Sea Shepherd Officially Running Pirate Vessel

[flvegan]

Sea Shepherd Officially Running Pirate Vessel
Tuesday, 9 January 2007, 3:12 pm
Press Release: Japan Whaling Association
Sea Shepherd Officially Running Pirate Vessel

The Japan Whaling Association, which promotes sustainable whaling around the world, today congratulated the Government of Belize for de-registering the Sea Shepherd vessel, Farley Mowat.

JWA President Keiichi Nakajima said it must be the highly-promoted threatening actions by Paul Watson that had led to his vessel being de-registered by Belize. "If there were any doubts about it before, there are none now. Sea Shepherd is officially running a pirate vessel," he said.

"International law says any non-flagged vessel can be boarded for inspection, and in case of any violation or piracy, has to be detained with its crew arrested. If Paul Watson continues with his violent campaign using this vessel, then he'll be risking everything," said Mr Nakajima, who also called on the Government of Japan to ensure everything possible was done to secure the safety of Japanese researchers and crew.

"This is a very responsible move by the Belize Government. Sea Shepherd has many times rammed and sunk vessels before. There are serious concerns over the safety of Japanese crew and researchers in the Antarctic when Sea Shepherd is present," Mr Nakajima said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0701/S00051.htm

Nice "press release" source.

More info here:
http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070105_1.html

And a great pic taken of the side of the Farley Mowat:



Lifeboats at the ready, whalers...Leviathan cometh...

[Harper_is_Bush]

1. Good. "Captain" Watson is a loose cannon who hurts the progressive cause.

Posts I've made previously here demonstrate he's also a liar. He lied about the circumstances around a Canadian Member of Parliament leaving office.

Credibility is invaluable and the "Captain" squanders it through his media releases and his actions on the waters.

[flvegan]

2. Keep reaching.

Support whaling and the clubbing of seals all you want (as you've done in "posts...made previously here") but attempting this mudslinging is just...sad.

Captain Watson and the "actions" of SSCS "on the waters" are nothing less than heroic.

[madmax]

4. To Captain Watson

:toast: Bless you man!

[Bo]

70. LONG LIVE CAPTAIN WATSON

GO KICK SOME WHALER ASS....

[aquart]

5. What actions?

[villager]

6. no, Watson is on the right side of history

and the right side of the battle to save what's left of the earth...

[Bark Bark Bark]

9. When Someone Says That

...about blowing up abortion clinics, it's called terrorism. Here. At DU.

Oh, yeah, it's so cool to play "real-life crusading vigilante pirate" (if you're, you know, physically or psychologically twelve), but grownups know: this isn't going to end well for anyone.

[Harper_is_Bush]

11. me likey how your mind works n/t

[flvegan]

15. BRILLIANT!!!!

Oh, how I wish I could nominate a post for the Greatest Page.

Fantastic.

Had you mentioned PETA, you'd have hit the trifecta here.

[villager]

31. right. so, we'll just let all that wildlife die. And be comforted

by how "right" we were, anyway.

[flvegan]

34. Um, villager

That was sarcasm. I should have included the smilie, I admit. I'm the OP, hello? Praising SSCS for the multiple sinkings plasterd on the side of the Farley Mowat? My fault. You don't know me.

[villager]

62. sorry -- there was that other post lauding the initial

"sub thread." Glad to see, per John Muir, that you too are "on the side of the bears."

Or in this case, the whales!

[villager]

33. not really. a dubious rhetorical flourish. Both whalers and clinic

bombers are ultimately on the same side of the fence: wanting to control other lives for their own ends.

[flvegan]

35. I agree.

Please see Post #34.

[saigon68]

55. Nice "press release" source

LOL

[SemperEadem]

86. that's exactly what fundamental, right to life, anti abortionists

say when they kill a doctor providing abortions or blow up a clinic which provides legal abortions.

[flvegan]

91. No it isn't.

But then, I guess you COULD have tossed a jihad reference in there to have made that post even worse.

[TheMadMonk]

38. Whether or not his heart;'s in the right place, his methods are totally wrong.

Unless of course you want to allow King George all his little shenanigans.

