cryonics http://frozenbook.com Frozen by Larry Johnson
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 07, 2009 10:40PM
There is a website up around the FROZEN book.
[frozenbook.com]
Looking at the information coming out, the graphic photos [frozenbook.com] and everything else, its completely believable that such serious threats were made against the author.
They knew there was more than enough factual information, documents, photos, recordings, to shut them down.
[frozenbook.com]
Looking at the information coming out, the graphic photos [frozenbook.com] and everything else, its completely believable that such serious threats were made against the author.
They knew there was more than enough factual information, documents, photos, recordings, to shut them down.
Former Alcor Employee Makes Harsh Allegations Against Cryonics Found..
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 07, 2009 11:47PM
[news article excerpt]
[www.abcnews.go.com]
Former Alcor Employee Makes Harsh Allegations Against Cryonics Foundation
By BOB WOODRUFF, JAMES HILL and SARAH HODD
Oct. 7, 2009—
It's a practice that appeals to some people, but disturbs many others: freezing the deceased in the hope that science and medicine will progress to the point where it's possible to raise them from the dead. It's called cryonics, and the Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the world leader, according to its Web site.
Larry Johnson worked at Alcor for eight months. Afterward, Johnson revealed to the world some rather unsettling news about the late, great U.S. icon Ted Williams, primarily about the preservation of his corpse, in two parts -- his body and his decapitated head.
Now, after six years of silence, Johnson has emerged with more accusations about the singularly strange world of cryonics at Alcor in his book, "Frozen: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception and Death." These accusations, Johnson claims, make him "cryonics enemy No. 1."
And for the last three months of his employment at Alcor, Johnson said, he secretly wore a wire to record his conversations, took photographs and collected scores of internal documents not only about Williams, but also what he claims is evidence of careless and highly questionable behavior regarding cryonics at Alcor.
"This stuff was so weird, so outlandish, so unbelievable, and it's like, I wanted to know more. I got addicted to it," he said. "People need to know what the hell is going on there."
'They Know I've Got Them On Tape'
[...]
Johnson said, "They know I've got them on tape. What they don't know is what I have on tape. ... I am a threat to their future. I am a person that they need to get out of the way."
For more than 30 years, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale, Ariz., has been freezing the dead, preserving the bodies (or often just the heads of their members) at ultra-cold temperatures -- 321 degrees below zero. Someday, it believes, medical science will be able to cure what killed them, and they can be thawed and brought back to life. Throughout its history, the nonprofit company has largely been shunned by the medical community.
Johnson, a certified paramedic who claims more than two decades experience, said that as part of the medical community, "I was ... someone who could speak the lingo, so when they go into some of these hospitals to get some of their members out of there, they didn't come across as so odd."
He took a job at Alcor in 2003 -- six months earlier, the company had come under intense scrutiny during the public battle over the remains of Williams, the baseball Hall of Famer.
Within hours of Williams' death, his body was to be flown to Alcor's facility in Arizona to be frozen at the request of Williams' son, and over the objection of his eldest daughter, Barbara Joyce Ferrell.
When a body is brought into Alcor's facility, the patient's blood is pumped out and replaced with a chemical concoction to minimize freezing damage. In many cases, the head is separated from the body with the member's prior consent. Johnson said he began to grow uneasy about his new employer once he saw what went on in Alcor's operating room, where he witnessed three suspensions.
"It was barbaric ... the third suspension that I witnessed they actually used a hammer and a chisel," he said. "I actually witnessed them remove her head with a chisel and a hammer."
Johnson Claims One Client Helped to Death
Johnson said his concern grew when he was told about an incident that took place in the hills above Los Angeles in 1992. Alcor had received word that Alcor member A-1260, a 39-year-old man suffering from AIDS, was very near death and stopped all his medications. According to a lengthy summary of the case on Alcor's Web site, a response team was assembled at the home of the man and his partner, a makeshift operating room was constructed in the home's garage and the team waited two days for the man to die.
Johnson claimed he was told that an experienced Alcor-contract employee had grown impatient, and allegedly injected the dying man with a potent muscle-relaxant that stopped his breathing, and may have hastened his death.
It was at that point, Johnson said, that he "went into whistleblower mode," and started to wear a wire and record conversations at the company.
Johnson gave ABC News a recording of a conversation he claims is with a longtime Alcor employee who had been present at the home of the patient.
Johnson: Yeah, [---] was telling me the other day about an incident involving [an Alcor employee] where I guess he kind of helped someone along a little bit.
Alcor employee: Yeah.
Johnson: What, who was the patient?
Alcor employee: You'll excuse me if I don't name names.
Johnson: That's OK.
Alcor employee: We had to carry him. Got him onto a gurney and took him up the street to the garage and got him tucked in. And we waited. And we waited quite a while. He was not very far from dying.
Johnson: So did [a longtime Alcor employee] just get impatient and --
Alcor employee: Well, it's a little hard to determine what the hell [his] reasons were. There's the real reasons and then there's reasons he gave ... Plus there were other considerations, too. Traffic was a problem. ... Anyway, so [he] asked [another party] for some metubine iodide.
Alcor employee: Some what?
