A file photograph released by Greenpeace, shows the Nisshin Maru, a factory ship in a Japanese whaling fleet, injuring a whale with it's first harpoon attempt.
The government cites tradition, but rejects similar arguments from its Ainu people, who want to fish for wild salmon.
By Bruce Wallace, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
By Bruce Wallace, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
TOKYO -- The pro-whalers in the Japanese government have a ready answer when asked to explain why the global ban on commercial whaling should be lifted.
TOKYO -- The pro-whalers in the Japanese government have a ready answer when asked to explain why the global ban on commercial whaling should be lifted.
Whaling is part of Japan's culture, they say. They point to archaeological evidence that whale meat has been a Japanese staple for more than 2,500 years. Respect for the "brave fish" courses through Japanese literature and paintings, they say, and has inspired folk festivals and puppet shows. Whales are so revered that the souls of the hunted and killed are commemorated in the Buddhist temples of Japan's hunting ports.
Yet despite contending that tradition justifies the whale hunt, the Japanese government balks at accepting similar arguments from the Ainu people on the northern island of Hokkaido who want to fish for wild salmon. The Japanese government has long prevented the indigenous Ainu people from exercising their traditional hunting and fishing rights, including the right to catch salmon as they return to Hokkaido's rivers to spawn.
Salmon have always been a food staple for the Ainu, such a fundamental element of their culture that they annually perform ceremonies to give thanks for the fish. Only in recent years has the government bent to Ainu lobbying and agreed to permit a small salmon haul that allows a few fish to be caught for ceremonial purposes....
L A Times
Malibu fire closes roads
By Stephanie Chavez, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:10 AM PST, November 24, 2007
Numerous roads in and around Malibu have been closed today because of the brush fire. Among them:
-- Pacific Coast Highway from Corral Canyon to Kanan Dume Road.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fireroad25,0,3472238.story?coll=la-home-center
Rialto declares a water emergency
The city hopes to get state funding to help clean up and halt chemical contamination of its drinking water supply.
By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
Rialto city officials have declared a state of emergency, citing concerns about a shrinking water supply in danger of further contamination by dangerous chemicals.
The City Council voted on the declaration Tuesday in an attempt to secure state funding to halt the spread of industrial perchlorate in city groundwater. The growing, six-mile-long chemical plume in the north end of the San Bernardino County city contaminates 360 million gallons of groundwater each month.
"It's time now that somebody heard us and helped us," said Mayor Grace Vargas. "We need to protect our citizens."
The declaration criticizes state and local regulatory agencies for failing to aggressively enforce cleanup efforts, and warns that Rialto would be "extremely vulnerable" in the event of a "catastrophic interruption" of its clean water supply.
Although the city says its safeguards prevent residents from drinking polluted water, the plume grows about 20 inches a day and poses a growing threat to nearby communities such as Colton, officials said.
The wet winter of several years ago caused the levels of perchlorate in water samples to spike, said Rialto Mayor Pro Tem Winnie Hanson. About half a dozen wells are affected by contamination, said Councilman Ed Scott.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-rialto24nov24,1,2424017.story?coll=la-news-environment&ctrack=4&cset=true
Of 5 sea gulls found shot, only 1 survives
The birds, all with wing injuries from an unknown attacker, were retrieved in the South Bay and taken to a San Pedro rescue center.
By Deborah Schoch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 22, 2007
A wounded sea gull clung to life Wednesday at a San Pedro bird rescue center, the sole survivor among five gulls found last week in Manhattan Beach after being shot by an unknown assailant.
The bird suffered a broken bone in one wing, where X-rays found two pellets, apparently from a shotgun or BB gun, said Cyndie Kam of the International Bird Rescue and Research Center, where the bird is being treated.
The five, all with wing injuries, were brought to the center between Nov. 13 and Nov. 15. All were found in a four-mile area along Santa Monica Bay. Four were so severely injured that they were euthanized.
"They all arrived alive, but several of them had shattered wings, and if they're too far gone, we have to euthanize them," Kam said.
This is a busy time at the rescue center, which is also nursing 40 shorebirds injured by an unknown substance in the waters off Santa Cruz.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-gulls22nov22,1,393532.story?coll=la-news-environment&ctrack=6&cset=true
Winners and losers
Fortunes shift as oil prices soar
Millionaires are created in Moscow but French fishermen riot over lost profit as effects ripple around the globe.
By Times Staff Writers
November 24, 2007
Oil makes the world go 'round. Each day, more than 85 million barrels of black gold are pumped from the ground -- that's nearly 70 ounces for each of the 6.6 billion men, women and children on Earth.
