Ron Reagan to speak at Dem Convention

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Ron Reagan to speak at Dem Convention
30
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 2:45am
Zell Miller a democrat?!?! LOL LOL Could have fooled me! ;-)

Democrats give Ron Reagan prime time speaking slot

Kerry aide: Late president's son to address stem cell research

From Kelly Wallace

CNN

Sunday, July 11, 2004 Posted: 10:58 PM EDT (0258 GMT)




Ron Reagan will speak at the Democratic National Convention.



(CNN) -- Ron Reagan will speak in prime time at the Democratic National Convention on the importance of stem cell research, a senior adviser to presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry told CNN on Sunday.

The Kerry adviser, who did not want to be identified, said the appearance of the younger son of the late former President Ronald Reagan came about after "overtures were made by both sides -- friends of both."

The adviser did not say on which night Reagan, 46, will speak. The four-day convention kicks off July 26 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ron Reagan, a self-described liberal whose political views were often at odds with his conservative Republican father, has said publicly that he does not support President Bush's re-election.

Reagan raised eyebrows during his father's burial service in June when he said in his eulogy that his father "never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians, wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage."

Many observers thought the remark was aimed at Bush, who often speaks publicly of the role faith plays in his life.

Reagan later told CNN that he did not set out to take a dig at Bush, though after so many other people made that connection, "I began to think maybe I was. I just didn't know it."

Bush has limited the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, citing moral and ethical concerns about performing experiments with fertilized human embryos.

Proponents of such research insist those restrictions interfere with efforts to develop new treatments for a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's, which slowly killed the former president.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan has also called on Bush to reverse course on his stem cell policy.

A Bush campaign official said it was not surprising that a liberal would be speaking at the Democratic National Convention, and noted that Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia would speak at the Republican National Convention, which begins August 30 in New York City.

The Kerry adviser said Reagan's appearance at the convention would communicate to the American people that the Democratic ticket of Kerry and Sen. John Edwards "won't put ideology in front of sound science and let politics get in the way of what is best for the American people."

The adviser also said Reagan's speech would have "big appeal" to independents.

But the Bush campaign official predicted that the remarks by Miller -- who supported key parts of Bush's agenda -- would resonate more with independents.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2004
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 2:22am
Zell Miller is obviously a Republican. He might as well do what other southern "Dixiecrats" have done and join the Republicans.

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Ron Reagan is basically a Democrat, so no surprise there that he is speaking at the Democrat's convention. He's an articulate and likeable guy, he should do a good job I'm sure.


Edited 7/13/2004 2:34 am ET ET by bayareajay
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2004
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 2:31am
Cities with large homeless populations also are usually the cities with very large immigrant populations like New York City, where half the population is foreign born, and L.A. and San Francisco, also with huge percentages of foreign born people. If Omaha or Salt Lake City had the sort of huge influx of poor immigrants percentage-wise that L.A. and New York have had, they would have a homeless problem too. New York by the way currently still has a huge homeless problem even though they have had Republican mayors recently. So does L.A. and they had Reardon, a Republican mayor. It isn't a question of Democrat or Republican it's a question of too many people coming in too quick.

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Granted welfare was a failure, and conservative Democrats like the people I grew up with never liked welfare, I know my parents didn't like it. The liberal elite who had too much clout in the Democrats forced welfare even though many rank and file Democrats prefered workfare.

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Still it was the Democrat, Bill Clinton, not the Republicans, who did national welfare reform.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 10:27am

Thanks for attempting to answer a few of my questions. By 'housing shortage' I wasn't referring to the homeless. I was speaking of a shortage of real estate in the housing market which drives up the prices and drives out the lower and middle classes.


http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell020702.asp


http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell021102.asp


<
>>


Welfare reform was based on research and proposals from conservative think tanks like The Heritage Foundation. It was written & approved by a Republican Congress and

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 12:30pm

Ron Reagan Shocker: Stem Cells WON'T Cure Alzheimer's


Ron Reagan admitted Monday night that embryonic stem cell research will probably be absolutely useless in the quest to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease - throwing cold water on the big media's campaign to sell the controversial science as medically effective in battling the affliction that killed his father.

