"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."

"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.

Ferida Wolff Writes: "Seeing the daffodils perking up brings to mind the rest of my backyard. My weedy vegetable garden needs to be cleared for new plantings. I have cucumber seeds and tomato seeds and lots of herbs all waiting to be given their chance to thrive. I’ll remove the dead branches from the hibiscus plants when the new ones start to come up. What a wonderful way to view the season. The daily temperatures may still be shifting but I am eager to start Spring planting."

“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.

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.

"Ordering Process: Starting on January 19th, Americans [were] able to order a test online at COVIDTests.gov. To ensure broad access, the program will limit the number of tests sent to each residential address to four tests. Tests will usually ship within 7-12 days of ordering. Distribution and Delivery Process: The Administration [partnered] with the United States Postal Service to package and deliver tests to Americans that want them. All orders in the continental United States [are being] sent through First Class Package Service, with shipments to Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. Territories and APO/FPO/DPO addresses sent through Priority Mail."

Ferida Wolff writes: Turkey vultures were gathering on a local street. There was a dead squirrel for lunch. Sadly, it must have been hit by a speeding car but it provided a welcome meal for the large birds. I often see the vultures flying overhead looking for food. They sometimes swoop down to check out a possible dead critter and if one is found, a bunch of them will gather for the feast. They aren’t the prettiest of creatures but they are practical as they help clean up the environment. The is no nest structure. The female Turkey Vulture lays 1 to 3 eggs directly on ground in caves, crevices, mammal burrows, hollow logs, under fallen trees, or in abandoned buildings. The eggs are creamy-white with dark blotches around large end.

"The sense of the House of Representatives that corporations should commit to utilizing the benefits of gender diversity in boards of directors and other senior management positions; A bill to exclude a basic allowance for housing from income for purposes of eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); A bill to address the disparate impact of climate change on women and support the efforts of women globally to address climate change; resolution recognizing Girl Scouts of the United States of America on its 110th birthday and celebrating its legacy of providing girls with a safe, inclusive space while supporting the next generation of women leaders; A bill to support stillbirth prevention and research; Budget - On Wednesday, the House Budget Committee will hold a hearing, “Ensuring Women Can Thrive in a Post-Pandemic Economy.”    

"Women continue to be underrepresented in management roles in the U.S. workforce, with a slight increase in 2019 compared to our 2010 report. Female managers continued to earn less than male managers, with the pay gap remaining unchanged. Among other things, our analysis of Census Bureau data showed that in 2019: An estimated 42% of managers were women, which was less than the percentage of women in the overall workforce (48%). Female managers were more likely to be younger, more educated, and unmarried — and less likely to be White than male managers. Full-time female managers earned 71 cents for every dollar earned by full-time male managers."

Like early 20th century cultural anthropologists, John Lenoir set out in the 1970s, to spend some adventurous years doing fieldwork in an idyllic tropical paradise isolated from Western culture. But John never imagined how adventurous it would be. The readers of this fascinating and deeply moving memoir will experience the same surprises. John chose to work in the newly independent nation of Guyana, in the Amazon basin of South America. His aim was to explore the effect of African culture on a slave plantation society only recently freed from European colonialism.

This study, led by Ueli Rutishauser, Ph.D., professor of neurosurgery, neurology and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, started with a deceptively simple question: how does our brain form and organize memories? We live our awake lives as one continuous experience, but it is believed based on human behavior studies, that we store these life events as individual, distinct moments. What marks the beginning and end of a memory? This theory is referred to as “event segmentation,” and we know relatively little about how the process works in the human brain. To study this, Rutishauser and his colleagues worked with 20 patients who were undergoing intracranial recording of brain activity to guide surgery for treatment of their drug-resistant epilepsy.

"Thermobarics have extremely limited utility against military targets; their primary use has been against civilian areas. They still fall far short of nuclear weapons. A better comparison for thermobarics is to incendiary munitions, cluster munitions and barrel bombs. There is a legal argument that thermobaric weapons may be prohibited under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons if they count under Protocol III: Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons, but they are not explicitly listed. Further, since the United States also keeps them in its military inventory, it is unlikely that they will be explicitly listed or that there will be a treaty banning their use."

CMS has rebuffed requests to mandate higher staffing levels in the past, saying each facility should “make thoughtful, informed staffing plans.” But multiple examinations — including a thorough CMS study in 2001 — have concluded staffing levels are frequently inadequate, particularly on nights and weekends. Studies have found that homes with higher staffing levels have fewer patient injuries. The 2001 study set a standard that many nursing homes currently don’t meet, saying optimal care required roughly one staffer for every seven short-stay patients — like those recovering from a hospital stay — and one staffer for every six long-stay residents.

