WTO Mike Moore on Whale Burgers, 2002-06-02
They've been cooking up the whale burger in Geneva all along since some time before June 2002, so it wasn't a new idea after all as. Back door entry disquised as an ingenius discovery of a new way to consume the whale ?
(The professor Koichi Sera, 40, an assistant professor at Hokkai Gakuen University, proposed the Genghis Khan Burger, and Toshihiro Okawa, 37, an employee of a whale meat sales company in Tokyo suggested the whale burger acc. to Mainichi.)
"Head of the World Trade Organisation and former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore has lent his support to the Japanese Whale industry by fronting a 100% Whale Burger campaign. The campaign (was) funded by the Japanese Government."
Mike Moore Throws Weight Behind 100% Whale Burger Campaign
Spinner said:
The campaign, funded by the Japanese Government, is designed to promote the benefits of consuming whale meat to a sceptical international market. The advertisements feature Moore tucking in to a generous ¼ pound slab of whale meat complemented by lettuce, onions and beetroot before delivering the catchphrase "Have a Whale of a Time at your next BBQ, Try a 100% Whale Burger Today !"
Moore, a staunch proponent of using international trade to improve the plight of developing nations was only too happy to lend his support to the campaign. "Small pacific nations shouldn't be turning their back on the potentially lucrative whale trade, they should embrace the opportunity with both arms. Just think, once modified, the many lagoons on pacific islands would be perfect whale farms."
Helping developing nations: is that the primary motive of the whale burger promotion ? I would like to see some solid facts, statistics, and business projection; but if there is no existing market, how can one project anything ? Or is there a specific political agenda to serve, such as that of the fund provider ?
"Pacific Nations should be thinking less about creating Whale Santuary's and more about creating whale Safari's, to tap into the lucrative Japanese tourism market."
So is it about selling whale burgers to Japanese tourists in the Pacific region ?
Head of the Japanese Whale Commission Taka Yokoshi is adamant that whale meat is the luxury delicacy of the future. "I have dined on some of the worlds rarest species, Panda Steaks, Black Robin Omelettes, BBQ Panther Ribs you name it, but let me assure you that Whale meat is the finest delicacy of them all, and its about time you round-eyes got into line on this one."
A tad too eager to impress readers with the sublime taste of whale cuisine, some wild animals had to be sacrificed ! Now I know what people at the Japanese Whale Commission are into; trying all the rare species so that the whale species are not the first to go down ? Wait, that just changed with the whale burger. Tax money well spent ! Exactly how much was spent since 2002 (and fro earlier) to promote whale meat consumption ?
"We Japanese have a right to eat whatever we want. What would you do if we told New Zealanders. 'No More Sunday Lamb Roast Meat'?" You wouldn't like it would you? What we are saying with this campaign is "don't knock it till you try it"."
Of course, but that somehow burns me... The arrogant blurting out brings nightmarish flashbacks about cannibalism in China; Korean and Japanese historians had to plead with the Chinese counterparts to exclude the cannibalistic kyoza during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War as it would be too shocking for the junior high school students of CJK. Why the sudden, defensive, cultural relativity rhetoric; is he trying to be friendly, and then suddenly shifting into assertiveness ?
Yokoshi went on to state that there would be no fear of contracting any BSE type diseases when eating Japanese whale meat as "it has all been 100% scientifically tested."
©Copyright 2004, Spinner
In science, there is no 100%, so we know this is unscientific crap. Suppose a freighter went down with 10,000 heads of cattle, and 10 cows were infected with BSE before being detected, and a couple of Kujiras came along for a meal... what now ?
I'd try the stuff anyway, but selling the idea in such crude, uncouth, feigned scientific crap is insulting to say the least. It might have been nice at least for the Whaling Commission to feed the hungry with all that funding for political pitching that only irritates, that is if the recipients were willing to try whale meat in order not to starve.