One for our troops...

In April of 1993, the East Coast Canadian Celtic rockers Rawlins Cross released their album entitled "Reel 'n Roll". Named after a busy street intersection in St. John's, NL, Rawlins Cross were a major force on the East Coast music scene. Core members and St.John's natives Dave Panting (guitar, mandolin) and his brother Geoff (accordion, keyboards), Nova Scotian highland piper and whistle player Ian McKinnon formed in St. John's in 1988, under the name of Open Road.

By the time the '90s had rolled around, they began touring as Rawlins Cross with the addition of Lorne Taylor on bass and Pamela Paton on drums. This was a time when the music industry was indeed reeling from a massive infusion of East Coast musical talent, such as the Rankin Family, the Barra MacNeils, Natalie MacMaster and other Celtic-flavored musical acts.

Although the title cut 'Reel 'n Roll' was the top-selling single from that album, the song 'Long Night' is one that I think of often these days, particularily when I hear of us losing yet another military member overseas. It begins with a plaintive intro on the bagpipes, performed flawlessly by Ian McKinnon. The song plays in my mind, almost of it's own volition.

The song was written by group member Dave Panting and he explains best where the song sprang from:

"I wrote Long Night as a eulogy for the great Newfoundland fiddler and raconteur, Emile Benoit who died in September, 1992. I would also like to dedicate it to Noel Dinn, founder of Figgy Duff, who passed away in July, 1993 at the age of 45. Both men were hugely influential on the Newfoundland music scene, and on me personally."

It was also in 1993 that the group was joined by R&B singer and PEI native Joey Kitson. Just in time for him to put the stamp of his powerful, distinctive, 'David Clayton Thomas-like' voice on this and other hugely popular Rawlins Cross tunes. Bassist Brian Bourne and St.John's A-List drummer Howie Southwood rounded out the band at this time.

Here then are the lyrics, which I find poignant and very à propos.

Long Night - Rawlins Cross (Dave Panting)

Long night...
So this is what it all comes to,
Long night...
This is what we all go through.
Long night...
Another friend is gone,
Long night...
Leaving us to carry on.

Death is a mighty uniter
The defeat that comes to every fighter
Live on! The dawn will be brighter
Live on! Live on! Live on!

Long night...
Let me be with you,
Long night...
I feel you need it too.
Long night...
Rollin' in each other's arms,
Long night...
Keep each other safe from harm.

Love is a mighty uniter
The night can only make it tighter
Love on! The dawn will be brighter
Love on! Love on! Love on!

Long night...
So this is what it all comes to,
Long night...
This is what we all go through.
Long night...
Another friend is gone,
Long night...
Leaving us to carry on.

Death is a mighty uniter
The defeat that comes to every fighter.
Live on! The dawn will be brighter
Live on! Live on! Live on!
Live on! Live on! Live on!
Live on! Live on! Live on!
Long night...

http://www.rawlinscross.com/history

Some Newfs' kids...

I gotta tell ya... I have always championed the folks that live on Canada's East Coast and that certainly has always included those who live on The Rock. Yet for as much as I embrace one and all from that part of our country as my kin, we all know that every family has it's retards. Well, I got one of 'em this morning on the phone...

He was calling us on the DFO line from St.John's, NL and wanted information on getting a number he could call to pick up one of those PCOCs (Pleasure Craft Operator Card). I situated the caller and explained where he had reached and what service we actually provided. I then proceded to tell him that Transport Canada, specifically their Office of Boating Safety, provided information on course providers and how to contact them. I mentioned that they also had a complete list of the corporate headquarters which were accredited by Transport Canada and that this was available on their national website.

Upon hearing this, my caller started on his rant. Apparently 'he had called Transport Canada' (which section amongst the hundreds that make up Transport Canada, I had no idea...) and they were of no assistance whatsoever to him. He then went on to harangue me about how convoluted a system this was and could they not have made it any more complicated than what it was? I asked him what section of Transport Canada he had been in touch with, being of course very aware that the OBS line provided just such information. I informed him of this and provided him with their toll-free national number.

"Oh them...", he scoffed. "I phoned them lot and they said they'd send me out a list in about two or three weeks...". "And...", I replied. "Well for God's sake, I'm just looking for a number...one number where I can talk to one of these companies her in St.John's...". "Sir, I understand explicitly what you are asking me for, but there is no such number...", I retorted and stopped him dead in his tracks. I swear I could hear the steam building over the line as he got ready to blow... and sure enough, he did.

