X-Message-Number: 17716
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 10:05:44 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: Atrocious policy on foreigners

Hi everyone!

Even though I am now living in Australia I have my insurance completely
with US insurers. This happened because I was living in the US when
I did so, not because I took any special steps. 

I will have to say, though, that as a policy Alcor's current one
stinks to high heaven. Sure, if someone comes up with a life insurance
policy put together in Uruguay I can understand why Alcor would at
least want more vetting of the policy; but to do the same with polices
from English speaking countries (some of which really come from the
same company!) it seems just a bit unnecessary... not to mention,
cruel.

Sure, we may get forms of preservation which work a lot better if
applied right after Declaration of Death by a doctor affiliated
with Alcor. I am thinking of vitrification as the case to look at,
for those who may not know this. Yet we still have:

1. There is no basic reason why vitrification cannot be done in
   a foreign country

2. There is no obvious reason why vitrification must be applied
   immediately ... though it may turn out better if done that way

3. Someone who lives far away from Alcor can easily make plans to
   get there before dying 

Yes, devising a method for vitrifying which is more portable is
just as hard as devising a similar method for freezing which is
portable. But what is the purpose of cryonics if it is not to
give methods applicable as widely as possible? We are aiming at
cryonics NOT just at suspended animation.

I would sincerely hope that the current leaders of Alcor give some
serious thought to these issues. As for those who live overseas,
it's vitrification alone which makes Alcor attractive, and that
may not last. Your cryonics society deserves funding for research
(ie. CI deserves funding, to be blunt). It's vitrification that
CI's researcher was working on, and he should be able to continue
that work under another group.

		Best wishes and long long life,

			Thomas Donaldson

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