Clark Withholds $60 Million Pledge to Stanford

vocaljess writes: "In an op-ed piece in Friday's New York Times (which you have to register to read, blah blah blah), Netscape creator Jim Clark has announced that he will withhold $60 million he had pledged to donate to Stanford University to build a center for biomedical engineering and science. He states "I believe our country risks being thrown into a dark age of medical research. Biologists are at the threshold of the most important set of discoveries in history, and rather than teach and lead, our politicians react and follow a conservative few. This legislative action will cause the United States to miss a revolution in biology.""

Comments

Applause...

[kypper]

Biologists are at the threshold of the most important set of discoveries in history, and rather than teach and lead, our politicians react and follow a conservative few.

Jesus, he's one of us.
Finally, someone who stands up for science instead of politics.
Course, one has to consider he's MAKING politics by doing this. ^_~

The USA is doomed anyways

[FFFish]

I just got back from Europe. I was flabbergasted with how advanced some of the telecommunications technology is. The USA is in the goddamn stone ages as far as cell, PDA, and television is concerned.

Looks like it's about to be the same in biotechnology. And, hell, with the dumb patent shenanigans that are pretty much squelching innovation, it wouldn't surprise me if there are other technologies that are also being held back in the USA. (Automobiles could be one: the Europeans have some stuff that's pretty damn sweet. And some of the public transit is way better than anything in the US...)

Could be a pretty damn fast trip to third-world status.

Re:The USA is doomed anyways

[guygee]

Everything you've said about Europe being better basically has to do
with the difference in the size of the US vs. Europe---both in people and
in area. (...)

Maybe true for Nebraska or Montana, but not really true when you consider
many major population centers. The Boston to DC corridor especially
comes to mind, along with many other smaller metroplexes. We need
to face the fact that we *are* falling behind technologically, that
the US brand of capitalism tends strongly to monopoly and oligopoly, with
the attendant suppression of innovation and research.

Frankly, I can't believe how quickly intelligent people want to go
down this stem cell road. (...)

Maybe you are in no hurry, but I am not looking forward to the arthritis,
Alzheimer's, circulatory disease, and all the other lovely degenerative
illnesses that are coming my way courtesy of the the inevitable aging process
over the next couple of decades. Perhaps people already suffering
have an even more urgent need, don't you think? Maybe if you weren't
still in the rosy glow of youth, you would feel a little differently about
the pace of research, much less the hypocrisy of the fundamentalist religious
zealots who are determined to sacrifice the health of us all for the sake
of their ancient tribal superstitions.

Re:Get a grip!

[neoptik]

14 != several trillion

That is to say that the 14 cells that comprise the stem cell bundle taken from an embryo is not the same as a fully developed human being.

Don't be a dumbass

Re:what sort of response will this generate . . .

[Znork]

Well, the donors could always donate their money to some university in a country where the politicians havent been taking their classes on how to run a country in Iran.

Re:I'm a religious whacko too, then

[Darby]

Anyone who believes in God is not a whacko.

Not true.
You probably meant, "Not everyone who believes in god is a whacko".
This could be debated, of course. Tell people he talked to you personally and you will get put away whether or not he actually did.

that will assure that no other Dr. Mengele will ever arise.

Funny you should mention this. Medical science leaped ahead a hundred years at least because of Mengele's research. Most people were horrified about what was done, but we didn't let that stop us from using his research.

If you consider a few cells a life, then it's "sacrifice" shouldn't be allowed to be in vain either.

Re:Stem Cells don't come from Fetuses (Feti?)

[GreyPoopon]

The problem with some conservatism is ignorance....I spent a lot of time researching this when my wife and I pursued Invitro Fertilization. Fetuses don't come along until I bleieve 4th or 5th month...

Congratulations. In one sentence, you've just managed to alienate a significant chunk of the population, many of whom I'm sure are more intelligent and more informed than you. And it is obvious that perhaps you didn't spend as much time researching as you would like us to think. Either that, or your doctor was an idiot. Here are some things that you should probably know.

• Many religions that are against stem cell research consider even a freshly fertilized egg to be life, and that taking this life is murder. This is why many people have a moral question when they consider in-vitro fertilization. The procedure used for in-vitro usually generates more than one embryo -- only one of which is implanted. The moral question for them is "what happens to the others?" You can try to abstract the whole concept all you want by using terms like Zygote, Embryo and Blasti, but for some people all of these fall into one category: A human life.
• Depending on who you talk to, a developing child is considered an embryo for only a short time. An embryo becomes a fetus during the *second* month. Even those that disagree with this generally agree that an embryo has become a fetus by the end of the first trimester (the 3rd month). The embryo actually develops a heart-beat during the first month, and the fetus forms part of the brain, arms, legs, major organs and facial features during the second month. A baby born prematurely during the sixth month can survive with intensive care, and there have been situations where a child born during the fifth month has survived.
• Stem cells can come from embryos, aborted fetuses, and even blood and tissue extracted from the umbilical cord and placenta right at birth. No fertilized egg is fake and each could develop into a human if given the proper environment in which to grow. I don't know if you are just totally ignorant of this issue or if you're trying to spread wrong information to support your viewpoint.
• The single biggest problem with all of this is that people can never be sure where the stem cells are coming from. Therefore, restrictions have to be made.

You need to try and understand that if *your* tax dollars are being used for something that you disagree with, then you have a voice. Certainly if the group agreeing with you is large enough, restrictions will be made into law. The people who disagree with stem cell research do so because they believe that human lives are being taken to support the research. To them, this overrides any of the possible benefits. A life for a life is not acceptable to them.

I'm not telling you that you should agree with them. But before you make a general statement indicating that many conservative people are ignorant, you had better take the time to understand both the facts and the emotions. In fact, if you understand their viewpoint thoroughly, it might make you a better and more informed critic of it.