They are essentially the same in their philosophy of ignoring or riding roughshod over laws that stand between them and their desires.


Further, his actions are bloody counter productive. The market for whale meat in Japan is down the toilet. The "researchers" can barely give it away as dog meat. One of the major reasons this "critical scientific research" continues is because, of Greenpeace's didactic demands.

The Japanese people have the anti-whaling message quite clearly and a good many are assimilating it through their exposure to western media, but the message their government receives is a continuous stream of abuses from organisations seeking only to prohibit, without offering compensatory solutions.

[flvegan]

40. The UN Charter backs his actions.

King George has no such support.

I agree, riding roughshod over laws is totally wrong. This is why the Japanes whalers need to be stopped and brought to justice.

As for "compensatory solutions"...to what? To a product they can't sell? A product that they illegally harvest? The product is already prohibited, it's just not enforced.

[TheMadMonk]

44. The UN charter backs his GOALS not actions.

As to compensatory solutions for whaling, there are none. My run ins with Greenpeace et al have been over energy policies, where compensatory solutions do exist or can be found.


However, pissing people off is no solution when it only inspires them to expand on the actions you wish stopped.

Morally the Japanese people have been won over. How about couching the rest of the argument in economic terms, something that the Japanese people are very, very good at listening to. Right now the whaling argument is one of national pride. Turn it into one of pissing money up against the wall out of spite and stubbornness and they'll geek.

[BreweryYardRat]

110. If you're correct re:economic terms, that's not a bad move.

That works better than targeting ships, or (my idea) targeting government officials, since the Japanese whaling industry was recently nationalized.

Mr. Watson's heart is in the right place, but his tactics may need a little work.

[pokercat999]

52. An imperfect hero.................. but a hero none the less.

Just ask the whales.

[aquart]

3. WTF is that?

[flvegan]

7. WTF is what?

Specifics...

[villager]

8. Sea Shepherd "Jolly Roger" t-shirts available here:

http://store.estreet.com/seashepherd/Detail.bok?no=9

[LeftyMom]

46. I love that shirt

A buddy of mine has one, it looks great in person too. Need to get around to getting one.

[Robeson]

49. Oooohh. That's giving me some ideas for my next tattoo...

...:-)

[leftchick]

108. arrrrghh!

Thank You!

:)

[LostinVA]

117. I'm definitely getting one of those n/t

[Pavulon]

10. Pirates

Interesting tactic, but dangerous to crew.

[Harper_is_Bush]

12. The term invokes extreme consequences, but I suspect arrest rather than destruction

will be their fate.

edit: although destruction might befall them due to their violent confrontations. Ships announced as targets might arm themselves.

[Pavulon]

14. They can remove the crew and sink it (nt)

[Harper_is_Bush]

16. I don't understand your post

taken in context of the one you're replying to I can't understand it.

can you explain pls? thx!

[Pavulon]

22. To the above posters comment..

regarding force. Once a ship is declared a pirate vessel. Its crew can be removed at gunpoint by guys who zip down ropes from helicopters. The vessel can then be sunk with asm for target practice or with a couple of charges in the bilge.

Ramming ships on the open sea is tremendously dangerous.

[Harper_is_Bush]

24. ah. Well, I hope they drain all fuel and oil before they do that.

I am environmentaly conscious!

[The Stranger]

119. What do you base your assertion that one can legally sink someone else's ship?

With citations, please.

[One_Life_To_Give]

58. More likely Impound the Farley Mowat

UN/IMO regulations require any and all flag nations to take action. They either need to be in the process of getting sombodies flag to take responsibility for the vessel or she will end up tied up in port unable to move.

[krispos42]

129. Maybe, maybe not

That would require an intercept by a naval ship to board, search, detain, and remove the crew, or some sort of special-op involving a helicopter and special forces. If it is decided to sink the ship by aircraft, the pilot could warn the crew to abandon ship, but I would guess that the crew would simply dare the pilot to shoot.

If the pilot decided to call the bluff and sink the vessel... well, I think the proper term is 'sharkbait'.

