Rotting whale meat mountain (Japanese whalers going broke)

[Barrett808]

Source: Daily Telegraph

Rotting whale meat mountain (Japanese whalers going broke)
By Lauren Williams
February 13, 2008 01:40am

JAPAN's whalers are going broke and have been forced to slash prices because no one wants to eat their growing mountain of whale meat.

The farcical truth of Japan's whaling industry was exposed yesterday by Japanese media reports that the Institute for Cetacean Research is struggling to repay $37 million in government subsidies.

The report came as Japanese embassy officials made a stern protest in Canberra over the Federal Government's release of shocking whaling photographs.

The ICR, responsible for Japan's lethal "research operation", is flooding Japan with cheap whale meat that it cannot sell, according to the reports in the respected newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23206087-2,00.html?from=mostpop

[Ian David]

1. They need all that whale meat to feed Godzilla so he won't attack Tokyo again. n/t

[flvegan]

2. Um

[xchrom]

3. ''the Institute for Cetacean Research is struggling to repay $37 million in government subsidies.''

[Stinky The Clown]

4. I wish them a hole in their dingie

[amborin]

5. boycott japanese products

[Exultant Democracy]

6. The Japanese people seem to be boycotting the whalers already, why the collective punishment?

[amborin]

15. huh?

don't you read the newspapers?

those killing machines out there in the oceans harpooning mother whales and their calves?

countless thousands yearly?

of course boycott japanese products...how else apply pressure when they dismiss international criticisms?

[LanternWaste]

24. By boycotting the companies directly involved in this rather than...

By boycotting the companies directly involved in this rather than boycotting an entire country. :shrug:

[Tyler Durden]

19. Good luck.

Michigan has been trying to get people to buy American for almost 30 years.

But even here, peoples LUVS their Japanese cars. Why, I don't know.

[pokercat999]

28. Maybe price and quality? Detroit carmakers lost it in

the 70/80's and now that their cars are much better than they used to be they are so far behind in the public eye they may never catch up.

[natrat]

7. those fucking scumbag pigs

[Demeter]

8. Another Brilliant Marketing Plan in the Circular File

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Asahi Shimbun -- largest circulation of any paper in the world ...

at least at one time.

I guess that's making the info public in a big way.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Had NO IDEA that Japan was subsidizing this grotesque activity.

The Japanese taxpayers are being forced to financially support something they obviously don't like, don't want.

There's something simply wrong with this picture.

Thank you, Barrett808.

[RuleOfNah]

11. It's nice to see the consumers push back.

Hopefully they will regain political balance as well.

[NuttyFluffers]

16. for all intensive purposes Japanese politics is *ahem* kabuki theater

Japanese gov't pretty much works hand in hand with corporations, and more importantly, the US gov't. part of the quid pro quo would be US gov't prevents Japan from getting a military, or implement too many socialized programs. the return is that the US gov't gets a gigantic research and development facility along with a "natural aircraft carrier" to project US interests in the region.

the return is Japan gets a good customer, but tries to balance this by keeping all the capital happy between both nations. then comes the neurotics who insist on returning to a 'self-sufficient Japan' and retain every last vestige of ancestral culture (mostly in the attempt of mythological legitimacy and supremacy). these reactionaries, who often have ties in the underworld and the corporate world, surprise surprise just like the world over, insist on policies that the Japanese people often want to walk away from. but to keep them happy and stop them rocking the boat too much, aka starting a new nationalist campaign, emptying out the rural countryside and destabilizing the cities, etc, these people are pandered to by the Japanese gov't.

the youth of Japan for the most part do not want anything to do with this farce, but they cannot publicly do anything about it. first off, change in politics is almost impossible: first, US interests, underworld interests, corporate interests, and overt stabilization against RW crazies all compel Japanese gov't from responding to active protests and even remotely sensible displays bowing to internal pressure. second, the culture just doesn't like agitation -- a primacy is placed on harmony and such protests and vocal boycotts inside the populace just do not work. third, the political system, just like many systems there, are all but ossified now; the youth, and people in general, have zero faith in making real change through politics.

