In the wake of the discovery that Russians bought ads on social media while trying to further divide the US electorate, several, including the authors of an article in The Guardian, find the description of companies as large as Google and Facebook by Louisiana senator John Kennedy very apt. During the senate hearing exploring the role these companies had in the Russian ads, Kennedy said that the corporations know too much about us and too little about themselves. The authors of the article quote him, “If the CEO came to you… and said I want to know everything about Senator Graham… You could do that, couldn’t you?” and Kennedy continued that on the other hand, “You don’t have the ability to know who every one of your advertisers is, do you?” Leaving aside other issues, and addressing their size, the article’s authors recommend that (more…)
Danielle Levy
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Donations From Inmates
In Texas, inmates got together and donated almost $54,000 towards the relief of hurricane Harvey. That is not the first time. After Katrina and Rita inmates collected $44,000. What makes these donations truly laudable is that they come from the trust funds of the inmates, money used for them to buy snacks or things they may otherwise not have. In about one month 6,663 inmates donated $53,863, all the more impressive since most of the inmates had $5 or less in their account. It may sound commendable when a celebrity donates millions, but these donations seen as a percentage of total assets stand out far more. These are small donations, and in some instances the larger ones the (more…)
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Cancer Drugs For Africa
Two drug companies, Pfizer based in New York and Cipla based in Mumbai have promised to provide cancer drugs for several African countries at rock bottom prices, meaning prices where the companies would not be making any money, but would not be losing money either. There are only 16 drugs involved and 6 countries so far, but the deal is seen as one that will save many lives. Cancer in Africa has been growing, and 450,000 die every year for lack of care. By 2030 this number is projected to be one million. The agreement also includes top American oncologists devising treatment program guidelines (more…)