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German activist arrested for vandalism in Taiji

38 Comments

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© 2012 AFP

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38 Comments
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what a tool.

13 ( +20 / -7 )

I am not happy with the whaling bit & also not happy with this stupid twit from Germany, make him pay to fix it at the least!

7 ( +11 / -5 )

And this is why their protests won't get far. They aren't appealing to people's needs or a deeper understanding of what is wrong with the hunts. Instead they disrupt business and vandalize the poor town of Taiji as if it were the worst place in the world. I hope they change their methods if they are serious about getting their message across. As for the German man, I hope he has to pay to fix the statue and maybe even volunteer in the town.

13 ( +16 / -4 )

This idiot only only helps the critics of Sea Shepard. What a fool.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Feed him to the whales!

9 ( +14 / -4 )

Taiji 1 Rest of the World 0

0 ( +8 / -8 )

What a moron, no intention of bending it... please!

7 ( +8 / -1 )

That will score him points, he should do it while on sea!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Stupid man, this sort of stuff doesn't help the rest of us living here.

What next for him I wonder? 23 days in the police station while he signs his confession then 3 months in jail so when he comes out his 3 months tourist visa will have expired so the Immigration police can then arrest him and lock him up again for overstaying until he is deported and not allowed back for 10 years. Won't be the first time this has happened.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Whales don't eat humans so that wont help. Make the Sea Shepherd Organization pay for his malice and damages. They payed for his trip here so make them pay for the damages also.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

... a whaler throwing a harpoon from a boat

Heh. Try an air-cannon fired harpoon with exploding head launched from two stories up. So profuse is the bleeding that many whales spew blood from their blow holes. "Throwing a harpoon" - how quaint.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

Ha yeah, lots of confusion, waiting time and bureaucracy at the J police station and perhaps even some in jail cell time. Nice protest experience in the land of Nippon buddy!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

What a twat!!

3 ( +6 / -3 )

So he watched "The Cove" back at home and decided to disrupt the whaling and dolphining? "Jaa, Nils, bend za speaa! Zat vill sho zem!"

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I find it more believable that he was under the influence of a few drinks, and decided to pose for a picture hanging from the harpoon to show off to his friends. The harpoon bends and he is arrested; cue worldwide outrage at the 'incident'

Nothing that doesnt happen on a nightly basis in places like Roppongi by drunk tourists making fun of things that amuse their small minds

4 ( +6 / -3 )

Bronze is extremely hard. This must have been one big boy.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

This moron probably thought he was being "righteous" and wanted to "prove" his believes by desecrating the statue, way of go kiddo, you've got your 15 minutes of fame.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Well he's pretty lucky that he "just got arrested". Could have been much worse if the wrong people popped around the block while this tool was doing his thing.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20121009_05.html

Police say Greskewitz hung from the statue's harpoon and snapped it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Ah, but was he really affiliated with Sea Shepherd or is that just a media ploy? Either way, it's a pretty dumb thing to do. Reckon he'll get a pretty substantial fine, a repair bill and an escort to the airport.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

So the dork was goofing off for a picture and bent the statue; if he weren't a SS member it wouldn't even make a local paper. His behavior was irresponsible and doesn't help the image of foreigners in Japan. As dumb as this was I don't think it was intentional vandalism and he seems to have said that. An apology and payment for repairs should be all that's needed to solve this incident.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Oh surprised he wasn`t a Chinese demonstrator.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

And Germans and Japanese used to be such good friends...

3 ( +4 / -1 )

".......... if he weren't a SS member..........."

Hopefully not, a little too young, for the original version at least. There was a time when that would have had a totally different meaning.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

T_rexmaxitime:

" Oh surprised he wasn`t a Chinese demonstrator. "

Chinese demonstrating on behalf of a animals? That would be a new one.

To the contrary, wait til China gets into the whaling business. Then you can really say good bye to the whales, SS or no SS.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"So profuse is the bleeding that many whales spew blood from their blow holes." I have heard that some whales actually die of it! S.S. are little more that pirates at sea and now it seems...pirates on the land. Japan really must stop the "scientific whale research." Hey! Let's see if people will still eat whale THIS year! is not scientific research.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Ronald F Stark...in one respect you are right, "I don't think." There is no such thing as "just vandalism" when you consider who did it, what he did, and why. He is a shore pirate terrorist.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I am used to be sympathetic to Sea Shepard's cause. Not anymore (I'm still against large scale commercial whaling though). After watching some documentaries, actually most of them were produced by SS, I realized that these guys are paramilitary hippies. The "Cove" gave an initial visceral shock, but after the shock, you realize that these guys are just a bunch of egomaniac elitists who force their value system onto others, irregardless of these local people's history, culture, and livelihood. Now with these kind of antics, when are SS and company going to realize that they have seriously backfired?!.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

He should know vandalism is not permitted in Japan and other Asia country.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Thanks God. He wasn't doing this in Singapore.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

told police he had no intention of damaging the statue

Yeah - right. So he comes as the righteous protester and activist, impressing his green friends back in Germany, but when he's caught he says he didn't mean to do it. What a cop out by a wimp. He should have the courage of his convictions or go back to Sea Shepherd and ask for a desk job. I'll bet if he was with a large group of his pals he would be shouting to the media after getting caught, but on his own in a cell Taji police station with the locals he claims it was all a big mistake. I'm by no means pro-whaling but I can't admire people who do something so pointless and stupid to get attentionand peer recognition and then want back to mummy when it all goes wrong. No wonder Japanese say "hen na gaijin".

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Sure, that guy did a foolish thing, but he bent a bronze statue. That's nothing that compares to the brutal slaughter & misery that goes on there on a daily basis. Hey, America has a horrific history of slavery, but when you know better, you do better. We now know how intelligent & peaceful these animals are & how their meat is toxic to eat Japan, it's time for a change. This is not about ego. It's about doing what is right & kind.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Protesting peacefully is OK...damaging property is not OK and helps to destroy any positive effect on the local population! I have seen the statue and it is beautifully done and represents the bygone tradition of whaling in Japan...it is as much a part of ancient Japanese culture as running Bison off a cliff in the American west by the "First People" in the US...i'm sure this German think's highly of the Native Americans...but they were all about survival as were the whalers in old Japan and running herds of Bison off of cliffs [Buffalo jumps] was inhumane period...but people and families had to survive as did the Japanese whalers.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Hanlewdds...well written...the "old day's" are over!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Taiji is going to end up cutting itself off again by not allowing foreigners in at all.

It baffles me as to why people protest over animals being killed when they don't have the same passion to prevent hunger, abuse and murder in their own countries. Seriously.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@GW

I am not happy with the whaling bit & also not happy with this stupid twit from Germany, make him pay to fix it at the least!

I agree here.

BTW do they still get taxpayer subsidies for whaling? Also how much whale meat went uneaten from last year? (genuine not rhetorical question).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

LagunaOct. 09, 2012 - 01:52PM JST "... a whaler throwing a harpoon from a boat" Heh. Try an air-cannon fired harpoon with exploding head launched from two stories up. So profuse is the bleeding >that many whales spew blood from their blow holes. "Throwing a harpoon" - how quaint.

That's because whalinrg is in fact a tradition in some parts of Japan. A fact that anti-whalers try hard to deny.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

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