The Christian Science Monitor recently ran an editorial urging folks to boycott Japan products in protest of the nation’s whaling practices.

The fate of endangered whale species, such as the humpback, will be decided in mid-June during a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The editorial points out that Japan has already offered millions of dollars in “aid” in an attempt to influence the votes of poor nations toward a reduction of regulations.

It’s not really clear why the Japanese government has whale fever. According to the editorial, less than 1 percent of the meat from the over 1,000 whales currently slaughtered annually in Japan is consumed by humans. The rest ends up in dog treats and other products.

It is noted that Japanese politicians view the Western opposition of and restriction of whale hunting as “cultural imperialism.” I’d have to kind of agree with them on that one. Americans as a whole don’t look too persuasive arguing for whale protection when most of them are out there shooting deer and eating hamburgers. But let’s be real, most of the folks who actually get off the couch and do something beyond flapping their lips to help animals are vegetarians/vegans that aren’t worried about being “cultural imperialist” for a good cause and would just as soon stop animal abuse in the US if they could. It really irks me when people try to justify whatever blatantly wrong thing they’re doing by pulling out dirty laundry on their opponents, especially when the dirty laundry doesn’t even belong to the accused. But I guess that’s the way of the world!

Thanks to DawnWatch for keeping us in the know.

Visit StopWhaling.org to get active for whales.

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