Falun Gong protesters at the corner of Connecticut and Calvert last Thursday (April 20). The protest was sparked by the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the U.S. Earlier in the day one protester was arrested and is being charged with “'knowingly and willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening or harassing … a foreign official performing his duties,' a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of $5,000.” I'm glad the potential punishment isn't any larger (and I assume if convicted she'd be more likely to get probation/fine than jail), but I disagree with the charge in the first place. Supposedly her “intimidation” or “threats” were: “Your time is running out,” and “Anything you have done will come back to you in this life.” Does that sound criminal to you?

I just don't know what to make of Falun Gong, but I am convinced that China (whether officially or not) is executing prisoners and selling their organs without their prior permission. Combine that with the fact that China executes more people each year than any other country in the world and you have what looks like a serious problem. (China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. together account for 97% of global executions in 2005. Good company we're in, huh?) I just recently watched “Dirty Pretty Things,” which is about illegal immigrants in London selling their kidneys for fake passports (oh, but it's a love story, too!) so the subject has been much on my mind. The film reminded me that this sort of thing is probably going on today, right now, somewhere in D.C., and probably in many other places around the country and world. How have we come to this?