.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

David @ Tokyo

Perspective from Japan on whaling and whale meat, a spot of gourmet news, and monthly updates of whale meat stockpile statistics

6/03/2006

 

IWC 2006: CDNN's racist underbelly

CDNN has again taken a news item, republished it, and slapped some blatantly racist nonsense on top.

The article is reproduced is the poor article published by Christian Science Monitor that I covered earlier today. The racist addition is a picture of Masayuki Komatsu, with a copy of the WWII Flag of the Japanese Army blended in, accompanied by the text:
"The West is tring to impose its unilateral standards on us. I regard this as cultural imperialism," said Masayuki Komatsu whose strident ultranationalist rhetoric echoes the anti-western slogans of Japanese fascists convicted of war crimes and executed after World War II.
Earlier this year CDNN republished an article on Japan's efforts to introduce new harpoon technology designed to quickly kill larger species of whale such as the Fin species, including a picture of a harpoon gunner (from Norway), with the caption:
From the people who brought you Pearl Harbor: Super Harpoon!
Two articles on whaling, two references to WWII.

First time around I thought CDNN were representative of western media outlets, but on second thoughts CDNN really take the racism to a different extremity. I used the contact link on their site to tell CDNN that their racism disgusts me.

Comments:
Japanese Scientific Whaling Unlawful say Top Legal Experts:

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=167943.html
 
"Top Legal Experts" paid by IFAW to report that it is unlawful.

Please Ann, give me a break.

FAQ #2.
http://whaling-faq.blogspot.com/2006/04/faq-2.html

Imagine the huge political win for nations like New Zealand and Australia if they were to take Japan to court, and slamdunk research whaling once and for all.

Don't you think that they would love to do this?

If you really want to believe IFAW's paid-up "experts", please reconcile this with the position of the Australian and New Zealand governments, who have reluctantly accepted that they are powerless to stop whaling through legal avenues. Do you have a massive conspiracy theory that says that Australia and New Zealand also want to see the whales die?
 
Oh, and please don't post this nosense off topic.

This thread is about the racism of CDNN.

But I guess you don't care about racism.
 
Sorry for posting on wrong thread but when I tried to post it on another thread this didn't actually work;)

If you had followed the news better maybe you should have knowned that the Japanese Prime Minister visited Sweden recently and he was extremely satisfied with his visit here and said that Swedes were friendly and he could learn a lot from us!
 
> Sorry for posting on wrong thread but when I tried to post it on another thread this didn't actually work;)

That's no good. I was having trouble with blogger myself yesterday. But I didn't really post anything about legal issues of whaling. If you want to post about it, why not start your own blog? I'm serious.

It's wonderful that you were so charmed by Japan's Prime Minister :-)
 
>Japanese Prime Minister visited Sweden recently and he was extremely satisfied with his visit here and said that Swedes were friendly and he could learn a lot from us! <

Sweden is actually a nice nation.
Probably Koizumi learned a lot.
But,about whaling,there are much for you to learn from us.

Y/H
 
It's wonderful that you were so charmed by Japan's Prime Minister :-)

9:00 PM

Anonymous said...
>Japanese Prime Minister visited Sweden recently and he was extremely satisfied with his visit here and said that Swedes were friendly and he could learn a lot from us! <

DAVID,

read that again and make the sense it really had. Nothing was mentioned about how much the Swedes liked your PM. That is a point that is a non starter, but you have twisted it like your Governemnt twists things for their own means and you are not the only nation or human to do such.

Get some integrity.

Martin
 
Martin,

I'll again reiterate my request here that you relax, take a sip of water or a cocktail, and generally think if you really want to post what you just typed before hitting the "Publish your comment" button.

Getting excited and hurling insult is never a good look.

> read that again and make the sense it really had.

If *you* read it again you'll notice that all the Japanese PM said is that he likes Sweden.

His comments have nothing at all to do with whaling. I don't know why she brought it up, to be honest. The former Japanese PM used to go to New Zealand to watch rugby, yet that didn't change Japan's position on whaling.

But I do like Ann and appreciate her contributions here, so I commented that it's nice that she enjoyed the Japanese PM's visit.

On a lighter note, I'm not sure what she expected him to say!

"Hi Sweden. We hate you and want to kill all your whales"?

:-)

Maybe Ann can confirm or deny :-)

> Nothing was mentioned about how much the Swedes liked your PM.

Helen Clark is my PM. Junichiro Koizumi neither shames me or makes me proud.

Seriously though, if you'd like to discuss up the ODA issue with a Japanese person fluent in English, I have a very good Japanese friend who is an English teacher in a school in Shikoku. She recently applied to the Japanese government to participate on an inspection tour of an ODA programme, and I know she is very interested in seeing how Japan's aid is actually utilized overseas, and what benefits it brings to recipients.

If you are interested, and show that you have the ability to have an adult discussion, I'd consider introducing her to my blog. This could be a good opportunity for you, as it seems that you have very little knowledge of Japan. Afterall, there's no point in you complaining to me about Japan's ODA. I'm not Japanese.
 
