ALCOR UNITED-- 00-- thread on Alcor democracy

[+]

TRIPPER MCCARTHY-- 03-- Alcor mysteries vs. bylaw

Tripper seems to be the technical support guy behind Pizer, but Tripper himself has much to say about Alcor. He's articutling concerns I've had. Tripper wonders why nobody has called Alcor on these problems. I know why. Because the media we use hasn't allowed it. Witness this periodical indexed blog. This is the way to write online so that lines of thoughts are not lost.

Tripper is a main guy-- with Dave-- behind the Alcor democracy idea-- and the main point there at this time-- involves the mystery of the original bylaw calling for a Director Electorate. Nobody has come right out and made that the centerpiece of collective research and comentary-- although I'm trying.

My feeling is that Tripper and DAve are in more private communication in an email group-- but not reporting to the outer world-- which is where I like to be-- in more ways than one-- I don't like to be privy to private emails-- I like to be out the OUTSIDE where I can see what pops up publicly so that I'm ALWAYS free to comment without hesitation or having to burden myself with what is confidential and what isn't.

I also have the feelign that the discovery of the Electorate was a surprise. And that it's very dangerous-- and that people are trying to backpeddle and hide that.... Tripper included. The truth is that the original bylaw needs to be publicly discussed-- and possibly adhereed to. Dave himself raised the posstibility that all boards since that bylaw was not followed have been illegal. That's strong language-- But DAve hasn't followed up on it... at least publicly.

Personally, I don't care if the board elects itself for the next 10 years-- but at the same time-- we should all participate in an ongoing investigation about the real history of the byalwa so that we can work toward it's implementation at a practical time in the future-- just as Fred said. Fred founded Alcor-- so he would agree with me on this. I don't need private email to confirm that-- just a good ability to reason.

Tripper needs an alphabetical blog llike this one. he's got lots to say, but it gets lost. His reform alcor forum is too "busy" and has not alphabetcial index like a book. Books were invetned a long time ago-- and many have indexes to help readers find stuff. Surely tripper hasn't tripped so much that he can't see that. Heres's his post at CF [+]

ED SWANK-- ACS-- 00-- suggestions

[+] Swank makes a brazen pitch to join ACS in the same post as analysing Alcor's problem. He also suggests alternatives-- that ignore the central feature of the Alcor problem-- that being the existence of the bylaw calling for a Director Electorate. Activity on Cryonet on this has been minimal and Cold Filter actitivy has dropped to nothing. ReformAlcor is simply too byzantine to follow. Dave Pizer doesn't update his blog there which would be the best way for him to update us on the situation.

ASCHWIN DEWOLF-- 00-- FD refers to in CF

[+] The reformalcor site will, in my view, go nowhere. Alcor will remain as a self-electing board. Here is some noise by DeWold, anyway.

501c3 STATUS-- 01-- Merkle invokes potential 501c3 problem

The issue of Alcor Democracy first raised by Dave Pizer in January 2008 and which led to CPlatt's uncovering of the original Alcor bylaw calling for a Director Electorate has become, in my mind, such a hot potato, that we now face an existential question here. I just noticed that Ralph Merkle, a board member currently I believe, raised the issue of the 501c3 implications if the way the board was elected were changed.

QUOTE
MERKLE SAID: Significant modifications to the Alcor Bylaws might have an impact on Alcor's 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, as well as have other legal and operational ramifications. As a consequence, prior to making any significant change(s) in the Bylaws, it is necessary to discuss the nature and extent of changes with someone qualified specifically in non profit tax law so that we might anticipate any potentially adverse ruling by the IRS. Historically, changes to the Bylaws have been infrequent because of the care and expense required. This is not to say that they are either impossible or undesirable — but they need to be carefully and calmly evaluated. (delete)
UNQUOTE
Source [+]

My comment-- What Merkle thinks is true in the case where you change the bylaw could also be true in the LATEST NEW INFORMATION revealed by CPlatt that the ORIGINAL bylaw was ALREADY over-ridden-- and that the way to preserve 501c3 is to RETURN to the original bylaw. The 501c3 status is crucial to the existence of Alcor apparently-- I've never fully understood it-- but it's apparnetly true. This would explain the silence on this matter. We're dealing with something fundametnal to Alcor's very existence.

EMAIL GROUP-- 00-- I'll form my own email group here.

Everyone on this list has publicly put their email out there-- I haven't published any confidential emails.

Keith Henson hkhendson@rogers.com


I won't likely have time to actually do this-- but then again I might. Still the world finanical system is crashing and so it's rediculous to engage in this right now-- and I have house repairs and other things I have to do. I think what will REALLY happen is the board will continue to re-elect itself and pizer led democracy movmenet and bylaw research will go nowhere-- as it did twice in previous years-- because we're all suffering from the crazy ass shit going on in the world.

KEITH HENSON-- 04-- More history confusing.

I view Keith Henson as a poor writer. He has now decided to disappear. [+]. His attitude revolves around how people behave. if he reoriented himself to the truth-- and use an alphabetical blog like I do-- to convey his view, he would have traction and be happier. He has a huge history in cryonics. Rather than perish, I'd like to see him publish.

PETITION-- 00-- ReformAlcor guest book hidden

The Guestbook on the Reform Alcor site-- initiated by Dave Pizer-- with what appears to be technical support by Tripper McCarthy-- has a lot of signess-- that' I've only now just discovered. [+]

I think that the Reform Alcor site is a mess-- and so I'll simply track it from here-- where there is an alphatical index.

COLD FILTER-- 02-- Following Monday shows slowdown in posting.

I've watched Cold Filter for a long time-- I was instrumental in creating it-- and I've detected it's ups and downs-- in terms of usage. Suddenly with this revelation by CPlatt about the bylaw in Alcor's past, we see a very noticable slowdown in posting that has continued. I would imagine that people are a bit freaked out and scared. The higher profile Alcor members who DO make the effort to appear online publicly have tended to try to dismiss the bylaw or redirect attntion. Dave Pizer keeps bringing it back into the center, however... which is interesting.

