Monday, February 28, 2011
Japanese Dolphin Slaughter
By Amelia Staats
For years now, in a little Japanese fishing town called Taiji, a truly treacherous and immoral tragedy has been occurring. The annual dolphin slaughter continues to be the primary source of profit for the town, but the price that is paid in return is truly horrific. With an average on 1500 dolphins, porpoises and whales slaughtered per season, the people involved in this grim business have attempted to keep their cruelty a secret. If more people in Japan and the rest of the world knew what was happening, their murderous business would be over before the next season.
A long time has passed since people began the attempt to reveal what is occurring in this cove, but the fishermen have continued to obstruct the truth. They break cameras; try to provoke people into hitting them in order to get them arrested. Activists have obtained graphic footage of the slaughter, but not enough people have learned about it. If the world knew the truth, this practice could not survive.
The process of getting the dolphin, whale, and porpoise meat is very brutal. Dolphins use sound waves and echoes to navigate underwater. The fishermen make loud sounds that echo under the water making the dolphins think there is something blocking their way out. They believe they are trapped in with no way out because they hear what they think are echoes. This upsetting sound drives them into the cove, and the dolphins are then really trapped in with a net. The fishermen then come into the cove with long, sharp spears and begin the slaughter. They often miss and the dolphins are not killed instantly. Red water can be seen drifting out of the cove, as the cries of the dolphins vanish into a solemn silence. The bodies are then taken to be slaughtered and sold.
After the fishermen finish the cruel slaughter the meat from the dolphins is then sold to grocery stores around Japan as fish meat. Mislabeling is not only illegal, but very dangerous because dolphins have extremely high mercury levels. Different groups have done studies on this “fish” and found unusually high amounts of mercury. Large amounts of mercury can be very hazardous when consumed by a human. The people living in Taiji have mercury levels that are way above average.
This meat gathered from dolphins, porpoises, and whales is also used in school systems. The schools can purchase it for much less, so millions have children have been consuming it as well. An average adult human being can get severely sick if they consume too much mercury. Imagine what it is doing to children. The director of The Cove said “If you’re eating dolphin meat, you’re eating poison.” To a newborn, dolphin meat can cause sensory loss, limb malformation, and it can also be fatal.
There are many organizations attempting to put this cruelty to rest. These efforts will not only save many dolphins and whales, but also help citizens in Japan live longer, healthier lives. Today people are still trying to get the word around in Japan by writing to government officials and the public. It is also important to persuade places that capture and train dolphins for amusement to stop purchasing dolphins from Taiji. If nothing is done this slaughter will again start next season. To help end this tragedy once and for all, the links below contain great ways to get involved.
Resources
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f2.html
http://savejapandolphins.blogspot.com/2009/09/taiji-dolphin-slaughter-suspended.html
By Amelia Staats
For years now, in a little Japanese fishing town called Taiji, a truly treacherous and immoral tragedy has been occurring. The annual dolphin slaughter continues to be the primary source of profit for the town, but the price that is paid in return is truly horrific. With an average on 1500 dolphins, porpoises and whales slaughtered per season, the people involved in this grim business have attempted to keep their cruelty a secret. If more people in Japan and the rest of the world knew what was happening, their murderous business would be over before the next season.
A long time has passed since people began the attempt to reveal what is occurring in this cove, but the fishermen have continued to obstruct the truth. They break cameras; try to provoke people into hitting them in order to get them arrested. Activists have obtained graphic footage of the slaughter, but not enough people have learned about it. If the world knew the truth, this practice could not survive.
The process of getting the dolphin, whale, and porpoise meat is very brutal. Dolphins use sound waves and echoes to navigate underwater. The fishermen make loud sounds that echo under the water making the dolphins think there is something blocking their way out. They believe they are trapped in with no way out because they hear what they think are echoes. This upsetting sound drives them into the cove, and the dolphins are then really trapped in with a net. The fishermen then come into the cove with long, sharp spears and begin the slaughter. They often miss and the dolphins are not killed instantly. Red water can be seen drifting out of the cove, as the cries of the dolphins vanish into a solemn silence. The bodies are then taken to be slaughtered and sold.
