[extropy-chat] Dr. James Hughes responds to Harvey Newstrom

[Bruce J. Klein]

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>>The conference on Transhumanism and Spirituality is another example 
>>where the "leaders" went ahead despite board objections. 
>>    
>>
>
>James Hughes Said:   It wasn't a Board decision - it was a conference committee decision, and Harvey could have moved to disavow the  symposium and decided not to. 
>  
>

The ultimate decision was made outside of the WTA board, thus it was 
impossible for Harvey or I to know when to make any motion not to have 
the conference on Transhumanism and Spirituality.


>>They even abridged the official meeting minutes to add 
>>this non-existent vote, and sent this out to the membership. 
>>    
>>
>
>James Hughes Said:   The Board unanimously approved a version of the minutes, already published, which said I was nominated for the position and I met with general acclaim in Oxford.
>

It's important to know here that the WTA Constitution aks for board 
action be governed by Robert's Rules.

Article VI. Parliamentary Authority
http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/constitution/
"The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order 
Newly Revised shall govern the organization in all cases to which they 
are applicable and in which they are consistent with the conduct of 
electronic decision-making and this Constitution."

When it was discovered that no actual vote had been made on the position 
for WTA Executive Director (we all overlooked this at the time), Harvey 
Newstrom, Jose Cordeior and I, Bruce Klein, requested that we bring an 
actual vote. Upon feeling that he would not win the vote (a board member 
had resigned and a number of directors had changed their minds in the 
interim), James Hughes decided to close the topic by discourage the 
interim-chair from allowing any more motions.


>BJ went public first, arguing that I should be expelled from the WTA on the grounds that I am "political". 
>  
>

Sorry, no. This credit is deserving to Jose Cordeiro when he posted to 
[wta-talk] "James Hughes is not speaking in the name of WTA" on Mon May 
24 01:46:21 BST 2004 and then: "Unauthorized use of our name on your 
site" again on Mon May 24 06:45:25 BST 2004.

I posted on the same day, but a little later.. the following:

Speaking as a WTA director entrusted by WTA members to uphold WTA
principles, I must respectfully guide this discussion to the words found
in the WTA Declaration:

The WTA Declaration sates, "Transhumanism does not support any
particular party, politician or political platform." The Declaration was
created and voted on by WTA membership.
http://transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/declaration/

The Declaration is supported by the WTA Constitution which states, “All
members of the WTA attest by joining that they are in agreement with the
Transhumanist Declaration posted on the WTA website".
http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/constitution/

The full thread is found here: 
http://www.transhumanism.org/pipermail/wta-talk/2004-May/005257.html


>I would say the overall effect has been disconcerting for observers, but the three of them have been so obviously 
>nutty and self-contradictory that I haven't felt moved to much of a defense. 
>  
>

It feels good to get this out in public... my wife calls me 'nutty' all 
the time.


>Because Harvey was acting disruptive and frankly crazy. 
>  
>

As a former WTA board member (who has resigned, please see 
http://www.imminst.org ), I've had the opportunity to follow these 
events fairly closely. In my opinion, Harvey was never 'crazy' and never 
deliberately trying to be 'disruptive'.

Harvey did however became extra cautious when he saw that each time he 
brought up questions, they were rebuffed. The rebuffments turned 
personal because of differences in personality. And, as I sadly found 
out later, the rebuffments were backed in private discussion by plans to 
either sideline Harvey or expel him. As eventually happened, Harvey was 
apparently sidelined and then eventually a motion was made to expel him.


>As for the ExIst machinations, I really couldn't care less.We haven't been pals since about...1994. 
>

I'm sad to see James say, "I really couldn't care less". There could be 
some good work done between WTA and ExI if there was only a little more 
understanding.

Bruce Klein
Chair, ImmInst.org