My Writings (I hope!) reflect my Guiding Principles:
-'Enjoy Life to the Utmost but not at other people's expense'-'Think Global, Act Local'-'Variety is the Spice of Life'-'Use Technology & Wisdom to Make the World A Better Place for All God's Creatures'-'Do Not Accept Injustice No Matter Where You Find It'-'Laughter is the Best Medicine'
In World War Two, it is estimated that circa 200,000 women from Korea,
China, Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere were kidnapped and forced to
work in brothels as the sex slaves of the Japanese military. The term
'comfort women' that is used to describe them is an insult to the
systematic brutality, torture and rape that they suffered over many
years in captivity. Now an agreement
has been reached between the South Korean and Japanese government with
the latter issuing an official apology for the enslavement of the women
and granting one billion yen towards the surviving 46 elderly South
Korean female victims. Credit for this long overdue action must be given
to the decades long campaign by Korean female activists. In this
war the Japanese Imperial soldiery felt it was their warrior right to
rape the female members of the enemy population at will. The military
brothels staffed by sex slaves were only one aspect of the abhorrent
treatment meted out to the women of the countries they conquered. The
'Rape of Nanking' in China was aptly named. When the city fell to the
Japanese army in December 1937, tens of thousands of females of all ages
were gang raped with many horribly mutilated and then murdered. In
Europe during WW2, mass rape on a huge scale was carried out by Soviet
armies in Germany during 1945, as a form of 'revenge' for the barbarity
of the Nazi occupation in Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia.
Women: The First Victims of Men's Wars
Throughout history women are always the primary victims of the wars
perpetuated by men. Their bodies are treated as trophies to be used and
abused by the male victors. Most of the main ancient religious texts
justify or accept this fact.
Sex Slaves in 21st Century Sadly kidnapping and sexual enslavement
of women is back with a vengence and openly being perpetuated by
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on the Yazidi and Christian populations
as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against religious
minorities, by Boko Haram in Nigeria and by Christian militias in the
Central African Republic. There are countless reports issued by Amnesty
and other human rights organisations about large scale sexual violence
against women by Libyan people-trafficking gangs in an anarchic state
ruled by crazed religious warlords.
Over the last few weeks, a certain 'T. Leonard' has been writing to a local newspaper demanding that the Irish government follow the example of Iceland & Japan and turn the Irish fishing fleet over to whaling as a salvation to our economic woes. As far as he was concerned, the Save-the-Whale activists are nothing but a bunch of sentimental hippies out of touch with reality.
Not being a hippie, a sentimentalist or someone that lives in a fool's paradise, I decided to reply to him using arguments based on science and economics.Thankfully, today's Galway Advertiser published my letter which I include below with some of my youngest son's artwork of whales & dolphins.
Dear Sir,
In his letters, T. Leonard wonders why people are so obsessed with protecting whales. It is because these creatures are in so many ways the pinnacle of life on Earth.
Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) include the largest (blue whale) animal that ever existed, with a heart the size of a motorcar; the longest migration (humpback) and the deepest swim (sperm) of any mammal; the beautiful ‘songs’ or vocalisation of whales have inspired music, literature and science; dolphin sonar is more advanced than human technology and can even be understood by other species.
Letterfrack Youth Playing Music Inspired by Marine Life
They have been on the planet for 55million years. Yet in just over a century, many of the largest whales were driven close to extinction by the destructive technology of commercial whaling.Blue whales decreased from 300,000 to less than 1,000. The Atlantic Gray Whale actually did disappear.
Thankfully, concerned campaigners persuaded most states to end the bloodshed. But survival has not yet been guaranteed as whales only give birth to a single calf once every 2 or 3 years. In spite of a ban on the hunting of blue whales since 1966, there are still possibly only 5,000 in existence.
Yet the killing goes on. Japan annually slaughters tens of thousands of dolphins, and at least 1,000 whales supposedly for ‘scientific research’. The 2.5metre Baiji dolphin entered the Yangtze River 20 million years. But it was recently declared extinct after being wiped out in a in a few short years by rapid built development, pollution, overfishing and shipping. The UN declared much of China’s longest river a ‘dead zone’, as it now lacks sufficient oxygen to support fish. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will have a catastrophic impact on local Cetacean species.
T. Leonard says whaling should only be viewed as a ‘business’. If so, then it is an unnecessary, unwanted and unsustainable enterprise. There are alternatives to products once made from whales, and whale watching represents a growing profitable industry worldwide.
Furthermore, as someone that lived in Iceland, I know that there is no popular demand there for whale meat. Likewise in Japan, where public apathy and ever-growing stockpiles of frozen whale meat led to the government introducing it into school menus in order to force demand. Japanese scientists have warned though of the risks to human health due to the high levels of mercury in whale meat, brought about by humanity’s dumping of toxic waste into the oceans.
Japan has been accused of bribing countries to overturn the ban on commercial whaling at the International Whaling Commission even by governments that received its financial aid.
The 10,000 scientists of the World Conversation Union believe 40% of all species are now threatened by extinction due to habitat loss, mono-agriculture and human-induced climate change. Protecting large majestic endangered mammals positioned at the top of the food-chain such as whales, tigers and polar bears symbolises humankind’s attempts to finally reverse millennia of destructive behaviour on the very thin fragile surface membrane of Planet Earth that supports life. If we fail, then mankind’s own existence is threatened as all species are interdependent.
T Leonard gives the impression eco-campaigners do nothing themselves to clean up the huge amounts of waste dumps whose existence they exposed in the Pacific and elsewhere. Not so. In fact he is welcomed to join the hundreds of Galwegians that regularly clean up the ever-increasing rubbish that destroys the beaches, waterways, forests and parks that is home to wildlife and a prime leisure environment for humans. The next monthly community clean-up takes place along Salthill’s beaches on Saturday September 18th, starting at 12.00pm from Atlantaquaria.