Alcor employee: Metubine iodide.
Johnson said, "I knew exactly what that drug was and what it did. I wanted to hear him identify the drug."
Alcor employee: And [the Alcor employee] gave it, and after about seven or eight minutes he quit breathing, which was entirely to be expected. ... It wasn't anything that wasn't going to happen, but -- and we did beat the traffic.
Johnson also provided ABC News with another recording, which, he said, is with a company executive, indicating the allegation seemed to be well-known at the highest levels of Alcor.
Alcor executive: We just can't do stuff like that. That would absolutely destroy us. That could kill us.
Johnson: Yeah.
Alcor executive: We're pretty secure in all this stuff because even though a lot of people nowadays know about it, nobody can really prove anything and if it came down to a court issue, you know, who's going to say anything? Who's going to admit anything?
Johnson: Yeah.
Alcor executive: And it's deniable.
"Nightline" received a call Tuesday from a man who identified himself as Ron Hennes. Hennes said he was the nurse caring for the patient in question at the time of his death. He said he has never worked for Alcor, and that the patient's death occurred in the man's bedroom with only him and the patient's partner present at the bedside.
He told "Nightline" that nobody injected the patient with anything that hastened his death.
But Alcor's CEO at the time, Carlos Mondragon, told ABC News that the allegation that the patient's death was hastened was brought directly to him, and that his response was to cut Alcor's ties with the employee accused of administering the injection.
Ted Williams, Alcor Member A-1949
Johnson also set out to re-construct the story of Alcor's most famous frozen resident -- and Johnson's admitted childhood hero -- Ted Williams. By the time Johnson began work at Alcor, "Teddy Ballgame" had been on ice for half a year.
"They put his head into a vessel called the Cryo-star which is really not meant for freezing human heads, OK? It was faulty, they didn't know how to use it ... it was having very dramatic temperature swings."
Johnson said Williams' head remained in a malfunctioning machine for more than a year, and claimed he recorded this conversation about the Cryo-star:
Alcor official: ...We're not actually supposed to use that to put any human heads in it because they never really had time to test it very much.
Johnson: Right.
Alcor official: We're supposed to be doing some testing on it.
[...]
"They put him in another vessel called the LR-40. ... They take a tuna can, a Bumble Bee tuna can, they set it down on the bottom of the LR-40. ... They put his head into the LR-40, set it on the tuna can. Without that tuna can, the head would just topple over."
The next day, Johnson said, he watched in horror as an Alcor employee moved the head into the silver pot that would store it for years to come.
"They actually carry the heads around on hooks to move them from one point to another," he said. "Well, the tuna can is frozen to the top of his head. The only way to get that off is with a hammer or a wrench ... gets a wrench, cocks his arm back to strike that can to knock it off, misses, and hits the side of Ted Williams' head. Then he cocks back, takes another strike, hits the can square on. It goes flying across the room."
Johnson gave ABC News an e-mail he said was sent to the Alcor staff later that afternoon, announcing matter-of-factly that "A-1949 is now in permanent storage."
In yet another statement posted to its Web site, Alcor denied "mistreating the remains of Ted Williams." Johnson said, "that incident was the turning point for me. I had to get out of there."
[...]
"I have done what I believe is the right thing," Johnson said. "I have exposed them to the authorities. Nothing has been done. The general public needs to know what is going on in that facility. People who are considering their services, probably ought to read this book first."...
[www.abcnews.go.com]
Former Alcor Employee Makes Harsh Allegations Against Cryonics Foundation
By BOB WOODRUFF, JAMES HILL and SARAH HODD
Oct. 7, 2009—
It's a practice that appeals to some people, but disturbs many others: freezing the deceased in the hope that science and medicine will progress to the point where it's possible to raise them from the dead. It's called cryonics, and the Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the world leader, according to its Web site.
Larry Johnson worked at Alcor for eight months. Afterward, Johnson revealed to the world some rather unsettling news about the late, great U.S. icon Ted Williams, primarily about the preservation of his corpse, in two parts -- his body and his decapitated head.
Now, after six years of silence, Johnson has emerged with more accusations about the singularly strange world of cryonics at Alcor in his book, "Frozen: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception and Death." These accusations, Johnson claims, make him "cryonics enemy No. 1."
And for the last three months of his employment at Alcor, Johnson said, he secretly wore a wire to record his conversations, took photographs and collected scores of internal documents not only about Williams, but also what he claims is evidence of careless and highly questionable behavior regarding cryonics at Alcor.
"This stuff was so weird, so outlandish, so unbelievable, and it's like, I wanted to know more. I got addicted to it," he said. "People need to know what the hell is going on there."
'They Know I've Got Them On Tape'
[...]
Johnson said, "They know I've got them on tape. What they don't know is what I have on tape. ... I am a threat to their future. I am a person that they need to get out of the way."
For more than 30 years, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale, Ariz., has been freezing the dead, preserving the bodies (or often just the heads of their members) at ultra-cold temperatures -- 321 degrees below zero. Someday, it believes, medical science will be able to cure what killed them, and they can be thawed and brought back to life. Throughout its history, the nonprofit company has largely been shunned by the medical community.
