Terry Kempf wrote:

> Katie, did you see that Thompson and Shalala will be on meet the press
> tomorrow?
>
> Terry
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2001 6:29 PM
> Subject: Re: Information on 60 cell lines
>
> > Hello,
> >
> >        Very interesting thread.  And I am going to have to go back to
> > watching former governor of Wisconsin, now Secretary of DHS,  Tommy
> Thompson,
> > who was obviously very involved in recent events with our favorite issue,
> and
> > possible link to future treatment and cure for PD, stem cell research.  I
> did
> > note in the media in Wisconsin the past week or so that prior
> non-existent,
> > lukewarm, or negative, coverage turned into postivie coverage of stem cell
> > rearch and federal funding of stem cell research.  And, then the media was
> > saying "we," Wisconsin, has 10 patents, and I know now, that that
> apparently
> > means 10 stem cell lines.  Then the Media was saying "we," Wisconsin, were
> > going to get many dollars in stem cell research.  Ethics, pro-life views,
> > etc. all disappeared.  And, Tommy Thompson was in town, in Madison, really
> > all over the state prior to this, right up to the time of this very
> crucial,
> > public appearance of his nationally on the issues of stem cell research
> and
> > funding for stem cell research.
> >
> >        And, Linda and Terry are right, "we," Wisconsin has the patents,
> the
> > patents on the stem cell lines-- it has been reported that "we" have 10
> > patents, and no one, not even Tommy Thompson in his meeting with the press
> > yesterday, could identify the supposedly remaining 50 patents and/or stem
> > cell lines out there.  The researcher at University of Wisconsin-Madison
> was
> > purportedly the first to isolate stem cells.  The University of
> > Wisconsin-Madison, probably technically the University of Wisconsin
> System,
> > through WARF (the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation) has been reported
> in
> > the media in Wisconsin as holding these stem cell patents.  WiCell is
> > involved with WARF somehow, and there is Geron, Geron apparently provided
> the
> > bulk of the funding for the UW researcher's stem cell work.
> >
> >        Another person on this list asked me offline for an overvirew of
> the
> > constitutional issues in regard to stem cells, and I was dismissing, I was
> > not interested in, those constitutional issues, and I postulated that
> state
> > law, primarily state contract and property law, would determine the issues
> in
> > this area.  Here you have it:  I forgot all about that lovely, federal
> patent
> > law (but I didn't know about stem cell lines either until the President's
> > speech yesterday)..   While the two or three (?) patent law experts  in
> the
> > state of Wisconsin will be dusting off their patent law books, the rest of
> > the Wisconsin bar will be dusting off their property and contract law
> books.
> > Somebody, that little unknown expert in patent law out there somewhere,
> who
> > probaby graduated from law school in Wisconsin and who knows, or who very
> > quickly remembers, Wisconsin property and contract law, is probably going
> to
> > get very, very busy.
> >
> >        What a tangled web we weave!  We, the people on this list, want
> proper
> > treatment, a reaonable quality of life, and a cure.  We, the lawyers, are
> > intrigued by these new legal issues, and some of us want money.  We, the
> > people of Wisconsin, want recognition for our researchers and the quality
> of
> > our educational system, and some of us want money, for ourselves or for
> our
> > general economy.  The president wants to slip unscathed politically
> through
> > this divisive, turbulent area of embryonic stem cell research, and he
> > probably wants to be elected for a second term, and for a larger margin
> than
> > last time.  And, there are others out there, who are pro-life or whatever
> but
> > they want the moral and ethical issues to be considered and to prevail.
> And
> > Tommy Thompson?   I am going to have to find out what he wants, what he
> gets
> > out of this.
> >
> >          I think, hopefully, thankfully, after the President's speech,
> that
> > stem cell research has found its legs.  The president has decided his
> > position on the public policy to be in this area, and attention will shift
> to
> > Congress.   The president's position on stem cells, and his indications,
> his
> > preferences, for a veto, a partial veto, or for signing a stem cell bill,
> > will have an impact upon the legislative process.  Apparently the
> President
> > read all these huge briefing binders on stem cell research in the early
> > morning hours and quized everyone from the Pope to Tommy Thompson about
> stem
> > cell research.   We will see members of Congress, and the media, scramble
> to
> > catch up on this issue, and all the political, economic, scientific, and
> > ethical ramifications.  I watched MSNBC, Fox news, SPN,  CNN, and other
> local
> > and national news programs the day after the President's speech question,
> and
> > the "talking heads" kept saying "I don't know," "I don't," in answer to
> > questions from the commentators, and I saw all these reporters at the
> > Department of Human Services asking a beaming Tommy Thompson: "Why did the
> > President do this?"  "Why stem cell research?"  "Why a national broadcast
> on
> > the President's policy decision on stem cells?"
> >
> >        And that brings us back to this list, and the array of materials
> which
> > have been made available to us on this list about all aspects of stem
> cells,
> > stem cell research, and stem cell funding.  Materials which have been made
> > available to us for a long time as well as today, and probably tomorrow as
> > well.  I am thankful; for this information, and I thank, and I applaud,
> the
> > people on the list who bring that information to me.  I have complained
> about
> > the volume of information, I have skimmed over some of it or stopped
> reading
> > it when frustrated or overwhelmed, BUT  always, always I appreciated that
> > information, and it has proven to be invaluable to me.
> >
> >        And, and this also brings me back to Tommy Thompson.  He was
> governor
> > of Wisconsin for a long time and he left "us," Wisconsin,  to take the DHS
> > Secretary position in the Bush administration, and he has had aspirations
> for
> > national, elective positions in the past, primarily, in the past, for vice
> > president.  I was an employee of the State of Wisconsin for over nine
> years,
> > all nine years under his administration as governor of the state.
> Thompson
> > is generally regarded as being smart and politically astute, politically
> > saavy, although he loves to present himself as a good ole boy, one of the
> > boys, a fun-loving redneck.  I know he excells at strategy; making deals
> > under the table, but also delivering on his deals, his promises; and he
> > appears to me to have brought a Huey Long/Louisiana kind of flavor to
> > Wisconsin politics.
> >
> >        Tommy Thompson, his DHS, and his NIH will be putting the
> President's
> > policy decisions on stem cells into practice, and he will also be involved
> in
> > the legislative process.  Tommy Thompson is going to be on TV all the
> time.
> > Tommy Thompson  is supportive of stem cell research.  Good for us.  He
> has,
> > or he has claimed in his press conferences that he has,  persuaded the
> > President to accept his, Tommy Thompson's, compromise as to existant stem
> > cell lines.  Good for us?  Probably not?  The scientists say no.  We will
> > have to look into that.  And we will see what happens, and we will be
> spread
> > thin because things are going to be happening, all at once, in many
> different
> > places.
> >
> >        But what really intrigues me is that the Secretary of the
> Department
> > of Human Services in our federal, administrative government has said that
> he
> > has persuaded the President of the United States to adopt a public policy
> > decision.  That happens all the time in government.   That decision will
> most
> > likely result in publicity, support, and monies for the owner, the holders
> of
> > the patents for existant stem cell lines  The ten stem cells lines, the
> only
> > publicly identified stem cell lines identified so far, to my knowledge,
> are
> > patented, and are patented by WARF, an arm of the University of Wisconsin,
> of
> > the University of Wisconsin system, and ultimately of --of the State of
> > Wisconsin.   Tommy Thompson, former governor of the State of Wisconsin,
> has
> > just thrown a bone, probably a big bone, to "us," in Wisconsin.  And,
> > arguably that happens all the time in government, but I am intrigued and I
> > worry and I get angry about what Tommy Thompson has done here, about "his"
> > alleged compromise,  or about what he will do, and the impact of that upon
> > stem cell research and stem cell funding, and ultimately upon me, upon us,
> > upon anyone who could possibly benefit in his/her health from stem cell
> > research.
> >
> >        I realize, now, that Tommy Thompson, as Secretary of DHS, is not
> out
> > of my hair:  he is out of the State of Wisconsin, but it is like he has
> never
> > left.  He still has his fingers in every pie, and, on these issues of stem
> > cell research and stem cell funding,  he may or may not be in my way.  I
> > don't know.  I will have to go back to my "Tommy Watching," of old, and
> see
> > what he has done here and what he will do now that he is the Secretary of
> > DHS.
> >
> > [To those of you who have asked, I am slowly coming out of this dreadful
> > cold, and I hope to be out and about next week.  And, so far, no secondary
> > infections. ]And, Tarzan the Cat is very, very happy with his own, human,
> > petting machine in the house 24/7.  I will return e-mails soon].
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >        And this brings me back to Tommy Thompson and what he wants and
> what
> > he is up to.  I guess I will just have to find out.
> >
> >
> >
> > What a tangled web we weave
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
> > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
> >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn