Two months ago, I knew next to nothing about the controversy surrounding Japan’s whaling efforts. I wasn’t aware of why the Japanese were whaling period, let alone why their current hunting methods were such a controversial topic internationally. Infamously, I even mistook The Cove as being a film about whales…when it was actually about dolphins. Two months later, I still probably have a ways to go in my quest to learn more about this issue. I haven’t seen a single episode of Whale Wars; I didn’t even manage to find the Whale Wars spoof that South Park did. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there are at least ten other organizations that I have yet to discover who have their own say on this issue. However, I’ve also come to learn a lot about this issue, and I feel that I can actually understand both sides of the issue. The Japanese have some really good points about their whaling operation and how the movements against it may seem prejudicial; then again, Sea Shepherd is fully justified in being against the whaling as it’s had an up-close look at what really goes on. All the same, I really hope that the two groups can find a peaceful solution that will cut back on the destructive whaling practices of the past few years while not threatening the cultural significance of the practice.

If I could go back and do this again, I might want to expand my topic and try to cover more about the whaling operations in Iceland and Norway. While they don’t seem to attract quite as much attention as the Japanese whaling (or maybe they’re all just being lumped together and Japan sounds like a cooler country…), they’re also conducting operations without the pretenses of research — they’re just doing it for the profit, it seems! It’d be interesting to see what their viewpoint on all of this is.

Well, I guess that’s all, folks. Now excuse me, I need to go to bed. NOW.

As you can see from the previous post…I managed to find an instance of my research topic in an unexpected sector of pop culture! While I’m not a huge fan of South Park, it ends up being a guilty pleasure whenever I do watch it, so I’ll probably be watching that entire episode whether it actually brings up the whales or not. But if it does have whales in it, you will be seeing clips next week!

I also commented on my third blog just a few minutes go. I decided to randomly pick another kid’s blog…andI found Zach! While I don’t know Zach very well, apparently he’s studying Chinese and used his interest in the culture to start a project on China’s industrialization and the consequences, both positive and negative (though, it seems, mostly negative) of that choice. From what I read, it seems like he eventually found an interesting point of view to take upon finding a bunch of articles about sweatshop labor. He’s developed a nice-looking blog, and I give him a round of applause! (http://zachr.wordpress.com/)

We’re technically supposed to work on the Guide to Action page as well…I’m trying to work up a preface for the actual five steps, and I do have an idea for at least one step, but we’ll see how far I actually get on that. Wish me luck! ^^;

If anyone has a television and access to Comedy Central, tune in on Wednesday night at 10 pm for the new episode, titled “Whale Whores.” Though the preview clip of the episode shows a group of rabid Japanese “hunters” attacking Atlantic bottlenose dolphins at an aquarium in Denver, the summary for the episode — as well as its title — suggests that the episode will cover both the dolphin issue covered in “The Cove” and the whaling issue that I’ve been studying. There’s no way to know for certain until the episode airs…but I’ll watch it online once it comes up, and if it pertains to whaling and NOT JUST DOLPHINS I’ll try and post a clip of it up on the blog for you guys! Wish me luck! ^^

I’ve also taken a look at the blogs of a couple of my friends from Q-class! Emily is currently researching into the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, looking at the conflict that is tearing both countries apart. While there seem to be some improvements, particularly in Afghanistan, said improvements are only “baby steps,” and a lot of negative events are happening as well as insurgents continue to attack US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Emily actually made me a little jealous, as she’s been able to find a lot of interesting web material on her topic that I haven’t been able to come across yet. (Maybe I should stop relying on Google…)

My friend Jada from upstairs was my other target for Blog Watch this week. She decided to do her blog on gay marriage, and while I wasn’t initially sure where she was going to take the issue, but she ended up taking a really nice look at how gay marriage has been handled in other countries and the contrast between their stances and ours. It turns out that several other countries, like Spain and Uruguay, have already legalized gay marriage — and Spain did it over four years ago! It puts you in perspective as to how far we have to go on this issue.

