Sea Shepherd’s Watson says tsunami was divine punishment
March 16th, 2011 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarIf Sea Shepherd has any remaining supporters, perhaps this might make them reconsider. Paul Watson posted on Facebook how the tsunami is the fearful wrath of Neptune. Or in other words, how the Japanese deserved to die in the tsunami because they hunt whales.
Tsunami
Neptune’s voice rolled like thunder thru the sky
Angrily he smote the deep seabed floor
From the shore echoed mankind’s mournful cry
……The sea rose up and struck fast for the shoreFrom out of the East with the rising sun
The seas fearful wrath burst upon the land
With little time to prepare or to run
Against a power no human can stand
Its just as disgusting as the moron who blamed the Christchurch earthquake on gay ski week. Except the latter was an anonymous nobody while the former was said by the head of Sea Shepherd.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
A moron and a greenie. Surpirse, surprise!
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
I thought Sea Shepherd were good at publicity?
Vote:Big fuck up here, stupid stupid stupid.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Yeah not a good look, However
Vote:“Or in other words, how the Japanese deserved to die in the tsunami because they hunt whales.”
Those are your words David.
I’d put it on par with morons that accuse Key of panicking people over abandoned suburbs and people that compare members of the New Zealand parliament to foreign dictators.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
There’s a few words I’d like to use to describe Mr Watson, likely to attract demerits I’m sure.
Fucken C___ and I hope fire ants eat his testicles.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
I can’t read facebook here. Is that poem the entire Paul Watson post?
I don’t get “serves you right for killing whales” out of that.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Proof ,if needed ,that ecowackery is an extreme fundamentalist religion.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Just when I thought it wasn’t possible to dislike a man more, he outdoes himself!
Though the Family Guy writer Alex Sulkin, who tweeted that this was punishment for Pearl Harbor probably takes the supreme prize for stupidity. Manatee jokes indeed!
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
This does seem to be a big leap to reach the conclusion that Watson was calling this divine punishment for Japan’s whaling.
From the Facebook comments about the poem:
Watson: “Then you did not understand my poem Phuong. It was not about divine retribution to Japan, it was about the vanity of humankind and the fact that nature does not discriminate.”
And: “This was simply a poem about the power of nature. It was not anti-Japanese. People, I wrote this poem when five of my crew were lost. We did not know for over 40 hours if they were alive or dead. This poem was not written out of insensitivity to the people on shore. No it was written because I felt the need to understand and express my deep concern for my crew and all the people in the path of this tsunami. For those who say this is karma, all I can say is that you do not understand the concept of karma. Nature does not discriminate. My people on shore and the average citizen of Japan on shore were equals in the face of this tragedy. Japan did not deserve this disaster nor would I ever imply that they did. But we must acknowledge that we take the awesome power of nature for granted and thus we are shocked when that power is unleashed.”
As much as I dislike Watson I am inclined to believe his explanation for the poem.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
I’m waiting for the far longer overdue vengeance to be visited upon giant squid and Orca…
Idiots.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Was just about to post, but RightNow beat me to it with the same quotes.
Too quick on the whistle DPF! And shame on the people here who don’t check the sources before mouthing off.
[DPF: Paul Watson is a pathological liar. Pete Bethune has testified about this. Just because Watson *after* criticism starts claims a different context, does not mean it is true. If he can prove he he published that poem previously, then that might be a different matter]
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
“Captain” Paul Watson doesn’t explicitly say why Neptune ‘angrily…smote the deep seabed floor’; the cause of Neptune’s ‘angry wrath’ has to be inferred. It isn’t the capricious act of an absent-minded deity that he depicts, but a wilful act of vengeance- those who claim that he doesn’t blame Japan are either lying or haven’t read the poem.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Reading some of the FB comments (“karma” etc), it’s clear many of his followers endorse a vengeful reading of his poem even if Watson himself didn’t intend it so.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Err, sometimes a poem is just a poem. And now I’ve seen the explanation from Watson above I find that quite plausible.
This is a pretty irresponsible by DPF to write this without mentioning Watson’s explanation.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
David Farrar you disgust me. It does not say that and Watson backs that up later as well. You have twisted it for your own advantage. You are deceiving people for your own advantage.
You say “Or in other words, how the Japanese deserved to die in the tsunami because they hunt whales” but it is not “in other words” at all, it is in YOUR words. It is your own evil slant.
