Al's Morning Meeting

Congressional Quarterly has a Web site that will allow you to drill down on who gave and who got, and how the money was spent. You can search state by state if you want. (Disclosure: CQ is owned by Times Publishing Company, which also funds Poynter. Click here to understand the relationship.)

Here is another Web site that will help you localize the numbers:

OpenSecrets.org will be posting and slicing/dicing the first-quarter data all week. This data should be great for local reporters who want to know who is getting and giving.

Today, Open Secrets will provide:

• Comparisons of all candidates by total raised, spent, debts and cash on hand.

• A breakdown of how much candidates have left to spend on the primary vs. general election.

• Profiles of each candidate detailing percentage of funds from individuals, Political Action Committees (PACs), and the candidates themselves.

• Amounts raised at certain dollar levels.

• An individual donor search.

• Contributions summarized state by state.

By Tuesday, Open Secrets hopes to post geographic data including:

• The distribution of your candidate's donor base around the country.

• The contribution of your state or area to each candidate -- who's winning the "money primary" in your area.

• The most generous metro areas and ZIP codes for each candidate.

• State/metro profiles: each candidate's haul from every state and its metropolitan areas.

By Wednesday, Open Secrets hopes to have industry data available to you including:

• Business, labor and ideological interests backing candidates -- who's getting the most from an industry you follow.

• Top sectors/industries contributing to each candidate.

• Top contributing companies/organizations to each candidate (including PAC and individual donations).

• Candidate comparisons for selected high-profile industries.

And on Thursday, Open Secrets should be able to give us details on how candidates are spending their money so far, including:

• How candidates are spending their donors' money.
  

• What's being spent in your area.
  

• Who's getting paid what.

Open Secrets also hopes to provide a search of each candidate's raw expenditure data. (Note: Categorization of expenditures -- how much was spent on advertising, staff, events, etc. -- will be available at a later date.)

Here's another place to get data on campaign finance reports.

Get Local on Contributions

Here is one of the most useful databases I have seen for finding the big players in cities. Click on states, then cities, and you will see a list of the largest givers.

What They Eat and What it Means

Public radio's "Marketplace" did a piece on what you can learn by looking in the campaign spending reports. Here's an example: What does a candidate's eating habits say about him or her?

Multilingual Record

Not long ago I told you about what's new in music recording -- singing songs in Spanish as well as English. Well, Avril has gone way beyond that. In her new single "Girlfriend," she attempts Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese and Mandarin. Critics say the attempt was laudable but not perfect by a long shot.

A Warning About Turtles and Babies

The Food and Drug Administration is urgently warning parents that pet turtles and young children do not mix. Last month, a Florida baby died from a salmonella infection, and while it is not certain the infection came from the family turtle, it may have. The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reports:

The agency sent out the alert [earlier this month] to remind parents that turtles are natural carriers -- and shedders -- of the bacteria that can cause severe illness and even death in young children and anyone with a compromised immune system.

"The culture of the turtle was the same as the culture found on the baby," said Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Wendy Riemann.

Besides not keeping pet turtles in homes with young children, Riemann said, "Our big message here is the importance of hand-washing."

The FDA says:

• The sale of turtles with a shell less than 4 inches long is illegal. Exceptions to FDA's regulation include sales of these turtles intended for export only or for bona fide scientific, educational or exhibitional purpose.

• Salmonella infection can be caused by contact with turtles in petting zoos, parks, child daycare facilities and other locations.
  

• It is important to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling or touching turtles and their housing.

In the early 1970s, it was determined that pet turtles, particularly red-eared sliders, were responsible for an estimated 280,000 cases of salmonellosis each year in the United States. In 1975, FDA banned the sale of turtles with a shell less than 4 inches long as a necessary public health measure. FDA has repeatedly emphasized the risks of turtle-associated salmonellosis because of a resurgence in the sales of such turtles in the last four years. The public health impact of turtle-associated salmonellosis in humans is an estimated 74,000 cases in the United States per year.

Salmonella infection can be transmitted either directly from contact with the turtle or its feces, or indirectly through the animal's water. Turtles with salmonella usually do not appear to be sick. Their feces do not always contain the bacteria[;] therefore[,] a single negative test does not prove they are salmonella-free.

Al's Morning Multimedia: GodTube

Think of it as a YouTube for Christianity.

ABC's "Nightline" even featured it last week. Read the story here.

Wired.com is not impressed. Not at all.

A Little Google Map Fun

Go to maps.google.com and ask for driving instructions from New York City to Paris.

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.