
One kidney? That's nothing(*)
Jobs sold his soul to keep the company going.
(*) Depends on the current kidney to soul conversion rate.
A Chinese teenager desperate to get his hands on an iPad allegedly sold a kidney to raise some fondleslab funding. According to various news reports, 17-year-old Zheng travelled from the city of Huaishan in Anhui Province to Chenzhou in neighbouring Hunan Province, after hooking up with an internet intermediary. Zheng …
...was someone waking up in a bathtub having been drugged and their kidney removed without their consent.
Someone willingly selling a body part for money doesn't seem nearly as much of a stretch, In the US, AFAIK, it is illegal to get compensation for something like this - it *has* to be donated... but even here I would be surprised if money changing hands under the table has *never, ever, ever* happened since you do get to pick - in an elective donation where the donor is still alive - who gets your body part. It's only for donations where the donor is dead where the recipient is picked - not sure by who exactly, but definitely not the donor's family - who gets the parts.
This is the part where I whistle instead of making a crack about where Jobs got his liver from.
Agreed that it's horribly, terribly wrong... just don't think this type of thing is neither nearly as uncommon as we might like to believe nor, unfortunately, urban legend territory.
Done properly, NHS and all that. The surgeon commented it was 'all black and nasty inside'. But the other one is still working after a fashion. I now have 20% of my kidney function left.
Not to be done lightly, removing kidneys, the fanboi I feel will regret it. If he survives...
The bottom line, some severe dietary restrictions. No more beer of any sort for a start, nor serious coffee... (It's the potassium that gets you, you can't get rid fast enough, then the K kills your heart)
Raised glass - of Earl Grey tea, no milk, with 2 tabs of Sucralose. (Sigh)
P.
I'm sure if the lad has one fully-healthy kidney it won't be so severe, but he'll still have to watch his intake very carefully, and even then has likely lopped a few years off his lifespan.
A few years of all the joys (and otherwise) that the world has to offer, or a portable telly you can tickle? Not really a hard choice. Makes me feel a bit sad for him.
"Can you actually get GIMP on an Apple product???"
Yes but GIMP OSX is absolute shite.. you have to click twice to make anything happen, there's no screen capture functionality and copy/paste doesn't work.
Most of this is because it was just recompiled using the X11 layer rather than being integrated in the UI in any way.
I've seen some real morons on usenet, no, that's too nice, their elevator doesn't go to the top floor, a couple of volts below threshold, two tacos short of a combination plate, you get the idea...
But this kid makes them look like outstandingly intelligent members of the community.
I *would* have said he'd be better off than Darwin award winners, as he managed to get a iPad 2, iPhone and a laptop before he dies a slow and painful death.
No wait, the (at least?) two apple products means he's destined to go directly to hell.
Do not pass go and all that.
The hardest part of this despicable trade must be in contacting the punter who needs a spare part and who is prepared and able to bribe to obtain one.
Hopefully the Ministry of Health's recent 'nationwide campaign to crack down on illegal organ transplants' is more than a pretense of respect for human rights.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-04/19/content_12349161.htm