45 replies to this topic

[Shannon Vyff]

I created this as a anti-cryonics petition was also started at Care2 and I thought that those who support cryonics should have a space where they can let their feelings be knows Thank you, and please feel free to share it with any groups you feel would be interested http://www.thepetiti...choose-cryonics

[brokenportal]

I signed. This is a great cryonics support petition to sign. I hope every body does. Stop by the wednesday brainstorm meeting and maybe we can come up with more ways to promote it.

This is also an awsome petition site. I didnt realize something that could work so great for petitions like this existed. Now its got me thinking, the Coalition to Extend Life, (CEL) life extension lobby site has a petition here: http://coalitiontoex...fOneMillion.doc but as far as I can tell they dont have it set up at a petition site like that. You have to email or send it in the mail.

Hopefully we'll be able to get a hold of CEL soon and see if theyve got it set up somewhere like that, and if not then get one going. We could really build a good effort around getting signatures through a thepetitionsite.com version at the weekly cel meeting. It would give the meeting something more to focus on. Stay tuned for that everybody, the meeting is every monday at 2pm cst time 8pm gmt time. You can find it and its link in the meetings here, imminst.org/meetings Print that schedule out and post it by your computer everybody. Ideas are really coming together in there.

It reminds me of the quote, "Innovation occurs for many reasons, including greed, ambition, conviction, happenstance, acts of nature, mistakes, and desperation. But one force above all seems to facilitate the process. The easier it is to communicate, the faster change happens." James Burke, Connections

Edited by brokenportal, 12 November 2008 - 06:55 AM.

[Shannon Vyff]

Here is the link for Wednesdays meeting 4:00 - 8:00 PM CST (10:00 PM - 2:00 AM GMT) :

[JediMasterLucia]

I signed.

I think people should have the freedom to choose cryonics.

[s123]

I've signed and invited some friends to do the same.

I wish Shannon good luck with her petition and I hope that a lot of people sign it.

[VictorBjoerk]

I've signed

[drus]

I signed it! I just want to say that this concerns me greatly, and not only as a cryonicist. If this crazy pro-death mentality prevails, what's next? Manditory suicide at 35?! Good job Shannon, I'm with you 1000%!!!

[bacopa]

I signed the petition too!

[NoDoubt]

I signed the petition. We reached the hundred signature. let's go to the thousand!

[Ben]

Signed!! Go for it! Very easy.

[Aphrodite]

I signed it :-)

[numbered]

i signed as well.

[quadclops]

I'm signer number 146!

Thanks for the opp Shannon!

[jCole]

/signed

148

[CryoBurger]

I'm signer number 146!

Thanks for the opp Shannon!

I will sign too. But I also read Care2's petition to regulate cryonics (which sounds like a great idea to me also). That petition states that a bill was almost passed in Arizona to require Alcor to be regulated, but the politicians involved started gettin death threats from people at Alcor. So the bill was squashed and never revived. Er ... reanimated.

http://www.thepetiti...ryonics-freeted

"Shortly before the bill came to a vote, Representative Stump pulled it, himself. Stump killed the legislation that would regulate Alcor because he started receiving death threats. "They had a ruthless campaign," Bob Stump said in a newspaper interview. "I not a glutton for punishment." One phone call was so serious, Stump felt so personally threatened, that he referred it to the Capitol Police.

Several months later, a newspaper article read, "Disciples of cryonics" do not suffer critics well. Just ask Arizona State Rep. Bob Stump. He received threatening messages last year because he sponsored a bill that would have established state regulatory authority over Alcor Life Extension Foundation, the Scottsdale facility that is the cold graveyard of baseball immortal Ted Williams." After that, Stump said he had "no plans" to bring the bill back to life.

How can a cult following like Alcor become so powerful that they can successfully threaten lawmakers into submission? This is not the way America is supposed to work. This is not justice."



What on earth is that all about?

Edited by CryoBurger, 01 August 2009 - 07:10 AM.

[brokenportal]

Well, there are fringe people in every organization, around every concept. Alcor is not a cult, or unjust. If anybody is a cult or unjust it is the propogators of the people who put formeldahyde manicans in mock beds, and burn peoples dna, their only hopes of continued life, for all eternity. Sure, maybe many people cant be brought back, be reanimated, but one thing is for sure, no ash scattered by the wind is going to be reanimated any time soon.

[Luke Parrish]

What on earth is that all about?

It's a bit scary and sad that there is a petition to kill Ted Williams (or kill his chances at any rate) because they think that will be a better treatment than trying to keep him alive. His kids who lived with him said (and the remaining kid still says) that he believed in cryonics and wanted to be cryopreserved. His son John Henry is also cryopreserved now, after enduring huge amounts of derision and insults from the media. Oddly enough, he is the only celebrity to have the courage to do this so far. Perhaps he has already saved some lives by inspiring others to follow his lead. I hope though that the next celebrity who does this chooses to make their wishes VERY CLEAR well in advance of their death. Larry King has expressed some interest -- let's hope he was sincere about that and follows through.

As to the death threats, it's not particularly surprising to notice that people who feel their chances of survival are threatened sometimes panic and do crazy things. Regulations of the wrong sort could be a big threat to cryonics -- leading to people losing the chance of survival that it gives. On the other hand, if well-constructed, some kinds of regulations could be beneficial... For example, if hospitals (and especially physicians who declare death) were required to cooperate with cryonics standby teams it might be helpful.

[Sillewater]

I signed it.

[CryoBurger]

Luke -

So you dont think its a money thing that motivated the death threats then?

There's a difference between a dumb hick in the back woods of Arizona's mountains with his rifle calling the politician and threatening him ... and Alcor or someone tied to them doing the threatening. one reminds me of weird fringe wackos, the other reminds me of corporate intrigue...

Isnt there a general concensus out there that you dont f*** with alcor? Spooky ...

[Cyberbrain]

Signed it.

[Mind]

It is truly a life and death matter cryoburger. It is not spooky that people are passionate about preserving their lives. Once a person is de-animated (cryopreserved), they are at the mercy of the animated (living). If you look back at the history of the Arizona bill, it seemed to be driven by a competing industry - morticians & the funeral board. Imminst members wrote passionate and respectful letters. I can't recall if I wrote a letter. I think I just wrote emails. I was probably the most unhinged, yet I only urged we should sue, legislate, and protest to keep cryonics a legal option for free people.

[CryoBurger]

It is truly a life and death matter cryoburger. It is not spooky that people are passionate about preserving their lives. Once a person is de-animated (cryopreserved), they are at the mercy of the animated (living). If you look back at the history of the Arizona bill, it seemed to be driven by a competing industry - morticians & the funeral board. Imminst members wrote passionate and respectful letters. I can't recall if I wrote a letter. I think I just wrote emails. I was probably the most unhinged, yet I only urged we should sue, legislate, and protest to keep cryonics a legal option for free people.

Keep it legal? According to the person in my link above, it's legality nor any damaging ideas were part of the bill. They just wanted it regulated. Quality assurance. Rules. Proper, safe, legal protocols put in place. What's there to protest unless something shady is going on? Unless the person who wrote the petition is lying, cryonics as a service wasn't going to be harmed in any way. It was just going to put an end to the rogue nature in which it apparently currently is operated. Seems like something that would benefit us. Which is why I assumed death threats came from those who didn't want to be regulated. Not from the general public.

[Transcentity]

I believe that cryonics should be available to anyone of ages 60 and up or to those suffering from a currently incurable terminal illness. Petition signed!

[Shannon Vyff]

I believe that cryonics should be available to anyone of ages 60 and up or to those suffering from a currently incurable terminal illness. Petition signed!

Thanks for signing! There are still more signatures on the pro-cryonics petition than the anti-cryonics petition, even with Larry Johnson's new book out

anti-cryonics petition:

http://www.thepetiti...ryonics-freeted

pro-cryonics petition:

http://www.thepetiti...choose-cryonics

[immorta]

i signed it and i'll recommend it in my 1000+ members cryonics mailing list (in russian)
http://subscribe.ru/...health.cryonics

[Berserker]

Its not against cryonics, its just to regulise then and investigate the case of Ted Williams...

"Petition

We the undersigned hereby petition the United States Congress, Arizona State Congress, Florida State Congress, Arizona Attorney General and Florida Attorney General to initiate the following:

1. Fully investigate the circumstances surrounding the disposition of the body of Ted Williams and consider ALL of the evidence. Federal and State law enforcement and lawmakers need to address some of the unethical and possibly illegal practices of this pseudo-science called "cryonics."

2. Regulate the practice of cryonics. If cryonics is to be considered a legitimate practice in the United States, it must be tightly regulated and monitored in order to avoid the tragic result and violation of an individual's last wish. If it can happen to Ted Williams, then it can surely happen to anyone unless tighter controls are put into place.

Thank you for your consideration."

Edited by Berserker, 20 October 2009 - 11:13 AM.

[Shannon Vyff]

Thanks Immorta, and Berserker-there is a long story there, but Larry Johnson wants cryonics to be under the regulation of the Funeral Home Industry, and Alcor would like to have cryonics be under its own regulation, at it currently is. Having just that section of the "con" petition is a bit misleading, also the circumstances surrounding the disposition of the body of Ted Williams have been thoroughly investigated, the court has found no wrong doing, and has ordered Larry Johnson to stop using information from his time of working at Alcor (Larry Johnson worked there a year after Ted Williams was preserved, and took photos from Alcor without permission--the whole story is on Alcor's site http://www.alcor.org...s/response.html ). I support the current regulation of cryonics, and its development--not some of the more stringent ideas Larry Johnson has proposed (such as doing autopsy on all individuals currently preserved, and having cryonics facilities be essentially cemeteries). Right now Alcor has higher standards and is the industry leader in the field of cryonics, I support keeping it that way.

[Shannon Vyff]

I've heard the following quotes from the "anti" petition are unfounded, and also I know that cryonicists do not fall under any definition of a cult, as a UU with 10 years of teaching religious education and having read of many cults, it is sort of like "name calling" and is tantamount to libelist to call Alcor members cultists in my opinion.

Shortly before the bill came to a vote, Representative Stump pulled it, himself. Stump killed the legislation that would regulate Alcor because he started receiving death threats. "They had a ruthless campaign," Bob Stump said in a newspaper interview. "I not a glutton for punishment." One phone call was so serious, Stump felt so personally threatened, that he referred it to the Capitol Police.



Several months later, a newspaper article read, "Disciples of cryonics" do not suffer critics well. Just ask Arizona State Rep. Bob Stump. He received threatening messages last year because he sponsored a bill that would have established state regulatory authority over Alcor Life Extension Foundation, the Scottsdale facility that is the cold graveyard of baseball immortal Ted Williams." After that, Stump said he had "no plans" to bring the bill back to life.



How can a cult following like Alcor become so powerful that they can successfully threaten lawmakers into submission? This is not the way America is supposed to work. This is not justice.

[handschar]

Signed. Thank you for providing a link to the petition.

[Grail]

Signed.

Why so few signatures?