After the fishermen finish the cruel slaughter the meat from the dolphins is then sold to grocery stores around Japan as fish meat. Mislabeling is not only illegal, but very dangerous because dolphins have extremely high mercury levels. Different groups have done studies on this “fish” and found unusually high amounts of mercury. Large amounts of mercury can be very hazardous when consumed by a human. The people living in Taiji have mercury levels that are way above average.
This meat gathered from dolphins, porpoises, and whales is also used in school systems. The schools can purchase it for much less, so millions have children have been consuming it as well. An average adult human being can get severely sick if they consume too much mercury. Imagine what it is doing to children. The director of The Cove said “If you’re eating dolphin meat, you’re eating poison.” To a newborn, dolphin meat can cause sensory loss, limb malformation, and it can also be fatal.
There are many organizations attempting to put this cruelty to rest. These efforts will not only save many dolphins and whales, but also help citizens in Japan live longer, healthier lives. Today people are still trying to get the word around in Japan by writing to government officials and the public. It is also important to persuade places that capture and train dolphins for amusement to stop purchasing dolphins from Taiji. If nothing is done this slaughter will again start next season. To help end this tragedy once and for all, the links below contain great ways to get involved.
Resources
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f2.html
http://savejapandolphins.blogspot.com/2009/09/taiji-dolphin-slaughter-suspended.html
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
By Amelia Staats
The play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is a tragedy about a young couple whose death is caused by the fact that they couldn’t be together. But who really was responsible for their death? The guilt could be blamed on numerous people like Lord Capulet, for insisting that his daughter marry against her will. Or the Friar, for coming up with the plan of fake death without having a perfect way to notify all that was involved. It could simply be put on the young couple by defying their parent’s feelings about their families. One thing is for certain, a lot of pain and sorrow was caused as a result of these complications.
The Montague’s and Capulet’s had been feuding for a very long time and all of the servants and children of the houses were affected by it. Romeo and Juliet defied their parents, secretly saw each other and were married. Because of their family’s disagreement, they could never be open to their parents about their relationship. Gradually tension grew after Romeo’s involvement in Tybalt’s death and Lord and Lady Capulet wanting him dead. Even Juliet had something to worry about, her father forcing her to marry Paris.
Overall, Lord and lady Montague, and Lord and Lady Capulet were the ones that caused the death of their loved ones. There long feud had gone on too long, yet they kept it going by not ending it. People were dying in fights on the streets, the prince was getting mad, and their own children were disobeying their wishes. If they had ended this fight long ago and permitted Romeo and Juliet to be together, then the tragedy would not have occurred. It was their fault the Romeo and Juliet didn’t approach them in the first place with their relationship, because they were scared that they would be separated. This feud caused a lot of deaths, grief, and wasted time so Lord and Lady Montague and Capulet were responsible.
By Amelia Staats
The play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is a tragedy about a young couple whose death is caused by the fact that they couldn’t be together. But who really was responsible for their death? The guilt could be blamed on numerous people like Lord Capulet, for insisting that his daughter marry against her will. Or the Friar, for coming up with the plan of fake death without having a perfect way to notify all that was involved. It could simply be put on the young couple by defying their parent’s feelings about their families. One thing is for certain, a lot of pain and sorrow was caused as a result of these complications.
The Montague’s and Capulet’s had been feuding for a very long time and all of the servants and children of the houses were affected by it. Romeo and Juliet defied their parents, secretly saw each other and were married. Because of their family’s disagreement, they could never be open to their parents about their relationship. Gradually tension grew after Romeo’s involvement in Tybalt’s death and Lord and Lady Capulet wanting him dead. Even Juliet had something to worry about, her father forcing her to marry Paris.
