Paul and Heather Mills news

The McCartneys arrived with two dozen reporters in four helicopters on the ice floe Thursday off the coast of the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to shine a spotlight on Canada's annual seal cull.

"For many years, people have been trying to have this brutal practice stopped. We're out here to see if we can lend our voice to this campaign and maybe to get it stopped once and for all," said Paul McCartney, shivering in temperatures well below freezing.

Each year, some 300,000 seals are clubbed to death, earning $16.5 million Canadian ($14.6 million U.S.) in commercial meat and pelts for thousands of local hunters.

McCartney called the hunt "cruel."

"They say we've been doing it for 500 years, but that doesn't make it justifiable," McCartney said.

During a scrum with photographers, he and his wife lay down on the ice to caress a feisty, whining pup while an angry mother seal circled.

At one point, the pup snapped at a surprised Heather McCartney while a helicopter pilot hired by the U.S. Humane Society kept the mother at bay with a walking stick normally used to check ice stability.

Canadian regulations prohibit the harassment of seals. Violators face a fine up to $100,000 Canadian ($85,000 U.S.), but minor infractions are usually ignored, officials said.

Last year, 11 activists were fined $1,000 Canadian ($850 U.S.) for interfering with the March seal hunt after an altercation with hunters while trying to document the harvest.

Their lawyer said recently they would opt for 22 days in jail rather than pay the fine and planned to hold a hunger strike during their incarceration, the local Guardian newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, French film star turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot on Friday applauded the McCartneys' action.

"I came to Canada to denounce this horror in 1977. I thank Paul McCartney from the bottom of my heart for his courage in returning there to repeat this message," she told Radio Canada.

"Canada is not an underdeveloped nation. It is a rich country. It does not have to trade in seal skins, fat, oil and penises,” she said.” The hunt is beneath a country like Canada."
The McCartneys are the latest in a string of celebrities to campaign against the hunt, including Bardot, the Dalai Lama, singer Charles Aznavour, Kim Bassinger, Juliette Binoche and Richard Dean Anderson.

Canadian officials said their visit would have no impact on the hunt, but its start this year is in doubt because of dangerously thin ice.

Canada banned the killing of seals less than 12 days old and breeding adults in 1987 amid criticisms and threats of European boycotts that pushed the industry to the brink of collapse.

After that protests eased, but Canada sparked the wrath of activists in 2003 by approving a three-year cull of some 975,000 seals after estimating their population had ballooned to 5.9 million — nearly triple the number in the 1970s.

This coincided with the opening of new markets in China and Russia.

http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20060306/sealmccartney_02.html

Primal Scream, спасибо огромное за добрые фотографии! :)

2BeatloManьka:

На здоровье! Теперь будем спасать обезьянок.

Beatle Speaks Out for Monkeys
Taking on the world's largest animal-testing company, top musical icon Sir Paul McCartney has fired off an appeal to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano asking that Covance, the company caught abusing monkeys during a PETA investigation, not be allowed to set up shop in Arizona.

и т.д. http://www.covancecruelty.com/feat-paulmccartney.asp?int=weekly_enews

Give Seals a Chance: An Interview with Paul McCartney

By Tanya Mulford

In the halls of their hotel, walking from the taping of an interview on the Canadian seal hunt for the Larry King Live show to the taping of their next interview, Heather and Paul McCartney broke into song. "All we are saying is give seals a chance," they sang to the reporters intent on capturing their every move during a recent visit to Prince Edward Island. The trip had been planned to draw international attention to the plight of the seals who, only now being born on the ice in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, are doomed to be bludgeoned and shot to death in a few weeks. "Give seals a chance," the McCartneys sang, looking directly into the cameras.

Later, while Heather mapped out strategy with the ProtectSeals team, Paul took a few moments to talk about, among other things, their involvement with the campaign to end the seal hunt, what kind of reception they received in Canada, and how he thinks ending the seal hunt would benefit everyone, including sealers.

HSUS: How did you and Heather first become involved in the campaign to protect the seals?

Paul McCartney: Originally, many years ago, like a lot of people, we started seeing footage on the television of the seal hunt, and then in the 60s, people like Brigitte Bardot coming out to the ice brought a lot of attention to it for us over in Europe…and so, really, I think it's just a 40-year knowledge of the fact that this happens is what drew me to it originally. And then we were invited over to come and see this year—2006—and come and see the pups firsthand, so we were very happy to accept the invitation.

