Money and Computing
Kaiser Health News: Pharma Cash to Congress
"Kaiser Health News uses campaign finance reports from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to track donations from political action committees (PACs) registered with the FEC by pharmaceutical companies. Totals include donations to the principal campaign committees and leadership PACs for current members of Congress. We include only donations to members for election cycles in which they hold office (even if they weren’t in office for the full cycle, in the case of special elections)... Discover which lawmakers rake in the most money (or the least) and which pharma companies are the biggest contributors. Or use our search tool to look up members of Congress by name or home state, as well as dozens of drugmakers that KHN tracks." more »
On The Occasion of Her Death - What the Medal of Freedom Means to Me: Madeleine Albright
"When President Obama presented Madeleine Albright with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he praised her remarkable achievements: As the first woman to serve as America’s top diplomat, Madeleine’s courage and toughness helped bring peace to the Balkans and paved the way for progress in some of the most unstable corners of the world. And as an immigrant herself -- the granddaughter of Holocaust victims who fled her native Czechoslovakia as a child -- Madeleine brought a unique perspective to the job. This is one of my favorite stories. Once, at a naturalization ceremony, an Ethiopian man came up to her and said, 'Only in America can a refugee meet the Secretary of State.' And she replied, 'Only in America can a refugee become the Secretary of State.' Thanks to former Reporter/Writer Alain L. Sanders who suggested and wrote a piece for Time Magazine a number of years ago on Albright's famous pins and their meaning. more »
Arizona Ranks High on States With Offensive Place Names Eyed For Change
“Regardless of the naming history, such monikers have no place in a diverse society that values the contributions of all individuals and groups and Greenlee County is supportive of name changes that reflect this shared respect,” Rapier said in an email. The word has not always been considered offensive. Shannon O’Loughlin, CEO and attorney for the Association on American Indian Affairs, said in an email that the word comes from the Algonquian language, where it means “woman,” and she said a similar word in the Mohawk language means “vagina,” but that it gained a negative connotation over time. “The term has been used in derogatory ways by colonizers until today, as a sexualized stereotype of a Native American woman,” said O’Loughlin, who is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. Coupled with the violence against – and trafficking of – Native American women and girls in the United States, the s-word is not appropriate to honor and acknowledge the sacrifices that Native Peoples have made to protect the honor of the United States,” her email said. more »
Pew Research Center: Public Expresses Mixed Views of US Response to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine; 35% Favor US Military Action Even If It Risks Nuclear Conflict With Russia
Roughly a third of Americans (32%) say that the United States is providing about the right amount of support to Ukraine as it fights to hold off the Russian invasion. A larger share – 42% – say the US should be providing more support to Ukraine, while just 7% say it is providing too much support. About one-in-five (19%) say they are not sure. The new Pew Research Center survey, conducted March 7-13, 2022, among 10,441 U.S. adults on the Center’s American Trends Panel, finds wide partisan differences in views of the administration’s handling of the crisis and the level of support the U.S. has provided to Ukraine. However, virtually identical shares in both parties – 51% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 50% of Democrats and Democratic leaners – regard the Russian invasion as a “major threat” to U.S. interests. Today, nearly identical shares of Republicans (70%) and Democrats (71%) say they have heard or read a lot about the invasion. more »