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1.: A no-money Way to Help NJ Stem Cell Bond Act From: Stephen Meyer

2.: # 383 Saturday, November , 2007 - FIGHTERS IN THE FOXHOLES: "WI From: Stephen Meyer

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1.: A no-money Way to Help NJ Stem Cell Bond Act

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Sun Nov 4, 2007 1:33 pm (PST)

A no-money Way to Help NJ Stem Cell Bond Act by diverdonreed
<http://diverdonreed.dailykos.com/> Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 04:52:04 AM
PDT
I received the following request for assistance from Jennifer L., friend
of the struggle to pass the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act, $450
million for stem cell research in the Garden State. Jennifer says:

"The following was just posted on CareCure by Dr. Wise Young, (a leader
of the effort):"

Dr. Young says:

`I need some help at http://blog.nj.com/...
<http://blog.nj.com/njv_gregg_edwards...t.html#preview>

`There are a whole bunch of people piling on, criticizing the New
Jersey stem cell research bond act. I am doing my best to answer them
but there are a lot of them.—Wise."

So what do you think, should we help him out, or let him fight alone?

* diverdonreed's diary <http://diverdonreed.dailykos.com/> :: ::
*

A NO-MONEY WAY TO HELP N.J. STEM CELL RESEARCH BOND ACT

But first a story-- I promise, a very short one!

I had written yet another long-winded exhortation, admonishing everyone
to rush out and do this, that, or the other— and I liked the sound
of the words, how the words fit together.

So I made the mistake of reading it out loud to Amy Daly, co-executive
director of Americans for Cures.

Now Amy is the kindest of souls, but she is also a Registered Nurse,
and, (perhaps because they see so much suffering) nurses have a way of
seeing to the heart of things.

She stopped typing, listened politely.

When I finished, the keys began clicking again, and Amy said:

"So, did you do it?"

Did I do what, I asked, somewhat miffed that she seemed to have missed
the elegance of the language.

"That thing you were asking everybody else to do— did you do
it?'

Oh, meaning me-- me personally?

Hmm. I suddenly remembered urgent business, requiring my attention,
elsewhere.

Meanwhile, back at the weblog...

It is a very influential one, read by many New Jerseyans, but
unfortunately it began with an attack, trashing the New Jersey Stem Cell
Research Bond Act, and ended with the suggestion that Dr. Wise Young
should have a cookie sale to raise the money he needed to fight
paralysis and cancer. The author apparently considers himself witty.

So, I clicked on the URL: http://blog.nj.com/...
<http://blog.nj.com/njv_gregg_edwards...t.html#preview,> which goes
right to the site, and commented.

Now when you send your message (hint, hint) remember it does not need to
be a major chore.

All you really need is one sentence, something like: "I support the New
Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act. " That's all, and that's
very important— when people step into that voting booth, they need
to know others who feel as they do.

Just go there, say a sentence or two, and please realize your effort is
appreciated. (If you want some free advice on letter writing, go to
www.stemcellbattles.com, click on archives, and go to story #347, which
has 50 sample letters you might choose to use.)

We are just hours a way from the vote, every little bit of help is
vital—think about the Presidential election of 2000—decided by a
handful of votes.

See? I made it all the way through the article, and did not even ask you
to click on www.njforhope.org and contribute money they so desperately
need! Of course, if you insist....

But for today, the important adventure is clicking on:

http://blog.nj.com/...
<http://blog.nj.com/njv_gregg_edwards...t.html#preview.>

Below is my personal babbling.

NJ Stem Cell Research Bond Act Is Good-- and Good Business Too!

As the father of a paralyzed young man, Roman Reed, I am so proud and
delighted that New Jersey is stepping up to bat for all of us.

Thank you, New Jersey.

Paralyzed "Superman" Christopher Reeve once dictated a letter to my
family, saying, "One day, Roman and I will stand up from our
wheelchairs, and walk away from them forever."

Cure did not come in time for our great champion, but the flame of his
faith still lights our way. New Jersey has taken up the torch.

When that great day arrives, and I see my son stand up from his
wheelchair, I will remember New Jersey, and how you, the voters of the
Garden State, stood up for stem cell research.

As my son always says, "Take a stand for stem cell research-- take a
stand-- so one day, everybody can."

In California, biomedicine is now the number one industry in the state,
and growing strong. The New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act is not
only good for America's chronically ill and injured, the roughly one
hundred million citizens with an "incurable" disease or disability-- it
is also great for jobs and new revenues--sometimes good is good
business, too!

Thank you,

Don C. Reed
Californians for Cures

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2.: # 383 Saturday, November , 2007 - FIGHTERS IN THE FOXHOLES: "WI

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Sun Nov 4, 2007 5:03 pm (PST)

# 383 Saturday, November , 2007
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20322%20Monday,%20April%2020,%2020\
07%20-%20FLORIDA%20ONCE%20MORE%20PIVOTAL%20TO%20NATIONâ€™S%20FUTURE\
.htm> - FIGHTERS IN THE FOXHOLES: "WILLIE AND JOE " OF NJ STEM
CELL BATTLE

Nobody is busier than Bob Klein, volunteer leader of the Prop 71
campaign, chairperson (also unpaid) of the California Institute for
Regenerative Medicine, as well as leader of Klein Financial Corporation.
(Yes, he does have a day job!) No one has more earned the right to just
kick back and leave the stem cell fight in New Jersey to others.

But Bob Klein is also a private citizen, and in that role he was on the
phones all day yesterday, battling for the New Jersey Stem Cell Research
Bond Act, (www.njforhope.org <http://www.njforhope.org/> ) making call
after call, calling in old favors and asking for new ones, working to
find that one more dollar, fighting for postage money so 410,000 mailers
could be stamped and sent out, so the Michael J. Fox radio ads could
get on the air, workingworkingworking-- to get the message out.

He was not alone. All across the country, patient advocates took notice,
and called friends. Everybody pitched in"it seemed like nobody was
too busy to lend a hand.

These efforts will continue, till the last possible minute Monday night,
to do everything we can to get out the message, and even on Tuesday,
November 6th, election day, when Garden State folks will drive friends
and neighbors to the polls, and vote to pass the New Jersey Stem Cell
Research Bond Act.

Tuesday is the day. We cannot relax until then.

But as we move into the final hours, there are a couple people I would
like to thank. (I know, I know, bring out the phone book! Advocates in
every corner of the country have been helping New Jersey, not to mention
Governor Corzine himself, the champion without whom none of the New
Jersey effort would have even begun!)

I remember reading about "Willie and Joe", the two bewhiskered
fighters in the foxholes of World War Two, based on real G.I.s, stories
from the great war correspondent Bill Mauldin, written from the front.

The " Willie and Joe" of this campaign?

First, Russ Oster.

Russ is a workhorse, the political consultant responsible for the day to
day operations of New Jersey for Hope, the political committee formed to
advocate passage of the

$450 million stem cell initiative on the November 6th ballot.

Russ has been serving in every capacity imaginable on various campaigns
since 1994. He has done work across the country with a particular focus
on Florida and New Jersey.

The New Jersey for Hope experience, Russ said yesterday, was "
something pure and good in the oftentimes muddy world of campaigns and
elections". And, he added, he had a personal motivation.

Fourteen months ago, Russ `s mother Lydia received her second
diagnosis of breast cancer after a period of 7 years of being
cancer-free. But this time it had gone into the bones, lungs and liver.
It was a terribly aggressive tumor called Triple Negative.

The family saw the best doctors they could find and afford; all tried
their hardest to treat his mom. But the doctors did not have the right
tools.

Barely a month ago, September 22nd, just 60 years old, Russ's mother
passed away.

She had wanted Russ to take on the challenge of this initiative and to
see it through to victory. "She was a selfless individual who always
thought about others first," said Russ yesterday, "She wanted
others to one day be cured of what she ultimately succumbed to."

Russ Oster's efforts on the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act
are dedicated to his mother's memory.

The second person is Wise Young. With his trusted sidekick Dr. Patricia
Morton, Dr. Young has been fighting for the cure of paralysis since a
day when there was almost no hope for paralyzed people. The first book I
ever read that gave me hope my son Roman might stand up from his
wheelchair was "Quest for Cure" by Sam Maddox of the Paralyzed
Veterans Society. It talked about Wise Young's efforts to try and
cure paralysis, and some of the attacks he had taken for it, as when
opponents of the research splashed blood across his photograph, and put
it up on the subway he would ride. But he continued on, and the New
Jersey effort may finally get some serious funding.

