2011-2012 Voice of Democracy State Winners
Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Department winners of the 2011-2012 Voice of Democracy audio-essay competition. The theme was "Is There Pride in Serving in Our Military?"

	ALABAMA Quinn Roberts		ALASKA Hope Steffensen
	ARIZONA Taylor Lind		ARKANSAS Emma Stavey
	CALIFORNIA Josiah Lippincott		COLORADO Alison Gordon
	CONNECTICUT Caitlin Pickett		DELAWARE Kayla Zwicharowski
	DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Bryce Layne		EUROPE Mary Church
	FLORIDA Hunter Bethea		GEORGIA Alexzander Crawford
	HAWAII Katherine Morgan		IDAHO Allie Gertsch
	ILLINOIS Amera Al-Ali		INDIANA Kaitlyn Christie
	IOWA Jesse Barnes		KANSAS Brady True
	KENTUCKY Ashley Copas		LATIN AMERICA/ CARIBBEAN Reinaldo Santiago Pacheco
	LOUISIANA Alexis Dominique		MAINE Stephanie Felt
	MARYLAND Brandon Paulin		MASSACHUSETTS LeighAnn D'Andrea
	MICHIGAN Ashli Savage		MINNESOTA Megan Poczos
	MISSISSIPPI Brendan Ryan		MISSOURI Nathan Thibon
	MONTANA Azure Skye McGinty		NEBRASKA Rachel Bauer
	NEVADA Katherine Marie Knott		NEW HAMPSHIRE Lucas Lascala
	NEW JERSEY Koby Omansky		NEW MEXICO Juliann Lamb
	NEW YORK Christopher Bechle		NORTH CAROLINA Molly Price
	NORTH DAKOTA Carrie Sandstrom		OHIO Carolyn Sowa
	OKLAHOMA Eduardo Lima		OREGON David Kelley
	PACIFIC AREAS Mikinzi Harvis		PENNSYLVANIA Kelsey Lowman
	RHODE ISLAND Vanesa Zuleta		SOUTH CAROLINA Elizabeth Scannell
	SOUTH DAKOTA Zachary Christy		TENNESSEE Ellery Ammons
	TEXAS Sharon Yang		UTAH Spencer Holmgren
	VERMONT Lydia Ham		VIRGINIA Megan Vazquez
	WASHINGTON Jacob Hatzinger		WEST VIRGINIA Elliott Clark
	WISCONSIN Peter Davis		WYOMING Katlin Pittman

here

Feb 20, 2012

The Headlines: It's getting really ugly...

Book Review

really ugly...

via Health Care Renewal:

Two Steps Back: International Council on Human Rights Policy Closes, Dutch Healthy Skepticism Ends Domestic Focus

International Council on Human Rights Policy Closes Healthy Skepticism in the Netherland to Only Focus on Problems "Abroad"here

via Slate:

The Celltex Affair

An ethics scandal strikes the world of bioethics.

By Carl Elliott|Posted Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, at 6:01 PM ET

"The stem-cell tourism industry is not exactly renowned for ethical probity, much less scientific rigor."

I love the apt characterization, it captures the nature of it; making the ugly almost a little funny... here

Several Democratic lawmakers are requesting information from two brand drugmakers and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on production quotas that may limit generic attention deficit disorder (ADD) drugs. The four leading House members accuse Shire Pharmaceuticals and Novartis of “manipulating the market” by using DEA quotas that limit the amount of a particular product to flood pharmacies with more brand than generic versions of ADD drugs. here

FDA Thinks Shortage of Cancer Drug for Kids Can Be Averted

TUESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it was cautiously optimistic that a feared shortage of a life-saving drug used to treat a form of childhood leukemia will be averted.

The drug, methotrexate, is used in combination with other drugs to combat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which typically strikes children ages 2 to 5 and is the most common type of cancer in children. here

In my opinion, the drug shortages are a ploy; an attempt to divert attention and resources, while providing a hoped for appearance of 'doing good' and 'working together' to avert further shortages. It is an attempt to portray BigPharma as ethical; capable of acting responsibly for the public good. The timing, the types of shortages, and the reasons given for them, are insufficient. It's all very suspicious...