[Peace-discuss] Reponse to Criticism of AWARE?

[David Green]

Well, now he has a weekly column in the DI.

--- Wendy Edwards <wedwards at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> The writer is sometimes called "Bambi" and is
> considered a known
> idiot on university newsgroups.
> 
> On Fri, Aug 26, 2005 at 06:31:53AM -0700, David
> Green wrote:
> > This column in today's DI clearly deserves a
> response
> > reagarding the statement about AWARE. Since I have
> a
> > letter in the hopper and wasn't there anyway, I'll
> > leave it to somebody else.
> > 
> > David
> > 
> > 
> > The Daily Illini - Opinions 
> > Issue: 8/26/05 
> > 
> >
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > 
> > Column: Barack Obama: a falling star
> > By John Bambenek 
> > 
> > Last week, U.S. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., came
> to
> > Champaign for a town hall meeting. Having attended
> it,
> > there are two perceptions I came away with: Obama
> is a
> > brilliant politician and speaker and that
> > Anti-War/Anti-Racism Effort can't help but be
> > disruptive and rude at anything they show up to. 
> > 
> > The senator can give a good speech, that's for
> sure.
> > He certainly doesn't have the foot-and-mouth
> problem
> > that Senator Dick "The Troops are Nazis" Durbin
> seems
> > to have. He teaches a valuable lesson for
> Democrats,
> > namely, that you can advance your views by methods
> > other than seething hatred toward Bush and all
> things
> > Republican. However, there are several things that
> the
> > Senator did get wrong: stem-cell research, Social
> > Security and education spending. On those three
> > issues, the Senator displayed either negligence or
> > deception on the facts.
> > 
> > The stem-cell debate has been dumbed down by the
> media
> > and politicians to the point where most of the
> public
> > doesn't understand the basic facts of the issue.
> You
> > have adult stem cells, and you have embryonic stem
> > cells. Adult stem cells don't need government
> funding;
> > private industry is dumping money into it because
> > thousands are being cured by adult stem cell
> > treatments. Embryonic stem cell research
> (excepting
> > stem cells in umbilical cord blood) is shunned
> because
> > of the ethical dilemmas involved, and the lack of
> any
> > discernible progress. Therefore, it requires
> > government money.
> > 
> > The embryonic stem cell activists would have you
> > believe that there is no other source of stem
> cells
> > and that we must begin treating human life as a
> crop
> > to be harvested for parts. They believe that any
> moral
> > argument is a repeat of Galileo, the perceived,
> yet
> > non-existent, "attack" on science by religion.
> They
> > conveniently ignore that adult stem cell therapies
> > work and embryonic ones don't.  People are
> walking,
> > being cured from diseases like Parkinson's and
> living
> > better lives because of adult stem cells taken
> from
> > fat and other parts of the body. In fact, with
> > Americans getting larger all the time, you can
> > consider the supply of adult stem cells limitless.
> > Either Senator Obama doesn't know this
> (negligence) or
> > he is willingly ignoring it (deception).
> Considering
> > that there have been Senate hearings that included
> > testimony from people cured by adult stem cells,
> it
> > appears to be the latter.
> > 
> > Senator Obama doesn't peddle the deception that
> Social
> > Security is about "intergenerational
> responsibility"
> > because it isn't - despite what Professor Leff
> says.
> > The 45 percent benefit cuts that organizations
> like
> > MoveOn peddle are for people who retire in 2075.
> Those
> > individuals are also known as the unborn, and, for
> > that matter, unconceived. Though it is refreshing
> to
> > see the left and their new-found concern for that
> > demographic.
> > 
> > But Obama says Social Security is not broken. When
> I
> > talk to financial planners, they tell me to expect
> $0
> > in Social Security benefits. A retirement system
> that
> > will not be there when you retire is a problem.
> Saying
> > differently is deceptive or, at best, negligent.
> And
> > while he has a point in implying that state
> pensions
> > won't be available, that's mostly because his
> party is
> > running the State Universities Retirement System
> into
> > the ground.
> > 
> > Lastly, Senator Obama discussed No Child Left
> Behind
> > and the usual line about how President Bush has
> not
> > funded it. The simple fact is that there never has
> > been and never will be a government program that
> is
> > "fully funded." Money is like cocaine to a
> bureaucrat:
> > they can never get enough. Under Bush, education
> > spending went up almost 20 percent (even after
> Sept.
> > 11, 2001, two wars and a recession). The fact is
> that
> > states left $17 billion of appropriated federal
> money
> > unspent last year.
> > 
> > Senator Obama is a refreshing departure from many
> of
> > his hyperventilating colleagues. However, until
> the
> > influx of deceptive information stops, intelligent
> > political discourse and bipartisanship will not be
> > able to succeed.
> > 
> > John Bambenek is a university employee and a
> graduate
> > student. His column appears every Friday. He can
> be
> > reached at opinions at dailyillini.com. 
> > 
> > 
> >
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > 
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> >
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> 



		
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