui

Claudio Tapia, President of the Argentine Football Association, visits a Difunta Correa shrine with the 2022 Finalissima trophy in early Nov. 2022, in western Argentina. Photo via Twitter/@tapiachiqui

Like Tapia, many Argentines have been rooting vocally for their national team, but taking care to pray to the country’s many folk saints.

Argentine soccer fans attending the matches in Qatar have brought Argentine flags to their stadium seats customized with the names of Difunta Correa or Gauchito Gil, another famous folk saint from the northern part of Argentina.

On Nov. 25, 24 hours before a crucial contest between Argentina and Mexico, the country’s rock music giant Andrés Calamaro posted on social media that the country’s squad needed protection from Gauchito Gil. Calamaro added Osvaldo Pugliese, a 20th-century tango musician who has become a sort of talisman for Argentine artists.

“A family that prays together stays together,” he added.

Traditionally a Roman Catholic nation, Argentina has been seeing a decline in the share of its population that is Catholic over the past decades. A recent study showed that Catholics went from being 76.5% of the population in 2008 to 62.9% in 2019. Evangelical Christianity and secularism have been steadily growing.

But the ancient devotion to folk saints never seems to flag, and indeed may be increasing. According to anthropologist Alejandra Belinky, a doctoral candidate at Rosario National University, devotion to Gauchito Gil has been greatly expanded in the past two decades.

“Such creeds are not only modeled according to the Catholic tradition of sainthood,” Belinky explained. “They are part of a history of popularly canonized marginal figures, heroes who were unfairly persecuted by the military or the police and so manifest a sense of transgression,” she said.

Belinky said that while official Catholic saints tend to be invoked in church, “folk saints tend to be more visible in public spaces, including soccer fields.”

Pilgrims light candles to mark the death anniversary of folk saint Gauchito Gil, in his sanctuary near Mercedes, Corrientes, Argentina, on Jan. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Mario De Fina)

Gauchito Gil is said to have been born in 1840 near the city of Mercedes, in Corrientes, as Antonio Gil — “Gauchito” is the diminutive of gaucho, as cowboy-like figures from southern Brazil, Uruguay, northern Argentina and Paraguay are known. They were usually rebellious horsemen who often served as seasonal workers but joined the army when called upon or often strayed into crime.

Most versions of Gil’s story describe him as a kind of Robin Hood who stole cattle from the rich to distribute it to the poor. The legend also says he took part in the 1864-70 war against Paraguay.

At some point, he was detained for his crimes and executed. But before he died, the story goes, he told the executioner that the man’s son was terribly ill and that he should pray for the boy’s health, invoking Gil’s name. The executioner did not believe the story, but when he arrived at his home, he saw his son at death’s door. Praying to Gil saved the child’s life.

Luz Norman in her Gauchito Gil chapel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Courtesy photo

Thousands of people visit the Gauchito Gil shrine in Mercedes annually, but especially on Jan. 8, considered the anniversary of his death. Other sanctuaries have been established in his honor elsewhere.

“I was brought to know him a few years ago, during a difficult time in my life. I asked his help, and he conceded many graces to me,” Luz Norman, a faith healer who built a shrine to Gil in Buenos Aires, told Religion News Service.

Six years ago, Norman began her activity as a Gauchito Gil faith healer. “I asked him to cure people in his name and he has been making several miracles. Everything that I ask him for the people he gives us,” she said.

Norman’s chapel was built with donations from the people she helped. “A woman who had stomach problems came to the shrine and ended up healed,” she said. “A young man who suffered an accident and was using a wheelchair is now walking with crutches.”

Norman, who identifies as Catholic, has also been asking Gauchito Gil to help Argentina’s team win the World Cup.

So does Isabel Leguizamon, a 52-year-old devotee who lives in the city of Federal, not far from Gil’s native Corrientes. “We will win the Cup with his help,” she told RNS.

“Everything we ask him becomes true. I have never had any health problems and I have never been unemployed for too long,” she said.

A Gauchito Gil statue near La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo by ProtoplasmaKid/Wikimedia/Creative Commons

Graphic artist Ariel Exu Bara recently designed an Argentine soccer jersey with the image of Gauchito Gil on the front. “The same day I uploaded the picture of it on social media, Argentina beat Australia. Faith moves mountains,” he said.

