A Killer Whale, The So-Called Taku, Dies At San Antonio Sea World

 

An orca, or killer whale, has died unexpectedly today at Sea World in San Antonio, Texas. This whale was called Taku.

Taku is an interesting name for this whale. Gyotaku is a Japanese art form where an impression in paper made over a dead fish in order to preserve an image of the fish. In this way, fishermen could prove how big a catch they had made to others. It is also practiced by some as an art form.

The photo above is gyotaku art. Gyo means “fish” and taku means “rubbing or “impression.”  

Of course, gyotaku is not what Sea World is doing with the deceased so-called Taku. Everybody already knows that Sea World puts huge killer whales in little tanks. Nothing to prove on that account. 

Please click here for a previous Texas Liberal post on what is done with Shamu whales when they die at Sea World.

Please click here for a post on when a Shamu attacked her handler.    

Since you’re at a political blog, please click here for a great article on helping America’s middle classes. We’ve got to find a way to help people live decent lives in the Global Economy.

Will America’s Democrats Face Same Questions And Problems As Germany’s Social Democrats?

The Economist reported recently about problems facing Germany’s Social Democratic Party. This is the main center-left party of Germany. At current, the S.D.P is the junior partner in a grand coalition government led by Christian Democratic Chancellor Angela Merkel.  

The threat rising against the S.D.P is the new Left Party. The Left Party is pulling away many working class voters who have long supported the S.D.P.

The appeal of the Left Party comes mostly from economic issues such as low pay, job security and retirement age. The party is strong where steel plants and coal mines have shut down.

In short, the Left Party does best where globalization has hit hardest.  

The Left Party was formed in the former East Germany from the remnants of the former Communist Party. Despite those roots, The Economist cites a recent book maintaining that Left Party leaders are fully democratic.

Up to now, these Communist beginnings are a reason the S.D.P has been reluctant to join in coalition with the Left Party.  

(An exception is an S.D.P/Left coalition governing Berlin under openly gay S.D.P Mayor Klaus Wowereit.) 

While strongest in the east where economic conditions are toughest, the Left Party has been gaining elsewhere in Germany

In current German polling, the Left Party stands at about 10%. This puts it roughly even with the Greens. With the S.D.P at under 30%, the Left Party might be needed by the S.D.P to form a coalition government in a future federal election.  

Could America’s Democratic Party face the same problems Germany’s Social Democrats are confronting? The recent agreements at General Motors and Chrysler institute a two-tiered wage structure.  New hires will receive far lower pay than long-term employees even given the difference in duration of employment.

How are our blue collar people going to be able to live decent lives? 

Some German voters apparently feel the S.D.P does not have the answers to the effects of globalization in an advanced economy.

It is not hard to imagine that Democratic voters in the United States will soon begin to ask some of the same tough questions now being asked of the established left in Germany.