Hi David, Y/H and Martin,

I must point out that Swedes don't hate neither the Japanese nor the Norwegians despite we are very opposed to your whaling activities. Regarding Sweden and Norway we are the best friends in the world, the Norwegians are our brothers and sisters.
We can't go around and hate everybody, should I hate my neighbour who is a hunter , no, he's also a friendly man who takes care of the birds.

Regarding this whaling issue I am well aware that it is sensitive in countries like Norway and Japan. I would also like to tell David and Y/H that I know 2 young Japqanese women in Greenpeace Nordic.
 
Gidday Ann,

> I must point out that Swedes don't hate neither the Japanese nor the Norwegians

Oh, I'm sure you don't, personally. I understand your opposition to whaling quite well, and I respect your position.

But unfortunately it seems that this is not always the case with the anti-whaling camp.

CDNN are clearly a racist outfit, as are Sea Shepherd, Australians for Animals, and all of the groups that sponsored the racist ECO publication:
American Cetacean Society, Animal Welfare Institute, Campaign Whale, Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society, Cetacean Society International, Cousteau Society, Dolphin Connection, Earth Island Institute, Earthtrust, ECCEA, Greenpeace, Humane Society International, The Humane Society of the US, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), International Wildlife Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Orcalab/Pacific Orca Society, Robin des Bois, RSPCA, Swiss Coalition for the Protection of Whales, Swiss Working Group for the Protection of Marine Mammals and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0306/S00274.htm)

As you are a "cyber activitst" Ann, if I were you I'd be writing to the heads of all the organizations who support your cause, and beg them to instruct other activists to avoid racist attacks. They dilute the effectiveness of the anti-whaling argument, which is already one based heavily on emotion, without the racism.

> I would also like to tell David and Y/H that I know 2 young Japqanese women in Greenpeace Nordic.

It's certainly no secret that there are Japanese people who oppose whaling.

On the other hand, there are many people from anti-whaling nations such as myself who support whaling.

Indeed, everyone can have a position on the question: Is sustainable use of natural resources acceptable?
This isn't a racial question, it goes across cultural boundaries.

Despite this, many anti-whaling groups (and I'm not saying that I think you are happy about it) have a very racist slant.
 
Hmm, David I really don't know which ECO report you mean, is the link you provided correct?
 
Ann,

Yes, the link is right.

That is the press release from the Caribbean commissioners related to the topic. As the press release indicates, the IWC banned the publication.

More from the press release:
--------------
In its statement, the Whaling Commission today said the ECO publications “contained language which was … extremely offensive impugning the Sovereignty of a number of Contracting Governments to this Commission and containing significant factual inaccuracies.”

It called on ECO to print a formal apology to be distributed during the course of the annual meeting. “In addition to this apology,” the Whaling Commission continued, “the publications of this organisation may no longer [be] circulated within the confines of our meeting halls and associated areas for the remainder of this annual meeting.”

The Whaling Commission condemned the publications and considered that they constituted an abuse of privileges accorded to accredited observers. The Commission called on the extremist organizations listed as sponsors to ECO to “formally disassociate themselves from the offending statements” and vowed to call into question their observer status if they did not.

-------------

You can see the publication for yourself:
http://www.earthisland.org/immp/ECO2003_issue3.htm

Refering to the participants of any international forum as "well-paid puppets", and "Japan's Caribbean lap dogs", as this document does, is simply unacceptable.
 
Here's another article about the ECO publication:
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20030619-082753-5998r.htm

-----------
The cartoon and accompanying article, which accused Japan of trying to buy Caribbean votes, appalled many at the conference and brought it to a standstill, said one environmental analyst who followed the four-day event from Washington.

...

As for the cartoon, the conference leadership held a private two-hour meeting Wednesday to discuss the newsletter and afterward issued a complaint calling the article and cartoon "extremely offensive."
It demanded an apology and rejection of the comments by the newsletter's sponsors.
The environmentalists initially refused. The conference banned the publication.

...

Later, throngs of letters rejecting and apologizing for the article and cartoon were sent to the conference leadership.
Greenpeace said it "was not involved in composing, editing or reviewing any material. Had we been aware of the contents of the material it would not have appeared in that form."
Most other environmental groups signed joint statements rebuking the publication and saying they were sorry for the article and cartoon. They emphasized that the newsletter states that its sponsors don't necessarily agree with its opinions.

------------

It's really a bad look for these anti-whaling groups. They need to make their point without appealing to racists.
 
OK David I agree with you on this. It is totally unacceptable to use racistic and offensive comments on international forums, the NGO's should have knowned better, in my opinion offensive language is only counter productive. But as we know emotions run high on this issue!!!
 
> OK David I agree with you on this.

I thought you would :-)
I know that you are a fair, sensible person. There is no excuse for racism, no matter what the circumstances.

> the NGO's should have knowned better,

Yes. I'm prepared to give these groups some benefit of the doubt. I certainly don't seriously believe that racism is behind their anti-whaling beliefs, although some people who follow the cause may be bad eggs.
By and large, I think most opposition to whaling is more about distrust of commercial enterprises and globalization, or in other cases, belief that whaling is cruel, etc.
To their defence, Greenpeace did point out that the ECO publication is not necessarily representing their views.
They should take care to check what they are funding though.

>in my opinion offensive language is only counter productive.

Most definitely.

As you know, I'm a New Zealander. In New Zealand all we hear about whaling is that it's wrong because "whales are endangered". Given this information, anyone would be anti-whaling, and rightly so. Endangered animals should really not be hunted, except in very special circumstances (like the Alaskan bowhead hunt, which is known to be sustainable).

The thing that gave me the urge to look into the other side of the whaling issue was really the racist undertones in some of the anti-whaling rhetoric that I was hearing.

I was being told in the media how bad and evil the Japanese were for killing whales - yet from around the age of 7 years, I had been associating with Japanese kids at school, getting to know them and their families.

Then to be told that "the Japanese" are evil reckless whale killers, really went against my personal experiences.

This drove me to read about the pro-whaling side of the argument. And when I did, I found that it made sense to me. Perhaps had I not heard such racist, emotional talk in the first place, I may have never taken an interest in the whaling issue, and might not believe what I believe today.

So, as you say, racist language is certainly not of benefit to the anti-whaling campaign.
 
Ann-san:?

>I must point out that Swedes don't hate neither the Japanese nor the Norwegians despite we are very opposed to your whaling activities. <

Very glad to see your comments.
As a personal view,Sweden of North
Europe is a charming country.
There is no political issue which
gives us some disgusting image or
information;No news of terrorisum
no news of war,no fighting as to
the balance of trade.
SAAB cars or jet fighters are highy estimated among Japanese.

Generally speaking,it is very good.

>We can't go around and hate everybody, should I hate my neighbour who is a hunter , no, he's also a friendly man who takes care of the birds.<

If your views are honest,
please learn a lot about whaling
much more.And also please understand oursituation ;Japan is totally surrounded by seas ,supporting the sustainable use of resource of sea. The resource means from
small shrimp to whales.

>I would also like to tell David and Y/H that I know 2 young Japqanese women in Greenpeace Nordic. <

Unfortunately,GP of Japan is
among the minority.It is absolutely wrong to understand GP Japan's views are our symbol of our goverment policy.Japan is not misled by GP.Note this - this is very important!

To me,at least, GP is the group
of terrorists.See their behaviour
at South Pole last year.

Y/H
 
I strongly agree with Y/H on this point.

Greenpeace's action in the South Pole are certainly no where near as large in scale as the 9/11 attacks in the US and subsequent train bombings in Spain and London, but nonetheless their actions in the South Pole, particularly with regard to the ramming incident with Nisshin Maru are still a form of terrorism, which have the potential to harm humans.

Additionally, Greenpeace's obstruction tactics with regards to putting their boats between the harpoons and the whales is another element of their protest activity that must not continue. There is evidence that it lengthens the Time-To-Death statistics and Instataneous Death Ratio for the hunt, as well as putting the lives of Greenpeace's own activists at risk. This year showed that the behaviour is also ineffective, and only succeeds in causing a nuisance to the research workers who are just trying to go about their work.

Greenpeace could still take their ships to the Antarctic and film the whaling in action, from a safe distance. They would not be criticised any where near as much if they limited their role to "watchdog", rather than directly involving themselves.

It seems highly likely that the IWC will pass a resolution against Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd's actions during the meeting in St. Kitts. The content of it will be interesting. Even more interesting will be how these two groups and the appropriate authorities react. Japan has been accused of carrying out whaling "in defiance" of the IWC for years now by Greenpeace, due to the anti-whaling bloc's simple voting majority.

Who believes that Greenpeace themselves will abide by the resolutions passed down by the IWC?
Something to look forward to :-)
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

Archives

June 2004   July 2004   August 2004   September 2004   October 2004   November 2004   December 2004   January 2005   March 2005   April 2005   May 2005   June 2005   July 2005   August 2005   September 2005   October 2005   November 2005   December 2005   January 2006   February 2006   March 2006   April 2006   May 2006   June 2006   July 2006   August 2006   September 2006   October 2006   November 2006   December 2006   January 2007   February 2007   March 2007   April 2007   May 2007   June 2007   July 2007   August 2007   September 2007   October 2007   November 2007   December 2007   January 2008   February 2008   April 2008   May 2008   June 2008   July 2008   August 2008   September 2008   October 2008   November 2008   December 2008   January 2009   February 2009   March 2009   April 2009   May 2009   June 2009   July 2009   August 2009   September 2009   October 2009   November 2009   January 2010   February 2010   April 2010   May 2010   June 2010   July 2010   August 2010   September 2010   February 2011   March 2011   May 2013   June 2013  

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?