Catholics may also appeal to canonical saints on Friday, when Argentina faces its next test. Belinky recalls when, years ago, a priest in her hometown of Rosario was asked to celebrate Mass and bless the pitch of a local club. “People thought some kind of witchery might have disturbed the club. After the blessing, the squad ended up victorious,” she recalled.

The story of la Difunta, which means “deceased,” concerns Deolinda Correa, a woman who lived in San Juan province, a desert region near the Andes. In 1841, during a battle between opposing political parties, troops invaded her village. After the military commander threatened to have his way with her, said Betty Puga, a spokesperson for the Difunta Correa Foundation, which runs the sanctuary in San Juan, “she decided to take her baby with her and left the town by foot. She walked for three days in the desert with no water.”

A group of horsemen found her body. Her baby was still nursing at his deceased mother’s breast.

A Difunta Correa shrine in Vallecito, San Juan, Argentina. Photo by Juandrovandi/Wikimedia/Creative Commons

“After that, one of those men was taking 500 cows to Chile and lost them while crossing the Andes. He asked for her help, and the next day he found the cattle,” Puga said.

The town of her burial now has a hotel and restaurants that welcome more than 2 million visitors to her shrine every year. Processions of horsemen from other parts of Argentina, Chile and Brazil are common, especially during Holy Week.

At the shrine, people usually leave miniatures of houses and cars that they had been able to buy after praying to the Difunta.

Jerseys of soccer clubs are also visible there. “We have a jersey of Lionel Messi signed by all players of the Argentinian team,” Puga said.

Sculptures of la Difunta Correa and Gauchito Gil have been taken to Qatar with the team, she said.

While folk saints’ followings are associated with the poor, the statuary shows that even the rich are counting on la Difunta and Gil. “Not everybody has the money to go to Qatar to accompany the World Cup,” said Belinky.

IN AFRICA SOCCER TEAMS HAVE THEIR OWN SHAMANS/WITCHDOCTORS

Musk Loans Put Twitter in Tesla’s Driving Seat

Analysis by Liam Denning | Bloomberg

December 8, 2022

GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY - MARCH 22: Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the official opening of the new Tesla electric car manufacturing plant on March 22, 2022 near Gruenheide, Germany. The new plant, officially called the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, is producing the Model Y as well as electric car batteries.

(Photo by Christian Marquardt - Pool/Getty Images)

Ever since Elon Musk launched his takeover of Twitter Inc., fans of Tesla Inc. have worried about the genius getting distracted. And during the new Twitter’s first six weeks — has it only been that long? — Musk has certainly come across a bit distracted. Addled, even.

Now we learn that, through the magic of finance, this squishy risk of distraction may be crystalized into a real overhang on Tesla’s stock. Bloomberg News broke the story late Wednesday that Elon Musk’s bankers are considering new margin loans to him, backed by part of his stake in Tesla, to effectively replace the most expensive debt on Twitter’s balance sheet. If that happens, it would be at once entirely unsurprising and yet take Musk’s empire into new and potentially dangerous territory.

To recap, Musk, along with some co-investors, paid about $44 billion for Twitter, with $13 billion of that landing on the company’s balance sheet as debt. Ordinarily, the bankers who put up that debt would sell it on to investors. But the takeover of Twitter has been anything but ordinary, and the banks have struggled to offload the debt, with reports of bids coming in at just 60 cents on the dollar. Given the annual interest bill for Twitter is estimated at about $1.2 billion, or more than a fifth of revenue, the banks are even less minded to hang onto that debt than usual. Why not, instead, effectively swap it out for more quasi-equity in the form of a loan to Musk backed by shares in his $550 billion electric vehicle juggernaut?

The obvious answer: Leverage on top of leverage at a social media company that’s already resorting to Hunter Biden conspiracies to gin up clicks sounds unpromising. But the template is temptingly already there. Musk’s bankers have lent money against Tesla collateral for years; he had about 89 million shares pledged at the end of March, worth $32 billion then and about $15.5 billion today.