I sat there and listened to him for a bit, before interjecting: "Sir... sir... If I may interject here for a moment. You have called the department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, looking for information about a program which actually falls under Transport Canada. And now you're getting upset that I can't provide you information, that wouldn't even be available from the proper federal agency, which need I remind you is Transport Canada? Sir, I am not going to entertain this conversation...". I have all kinds of empathy for people dealing with federal bureaucratic jungle, but when you start accusing me of being part of it, after all I do each and every friggin' day to make things easier for people...? You can pretty much suck it, as Nancy Griffin says. I'm through being nice...

Off he goes again: "Well that's right...you're just another goddamned, bored bureaucrat...why you couldn't entertain nothin'...". Sensing that he might just give himself an aneurism, I tried to defuse the situation. "Sir... you're asking for me for information we simply do not have... you're basically phoning Sears to complain about how Canadian Tire does business. You were asking for information on whom to contact for information on course providers. You already have that information, by your own admission. There is nothing I can add to that... Now... is there any information which actually comes from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, that I might be able to provide you with...?"

*Click!*

Okay... I guess not. Clearly, for as many kind and wonderful people that I've met in and from Newfoundland and Labrador, they also have their ignorant, their unsocialized and their retarded. It does as they say, take all kinds to make a world. Even on the "Granite Planet".

A weekend of gaming...

This weekend brought a thaw in the major amounts of snow which as yet surround us. Much of it has melted, uncovering mounds of bird seed, rabbit pellets and an unfortunate mourning dove which was dispatched in our back yard by one of the roaming neighborhood cats. The cat's owners should be aware that our yard is a bird and rabbit-friendly space. Ergo, if I catch their cat in our yard, it's history. Yes, I know... "It's natural predation...". True enough, but they are forgetting that I also am a predator. And one who is extremely territorial about his yard... I have as much natural right to hunt, as that cat does. Moreso, some might say...

But I digress... The weekend was wonderful, if somewhat devoid of my lady's company for most of the days. Still, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time online, both with and without my son-in-law's company. I'm really developing a liking for CoD4, which is no surprise as I loved the initial game itself. The graphics are gorgeous, the maps interesting and varied. Gameplay is frenetic in some games, such as 'Shipment', which takes place in a container yard of probably no more than 2,500 square feet. You're having at one another, with teams of 8 to 10 players, grenades raining all over the friggin' place, and every now and then you either have to contend with an enemy gunship of a fighter-bomber raid. Mercifully though, no dogs... It's retardedly fast-paced and totally chaotic. The carnage rating is off the scale...

As with many other games, there is also the opportunity to buy additional maps online, which further extend the playability of the game. For the uninitiated, maps are scenarios in which a game is conducted. It's like a different 'episode' in which to continue the game, with different players, different surroundings, different goals, different challenges... It perpetuates the 'newness' of the game expotentially. The current deal is 4 new downloadable maps for CoD4, for the paltry sum of $7.00(US). I can download them right from my console and pay for 'em online. How cool and user-friendly is that?

To add to this, there are also a large variety of 'Perks' that one can earn through scoring, completing challenges and ranking up. These enable you to add to your arsenal by unlocking access to new weapons and/or your character's abilities. Greater endurance, greater speed, healing powers, never-miss aim... The list is no doubt endless. Small wonder some of these more experienced players (Prestige class) seem almost invincible. They have obviously accrued so many of these Perks that they now laugh at mere bullets and our seemingly puny efforts at killing them... Still, as with so many other things, this will change...

So yes, all in all it was a very enjoyable weekend.

High anticipation for the weekend...

So here we are on the cusp of yet another weekend. I have to admit to a certain amount of trepidation. Excitement, even. No... for as much as they are announcing plus temperatures all weekend, it has nothing to do with riding, alas. Baby will not be venturing out too far this season before she gets a 'new pair of shoes' (new tires). I have yet to time the valves as well so no, she's not quite "good to go" yet.

My better half is going to be earning her wage all weekend. Normally she is able to wrangle off at least one day that we can spend together, however not so this weekend. Hopefully she will be able to get at least a day off next week.

My excitement then, is more in reference to an anticipated weekend of gaming. Does that sound sad? Well it shouldn't. A chance to pit one's skills against others around the world... It's like a huge game of chess, but the 'men' move and shoot and create carnage. And if you blow a move, you're awarded a re-spawn to see if you can't do better next time around. You wouldn't call Bobby Fischer or Boris Spassky a loser, would you? Well okay... not if you're a member of the intelligentsia. But I digress...

