Monday, December 2, 2013

We Have Spoken and Will Not be Silenced

Greetings once again everyone. I apologize for those of you who were expecting this blog last night. Due to unforeseeable circumstances I was unable to type this up. So Anonymous's Twitter Storm for OpKillingBay began yesterday and raged on through the entire day, into the night, and is still, while greatly slowed going on as I type this. For those of you who were unaware of what was going on. Yesterday at 4:00am (6:00pm Tokyo Time), Anonymous and a number of dedicated activists took to twitter and relentlessly bombarded Japan over the Taiji dolphin slaughter. Pictures and facts from the slaughter were used and to my knowledge any of the questions directed at government officials were not answered (big shock right).

While the twitter storm was in full swing, Anonymous launched a full scale assault on a variety of Japanese websites in protest against the killings. I don't know how that went for them, but I can say for some time yesterday I was unable to access IMATA's website which was one of their targets. The site was back up though as of late last night. Getting back to the storm itself. I figured I'd share with you some of the posts and images that were spread across twitter over the past 24+ hours.




































Those are just a few of the many, many tweets that were sent out yesterday and today in opposition of the Taiji dolphin slaughter. Many of these images are certainly heartbreaking to even the toughest of conservationist. Sorry but I feel the need to post one more thing from Twitter that literally just came out and well... Disgusting is the only word I can think of for it.




As you can see, the twitter storm is still going on long after it's scheduled start time. From taking part in this storm I can honestly say that there a many, many people who stand in opposition of this slaughter. Even more than you probably think. So what can you do to help the dolphins of Taiji? Use the greatest weapon in the world, the internet. If you are a hacker, go to Anonymous and join them in OpKillingBay. If you, like me have no hacking skills, but still want to be a part of OpKillingBay and help fight for these animals you can do a few things. The easiest is to make a Twitter account if you don't have one already. Every Saturday there will be a Twitter storm in the month of December (and probably until the killing stops) that will go off in three major waves as seen on the image below.

Send one tweet, send ten, send a hundred. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you use your voice for these animals and help to show the government of Japan that we are sick and tired of watching the harmless innocent be brutally slaughtered. On these Saturdays we will all be united under one hashtag, #ShutTaijiDown. The message is clear. Enough is enough. Be as creative as you want with your tweets or use some of the ones found here http://cyg-one.net/TweetAgent/TweetStorms/ListTweetStormTweets.php?tag=ShutTaijiDown. If you wish to retweet things, please quote instead as it helps get the hashtag trending while retweeting apparently does not. 

Another thing you can do is spread the word on Facebook about the slaughter and what groups such as Sea Shepherd's Cove Guardians and Anonymous are doing to try and put an end to it. You can keep yourself up to date by following the Cove Guardians on Twitter or liking them on Facebook. They are on the ground in Taiji and give consistent updates as to what is going on in Taiji, including that currently 75-80 bottlenose dolphins are currently being held in the cove. Odds are a few of them will be taken into captivity, and the rest slaughtered. 

If the internet isn't your thing at all then you still have a voice. Just because you may not know how to tweet or update a Facebook (it's true, some people don't. It's not a bad thing) you still have a voice. Tell your family and friends about what's going on. Tell them of the slaughter. Purchase The Cove and show it to them. It takes one person to start a chain reaction. Who knows that one friend could show other friends who show other friends and the next thing you know, a whole new group of people have become aware of the killings. You can be a voice for the voiceless. These animals need our help and we are there only hope. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I strongly encourage all of you to, if you have not done so, to watch The Cove. It is completely heartbreaking, but it is something that NEEDS to be seen to truly understand and grasp what is happening in Taiji from the corruption to the killing itself. Thank you all for reading. I will continue to do my best in keeping you guys up to date as to what is going on with OpKillingBay and will probably have another blog with the same design as this with highlights from December 7th's Twitter storm, but expect more before then.

To the government of Japan,
  
    We have all stood by quietly as you've gone about killing dolphins with no regard. Some of us have asked you to stop. Others have now landed in Taiji and are documenting what is going on. Some of us have even exposed to the world exactly what goes on in the killing bays of Taiji. The majority of us though, still have sat quietly while we rooted on our heroes. Now though the time has come for the tide to change. More and more of us are rising up to stand next to our heroes. We may not be on the ground in Taiji. We may not have the ability to obtain video from inside the bay. We may not even be able to break into a website and cause havoc. No we can't do any of that. What we can do though is all raise our voices for what is right. Raise our voices for the animals you are allowing to be slaughtered. We are all voices of the voiceless. It is our turn to stand against the brutal slaughter of these dolphins. As one of your opponents would like to say. It would be wise of you to expect us... 

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