Tests to detect marijuana-impaired driving based on ‘pseudoscience’

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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PISCATAWAY, NJ – For years now, U.S. police departments have employed officers who are trained to be experts in detecting “drugged driving.” The problem is, however, that the methods those officers use are not based on science, according to a new editorial in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 

With marijuana now legal in many U.S. states, the need for reliable tests for marijuana impairment is more pressing than ever. Police can evaluate alcohol-intoxicated drivers by using an objective measure of breath alcohol results. But there is no “breathalyzer” equivalent for marijuana: The drug is metabolized differently from alcohol, and a person’s blood levels of THC (the main intoxicating chemical in marijuana) do not correlate with impairment. 

So law enforcement rely on subjective tactics—the roadside tests and additional evaluations by police officers specially trained to be so-called drug recognition experts, or DREs. These officers follow a standardized protocol that is said to detect drug impairment and is said to even determine the specific drug type, including marijuana. The process involves numerous steps, including tests of physical coordination; checking the driver’s blood pressure and pulse; squeezing the driver’s limbs to determine if the muscle tone is “normal” or not; and examining pupil size and eye movements.

But while the protocol has the trappings of a scientific approach, it is not actually based on evidence that it works, said perspective author William J. McNichol, J.D., an adjunct professor at Rutgers University Camden School of Law.

Instead, McNichol said, the DRE process is a product of “police science”—techniques created by police officers to use in their work. Few scientific studies have tried to determine how often DREs get it right. But the existing evidence suggests they’re “not much better than a coin toss,” McNichol said.

Despite that, DRE programs and training are federally funded, and more than 8,000 DREs work in police departments nationwide, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. In addition, McNichol points out, a “spinoff” of the DRE has recently made its way into job sites: workplace impairment recognition experts, or WIREs, who are certified to detect and prevent on-the-job drug impairment.

Not long ago, when marijuana was uniformly illegal in the U.S., people would land in hot water for simple possession or use of the drug. Now that it’s legal in many states, McNichol said, there is an urgent need for scientifically valid, reliable methods for detecting marijuana impairment. And that, he added, will require scientists in the substance abuse field to get involved.

A related commentary published in the same issue of JSAD echoes that last sentiment. Collaborations between law enforcement and scientists who are not invested in either supporting or refuting the status quo is the best path forward, write Thomas D. Marcotte, Ph.D., and Robert L. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., from the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California San Diego. “Developing more robust tools to identify cannabis-impaired drivers in an unbiased fashion is essential to keeping our roadways safe,” they write. These authors also provide recommendations for improving detection of drug impaired driving.

As for how to fund that type of research, McNichol said a source already exists: taxes from legal marijuana sales. “The money is there,” he said, “if only it can be allocated properly.”

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McNichol W. J. (2024). Perspective: Pseudoscience and the detection of marijuana-based impairment: We can and must do better. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 86(4), 503–509. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.24-00307

Marcotte, T. D., & Fitzgerald, R. L. (2025). Robust Validation of methods for detecting driving under the influence of cannabis: Paths forward. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 86(4), 510–514. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.25-00110

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Journal

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

DOI

10.15288/jsad.24-00307 

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Pseudoscience and the detection of marijuana-based impairment: We can and must do better

Article Publication Date

30-Jun-2025

 

Researchers identify genetic bottlenecks that explain the emergence of cholera

Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

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The evolutionary history of the pandemic Vibrio cholerae lineage shows that its emergence has not been linear, but shaped by several key genetic bottlenecks that explain its rarity. From a group of bacteria with pre-adaptations for virulence (A), new lineages arise with key gene clusters such as CTXΦ or VPI-1 (B), specific modular arrangements within those clusters (C), and unique allelic variations (D). The right combination of all these elements in this genetic mosaic allows the emergence of pathogenic clones from environmental V. cholerae populations (E).

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Credit: López-Pérez et al. (2025), PNAS, 122(22), e2417915122.

