He likes it! Hey, Mikey!
Posted on 01/17/2008 1:56:39 AM PST by tlb
The crew of a Japanese harpoon ship holding a British anti-whaling protester captive insist they are treating him well - and have even offered him a meal of whale meat.
The Japanese crew accused 36-year-old Mr Giles, from Cuckfield, West Sussex, and an Australian colleague of piracy after the pair stormed the whaling vessel Yushin Maru on Tuesday.
Captain Paul Watson, who last year threatened to ram a Japanese whaling flagship, said: "Holding two hostages and demanding that the whaling protests stop before the men were handed over is nothing short of terrorism."
As the stalemate dragged on, Japanese officials in Tokyo did not discount the possibility that Mr Giles and the Australian, Benjamin Potts, could remain under lock and key on the Yushin Maru until it returned to Japan in several weeks.
In fact the Japanese Fisheries Agency even went against the wishes of its government by declaring through its executive officer, Mr Hideki Moronuki, that the men would not be released until the Sea Shepherd boat agreed to a set of conditions.
An email sent by the Japanese to Capt Watson on board the Sea Shepherd boat (named the Steve Irwin, after the famous Australian naturalist) infuriated him. "They want us to stop all action against whaling, including filming or photographing the hunt," he said by radio telephone.
Mr Moronuki said Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, which he represented, was "ready to release the two intruders provided that full security can be secured for our research vessel. Sea Shepherd is a very violent organisation and we have to escape from any dangerous activities."
Asked if the whale crew would continue to hold the men if Sea Shepherd continued their protest actions, Mr Moronuki said: "Yes, we must, for security reasons."
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
What has amused me is that these activists have tried to use Australian law as a basis for their actions.
Before invoking Australian law, they might like to consider that the prescribed penalty under Australian law for piracy with violence remains death by hanging.
Those Australian (and one British) pirates should be punished in some way. Not only did they illegally board the Japanese ship, they supposedly threw acid and tried to damage a ship propeller.
They should be held captive until the Yushin Maru finishes the hunt, but apparently the Australian and Japanese have come to an agreement for the Australians to pick up the malcontents and take them from the Japanese ship.
He likes it! Hey, Mikey!
“have even offered him a meal of whale meat.”,
NOw that’s funny.
ROTFLMAO!!
Crosslinked, thanks for posting :-)
Japanese whalers seize British protester and tie him to harpoon ship
I'm waiting for the world press to raise this to the level of WWII Japanese atrocities. Tick, tick, tick...
Keel Haul them!
Could be worse... they could have been made to walk the plank!
He’s having a whale of a time, they should just quit their blubbering.
Ganbatte Kudasai BUMP!
After they were tied to the mast in inclement weather; I love it.
Not to hijack, but what does Maru mean in English? All Japanese ships are named that it seems.
I believe it is the Japanese use of the western word marine or maritime, meaning of the sea.
Literally maru translates as circle. There’s number of different theories as to why this term came to be used in naming Japanese ships, but nobody knows for certain anymore. It’s been a common practice since the 1500s.
It is today used only for civilian vessels, not military ones.
It seems I am practically the only one almost-English-speaking Japanese here, so I would like to clarify the issues from our perspectives.
Basically, most of us aren’t even keen on eating whales. Whale meat usually reminds us of cheap sh-t school meals. However, we do not want our sovereign rights to be restricted by some freaky animal lovers, especially when we only need some minke whales which are nowhere near extinction.
The initial ban on commercial whaling by the IWC was for conservation, not protection, of whales. As the majority, if not all, of whale species have increased in their numbers, we see the continuation of the initial ban illogical.
Another underlying issue is, as we feel, the lack of fairness. For example, people somehow conveniently forget that both America and Canada are whaling nations, where natives are allowed to hunt whales within their territorial waters. Then, why not the Japanese?
The scientific whaling is probably not really necessary. However, it is the IWC which REFUSES to accept data obtained by other non-lethal methods, as they also clearly show that the whales are increasing in their numbers and some egoistic nations do not want such data to be recognised.
The ongoing dispute with the Sea Shepherd is obviously a matter of piracy. Illegal boarding and violent assaults on maritime vessels on the high sea is illegal unless they are carried out by officials (i.e. governmental), such as millitary officers.
The Australian claim of Antarctic territory has not been recognised neither by Japan, America nor the majority of the EU nations, thus the Japanese are not bound by such claim. Should they use their millitary capabilities to enforce such claim, it inevitably would be recognised as an act of millitary aggression.
Lastly, my personal assumption is that it is the only issue that ethically bind the Australians together as none of them want whaling and it is politically correct to oppose whaling where none of the minorities need it. Opposing to the hunting of dingos, for example, is politically incorrent there. I mean, whaling is so convenient as a subject for those communist-turned-greenies to rally the general public around them.
Feed him to the sharks, mate!
LLS
What a loon! What does he think THEY were doing, boarding a ship at sea without permission? They could have been shot and killed without any consequences...........
What you said.
Good post. Welcome to Freerepublic.com
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