"Alzheimer‘s is a disease, ironically, that probably won't be amenable to treatment through stem cell therapies," Reagan told MSBC's Chris Matthews. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/7/13/110534.shtml

Renee ~~~

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 12:56pm
This is NOT a shocker! Ron Reagan has said many times that they did not know if stems cells would help Alzheimers. He said that in the interviews immediately after his father's death. I know he said that on the Larry King Live interview. He said that it would not hurt to do research to find out if it could help. THEN he said that his mother had been contacted by many republicans asking why was she concerned about the stem cell research if it might not help cure Alzheimers. He said that they must think his mom is an incredibly small person if they thougth that she was only concerned about what affected her family. He said that his mom would continue to support the cause whether or not it helped Alzheimers because it was the right thing to do. Then he said that stem cell research is thought to be able to help cure diabetes,lymphomas,paralysis,etc(it was a very long list and I can't remember all the diseases that it included) so it would be incredibly important in the future to cure a vast amount of diseases.. Anyway, even though him and his mom do not know for sure if it would ever help Alzheimer's patients they are still pushing for stem cell research and will continue to do so. They had to lose a loved one to a terrible disease in order to show them how important research is for all diseases. OH and one other thing. Ron Reagan also said that stem cells are not a "sure thing" for the other diseases either. He said they would not have the answers until after the research is allowed to be conducted.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 1:07pm
Who is

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 1:07pm
Here's a less politicized look at stem cells and Alzheimer's:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29561-2004Jun9.html

Stem Cells An Unlikely Therapy for Alzheimer's

Reagan-Inspired Zeal For Study Continues

By Rick Weiss

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 10, 2004; Page A03


Ronald Reagan's death from Alzheimer's disease Saturday has triggered an outpouring of support for human embryonic stem cell research. Building on comments made by Nancy Reagan last month, scores of senators on Monday called upon President Bush to loosen his restrictions on the controversial research, which requires the destruction of human embryos. Patient groups have also chimed in, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday added his support for a policy review.



It is the kind of advocacy that researchers have craved for years, and none wants to slow its momentum.

But the infrequently voiced reality, stem cell experts confess, is that, of all the diseases that may someday be cured by embryonic stem cell treatments, Alzheimer's is among the least likely to benefit.

"I think the chance of doing repairs to Alzheimer's brains by putting in stem cells is small," said stem cell researcher Michael Shelanski, co-director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, echoing many other experts. "I personally think we're going to get other therapies for Alzheimer's a lot sooner."

Stem cell transplants show great potential for other diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes, scientists said. Someday, embryo cell studies may lead to insights into Alzheimer's. If nothing else, some said, stem cells bearing the genetic hallmarks of Alzheimer's may help scientists assess the potential usefulness of new drugs.

But given the lack of any serious suggestion that stem cells themselves have practical potential to treat Alzheimer's, the Reagan-inspired tidal wave of enthusiasm stands as an example of how easily a modest line of scientific inquiry can grow in the public mind to mythological proportions.

It is a distortion that some admit is not being aggressively corrected by scientists.

"To start with, people need a fairy tale," said Ronald D.G. McKay, a stem cell researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "Maybe that's unfair, but they need a story line that's relatively simple to understand."

Human embryonic stem cells have the capacity to morph into virtually any kind of tissue, leading many scientists to believe they could serve as a "universal patch" for injured organs. Some studies have suggested, for example, that stem cells injected into an injured heart can spur the development of healthy new heart muscle.

Among the more promising targets of such "cellular therapies" are: Parkinson's disease, which affects a small and specialized population of brain cells; type-1 diabetes, caused by the loss of discrete insulin-producing cells in the pancreas; and spinal cord injuries in which a few crucial nerve cells die, such as the injury that paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve.

In part as a result of her friendship with Hollywood personalities Doug Wick, Lucy Fisher, and Jerry and Janet Zucker -- all of whom have become stem cell activists because they have children with diabetes -- Nancy Reagan became interested in stem cells and their oft-cited, if largely theoretical, potential for treating Alzheimer's. Over the years, she has become more vocal on the issue.

On May 8, with her husband's brain ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, Nancy Reagan addressed a biomedical research fundraiser in Los Angeles and spoke out forcefully.

"I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this," she said, in an oblique cut at Bush, who placed tight limits on the field in August 2001 to protect, he said, the earliest stages of life.

Since Reagan's death, many others have joined the call to enlist embryonic stem cells in the war on Alzheimer's, including some new converts. Among the 58 senators who signed the letter to Bush were 14 Republicans and several abortion opponents -- evidence that the Reagan connection is providing "political cover," said Sean Tipton of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, a stem cell advocacy group.

