X-Message-Number: 33211 Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:33:45 -0500 From: Subject: Re: Darwin's "Urgent" message on CryoNet I want voice my support for Cold Filter moderator Jonathan Hinek: http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/ I think that Mike Darwin was unfair and wrong to identify Cold Filter as the source of the recent spate of anti-cryonics venom. The cryonics thread of the "Cult Education Forum" was started by Larry Johnson, and is mostly maintained by the anti-cryonicists "The AntiCult" and "Richiekgb" (Richie Arnold). Richie Arnold, who is a cook in a North London pub called "The Assembly House" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8194854.stm http://bit.ly/hI8FOz deserves the greatest "credit" for the current spate of anti-cryonics invective. He is an individual who has contempt for intellectual, scientific, or "academic" exchange, preferring to operate on the "emotional level" (as he describes it) which in practice means finding and fabricating material for character assassination and personal attack. Richie hated cryonics from the get-go, which for Richie, meant the desire to express his hatred on a personal level: http://bit.ly/ha7Qn5 . Richie was in no way influenced to begin his hate campaign by Cold Filter. It would have happened if Cold Filter had never existed. Mike Darwin's claim that the attackers are justifying their attacks by a desire to improve cryonics may apply to Larry Johnson and Melody Maxim, but it most certainly does not apply to Richie Arnold. Richie makes no bones about his desire to harm cryonics as much as he can, and in whatever way that he can. Once again, I appreciate the efforts of Jonathan Hinek in creating and maintaining Cold Filter. I hold him blameless and give him credit for creating that forum for open dialog. I am glad to see that Cold Filter is currently no longer a place filled with "flaming" and personal invective -- and I don't blame him for the fact that this happened so much in the past. Open communication means freedom to do harm as well as freedom to do good. -- Ben Best Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=33211