[flvegan]

17. Keep dreaming.

Not even an arrest nor "destruction" will likely keep them from the beloved seal bashing and whaling of some folks...

[Harper_is_Bush]

20. I'm speaking of Captain Watson, not the whalers

If the Farely Mowett gets sunk, it gets sunk.

I won't shed a tear.

In that event I hope all crew make it safely out, of course.

[flvegan]

25. I say the same in agreement with you

in regards to the outlaws that choose to go whaling.

[Pavulon]

21. These things are terrible

but endangering lives to do it is shitty. Any person who has been in a boat offshore can tell you that going into the ocean is a deadly thing.

These people are morons and are going to kill someone.

[Solo_in_MD]

27. It also gives the Japanese navy all the excuse they need to intervene

and they can not stand up to a real warship.

Scenario: A Japanese flagged vessel is damaged by a "nationless" Sea Shepard Society vessel. They are in turn boarded the Japanese navy, the crew arrested and the vessels sunk. Under international law they have no case, no insurance, and can be tried for piracy.

[flvegan]

29. And the world would watch

and try Japan in the court of public opinion.

The Japanese navy didn't do anything last year, and can't afford to do anything this year.

Scenario: A Japanese flagged vessel is damaged while illegally whaling in a dedicated sanctuary by a "nationless" Sea Shepherd Society vessel...

No real warship will come to the rescue of the real pirates...the whalers.

[Solo_in_MD]

36. The Japanese are getting progressively more militant

and theirs might be the only set of records that survive the encounter.


This time Watson is running with even less cover...hopefully no one dies.

[flvegan]

37. Right. Except

even National Geographic had a big to-do about this last year. SSCS has a helicopter and folks taking video constantly. Plus, if Greenpeace does indeed have ships in the area as well...

Watson has a ton of cover, but yes, hopefully no one dies, nor is even injured.

[One_Life_To_Give]

59. Now Japan's Navy is Obligated to board them

The UN/IMO regulations give them alot of cover. It will be very easy for any flag nation to claim the UN regulations mandate that they must board the Farley Mowat, arrest the crew and impound the vessel at a port of their choice.

I wouldn't be surprised to discover that a Japanese ship with a marine boarding party just happened to be in the neighborhood. Although they are likely to wait until one of the Whalers lodges a formal complaint before taking action. Just to give themselves additional cover. Having done so five minutes after Beleize pulled there flag wouldn't have played well in the press.

[Barrett808]

13. "Japanese researchers"

Pfft.

:eyes:

[villager]

32. exactly.

n/t

[Recursion]

45. I say, tell them they can "harvest" as many as they want...

...as long as they do it the old-fashioned way, throwing a harpoon from a rowed boat. If you go mano a mano (mano a aleta?) with a whale and live, that's a fair way to get the oil or blubber or whatever the hell it is these sick people want from dead whales.

[BreweryYardRat]

111. Bad idea. Boats with thrown harpoons were extremely efficient at killing whales.

How do you think they got endangered in the first place?

[Recursion]

112. My only real knowledge of the subject is Moby-Dick

In which, the scoreboard for whale vs. rowed-boat-with-thrown-harpoon is something like 4 and 0.

[BreweryYardRat]

113. Unfortunately, Moby Dick was an exception.

In real life, yeah, whales wrecked the occasional boat, but they got slaughtered en masse.

[saigon68]

132. Our Hero

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/01/09/paulkwatson_wideweb__470x309,0.jpg

Check out the video "THE FULL WHALE EXPERIENCE"

http://www.whalesafebeer.com/

[Barrett808]

18. Buccaneer a badge of honour for whaling opponent (Sea Shepherd flag struck)

Buccaneer a badge of honour for whaling opponent (Sea Shepherd flag struck)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x77421

[originalpckelly]

19. I'm curious how much diesel fuel Mr. Environment's ship uses...

while he's gallivanting around the globe sinking other ships?

[Pavulon]

23. bunker oil or diesel

by the thousands of tons. The protest is fine, up to the point of intentionally sinking ships with people on them.

