X-Message-Number: 26164
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 11:35:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Christine Gaspar <>
Subject: a suggestion...regarding Ben Best's "quackwatch" on cryonet

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After reading some of Ben's messages on cryonet, I am glad that others are 
finally becoming as concerned as I have been over Jon Despres' announcements, 
ideas, etc.. For those of you not familiar with this issue, Mr Despres is a 
young man living in Quebec, Canada. He has been very vocal about his "ideas" and
"business ventures" surrounding cryonics...ideas which are at best ill 
conceived, and at worst just ludicrous, immature, and potentially very damaging 
to cryonics as a whole. He has been making announcements on the internet, 
cryonet, and the CSC yahoo site, advertising cryonics services, and suggesting 
alliances with members of CI and SAI that really do not exist.

I'd like to revisit an idea I had a while back... that would be that the CSC, 
CI, Alcor, and other "real" cryonics groups or organizations post a section on 
their home page entititled "Quack Watch". This link could be kept up to date on 
each organization's sites, listing "areas of concern" or flat out "quack 
warnings" or "potential money pits".. that each company or group sees fit to 
post. 

In doing this, you give the press, and the every day cryo-curious the 
opportunity to avoid such questionable groups or people, or at least the 
information necessary to make up their own minds about where they want to focus 
their interest..and provide a caveat out there for the consumer in general, that
in cryonics, as in any type of industry, there are legit companies and there 
are not-so-legit companies (or in this case people)...

Honestly, as we receive more and more media scrutiny / coverage, I think this is
a necessary step to cover our a*ses from possible litigation, or bad press. At 
least we can say that we put out warnings on our home pages, and that anyone 
spending money on anything without proper research is a fool anyways.

As cryonics grows in the public mind, the crazies will come out of the 
woodwork...
 

And as a note to Mr Despres: we do appreciate your enthusiasm, but you cannot 
merely advertise every idea that comes into your head on the www, and profess 
that it is for the benefit of cryonics. If you want to make a difference, close 
your mouth more, open your ears more, and perhaps you can learn something from 
the people that have years of experience dealing with the press, and the public.
What you do not seem to understand, is that it would take very little, in 
today's political climate, to piss off the wrong people, and have legislation 
created that could make cryonics illegal. If you care as much as you say that 
you do, then try to understand that your childish attempts to make a "business" 
out of cryonics may not only hurt yourself, but ruin it for the rest of us. So 
please, try to grow up, and learn something from all of this.
Christine Gaspar
President, Cryonics Society of Canada


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