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© 2011 AFPBrigitte Bardot urges Japan to stop whaling
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Dave Rideough
@Aspara, the $27M is a complete non-point. $27M is pocket change to national governments.
The significant thing about the post-3/11 aid isn't the intrinsic dollar value, but rather that an accordingly large amount of supplies and volunteers were mobilized.
You be insulted if a friend treated you to something worth $5 and then complained about you spending $5 on something. Same thing.
Moderator
Spidapig24 and davidattokyo: Please do not address any more messages to each other, since both of you seem unable to be civil toward each other. Focus your comments on what is in the story, and not at each other.
Spidapig24
davidattokyo
David, 1. what was rude or impolite about my comment. You have done this same complaint several times now and the comments have remained. You seem to make this statement in the hope the moderator will side with you and remove any posts you seem to disagree with. If you cant discuss the point and accept others points without calling for them to be removed then l see no point discussing anything with you. As for my comments l merely said you tend to repeat the same mantra over and over. Impolite! Nope. You are the one in the past that has got aggressive with posters who differ from your opinion. In fact you have quite a history of hounding and putting down those who you call "extreme supporters of anti whaling movement".
So rudeness yes try looking closer to home buddy.
davidattokyo
Spidapig24,
Let's just try to help the moderators keep the playing field level by refraining from impolite comments, shall we? One impolite comment tends to draw another, so if we are both able to refrain from rudeness, problem solved.
That Japan's food culture includes whales is not inconsistent with the history of whaling in the Antarctic whaling grounds.
In any case the whaling convention is the relevant international law, and it doesn't prescribe discrimination against Japan's whaling activities in the Antarctic whaling grounds. In my opinion suggesting otherwise is to demonstrate intolerance of Japan's food culture, which includes whales, which can be harvested in the Antarctic whaling grounds (which is why there is a whaling convention).
I know you personally are against whaling in the Antarctic whaling grounds, you are quite entitled to that opinion.
Spidapig24
davidattokyo
What game are you playing at, every comment l post you complain of it being impolite yet when challenged about it you say nothing. Are you trying to get my comments removed / censured by complaining. Two can play at that game David as many of your comments could be construed as impolite / repetitive / off topic. But to complain and then say "lets let it slide is a joke" you dont complain in writing then say let it slide.
That comment was in reference to your comment "How is intolerance for other food cultures showing compassion or brains?"
davidattokyo
Yet more impolite comments from Spidapig24, but let's let it slide.
That appears to be of no relevance to the whaling convention.
But seeing as you mention the notion of arbitrary discrimination against certain signatories of the whaling convention, it ought be recognised that the whaling convention does say that whaling regulations shall NOT involve restrictions on the nationality of those vessels involved in whaling.
The whaling regulations also "shall take into consideration the interests of the consumers of whale products and the whaling industry".
There is nothing in the whaling convention that you can use to discriminate against Japan's whaling. Without the law on your side, all you are really able to claim is that you don't like Japan's whaling. And you are welcome to your personal opinion, but that ought not be confused with international law, which must guide us in resolving disputes. Clearly Japan is in the right.
arrestpaul
Stuck or not, neither you or Bardot have provided a credible rebuttal to it. Bardot choses to ignore history, convention, rules, regulation, jurisdiction, and international law to promote the violent eco-terrorism of Watson and his SS.
Violence is Watson's answer to any issue that he disagrees with. Everyone who supports the eco-terrorist Watson supports violence.
Spidapig24
YES YES David, whaling convention blah blah blah. Your record appears to be stuck.
Just out of curiosity how many hundreds of years does Japans tradition of whaling in Antarctica stretch back for? Oh thats right about 65 years isnt it. WOW thats a massive tradition.
davidattokyo
Japan's whale eating culture and desire to conduct commercial whaling (not only in the Antarctic but also the North Pacific) are 100% consistent.
Indeed Japan was allocated quotas for such whaling for decades until the rise of intolerance in anti-whaling nations in around the 1970's culminated in devious imposition of a de-facto whaling ban in the guise of "moratorium" on whaling in 1982.
To question the notion of such a harvest now is to ignore historical facts and international law.
We can never lose sight of the fact that the whaling convention was created for the purpose of regulating whaling of whale stocks, for the benefit of whale product consumers and the whaling industry.
