Next week, the 62nd meeting of the International Whaling Commission takes place in Agadir, Morocco. The main issue facing the voting members will be for a compromise on an IWC ad hoc proposal, which would allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to hunt openly despite a moratorium on commercial whaling, but put their programs under strict IWC monitoring and aim for sharp reductions in their catch over 10 years.

This could be a very interesting event.

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Eudaimonia

Leave the damn whales alone is my vote!!

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I'm with you, Fangtasia!

This almost has something to do with this. It was an ad created for a TV show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW2k...feature=related

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

I know this sounds somewhat callous, but whale hunting by native tribes has been going on for at least a couple hundred years. Entire societies and economies have been built around this industry in the past. Is it no different than hunting deer or raising cows for slaughter? My only philosophy to any hunting, whale or otherwise, is to use as much of what is killed as possible.

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"BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Will he offer me his mouth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his teeth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his jaws? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Again, will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes! GIRL: Yes. BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Yes. BOY: I bet you say that to all the boys!" -Meatloaf

There's a big difference in subsistence hunting, like the Inuit and other groups, and going out in industrial slaughter ships taking whales they have to give away in Japan because so few want it. Norway is the same, on a lesser scale.

That they hide behind scientific sampling is even worse.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating