Whale-related school bullies in New Zealand

According to New Zealand Herald, a Japanese-born boy was seriously injured as a result of school bullying. He had been racially abused by the students who turned around and picked up him and dropped him on his head.

A 14-year-old suffered a potentially fatal blood clot in his brain after he was attacked by school bullies in what appears to be a racially motivated attack.

The teen, Japanese-born Ryotaro Wright, needed emergency brain surgery in Waikato Hospital after the attack at Forest View High School in Tokoroa this week. Doctors say he was close to death.

Four students have been suspended and police are investigating.

Ryotaro's father Llewellyn said yesterday his son had been racially abused by four students over the past few weeks, including being called "whale muncher".

According to the school's web page, Ryutaro was awarded Premium Student Achievement Award last year. I hope that he will get well soon.

Who shot Capt. Watson?

After a Japanese coast guard threw a flash grenade, Paul Watson whips out a bullet buried in the Kevlar vest.

The flash grenades are commonly used in crowd control. They are designed to rupture in mid-air and produce a loud bang. You can see in the following video the Japanese coast guard throwing flash grenades.

Perhaps he was attacked by one of the invisible ninjyas.

Mild acid made from rotten butter?

Sea Shepherd attacked a Japanese whaling ship again on March 3, 2008. The BBC's news report relating to the attack said in the first sentence,

Japan has summoned senior diplomats to complain about an activist attack on its Antarctic whaling fleet using mild acid made from rotten butter.

The acid that Sea Shepherd threw to the Japanese ship was not made from rotten butter. Does BBC believe that Sea Shepherd has a factory where they are extracting butyric acid from rotten butter? Do they believe that butyric acid made from rotten butter is less harmful than that synthesized chemically? No. They are trying to make butyric acid look harmless by emphasizing that the substance is contained in rotten butter. But the fact is one can kill a human by administering 40 ml of the substance onto the skin.

Last year, Ampontan's article entitled "BBC: Inciting racial hatred of the Japanese?" revealed how BBC is biased in reporting Japanese whaling. BBC's news reports seem to be getteing worse. They are promoting violence that may kill people by spreading misinformation from Sea Shepherd to the world.

The Daily Telegraph called Japanese Japs in the headline

The Daily Telegraph published an article with the headline, "Japs turn backs slaughter". The term "Japs" has already been removed from their website.

The followings are from Propaganda Buster.

This is the 21st century and we have a newspaper using racist terms. The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper in Australia on their online website used a racist and offensive term in reference to the people of Japan. A Japanese person complained to the newspaper about that term. The Daily Telegraph removed the term from their article headline, but not entirely from their website. Proving once again, racist are stupid.

Take a look at the screenshots in the Propaganda Buster's video.
日本語字幕付きは、こちら. (HT to lovewhale1)

Update: The Daily Telegraph is still displaying the term.

Click the above thumbnail to see the screenshot.

Propaganda Buster talks on Japanese whaling

The following videos by Propaganda Buster are now popular in Japanese blogosphere.

From the first video.

People from all over the world, mostly euro-trash from northern Europe swarm down on a tiny to town in Japan, the town of Tiji to protest the Japanese in their dolphin hunting.
(...)
How come they only protest in Japan? Because the people in Japan are polite and the Euro-trash take advantage of the polite Japanese culture. How come this same Euro-trash can not be found in a Texas steak house protesting a Texas trying to eat his or her steak? Where are the protested in Little Italy in lower Manhattan, New York City, when an Italian is eating veal parmesan? Veal, the meat from a calf. Where are these brave protesters when Native Americans in Alaska go on a whale hunt?

From the second video.

A ship (Arctic Sunrise) belonging to the radical conservationist group, Greenpeace rams into the Japanese whaling vessel (Nisshin Maru) and then blames the Japanese ship. Also the international insurance company located in London, the United Kingdom, Lloyds of London, accused the Japanese of ramming the Greenpeace ship. Seeing the photographs and video, clearly demonstrate that the Greenpeace ship here was the aggressor in purposely ramming the Japanese ship. However world opinion sided with Greenpeace. Proving once again the round eyes are the racist selecting an Asian nation to harass.

America has great people!

日本語字幕付きバージョンは、こちら と こちら. (HT to lovewhale1)

A good move to keep security in the public sea

Today's Sankei Shimbun reported that the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau has started the investigation on the forcible obstruction of business, inflicting bodily injury and other suspicions to Japanese whalers commited by anti-whaling activists. After identifying suspects, they will request the country where the suspects reside to hand over them based on the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA). According to the report, one sailor attacked by the activists last february got his face
burned by butyric acid.

On the toxic nature of butyric acid

Sea Shepherd threw glass bottles filled with butyric acid onto a Japanese whaling ship on the 15th of January. Paul Watson confirmed that the group launched butyric acid at the Yushin Maru No.2 as reported in The Australian.

Whale activists admit to stink bombs
By Melissa Jenkins | January 19, 2008

ANTI-whaling activists admit to throwing about 12 stink bombs onto a Japanese whaling ship after two of its crew were released, and are planning more attacks.

Two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who were being detained on the whaling boat Yushin Maru No. 2, were yesterday handed to an Australian customs' vessel then returned to their ship, the Steve Irwin.