You are turning into another Michael Laws and you deserve to be banned form your own site.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Has Watson joined the AGW Global Warming FLAT EARTH SOCIETY?
Did they not say the ChCh Eearthquake was due to “catastrophic global warming” ?
Vote:But please be aware, the Lamestream media will give him time/space.
Sad and sick
March 16th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
If Watson says it isn’t about Japan and he wrote it about some of his own crew members being lost… then it quite certainly is about Japan and he’s trying to divert attention. Why ? Because Watson is a congenital liar and serial confabulator who couldn’t lie straight in bed with the help of a rack. Simply despicable.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
So the Ring of Fire formed with the birth of the Earth, over aeons of millions of years, to manoeuvre tectonic plates into position, that a ‘divine’ force has triggered into such devastating action, after a season marked by how few whales if any were taken, to kill thousands of Japanese children, women and elderly people in retribution.
This from a man who’s entire appeal through Sea Shepherd is that he claims to understand the environment.
What an absolutely fucking total disappointment of a ‘human’ being Paul Watson is.
Along with Line-weine Rosmond de Caylus, Carrie Hummel, Linda Eagleray and apparently at least 531 other fuckwits who ‘like this’.
Questions of his intentions in writing are a waste of time – he has spent so much time establishing he represents the whales and is anti-Japanese, for his words to be taken as meaning anything else requires him to say so. Why else say ‘angrily’ and ‘wrath’.
What does Bethune think?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
My Chinese gf mentioned that. Something about the whales getting revenge, yeah, right.
But she is Chinese.
BS, I am going with the divine buddha on this one.
Anyway, I am on Marillen Schnapschen.
36%
Make a note, this is good shit.
That’s it.
Out.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
I see neo-con propagandist Glenn Beck, has also said that the Tsunami was a divine warning and that we should all be following the 10 Commandments.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
From FB
Captain Paul Watson: If anyone interprets my poem as hateful or disrespectful of the victims in Japan then they are seeing what they wish to see and nothing more. This poem was about all of us and the fragility of our lives in the face of nature’s actions. It is not your place to tell me when and where and how I should write a poem. I have expressed my dismissal of this silliness of people saying it is karma. I have expressed my concern for the victims and I felt it very intimately not knowing if I had lost five of my crew. I make no apologies for this poem – it was from the heart and it was not anti-Japanese.
Vote:Yesterday at 05:46
March 16th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I don’t like whaling. I also don’t like Watson or Sea Shepherd.
However I think that reading that poem as a “Japan deserved what it got” poem says more about the people interpreting it that way than the writer. In this instance I think DPF and co have it wrong.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
I read on facebook that its because of Pearl Harbour. You can read a lot of things on facebook if you get bored enough.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Comedy and poltics is all about timing.
When and why he wrote counts for little when compared to when he decided to post it.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
From his Facebook.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Dangerous stuff. If Watson is saying that the tsunami is Neptune’s retribution for whaling then he is accusing Neptune of incompetence. A competent God would surely have killed just the whalers, not a random selection of 10,000 people who happen to live in the same country. Though I suppose with aim like that Watson does not need to be concerned.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Memo to Paul Watson: The tsunami did not come from Neptune, but it sure looks like your comments came from Uranus
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
“Captain” Paul Watson’s poem does not explain what Neptune is angry about. What caused that anger, that “fearful wrath”? Why would a god of the sea seek to hurt Japan? The assumption that it is because Japanese culture tolerates the eating of cetaceans is an assumption, but it fits the poem. The claim by “Captain” Paul Watson that the poem was written about his missing supporters does beg the question what they did to incite Neptune’s anger- and why Neptune would kill thousands in order to get at the five crew. Are Sea Shepherd supporters that evil?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
I don’t think he should be condemned for writing something you choose to see as meaning “they deserved it cos they shoot whales”, but I certainly think he should be condemned – in fact run out of town on a rail – for the utter fucking awfulness of the doggerel he posted.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Looks like your making shit up DPF, it’s just a poem and doesn’t even come close to saying ‘the Japanese deserved to die in the tsunami because they hunt whales.’
I think it’s time you gave yourself some demerit points.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
good shot bearhunter.
