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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