Thursday, July 22, 2010

Hiatus

So... this blog is being seriously neglected recently, as I haven't even looked at it since my last post. I have been busy enjoying summer, planning our vacation to Canada, and having my little brother in town.

I have tons to blog about... so I hope to be back and posting next week. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Cove

We've had the Academy Award winning documentary, The Cove, from Netflix for almost 2 months... and last night I finally had the courage to watch it (I knew it would upset me). I'm not sure what to say except to urge all of you to watch this movie. It is powerful. It is captivating, and worth watching! You may recognize actress Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) from the peaceful protest footage (part of it is in this trailer), which is only briefly mentioned/shown in this documentary... but if you're interested you can learn more about it here and here. There was (or is still?) a warrant for her arrest in Japan. 



Here is an excerpt from The Cove's Take Part website.

The Secret Is Out. Spread the Word.
The Cove exposes the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year, and how their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan and other parts of Asia, often labeled as whale meat. The majority of the world is not aware this is happening.  The focus of the Social Action Campaign for The Cove is to create worldwide awareness of this annual practice as well as the dangers of eating seafood contaminated with mercury and to pressure those in power to put an end to the slaughter.
And it’s been working. The film has been making waves since it premiered last year. Critical praise and audience awards worldwide have focused international attention on Taiji and the annual dolphin drives off the coast of Japan.  Under intense pressure, Taiji called for a temporary ban on killing bottlenose dolphins. The film, which was originally rejected, was shown at the Tokyo Film Festival due to public outcry. Residents in Taiji are being tested for mercury poisoning, and for the first time Japanese media are covering the issue.

Close to a million people have signed on to the campaign, but this is just the beginning. The fisherman are clearly rattled, but haven’t stopped killing dolphins.
TakePart now to help shut down the cove for good.
Please check out www.takepart.com/thecove to see how you can take action.