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2 the clackamas print Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 Opinion: Dolphins die in Denmark ■1 1 By Abigail Neet News Editor Not much press is being given to the whales and dol phins being killed in Northern Europe. We are not directly affected by what is happening and most of us have probably not even heard about it. I’m sure not many people even care. But you should. In the Faroe Islands, a part of Denmark, it is tradition to slaughter whales and dolphins. The animals are chased into the bay by boats and then dealt a bloody death. According to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), this is the process used to kill the animals. Metal hooks are driven into the stranded mammals’ blowholes before their spines are cut. The animals slowly bleed to death. PETA’s Website allows you to contact Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, the Faroe Islands Tourist Board and the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and let them know you are aware of the atrocity that is occurring and that you disagree with it. Whaling is illegal in Denmark, but the Faroe Islands have laws that are independent of Denmark’s. The process is called Grindadrap and, according to Wikipedia, began over 1,200 years ago. Whale hunting is part of their tradition and is still happening regardless of the fact that chief medical offi cers from the Faroe Islands have recommended, due to research on the Faroese, that pilot whales are no longer to be considered fit to eat because they are toxic. In Japan a similar crisis is happening. A film was made earlier this year highlighting the events in Japan. The documentary focus es on a small coastal town, Taiji, where 2,000 dolphins are speared to death every year for their meat. Dead dolphins sell for about $600 according to campaignwhale.org According to Discovery, com, America is an anti-whal- ing nation, that stands opposed to the resumption of commer cial whaling but allows for small-scale aboriginal whal ing. Whale Wars, a show on Animal Planet, chronicles a former Greenpeace member, Paul Watson, and his team who harass and attempt to stop Japanese whaling boats Even South Park is aware of this injustice. The synopsis for the Oct. 26 episode was “Stan and his fam ily are spending his birthday at the Denver Aquarium where they will get to swim with the dolphins. Things turn bloody when the Japanese attack, kill all the dolphins and ruin Stan’s big day. There seems to be no end to the senseless kill ing. Stan takes on the cause to save thé dolphins from the Japanese.” Why this is being allowed, I wonder. These dolphins are innocent and they never did anything to deserve this unfair death! Eating dolphin meat is toxic and not nutritionally benefi- ’ cial, and therefore people are doing this for traditions sake rather than for any economic Illustration by Kayla Berge Clackamu reason. Tradition’s sake? It’s not a good enough reason for killing such innocent creatures. If America is such a hero and so eagerly “helps” Afghanistan and Iraq, why will we not reach out and help other innocent creatures, like when we turned our back on the Rwanda’s genocides and how we’re ignoring Darfur’s plight. Oh yeah, because they d have our oh-so desired oil, I’m sorry that they d have any oil to give us. I b they did we would be ther rush to . help them out. If I had something beneficia us, we would find them wo of attention. Why must we have sei reasons for helping others^ Oh yeah, because we American. OBAMA: Healthcare bill passes in House of Representative! Continued from OBAMA, Page 1 According to the Los Angeles Times, Obama’s plan for Afghanistan is to find a goal that is achievable. Obama’s military commander, Army General Stanley A. McChrystal, admitted they needed a goal that was more focused. The plan is to secure Afghanistan’s densely populated cities, focus the counterinsurgency on provinces where there’s a realis tic prospect of reducing the Taliban to marginal status rather than fully eliminating them, and accept that parts of the country will remain beyond Kabul’s control. Obama’s healthcare plan includes a bill that reins in healthcare costs, expands coverage to millions of uninsured people and stops insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage for the sick. Obama’s healthcare “plan” is still in the works and was approved by the House of Representatives on Nov. 7. The plan will need to be approved by the Senate next. If the Senate does approve it a congressional conference committee will need to merge both the proposals and form a consensus, which would require approval from each chamber. The next step would be Obama signing it into law. The plan has many areas that are not specific or have not been addressed, according to the Washington Posts’ analysis of healthcare reform proposals. His plan is to cover all Americans and will cost $900 billion over a decade. The plan includes busi nesses with 50 plus workers being required to offer their workers coverage or pay a fee. Obama also wants small businesses and those with out affordable insurance through their employer to be able to’have access to a new exchange that would start in 2013. The exchange would be limited to legal citizens. Darris agrues that Obama has no healthcare plan. “What we should have learned by now is Obama has no Healthcare plan, but must rely on Congress to enact any so-called reform. And Congi is so in the pocket of what I call the medical-pharmaceutical-complex real healthcare reform (for example a single-payer system) will come of Congress until we have real political reform within the Congress,” i Darris on the subject. Darris believes the rest of Obama’s time in office will show “how 11 American citizens know about how their government functions wl more and more citizens begin to question his activities (or 1’ thereof), because of the misconception of what a presid can accomplish. In short, more and more citizens are gofl to become more and more dissatisfied because they do know Obama can’t do what he promised he would do.| LaRouche, a political action committee, was on c pus Monday, Oct. 24, creating anti-Obama awarenl LaRouche wants support from students and has fly^ comparing the Obama health plan to a Nazi health 3 and Obama to Hitler. Obama’s healthcare plan includes a bill that rein! healthcare costs, expands coverage to millions of sured people and stops insurers from denying covej for pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage fori sick. Clarification: A story about Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize in the 10/28/09 issue of the Clackamas Print mischaracterized Dean Darris’s opin ion of the Nobel Peace Prize. Darris said that he puts *alue on the prize but thought th debate surround ing Obama win ning it was idiocy Furthermore, Darri said that his life i devoted to peac and he would neve degrade the Nobe Peace Prize. Th Clackamas Prin apologizes for thi mischaracterization Illustration by Jessica Foster Clackamas Print Clackamas Print The Clackamas Print 19600 S. Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 503-657-6958, ext. 2309 Co-Editors in Chief: Kayla Berge and John Hurlburt « Copy Editor: Kayla Calloway News Editor: Abigail Neet Associate News Editor: Anrfemarie Schulte - A&C Editor: Matthew Ostergren Sports Editor: Mark Foster Photo Editor: John Shufelt Web Editor: Brad Heineke Ad Manager: Meredith James Design Editor: Kelsey Schneider Staff Writers/ Photographers: Erik Andersen, Dale Balbi, Cargos Calderon, Matt Garrison, Jessica Foster, Jessica Homer, Javierh Montero, John Petty, Brian Steele, Mark Sunderland, Steven Weldon Production Assistants: Jaime Dunkle, Corey Romick, Jessica Sheppard Journalism Adviser: Melissa Jones G oals : Ilze CZack«w«s PriHt aims I to report the news in an honest, unbiased, professional manner. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the student body, college adminis tration, its faculty or The Print. E-mail comments to chiefed@ clackamas.edu.
