International Whaling Commission Roundup

First off, had my annual physical today, and everything looks fine. I feel great, but it's always nice to have that affirmed by a professional. Needless to say, I have been medically cleared to Take It to the Man.

The IWC met in Anchorage this week. Japan was unsuccessful in bringing back commercial whaling, despite amassing an impressive number of votes--the moratorium in place since 1986 still stands. Alaskan subsistence whaling is safe, with quotas approved for the next five years.

Here's some decent background on subsistence whaling, for the unfamiliar.

The IWC also approved a quota for the Makah tribe on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, but whaling is not likely to happen anytime soon, thanks to the federal courts' boneheadedness--approving the hunt in theory, saying that the tribe can apply for a federal permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but setting nigh impossible permit requirements. Of course, the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, signed by the U.S. government, explicitly gives the tribe whaling rights, but since when does this government care about treaties? Sorry--I'm kind of rehashing my law review comment here (full text available on request, or if you get on my bad side).

Oh, and Japan is threatening to leave the IWC after not getting its way. Reminds me of Lenin's strategy of threatening to leave the Bolshevik Party if they didn't vote the way he wanted them too. Of course, in his case it worked.

It's Friday. One last weekend before training for the next marathon begins. But mostly, I just want a nap.