But in contrast to Parkinson's, diabetes and spinal injuries, Alzheimer's disease involves the loss of huge numbers and varieties of the brain's 100 billion nerve cells -- and countless connections, or synapses, among them.

"The complex architecture of the brain, the fact that it's a diffuse disease with neuronal loss in numerous places and with synaptic loss, all this is a problem" for any strategy involving cell replacement, said Huntington Potter, a brain researcher at the University of South Florida in Tampa and chief executive of the Johnnie B. Byrd Institute for Alzheimer's Research.

"We don't even know what are the best cells to replace initially," added Lawrence S.B. Goldstein, who studies stem cells and Alzheimer's disease at the University of California at San Diego. "It's complicated."

Goldstein and others emphasized that future Alzheimer's patients could benefit if stem cell research is allowed to blossom.

Scientists suspect, for example, that stem cell studies could help identify the molecular errors that underlie Alzheimer's, which in turn would help chemists design drugs to slow or even reverse the disease.

But that line of work could face formidable political hurdles. That is because the most frequently cited approach would require not just stem cells from spare embryos donated by fertility clinics -- a currently untapped source of cells that many want Bush to make available to federally funded researchers. It would also require the creation of cloned human embryos made from cells taken from Alzheimer's patients.

From such embryos, stem cells bearing the still-unidentified defects underlying Alzheimer's could be removed and coaxed to grow into brain cells in lab dishes, and their development could be compared to the development of normal brain cells.

While that experiment could shed important light on the earliest -- and perhaps most treatable -- stages of Alzheimer's, a majority in Congress have said that the creation of cloned human embryos is an ethical line they are unwilling to cross.

Less controversial uses of stem cells may also lead to insights, Goldstein and others said. The key, said Harvard stem cell researcher George Daley, is not to get "preoccupied with stem cells as cellular therapies." Their real value for Alzheimer's will be as laboratory tools to explore basic questions of biology, Daley said.

Unfortunately, said James Battey, who directs stem cell research for the National Institutes of Health, "that is not necessarily the way I hear the disease community talking. They tend to focus on the immediate use of stem cells for their disease or disorder."

It is not clear whether the recent wave of stem cell support will persist as it becomes clearer that cures remain far off -- and, in the case of Alzheimer's, unlikely. Basic research with stem cells is just as deserving of support as therapeutic trials, Battey said, "but it's a much harder sell."

"The public should understand that science is not like making widgets," he said. "We're exploring the unknown, and by definition we don't know where it's going to take us."


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 1:08pm
Going OT, but I have seen reports that microchips will help. I’ve seen magnified images and believe it or not human brain cells thrive (grow) on microchip circuitry. More impressively, when cells are placed on chips, they start growing again and will “reach out” across the chip to form new and natural neural links. It’s all fascinating.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-23-2004
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 1:11pm


Ronald Reagan was what, 97 years old? In any case, I highly doubt that Reagan senior would have favored stem cell research, so it is a bit ironic that his son would invoke his name and illness in order to promote the cause.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-23-2004
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 1:23pm


President Bush is not responsible for the economic downturn. Perhaps you should look at the facts-the economy was already heading into recession before he took office. Then we got hit with the corporate scandals (All of which were happening before he took office) and 9/11, both of which were devastating blows to industry and the stock market. It's practically a miracle that not only did the economy not freefall into a worse recession, we are actually in recovery less than four years into his term, and currently enjoying some of the fastest economic growth on record.



Your "reproduction rights" is the slaughter of innocent children to many, many people in this country. As far as women's rights, President Bush named the first female National Security Advisor, and one of his top advisors is also a woman. He's shown nothing but respect for women and their abilities.

< the cutting of social programs for the poor and aged, the Medicare fiasco and spin>

Which social programs for the poor and aged did he cut? Which Medicare fiasco are you referring to, the fact that seniors have prescription drug benefits for the first time in our history, a policy endorsed by the very Democratic leaning AARP?



This story is totally being spun by the media-the discussion is about contingency plans for elections if we are attacked ON or IMMEDIATELY before the election-it's a logistical discussion, not an attempt to try and affect the outcome of the election. Suppose a 9/11 happens on election day-few if any people in New York City would have likely made it to the polls that day-would that be a fair election in your opinion?