There is something indefinable about spending a weekend day in one's pj's, wrapped in a housecoat with a steaming cup of Nabob colombian coffee or English breakfast tea, stretched out on a hugely comfortable chaise in the dimly-lit games room, while listening to the screams and frantic cries of your enemies, as you rain down death from above on them. Or just as often if not more so, have death rained down on you... I tell you, it's just a little bit of heaven on earth, is what it is... Well, except for the dogs... The dogs still creep the bejeezus out of me...

So yes... bring on Call of Duty 4, Battlefield: Bad Company and of course, Call of Duty - World at War. I will be only too happy to indulge in these three of my favorite online games. With any luck at all, I'll be joined online by my son-in-law, who himself is quite the avid gamer. We have tons of fun when playing online. Much of the mirth will normally center around each others' lame and unglorious military death, but there are also bouts of mutual support when one or the other is on a particularly good run, or timely (and not-so-timely...) warnings issued when one of us is about to get shivved by some sneaky ne'er-do-well.

But most of all, it fits the main criteria that most men demand of any passtime if we are to deem it worthwhile: it's fun! For some glorious reason, there are some of us males who retain our capability to simply do something, anything... just for the sheer fun of it. I see many males who manage to convince themselves that "at my age" they should be way beyond enjoying certain things. Well I beg to differ. I've never quite taken myself that seriously, that I won't allow myself to enjoy doing something pleasurable. And fuck anyone who dares to say different, I don't mind saying.

If anyone ever tries to tell you what you ought to be doing for enjoyment in life, based on either your age or what they enjoy doing, you just tell 'em to get the fuck off your radar. You have to be pretty arrogant and full of yourself to even suggest anything of the like to another human being, really. Normally this is the type of crap that comes from someone who doesn't have a clue how to live their own life, so they figure they can probably do a better job living someone else's life for them instead. Yes, that's right... you really can't get more wrong than that!

So yes... this weekend, nothing but good stuff.

On the future sale of the Farley Mowat...

I had a very good laugh while reading this load of self-righteous bullshit today. I remember being in Halifax and still serving in the Navy, when they towed in the Sea Shepherd, the first such vessel to be used in the eco-terrorism game.

She was parted out for scrap and rightfully so. Same as what ought to happen to the Farley Mowat, but then again, they'd probably appreciate that too much. So no, let the ship be sold legitimately to a new owner and let's see Watson try his hand at true piracy, in the face of well-armed enforcement officers. He'd be no different that those worthless scumbags operating off the coast of Somalia... Sure here he is whimpering about holding a bill of sale for the ship at home... Awww, là... poor lad. Do you think that matters a flying fuck Watson, you pretend fucking matelot? What an arsehole, what a walking clusterfuck you are, me son and a right embarassment to all Canadians.

Like all good psychotic sons of whores, you'll eventually go out in a blaze of naval gunfire, if in fact there is some being out there that we might refer to as God... I've taken the liberty here of adding some comments of my own in response to these gems of crap issued by Watson himself. Read on, that you might fully appreciate the brand of insanity these idiots perceive as their reality.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009
The Farley Mowat - Let the Buyer Beware!

Without being charged, without a trial, without a hearing, without the serving of a summons, our ship the Farley Mowat has been ordered sold by the Government of Canada.

(The ship was legally boarded and confiscated by the Crown in Canadian waters, following a laundry list of federal offenses pertaining to the Fisheries Act, the Marine Mammal Regulations, the Canada Shipping Act and a host of international marine conventions and regulations, not the least of which were using the ship as a weapon while orchestrating 2 separate ramming incidents against a Canadian Coast Guard ship. Had the Navy been there, the crew of the Farley Mowat would not have survived the encounter...).

"Am I shocked or surprised?" said Paul Watson. "Not really, I've smelt the bananas in Canada all my life. My country has freedom of speech until you speak, freedom of expression until you express yourself, and the freedom to hold property until the government takes it from you. Nothing that Canada, where the red of the flag stands for the blood of millions of slaughtered seals surprises me anymore. The fact is that they stole our ship without any charges laid against it or the owners and now they have ordered the sale of our property against our wishes."

(The ship was forfeited by this group of eco-terrorists, pursuant to legal actions undertaken against it by the Canadian government. End of story. Against their wishes? He has to be kidding here...)

The Canadian government seized the ship in international waters in April 2008 and arrested Captain Alex Cornelissen of the Netherlands and 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden for the "crime" of witnessing and documenting the killing of a seal under the Canadian Seal Protection regulations.

(Again, the ship was boarded in Canadian waters. I myself have conducted legal boardings of foreign vessels much further out to sea than the Mowat was taken in. Our jursidiction extends to the limit of our EEZ, which is a full 200 nautical miles off land. Any imbecile would recognize that the Gulf of St.Lawrence, which is within sight of land of both Quebec and New Brunswick, is well within that limit. It also goes without saying that their 'witnessing the Atlantic seal hunt' had absolutely nothing to do with the vast array of charges which have been brought to bear against the ship's master and her crew.)

The Farley Mowat has been held for over a year although no charges were ever brought against the ship or the owners of the ship - the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

(You don't bring charges against a ship. You bring charges against her master and her crew. Something which of course has been done. The ship? That is seized in accordance with Maritime Law and the laws of this country, to be disposed of as suits the Crown).

"The Canadian government not only has little respect for the lives of hundreds of thousands of seals, they also seem to have little respect for property and the due process of law," said Paul Watson.

(How like Watson to try to lump the seal hunt in with respect for property and due process. Neither of which he himself is familiar with to any degree, I might add).

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society made demands of the Canadian government that the Farley Mowat be returned in the same condition it was received. They refused and made the decision to sell the ship without even notifying the owner (Sea Shepherd) that the ship would be seized.

(The Sea Shepherd Society, a recognized eco-terrorist group which bases itself out of the United States, is in no position to make demands of anyone, least of all the government of Canada. The Sea Shepherd Society as well as the Farley Mowat's master, had been warned off from proceding into Canadian waters, long before they arrived here and a good deal of time before the incident in question took place. These facts I have already plainly chronicled in other posts here).

"I have no intention of recognizing the validity of any sale ordered by the Canadian government," said Paul Watson. "Whoever buys the ship should be aware that we retain the registry and the original Bill of Sale and we will take back what is ours at the first opportunity. You don't steal a ship from a pirate without repercussions."

(Simply having a bill of sale kicking around in a drawer at home, is not quite enough to reverse a legal judgement and sale of the ship itself to a new owner. His threat of taking the ship back at the first opportunity, is a folly that if he actually attempts to follow through on it, will see him gunned down on the high seas. This gives a very good view of how simple-minded Paul Watson actually is. Totally naive to reality and the ways of the world. It truly must be confusing and painful for him to stumble his way through life, not having a fucking clue...).

Any potential buyer should also be aware that the ship has over a quarter of a million dollars in leans against it. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will notify the creditors to be alert to any persons claiming ownership of our property. The buyer should be aware that debts on ships under maritime law stay with the ship regardless of change of ownership.

The Canadian government is taking bids on our ship until April 12th.

(Ummm...at the risk of sounding repetitive here: "It's NOT your ship!")

Watson's message to any potential buyer of the Farley Mowat: "You will not be buying a ship, you'll be buying a debt worth more than the ship is worth and you will be buying something that will not be your property - ever!"

(As if anyone ever takes anything this jack-off Watson says seriously...).

On the Sea Shepherd Society...

The following unbiased report is from a website entitled "activistcash.com". It provides a dispassionate, level-headed and honest analysis of these many activist groups and societies which incessantly panhandle industry and the general public for funds to keep them in business. Today's installment is on the Sea Shepherd Society and it's head maniac, Mr. Paul Watson. Please note that I will not deign him with the title 'captain' as he is no such thing and holds no such legal title, anywhere in the world. He is simply some arrogant, demented civilian that some like-minded idiots have seen fit to provide with a series of ships, which he invariably loses or destroys.

http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/347

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
P.O. Box 2616,
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
Phone 310-456-1141 Fax 310-456-2488 Email seashepherd@seashepherd.org

“We’re not a protest organization, we’re a policing organization,” Paul Watson has said of his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS). A pirate organization is more like it. Sporting the skull and crossbones, his black or battleship-gray ships sail menacingly through the waves. They are painted with the names of the boats Watson has rammed and sunk.

The ships are fitted with water cannons, a concrete-filled bow made for ramming, and an attachment dubbed the “can opener” that can tear open a boat’s hull. In his book Earth Warrior, David Morris writes that Watson wears a long bowie knife at his side and carries AK-47s on board. He blasts Richard Wagner’s rousing “Ride of the Valkyries” to herald his arrival and terrify his victims.

SSCS’s mission is to stop fishing of which it disapproves. Its preferred methods? Ramming and sinking fishing ships, throwing butyric acid on their decks, and firing machine guns. Watson argues that United Nations resolutions authorize him to commit violent acts. But he regularly interferes with fisherman and hunters who are committing no crime. He serves as judge, jury, and executioner -- while enjoying the same tax-exempt status as universities and churches.

Some of the animal-rights movement’s most notorious terrorists got their start with SSCS. One of them, convicted arsonist Rodney Coronado, had Watson’s approval to plan and execute an attack on Iceland’s whaling industry. He and a colleague sank two of the fleet’s four ships and destroyed a processing facility.

The Birth of Violence

SSCS is run with an iron fist by its founder, “Captain” Paul Watson. “When this ship becomes a democracy,” he likes to say to his crew, “you’ll be the first to know.” Watson is a dyslexic who “progressed from deckhand to able seaman without knowing how to tie a knot” with the Canadian Coast Guard and Norwegian and Swedish merchant marines.

In Vancouver, Watson joined a group of anti-war activists who attempted to forcibly shut down American nuclear tests. These radicals branched out into environmental activism and became Greenpeace, of which Watson was a founder. But Watson’s violent tactics became too much for Greenpeace, which kicked him out in 1977, after he assaulted seal hunters. Watson now assails his old comrades for being too wimpy, calling Greenpeace “the Avon ladies of the environmental movement.”

Soon after Watson’s eviction from Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and its ship-ramming philosophy were born. SSCS’s band of pirates have disrupted the legal Canadian seal hunt, attacked whaling ships and fishing boats using driftnets, and taken credit for spiking (inserting large nails into) thousands of trees. The group has sunk at least ten ships in Iceland, Norway, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and the Canary Islands. Watson has even sunk his own ships rather than let the authorities take them. And he has spent time in the jails of Canada and the Netherlands. “Any whaling ship on the ocean is a target for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,” he has said.

Watson’s love for marine life doesn’t stop him from eating fish. “Paul, who likes hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches equally, interprets veganism as a form of philosophical lunacy,” David Morris writes in Earth Warrior. Morris’s book details often-hilarious disputes between Watson and the vegan crewmembers.

One standoff ensued when Watson ordered the vegans to retrieve a driftnet left by an escaped fishing vessel. The crew took an agonizingly long time, trying to free every squid caught in the net, about which Watson couldn’t care less. He didn’t even mind profiting from the work of the ship he threatened -- Morris reports that he later sent his chef over to the net to “requisition a few squid for dinner.”

On the Fringe

Paul Watson has used his aggressive and illegal tactics to further other political causes. In 1992, replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria retraced Columbus’ voyage on its 500th anniversary. Watson, with Canadian Indians aboard his ship, confronted the Spanish fleet and demanded a written apology -- threatening to sink the Santa Maria if the Spaniards didn’t comply. Watson received his written apology from the terrified captain.

Watson also controls two covert groups under the SSCS umbrella. He established the Oceanic Research and Conservation Action Force (O.R.C.A. FORCE) with his ex-wife Lisa DiStefano (a former Playboy model). This shadowy undercover group damages and destroys ships at dock. Their agents have scuttled ships in Taiwan and Norway.

Watson’s second group, the Coeur du Bois (Heart of the Wood), is an underground group of tree-spikers. Watson claims to have invented tree spiking, whereby activists hammer large nails into trees about to be logged in an effort to hurt lumberjacks. Watson claims the group has spiked over 20,000 trees. In 1987, a California mill worker was horribly disfigured after his blade struck two spikes in a tree, almost severing his jugular vein. But Watson is unrepentant. “Those loggers don’t give a damn for future generations,” he said. “And if they don’t have any compassion for the future, I don’t have any compassion for them.”

Watson claims his group was the first to produce videotaped evidence that U.S. tuna seiners were killing dolphins, and he argues that commercial fisheries are callously emptying the seas. He recently called for governments to prohibit the catch of fish to feed livestock and pets. And he is collaborating with Indian groups in British Columbia to oppose all salmon farming.

Ultimately, he advocates the total shutdown of the global fishery industry. “There is only one solution to the problem of over-fishing and the collapse of the fisheries worldwide,” reads one Sea Shepherd press release. “The answer is simply to say ‘no to fish.’”

One of Watson’s latest escapades has landed him in some serious trouble. According to The Tico Times, Central America's foremost English-language newspaper, Costa Rica is investigating him for attempted murder after Costa Rican fishermen said he attacked them when he tried to force their boat into a Guatemalan port in April 2002. A judge ordered him to stay in Costa Rican territory. A defiant Watson instead fled the country.

Questionable Donors

Where does Watson get the funds for his exploits? In part, from an eclectic cadre of shadowy personalities.

That includes Susan Bloom, a long-time donor to the most extreme factions of the environmental and animal-rights movement. Bloom was the founder and main financier of the British Columbia animal-rights group Bear Watch, which employed David Barbarash, a former “spokesman” for the terrorist Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Paul Watson has hosted at least one Bear Watch fundraiser.

Ann Johnston gave SSCS almost $2.7 million in stock in 1997. Her husband, Pritam Singh, is a real estate developer and a member of SSCS’ financial and management advisory board. According to the Key News Journal, he’s under investigation by the FBI for his questionable business dealings. One Key West attorney has also filed a civil lawsuit against Singh, alleging almost 20 years of criminal activity -- including racketeering and fraud. Singh was fined $1.2 million by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision in 1995. And he quietly settled a lawsuit filed by members of his sales staff who said he illegally withheld their commissions.

Johnston’s 1997 stock donation included shares of a company named Northern Development Associates, a for-profit business which is now 100-percent owned by Sea Shepherd.

Corporate records show that the company’s officers include Watson’s ex-wife Lisa DiStefano and longtime associate Michael Kundu. Northern Development’s mailing address is the same as Pritam Singh’s Key West Golf Club. Watson and DiStefano also serve, with Singh, on the board of something called the Sea Trek 2000 Foundation. The mailing address for that group is the same as one of Singh’s Miami lawyers.

Motivation

Paul Watson craves attention. His dramatic physical attacks are designed to gain maximum media exposure. He has written that “The hint of romance and piracy or the possibility of violence guaranteed coverage.”

In addition to taking credit for inventing tree-spiking, Watson says he was the first to put his body between a whale and a harpoon. Indeed, he is known in the environmental movement as something of a show-off. Even long-time terrorist colleague Rodney Coronado joked, “If lightning struck a whaling ship, Paul would accept responsibility for it.”

Of course, the money doesn’t hurt, either. Crewmembers are charged $1,000 for the honor of working long hours on an expedition. Watson has long claimed (as recently as his 2002 memoir) that he has kept his vow to “never accept a single dollar for myself from charitable donations.” The group’s 2001 tax return, however, indicates Watson was paid $40,000 as president and CEO. He also makes money from lectures, books, and teaching at the Arts College of Design in Pasadena.

But neither fame nor fortune is really Watson’s primary motivation. He’s a misanthrope who prefers porpoises to people. “I couldn’t understand her compassion for humanity,” he says of an old girlfriend. “She chose people and I chose the Earth, and thus we began to drift apart.” He likes to accuse those who care about people of being “anthropocentric.” And he constantly refers to humans as mere apes.
Watson also has a seething hatred of the people whose livelihood he threatens. He’s an elitist who, despite his upbringing among maritime fishermen, has no sympathy for those who make their living from the ocean. He begins his book Seal Wars by calling Canadian sealers “the uneducated and the institutionally unemployed,” “barbarians,” and “piss-drunk on cheap booze.” Western Canadians who support a wolf control program are likewise branded “rednecks.”

Of his native Canada, Watson has said he “despise[s] its government and dislike[s] its people.” Scandinavians, meanwhile, are “the children of the rapers of Ireland and executioners of the Celts.” The “bloodlust of these Viking offspring” who hunt whales made him “ashamed” of his Danish ancestry. And Watson once shouted through a megaphone at Makah Indians on a whale hunt: “Just because you were born stupid doesn’t give you any right to be stupid.”

Watson has wrangled with Sierra Club head Carl Pope, asking why the group wasn’t more concerned about human population growth, particularly in the U.S. He has no sympathy for immigrants wishing to leave behind the horrid conditions of third-world countries to make a better life here. In fact, the desire to eat and have leisure time is almost a crime for Watson: “When an immigrant becomes an American citizen, they increase their rate of resource consumption by a factor of twenty.”

To Watson, saving seals is more important than saving human beings.

Black Eye

Though self-named a “Conservation Society,” Sea Shepherd is a violent organization. Its purpose is to ram and sink ships. Earth Warrior author David Morris details one such voyage in search of driftnetters. Even in this gushing account, Morris notes, “The gunfire that accompanied our attack on the Japanese ships was not defensive.” So it’s no surprise that Sea Shepherd’s expeditions have served as a fitting training ground for other animal-rights militants.

Rodney Coronado has long been involved with criminal groups such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which the FBI has identified as the country’s most dangerous domestic terrorist threat, and the special-interest ALF subset known as SHAC. He was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for the 1992 arson of a Michigan State University research laboratory. He admitted to at least six other arsons in a November 30, 2002 speech. In January 2003, he demonstrated to a group gathered at American University the “correct” way to build a firebomb out of household materials. And Paul Watson gave him his start.

Coronado joined SSCS immediately after graduating from high school in 1984. Two years later, he proposed a plan to covertly attack Iceland’s whaling industry. He and David Howitt, a British bicycle mechanic, destroyed a whale-processing facility there, and sank two of the Icelandic whaling fleet’s four ships. Watson supported the plan and SSCS took responsibility for the destruction.

In the mid-’90s, Coronado again wanted to join a SSCS expedition. But he was wanted for questioning by the FBI and Watson said no. Watson was regretful, however, calling him “an excellent crew member and the best damn activist I ever had.” These words give the lie to Watson’s claim that “we have absolutely no links with the so-called Animal Liberation Front.”

SHAC organizer and spokesman Joshua Harper has also served as a SSCS crewmember. Harper describes his goal as “the complete collapse of industrial civilization.” A young man with an impressive criminal record, Harper was jailed in 1997 for assaulting a police officer, and in 2001 for violating a summons to testify regarding ALF and its sister organization, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). He was also incarcerated in 1999 for attacking Native Americans on a whale hunt; Paul Watson’s ex-wife Lisa Distefano, and current wife, Allison Lance Watson, were also charged in that attack.

In April 2002, Allison Lance Watson was ordered to appear before a federal grand jury along with a number of other animal-rights activists. Former ELF spokesman Craig Rosebraugh issued a press release announcing her subpoena. Watson’s attorney was Stuart Sugarman, the same lawyer who represented Rosebraugh when he appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives committee in 2002 and refused to answer questions.

Alex Pacheco is another activist who started his career with SSCS, in the late 1970s. He now serves on one of its advisory boards. Pacheco is co-founder and former chairman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an organization whose leaders openly advocate terrorist violence. “Arson, property destruction, burglary, and theft are ‘acceptable crimes’ when used for the animal cause,” he once said. Pacheco is rumored to be a “commander” of ALF and has been subpoenaed in connection to ALF activities.

Watson once held a fundraiser for the “Kentucky Fried Five,” a group of animal-rights activists who vandalized a fast-food outlet in Toronto in 1987, claiming they were “scapegoats.” An empty KFC chicken bucket was passed around for donations. The hooligans pleaded guilty to mischief resulting in willful damage, and possession of burglary tools and stolen property. Two of the five were also accused of possessing explosives, carrying weapons, and vandalizing the Toronto University dentistry school, but those charges were dropped as part of a plea-bargain. One of the latter two, David Barbarash, has served as an ALF spokesman, and The Oregonian said the group was an ALF cell.


Copyright © 2009 Center for Consumer Freedom. All rights reserved.


- So now you know the whole story...

Immigrants, not Canadians, must adapt...

I read the following with not only great interest, but with a growing sense of admiration and hope for the Aussies and their apparently able Prime Minister Mr. John Howard:

Canada should absolutely adopt a similar stance. So should every free-thinking country on the face of the planet! Read on and enjoy the truth, the refreshing candor of these words which come from a real, honest to God leader:

Excerpts from an on going debate in Australia:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/australia.asp

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown.

Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament.

"If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps then that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off.

Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand."

"This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom". "We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language.

Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society .. Learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom: 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, Canadians will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths ! This applies to all of our legal Immigrants. For those of you who are here illegally, you will be found and deported. Remember, there is a very heavy and visible line between immigration and invasion. You simply have to have your head out of your ass, in order to see it.

As for those "politically-correct" assholes who would sell out our way of life in order to curry favor with foreigners, I suggest they be sent to live in the countries of those whose 'rights' they champion over our own.