The Japanese Whaling Association (JWA) has accused the activists of throwing acid onto the sister vessel of the Yushin Maru No. 2 -- the Yushin Maru No. 3 -- overnight.

Captain of the Steve Irwin Paul Watson denied any attack on the Yushin Maru No. 3, saying he had not even seen such a boat.

But he confirmed the group launched a “retaliatory strike” of butyric acid “stink bombs” at the Yushin Maru No. 2, about one hour after activists Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane were transferred to the Australian customs boat, the Oceanic Viking.

Butyric acid is a non-corrosive substance and smells like rancid butter.

“We sprayed them with butyric acid, which is a noxious stink bomb, and the smell stays there for a few days. While it is on the deck it is pretty hard to do any work, like kill a whale,” Mr Watson said.

In the above report, the reporter Melissa Jenkins described that butyric acid is a non-corrosive substance and smells like rancid butter. According to her description, butyric acid is just a foul-smelling, non-corrosive substance that can hardly injure people, which echoes the view of Sea Shepherd. The following is a comment posted on www.news.com.au by a person who professed himself to be a strategist for Sea Shepherd.

As a strategist for Sea Shepherd I wish to bring to the public and media attention that the "ACID" used is an organic acid - Butyric Acid...a flavouring used in the Food Industry. It is more commonly known / identified as rancid butter...it is thrown on the flensing decks (not at people) where it permeates the timber. When whale meat is cut up on the deck it contaminates it rendering it unsaleable / useless. The other feature is that it stinks. Exageration and misrepresentation that it is "Acid" infers that it is akin to dangerous ionic acids such as Sulphuric or Hydrochloric acids which it is not. It is consumed daily by human beings and approved for food use & is biodegradeable. It is not in our charter to harm human beings or other creatures of the world we have a clean record on this account, IF the weak Gov't stood up to their election promise we would not be there.

Posted by: Tim Horwood of Belgrave 9:45am January 16, 2008
Comment 79 of 262

According to his description, butyric acid seems to be a harmless substance that is not so highly acidic as sulphuric or hydrochloric acids, consumed daily by human beings, and biodegradable.

These descriptions by Sea Shepherd and Australian media looks to be scientific. However, contradicting these notions, Japan Whaling Association claimed that two Japanese crew were injured when Sea Shepherd members threw the acid at Japanese sailors on Nisshin Maru last February.

Not only did Sea Shepherd deliberately ram the Kaiko Maru this year as well, they also threw acid at Japanese sailors and shattered glass bottles on the Nisshin Maru deck, resulting in injuries to two Japanese crew.

Other Japanese source says that butyric acid from a broken bottle splashed the face of one of the sailors. Fortunately, he did not injured heavily since he could soon washed the acid away. But his whole face was inflamed after the incident. He should have been blinded if he had not promptly closed his eyes when the acid splashed his face.

These comments from Japanese side sharply contradict the report and comment in the Australian media. Are the Japanese whalers deliberately exaggerating the fact?

When something is uncertain, bloggers usually search information on the Web. However, those who are working with chemical substances know that MSDS is the best source to consult first on the toxicity of chemical substances. MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) is a form cantaining basic data regarding the properties of a particular substance.

MSDS for butyric acid says the follwoings.

Harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Corrosive. Extremely unpleasant smell may cause nausea. Liquid may burn skin and eyes. Readily absorbed through the skin. Severe skin, eye and respiratory irritant.

Although the reporter of The Australian wrote "Butyric acid is a non-corrosive substance", MSDS tells us that it is "Corrosive".

Also, MSDS says that acute dermal toxicity (LD50) of butyric acid is 530mg/kg [rabbit], which roughly means you can kill a rabbit that weigh 1kg by administering 0.53 g of the substance onto the skin. By simple calculation, it is roughly estimated that a human who weigh 70 kg can be killed by administering about 37 g of butylic acid onto the skin. It is obvious that the amount of butyric acid thrown onto the Japanese ship is enough to kill more than several people.

MSDS says that butyric acid is readily absorbed through the skin and then degraded into other substances and that the biodegradation products are more toxic than butyric acid itself.

The high toxicity of butyric acid seems to be conferred by the toxicity of the biodegradation products rather than its acidity.

MSDS also tells us that CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) in the US classifies butyric acid in "Hazardous substances".

During the piracy attack by Sea Shepherd, many of the bottles dropped on the sea failing to reach the ship. Those bottles will arrive at the seashore somewhere someday. If a child opened the bottle, what would happen?

The Australian government must know the toxic nature of butyric acid since MSDS is available to anyone. Purchase, storage and usage of harmful substances are usually regulated by law. The fact that Australian government has not detained the Sea Shepherd members might indicate that she is supporting Sea Shepherd to attempt murdering Japanese sailors and polluting environment, as Japan Whaling Association suggested. But I still hope the Australian government and media to cope rationally with this issue.

NOTE: MSDS is distributed in many places. I obtained one from www.sciencelab.com. Search "butyric acid" using the search box on the top page. You can find a link to the PDF file below "n-Butyric Acid, Reagent". Also, you can see a shortened version of the MSDS here.