Story from Singapore.

The quicker this guy ends up behind bars, the better off we’re all going to be.  These people wear the mantle of gun rights, but they are totalitarian thugs who only value freedom for some, and not for others.

The “Captain” of the Sea Shepherd was detained in Portugal for a few hours until police figured out the warrant out on him had expired in 2008.  A year late and a Euro short.  He was in Portugal to attend a meeting of the International Whaling Commission, which has condemned the Sea Shepherd tactics.

Hopefully justice will catch up to Paul Watson before he gets someone killed.

As an activist in a completely different issue, I just had to giggle a little when I read the Captain of the Sea Shepherd’s screed.  Oh my how familiar this sounds.  To be fair, I have no doubt that Paul Watson’s seamanship skills are greater than my own, in that if he has any seamanship skills, he’s got a leg up on me.  But I also didn’t take an non-ice-rated ship to Antarctica, sail through an ice field, and try to ram a Japanese ship.  That’s my real problem with what he’s doing.

When it comes to the sea, there is no shortage of know-it-alls and self-appointed experts. It’s easy to sit in judgment from the comfort of a couch with a remote in one’s hand. It’s easy to fire off ad hominem attacks to make up for the fact that those who do, actually do and those who can’t sit back and whine and bitch about those who do.

I don’t know much about the sea, but I have some idea what ice cold water does to human physiology, and I know enough of engineering to know that ramming ships into each other on the high seas has a high likelihood of sinking said ships.  The Sea Shepherd has sank ships before.

Any accusations that Sea Shepherd is a violent organization cannot be backed by real evidence. Does Sea Shepherd destroy equipment used in illegal activities to kill whales and to poach fish? The answer is yes. Is this illegal or violent? The answer is no. If it were illegal we would be arrested. If it were violent someone would be hurt.

Just because someone has robbed twenty people without anyone getting hurt doesn’t make the act any less violent, which is why it is properly classified as a violent crime.  It is only through the Grace of God that no one has been seriously injured or killed by this man’s egotistical attention whoring nonsense.  Putting seamen into ice cold water can kill them.  End of story.  There’s no debating that point.  It was the Japanese who were attacked, engaging in an activity that though internationally condemned, is considered legal by the Japanese government.  Your beef is with the folks who make the decisions in Tokyo, not the sailors.  The sailors are entitled to defend themselves, legally and morally, with deadly force if necessary, to prevent these pirates from sinking their vessel and endangering their crew.

Paul Watson’s ego is going to get someone killed.  It’s only a matter of time.  When that does happen, hopefully someone will have the fortutude to put the man in jail where he belongs.

This unsafe shooting exhibition has been making the rounds.  If it were me, I would have refused to fire until the cameraman got his ass off the range.  No reason that shot couldn’t have been taken with just the camera downrange.

Seems I’m not the first to notice this terrorist promoting series.  I am late to the game, as “Whale Wars” is on it’s second season. Neither of us are regular watchers of Animal Planet.  Most of the cable we watch are food shows; a devious plot to prevent weight loss.

I understand that Steven Irwin’s widow apparently condones these folks naming their ship after her late husband, who was supportive of the cause:

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That’s conservation for you!

Hey, who would have guessed southerners are polite and tolerant, and don’t assault, verbally or otherwise, people who express views different than them.  What kills me about stories like this, is the authors pretty clearly did not mean to drip cultural condescension, but it nonetheless comes through.

Does this guy really think people in the South never met an atheist before?  I’ll be honest, some of the most provincial people I’ve met come from the urban Northeast, not the South.

From Exurban League, a reason not to go see the new Transformers movie:

When asked how she would stop the ruthless Megatron from demolishing the world, Fox first said that she would “barter with him.” She then, however, went on to say, “… and instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America?”

Classy.  I guess she figured it would go over well with a foreign audience.  For those of us who don’t revel in feeling superior to others, and believing our inferiors ought to die, we’ll just stay home and not go see your crappy movie.