Overall, Lord and lady Montague, and Lord and Lady Capulet were the ones that caused the death of their loved ones. There long feud had gone on too long, yet they kept it going by not ending it. People were dying in fights on the streets, the prince was getting mad, and their own children were disobeying their wishes. If they had ended this fight long ago and permitted Romeo and Juliet to be together, then the tragedy would not have occurred. It was their fault the Romeo and Juliet didn’t approach them in the first place with their relationship, because they were scared that they would be separated. This feud caused a lot of deaths, grief, and wasted time so Lord and Lady Montague and Capulet were responsible.
Mercutio and Tybalt
By Amelia Staats
For centuries the beloved plays of William Shakespeare have be adored by many people. There are many mysteries, secrets, and questions people have been wondering for years. In one of the most famous performances “Romeo and Juliet” the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt have been debated. Who started the fight, and who inflamed the fight? Who was ultimately responsible? Was it really fair that Romeo be banished? There are many different ways and views of looking at this tragedy, but overall there is in my opinion only one culprit.
The fight between the two began like any other fight, between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. It started as just a small argument, but soon Tybalt pushed Mercutio to a point where he couldn’t control his outrage. When they began to fight, Mercutio was stabbed and died very slowly. At this point Romeo didn’t just grief over his friend; he wanted revenge against Tybalt, his wife’s cousin. He approached Tybalt from behind and they fought a very long, unpleasant fight. Tybalt was killed and Romeo responsible. The Capulet’s and the Montague’s were all called to the prince where a punishment would be decided. Romeo was the one standing over the Capulet’s body, and he was the one banished from the city.
I believe that overall Romeo was the cause of both Tybalt and Mercutio’s death. It was him that provoked Tybalt to say outrageous things to him. Standing up for Romeo, Mercutio was drawn into a fight against Tybalt and killed. He was also the one that later killed Tybalt as revenge, he should have just taken time to grieve over his lost friend. If he would have not killed Tybalt he would not have been held responsible. Romeo brought his banishment on himself and was the main cause of Mercutio and Tybalt’s death.
By Amelia Staats
For centuries the beloved plays of William Shakespeare have be adored by many people. There are many mysteries, secrets, and questions people have been wondering for years. In one of the most famous performances “Romeo and Juliet” the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt have been debated. Who started the fight, and who inflamed the fight? Who was ultimately responsible? Was it really fair that Romeo be banished? There are many different ways and views of looking at this tragedy, but overall there is in my opinion only one culprit.
The fight between the two began like any other fight, between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. It started as just a small argument, but soon Tybalt pushed Mercutio to a point where he couldn’t control his outrage. When they began to fight, Mercutio was stabbed and died very slowly. At this point Romeo didn’t just grief over his friend; he wanted revenge against Tybalt, his wife’s cousin. He approached Tybalt from behind and they fought a very long, unpleasant fight. Tybalt was killed and Romeo responsible. The Capulet’s and the Montague’s were all called to the prince where a punishment would be decided. Romeo was the one standing over the Capulet’s body, and he was the one banished from the city.
I believe that overall Romeo was the cause of both Tybalt and Mercutio’s death. It was him that provoked Tybalt to say outrageous things to him. Standing up for Romeo, Mercutio was drawn into a fight against Tybalt and killed. He was also the one that later killed Tybalt as revenge, he should have just taken time to grieve over his lost friend. If he would have not killed Tybalt he would not have been held responsible. Romeo brought his banishment on himself and was the main cause of Mercutio and Tybalt’s death.
Lord Capulet
By Amelia Staats
In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, Lord Capulet is a character that has a truly inexplicable mind. In one of the first scenes of the play he is telling his daughter’s suitor Paris, that Juliet is too young to marry him. He is insisting to Paris, that he wants his only daughter to marry for love and that she should not be forced to. In one of the last scenes he seems determined for her to be married to him, unaware she is already married to Romeo. He was going to force her to marry against her will at the end. This act of injustice unintentionally caused her pain, and possibly his determination partially caused her fate.
In the beginning of the play, Lord Capulet was portrayed as a concerned father the deeply cared about his daughter’s happiness. First, he told Paris he wanted his daughter to marry for love even though he knew she would be taken care of. Then he hosted a party so that Juliet could get to know Paris and have the chance of falling in love with him. He so quickly changes his mind when he wants to force Juliet to marry Paris, and is then exposed as a monster. Juliet is then so upset that she agrees to the friar’s plan which begins the tragic ending for the young man and women.
I believe that even in the end Lord Capulet’s actions were all out of love for his daughter. Certainly in the beginning he was only thinking about her happiness, and in the end it seemed like he just wanted Juliet to marry someone that would take care of her. He thought Paris, being a respected member of the community and wealthy was best for her. Unfortunately, he wasn’t taking her age into account or the fact that he truly didn’t know a lot about her life. If he knew about her love for Romeo he might have accepted it. There was also the extremely likely possibility that he would have discouraged it because Romeo was a Montague. Lord Capulet’s mind changed very quickly and might have resulted in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
By Amelia Staats
In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, Lord Capulet is a character that has a truly inexplicable mind. In one of the first scenes of the play he is telling his daughter’s suitor Paris, that Juliet is too young to marry him. He is insisting to Paris, that he wants his only daughter to marry for love and that she should not be forced to. In one of the last scenes he seems determined for her to be married to him, unaware she is already married to Romeo. He was going to force her to marry against her will at the end. This act of injustice unintentionally caused her pain, and possibly his determination partially caused her fate.
In the beginning of the play, Lord Capulet was portrayed as a concerned father the deeply cared about his daughter’s happiness. First, he told Paris he wanted his daughter to marry for love even though he knew she would be taken care of. Then he hosted a party so that Juliet could get to know Paris and have the chance of falling in love with him. He so quickly changes his mind when he wants to force Juliet to marry Paris, and is then exposed as a monster. Juliet is then so upset that she agrees to the friar’s plan which begins the tragic ending for the young man and women.
I believe that even in the end Lord Capulet’s actions were all out of love for his daughter. Certainly in the beginning he was only thinking about her happiness, and in the end it seemed like he just wanted Juliet to marry someone that would take care of her. He thought Paris, being a respected member of the community and wealthy was best for her. Unfortunately, he wasn’t taking her age into account or the fact that he truly didn’t know a lot about her life. If he knew about her love for Romeo he might have accepted it. There was also the extremely likely possibility that he would have discouraged it because Romeo was a Montague. Lord Capulet’s mind changed very quickly and might have resulted in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
Nicaragua
Finally I have returned from my ten day trip to Nicaragua. I'm so glad I went even though it was a somewhat last minute decision. I was nervous and excited when I found out I would be going by myself, but after I met other people there I found I was worrying for nothing. The night before the big trip, my sister, dad and I stayed at a hotel in Washington D.C. because I was flying on a different airline. Saying goodbye was hard and sitting in the airplane alone made me miss them already. I fell asleep for the flight to Houston then I struggled to meet up with the rest of the group. A few minutes before the gate was closed I made it and met up with the rest of the group heading to Nicaragua. After arriving burst of warm air swarmed around us. It felt so nice but like in Ghana we were all wearing out coats and long pants so we were practically roasting. We made our way through customs and the people at the airport searched through all of our bags. After what seemed like and hour we finally made it out of the airport and onto the bus. It was a tight fit on the bus and about and hour drive to the ranch so I spent most of my time looking out the window. It was very similar to Ghana but I liked it more because unlike Ghana even the city had quite a bit of green. Being in Ghana definitely helped me in this situation because I was use to this sort of atmosphere. After a very bumpy ride on a dirt road we finally made it to Rancho Ebenezer. I stayed in a room with two other girls, a Denison student named Zara and another girl named Rachael. The other kids were Zach and Seth Dobbalaer. We all stayed in very ugly dorm