Spidapig24
davidattokyo
How is claiming claiming commercial whaling done in Antarctic waters part of Japanese culture? Just out of curiosity? And how is ignoring the feelings of several countries feelings and requests showing compassion or brains, and that is exactly what Japan is guilty of doing....
davidattokyo
How is intolerance for other food cultures showing compassion or brains?
Ranger_Miffy2
BBardot has a long record of supporting animals, and she is right about the whaling and Y27M wasted money. If I look this good at 77 I will be pretty pleased. On these issues, she wins handily, showing she has beauty, brains, and compassion.
melonbarmonster
What an atrocious example of bigotry and ignorance. THis women should just shut up and go eat her goose liver and horse meat in France and shut up.
cleo
Chin up, Nicky - we're lucky in that not only are we stunning in our prime, our prime lasts a long time. Any man who says we don't age well is in the pocket of a jealous brunette. ;-D
Moderator
Back on topic please.
Nicky Washida
"Blondes are stunning in their prime, but they just don't age well"
I asked for a straw to cling to - not a foot on my head!!! ;-)
arrestpaul
Canada's PM Harper and Fisheries Minister Hearn refused to meet with Bardot the last time she haunted Ottawa and as far as I know, there will still be a seal hunt in Canada. What "great" success are you referring to?
FightingViking
Not really "off topic" but just a piece of information : BB was not born "blonde".
Spidapig24
arrestpaul
We have had this argument time and again, but l will say this again. They are whaling in waters claimed by Australia, yes only a handful of countries recognise this so what. Japan claims the waters around Senkaku and only a handful of countries recognise that claim yet when China or Taiwan fish in those waters Japan runs them out at gunpoint and complains like theres no tomorrow that these other countries encroach on their claimed territories. Yet here is Japan doing EXACTLY the same to another nation and cant understand why the other nation gets upset. So maybe the foreigners (Japan in this case) should pack up their boats turn around and head back to their end of the world and stop wasting their money and listen to what the nations in the region they are whaling are actually saying. Why? because Japan is making no friends in that region, in fact when the subject of whaling comes up in Australia, Japan and the Japanese are hated you should actually read some comments in the Australian media to gauge the level of feelings towards them.
Jasen Durant
With the great success she had in stopping the Canadian seal hunt, she now will attack the Japanese whaling industry.
OssanAmerica
And in whose waters are they whaling ? Hint: It's not Austrealoias.Or New Zealands.
Deplore
That's where I stopped reading. What authority does she have on a subject like this? I'm far more inclined to respect the opinions of an actual ecologist. I really wish news outlets would stop reporting the opinions of celebrities. Just because someone has a little notoriety doesn't mean we should pay attention to everything they say.
arrestpaul
What? They have agreed to scientific research? Isn't someone going to claim that there is some kind of "loophole" involved?
What does the Madrid Agreement have to say about whaling in international water? Is Bardot one of the signers of the Madrid Agreement?
cleo
Inner beauty, Nicky, inner beauty.
choiwaruoyaji
One further point...
Many people won't have heard of the Madrid Agreement. Let me bring it to everybody's attention...
In this wonderful document, countries have agreed to preserve the Antarctic for peaceful scientific research and also have managed to ban mining down there.
What a beautiful and amazing thing that countries could agree to that!!
And so right! The Antarctic is a beautiful, unique, pristine wilderness that we as humans should seek to preserve rather that rape and pillage for its resources.
Truly respect to the countries and statesmen and women behind the Madrid Agreement.
So what does Japan bring to the Antarctic table?
A huge Victorian-era style killing fleet, burning 1000s of tonnes of gasoline to sail to the furthest reaches of the globe, intent on greedily grabbing resources... and for what?
For a few unsavory oyajis in izakayas to smack their lips over a plate of whale bacon as they become misty eyed remembering their elementary school bentos...
Pathetic, isn't it.
Yeah, well done Japan, that really does follow the spirit of the Madrid Agreement.
By the way, if you want to have a laugh at the mentality of some of these oyajis, google Isana and whales... you'll find some of the most hilarious articles about whaling you've ever read.
arrestpaul
So what you're strawman argument is suggesting is that if things were different then things would be different? Are you talking about polar bears found in international water or would you invade a recognized sovereign state to capture them? If you support the lawless activity of the eco-terrorist SS, can I assume that Bardot and you will be ignoring recognized laws and invading anytime soon?
arrestpaul
And you'd be wrong.
