[This is a FYI of a posting that went directly to Dave Gobel and to
sci.life-extension. --Paul]

To Dave Gobel,

After reading the excellent Fortune Magazine article, I was about to
post the message below to sci.life-extension when I read on your website
list of non-science advisors that the following completely unethical
individual was one of them:

Charles E Stallworth II

Mr. Stallworth is the Executive Director of the DHS Air and Marine
Interdiction Division (AMID), the Nation's premier air and marine law
enforcement interdiction organization. Headed by Executive Director
Charles E. Stallworth II, a former U.S. Air Force colonel and fighter
pilot, AMID has a staff of approximately 1,000 dedicated individuals
with a broad range of U.S. Customs Service experience. Over half of its
staff are law enforcement officers: Customs Pilots, Marine Enforcement
Officers and Aviation Enforcement Officers, who guard our seas and skies
and often risk their lives to protect the American public from
increasingly more complex threats from illegal drugs and terrorism. The
AMID are committed to excellence in law enforcement and uphold Customs
core values of: Tradition - Service - Honor. [copied from MMF site]


Legal does not equal moral or ethical!!
"Illegal drugs" are *not* threats!!
And there is no value whatsoever to *any* Customs agency, US or elsewhere!!
The world would be a far better place if Stallworth and his entire
department (and his counterparts elsewhere) would resign and seek honest
work where they no longer initiate force against innocent parties merely
seeking to engage in voluntary exchange of goods and services.

The sad result of this finding is that I still cannot support the MMP.
I am certainly not happy about this. I most certainly want to see major
advances in life-extension. My entire ideas of how a free society can
optimally work depend highly on greatly extended - even unbounded -
lifespan. There are many good aspects to the MMP which I would like to
support. I was all ready to give it a try and join with the others. But
I cannot condone, sanction or be associated with anyone of that ilk.

If this man is actually being asked for advice on certain aspects of MMF
methods, procedures or directions, then I want no part of the MMF. If he
is *not* being asked for advice, but is merely listed as a "big name",
then once again the MMF is being misleading and less than honest.


--Paul Wakfer

MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
The Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
Rational freedom by self-sovereignty & social contracting


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Methuselah News: The End of Aging: Aubrey and the MMPrize
on Fortune and Slashdot
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 23:15:22 -0400
From: Paul Antonik Wakfer <tom@...>
Organization: MoreLife
Newsgroups: sci.life-extension
References: <cda33300.0406021724.17288dca@...>

Kevin Perrott wrote:
> The Methuselah Foundation is very happy to announce that Aubrey has
> once again been featured in a major publication Fortune Magazine for
> June. The article is entitled :
>
> THE END OF AGING
> Aubrey de Grey Would Have You Live a Really, Really, Really, Really
> Long Time
>
> You can view the subcription required copy at:
>
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,643799-2,00.html
>
> or I am sharing mine at:
> http://tinyurl.com/2zbqz

This is an excellent article for which Aubrey is to be congratulated. I
had read it earlier from its posting on the GRG email list (LA
Gerontology Research Group - see http://www.grg.org/)

I would like to point out one error in it. Although Aubrey's earlier
degrees (bachelors and masters) were in compturer science and I had
mistakenly thought that he had a PhD in computer science when we first
met in 1997, his PhD is actually from Cambridge in Biogerontology.

In my opinion, the article is excellent precisely *because* it does not
exaggerate or mislead in any manner. Whether earlier criticisms of mine
on this group of Aubrey's statements, or criticisms of his portrayal
of his affiliation which my wife made on the Cryonet list have had any
effect on him or not (he vigorously objected each time), I do not know.
Nevertheless, these objectionable items are not to be seen in the
Fortune Magazine interview.

Kitty and I have therefore decided to announce our support for the
Methuselah Mouse Project and to join the several others who have pledged
to support the prize with $1000 per year.

We will send $1000 directly, but the rest of our pledge ($1000 per year
for as long as necessary) will be conditional on the MMP reaching a
total prize capital of $100,000 and also on us continuing to not see any
more misleading and hyped statements in the name of that organization.

We will also place a link to the MMP on MoreLife and announce this
change of support on our group MoreLife Yahoo.


>
> The article caught the attention of the mega discussion group Slashdot
> at
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2ct8o
>
> Perhaps one or two of those of you who feel like healthy
> life-extension is desirable might wander over there and post a few
> positive comments to offset some of those which appear to be unhappy
> about the prospect?

I will have a look see.


> Kevin Perrott
> Outreach Coordinator
> The Methuselah Foundation
> http://www.methuselahfoundation.org


--Paul Wakfer

MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
The Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
Rational freedom by self-sovereignty & social contracting