The US argues for its proposal on ASW
The US notes that ASW should be replaced with discussions of indigenous peoples, and that they should be "removed form the debate about commercial whaling, where they have been used as bargaining chips in other debates."
What the delegate for the US does not mention is the fact that it was the US that put ASW quotas into the Table 4 of the Chairman's proposal and mixed the two issues in the first place.
Okay, back to the issue at hand. The US says indigenous whalers need some ten years block quotas so that commercial and scientific whaling can be addressed separately.
The US accuses other countries of wanting to keep this issue open because they want to use this as a bargaining tool. The delegate says that other countries have said to the US that they cannot grant their quota without some trade off.
Okay that's honest at least, - and maybe revealing a little more to the world than most countries would actually like to have been said.
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Hi Chris, thanks for your amazing blogging work and support to the WDCS Team here. It is most important that we get the discussion going on all levels and transparently inform the public, and sometimes we are here just too exhausted to engage on all fronts. In context to your comment on the US statement, I just can say: how bizarre is it, that a country that has pushed the issue of aboriginal subsistance whaling for political reasons into the compromise discussion now tells other governments, that the issue shouldn't be politically used. We are not all stupid. It is another step by a country (delegation) that has lost its focus totally.
First of all, I should say that aluhtogh I cannot bring myself to give this film more than 1 star, I'm certainly not saying that you shouldn't see it. I, for one, have seen this film 4 times, and don't doubt that I will view it again at some point. It is immensely amusing, and it is also THE STUPIDEST FILM EVER MADE. Normally I give things that are so bad that they're entertaining a high rating, but Orca' is just to terrible for me to do that.Lots of Orca apologists will try and tell you that this isn't a complete Jaws rip-off because the Orca is the protagonist. Whether or not this is a valid defense of the film (which, for the record, it isn't), this points to the central flaw- This is an unspeakably moronic premise. I gotta tell ya, I don't find Killer Whales to be all that lovable, and the film does little to change this feeling. Beyond this, the main way it seems to try and generate sympathy for the whale is by showing it jumping out of the water again and again and again. This tactic is almost completely unsuccessful, I'm sorry to say. They also like to show closeups of his eye, where he is apparently crying. Do whales have tear ducts? Dunno, though I doubt the filmmakers know either. Furthermore the film takes great pains to make us believe that Orcas are hyper-intelligent, psychic super-animals.(Evinced by the best line in the film, where we are informed that a recording of Orca speech' has over 20 million pieces of information in it, whereas the bible only has 4 million. I suspect they may have taken liberties with the facts, in that case.) This again presents an unsympathetic picture, as if I would advocate the worldwide destruction of the orca, if I believed that the real animal was at all reminiscent of the ones described in the film. This is all compounded by the fact that the Whale doesn't even have that good of a case- Nolan didn't kill his mate, she killed herself. Yeah, Nolan shot her with the harpoon, a veritable pinprick, but she's the one who rammed her damn head into the propeller for no apparent reason. Furthermore, the fetus scene, which is oft-described as horrifying' or disturbing', tends towards the baffling and humorous regions.(first the former, than the latter) Finally, for all the films flaws, I actually kinda like Nolan, and certainly like him a helluva lot more than some stupid whale. Orca' is technically incompetent, a fine match to go alone with it's dramatic absurdity. On the good points, there's some decent cinematography from time to time, but this isn't all that impressive, as the ocean is naturally beautiful. Just point the camera at it and you'll do fine. Also, Morricone's score is fairly pretty, though it is ridiculously romantic much of the time, thus heightening the already spectacularly bathetic tone of the film. Harris is kinda a caricature, but I kinda like him. The rest of the acting is crap. Rampling plays a mannequin which is also apparently supposed to be whale scientist. Initially she hates Nolan with a passion that burns with the heat of a thousand suns, but she eventually decides that she loves him, because if she didn't there wouldn't be a tacked-on and under developed romantic subplot. Bo Derek plays the girl with blonde hair and broken leg, and spends most of the film with a glazed, uncomprehending look on her face.(This is true of Rampling's character as well, but Rampling's blank look is somehow more calculating in nature.) Than we've got Ralph Sampson as the mysterious Indian dude, who proves to be a better actor when he isn't saying anything. The very worst performance in the film would have to on the part of the large foam blocks which are apparently supposed to be ice, which are featured prominently in the climax. Continuity is a big problem, as the whale's chipped fin appears and disappears sporadically, and the indoor pool they use to simulate the ocean for the Orca's stirring closeups is less than convincing, as the water in it is green. As others have mentioned, the real Orca they use frequently has a drooping fin, which signifies that it is a female. This is particularly amusing, as I might not have noticed this, except for that a character actually mentions how female orcas have drooping fins. It's nice when I film points out it's continuity problems for you, or perhaps the lead Orca is just a hermaphrodite. It's hard to say which aspect of this film is the stupidest. The Orca's mad rampage, where he swims into town and smashes of the docks, thereby causing a massive fire is a standout moment. His various Shamoo-esque leaps, poorly superimposed over the burning town are quite literally beyond belief the first time you view them. The killing of the shark is quite spectacular as well, as the shark appears to go through a number of transformations prior to the killing, where it then turns into an incredibly stiff shark model, and then turns back into a real shark which is flying through the air, somehow. It's death throes are great too, as we are shown documentary footage of a great white which is quite obviously perfectly healthy, but with sad squeals overdubbed in order to suggest that it's dying. (This last is particularly great, as I've watched enough shark documentaries to know that Great Whites really don't make any noise at all.) Also, towards the end of the film the Orca leaps up onto an iceberg, thereby tipping it up at an angle and forcing it's prey to slide down towards him. Years later, Futurama used this idea, but they thought it was funny and ridiculous, rather than dramatic or horrifying, for some reason. However, the absolute best part might have to be when the Orca actually pushes an iceberg into Nolan's boat. Apparently icebergs aren't nearly as big and heavy as I'd been led to believe. Yep, stupidest movie ever, right here. Check it out.
ASW is a sham. Killing a whale is killing a whale. I hope WDCS does not support ASW.