CONTINUUM-- 00-- My blog tracking before this specialiized blog

Here are the posts in my general blog on this before I created this specialized blog...

CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 32-- Kidnapped story is radical writing (1)
CRYONICS-- ALCOR-- democracy-- Pizer-- 00 (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 001-- existential problem (1)
CRYONICS-- ALCOR-- democracy-- Pizer-- 01-- Cryonet archive (1)
CRYONICS-- ALCOR-- democracy-- PIZER-- 02-- FD has no rights (1)
CRYONICS-- ALCOR-- democracy-- PIZER-- 03-- VanSickle scared. (1)
CRYONICS-- ALCOR-- democracy-- Pizer-- 04-- CryoNet banning complaints (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 05-- Cold Filter-- NormalFell (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 06-- ColdFilter users (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 07-- Miss Crabapple (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 08-- Pizer banned (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 09-- FD supports Pizer (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 10-- Dave on Cold Filter (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 11-- refounding (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 12-- Alcor United thread (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 13-- Dave's Blog? (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 14-- refounding (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 15-- Merkle responds (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 16-- Maxim points out expertise paradox (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 17-- this is rediculous (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 18-- fair (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 19-- polling (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 20-- 50 people i (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 21-- New website? (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 22-- Tracking blog (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 23-- campaign continues chaotically (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 24-- CPlatt's recollection (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 25-- Henson on Platt's inside knowledge (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 26-- Bridge's overview 2-11-08 (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 27-- FD suggests archive (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 28-- FD pleads to Alcor board on (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 29-- court reference (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 30-- Seeming response on ReformAlcor site (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- democracy-- Pizer-- 31-- Maxim weighs in (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- Dy-- 33-- CPlatt finds original democratic set up (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- Dy-- 34-- FD denies director electorate history (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- dy-- 35-- DPizer points to by-law change (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- dy-- 36-- CPlatt's line of though trumps Bridge-FD (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- dy-- 37-- Zeroing in on eliminating Director Electorate (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- dy-- 38-- We're not done with the history of this (1)
CRYONICS-- Alcor-- dy-- 39-- Blog allows up to 100 authors (1)

[+] Go to my general blog and scroll down in the index.

PRIVATE EMAIL GROUP-- 01-- I asked to be deleted from the group

I was put on a private email group list to discuss Alcor reform but I asked to be removed because it got into some details that, as a very publicly vocal person, I didn't want to be privy to. I'm not good at differentiating private and public information. I'd rather be cut off from the internal email group and watch things develop from the outside where I catch only the public information. That way, I cannot possibly be accused of exposing private information. The email group is led by Dave Pizer. I don't know if it's still in operation.

TRIPPER MCCARTHY-- 02-- Back to the real issue post on CF

McCarther tries to refocus public readers on what he deems "the real issue"-- not realizing that the "real issue" has been trumped by "the bylaw issue"? [+].

The bylaw issue is so serious that someone said it could "rip Alcor apart". I don't think it would do that-- since the truth is always better than fiction-- and it's therefore likely to reorient Alcor on a more integrated foundation. Tripper McCathy doesn't want to rock the boat and attempts to create an alternative "review process" which gives me MEGO (my-eyes-glaze-over).

The problem in front of Alcor right now is a "review process"-- to be sure-- but a review of the bylaw. Immediately.

CRYONET-- Cryonics discussions on Alcor bylaws

[+]

NEW STRATEGY-- 01-- I'll be containing my views

I'm containing my view starting now.

STEVE BRIDGE-- 00-- Intense research on the matter of self-electing boards

[+] Steve Bridge, ex-Alcor president, has done some intense research on the matter of how boards are selected-- and the overall curvature of his input here-- is to imply that we're better off-- with a self-electing board-- even though he tries to couch his comment in a neutral tone and stance.

Steve, in my view, is very good at using his "civil tone" and his "friendly" angle-- to lead people down his path-- away from the PRIMARY contentious issue-- in this case-- the Alcor bylaw that calls for a Director electorate that was originally overridden purely for practical reasons-- at the very start of Alcor-- but which was then debated in 1986, and over-ridden by Mike Darwin at that time-- and then debated again in 1997-- and over-ridden yet again-- and is being debated again NOW-- and is tending to be over-ridden again. There are people who I think simply do NOT LIKE that original bylaw by ex-alcor president and ex-alcor meber, Alcro FOUNDER Fred Chamberlain.

STeve's entire approach to this is to lead the Cold Filter reader to believe that all of this has something to do with how common or how legitimate self-electing boards are-- but this is NOT the issue. That's interesting and only APPEARS relevent to the itinerant reader-- but the central issue-- the point of contention is the thorn in the side of the current situation-defenders-- which is the provision for the Director Electorate in the original byalws as instituted in the State of California. Steve makes no refernce to this-- and therefore his post should be considered as a sort of propaganda piece-- with the INTENTION to cover up the true-- and very awesome and potentially explosive reality.

I've been asked to write nice and talk nice-- but there is NO nice way to put these things. What we're seeing here is nothing LESS than a cover-up... But at least Steve made another post about this issue, leaving me to index it-- since his post would not be findable a year from now if I didn't. Writing nice and being nice-- at the expense of truth, the whole truth-- and nothing but the truth-- is superfluous. I'd much rather see rougher language if it were approximating the truth better. Social faux pas are nothing compared to the psychological manipulation that goes on when the whole truth about something, in context, is denied. Steve Bridge, if he is to be wholly truthful, must investigate NOT the percentage of self-electing boards, but rather the background of the original bylaw providing for the Director Electorate.

