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Greenpeace: Japan's Whale Kill Halted By RAY LILLEY ? 1 hour ago WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? Greenpeace said Monday it has disrupted the Japanese whale hunt off Antarctica by chasing the fleet's whale processing factory ship out of the whaling zone. The six-vessel fleet "scattered and ran" early Saturday when it realized the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza was "heading toward them at high speed," Greenpeace expedition leader Karli Thomas told New Zealand's National Radio. The fleet's three whale hunter vessels "can't operate without the (factory ship) Nisshin Maru there to process the kill," she added. Greenpeace has pledged to take nonviolent action to try to stop the ships from killing whales, which in the past has led to activists in speed boats trying to put themselves between whales and Japanese harpoons, and once led to a ship collision. A spokesman for Japan's whale hunt called Greenpeace's actions illegal and demanded it stop its disruptive actions. "Greenpeace actions are illegal under international law (and) it's time the public stopped treating Greenpeace as heroes," Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research, in Tokyo, Japan, said Monday. "It's time the public saw this fringe group for what they really are: environmental imperialists who are trying to dictate their morals to the world." Japan dispatched its whaling fleet to the icy waters of Antarctica in November to kill about 1,000 whales under a program that Tokyo says is for scientific purposes, but which anti-whaling nations and activists say is a front for commercial whaling. .---------------- To give some important informations, from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibg-iiecl794l9FUlAuU3Cq41iIAD8U58VH00 We are discussing this at length with a very violent fanatic, who speaks exactly the same language as Glenn Inwood, and constantly ignores and projects wrong statements, for weeks now! He has been deleted a few times already. . . We now want exact informations about the kind of "research". . .(for which in general no whale must be killed), plus who pays for all this. They also slaughter dolphins, by the way, extremely brutally even!!! It still makes me vomit.= Please go and search for youtube under whaling and Taiji (name of one of the villages involved), or go to Greenpeace directly.(I am very tired now) Please, please, inform yourselves! There also is a kind of Witness for such things at work. . . . . .

I have heard of Japans supposed research trip. For the life of me, I can't fathom what kind of research would require the killing of 1,000 whales. They had also wanted to kill Humpback Whales, but had backed off that. Officially at the least. If you want to gain the power of an animal, observe the animal alive and learn. You will not gain it by simply eating it's flesh. It just doesn't work like that. One of my favorite Ghandi quotes: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated" Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks a lot, Zenrider, I am fully with you, although its a complex theme, and has a complex-loaden one in its way: About Glenn Inwood, see who once rejected him and who now supports him finacially, as I expected: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Glenn_Inwood I can hardly move my fingers anymore from typing in another forum. . .and better keep the videos of the Taiji massacres out today. They may come later. Since I am not a vegetarian, but eat only a little bit meat, I nevertheless believe in having a certain thank you and respect, like native indians or my now dead grandfather (forestier, hunter). But the way, some people make up racism-claims and project their own almost if not purely Nazi-terms onto others is absolutely disgusting. They also use the word "Harvest" for the big slaughters every year or to justify this, no joke at all. Does that remind anyone on our thanksgiving thread??. . . They once had a wise word in Taiji, just a certain amount for themselves is OK, but if they would misuse it, and take more, it would bring bad luck. But they violate this more and more and put the black Peter for agressions towards them onto others, so does this Glenn, who is not even Japanese, but since he probably has the commerce behind him, etc. To give you an idea, what its really all about. In short. They even have forgotten to listen to themselves and their very own original culture, but say, others are stealing it or wish to imply their measures upon them. And this Glenn Inwood right in front with big Nazi tongue towards those who once rejected him, get it?. A very bad joke.

You are welcome. And I understand the complexity, if not the reason. There is a lot of evil done in the name of tradition.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/16/2139306.htm Japan 'agrees to free' Sea Shepherd activists Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith (Australia)says the Japanese Government has agreed to free two Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activists who are being held on board a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctic waters. Australian Benjamin Potts and British man Giles Lane, from the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin, were detained after they boarded the whaling ship yesterday. They said they wanted to give the whalers a letter telling them they were whaling illegally in a protected zone. Mr Smith says the Federal Government asked the Japanese to release the two campaigners from the ship as soon as it heard of the incident. He says that request was agreed to late last night, but the handover has not yet taken place. "The most important thing here is the safety and welfare of the two men concerned and we, as the Australian Government, want their immediate release," he said. "The Japanese Government has agreed to that, but I now want to make sure that [happens]." Captain sceptical But the Steve Irwin's captain Paul Watson says he has not been informed about plans for the release of the men. "We haven't heard anything from the Australian or the Japanese Government in response to that," he said. "We don't know where that ship is, so we don't know where the men are being held." Mr Watson says he will not accept certain conditions demanded by the Japanese in return for the release of the men. "The Institute for Cetacean Research contacted us and said that there was a condition on us getting the men back and that condition was that we would refrain from harassing and interfering with their whaling operations," he said. "That's certainly a condition we're not going to meet." A Tasmanian cameraman on board the Steve Irwin says there has been no indication the Japanese have agreed to return the men. Simon Wearne has told ABC Local Radio it does not appear the men will be released any time soon. "We haven't heard anything here that gives us definite hope that that will happen," he said. "There was some talk of Greenpeace cooperating with Sea Shepherd and facilitating that, but that would be the first time Greenpeace has actually cooperated with this ship this year." Opposition spokesman Greg Hunt says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should immediately contact his Japanese counterpart to stop the situation getting worse. AFP called in The Australian Government says it is too early to say if either party acted illegally and Mr Smith says the Australian Federal Police are investigating the incident. "From the very first day, I urged all parties in this matter to exercise restraint," he said. "It's quite clearly the case [that] restraint hasn't occurred here." Both sides have traded accusations, with the Japanese whalers branding the men pirates and saying they acted illegally and threw acid on the deck of the whaling ship. Sea Shepherd say the pair were assaulted and then tied to railings and a radar mast. The Japanese have denied any mistreatment and say the men are being treated well. ---------------------- See the link and the fotos and related links there. . . Well, at least you are updated now.