A new study by the Genomics and Microbial Evolution Group at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) together with the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, USA, sheds light on one of the great enigmas of microbiology: why only certain strains of common bacteria become pandemic pathogens. The work, published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), focuses on Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera. It reveals that its most dangerous form arises from a specific combination of genes and allelic variants that give it an advantage in the human intestine. This research could pave the way for new strategies to predict and prevent future cholera outbreaks.

The study results from a collaboration between UMH researcher Mario López Pérez and Professor Salvador Almagro-Moreno of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It also involved UMH Professor José M. Haro Moreno and predoctoral researcher Alicia Campos López, affiliated with the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology.

Through an extensive analysis of over 1,840 Vibrio cholerae genomes, the researchers identified eleven distinct phylogenetic clusters, with the pandemic group belonging to the largest and located within a lineage shared with environmental strains. Their findings suggest that the emergence of pandemic strains, responsible for global cholera outbreaks, is largely dependent on the acquisition of unique modular gene clusters and allelic variations that confer a competitive advantage during intestinal colonization.. These act as nonlinear filters that prevent most environmental strains from becoming human pathogens.

“As a result, only a small group of Vibrio cholerae strains can cause cholera in humans, despite the species’ vast natural diversity,” explains UMH researcher Mario López, lead author of the study. “We wondered why only this small subset has ever triggered pandemics.”

The study reveals that the emergence of pandemic V. cholerae clones is constrained by specific genetic bottlenecks. These require: a genetic background pre-adapted for virulence, the acquisition of key gene clusters such as CTXΦ and VPI-1, their organization into specific modular arrangements, and finally, the presence of unique allelic variants. “Only when all these elements come together can a strain evolve into a pandemic-capable pathogen,” the researchers explain.

These features are absent in most environmental V. cholerae strains and appear to grant pandemic clones a key competitive advantage: enhanced ability to colonize the human gut.

“Interestingly, the genetic traits that enable V. cholerae to infect humans don’t benefit the bacteria in their natural aquatic environment,” López notes. In the wild, V. cholerae typically lives freely or in association with cyanobacteria colonies, mollusks, or crustaceans.

Cholera is endemic in parts of the world with poor water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure. Outbreaks can also occur after natural disasters that disrupt these systems. The disease is characterized by sudden, severe episodes of watery diarrhea, leading to rapid dehydration and, if untreated, potentially death.

“Our analytical model could be applied to other environmental bacteria to understand how pathogenic clones emerge from non-pathogenic populations,” López emphasizes. The study also opens the door to more precise surveillance of strains with pandemic potential—an approach that could be highly useful for future public health preparedness.

The research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through the CAREER program (#2045671) and by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease program (#1021977). It also received funding from the Spanish “MICRO3GEN” project (PID2023-150293NB-I00), co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and managed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness.

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Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2417915122 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Allelic variations and gene cluster modularity act as nonlinear bottlenecks for cholera emergence

 

Australia Backs US Strike on Iran

A Vassal’s Impulse

by Binoy Kampmark / June 30th, 2025

The initial statement from Australian government sources was one of constipated caution and clenching wariness. Senator Penny Wong’s time as head of the Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs has always been about how things come out, a process unsatisfyingly uncertain and unyielding in detail. Stick to the safe middle ground and sod the rest. These were the cautionary words of an Australian government spokesperson on June 22: “We have been clear that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security.”

That insipid statement was in response to Operation Midnight Hammer, a strike on three nuclear facilities in Iran by the US Air Force, authorised by US President Donald Trump on June 22. With such spectacular violence came the hollow call for diplomatic prudence and restraint. There was an important difference: Tehran, not Israel or Washington, would be the subject of scolding. Iran would not be permitted nuclear weapons but jaw jaw was better than war war. “We note the US president’s statement that now is the time for peace,” stated the spokesperson. “The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.”