Actually, it's about jurisdiction. Bardot and the eco-terrorist SS and their supporters promote violence as a means to their end. They want all whaling banned. If you listen to the babble of the violence prone SS, international water isn't international water, the IWC isn't concerned with whaling, and the eco-terrorist SS represent some "self-proclaimed" authority to attack vessels, whalers, and fishermen wherever and whenever they chose which simply isn't true.
The whalers and fishermen do have a right to DEFEND themselves against violent eco-terrorism.
choiwaruoyaji
Remember, every single country closest to the Antarctic is opposed to Japan's whaling in the pristine environment down there.
Every single one!!
Count them... South Africa, Chile, Argentina, NZ, Australia... every single one opposed...
How arrogant of Japan to ignore all the sentiments of those countries nearest to the Antarctic.
Do remember that there are no other countries nearer to the Antarctic than these countries so it is understandable that they feel a special affinity for that area.
Japan's arrogance in ignoring their sentiments is particularly magnified this year, given the fact that so many countries in the international community have supported and helped Japan in her time of need.
To get an idea of how ridiculous Japan's Antarctic whaling is, imagine this...
Imagine if Australians demanded to take polar bears from the Arctic for their "barbecue culture" and sent a huge gasoline guzzling fleet of ships 1000s and 100s of kilometers, up to the Arctic to grab polar bears, against the wishes of all the countries nearest to the Arctic.
Could you imagine it? Could you see how ridiculous that would be?
There... there you have Japan's Antarctic whaling.
arrestpaul
Just because the eco-terrorist SS are incompetent doesn't mean that they aren't trying and will eventually injure or eventually kill someone, including themselves.
The whalers are in international water not Australian water. Australian claims to the contrary haven't been recognized by the vast majority of nations.
Protestors can make their point. The eco-terrorist SS and their supporters. like Bardot. promote violence as a means to their end. Many nations and the UN recognize that people have a right to DEFEND themselves from acts of violence and that includes DEFENDING themselves against the violent acts of the eco-terrorist Watson and his SS. I believe even Australia may allow a person to defend themselves against criminals.
Nicky Washida
Still under 40 by the saggy skin of my teeth! I know you are right though Cleo, I know, and I appreciate your advice. I will get my head around the whole process eventually - not got a choice really!
Maybe I need to find myself a cause and get on with it?!
share chocolate though??! Really??!
cleo
Really young Nicky, you're still under 40! If you're worried now about what you'll look like at 77 you've got way too much time on your hands! Make sure you clean all make-up off at night, slap on the moisturiser morning and night, stay out of the sun (within reason) and when the whirlwind of life eventually washes you up on the shores of 77 be thankful you spent your life living instead of worrying about a few wrinkles!
You could share a bit of chocolate with the lady at the gym anyways.....
BB's wrinkles at 77 tell me that this is a lady who is happy in her skin, with more important things on her mind than botox and face-lifts. In that sense I think she's aged incredibly well, much better than those who have been nipped and tucked to within an inch of their pensions. I hope I have her chic and poise when I'm her age.
choiwaruoyaji
Remember, whale meat in Japan is a tiny tiny niche market.
For the vast majority of Japanese people, whale meat is weird food... strange food... off-the-radar food.
You know, akin to ostrich meat, crocodile meat or something bizarre like that.
Japanese may think, "oh here's some whale meat... I'll try a bit... oh it's not too bad." But they will also be thinking, consciously or subconsciously, "there's no way I'll be eating this regularly."
And they will go back to the delicious staples of chicken, pork, beef, etc.
So we might ask ourselves, why on earth does Japan spend all these billions and billions of yen to send a huge and ridiculous Victorian-era style fleet of ships to the Antarctic to grab whales for this tiny niche market.
If you speak to Japanese people about whaling, invariably they will mention their oh-so-very-important "food culture".
What people around the world are asking is: How on earth can Japan claim a food culture which stretches all the way around the world to include the pristine Antarctic wilderness?
It seems greedy and arrogant.
No it doesn't... it IS greedy and arrogant.
So what could be the real reason for this huge waste of taxpayers money, at a time when this money is desperately needed for things a million times more urgent?
It's simple.
