If you are an Obama supporter as I am, you might want to check out your 
state's delegates.  McCain, after sucking up to Jerry Fallwell has 
demonstrated he is no straight-talker and is currently being lobbied by that 
agent of evil, Sam Brownback, on stem cell research.  Pro-science 
definitately needs to be a plank in the Democratic platform.  If you live in 
SF please help.   Like Don says, this is essential and Hiliary is definately 
pro-stem cell research, she has mentioned it in speeches lately.  Before 
Edwards dropped out, I checked them out and all three Dems were on board.
Ray

When: Sunday, April 13, 2:00-3:00
Where: 1621 Market St., San Francisco
What: Five Minutes to send a Stem Cell Delegate to the Democratic Convention


Do you live in San Francisco? Support stem cell research? (Even if you don't 
live in that shining city by the Bay, keep reading-we still need your help 
on something big!)

If you live in District 8, San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi's district, the world 
of stem cell advocacy needs your help for five minutes next Sunday.
 It would be a hassle for you, I know, a major inconvenience.
 But would you be willing to go to 1621 Market Street at 2:00 in the 
afternoon? If so, you could send a stem cell research leader to the 
Democratic Convention as a delegate.
 David Serrano Sewell needs your help to be a delegate at the Democratic 
Convention.
 Why?
 To make stem cell research support a major plank of the Democratic 
platform.
 Regardless of your primary candidate choice, it is absolutely essential 
that this be done.
 The Republican party platform of the last two Presidential elections used 
opposition to embryonic stem cell research to rally their troops; their 
platform contained support for the Weldon/Brownback bill to jail scientists 
for SCNT research.  We know the results.
 This year must be different. We need an end to government harassment of the 
researchers, and major increases in funding as well-and it will not be an 
easy fight.
No matter who wins the Presidency, they face a depleted treasury, and the 
pressures to do little or nothing for stem cell research will be enormous. 
We do not want just permission for research-we need funding. Five years of 
no increases at the National Institutes of Health has strangled progress.
 If we (stem cell research supporters) are included in the party platform, 
we are at the table.
 If not, not.
 That's why we must send David Serrano Sewell to the Democratic Convention 
as a delegate.
 Uniquely qualified for the task: David is a member of the California stem 
cell program: the prestigious Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. He 
lives research funding.
 He is a fighter. A lawyer by trade, he knows how to use words to persuade. 
He is intense, dedicated, and can win his arguments by charm or 
confrontation:  adapting to the needs of the situation.
 Here is his message:
 Despite the media's obsession with Hillary Clinton dropping out, it's not 
happening.  At Thursday's fundraiser in the City she made it clear, she's 
staying in.
 Soon, elections will be held in every Congressional district to elect 
California's district-level delegates to the Democratic National Convention 
in Denver.
 I am running to be a Hillary Clinton district-level delegate in the 8th 
Congressional District (CD-8).  That's Speaker Pelosi's district.  And I 
need your support.  CD-8 has been allocated three Hillary delegates: one 
must be female and two must be male.  Any registered Democrat in CD-8 can 
vote.  Those with the highest votes in each category will win; it's 
competitive and every vote counts.
 We must ensure the most committed Hillary supporters attend the Convention. 
Many of you know me as a lifelong (I turned 38 today!) Democratic Party 
activist - walking precincts, raising money and working to build a strong 
Party.  I will be proud to a Hillary delegate in Denver.
 I am asking for you to come and vote for me on Sunday, April 13, from 2PM - 
3PM.  Here's the information:
 Hillary Clinton Delegate election
Sunday, April 13, 2008
2PM - 3PM only
Plumbers Union Hall
1621 Market Street (between Gough & Franklin)
San Francisco, CA 94103
 Here is what we need.
 This coming Sunday, we need you (and/or your friends who live in San 
Francisco) to go to 1621 Market Street at 2:00. You will go inside, and 
folks there will hand you a ballot. Vote for David Serrano-Sewell. That's 
it, and that's a lot.
 We need you personally to help: this is a difficult ask. Please do not 
think someone else will do it. We are all swamped with chores. But this is a 
big one. It is a priority.
 Please email me about your availability, and any suggestions you might 
have.
 An article by Carl Hall and Alex Barnum of the San Francisco Chronicle 
("Profiles of the Patient Advocates", December 16th, 2004) describes him:
"David Serrano Sewell, 34, was appointed to a slot reserved for an advocate 
of people with multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He is a 
deputy in the San Francisco city attorney's office, assigned to the Port of 
San Francisco. He was diagnosed with MS three years ago, during his last 
year of law school at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
"It is a life-changing experience, without a doubt," he said, but added that 
treatment so far had stabilized his condition. "You can't let these things 
stop you."
Almost immediately after the diagnosis, Serrano Sewell took on an active 
role in the Northern California chapter of the National MS Society, which 
recommended his appointment."
 He's a fighter, he's a Democrat, he's for Hillary-and stem cells.
If you live in San Francisco, I hope you will bring a couple friends from 
that district to 1621 Market St., San Francisco, Sunday, April 13th, at two 
o'clock.
 P.S. If you prefer Baraq Obama, more power to you-an outstanding candidate, 
who would make a terrific President. I am personally committed to Hillary 
for the primary struggle, but if the Senator from Illinois is our candidate, 
I will support him with joy!
So talk to your delegate, and ask him/her to fight to make stem cell 
research a central plank of the Democratic platform.
Want to strategize with David Serrano Sewell? Contact him at: 
[log in to unmask]
 P.S.S. Unfortunately, the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain, has 
been veering increasingly to the anti-research side, indicating he would 
sign bills which could result in the criminalization of promising forms of 
stem cell research.

Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
[log in to unmask] 

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