Within twenty-four hours, that anodyne position had morphed into one of unconditional approval for what was a breach of the United Nations Charter, notably its injunction against the threatened or actual use of force against sovereign states in the absence of authorisation by the UN Security Council or the necessity of self-defence. “The world has long agreed Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and we support action to prevent this. That is what this is,” accepted Wong.

This assessment was not only silly but colossally misguided. It would have been an absurd proposition for the US to make the claim that they were under imminent threat of attack, a condition seen as necessary for a pre-emptive strike. This was a naked submission to the wishes of a small, destabilising and sole (undeclared) nuclear power in the Middle East, a modern territorial plunderer celebratory of ethnonational supremacy.

The Australian position, along a number of European states, also failed to acknowledge the General Conference Resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (in particular GC(XIXI)/RES/444 and GC(XXIV)/RES/533) declaring that “any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Statute of the Agency.”

Wong also misrepresented the circumstances under which Iran was told they could negotiate over their nuclear program, erroneously accepting the line from the Trump administration that Tehran had “an opportunity to comply”. Neither the US diplomatic channel, which only permitted a narrow, fleeting corridor for actual negotiations, nor Israel’s wilful distortion of the IAEA’s assessment of Iran’s uranium enrichment plans and prevarication, ever gave chance for a credible resolution. Much like the calamitous, unlawful invasion of Iraq in 2003 by a crew of brigand nations – the merry trio of US, UK and Australia stood out – the autopilot to war was set, scornful of international law.

Wong’s shift from constipated caution to free flow approval for the US attack, with its absent merits and weighty illegalities, was also a craven capitulation to the warmonger class permanently mesmerised by the villain school of foreign relations. This cerebrally challenged view sees few problems with attacking nuclear facilities, the radioactive dangers of doing so, and the merits of a state having them in the first place.

The US attack on Iran found hearty approval among the remnants of the conservative opposition, who tend to specialise in the view that pursuing a pro-Israeli line, right, wrong, or murderous, is the way to go. Liberal Senator and former Australian ambassador to Israel, David Sharma, thought the Albanese government’s initial response “underwhelming and perplexing”, claiming that support for this shredding of international law “a straightforward position for Australia to adopt”. Sharma is clearly getting rusty on his law of nations.

His side of politics is also of the view that the attacked party here – Iran – must forgo any silly notion of self-defence and retaliation and repair to the table of diplomacy in head bowed humiliation. “We want to see Iran come to the negotiating table to verify where that 400 kilos of enriched uranium is,” stated a very stern opposition home affairs minister, Andrew Hastie. “I’m very glad to see that Penny Wong has essentially endorsed our position and I’m glad we have bipartisanship on this.”

Australia’s response has been that of the weary poltroon. Little has been asked about Canberra’s standout complicity in assisting the US imperium fulfil its global reach when it comes to striking targets. The role of the intelligence signals facility in Pine Gap, cutely and inaccurately called a joint venture, always lends its critical role to directing the US war machine through its heavy reliance on satellite technology. Wong, when asked about the role played by the facility in facilitating the attacks on Iran, had little to say. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also cold towards disclosing any details. “We are upfront, but we don’t talk about intelligence, obviously. But we’ve made very clear this was unilateral action taken by the United States.”

At least on this occasion, Australia did not add its forces to an illegal adventure, as it all too wilfully did in 2003. Then, Iraq was invaded on the spurious grounds that weapons of mass destruction not only existed but would somehow be used either by the regime of Saddam Hussein or fictional proxies he might eventually supply. History forever shows that no such weapons were found, nor proxies equipped. But the Albanese government has shown not only historical illiteracy but an amnesia on the matter. Unfortunately, it’s the sort of amnesia that has become contagious, afflicting a goodly number of Washington’s satellites, vassals and friendly states.

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Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com. Read other articles by Binoy.

