touche!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Raymond Barglow" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 3:02 AM
Subject: PDF, NPF and the Iraq situation


> Dear Don and others in this discussion group.
>
> It's not good when organizations that we all need -- like PDF and NPF --
> cannot unite to advance our cause.
>
> But there's a larger problem that faces us all.  We don't have the
> resources we need to address the crying need for support and for
> research to find cures.   Parkinson's isn't a cause that our nation is
> very interested in doing anything about. So PDF and NPF find themselves
> in competition for the limited funding that is out there.
>
> Indeed, with so many of our nation's finite resources going toward
> miilitary purposes, we can hardly expect there to be adequate funding of
> the research we need to cure Parkinson's in a timely way.
>
> I don't mean to bring up an irrelevant topic in this group, but it seems
> to me that there is an important connection between our nation's
> military priorities and its neglect of conditions like Parkinson's.
>
> As you may know, the Bush administtration is not only spending hundreds
> of billions of taxpayers' dollars to build more lethal weapons systems,
> but is also literally buying political and military support for the war
> against Iraq throughout the world.  The biggest aid deal is being
> offered to Turkey.   The offer on the table has been 15 billion in
> aid--$5 billion in grants and $10 billion in guaranteed loans--in
> exchange for Turkey's agreement to host US ground troops for an invasion
> of northern Iraq.
>
> Let;s consider just the 5 billion dollars in grants that have been
> offered to Turkey (little of which is likely to trickle down to actually
> help the Turkish people).  That is enough money to fund 500 well-endowed
> biomedical research projects (at $10 million per study) to find cures
> for diseases like Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's, spinal
> cord injury, MS, ALS and related conditions that affflict so many
> millions of people worldwide, young and old.   Our dedication to
> eradicating disease would help to transform the way that people in other
> parts of the world view our nation.
>
> Let's suppose that we were to take just 10 percent of the $5 bilion
> being offered to Turkey -- 500 million dollars -- and devote that to
> finding a cure for PD.  There is every reason to believe that this
> research effort would find a cure within a very few years.
>
> Is it being selfish to prioritize curing diseases over preparations for
> war such as buying Turkey's support?  I don't think so.    Our support
> of promising biomedical research is motivated not only by our desire to
> relieve the suffering and save the lives of ourselves and our loved
> ones, but also to help millions of people with conditions like
> Parkinsons whom we do not personally know .  We don't want them to have
> to go though the difficulties that we have experienced -- as persons
> with PD or as famliies and friends of someone with this condition.
>
> We know that cures can be found.  In the domain of stem cell research
> alone, it has already been estabglished that embryonic stem cells can
> generate dopamine-producing cells in rats that reverse Parkinson's
> symptoms.  This research path, together with other research
> explorations, would have an excellent chance of coming up with a cure
> for Parkinson's very soon, if the research were adequately funded.  The
> 500 millions dollar figure cited above would be more than ample.  In a
> few years,  the one million or so  Americans with PD could be greatly
> helped or cured.
>
> Ironically, it is quite possible that a war against Iraq will fan the
> flames of anti-Americanism worldwide, thereby making us more, not less,
> vulnerable to terrorism in the future. And it's widely agreed that North
> Korea, for example, poses a much greater danger to world peace than does
> Iraq.   The only antidote is to work with other nations to build an
> international framework of law to resolve human conflicts in a
> non-violent manner.
>
> It is true that the potential war against Iraq is partly about securing
> oil supplies in the region.  And indeed, if "all goes well" with the war
> (which may still result in the maiming and death of tens of thousands of
> Iraqis, many of them children), we may save, let's say, a quarter of a
> dollar on each gallon of gas.  If you have Parkinson's, or know someone
> who does, please ask yourself if the tradeoff is worth it.
>
> How can we get the word out about the crying need for medical research
> to address curable diseases?  One of our problems is that the war
> advocates are more visible than we are. And they've wrapped themselves
> in Old Glory,   In this atmosphere, the day-to-day suffering from
> illnesses may be all but invisible, except to those like ourselves who
> are directly affected.
>
> We can change that.  Let's work with both PDF and NPF, and alongside
> people like Michael J. Fox and Christopher Reeve to put a human face on
> the need for research.   There are also other effective biomedical
> research advocacy groups out there, including the two that I work with:
> http://www.stemcellaction.org and http://www.sabr.us.    It strikes me
> that this is a good way to help our nation live up to its highest values
> of  respect for life and the alleviation of unnecessary suffering.
>
> More specifically, if you haven't already done so, please consider
> sending in a "portrait of hope" to be posted on the web by the people at
>  http://www.stemcellaction.org
> Each portrait honors someone with a condition like PD.  In this way we
> hope to put a human face on the need for stem cell research.
>
> Best wishes to all,
>
> Raymond Barglow
>
> > I am new to this situation, what are the issues between the PDF and
> > NPF? Is this a power dispute about who gets to award the research
> > grants?
> >
> > And while we are talking about this, why does Michael J. Fox see the
> > need for his own separate charity?  Is it affiliated with PDF or NPF?
> >
> > Also, are there other PD charities/groups out there as well?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Don, diagnosed 6 weeks ago.
> >
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