DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**scemHeish** · 12-21-2010, 06:52 PM

I am not an expert on Japanese culture but there are a couple of things that bother me in addition to their continued whaling.

Of historical significance:
1) Pearl Harbor
2)Bataan Death March

Also, I am always hesitant to paint an entire country with such a broad brush, but the Japanese do not seem to care much about the lives of animals and I have two specific examples around this.

The first is the strory of Ferdinand. Ferdinand was a thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1986 Kentucky Derby, the 1987 Breeders Cup, and was voted the 1987 horse of the year. At the conclusion of his racing career he was retired to stud in KY. In 1994 a breeding operation in Japan (where horse racing is prevalent) acquired Ferdinand and he stood at stud in Japan for the rest of his life. By 2002 Ferdinand was getting very long in the tooth and had become very arthritic. Unable to "cover" mares (artificial insemination is not allowed in the thoroughbred racing industry) any longer due to his arthritis the Japanese sent him to slaughter. They never contacted anyone in the US about placing him on a retired thoroughbred farm where he could spend his last days in peace and tranquility.

The second example I have is about the specific breed of dog, the Akita. My folks have had Akitas since the day I was born, even have baby pictures with them (and I am days away from turning 39), so we've had akitas for a long time. Someone close to me suggested I read the book, Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain. The Akita is considered a national treasure in Japan and following WWII there were only a couple of dozen left. The book details breeders in Japan trying rebuild the breed, but each of them wanted to be given the credit for doing it so the fvckers would poison each others dogs.

The stories about Ferdinand and the Akitas left a bad taste in my mouth.

Wow, whale hunting is akin to war crimes now? That's just flat out ignorance, if not racism. You must be really pissed about the 200,000+ civilians that died when the nukes were dropped, if you're still upset at the less than 100 civilian casualties that were cause by the Pearl Harbor attack. How about the 60,000,000 american bison that were mercilessly slaughtered in the 19th century? It's idiotic to cite historical examples and then proceed to use them as a representation of a culture/race so broadly. Sounds like the racism from World War II isn't as dead as I thought it was. When you cherry pick examples like this it's easy to paint ANY race or culture in a negative light, it just makes you incredibly ignorant.

As for the thoroughbred horse that was slaughtered, I actually have a hard time even seeing what your issue is. Do you realize how many animals are slaughtered DAILY when they outlive their usefulness? This horse is somehow special because it won a race and then spent the rest of its life ****ing? Makes no goddamn sense. Livestock are property, and when they outlive their usefulness they are slaughtered and rendered. That's just life as it exists on earth.

And Braveheart, the question I have to ask is, are you actually opposed to all hunting of whales, or just hunting that is unsustainable? Iceland, Norway, Finland, Russia, indigenous North Americans, and many other countries also hunt whales, and in similar numbers, so why single out japan? Norway hunts almost as many whales as Japan a year, and has TWENTY FIVE TIMES LESS POPULATION. I can't figure out two things; why is the talk always about Japan's whaling practices, and why people find the idea of even sustainable whale hunting to be a bad one. I suspect the first part is xenophobia, and the second part is because they saw Shamoo at Sea World and thought whales were cute.

12-21-2010, 06:52 PM	#11
scemHeish Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 442 Senior Member	I am not an expert on Japanese culture but there are a couple of things that bother me in addition to their continued whaling. Of historical significance: 1) Pearl Harbor 2)Bataan Death March Also, I am always hesitant to paint an entire country with such a broad brush, but the Japanese do not seem to care much about the lives of animals and I have two specific examples around this. The first is the strory of Ferdinand. Ferdinand was a thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1986 Kentucky Derby, the 1987 Breeders Cup, and was voted the 1987 horse of the year. At the conclusion of his racing career he was retired to stud in KY. In 1994 a breeding operation in Japan (where horse racing is prevalent) acquired Ferdinand and he stood at stud in Japan for the rest of his life. By 2002 Ferdinand was getting very long in the tooth and had become very arthritic. Unable to "cover" mares (artificial insemination is not allowed in the thoroughbred racing industry) any longer due to his arthritis the Japanese sent him to slaughter. They never contacted anyone in the US about placing him on a retired thoroughbred farm where he could spend his last days in peace and tranquility. The second example I have is about the specific breed of dog, the Akita. My folks have had Akitas since the day I was born, even have baby pictures with them (and I am days away from turning 39), so we've had akitas for a long time. Someone close to me suggested I read the book, Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain. The Akita is considered a national treasure in Japan and following WWII there were only a couple of dozen left. The book details breeders in Japan trying rebuild the breed, but each of them wanted to be given the credit for doing it so the fvckers would poison each others dogs. The stories about Ferdinand and the Akitas left a bad taste in my mouth. Wow, whale hunting is akin to war crimes now? That's just flat out ignorance, if not racism. You must be really pissed about the 200,000+ civilians that died when the nukes were dropped, if you're still upset at the less than 100 civilian casualties that were cause by the Pearl Harbor attack. How about the 60,000,000 american bison that were mercilessly slaughtered in the 19th century? It's idiotic to cite historical examples and then proceed to use them as a representation of a culture/race so broadly. Sounds like the racism from World War II isn't as dead as I thought it was. When you cherry pick examples like this it's easy to paint ANY race or culture in a negative light, it just makes you incredibly ignorant. As for the thoroughbred horse that was slaughtered, I actually have a hard time even seeing what your issue is. Do you realize how many animals are slaughtered DAILY when they outlive their usefulness? This horse is somehow special because it won a race and then spent the rest of its life ****ing? Makes no goddamn sense. Livestock are property, and when they outlive their usefulness they are slaughtered and rendered. That's just life as it exists on earth. And Braveheart, the question I have to ask is, are you actually opposed to all hunting of whales, or just hunting that is unsustainable? Iceland, Norway, Finland, Russia, indigenous North Americans, and many other countries also hunt whales, and in similar numbers, so why single out japan? Norway hunts almost as many whales as Japan a year, and has TWENTY FIVE TIMES LESS POPULATION. I can't figure out two things; why is the talk always about Japan's whaling practices, and why people find the idea of even sustainable whale hunting to be a bad one. I suspect the first part is xenophobia, and the second part is because they saw Shamoo at Sea World and thought whales were cute.
	Quote