[flvegan]

26. Why don't you ask Al Gore?

You know...same sort of bullshit thing to say, flying around, touting that dvd of his. Those ideas, etc.

Hey, fuck Greenpeace, too. Idiots, right?

[Harper_is_Bush]

48. You have no respect for Gore and apparently no belief in global warming.

are you sure you belong here?

[Robeson]

50. I believe you may be missing out on the irony of his comment.

[LeftyMom]

56. Where on earth did you get that idea?

:eyes:

[LostinVA]

118. Oh boy

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

115. You know...

you're hilarious.

:spray:

[Barrett808]

28. If national and global environmental laws were actually enforced...

...a goal which I'm sure we all find laudable, the policing ships would be burning similar quantities of fuel.

[The Stranger]

120. That is an odd thing to wonder? You mean as opposed to all of the other ships in the world?

Or that it isn't justified to save a species?

[roody]

30. They are right. Paul Watson is risking everything.

When we all do the same, the world will change the way we wish it to.

[junior college]

39. Why, if I didn't have a wife and kids

to attend to, I'd report to Paul Watson for duty. ::serious

[Pachamama]

41. If I wasn't a wife and with kids, this sailor and defender of our planet would also be reporting for

duty to Capt. Watson!

:hi: Seriously.....

Sigh, I met Paul Watson years ago here in San Francisco...he came to speak over at the Patagonia store near Ghiradelli square. A very handsome man and when he spoke, you could feel his passion about what he was doing... and that it was the absolute right thing to protect these animals.

[pitohui]

42. it was going to happen one of these days and captain watson knew it

i don't know what else to say because i don't know how else he can protect the whales he loves so well

[Recursion]

43. Oh, the year was 1778,

How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now!
A letter of mark came from the King
To the scummiest vessel I’d ever seen.
God damn them all!
I was told we’d cruise the seas for American gold.
We’d fire no guns, shed no tears.
I’m a broken man on a Halifax pier,
The last of Watson’s Privateers.

Arrrrrrh!

[htuttle]

47. Arrrr! May the FSM watch over you, laddies!

[Nihil]

51. I see the Japanese government are as honest as Bush's ...

Nice line in blackmail and blatant threats they've been pulling on
any nation that allowed the Leviathan to be flagged.

Here's hoping every whaler suffers the same fate as every whale
(which, of course, means "dying peacefully after a long and happy life")
:evilgrin:

In the meantime, God Speed to Captain Watson!

[Coventina]

53. Fuck you, Japan. You are the real criminals, you bastards!

Go Sea Shepherd!

[peacebuzzard]

54. Bon Voyage, Capitan to you and your crew of heroes!

This man and his cause are needed to bring headlines and focus for the remaining magnificent giants with no predators but the ugly human kind.

Captain Watson is a brilliant real life icon with more courage & resolve than a million men. History will regard him a champion.

Our lifetime has singularly stood the watch for the annihilation of these enormous and gentle creatures.

[slackmaster]

57. I TOLD YE SO, LILY-LIVERED LANDLUBBIN' LEVIATHAN LOVERS!

[Tsi-noo]

60. Good.

Hope this racist bastard gets what he has coming.

"Just because you were born stupid doesn't give you any right to be stupid!" - Paul Watson, to the Makah.

Fuck him.

[Name removed]

61. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

65. What a horrible person.

[saigon68]

69. oops

Enjoy your very brief stay

[Mythsaje]

73. Stupid thing to say...

But I also oppose their whaling as well.

Some of my ancestors used to conduct raids on coastal villages all over Europe. Raping, pillaging, and being a general nuisance. Others used to steal their neighbors' cattle and fight small skirmishes with them for something to do.

Just because it's "traditional" doesn't make it right. We know that whales are intelligent and yet there are entirely too many people who can justify something tantamount to murder for the sake of tradition.

Fuck tradition.

It's a poor native tribe indeed willing to sacrifice an endangered animal for its own glorification. The Makah should be ashamed of themselves.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

74. Sure. And our ancestors...

stole Native Americans' land. And told them to abandon their culture. And told them they were barbarians and what they could and couldn't do.

"Others used to steal their neighbors' cattle and fight small skirmishes with them for something to do."

Ironic that you bring up cattle. Hindus don't eat beef. But if they invaded our country and told us we couldn't eat beef anymore, I imagine a few people would be upset about it.

"It's a poor native tribe indeed willing to sacrifice an endangered animal for its own glorification."

The gray whale population is in no danger from the Makah.

"The Makah should be ashamed of themselves."

Frankly, I think white people should be ashamed telling the Makah what to do.

[Mythsaje]

75. And the human population

is in no danger from a murder or two.

Still no justification.

Don't play on my "white guilt." I don't have any. My ancestors either arrived after the potato famine as poor, reviled refugees, or were natives themselves. The last thing I need is a lecture on how someone else's ancestors fucked everything up. My ancestors were a little too busy fighting to survive British and American subjugation, thank you very much.

It amazes me that some "liberals" decry deer hunting (which has become a necessity because of our systematic destruction of viable predators in their environment) yet support the killing of creatures far more rare and valuable than deer just because some indigenous population considers it a "tradition."

As I said. Fuck tradition. They have no more right to kill whales than my Norwegian and Danish cousins have a right to raid coastal villages. Or my Irish cousins have a right to kill their neighbors and steal their cattle.

There are some traditions that need to die.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

76. Is Makah whale hunting supposed to be murder now?

because it's not. And what's unjustifiable is that comparison.

"Don't play on my "white guilt." I don't have any"

No kidding.

"The last thing I need is a lecture on how someone else's ancestors fucked everything up. My ancestors were a little too busy fighting to survive British and American subjugation, thank you very much."

Well then it's just a touch ironic considering your views of the Makah now.

"It amazes me that some "liberals" decry deer hunting (which has become a necessity because of our systematic destruction of viable predators in their environment) yet support the killing of creatures far more rare and valuable than deer just because some indigenous population considers it a "tradition.""

Again with the irony.

"As I said. Fuck tradition. They have no more right to kill whales than my Norwegian and Danish cousins have a right to raid coastal villages. Or my Irish cousins have a right to kill their neighbors and steal their cattle."

They have considerably more right. I've got the right to eat beef. Makahs' got the right to eat gray whale.

"There are some traditions that need to die."

Such as the tradition of white people infringing on the rights of Native Americans.

[Mythsaje]

77. In case you weren't paying attention

which seems to be obvious, by the way, MY ancestors were either natives or poor Irish immigrants who had nothing to do with what was done to the Natives.

Thus, I suffer no guilt for what was done to them. YOUR ancestors did it, not mine. Mine were either the target of it, or people who had their OWN fucking problems at the time.

Own the guilt. It's all yours.

I don't happen to think tradition is a good enough justification for the destruction of what might well be an intelligent being. Too bad if YOU do. And, no, they don't have the "right" to eat gray whale. Particularly when A LOT of it went to waste anyway, since most of the younger generation wanted nothing to do with it.

It's stupid, and wasteful, and unnecessary. A bunch of old men trying to relive their "glory" days by committing what might well be murder, using tradition to justify it.

I'm SO not impressed.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

78. "Thus, I suffer no guilt for what was done to them."

1. Oppression of Native Americans didn't stop during the potato famine.

2. Are you free from guilt about what's being done to them now?

"And, no, they don't have the "right" to eat gray whale."

No, but the Makah do. It's clearly expressed in their treaty.

"Particularly when A LOT of it went to waste anyway, since most of the younger generation wanted nothing to do with it."

I don't eat the whole cow either. That's rather irrelevant.

"It's stupid, and wasteful, and unnecessary. A bunch of old men trying to relive their "glory" days by committing what might well be murder, using tradition to justify it."

Yeah, but it's not murder, is it? Calling it murder when it isn't is the sort of thing the anti-choicers do. Speaking of anti-choice- if you don't want to eat gray whales, nobody's asking you to.

[Mythsaje]

82. My Irish ancestors arrived around the turn of the century

My paternal grandfather was half native. What does this have to do with anything? The Irish were a reviled minority themselves--they hardly had any influence on policy re: the native tribes. In fact, there were a lot of Irish immigrants who made common cause with the natives, especially back East.

I'm not responsible for what any of my ancestors did, regardless. I accept only guilt for which I, myself, have done. I think anything else is just stupid.

You might not yourself eat the whole cow, but a lot of the parts you don't use go into making dog food, leather goods, and other things. Personally I consider the mass production of meat for American consumption pretty wasteful too, but that has a lot to do with how I was raised. Unlike the vast majority of Americans, I have actually killed and prepared animals for my own table. I harbor no illusions about where my meat comes from.

None of this has any bearing on whether or not we should allow the killing of a potentially sentient creature to promote a specific cultural identity. Treaty or no. Changing circumstances and understanding would render THAT part of the treaty null and void. In my opinion. We're not talking LEGAL rights, we're talking ethical and moral rights.

I'm opposed to whale hunting. Period. No matter WHO is doing it and what their justification is.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

88. "I accept only guilt for which I, myself, have done."

Fair enough.

Telling the Makah they can't hunt whales is bad enough.

"We're not talking LEGAL rights, we're talking ethical and moral rights."

Yes, and I say it's highly immoral and unethical to tell the Makah they can't hunt.

[Mythsaje]

89. Like I care.

Last time I checked, telling them they can't kill a whale isn't the same as going out and killing an intelligent creature myself.

Ethically and morally, that is.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

92. No.

It's worse.

Ethically and morally that is.

[Mythsaje]

94. ROFL

Yeah, sure.

So telling someone they can't kill someone else is worse than killing them.

I guess that means that we who oppose the war in Iraq are morally inferior to Bushco.

Nice logic.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

95. Whales ain't people.

Using your logic, if you think abortion is murder, then it's OK to tell women they can't have abortions.

[Mythsaje]

98. Whales aren't HUMANS.

That doesn't mean they're not people... Just not OUR kind of people. We know they're intelligent. HOW intelligent seems to be the question.

Killing another intelligent being for sport or for "tradition" is just plain fucked up. Whether they're human or not.

As far as the rest?

You show me a fetus capable of communication, much less over vast distances, and I'll cede your point.

I won't be holding my breath.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

99. LOL.

Whales ain't people anymore than the deer in your previous example are.

"You show me a fetus capable of communication"

Show me a whale that's more of a person than a fetus.

[Mythsaje]

100. I don't think there's any question of whether whales are intelligent...

And, yeah, more intelligent than deer.

Give me a break.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

101. Yeah, and deer are fuzzier than whales.

That's not really a point though, is it?

Give me a break.

Pigs are intelligent animals. At least as intelligent as dogs. Possibly as intelligent as whales and dolphins. They're also delicious.

[Mythsaje]

102. That IS the point...

If whales are as intelligent as research shows they might be, we can't just go around slaughtering them for sport or because it's "tradition."

It's murderous and savage and simply wrong.

You've done nothing to refute this point other than throw up straw men and mischaracterize what I'm saying.

We have an obligation to protect other intelligent creatures...not allow them to be slaughtered for some antiquated tradition. Period.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

103. It's not a good point.

Are you telling me it's immoral to eat pork?

[Mythsaje]

104. Maybe it is...

Some people certainly think so.

But I'm not talking about hunting or raising something for food because it's part of your everyday food stock, or simply because the population is so large it's endangering itself. I'm talking about conducting an unnecessary hunt for the purpose of "maintaining tradition" that has no purpose other than to feed human ego.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

105. Well now you're moving goal posts.

Not that I think it's in an any better position.

Is "tradition" an any less good purpose than because it's an every day food stock? I usually only roast a turkey on thanksgiving, is that any less reason for roasting a turkey than if it were everyday food? Is fulfilling tradition just feeding ego?

"simply because the population is so large it's endangering itself."

Well, now Makah make that argument too. The Gray Whale population has rebounded to historic highs. There are gray whales washing up on beaches dead because they've starved to death.

[Mythsaje]

106. We're never going to see eye to eye on this one...

I think whales are intelligent. I think hunting them is wrong, no different than hunting humans for sport.

Some people think that population isn't the issue so much as the long-term environmental effects of human behavior.

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/whalesgray-LATimes6.24.02.html

That doesn't make hunting them right.

They're changing their eating habits in an attempt to adapt. :shrug: Sounds pretty smart to me.

Turkeys are available all year long. There are MORE available during the holidays, but they're still part of our collective food stock.

[flvegan]

109. I am.

If not for absolute survival, it's immoral and unethical to eat an animal that's been abused simply to be eaten.

Pork, notwithstanding absolute need.

It's need v. want. Want is based in ego.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

125. Well then...

Don't eat it.

[SweetGrass]

122. "Show me a whale that's more of a person than a fetus."

I'll take "Things You Never Imagined Having To Say" for $500, Alex. (Excellent job, by the way.)

[bunyip]

90. Well said.

:toast:

[flvegan]

93. It stopped being tradition when they started selling the meat

rather than surviving off of it. It became a profit center.

Sort of like clubbing harp seals out of "tradition" or having slaves as "tradition"

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

96. Why does that not make it a tradition?

You don't think the Makah sold whale meat traditionally?

[flvegan]

107. Intent.

Fight for tradition to survive...fine.

Fight for "tradition" to sell out (yeah, I said it) to the Japanese based on ability?

C'mon...

[mitchtv]

79. And Ga/La-Pacific/ Weyerhauser has the right to clear cut

the entire NW. Fuck those god damned murolets and owls in fact open season on the bald eagle and trap the salmon where they spawn Don't leave a thing.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

80. GP and Weyerhauser are not sovereign nations.

And the Marble Murelet and Spotte Owls are, unlike the Grey Whale, are endangered species.

[mainegreen]

63. Japan and their fishing fleets can go screw themselves.

Like they have the moral high ground.

[Javaman]

64. Arrrrg!! Arrrrg!! Avast ye matey! arrrrg!!! nt

[Number9Dream]

66. Thanks Flvegan...

"Japanese reseachers" Yeah right... Researching how to more effectively find and kill intelligent marine mammals. Go Sea Shepherd!

[arikara]

67. The oceans were once filled with whales

And Japan still wants to "harvest" these highly intelligent endangered creatures for "research" or dog food. At least Paul Watson cares enough and is brave enough to do something about it.

[Kolesar]

68. I wonder if George Washington Hayduke is still crewing for him?

[flvegan]

72. Well, they did name

one of their fast patrol boats the "Edward Abbey" so in a way...

[Ferret Annica]

84. Heyduke Lives!

Long live the Monkeywrench Gang.

[regnaD kciN]

71. Yo-ho, yo-ho...

...anti-whalin' we will go!

Arrrgh!

[judaspriestess]

81. Go Paul Watson

I wish more people had his courage to fight for their beliefs. Whaling for research purposes, yeah right. I am disgusting with humans overpopulating the earth and having no fucking respect for anything else on this planet.

[Ferret Annica]

83. Looking at how Japan murders 13 thousand dolphins

annually in crowd them into a bay and hack them to death orgies of violence, the real pirates Bombed Pearl Harbor in the 1940s, not the good Captain Watson.

I laud him and his crew for their excellent work. Japanese fishermen have told American activists trying to stop the dolphin slaughter they would kill them if they could get away with it.

Perhaps it is really getting close to the time real, genuine fill spirit of pirate zodiac rafts land at Iki Island during a kill and the Japanese fishermen should be put at the business end of a meat hook after a few gun magazines are emptied into them.

I don't advocate this and view that as counter productive, but I can understand why people would consider doing that.

My point to you is that if you stifle the frustration and anger that floats the operations of the Farley Mowat, it won't go away, it will just get more desperate, resolute, angrier and manifest itself in far more bloody ways.

In other words, be careful what you wish for, the consequences of getting your wishes might be nastier then you think they are. Earth First!

[MasonJar]

85. I am very disappointed in Belize, a country that I admire for its

monumental protection of wildlife and the environment. However, I would like to complain about this. Anyone have an address?

[Nihil]

116. For every David that beat Goliath ...

... there were far more who realised that the big guy could really
f*ck them over if he tried.

Belize did their bit in offering to flag Watson after the Japanese
pressured the preceding countries. (BTW, I am disgusted that the
UK simply gave in under the first threat ... pitiful ... but only
to be expected of the Blair government of appeasers these days ...)

A country the size of Belize really can't afford to go head-to-head
against Japan - even for the sake of the environment - without at least
*some* support from more powerful countries ... support that has been
either threatened or blackmailed away by Japan.

Please don't be too critical of Belize - at least they tried to do
the right thing. Direct your disappointment at Britain, Canada and
the other major countries who wimped out when the bully glared at them.

[MasonJar]

87. It is the Japanese who are breaking the international laws, as our

president so often does. But even if there were no laws, these brave souls are on a very dangerous mission to save lives. Whales are intelligent creatures; man has no right to kill them for commercial reasons of any kind... and that means period.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

97. Y'know what?

Monkeybutt.

[and-justice-for-all]

114. Whaling is murder....nt

[The Stranger]

121. "Sustainable whaling"?!?! Did Rove come up with that one?!?!

:rofl:

You're killing me. Keep 'em coming.

[Piperay]

123. Two great BIG thumbs up

for them! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[TheGriz]

124. Ambivalence

I have mixed feelings about this... I get off on the romanticism of it all, flying the Jolly Roger and ramming other ships in order to save the whales, etc. Tickles my funny bone, it'd be fun to go along.

However, it is ecoterrorism, plain and simple. Someone could die. Film a hunt and show it publicly to the Japanese people in theaters, it'll be more effective anyway.

Oh, and Paul Watson is not a cool guy. He claims to have invented tree spiking. To me it doesn't even matter if he is telling the truth (he isn't)... the fact that he is proud of doing it at all scares the hell out of me. People HAVE been seriously injured by it.

[LeftyMom]

128. There's plenty of footage of whaling.

Every year, Greenpeace goes down there and takes video and waves banners and shit, and every year the Japanese kill more whales. Education alone isn't going to do it, because most Japanese people don't eat whale now. It's perceived as a old-fashioned food associated with post-war rationing and deprivation. Culturally, it's kinda the Japanese equivalent of Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast. But instead of letting whaling die out due to lack of demand, the Japanese government bought out the whaling fleet from the private sector when nobody else wanted it, promotes whale meat consumption in schools and stores massive quantities of whale meat. There's so much extra they use it in dog food, yet every year they harvest more.

You can't kill whaling through education alone when it's supported by the government. If left to the market, it'd already be gone or nearly so.

[redqueen]

126. "researchers"?

who the F does he think he's foolin?

:rofl:

[depakid]

127. I have no problem with sinking those ships

And with the state of fisheries in the worlds oceans, I think there'll be many more to come.

[Ian David]

130. I bet I know a country that would let them register...

Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands is a micronation established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in southeast Queensland Australia. It is an expression of Queer nationalism.



More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_and_lesbian_kingdom

[slackmaster]

131. Somebody has to stand up for the gay whales

::nuke:

[Seldona]

133. How can they be fighting to save life

when they are purposely putting lives in danger? It is the same hypocrisy I see with so called 'right to lifers' who hate abortion but love the war and the death penalty.

What if someone died when they rammed a whaling ship? Would people who support his methods support that? I support his idealism and ideology, but his methods are irresponsible, dangerous, and deliberately disregard human life which is NEVER right in my opinion.

Interfere with their operations, contact the authorities, whatever it takes to stop the killing. But I will never support the possible taking of human life to advance an ideal. That is what the OTHER SIDE does.

[slowry]

134. Do some research.

30 years and not even an injury to speak of, to anyone. It's more about chasing people off, who are acting illegally; ample warnings are given and the only objects damaged are mechanical.

How many other law enforcement organizations can say that?

[nam78_two]

135. K&R

Edit: Oh well-am late to the party so just a :-/ :kick: