Hello Marjorie and all,

Marjorie Moorefield wrote:

> We have had Tropical Storm Josephine for the last 3 days & on Sunday,
> it was raining, HARD.  But for approximately 2 miles there were people,
> mostly very young people with 12-13 year old children & some with
> babies, standing out in this horrible storm holding signs:
>
> ABORTION KILLS BABIES

Abortion does kill babies. Regardless of the the attempts of our
"enlightened"
society to identify a baby as just fetal tissue, or anything other than
a baby,
for centuries a pregnant woman was expecting "a baby". She was "with
child".
It's only been in recent years, as people have tried to find some way to
avoid
accepting responsibility for their actions, that the reeducation effort
to
identify babies as something other than babies has taken place.

> ADOPTION IS THE ANSWER TO ABORTION

It is one answer, but not the only one.

> They were still standing there 2 hours later when
> we went home.  I've NEVER in my life seen anything
> like it!!!!!

I seem to recall some pretty extreme actions by people with strong
convictions during the civil rights movement, and during the Vietnam
War. Some did, and do, a lot more than stand in the rain for their
cause.
Sometimes harming their cause by their actions, rather than helping.

If you've "NEVER in your life seen anything like it", it should tell you
that there are people with strong convictions on abortion, as well as
other issues, who are willing to take a stand and let others know about
it. I don't think you would deny them that right because you may not
agree with them?

I hope you, and the list members, can tolerate another point of view.
I've been thinking about this since so many recent posts to the list
have
been accusing and laying blame for the failure of the Udall Bill. Most
of
it seems to be directed at the "Religious Right" and "conservative"
politicians. Anyone who didn't back Udall or who has a diferent opinion
has been called "angry white males", "mean spirited", "evil",
"obstructionist", "forces of darkness" etc. etc.

When someone of "that kind" dared to object to the name calling, others
can't understand why. And "that kind" are accused of lacking civility.

To me, one of the really nice things about this list, besides the
sharing
of information and support, has been the civility and tolerance. It was
a safe, relatively stress free haven. Unlike many lists on the internet
where "flaming" others is common.

I would like to share some thoughts that have come to mind.

No doubt, especially in an election year, there's enough real, as well
as manufactured or imagined blame, to go around on all sides, on just
about
any issue. The frustration of trying to deal with the political system
has
been obvious from the venting that's been done on the list. When we're
frustrated and angry we feel like we have to scream, hit, cry or do
something to get it out.

The reality is that the dollars in the Udall Bill, and every other
appropriations bill, are ours and our families, friends and neighbors
dollars, minus the "handling charges" of the bureacracy. We have little
or no control over how, how much and where they are spent.

What if, instead of begging Washington, we took charge of the issue at
hand.
Which is to fund the necessary research to find a cure for our common
nemesis, Parkinson's Disease.

What if, instead of conceding that the Federal government "is the only
game
in town" and our only hope (God forbid!), we took some of our dollars
and
invested them directly in appropriate places to achieve our goal.

What if, the time, energy and money invested in the Udall fight had been
used
to start a "Global Alliance of PWP's" to raise and invest money to find
a cure.

What if, we turned in that direction now.

What if, each of the 1.5 million PWP's in the US gave an average of $10
a
month each for research. That's $180,000,000 a year (I think...it's
3:30am).

What if, there were another 1.5 million Parkies in the rest of the world
that
did the same thing.  That's $360,000,000 a year! PWP's of the world
UNITE!!

What if, even half of us PWP's got one other person to give the same
amount.
That's another $180,000,000, or a total of $540,000,000 a year. PWP's
unite,
and ask people who understand and care for support, instead of a
politician
running for reelection and really cares only about that.

What if, these numbers are wrong or overly optimistic, and we raised
"ONLY"
half that amount. It's still $270,000,000 a YEAR, and nearly triple what
we're trying to wring out of the government, which is the taxpayer,
which
is US!

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I get excited and a very good feeling
just
thinking about getting the job done ourselves. Rather than putting
ourselves
at the mercy of, and obligated to, politicians.

There is more that could be said, maybe should be said, but it's now
4:00am
and my brain is mush (some will probably think it already was after
reading
this). I had thought that I would complete my research and then compose
a
very reasoned, logical, compelling and convincing treatise on an
opposing
point of view. Instead, I just went over the edge and started to ramble
when
I read Marjorie's message.

So, with this I close. Before you start to think of all the reasons we
CAN'T
do this, think first how we COULD! I believe there is enough talent and
knowledge among the 1300+ on this list to get the job done.

And please, keep in mind, while we may have Parkinson's Disease as a
common
foe, we don't all necessarily share the same political, religious,
social or
any other point of view. To quote Rodney King, who may never have said
or did
anything else worth immortalizing, "Can't we all just get along?"

I anxiously await the civil, supportive and positive thoughts of all who
have
taken the time to read this. Flamers will be squirted with my garden
hose. (:0

Most sincerely,
Gaylon
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