Satireday on Eco-Crap

The results of Japanese scientific sushi whale research…

Change the World Wednesday – 2nd Apr

Update

The fruits of my labour…

An orange tree has sprouted from seeds I threw in a box, and some garlic on the left

 

Ginger grown from the green nodules broken off supermarket root

 

Self-sown tomatoes growing in the soil (my compost) from an ornamental plant

 

Pineapples grow slowly, but still growing

 

Passion fruit growing up the side of the house, ready for fruit next year

Good News

On Saturday we gained a new little sacolão (fruit and vege store) in the neighborhood. It’s only small, but handy; and only 30 metres (32 yards) from home.

Sacolão, small, but handy

And the good thing is they don’t get their produce from CEASA, the state supplier. With CEASA you can’t guarantee the source. But they get their produce from a smallholder in Teresópolis in the north of the state. They have a choice of organic and pesticide-free veges.

A small range of produce

And they’re not expensive.

They already know that I don’t like plastic bags and put the produce in my carry bag.

This morning when I took the photos, there was a big plastic bag of cauliflower trimmings, I asked and was able to take it to add to my compost heap. The bag… well, that will be used to put my recyclable water bottles in for the Tuesday recycle collection.

 

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On with this weeks CTWW.

This week it’s a biggie…

This week, begin by educating yourself on the ocean. Do a google search using the words “protect the ocean” and read some of the articles which come up. Visit the Marine Conservation Institute or NOAA for information.

 

THEN …

Choose one (or more) of the following activities:

• Say NO to plastic, especially plastic bottles and bags. The world’s largest “landfill” is floating in the North Pacific Ocean and consists of plastic.
• Contact your state officials and encourage them to vote against off-shore drilling.
• Walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation this week. If you must drive, drive less.
• Maintain your car and fix any leaks (oil on the pavement gets washed into storms drains and ultimately finds its way to the ocean). Never toss used oil down the drain.
• Avoid fish and seafood this week. If you must eat it, make sustainable and healthy choices (look for the Marine Stewardship Council label to ensure that it is sustainable and environmentally friendly).
• Take part in a beach clean-up.
• Eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in your home.
• Avoid the use of herbicides and pesticides.
• Scoop pet waste. Letting it sit on the lawn means that it will enter our waterways.
• Stay off the water. If you must boat, do so responsibly (don’t toss things into the water and use a human-powered boat rather than a gas-powered version).
• Dispose of all trash properly and pick up litter if you see it.

 

Leaves me breathless just reading it.

Part One

The plight of our oceans is disheartening. I have eluded to this in the past. Just because we can’t ‘see’ under the ocean, we seem to forget that is is just as susceptible to pollution and predation as the land.

The ocean is threatened by plastic. Obvious plastic that we can see the plastic strewn beaches, the Pacific gyre are a public disgrace; and the less obvious the micro-pellets from our washing machines that enter the water chain. The ocean also is affected by the run off of pesticides and agro-chemicals from our farmlands. Then there are stupid politicians who make assinine decisions like the Australians to dump millions of tons of waste on coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef. The oceans are subject to warming which is changing habitats, the you have massive problems with radiation from the likes of Fukushima in Japan; already 100% of tuna caught off the American coast have levels above the acceptable limits for consumption.

The oceans aren’t safe for anyone, let alone the fish. The governments have stopped testing (American and Canadian) because the results are just too embarrassing. The latest IPCC report classifies Fukushima radiation as an ‘extinction event’. Oh, don’t get that wrong, it’s not just the fish that are affected, ALL LIFE on the planet will be affected. Cancer/radiation related deaths in babies, new borns and foetuses are already increasing on the west coast of the USA.

Now that’s just a tad more than serious.

Why isn’t this in the news? The governments don’t want you to know.

Furthermore, there are problems with over-fishing serious straining the life-cycles of marine life.

This week there was good news. Japan has been banned from it’s ‘research whaling’ (read commercial whaling in disguise) in Antarctic waters. Japan has said it will bide by the ruling, but are already looking at loopholes like reduced quotas.

So to put it in a nutshell, we have totally destroyed the planet.

Not only the visible portions, but the invisible as well.

Man’s irresponsibility is drawing us closer and closer to our own extinction.

It’s time we woke up!

It’s time we let the governments know!

It’s time we got rid of the incumbent arseholes and their pandering to the corporations.

We need to take the dog by the tail and wake the bloody thing up, because until we do, we’re f**ked!

This CTWW by Small is probably one of the most radical we face; certainly it is the most global.

We really need to educate the masses, because most of the populace is just sitting on its sanctimonious backside saying “oh, it’ll never happen!” They are lulled into complacency by the lack of news, the government’s ‘do nothing’ approach. And, worst of all the blatant bullshit of the deniers!

Well, I’ve got news for them: It is happening, here, it is happening now!

Part deux:

• While I am not perfect, there is plastic in my life, but I go out of my way to reduce it to a minimum.
• I am bound by public transport, no car; no car, less planetary resources used and wasted.
• I will not avoid fish, I consider that fish is an important dietary aspect. I do however, spurn fish like panga produced in the Asian sewer known as the Mekong River in Vietnam.
• I don’t go to the beach, but I am active and vocal in keeping our neighbourhood clean.
• I use products that are non or less toxic where possible.
• I am now shopping at the new sacolão who are supporting fruit and vege with no pesiticides and organic produce (this is a new aspect in my life).
• My pet waste is composted. The worms do a good job.

There you have it, my CTWW.

The Pacific Gyre

If you get closer, it looks like this…

Some of those plastic bottles may be yours…

Makes you proud, doesn’t it?

 

Monday Moaning

Firstly, I have no net. My ISP went down on Saturday morning. They have a problem.

Not a moan this morning, rather good news.

Japan accepts court ban on Antarctic whaling

Anti-whaling activists filmed Japanese whaling ships in January this year

The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that the Japanese government must halt its whaling programme in the Antarctic.

It agreed with Australia, which brought the case in May 2010, that the programme was not for scientific research as claimed by Tokyo.

Japan said it would abide by the decision but added it “regrets and is deeply disappointed by the decision”.

Australia argued that the programme was commercial whaling in disguise.

The court’s decision is considered legally binding.

Japan had argued that the suit brought by Australia was an attempt to impose its cultural norms on Japan.

Science ‘myth’

Reading out the judgement on Monday, Presiding Judge Peter Tomka said the court had decided, by 12 votes to four, that Japan should withdraw all permits and licenses for whaling in the Antarctic and refrain from issuing any new ones.

It said Japan had caught some 3,600 minke whales since its current programme began in 2005, but the scientific output was limited.

Read more

Saturday Satire

Research… Bullshit!

This is whale research in the Philippines

Question: How many whales do you need for research?

Answer: One, maybe two, although ten is not unreasonable.

But the Japanese need 1,000!

Not just once, but every year.

This is Japanese research in the Antarctic

Why do you need to kill 1,000 whales every year in the name of research? And, where are the results of all this ‘research?’ What benefit does the planet get from all this bullshit?

This ‘research’ is a disguise for whale hunting for commercial purposes.

This is the result of Japanese research

There has been an international moratorium on whaling for 25 years, but the Japanese have a need to ignore the international community. In light of their need to know they carve up the whales to study their diet. What a load of bullshit. If you go to the doctor with problems of this nature, the doctor doesn’t carve you up, he gives you a little jar to take home to provide a stool sample for analysis. What’s wrong with whale poop? You only need whale poop to tell you about their diet; admittedly, the jar would have to be bigger.

The BBC News reports: Japan has confirmed it will go ahead with its annual whale hunt and will increase security to protect its fleet.

Yushin, owned by The Institute for Cetacean Research

Yushin is a shop and restaurant in Asakusa, Tokyo. The meat for both the shop and restaurant comes from the research factory ship Nisshin Maru which conducts the scientific whaling research slaughter in the southern ocean whale sanctuary every year.

The Telegraph reports that the shop and restaurant are closing down, supposedly for financial purposes, but it comes on top of the imminent departure of the whaling fleet, which makes one think it is more like damage control.

I was particularly interested in this paragraph from the report.

‘…a whaling industry spokesman told the Telegraph: “The purpose of Yushin was to enable more people to taste whale meat and to promote its consumption in Japan.”‘

The finger!

Bloody hell! To promote consumption! Shouldn’t the Japanese be promoting alternatives? They are just giving the finger to the rest of the world. They are not interested in finding a solution.

Norway

Of course, Japan isn’t alone in this whaling issue, Norway is in on the game too. But at least the Norwegians don’t call it research; they tell the truth.

The Norwegian Whaling quota for 2010: 1286

The Norwegian govenment’s reason for whaling:

Its an important part of the Norwegian diet and an important part of the Norwegian culture.

Then there’s this comment:

“The government is lying. I am Norwegian. From an island. I have NEVER eaten whale meat. I have never seen whale meat on the dinnertable. Not in my home, nor in anyone else’s home.”

Despite the comment above, it is recognised that whale meat has been a part of Norwegian diet for centuries with evidence of aboriginal hunting dating back to the middle ages. The Minke whale hunted by the Norwegians is plentiful and found all over the North Atlantic. All other species of whale are protected by Norway.  Norwegian whaling is carried out in its own backyard and is based on the principle of protection and sustainable harvesting of marine resources.

Which is a little different from Japan’s wholesale slaughter which when you consider the annual dolphin slaughter…

Japanese Dolphin Slaughter

…makes them seem rather barbaric.

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Tuesday Titter