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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. > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > 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