The more things change the more they stay the same

It's good policy making that's made from the mind and not some cuddly animal nonsense. It's a compromise that in the end lowers the number of whales killed. I'm sure everyone loves the world to be run according to their whims, but the fact is it's a big place and we either get along or get a Gaza/Israeli or Korean situation where lives are lost on ideology which will never be settled because they are absolutes.

I'm not sure it's that clear cut Drew. It seems there are those who would question the makeup of the "scientific commitee" that appears to be at the heart of this compromise.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/the-whalin...he-numbers.html

I have read your previous thoughts with a lot of appreciation for your understanding and I recognize the need to accept our cultural differences. I must say though that I'm troubled by the language you used above. I don't consider the belief that whales should have a place on this earth "cuddly animal nonsense", nor do I consider it a "whim" to believe that the whales have as much right to life as the 7 billion of us.

If one believes the whales are a resource to be managed then I can see where the proposal makes perfect sense. If we see the world differently and believe that these beings have every right to swim in the ocean free from needless slaughter, the end of the moratorium will be a very dark day.

In the Fox article the assumption that because everyone is upset about the "compromise" it must be about right is one possibility I guess. The other, of course, is that it's fundamentally and ludicrously wrong.

Steve

It's good policy making that's made from the mind and not some cuddly animal nonsense. It's a compromise that in the end lowers the number of whales killed. I'm sure everyone loves the world to be run according to their whims, but the fact is it's a big place and we either get along or get a Gaza/Israeli or Korean situation where lives are lost on ideology which will never be settled because they are absolutes.

What a lot of BS. Not sure what this has to do with Gaza or Korea so I won't go there; but for the Japanese, Norwegians etc to continue to use the excuse that this is part of their culture is BS. I can appreciate it where fishing/whaling/sealing are considered part of the culture for local communities like the Eskimos who go out in their small boats over a limited range and take what they need for their communities, but these large 'industries' and their lobbyists have no interest but to go out and take as much as they can, raping the ocean's resources in the process, as they continue to do with tuna etc. These countries (as have the US and many others) have fished out and destroyed their local waters, to somehow justify now roaming the world and taking resources world wide for 'cultural' reasons, is nothing but a cynical ploy. I am not a hard core environmentalist by any means, but probably the best yardstick to use for whether anyone has a right to a resource has to do with whether it is sustainable in your own back yard. We are learning our rights and responsibilities right now with the oil spill in the gulf. I have a very libertarian approach to this, but that's another discussion....

I've lived through this type of thing in my own life, my father was a furrier who had to deal with the anti-fur people, and even he had to advise me that the time for fur coats was past and we needed to move on. The world changes....

Seems from a political standpoint, any 'compromise' this administration makes is considered 'good policy', what about taking a stand for what is right and not just politically correct. Ironic that it was Reagan who supposedly supported the initial moratorium.

Well Jeff, fortunately, the world functions differently. Once someone claims what is right and that view is opposite to another, you will have conflict. How one settles these conflicts is the point.

Many of the subsistence cultural whalers now use motorized boats and firepower beyond harpoon. Strict cultural societies like that of Lamahlera and the neighboring villages hunt whales "the old" ways.

You may not agree with the contents of this planet being a resource, but obviously others disagree.

Nationalism is something that has been proven to be a factor in the resilience of whaling. Norway is oil rich and is impervious to any kind of sanctions (IF the EU and the world would ever do that!). Japan? Well, their products are so entrenched in our lives that they'd be rich beyond. Telling somebody that they are wrong is not going to work. Slowly phasing out whaling through lowering legal quotas and letting the industry die a natural death as the Japanese, Faroese and Icelanders suffer the mercury effects and realize their folly. In time, they will stop consuming. Try to force them to stop and you will get resistence, it's logical and reflected by what is happening now. So BS or not, that's life.

Well Jeff, fortunately, the world functions differently. Once someone claims what is right and that view is opposite to another, you will have conflict. How one settles these conflicts is the point.

Many of the subsistence cultural whalers now use motorized boats and firepower beyond harpoon. Strict cultural societies like that of Lamahlera and the neighboring villages hunt whales "the old" ways.

You may not agree with the contents of this planet being a resource, but obviously others disagree.

Nationalism is something that has been proven to be a factor in the resilience of whaling. Norway is oil rich and is impervious to any kind of sanctions (IF the EU and the world would ever do that!). Japan? Well, their products are so entrenched in our lives that they'd be rich beyond. Telling somebody that they are wrong is not going to work. Slowly phasing out whaling through lowering legal quotas and letting the industry die a natural death as the Japanese, Faroese and Icelanders suffer the mercury effects and realize their folly. In time, they will stop consuming. Try to force them to stop and you will get resistence, it's logical and reflected by what is happening now. So BS or not, that's life.

If the Japanese etc supporters of whaling are such traditionalists and so proud of this heritage then maybe they would prefer to keep hunting/eating whales no matter what, even forcing contaminated meat down the throats of their children to prove a point and not be 'bullied' into stopping. If that's the case so be it let them learn the hard way. i pity the innocent as well as the whales in this stubborn war...

Dive safe

DeanB