(no subject)
I'm not exactly an activist - I don't attend protests or get up and take lots of action. I guess I'm what you might call an armchair activist. A very relaxed armchair activist, at that. I periodically donate money to activist organisations - mostly animal related ones. I guess because animals don't have a voice to speak for themselves, I feel like they're the ones that need the most help. I'm on several mailing lists for activist organisations like IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), and Avaaz.
Anyhoo, the work of Avaaz (here) recently contributed to that moron Paul Wolfowitz resigning. They were basically able to get enough names on their petitions, then garner enough publicity in world press, that the pressure forced him to resign. Which, you know, is kinda heartening. Numbers can make a difference in things like that (by that I mean, we can't always stop a war, but we can make a difference in smaller things).
What am I getting at?
This year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting is being held in a couple of days. Japan has done really shitty things like offering 'aid' (read: bribes) to poor, landlocked countries in return for their votes to stand behind Japan at the IWC. In short, countries that aren't even bordered by oceans, and that are in need of economic aid, are being paid by Japan to save whaling. At this point in time, it looks like the vote might actually go Japan's way. If this happens, it means Japan will be in control of the IWC - meaning even more whales could be slaughtered for "scientific research".
Having been to Japan, I assure you: there is no scientific research going on. Whale meat sits on supermarket shelves next to Spam. And just so you know: going rate for a can of spam? About $7. Whale meat? About $2. Many of these whales are endangered, but they're being sold AS THE POOR MAN'S MEAT. Can you imagine pandas being slaughtered and sold for dog meat? Because that's what's happening here. Also, most modern Japanese people don't even like whale meat. It's largely used for hamburgers in school cafeterias. And we all know cafeteria meals are like, the dregs of meals.
Whaling IS actually banned by the IWC, but the Japanese and Iceland continue to do it under the guise of 'scientific research'. It's purely a loophole. 30,000 whales have been killed in the last 20 years, many of which are endangered species - if anything was to be learned through this research, surely they would have learnt it by now.
It'll take you less than a minute to go here, type down your name, and press 'send'. The letter is already written for you, but you can personalise it with your own thoughts.
Why? Coz whales are awesome. And I promise that should Eduardo ever get to go see whales, I'll post the pictures of his big delighted smile all over my LJ, and you can revel in the knowledge that you helped make that smile. :D
Anyhoo, the work of Avaaz (here) recently contributed to that moron Paul Wolfowitz resigning. They were basically able to get enough names on their petitions, then garner enough publicity in world press, that the pressure forced him to resign. Which, you know, is kinda heartening. Numbers can make a difference in things like that (by that I mean, we can't always stop a war, but we can make a difference in smaller things).
What am I getting at?
This year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting is being held in a couple of days. Japan has done really shitty things like offering 'aid' (read: bribes) to poor, landlocked countries in return for their votes to stand behind Japan at the IWC. In short, countries that aren't even bordered by oceans, and that are in need of economic aid, are being paid by Japan to save whaling. At this point in time, it looks like the vote might actually go Japan's way. If this happens, it means Japan will be in control of the IWC - meaning even more whales could be slaughtered for "scientific research".
Having been to Japan, I assure you: there is no scientific research going on. Whale meat sits on supermarket shelves next to Spam. And just so you know: going rate for a can of spam? About $7. Whale meat? About $2. Many of these whales are endangered, but they're being sold AS THE POOR MAN'S MEAT. Can you imagine pandas being slaughtered and sold for dog meat? Because that's what's happening here. Also, most modern Japanese people don't even like whale meat. It's largely used for hamburgers in school cafeterias. And we all know cafeteria meals are like, the dregs of meals.
Whaling IS actually banned by the IWC, but the Japanese and Iceland continue to do it under the guise of 'scientific research'. It's purely a loophole. 30,000 whales have been killed in the last 20 years, many of which are endangered species - if anything was to be learned through this research, surely they would have learnt it by now.
It'll take you less than a minute to go here, type down your name, and press 'send'. The letter is already written for you, but you can personalise it with your own thoughts.
Why? Coz whales are awesome. And I promise that should Eduardo ever get to go see whales, I'll post the pictures of his big delighted smile all over my LJ, and you can revel in the knowledge that you helped make that smile. :D