KEITH HENSON-- 03-- KH defends self-electing process based on DoraKent crisis

[+] KH argues that because only the Alcor self-elected board at the time knew what to do in the Dora Kent crises, and that a board elected otherwise-- presumably by the Bylaw-Enabled Director Electorate-- that therefore the self-elected board is still the way to work today and in the future. In other words, the idea of the self-elected board proved itself in that crisis. I would argue that a Director-Electorate board would have pre-empted that crisis in the first place-- so that it would not have occurred-- and that that would be the case today and in the future.

Keith asks straightfowardly- what board members should be replaced, pretending that the debate is about that-- that's its personal-- which it is not-- it's about the original alcor bylaw and membership partipication as built into the process by the founding fathers of Alcor, Fred and Linda Chamberlain. Despite that however, I'll name Saul Kent to be replaced-- since he's the one who caused the dicey Dora Kent incident-- and who facilitated the 1994 split-- and who today leads SA Inc into direct comptetition with Alcor for the services of Alcor's own members and therefore represents a conflict of interest with Alcor. But again, that's beside the point-- it's just that KH begged for it. So there's my answer.

ALCOR-- volunteer opportunities-- Chapman should add Bylaw Research

Jennifer forgot to add-- bylaw research-- to her list of volunteer activities. [+]

SILENCE-- 03-- CryoNet under-utilized

Given the crisis sparked by the revelation of the Director Electroate in the original bylaws, the non-appearance of commentary on Cryonet is another example of silence. [=] My posts are the only ones that stand out and seem coherent on this point.

SILENCE-- 02-- Readers don't post

Dave Pizer's forum has a thread where there were over 100 reader/visitors-- and just 7 posts

QUOTE
The Legalities of Changing Alcor's Board Finance Department
7 105

UNQUOTE

This is an example of silence.

SILENCE-- 01-- Contined silence make internet obsolete

There are likely daily exchanges between some Alcor members on the matter of the history of the Director Electorate-- and daily discoveries by indepened researchers. And yet there is public silence on the "internets". (I like that misspeak by Bush-- it's so corny-- it displays a lack of understanding of what the internet is).

So here we have the greatest communications tool in history-- and what do cryonicists do? Go underground. Great. The idea that Alcor and cryonics in general needed to stay quiet or moderate the public exposure of internal debate was misguided. Somehow that idea got started several years ago-- maybe more than that-- and cryonics became far less interesting due to that. I would contend that by debating online, we would attract attention by smart people who would then get interested in cryonics.

A free society needs to be constantly worked at-- as they say, freedom isn't free. Use it or lose it. Right now, the increasing fascistic tendency in the USA is increasting-- as it does from time to time in the history of civilizations. Cryonicists really need to study history FAST- and see the upcoming election as a power grab by corporatist fascists like Schwarzenegger, Rohatyn, Schultz, Brzezinksi and OBAMA who is part of that crowd. Anyone, like Janet Napolitano, who goes along with Obama is either an agent or a dupe-- and the people lower on the political food chain-- will recognize this soon and their hero is exposed for the underground anti-patriot that he is.

The EXISTENCE of the USA and of the concept of a nation state who highest mission is the general welfare of the citizens-- as opposed to the power of an oligarchy-- which is what Napolitano is going along with (she's participating in PPP's-- public private partnerships-- which sell PUBLIC highways to private corporations -- basically theft-- GRAND theft-- a crime-- that will be reversed in Supreme Court-- with testimony provided by people from the Larouche organization which has deeper and more powerful roots in the world than people think)--

Cryonicists silence on the concerns of the world in which cryonics resides demonsttates FEAR and IGNORANCE-- as well as in some cases, COMPLICITY-- with Fascism. As well, there is a go along to get along mentality-- A lot of cryos think cryonics can survive a police state-- as long as you along wth it. These type of cryonicits represent a particular faction that I'm not part of... because I understand history. The ultimate goal of people like Prince charles and Al Gore is to REDUCE the population of the Earth to less than a billion.

For more on this, read all the back issues of EIR-- here---> [+] Espeically Mark Plus-- who is currently a buffoon when it comes to history-- who thought at one time that Americans were satiated with progress and that there is such a thing as progress fatique. This is false. What Mark fails to address is the British Empire-- which takes the form of the internatoinal financier oligarichy based in the City of London and the Cayman Islands.. where Huckabee mysteriously gave a speech recently.... Becaues the CAymen islands is where the hedge funds can operated unregulated... hedge funds are basically BETS-- huge billion dollar bets on national currencies...

Cryonicists silence on world affairs as well as on the issue of Alcor democracy-- indicates that cryonicists are effectively lobotimzed mentally ill patients in a psych ward who have NO IDEA how to get to the future-- which is what cryonics is SUPPOSED to be about.... to GET there, we need the new nuclear power plants-- see General Atomics in San Diego for an example of a good company... Most cryonicists reject FDR-- not KNOWING what FDR represented....

The MAINSTREAM of advanced civilizatoin ACTUALLY resides in the Lyndon LArouche organization which has deep roots both in the current world and in history. It represents the universe in a truthful way. The CHARLATANS and their SYNCOPHANTS are represented today by EVERYTHING you see on TV and a LOT of the papers, the RADIO and magazine-- These SEEM like varied sources but they ALL take marching orders from corporate controllers... EVEN bookstores like Barnes and Nobles take these marching orders-- We're already living in a George Orwell 1984 world in 2008-- and didn't realize it.

I'm publishing this on Blogger, owned by Google which the CIA has an apparent hand in. How long will this be allowed? Who owns Larouches' website? My outlook is that THEY --- the empire will STRIKE BACK and shut the net down-- like they did in IRAN and the middle east a few weeks ago-- UNDERRPORETED here-- they CUT undersea cables!!!!

The truth exists. The truth is out there. Let's all reorient oursevles to the truth-- and save civilziation and cryonics! Speak up. Invisibility is not equiivalent to inVINCIbility-- Dave Pizer said he's not "the leader" of the effort to democritize alcor-- so let CPlatt lead it then. if he doesn't, I will.

