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Japanese whalers seize British protester and tie him to harpoon ship
The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | January 15, 2008 | RICHARD SHEARS

Posted on 01/15/2008 7:43:41 PM PST by Stoat

Japanese whalers seize British protester and tie him to harpoon ship

By RICHARD SHEARS - More by this author » Last updated at 23:00pm on 15th January 2008

This is the moment a British anti-whaling activist was taken captive on a Japanese harpoon ship.


Giles Lane appears to be crying out in pain as the sailors surround him and bind him.

In the dramatic pictures his companion, an Australian, is wrapped around with rope and seems powerless to help.

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Captured: Giles Lane, left, appears to cry out while his Australian companion (right) looks on

Colleagues of the pair in the Sea Shepherd marine protection organisation claim they were later tied to the radar mast in the freezing cold as the vessel sped from the area in the Antarctic.

"They have assaulted and kidnapped two of my crew," said Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin.

The Japanese Whaling Association last night denied the men had been tied to the mast, but admitted they were being held on board the Yushin Maru.

A spokesman claimed that Mr Lane, 36, from Cuckfield, in West Sussex, and Australian Benjamin Potts had boarded the ship illegally and intended to entangle the vessel's propellers with rope and throw bottles of acid on the decks.

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Sea spray: The Yushin Maru crew turn a high pressure hose on the men as they approach

The sensational confrontation came hours after an Australian court banned Japan from whaling in its Antarctic waters.

The ruling applies to a sanctuary declared by Australia in 2000 - which Japan does not recognise.

Some of its ships are already in the area for a planned cull of 1,000 fin and minke whales for "scientific research".

When crew members on board the Steve Irwin learned of the judgment they clapped and cheered, then tried to send a radio message to a fleet they had been shadowing for three days.

The Japanese failed to respond, so Captain Watson decided to send Mr Lane and Mr Potts to one of the ships, the Yushin Maru, to deliver a letter outlining the judgment and demanding that the whaling stop immediately.

First the sailors turned high-pressure hoses on them. And Captain Watson said that as soon as the two men boarded the ship by clambering up a ladder the Japanese set upon them.

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Whaling

Illegal: Japanese whalers have been banned from hunting in Australian waters by a court judgment

"First of all they tried to throw Benjamin Potts overboard, but he managed to get his way out of that," he said.

"Then they assaulted Giles Lane. He seems to be in some pain.

"They tied him up with an incredible number of ropes. It looks like some kind of bondage movie. It's ridiculous."

There are concerns now for the safety of the two men in the freezing conditions.

In Tokyo last night, Makoto Ito, spokesman for the Japanese Whaling Association denied they had been tied to a mast.

"It is illegal to board another country's vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future," he said.

"This is just propaganda by Sea Shepherd," he added. "I believe the two men are on the boat but we cannot give further details at this time.

"Sea Shepherd has been harassing our research vessels, but no one is bound to the mast of the Yushin Maru."

There are also concerns that more serious confrontations will occur in coming days when an Australian government vessel arrives in the area.

The converted cruise liner has a number of weapons on board - and environmentalists believe it will try to drive the Japanese out.


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Japan; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: australia; enviroweenies; greenpeace; japan; protesters; seashepherd; sodoffswampy; terrorism; terrorists; waronterror; whalers; whaling
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To: Candor7

Keep in mind, though, that:

1) American hunters limit their deer and elk hunting to undisputed US sovereign territory, and

2) deer and elk being land-based creatures, the fate of the their populations here has no bearing on their fate anywhere else other than Canada (which as far as I know has never raised any objections to US hunters’ deer and elk hunting).


121 posted on 01/16/2008 9:59:43 AM PST by GovernmentShrinker
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To: GovernmentShrinker
Of course the facts you point out distinguish elk hunting from whaling. I meant for the analogy to deal with the social aspects of the problem in comparinng the two, not the differences between land based , non-sovereignty based issues of domestic hunting and whaling.

The social issues for the culture of both raise the same traditional cultural issues in Japan, get it?

122 posted on 01/16/2008 10:06:23 AM PST by Candor7 (Fascism? All it takes is for good men to say nothing.)
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To: Candor7

Yes, I “get it”. I also “get it” that a large chunk of the Muslim world is culturally attached to the idea that they will go right on committing “honor” killings, even when they are in countries where the culture views this as plain and simple first-degree murder.

There’s a limit to how much we ought to respect cultural values which differ from our own. When a culture insists it has a right to diminish a global resource, through activities conducted outside its borders and recognized ocean waters perimeter, it is stepping over the line, and can’t reasonably expect other cultures to sit by and do nothing. Air and oceans are the two major areas in which the system of respecting sovereign borders just doesn’t work as the catch-all paradigm for handling conflicting cultures.


123 posted on 01/16/2008 10:18:40 AM PST by GovernmentShrinker
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To: Stoat

So if this is a question of national sovereignty, fishing rights, territorial waters, etc. why is a privately-owned ship “enforcing” the laws?


124 posted on 01/16/2008 10:19:07 AM PST by relictele
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To: Stoat

How about,

“British Terrorist Caught by Japanese Sailors.”

My sympathies are with the whales though.


125 posted on 01/16/2008 10:26:53 AM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: GovernmentShrinker
Hey, I am not arguing with you. I agree on the legal aspects. So who will be the enforcer? Thats the problem.

While there is no enforcer, Mr. Whale is going the way of the dinosaurs. I have no attachment to the cultural ho ha approach, other than to say that the first method we both prefer has not worked.

126 posted on 01/16/2008 12:13:46 PM PST by Candor7 (Fascism? All it takes is for good men to say nothing.)
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To: GovernmentShrinker

I won’t go so far as to say that either party is the “good” guy here, but since I get to choose between them—in this case I’ll side with the evil whalers over the evil self-righteous Captain Planet Wannabees.


127 posted on 01/16/2008 8:40:51 PM PST by Laptop_Ron (It takes a villager to raze a village)
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To: Candor7; GovernmentShrinker; Stoat
So how do we approach it. Japans unique position in whaling, and its cultural connections to it need to be acknowledged. That of Iceland and other Scandinavian countries does also. They need to be required somehow to manage and cultivate the resource instead of fighting international consensus, which they can always succeed in, because of a paucity of the military type of enforcement required to preserve the resource

The IWC has been around since 1946, 12 years before I was born. The discussions of mariners across the globe who were appalled at Japan -and- Russia's blatant disregard for the decimation of any marine species - whether in their waters or anyone elses that didn't have very large projectiles at the ready to deter them is legendary.

Japan has decimated it's stocks long ago, or there wouldn't be this thread. They have no respect for the sea, and will wipe out every species from whales to herring, unless they are stopped.

This IS their culture. They have destroyed their fishery through gluttony, and will destroy every fishery across the globe as long as there is a dollar to be made.

Is there anyone here who hasn't watched videos of Japanese, thousands of miles farther from home than they could of traveled just 100 very short (sea) years ago, slicing off the fins of sharks - enough to fill the holds of boats meant to catch whole fish, and leaving the fin less sharks to flounder and die at a rate that would certainley change to the detrimant an ecosystem that's taken thousands - or millions, take your pick..of years to come to this stage of their "destiny".

It is unfortunate that, like the UN, the IWF seems to exist in a testicle free zone, or else they'd point out that the Japanese "culture" involved a tiny fraction of the consumers it now has, along with a whaler range of essentially their own coastal waters.

And, yes, Europeans and American settlers also adopted the culture of whaling, driving them to near extinction.

We realized it was a bad idea. The Japanese don't give a flying whaleburger, and are profiting off of our conscience.

I have no doubt, that if there were no deterrents, they would net every spawning salmon, kill every Elk, Deer, Moose, Bear and raccoon, just to eat their eggs.

Here in the Puget Sound in Washington state, it is way, way, way to common to see hundreds of salmon lying on beaches, private and public, whole except for the eggs which are on their way to Japan.

Our overwhelmingly (D)state legislature's response to this abridgment of sovereign nation conservationism?

Cash the tribe's campaign donations and shut down fisheries to everyone else.

I suspect the IWF was weaned on the same stale dated can of spinach

128 posted on 01/16/2008 9:13:01 PM PST by 4woodenboats (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: William Terrell

“..Who’s rule of right do we use internationally? Yours?”

In the picture included with the article, that is “governmentshrinker” in the red jacket, crying, with the circles around his head.


129 posted on 01/16/2008 9:53:13 PM PST by Rembrandt (We would have won Viet Nam w/o Dim interference.)
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To: All
UPDATE

More pictures at the "PHOTOS" link below, including Sea Shepherd / Greenpeace vessels ramming Japanese ships.

The Japanese no doubt have dirty hands, but the answer is not piracy and terrorism by hippie thugs masquerading as 'saviors of the seas'.

PHOTOS

SS « Steve Irwin » terrorists onboard a zodiac boat about to hurl a butyric acid-containing bottle to the Japanese research vessel Yushin Maru No. 2.
ゾディアック ボートに乗ったシーシェパード船「Steve Irwin」のテロリストが酪酸の入った瓶を目視採集船「第2勇新丸」に投げつける直前。

 

Japanese research vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 crew reacts to the corrosive substance thrown by SS « Steve Irwin » terrorists onboard a zodiac boat.
目視採集船「第2勇新丸」の乗組員がゾディアック ボートに乗ったシーシェパード船「Steve Irwin」のテロリストが投げつけた激物(酪酸)に反応する

A bottle of butyric acid thrown by SS « Steve Irwin » terrorists lays on the Japanese research vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 deck.
シーシェパード船「Steve Irwin」のテロリストが投げつけた激物(酪酸)の瓶。目視採集船「第2勇新丸」の甲板上で。
 

A bottle thrown by SS « Steve Irwin » terrorists containing an unidentified chemical lays on the Japanese research vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 deck.
シーシェパード船「Steve Irwin」のテロリストが投げつけた未確認化学物質(白い粉末)の瓶。目視採集船「第2勇新丸」の甲板上で。
 

Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane, two Sea Shepherd members who illegally attacked and boarded the Japanese research vessel seen enjoying tea at an office on the Yushin Maru No. 2.
目視採集船「第2勇新丸」を違法に襲撃し、乗船してきたシーシェパード船「Steve Irwin」乗組員2名(ベンジャミン・ポッツ及びジール・レーヌ)が安全のため保護された。「第2勇新丸」の事務室にてお茶を楽しむ。

130 posted on 01/16/2008 9:56:15 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: GovernmentShrinker
"Sure, just like the carrier pigeons did."

At least they are not pooping on my house or statues.

131 posted on 01/16/2008 10:06:49 PM PST by blackbart.223 (I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
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To: AU72
"If he’s crying now, wait till he sees what he gets for lunch."

Good shot. Well placed.

132 posted on 01/16/2008 10:10:31 PM PST by blackbart.223 (I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
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To: blackbart.223
At least they are not pooping on my house or statues.
 

The Blackbart .223 Estate features statues?

Very nice.

No statues as the stoat cave yet, but I'm thinking that a 9ft tall Virgin Mary in the back garden might be nice, and perhaps a big Charlton Heston, holding a particularly stylish rifle for the front yard would be good (to keep the riffraff away, you know)

133 posted on 01/16/2008 10:56:55 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
"The Blackbart .223 Estate features statues?"

I didn't word that very well.I should have said they don't poop on my house or any local statues.

I don't own any statues but you get the point.

134 posted on 01/16/2008 11:04:59 PM PST by blackbart.223 (I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
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To: blackbart.223
I don't own any statues but you get the point.

Aww it's okay, no worries I do indeed understand.

There are companies making really nice-looking ones fairly inexpensively out of resin materials that look just like stone.  I had been seriously considering one for the back garden....I thought that it might bring a more peaceful mood to the place; which is always nice considering the state of the world, what with hippie terrorists running around throwing acid on Japanese sailors and such.  A serene spot for contemplation seems like a nice thing to consider, sometimes.. 

135 posted on 01/16/2008 11:22:00 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
"A serene spot for contemplation seems like a nice thing to consider."

When I want to do that I wander into the Northern Nevada desert and call coyotes in and knock them off.

136 posted on 01/16/2008 11:29:16 PM PST by blackbart.223 (I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
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To: blackbart.223
"A serene spot for contemplation seems like a nice thing to consider."

When I want to do that I wander into the Northern Nevada desert and call coyotes in and knock them off.

That sounds fun!  I used to do that almost every day after work (paper coyotes at the range, mind you).  Target practice can almost deliver a Zen-like state, especially with a high-caliber weapon that makes the ground shake   :-)

137 posted on 01/16/2008 11:33:05 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
"That sounds fun!"

It is. Why did you pick the handle stoat? It is a British term for weasel.

138 posted on 01/16/2008 11:40:18 PM PST by blackbart.223 (I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
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To: Tamar1973

“It seems they were vigilantes attempting to enforce Australian law.”

Not sure if Australian law applies to this whale sanctuary. Not many other countries recognize this sanctuary. It’s not within Australia’s national waters so I’m not sure if Australian courts really have a say so over what goes on there. I’m not sure the U.S. even recognizes it.


139 posted on 01/16/2008 11:48:51 PM PST by MissouriConservative (We accommodate other cultures at the expense of ours.)
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To: blackbart.223
Why did you pick the handle stoat?

I've had it for I think close to 13 or so years now; I originally picked it because I used to go to 'live' chat servers and it's a fast and easy name for people to type when they want to speak to me.  It's also a furry, unassuming little animal but it does have sharp teeth and knows how to use them when provoked  :-)

Black Bart is most commonly known as a figure from Western lore, isn't it? I'm also seeing that he was a pirate  :-)

Black Bart - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

140 posted on 01/16/2008 11:50:16 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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