JOHN PAUL JONES

Part 2

In last week's Part 1, I shared that which is popularly known regarding one of America's greatest naval heroes, John Paul Jones. This week, Part 2 introduces the less well known John Paul Jones.

John Paul Jones was born John Paul in 1747 in Scotland. Jones would not become his last name for many years. He went to sea as an apprentice when 13.

Several years later, he served as a crew member on three slave ships to Africa and back. His services were well paid. However, he came to hate trafficking in human cargo and stopped after the third trip.

His first command was the brig John. He initially served as second mate. After the Captain and first mate died from fever, he assumed command.

On a voyage to the West Indies in 1770, he flogged one of his sailors for disciplinary reasons. The sailor died a few weeks after the flogging. The discipline was considered as unnecessarily cruel by authorities and Jones was arrested. He was imprisoned and then released on bail. Fearful of an adverse result at trial, he jumped bail and left the place of trial.

Another incident involving a crew member occurred in 1773. The place, the island of Tobago. Certain of his crew muntinyed. It was over advance pay. In  the fight which ensued, Jones killed one of the sailors with his sword. Again his fear of not getting a fair trial came into play. He escaped to Fredericksberg, Virginia.He changed his name. from John Paul to John Paul Jones to avoid capture and return to Tobago for trial.

His bother had died earlier while residing there. Jones' reasons for picking Fredericksberg as his destination were twofold. There was a need to settle his brothers affairs. Additionally, Jones had a great dislike for Great Britain who he believed had mistreated the Scottish people.

When war between the Colonies and Great Britain broke out, he volunteered his service in the new Continental Navy. He was awarded a lieutenant's rank. His naval talent was soon recognized and he was elevated to Captain and received his first command. The sloop Providence. He distinguished himself in that command by capturing 16 British vessels on his first cruise.

Jones accomplished a previously thought not possible act. He attacked the Town of Westhaven on the west coast of England. Actually landed his men and himself on land. Invaded the Town. Little damage was done. However he gave the British concern that a Colonial ship could actually invade England.

Jones was a proud egotistical man. He knew better than others. He was of the opinion his record proved it. He found it difficult to get along with his superiors, those in authority.

He feuded with Commodore Hopkins. His boss, in effect. Jones publicly complained that Hopkins was hindering his advancement and talking down his campaign plans. Hopkins retaliated by giving Jones command of a smaller ship and sending him off to France.

Paris was the perfect place for Jones. He enjoyed partying and frolicking with the ladies. He became immediate and best friends with Benjamin Franklin. Paris was their play pen. Jones was extremely proud that he and Franklin became members of a Masonic Lodge at the same time while in Paris.

In 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard where he won his greatest battle and spoke words which resound to this day.....I have not yet begun to fight.

At all times while in the service of the Continental Navy, Jones had trouble not only with his superiors but also with his officers and men. His officers and crew felt Jones fought for his own glory and nothing more. He took them in harm's way for his personal benefit.

On the first trip with the Bonhomme Richard, Jones commanded a seven ship squadron. Five Naval ships and two privateers. Rank insubordination occurred. Two captains took their ships and left the squadron before battle.

One year after Bohomme Richard's glorious victory, the King of France honored Jones with the title Chevalier. France loved Jones! It was the biggest recognition it could give him.

In 1787, the Continental Congress was to give Jones a medal for his valor and brilliant services. He rankled many by insisting that the award include the title Chevalier prior to his name.

Interestingly, while France and the United States were honoring Jones, Great Britain viewed him as nothing more than a common pirate.

After the war, the Continental Navy was disbanded. Over Jones' objection. Congress felt it did not have sufficient monies to maintain a navy.

A Captain with out a ship. A warrior without a war. Somehow he and Catherine the Great of Russia got together. She was also known  as Catherine II. Russia was at war with Turkey. Russia was in need of a stronger and apparently better naval leader. Catherine said she wanted.....One more bulldog for the Black Sea. Jones was her bulldog.