so, one of the fascinating ways of social change in Japan seems to be the classic passive dismissal. eventually bad ideas, without any public support, will naturally collapse on itself. that's what we're seeing in Japan right now w/ regards to whaling, and what i think we're seeing w/ regards to women's rights. the youth have no real voice in politics to change this. further, they cannot overtly protest this without retribution from the highest levels of society -- and they won't get any public support from the populace because they became "not harmonious." that leaves only tacit boycott of said product. as we are seeing the fruits are paying off, the program is definitely a losing monetary proposition. essentially the Japanese people are doing their part, what they can do without being thwarted, to stop this program.

international boycott of all of Japan's products will not be productive, it'll just make the RW crazies more frantic, the people defensive, and require more capitulation for national stability. but international political pressure may be; especially if it was from the US gov't. but there has to be a way the Japanese gov't can save face about this, and showing that it is a losing program might be the excuse needed. Japan's people are doing what they can inside, so we can do what we can outside -- and the best way to do that is support of the people and not collective punishment (but protests and international outrage could help push other gov'ts to nudge this program away).

[Judi Lynn]

17. You have a deeper, more complete view of this than we are used to seeing. Very worthwhile

hearing your remarks.

Really hoping something works out. This is such an important issue.

Thanks, a lot.

[NuttyFluffers]

21. no, thank you. your dedication to latin america is invaluable here

my cultural studies w/ asian emphasis pays off occasionally, so i'm glad to share. but sadly our 'monroe doctrine' assistance of 'our little brothers to the south' has been a far more immediate concern in our imperial dreams. yet it is fascinating how so much is interconnected, and same modus operandi show up time and again across the world... and what we misunderstand as well.

[Twillig]

18. Intents and purposes n/t

[NuttyFluffers]

20. thanks for the correction! i brain farted.

lately my frontal lobe gets a flat tire after a few 100+ pages of scholastic reading. i've almost given up on preventing homophone screw ups. but the grammar wars should never end!

:7

[Canuckistanian]

12. I hear that young Japanese are avoiding it

Probably not so much for the ecological aspects as the fact that whale meat is being pushed on them all the time - at restaurants, school cafeterias and stores.

[karlrschneider]

13. Did you see that horrific report on the dolphin massacre?

Even worse than (well at least as bad as) the whaling thing. I like Japan and its people generally but that story made me wish for a small "fat boy" and a way to deliver it. :grr:
edit: guess it was "fat man"...whatever...

[flvegan]

14. Is that the Taiji dolphin "round up"?

It is horrific, yes.

Another Sea Shepherd campaign to support.

[mainegreen]

22. Good. Everybody point and laugh.

Ahahahaha.

They can't go broke quick enough.

[JBoy]

23. Rotting Whale Meat Mountain

The least popular ride at Tokyo Disneyland

[Nihil]

25. Hopefully this will have a knock-on effect on Norway & Iceland

If they don't have a market for dead whale, maybe they'll stop killing them.

:shrug:

[KamaAina]

26. One, two, three,

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[Judi Lynn]

27. Chile announces permanent whale protection law

Chile announces permanent whale protection law


www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-22 10:15:11

SANTIAGO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chilean Environment Minister Ana Lya Uriarte announced on Thursday the promulgation of the permanent whale protection law in this South American country.

"We are going to dictate a law to protect whales in Chile," said Uriarte after meeting with Greenpeace international environment group representatives.

The law seeks to protect whales permanently, since the current law will only be in force until 2025 and does not protect the whales ecosystem.

"We are working in different alternatives to protect whales against illicit fishing, and to also protect their habitats," said Uriarte.

Uriarte praised Greenpeace's attitude to face Japan's announcement of hunting whales with alleged scientific goals.

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/22/content_7646786.htm

[lonestarnot]

29. Good. Wonder how it feels to knowingly do the wrong thing and then rot for it.

Only wondering for a second as I perfer to feel good.