US Christian broadcasters ask listeners to tune in to the fight for AM radio

(RNS) — A diverse coalition is urging Congress to keep AM radio on the nation’s dashboards.

(Photo by Anthony/Pexels/Creative Commons)
Kathryn Post
June 25, 2025

(RNS) — Faith Radio president Scott Beigle’s quest for Christian radio started with 1070AM, a former CNN news station in Tallahassee, Florida.

After moving from northern Alabama to the Florida Panhandle with his wife and three kids, Beigle, who is Baptist, noted the lack of Christian radio stations in the area and felt compelled to change that. Months later, on Oct. 6, 1997, that calling became a reality as the Faith Radio Network’s blend of evangelical Christian music and teachings hit the airwaves on 1070AM.

Nearly three decades later, the nonprofit network has grown to include 12 other Christian radio stations. Their flagship station, 1070AM, has been converted to a Spanish-language Christian station to meet the needs of Latino Christians in the region — “there was no one doing that in our area,” Beigle told RNS.

But in recent years, the future of 1070AM has become uncertain, even as Beigle said its message has become more vital.

Scott Beigle. (Photo courtesy of Faith Radio)

“A lot of them, especially now with the immigration and all, they’re scared,” Beigle said of 1070AM’s Spanish-speaking listeners. “And we understand they’re scared to go out — but they’re not scared to listen, to turn that AM radio on to hear their language, and to hear how God can change their life.”

In recent decades, AM radio, known especially for talk radio, has faded in popularity with the arrival of the clearer but more limited reach of FM signals, in addition to streaming and satellite radio. A 2025 survey from Barna Group and the National Religious Broadcasters found listeners access Christian radio from multiple sources, with 68% saying they listen to FM stations, 57% a website or app, 38% satellite radio and 37% AM stations.

While AM stations remain a smaller but consequential part of America’s radio landscape — the National Association of Broadcasters reports 80 million Americans still listen to AM radio each month on over 4,000 AM stations — AM radio now faces an existential threat: removal from cars. Citing dwindling audiences and technological clashes with electric vehicle equipment, automakers such as Ford, Volkswagen, Tesla and BMW have begun phasing out AM radio in some newer vehicles. 

A diverse coalition of stakeholders linked with conservative talk shows, foreign language stations and religious broadcasters is teaming up in the halls of Congress, advocating to salvage AM radio’s spot on the nation’s dashboards, at least temporarily.

(Photo by Jonathan Farber/Unsplash/Creative Commons)

For many Christian stations, the legislative effort has spiritual stakes.

“We’re in the hope business — to see their lives changed,” Beigle said. 

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act is the latest iteration of a bill that would require United States automakers to include AM receivers in new vehicles for the next 10 years. Though the bill has already gained broad bipartisan support — with at least 218 co-sponsors of the House version and 61 of the Senate — the House version is still in committee, while the vote on the Senate version has yet to be scheduled.   

“We have more than enough votes to pass it in the House right now, but to make it a priority in a moment where there’s just a whole lot of four- and five-alarm fires you have to put out, it’s hard to do something that’s more of a long-term concern,” said Mike Farris, legal counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters, a multimedia association founded by evangelical Christian broadcasters in the 1940s. The NRB, which has more than 120 AM stations among its members, has been one of several groups advocating for the legislation.

Mike Farris. (Courtesy photo)

Proponents of AM radio say the medium has long been a key source of emergency communication. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s warning system relies on AM stations for emergency alerts, and local AM stations are known for distributing critical updates in a crisis — particularly in more rural areas, where AM is sometimes the only signal available. Carolyn Cassidy, a regional general manager for Christian media conglomerate Salem Media Group, said her stations give AM listeners in Tampa, Florida, information on how to prepare for, ride out and recover from severe storms during hurricane season.  

“It’s a First Amendment issue, it’s a religious issue, but it’s also a public safety issue, because AM radio is the backbone of the Emergency Alert System,” said Nic Anderson, vice president of government affairs for Salem. He said he fears that excluding AM radio from cars is a move toward giving automakers control over what drivers can listen to.