rooms with bunk beds. The colors in the room alone were pretty bright in obnoxious (although I shouldn't be talking giving that I live in a bright pink and green bedroom.) We had our first meal which tasted very good, then I found out it was Rabbit. After this, beans and rice became my permanent meal. After eating we went around to explore the farm. Everyone was so kind and the workers let us see the pigs, rabbits, goats, and gardens. It was so beautiful at the ranch and it made me never want to leave. That night I took the coldest shower I have ever taken then slept better then I had slept in a long time. The next morning we woke up super early at the sound of the breakfast bell, at 6:30. Guess what I had for breakfast...beans and rice. After breakfast we had devotions which I found very interesting before we began farm work. The first experience I had with farm work was shoveling goat poop into bags, then transporting the bags to the worms who turned it into rich soil. Let me just clarify, this was not my favorite task. Often the person shoveling would miss the bag and poor goat poop on the person holding the bag. I was usually the person holding the bag. A few days later the translator, Farrin, and all the kids walked to a town that was about and hour away from the ranch. It was very hot but the walk was absolutely beautiful. We saw ox carts and from a distance the volcano, we also passed many kids who would run out saying, "Hola, Hola, photo?" The walk was very fun and we finally got to a grocery story called, Pali. We soon found out that this store was a Nicaraguan Walmart. At the store I decided to get peanut butter so that a few days I could have something other than beans and rice. We were way too tired to walk back so we got a taxi, because it was so cheap we only had to pay a dollar each. Another day one of our tasks was to paint a dorm room. It turns out that the paint was oil based paint and it smelled more disgusting than the goat poop. It made us very light headed and we would ocasionally have to walk outside and sit on the porch for a while. Another perk about oil based paint is that the only way to get it off is with paint thinner, another very toxic substance. That night we all went up on the roof for about two hours and stared up at the stars. We went through the same process for many days after eat, work, paint, stargaze, eat, and sleep. When Tuesday came along we were all so thrilled. On Tuesday was our trip to the Pacific Ocean and we had all been looking forward to it for a whole week now. We had the best time ever that day! All of us ran straight into the water from the bus and were greeted by a series of chilly waves. It was impossible to get warm so for a while we walked around the town and went shopping. Then one of the highlights of my trip, we ate Pizza! Even though compared to pizza in the U.S it would have been bad, it tasted like a piece of heaven the form of bread, sauce, and cheese. We ended up watching the sunset then I took a walk on the beach with Zack, and Seth. To top off our amazing day we saw fire dancers on the beach. The whole way back to the ranch I slept. Throughout the whole week we had been spending the afternoons with the kids of the women in the sewing group. They were very shy at first but after they got to know us we had a very fun time. All of them loved to get their picture taken and they would come up to you and blow bubbles in your face. One little girl, Hazel even tried to teach me some Spanish with sidewalk chalk. The next day at the fiesta we all had an amazing time, we danced with the little kids and with each other. We all tried the pinata (mostly missing) and played Limbo. We were up very late that night helping to clean up and saying goodbye to all the kids. The next day was our final day to we finished up some of the dorm rooms we were painting and said goodbye to all our new friends. The hardest goodbye for me were all the little kids that we had spent to much time with. I will never forget there sweetness and patience with us as we tried to understand them. We stayed up late that night packing and stargazing, we saw six shooting stars that night. Going to bed was sad because I knew it was my last night in Nicaragua but I was also so excited to get home. We left very early and stopped at Farrin's house before going to the airport and heading home. The security on the way back was absolutely horrible. We must have looked pretty suspicious because the drug sniffing dogs came over and they had them smell our bags. The stupid(but cute) dog almost ate my bread that I had been dieing to bring back! It was even worse when we got to Houston and barely made it to our next gate. I was so excited to see my dad there and finally when we got home I was so excited to see the rest of my family. Nicaragua was an amazing experience that I will never forget and next year I can't wait to return.
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