DIRECTOR ELECTORATE-- 05-- Alcor's search engine shows no hits

[+] Interestingly, no hits on Alcor's search engine for "electorate"-- and yet CPlatt found a document on the Alcor site that refers to it.

REFORM ALCOR.org-- 03-- Legalities of changing Alcor's board

Here's a good thread where Dave Pizer, FD and Kennita Watson are in coversation-- about changing Alcor's board. [+] I missed this one earlier because there are too many places on the ReformAlcor site to look. That thread is not being updated to accomodate the new discovery of the Director Electorate. This is typical of those types of forums. The only solution is an alphabetical blog, like this one. The online areas to check for this debate are.... in order of importance...

Dave's blog (see bottom of this page)
This blog (mine)
Cryonet
Dave's forums (look for the posts with lots of responses)
Cold Fitler
Alcor United.
Imminst.org (wowk hangs there)

FD-- 01-- Fails to contextualize properly

FD is not signed up with Alcor and consequently fails to contextualize the problem properly by noting the original bylaw. [+]

LEADERSHIP-- 01-- Dave denies leadership

I just found this on Dave Pizer's blog--

QUOTE
DAVID'S REPLY:
I am not *the* leader in this new political battle.
You can go to the website at www.reformalcor.org and
see the growing list of people who want reforms and
improvements at Alcor who have come out so far. Read
the blogs and forums and the area where people post
under "support." These are some of the people who
have been brave enough to take the first step for
themselves and for all of us.
UNQUOTE
Source [+]

My comment--

Human beings are still operating based on leaders and followers-- which is not neccessarily a bad thing. Dave thinks the "growing list" of people who want democracy at Alcor distributes his leadership on this. Not for me, it doesn't. Dave's the man. The point man-- in a dangerous new fight at Alcor.

Why are people afraid of controvesy and fights? There's nothing to fear when you're right. I know that more than most people because when I push a point, I ALWAYS make sure I'm right-- FIRST. If you're RIGHT, there's no reason to fear fights and leadership. It's a cosmological principle-- you're in fact CORRECTING the universe. What is to FEAR is allowing others to proceed in OPPOSITION to the TRUTH. Now THAT is scary.

In Alcor's case, we just had a breakthrough in discovery of the original bylaws-- and people who ought NOT fear appearing on forums in public right now-- like Fred and Mike Darwin and CPlatt-- and other board members-- have disappeared... out of fear?

Dave denies a leadership role in this. That's plain silly in my view. He started this round of -- shall we say "conversation"-- or "debate" and he was quite adamant about it-- I wasn't too interested at first because my thinking revolved aroudn the idea that Alcor has ALWAYS had a self-electing board...

THEN when CPlatt discovered Fred insitituted Alcor with a Director Electorate-- THAT changed EVERYTHING for me. Now-- Dave is on a bucking horse-- like rodeo rider... and he's a leader whether he likes it or not. As I said, there is a cosmological universal principle in human leadership. Dave walked into the "slot" or the "vacancy" in the universe on this-- one thing led to another-- and now-- there he is-- on top of this issue that has a history-- going back to Fred-- who ironicallly was dumped by Alcor for what was tantamount to management of funds at alcor regarding Cells4Life--

Fred was able to talk to CPlatt- who is not keeping us informed-- through a blog-- or on Cryonet right now-- but just becaues people aren't talking publicly doesn't mean they're not talking privately... I haven't heard anything new-- over the past day or two--

KEITH HENSON-- 02-- Incidents have nothing to do with original bylaw

FD goes to some lenght here to put Keith Henson's view into persepctive. [+]. I don't think this has anything to do with the issue. In fact, FD's raising it-- might be an intentional distraction. FD fails to mention the original bylaw-- but that could be due to poor integrated thinking on the issue-- and I already know FD has poor integratino skills, preferring to compartmentalize.

DISAPPEARING CRYONICISTS-- 01-- Cold Filter virtually abandoned.

It's now Thursday-- Feb. 21-- and there have been only 3 postings to CF-- by Pizer, FD and George. Posting has stopped on Cryonet except for a few continuing inanities-- and my posts-- which speak to the heart of the issue occurring right now-- which might be frightening some high level cryonics insiders.

The next step here is to inform the entire broad base of all cryos about the bylaw issue. Dave's blog URL should be snail mailed or emailed to everyone who listted themselves in the Alcor book-- No cryonics publication including Alcor's publications can be trusted at this point-- other than the rogue ones, like mine and Pizers.

The tension is ratcheted up a notch for every day of relative silence. It's like there's an unexploded grenade in the middle of the cryonics collective online cyberroom-- an information grenade-- People are likely emailing in private email groups-- I'm waiting for the first indications of what's going on. CPlatt should be doing daily updates at this point-- on what he sees from where he sits.

The self-electing board turns out to have been a sham in a way. Now we're going to asking-- why was this sham defended? AT this time, investigative reporting skills, private investigation skills and internet skills come together. As well, immediate notification should go out to all Alcor members-- in any way we can muster a list-- about this tense situation. This is as big an organization crisis as I've ever seen in cryonics... since I began tracking it in 1978.

TRIPPER MCCARTHY-- 01-- blog

[+]

EARLIER NOTES-- Alcor democracy on Philossifur's Continuum

[+] Scroll down to ALCOR democracy for earlier notes.

REFORM ALCOR.org-- 02-- Members may already have right to vote

[+] Dave Pizers explanation of situation.

BYLAW CHANGE-- 05-- Mike Darwin claimed responsibilty

Mike Darwin appears briefly here and there from time to time-- now we're interested in his reappearance to ask him more about his claim of responsibilty for the bylaw change as described here-- [+]

GEORGE-- 00-- takes it too far--

George pretends that Alcor has acted illegally in self electing its board. [+] This is going too far because Fred already told CPlatt that the board elected itself in the early days due to Alcro being so small. The director electorate wasn't practical. So the tradition of a self-electing board was in place-- presumably until Alcor was big enough-- which seemed to be in 1985 and in 1994 when this issue was raised... although it hasn't been seen yet if the original bylaws were referred to in those debates in those years. What we'd be looking for NOW is a third major round of debate to look at the problem-- with DEFINITE referene to the original bylaw-- and consultation from Fred on this. I'd like see the Director Electorate instituted NOW-- given that it IS practical now. THAT's enough of a legal battle without getting into George's retro-battle... Is George even signed up with Alcor?

