[extropy-chat] Join The Three Hundred

[Reason]

The Methuselah Foundation have launched their latest initiative this week.
You can now show your support for serious efforts to extend the healthy
human life span by joining The Three Hundred:

http://www.longevitymeme.org/projects/join_the_three_hundred.cfm

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For the price of a cup of coffee per day, would you like to join a select
group of humanitarians who will be remembered for their vision and saving
millions of lives?

Modern medical science continues to show us that the aging process may no
longer be the intractable problem it has been perceived to be for every
generation preceding ours. There is a present need to move faster towards a
previously unattainable goal: the control of aging. This need for more rapid
medical progess is only magnified by the current profound lack of funding
for aging research. Funding springs, at root, from widespread public
awareness of advances and possibilities in aging research. Educating the
public is an essential step in moving philanthropists and governments to
allocate more resources to the study of aging. The problems caused by aging
leave us poor in body, spirit, and finances. We must step forward to tackle
them!

The Methuselah Mouse Prize is working hard to build public interest and has
had some considerable success, raising almost $50,000 in cash since its
recent launch. Encouraged by these results and knowing that the size of the
fund is directly related to its effectiveness as a publicity tool, we have
decided to push forward with a new fundraising project that we feel will fit
the circumstance. You might be interested in this new initiative.

We call it "The Three Hundred" ... themed from history and limited to that
number of participants. These individuals (or organizations) see the
potential of the Prize and believe that aging can be defeated. Members of
The Three Hundred have made a commitment to creating a better future, one in
which the suffering caused by aging is greatly diminished or banished
entirely. The unique foresight shared by The Three Hundred at this early
stage in aging research will be remembered - they grasped the ring, heard
the call and took action when the opportunity first presented itself. The
efforts of the Three Hundred will be remembered, like those of their
historical counterparts, far into the future.

The existence of The Three Hundred resonates with those who feel the
injustice of the aging process, people who welcome the first serious
attempts in human history to fight aging and win. Nine enthusiastic
individuals have signed up before we could even make the announcement
public. Please visit the following website and read about The Three Hundred:

http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/threehundred.asp
http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/ThreeHundredDeclaration.asp

The control of aging is forseeable. Science provides the tools, researchers
provide the labour, The Mouse Prize will provide the funding. Please
consider joining our effort to create a better, longer, healthier future.

Dave Gobel
CEO

Aubrey de Grey
Chief Scientist

The Methuselah Foundation
http://www.methuselahfoundation.org

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What's it worth to you to live 150 healthy years? What's it worth to you to
raise the average human lifespan to 150 years, just as a start? These are
not idle questions! Membership of The Three Hundred is a meaningful, but
affordable commitment: $1,000 a year, by the end of each year, for 25 years.
This amounts to $85 a month or $2.75 a day, the equivalent of a visit to
Starbucks.

The Three Hundred is a classical concept, based on a battle that saved the
future of Western Civilization: Thermopylae. In 480 B.C., 300 Spartan
warriors fought against incredible odds to gain time for the rest of Greece
to mobilize against the Persian hordes. Without the delaying action fought
at the narrow pass of Thermopylae, the achievements of Greece and our
culture as we know it would have been swept away.

The Methuselah Foundation is asking you to follow in the footsteps of this
noble Three Hundred, not to risk your lives, but to provide some of your
treasure so that we can all live ... and live ... and live. You will help to
win time for the human species to beat back an enemy far more dangerous than
the ancient Persians: the Grim Reaper himself.

The Three Hundred - a group strictly limited to 300 members - will live on
in history, as the Three Hundred of Thermopylae are remembered even to this
day. You can be one of them. The names of the 300 Spartans who fought at
Thermopylae were engraved on a stone tablet in Sparta that was still legible
seven centuries later. A momument stands to this day to pay homage to their
sacrifice. In lending your name to this enterprise, you will be remembered
for as long as the human race survives.

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We have reached a potential tipping point in human history: a time in which
the quest to extend the healthy human life span can be taken seriously and
extensive resources devoted to understand and defeat the aging process. The
pledges of the Three Hundred will help further large sums to be raised for
Foundation projects such as the Methuselah Mouse Prize for anti-aging
research.

http://www.methuselahmouse.org

I am a member of the Three Hundred, and I have put my money where my mouth
is. To become one of the Three Hundred is to take the initiative, to
recognize that our contributions will make an ever-growing difference to the
future of medical research, health and longevity. We are the rainmakers; the
pebbles who trigger the avalanche; the first to heed the call. By our
actions, we lead the way and will long be remembered for it.

Think deeply, follow my lead, and join the Three Hundred. Take part in the
fight to cure aging!

Reason
Founder, Longevity Meme