Comments

1
Wow! Amazing story.
2
They didn't know Japanese... what language was Mr. XVX planning on protesting in? What an entitled dickwad. Thank Jeebus he had money for rental cars and plane tickets so he was able to get back home in time for the fur protest.
3
C&B: yes, the Sea Shepherd people are without exception insufferable pricks. But that doesn't mean it's not a happy story when one of them doesn't get killed...
4
Seriously? He STILL cares more about animals than the humans who are suffering right now?
5
porpoise slaughter > Japanese earthquake victims
6
^
|
|

troll
7
That was an incredible account, and to everyone else, sorry - you don't get to pick your English-speaking eyewitnesses.

I'd like to put on my Todd Mecklem hat for a moment, just long enough to remark that no matter what you think about him, Mr. XVX* clearly lives a porpoise-driven life.
8
* "XVX" is turd-speak for "please punch me."
9
I hope that Todd Mecklem hats are not made from the skins of Todd Mecklems, because in that case I would definitely have to protest!
10
That ought to boost his activist street cred.
11
Wow, even after a potentially transformative experience like that, he still sounds like a total dickwad.
12
I heart porpoises, I heart people surviving tsunamis, I heart crazy-ass stories, at times I've been known to heart an activist or two. So how does this guy still come across as a total tool??
13
it's interesting how much criticism people are giving someone for trying. regardless of whether you respect/agree with his stance, he is doing a whole hell of a lot more for what he believes in than the common apathetic american typing away insults comfortably from their computer desk.

..BPC..
14
Those calling dickwad should know that it's bouncing off him and sticking to them.
16
Just because this douche needed babysitters doesn't mean everyone does. Why the fuck would you go to a country where you don't even speak the language? Clown.
17
I think the guy sounds like a prick because he relates countless examples of suffering, death, etc., and the only sympathy he ever expresses is towards the porpoises.
18
Biggest. Prick. Ever.
19
So firstly it says he was there to document it, which means you guys must need English a lot more than he needs Japanese...

Also, I noticed a fair bit of sympathy for the people as it seems they decided to get the hell out of there mostly because they didn't want to waste the little resources those poor survivors had on themselves. That and at the end he does say that what he saw was far more horrible than the suffering he expected to see.

Most of you people sound uneducated or uninformed. I'd have to wonder how much effort you'd put into learning about why people like Mike feel the way they do, or if you'd even care in the first place. I would think if you started off not caring then you lack so much perspective you don't really even have the faculties to talk about any of the subject, much less poorly attempt to make any real point other than saying, "der her douchebag hucka huck."
20
Right, he only cares about porpoises... Are people not reading the last part, where he sums up the awful human suffering and distress he'd seen by saying it was so much more horrible than what he'd expected to see (dolphins getting killed)? Or the part where he tells of trying in vain for six hours to save a (human) life? No sympathy expressed for humans? Did we read the same article?
And being concerned about one or two areas in which change needs to occur doesn't mean someone can't be concerned about the others too. We can't do everything; all have to find a small corner to work in, something that matters. Or is it that humans are supposed to focus only on ourselves and forget everything else, including other animals and the environment?
21
Interesting eye-witness account is interesting. Thanks for sharing.
22
@sexmachinealpha: Way to suck balls at reading. He definitely expresses sympathy toward human subjects in this account. Remember the dead woman he saw tangled in a tree?

He does look super smug, though. I totally support Sea Shepherds, but I'm guessing on day 1 of training they teach all the volunteers how to pose smugly.
23
Since this story is taken from an interview, I think it's obvious that the interviewer asked him whether he would continue with his activism after what he'd been through. And he answered in the affirmative. I don't really get his last name, but I fail to see how that makes him a jerk. And I would be surprised if any of you smug fuckers would spend hours and steal a fire truck to try to save someone in this situation. It kind of sounds like you might just make fun of her on the internet.
24
What a shit head.
25
@sarahfina +1.

These comments are ridic.
26
The negative commenters in this thread reaffirm my belief that this rag is only read by insecure transplants that need a pop "culture" mag to try to fit in here because no local in their right mind would ever be seen with them much less speak to them. You just don't get it and you never will because you don't belong here. You stick out like a black eye. So take your stupid umbrellas and go back to the lame, apathetic, conservative East Coast shitholes that you slithered out of, trite ignorant losers.
27
Someone who knows Mike XVX should alert him that a bunch of Portlanders are commenting in this thread. Posting here would give him a chance to reach people that are hostile to him and his view of the world. His life is dedicated to sparking discussion and changing how people live; this thread is a golden opportunity to reach a new audience and convert them.
28
Just to be clear, I'm not at all hostile toward this guy, whoever he is. I know my remark was rude, but that's just how I come off sometimes. I like making snide sarcastic comments that are admittedly sometimes in poor taste, however amusing I find them. In my case at least, I just have a twisted sense of humor that I don't really expect anyone else to get, but it is completely harmless. If you were across the table from me sharing beers, this would be abundantly clear. I'm sure he is an ok dude and I don't think anybody needs to be all butthurt over it. Probably a lot of what irked me in first place has more to do with the editing of the piece. And you have to admit that there is a hint of disconnect in his wording and such, but again this could just be due to the writing or his personality. But seriously, if we can't joke around and make stupid comments, we are truly fucked.
30
I started reading this from a facebook link, and was really curious to hear about this eyewitness account. However, the more I read, the more INCREDIBLE this story became.

I'm sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on this story - for several reasons. I'm not going to start with whether he and his team were actually there during the tsunami or not. It seems a little convenient that everything we saw on TV or heard about in the news happened to him and his people. There are countless little details that seem too precise, and when taken together, don't really add up. One thing jumped out at me at the end: you survive this horrendous and scarring event, watching people die all around you, and you take the time to mention (& photograph!) that your team "saved a fish" (check the sea shepherd website). But the main thing is how all these things happened to you and your group. You are able to drive the rental cars, but the firetruck controls are "all backwards". So it took 10 minutes to figure out how to "drive it down to the water". I guess they reopened the tsunami gates to let him through? And those roads were clear enough to drive on? And all the other Japanese just wandered off, not worrying about people whose friends and relatives might be fighting for their lives? Especially the firecrew, who I assume would have lived down in the wreck they just witnessed?

As for staying at a hotel 'only 40 miles away' - I live in Japan, and have spent a fair amount of time in the countryside. 40 miles is a considerable distance to drive, on a good day, down narrow, winding roads often just big enough for 2 lanes of traffic. But right after a M9 quake and major tsunami, they found a guy "whose job was to get rides for everyone". One heroic episode here would have been believable. But when every turn reveals a new chance to be heroic, or witness the death of another cliche, doubt begins to set in.

Also, he claims to have stayed 40 miles from Otsuchi, which turns out to be "just 10 km from the fallout zone" - the Fukushima Nuclear power plants are about 140 miles (straight line distance) from Otsuchi. Even with the 50 mile exclusionary zone announced by the US embassy for US citizens, plus the 40 miles to his hotel in "Kono", we still have 50 miles of buffer, nowhere near the "10 km" zone he mentions. Fast and loose playing with simple facts bring this entire story into question.

Usually when people go through an event where they very likely could have died, they take some time to take stock in their life, start measuring how good they have it compared to others. There is also a bit of delayed shock that happens. They don't usually fly home and jump right into a "Anti-fur Demo".
31
I started reading this from a facebook link, and was really curious to hear about this eyewitness account. However, the more I read, the more INCREDIBLE this story became.

I'm sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on this story - for several reasons. I'm not going to start with whether he and his team were actually there during the tsunami or not. It seems a little convenient that everything we saw on TV or heard about in the news happened to him and his people. There are countless little details that seem too precise, and when taken together, don't really add up. One thing jumped out at me at the end: you survive this horrendous and scarring event, watching people die all around you, and you take the time to mention (& photograph!) that your team "saved a fish" (check the sea shepherd website). But the main thing is how all these things happened to you and your group. You are able to drive the rental cars, but the firetruck controls are "all backwards". So it took 10 minutes to figure out how to "drive it down to the water". I guess they reopened the tsunami gates to let him through? And those roads were clear enough to drive on? And all the other Japanese just wandered off, not worrying about people whose friends and relatives might be fighting for their lives? Especially the firecrew, who I assume would have lived down in the wreck they just witnessed?

As for staying at a hotel 'only 40 miles away' - I live in Japan, and have spent a fair amount of time in the countryside. 40 miles is a considerable distance to drive, on a good day, down narrow, winding roads often just big enough for 2 lanes of traffic. But right after a M9 quake and major tsunami, they found a guy "whose job was to get rides for everyone". One heroic episode here would have been believable. But when every turn reveals a new chance to be heroic, or witness the death of another cliche, doubt begins to set in.

Also, he claims to have stayed 40 miles from Otsuchi, which turns out to be "just 10 km from the fallout zone" - the Fukushima Nuclear power plants are about 140 miles (straight line distance) from Otsuchi. Even with the 50 mile exclusionary zone announced by the US embassy for US citizens, plus the 40 miles to his hotel in "Kono", we still have 50 miles of buffer, nowhere near the "10 km" zone he mentions. Fast and loose playing with simple facts bring this entire story into question.

Usually when people go through an event where they very likely could have died, they take some time to take stock in their life, start measuring how good they have it compared to others. There is also a bit of delayed shock that happens. They don't usually fly home and jump right into a "Anti-fur Demo".
33
"This article sucks.", "No, people who say articles suck, suck.", "Nuh uh, you're just not paying attention.", "Why don't you go back to where you came from? Interloper." I've noticed that this last one is usually someone whose white ancestors came over from the east coast a while back... it just wasn't them. In any case: Yawn.

I would like to point out that telling a good story, having done something praise worthy, or even being a down right good person doesn't exclude you from sounding like a dick. That shit just isn't mutually exclusive. I'm sticking with my original "this guy sucks" position. @stoczko: thank you very much.
34
@Sarahfina I retract my comment and would like to take you out to dinner. I know a great porpoise place in SE.
35
@stoczko: I think "Kono" is just spelled incorrectly, in the Oregonian article he claims to be in a town called "Tono" which is 40 KM (not miles) away from Otsuchi. Also, how can you explain his photographs from the article on the main Mercury page if he "wasn't there"? Those are the first I'd ever seen any of those.

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