78% of all statistics are lies.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Shouldn’t you be out celebrating the galant attack on the Fogel family by the glorious freedom fighters of Fatah yesyoureanidiot?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
LOL Ryan reads like Catholic theology
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
For someone who professes concern about the fate of those at sea Watson is the danger.
The most basic rule is to avoid collisions at sea. How do you do that? Steer clear of other vessels. What does Watson do?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
“LOL Ryan reads like Catholic theology”
Yea, I did write of calamities in the Land of the Free and many other places. For all people do harm to nature. I do not discriminate – there is only one people; and all people are guilty of doing that which nature despiseth. But nature is merciful – She reacts in accordance with the Her law.
Book of Face, 12:57
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Earthquakes happen.Silly people put their own religous interpretations on them.
eg, California is well overdue for a big one.
Actually, I wouldn’t live in california at all – they are 60 years past the due date for a massive quake based on the long term average.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone#San_Andreas_Fault_connection
This is just one fault line, experts put a 37% chance of a 9+ quake in the next 50 years. It is not any god that will make this happen, and, it will at some time.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
DPF – I think you are drawing a long bow on this one – where in the poem does it even mention whales?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
And sea Shepherd deserved to get sunk as they interfered with Japans divine right to whale, next time to fulfill Japans honour they should be dragged from the sea and beheaded by a man in full samurai dress.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
It’s got nothing to do with whaling.
Watson’s message is “pretend to thwart nature at your own peril, because you cannot”. It is that “humanity” appears to have replaced “God” as being omniscient and omnipotent in the minds of many, but we are not. We are a part of nature, and subject to its forces, not the rulers over it.
That happens to be a message I agree with, although I do think Watson writing a poem conveying that message so soon after the Japanese catastrophe and obviously directly inspired by and directly referring to it is somewhat insensitive.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Good grief! I read your blog regularly, but rarely post here. But this gets me DPF.
I have read the poem several times, and find it difficult to understand how any logical thinking person can draw the conclusion you, and others have made.
Projecting much?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
“It’s got nothing to do with whaling.”
Are you in damage control mode now Toad?
It is quiet clear that this low life Green is enjoying the Japanese tragedy.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
It is equivocal — either intentionally or inadvertantly so. Read into it what you will but bear in mind that there is total deniability
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Bruv I have noticed many ‘Greenies’ seem to be thoroughly enjoying this situation. I have a Facebook ‘friend’ (an ex workmate) who is absolutely crowing about the disaster. “Never have I felt prouder to be Green” and “This is a victory for our Anti- Nuclear policy” are among the absolutely freaking mental comments he is spouting.
Vote:Paul Watson is of the same ilk..The South Park guys summed him up perfectly in the brilliant episode “Whale Whores”-
Larry King: “But their old captain, Paul Watson, was an unorganized, incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause.”
Critic: “Yes, of course. Everyone knows that Paul Watson was a smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility….”
March 16th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@ longknives – my thoughts exactly. All those professing “concern” about the reactors etc seem to be showing none whatsoever for the survivors of the quake/tsunami
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
“We are a part of nature, and subject to its forces, not the rulers over it.”
If that right Toad? Then how come your lot thing they can change the climate?
We cannot change the climate therefore we should adapt to it.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Reading the poem, it just looks like a metaphor. If I heard a reference to “Neptune’s wrath” in casual conversation about tsunamis in Japan (or, say, “Vulcan’s wrath” when chatting about some catastrophic volcanic eruption), I wouldn’t interpret it literally. I’d just assume that the speaker was using colourful language. It looks like you’re going to great lengths simply to take the least charitable reading of this possible.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
I think the only thing we can conclusively say about this episode is that Watson is a crap poet.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
@Chuck Bird 4:18 pm
There is a difference between “change” and “control”. Of course we can change the climate, and we are doing so by pouring billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But we are doing it without any control – it is just an unfortunate byproduct of our greed and foolishness.
Similarly, we can’t control what nature may do to our supposedly “failsafe” technology. If the risk is too high, as it is with nuclear power, we simply shouldn’t go there. The nuclear industry are always saying the silver bullet that avoids all reasonable risk of contamination is just around the corner with fission power technology. They have been saying that for 40 years. And every few years and few billion dollars down the track, the risks are still there. We have 200,000 people evacuated from their homes in Japan at the moment, 140,000 effectively imprisoned in their homes, and an unknown number with radiation contamination that may lead to serious or even fatal radiation sickness.
