Bill Maher on oppressed Christians (via Grrrl Meets World)
Reasons to avoid buying an SUV (submitted to an SUV company when they ran a contest for commercials) (via Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy)
National Geographic's 'Bear-Cam' (via email from Apartment Girl)
Posted in: videos on April 07, 2006 0 comments
I just got an email saying that an online comment I posted in response to an Ottawa Xpress article about celebrity seal hunt protesters was selected to be published in the print version of the magazine.
Neat! :)
Posted in: Newfoundland, seal hunt on 3 comments
Update below
Well, it seems that Costco has reversed its decision to remove seal oil capsules from the shelves of its Canadian stores.
The U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who claimed that it convinced Costco to remove the capsules, is angry, and has added the company to its boycott. The Society claimed that it convinced Costco to remove the capsules in protest of the seal hunt. Costco replied that it was a "business decision", and denied any affiliation with the Society.
Thanks to kodak for blogging about this - I hadn't heard the news!
April 10th update: Goodness, now the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is disputing seal oil's status as a health product. They released their own study, in which they list toxins they apparently found in the oil, and in which they call seal oil "snake oil".
On a related note...
I mentioned prejudicial remarks against Newfoundlanders in my April 4th post, including those of Paul Watson, the head of Sea Shepherd. I just read some information about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Activist Cash, a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom which provides information about anti-consumer activist groups (select Sea Shepherd from the 'Activist Groups' dropdown menu). The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition of restaurants, food companies, and consumers, so I'd like to do some independent research about the Sea Shepherd, but the article makes some pretty shocking claims:
"SSCS’s mission is to stop fishing of which it disapproves. Its preferred methods? Ramming and sinking fishing ships, throwing butyric acid on their decks, and firing machine guns. Watson argues that United Nations resolutions authorize him to commit violent acts. But he regularly interferes with fisherman and hunters who are committing no crime."
"Sporting the skull and crossbones, his black or battleship-gray ships sail menacingly through the waves. They are painted with the names of the boats Watson has rammed and sunk. ... The group has sunk at least ten ships in Iceland, Norway, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and the Canary Islands."
"Watson was a founder [of Greenpeace]. But Watson’s violent tactics became too much for Greenpeace, which kicked him out in 1977, after he assaulted seal hunters. Watson now assails his old comrades for being too wimpy, calling Greenpeace “the Avon ladies of the environmental movement.”
"Of his native Canada, Watson has said he “despise[s] its government and dislike[s] its people.” Scandinavians, meanwhile, are “the children of the rapers of Ireland and executioners of the Celts.” The “bloodlust of these Viking offspring” who hunt whales made him “ashamed” of his Danish ancestry. And Watson once shouted through a megaphone at Makah Indians on a whale hunt: “Just because you were born stupid doesn’t give you any right to be stupid.”
Posted in: Newfoundland, seal hunt on 0 comments
Update below
I just read this morning that a documentary about the history of the seal hunt will be on CBC Newsworld tonight and Saturday, so if you get a chance, watch it or tape it. I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard lots about it, so I'm looking forward to it. For those of you looking for more information, this might be a good start.
It's called My Ancestors were Rogues and Murderers, by Anne Troake, and it will air on The Lens, CBC Newsworld at 10:00 pm ET/PT tonight, Tuesday, April 04, 2006, and same time on Saturday, April 08, 2006.
Watch the trailer.
I mentioned in a blog conversation that it makes me so sad to see the debate about the seal hunt beginning to turn into a personal attack on Newfoundlanders.
For those of you not following, take, for example, the comments of Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Society:
Watson confirms he wrote an e-mail describing Newfoundlanders as "blight and a curse, saying he has "no respect for Newfoundland or Newfoundlanders.April 7th update: Another example of this disturbing trend is an email sent from a Vancouver resident to a Newfoundland bed & breakfast, saying that "we won't weep" if the next tsunami hits Newfoundland."They debased Canada when they joined the nation in 1949 and they continue to embarrass us in the eyes of the world as they inflict bloody carnage on innocent creatures (seals)."
Posted in: Newfoundland, seal hunt on April 04, 2006 4 comments
My main Internet browser is Firefox, and I haven't looked at my blog using Internet Explorer in a long time. I happened to tonight though, and noticed a bunch of formatting oddities that don't show up in Firefox on an 600x800 screen. So I humbly apologize to you, dear readers, for weird indents, and for the sidebar being alllllll the way down the side of the page.
Posted in: on April 03, 2006 2 comments
Okay, there's been too much politics on here lately. For a complete change, check out the lyrics to the French version of the children's song, Twinkle, Twinkle. I came across these the other day, and I immediately sent them to my best friend - I knew she would understand my delight. :)
Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman,Translation:
Ce qui cause mon tournment?
Papa veut que je raisonne,
Comme une grande personne;
Moi, je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que la raison.
Ah! Can I tell you, Mother,Found on There's a Life in Here Somewhere
What's the cause of my torment?
Papa wants me to reason
Like a grown-up.
Me, I say that candy has
Greater value than reason.
Posted in: kids, music on 3 comments
This is such a fantastic idea!
A Seattle area teacher is preparing a lesson plan for a unit about Canada, and she wants you to tell her about your community. More information in the link above. Found via Saskboy.
Technorati tags: Canada, USA, Seattle, education
Posted in: kids on 4 comments
Where were all the women? Besides Pamela, Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas, and Feist from Broken Social Scene, none of the performers were women, and few of the nominees were. At least some of the presenters were.No one cares about poor old Jim, who has to go to the ice or see his family starve. No one thinks about this: Yes, sealing is gross and unpretty, yes it is horriffic and ugly, but NOBODY actually does this for FUN. No one says to themselves, "yanno, Jim, 'by. I think i haven't had nearly enough near-death encounters this past little while. I think i should go to the ice, you know, see what's up. Get a few kicks".Food for thought.
It irks me that people who have no concept of the historical significance of the hunt, or the economic importance of this hunt not to the shipowners (who could do without) but to the poor sealers themselves who have to do this or else face emmigration to Alberta, where we're raping the shit out of the environment for the sake of oil --- but that's a whole nother story.
Posted in: Newfoundland, seal hunt on 1 comments
Oh dear God...
Will somebody - the Liberals, NDP, Green - somebody! create a party stable enough to bring down the Conservative government, before Stephen Harper starts messing with the constitution?! I shudder to think of the changes he would like to make to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms...
CBC article
Food for thought: a quote from Stephen Harper's acceptance speech:
"The West has wanted in, the West is in - now Canada will work for all of us!"I grew up in Alberta. I like it there, and I don't buy into the stereotypes. But does that sound like a man who is focused on creating a fair and balanced government?! That's a scary statement to make in an acceptance speech.
Posted in: equality, politics on April 02, 2006 2 comments
"… all cultures have a relationship to animals and … people in southern urbanized settings should not look down their noses at people whose cultures and economies are still closely tied to the harvesting of animals in the wild"Found via Field Notes. More of the story behind the poster from the National Inuit Youth Council, and Siku News. There's a humorous/interesting article from Kent Driscoll of the Northern News Service.
"There's a kind of cultural arrogance at play" he said.
Inuit don’t participate in the Newfoundland seal hunt or anything equivalent to it, but their communities across the Arctic have been severely affected whenever animal rights protesters have been successful at reducing the market for seal pelts generally …
The post[er] is … meant to give southerners a little glimpse into what it might feel like to have their own culture and animal practices judged harshly by outsiders.
Posted in: Newfoundland, seal hunt on April 01, 2006 3 comments
