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| Whalers attacked us with 'sound guns' claim enviromental "pirates" |
| 2009-02-02 |
| Radical environmentalists accused Japanese whalers of attacking them with high tech “sound guns” which can cause nausea, disorientation and hearing damage in the latest round of their annual confrontation in the frozen seas off the Antarctic. Members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claimed that crew members of the whaling ship Nisshin Maru used the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) against rubber launches attempting to disrupt their annual hunt in the Southern Ocean. The LRAD is a non-lethal weapon used for crowd control by soldiers and riot police, as well as by ships travelling through pirate-infested waters. It consists of a round disc three feet across which directs a beam of shrill sound, extremely loud and off-putting at a range of several hundred yards, and capable of causing permanent ear damage at close range. “This is a military grade weapon system that sends out mid to high frequency sound waves designed to disorient and possibly incapacitate personnel,” Sea Shepherd said in a statement. “It is basically an anti-personnel weapons system.” The self-styled environmental “pirates” claimed that two of its crew members were slightly injured over the weekend when the Japanese sailors fired water hoses and threw metal balls at them as they attempted to obstruct the launch of smaller harpoons from the Nisshin Maru. “It is a very dramatic scene out here as ships zig zag back and forth in thick ice and heavy swells,” said Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd ship, Steve Irwin. “The whalers are deploying water cannons, concussion grenades, acoustic weapons, and throwing solid brass and lead balls at Sea Shepherd crew members. “If we were to do any of the things these thugs are doing, we would be denounced as eco-terrorists. There certainly is a double standard where whale killers can use violence without fear of condemnation from their government, and we can't even defend ourselves without condemnation from our governments.” Y'know, Bill Ayers makes pretty much the same argument. In Japan, the government’s Fisheries Agency admitted that water sprays and “beeping warning tones” had been used against the environmentalists. A spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research, a government funded organisation which campaigns in the whaling cause, did not deny that the LRAD had been put to use. “All legal means available will be used to ensure these pirates do not board Japanese ships or threaten the lives of the crews or the safety of the vessels," Glenn Inwood said. If the "pirate" meme sticks, it won't be just whale blood in the water. The hunting of whales was banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission after evidence that the world's largest mammals were being driven towards extinction. Japan continues to hunt whales every year in the guise of scientific research, although most of the 935 minke and 50 fin whales which it hopes to harvest this year will be sold as whale meat. Every year Tokyo has sought to overturn the moratorium to allow a full and uneuphemistic return to commercial whaling; in recent IWC meetings, it has edged closer to the required three-quarters majority. Opponents of whaling accuse it of using overseas aid to buy the votes of small countries which have no interest in the industry, but great interest in winning the favour of Japan – among the pro-whaling faction expected to be present in Tokyo are tiny island states such as Tuvalu and Kiribati, and Mongolia, which has no coastline. Captain Watson was a founder of Greenpeace who broke away to form his own more radical group. Sea Shepherd’s confrontational and sometimes violent tactics are opposed even by those who denounce Japan’s whaling programme, including Greenpeace and the governments of Australia and New Zealand. “What is important, however, is that despite the violence from the whalers, no whales are being killed,” Captain Watson said. “They can't get away from us and if we keep on their tail they can't kill whales.” |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #11 Before Bardot, Greenpeace was virtually unknown... http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_/ai_58055873 She is deeply involved with French neo-nazis and the Le Pen's Front National. Don't look for logic in pacifists, they have been historically joined at the hip with nazis and communists, their standard front and foils. Ironically, this anti-semite woman have been sued and condemned for racism by fellow nazi-muslims in France... She is the personification of the PETA paradox, claiming to defend animals but executing 90% of animal refuges dog killings. They have to get their millions somewhere, don't they? And I was at Blanc Sablon and saw her in the Mink fur coat, that's why she was received with squalls of laughterm later at Magdalen Island!!! |
| Posted by: Ming the Merciless 2009-02-02 21:18 |
| #10 Greenpeace was started by Brigitte Bardot Huh? Wikipedia: The origins of Greenpeace lie in the peace movement and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament generally, and particularly in the Don't Make A Wave Committee co-founded by Jim Bohlen, Patrick Moore, Paul Coté, and Irving Stowe, followed by an assortment of Canadian and expatriate American peace activists in Vancouver in 1970. Taking its name from a slogan used during protests against United States nuclear testing in late 1969, the Committee had come together with the objective of stopping a U.S. nuclear bomb test codenamed Cannikin beneath the Aleutian island of Amchitka, Alaska. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-02-02 21:02 |
| #9 Greenpeace was started by Brigitte Bardot who was an employee of a Parisian fake fur manufacturer. They managed to destroy the seal hunt in the Gulf of St Lawrence, which in turn caused a population explosion of the seals, who ate ALL the fish of the grand banks, and poisoned those they missed with a parasite worm. Now, there is no fishing industry in the North Atlantic, fish prices are gone through the roof and millions are starving to death, which is the main objective to the hippie filth of greenpeace, the peace of the grave for the majority and nature enjoyment for these millionaire parasites. Of note, Bardot started her anti-fur campaign wearing a REAL MINK FUR COAT in Blanc Sablon, Canada. Cant blame her, it was damn cold that spring. |
| Posted by: Ming the Merciless 2009-02-02 20:47 |
| #8 By reading that list, I fully expect this man to not make it home some day. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-02-02 20:29 |
| #7 tu3031---good posting!!! These guys try to foul the propellers with stuff. I am not a fan of large scale commercial whaling, but this guy is over the top. Turn the LRAD on to Max and blast away. The Sea Shepherd people are using the same propaganda playbook as Hamas. Sink em. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2009-02-02 19:44 |
| #6 Mongolia? Did it say freaking Mongolia I have no problems with banning whaling. I do have a problem with Japans Holier-Than-Thou attitude on enviromental issues then they practice this crap. |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2009-02-02 19:06 |
| #5 Mike, those would be useful for the ships off Somalia as well. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-02-02 18:10 |
| #4 M134a |
| Posted by: Aussie Mike 2009-02-02 17:28 |
| #3 If they ever bring back the Colosseum, I'll buy season tickets to watch guys like this be fed to wild beasts. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2009-02-02 15:07 |
| #2 "Hard a-port, Mr. Christian." "B-b-ut sir, what about the boat?" "Boat, Mr. Christian? I see no boat. Hard a-port, if you please..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-02-02 15:01 |
| #1 Yes. He's been here before... Notable terrorist actions by Paul Watson the media neglects to tell you about: 1979 - He sank the commercial whaling ship the Sierra by ramming it. His ship was equipped with a cement-filled bow. 1980 - He sank the the whaling ships Isba I and Isba II in Vigo, Spain. 1980 - He sank the the whaling ships Susan and Theresa in South Africa. 1981 - He sank the whaling ships Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 in Iceland 1986 - Sank half a fleet of Icelandic whaling boats. 1987 - Founded the practise of tree spiking for his other terrorist group the Heart of the Wood. 1992 - He threatened to sink a fleet of ships reenacting the Columbus voyage of the discovery of America. 1992 - He sank the whaling ship Nybraena in Norway. 1994 - He sank the whaling ship Senet in Norway 1997 - He was imprisoned in the Netherlands for ramming a Norwegian coast guard vessel and trying to ram a whaling ship that was tied up at dock. 1998 - He sank the whaling ship Morild in Norway 2002 - He tried to ram a 13 foot shark boat with his ship the Farley Mowat (previously named the Ocean Warrior). 2005 - He attempted to ram the Japanese whaling ship the Oriental Bluebird. 2007 - He attacked the Japanese whaling ship the Kaiko Maru with bottles of butyric acid. 2008 - He attacked the Japanese whaling ship the Yushin Maru with bottles of butyric acid. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-02 14:16 |