Basketball and Whales

Artist credit:  Howie Long

Brrrrr.  Dang cold out here.  No snow yet but it's a near certainty we'll have a white Christmas :-)

Watched the Laker game tonight on TV.  Despite being the champions, they are not on TV all that much in my area so when they are, it's a gift for me.  I'm sick of seeing the Cavaliers and the Pistons dominate the airwaves, no offense to the likes of Lebron James.

I was admiring the sellout crowd at the Staples Center and wishing it could be like that for the WNBA games.  Personally, I don't understand why the people who are fanatics about the men's basketball aren't supporting the women. So many people say it's not the same.  Well DUH.  Maybe the women can't dunk like the men do, but they play a pretty damn good game if people would just give them a chance.  Others say the women are boring.   You know what I say?  I say the media has done a great job of brainwashing society into viewing things a certain way.  

I enjoy watching both genders play and appreciate the differences and the talents both sides bring to the sports world.  If one is truly a basketball fan, then they ought to be a women's hoops fan too.  Just sayin'.

Check out the WNBA if you are so inclined.  Their season may be over for now, but they'll be back next May.  Until then, the women's college hoops are always a lot of fun to watch too.  

Japan, ever the hypocrites they love to be, filed a complaint with the Dutch government to disallow the Sea Shepherd to carry the Dutch flag.  You can read that here.

The good news: (Excerpt from the above linked article)

The Mainichi Daily News of Japan asked this question this weekend:With it's modus operandi becoming ever more violent in recent years, could the group bring about the end of whaling in Japan?

Their activities have caused catches in the past two years to drop to just 60-75 percent of expected figures, and this year Watson says he wants to get this figure down to at least half.

 Great articles:  Whales Save Seal from Orcas

Whales, Dolphins, and Good Will to all Cetaceans

Japan's new Consumer Affairs & Food Safety Minister, Ms.Fukushima has agreed to investigate the dolphin meat / mercury issue.  You can read up on it at Mercury Poisoning in Japan

Blog post about Sea Shepherd at the Ecorazzi.  Check out the comments after the article.  Paul Watson has posted there.  Whale Wars:  Why This Season Might Be the Most Dangerous Yet

On December 7th, the Steve Irwin will depart Australia and start hunting down the Japanese fleets.  I wish them God Speed.

Turns out that the mid-frequency range sonar sounds may NOT be causing harm or the beaching of whales and dolphins:  Whales Can't Even Hear Naval Sonar

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday :-)  Till next time ...

Mahalo,

Dolphin

Seal Hunt Drama & Whale Tally from Japan

(Artist credit: Linda Thompson)

There has been a lot in the news lately about the Canadian Seal hunt. Rather than detail everything here, I kindly direct you to the Sea Shepherd site to read the updates.

Also check out the latest good news at the Humane Society U.S. here.

Enough international public pressure brought to bear on Canada has resulted in some positive things lately. Here's an excerpt from an email update I received yesterday from the Humane Society:

Here's the most exciting piece of news: the European Environment Commissioner has announced a plan to ban the trade in all seal products originating from inhumane hunts. This builds upon the historic declaration by the European parliament in 2006. If an EU-wide ban is enacted, the fashion houses serving the main markets for seal skins today -- China and Russia -- would be forced to stop, and millions of baby seals would be saved from cruel slaughter. In the meantime, many nations have either banned seal product trade or announced their intentions to do so. They include: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Panama, Mexico, and the United States. Just the potential for an EU ban on seal products has saved thousands of seals already. Prices paid for seal skins this year have declined so much that most sealers have chosen to stay home.

Tensions have been running high between Sea Shepherd and the Canadian Fisheries Minister,Loyola Hearn. You can read about that here and here.

I find it hysterical that Mr. Hearn will call Captain Paul Watson a "terrorist," and yet not find the tragic irony in such a label when he endorses and supports such atrocious slaughtering of innocent harp seals.

Good news on the whaling front. It's official. Japan only reached slightly over 50% of its killing quota this season at just 53%. Zero fin whales were captured and killed. Zero humpbacks were captured and killed, although Japan had agreed to that just prior to the start of the whaling season.

Japan blames "environmental terrorists" and calls it "regrettable" that they were unsuccessful in achieving their quota this year. I say kudos to both Greenpeace and especially to Sea Shepherd for their vigilante efforts in saving the lives of even more whales.

Sea Shepherd is currently hoping to raise enough funds this year for a 2nd ship in time for next year's whaling season. The goal is to have two ships running concurrently in the Southern Ocean with the plan that having a presence out there full time, will keep the Japan whalers constantly on the run. Paul Watson's goal is to save 100% of the whales next year and if he gets his 2nd ship, chances are very good he will achieve it.


Check out this cool Irish Dolphin site: Irish Dolphins

Great information there and they have a conference coming up next month that focuses a great deal on the human-dolphin interaction.

I wanted to touch briefly on the Women's NCAA Basketball tournament that concluded last weekend. I was pretty much glued to the television whenever there were games scheduled. It was quite the exciting tournament with some lower ranked teams upsetting some higher ranked ones, and the expected teams that made it to the Final Four.

I was rooting for Stanford Cardinal to take it all the way. They did make it to the title game, but got beaten by the defending champs, Tennessee Lady Vols. Tenn. is another favorite team of mine, but since they had already won the title last year, I wanted Candace Wiggins, Stanford's star Senior, to get the victory.

All in all, I had great fun watching the games and I settled in the next day to watch the WNBA draft. As expected, lots of big talents in the first round went to various teams. I'm not a big fan of the L.A. Sparks, but with Candice Parker of Tenn. being their first draft choice, I expect that L.A. will become a contender for the WNBA title either this season or next.

Sylvia Fowles of LSU and Candace Wiggins of Stanford were the 2nd and 3rd draft picks respectively.

New generation of talent coming into the WNBA and I'm really excited about the new season starting up next month. I actually don't have a team in the league that I consider a heavy favorite of mine. I'm sentimental towards the Seattle Storm, Sacramento Monarchs, and the Indiana Fever, but I'm more of a fan of the players. And since there are so many that I love to watch, any team that's playing I'll be rooting for lol

Check out the WNBA league at their site. If you are a true basketball fan, you won't be disappointed. I often enjoy the women's basketball games more than the men's because they seem to play with far more heart and passion, and focus more on the fundamentals rather than show boating and slam dunking back and forth.

Of course, before the WNBA begins it's season, I'll be focusing on the Women's NCAA Softball season. What can I say ... I'm a real sports nut :-)

Mahalo,

Dolphin

(Artist credit: Howie Cooke)

I had written a post a few days ago about the cow slaughter and abuse news that was in the headlines. However, I never got back to the draft and decided to just put it aside.

I will say that I saw the images on the news of cows being abused, kicked, electrocuted, and either not being fed or being way under fed. The images made me literally sick to my stomach.

I am not a vegetarian and some may say that makes me a hypocrite to speak up about animal rights, but I disagree. One can eat meat while also not condoning in any way, shape or form, any kind of abuse towards animals. Livestock can be killed humanely. And much livestock is raised for the very purpose to supply beef, ham, etc. for our country. But there is absolutely no reason to treat the animals with such disregard and with such horrific abuse.

There's a lot I'd like to cover today since I have not written a new post in a week.

On the whaling front, Sea Shepherd has once again succeeded in putting the Japanese whalers on the run. So for the past couple of days, no whales have been killed because of this pursuit. It is alleged that Sea Shepherd has a tracking bug on one of the fleets, and that is how they've been able to find them and put them on the run currently. The trawler that had been spying on Sea Shepherd before they returned to port to refuel, etc., is also back on Sea Shepherd's trail and supposedly keeping the whalers abreast of where Sea Shepherd is. Either way, what matters is that once again, no whales are being slaughtered while the Japanese fleets are on the run.

It's interesting to note that a couple weeks ago, if you recall, there was a so-called poll that indicated approximately 60% of Japan's citizens supported their country's whaling. However, a new poll recently indicates that 72% do NOT support the whaling and in fact, most are UNAWARE that their tax dollars are being used to subsidize these whalers.

Public opposition in Japan is definitely growing, despite what the politicians and corporate interests there will have the world otherwise believe.

In other news, mercury taint in dolphins is causing division in Japanese whaling town. These residents can boast all they want about being proud of their whaling and dolphin culling heritage, but personally, I call it karma.

Scott over at Dolphin Smile wrote a good post I think is worth your while to read: Why Japanese Slaughter Whales and Dolphins

Be sure to check out Sea Shepherd's website to keep updated on their continued pursuit of the Japanese whalers.

My updates here might become a little more spaced out. I'm a huge sports fan, especially basketball, and with March Madness quickly approaching, I will be tuning into a lot of great games. I mostly follow the women's college tournaments during this time of year and believe the games leading up to the Final Four are going to be very exciting to watch. I do not believe there is any clear cut favorite. Many have the potential to upset the higher ranking teams and I do not even personally give credence to the rankings, given the talent that is out there. I do predict that at least Tennessee and Rutgers will make it to the final rounds though. LSU has real potential to get pretty far, as well as Stanford and UC Berkeley.

Once the college games are over, I then get revved up for the Softball tournaments, WNBA season, and the NBA Playoffs. :: big grin :: My partner is infinitely patient with my undying love for all things basketball.

Mahalo,

Dolphin