X-Message-Number: 1665 Date: 23 Jan 93 02:18:49 EST From: Saul Kent <> Subject: CRYONICS: Reply To Carlos Mondragon Carlos says that one reason he opposed (unsuccessfully) the "politicalization of Alcor" this past year is because: "'Politics is a brew in which the dregs rise to the top.'" The major political issue in Alcor last year was the question of whether Carlos should remain as President of Alcor or be replaced by Steve Bridge. Alcor has always been a political organization. Until last year, however, Alcor politics was almost entirely an "inside" affair among a few of Alcor's directors, staff, and local members. In 1992, however, participation in Alcor politics expanded to include a greater number of Alcor members, including some from outlying areas. My suggestion that it might be desirable for the relatives of suspension patients to play a role in their long-term care refers solely to relatives who are suspension members themselves, and where adequate funding has been provided. With Cryospan's patients in the 1960s, most of the relatives were *not* suspension members, nor was there adequate funding for their long-term care. My statement that I would again be in favor of mounting a legal challenge against relatives trying to steal a patient's money and take legal control over his suspended body was in response to Dave Pizer's inference that we shouldn't have mounted a legal challenge against Dick Jones' relatives. With regard to the case itself, I would certainly be in favor of doing a number of things differently today than we did in the Jones case. Saul Kent Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1665