In his acceptance, Jones wrote Catherine that he hoped his efforts on behalf of Russia would bring him great fame. He wrote her he loved glory and was perhaps too attached to honors.

Jones was designated a Rear Admiral and beat the hell out of the Turks.

Jones became a Russian hero. He did not enjoy the position too long. He had made enemies. Certain Russian elite disliked him. The reason simple. He again was the braggart, the man who could get things done. Glory and credit were not shared by him with anyone.

Intrigue came into play. Russian intrigue. Two Russian princes who were not fond of Jones had him recalled to St. Petersberg. They maliciously assaulted his private character.

Jones was accused of sexual assault with a 12 year old girl. He was charged with rape. He was arrested.

Jones' mouth got him into deeper trouble. He admitted he had often "frolicked with the girl" for a small cash payment. He denied however taking her virginity.

Fortunately, he had one friend in Russia. The French Count de Segur who convinced authorities that Jones had been falsely accused.

Jones departed Russia a bitter man.

Jones died in a third floor Paris apartment in 1792. He was 45 years old.

His burial procession was small. Nowhere near what a man of his distinction/accomplishments might be entitled to. A small group of servants and friends walked with his coffin four miles to his place of burial. St. Louis Cemetery. The place of repose of the French royal family. A placed of dignity and respect.

Not for long however. Four years later came the French Revolution. Louis lost his head and the cemetery its dignity. The beautiful cemetery became a place for the disposal of dead animals.and gamblers who had bet on animal fights. The bodies were merely thrown on the ground.

Years later in 1905, the United States desired the return of the body of their revered Naval hero. His body was difficult to locate and identify. After scientific investigation, his body was located. Jones was then returned with appropriate glory to the United States. His home since, the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

JOHN PAUL JONES

Part 1

John Paul Jones was a man. A man's man.

America recognizes Jones as the father of the U.S. Navy. During the Revolution, the Navy was known as the Continental Navy. His exploits and leadership in the War exhibited traditions of courage and professionalism which to this day are proudly maintained by the U.S. Navy.

In his first command against the British fleet, he captured 16 British vessels. His greatest victory was as Captain of the Bonhomme Richard in 1779. His ship and crew were in bad shape. The British commander recognized it. He offered Jones the opportunity to surrender. The term was struck. He was asked.....Have you struck? Jones' famous response.....I have not yet begun to fight. Three hours later the British commander surrendered.

U.S. Naval tradition perpetuates the following statement which reflects his fighting manner.

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way.

Jones died in Paris in 1792 at the age of 45. His body was subsequently returned to the United States aboard the USS Brooklyn accompanied by three cruisers. As the Brooklyn approached U.S. shores, seven battleships went out to greet and accompany Jones to shore.

Today, his body lies in a bronze and marble sarcophagus in the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel  at Annapolis.

Recall Marc Anthony's words to the people of Rome following Caesar's assassination.

The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.

It was not that way with John Paul Jones. His "good" has lived after him. Very few are aware of his other nature. I wish to share that unknown with you. However, it is lengthy and much too long to be concluded here. There will be a Part 2 to the Jones story. It will be published next week.

Let me leave you with the thought that John Paul Jones and World War II Generals Douglas MacArthur and George Patton were of the same ilk, cut from the same bolt of cloth. Each a supreme egomaniac. Each dashing, courageous, lacking in tact, arrogant, publicity seeking, personally flawed, and brilliant. Each with a conspicuous desire for glory. The comparison an inkling of Part 2.

Please return next week for Part 2. I guarantee you will find it interesting and surprising.

POLITICS AS USUAL

Eric Cantor was a big man in the House of Representatives. A Republican, he had represented his district in Virginia for many years. A hard worker, his influence as well as seniority grew. He was #2 in the House. Majority Leader.

He was considered unbeatable. A non-entity by the name of Brat was running a primary against him for the Republican nomination. Brat was a Tea Partier of the first class.

