Good sport

Does anyone else realize this crap doesn't actually DO anything productive?

I agree, this does absolutely nothing for ALS, I'm sure some people are donating though, but yeah, most people are just treating this as the latest meme.

still, fun is fun.

That said, Takei wussed out, that was an absolutely trivial amount of water that got dumped on him.

Well, they've raised over 3 times more donations during this campaign than during the same period last year. They are raising awareness and contributing themselves - so yeah, it's BEING productive. But hey, why join the parade when you can piss on it....

He is a 77-year-old man. More ice water than that could have killed him.

And as @Spoof said, it's definitely not doing nothing. When these things first started popping up I was mainly annoyed because they didn't explain what it was; they just said "You obviously know about the ice bucket challenge because it's all over social media," but I don't participate in social media and I still didn't know what it was about!

My personal outrage aside, it initially seemed to me that the challenge was "take the ice bucket or make a donation," and I just kept thinking, "Why don't these cheapskate celebrities just make a donation instead of goofing around?" but the proof is in the pudding: this marketing campaign has yielded over 300% more money for the cause than it would have earned without it. (I'm glad George mentioned he's also made a donation.)

So, it's obviously untrue that this crap doesn't actually DO anything productive.

@Spoof is absolutely correct, their fundraising has gone through the roof this year! And i suspect is going to continue for sometime.

I think what these comments are really reflecting is how willing people are to spout their opinion and ignorance as fact without taking the 30 seconds to search and avail themselves of facts... @VoodooV Your better than that!

I think you all misunderstand me. I mean the donations don't do anything either for ASL. It's almost as pointless as donating for cancer research.

Am I the only one that was waiting for the proverbial "Oh My!" after the water dump?

Sorry, @Sniper007, but that's miles of ignorance beyond what I thought you were demonstrating.

Perhaps there's no cure for cancer (yet or ever), but you can't honestly believe that there have been no advances in the treatment of cancer. If you do, you really should read the research. Don't be so glib.

Totally just the latest meme, but 'some' people are actually donating... so that's nice.

Research has done a lot, for cancer, diabetes, and I'm willing to bet ALS.

Immunotherpy for cancer, a possible vaccine for Type I diabetes, there's a laundry list of things that have happened due to research. It wasn't until the mid aughts that they were able to split a radiation beam multiple ways, or a chemotherapy mixture that doesn't poison the body as much.

Research is much needed, and it's results are being used. As for a cure for cancer, you can "cure" it, in the sense if you get it early and cut it out. Technically you got cured of that instance of cancer, but it doesn't prevent you from getting it again.

BOOM! Another ignore. Videosift thought of everything!

You can't cut, burn, and poison your way to health. The only cure for cancer is personal, non-delegated responsibility for one's own health.

Unknowable BILLIONS have already been spent on "cancer research" and they still don't know the first thing about cancer. Another billion or trillion ain't gonna help. The cure is free and available to all NOW. So it is with ALS.

The fact that you think there is a cure for either...

I really didn't think it would be possible to top that original comments ignorance... but wow... Well done sir...

Bollocks. Complete and utter nonsense.

There is no dietary cure for cancer. You can certainly lessen your chances of getting cancer by eating well, not drinking to excess, not smoking etc, but that you can live the healthiest life in the world and still just be unlucky.

And once you have it, no amount of vegetable enemas or crystals or homoeopathic woo will cure it.

From a dude that's had cancer twice, the doctors at Princess Margaret's Hospital are pretty confident in saying I was cured of my first instance. It required some major surgery and a ton of radiation therapy, but the odds of it coming back are below 7%. In their books, that's a cure. =)

Here's an article explaining why donating to the Komen foundation is so counter productive. http://butterbeliever.com/i-will-not-be-pinkwashed-why-i-do-not-support-susan-g-komen-for-the-cure/

Much of what is said can be applied to the ALS donations.

Anyone who isn't death within five years from the point of first diagnosis is considered 'cured' by many studies. That is to say, you could die on year six, from the dis-ease, and still be considured successfully cured. That's pretty jacked up.

And here's one more specific to ALS: http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/marijuana-in-the-management-of-als/

That's just cannabis. There are hundreds of other plants out there with equal healing capabilities. Cannabis isn't a silver bullet. It's just is sorely needed in particular in most westerners' diets thanks to the prohibition.