>I've been lurking around this list since 8/95 and have watched and
>admired,with gratitude, the efforts of many people in behalf of the Udall
>bill. The results seem to have been minimal, at best.
>Now I see that the U.S is going launch another over-priced probe to find life
>on Mars. What about life on earth? Wouldn't those Mega-$$$$ (and future $$$
>that we KNOW will be spent) do more good for more people in medical research,
>on PD, Cancer, Heart, MS, MD, and many, many others?
>How long has it been since the U.S walked on the moon and how much good has
>it done US?
>Am I missing something? Am I short-sighted, selfish, bitter, or what?
>I know this is a futile complaint, but I wanted to get it "off my chest" and
>thought there might be some sympathetic ears out there. Thanks for
>"listening".
>
>Don (66/13)
>
>P.S: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, & Disney could have produced better
>effects with about the same good.
>
>
Don,
I don,t think that you're particularly short sighted, perhaps
just slightly forgetful. Without the developmental impetus of space
travel,
we probably would be ttwenty to thirty years behind where we are today
in most medical research. Even this medium of communicating is a
direct
result of the need for smaller and simpler computers necessary to
persue longer and more complex space flights. Just think how far behind
we'd be without CAT-Scans, MRIs, and the huge computing power to do the
genetic testing that so many of out neuro-stricken patients are
depending on for future treatment and even possibly cures for these
horrible diseases.
My Very Best Regards,
Don Summers
[log in to unmask]
(Caregiver for my wife Gwen who is 60 years old and totally disabled
by Shy-Drager Syndrom---a terminal, progressive deterioration of
the autonomic nervous system.)