HSUS: What was it like to travel to the ice?

PM: The most striking thing about being on the ice was the natural beauty, the fact that it is a really pristine wildlife spectacle. And as you fly in, as we did, in a helicopter, You just realize the sheer magnificence of the wildlife spectacle. And it gives you an even stronger feeling that this has got to be preserved for future generations.

you start to see one or two seals on the ice, and then you see more, and then you see more and more—and then you can see that each one is accompanied by a white pup. And as you get in, you just realize the sheer magnificence of the wildlife spectacle. And it gives you an even stronger feeling that this has got to be preserved for future generations.

HSUS: Do you feel any desire to see the hunt?

PM: Not really. In truth, it may be chicken of me, but that's not something I would find very easy to do. Heather and I had said that if we were witness to that, we'd be very tempted to try to get in and stop them. So I don't think that would be a particularly good idea. We will no doubt see it on film, unless it's stopped—miraculously—in time. And, as I say, we have seen film in the past. It is a tragedy, and that’s why we're here, trying to get people to consider alternate solutions, to move forward.

HSUS: If you could speak to the sealers, what would you say to them?

PM: I would say to them that this is a brutal practice and that they know it. I don't think for one second that they think that what they're doing is humane. From what we've heard, they will club a seal, it becomes their property, they move on; they'll club another seal, it becomes their property, they move on; and they'll move through hundreds of seals. Obviously, with one single blow—or a couple of blows with the club or the pick—they're not necessarily going to put these animals out of their misery.

I would say to them, "This is brutal. We are now in the 21st Century. Why don't you yourselves start talking to your government, why don't you, through your union and through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, start saying ‘Look, how about a license buy-back program?'" It would mean that they would be compensated. It is a tragedy, and that’s why we're here, trying to get people to consider alternate solutions, to move forward.

It would mean that the stain on Canada’s character as a nation would be cleared up. It would then also mean that sealers would have some compensation. They would then have a future in the same way as whale-watching has become a great success. [Canada banned commercial whaling in 1972; since that time the whale-watching industry has thrived and is worth more than the seal hunt.] This area could be one of the key locations that tourists from all over the world come to, to view this magnificent spectacle.

Heather and I would say to the sealers, "Consider the options—don't be frightened, and don't automatically set yourselves against ending the hunt. Just quietly, now, talk amongst yourselves, talk with the government about your options. And before making a decision, just look and see if there is anything that would provide a solution for everyone involved."

HSUS: What would you say if you were to speak to Prime Minister Harper? [The McCartneys attempted repeatedly to speak with recently elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper during their visit to Canada, but they were told that he was in meetings.]

PM: I would put the arguments to him. I would suggest the whale-watching argument because you have a clear success on your hands there. And the circumstances are pretty similar, where you've got a magnificent stock of wildlife right on your doorstep, and instead of taking this kind of advantage of it, by brutally clubbing them—or whatever methods used—to death, enhance the reputation of Canada. Because, other than this, Canada has a great reputation in the world. And the seal hunt is one huge stain on that reputation.

I would suggest that Prime Minster Harper try to take advantage, perhaps, of our visit, which will have focused attention on the issue. Instead of shirking the issue and saying "Well, it's humane, it's this, that, and the other, and we want to continue doing it," look at some radical solutions: Look at the solution offered by ecotourism and look at a license buy-back program, because then things like the boycott of Canadian seafood that's happening around the world would end. This would be one way to immediately end the boycott, which is losing Canada countless millions of dollars.

I would suggest to Harper that he and his team look at an overall program with which they can attack this problem and not feel bullied into it. The last thing we want to do is make the Canadians feel that we’re telling them what to do. We are, though, asking them to consider an alternative to the hunt—for their own sake as much as for the sake of the world community and for the seals. There’s something here that could be done that would be a win-win situation for everybody involved, including the animals.

HSUS: What kind of reception did you receive in Canada?