The Japanese government loves the aggro down in the southern ocean. It can easily whip up nationalist sentiment over the issue and it provides a very nice smokescreen with which to distract the public.
The Japanese government's thinking is this: let's spend a load of money and create this hate-figure outside of Japan... then the public might not hate us so much.
The tiny niche market for whale meat can be satisfied by whales taken around Japan. They should get their rapacious and ridiculous fleet out of the Antarctic.
Nicky Washida
I know, I know! Im a terrible person! Sorry! I guess it is just that of all people Brigitte Bardot encapsulates to me what happens to you when you age. She was so beautiful in her prime, and ageing is a big issue for me right now! You know what its like when you discover your first grey hairs, or the laughter lines that used to be cute just arent anymore. There is a 78 year old woman in my gym who looks incredible. I think Im going to have to kidnap her and force feed her chocolate until she coughs up her secrets! Im trying to be beautiful from within, honestly!
m6bob
This anti-whaling thing is a brainwashing campaign that is so pervasive that many people do not realize they have been 'converted'. They will just speak or write as if it is a right. Soon there will be anti-fishing brainwashing and so on. Wake-up people!
cleo
I mean not causing unnecessary suffering is better than causing it regardless just to get your whale blubber fix.
Yes it is very inhumane. I don't eat fish. I don't eat 'barn animals' either.
There are laws governing how 'barn animals' can be killed, involving licenses and inspections. It's much more humane than the way unregulated, unlicensed, unsupervised way whales are killed. I still don't eat 'barn animals'. Very few of them are kept in barns these days. Call them factory animals instead.
Yes, I do.
No one in Japan needs to eat whale; those who do, eat it because they enjoy it, ie for pleasure/fun. I'm glad you agree with me that this is reprehensible.
Yoghurt is good.
The mod must have been removing Spidapig's posts. I see nothing impolite to other users.
Moderator
All readers stay on topic please.
kaketama
cleo
You mean that we should not kill almost all marine animals? Most fishes are killed by asphyxiation, very inhumane way! How about barn animals? Are they really killed by humane way? Don't you think that keeping animals without any free just to eat is inhumane?
I think it is ok to kill animals for our needs. If a way to kill animals without pain is available, we should choose this way. But even though that is not available, it is tolerable to kill them by available methods for out needs, not for our fun. What you say is too extreme argument.
You should eat only products of bacterial fermentation.
Spidapig24
Davidattokyo,
What is impolite about it. It is relevant to the article and both you and arrestpaul are both self professed pro whaling. There is nothing at all impolite about it. If you find it so, then please point out exactly what offends and l will apologize. But nice try at a bit of back door censorship. I should complain that I find your posts impolite and get them removed hey!
Ed O Jidai
When I was young it was Brigitte Bardot's pulchritude that made me smile. Now I smile in admiration at her courage, and determination to fight for what she believes is right.
davidattokyo
Spigapig24, how did you slip that sort of comment past the moderators? Very impolite to other users.
cleo
Trouble is, there is no method guaranteed to kill whales humanely.
I have an improvement to offer.
Stop killing animals that cannot be killed humanely.
The Munya Times
cactusJackOct. 26, 2011 - 04:20PM JST
Try this.
http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/
Spidapig24
cleo
You are so wrong, they dont chase whales to near exhaustion, they dont blow a hole in it with an explosive tipped harpoon and they most certainly dont let them bleed to death or drown. They do it all in the most clinical scientific manner just ask the pro whale crowd here like Davidattokyo, arrestpaul and the likes. Its all about the science not the hunt or the food.
Oh wait thats what they would have you believe, guess your right.
The Munya Times
That depends on how long you will live. If you are lucky enough to live until her age, that's inevitable :-DD
She just went through the same thing we all gonna go through, alcoholics and drug addicts don't live that long. Although it doesn't really matter how old someone looks like from the outside at the age close to 80, rather how young she is inside. The worst thing that can happen when a young one is old inside in soul and mind.
cleo
ebisen - I know exactly what I 'miss' - bits from the carcass of an animal that was likely chased to exhaustion, had a hole blown in it then held with its tail out of the water while it took an age to either drown or bleed to death. No thanks.
davidattokyo
all the more for the rest of us ebisen :)
ebisen
cleo - you don't know what you miss ;))
cleo
JapanGal - if she uses cosmetics made in Europe she needn't prove anything. Animal testing of finished cosmetic products has been banned in Europe since 2004, on ingredients since 2009.
