Lazarus Long

Lazarus Long is a fictional character featured in a number of science fiction novels by Robert A. Heinlein. Born in 1912 in the third generation of a selective breeding experiment run by the Ira Howard Foundation, Lazarus (birth name Woodrow Wilson Smith) becomes unusually long-lived, living well over two thousand years with the aid of occasional rejuvenation treatments. Heinlein "patterned" Long on science fiction writer Edward E. Smith, mixed with Jack Williamson's fictional Giles Habibula.

His exact (natural) life span is never determined. In his introduction at the beginning of Methuselah's Children, he admits he is 213 years old. Approximately 75 years pass during the course of the novel; but because large amounts of this time are spent traveling interstellar distances at speeds approaching the speed of light, the 75-year measurement is an expression of the time elapsed in his absence rather than time seen from his perspective. At one point, he estimates his natural life span to be around 250 years; but this figure is not expressed with certainty. He acknowledges that such a long life span should not be expected as a result of a mere three generations of selective breeding, but offers no alternative explanation except by having a character declare, "A mutation, of course—which simply says that we don't know".

New Utopia

The Principality of New Utopia is a micronation project established by the late Lazarus Long (a.k.a. Howard Turney).

History

The project was publicised by various media outlets in Europe and the United States. In an article about fake nations, Quatloos.com called "New Utopia" a "fake nation scam". The micronation was also briefly mentioned as a scam in a Business Week e.biz online article and in a Wired News piece; the latter noted, however, that "Turney... firmly maintains his intention to build the archipelago paradise once he raises enough cash".

Long operated a Web site to promote the so-called micronation tax haven, which he claimed was to be constructed on concrete platforms at the Misteriosa Bank 115 miles west of the Cayman Islands. He offered US$350 million in unregistered bonds and also promoted a currency purchase program by promising returns of up to 200 percent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) termed New Utopia a "fraudulent nationwide Internet scheme", and complained that Long had made "material misrepresentations and omissions concerning, among other things, the status of construction of the project, the companies associated with the project, the safety of the investment, and the status of the Commission's investigation into his activities." The SEC's case against Long (SEC v. Lazarus Long) ruled against Long in 2000, ordering him to pay a disgorgement of US$24,000, the amount he had collected thus far. The latter condition was subsequently waived due to Long's inability to pay. Long continues to maintain that the project is real and offers 'charter citizenship' to individuals who "contribute" at least US$10,000 (recently increased from US$1,500).