Hi Tweets,

Maureen Ellis writes:
>It would appear that this issue has opposing and intensely defended points
>of view.

Actually, I'm not defending a point of view since I don't have one that I'm
willing to express publicly yet. I was just objecting to the demonising
shenanigans around the Sea Shepherd press release; we already get lots of
that sort of stuff in the yellow media here.

Don Baccus writes:

>And there's nothing wrong with trying to convince them to do so.

Don, I appreciate that you support the Makah's right to make the decision.
But if, for the sake of discussion, you were one of the people advocating
no hunt, what would you feel to be be a fair, ethical approach to persuading
them not to hold the hunt? How would you phrase it? What do you think might
be the clear path here?

> It seems, though, that Sea Shepherd wants to make that decision for
> them, which is a very different thing indeed, isn't it?

Like many other people and organisations opposed to whaling, Sea Shepherd is
advocating that the hunt not be held. Under current international regulation
to which the US government has affixed its signature, the hunt could not
legally be held.

It's quite interesting in view of its mythic reputation, but if you look
clinically at the history of Sea Shepherd, you'll find it's not quite the
raving loose cannon that popular prejudice holds it to be, however much one
may disapprove of its methods. Historically, one of its main activities has
been to enforce--since no one else will--the International Whaling
Commission's *own regulations and decisions* where signatory countries are
unwilling to do so due to vested domestic or international political or
commercial concerns. I also find it interesting that Sea Shepherd will
garner more disapproval for confronting a non-compliant whaling nation than
that nation will earn for flouting international law. Why the double
standard? I've always been curious about that. I enquired recently what are
law-abiding people to do when intransigence on the part of commercial or
political vested interests freeze out the moderate middle. Similar to
logging politics, the history of whaling politics--conservation of remaining
whales versus commercial whaling--over the last twenty-five years could be a
case study of the answer. Tragically avoidable, too.

>The day the entire world of humanity looks, talks, thinks, and smells like
>BC whitebread is the day I'm putting a bullet in my brain.

Don't fret, Don, and save yourself the brain damage. When BC's finished its
evil campaign of world domination, we'll make sure to save a little corner
of it where you can continue to roam free, uprooting trees and roaring such
insulting, vicious over-the-line rhetoric. Wow, that one's just *gotta* go
into any 'Best of Tweeters' collection!

But just think if the entire world *did* turn into BC whitebread: Sockeye on
every plate! Reasoned debate on every corner! World stewardship of wildlife!
And worst of all: Wearing of t-shirts with Vancouver Canucks' new logo would
be *mandatory*! Oh, the horror, the horror--! Just look for our black
fishing boats without identifying emblems coming to a neighborhood near you
soon! World domination, ya gotta love it! '-)

Michael Price The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters
Vancouver BC Canada -Goya
mprice at mindlink.net