Nicky - the lady is 77 years old! Just how well do you expect people to age??? And on topic, not only would I not pay to eat whale meat, I couldn't be paid to eat it.
akkk1
Blondes are stunning in their prime, but they just don't age well. Obviously, Bardot didn't go the route of botox and plastic surgery which mummified certain aging blondes.
Nicky Washida
More on topic - I would happily pay a good sum of money to take my kids and myself whale-watching. I wouldnt spend any money at all on eating them.
Nicky Washida
Its a horrible thing to say I know, and I feel bad for saying it, but Brigitte Bardot always leaves me feeling depressed! When i look at pictures of her then, and pictures of her now I just cant help but think "Really??? Is that what is going to happen to me?" and I dont even look as good as she did in her heyday.
Has she just not aged well? Does she not photograph well? Is she an alcoholic? Somebody give me a straw to cling to here!
davidattokyo
Cricky, if the "waste of money" is an issue for you then why not let's abolish the long-invalid commercial whaling moratorium, and let private business people risk their own money on it? This would then reduce the cost to protecting citizens from going about their legal business from lawless bandits. I'd prefer that too, it'd probably make the cost of a meal a bit cheaper.
Christina, I like to see them both wild and free as well as on my plate (You aren't expected to eat them if you don't want to). This is what the whaling convention is all about - conserving whale stocks and developing the whaling industry.
Spidapig24
sunhawk
Great point Sunhawk, as an Australian my response is why dont you foreigners (Japanese) butt out of our region and do you whaling in your own region i.e 10,000+ km north of where you do it at present maybe then these people wont complain as much.
sunhawk
why don't the foreigners butt out of our whaling and go bother the norweigens and the icelanders about their openly commerical whaling?
Christina O'Neill
Brigite I do hope your oppinion is taken into consideration, but at present it seems unlikely.Personaly I would still prefer to see these mammals wild and free rather then on my plate
Cricky
Way of topic, sorry guys Point for me too much money waisted. Not a viable business at all, could spend less on a cartoon character with big goolies and the locals will be happy to pay extra tax. It's a global story, famous people support it. That's the story. Not ss. Gambatte .
davidattokyo
Sea Shepherd themselves deny that they are a protest organization, so that line of argumentation doesn't stand up to proper scrutiny.
Cricky
arrestpaul, Say Japan in Australia, NZ, Europe and whaling comes up then Fukashima...Have not been to the USA, so do not know about that but I can tell you it's on the news and people talk about it. Also if they are so incompetent why send "Self Defence forces" that actually were there last year under a guise to protect these poor well paid subsidized raiders. Personally I'm Ok with the practice if done in home waters, chasing these behemoths using tax payers money is another story. Sea Shepard protesters are part of life, anti Vietnam war protesters Tunisa protesters, Egypt, Burma, Global warming, Wall street greed....protesters sometimes they are rirght. Sending the miliary (pseudo) good luck with reaction to that. Democracy allows protesters to make their point.
The Munya Times
Hello pretty! Still active?
I never forget she said a great thing about this whaling when it was claimed to be culture of a nation.
She said "Mozart, Beethoven that is culture, what you do is barbarism".
A smart pretty.
arrestpaul
It's not from a lack of trying that the eco-terrorist SS hasn't killed anyone. It's the incompetence of the eco-terrorist SS that seems to be preventing the loss of lives.
You're also over-estimating the "global" condemnation. A relatively small percentage of vocal people in many nations does not mean "globally condemned". The majority of the planet's population doesn't give a hoot about whales one way or the other.
RaichuLov
OooOOo..how interesting. That much money spent on whaling-ish. It could totally be put into better use. XD
arrestpaul
The eco-terrorist SS has a decades long history of violence. They brag that they've sunk 10 fishing and whaling vessels, 11 if you count the Ady Gil that they sunk by their own stupidity. They've deliberately filled their bow with concrete to ram another ship. They've rammed the Canadian Coast Guard. Several countries have refused or recinded registration of eco-terrorist SS vessels. Arrest warrants have been issued for eco-terrorist SS members.
Bardot supports the violent actions of eco-terrorism by supporting the eco-terrorist SS.
