I wish I could easily sort out what has really gone on regarding the conflict
between the WTA leadership.  But I will say people like Eliezer Yudkowsky, Bruce
Klein and Harvey Newstrom who I have met in person seem to be of good character
and intentions so the situation leaves me puzzled.

I remember as a teen reading a SF short story about a very sparsely populated
colony world of Earth's where the crotchety ramshackle pioneers can't stand each
other and so from their homestead fortresses they lob "low-tech" weapons like
nukes at the neighbors they don't like.  The climate and geography of this alien
world had been so horribly scarred by the many petty battles over the decades
that a scientist revisiting the place could barely recognize it.  

Sometimes I wonder should our dreams come true regarding super-technologies and
the Singularity, if we will find ourselves on a terraformed world with a
transhumanist banner atop it where we take our strife to the next level by
manufacturing armies of nanotech drones to do battle against each other from our
respective continents and sky cities.  Will we have a "supreme council" with
folks like Max, Natasha and Spike to settle such disputes so no one gets
seriously hurt?  Or will we turn real authority over to some God-like A.I. Sysop
who will hopefully be beyond human pettiness?  I tend to think our lifespans and
ability to control matter and energy will exponentially grow, but our primate
politics games will remain.  I can imagine disenfranchised former WTA gov't
leaders a century from now taking residence on planet Extropia as they continue
arguing in the virtual world networks.   

Best wishes,

John             

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 18:57 , Giu1i0 Pri5c0 <pgptag@gmail.com> sent:

>Harvey, I think the sequence of things and who wrote what to whom and
>when can be seen very clearly in the archives of the exi-chat (open to
>all list members), wta-talk (open to all list members), and wtahall
>(open to all WTA paying members). I won't repeat what is on the
>archives for everyone to see.
>It is not the WTA board fighting among itself in public again, it is
>two Board members who decided to take the debate to the exi-chat list,
>forcing the others to respond.
>Can we just stop this?
>Please?
>btw I did not tell Natasha what she should do I told her what I would
>consider doing if I were in her place it is not the same thing.
>G.
>
>
>
>On 1/16/06, Harvey Newstrom mail@harveynewstrom.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Jan 16, 2006, at 10:06 AM, Giu1i0 Pri5c0 wrote:
>>
>> > If I were Natasha, I would
>> > consider issuing a warning to all WTA members on the Extropy list to
>> > please discuss internal WTA problems at home, refrain from taking them
>> > to the Extropy list, and not assume that everyone is interested in
>> > petty disputes.
>>
>> Two points should be made here:
>>
>> 1. Take a look at the posters discussing WTA Board politics on the
>> ExI-chat list:  James Hughes, Mike Treader, Michael LaTorra, Giulio
>> Prisco, Joseph Bloch, Jose Cordiero, Harvey Newstrom, Eliezer
>> Yudkowski, etc.  Six WTA Board members and two former WTA Board
>> members.  This is not some discussion of WTA board matters by non board
>> members.  This is the WTA board fighting among itself in public again.
>>
>> 2. The two former Board members were not involved in this discussion
>> until WTA Board members made claims about them by name.  We both posted
>> to set the record straight about ourselves.  Max and Natasha likewise
>> stayed out of this discussion until they were invoked by name.  You
>> yourself posted what Natasha should do to stop this discussion, forcing
>> her to respond to your statements in her name.  These people aren't
>> causing problems for the WTA Board.  The WTA Board is causing problems
>> for us.  If you want the conversations stopped, WTA Board members need
>> to solve their problems themselves.  Asking people to ignore the
>> problem and not talk about it isn't the solution.
>>
>> (Goodbye again, until I am invoked again by name.)
>>
>> --
>> Harvey Newstrom 
>> CISSP CISA CISM CIFI NSA-IAM GSEC ISSAP ISSMP ISSPCS IBMCP
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