ACTION ALERT!! Sign the petition to prevent whaling in the Caribbean!

[MoonRiver]

This is such a horror and outrage. First Japan, and now the Caribbean wants to start hunting whales, AND serving whale meat in tourist attractions. Please help stop the slaughter of one of nature's most magnificent creatures.
:cry:

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=474&aid=7741&msource=DR061103001&tr=y&auid=2173839

[acmejack]

1. Kick for our Cetacean friends!

Will the outrages ever stop?

[MoonRiver]

2. It's getting worse!

The U.S. used to be the vanguard for animal and environmental protection. Not anymore! Hopefully our new Congress can bring back some humanity to our country.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Japan is buying votes with foreign aid

to support an end to the ban on whale hunting.

Some of these small and relatively poor Caribbean islands are being offered large chunks of foreign aid by Japan to support the Japanese move to end the ban on whaling.

These islands are also becoming increasingly dependent on tourism to support their local economies, so it sure shouldn't hurt to remind them that they could be pissing off a large segment of their prospective tourist market if they are seen as being pro-whaling.

Save the Whales?
Not if Japan's Bribes Pay Off
by Anthony Browne

Dominica is a speck on the world map, a beautiful Caribbean island smothered in dense volcanic jungle. With a population smaller than a typical British country town and landing space for nothing but the smallest planes, it is off the usual tourist trail.

But the island has found itself at the center of an international power struggle that will reach a climax in London in July. Ministers and diplomats from the world's richest countries have flocked here brandishing open check books, suitcases stuffed with cash - and, in some cases, muttering dark threats. The Caribbean nation may be home to fewer than 70,000 people, but it has one asset that other countries are prepared to pay big money for: a vote on the international body that sets the rules for commercial hunting of whales. With that vote, Dominica has a voice equal in weight to that of the US, the UK or Japan.

Dominica's Ministers have enjoyed a string of overseas trips with lavish VIP treatment normally reserved for royalty. Keen to get a ban on whaling lifted, Japan has flooded the country with cash and aid in the hope that Dominica will vote to allow slaughter to recommence.

In Dominica's hands - and those of a few other small nations - is the future of the world's great whales. Since the International Whaling Commission voted for a ban on whaling in 1982, some species such as minke and sperm have started recovering. The blue whale remains critically endangered.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0513-01.htm

[MoonRiver]

5. Disgusting. I predict Japan will get enormous blowback for this.

The Caribbean likewise.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. Done! K&R

[Judi Lynn]

6. Thank you. I hate these quick-money scums.

In for a fast profit at the expense of slaughtering wonderful, irreplaceable creatures. It would be unacceptable, even if we had a brazillion wonderful whales peacefully sailing through our oceans.

How diseased does the human race have to get before it changes it course? Is change even possible?

[MoonRiver]

8. Our brains are overspecialized to the point where we are quite capable

of destroying the entire world, one species at a time, or even all at once. The incredibly sad thing is that we will self-destruct in the process. Our intelligence is just a little below the threshold where we might realize the consequences of what we're doing, and have enough empathy to stop our primitive reflexes.

[bonito]

9. You are wise , done & recommended n/t

[Annces]

7. done n/t

[pacalo]

10. Done.

[KAT119]

11. We must save the whales-the philosophers of the sea=largest brains,

biggest hearts, and most soulful, wise loving eyes!!

Thank you so much for this vital thread!!

[MoonRiver]

14. I hope we can help change the situation.

There needs to be, and I believe there will be, a massive international movement against the encroaching whaling industry.

[and-justice-for-all]

12. Done!! I wish whales could fight back!

Whales are one of the oldest species on the planet and people want to kill'em; unacceptable!

[bonito]

13. Kick