Is This Racist?

I was watching TV the other night when a commercial came on for an internet dating site called blackpeoplemeet.com. I was really surprised by it.
First of all it's implying that skin color is a number one priority of some singles. Instead of meeting interesting and people based on compatibility and personality criteria as on a traditional dating site, some singles would rather limit themselves and potential spouses  based on compatibility of skin pigmentation. And as learned people of all skin tones have been saying for quite some time now, segregation whether pushed upon a group of people, or instituted from within, based on skin color is ridiculous and should have no place in modern society.
Secondly, I wonder how people would respond if the commercial had been for whitepeoplemeet.com? Even to my ears it sounds worse somehow, when it should only sound equally as terrible. I think it would be an interesting psychological experiment for someone to run an ad on TV for some sort of white only dating site and see what happens. I feel like it would be a much bigger deal.
I've had similar discussions with friends, and they seem to say the same thing, that I don't understand because I'm white, and I've never been a minority. But I don't understand that as an argument. We aren't talking about me, we are talking about racism, and we have two choices. Either it's right or it's wrong. Either you believe that it is fair to distinguish (for good or bad) groups of people by skin color, or you don't. And I don't.
I know this is a touchy subject, but what do you think?

Oh Mexico

Mexico has been in the international news a lot lately, and not for their great coffee or soccer teams. Since the 2006 election of their newest president Philipe Calderon, who vowed to end the drug trade in Mexico, the drug cartels have been at it non-stop to threaten, terrorize, and kill anyone who opposes them. They have already murdered and decapitated several mayors of Mexican border towns. They have murdered people (maybe some of their former employees?) in rehabilitation centers in Mexico City and elsewhere. Birthday parties aren't even safe and 14 were gunned down just last week while celebrating. Also last week the cartels opened fire on a 3 day old newly built police station (without provocation) in a border town called Los Ramones scaring the crap out of the 14 newly hired police officers who fled back to their homes following the incident.
30,000 people or more have died since Calderon took office and declared war on the cartels. And right now it doesn't look like his plan is working. The drug dealers aren't even waiting to be provoked, they are attacking first in brutal, horrible ways to terrify everyone into compliance.
What should Mexico do? The local law enforcement is totally inadequate to deal with the cartels. The men that oppose them end up dead along with the rest of their families, and those that don't are paid off and hardly qualify as police officers.
Should the military step in and just start rounding people up? Can they do that? Even if they do they wouldn't be able to touch the top guys anyway. They'd get a few runners and maybe some town thugs, but not the bosses, the head hanchos who orchestrate the whole thing and have all the money. And what about all the families and innocent people that have been dragged into it because they were afraid for their lives?
Should the government just go in and eradicate the cartel people once and for all. Shoot them, and not wait for court dates, innocence or guilt, and prison sentences? Just go up to their fancy homes, and processing plants and kill every last person there and start from scratch? What kind of government would do something like that, and what kind of people could have faith in the fairness of it afterward?
I confess I don't know a whole lot about Mexican politics, but what I do know is that is is a very corrupt, and complicated mess at the moment. All of the Mexican people I know want the drug dealers out, and an honest government in place. But they say what are the people to do? Most of them are coerced into their corruption, and are terrified by the cartels. They have children and wives who's lives are threatened if they don't comply. Men and women who oppose the cartels loose their business, their homes and their lives. All the people who stand up for what's right don't ride off into the sunset like Zorro. They end up having their head delivered to their wife in a cardboard box.
Most of the Mexican I know say it sucked having drug dealers in their country, but it was better for the people before Calderon when everyone just turned a blind eye and let the dealers do what they wanted. There was peace because the dealers stayed out of the way of the local people and let them do their own thing. But I think that is a terrible idea. Giving in to the problem is no solution. Just think of all the junkies those drugs are producing and how many lives they are destroying.
But there has to be a solution doesn't there? Something I am not thinking of? It can't all be just hopeless can it? I just can't think of a good one. I can't think of any plan to get rid of the cartels that wouldn't be wrong on some level. Do you have any ideas?

The Kidney Conundrum

I recently read an article (in Discover magazine)about organ harvesting in third world countries. They primarily discussed the sale of kidneys on the black market. I have to admit I was really shocked that such a thing happens. I realize that a person can get by with only one kidney, but I also have to note that we are all born with two which means that there is an evolutionary advantage to having a pair.
Anyway, the article explained how most of the kidneys come from poor people in rural parts of India and various countries in South America, where people are desperate and may sell them for as little as $300. It is terrible to consider being in such dire straits that you would be willing to start selling parts of your body off.
They also mentioned that in China organs are regularly harvested from criminals particularly the people on (their equivalent of) death row. And this is actually what I wanted to talk about.
At first glance this seemed like a good idea to me. If they are going to be put to death anyway, why not save someone else' life with their organs? Why waste a perfectly good kidney when it's only the mind of the murder that has gone bad? And if an individual has taken a life, doesn't it seem only fair they should be required to help save one in return?
But then the more I thought about it, the more I decided against it. First of all I was assuming the person in prison actually committed the crimes they were incarcerated for. Obviously that is often not the case, especially in China. And then I got to thinking about basic human rights. It's one thing to execute someone (actually I am not at all sure what I think about executions, but that is a topic for another day), and quite another to cut them open and remove a part of their body. That is exploitation isn't it? And then you run into the problem of governments putting more people to death simply because they want more money, and need more organs to attain it, and so it gets all muddled. But do you waste perfectly good organs that could go to needy people based on principal?
I must admit these are very preliminary thoughts. Like I said before, I'd never even heard of this before yesterday. I certainly think taking organs from poor, ignorant, desperate people is a crime, but does anyone have any thoughts on taking them from death row prisoners who will be executed either way?