$85!
China should start outsourcing its executions. I understand Cambodia has any number of highly experienced killers who have been underemployed for a while, as well.
China's harsh way with white collar crime put me in mind of my favorite little management tract, The One Bullet Manager -- more wisdom from Cambodia (ahem) (see below).
http://www.burgy.50megs.com/1BULLET.htm
Btw, under the federal bribery statute, 18 USC 201, you can only get 2 years, plus a treble fine and a 15 year disqualification from federal employment. But the same conduct pretty much is criminalized under the Hobbs Act, sec 1951(b)(2) (extortion), and can get you 20 years, plus if you do two of these acts proscribed under either sec 201 or 1951 in a ten year period as part of a pattern involving an enterprise (including a government agency), you can be charged under RICO, sec. 1961-63, and get up to 20 years. So in theory you could get up to 42 years for two acts of bribery/extortion/racketeering, if they had the sentences run consecutively. If you had a clean rap sheet that would not happen under the Sentencing Guidelines. Chinese law is definitely harsher.
************
One-Bullet Manager
Fourth in the Rampant House series of self-help books.
Book 1. I'm OK, You're DOA
Book 2. Winning Through Annihilation
Book 3. What Color Are Your Guts?
Book 4. The One-Bullet Manager
Book 5. Intimidation; The Key to a Successful Relationship
Book 6. Winner is All; Attila, Napoleon, Hitler, Hussein
Book 7. The Myth of the Peace-seekers
Book 8. Being Loved Isn't Everything; Its Nothing!
Book 9. Keeping Your Family in Line
Diogenes, despairing of the quest for an honest person,
determined to search for the ideal manager. His journey took him
to military war rooms, to corporation board rooms, to the seats
of governmental powers, yes -- even to the Vatican! He met with
"hard nosed results-oriented" managers, with "participative
managers, with leaders who espoused theories of "X," "Y" and
alphabet soup. Some were kind and good. Others were mean and
evil. One was kind and evil! All succeeded for a time, but then
stumbled and fell as events overtook them. Diogenes was
discouraged.
One day there came to Diogenes a report of a manager in a faraway
land who had accomplished things too great to be believed. At the
end of his rope, Diogenes traveled off to see him. At last he
gained entrance to the man's office. He found him there, dressed
in plain military fatigues, totally absorbed in the task of
cleaning and reassembling an automatic pistol. Close by, an
interpreter sat at rigid attention.
The manager waved him to a small camp stool. "How can I help
you," he asked through the interpreter.
"I have a few question about your management style," Diogenes
responded. The manager smiled, nodded, and said something in his
language. The interpreter jumped about a foot, then gave the
translation: "Shoot."
"Do you schedule regular meetings with your staff?" ask Diogenes.
"Certainly."
"Can you tell me how these proceed?
"Well," said the manager, fondling his pistol, "I listen
carefully while my people review their accomplishments and
setbacks of the previous week. I then evaluate everyone's
performance based on the goals I have personally set. Then I
select the poorest performer and shoot him."
"You kill him?"
"Of course," said the manager, with visible impatience. "Why else
would I shoot him? Here, look at the sign on my desk."
Diogenes looked at the sign, carved into a bone. It read:
PEOPLE WHO ARE TERRIFIED
PRODUCE
As he examined the sign, and reflected on its probable origin,
the manager spoke again, "Let me ask you a question." Do you see
that beam near the ceiling?" He pointed to a thick pole near the
roof, about ten feet from the floor. Diogenes nodded his assent.
"Do you think you could reach it if you jumped?" asked the
manager. Diogenes, no athlete, badly out of shape from many years
of wandering without proper attention to either diet or exercise,
returned "I hardly think so."
The manager pointed the pistol at Diogenes feet and fired; the
next thing Diogenes knew he was swinging by his hands from the
pole and staring at his right shoe, missing about 1/2 inch of its
tip. The manager said nothing, but simply gazed at him.
"I think I get your point," Diogenes panted, as he dropped back
to the floor and sat back on the camp stool. "Now, would you
describe yourself as a hands on manager?
"Not at all," rejoined the manager. "More a hands up manager, or,
the term I prefer, and my preferences seem to pretty much carry
the day, a One-Bullet manager." I use that term because a bullet
is the only thing I need to motivate my people and get results."
"That's all?" questioned Diogenes, remembering the countless
hours he had spent listening to other managers babble on about
Productivity Analysis, Goal Formation, Authority Flow Structures,
and such.
"You don't believe me, do you?" declared the manager, again
caressing the PISTOL.
"I believe you, I BELIEVE YOU," exclaimed Diogenes.
Just then a very nervous woman came in with a notebook. The
manager spoke with her briefly; the interpreter did not
translate. When the conversation terminated, the manager got up,
went over to the woman, shook her hand enthusiastically and shot
her in the foot. She hopped rapidly out the door, obviously
making a great effort to avoid shrieking in pain, for the
manager's shot had clearly removed a great deal more that the
first 1/2 inch of her shoe. Diogenes, concerned, could not help
exclaiming "What was that all about?"