All because someone thought it was a good idea to build a nuclear power plant on the coast behind a sea wall that they thought would withstand a tsunami.
They were fucking wrong, and look how many people are suffering now from that decision.
We can’t control nature – because we are just a small part of nature. We are no greater than the smallest bacterium and no greater than the biggest tree. We are just part of the earth’s ecosystems, and it is arrogant and dangerous to pretend we are anything more than that.
Humanity is not omnipotent. The laws of physics are.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
@ RightNow 5:17 pm
I actually liked it – very strong imagery. Just thought he might have been better to wait a few weeks before publishing it, as I can understand how it may further upset some very distraught people in Japan at the moment.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Toad
” Of course we can change the climate, and we are doing so by pouring billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But we are doing it without any control – it is just an unfortunate byproduct of our greed and foolishness.”
You persist with this bullshit yet you cannot supply one shred of evidence to support the claims you make.
And your cure?…..increasing benefits and the massive transfer of wealth.
People are starting to see through the lies Toad.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Toad- You 100% sure that we CAN change the climate? Any hard proof of that?….
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Sometimes this blog becomes a parody of a comic strip in the Listener in times past – Stanley.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Pirate Paul Watson should bid on the Winston “No.” And since when was Mr Ocean “Neptune?” Isn’t that just an imperialist globalist big corporate Roman appropriation of “Poseidon?” Watson, you turncoat globalist you! As anti-Greek, as it is anti-Japanese.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE: I’m officially back. Almost killed in the Chch 22/2, lost a friend in CTV, lost our home and neighbourhood, we had a dramatically traumatic earthquake, but have found a granny flat to rent in NW Chch, we’re dry, have water, and got some dial-up going (so hello Kiwiblog). DPF, thanks for your instant and generous online initiatives to support everyone in Chch with fundraising initiatives. Truly appreciated.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
LoL, geez Mr Farrar, you can be a right dingbat at times. But, just in case I might have missed something, would you like to point out just where in that verse it is implied that Japanese deserved to die in a tsunami because they hunt whales?
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Another Gaiatard. Mainstream leftist thought these days, too. Very dangerous.
Sad that they’re using a disaster which has caused the deaths of 10,000-20,000 innocents to highlight their lunatic fringe cause, but then I’ve come to expect nothing better from them. It will get worse as the vultures continue to get their claws into every issue they can.
Good luck, Japan.
iMP: Good to see you’ve made it, and am sorry for your terrible losses. I wish you the best for the future.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
There are two types of people supporting Watson here.
1) Watson cult club members. These people are scum.
2) Those naive of Watson and his methods. They’ll get it eventually if you follow it for any period of time.
What I found actually disappointing was Murray McCully’s welcoming Japan’s withdrawal of the whaling fleet from the Southern Ocean this year – despite it being because of safety concerns for the lives of the Japanese crews due to Sea Shepherd’s eco-terrorism, which New Zealand has (ostensibly) jointly denounced with all other members of the International Whaling Commission previously.
These comments give the impression that McCully regards Japanese people at risk due to Sea Shepherd violence as less than human, and that New Zealand wasn’t serious when it denounced Sea Shepherd, and was basically just bad taste – and it wasn’t missed in Japan.
But I give him the benefit of the doubt and presume that he only made these comments to neutralise any possible anti-whaling policy campaign by the opposition in this election year. This is a acceptable political aim I suppose, but still I’d like to see politicians actually displaying principles of decency, even when it does involve Japanese people. I still believe that the majority of Kiwi voters have proper judgment (unlike Australians) even when a noisy minority of bigots do kick up a fuss.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Dean Papa – do you fall into group 1 or group 2? Hope it’s the latter.
Vote:March 16th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Thanks for that Tokyo Rose.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 1:23 am
Follow the trail from this thread and you reach some interesting places. The source is Japan Probe, Farrar obviously likes it so much he even pinched their heading.
But go a little further by following a Japan Probe “hat tip” and it takes you to a virulently pro-whaling site which accuses opponents of whaling of being racists and bigots. That includes New Zealand.
The poem is pretty dreadful, but doesn’t say any of the things Farrar claims. It is about the wrath of nature and Neptune is a personification of the sea, nothing more.