Known for promoting Christian and conservative values, Salem Media Group owns and operates roughly 80 stations, 84% of which fall on AM, Anderson said. The group also has about 3,000 affiliate stations that are owned locally but carry Salem programs — of those, 900 are AM stations.

In addition to advocating on Capitol Hill, Salem has been raising awareness among listeners by distributing prerecorded, pro-AM radio public service announcements from evangelical Christian leaders and influencers such as Focus on the Family President Jim Daly and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

(Photo by Breakingpic/Pexels/Creative Commons)

“For generations, AM radio has brought the hope of the gospel, biblical teaching and encouragement right into our homes and cars, especially in times of crisis,” Kirk said in one of the announcements. “But now, some automakers want to eliminate AM radio from new vehicles. Let’s stand together and protect this ministry lifeline.”

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RELATED: Orthodox Christian radio hosted a panel on female deacons. Then misogyny poured in.

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Broadcasters say one reason Christian stations are especially available in the AM format is because it’s a more affordable option than FM, making it more accessible to smaller, niche stations of all stripes, including farming and foreign language stations.

“AM allows for certain formats that can’t command the bigger dollars from agencies. They have more of a local appeal,” said Orlando Boyd, general manager of The Gospel Nashville, which offers a mix of music and talk shows that cater to Christian audiences. “It’s really to get that foot in the door … for people trying to break into the radio business.”

Sheila Brown. (Courtesy photo)

Boyd said The Gospel Nashville began as an AM station and later added an FM translator, which “piggybacks” on the AM station to play the same content on an FM frequency. But the AM station is still a key part of the branding and reach. It’s vital, he said, for listeners in remote settings and is often the first choice for those over age 40.

Sheila Brown, who owns two AM radio stations — WUFO (1080AM) in Buffalo, New York, and WIGO (1570 AM) in Atlanta — said listeners on the east side of Buffalo and the south side of Atlanta especially depend on these stations’ unique blend of R&B, gospel and talk shows to reflect their interests and experiences.

“We’re running our own narrative when it comes to our talk shows, our music, our format. No one else in either city has the formats that we have,” Brown said. 

Brown started her career in an entry-level position at WUFO in 1986 and worked her way up to become owner and CEO in 2013. She went on to purchase WIGO in 2022. While WUFO in Buffalo has since added a translator to air its content on an FM signal, WIGO in Atlanta is a standalone AM station.

Brown’s stations feature daily gospel music and sermon segments, and on Sundays, they play religious content all day. That’s why for the lifelong member of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Buffalo, the fight for AM radio is a matter of faith.  

“You have so many people that are sick and shut in, who can’t get out to their churches like they used to,” Brown said. “But when they turn to us, they’ll get the same singing, ministry, preaching that they would if they would be at their church.” 

Head of Caritas in Jerusalem reports worsening situation in Gaza, West Bank

(RNS) — Anton Asfar, secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem, criticized the Israeli-run and US-backed humanitarian foundation in Gaza, saying, 'This is not aid.'

Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Claire Giangravé
June 20, 2025

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Before his death on April 21, Pope Francis made it a habit to call the 500 people taking shelter in the Holy Family Church, a Catholic parish in Gaza City, every evening to ask about how they and their supplies were holding up.

In early June, the church was briefly left without means to contact the outside world, after Israeli airstrikes destroyed telecommunications structures in the area. Now, to speak to their bishop, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Holy Family’s priests must climb on the roof to search for a cell signal using eSim chips, according to Catholic charity workers in Gaza.

The emergency clinic at the parish also had to suspend its operations for a time. “Even their food is depleting over there,” said Anton Asfar, secretary general of the Catholic charity network Caritas Jerusalem, in a phone call with Religion News Service.

“There is no secure place, there is no safe place, and communities are squeezed,” he said.

Caritas Jerusalem has 10 medical points in Gaza, though one, located in a “hot area,” Asfar said, had been shut down. The 122 Caritas members are offering aid on the ground in Gaza with the help of local volunteers who have continued their work despite the risks of operating in a war zone.

When Israel began its attack against Iran June 13, and after Iran’s retaliation, Caritas could not guarantee the safety of its workers, Asfar said, leading the charity to temporarily suspend all operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

“But our staff, we have wonderful staff, our very loyal mission operators, they were stubborn. They wanted to provide lifesaving services to the needy,” Asfar said, and they soon resumed work. Preparing for the worst, they are carrying out drills in case of bombings and readying bunkers, he added.

In October, a 26-year-old Caritas staffer died with her husband and infant daughter during an airstrike on the St. Porphyrios Church, a Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza, which was providing shelter for roughly 500 people. An estimated 17 people died in the attack.

Caritas Jerusalem works in close partnership with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and a cluster of aid agencies. The aid corridor launched by Jordan to provide necessary medical supplies is no longer able to reach people in Gaza, Asfar said.

The Catholic charity also does not collaborate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, established by Israel and registered in Geneva and Delaware, Asfar said. “This is not aid,” he said, referring to the foundation, which has come under scrutiny for its lack of financial transparency. Asfar criticized the foundation’s decision to hire a security company, Safe Reach Solutions, to oversee aid distribution, saying aid organizations should not use weapons.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed and many more were wounded by Israeli Defense Forces as they attempted to receive aid near a distribution site run by GHF, according to media reports. (GHF has denied that any shooting occurred near its site.) Asfar said that the GHF is “a really undefined way of supplying people with food.”

But Asfar also said that Gaza has seen growing numbers of Palestinian armed gangs and said that “it’s becoming extremely dangerous” to bring aid to the region as the rule of law continues to break down.

Just before he died, Francis donated a popemobile he used in a visit to Caritas in the West Bank in 2014, asking that it be repurposed as a mobile health clinic for Gaza. The popemobile is ready for deployment, Asfar said, but Caritas is still waiting for permits from Israel to enter Gaza.

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RELATED: Orthodox churches join Catholic bishops in suing Washington over abuse reporting law

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Asfar said that “humanitarian conditions have really deteriorated” as well in the West Bank, where, he said, Caritas is the only charity organization still operating. He reported that Israel has built more fences and gates there, making it difficult for his group to bring aid from Jerusalem. He said the hospitals in the West Bank city of Jenin, where the refugee camp there is under Israeli military control, lack basic supplies.

Asfar said that residents in the West Bank are often ordered to leave their homes, “and they leave everything behind and are left with nothing.” Caritas is active in providing basic care and food for those who have lost any means of living.

The deprivation, he said, has not diminished residents’ faith and hope for the future. “We believe in the power of prayer. We feel it over here, and it provides us with a lot of hope and energizes us to continue our mission in the Holy Land,” he said.

He appealed to the world leaders to bring “a true end” to the conflict and pointed to the newly elected Pope Leo XIV as “a man of peace” who is concerned about the situation and close to the people suffering in the Holy Land.

Iranians and Jews can get along. Go back to the Bible.

(RNS) — Iran deserves a new leader. If only Cyrus could return.

This is a depiction of the biblical character Emperor Cyrus the Great of Persia, by Jean Fouquet, created circa 1470. Image courtesy of Creative Commons
Jeffrey Salkin
June 17, 2025

(RNS) — You know that line about how even a broken clock can be right twice a day? That is how I feel about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

I will eagerly enter a contempt competition with anyone regarding Netanyahu. His corruption, cynicism and capitulation to the worst aspects of Israeli society enrage me and many others.