First, a quick glance at the official bio.

Wise Young
Founding Director
W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience
Professor and Chair
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience
School of Arts and Sciences

Key Topics:
Spinal cord injury, collaborative neuroscience, central nervous system
injury, cell biology, stem cell research, stem cells

Speaker's Biography:
Wise Young, M.D., Ph.D., is recognized as one of the world's leading
neuroscientists and a pioneer in spinal cord injury research. The
center, which he founded at Rutgers, is regarded as a world-class
facility for collaborative neuroscience. He is also chair and professor
of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience.

Young was part of the team that discovered and established high-dose
methylprednisolone (MP) as the first effective therapy for spinal cord
injuries. This 1990 work upended concepts that spinal cord injuries were
permanent, refocused research, and opened new vistas of hope for spinal
cord injury patients.

Young also developed the first standardized rat spinal cord injury model
used worldwide for testing therapies, formed the first consortium funded
by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test promising therapies,
and helped establish several widely accepted clinical outcome measures
in spinal cord injury research.

In addition, Young founded and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal
of Neurotrauma. He serves or has served on advisory committees for the
NIH, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development.

In August 2001, Time magazine named Young as "America's best" in the
field of spinal cord injury research. The recipient of numerous awards
and honors, he most recently received the Elizabeth M. Boggs Award for
service to the disability community and, in 2005, was the first
researcher inducted into the National Spinal Cord Injury Association's
Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame.

Anyone who visits his and Patricia Morton's CareCure.org website has
a hint of his contribution. Not only is CareCure a great place for
paralyzed folks, caregivers and friends to share ideas and experiences
with each other, but how many websites in the world are there where a
lay person can contact a top scientist and ask for an opinion"and
get an answer?

And what are Wise Young's thoughts on how the New Jersey Stem Cell
Research Bond Act effort is doing? (taken from posts on CareCure).

"The outcome" will depend on who votes. This latest poll shows
that the number of voters who support the referendum is 47% versus 38%
percent that oppose it. (51% needed to pass"DR)

" I am frightened by the forces that are arrayed against us. The
Catholic Church with their weekly political sermons and " videos
shown in the parishes, the Right-to-Life group with their deliberately
provocative lies (for example, "baby factories" and "loan to clone"),
and conservative groups... (like) Americans for Prosperity (an anti-tax
group). They are spending millions of dollars in an all-out media
campaign to pass out misleading information" to attack the New
Jersey Stem Cell Initiative that will save lives, that will be good for
the economy of New Jersey, and with which we can earn the accolades of
the world"

"The claim that the $450 million bond will break the piggy bank of
New Jersey is simply absurd. It will not add significantly to the taxes
of the average New Jerseyan. " In contrast, if we don't pass this
bill, we will lose the only opportunity that New Jersey has of taking
the leadership role in stem cell research and becoming the home for the
top cellular therapeutics companies.

"The accusation that the research is immoral is sad beyond belief. I
find it difficult to believe that people believe that it is better to
throw the cells away than to use them to save lives. It is a lie when
they say that the research will kill babies. The lack of stem cell
research is killing people by the thousands. (emphasis added-dr) How can
those who oppose this research look at people with brain and spinal cord
injury, cancer, diabetes, and other conditions and tell them that this
research is not worthwhile?

"This is one of the best economic and financial deals that the state
can invest in. It will help build the industry, the academic, and the
high-tech infrastructure of the state. It will bring in new business,
cure people, and do something that New Jerseyans can be proud of. If the
referendum fails, (emphasis added) what will people have? "a failing
pharmaceutical industry that is sending all its cellular therapeutics
laboratories to other states? Is this what people really want?"

Wise.

On Tuesday, America will find out what New Jersey wants.

Is there one more thing you or I could do?

www.njforhope.org <http://www.njforhope.org/>

Don Reed

www.stemcellbattles.com <http://www.stemcellbattles.com/>

On November 6th...
VOTE YES for HOPE

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