The 22nd annual two-day monster shark tournament in Oak Bluffs ended Saturday with a total of 27 sharks caught and submitted, the largest of which was a 399-pound thresher. The team on the Waterbury caught the shark Friday, beating the other 200 boats in the tournament. Their prize was an $80,000 boat.
Although the Monster Shark Tourna ment is over until the same massacre occurs next July, please read on. My husband and I, the two protestors aside from the Humane Society, spent the hours during the weigh-in with signs stating our stance. We have heard many of the arguments that tournament participants and supporters mindlessly rattle off. If those people would do some research, they would uncover the truth about what we are doing to the oceans and the ecosystems within it.
On Nov. 15, 1969, a million peo ple, give or take a few hundred thousand, marched on Washington to protest the war in Vietnam. It was my first major demonstration. You never forget your first.
As demonstrators in cities and countries around the world take to the streets in the name of Occupy Wall Street, not one but two Occupy movements are taking shape here on the Island, one virtual and one decidedly not.
The first began last weekend with a Facebook page called “Occupy Martha’s Vineyard.” Within a few days, the page had attracted 189 friends, several of whom have posted stories of their personal economic struggles as a way of connecting with the movement.
They’ve occupied Owen Park, Menemsha, Five Corners and the West Tisbury town hall. And tomorrow Occupy Wall Street organizers on the Vineyard are planning an early-morning demonstration at the blinker intersection in Oak Bluffs. The gathering is planned from 7 to 9 a.m. on Veterans Day.
“Bring a sign. Bring your energy. Bring your voice . . . a demonstration of solidarity and support. All are welcome to join us,” wrote BZ Riger in a post on the Gazette Facebook page this week.
Members of the Occupy Martha’s Vineyard movement gathered outside the Edgartown District Courthouse Friday, protesting the anniversary of the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