I am forced to the conclusion that our host is either lazy and doesn’t bother to research properly, is devious and has no respect for any of his guests, or is just plain dishonest and thinks he can get away with it.
Don’t much care which – any which way he loses what little respect I once gave him.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 1:34 am
Maggie – many opponents of whaling ARE racists and bigots.
As the “virulently pro-whaling site” you mention notes, “Paul Watson is a compulsive liar who uses Australian Nationalism and WWII rhetoric to incite racism”. That is right on the mark, and one doesn’t need to be “pro-whaling” to recognise it.
That does not however mean that all opponents of whaling are racists and bigots. New Zealand opposes whaling as a matter of policy, essentially because there is an anti-whaling constituency in New Zealand, with nothing to counterbalance it. Some members of that anti-whaling constituency are likely among the racists and bigots posting on FaceBook that the site has documented.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 9:03 am
David
I think you might be wrong on this one…..Check the sea shepherd suite for his editorial,….the two do not square off….He hates whale killers (Japanese) but not the japanese people per se. See
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-110314-1.html\
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 10:43 am
david, you present opinion as if it were fact.
The opinion you support is extreme to say the least.
But my major concern is a search for the truth. Nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 11:25 am
What an odd take – it’s a pretty shit poem but it says nothing about retribution or anybody deserving anything. Why draw such a long bow when there’s plenty of others outright claiming it is divine retribution? Glenn Beck has specifically said he thinks it could be a message from God saying “‘Hey, you know that stuff we’re doing? Not really working out real well.’ Maybe we should stop doing some of it.”
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 11:26 am
“those who claim that he doesn’t blame Japan are either lying or haven’t read the poem.”
I read it – can’t see anything to justify DPF’s claim that Watson is saying the tsunami was nature’s revenge, or that Watson is in any way pleased with the disaster. Complete fabrication.
By the way, if you want hilarious pro-whaling nonsense have a look for ‘international Harpoon’ a wacky magazine that once claimed New Zealand slaughtered thousands of native animals (possums) and therefore had no moral right to oppose whaling.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
but david@tokyo, the two possibilities you have provided are not collectively exhaustive.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
If this has nothing to do with whaling then whats Neptune pissed about.
Vote:March 17th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
I am the host of the “virulently pro-whaling” site aforementioned by Maggie.
It is telling that she cannot argue the points that many anti-whalers are bigots; so she attacks the idea that anyone would think they are bigots.
Consider — Sea Shepherd believes it has a moral mandate to enforce non-existent laws using vigilante violence against innocents. Whether you like it or not, everything ICR does in the Southern Ocean is entirely legal.
Using violence as a means to an end, to force people to conform to your personal set of morality — that is the very embodiment of bigotry.
That said, many anti-whalers are not bigots.
But anyone who supports Sea Shepherd is, definitively, a bigot.
As for the poem — it’s very clear that the sea is “smiting” out of “fear” and “wrath”. All 3 of those are effects with causes. Things aren’t randomly wrathful — there is a cause to that wrath.
Things aren’t randomly fearful — there is a cause to that fear.
Things don’t smite — there is a cause for such a righteous action.
What is that cause? Well it’s not explicitly stated, but it doesn’t take much to figure out.
Vote:Reading through the thread on his profile and public pages makes it pretty clear that many of his supporters interpreted it along the “karma” lines as well.
March 18th, 2011 at 12:23 am
Generally the only people who draw an explicit reference to God and judgement of people are the right wing Christian crowd. Such as Beck of Fox News who did this.
There are some in the environment movement who see man as reaping what they sow in terms of lack of conservation of resources and protection for the environment, and this is clearly true.
However to go from there and draw a connection to natural events, such as eartthquakes and tsunami that may result is at best a metaphorical allusion. Those using it are drawing a connection to their political message about reaping what we sow, but because they know the science as well as we do, they do not move beyond the metaphorical allusion – unlike Beck and that kind.
That said it’s a little insensitive and crass to use such means at this time to make a political point about being better custodians of the planet.
Vote:March 18th, 2011 at 2:01 am
kujirakira, whether anti-whalers are bigots is an opinion, not a point. As an opinion it is neither right nor wrong.
You read things into the poem that aren’t there. You see them because you want to see them.
Vote: