First, on behalf of James and CI, I'd like to thank all those that have
contributed so far. Some of the pledges have yet to arive, and we still
have a considerable way to go, but -- with everyone's help -- we hope to
make it yet.
By way of making James Swayze a little better known in the cryonics
community, a James Swayze web site is now online. You can visit it at
http://www.davidpascal.com/swayze. It includes an extensive selection of
photos, James' posts to Cryonet, examples of his art work, and a number
of links to his favorite web sites and interests. So if some of you
would like to have a look at the face of the fellow we're all rooting for
and get to know him a bit better, click over.
Also, as Robert Ettinger also mentioned, CI is now accepting credit card
payments for donations, via Paypal. For those who don't know what Paypal
is, it's a dot-com with over nine million individual and business
members. All you need to do is go to http://www.paypal.com and register
-- a very easy process -- and you can send payments to anyone with an
email address that's also registered. (Such as The Cryonics Institute.
'CIHQ@aol.com' should be mentioned as our email address, with 'Cryonics
Institute' as payee, and you can add a message to the payment, mentioning
that your donation is for the James Swayze fund.)
I might add that Paypal is worth looking into for its own sake. It
enables you as an individual to not only make payments but also receive
them, and it has one of the most secure encryption processes available.
So instead of sending your credit card number over the net repeatedly for
several purchases, with Paypal you only have to register it once,
securely. That means that your credit card number will not be given to
or known by CI or anyone you make a payment to, if you choose to pay via
Paypal. Paypal purchases are also insured to a $100,000 limit, and it's
been favorably reviewed by organizations including Forbes, USA Today, and
the Wall Street Journal.
(Needless to say, we are still accepting checks: just email what you can
to 'James Swayze Fund', The Cryonics Institute, 24355 Sorrentino Court,
Clinton Township, Michigan 48035. You'll receive an acknowledgement, of
course, and all names and amounts will be kept confidential if
requested.)
Incidentally -- I'm sure all of us would like to help James Swayze, and
the very best way to do that is by making a donation. But you can also
help just by getting the word out. The problem with raising money on the
Extopian list is that there are only some three hundred or so subscribers
to the list, and not all of them read the list every day. There are
about a thousand signed-up members of cryonics organizations, and
thousands more associated with them or interested in cryonics -- but no
more than a few dozen people might have read the Swayze Fund announcement
here or on Cryonet and be aware of James Swayze's situation. Some of
those few have been very compassionate and generous. But if hundreds or
thousands knew instead of dozens, James Swayze's suspension might be
secure.
There's an easy solution. If you know of anyone in the cryonics movement
who might be interested in helping James Swayze out, but who might not be
a Extropy list regular, please mention the Swayze Fund the next time you
happen to talk to them or email them, and ask them to pass the word. It
doesn't cost a cent, and the more people learn about James and the Fund,
the better his chances are. Also, feel free to link to the James Swayze
web site: http://www.davidpascal.com/swayze. I'm sure James would be
glad to return the favor.
David Pascal
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:25 MDT