One example of the programs available: Book Talk – Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution, Tuesday, March 8, at 1 p.m. ET; Register in advance; watch on the National Archives YouTube Channel; Mary Sarah Bilder looks to the 1780s — the age of the Constitution — to investigate the rise of a radical new idea in the English-speaking world: female genius. English-born Eliza Harriot Barons O’Connor delivered a University of Pennsylvania lecture attended by George Washington as he and other Constitutional Convention delegates gathered in Philadelphia. As the first such public female lecturer, her courageous performance likely inspired the gender-neutral language of the Constitution.

GAO collected and analyzed publicly available reports from federal and nonfederal organizations to identify risks to internet architecture components GAO also reviewed federal law and policy and its prior work to identify federal internet architecture security roles and responsible agencies. Based on the agencies' roles, GAO collected and analyzed relevant documents and conducted interviews with officials from the responsible agencies. In addition, GAO convened two panels with subject matter experts. The panelists have experience in various aspects of the internet architecture, such as owning and operating elements of the infrastructure, participating in and contributing to standards-setting organizations, and studying and participating in various multistakeholder governance entities.

"After four months of treatment with DP (3,6’-dithiopomalidomide), the mice showed reduced brain inflammation and neuron death, and they had more neural connections in the brain areas responsible for memory and attention. DP-treated mice also showed improvement in behavioral laboratory tasks that test spatial and working memory as well as anxiety behaviors and motor function, results the researchers see as protective against cognitive impairment." 

"More than at any other point in recent history, the principles at the heart of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s work – and the entire United Nations – are being challenged. Russia is currently carrying out a premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine, violating international law, flouting the core principles of international peace and security, and creating a human rights and humanitarian crisis. Reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law mount by the hour. Russian strikes are hitting schools, hospitals, and residential buildings. They are destroying critical infrastructure, which provides millions of people across Ukraine with drinking water, gas to keep them from freezing to death, and electricity. Civilian buses, cars, and even ambulances have been shelled. Russia is doing this every day – across Ukraine."

Ferida Wolff writes: Today the temperature was in the high 60s but tomorrow it should be in the 30s. Will the geese be as surprised as I am about the variation in the season? Will they be confused about their decision to come back? As the climate warms up, I wonder if the geese migration will change. Perhaps it is inborn and they will continue in their usual pattern or they may adapt and shift when or if they migrate. Nature is always interesting to observe. Meanwhile, Welcome back geese!

According to the QWI data based on unemployment insurance wage records for the third quarter of 2020 (the most recent national data), women in the United States earned 30% less than men and that pay gap increased with age. Women are over-represented in lower paying jobs and, as they age, the pay gap widens even more. The gender gap has narrowed for younger women as they increase their education level and break into occupations traditionally dominated by men. Although the gender pay gap has narrowed since the signing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women earned 82 cents for every dollar a man earns according to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The gender gap has narrowed for younger women as they increase their education level and break into occupations traditionally dominated by men. While women have a growing presence in higher paying industries like Information or Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, they are still over-represented in lower paying industries.

The NHS II data indicated that experiences of sexual violence were common: about 23% of the women had experienced sexual assault at some point in their life and 12% had experienced workplace sexual harassment. About 6% of women had experienced both. About 21% of the women reported developing high blood pressure over the follow-up period, from 2008 to 2015. Compared with women who had never experienced any type of trauma, women who had experienced sexual assault at any point in their lifetime were more likely to develop high blood pressure, as were women who had experienced workplace sexual harassment. Women who had experienced both sexual assault and harassment had the highest risk of developing high blood pressure.

Federal Reserve Governor Bowman: "Inflation is much too high. Last year I noted that inflationary pressures associated with strong demand and constrained supply could take longer to subside than many expected. Since then, those problems have persisted and inflation has broadened, reaching the highest rate that Americans have faced in forty years. High inflation is a heavy burden for all Americans, but especially for those with limited means who are forced to pay more for everyday items, delay purchases, or put off saving for the future. I intend to support prompt and decisive action to lower inflation, and today I will explain how the Fed is pursuing this goal."

Jo Freeman writes: Her description of Donald Trump and his dysfunctional administration is consistent with that of other authors. Trump was addicted to flattery and adulation. A chapter section is called “Me, Me, Me.” Hill says he suffered from “autocrat envy.” He didn’t just admire Putin; he wanted to be like him. Trump was angered by mere rumors that someone had said something negative about him. He wanted to just snuff them out, with the alacrity of Putin and other autocrats. Although Hill worked for the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, we only get details about Trump. Since it’s not a short book, perhaps the publisher didn’t think reading about the earlier Presidents would generate sales. Too bad. Her other comparisons are illuminating; how these three men ran their domains should be as well.   

A report published in October 2020, offered an overview of the responses, but the authors of the new study sought to gain deeper insight into the role that specific factors played in determining a business’s resilience during the pandemic. "The team’s findings are based on responses from more than 1,350 businesses to a survey NIST and NOAA distributed from July to August in 2020. A third of those returning surveys were from underrepresented groups. "It is critical that we understand how climate events amplify existing social and economic vulnerabilities,” said Ariela Zycherman, a co-author of the paper in NOAA’s Climate Program Office.