X-Message-Number: 22761 Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 15:25:27 -0500 From: RANDY WICKER <> Subject: Alcor politics --Boundary_(ID_BKU/G6Aqts7HGZl6iod1Mw) Content-type: text/plain; charset=Windows-1252 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Thomas Donaldson writes from Australia complaining about the lack of information regarding court cases and the internal politics of Alcor. I think any onlooker can see that Alcor is in a precarious position. Popular opinion believes people should be buried or cremated when they die. The general public feels there is something obscene about preserving people through freezing. We saw the media play to these prejudices with the coverage of how Ted Williams head was removed from his body. That was considered "horrible" by the media. Yet burning a person up and turning them into nothing but ashes is considered "proper". As a human cloning activist I have had mixed relationships with the people at Alcor. These have ranged from supportative (on the part of Fred Chamberlain) to hostile (on the part of spokesmen during the Ted Williams debate). I strongly support Alcor and the right of anyone to choose cryonics. I can even understand why Alcor has to tread carefully and not become involved in too many issues at one time. Government officials are poised to jump at any opportunity to put them out of business. My experiences with Alcor are detailed in an article I did regarding the Ted Williams debate which is one of the first few articles under "History of the Movement" at www.clonerights.com Having researched this episode in depth, I was amazed at how the media sided with a daughter who Ted Williams had not contact with in his later life and whom he said he considered "to be dead" against a devoted son who cared for him and organized his life around keeping his father happy in his declining years. Randolfe H. Wicker Founder, Clone Rights United Front www.clonerights.com Spokesperson, Reproductive Cloning Network, www.reproductivecloning.net Former CEO, Human Cloning Foundation, www.humancloning.org 212-255-1439 (3 to 9 Eastern Standard Time) 201-656-3280 (Mornings) --Boundary_(ID_BKU/G6Aqts7HGZl6iod1Mw) Content-type: text/html; charset=Windows-1252 [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22761