WebProNews

Tag: caroline kennedy

  • Japan Dolphin Slaughter Gains Disapproval

    The annual dolphin hunt in Taiji began today.

    Japanese fishermen have begun slaughtering bottlenose dolphins, while ignoring protesters’ calls to spare the animals, including a rare public show of concern by the US government.

    The annual hunt in Taiji, in a picturesque whaling town on the Pacific coast, began early Tuesday morning according to activists from the Sea Shepherd marine conservation group who are monitoring the fishermen.

    US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy tweeted her dismay over the ‘inhumaneness’ of ‘drive hunt killing,’ which is drawing a quick response from Japanese officials.

    Japanese representatives told CNN that fishermen were using a “more humane” method to kill the dolphins, involving cutting their spines on the beach to kill them more swiftly and with less pain.

    “Dolphin fishing is one of traditional fishing forms of our country and is carried out appropriately in accordance with the law,” added Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

    Activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claim the animals have not been fed since their capture.

    Hundreds of dolphins were herded into a secluded cove late last week, many were sold to aquariums and marine parks, and many slaughtered in the hunt, which is mostly hidden beneath tarpaulin covers.

    The hunt has been in the spotlight since the 2009 release of “The Cove,” an Oscar-winning documentary about the town’s dolphin-hunting tradition, including activists attempts at stopping what has been called an unfair and brutal hunt.

    Dolphins are now believed to be the world’s second most intelligent animals, with only humans displaying greater brainpower.

    MRI scans indicate that these marine mammals are self-aware and researchers think dolphins are especially vulnerable to suffering and trauma.

    It is not just their extraordinary intelligence level that entitles them to protection from trauma and killing, but the fact that they frequently save human lives should grant them immunity from this unfair slaughter.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Caroline Kennedy On Familiar Ground In Japan

    A week before the 50th anniversary of her father’s death, Caroline Kennedy entered the country she studied and began to admire many years ago: Japan.

    Kennedy was sworn in as the US Ambassador to Japan on November 12, 2013, making her the first female US Ambassador to the Asian country.

    Kennedy has long been enamored with Japan, and the fondness was strengthened while she was working at the New York Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

    “…I loved to walk through the Japanese galleries, and I became more familiar with Japanese arts and culture,” she said in an interview. “I have long admired Japanese civilization and I know that America has no more important ally than Japan.”

    Hear what Caroline has to say about her new position in her own words by watching the video below:

    Kennedy studied Japanese art while in college, and spent her 1986 honeymoon with husband Edwin Schlossberg in Kyoto and Nara.

    Her trip to Tokyo comes at a time in which the US and other countries have made a historical deal with Iran to put a temporary halt on the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear weapons production. This type of work is close to the only living child of John F Kennedy, as she said her father considered the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to be his biggest success, and that she is proud to work for a president whose aim is to eliminate this frightful weapon from the world.

    Twitter was full of kind words to Kennedy on the anniversary of her father’s death.

    Although Kennedy has basically stayed away from being in any type of political position, she has held many leadership roles in a variety of institutions, including the John F Kennedy Library Foundation, the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Caroline Kennedy: Humbled To Carry On JFK’s Legacy

    Caroline Kennedy has been nominated by President Obama to serve as the US Ambassador to Japan. Caroline is the former First Daughter of former President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Bouvier Kennedy. At 55 years old, she is the only living child of the famous couple. As she awaits confirmation from the Senate, she said that she would be honored to carry on her father’s legacy if she were chosen.

    When she was testifying before the Foreign Relations Committee, she discussed issues that are important to her including promoting trade and ensuring strong military ties. She also spoke about her own experience with the New York City public school system and other public service projects that she has been a part of. The nomination comes on the 50th anniversary of her father’s presidency. She wants to focus more on his tenure and the many positive things that he did as president, rather than on his assassination on November 22, 1963, according to CBS News.

    Unlike some of President Obama’s other nominations, Kennedy was received with great respect, and she was welcomed with open arms by the Senate. Democrats and Republicans both gave her a lot of positive support, especially New York’s Democratic senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer. Gillibrand took a turn introducing her and praising her high when saying, “In her life, her work, her intelligence and her character, Ms. Kennedy will serve as a shining example.”

    She answered questions from both Republicans and Democrats about what she would do if she were elected. The Washington Post mentions that Kennedy returned the love to the Senators that they were continually giving her. When Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, asked her a question about stocking involving whether she would keep the Senate informed of developments on bilateral talks between the United States and Japan, she displayed excellent diplomatic skills.

    Kennedy also mentioned to the Senate “If confirmed, I hope to spend even more time with all of you than I have already.” She is humbled to carry on the legacy of her father and explained that she has a great respect for each of the senators as well, knowing what her Uncle Ted Kennedy did while he held the seat. She previously endorsed Obama in the 2008 presidential election and was among the 35 national co-chairs of Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us_wyvoJp28

    Image via Youtube

  • Caroline Kennedy Carries Eternal Flame to Ireland

    Caroline Kennedy, daughter of American president John F. Kennedy, carried an eternal flame from her father’s gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States, all the way to Dunganstown in County Wexford, Ireland. There she used that flame this past Saturday to light another in commemoration of the president’s historic visit there fifty years earlier.

    While JFK’s visit to Berlin – and his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” quote – is familiar to most Americans, it was his stop at his family’s ancestral homeplace in Ireland on that same trip that was being commemorated on Saturday.

    Caroline Kennedy spoke outside a cabin where her great-great-grandfather was born. At that very cabin, her father as president had visited with relatives during his stop fifty years before. Caroline Kennedy’s speech to those gathered, including Irish premiere Enda Kenny, assured the Irish that, “There was no visit that my father made as president that meant more to him that his visit to Ireland.”

    It was a significant stop for an American president in 1963. It was not just the return of America’s first Irish-Catholic president to the land of his heritage. Ireland had not yet had a visit from an American president since gaining its independence from England in 1921. Kennedy’s stop there signaled America’s recognition of that independence, as well as the success that the Irish could now claim as having one of their own as Leader of the Free World. It was a far cry from the discrimination that had long been their lot in America’s young history. That history was filled with signs that “no Irish need apply” for jobs in America’s cities.

    And it was significant in that, five months later, President John F. Kennedy, Ireland’s pride in the U.S., would be dead. Kennedy was cut down by an assassin’s bullets in November of that year.

  • Caroline Kennedy: Obama And JFK Are A Lot Alike

    Caroline Kennedy spoke up on behalf of President Obama on Thursday at the DNC, following up on her support of his campaign four years ago by saying he has something her own father admired: courage.

    Kennedy made it clear that one of the things she appreciates most about Obama is his stance on women’s rights, not just economically, but health-wise. She thinks he has what it takes to make the tough decisions which might not win him favor in the short-term, but which will ensure a long-term plan to ensure that what was begun when John F. Kennedy was in office will be carried out, not reversed.

    “He has the quality my father most admired in public life — courage,” she said. “Despite critics who said it wasn’t good politics, President Obama listened to my Uncle Teddy, and staked his presidency on making healthcare accessible to all Americans. As a Catholic woman, I take reproductive health seriously, and today, it is under attack. This year alone, more than a dozen states have passed more than 40 restrictions on women’s access to reproductive healthcare. That’s not the kind of future I want for my daughters or your daughters. Now isn’t the time to roll back the rights we were winning when my father was president.”

    For Kennedy, the upcoming election is just as important as the one her father won, and she implored voters to draw those same comparisons.

    “Over the past four years, we have had a president who has committed himself and his administration to the values that made America great — economic fairness, equal opportunity, and the belief that if each of us gives back to this country we love, all of us work together, there is no challenge we cannot overcome,” Kennedy said. “Those are the ideals my father and my uncles fought for. Those are the ideals I believe in. And this election is about whether we will advance those ideals or let them be swept away.”