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i think it's an appropriate message, but what's the next step? AIDS is a huge killer--the biggest of the day, but given its demographics (initially homosexual, then heavier in the minority communities) it might have been easier for america to ignore than parkinsons. the early AIDS protestors were very vocal (they were young and healthy and able to draw a lot of attention at public events, but they had HIV and they and their lovers were dying), and many celebrities have stood up to fight AIDS, as a result AIDS has a lot of attention. there are other factors too--people need to know about AIDS because it is often preventable. parkinsons hasn't had as much of that kind of attention, even though 1/100 people over 60 are affected and affects a cross section of all communities. maybe its harder for celebrities and younger people to latch on to a disease that affects older people, or which people can live with for a long time. sadly, the same drugs that help michael j fox and janet reno make it through the day take parkinsons somewhat off the radar screen. i sure was proud of the guy though when he went up before the country without his drugs. go michael. i think there's a lot of hope. there are so many people who have or have a spouse or parent with parkinsons. i have a granparent with the disease, and i would certainly like to see her condition improve. as the country gets older, this will only increase. it's probably in the millions already. this is a lot of people that could pay for treatment, and a lot of votes. the other thing is, therapeutic cloning could potentially be very cheap--if it looks like it will work, pharmaceutical companies (i work for one) will pursue it on their own, albeit accepting subsidies if they are available. if bush could approach the cloning topic gently, as to not offend various bases of support, it could be a real win for everyone--healthy and happy people, less care bills, possibly for a lot less money than AIDS costs us. another ray of light--the US isn't the only country doing pharmaceutical research, many others will pursue therapeutic cloning AND other parkinsons treatments. japan, china, and much of europe have large and aging populations. but bush still needs that nudge. how should we do it? -archie ps i don't mean to target bush--i don't know that clinton did much more [though i think he would have had some don't ask don't tell policy for cloning]. remember though, that our nation's founders structured the government so we WOULD have someone to target, so the blame couldn't be shifted onto the next parlaiment member. & pps i also hope that sick people can avoid fighting with each other for funding. there's only so much to go around, but there are huge sums going towards tax cuts and war--much more than goes towards the NIH. i guess we have to balance our priorities, but our voices deserve to be heard too. -----Original Message----- From: Linda J Herman [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 6:24 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: State of Union/ban all human cloning I think one cannot discuss medical research and our quest for a cure for Parkinson's without considering politics and i think this is true in all our countries - not just the U.S. In his State of the Union Address, President Bush called for BILLIONS of dollars to fight AIDS internationally and BILLIONS of dollars for research on vacines against possible biological warfare. Important goals of course. But there was not one mention of continuing the existing 5 year goal of doubling the NIH budget or increasing funding for Parkinson's research, as called for in the Parkinson's Research Agenda or for funding research for other chronic diseases that currently afflict millions of people throughout the world. He did call on Congress to pass a ban on ALL human cloning - and based on his past statements - he was referring to therapeutic cloning for medical research as well as reproductive. Surely political issues such as these are relevant to the lives of everyone on this list, and should be open for discussion and debate that includes all viewpoints. I think they must be addressed. Please recall that the PIEN was instrumental just a few years ago in the grassroots efforts for the passage of the Udall Act - the first bill in the U.S. to authorize funding specifically for Parkinson's Disease. It was through the political discussions and postings on this list that many of us became aware and educated about the Udall bill. It was through this list that we became aware of the efforts of the Parkinson's Action Network to give PWP a voice and a presence on Capitol Hill. It was through this list that many of us became politically active for the first time. It is through this list now that we can continue to fight for our fair share of research funding to put an end to this miserable disease. My interpretation of the list's guidelines is that discussion on any issues - political or not - that are directly related to Parkinson's is permitted . I hope that my understanding is correct. Linda Herman PIEN member since Dec. 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Notice: This e-mail message, together with any attachments, contains information of Merck & Co., Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA) that may be confidential, proprietary copyrighted and/or legally privileged, and is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity named in this message. 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