COLD FILTER-- FD-- 00-- once again, takes the wrong route

FD pretends that this can be done without a legal fight. [+]-- as though legal fights are bad. Legal fights are good. They clear the air. In this case, we are now faced with no choice in legal fighting. FD's idea that the board will give in and open up to democracy is nieve-- it confirms my suspicioun that this is a girl.

FD is wrong to think that this is going to proceed via a fresh start. This will not proceed by fresh start. This will proceed from the ByLaw that referred to the Director Electorate. It involves history. FD doesn't like history-- FD doens't even like American history-- Fd has shown indications of being treasonous in attitude-- I basically don't LIKE FD-- Hope I never meet him or her-- FD is not signed up... and I would even suggest everyone abandon CF-- because neither FD nor Hinek are signed up.

FD is misleading when she states that there might be a way through this with no legal fight-- and she's misleading when she suggests that we can start fresh. She's wrong on all counts.

ALCOR-- board meetings-- 01-- March meeting promises tension

The next board meeting in March-- I have to check the date-- will be VERY interesting because this entire situation is likely to be on the agenda. It was debated in 1985 and in 1997-- this represents the 3rd major round-- but this time-- there is that original bylaw reference to Director Electorate... which does not appear to have been raised before. It would be interesting if Fred Chamberlain were called in (flown in) to "testify". Dave Pizer has pointed out to Alcor's board that they ought to have an attourney present. I'm not sure if this means Dave will be there-- or what-- but the silence in the cryonics forums on this is indicative that people are in a state of some degree of deep concern. I myself will not attend. I'm too nervous. I'd have to wear a disguise if I did show up. [+]

FRED-- 01-- Waiting to hear more from Fred on this.

Fred Chamberlain appears to have spoken to CPlatt recently, as reported by CPlatt in Cold Filter. Fred told CPlatt that the Director Electorate was not practical in the first era of Alcor-- and I understand that explanation. However, it now behooves Fred to comment on the later eras-- with respect to the original intent.

It now appears, according to a post by SBridge in ColdFilter that there was a debate about this in 1985 that predates email/internet-- so we're going to have to get Mike Perry to dig up the archives of the minutes. Mike? Someone call Mike Perry on that.
The second round of debate about this seems to have occrred around 1997-- Bridge referred to that too. We can look at that in Cryonet.

It may very well be that CPlatt is in dicussion with Fred at this time-- since Platt prefers phone for interviews-- and only reports results once he has fact checked everything. He doesn't like posting without fact checking-- which is understandable. My style leans more toward open speculation on a blog. Like this.

In any case, I'll be waiting to hear from Fred through Charles very soon-- and you should be too.

NARRATIVE-- 10-- Silence

There is a defeaning silence out there in cyberspace-- from key people-- since the uncovering of the original bylaw specifying Director Electorate. I don't doubt that there is some fast and furious private emailing among various people right now--- but so far I haven't detected anything bubbling to the surface. Steve Bridge and Keith Henson, in particular, appear to have been either unaware of the original bylaws-- and actually "owe" readers of reformalcor and coldfilter updates on their views-- given the new find by CPlatt-- The rest of the Alcor members listed in the directory appear to be totally out of the loop. To gather the best overview of the situation, see my blog--

GATEKEEPERS-- Steve Bridge-- 01-- My analysis of his comments

I can only analyse my thoughts on what's going in cryonics from the point of view of one person-- me.

Steve Bridge was a favorite president at Alcor in the 1990s and early 2000s-- don't know his exact term but it was a popular run-- Steve Bridge acquired a reputation of being friendly to everyone. I myself have never found friendliness to be aligned with truth, however-- and so I'm always guarded around presumably friendly people. I don't trust them. I've had a few online run ins with Steve Bridge and I've put him on my radar screen in this democracy debate labelled as a "gatekeeper". (See my index under "gatekeeper"). It's instructive to study the idea of "trolls" as is pertains to online forums-- in general-- but it also pertains to media in general. It's a fascinating area of thought control and mind control.

Here, in a Cold Filter post that predates CPlatt's revelation of the original director electorate in the bylaws, SBridge writes--

QUOTE
But it is not useful to suggest (as some writers here have done) that Alcor Suspension members should go to court to "get their rights" or even to have a court take over Alcor's Board. People who suggest that are missing some basic legal understandings. Alcor's current setup for electing Directors is perfectly legal and common among non-profits.
UNQUOTE
Source [+]

My comment--

It may be true that Alcor's current setup for electing Directors is perfectly legal-- however to make this statement without the FULL CONTEXT-- is not the FULL TRUTH. In courts, we talk about telling the truth-- the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Why do we specify it that way? Because the WHOLE truth is understood to include context. Steve appears to have failed to tell us the whole truth, at least in this post.

Steve even looked into it "a decade ago"-- 1997?

QUOTE
Also, some have suggested a compromise where some Directors are elected by the Board of Directors and some are elected by the qualified membership. When we looked into this more than a decade ago, while I was Alcor's President, we were told by non-profit attorneys that such a compromise was not possible. The law just allowed one method or the other. I do not claim that judgment is infallible; we didn't take such a plan to state authorities or to court. But I am not aware of any non-profit that has overcome it and become a combination of both methods.

