Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jun 2001
Source: WorldNetDaily (US Web)
Copyright: 2001 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.worldnetdaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/655
Author: Joel Miller

STRAIGHT DOPE KILL A DRUGGIE, SELL A KIDNEY

Strange Fruit

  Here is an interesting spin on the recent mass execution of 
narcotics offenders in China:

Only a day after Beijing bumped off 50-plus drug offenders in 
celebration of the United Nations' antidrug day, Chinese doctor Wang 
Guoqi was in Washington, testifying before a congressional 
human-rights panel about how he harvested skin from nearly 100 
executed prisoners to be used in transplants for burn victims and the 
like.

During his testimony, in which he explained the grisly process (you 
know approximately how it works if you've ever skinned a deer or seen 
it done), he also passed on the horrific story of a prisoner, still 
breathing, whose kidneys were removed just after being shot.

I'm assuming this sort of fruit is best picked before it's completely 
ripe, since the guy wasn't even given the chance to die before they 
sliced in and schlepped off his sweetbreads.

Wang's testimony adds credence to the widespread reports of official 
organ snatching by the Chinese government, which the Associated Press 
oxymoronically tagged yesterday as "involuntary organ donations." 
Evidence of parts pilfering, according to Michael Parmly of the State 
Department, is "overwhelming and growing'' and "the sources who have 
reported this are credible and numerous.''

Beijing, of course, quickly denounced Wang, who is seeking asylum in 
the U.S., and said Thursday that it only brings a plate to the 
convict body buffet if the prisoner agrees. But others disagree; 
Wang's testimony is not just a dream reflecting one too many viewings 
of "Silence of the Lambs."

Activist Harry Wu, 19-year alumnus of China's prison system, claims 
that "Such organ harvesting is motivated by money. Executions of 
prisoners whose organs are deemed good matches for rich foreign 
transplant recipients - who pay more than $15,000 apiece - are 
scheduled to ensure the recipients are on hand," according to AP.

And thanks to its drug laws, China has a ready supply of "donors." On 
Monday, 18 were killed. Tuesday saw the deaths of somewhere around 50 
(the numbers were sketchy, ranging between 43, 56, 59 and "dozens"). 
China, according to AP, has "executed hundreds of people since April 
in a crime crackdown labeled 'Strike Hard' that allows for speeded up 
trials and broader use of the death penalty." By all accounts, drug 
cases are on the rise in China.

Cartoonist Tom White has a pretty good idea of where this might go.

Next time you see "Made in China" at a piano and organ store, you'd 
better look twice before you buy. That organ might not be a new 
Hammond B3. It could be a used Chang Li.

Harsh treatment If they're not killing you in China, they're probably 
treating you, and last I checked, the jury's still out on which is 
worse.

China, according to Jiang Zhuquing in the June 26 China Daily, had 
860,000 registered drug addicts in 2000. Far from the success that 
drug warriors like Mark Levine keep pronouncing Beijing to be, even 
with its draconian measures, China is experiencing a drug problem 
which Jiang calls a "scourge." Heroin and Ecstasy are going concerns. 
Drug-related AIDS cases are up. Of the 22,517 cases reported in 2000, 
nearly 80 percent contracted by intravenous drug use.

Promised a month of amnesty, in June 2000, Beijing ordered druggies 
to register with authorities. According to the Beijing Morning Post, 
junkies who came forward in the amnesty period were required to swear 
off drugs permanently and enter treatment programs to aid in gradual 
withdrawal. The alternative was, and still is, a forced three-to-six 
month stay in a tougher environment =F1 cold turkey all the way.

If that doesn't work, junkies are "severely punished" in labor camps.

What the severe punishment is isn't too clear, but a look over at 
Russia might help. The City Without Drugs center in Yekaterinburg 
chains its patients to beds and whips them senseless with belts - 
delivering 300 or so lashes per session. That's severe enough, I'd 
think - give or take a whack or two.

"On the first day we beat them with belts until their buttocks turn 
blue," boasted a founder of the treatment center. "Every week we have 
to buy a new belt because they go too soft, but we have been 
impressed with the quality of Gucci belts."

Thank goodness they're fashionable about it.

"Drug addicts are animals who have lost all sense of values," he went 
on to say. "This way, the next time they think about getting a fix 
they remember the pain of the thrashing rather than the rush of the 
drugs. It's very effective. You cannot solve this with mild manners - 
you need tough measures."

Maybe somebody should tell Robert Downey Jr. and Darryl Strawberry to 
steer clear of the Big Slav and the Great Wall. Who wants to turn a 
sightseeing trip into a star-seeing beating?

Herbie Turns Narc?

Everybody's favorite car, the Volkswagen Beetle, has been enlisted by 
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the fight against drugs.

Seriously.

The new Bug was donated by Royal Volkswagen on Monday and will be 
slathered in DARE decals, as reported in Kamloops This Week.

"It's like a magnet; the kids and parents love it," said an officer 
connected to the program. And so how will a stickered, bulbous 
automobile help keep kids off drugs? "Seeing the Beetle reinforces 
and reminds the kids what they learned (during the DARE program)."

And this is because children always remember things when staring at 
poorly decorated cars, correct?

If this method of educational reinforcement is so good, why are we 
wasting it on drugs? Considering our ever-falling test scores, why 
not have a little Math, History and Grammar Bugs zipping around? Just 
seeing the Lit Bug drive past the school parking lot and kids will 
start spitting out lines from Steinbeck and Shakespeare like they 
actually know them.

Burning Grace

If you haven't seen the comedy "Saving Grace," it's worth a gander. 
Grace Trevethen, played by Brenda Blethyn, is a recently widowed 
middle-aged woman whose husband leaves her everything - everything 
for which he didn't want to go on living.

He jumps out of a plane without a parachute and sticks Grace with 
mountains of debt and collectors who want to foreclose on their very 
old and grand home.

The solution? Grow marijuana, of course. Her landscaper (Craig 
=46erguson of "The Drew Carey Show") has some pot plants, and with 
Grace's green thumb, they turn his meager sprigs into a whale of a 
crop. The plan unravels, however, as bumbling leads the authorities 
to Grace's house. Not really wanting to sell it, and not wanting to 
go to jail either, she does the next best thing =F1 torches the whole 
bundle. The resulting cloud of smoke intoxicates everyone on the 
property, including the cops, and she gets off scot-free because no 
one can remember anything about it.

In real life, however, people like Grace don't get off quite so easy.

What? You don't believe there really are people like Grace, otherwise 
harmless individuals who decide to grow a little pot or sell a few 
packets for some much-needed money?

Just last year George Edwards, 74-year-old pensioner in New Zealand, 
got busted when he tried to finance building a driveway to his house 
with money from selling marijuana. The local housing authority 
refused his request to extend his existing driveway, and, not liking 
to walk in the mud, he decided to take care of things himself. He 
raised just enough to pay for the cement and almost completed the 
project before the law caught on. In deference to his age, the court 
let him off with a suspended sentence.

Closer to home there's 75-year-old David Burmesch of Ozaukee County, 
Wis., and his 80-year-old brother, Eugene. Cops busted their 
cultivation project last year. The two are reckoned the eldest 
offenders in state history. For his part, David was sentenced this 
week with a year of jail time, five years probation, 200 hours of 
community service and fines of $2,957. Last I checked, Eugene is 
still awaiting sentence.

Initially, according to the Nov. 15, 2000, Milwaukee Journal 
Sentinel, "The brothers each face[d] up to 30 years in prison and 
fines totaling $200,000 if convicted."

So why would these upstanding member of the Greatest Generation be 
growing pot on the back 40? David Burmesch, according to the June 27 
Sentinel, "told the agents he had been growing the marijuana since 
1975. He said he had used the proceeds to pay for the costs of 
raising a developmentally disabled son." Imagine the nerve.

Oh well, a good long stay in the county clink should set him straight, right
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe