tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post2671777981265264137..comments2024-03-28T20:02:35.777-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Hypocrytical sinkholeOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-72934898755010775512014-08-12T17:39:37.824-04:002014-08-12T17:39:37.824-04:00Hi there I am a student from ngatea primary school...Hi there I am a student from ngatea primary school working on a speech to stop whaling by telling people how to help and why they get spared and as a animal lover I simply love your post and I thank you for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-3983864484922546302014-06-28T04:58:21.957-04:002014-06-28T04:58:21.957-04:00It's so good that Iceland does not make bombs,...It's so good that Iceland does not make bombs, send soldiers off to war, doesn't send out drones or have the death penalty.<br /><br />Why the Obama administration is "icing" out Iceland from the "Our Ocean" conference is beyond me. I don't get the motivation for doing that.<br /><br />I do see the difference in a cultural history of whale hunting and commercial whale fishing, but if Iceland only snares a small number a year, not endangering the species, then it isn't a threat. Is there competition with the U.S. or its major allies on this issue? or the U.S. government wanting to appease environmentalists or any other countries? These things are always fraught with issues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-31969643228312972072014-06-26T10:28:31.763-04:002014-06-26T10:28:31.763-04:00"Do as I say not as I do," seems to have..."Do as I say not as I do," seems to have become a basic in the Obama Administration's foreign policy quiver. Make that quivering quiver.Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-79541887942600103292014-06-26T06:57:07.197-04:002014-06-26T06:57:07.197-04:00I completely agree with you Yrsa. I had this exact...I completely agree with you Yrsa. I had this exact discussion a young man from the Faroe Islands. He was less polite than you !! But we agreed that it is their tradition and their economy. I cannot sit in my green and arable homeland and criticise the Faroese, the Alaskans! Or Icelanders. And many people do argue the 'intelligent' point re whales which is the same as don't eat dogs but eat pigs and don't eat horses but eat cows. In the Uk, the eating farmed rabbit debate is now going strong.... they are too fluffy to farm ...seemingly.<br />Caro Ramsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08499318515241879831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-91309637415873562032014-06-25T20:46:09.062-04:002014-06-25T20:46:09.062-04:00Hi Everett,
thanks for your input - just to expan...Hi Everett,<br /><br />thanks for your input - just to expand a bit on the differences you found on the web I would like to apologise if I was not clear enough. The Icelandic whaling is a commercial enterprise and some of the whale meat is indeed sold to Japan. I don't see the difference really, i.e. who is eating the produce. <br /><br />Regarding Obama's statement to the effect that we are hunting triple the sustainable number I can assure you that this is incorrect. All scientific studies conducted by independent sources will verify that the hunting harvest is sustainable. The harvest even lies within the recommended percentage that the scientific committee of the IWC note as being sustainable. Obama is probably quoting Greenpeace or Sea Shepard.<br /><br />One thing though - thankfully the oceans are not totally shared as each country with a shoreline controls 200 miles out to sea. If this were not the case our waters would have been just as badly treated as in most countries with bottom trawling and over fishing. The world would then have less fish to eat. The 200 mile zone is something that Iceland introduced to the world and caused the cod war with the UK. <br /><br />But I do hope that the conference had an impact. Then maybe we can all be happy - or not :-) Yrsa Sigurdardottirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05889410114439001207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-75699322203954237692014-06-25T20:02:11.401-04:002014-06-25T20:02:11.401-04:00The U.S. has a rather... delicate? relationship w...The U.S. has a rather... delicate? relationship with the "Native American" cultures within our borders, because of what was done to those cultures over the centuries (near genocide). As a result, Alaskans 'Indians' are allowed to hunt whales, and other tribes are allowed to have gambling casinos on their lands, even if gambling establishments are outlawed in the rest of the state.<br /><br />As for Obama, yes, I think he and his wife are LOVELY people (as politicians go, some of the best I've seen). They were (and are) a breath of fresh air after the previous administration. However, I've become VERY disappointed in many of the Obama administration policies. In many ways, Obama has turned out to be more conservative than many earlier supposed 'conservative' presidents (Eisenhower would be considered a flaming liberal in today's political arena).<br /><br />All that said, I'd not heard of Iceland's exclusion before, and stand with you on this one. No nation should be excluded in that way.<br /><br />THAT said, I did some Googling and found some articles that implied some differences from your post, such as:<br />http://tinyurl.com/jvtsr66<br />which says that "Last year, Iceland hunted 134 fin whales an annual harvest that is nearly triple what is considered biologically sustainable in the North Atlantic, Obama said." And also that some of the fin whales were exported to Japan.<br /><br />Another article: http://tinyurl.com/lzclxbv<br />claims "Iceland killed 35 minke whales and 134 endangered fin whales in 2013 alone -- most of which are exported to the Japanese market..."<br /><br />I don't know all of the data (or much of anything else according to my wife... shut up, Jeff). But I do know it's a sticky wicket for countries like Iceland, Norway, and Japan, whose cultures are intimately tied to the oceans and the fisheries. But it's also a sticky wicket for all of us, as the world's oceans (and the life therein) doesn't obey human laws and the borders of countries mean nothing beneath the waves. The oceans are shared by the entire planet and, as with anything else, everyone's going to be unhappy one way or another.<br />Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.com