Since January, the price of a barrel of oil has almost doubled and is now approaching $100. Blame tensions in the Middle East, speculators on a quest for profit and the hunger for energy of rising powers, including India and China.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oilworld24nov24,0,6484649.story?coll=la-home-center
L.A. mayor, reporter end their affair, sources say
By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:08 PM PST, November 23, 2007
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and television news reporter Mirthala Salinas have ended their romantic relationship, two sources familiar with the situation said Friday.
Months after revelations about the affair damaged the mayor's political standing and devastated Salinas' broadcasting career, the two sources said the relationship disintegrated weeks ago.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayor24nov24,0,7160693.story?coll=la-home-center
Pet store a crime scene again
A second break-in in two weeks is reported at a La Mirada shop. This time, 10 pedigreed puppies worth about $15,000 are gone.
By Ari B. Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
The puppies in the window looked secure enough. The pricey pooches were protected by metal bars, two locked doors, alarm sensors and video surveillance cameras.
But for the second time in about two weeks, a pet dealer reported that a thief had squeezed into his Puppy Love pet store in La Mirada early Friday morning and snatched nearly a dozen Yorkshire terriers, Schnauzers and other dogs worth an estimated $15,000.
"I'm really mad this time," said Paul Ro, who owns the shop with his wife, Tina. "It's that time of the year, the holidays, and people need money. But stealing puppies is cruel. They might get sick."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dogs24nov24,0,4349480.story?coll=la-home-center
Some serious giving
November 25, 2007
LAST week, celebrity activism seemed to have hit an all-time, "Saturday Night Live"-parody low when a news story broke that Paris Hilton had taken on the plight of binge-drinking elephants in India. "The elephants get drunk all the time. It is just so sad," she was quoted as saying to reporters in Tokyo.
Turned out the story was a prank. Still, it fooled plenty of people -- including the Associated Press -- because it actually seemed plausible. Who couldn't imagine the blond heiress pouting from atop a tipsy pachyderm? Not so long ago Hilton, fresh out of jail, was planning a much-ballyhooed trip to Rwanda.
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-philanthropy25nov25,0,562612.story?coll=la-home-middleright
Hard choices on healthcare
By Susan Brink, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 26, 2007
AMERICAN dream scene: a gorgeous Southern California day. A car-free cul-de-sac on a hilltop overlooking a canyon. A boy and his father, shooting hoops.
But stark reality intruded for a brief moment last summer when 40-year-old Wes Wirkkala tripped, stumbled and almost fell. "Dad, what are you doing? Be careful!" his son Nicholas shouted. "We don't have health insurance."
At 8, Nicholas knows his family cannot risk any visits to the emergency room. He's been told a hundred times, as he dashes out the door with his skateboard, to be careful, to fall on his butt if he has to fall at all because there's no money for broken arms.
Wes Wirkkala, father of three, heard his son's words in front of their Dana Point home and felt shot through with shame. He didn't want this particular family deficiency broadcast through the neighborhood. "It was embarrassing," Wes says. "It kind of makes me feel that I'm not providing everything I should be."
The Wirkkalas, with an income that for five years has hovered around $70,000 and a home they bought in 2004 for $535,000, are a family many would call middle class. But they have been priced out of the private health insurance market, and their circumstances illustrate the core of a political battle over how much a family can earn for their children to qualify for a federal-state partnership called the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. If the outcome of Washington politics goes one way, the children could remain uninsured. If it goes the other way, the children might get health insurance.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-uninsuredkids26nov26,0,5204194.story?coll=la-home-middleright
Show runners play key role in strike
By Maria Elena Fernandez and Meg James, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 24, 2007
Neal Baer hasn't written a word since the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the major studios three weeks ago. But the executive producer of NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" took a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York last week to meet with about 150 people on the show who could be out of jobs once scripts run out next month.
"I felt I owed it to my crew," Baer said. "I wanted to tell them how deeply sorry I was. They face the calamity of being laid off. But the writers had to fight for what was right."
Since the strike began Nov. 5, the elite group of TV show runners -- writers, including Baer, who also manage prime-time productions -- have felt torn by their dual loyalties to the guild and to their programs.
The majority agreed to stop work completely, hoping that by shutting down production of popular shows, studios would become crippled and would capitulate, thus bringing the strike to a quick end. Baer and other show runners vowed not to fulfill their producing obligations until serious negotiations resumed.
But a contingent of more than two dozen have quietly returned to work, editing episodes written before the strike began, according to talent agents and writers.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-showrunners24nov24,0,2874574.story?coll=la-home-business
Brad Pitt quits movie, Russell Crowe may step in
November 23, 2007
Brad Pitt... withdrew from movie State of Play over script concerns.
Photo: Reuters
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Brad Pitt has pulled out of Universal's political thriller State of Play because of script concerns. The move comes after a couple of weeks of meetings between Pitt and director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) in an attempt to iron out the concerns.
The script cannot be worked on because of the Hollywood screenwriters' strike.
Universal is on the fast track to replace the star. Sources said the studio is looking at Johnny Depp, whose movie Shantaram just got postponed at Warner Bros., as well as Russell Crowe.
Pitt was set to star with Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn in the Matthew Michael Carnahan-scripted adaptation of the British miniseries. He was playing a political consultant-turned-journalist who heads a newspaper's murder investigation involving a fast-rising politician (Norton).
Sources said the studio is mulling its legal options and might sue the actor.
Universal confirmed Pitt's departure in a statement: "Brad Pitt has left the Universal Pictures production of State of Play. We remain committed to this project and to the filmmakers, cast members, crew and others who are also involved in making the movie. We reserve all rights in this matter."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/pitt-quits-flick-russ-may-step-in/2007/11/23/1195753261122.html
Guidelines to humanize immigration raids
By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has formally adopted federal guidelines aimed at softening treatment of illegal immigrants arrested in work-site raids who are pregnant, nursing infants or serving as sole caregivers to children or seriously ill relatives.
The federal guidelines, publicly released last week, say that agents should develop a comprehensive plan to identify such people in raids targeting more than 150 people and work with social service agencies to assess humanitarian needs when deciding whether to detain them while processing their deportation cases.
The agency developed the guidelines with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and plans to issue them to all enforcement offices, said agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immig24nov24,0,3495257.story?coll=la-home-local>
The iPod lecture circuit
November 24, 2007
BERKELEY -- Baxter Wood is one of Hubert Dreyfus' most devoted students. During lectures on existentialism, Wood hangs on every word, savoring the moments when the 78-year-old philosophy professor pauses to consider a student's comment or relay how a meaning-of-life question had him up at 2 a.m.
But Wood is not sitting in a lecture hall on the UC Berkeley campus, nor has he met Dreyfus. He is in the cab of his 18-wheel big rig, hauling dog food from Ohio to the West Coast or flat-screen TVs from Los Angeles to points east.The 61-year-old trucker from El Paso eavesdrops on the lectures by downloading them for free from Apple Inc.'s iTunes store, transferring them to his Hewlett-Packard digital media player, then piping them through his cabin's speakers. He hits pause as he approaches cities so he can focus more on traffic than on what Nietzsche meant when he said God was dead, then shifts his attention back to the classroom.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-podclass24nov24,0,5117576.story?coll=la-home-business
Former press secretary blames Bush, Cheney for misstatement about leak
Ex-White House press secretary writes in his new book that top administration officials let him unknowingly pass on false information.
From the Associated Press
6:36 AM PST, November 21, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.
In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak22nov22,0,4321094.story?coll=la-home-nation
Herbert Saffir, 90; created the hurricane scale
The engineer developed the five-category system that describes the strength of a storm and alerts residents of the approaching danger.
From Times Wire Reports
November 24, 2007
Herbert Saffir, an engineer who created the five-category system used to describe hurricane strength and warn millions about an approaching storm's danger, has died. He was 90.
Saffir died Wednesday at South Miami Hospital of complications from surgery, his son, Richard, told the Miami Herald.
A structural engineer, Saffir created his scale in 1969 -- laying out for the first time what kind of damage could be expected from an approaching hurricane. It has since become the definitive way to describe intensity for storms that form in the Atlantic and parts of the Pacific. Before the scale, hurricanes simply were described as major or minor.
Saffir's innovation was ranking storm destruction by type, from Category 1 (where primarily trees and unanchored mobile homes were damaged) to Category 5 (the complete failure of roofs and some structures). The five descriptions of destruction then were matched with the sustained wind speeds that would produce the corresponding damage.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-saffir24nov24,0,7986372.story?coll=la-home-obituaries
Political Crisis Deepens in Lebanon
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
11:40 AM PST, November 24, 2007
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanon awoke a republic without a president Saturday amid mounting worries over a power vacuum that has intensified the nation's yearlong political turmoil.
The capital was calm and shops opened for business as usual the morning after a tumultuous day that saw President Emile Lahoud depart without a successor after announcing he was handing over security powers to the army.
Lahoud's final announcement saying the country is in a "state of emergency" was rejected by the rival, pro-Western Cabinet of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
The government rejection created fresh confusion in an already unsettled situation, which many Lebanese fear could explode into violence between supporters of Saniora's government and the pro-Syria opposition led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top11nov24,0,2213622.story?coll=la-ap-topnews-headlines
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