so uh thanks i guess to Kenny Ng and Avin Gupta for both nominating me to do this thing. i didnt say anything in the video itself because honestly, i knew i needed to say something fairly meaningful but i hadnt figured out what that was going to be until now. so before i go on, a few words that you can feel free to skip because im mad embarrassed to talk seriously about anything... ALS is a scary disease. people with ALS are basically trapped in their own bodies; in the later stages of the disease, almost all voluntary muscles are paralyzed and even respiratory functions are severely limited, but mental functions are largely left intact. so towards the end, you can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel, but you cant move or react to anything that happens. ill say it again; ALS is a scary disease. so yeah, i think its great that people are raising awareness and donating to a good cause. i think people like anthony carbajal ( https://youtube/watch?v=h07OT8p8Oik ) have every right to take advantage of the fact that, for once, the ALS community has the spotlight. so donate away! people with this disease deserve a better chance, and youre all doing a damn good deed by helping that happen. please dont think your job is done, though. dont wash your hands off with ice water and then walk away feeling great about yourself. ALS is a frightening disease that affects an additional 2 in every 100,000 people every year. AIDS is a frightening disease with more than 400 in every 100,000 people diagnosed with HIV as of 2008 and an annual incidence rate of about 2.5 in every 100,000 people. cancer is a frightening disease that affects almost 500 in every 100,000 people every year (thats 473.4 NEW CASES per 100,000 annually as of 2013), and kills about 165 of those people every year. ebola is a frightening disease that... okay im not getting into that here. im just... im not saying we should do an ice bucket challenge for a new disease every month and im not saying you should drop a benjamin on every deadly plague out there. im just saying that, even though you did something good, it doesnt mean you can nod to yourself in satisfaction and strut away victorious. theres a lot more to do out there and most of it depends on us. in the eternal words of Princess Leia Organa Solo: Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; youre my only hope. also i nominate Jay Vat Anth Son, Roshni Shah, and Peter D Chi. and Alicia Wu nominates Krystle Koe, Gilbert Pan, and the Crystal/Kevin symbiote. also just so you guys know i wasnt pulling numbers out of my ass: alsa.org/about-als/facts-you-should-know.html cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/statistics_geographic_distribution.pdf onlinelibrary.wiley/doi/10.3322/caac.21166/pdf im a little iffy about that ALS link but like whatever. also: alsa.org/donate/ aidsresearch.org/donate adarc.org/online_giving_720.html (okay you should probably use the link above but... i work here okay) https://donate.cancer.org/index
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 00:10:47 +0000
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