Cricky
Do coastal Tohoku have a long history of traveling to the Antartic? Now that would be traditional.
davidattokyo
smithinjapan,
Call them what you will, but it's the eco-terrorists' lack of respect for the law (UNCLOS and ICRW) that is the root of the problem. Blaming the Japanese government for protecting it's citizens who are going about their legal business from outlaws is simple common practice.
And for your information, coastal Tohoku is one region of Japan with close links to Japan's whale culture. I doubt they of all Japanese would be siding with Sea Shepherd on the issue...
Cricky
Err .....such a unpopular and globally condemned practice carried out thousands of miles from home port, using the fine print is not a sold argument. Not really the point.
27 mil +whatever was paid to small countries as aid (for their vote) storage (long term) of the catch on top of the subsidies and the bad press and ill with it generates (priceless). Not a profitable business plan, maybe a cultural thing having businesses propped up by tax dollars? At least sea Shepard is not tax funded, nor linked to shady financial dealings. Sea Shepard have not killed anyone just embarrass and make life difficult for whalers. Don't see too many people knowingly or willingly contributing to a Whaling fund, sorry Scientific Whaling fund. It's a money pit for that reason alone financially pointless ,protesters are a fact of life Issue. The protests will not stop, but one day the money will and there goes millions of dollars down the drain.davidattokyo
Patrick Smash,
Unfortunately the only way to make whaling fund itself again would be for the anti-whalers to agree to let the whaling commission lift it's invalid "moratorium" provision, and then use commercial whaling license fees to fund any public-good research that is necessary to facilitate it's development, thus eliminating the current need for public support.
By the way, it doesn't seem to be the case that a majority of African and Asian nations are upset about people eating whales, so at best your idea that "every country on earth" has a problem with it is a whale of an exaggeration.
NetNinja,
Mmmm, but none of the people I eat whale with are old men nor even Japanese in some cases, and we do eat it because it tastes good. I sure wouldn't pay money to eat it if I didn't like it.
Let's remember that what's important is that the whaling industry be given the chance to develop in the context of conservation of whale stocks, in accordance with the spirit and letter of the whaling convention.
smithinjapan
Davidattokyo: "It's the eco-terrorists that are precluding this option."
They are PROTECTING the ecology, not terrorising it. If one of the two groups can be labelled 'eco-terrorist' it should be Japan. Don't try to blame Japan wasting another $27 M on Sea Shepherd, for it is Japan's choice to do this and waste their time picking up a product that almost no Japanese want to eat.
I hope the people still stuck in shelters in Tohoku are made aware of this issue. It would be interesting to hear their opinions on why they are denied help in favour of more money being put into whaling.
NetNinja
Patrick Smash,
Don't know if you realize but you hit the nail right on the head. Allow me to extract it for you.
Right there, you captured it. So they can feel natsukashii. They want to go back to the way things were. It's not cause whale tastes good, it's because it's symbolic. We own the sea, we capture and destroy the beasts. Under Imperial Japan the Emperor declared that all the Pacific would be the Empire of Japan. Our ships and boats would dominate the world.
Australia was once one of Japan's targets and now, this day and age, Japanese ships still sail the waters around Oceania. It's symbolic of a time when they believed they were giants.
In response to this behavior, Chinese and Koreans notice this much faster than Westerners do, they are now building up their military. They see Japan's royal family becoming more public, more outspoken and just maybe, a return to power.
kaketama
You should study biology, especially about ecosystem. Over-protecting of one species is nothing more than harmful activity for the balance of precious nature. These environmentalists are certainly hypocrites. If they really hope to preserve the earth, they should think of maintaining the balance, never state that the whaling should be banned permanently. As Riffraff said, many species of whales, today, are sufficient enough to hunt.
Someone say that since whaling pisses other countries off, Japan should forbear it. This is a fallacy, awfully shortsighted idea. Do you really think the relationship among countries supersedes the complex balance of the earth? I don't think so.