But in the face of a crisis for the Jewish people — like on Oct. 7, 2023, and now with Israel’s conflict with Iran — I set that aside at least temporarily. I turn to the speech Netanyahu addressed to the people of Iran. Here are the words that moved me (at 1:05):

“The nation of Iran and the nation of Israel have been true friends since the days of Cyrus the Great, and the time has come for you to unite around your flag, and your historic legacy by standing up for your freedom from an evil and oppressive regime.”

He then invoked the words “Woman, life, freedom” — and repeated them in Farsi — “Zan, zendegi, azadi.” This slogan has become a powerful symbol of resistance, especially associated with the Iranian movements for women’s rights and civil liberties.

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RELATED: What can preachers say about the attack on Iran?

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In that statesmanlike address, Netanyahu offered the Iranian people hope. He reached back into their remote past to one of the greatest righteous gentiles in Jewish history.

In the year 586 B.C.E., the Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple. The Babylonians deported the Judean elite to Babylonia, thus beginning that period known as the Babylonian Exile. 

Seventy years later, the Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylonia. He invited a group of Judeans to return to the land of Israel under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. With that act, he helped reconstitute the Judean state – Yahud – under the aegis of the Persian Empire.

That is how the Hebrew Bible ends:

“And in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, when the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah was fulfilled, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his realm by word of mouth and in writing, as follows: ‘Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me with building him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any one of you of all his people, the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!'” (2 Chronicles 36: 22-23)

 I have memorized those words, which I say when my airplane touches down at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. It’s Zionism 101. It wasn’t just that Cyrus restored the Jews to their land; he did the same thing with other peoples as well. He was an internationalist — or, some might say, a globalist.

Consider the “Cyrus Cylinder,” a declaration issued by Cyrus, inscribed on a cuneiform on a clay cylinder. It now resides in the British Museum in London.

“I am Cyrus, King of the World, Great King, Legitimate King, King of Babylon … King of the four rims of the earth … I returned to the sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and I established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned them to their habitations.”

Some hail this document as the first charter of international human rights. A replica of it stands at the entrance to the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Among Cyrus’ successors was Ahasuerus, of the Purim story. The Jewish community of Iran (once Persia) is arguably one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. Several years ago, I tutored a Persian Jewish girl for her bat mitzvah, and I gently teased her: “Who knows? You might be related to Queen Esther and Mordecai!” She came back the next week and told me that according to family lore, I was absolutely right.

There’s also a connection between Cyrus and former American President Harry S. Truman.

For decades, there has been an ongoing debate in Jewish circles about whether Truman was antisemitic. In the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Truman demonstrated compassion for Jewish survivors. And yet, in private conversations with his wife and friends, he was known to have uttered antisemitic epithets and other malicious things about American Jews.

In particular, Truman was offended by Jewish assertiveness in their activism toward the creation of a Jewish state. We can understand his consternation; in late 1947, the White House received more than 100,000 letters and telegrams about Zionism. Jewish leaders were frequently brusque with Truman – a favor he willingly returned. As his biographer, David McCullough, wrote, at one Cabinet meeting, he became so furious over the Jews’ agitation that he snapped: “Jesus Christ couldn’t please them [the Jews] when he was on Earth, so how could anyone expect that I would have any luck?”

But let’s not be too hard on Truman. He came from a pious Midwestern Baptist upbringing, which taught him a deep respect for the Jewish Bible and history. And arguably, the most important Jew in American history is part of this story. 

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Eddie Jacobson had been Truman’s partner in a men’s store in Kansas City, Missouri. When Truman became president, Jacobson used their personal relationship as a way to educate the president on the refugee and Palestine partition issues. In March 1948, he urged the reluctant president to see the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and help the nascent Jewish state come into being.

When Jacobson later introduced Truman to an American Jewish delegation as the leader who helped create the state of Israel, as author Michael Oren has written, Truman responded sharply: “What do you mean, ‘helped create’? I am Cyrus, I am Cyrus!”

Truman demonstrated he was not only in favor of creating a Jewish state, but he grounded that support in his belief in the ultimate truth of the ancient biblical narrative. He saw himself as the modern-day reincarnation of Cyrus.

I offer this story during these dark hours and dark days because it is redemptive. It gives hope, mostly for Iran.

The Iranian people deserve a leader like Cyrus again. May they get one — and soon. 

 Investigation finds Rev. Barber did not misdirect funds to pay his ex alimony

(RNS) — An independent investigation by Repairers of the Breach found that Barber did not use or direct organizational funds for personal benefit.

The Rev. William Barber II addresses a "No Kings" protest, Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Philadelphia. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)
Yonat Shimron
June 21, 2025

DURHAM, North Carolina (RNS) — An independent investigation into allegations that the Rev. William Barber had been paying his ex-wife alimony from the finances of his nonprofit concluded that the civil rights leader did nothing wrong.

In a court filing last month, Rebecca Barber, the preacher’s ex-wife, alleged that since November 2023, the nonprofit, Repairers of the Breach, has issued monthly checks for $7,000 to a joint personal bank account shared by Barber and his ex-wife, “under the guise of alimony or financial support.”

The board of Repairers of the Breach, a 10-year-old social change organization founded by Barber, hired the North Carolina law firm Parker Poe Adams and Bernstein to investigate the suit’s claim. In a statement issued Saturday (June 21), the board concluded, “We can confirm that all payments made to Reverend Barber align with approved amounts, and any transfers made to a personal account were made from his own salary, independent of Repairers of the Breach.”

Barber and his ex-wife have been dueling in court over the distribution of their assets. The couple divorced after 37 years in November 2024. They have four adult children and raised a daughter from William Barber’s prior relationship.

When mediation to settle parts of the divorce failed, Rebecca Barber filed a motion to add Repairers of the Breach as a third-party defendant.

“Defendant contends that Repairers of the Breach, Inc. is functionally an alter ego of Plaintiff and may possess or control assets that are marital in nature or otherwise relevant to this Court’s equitable distribution determination,” read the motion filed in Durham County, North Carolina, on May 14.

But the board’s investigation found that Barber did not use or direct organizational funds for personal benefit. The report was not made public because it contained privileged information about employees, said Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, chairman of the 10-member board and a frequent collaborator with Barber.

“The story is that there is no story and we’re moving on with our work,” Wilson-Hartgrove said.

On June 12, a district court judge denied a motion by the Rev. Barber’s lawyer, Tamela Wallace, for a protective order against Rebecca Barber. 

Repairers of the Breach paid Barber more than $224,000 in salary in 2023, according to the most recent 990 form filed by private foundations in the U.S. That year, the organization had $8.2 million in net assets.

According to a 2024 Nonprofit Compensation Report from Candid, which reports on nonprofit organizations, the median salary for a nonprofit the size of Repairers of the Breach — with revenue between $5-$10 million — was $185,699, with an average salary of $219,446. In North Carolina, median salary for nonprofits with revenue of between $5-$10 million was $166,693, with an average of $192,942.

Barber is also founder of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School, where he also teaches and earns a salary. Barber’s Yale salary is not public, but, according to its Office of Institutional Research, the average salary of a professor at Yale was between $142,238 and $275,325 in 2023-24.

Repairers of the Breach is best known for reviving the Poor People’s Campaign, an anti-poverty effort bearing the name and the goals of the movement launched by Martin Luther King Jr. shortly before his 1968 assassination.

Recently, the organization has begun a “Moral Monday” campaign with weekly demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol aimed at challenging the Republican-led budget bill, including potential cuts to social safety-net programs such as Medicaid.

Repairers is planning another Moral Monday protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday (June 30).

Last month Barber married the Rev. Della Owens, pastor of St. James Church in Wilson, North Carolina, a Disciples of Christ congregation, and a former employee of Repairers of the Breach.

(National reporter Bob Smietana contributed to this report.)