CryoNet #31879 - #31883

CryoNet - Tue 18 Aug 2009

    #31879: Alcor appeals to high court  [John de Rivaz]
    #31882: EMT pay low [RAMole]
    #31883: Some brief book reviews [swb1948]

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Message #31879
From: "John de Rivaz" <[email protected]>
Subject: Alcor appeals to high court 
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:19:41 +0100

The fight for the remains of a Burlington man who wanted to have a cryonics firm freeze his head after he died, appears headed to  Iowa's highest court. 

On Wednesday [12 August?], Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a non-profit corporation based out of Scotsdale, Ariz., appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, asking it to review the ruling made by Des Moines County District Court denying to compel the siblings of Orville Martin Richardson to consent to disinter the body of their brother to be suspended in a cryonic process.

more on http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Cryonics-appeal-081409

-- 
Sincerely, John de Rivaz:  http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including
Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley
Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy,  Nomad .. and
more

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Message #31882
From: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:18:33 EDT
Subject: EMT pay low

_http://jobs.aol.com/articles/photos/10-surprising-minimum-wage-jobs/2167982
/_ 
(http://jobs.aol.com/articles/photos/10-surprising-minimum-wage-jobs/2167982/) 
 
In considering local standby etc., we want the least expensive and most  
willing medical people who can do the job. This article says EMT's are  
surprisingly low-paid, averaging just $11.41 and hour and some working for under  
$9 an hour. For this they run risks driving in a high speed ambulance and 
moving  400 lb. patients down stairs etc. Thus they should be happy, for about 
$10 an  hour, to sit beside a dying person and move him to an ice bath 
quickly when he  is declared.  It's far less taxing than their usual work. And 
if they can  declare him or expedite that, so much the better.  At these 
rates we can  also afford to do several days of training.
 
I have not discussed local standby for a while, because ongoing research  
should soon tell us whether local washout is needed or not, and without 
knowing  that it's hard to say what should be done and how. But this is an 
interesting  piece of data.
 
Alan Mole


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Message #31883
Subject: Some brief book reviews
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:09:06 -0400
From: [email protected]

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These are some recent non-cryonics books, but which fit the interests of many of the Cryonet readers.



*Newton and the Counterfeiter; the Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist.*?? Levenson, Thomas.? Houghton Mifflin, 2009.?? We're all familiar with Isaac Newton's contribution to the laws of motion, the motion of planets, optics, etc.? But you are probably not aware of his second career as bureaucrat and detective.? This is not fiction; it's an entertaining biography of Isaac Newton, with special emphasis on his career as Warden of the Royal Mint.? Not only did Newton help save England's currency, he caught and executed the most notorious counterfeiter of the time.? The economic chaos of England and Europe of the time is quite fascinating to read about.? With no international markets to set prices, it was possible for enterprising men of the time to take silver coins fro
 m England, and take?them to France to buy gold.? In France, gold was cheaper than silver.? But in England, silver was cheaper than gold, so these fellows could take the gold back to England 
 and buy more silver, making a profit on both ends.?



*Galileo goes to Jail; and other myths about science and religion.*? ed. Numbers, Ronald L.?? Harvard University Press, 2009.? An interesting collection of essays about conflicts between science and religion, from the murder of Hypatia in 415 AD to "Intelligent Design" theories.? It includes stops to look at the execution of Giordano Bruno, the trial of Galileo, and the Scopes Trial, among others.? Refreshingly, the book is not attempting to bash either?religion or science. ?The authors are trying to get at the story of what really happened in these incidents, and comparing this with the mythology and interpretation that have grown up around them.? For instance, in the title story,?science writers -- especially anti-religious writers -- have often said that Galileo was jailed and even tort
 ured by the Inquisition for saying that the earth moved around the sun.? This is a myth generated by assumptions made at the time; but the reality has been known for over 100 years, with the
  release of many Vatican historical records.? Galileo was found guilty by a Vatican court; but spent no?more than one day in jail?and was never tortured.? I appreciate any attempt to inject facts into controversial discussions.? This is well done.



*WWW : Wake*? Sawyer, Robert J.? Ace Books, 2009.? This one IS science fiction, an intriguing first volume of what looks to be?a three-book series.? A new virus in China threatens to become a pandemic.? A blind girl in Canada is given an artificial eye by a Japanese researcher.? The girl does learn to see -- in unexpected ways.? A signing chimpanzee in California takes its first steps to self-awareness by signing to an orangutan in Georgia via a television link.? And each of these unrelated incidents contributes to what seems to be a part of the Internet becoming aware.? Sawyer is an intelligent writer with a good sense of wonder and of characterization.? You may be familiar with his books *Flashforward* and *Mindscan*, two of many thought-provoking novels.? If the remaining two volumes ar
 e as good as this one, I expect the series to become a classic exploration of the nature of? intelligence, awareness, and human-ness.



I have also read Dani and Eytan Kollin's novel, *The Unincorporated Man."? This will require a lot longer review, which I am working on.? It's not a perfect book; but it's darn good, and kept my neurons firing more rapidly than usual for several days.? It won't be a waste of your time, even if you're busy.



Steve Bridge

Librarian




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