Riffraff
Just pick the easy cause…. Anti-whaling protest is a no commitment cause championed by people who do not want to have to defend their stand or to put any real effort into it. It’s easy to be outraged and scandalized by a practice that takes place thousands of miles away in a place that it is a safe bet the protester has very little chance of ever going. It has become another politically correct cause that people can throw a few dollars/yen/pounds at to send a radical environmentalist down to do the dirty work and then strut around and tell everyone they support “save the whales”. Japan is whaling within the current international rules, Sea Sheppard is a extremist criminal that was kicked out of Green Peace for being too violent and has found a cash cow in the save the whale movement. What little whaling Japan does will have no impact on the overall recovery of the whale species. A very few years from now the headlines will be decrying how whales are overpopulated and threatening the extinction of some other species in their food chain and have to be controlled blah, blah.
davidattokyo
If a washed-up 1960s sex kitten believes “Whales are endangered" then maybe Japan should stop whaling huh.
That's the best excuse I've seen round here lately.
It isn't banned, commercial catch limits are just temporarily set at zero right now.
It's the eco-terrorists that are precluding this option.
kaketama
Cricky
There is no need for all countries to stay their own territories, and the Sea Shepherd has no right to violate the UNCLOS.
bentheredonthat
@spudman
please research before you speak
In 2008 Bardot was convicted of inciting racial/religious hatred in relation to a letter she wrote, a copy of which she sent to Nicolas Sarkozy when he was Interior Minister of France. The letter stated her objections to Muslims in France.
nath
Muslim isn't a race, neither is Japanese. Silly argument@bentheredonthat. Maybe a bigot but not a racist.
bentheredonthat
bardot is a racist and a fearmongerer. she's been fined numerous times for inciting racial hatred againsts muslims, who she claims is invading her beautiful france.. and yet she wants to care for all the animals of the world? puh-leaze!
Cricky
If Japan stayed in it's own waters then there would be no need for sea shepherd, right?
kaketama
If Sea Shepherd stop the violent activities, Japan need not spend their money to protect themselves, right?
gelendestrasse
While I don't much give a hoot about Japanese whaling I have to agree that $27M is just nuts to spend on security. Heck, the whales they catch probably wouldn't net that much and the people of the northeast need the help a lot more.
ratpack
I would love to hear Nodas response...if any. She has hit the nail on the head in regards to needless and stupid spending of $27m.
ReformedBasher
So the whalers will now enlist Matsuda Seiko. Or Pink Lady. With them as crew, it will be sure to scare those pesky greenies off.
Can you say "UFO"? :-)
nath
She should stop using all that make up or prove to us it was not tested on animals.
arrestpaul
Brigitte who? hehehehe
It's nice to see that old, worn out, over-the-hill, sex kittens who never could act, can still find ways to attract the public's attention after their looks have gone.
The real question is, does PM Noda know or care what Bardot thinks? My guess is he may know but I have no idea why he would care.
smithinjapan
"Earlier this month, Tokyo announced that the whaling fleet would be protected in Antarctic waters by a naval escort in a bid to fend off harassment from groups such as Sea Shepherd, which pursues the boats."
So what's the navy going to do? If they fire on any ships in international waters they can kiss whaling goodbye for good, not to mention the international outrage it would bring. And yes, that $27 million could go a long way towards reconstruction in Tohoku instead of for gracing the plates of a few old men while the rest of the whale meat stays in storage or is forced down the throats of elementary school kids who don't want it.
Elbuda Mexicano
Better to get Lady GaGa to make an anti whaling music video!!
papasmurfinjapan
Well, they're sure to listen now.
Surely there are more important issues celebrities can lend a voice too, or are they all covered by George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and Bono?
globalwatcher
Hey Brigitt, you still look great! I used to have a crazy dream to be with you in bed. Oh well, we never made it. LOL
paulinusa
You can criticize her position, but she's been an animal right's champion for many, many years. At least she's consistent and passionate about what she believes in.
NetNinja
Wow, what a has-been. Don't get me wrong, I respect what she's doing. I just think this picture does her no justice at all. You have to Google her past to see that she was a super beautiful woman.
Now only her heart is beautiful. She's a beautiful person. I just wish whoever published this story had chose a better picture.
Apsara
Regardless of what you think of her, or whaling in general, she does have a point about the $27 million. Also I thought Japan's military was a "self-defense force"- can accompanying a whaling fleet to the Southern Ocean really be considered part of defending the country?
OssanAmerica
Nobody listens to her. Just ask the Canadians.
some14some
Good, in the sense she will generate some publicity for herself. Will Japan listen to her? ofcourse not.