Window to the World, calling for Wind of Wisdom,
as common sense is a gift to each soul,
as common environment is the inseparable planet,
as common desire is to live in a better world.


Turn clock back 25 years to legalize commercial whaling? 2,039,621 whales killed, <3k fin escaped hunting, protector in cell

Captain Paul Watson & Skipper Peter Bethune
Left: Captain Paul Watson & 'Steve Irwin'. Top R: Skipper Pete Bethune. Ignoring 6 crew in sight, the 750-ton iron-and-steel ship Shonan Maru 2 sliced 17-ton fiberglass ecoboat Earthrace/Ady Gil into two when it was idle in the water, waiting to be refueled, 6 crew sitting on the deck, chatting.

commercial whaling of the endangered fin whale
Fin whale, the 2nd largest mammal on earth: size comparison against an average human. Scientists calculate that 2,039,621 whales were killed in Antarctica's Southern Ocean during the decades of industrial whaling, including roughly three quarters of a million fin whale.

endangered fin whale killed in Iceland
Top L: In 2006, Iceland killed the endangered fin whale for the 1st time since the 1980s. Top R & Bottom R: free & imprisoned Pete Bethune, skipper of Ady Gil / Earthrace.

endangered fin whale a target of Japanese commercial whaling
Captain Paul Watson leads Sea Shepherd, volunteers & ocean guardians, spending 8 months per year at sea, fighting illegal whalers, sealers, and shark and dolphin fishermen. The latest Sea Shepherd Whale Defense campaign cut Japan whalers’ quota in half & saved 528 whales. 750,000 fin whales, the 2nd largest creature, were killed in the S. Hemisphere alone between 1904-79, & less than 3,000 currently remain. IWC's compromise would legalize commercial whaling. The endangered fin whale would continue to be a target.  read more »

Legal battles for Earth: Amazon defenders & James Cameron stall dam; Malaysian Judge gives lands back to rainforest community

James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver played a part in halting an industrial development project that threatens indigenous people of the Amazon
Avatar director James Cameron played a part in halting an industrial development project that threatens indigenous people of the Amazon.

deforestation by logging company & palm oil plantation
Palm oil plantation. Inset: deforestation by a logging company around a Penan village in the Middle Baram region in Sarawak.

(quote)

The Avatar director and one of its stars have played a part in halting an industrial development project that threatens indigenous people of the Amazon. Earlier this week, we brought you the story of James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver's trip to Brazil to raise awareness of the indigenous communities’ battles to stop the massive Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Amazon rainforest. We are now happy to report that the Dam Project Auctions have been canceled, and both stars are now in Washington DC for meetings with US Government officials.

Judge Antonio Carlos de Almeida Campelo granted a preliminary injunction (urgent) seeing “danger of irreparable harm” considering the imminence of the auction. The decision is the result of the assessment of one of two public civil actions filed by federal prosecutors dealing with irregularities of the enterprise. It focuses specifically on the lack of regulation of Article 176 of the Federal Constitution of Brazil, which requires the issuing of an ordinary law for the use of hydraulic potential on Indian lands.  read more »

Oceans die, civilizations die. Defend sea, defend cultures. Jailed: Japanese Tokyo 2 & New Zealander Pete Bethune

Japan’s Junichi and Toru (‘Tokyo Two’); New Zealand’s Peter Bethune... defending the ocean from illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.Bottom L: “Tokyo Two” - Junichi Sato (left), Toru Suzuki (right), and their lead counsel, Yuichi Kaido (center) face reporters at a press briefing following their first pre-trial hearing at Aomori District Court in 2009. United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has already ruled that, in the defendants' attempts to expose a scandal in the public interest, their human rights have been breached by the Japanese government. Top R: New Zealander Peter Bethune boarded Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru No 2 in the Antarctic Ocean to serve a citizen’s arrest for destruction of his ship (Earthrace aka Ady Gil). He has been held by the whalers since then and was arrested on March 12 when the whaling ship docked in Tokyo.

living statue of Lady Justice protests in the Netherlands for release of ‘Tokyo Two’  read more »

We are tied to the ocean..when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.

— John F. Kennedy

2010: Russian site of 1940 Katyn massacre of 20000 Poles witnesses deaths of Polish President, top political & military leaders

the plane crash that wiped out much of Poland's leadership including the president, bank head & military chief
'A black day for Poland': The death toll included the country's President and wife, its central bank head and the country's military chief along with other senior government and military figures.

Polish man mourn at site of plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski
A Polish man mourns at the site where Polish government Tupolev Tu-154 plane crashed near Smolensk airport.

Polish flag at half-mast mourning late President Kaczynski who died in plane crash
Respects: Polish Army soldiers salute the coffin carrying the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Warsaw, Poland.

Polish president & top officials killed in plane crash at Smolensk, Russia
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and wife, Maria both died in Saturday's crash near the site of the 1940 Katyn massacre of 20,000 Poles.

daughter of President Lech Kaczynski, Marta, and his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski pay their respects in front of his coffin
Daughter of the late Polish president Lech Kaczynski, Marta, and his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski at the coffin containing the body of late Polish president Lech Kaczynski at the Military Airport in Warsaw, Poland, 11 April 2010.  read more »

"A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too..."

A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long.

— E. E. Cummings

Photos: Worst floods in more than 100 years hitting US east coast, 2-3ft waters swamp local mall, roads cut off, cars submerged

cars and businesses surrounded by flood waters in West Warwick, Rhode Island
Flood waters engulf the cars and offices of Village Collision and Automed Auto Sales on Aster Road in West Warwick, Rhode Island on April 1, 2010. The state received record rainfall earlier in the week causing flooding in many areas.

Things were bad enough in Rhode Island. Then the rains came
You’ll need your boat inside the mall, too.

Flood Waters Swamp Local Mall, Businesses Mall Flooded By 2 To 3 Feet Of Water
The Rhode Island Mall in Warwick was flooded Wednesday by 2 to 3 feet of water. The mall's owner told the Providence Journal that the building, which houses about 70 stores, has never flooded in 40 years, and the retailers had very little time to protect the merchandise.

The Pawtuxet River Floods in West Warwick, R.I
The Pawtuxet River spilled over its banks. A state of emergency was declared in Warwick, residents in Cranston are being evacuated, schools are canceled, and people were told not to flush their toilets.

Stensgard family dog stands on earthen and sandbag dike surrounding the Stensgard home which overlooks a flooded outbuilding as the Red River continues to rise, March 25, 2009 in Fargo, N.D. Due to the flooding, the Stensgard home can only be reached by boat.  read more »

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