Sea Shepherd starts operation Musashi this November

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Almitywife-
Sorry, I didn't mean to attack you so harshly but I am not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself on this issue. Paul Watson has dedicated his life to protecting the oceans creatures and I admire him very much for it. We need more people like him.
 
easy guys......

chill-pill.jpg
 
Thanks Almitywife for that. Some of us need the chill pill.
 
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(reminder, a non mod post but everyday ordinary SB member post)

guys - from some of your reactions, i strongly suggest you both put each other on ignore

did too, did not, he said, i said..... youre looking like a couple of kids
 


A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Hey Guys. You've both slapped at each other enough so if you want to continue, find a way to harass each other off ScubaBoard. If it continues in this thread, you'll both be banned from it.


Great.....you've made me put the witch-hat on! :shakehead:
 
For those that are interested - Miyamoto Mushashi was a master swordsman who lived in 17th Century Japan. He developed a two-sword style of fighting which left him arguably the greatest swordsman who ever lived. A serialized story was written about him that first appeared in newspapers, and is now a book - almost the Japanes equivelent of James Clavell's "Shogun" in it's broad look at Japanese life just after Ieyasu Tokagawa formed the Shoganate after the battle of Sekigahara in 1603, and took control of all Japan.

In fact the book starts with Mushashi coming round on the Sekigara battlefield with a friend from his village - they'd fought on the wrong side and lost.

It's a very good story that has been translated into English. Well worth the read.
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220260690&sr=8-1

Considering how much it actually is about the Japanese, and Japan's way of life and cultural background, I personally think it's a ridiculous name for Watson's self proclaimed mission of illegal harrassment of other ships on the high seas.

As this year there has been a LOT of effort in the IWC to stop the bickering and fighting and try to hammer out a proper deal that addresses everyone's concerns, and is based on real facts - I should imagine that Watson will be perceived simply as a pain in the butt, and an enemy of any real progress. He nearly got charged last year. One day it will happen and someone will end up in jail. It might not be Watson himself though, as he tends to send other people into the position they could get into serious trouble - while he swans around sporting his Bowie knife where he won't get hurt! :wink:
 
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steve... if the "rest of the world" was against Japans whale poaching, why isnt ALL countries against them at the whaling commissions?

i think you are trying to speak on behalf of too many people on this issue

personally im against whaling but i dont like some of Cpt Crankys methods and that is why his cause isnt embraced by those of us that are not as passionate about his actions

cheers

A lot of the countries are paid off by Japan, particularly the smaller Caribbean nations.
ST Lucia for one, Japan builds a sports stadium for them (thats never been used) and presto ST Lucia votes for whaling
 
Almitywife-
Sorry, I didn't mean to attack you so harshly but I am not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself on this issue. Paul Watson has dedicated his life to protecting the oceans creatures and I admire him very much for it. We need more people like him.

Paul Watson has dedicated his life to the self promotion of Paul Watson. We don't need any more people like him.
 
Paul Watson has dedicated his life to the self promotion of Paul Watson. We don't need any more people like him.

We could do with a few thousand more like him.
 
Archive for Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Whaling Foes say Support for Hunting Could Backfire
By Carol J. Williams
June 20, 2006 in print edition A-14

Six Caribbean states that support Japan’s drive to resume commercial whaling are highly dependent on tourism and could suffer boycotts or lost business as a result of their vote, environmentalists and tourism promoters said Monday.

A day after Japan mustered the first International Whaling Commission vote in support of ending a 20-year moratorium on hunting, countries that oppose the killing cautioned the small islands that their most vital industry could feel the sting of angry whale lovers.

“People come to this region to see nature at its best,” Joth Singh, director of wildlife and habitat for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said of vacationers drawn to the Caribbean’s pristine beaches and lush volcanic mountains. “Individuals for whom whaling is abhorrent will think twice about going to a destination where their values are not shared.”

The pro-whaling island states, beneficiaries of more than $100 million in Japanese aid
over the last eight years, have argued throughout the annual meeting that whale hunting and whale watching can coexist. They express little concern that backing Tokyo’s campaign to overturn the whaling ban could hurt their image as eco-tourist destinations.

All six Caribbean island members of the IWC – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – voted Sunday for a declaration deeming the whaling ban “no longer necessary.”
The declaration passed, 33-32.

Japan appeared reluctant Monday to test its slender majority. Japanese delegate Joji Mori****a said that in the interest of avoiding further polarization, he had decided against calling for a vote on eliminating the commission’s conservation committee, which the pro-whaling bloc considers a distraction from what it says is the organization’s main work of managing the hunt.

Tokyo also backed off a threat to strip Greenpeace of its observer status. The group’s protest ship Arctic Sunrise and a Japanese whaler collided in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in January.

Australian and British delegates hinted that countries that endorsed whale hunting might face a tourism boycott. “There can be a backlash by British consumers,” said Britain’s environment minister, Ben Bradshaw.

An American observer agreed. “Americans feel very strongly about their love for the whales, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided not to see their money go to countries that support a return to commercial whaling,” said Danielle Grabiel, a Los Angeles native who campaigns for the Environmental Investigation Agency, which is monitoring the whaling meeting.

“We have heard these threats before, but we will not cower,” responded St. Lucia’s fisheries chief, Ignatius Jean.

Dominica, one of Tokyo’s most vocal allies, could have the most at risk. With few sandy beaches, it markets itself as an ecological paradise and appeals mostly to outdoor enthusiasts. The Dominica Hotel and Tourism Assn. appealed on the eve of the IWC meeting for Caribbean governments to abandon pro-whaling positions and to propose a new regional whale sanctuary to promote the fast-growing pastime of whale watching.

The nascent whale watching industry adds $10 million a year to the islands’ economies and has helped coastal communities replace lost agricultural jobs, said Madeleine Jouye de Grandmaison, a Martinique official with the French delegation to the IWC meeting.

“Our populations are not in favor of whaling. It’s not part of our culture. It’s not part of our economy,” she said.

The six Caribbean members of the IWC are home to fewer than 600,000 people and are all dependent on tourism for as much as 80% of their economy.

Although there is some sentiment in the islands that whaling could threaten tourism, Japan’s allies on the IWC, such as Antigua and Barbuda, dismiss the issue as artificially inspired by environmentalists and media.

“We are accused of selling our votes and prostituting our sovereignty, but as sovereign states we take great offense to this,” said Joanne Massiah, Antigua and Barbuda’s minister of food production and marine resources.

During a debate Monday on whale-killing methods and hunters’ desire to shorten the time between the harpooning of an animal and its death, Massiah said whaling countries were committed to reducing suffering. However, she said that she thought “the term ‘humane killing’ was an oxymoron.”
 
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