===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE ------------------------------------------ BIGGEST ANTI-WHALING PROTEST OF THE SEASON Folks, rarely are we presented with an opportunity to make our voices heard by those at the very top of the political machine. When those opportunities arise, it is time to ACT! Washington governor Gary Locke will be in Port Angeles tomorrow, November 16, as part of his "Capital for a Day" program. THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST ANTI-WHALING PROTEST OF THE SEASON! The good people of the Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales, as well as a large number of other whale protectors, will be there, and are calling for you to join them in MAKING YOUR VOICE HEARD! Governor Locke, welcome to Clallam County, the 'Whale Killing Capital of the USA.' No more excuses. No more political pandering. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO LISTEN TO THE WISHES OF THE PEOPLE! (Clallam County commissioners may wish to take notes on how to listen to their constituents) Meet at the Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles on 4th Ave between Lincoln (Hwy 101) and Peabody at 11 a.m.. Bring signs that focus on the resident whale issue and dress accordingly for the weather. We will be demonstrating outside the restaurant where Locke is having lunch, then following him as he tours downtown and waterfront Port Angeles. WHERE: Port Angeles, Vern Burton Community Center (4th & Lincoln/Peabody) WHEN: November 16th, 11 a.m. For more information contact Chuck Owens at 360-928-3048 or Mark at mark@safepassing.org. You can also keep updated by visiting http://www.stopwhalekill.org. MAKE PLANS TO BE THERE! The Governor's schedule: He will eat breakfast with elected officials at Peninsula College at 7:30 a.m., continue with a work-force training presentation, then take part in an $8.50-a-plate Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Vern Burton Community Center at noon. His downtown walk from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. precedes a 90-minute economic development round-table talk at Downrigger's Restaurant. Locke has a 4:15 p.m.-5:15 p.m. cabinet meeting at the Port Angeles Fire Department headquarters, then attends the 5:45 p.m.-7:30 p.m. dinner at the Burton center. ***** JAPAN ADMITS USING AID TO BUILD PRO-WHALING VOTE ------------------------------------------------ FROM http://www.stopwhalekill.org NOVEMBER 11th 1999 Japan has admitted that it is using its overseas aid budget to persuade developing countries to join the International Whaling Commission and vote for a resumption of commercial whaling. Japan's aim is to "recruit" four to five new countries each year and within three years gain enough support to overturn the international moratorium on whaling which came into force in 1986. The Japanese plan was made public by Hiroaki Kameya, the vice minister for fisheries, after trips to Guinea, Namibia and Zimbabwe. He said he had already visited Trinidad and Tobago, which had "understood the whaling issue". His African trip was partly "to increase the number of nations working in the International Whaling Commission and the World Trade Organisation". He said both Namibia and Guinea would join this year, and there were talks with Morocco and Mauritania. Mr. Kameya added: "We would like to utilise overseas development aid as a practical means to promote nations to join, expanding grant aid towards non-member countries which support Japan's claim." Full story can be found below by clicking on the link found on http://www.stopwhalekill.org ***** A NOTE TO THE NEAH BAY TRIBAL COUNCIL ------------------------------------- "The brain size of whales is much larger than that of humans. Their cerebral cortexes are as convoluted. They are at least as social as humans. Anthropologists believe that the development of human intelligence has been critically dependent upon these three factors: brain volume, brain convolutions, and social interactions among individuals. Here we find a class of animals where the three conditions leading to human intelligence may be exceeded, and in some cases greatly exceeded. The Cetacea hold an important lesson for us. The lesson is not about whales and dolphins, but about ourselves. There is at least moderately convincing evidence that there is another class of intelligent beings on Earth beside ourselves. They have behaved benignly and in many cases affectionately towards us. We have systematically slaughtered them. Little reverence for life is evident in the whaling industry - underscoring a deep human failing...In warfare, man against man, it is common for each side to dehumanize the other so that there will be none of the natural misgivings that a human being has at slaughtering another..." Carl Sagan, The Cosmic Connection, New York: Doubleday, 1973 (quoted in "Whale Nation" by Heathcote Williams, Jonathan Cape ltd,1988) *****