My comment--

This is a NON-issue. The idea of a combination of self-electing board AND elected board-- is a FALSE CANARD. The only question is-- is Steve INTENTIONALLY muddying the water with FALSE CANARDS-- or is he actually in that mode unwittingly? The KEY FEATURE of this post by him is when we looked into this more than a decade ago. IF THAT IS TRUE-- then how is it possible he missed the original bylaw? And continued to miss it TODAY?

He OWES ColdFilter readers an update of his views on the original bylaws-- by virtue of continuity of thought expressed in one forum where there are regular readers. He's not "allowed" in civilized discourse to "disappear" now-- as has everyone on CF over the past few days.

Steve Bridge goes on to digress-- (distract?)-- readers with his view of what arguing and cooperation mean... IN his world view there are no losers. Ha ha. Please, someone get me a towel--- I can't stop laughing. Here's steve.....


QUOTE
It is also important to be aware that discussions of a potential change quickly turned into a political argument. That is, there are now two sides in the discussion, which will result in a winner and a loser. This is very like the national political debates we see going on now. Instead of sincere discussions about what might be good for the citizens of America, we see the need to score political points -- because one side must win and one side must lose. That means that neither side can acknowledge the good points of the other side. To do so would give credit to the other side and might result in your side losing. Each side seeks to demonize the other. Compromise and serious discussion of alternate points of view becomes impossible.
UNQUOTE
Source... [+]

God, please help me. Steve makes the mistake that a lot people of politically correct people make these days-- they can't sepearte the argument from the person. It's not about winners and losers. It's about a winning argument and losing argument. A person can lose an argument and still be respected and NOT be a "loser". The frame the idea of an argument as anti-win-lose-- is to destroy our ability to establish a winning position. This is a form of mind control. Steve worries too much about insults, framing the debate as win/lose etc because he bought into the politically correct jazz-- which approach turns my stomach-- literally. I'd rather respect a person for being a human being-- and then insult the hell out of him for his position-- with DUE respect as a human being... then once I WIN the debate-- re-establish normalcy. I think Steve is twisted somehow-- he's learned to use "friendliness" as a weapon. Very clever-- but not clever enough-- as Maxwell Smart would say.

Steve offers me (us?) a new clue

QUOTE
My own position in the debate is, as I have stated many times on Cold Filter and CryoNet, is that --given the two choices Alcor has -- I believe the long-term stability of Alcor is better served by the system which uses the self-elected board. Finance Department has unfairly characterized my position when he said "However, permit me to remind the readers that Steve once believed Alcor's board should be elected by the members. Then he got some power, and you all know what that does."

I only believed that the Members should elect the Board for a short while, a matter of months, around 1985 or so, when the debate over this issue first heated up. (We had to use the mail then because only a few of us had e-mail.) I changed my mind during that discussion, as I grew to understand the long-term considerations better. I was not on the Board of Directors and Alcor had no formal Advisors then. I joined the Board of Directors in 1992.
UNQUOTE
Source [+]

My comment--

The debate heated up in 1985?? Why? Let's hear more about that. Again, Steve makes no reference to the original bylaw. Steve makes no reference to the Founding Father and Mother of Alcor-- Fred and Linda-- and their intent. To the extent he does NOT refer to the foundation of Alcor is the extent to which, combined with his distractions, represents a possible cover-up-- which is the job of a gatekeeper.

COLD FILTER-- Alcor board of directors discussion-- thread by Steve Bridge

[+]

COLD FILTER-- Original Alcor bylaws-- thread by CPlatt

[+]

COLD FILTER--Let's all work together-- thread by Dave

[+]

COLD FILTER-- Kidnapped-- thread by Dave

[+]

REFORM ALCOR.org-- 01-- Dave lists more than just the democracy debate

[+] You can find Dave Pizer online video on this ReformAlcor page as well as intereting listings of the debate. This is a more sophisticated website than I thought-- but it still doesn't have an index-- so I'll track if from here.

KEITH HENSON-- 01-- Henson didn't know about original bylaw

Here's an excerpt from the blog at reformalcor.org--

QUOTE
KEITH SAID:
On a more general note, what's going on here is an
attempt to change the political structure of Alcor
rather than trying to fix the problems.

DAVID'S REPLY: There is no way to fix the problems
until we change the political structure. The Board
runs Alcor and they are responsible for the few good
things and the problems. The Board runs Alcor and
they are accountable to no one. All other things
being equal, a company that holds the managers
accountable will do a much better job then a company
where the managers account to no one.
UNQUOTE
Source [+]

My comment--

Keith Henson has been around cryonics and Alcor for a long time-- and referred to "changing the political structure of Alcor" as what Dave was trying to do. Now, since the discovery of the Director Electorate in the original bylaws, it appears that what happened was that there was a change made AWAY from the original bylaw-- which needs to be fully investigated. Keith was 100% wrong-- and has not yet re-appeared to acknowledge that he was 100% wrong.

He owes Dave an updated answer. It could as simple as "wow! I did not know that".

REFORM ALCOR.org-- Dave Pizer's forum about democracy at Alcor

[+]

BYLAW CHANGE-- 04-- Alcor articles of incorporation

[+] Somehere in this is the specificaiton of the Director Electorate!

David Pizer (Login davidpizer)
Veteran Member
To Alcor Board
Copy to Advisers
Copy to Cryonet
Copy to Cold Filter

Disclaimer:

I don't know how accurate the following info is since
the Board members now refuse to discuss or debate the
topic of changing the way Directors are elected at
Alcor with me. Below is what I think the situation is
and I welcome anyone who has any corrections to make.
I am not an authority on the history of Alcor, just a
concerned members who wants the very best for Alcor
just as all the rest of you also want.
---------------
MY BEST GUESS
By: David Pizer

It may be the case that Alcor members now have (and
always have had but didn't know it) the authority to
elect the Directors at Alcor, and the Directors do NOT
have the authority to elect the Directors. Read below
what members have found out (some of this has been
posted once already) and then what that might mean for
you as an Alcor member


Charles Platt said:

“Inspection of Alcor's original bylaws, filed with an
application for tax-exempt status in February 1972,
shows that the bylaws gave voting power to suitably
qualified members of the organization. The relevant
document is on Alcor's web site at
http://www.alcor.org/Library/pdfs/AlcorExemptionApplication.pdf

Article III states that there shall be 3 classes of
Alcor members:

--General Members, who have gone through the
application process and are paying their dues.

--Working Members, a subset of General Members, who
have requested and have received training in case
work, and have been approved in this role.

--Members of the Director Electorate, a subset of
Working Members, who acquire voting privileges when
they are nominated by existing Members of the Director
Electorate and receive a 2/3 majority vote during an
annual meeting (or by mail, if the Directors so wish).

So far as I can tell, these provisions endured for
more than a decade.

GATEKEEPERS-- 02-- Wowk-VanSickle do NOT respond to Pizer on AU

[+] Watch Wowk and VanSickle NOT respond to Dave's substantial post-- and then respond to somewhat shallow posts from newbies. This is better than Lewis Black. I'm sure you've seen Conrad Black-- here he is talking about Creationism. [+]

QUOTE
"These people are crazy... stone cold fucking nuts.... evolution is a thread in larger thread I call... REALITY!!!!."
UNQUOTE

So, with that quote-- I think that, I, as an Alcor member-- can LEGITIMATELY politely request that Wowk and VanSickle respond to Dave's post in AU-- THIS WEEK-- BOTH of them are board members... BOTH of them use AU-- as what I regard as a thought-control area.... in cooperation with Conaway-- who ATTENDS every board meeting and who lives in the area-- without telling his AU readers that--

There's no way to be polite about this... as Lewis Black says.

DIRECTOR ELECTORATE-- 04-- New line of reasoning by ME

Here's my latest line of thought-- which may or may not actually be valid-- but I suffer from many illusions-- that seem perfectly real to me-- as many cryos know. And I'm being sarcastic by the way-- because in TRUTH-- my idiot-logical positions DO hold water-- and weight-- despite having leaks.

Ok-- Here it is.

CPlatt's discovery of the original by law is earth shattering. Dave Pizer's taking it up as a "weaponized" configuration of his sudden (?) decision to make Alcor democracy a cause celebre has just occurred-- with his advice that Alcor have an attourney on hand at the next board meeting. This is the equivalent of Dave reading the Miranda rights to the existing board of directors at Alcor.

Ravin Jain, M.D.
Saul Kent
Ralph Merkle, Ph.D.
Carlos Mondragon
Michael Riskin, Ph.D., CPA, Chairman
Michael Seidl, Ph.D., JD
Stephen Van Sickle
Brian Wowk, Ph.D.

Source [+]

Wowk hangs out at the Conaway Alcor United forum-- mainly as a gatekeeper-- certainly not as an initiator of discussions. Van Sickle hangs there too. Riskin stopped posting anywhere a long time ago-- is the longest sitting board member-- and is Chairman of the Board. Carlos is an ex-president-- very astute guy-- quite amazing to watch him in action-- last time I saw him perform in board meetings was a few years ago during the Stump crisis-- Merkle-- indteresting guy because he's the guy who publicly asked-- at an Alcor conference-- who wants democracy?-- why would he ask that if he wasn't leaning in favor of it?-- Kent-- the Howard Hughes of cryonics-- dead silence there. And Ravin-- never met the guy.

Alcor was instituted with a Director Electorate-- Fred and Linda instituted Alcor-- Fred says there were not enough people in Alcor to make Director Electorate feasble-- leading to the idea that AT THE POINT WHERE IT DID BECOME FEASIBLE-- it SHOULD have been made to happen. INSTEAD-- we were led to believe that Alcor was INSITUTED as a self-electing board.

It's as if Fred and Linda-- who were kicked out of Alcor-- astonishingly to me-- have "come back to haunt" the current board. They live on-- IN THAT BYLAW-- IN the boardroom. Their control comes BACK TO LIVE!!! Like a monster-- to the current board.

It's kind of ironic, and funny.

It's like a trap door in the back of a computer program.

NOBODY including DAVE-- and especially Bridge and FD-- see it like I do-- they all SEE the original bylaw-- but they all call for a NEW view... as though this day-- in 2008-- needs to start fresh. This is UN-- true... or NON-true-- or..... "false" reasoning... "fraudulent" reasoning??? ... a LIE-- dare we say? It's tantamount to historiographial IGNORANCE-- a lack of depth of consiousness....

MY NEW LINE OF REASONING-- is that there has been a COVER UP-- a MAJOR default-- in the presidential line of leadership at ALCOR!!-- which snares everyone. The size of the conspiracy is so monstrous as to appear absolutely rediculous-- and yet... there it IS-- in PLAIN VIEW!!!!

Fred said Alcor was too small to make Director Electorate bylaw practical-- which LEADS to the idea that ONCE ALCOR REACHED A CRITICAL SIZE-- that that bylaw shoulld have been PRACTICAL at some point-- and when it WAS PRACTICAL-- it should have been GRANDFATHERED in-- or ACTIVATED-- or kicked into gear.

And here we are, assembled in time and space-- where the ORIGINAL intent of Alcor's operation-- is practical and HAS been practical for some years-- and it's TIME to KICK that provision into gear... we're only instituting what can NOW-- occur.

The 1980's situation where Mike refers to the biggest mistake he ever made-- which was deleting that bylaw-- or inactivating it-- was-- as Dave points out-- illegal-- that at that time-- that bylaw BECAME practical-- so it's incumbent upon us now to look at who the board members were at that time--

Alcor's site doesn't have a history of board members. It should. I can look it up in an old Alcor newsletter-- the small format ones-- Mike likely has a complete set in his archive.

Fred himself has said the ONLY REASON the DE was not activated fully was practicality implying that once it WAS practical-- that it SHOULD be instituted--

In the early 80's, it might have become practical on some level-- and Mike appears to have suppressed it along with the existing board at the time-- over-turning the original intended design.

My theory is that all we need to do is return to the original design. To do THAT, we need to nail down the PRECISE history-- exactly WHO was at the board meeting where the original bylaw was dumped? History is very interesting-- because with a properly functioning cognitive forebrain-- a cerebral cortex where we might grow new neurons still-- you can join together parts of history and make them simultanous in your minds eye. History becomes very close-up that way-- 20 years ago in 1988-- can appear as close as 5 minutes ago. I love to do that.... it's like TIME TRAVEL....

The people on Cold Filter who are resisting time travel-- are going against our own philosophy as cryonicists. Dredging up the past-- is like dredging a canal. You get this crap coming out-- like big gluey masses of algae, hidden under dark water. It's time to do some scuba diving...

GATEKEEPERS-- 01-- Keith Henson's view tended to avoid the original bylaw

I can't help it-- I see problems in how people are presenting themselves-- and I simply can't avoid pinning them on it. For example, Henson got involved in a Cold Filter thread-- on voting at Alcor-- which predates CPlatt's disocvery of the original Bylaw-- that provided for a Director Electorate-- and Henson has been around awhile- yet Henson did NOT point to the original bylaw-- and instead referred to "change" of bylaws-- in a critical way. As it turns out, there is no change needed-- there is simply a situation here where Alcor has been BIG enough for a long time-- so that we can now RE-ACTIVATE the original intended method of Director Electorate!

BYLAW CHANGE-- 03-- CPlatt's original post to CF on discovery of original bylaw

[+] I'd like to know how CPlatt came across this--

COLD FILTER-- 01-- No update Monday.

Dave posted this on Monday-- and nobody updated it all day. [+]. It remains the latest post on CF on Tues. The problem of the conflicting story lines about when the bylaws were changed remains. It has to be solved. The best PLACE to solve it is NOT Dave Pizer's forum-- which is rediculous in its format. (I can't help be be opnionated here in this blog-- sorry Dave-- but I have way more experience than you in forums and blogs). What Dave should do is use CF EXCLUSIVELY at this point. Reference to key points can be made in CryoNet-- but Cryonet is not the WORKPLACE where we can get these problems solved.

BYLAW CHANGE-- 02-- conflicting narrative from FChamberlain and other info

At one point, we see that Mike regrets a decision to turn Alcor into a self electing board-- and then we also see CPlatt interview Fred-- who says the self-electing board started in 77. [+] The two story lines conflict in my mind.

In the above link we see Bridge trying to reduce the melodrama-- ignoring these two conflicting story lines-- and wanting to "start fresh". I disagree. I'd like the conflicting story lines to be resolved.

DIRECTOR ELECTORATE-- 03-- google search

[+]

BYLAW CHANGE-- 01-- change may have been illegal

QUOTE
But if the Board did change the Bylaws so that
Directors now elected Directors, (instead of members
electing Directors as is required in the original
Bylaws), those new amended Bylaws, and the method
therefore the system of Directors now electing
Directors, may not be legal. We need more info.
UNQUOTE
Source-- [+]

MORE QUOTE
California Corporation Code 5150 seems to say that if
the Directors of a corporation change the bylaws and
that has an effect/affect on the voting rights of the
members, then the members also have to approve those
amended Bylaws. It appears that was never done. It
appears the members never approved the change taking
the vote away from them and giving it to the
Directors.

It may be the case that once this type of info becomes
available to a board of a corporation they no longer
have the legal right to make decisions for that
company until the matter is resolved. If so, then
time is of the essence in this matter.

The only thing now will be for the Board to work with
some members' representatives and an attorney to find
out what the legal matter is and how to correct the
problem. I hope the Board will NOT have any meetings
with any attorneys without several representatives of
the members also present. This is a matter which
involves potential members' rights and I don't think
the Board should be discussing this without members'
representatives involved also.

David Pizer

ASTONISHING HYPOTHESIS-- 00-- Pizer points to new ground

Since the discovery of the Director electorate in Alcor's history, I've recognized the significance of that. Apparently Dave Pizer does too-- and he's taken the Alcor democracy debate to a new level-- this week-- And now-- this enters a territory where the continued silence of the board of Alcor is going to be very very problematic... I'm sure glad I'm not the guy leading this-- Here's Dave's theory--

QUOTE
It may be the case that Alcor members now have (and
always have had but didn't know it) the authority to
elect the Directors at Alcor, and the Directors do NOT
have the authority to elect the Directors
UNQUOTE
Source-- [+]


Wow. Now-- this blog is established not for ME alone-- I'll be adding authors as I go along. So if you want to join in writing the "book" about this-- you HAVE to learn to INDEX your ideas-- and to list your ideas in a discrete fashion.

BYLAW CHANGE-- 00-- FD points out it was not a fair change

[+] FD points out that the last bylaw change was unfair.

QUOTE
Other cryonicists say the last by-law changes, which permanently installed a self-electing board, were not free and fair.
UNQUOTE

DIRECTOR ELECTORATE-- 02-- FD's approximation method

FD points out that re-instituting the Director Electorate would be a step in the right direction. [+]. I would argue that it would be the ONLY step-- that the safeguard built into a multiple layered selection system is better than DIRECT democracy--

FD refers to buddies, as if that's incestuous-- however I think the buddy system of multi-layered democracy is a GOOD thing-- it's protection against mob rule.... check into the history of direct democracy.

DIRECTOR ELECTORATE-- 01-- history of this option

I'd like to know more about the history of the Director Electorate at Alcor-- it appears to have been formalized for a period of time-- at one time in the 80s' or 90s-- until Mike Darwin revoked it-- which he later regretted. Who formulated that Director Electorate system?

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE-- 01-- Cold filter thread examines "how to"

[+]

WEBSITE-- ReformAlcor.org-- 01-- New site announced.

Dave Pizer posted a link to his new website reformalcor.org to Cryonet. [+].