Johnson, a certified paramedic who claims more than two decades experience, said that as part of the medical community, "I was ... someone who could speak the lingo, so when they go into some of these hospitals to get some of their members out of there, they didn't come across as so odd."
He took a job at Alcor in 2003 -- six months earlier, the company had come under intense scrutiny during the public battle over the remains of Williams, the baseball Hall of Famer.
Within hours of Williams' death, his body was to be flown to Alcor's facility in Arizona to be frozen at the request of Williams' son, and over the objection of his eldest daughter, Barbara Joyce Ferrell.
When a body is brought into Alcor's facility, the patient's blood is pumped out and replaced with a chemical concoction to minimize freezing damage. In many cases, the head is separated from the body with the member's prior consent. Johnson said he began to grow uneasy about his new employer once he saw what went on in Alcor's operating room, where he witnessed three suspensions.
"It was barbaric ... the third suspension that I witnessed they actually used a hammer and a chisel," he said. "I actually witnessed them remove her head with a chisel and a hammer."
Johnson Claims One Client Helped to Death
Johnson said his concern grew when he was told about an incident that took place in the hills above Los Angeles in 1992. Alcor had received word that Alcor member A-1260, a 39-year-old man suffering from AIDS, was very near death and stopped all his medications. According to a lengthy summary of the case on Alcor's Web site, a response team was assembled at the home of the man and his partner, a makeshift operating room was constructed in the home's garage and the team waited two days for the man to die.
Johnson claimed he was told that an experienced Alcor-contract employee had grown impatient, and allegedly injected the dying man with a potent muscle-relaxant that stopped his breathing, and may have hastened his death.
It was at that point, Johnson said, that he "went into whistleblower mode," and started to wear a wire and record conversations at the company.
Johnson gave ABC News a recording of a conversation he claims is with a longtime Alcor employee who had been present at the home of the patient.
Johnson: Yeah, [---] was telling me the other day about an incident involving [an Alcor employee] where I guess he kind of helped someone along a little bit.
Alcor employee: Yeah.
Johnson: What, who was the patient?
Alcor employee: You'll excuse me if I don't name names.
Johnson: That's OK.
Alcor employee: We had to carry him. Got him onto a gurney and took him up the street to the garage and got him tucked in. And we waited. And we waited quite a while. He was not very far from dying.
Johnson: So did [a longtime Alcor employee] just get impatient and --
Alcor employee: Well, it's a little hard to determine what the hell [his] reasons were. There's the real reasons and then there's reasons he gave ... Plus there were other considerations, too. Traffic was a problem. ... Anyway, so [he] asked [another party] for some metubine iodide.
Alcor employee: Some what?
Alcor employee: Metubine iodide.
Johnson said, "I knew exactly what that drug was and what it did. I wanted to hear him identify the drug."
Alcor employee: And [the Alcor employee] gave it, and after about seven or eight minutes he quit breathing, which was entirely to be expected. ... It wasn't anything that wasn't going to happen, but -- and we did beat the traffic.
Johnson also provided ABC News with another recording, which, he said, is with a company executive, indicating the allegation seemed to be well-known at the highest levels of Alcor.
Alcor executive: We just can't do stuff like that. That would absolutely destroy us. That could kill us.
Johnson: Yeah.
Alcor executive: We're pretty secure in all this stuff because even though a lot of people nowadays know about it, nobody can really prove anything and if it came down to a court issue, you know, who's going to say anything? Who's going to admit anything?
Johnson: Yeah.
Alcor executive: And it's deniable.
"Nightline" received a call Tuesday from a man who identified himself as Ron Hennes. Hennes said he was the nurse caring for the patient in question at the time of his death. He said he has never worked for Alcor, and that the patient's death occurred in the man's bedroom with only him and the patient's partner present at the bedside.
He told "Nightline" that nobody injected the patient with anything that hastened his death.
But Alcor's CEO at the time, Carlos Mondragon, told ABC News that the allegation that the patient's death was hastened was brought directly to him, and that his response was to cut Alcor's ties with the employee accused of administering the injection.
Ted Williams, Alcor Member A-1949
Johnson also set out to re-construct the story of Alcor's most famous frozen resident -- and Johnson's admitted childhood hero -- Ted Williams. By the time Johnson began work at Alcor, "Teddy Ballgame" had been on ice for half a year.
"They put his head into a vessel called the Cryo-star which is really not meant for freezing human heads, OK? It was faulty, they didn't know how to use it ... it was having very dramatic temperature swings."
Johnson said Williams' head remained in a malfunctioning machine for more than a year, and claimed he recorded this conversation about the Cryo-star:
Alcor official: ...We're not actually supposed to use that to put any human heads in it because they never really had time to test it very much.
Johnson: Right.
Alcor official: We're supposed to be doing some testing on it.
[...]
"They put him in another vessel called the LR-40. ... They take a tuna can, a Bumble Bee tuna can, they set it down on the bottom of the LR-40. ... They put his head into the LR-40, set it on the tuna can. Without that tuna can, the head would just topple over."
The next day, Johnson said, he watched in horror as an Alcor employee moved the head into the silver pot that would store it for years to come.
