Stem Cell Battles
145 FOLLOWERS
Begun by ordinary people, the California stem cell program is making extraordinary progress in the battle to defeat chronic disease and disability.
Stem Cell Battles
2w ago
By Don C. Reed
Wanting to earn money to buy a ring for my high school girlfriend, I got on the truck to the strawberry fields.
“Dollar a row,” the foreman said, “Don’t bruise the fruit, or you don’t get paid.”
The row before me was just a quarter mile long, but it seemed to stretch endlessly, under the increasing heat of the sun. I bent way over and started twisting off the huge berries, some so big they would not fit in the green plastic boxes .
“Don’t eat too many,” said the man beside me, “make you sick”.
I tried to take his advice, but I had never eaten strawberries so ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
3w ago
By Don C. Reed
Although raised in a Republican household, I could never vote for Donald Trump. This is for a variety of reasons, but today I want to touch on only one:
I consider Trump an habitual liar, who will say whatever suits his needs of the moment.
Of course, everyone tells a fib or exaggeration occasionally. But Trump lies so frequently that the New York Times set up a board of reporters to keep track of them. They found Trump lied  ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
1M ago
By Don C. Reed
All but unmentioned in the recent Republican attack on the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure is the devastating effect it might have on stem cell research.
Consider: a young married couple hopes to have a child. Their doctor tells them about IVF, and they decide to try it.
The man donates sperm; the woman’s eggs are extracted. The biological components are put in a dish of salt water, where some will join and become blastocysts. The most vigorous two or three of these will be implanted in the womb, to hopefully grow and become a child.
The other blastocysts m ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
1M ago
By Don C. Reed
The Alabama Supreme Court recently declared that blastocysts (fertilized human eggs) were children. This decision may criminalize the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure.
For many years virtually all conservative Republicans said: “ life begins at conception”. that a human being was formed, the instant when sperm meets egg. (1)
Example: right now, one hundred twenty-five House Representatives (including Mike Johnson, current Speaker of the House) are co-sponsors for a bill stating that life’s legal rights begin at conception. (2)
If this is accepted, then the In Vit ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
2M ago
I VOTED THIS DAY
By Don C. Reed
February 9th, 2024. I looked in the mailbox and there it was , the official document: small but crucial.
I took the letter to the kitchen, placed it on the table, stuck my right index finger in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope — and ripped it open.
I had practiced both the physical procedure (be sure to sign the outside of the envelope) then filling in the dots beside the candidates and issues I supported.
Above all, my choice for President, Joseph Biden… where are you? There! I filled in the little circle, neatly, in dark blue ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
2M ago
By Don C. Reed
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. — Thomas Payne, December 23, 1776
Famous words: written when America’s future hung in the balance, and shoeless patriots left bloody footprints in the snows of Valley Forge.
We are more comfortable today, with our slippers on, in front of our TV sets, but the threat to our Democracy is no less.
Some say, “this is the most important Pre ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
2M ago
By Don C. Reed
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.—Thomas Payne, December 23, 1776
Famous words: written when America’s future hung in the balance, and shoeless patriots left bloody footprints in the snows of Valley Forge.
We are more comfortable today, with our slippers on, in front of our TV sets, but the threat to our Democracy is no less.
Some say, “this ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
2M ago
By Don C. Reed
What is the connection between an elephant and the national debt? Before I get to that, I want to make absolutely clear that the financial expert quoted in the article has no connection with me or my writing. I just came across her testimony on tax cuts and thought it was brilliant. I shortened it, and also provided a URL where you can read the whole thing. Any errors are my own.
Now, on to the pachyderm!
I was once picked up by a  ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
3M ago
By Don C. Reed
Remember that song from the classic musical, “PAJAMA GAME”?
“Seven and a half cents doesn’t buy a hell of a lot. Seven and a half cents doesn’t mean a thing; but give it to me every hour, forty hours every week, and that’s enough for me to be living like a king!” ( 1)
Voters with a disability are weak if we act alone, but irresistible if we combine our strength.
During the pandemic, a lot of people did not want to leave their homes to vote. So, the mail-in vote procedure was expanded. That made it easier to vote — especially for the disability community. We voted ..read more
Stem Cell Battles
3M ago
By Don C. Reed
Consider the physical, moral and political attributes.
A one -mile walk/run might reveal the physical fitness of the current leading candidates, former President Donald J. Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.
Let the candidates show up in gym shorts at their local high school, and do four laps around a quarter-mile track, walking or running as they choose. Their physical status should be recorded. If one of the candidates collapses, for example, that would be important to know.
We should require a medical exam by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) committee ..read more