Mark Gold wants to Heal the Bay and Kill the Hump.

I figured I’d better get this post up before The Hump Restaurant is permanently shuttered. Apparently Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, has asked that Santa Monica City Attorney, Marsha Moutrie’s office look into revoking the embattled sushi restaurant’s business permit. The Hump restaurant in Santa Monica, CA, has been accused of selling whale meat which is against federal law. Charges have yet to be made. (Story link here.) (UPDATE as of late Wednesday, March 10, 2010: Official charges have been made against The Hump restaurant's parent company and sushi chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto.)

Mr. Gold’s mission: Put The Hump out of business for good. Kick the entire staff, from dishwashers to management, out on the street in this the worst recession in U.S. history (even worse in the restaurant sector). Screw ‘em all, especially the dishwashers because they were probably the whale sushi ringleaders anyway. Don’t be fooled by their minimum wage paychecks.

Frightening how some of the more extreme wing of the “save all of God’s creatures great and small” movement end up destroying as much as they believe they save. It is in fact a zero sum game for them. Might as well blow up an abortion clinic. Sure, different wing but same Machiavellian principle of "the ends justify the means". If you don't like it, destroy it.

Mr. Gold, is it possible, perhaps, to have your punitive lust be more laser focused rather than dropping a cluster bomb or napalming to holy hell the natives down below?

Is it possible to fine The Hump and punish specifically the individual or individuals involved rather than destroy the livelihood of innocent people who have nothing to do with the selling of illegal whale meat? After all, we are talking about real people who are innocent of any wrong doing just like we are talking about an innocent whale.

Even if one doesn’t eat the endangered, it clearly isn’t enough for this faction. I eat some crazy stuff. It’s well known. However, I don’t and have never consumed anything endangered. Anybody who knows me can tell you that.

Apparently that’s not enough for some people and they clearly would rather see me or my children meet our maker than something lower on the food chain like a lobster. Nice. Threats to my kids. I’m not showing that particular threat because I’d rather not revisit it.

I’m not accusing people like Mark Gold or the filmmakers of The Cove of emailing this to me, but I betcha they just might run with people who would.

Anonymous said...

“You are seriously sick and the epitome of what is wrong with the world. I hope you somehow get cooked and eaten alive. Slowly. In fact I'm gonna put up a nice reward for anyone who can do the same to you as you do to the animals. Just wait bitch, lots of people will do it with a smile on their face. Just like you when you eat.”


Got that one after my appearance on KABC Eyewitness News. Ironically, part of that news segment was shot at The Hump. I don't know of any carnivorous foodie who'd leave that comment on anyone's blog.

Dear anonymous: if you continue to go down this path, don’t be surprised when you end up on the sting end of making email threats. FYI: Sending threatening emails or messages through the internet using instant messages or other means, is a federal crime in the United States. Statute 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) states: Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (P.S. I got all your IP info, et al.)

So, Mr. Gold, there's a lot of housecleaning to do everywhere you look.

To be perfectly clear, I don’t condone the consumption of endangered things, animal, plant or mineral. Simple as that.

I also don’t condone hypocrisy. If anyone claims to value life, then value life. Once you start to pick and choose whose life is worthy, you’re playing God. And, I’m pretty confident in saying that Mark Gold is no deity, other than in his own mind.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'd love to know what Mark Gold's older (and more respected in this household) Brother thinks of all this.

BTW, Eddie, keep up the good work. Don't let the haters get you down.
Juliet said…
Well said!
I saw the news story (the one with your face blurred), and found the glee on Mr. Gold's face and in his voice at the idea of closing the restaurant sick.
Anonymous said…
I agree. Mark Gold, calm down. I am a financial supporter of Heal the Bay, but killing The Hump is not the answer.
Val said…
Quote:
“You are seriously sick and the epitome of what is wrong with the world. I hope you somehow get cooked and eaten alive. Slowly. In fact I'm gonna put up a nice reward for anyone who can do the same to you as you do to the animals. Just wait bitch, lots of people will do it with a smile on their face. Just like you when you eat.”

The fact that the coward chose to remain anonymous is a clear indication that he (or she) either is embarassed by their own stupidity (never saw anything both cooked and eaten alive simutaneously) or realized after posting that you never killed anything you ate. Maybe the next time they stop at Burger King for a Whopper they can yell at the staff for putting a .22 in the back of the cow's brain that gave its life. And anyone who justifies killing humans to save animals stating that it is a religious cause ought to go back and read Genesis 9:3. I certainly don't condone selling or eating endangered species, but let's not go crazy in the opposite direction. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. I don't eat shark's fin soup because I think the practice of cutting the fin off and dumping the shark back in to die is unecessarily cruel, however I love a good shark steak on the grill... And now back to your regularly scheduled program.
Anonymous said…
Eddie,
That sounds like a real threat. Report and pursue it through law enforcement absolutely. Don't let zealots intimidate.
-Adrian
Unknown said…
Don't let them get you down, Eddie. It's long been known that a small but hard-to-miss fringe of the animal-rights crowd hold animal life in higher esteem than human life, and that speaks volumes about the state of their respectability and, well, sanity.

Love your blog, wish I could write as well as you when it comes to trying strange and unusual foods. Keep it up!
Anonymous said…
It takes 4-hours to kill a whale.

Think about it........

CLOSE THIS PLACE - PERIOD.
Val said…
@Anonymous:

Closing down this restaurant to prevent the killing of whales is as effective as jailing a casual pot smoker as the main offensive on the war on drugs. If what bothers you is the killing of the whales, then you need to direct your efforts to the many countries around the world that still permit whaling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling). I'm not condoning what was alleged at this restaurant, but I'm pretty sure that killing the whale is not one of the crimes they'll be charged with....
Christine said…
I've had whale several times and its delicious. (In addition to raw horse meat, blowfish, and python.)

The hypocrisy and self-righteousness of those trying to close The Hump and prosecute its sushi chef and owners on 'moral grounds' is ludicrous.
Anonymous said…
Since when are eating humans Ok but eating whales are not. What's great is that he'll pay people to do it..not him...but other people. What a bitch!
Nancy said…
While I certainly don't condone inflicting bodily harm against another person, I don't have a problem with Mark Gold asking the city to revoke its business license. The Hump did a break a major endangered animal law in one of the most eco-conscious cities in the nation.

It will be sad that the lower level employees will be out of work, but the negative media attention is going to drive the Hump out of business regardless of whether the license is revoked. Its better for them to be laid off, collect unemployment and start looking for another job than to endure a long, torturous death of the restaurant through lack of business. We're talking late and bounced checks, less tips, etc.
Exile Kiss said…
Hi Eddie,

Great post. It's thoughtful and well-stated (and I'm sorry to hear about extremists threatening you and your family. :( I totally agree with you: It's one thing to go after the individuals who brought and prepared the whale meat. It's another to try and end the jobs of every single employee of The Hump (dishwashers, janitors, etc.), who had nothing to do with it. Thanks.
Anonymous said…
I completely agree that the employees who knew nothing about what was going on are innocent victims in this whole thing. They may well lose their jobs and livelihood. But I think it's a little misguided to blame the people who want to shut down The Hump/enforce federal law for this. It's really the fault of the owner, chef, or whoever else was involved in the purchase or sale of whale meat. By knowingly violating the law, those people took a calculated risk, not just for themselves but for all of their employees.
mattatouille said…
Very well said Eddie. I agree that perhaps Gold should be more specific, but that at this point The Hump is the perfect poster child for his cause. Anyone working at the restaurant should know the risk of working at a place that serves endangered animals. It's like working for a company that does shady business - sometimes you have to expect that there's a risk involved with working there. Of course, it wasn't the dishwasher's choice to serve whale meat, so there's that issue. Either way, good argument.