Protesters invite confrontation: whalers

I didn't comment on this incident here yesterday because I couldn't see what it had to do with Australia but I see below that the incident took place in Antarctic waters claimed by Australia so that is the thread that the Greenies are clinging to. I will therefore repeat below what I said yesterday on GREENIE WATCH and follow it by some fresh comments:

This is the sort of crap that Israel has to put up with. Aggression provokes a strike-back and then the attacked party is blamed for striking back -- with the reliable collusion of a Green/Left media, of course. The whole episode was a blatant setup. The vessel rammed was a highly maneuverable diesel-powered (biodiesel, of course) trimaran that could easily have skated out of the way of the monohulled Japanese ship. They were only rammed because they wanted to be rammed. They want to be seen as the victims rather than the aggressors that they really are. It's just another Greenie PR stunt.

Another two comments: 1). The eco-terrorists were trying to blind the Japanese crew by shining a laser at them according to this video. The video also shows how the Greenie speedboat ran rings around the Japanese ship and could have evaded the Japanese ship if its crew had wanted to do so. 2). This is NOT a conservation issue. The whale species concerned are not remotely "endangered". Some Southern hemisphere statistics here and here. Minke whales: total population 761000, Japan catch 1000=0.13%; rare fin whales: total 85200, catch 20=0.023%; humpbacks: total 42000, catch 50=0.11%, rate of increase 7.9-13.9%. So the whole episode is pure exhibitionism from attention-seekers that has in fact nothing to do with the environment. The preceding figures are of course estimates. Japan in fact claims much smaller catches than the estimates used above.

Latest news update below

A spokesman for Japan's whaling fleet has accused the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd of recklessly causing a collision in the Southern Ocean two days ago. The Sea Shepherd's high-tech speedboat Ady Gil sank this morning after it was sliced in two by the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 on Wednesday. Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson told ABC News Breakfast the Ady Gil went down shortly before 3:30am AEDT while it was being towed to a French research base.

Both the Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd crew blame each other for the clash. But Glenn Inwood from Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research says Mr Watson has a dangerous attitude. "Paul Watson has said before that he's willing to give any Japanese vessel what he calls a steel enema by ramming his ship into the stern of any Japanese vessel," Mr Inwood told the Nine Network. "He also proudly displays the number of vessels he's sunk on the side of the [boat] Steve Irwin. "You can understand why the Japanese have put security vessels down there. "To say Japan has broken maritime laws can't be justified in this instance when you're under constant harassment and constant attack from these ships."

Mr Inwood says Japan's whaling program is internationally recognised as legal. "The International Whaling Commission (IWC) have sanctioned it. The New Zealand government recognises its legality, and many members of the IWC do as well," he said. "Sea Shepherd is trying to prevent Japan from conducting what is a legal operation under the rules of the IWC."

Mr Watson says an insurance payout on the Ady Gil is unlikely because the incident was a deliberate act. "It's a $1.5 million loss for our organisation," he said. "I think the Japanese deliberately took that vessel out; they saw it as a threat and they were under orders to take it out. "It would be an act of war so there wouldn't be any insurance on it."

Mr Watson says two Japanese harpoon ships were nearby but did not offer any help after the incident. "They were responsible, they destroyed the vessel ... I think they should have offered some sort of assistance but they refused to acknowledge any distress signal," he said....

Meanwhile, Greens leader Bob Brown has sent a $2 million bill for the Ady Gil to the Japanese government. Senator Brown says the bill should have come from the Australian Government. "The Japanese fleet is entirely responsible for the destruction of the Ady Gil," he said. "It was an illegal operation; it's part of the wider illegal operation of whaling in Australian Antarctic waters and it was in Australian Antarctic waters and the Japanese government should pay up."

Yesterday, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard asked the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to investigate the incident and said the findings would be made public. She says the Government reserves the right to take international legal action if diplomacy with Japanese officials fails, and has warned that evidence has already been collected to launch such action. New Zealand is also investigating the incident because the Ady Gil was registered there.

