By Minghui reporter Liu Wenxin in New York

More than 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners held a grand parade in Manhattan Chinatown at noon on May 25, 2008. They celebrated the spread of Falun Gong to over 80 countries around the world, and held huge banners bearing messages condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for taking advantage of a tragedy like the Sichuan earthquake to intensify the persecution.

See hate propaganda for what it is

The CCP lies and slanders Falun Gong, alleging that Falun Gong does not help with disaster relief. They instigate Chinese people to hate Falun Gong, recently employing their henchmen to instigate crowds of hundreds of people to besiege the Flushing Service Center for Quitting the CCP. People were pushing, shoving and violently attacking Falun Gong practitioners. It was strongly reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution in China. Seeing all this, Ms. Li Ailing from Washington DC said, " I must come to New York to explain to the Chinese there the facts about Falun Gong. Many Falun Gong practitioners were very sad upon learning about the Sichuan earthquake. Falun Gong practitioners use their own ways to provide victims of the earthquake disaster with practical help."

She explained that, "The CCP takes advantage of a national disaster to once again smear Falun Gong. Many Chinese read newspapers controlled by the CCP. All reports there are against Falun Gong. Actually, the CCP is the source of disaster for Chinese people. The CCP did not report earthquake forecasts, nor did it warn citizens so that there would have been fewer casualties. Many school buildings collapsed, but few government departments' buildings collapsed in the earthquake. The CCP was reluctant to allow international relief support to enter. The CCP takes people for granted, and delayed efforts to save people. All of this can be seen by those willing to accept the truth. To save China, people must quit the evil CCP. "

Clearwisdom.net) I am Ma Suping, a 45-year-old female Falun Gong practitioner from Beiqiji Village, Sanji Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. For the past eight years, I have been subjected to long-term interference, "illegal detention," brutal beatings, and intense pain at the hands of the Pingshan County Beijing Office, the Pingshan County Public Security Bureau, the county government, the Sanji Town government, and Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp in Baoding.

I began practicing Falun Dafa in the spring of 1998. Prior to practicing Falun Gong, I had health problems including an ulcer, constant headaches, a lack of energy, and more. But after becoming a practitioner, I had no more health problems. Based on the Dafa principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," not only have I become a good person, but I am also energetic every day. My mother-in-law, seeing what I have become, praised the goodness of Falun Dafa. However, on July 20, 1999 the Chinese Communist regime (CCP) and its dictator, Jiang Zemin, began the cruel persecution of Falun Gong.

In December 1999 I went to Beijing to appeal for the legal rights of Falun Gong. In Beijing fellow practitioners and I were first arrested and detained at the Tiananmen Police Station, and later we were transferred to Pingshan County's Beijing office, where we were handcuffed together, five of us, and they extorted fifty yuan from me. I was then taken to the Pingshan County Public Security Bureau, where Feng Qingfang and Hu Yuetao, the department heads of the political security bureau, stole all of my money. They also hit me in the head with thick, wide rulers while interrogating me, causing a headache and dizziness. They also slandered Dafa and Teacher. They detained me for a month. In the detention center, I was handcuffed and shackled because I was doing the Falun Gong exercises. Finally, they extorted 2000 yuan from my family before releasing me.

In March 2000 I again went to Beijing to appeal for fair treatment of Falun Gong. After being arrested in Tiananmen Square, I was taken to Pingshan County's Beijing office, and then to the County's Public Security Bureau by Feng Qingfang and Tian Yueming (Sanji Town CCP Committee Secretary), where while I was illegally interrogated, I was hit in the forehead until a bump developed. The guards also stomped on my hair and handcuffed my arms behind my back while forcing them upwards, causing unbearable pain, as if my arms were being cracked apart. Because I refused to cooperate, they put me behind bars in the detention center for two and a half months.

On July 15, 2000, I went to Beijing to appeal for the legal rights of Falun Dafa once again. On the July 16, at the Beijing Yongdingmen bus station, I refused to tell my name when asked and the police punched me in the mouth until it bled and eventually took me to Pingshan County's Beijing office, where I was handcuffed for 24 hours and then sent back to Pingshan County Public Security Office. The next day, Feng Qingfang beat me with a rough piece of wood, the size of ping pong paddle, and then handcuffed me in the hallway for 24 hours without giving me anything to eat or drink, and I was not allowed to use the bathroom. On the July 18 I was taken to the detention center for further persecution. I went on a hunger strike to oppose the persecution, so Li Guoping, head of the center, the guards, and four or five other people force-fed me, bloodying mouth and loosening some teeth in the process. They also pushed me inside an iron cage and left me there for 24 hours. I became very weak after 10 days on the hunger strike, so they released me, not wanting to be held responsible for anything.

Even though Pingshan County Public Security police intended to give me a one-year forced labor term, because of my feeble condition, they gave up their plot. After I returned home, the Sanji Town government dispatched a team of three, including Jia Yanlong and Wang Jianli, to monitor my activities. On September 29, 2000, while I was toiling in the field, I was arrested by a gang of about six people headed by An Mingliang, assistant mayor of Sanji Town, and was taken to the county's police office. In the afternoon Feng Qingfang took me to the Fourth Brigade in the Shijiazhuang City Forced Labor Camp.

In the Fourth Brigade, I was once tortured by guard Liu Yuying because I did the Falun Gong exercises. She slammed me into a headboard with one hand while holding onto my hair with the other. She not only tortured me repeatedly with an electric baton, but also instructed inmates to brutally beat me, causing bruises all over my legs and hands. The most serious time was when I was dragged to the office by two inmates where the person in charge, Cheng, beat me with a police baton, causing me to pass out on the floor. Even after I was released, I later still had bruises and scars all over my legs.

On October 1, 2000, when the police raised the flag and were swearing in under it, I refused to swear in. Instead I recited Lunyu. The police immediately instructed inmates to drag me into the prison ward and lock me up. Six months later, I was transferred to the Third Brigade. Guards demanded I put on the labor camp uniform, but I refused. Guard Kong Fanyun and four others hit me about the head with ropes. In order to force me to give up Dafa, I was forced to crouch and to stand straight against the wall with my heels pressed tightly against it. One guard tortured me with an electric baton all over my body, I was forced to "bake" on a heating pipe, and I was deprived of sleep for seven days. Because I refused to cooperate, Zhang Xueming, the platoon leader, went wild, pulling my hair, swirling me on the ground, hitting my face with his hand, which caused me to lose lots of hair. I was tortured for three hours, until my face was so swollen that I couldn't open my eyes. They prolonged my detention for two more months. I was finally released on September 17, 2001.

After returning home, Sanji Town government authorities repeatedly sent Jia Yanlong to interfere with me, making it impossible for me to live a normal life. In the summer of 2003, An Mingliang, assistant town mayor, along with his gang, came to arrest me. They took me to a brainwashing center that is also a magnesium producing factory. In the center, because I did the Falun Gong exercises, I was brutally beaten by the driver for Wang Gengting, head of the 610 Office, who instructed the driver to beat me, and I was also handcuffed to a tree. At the beginning of my detention, I went on a hunger strike for more than three weeks. I was so weak that I looked like a skeleton. I was taken to a hospital where I was force-fed a bottle of "water," but because the feeding tube was too big and too stiff, my throat wasn't able to handle it, and it hurt terribly. Under these circumstances, they had no alternative but to send me home.

After I got home, Sanji government officials still had me under surveillance. When my health improved, An Mingliang; Shi Jinbo of the Sanji police; Hou Cunli, assistant manager of 610 Office; and four other people came to arrest me and took me to Hebei Provincial Brainwashing Center. In the center Yang Lifang, Li Caiping, and Xin Ping of the Sanji Town government took turns monitoring me. Right after I was put in the brainwashing center, Li Linping, Li Jingli, and collaborators, tried to brainwash me, but I didn't cooperate. Instead I went on a hunger strike. So they force-fed me, transfused me every day, taking me as a medical guinea pig. My arms were full of needle marks after they had persecuted me for about three weeks. During the force-feedings, Guard Kong Fanyun squeezed my mouth, "Pour it in with force!" Because I didn't cooperate, I was running out of breath, and I threw up everything in my stomach, soiling my clothes and smelling so bad. Within days I had attracted lice.

To keep me in the provincial brainwashing center for a month, the town government officials had to pay four thousand "yuan" as a so-called "transformation" fee. The authorities realized they were at a disadvantage. After all, they could not "transform" me. Therefore, releasing me was a better solution.

Even though I was home, I still had no personal freedom, because they continued to keep me under surveillance. My folks were under intense mental pressure. What had happened to me mentally impacted my mother-in-law, who is in her 70s, and my three little daughters, the youngest being only six.

On December 8, 2003, more than 30 police officers headed by An Mingliang and Xu Xiuying attempted to arrest me as we were commemorating the anniversary of the death of my father-in-law. The police didn't want to take any action for fear of angering the guests, so they decided to arrest me after the guests were gone. I took that opportunity to get away when they weren't paying full attention to me. Discovering my disappearance, they gathered a group of people to look for me near my home and at my relatives' homes.

From then on I wasn't able to return home, and I was forced to become homeless. In order to safeguard the truth, once again I went to Beijing to appeal about the unfair treatment of Falun Gong. On Tiananmen Square police confiscated my banner, arrested me, and took me to the Square precinct. Because I refused to disclose my name, I was brutally beaten with police batons and shoes for two days. When I was taken to the West City Police Station, my legs were covered in bruises. Because of my hunger strike, the chief of police and assistant Deng Hong ordered a few inmates to handcuff me to a bed. The chief stepped on my hair, hit me in the head, and force-fed me, causing my mouth and nose to bleed. One time, a doctor was unable to insert the needle into my arms so I was full of holes from the needle. She forced in four bottles of liquid, making me feel unbearable, so I pulled out the stomach tube.

Guards there instructed other inmates to beat me about my head and face. For over 50 days, my arms were purple and black due to the daily force-feedings and transfusions.