Cantor thought his seat was secure. He did not campaign that hard. He was a 40 percent favorite in the polls. He had raised millions of dollars to finance his reelection campaign. So secure did he think he was, that on election day Cantor was not visiting the polling places in his Virginia district. Instead, he was at a corporate fundraiser in Washington, D.C.

His opponent Brat had only raised $200,000. 

Cantor was decidedly to be the winner. He was not. He lost. Got his ass whipped. by 11 points.

Cantor lost because he forgot all politics is local. He did not spend enough time with his Virginia constituents. He forgot the Rotary lunches, school events, etc. He had become a big man. He was Majority Leader.

Brat hit hard in the campaign that Cantor was the tool of big business, that he favored special tax credits to billionaires instead of taking care of normal folks.

Brat was correct. His message got across. Cantor lost.

The day after the election, Boeing's stock tumbled. It dropped six points in a week. Though a big company, Wall street questioned Boeing's viability with Cantor not in office. Cantor was Boeing's biggest benefactor in Washington.

Boeing sells airplanes. To foreign purchasers. In big numbers. These deals have to be financed.There is a United States agency known as the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). Ex-Im Bank makes loan guarantees and/or insures foreign purchases. The long and short of it was that Boeing could make a deal to sell planes to a foreign country and the financing was easily/already arranged via the Ex-ImBank. Makes business a hell of a lot easier to do.

In 2012, 82 percent of Ex-Im Bank's loan guarantees went to Boeing customers.The amount involved was $11.6 billion.

Boeing knew who their man in Washington was. Boeing was the biggest fund raiser for Cantor's primary campaign. $5.4 billion. The largest contributor  was Goldman Sachs. Cantor's wife works for Goldman Sachs. She also works for another bank, the New York Private Bank & Trust.

Boeing and Cantor were joined at the hip. No question about it. Married. Dependent on each other.

The Em-Ix Bank has to be authorized every three years by Congress. It was last authorized in 2012. It has to be authorized shortly for a new three year period beginning in 2015.

Cantor carried the ball for Boeing. His position as Majority Leader gave him great clout. Boeing was confident the Bank would be reauthorized. So was Wall Street.

Cantor is no longer the big man, however. Within days of losing, he resigned his position as Majority leader, effective as of a day certain. A new Majority Leader was elected. Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California.

McCarthy had supported the Ex-Im Bank's re-authorization in 2012. He announced however that he was not supporting it this time around. He said the private sector could handle the problem. The government was not required. Probably so. However from Boeing's perspective, why have its foreign purchaser go out and negotiate a loan when the United States could in effect provide for it easily.

McCarthy's change of heart did not come about because he thought non-authorization was the correct thing to do. It came about because he wanted to be Majority Leader. In order to be elected, he needed the support of Tea Party members in the House. A condition of their support was his not supporting authorization.

Tea Party members viewed the Ex-Im Bank as a form of corporate welfare. It was. They also viewed it as corporate cronyism. It was.

The Ex-Im Bank was Boeing's piggy bank. Without it, Boeing will survive. However, life will be a bit more difficult, deals a bit laborious to finance. That is why the stock market is concerned about Boeing. Some analysts even talk in terms of Boeing's viability. A life or death scenario. I doubt it will come to that.

It has been said truth is stranger than fiction. In this situation, it is. Who could have conceived of a plot involving a major political figure, untouchable, could not be defeated, who is defeated by an unknown. Add to it a major international corporation who is now facing economic problems because of the loss of the political leader who greased its way in Washington. Wall Street becoming nervous. Throw in the politician's wife who works for one of her husband's largest financial contributors. Top it off with the defeated leader being replaced with a man who does not support the underpinnings of the major corporation.

It happened.

I close with a question I have been raising of late. What happened to government of the people, by the people, for the people? Especially the .....for the people part.