More HERE






Victoria police outraged by Indian KKK cartoon



Victoria police are best known for corruption and political correctness rather than efficiency so I think they deserve some derision. Their turning a blind eye to black crime against Indians was undoubtedly a large factor in the death of the Indian student

Victoria's Police Association has reacted angrily to a cartoon in an Indian newspaper depicting one of the state's officers as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The Delhi Mail Today newspaper published the cartoon in response to the murder of Indian student Nitin Garg in Melbourne last weekend. The cartoon shows a person in a Ku Klux Klan hood wearing a Victoria Police badge, with a caption that reads: "We Are Yet To Ascertain The Nature Of The Crime." The Indian media has suggested the attack may have been racially motivated, but Melbourne police say there's no evidence of that.

Police Association secretary Greg Davies says it is highly offensive to suggest police are not properly investigating the murder. "To say that our detectives are going slow on this, or for some reason trying to protect somebody, is incredibly offensive and wrong," he said. "It's based on nothing but obviously a slow news day in Delhi. "The identity of the offender from the homicide in Footscray isn't even known at this stage, so we don't even know what nationality the offender is. "To say it's a race-based crime is not only premature, but stupid." [certainly premature but not stupid]

The Police Minister, Bob Cameron, has added his voice to the condemnation of the cartoon. "This is just terrible," Mr Cameron said. "Victoria Police is a very tolerant organisation [very tolerant of black crime in fact] and Victoria is a very tolerant state and to suggest that Victoria Police is racist is just plain wrong and it's offensive to the good police we have here in Victoria. "It just doesn't help anyone at all to have people from the sidelines throwing bricks," he said. "We've got a good police force and we should let our police force go about their policing business in a sensible and a calm way."

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Corrupt health bureaucrats finally carpeted

TWO unidentified Queensland Health staff face disciplinary action following a financial probe into the Royal Children's Hospital. Two staff subject to the long-running investigation have been served with show-cause notices asking them to explain why action should not be taken against them. Queensland Health director-general Mick Reid would not reveal their identities, insisting both public servants had to be shown natural justice and be allowed to respond within 14 days.

The move comes after The Courier-Mail revealed that a Queensland Health ethical standards probe was investigating allegations including:

• RCH boss Doug Brown and former finance manager Alan Fletcher, now the chief financial officer for the Queensland Children's Hospital, processed an $8000 no-interest loan of taxpayer funds to a senior colleague for overseas travel.

• Mr Brown approved $6500 worth of luxury beauty treatments for 65 nurses as part of an alleged payoff following a dispute sparked when new staff scored free parking.

• Junior staff paid for wedding and baby gifts such as cookware for colleagues out of hospital funds.

Mr Reid said he was now acting on recommendations relating to "a number of matters" after the CMC completed a review of the Queensland Health ethical standards probe. "I have issued show-cause notices to two Queensland Health staff that were subject to the investigation," Mr Reid said in a statement. "As is standard procedure and in accordance with natural justice, the officers have been given 14 days to respond." It is not known whether Mr Brown and Mr Fletcher are the subjects of this action.

The moves came as Health Minister Paul Lucas criticised his department's handling of the affair, saying the two-year investigation had taken too long. "It has taken longer than I thought it should have," Mr Lucas said.

The Opposition has called for a broader inquiry into all public hospitals, with leader John-Paul Langbroek saying the allegations raised serious questions.

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NSW rejects same sex adoptions

Prudence wins out. Homosexual couples are notoriously unstable and there are high rates of partner-bashing among them

Same-sex couples won't be allowed to adopt in NSW "at this stage", despite a parliamentary inquiry supporting the move as being in the best interests of children. The majority of a six-person upper house committee that examined same-sex adoption recommended in July last year that amendments be made to definitions of "couple" and "de facto relationship" in the Adoption Act 2000. At the time, the committee chair, Labor's Christine Robertson, said the committee found reforming the laws to allow same-sex couples to adopt would "ensure the best interests of children" were met by NSW's adoption laws.

Community Services Minister Linda Burney on Wednesday issued a statement saying the state government believed there was "some merit" in the committee's findings. "However, members were unable to reach a consensus, reflecting divisions on this issue in the wider community. "As a result of these concerns, the government is not satisfied there is broad enough community support to justify new state legislation at this stage."

Ms Burney said further consultation would take place as the Community and Disability Services Council discussed a national approach. "The government's primary concern will always be what is in the best interests of children," Ms Burney said. "The committee was given examples of successful parenting and fostering by gay and lesbian couples and in these case studies, adoption provided permanence, stability and security which are so important for children.

"However, I am also aware that there are very deeply held, divergent views on this issue and that is why a decision on this matter will not be taken at this stage."

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