"They actually carry the heads around on hooks to move them from one point to another," he said. "Well, the tuna can is frozen to the top of his head. The only way to get that off is with a hammer or a wrench ... gets a wrench, cocks his arm back to strike that can to knock it off, misses, and hits the side of Ted Williams' head. Then he cocks back, takes another strike, hits the can square on. It goes flying across the room."
Johnson gave ABC News an e-mail he said was sent to the Alcor staff later that afternoon, announcing matter-of-factly that "A-1949 is now in permanent storage."
In yet another statement posted to its Web site, Alcor denied "mistreating the remains of Ted Williams." Johnson said, "that incident was the turning point for me. I had to get out of there."
[...]
"I have done what I believe is the right thing," Johnson said. "I have exposed them to the authorities. Nothing has been done. The general public needs to know what is going on in that facility. People who are considering their services, probably ought to read this book first."...
Re: Cryonics, Cult Movement or Ligit Science???
Posted by:
TWrelated
()
Date: October 07, 2009 11:54PM
Maybe there's hope for freeing Ted Williams yet:
Ex-Mets catcher Mike Piazza says Alcor mistreatment of Ted Williams is 'crazy'
BY CHRISTIAN RED
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
October 7th 2009, 9:47 AM
"It's crazy. Just bizarre," Piazza said Tuesday night, referring to the newly released book, "Frozen," written by former Alcor COO Larry Johnson. The Daily News first reported on the book's revelations, including the decapitation and abuse of Williams' head. "I just cannot believe the greatest hitter of all time, that his head is in a frozen cryogenic state."
Ferrell was in a contentious battle with Arizona-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation in 2004. The Splendid Splinter's remains were sent to Alcor following his death in 2002. Ferrell's half-sister Claudia and now deceased half-brother John Henry Williams claimed that baseball's last .400 hitter wanted his remains suspended in liquid nitrogen for future scientific study. Piazza had to quietly back out of the matter when an attorney for Williams' estate outlined the legal obstacles involved.
Piazza said Tuesday night that he had not been in touch with Ferrell recently, but would be interested in lending his support if she and her husband resurrected their legal fight. Ferrell's attorney John Heer told The News that Ferrell had given up due to a lack of funding.
"Since there was all this legalese involved, I backed out," said Piazza, who was at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for the annual "Great Sports Legends Dinner" which benefits the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis. "If she's going to resurrect (the fight), I definitely would like to talk to her about that. I just don't know why this guy hasn't been given a proper burial."
Piazza said he had been following the recent reports about "Frozen." On Monday, a Manhattan State Supreme Court judge rejected a bid by Alcor to halt the release of the book. Piazza was one of many All-Stars who gathered around Williams, then 80, while the Red Sox legend sat in a golf cart at Fenway Park during the 1999 All-Star Game festivities.
Ex-Mets catcher Mike Piazza says Alcor mistreatment of Ted Williams is 'crazy'
BY CHRISTIAN RED
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
October 7th 2009, 9:47 AM
"It's crazy. Just bizarre," Piazza said Tuesday night, referring to the newly released book, "Frozen," written by former Alcor COO Larry Johnson. The Daily News first reported on the book's revelations, including the decapitation and abuse of Williams' head. "I just cannot believe the greatest hitter of all time, that his head is in a frozen cryogenic state."
Ferrell was in a contentious battle with Arizona-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation in 2004. The Splendid Splinter's remains were sent to Alcor following his death in 2002. Ferrell's half-sister Claudia and now deceased half-brother John Henry Williams claimed that baseball's last .400 hitter wanted his remains suspended in liquid nitrogen for future scientific study. Piazza had to quietly back out of the matter when an attorney for Williams' estate outlined the legal obstacles involved.
Piazza said Tuesday night that he had not been in touch with Ferrell recently, but would be interested in lending his support if she and her husband resurrected their legal fight. Ferrell's attorney John Heer told The News that Ferrell had given up due to a lack of funding.
"Since there was all this legalese involved, I backed out," said Piazza, who was at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for the annual "Great Sports Legends Dinner" which benefits the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis. "If she's going to resurrect (the fight), I definitely would like to talk to her about that. I just don't know why this guy hasn't been given a proper burial."
Piazza said he had been following the recent reports about "Frozen." On Monday, a Manhattan State Supreme Court judge rejected a bid by Alcor to halt the release of the book. Piazza was one of many All-Stars who gathered around Williams, then 80, while the Red Sox legend sat in a golf cart at Fenway Park during the 1999 All-Star Game festivities.
"deeply committed to the IDEOLOGY embraced by the cryonics community"
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 08, 2009 12:04AM
If these cryonics companies survive, they are going to get much worse and more secretive.
They are openly saying that only full-blooded cryonicist True Believers be allowed into the cryonics companies.
That is the precise opposite to having full disclosure, and external auditing.
So the cultlike closed-system mentality is going to get even worse, for the cryonics organizations which survive after this. They are openly saying that everyone must first be deeply indoctrinated into the IDEOLOGY of cryonics.
This is obviously the precise opposite of science.
That is why cryonics is not science, its a extreme religious ideology which denies death, and a huge potential financial moneymaker.
________QUOTE____________
[www.cryonet.org]
QUOTE
""In my opinion, one lesson I wish Alcor's Board would draw is never to hire
non-cryonicists.
Yet it is even now bent on looking for a new chief, none of whose minimum
qualifications include being a cryonicist.
If someone doesn't believe in cryonics enough to sign up for it when they
can, their only possible attitude toward it, whether they would confess it
to their employers or not, is disbelief, and thus their working on behalf of
it is fraud and their attitude toward cryonicists is somewhere between
amused condescension and fierce contempt. A really awful combination which
explains some of the employee turnover and betrayals."
End copying of Arcturus Gregory. Well said. The Pope needs to be
Catholic. The CEO of ALCOR needs to be, first and foremost, deeply
committed to the IDEOLOGY embraced by the cryonics community."
_______________________________
They are openly saying that only full-blooded cryonicist True Believers be allowed into the cryonics companies.
That is the precise opposite to having full disclosure, and external auditing.
So the cultlike closed-system mentality is going to get even worse, for the cryonics organizations which survive after this. They are openly saying that everyone must first be deeply indoctrinated into the IDEOLOGY of cryonics.
This is obviously the precise opposite of science.
That is why cryonics is not science, its a extreme religious ideology which denies death, and a huge potential financial moneymaker.
________QUOTE____________
[www.cryonet.org]
QUOTE
""In my opinion, one lesson I wish Alcor's Board would draw is never to hire
non-cryonicists.
Yet it is even now bent on looking for a new chief, none of whose minimum
qualifications include being a cryonicist.
If someone doesn't believe in cryonics enough to sign up for it when they
can, their only possible attitude toward it, whether they would confess it
to their employers or not, is disbelief, and thus their working on behalf of
it is fraud and their attitude toward cryonicists is somewhere between
amused condescension and fierce contempt. A really awful combination which
explains some of the employee turnover and betrayals."
End copying of Arcturus Gregory. Well said. The Pope needs to be
Catholic. The CEO of ALCOR needs to be, first and foremost, deeply
committed to the IDEOLOGY embraced by the cryonics community."
_______________________________
cryonics, "Jordan Sparks" entered incorrect and misleading information
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 08, 2009 12:46AM
and as to be expected from such intellectual dishonesty, cryonicists are putting false information into Wikipedia.
A user "Jordan Sparks" entered incorrect and misleading information, when in fact at that time the book had been cleared to be published.
[04:13, 5 October 2009 Jordansparks [Added reference to the court order]
[en.wikipedia.org]
Court rejects Alcor's bid to block release of book detailing mutilation of Ted Williams' head [www.nydailynews.com]
Judge Denies Cryogenics Company Alcor's Effort to Block Whistleblower's Book
"After hearing oral arguments on Monday, Judge James Yates denied the motion, unwilling to exercise prior restraint."
[www.publishersmarketplace.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2009 12:48AM by The Anticult.
A user "Jordan Sparks" entered incorrect and misleading information, when in fact at that time the book had been cleared to be published.
[04:13, 5 October 2009 Jordansparks [Added reference to the court order]
[en.wikipedia.org]
Court rejects Alcor's bid to block release of book detailing mutilation of Ted Williams' head [www.nydailynews.com]
Judge Denies Cryogenics Company Alcor's Effort to Block Whistleblower's Book
"After hearing oral arguments on Monday, Judge James Yates denied the motion, unwilling to exercise prior restraint."
[www.publishersmarketplace.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2009 12:48AM by The Anticult.
Re: cryonics, "Jordan Sparks" entered incorrect and misleading information
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 08, 2009 11:01PM
A must read is the analysis by Melody Maxim.
Cryonics Meets Medicine
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Review of Alleged Ted Williams Case Reports Printed in Johnson's Book [cryomedical.blogspot.com]
[cryomedical.blogspot.com]
Cryonics Meets Medicine
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Review of Alleged Ted Williams Case Reports Printed in Johnson's Book [cryomedical.blogspot.com]
[cryomedical.blogspot.com]
Getting Death Threats from Cryonics "Fanatics" Since Making the Claim
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 09, 2009 12:48AM
[www.cbsnews.com]
NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2009
Ted Williams' Frozen Head Abused?
Whistleblower Alleges It Was; Says He's Been Getting Death Threats from Cryonics "Fanatics" Since Making the Claim
(CBS) Cryonics is a controversial science involving freezing human remains.
Its believers hope that, one day, those remains can be bought back to life.
Now, a former employee of the nation's largest cryonics center is speaking up, claiming he witnessed bizarre and unbelievable acts while he was working there.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the worldwide leader in cryonics. Its lab is said to house corpses, including the remains of baseball great Ted Williams -- frozen to minus 321 degrees, all at a cost of about $120,000 each.
Larry Johnson, a former chief operating officer at Alcor, says in a new book that Williams' corpse was mistakenly decapitated and gruesomely mistreated.
Through internal documents, photos and secretly recorded conversations obtained by Johnson, he also alleges the company participated in the premature deaths of two Alcor clients, who were close to dying.
In one recorded conversation, Johnson is head asking, "So, what did he do? Did he just..."