EPA.....GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

The House of Representatives is at it again. It is threatening a government shutdown October 1. It will refuse to approve funding for the government's new fiscal year. The House will refuse to fund all of the government, unless certain Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations recently adopted are withdrawn.

President Obama was discouraged by the failure of the House to pass legislation to deal with global warming. Obama had the EPA adopt new regulations that would mandate the cutback on carbon dioxide emissions from coal powered plants. The cutback would not be an immediate one. The new regs provide something like 15 years. The time frame provided a generous one so companies with carbon dioxide emissions will have more than adequate time to comply.

The House has for years refused to take any significant steps. Obama acted. The House countered with we will shut down the government! A typical my way or the highway response. 

The new EPA regulations will I assume be part of the lawsuit Speaker Boehner recently announced to curb  the President from issuing such orders. The House claims the President has exceeded his Constitutional powers. The President disagrees and says if Congress will not act, he must and will.

Some background.

The EPA interestingly came into being by Executive Order on December 2, 1970. A Republican, President Nixon created it. The creation was then ratified by Congressional hearings in both the House and Senate. I am not sure why nor whether such ratification was necessary.

The EPA is not a Cabinet position. However, it has been deemed important enough to have been given Cabinet rank.

The EPA's two major responsibilities are clean air and clean water. Easy to understand. 

We want the air we breathe to be free of any contaminant that might harm health. Included in the responsibility is global warming. Global warming from the perspective of most scientists is caused by emissions from coal burning factories. The emissions are harmful to breathe and also affect the atmosphere and earth re-warming and cooling.

Just as man cannot live without clean air, he cannot live without clean water. Contaminants, toxins, chemicals, that are harmful must be kept from the waterways.

Duke University recently published a study regarding air pollution in North Carolina. Twenty years ago North Carolina tightened its air quality standards. They elected to force compliance with federal laws and standards. Something few States do. The results were impressive. 

There has been a substantial decline in deaths from respiratory illnesses such as asthma and emphysema in North Carolina. The study also determined that the overall costs to society by not complying results in substantially higher medical costs that the cost of compliance.

There is a 2012 study concerning clean water. The study found that in 2012 alone, United States corporations dumped 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals into America's waterways. A big number. The biggest ever.

Interestingly, the largest dumper was Tyson Foods. 18.5 million pounds. Nine percent of the nationwide total.

Over the past 20 years, the House of Representatives had demoted the EPA by cutting back on EPA appropriations. Especially where clean water was involved. President Obama seeks an increase in the funding.

Whereas the cost to achieve clean air is with retooling plant machinery, the cost for clean water requires corporations to dispose of toxins in ways specified by law. More expensive than just dumping toxins into a stream. Corporate America at the present time is dumping chemicals into our waterways and/or burying 55 gallon drums of toxic chemicals in wetlands and caves. Whatever way, the chemicals eventually find their way into the water table. The waters we drink. These toxic chemicals cause all sorts of dreaded illness, including a number of cancers.

The study regarding the 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals dumped into American waterways made an interesting observation. Of the top ten polluters, four were were agribusiness corporations. The companies that are using in many instances GMO's. Whatever chemicals they are using to produce bigger and better looking foodstuffs is reflected in their chemical wastes ending up in the water supply. The four are Tyson already mentioned and Cargill, Perdue Farms, and Pilgrims Pride.

It is all money. The cost of retooling and the cost of proper disposal. Corporate America does not want to incur that cost. Everything is the bottom line. They are insensitive to the suffering and calamities their wrongdoing causes.

Resolution of the problem is for no other reason than to protect the American people. Simple and straight forward. Congress should be first in line to do it. The House of Representatives, especially. To fund necessary legislation to guarantee clean air and clean water. Where Congress fails in its responsibility, the President has no choice but to act. 

Recognize that the House's position protects the profit of major polluters.Congress is owned by the corporations. Corporations decide what legislation Washington passes in most instances. Our Presidents bear responsibility, also. Many have stood silently by and not taken the bull by the horns where Congress has failed. Obama is trying.

A question spins in my mind. What ever happened to government of the people, by the people, for the people?

BANK STORIES

Banks are pigs. They have an insatiable desire to make more and more money for themselves to the detriment of those they service. Whose money they hold, work with, and profit from.

Recent occurrences bear out the propensity of banks to overindulge for personal benefit while forgetting the people they were organized to service.

Chase Bank. One of America's oldest banking institutions. Due to numerous mergers the past decade, the bank today is JP Morgan Chase Bank doing business as Chase.

Although U.S. taxpayers bailed Chase and other banks out for their own wrongdoing in 2008 and saved their asses, the banks have not been thankful. To this day, the American people await Chase and other banks return to loaning monies to Main Street rather than Wall Street. 

The banks have survived and are making more money than ever. Major bank CEO's are being paid $20-40 million a year bonuses. Part of the one percent.

Chase announced recently that effective August 1, Chase is going to charge depositors a fee for holding their money. You got it. Savings and checking accounts will be charged a fee payable to the bank. Chase feels it is entitled to something for holding people's monies. The same monies banks invest overnight to a 20 percent profit for themselves and pay depositors 1.5 per cent a year on their deposits.

The fee will be $.25 per $100 deposited. It will add up to millions if not billions of dollars a year.

Pigs might be too gentle a description. They are whores! They will provide any service for a fee.

The next situation is even better. More difficult to believe than the $.25 charge scenario.

There has been a successful move in recent years in certain European and Asian nations by banks. If money in a savings or checking account lies dormant for a specified number of years, the account is deemed inactive and the bank removes the money. The money no longer belongs to the depositor.

Australia did it last year for the first time. The banks grabbed $360 million from dormant accounts.

There is an additional twist. States are permitted to create and apply the dormant account theory based on state law. Each State must pass its own law as California and Georgia have done.  California and Georgia were delighted to pass such legislation. Why not? The money does not stay with the bank. It goes directly to the State. The State thereafter can use the monies to help pay its own debts, finance under funded state pension funds, etc.

The dormant account rule applies to safety deposit boxes, also. No activity and the box is emptied. Cash, jewelry, bonds, etc.

The pigs prevail again. However, this time for the benefit of State governments.

It is one hand washes the other. The banks need federal and state laws to permit them to steal legally from depositors. Along the way, why not do the States a favor and grab some money for them.

Note that what one bank does today, others will do tomorrow. The same with State banking laws.

Which brings us to offshore banking accounts. There are trillions of dollars held in offshore banking accounts by American corporations or corporations doing business in the United States. They sit there because the corporations do not wish to pay U.S. taxes on the money. Taxes which we sorely need to pay down debt and provide for our people.

Recognize that many Congress persons want to cut, alter or eliminate Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The same Congress persons who voted to permit corporate America to enjoy the benefit of tax free off shore accounts.

It does not make sense to me. 

Now to the point of this tirade re offshore accounts. 

Putin announced last week that many Russian businesses are burying their money in offshore accounts to avoid Russian taxes. He said it was time to do something about it.

I believe Putin will. If he moves with the same speed he has re Crimea and gas outlets in North Korea, South Korea and China, he will have the problem resolved in my opinion by year's end. Of course, Putin has an advantage. He rules/governs a totalitarian state. He's the boss, he calls the shots. Russia's legislative body is controlled by Putin. 

I am eager to see how Putin handles his off shore problem. We might learn something from it.

I wonder if we will ever reach the point where the people run the government again. It seems to me Congress is beholden to the corporations and the corporations own Congress. Government of the people, by the people and for the people is yesterday's news. What will it take to return us to those days?

CHILDREN WALKING TO AMERICA

My people immigrated from Italy at the turn of the century. Not the most recent turn. The one before. The year 1900.

They traveled by boat. Steerage class. The lowest deck of the ship, the bottom of the boat. It was a  cheap ticket. Conditions were poor. People crowded into one huge room. No separate quarters for women. No privacy. Packed like cattle.