*yawns* Well, I’m really tired right now, so I’m probably gonna curl up with my anthropology book and go to sleep. Night night…

This week’s Breaking News articles, two of which you’ll see in this update, are more closely connected to issues that were discussed in previous articles. One of these articles takes on another side of the anti-whaling movement, by looking at Greenpeace’s efforts to learn the truth about Japan’s possible distribution of meat from killed “research whales” and the challenges that the Japanese government has given them. (As radical as the article may have seemed at times, arresting two activists for exposing an embezzlement ring is pretty radical as well!) The second of the articles was actually a little short, but it succinctly covered a coastal expedition that finished up this weekend — and come to think of it, I mentioned coastal expeditions before! These new articles also called my attention to another agency caught up in the debate, and I’ve added the link to that agency (the Fisheries Agency of Japan, or FJA) in the blogroll.

The second half of this update will include the final Breaking News article, some new blogroll links (I hope), and a look at some issues that my fellow students are tackling! Can’t wait to read your work, guys! (Actually, I already checked Emily’s blog…I AM SO JEALOUS! >.> You’ll find out why later.)

 I went back to the Google News for this part of the update, and the articles I ended up choosing fleshed out the project in ways that I didn’t expect. Instead of focusing directly on Japan’s whaling industry and its concerns, each article connected to a similar, but still completely separate issue. An article I found on the backstory surrounding the film The Cove opened my eyes to the fact that I was factually incorrect in my introductory post (that film was about dolphins — oops!), but I still found a connection to the whaling issue. Meanwhile, my second article took more of a look at the whaling industry in other countries (read: Norway and Iceland) and how it connects to Japan. I’ll probably go back to that article when writing my Final Thoughts, as a few interesting questions came up with that one!

I also put up some links in the blogroll which might lend themselves to new Breaking News articles for next week. Let’s hope that things go swimmingly! ^^

I’ve been working on compiling articles and links for this week’s massive update, which I’m uploading in two parts over the next 24 hours or so. The first part of this massive update focuses on the debate between both sides of the whaling issue. I specifically took a look at two of the organizations that I discovered in last week’s update: the Japanese Whaling Association and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Both groups try their hardest to promote their side of the issue, and both put up remarkably strong arguments in at least some aspects of the discussion. The JWA, specifically, tries really hard to answer all of the questions that their opponents are asking, while Sea Shepherd seems to focus on tugging at readers’ heartstrings. I can’t give my full support to either group, because both groups have a fair amount of flaws in their presentations of the issue as well…but it’s interesting to see how they play off of each other.

Anyway…be back in a few hours with another update!

(P.S. Why the hell does my WordPress say it’s Tuesday already?! It’s only 10:30 at night, dangit! >.<

Anyway…the Background page is now complete, my analysis of this week’s Breaking News article has been posted, and I’ve added the Sea Shepherd homepage to the blogroll, along with one of my resources from the aforementioned Background page. Phew! And with about 16 hours left until class! Yay! *collapses at the computer desk*

I’m also working on compiling some links that might direct you to some of the information I’m using for said background page…but a lot of those will be added once the background portion of the blog is complete. I’ve also included a personal analysis of two articles from 2009 that cover recent discussions and plans to decrease the amount of whale hunting in threatened areas. Once again, this is an ongoing process, but hopefully it will all be finished by next week! ^^

Till then, ja ne!

However, I recently rediscovered the issues of Japanese whaling when a documentary was released just a few weeks ago. This documentary, entitled “The Cove,” used hidden cameras to record normally unseen footage of the Japanese dolphin hunts, and really seemed to put out a call to action about the issue. While I have yet to see the film, the sheer fact that such a film was being made heightened my interest in the issue.

So, several weeks later, I find myself with the task of creating a blog about some global issue. I thought, why not take a close look at this dolphin problem? After all, I’m interested in Japan, I love dolphins with a passion, and such an issue could shed a new light on what’s becoming an international issue. We’ll see how things turn out over the next few weeks! ^^