http://flickr.com/photos/sthig/sets/213112/

This I find a real comment on US society in itself. Where else would it occur to anyone to even spend the time on it.
It's like: "Hey they lied! People can be unhappy here."

American society doesn't want to see unhappy people though - just like most Americans don't want an honest answer to "How are you today?" One big "let's pretend we're happy." Or is it: "I'm ashamed that I'm unhappy, because everyone tells me I should be happy"?

But maybe this is a sort of an "emperor's got no clothes" thing. It takes somebody to stand up and say "Disneyland is pretty miserable...actually."

Maybe that's why Boing Boing put in on their site and why Dave Winer posted it on his blog.

This story shows just how special dolphins are.

At Whangarei, New Zealand, a pod of dolphins circled for 40 minutes around a group of lifeguards swimming in the ocean to protect them from a marauding 3 meter great white shark.

The full story is on the New Zealand Herald. There was also a short BBC News story.

This is not the first time dolphins have prevented a shark attack, but previous cases have often been poorly documented.

This ad made me smile. EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) is one of the largest European defence contractors. Perhaps the company's French and German roots didn't help sales in the US market, so they came up with this ad. What could be more American (Texan even) than European helicopters?

The shark attack near Cape Town on Monday has shocked local residents and tourists alike. A huge great white shark bit local resident Tyna Webb in half during her daily morning swim.

Unfortunately it has led to renewed calls to place shark nets at Cape beaches. While shark nets have been shown to reduce the (already small) chance of swimmers being attacked by sharks, they have a dirty little secret: they kill dolphins.

Around 60 dolphins a year get caught in the shark nets off the main beaches of Kwazulu-Natal on South Africa's east coast. Dolphins drown if they cannot reach the surface for air.

The shark nets were originally placed at Kwazulu-Natal beaches after "black December" in 1957 when a series of horrific shark attacks killed 5 people near Margate. Although it is now generally recognized that this was a freak incident, possibly related to the discharge of blood into the sea from whaling stations along the coast.

Humans are irrational about risks. Only 6 people are killed in shark attacks a year world-wide. Compare that to the number of victims of traffic accidents (10,000 a year in South Africa alone). There seems to be something terrifying to the human mind about a wild creature or uncontrolled nature.

Of course, the real force behind calls to install shark nets will come from the tourist industry claiming lost income and opportunities. Capitalism can be incredibly selfish, stupid and short-sighted. I hope that true lovers of the ocean will be able to counter this inevitable pressure.

Isabelle Spies, one of Tyna's daughters, said that "a revenge attack would be the last thing that my mom, who was such a gentle person, would want".

"She said that she respected the shark's dominion, that when she went swimming she knew she was entering their domain. My mom's wishes should be respected. She was the person who was attacked, after all."

"A fatal attack is such a rare thing. More important than killing the shark, there should be a look at why there have been more attacks recently."

Geremy Cliff, head of research for the Natal Sharks Board, said it cost R1-million annually to maintain the shark nets at Amanzimtoti. The nets caught around 60 dolphins, 60 turtles, 200 rays and 600 sharks each year. Most of these animals died before they could be freed.

Cape Times, November 17 2004

See also:
National Geographic article about shark net debate
Shark net dilemma for whales in Australia

Don't just Unbrand America, unbrand the whole world. It's not just an American problem. Although some of the biggest brands ARE American.

For the Netherlands you could add Shell, Unilever, Philips, Albert-Heijn, ABN-AMRO, ING, KPN and several other multi-nationals.

Unbrand America is a campaign by Adbusters.