In February 2004, I was taken to Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp in Baoding City, where about five guards on duty deprived me of sleep for seven days, by ordering inmates to monitor me. They did daily forced-feeding with large quantities so that I always vomited. Because I didn't cooperate, I was taken to a special room full of torture equipment, physical and mental--some of Teacher's pictures were damaged there. They were abusing and slandering Dafa and Teacher's pictures. Four guards pushed and kicked me like a ball, also torturing me with two electric batons on every part of my body, causing my legs and feet to become totally black. They also hit my face with their shoes. Among them, a so-called Captain Yang threatened, "If you still do not cooperate with us, we'll punch your feet with nails."

On March 13, 2004, I was taken to Pingshan County Public Security Bureau's Detention Center, where Feng Qingfang illegally sentenced me to three years of forced labor. I After detaining me for 17 days, they took me to the Fifth Brigade at Shijiazhuang City Forced Labor Camp, where eight guards took turns monitoring me. They deprived me of sleep for 15 days. Later, guards handcuffed me between two beds, like a Chinese character "Big" for five days, causing my legs and feet to swell terribly. Seeing they didn't get what they wanted, guard Qi Honghong became very mad and crazy, howling and brutally hitting my head, making me very dizzy and causing my ears to hum with thunder. Two months later, I was taken back to the Fourth Brigade, where guard Liu Xiumin tortured me many times because I did the Falun Gong exercises. I went on hunger strike many times against the persecution. I was released on March 14, 2007.

After returning home, Sanji Town government officials continued monitoring me using the same villager, Gu Hong Xiao.

From December 1999 to March 2007, I spent more than 1780 days out of 2600 days either in Public Security Bureaus, police stations, detention centers, forced labor camps, and brainwashing centers, or homeless. My life isn't a human life. I strongly believe that what I have chosen is right--my faith in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" is solid.

I am exposing the facts of the persecution I have been through. I do not hate, I am only telling the world the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong to awaken their conscience, and we can all work together to put an end to this disregard for the truth of the universe.

(Clearwisdom.net) On April 28, 2008, Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the following resolution to recognize World Falun Dafa Day.

Massachusetts House of Representatives

Resolutions

Recognizing World Falun Dafa Day

Whereas, World Falun Dafa Day will be celebrated May 13, 2008; and

Whereas, it is important to honor institutions that thrive in the middle of harsh oppression; and

Whereas, Falun Dafa is an ancient cultivation practice based on the universal principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance"; and

Whereas, Falun Dafa is a self-improvement system of exercise movements and meditations; and

Whereas, Falun Dafa is practiced by the tens of millions of practitioners in more than fifty-five countries; and

Whereas, the great compassion and tolerance demonstrated by Falun Dafa practitioners in upholding the principles of their practice under the most severe environment had touched the hearts of people throughout the city, state, nation and world; and

Whereas, those that practice Falun Dafa believe that it helps to create well-being and better members of society; Therefore Be It

Resolved, that the Massachusetts House of Representatives join with the numerous practitioners of Falun Dafa in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day; And Be It Further

Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be forwarded by the Clerk of the House of Representatives to Falun Gong Practitioners.

House of Representatives, Adopted, April 28, 2008

Salvatore F. Dimasi

Speaker of the House

Steven T. James

Clerk of the House

Offered by:

Representative Frank I. Smizik

     "There is little use in determining quantitative properties of an unknown object or realm before having obtained sufficient orientation about its basic qualities, appearance, behavior, functioning, inner dynamics, development, etc.  It not only tells nothing whatever about the unknown; it prevents us from really getting at it.  It gives us the illusion that we know something if we can determine "exactly" at what hour, minute, and second, at what latitude and longitude, etc., we saw the unknown.  This is important where locations of known objects are concerned.  It is of secondary or of no importance, it may even distract from the issue at stake where unknowns are concerned.  There is no use wasting time and deceiving oneself about being an "exact scientist" in counting the number of words a man talks per minute at a certain hour of the day in a certain building, if, what bothers him and drove him to us as doctors, is a severe bellyache which could not be diagnosed by scores of physicians.  The first thing to do in such cases is to relax, sit down, look at the patient, chat with him and get "the feel"of him, a feel so very much despised by "exact scientists" as "psychology" or "mysticism".  Such "scientists" are no scientists at all.  They are ignorant with respect to the crudest, basic scientific rules of observation; to the inevitable influence of sense impression and emotional structure of the observer on the observed.  A compulsive-neurotic doubter in science will doubt and talk away everything, no matter how much evidence there is.  An arrogant stiff-neck in science will remain inaccessible to any kind or amount of most impressive demonstration.  It does not change the situation a bit that the sick man hides his compulsion, ignorance or arrogance behind a veneer of fake scientific objectivity.  Being "scientific" means being open-minded, ready to accept anything if certain conditions of objectivity are fulfilled; of being positive, and not negative in examining a new realm of knowledge.  These are banalities indeed, as old as good true science itself".