And the response Alcor Vice President Joe Hovey is heard giving is, "He killed her."
Alcor denies any wrongdoing and released a statement about the claims made in Johnson's book. In part, it says, "Alcor is a non-profit organization, a pioneer in the field of cryonics and categorically denies the false allegations contained in Mr. Johnson's book."
On "The Early Show" Thursday, Johnson explained to co-anchor Harry Smith that, "Typically, what would happen is they would have a member, a member of Alcor, would pass away, would die. They would bring that individual to the facility and begin the cool-down process. Depending on what option you would take depends on what they'd do to you. If you take the whole-body option, they freeze your whole body. If you want just the head-only option, they just freeze the head."
So it was quite common for them to decapitate the corpses?
"Yes, that's correct," Johnson confirmed.
Saying, "I saw his (Williams') head," Johnson asserted that, "What happens is they had had his head in one -- looked like a freezer chest ... and it was malfunctioning, there were some issues. So they wanted to move his head into another vessel to lower the temperature of his head down it minus 321 Fahrenheit, so they went to put his head in that vessel. Obviously, the head's round, it's not gonna sit upright.
"So, they got a tuna fish can, and they put it in the bottom of that vessel. They set the head on top of the can and then filled the vessel with liquid nitrogen. Well, obviously, after two or three days of being in that state, when they pull you out, that can is stuck to the top of the head and in Williams' case, that's exactly what happened.
"They pulled him out, the tuna can was stuck on the top of his head, a technician grabbed a monkey wrench, took a swing at the can, missed it, missed the can, hit the head, drew back again, (took) a second swing, hit the can, sent it flying across the room."
Smith remarked that, "You allege in the book there were some people who were prematurely passed on, with the aid of Alcor employees."
"Absolutely," Johnson replied. "I have knowledge of two. I have solid evidence of one in the form of tape recordings. I wired myself to get that on tape that they were actually euthanizing... "
Alcor's statement also said it, "condemns the gross insensitivity of news media in presenting Mr. Johnson's stories as newsworthy, desecrating the memory of Ted Williams to the great upset of his family, who were devastated in a New York courtroom on Monday when learning sales of Mr. Johnson's book would go forward."
Johnson stuck to his guns, telling Smith, "They're gonna claim that, because they've got an awful lot to hide. And it's in the book."
Then, Johnson revealed he's been living in "fear of my life. They're fanatics. They've given me death threats, they've followed me from state to state, leaving notes on my vehicles. Basically saying, you know, 'We're gonna do away with you.' "
Smith remarked, "If this was all true, the thing I find hard to believe, wouldn't prosecutors be beating down their doors to find some sort of malfeasance if all of what you say is true?"
"You would think so," Johnson responded. "And I'm hoping, now that this book is out, this book allows me a certain level of protection, I hope. And I hope this does call the lawmakers' attention to what's going on in there, and they really do need to be investigated."
NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2009
Ted Williams' Frozen Head Abused?
Whistleblower Alleges It Was; Says He's Been Getting Death Threats from Cryonics "Fanatics" Since Making the Claim
(CBS) Cryonics is a controversial science involving freezing human remains.
Its believers hope that, one day, those remains can be bought back to life.
Now, a former employee of the nation's largest cryonics center is speaking up, claiming he witnessed bizarre and unbelievable acts while he was working there.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the worldwide leader in cryonics. Its lab is said to house corpses, including the remains of baseball great Ted Williams -- frozen to minus 321 degrees, all at a cost of about $120,000 each.
Larry Johnson, a former chief operating officer at Alcor, says in a new book that Williams' corpse was mistakenly decapitated and gruesomely mistreated.
Through internal documents, photos and secretly recorded conversations obtained by Johnson, he also alleges the company participated in the premature deaths of two Alcor clients, who were close to dying.
In one recorded conversation, Johnson is head asking, "So, what did he do? Did he just..."
And the response Alcor Vice President Joe Hovey is heard giving is, "He killed her."
Alcor denies any wrongdoing and released a statement about the claims made in Johnson's book. In part, it says, "Alcor is a non-profit organization, a pioneer in the field of cryonics and categorically denies the false allegations contained in Mr. Johnson's book."
On "The Early Show" Thursday, Johnson explained to co-anchor Harry Smith that, "Typically, what would happen is they would have a member, a member of Alcor, would pass away, would die. They would bring that individual to the facility and begin the cool-down process. Depending on what option you would take depends on what they'd do to you. If you take the whole-body option, they freeze your whole body. If you want just the head-only option, they just freeze the head."
So it was quite common for them to decapitate the corpses?
"Yes, that's correct," Johnson confirmed.
Saying, "I saw his (Williams') head," Johnson asserted that, "What happens is they had had his head in one -- looked like a freezer chest ... and it was malfunctioning, there were some issues. So they wanted to move his head into another vessel to lower the temperature of his head down it minus 321 Fahrenheit, so they went to put his head in that vessel. Obviously, the head's round, it's not gonna sit upright.
"So, they got a tuna fish can, and they put it in the bottom of that vessel. They set the head on top of the can and then filled the vessel with liquid nitrogen. Well, obviously, after two or three days of being in that state, when they pull you out, that can is stuck to the top of the head and in Williams' case, that's exactly what happened.
