Japan Tsunami Relief Funds Goes to Whaling..

Haven't we done enough to the earth? Well, Once again, the subject of whale-killing has surfaced, and, once again, Japan decides to lead the annual “Coal in Stocking” holiday sweepstakes.  Why? 
Because the Japanese government just confirmed that it has targeted roughly $30 million of its special Tsunami reconstruction budget to provide additional and increased financial support for its notorious whaling industry.
That’s right. No joke.  Of the billions being spent to rebuild villages and towns wiped out by the tsunami, to repair an electrical infrastructure crippled by the meltdowns in Fukushima, to safeguard millions from the continuing threat of radiation poisoning, the Japanese government thoughtfully determined that propping up a pariah industry was a priority as well.  It has used the money to bulk up security for its factory vessels that are headed down, even as we speak, to the southern oceans to kill a thousand whales in the name of “science.”   It is also triple what the whaling industry receives each year from the government.

In plain English, the Japanese government is using its tsunami largess to inject tens of millions of dollars into an industry that serves no useful purpose.
In response, the Japanese government has stated that no “donations” have been used to fund the whale-killing stimulus package, but we all know that just parses the real budget issues involved.   For reasons unknown and unexplainable, the Japanese government is addicted to the whaling industry and, like all addicts who found a windfall, decided to go for the big score.  But money is fungible.   Just because you have $10, you can’t use all $10 to buy crack cocaine if you also need $5 of that ten to buy some milk for your cats.   If your friend gives you $5, and you use that to buy milk, you can say with a straight face that none of that money went to buy $10 worth of crack.   But anyone knows that without it, you wouldn’t have been able to get your fix.  And that’s exactly what Japan has done with the tsunami donations it has received,  enabling it to divert other budget funds into enhancing its ability to kill whales.

This expenditure is immoral.  It is frivolous.  It is a slap in the face of the millions of donors to Japan, many who, no doubt, deeply disagree with their whale hunting but who — like me — were willing to dig into their own pockets because it’s what neighbors, friends, members of the human community do in times of crisis.    We don’t expect, however, to be told that our dollars enabled them to exponentially increase its proficiency at shooting exploding harpoon grenades into sentient marine mammals.  And don’t let the party line of “we’re not killing endangered whales” let them off the hook.   They target fin whales, the second-largest living being, and which is squarely the endangered species list.  And there is more than credible evidence that the whaling fleet has killed critically endangered blue whales.  And don’t buy “it’s part of our historic traditional diet” malarkey either.  95% of Japan doesn’t eat, or want to eat, whale meat. I just don’t get it.   There remains little, if any, justification for the hunting of whales, and what little there is is more than offset by the critically low population levels of many, if not most, of the remaining species still swimming freely in our increasingly polluted, crowded, and overharvested oceans.   Whales bring in far more dollars alive than dead.   Every year brings exciting new revelations shedding light on their intelligence, their social groupings, even signs of culture.

Japan could have used the tsunami as an excuse to invest money into the coastal villages that it says are “dependent” on whaling into other, better, and more economically prudent and lasting enterprises.   It could have gracefully saved face from the annual shellacking it takes from the international community.   Instead, it stubbornly decided to amp up the stakes even more. Well, Japan, game on. I won’t be so petty as to ask for my money back.   But I believe that amongst the international community, notice should be taken of this ill-use of disaster relief funds when Japan asks for assistance in the future.  And more importantly, whatever I gave to Japan, I will be giving more to Sea Shepherd to continue its fight against the Japanese whaling fleet.   Last year, because of Sea Shepherd, the Japanese called off its hunt early.    Against a better-funded Japanese fleet, it appears that once again cetacean lovers everywhere must spend part of their holiday funds to ensure peace in our oceans and goodwill for all whales. 

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