Good news, and a change of topic

[kd3pc]

Originally Posted by SloopJonB

Believe me, I'm no fan of terrorists but Watson has always carefully targeted his actions and he takes the same risks as the other volunteers on board his boats. He's never done anything like the French killing the Greenpeace guy in New Zealand when they blew up the Rainbow Warrior.

Watson IS the poster child for eco-terror....he is one of the founders of that genre and excels in getting some agenda bound naive person to do his bidding..

You must not be watching the same show I do, as just this past week he crawls all over his helo pilot for "only flying 12" of the past 18 hours who now wants to sleep 4 hours before he (the pilot) gets back in the cockpit...

or the idea of "authorizing" neophyte crew people to lower the RIB with 4 or 5 crew in it, with a crane in total darkness and radio silence to attach a transponder to another ship that they don't own....

etc, etc, etc...

Some how all that smacks of total disregard for human life as well as the fact that attaching anything to another man's boat, under cover of darkness is piracy pure and simple...in most real worlds...

Watson WAS greenpeace for years, before his eco-terrorist actions got him booted from the organization he founded....He has not personally taken a risk in quite some years....except that eventually he or one of his underlings will be killed pulling these stunts

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by kd3pc

Watson IS the poster child for eco-terror....he is one of the founders of that genre and excels in getting some agenda bound naive person to do his bidding..

You must not be watching the same show I do, as just this past week he crawls all over his helo pilot for "only flying 12" of the past 18 hours who now wants to sleep 4 hours before he (the pilot) gets back in the cockpit...

or the idea of "authorizing" neophyte crew people to lower the RIB with 4 or 5 crew in it, with a crane in total darkness and radio silence to attach a transponder to another ship that they don't own....

etc, etc, etc...

Some how all that smacks of total disregard for human life as well as the fact that attaching anything to another man's boat, under cover of darkness is piracy pure and simple...in most real worlds...

Watson WAS greenpeace for years, before his eco-terrorist actions got him booted from the organization he founded....He has not personally taken a risk in quite some years....except that eventually he or one of his underlings will be killed pulling these stunts

There is no question he is a fanatical true believer which automatically means he will do stupid things like the incidents you refer to. He went is own way from Greenpeace because they had turned into an bloated and ineffective bureaucracy.

As you noted - no-one has been killed due to his actions, just lots of lost profits to the TRUE eco-terrorists like Japan, Norway etc.

Personally, I'd like to see some more of his kind - maybe if some Chinese herb shops were burned to the ground we'd have Rhinos and Tigers and Snow Leopards for a while longer.

As long as it only costs the criminals their ill gotten gains and businesses - no-one getting killed - I'm more or less O/K with it - civil disobedience on a grand scale, so to speak.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by SloopJonB

Believe me, I'm no fan of terrorists but Watson has always carefully targeted his actions and he takes the same risks as the other volunteers on board his boats. He's never done anything like the French killing the Greenpeace guy in New Zealand when they blew up the Rainbow Warrior.

I'm somewhat in agreement with you on this.

I sometimes watch Sea Shepherd actions and shake my head in disbelief but then some admiration for what they are trying to do seeps through.

Presidents and Prime Ministers send armies off to fight seemingly senseless campaigns, countless thousands die daily through starvation, drought, disease while we the wealthy stand by and do far too little , yet Watson who is not responsible for killing anyone is pegged as having 'total disregard for human life' . Doesn't add up.

I fully understand where his detractors are coming from if only because I can almost see me reacting in the same way but still I think he does more good than harm.

Why name his ship after that tosser Irwin though ? Damned if I know.

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by tdw

I'm somewhat in agreement with you on this.

I sometimes watch Sea Shepherd actions and shake my head in disbelief but then some admiration for what they are trying to do seeps through.

Presidents and Prime Ministers send armies off to fight seemingly senseless campaigns, countless thousands die daily through starvation, drought, disease while we the wealthy stand by and do far too little , yet Watson who is not responsible for killing anyone is pegged as having 'total disregard for human life' . Doesn't add up.

I fully understand where his detractors are coming from if only because I can almost see me reacting in the same way but still I think he does more good than harm.

Why name his ship after that tosser Irwin though ? Damned if I know.

Agreed. I must admit I too have some difficulty with my own attitude towards this topic - it is not at all like the usual me. I think the imminent finality of what he is fighting is the reason for my attitude. The authorities have proven to be too useless, corrupt or venal to stop the looming extinction of so many magnificent species and their final destruction is SO close that if it takes "direct action" to stop or even just delay their demise then I say go for it.

If we end up being responsible for the extinction of Tigers, Rhinos, Snow Leopards, Blue whales (the biggest creature that EVER lived) and so many others, for the sake of such trivialities as perfume, superstitious aphrodisiacs, knife handles etc. it will be a source of unforgivable shame for the entire human race for all eternity. If someone like Watson can do something to help stop it by ramming and / or sinking some whaling ships, more power to him.