Moreover, the commingling of Musk’s various enterprises is also long-standing. Hardly anyone seemed to care when it was reported that Tesla engineers were brought in to review Twitter’s code after Musk took control, even though Tesla’s investors haven’t signed up for the company’s resources being diverted to the chief executive’s latest pet project. This is just how Musk rolls. Recall that one of his other companies, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, or Space X, bought bonds from another company where Musk was chairman — and his cousin was CEO — SolarCity Corp. Then SpaceX, along with Musk and his cousin who both also bought those bonds, was effectively bailed out as Tesla swooped in to buy SolarCity just before it very likely would have plunged into bankruptcy (see this and this).

This somewhat unorthodox approach to governance has all been forgiven — by investors and bankers alike — because Tesla’s stock has been on a one-way trip to the stars. Though not of late. Having peaked at a staggering $1.24 trillion about a year ago, Tesla has shed a similarly staggering $685 billion since. This owes most to a widespread selloff of cleantech darlings after the euphoria of 2021 and, perhaps more pernicious, troubles in China where Tesla’s big bet on growth has run into harsh pandemic lockdowns and a wall of domestic EV competition — the latter perhaps portending trouble in the US, where rival brands are also launching more electrified models.

Against that background, Musk’s Twitter fetish certainly hasn’t settled nerves, especially as he has been a big seller of Tesla stock himself, some of which presumably funded the deal. And now Tesla bulls face the prospect of his fetish being underwritten to an even greater degree by their favorite company’s paper.

If the debt-for-quasi equity swap happens, it will confirm (if confirmation was needed) that Twitter’s valuation has slumped — why effectively collateralize its balance sheet with Tesla stock otherwise? — and even perhaps raises a question about Space X: If that company is worth $125 billion, as its last funding round suggested, why can’t Musk sell some of that for cash?

I (half) joked recently that, in light of what happened with SolarCity, we shouldn’t be too surprised if Tesla eventually announces that it needs to own an in-house social media platform. Even without that, though, these new loans would tie the fate of these vastly different enterprises closer together. Recent polling suggests Musk’s refashioning of Twitter may be putting off some US drivers from buying Tesla vehicles. I tend to think that’s hard to unpick from other factors such as there just being more competing models available. Nonetheless, though, one can imagine a scenario where, seeking to shore up Twitter, Musk doubles down on his provocations in the hope it keeps folks engaged — which in turn dents the brand of his real source of wealth. Owning a piece of Tesla has always meant owning a piece of whatever vision Musk decides to follow. Right now, his gaze is fixed on that infinitely scrolling feed.

BLOOMBERG BOILERPLATE SAYS ITS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS OPIONION

Yellen 'open' to visiting China, will seek deeper economic engagement

Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington

Thu, December 8, 2022
By Andrea Shalal

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday said she was "open" to visit China as she seeks to deepen economic engagement with Beijing after the leaders of the world's two largest economies met last month, signaling a possible easing of tensions.

"I have no definite plan to visit China, but I am certainly open to it and look forward to more intense interactions than we've had over the last year or two," Yellen said.

Yellen told reporters after a visit to a Bureau of Printing and Engraving currency plant in Texas that a potential topic for future meetings with Chinese officials was the need for China to participate more fully in debt restructurings of distressed poor and developing countries that had borrowed heavily from Chinese state lenders.

Yellen said she had raised the debt issue with her Chinese counterpart, departing Vice Premier Liu He, and other officials, but had not seen much progress.

"I am hopeful that they will come to understand the necessity of relieving debt, restructuring debt when it's unsustainable, and that could be a topic for future meetings."

U.S. President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for three hours last month at the G20 leaders summit in Bali, a discussion that featured blunt talk over Taiwan and North Korea, but which sought to prevent tensions from spilling into a new Cold War.

Yellen met two days later with Chinese central bank governor Yi Gang in her first in-person talks with a senior Chinese official since taking office -- a wide ranging discussion that covered Chinese COVID-19 lockdown policies, property market turmoil and other macroeconomic issues. She said she hoped to increase economic engagement with China in the future.

In Texas, Yellen also said that China faces a "very complex problem" in adjusting its COVID-19 policies, which have caused growth to slow, but suggested that the use of Western-developed "mRNA" vaccines may help the situation.

A positive change in China's COVID-19 situation could lead to a "pickup" in growth, she added.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)

The Resistance Movement in Myanmar with Ye Myo Hein

Greg and Elina sit down with Ye Myo Hein, a visiting scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace. They discuss the ongoing resistance movement against the military junta in Myanmar. Karen is joined by Adrien Chorn, former intern for the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS, to cover the latest from the region.

U$A

Teacher vacancies more pronounced in high-poverty, high-minority PUBLIC schools since COVID

CPJ joins letter calling on incoming Brazilian government to address press freedom concerns

On June 23, 2022, Indigenous people attend a protest in São Paulo demanding justice for journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who were murdered in the Brazilian Amazon. CPJ joined a letter calling on the incoming Brazilian government to address press freedom concerns. (Reuters/Carla Carniel)

December 8, 2022

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined this week eight civil society groups and press freedom organizations in a letter to the communications working group of the Brazilian transitional government, urging the incoming federal administration to adopt measures to protect press freedom and the safety of journalists.

In a meeting with representatives of the working group on Wednesday, December 7, the organizations briefly presented highlights of the letter, including their assessment of press freedom violations, violence against journalists in Brazil, and a list of 12 recommendations to the new administration that will start on January 1. The recommendations include reestablishing and strengthening the national protection program, ensuring investigations of homicides and other crimes committed against journalists, and decriminalizing slander and defamation, among other issues.

During the meeting, representatives of the transitional government working group committed to including in their final report to the incoming government the organizations’ letter and a recommendation to protect press freedom and the safety of journalists.

The full letter is available in Portuguese here.

BIG TOBBACCO LOSES

Survey shows milestone drop in smoking among Pasifika youth

Jan Kohout, Journalist
jan.kohout@rnz.co.nz

Photo: 123rf

A newly-released survey shows daily tobacco smoking rates for New Zealand Pasifika youth are at a record low of less than 2 percent.

With just 1.2 percent of Pasifika smoking daily, that is significantly less than what it used to be in 2017 when it was at 5.3 percent.

Published by Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH), the survey is one of the largest ongoing youth smoking surveys in the world, with 29,538 Year 10 student participants, aged between 14 and 15.

The survey looks at both vaping and tobacco use.

It found that 45 percent of Pacific Year 10 students had tried vaping, 11 percent vaped daily as opposed to 1.2 percent who were daily tobacco smokers, and 2.6 percent were regular (ie, either daily weekly, monthly) smokers.

ASH director Sir Collin Tukuitonga, who is a strong advocate for Māori and Pacific health, credits the decrease in smoking rates to various smokefree messages throughout the years in Aotearoa and a general acceptance from youth that smoking is not sustainable.

"But I think what has worked generally is the messages to young people that smoking is not cool and they used prominent people to promote that message to really get young people to accept a movement away from smoking."

Tala Pasifika lead for Hapai Te Hauora's National Tobacco Control Advocacy service, Lealailepule Edward Cowley said there was a gap between people already smoking, compared to those in the 14-15 age group who could not legally purchase tobacco which showed not all age groups had stopped smoking.

"It's difficult for young people to access tobacco, which is probably why we see a drop. We really do see an increase from age 18 to 24, so whilst they are at a young age when they are at school we see a decrease when they start working and earning their own money, then are able to access and start to purchase things they want to purchase so we do see an increase in that age group."

Cancer Society medical director George Laking said adults most likely remained smokefree if they had not taken up smoking in their teenage years.

The Cancer Society's Dr George Laking Photo: Supplied

"The initiation of smoking characteristically occurs in youth, if you can get through your teen years without taking up smoking then you are less likely to take it up in general; they've basically missed the opportunity to take it up and they are not especially likely to take up smoking later on."

Dr Laking also said there was a clear decline in tobacco use for both young people and elders - a positive sign for Pacific and Māori youth.

The survey shows a clear decrease in tobacco use this year among year 10 groups which certainly suggests as Dr Laking said that young people in the future would be much less likely to pick up smoking even though some young people were currently picking up the bad habit when they were 18 years old.

However, a smokefree New Zealand in 2025 still looks grim according to Dr Laking who said there was currently a lack of regulation and legislation in place.

Tobacco use was still prevalent in Māori communities which would still take a bit of time to reduce, he said.

"It would be 50-50 chance to get to that point," he said.

The Ministry of Health is hoping to have less than 5 percent smoking rates for each ethnic demographic by that date.

To find out more about the annual ASH Year 10 Survey visit ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey 2021 NationBuilder.

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