"That was a One-Bullet Goal Setting Meeting," the manager
replied. I meet regularly with all of my staff and explain to
them the goals I have set. Then I give them a reminder of the
problem they will encounter if they fail to meet those goals.
This One Bullet Goal Setting Meeting is one of my three secrets
of my One Bullet Management Style"
Diogenes, by this time having more curiosity than common sense
remaining, could not help his next question. "What are the other
two secrets?" Even as he asked, he felt great disquiet. Perhaps
he had best go back for his search for an honest person!
"Let me demonstrate," said the manager, and Diogenes began to
feel even worse. Another staff member was summoned. He looked
very frightened. The manager looked him in the eye, said a few
stern-sounding words to him, put his arm around his shoulders,
and shot him in the head.
As the body was being carried out, the manager spoke. "When one
of my staff fails to meet a goal, I make it a point to tell him
right away. I call this, the second of my secrets, the One-Bullet
Reprimand."
Diogenes had the distinct feeling he ought to conclude his
meeting as quickly as possible, but his philosophic curiosity
impelled him to ask the obvious question, "And if someone does
meet their goals?"
"I'm glad you asked me that," returned the manager. "I have on my
staff a real go-getter. He has what it takes to get the job done
and move ahead."
The man entering the room was confident, even cocky, holding his
head high and smiling. The manager was smiling too, as he arose,
went directly to the man, shook his hand vigorously, talked to
him for a long time in earnest friendly tones, then shot him in
the head.
"That was my One-Bullet Praise," said the manager, returning to
his desk and reloading the pistol. "I wanted him to know that I
was aware how well he was doing and how close he was coming to be
able to replace me!"
The manager could see that Diogenes, although he had now been
exposed to the three secrets of his management style, was still
having trouble comprehending it. He felt sad. "You've seen my
truth motto." Let me show you my philosophy motto. He handed
Diogenes a second carved bone. It read:
POWER COMES OUT
OF THE BARREL OF A GUN
As he read the plaque, Diogenes reflected on the manager's
unusual approach. Deep in thought, he failed to hear the soft
click as the manager racked a fresh bullet into the chamber. "I
am pleased that you're so interested in One-Bullet Management,"
said the manager with great sincerity. But I fear your interest
is somewhat too great... ."
--- "Mr. WD" <mister.wd at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 7/11/07, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> > A bullet in the back of the head is very
> efficient, and doesn't
> > require highly trained staff, like our
> pseudo-medical procedures!
> >
> > I gotta say, I'm no fan of capital punishment, but
> this guy deserved
> > it more than your run-of-the-mill murderer.
>
> But apparently, lethal injection is cheaper --
> shooting someone in
> China costs a whopping 85 bucks! I agree with you
> about Zheng
> deserving it more: Many of the people we execute in
> the U.S. are
> either retarded or borderline retarded and/or
> batshit crazy, or they
> were just drug dealers enforcing a contract --
> hardly the worst of the
> worst.
>
> NYT: In Shift, Chinese Carry Out Executions by
> Lethal Injection
> By CRAIG S. SMITH
> Published: December 28, 2001
>
> [...]
>
> There have been many news reports in recent weeks
> touting the benefits
> of lethal injection. Many reports emphasize the
> economy of the method,
> a tacit acknowledgment of the high volume of
> executions carried out
> each year in China.
>
> ''The cost of shooting them all was too high,''
> reported the Dec. 12
> edition of Sanlian Life Weekly, a government-owned
> current affairs
> magazine. The magazine said it cost about 700 yuan,
> or $85, to execute
> a prisoner by gunshot, including ''at least 100
> yuan'' paid to the
> executioner.
>
> During nationwide anticrime campaigns, when the
> number of executions
> doubles or triples as it has this year, ''there
> aren't enough
> shooters'' to keep up with demand, the magazine
> said.
>
> Courts around the country are building execution
> chambers fitted with
> pumps that will allow executioners to start the flow
> of lethal drugs
> with the push of a button. Some of the chambers have
> several beds and
> several pumps to allow for multiple executions.
> China frequently
> executes groups of people at one time.
>
> The magazine quoted an executioner named Li
> Shusheng, who said the new
> method meant ''less terror'' for the triggerman. Mr.
> Li, who could not
> be reached for comment, told the magazine that
> executioners had to
> fire their guns at very close range to ensure that
> they did not miss.
> He said most executioners used a semiautomatic rifle
> and aimed at the
> ''yuzheng'' accupressure point on the back of the
> convict's head. The
> executioners usually wear gloves and gauze surgical
> masks to protect
> themselves from spraying blood, bone and brains.
>
> Mr. Liu, the lawyer, said part of his job as a judge
> was to take the
> executioner out drinking to help steady his nerves
> the night before an
> execution.
>
> [...]
> __________________________
> thevanitywebsite.blogspot.com
> ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
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