They yearned to be free and the opportunity to better themselves.

The Statue of Liberty welcomed them as they entered New York harbor. The giant of a woman with a special poem emblazoned on her structure.

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Another wave of immigrants is arriving. Almost 50,000 have arrived already this year. By year's end, it is anticipated the figure will be 90,000.

Not by ship or boat. Not by car, train or plane. They are making the trip on foot. 

They are children. Unaccompanied minors. No Pied Piper. They lead themselves. Their ages a bit confusing. No question they are minors. Initially, the average age was reported as 10-12. As low as 4. More recent reports indicate 15-17. Pictures on the internet suggest 10-12 as being the most accurate. Babies also appear in the pictures. In the laps of older children.

Their trip started from one of three Latin American countries. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They made their way into Mexico. Somehow got over the waters of the Rio Grande and into Texas. They crossed the Rio Grande in rubber boats or holding onto something that would float.

The story they tell about leaving their home countries is the same. To escape gang violence. Apparently the violence is pronounced. It is everywhere, including schools and neighborhoods. One of the teenagers when asked why she made  such a difficult trip answered, "Do I face possible death in immigrating or sure death in staying?"

An example of a country where violence is occurring is Honduras. The homicide rate has tripled in the last 10 years. The homicide rate is the highest in the world for a country not at war.

Texas could not handle the influx of just under 50,000 children in six months. The U.S. government decided to transfer some of the children to Nogales, Arizona. Some 700 to 1,000.

Nogales was chosen not to aggravate Arizonians who had suffered from a large foreign influx in the past 10 years. Immigration is presently down in Arizona. The manpower, facilities and technology however remain in place to assist in caring for these children. More will be sent to Ventura, California, San Antonio, Texas, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma where proper facilities either await or are being swiftly erected.

Texas was immediately overwhelmed. Not enough showers, for example. Four more were immediately added and by the time you read this an additional sixty will have been. For most of the girls, it was to be their first shower in 10 days.

Food is a problem. The kids could not eat the food first offered. Their stomachs were not accustomed to it. They experienced Montezuma's revenge.

The children are being vaccinated. Each given a medical examination. Professionals have been brought in to provide counseling and recreational activities.

Why are the children all of a sudden making the trip to the United States? They have been told in their home countries and by relatives in the United States that as children they will receive amnesty. They believe Obama has made it possible. They come looking for the better life and believing they will be able to remain.

Most have families already living in the United States. Eighty five percent of them. The other fifteen percent carry notes from relatives in their home countries asking U.S. officials to take pity and let them in.

The immigration laws are too complicated for me to get into. There is some merit to what the children and/or their relatives claim. Most however appears not to be correct.

Arizona is behaving in typical fashion. They are not pleased with the children being flown in from Texas. Governor Brewer and a local county attorney threaten the U.S. with criminal charges.

Huge numbers of people moving from one country to another to escape violence is common place throughout the world. It had to happen at some point to the United States. We got it with an extra grain of salt. Children.

The eyes of the world are upon us. Can we care for the children? Will we care for the children? Will we be the humanitarian nation everyone thinks us to be? Will we be the humanitarian nation we think we are?

It is our moment in the sun. I hope we do not screw up. For the sake of the children and for ourselves.

HUMAN ORGANS FOR SALE

Capitalism is without limit. Economic trade for profit boundless. Legality not necessarily a concern. Underground ventures can be capitalistic.

Today's society presents forced prostitution as one of the worst of the underground ventures. Young girls are either forcibly or deceptively removed from their home countries to another with the carrot being a better job, a better life. When their destination is reached, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is from 20-40 men a day or a severe beating. Even worse, death.

The profit made by abductors and deceivers of innocent girls is humongous. 

There is another underground venture that is little spoken of. It exists. It is highly profitable. Perhaps even more despicable than the sexual slavery of young girls. It involves the sale of human body organs.

