Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
The Japanese whaling industry is dying, but the government is still spending millions to keep it alive. It’s getting a renewed financial boost now. Where is the money coming from? Taxpayer dollars and funds earmarked for tsunami disaster relief. Despite a decline in the demand for whale meat, nearly 30 years of a moratorium on commercial whaling, a Japanese public ambivalent to keeping the industry afloat, and international pressure to abandon the program, conservatives in government continue to shovel money into its gaping mouth. The Guardian reports on it, as there’s been increased concern about the government subsidy as the Japanese economy works to recover from the financial crisis topped with the fallout from March 2011. In an interview with Australian media, Masayuki Komatsu – the man who engineered the “research” program that kept the Japanese whaling fleet in business after the 1986 moratorium on commercial catches – says it’s time for an end to the subsidy. C’mon Japanese people, get mad and put an end to it.
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Aida Makoto causing controversy with his latest art exhibition at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum. The location might be a little too public and pop for an exhibition like this to happen without problems. (Bloomberg – Makoto Aida) This is Makoto Aida in Tokyo. He was a bit strange.
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Chiune Sugihara saved thousands during the Holocaust and is remembered in this article. He’s often known as the Japanese Schindler and was the Consul General in Lithuania. (Huffington Post – Chiune Sugihara) Here’s a doc on the man. The voice makes it sound like a bad docudrama. [youtube]jotoRnK8_us[/youtube] Also on Spike you can see the Oscar winning short Visas and Virtues that’s based on Chiune Sugihara. Wish the quality was a bit better.
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So much for being past the 30,000 mark, it’s down to merely 27,776. This is still a considerable number every day. In the past the numbers end up being near 100 a day! (CS Monitor – Suicides)
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This is the reason why the world seems to be overfished. Why do anything put try and catch a giant bluefin tuna? The sale took place at Tsukiji fish market on January 5th. Obviously it was some type of publicity stunt that worked. “Tiny sushi slices of the prized fish can sell for up to $24, according to the Associated Press. Japanese consume up to 80% of the world’s declining tuna stock.” (Time – Bluefin)
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