"They pulled him out, the tuna can was stuck on the top of his head, a technician grabbed a monkey wrench, took a swing at the can, missed it, missed the can, hit the head, drew back again, (took) a second swing, hit the can, sent it flying across the room."
Smith remarked that, "You allege in the book there were some people who were prematurely passed on, with the aid of Alcor employees."
"Absolutely," Johnson replied. "I have knowledge of two. I have solid evidence of one in the form of tape recordings. I wired myself to get that on tape that they were actually euthanizing... "
Alcor's statement also said it, "condemns the gross insensitivity of news media in presenting Mr. Johnson's stories as newsworthy, desecrating the memory of Ted Williams to the great upset of his family, who were devastated in a New York courtroom on Monday when learning sales of Mr. Johnson's book would go forward."
Johnson stuck to his guns, telling Smith, "They're gonna claim that, because they've got an awful lot to hide. And it's in the book."
Then, Johnson revealed he's been living in "fear of my life. They're fanatics. They've given me death threats, they've followed me from state to state, leaving notes on my vehicles. Basically saying, you know, 'We're gonna do away with you.' "
Smith remarked, "If this was all true, the thing I find hard to believe, wouldn't prosecutors be beating down their doors to find some sort of malfeasance if all of what you say is true?"
"You would think so," Johnson responded. "And I'm hoping, now that this book is out, this book allows me a certain level of protection, I hope. And I hope this does call the lawmakers' attention to what's going on in there, and they really do need to be investigated."
Re: cryonics, "Jordan Sparks" entered incorrect and misleading information
Posted by:
shakti
()
Date: October 09, 2009 01:12AM
Hi AC,
Just wanted to point out again that there is heavy overlap between ALCOR advisers and the "Singularity University".
And guess who is a major player at Singularity University? Reese Jones of "One Taste".
[singularityu.org]
Just wanted to point out again that there is heavy overlap between ALCOR advisers and the "Singularity University".
And guess who is a major player at Singularity University? Reese Jones of "One Taste".
[singularityu.org]
Re: Cryonics, Cult Movement or Ligit Science???
Posted by:
TWrelated
()
Date: October 09, 2009 02:43AM
I take extreme personal exception to this Alcor statement on their website:
"desecrating the memory of Ted Williams to the great upset of his family, who were "horrified and shocked"..."
I am a family member.
Alcor may speak for Claudia, but I seriously doubt they speak for anyone else in the Ted Williams family. The desecration of Ted Williams began with the decision to send his body to Alcor against his wishes. It has continued at the hands of Alcor as revealed in these new revelations.
Other than John-Henry and Claudia, who alone made the cryonics decision, the entire Ted Williams family has been "horrified and shocked" and "greatly upset" since Ted Williams died and was shipped off to Alcor.
Alcor, don't use me and other family members in your statements. Say Claudia is upset. You don't speak for me.
"desecrating the memory of Ted Williams to the great upset of his family, who were "horrified and shocked"..."
I am a family member.
Alcor may speak for Claudia, but I seriously doubt they speak for anyone else in the Ted Williams family. The desecration of Ted Williams began with the decision to send his body to Alcor against his wishes. It has continued at the hands of Alcor as revealed in these new revelations.
Other than John-Henry and Claudia, who alone made the cryonics decision, the entire Ted Williams family has been "horrified and shocked" and "greatly upset" since Ted Williams died and was shipped off to Alcor.
Alcor, don't use me and other family members in your statements. Say Claudia is upset. You don't speak for me.
Ted Williams' nephew appalled by Alcor's treatment...
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: October 09, 2009 11:19AM
[www.nydailynews.com]
Ted Williams' nephew appalled by Alcor's treatment of former Boston Red Sox great
By Nathaniel Vinton DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Thursday, October 8th 2009,
The nephew and namesake of Ted Williams says he is horrified by graphic stories in a new book alleging that his uncle's body was beheaded and grossly mistreated by Alcor, the Arizona company where Williams is stored in a freezer.
"If a mortician had done what is claimed to have been done to Ted Williams' body, they'd be up on charges," said Ted Williams, whose late father was the baseball hero's brother. After scanning through his copy of "Frozen," a tell-all by former Alcor employee Larry Johnson, the younger Williams says the company needs some kind of oversight.
"If even a quarter of that were true it would be pretty scary," Williams told the Daily News. "I'm not against cryonics. I'm against cryonics for Ted Williams…I don't think he would have accepted this."
Among many graphic accusations, Johnson claims an Alcor employee used a monkey wrench to batter the Splendid Splinter's frozen head and free it from a tuna fish can that was used for a pedestal. "Frozen" also accuses Alcor of experimenting with preservation chemicals on dogs – a charge that drew an angry rebuke from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals yesterday.
"Apparently, for decades, Alcor has been secretly tormenting dogs and other animals in freezing experiments that the company admits aren't even applicable to humans," said PETA vice president of laboratory investigations Kathy Guillermo.
The baseball legend's two California nephews, Ted and Sam Williams, joined their cousin Bobby-Jo Ferrell five years ago in a lawsuit challenging Alcor's justification for keeping Williams when his will requested cremation. A gag order prevents Ferrell – the hitter's eldest daughter – from discussing the matter, but the younger Ted Williams is not restricted, and he says he would happily cooperate with former Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who earlier this week expressed interest in helping out if family members of baseball's last .400 hitter resurrected their legal battle.
"He can work with me," said Williams, 58, a graphic designer in California. "If he really wants to help he needs to work with us."
Sam Williams, a reporter in northeastern California, declined to comment, but said he too was open to speaking with Piazza, who in 2004 reached out to Ferrell in an attempt to help her legal fight.
On Thursday, Williams took exception with a statement Alcor posted on its Web site, claiming the Williams family was upset by the media reports about the book. Williams informed Chapman that she only spoke for Claudia Williams, the hitter's youngest daughter and a supporter of the decision to place Williams' body in "cryonic suspension" – a decision that tore the family apart.
"You may speak of Claudia's feelings, but don't speak for anyone else in the Ted Williams family," wrote Ted Williams. "The entire Ted Williams family has been "horrified and shocked" and "greatly upset" since Ted Williams died and was shipped off to Alcor. Don't say the family is upset with Johnson's book, say Claudia is upset. You don't speak for any other Ted Williams' family members."
Hours after receiving the e-mail, Alcor changed the wording of the statement.
The younger Williams insisted that he is not against cryonics, and even thought it sounded "fascinating" when he first heard about it; he only believes that his uncle wanted to be cremated.
Williams was able to attend college at California Polytechnic State University because his uncle, then manager for the Washington Senators, paid his tuition bills. That fulfilled a promise the Splinter had made years earlier, when his brother David Arthur Williams (father of Sam and Ted) died of leukiemia.
"In many ways he was a surrogate father for me," said Williams. "Plus, I'm named after him, I gotta defend his standing in the world."
Ted Williams' nephew appalled by Alcor's treatment of former Boston Red Sox great
By Nathaniel Vinton DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Thursday, October 8th 2009,
The nephew and namesake of Ted Williams says he is horrified by graphic stories in a new book alleging that his uncle's body was beheaded and grossly mistreated by Alcor, the Arizona company where Williams is stored in a freezer.
"If a mortician had done what is claimed to have been done to Ted Williams' body, they'd be up on charges," said Ted Williams, whose late father was the baseball hero's brother. After scanning through his copy of "Frozen," a tell-all by former Alcor employee Larry Johnson, the younger Williams says the company needs some kind of oversight.
"If even a quarter of that were true it would be pretty scary," Williams told the Daily News. "I'm not against cryonics. I'm against cryonics for Ted Williams…I don't think he would have accepted this."
Among many graphic accusations, Johnson claims an Alcor employee used a monkey wrench to batter the Splendid Splinter's frozen head and free it from a tuna fish can that was used for a pedestal. "Frozen" also accuses Alcor of experimenting with preservation chemicals on dogs – a charge that drew an angry rebuke from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals yesterday.
"Apparently, for decades, Alcor has been secretly tormenting dogs and other animals in freezing experiments that the company admits aren't even applicable to humans," said PETA vice president of laboratory investigations Kathy Guillermo.
The baseball legend's two California nephews, Ted and Sam Williams, joined their cousin Bobby-Jo Ferrell five years ago in a lawsuit challenging Alcor's justification for keeping Williams when his will requested cremation. A gag order prevents Ferrell – the hitter's eldest daughter – from discussing the matter, but the younger Ted Williams is not restricted, and he says he would happily cooperate with former Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who earlier this week expressed interest in helping out if family members of baseball's last .400 hitter resurrected their legal battle.
"He can work with me," said Williams, 58, a graphic designer in California. "If he really wants to help he needs to work with us."
Sam Williams, a reporter in northeastern California, declined to comment, but said he too was open to speaking with Piazza, who in 2004 reached out to Ferrell in an attempt to help her legal fight.
On Thursday, Williams took exception with a statement Alcor posted on its Web site, claiming the Williams family was upset by the media reports about the book. Williams informed Chapman that she only spoke for Claudia Williams, the hitter's youngest daughter and a supporter of the decision to place Williams' body in "cryonic suspension" – a decision that tore the family apart.
"You may speak of Claudia's feelings, but don't speak for anyone else in the Ted Williams family," wrote Ted Williams. "The entire Ted Williams family has been "horrified and shocked" and "greatly upset" since Ted Williams died and was shipped off to Alcor. Don't say the family is upset with Johnson's book, say Claudia is upset. You don't speak for any other Ted Williams' family members."
Hours after receiving the e-mail, Alcor changed the wording of the statement.
The younger Williams insisted that he is not against cryonics, and even thought it sounded "fascinating" when he first heard about it; he only believes that his uncle wanted to be cremated.
Williams was able to attend college at California Polytechnic State University because his uncle, then manager for the Washington Senators, paid his tuition bills. That fulfilled a promise the Splinter had made years earlier, when his brother David Arthur Williams (father of Sam and Ted) died of leukiemia.
"In many ways he was a surrogate father for me," said Williams. "Plus, I'm named after him, I gotta defend his standing in the world."
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