Then the leader of the whaling commission Inwood did not want the two to leave, while those were served well, hehe: "TEMPURA feast! (the activists) are served three meals/a day. At the request from them, Tempura was served. Also, 3 o'clock afternoon snacks are served as well." But then the Japanese government proved to have more say, and by now they are free: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7193212.stm But the case is not finished, because still: "But other nations and environment groups say the research goals could be achieved using non-lethal methods and call the programme a front for commercial whaling."

Anyhow, those two are not Greenpeacers, but belong to the other activists, Sea Shepherds, not to be confused.

God bless them, every one.

Just for further informations, there is a good article, who desribes the main person behind, kind of an all in one article: http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/a-maori-voice-for-a-japanese-cause/2008/01/18/1200620211150.html A Maori voice for a Japanese cause January 19, 2008 The Institute of Cetacean Research's tireless New Zealand spokesman is a controversial figure in his homeland, writes Ben Cubby. Tough sell ? but Glenn Inwood believes in his mandate. TO ENVIRONMENTALISTS he is a 21st-century Tokyo Rose; to Japanese whalers, a hired gun. Glenn Inwood, the Japanese whaling industry's embattled spin doctor, has one of the toughest public relations gigs in the world: selling commercial whaling to the planet. A former press secretary to a New Zealand cabinet minister, Mr Inwood resigned in 2000 after the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, found his connections to the whaling industry distasteful. His tireless promotion of whaling for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research has made him a controversial figure in his homeland. But the normally garrulous Mr Inwood was reluctant to discuss his role when contacted by the Herald. "I understand the news interest from you guys, but it really doesn't matter that there's a New Zealander talking about whaling," he said. "It's really not about me; it's about whales." Mr Inwood is a seasoned public relations operative, but also a true believer in the whaler's cause, according to people who have worked with him. Drawing on his Maori heritage, he believes hunting whales is a respectable tradition. He has little respect for the Australian Government's position on whaling which, he has written, has allowed emotions to interfere with common sense and international law. "Its stance at the [International Whaling Commission] reflects an emotive environmental movement that has continued unchecked for 20 years or more, and has even been encouraged for reasons of political expediency, simply because there is no longer an Australian whaling constituency," he wrote in an opinion piece published in The Canberra Times in 2005. But hunting whales also provides Mr Inwood with his own bread and butter. The New Zealand Herald reported in 2006 that he has worked as a consultant for Te Ohu Kaimoana, an organisation devoted to advancing Maori fishing interests. It is also reportedly the sole voting shareholder in Aotearoa Fisheries, which in turn owns half of the major New Zealand seafood company Sealord. The other half is owned by a Japanese company, Nissui, which is also a shareholder in Japan's whaling fleet. An experienced public relations agent, Michael Smith, whose former company took on a contract for Japanese whalers nine years ago, likened Mr Inwood's role to "representing seal clubbers". Mr Smith's firm, Shandwick International, ran into trouble running a campaign on behalf of the Japanese Whaling Association. The company also had a contract with the International Fund for Animal Welfare to run a campaign in Britain against fox hunting - a deal which Shandwick lost when its whaling work became known to the animal-welfare activists. In retrospect, it had probably been a mistake to take the brief, Mr Smith said. "It was just a case of the Japanese were sick of coming to Australia and getting ambushed everywhere, they wanted to get their own story out." Mr Smith, who is not pro-whaling, said Mr Inwood would continue to face an uphill battle to sell his message, but that it would be unlikely to affect the whales themselves. "I don't think the Japanese really care that much about public opinion in Australia." Bob Burton, author of Inside Spin and an observer of the whaling industry's twists and turns, said Mr Inwood was a valuable asset for the Institution of Cetacean Research but the public relations battle could not be won. "It's a bit like the asbestos industry - they are defending the indefensible, and the strategy is to keep on stalling. In the long term, though, it's hard to see anything other than the strategy unravelling." ---------------------------- I have nothing against maoris, in contrary, but one who sings the tunes of the moneygivers is under suspicion. . .be it for being blinded and out of proportion. Your word is still standing, KiraKat (who- and whatever god is, no problem )