Whaling.
It was a sad day for humankind when Japan managed to secure a majority vote in the current International Whaling Commission meeting. What I don't get though is how Japan can actually get away with their claim of scientific research, period. To me it seems ludicrous that the "normal" countries seem to even be having these arguments with Japan.
Point 1 - wheel out this amazing scientific data Japan, for the world to see. Come on, dazzle us with your amazing facts that justify all this. From what I have heard through documentaries, the data is total nonsense and clearly demonstrates the falsity of it all. Surely, after all these years of so called research, there would be a plethora of worthy data to back up their claims. Why oh why don't the other countries come down hard on the Japanese government and demand that they publish this data for the world to see.
Point 2 - Japan is buying votes from developing countries through the guise of aid. Surely this is tantamount to bribery and corruption, not only a practice that is supposedly criticised by the developed world but is (i.e. the aid) also totally irrelevent to the decision on whether whaling is right or not. As such, any votes that are associated with aid should be dismissed.
Point 3 - If whaling is such an important aspect of Japanese culture, as I'm sure it is claimed, then surely Japan would have no issue with putting it to the people of Japan to vote if they should continue whaling. From what I have heard, the eating of whale meat in Japan is a dying practice anyway and the meat is even being pushed in schools now to try and build the support. It totally astounds me that a country that bases a large part of its culture on nature and harmony would even want to practice whaling anymore. I wager that the majority would not wish to continue with whaling. Why isn't this challenge put to the Japanese government outright - proove that the "people" of Japan actually want to continue whaling.
Point 4 - There are so many points to argue but when I heard this one from the latest IWC meeting, it is such a joke that surely Japan lose total face over it and should be denied whaling on this point alone: the whales are consuming fish and competing with the Japanese fishing industry. I could not believe that the other governments even let them table this as a serious item. The world's fish stocks are so totally depleted by mankind, of which the Japanese play a significant part. How dare they even suggest such a stupid point. Hello, how about the gazillion 30km drift nets that Japan have used ?! And besides, I am yet to see a Right Whale hunt down Blue Fin tuna. What a total joke. What an insult to the whales and what an insult to the plant.
I believe it is time the IWC cut this diplomatic bullshit and put the total heat on Japan, period. Watch this space for more.
Technology has hit town !
Well, it's certainly been a while since I've made any entries. I've had a couple of excuses though. Although I have easy access at work, I'm pretty busy there so I don't really have much of an opportunity to relax and take my time to write what I want - it's never fun when you're rushed. Plus there's always the peer pressure in a busy environment - I can't exactly say I'm flat out and then get caught blogging. The other challenge has been the good old dial up internet connection from home. Having to crank up the line and make do with a slow link kind of takes way the spontaneity of putting pen to paper, especially if it's some news item or the such that has irked me and I want to have a rant then and there (I'm well known for my rants !). So, after much promise for a couple of years, work has finally committed to subsidising a broadband service for when I am on call. As a result Jess and I have gone the whole hog and got digital cable for phone, tv and internet with 10Gb per month.
Although I work in IT, I'm quite a non-geek anti-computer type so this is quite a new concept for me and the worrying thing is that I've actually been looking forward to it (broadband, that is). I have been finding more and more that there are actually things on the net that I want to access, research et al and it's no fun at work when you're being sneaky about it. Plus at home when you have the impulse to check something out but just can't be arsed dialling up….now I can hop on lickity split. We bought a cool wifi router that acts as our firewall too and both Jess and I can tap away at the same time, share data etc. It's only taken me 16 years but I've got there at last. So, we took yesterday afternoon off work and got hooked up…..and went nuts, hehe. We've already consumed 10% of our monthly quota in 1 evening but what the hey.
So, suffice to say I will now (hopefully) be able to update my blog on a more regular basis and actually talk about the things I want to. I guess it's down to me now, no more excuses huh - that's the scariest part I think. Vamos !
