Only the rich and trendy eat whale meat in Japan?

Although support for whaling is still strong in Japan according to a recent telephone survey conducted by Asahi Shimbun, the younger generation is not as enthusiastic. 

 

"Consumption of whale meat has decreased to 30 grams (one ounce) per person -- equivalent to a slice of sashimi -- compared with 2.5 kilograms (five and a half pounds) in the early 1980s."

This domestic consumption had in fact been dropping well before the 1980s and the introduction of the international ban on commercial whaling.

 

Among Japanese restauranters the enthusiasm for whale meals has been tempered by the fact that whale meat has not been available to ordinary people for a long time and many have not tasted whale meat.

 

It has been reported that Japan's whale meat industry generated the equivalent of around AUS $74 million annually by 2006.

Either this is making for incredibly expensive meals that only the rich can afford or whale meat and by-product are being used by industry for other purposes - pet food perhaps?

 

Might be time for those with companion animals to contact Australian pet food companies and seek assurances that they are not buying generic seafood product from Japan to include in local cat and dog food.

Will Rudd's razor gang rein-in ASIO's building plans?

Somewhere on the national books there appears to be a plan to supply ASIO and ONA with a new building to the tune of an estimated $460 million.

The spooks are not exactly living in squalor at present, so will Rudd and Tanner put this new building on hold for a year or two as they try to rein-in government spending?

I'm one voter who fervently hopes so.

Why would ASIO need extra office space anyway? When they assist with common law kidnapping they are more likely to use public parks and private homes, according to court records.

Kevin Rudd returns to NSW North Coast to inspect flood damage

Having Labor's Justine Elliot and Janelle Saffin as federal MPs for Richmond and Page seems to be paying dividends.
Kevin Rudd has again visited the North Coast and yesterday, as Prime Minister, he inspected flood damage in the Kyogle area.
Locals are hopeful that this on-the-spot look around will result in more funding for flood damage repairs to infrastructure, roads and businesses.
With Elliot and Saffin on the case I expect a shoe-in. On ya!

Japan's gory 'science' in pictures

http://www.theage.com.au/

Photos taken by Australian Goverment of the 2008 Antarctic whale kill.

Australian Government to extend its surveillance after seeing whale mother and calf kill

Japan's whalers managed to shoot themselves in the foot after Australia's hunt monitoring vessel observed the whaling vessel Yushin Maru 2 dragging a slaughtered Minke whale and calf onboard.

 

The Australian Government now intends to extend its Antarctic surveillance and evidence gathering.

 

"Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the pictures released today support Australia's position.

"I think it's explicitly clear from these images that this is indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way," he said.

"To claim that this is in anyway scientific is to continue the charade that surrounded this issue from day one."

ABC News article and video link.

2008 Australian society snapshot makes for interesting reading

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released Yearbook Australia 2008.

It shows that half of the Australian population is on the wrong side of thirty-nine years of age.

That we are living longer, are reasonably healthy, often a bit overweight, are mostly not having enough babies to replace ourselves once we die, care more about the state of our neighbourhoods than the big issues and continue our love affair with the family car.

Economic inequalities haven't really been reduced, renewable energy is still marking time, and even though most of us now recycle, we still have a long way to go to reduce the amount of household waste we produce.

For all the details on everything from natural hazards through to government and the economy go to:

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/1301.0?OpenDocument

 

 

I'm mad as hell, Mizz Bishop

In the long lead into the November 2007 federal election the Labor Party promised that if it were elected to govern it would abolish Australian Workplace Agreements.

Every Labor candidate (old or new) repeated that promise.

Opinion polls taken during the same period showed that most voters were concerned about existing industrial relations law.

Now Opposition Deputy Leader Julie Bishop, her leader and a long conga line of Coalition hacks are saying that the Rudd Government doesn't have a mandate to abolish AWAs and that they will use their Senate majority to block any legislation to remove these agreements.

Mizz Bishop, you are either the most cynical of MPs or you are seriously deluded.

Either way, you better not pass my way or you'll get a bl**dy ear full.

Isn't it enough that your mob stuck taxpayers with an $1,111 election loss booze-up bill.

Do you have to act like addled drongos in Federal Parliament as well?