The demand for body organs is great. The availability slim. One hundred thousand body organs a year are needed. Only 10,000 are available. The body organs include kidneys, hearts, livers, and corneas. Seventy five per cent of the trade involves kidneys. The need for kidney replacements is driven primarily by diabetes.

The acquisition of these body parts is ALWAYS to avoid death or blindness. Money to the wealthy sick is not an issue, insurance not a concern.

The underground trade has grown involving the sale of body parts. Organs are obtained from the donor for nothing to $20,000. Generally, $5,000. An international broker is involved. He arranges with the donor for the organ and thereafter makes arrangements for the sale of the organ. His profit is outstanding! The organs sell for $150,000 to $200,000. $150,000-160,000 being the norm. Other than what the broker pays the donor and the minimal costs involved in the removal, making a match and delivery, the balance is all the broker's. In  the range of $125,000 to $175,000 per organ. Not bad.

The broker finds donors in several ways. Just as with slave traders in the 1600s and 1700s, the brokers invade African, Eastern European and Middle East villages. The young are taken away in mass. The same as with young girls to be introduced into slavery. They are taken to a central location. Then one of two scenarios occurs. The person is kept over a period of time and all organs are taken till death occurs. The other is that a specified organ is removed. Then the donor is on his or her own. Follow up medical is negligible. Many die from infections.

Another method to secure organs is the broker dealing directly with the donor face to face and offering $5,000 to $20,000 for a specified organ. The donor is almost always extremely poor and such amounts represent a windfall. 

At the other end of the cycle are the doctors, hospitals and people in need of the organs. Visualize the situation. It is poor people submitting to amputations for cash to save the wealthy sick. Many nations play the game. We do not hear of it, however. Sounds despicable to buy human body organs. Yet it is being done everywhere, quietly. Even in the United States. Though not as flagrantly as in China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Iran. The hospitals and doctors charge fees in addition to what the broker charges. A life and death situation makes for desperate people. Desperate people do desperate things. Even spending upwards of $500,000 in the final analysis for an organ that will continue life.

An example of U.S. involvement is Levy Rosenbaum. A Brooklyn resident, he was a broker in body parts buying kidneys from Eastern Europe and then selling them. He generally paid $10,000 to the donor and charged the buyer $160,000. He was in business for 7 years till caught. He was convicted in federal court and sentenced to jail. Rosenbaum is typical of those who buy and sell organs world wide.

India, Pakistan, and the Philippines perform organ surgeries on a regular basis. The hospitals and/or doctors provide package deals to those who are in need and will come to them for the organ replacement surgery. Referred to as transplant tourism, the package includes everything. Airfare, hotel, hospital, doctor, the organ and whatever else may be required. 

China is deeply involved. A huge population. Many commit capital crimes and are executed. China removes the deceased's organs following execution. Ninety per cent of organs used in China for replacement purposes come from the bodies of deceased prisoners.

Iran handles the situation differently. Perhaps Iran should be the role model for the rest of the world.

The buying and selling of organs for profit is legal in Iran.  There is a cap, however. $1,200 for a kidney donation. There are no waiting lists. Physical and mental care is provided the donor later. Seventy percent of the donors are poor. However, the system appears to work effectively and fairly for all involved. Assuming one can accept as proper the sale of body organs.

The huge profit motive is not part of the Iranian system. The organs are only available to Iranians. Foreigners cannot purchase one.

Except for Iran, the sale of body organs is generally prohibited world wide. However there are devious type laws passed to make it appear a nation is not involved in the practice. Such as the transportation of body organs is illegal, but not the sale or use.

Obviously all kinds of ethical questions are involved. The preservation of human life. The use of a part of one person's body, whether voluntary or involuntary, to save another. Religious considerations. And so on. The issues should be studied and discussed. Shades to a certain degree of the questions raised with stem cells.

Life is important and the methods to preserve it. Assuming there is a solution, it should be one which is a benefit to all and a detriment to none.