Limbaugh mocks Fox's movements at 1:02, and Fox's 2004 campaign ad for Arlen Spector (a Republican who supports stem cell research) is at 3:27.

Not only does Rush sound like an idiot, he looks like one even more.

limbaugh also is quoted as saying:
"I have gotten a plethora of e-mails from people saying Michael J. Fox has admitted in interviews that he goes off his medication for Parkinson's disease when he appears before Congress or other groups as a means of illustrating the ravages of the disease."

not surprisingly, i wound up fruitless after my internet search for evidence of such.

Try the book.

Once again, Fox going off his meds would mean he would FREEZE UP, not have more movements.

If Fox did deliberately go off his meds, he would still have trouble speaking, only having to force or be unable to move & speak instead of not being able to control himself. Parkinsons' tremors aren't predictable in their frequency or severity, so over and under-medicating happens often.

Are you deliberately trying to look like an ass, Wump? You don't have a radio show you're trying to get ratings for, are you?

not sure what 'book' you are referencing, wumpus ... as no link was provided ... so i will have to assume that you meant michael j fox's Lucky Man: Memoir. this book was published in april 2002 ( he was diagnosed in 1991) ... the same month as this radio interview in which he states:

Well, actually, I've been erring on the side of caution--I think 'erring' is actually the right word--in that I've been medicating perhaps too much, in the sense that a lot of times the symptoms that people see in some of these interviews that have been on are actually dyskinesia, which is a reaction to the medication. Because if I were purely symptomatic with Parkinson's symptoms, a lot of times speaking is difficult. There's a kind of a cluttering of speech and it's very difficult to sit still, to sit in one place. You know, the symptoms are different, so I'd rather kind of suffer the symptoms of dyskinesia. . .this kind of weaving and this kind of continuous thing is much preferable, actually, than pure Parkinson's symptoms. So that's what I generally do.

this is almost what he says 4 years later in his interview with katie couric ... an understanding of PD and consequent side effects of medication to treat it (dyskinesia) would greatly increase someone's ability to debate this issue.

There is a difference between "stem cell research" and "embryonic stem cell research." Various conditions have been treated with some success with stem cells from adults. Literally nothing has been accomplished with stem cells from aborted feti. Opposing using embryos is not the same as opposing research or not caring about suffering.

Nice try, Gov. wallace - but that particular right-wing talking point is easily dismissed via Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell#Embryonic_Stem_Cells

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, which is an early stage embryo - approximately 4 to 5 days old in humans - consisting of 50-150 cells. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. In other words, they can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body when given sufficient and necessary stimulation for a specific cell type. When given no stimuli for differentiation, ESCs will continue to divide in vitro and each daughter cell will remain pluripotent. The pluripotency of ESCs distinguishes them from adult stem cells or progenitor cells, the latter two only having the capacity to form a more limited number of different cell types.

Because of their unique combined abilities of unlimited expansion and pluripotency, embryonic stem cells are a potential source for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. To date, no approved medical treatments have been derived from embryonic stem cell research. This is not unusual for a new medical research field; in this case, the first human embryonic stem cell line was only reported in 1998.

"There is a difference between "stem cell research" and "embryonic stem cell research." Various conditions have been treated with some success with stem cells from adults. Literally nothing has been accomplished with stem cells from aborted feti. Opposing using embryos is not the same as opposing research or not caring about suffering. "

There it is, the distinction noone is willing to make.

What it essentially boils down to is which side of the abortion issue you're on. Either an embryo is a human being or it isn't. If it is, then embryonic research is the same as human experimentation, or go a step further and call it experimentation on children. Adult stem cell research is perfectly legal in Missouri, and there are a number of leading hospitals that perform this research. Amendment 2 would not criminalize stem cell research like Fox says it will.

Easily dismissed via . . . Wikipedia? Please. I'd also ask you to note the word "potential" in your own source.

Wikipedia is not a credible source in and of itself. If you try to cite it for any kind of legitimate scientific paper you'll get laughed out of the building. There is a difference is stem cells, but I don't think anyone here can appreciate that distinction, and I don't have the credentials to discuss it with authority.

As for Limbaugh's claim that Fox was acting because he was able to maintain eye contact with the camera, the pathways in the brain that go to the oculomotor nerve are different than those that go to spinal motor neurons, at least as far as I recall from my neuroscience class last spring.

Most Americans are in favor of increased stem cell research, and disapprove of Bush's handling of it. Source Polls.

> Limbaugh mocks Fox's movements

Here's hoping for Extreme Karma

"There is a difference between "stem cell research" and "embryonic stem cell research." Various conditions have been treated with some success with stem cells from adults. Literally nothing has been accomplished with stem cells from aborted feti. Opposing using embryos is not the same as opposing research or not caring about suffering."

First embryonic stem cells do not come from aborted fetuses. Second, name one disease or injury that has been cured by adult stem cells. Third, back to your argument that nothing has been accomplished with ESC, that is because thanks to Bush's restrictions, there are only a limited number of ESC lines available for research, none of which can be used in humans trials because they have become contaminated with other feeder cells.

"Amendment 2 would not criminalize stem cell research like Fox says it will."

Nobody said amendment 2 would criminalize stem cell research. Fox said Tenent supported criminalizing ESC research.

" Easily dismissed via . . . Wikipedia? Please. I'd also ask you to note the word "potential" in your own source."

So your against research that shows potential? The Wikipedia article is correct, but if you won't believe it, try this source from the NIH:

"Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggests, are derived from embryos. Specifically, embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not derived from eggs fertilized in a woman's body. The embryos from which human embryonic stem cells are derived are typically four or five days old and are a hollow microscopic ball of cells called the blastocyst. The blastocyst includes three structures: the trophoblast, which is the layer of cells that surrounds the blastocyst; the blastocoel, which is the hollow cavity inside the blastocyst; and the inner cell mass, which is a group of approximately 30 cells at one end of the blastocoel."

"Blastocyst — A preimplantation embryo of about 150 cells. The blastocyst consists of a sphere made up of an outer layer of cells (the trophectoderm), a fluid-filled cavity (the blastocoel), and a cluster of cells on the interior (the inner cell mass)."

Also from the same NIH article:

"V. What are the similarities and differences between embryonic and adult stem cells?

Human embryonic and adult stem cells each have advantages and disadvantages regarding potential use for cell-based regenerative therapies. Of course, adult and embryonic stem cells differ in the number and type of differentiated cells types they can become. Embryonic stem cells can become all cell types of the body because they are pluripotent. Adult stem cells are generally limited to differentiating into different cell types of their tissue of origin. However, some evidence suggests that adult stem cell plasticity may exist, increasing the number of cell types a given adult stem cell can become.

Large numbers of embryonic stem cells can be relatively easily grown in culture, while adult stem cells are rare in mature tissues and methods for expanding their numbers in cell culture have not yet been worked out. This is an important distinction, as large numbers of cells are needed for stem cell replacement therapies.

We can kill hundreds of thousands of people in an illegal war and be just.

To use something for the benefit of others that will "die" anyway and can't even be proven to be a sentient being is moraly wrong?

What the hell...

/edit - On topic. MJF is a trooper, I would have gone apeshit on Rush.

Some YouTube producer out there should really crank out a parody ad with (an actor as) Rush being a complete asshole about Fox because he is unable to get enough Oxycotin, thus promoting the election of a GOP candidate that will make it easier for right wing talk show hosts to get Oxycotin.

Then they should have Fox say that he thinks that Limbaugh was only pretending to be an asshole, to promote his pro-Oxycotin political agenda.

Then he should say that Limbaugh was only being used as a pawn of the GOP.

this is my opinion only, and i'm going out on a limb seeing as it's a touchy subject here, but since when is a collection of 150 or so cells with the potential to form human parts, considered a human being? unless of course i'm just a sphere, filled with cells of no particular distinction, and fluid?

just because i have cells in my body that have the potential to be cancerous, does not mean i have cancer.
the arguement that human life starts at conception is purely spiritual, not scientific in the least.

oh, and rush is a moron who deserves an extreme karmic return.

oh rush, go take a pill...

Actually Ladybug, its too much medication that causes him to convulse and shake like he does. When they don't take medication, its difficult for them to move.

bnsa is right, Parkinson's suppresses the nervous firing that allows us to move. The drugs activate it, but since it's imperfect, such anomalies can be seen.

Wallace wrote (trimmed for brevity):

There is a difference between "stem cell research" and "embryonic stem cell research." [...] Literally nothing has been accomplished with stem cells from aborted feti. [...]

*nominate

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Nov 9,

JOE SCARBOROUGH: He moved around for a couple of seconds, and as you and I have both said, we all screw up, we all make mistakes. This guy talks three hours a day. We made a mistake, and I'll say it right here, we made a mistake when I was out in Las Vegas doing a show. We actually ran that on a loop for probably five, ten seconds making it look like he was doing it for a lot longer than he did and we weren't alone, of course. When we came back and found out, we didn't do it again.

*dead

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