Whaling Must End

Has anyone out there ever tried whale meat? I haven't, and never will. It is quite suprising to me that there are nations who still want to hunt and kill whales. They claim they do this for 'scientific' purposes. Just how the consumption of whale meat in restaurants can be considered a scientific endeavour, I'm not sure.

According to the secretary of Norway's High North Alliance pro-whaling organization, Rune Frovic,

"Whales belong to the animal kingdom. In some cultures they eat frogs, others don't; Hindus don't eat beef, that's their choice, but they don't try to prohibit the rest of the world from eating it."

Ahem. Yes, quite true. But his statement is obvious misdirection: There is no worldwide shortage of cattle or edible frogs. They are not endangered species. They do not face the threat of extinction like actively hunted species of whale. How dumb do they think we are?

And Japan's attempt to enlist smaller nations in order to buy votes is nothing short of corruption. They don't even try to hide the fact!

Now, I wouldn't call myself a tree-hugging hippie, but this absolute plundering of nature is quite sickening. There is no need to consume whale meat, and it is falling out of favour with younger people in those nations that actively hunt whales. Sure, there are cultural reasons, but surely the survival of those species must take precedence.

Long Lost Friends

Unbelievable! I have just come across the website of a good friend I went to school with in Scotland, completely by chance. We haven't heard from each other in about ten years.

We were in a band together in high school, and it turns out he's continued on with music in my absence. He's written some truly excellent songs, and progressed as a musician by a great degree. I was rather impressed. Some of his work is available for download at SoundClick, or check out his other page at MySpace.

Helping Hands

The last three weeks have been very tough for me. Lots of stuff seemed to happen all at once and I struggled to cope with it all. I had a fairly bad depressive episode, when I just couldn't face dealing with anyone or anything.

I can totally understand why there is such a high rate of self-harm in NZ. Sometimes it seems that there is nothing good on the horizon, and that nothing you do can make a difference. Luckily I have some very good friends (Shewbie and Anyzoom) who realised what was happening and helped me through.

The problem was compounded by the fact that E. is over in Australia just now visting relatives and taking a break, and I couldn't turn to her for help. I miss her so much. I have put photos of her on my desk, and I set one particularly good photo of her as my KDE desktop wallpaper to keep me company.

The tutors at Tech have been understanding about my situation, and have been very supportive.
One tutor in particular, D.M., reminded me that what I'm trying to accomplish is actually very difficult, and I realised that I had come much further in my education than I thought I was capable of.

I want to say thanks to the above for helping me through this period.

"No man is an island unto himself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." - John Donne