WcP.Story.Teller's blog

Former “comfort woman” Lee Yong-Soo (L) stands beside her supporters holding portraits of Philippine, South Korean and Chinese comfort women who were sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II, at a protest held in front of the Japanese parliament in Tokyo. Japan on 27 June 2007 brushed aside calls from US lawmakers for a fresh apology to wartime sex slaves, even as the former “comfort women” renewed their demands for Tokyo to acknowledge their plight. Japan said the US move to pass a resolution calling for an “unambiguous” apology from Japan for the coercion of women into army brothels during World War II would not damage relations between the two allies. Inset: Recruitment advertisements for comfort women in the Japanese Imperial Army.

Top: Former comfort women want Japan to do more to apologize. Bottom right: Rangoon, Burma. August 8, 1945. A woman who was in one of the Imperial Japanese Army’s “comfort battalions” is interviewed by an Allied officer.

Former Filipino “comfort woman” Piedad Nobleza, 86, at a demonstration outside the Japanese Embassy in suburban Manila. Elderly Filipino women and their supporters demanded Tokyo’s clear-cut apology and compensation for wartime sexual slavery by Japanese troops.  read more »

Top: United States' Johnny Spillane competes on large hill ski jump during men's individual Nordic Combined - the event combines ski jumping and a 10K cross-country race; he won the silver medal. Bottom: Large crowd of spectators gather in final curve during Men’s luge competition at Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Left: Whistler ice sculpture of Olympic torch. Right: Anabellee Langlois & Cody Hay of Canada compete in figure skating program of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Pacific Coliseum.

Alexandre Bilodeau of Canada wins gold medal for Freestyle Skiing Men's Moguls on day 3 of the 2010 Winter Olympics at Cypress Freestyle Skiing Stadium, becoming the first Canadian to win a gold medal on home soil at the Winter Olympic Games.

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Skipper Pete Bethune tells of 'murderous' brush with death

The captain of the ill-fated Ady Gil has told of his crew's "murderous" brush with death in the Antarctic when their high-speed pursuit vessel was sliced open by a Japanese whaler.

As New Zealand maritime authorities waited in Fremantle to interview the survivors on Thursday, Kiwi Pete Bethune accused the crew of Shonan Maru 2 of "attempted murder" by "deliberately ramming" their boat into his space-age carbon-fibre vessel on January 6. The Japanese deny they were at fault, saying the Ady Gil turned deliberately in front of them.

"I've had a few nightmares - I think all the crew think about it every night," Captain Bethune told reporters on arrival in Fremantle aboard the Steve Irwin, the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd's vessel, early on Thursday.  read more »

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Bob Barker said, 'I'm delighted to be able to help the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in its mission to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans,' 'There is lot of talk about preserving our ecosystems and species, but this is one organization that puts these words into action.'

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A German bank manager who secretly transferred millions of pounds from rich clients to debt-ridden customers has been spared jail.

The 62-year-old, dubbed the "Robin Hood banker", was found guilty of moving a total of 7.6 million euros (£6.85m) between 2003 and 2005. The bank's rich clients reportedly hadn't touched their accounts in years. She carried out 117 separate transfers to try and stop people's accounts closing due to lack of funds.

As a rule, the banker - whose name was not reported under German media conventions - moved the money back when the indebted clients were solvent again. But 1.1 million euros (£991,000) was lost when certain customers were unable to pay their debts. The banker has begun reimbursing the bank through her pension.  read more »

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Ady Gil, formerly Earthrace, joins Sea Shepherd fleet

Thanks to a $1 million donation from its namesake, US multi-millionaire Ady Gil, formerly known as Earthrace, the Ady Gil has become the latest addition to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's protest fleet. The Ady Gil will bear down on whalers at 40 knots, blaring Maori-inspired war cries through a 9000W speaker system. "They're going to think 'what the f..k have we got here?' " laughed Ady Gil's skipper Pete Bethune.

"It deflects radar signals, so it's very hard for radar systems to pick us up. It's effectively a stealth boat. Made of carbon, with carbon flecks in the paint you can have a big boat with a 20kW radar 400m away and they won't see you. In the past, the Steve Irwin has only been fast enough to keep up with the processing ship, the Nissan Maru, but not the harpooners. We can keep up with the harpoon vessels.” "The point of conflict will shift to include the harpoon vessels now, so it gives us a chance to stop the whales being harpooned." The boat holds the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe.  read more »

Photos courtesy of National Geographic, Qureshi/Getty, and Flickr

Original Source: National Geographic and NY Daily News