PM: I think we got as good a reception as we could have got. We didn’t breeze in and breeze out and not look at the other side of the question. We listened to a lot of people, had a long conversation with a man from The last thing we want to do is make the Canadians feel that we’re telling them what to do. We are, though, asking them to consider an alternative to the hunt—for their own sake as much as for the sake of the world community and for the seals.

the Department of Fisheries and Oceans [the McCartneys were approached during their flight to Prince Edward Island by a representative of the DFO, who appears to have taken that flight in order to present the government's position on the seal hunt] who put his point of view quite well. He asked us to have an open mind, and we said, "We ask you to do the same thing."

We feel that amongst the people of Canada, we had a good reception. We hope that we haven't left any anger amongst the sealers, because we are basically trying to help them. It's just that our opinion is different: We do feel, along with millions of people in the world, who—well, you could say that: "Well, they don't live here, so they’re interfering," but it’s just not true. This is an international issue—it has to do with international morals—and everyone in the world is allowed to have an opinion about it.

HSUS: Do you have a message for all the people working to protect the seals?

PM: I’d like to say to all the people who are involved in this campaign, and have been, and will be in the future, "Thanks for your great efforts. Now that we’ve been out here and seen for ourselves first-hand the beautiful wildlife spectacle, it is even more important that people like yourselves are working day and night to try to bring some justice to the situation. I believe that with a concerted effort, we all can come together. This may be the beginning of the end for the seal hunt. We pray that that’s so, and we thank you for every bit of help you’ve given—onward and upward!"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The Canadian government has successfully implemented many license buy-back (also known as license retirement) programs in the wake of fisheries closures. In these programs, the government buys back fishing licenses from fishermen, compensating them for lost revenue resulting from fishery closures. A sealing license buy-back program would fairly compensate fishermen (who hunt seals in the off season) affected by the permanent closure of the commercial seal hunt.

Tanya Mulford is the web editor for The HSUS's Wildlife and Habitat Protection section.

Противопехотные мины, мех, тюлени... Теперь Хэзер хочет, чтобы запретили молоко, т.к. оно является причиной раковых заболеваний.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2006/03/27/nmills26.xml
http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/shop/tickets.shtml

2Primal Scream:

>Противопехотные мины, мех, тюлени... Теперь Хэзер
>хочет, чтобы запретили молоко, т.к. оно является
>причиной раковых заболеваний.

Справедливости ради, Макка все это затеял еще раньше, в 2001 году: https://www.beatles.ru/postman/forum_messages.asp?msg_id=5

Следующим шагом Макартни вероятно станет кампания по запрету использования органических удобрений в сельском хозяйстве.Например потому, что плохо пахнет. Или потому, что права на навоз принадлежат животным.

Все-таки 64 - это 64. В 80 он будет размахивать саблей и вспоминать как брал Бастилию.

Ottawa Sun:
We thought Heather Mills McCartney was on thin ice when she and hubby, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, came to Canada in early March to tell East Coast fishermen to stop hunting seals.

But now she’s messing with our farmers with her most outrageous message yet: Milk kills. We never expected we’d say this, but she’s starting to make Brigitte Bardot sound sensible.

Т.е.
Мы-то думали, что Хэзер Миллс-Маккартни ступила на тонкий лед, когда она со своим муженьком экс-битлом Полом Маккартни приехала в Канаду в начале марта, чтобы сказать, что рыбаки с Восточного побережья должны перестать охотиться на тюленей.
Но теперь она замутила бадягу с нашими фермерами, обратившись к ним с самым нелепым обращением в жизни: молоко убивает! Вот уж не ожидали, что когда-нибудь скажем это, но на ее фоне речи Бриджит Бардо начинают приобретать смысл.

http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Editorial/2006/03/28/1508608.html

Veggie? Читай, коли не лень.
March 29, 2006 -- Engine 2 Recipes
Vegan Firefighters Cook Paul McCartney's Enchilada's
http://www.engine2.org/site/index.php

9 April 2006
EXCLUSIVE: LEG OP AGONY OF MACCA'S HEATHER
EXCLUSIVE Brave model in wheelchair after she has major surgery
By Ben Todd Showbiz Editor

PAUL McCartney's wife Heather is in a wheelchair after an operation on her part-amputated left leg.

The 38-year-old model was said to be in intense pain when she went into hospital for a "revision amputation" on Monday.

The complicated and rare op involved re-attaching muscle tissue to her bone and cleaning up complications with the leg.

Heather is now recovering at home with Beatles legend Sir Paul, 63.

Last night Heather's spokeswoman said: "It is a major operation - but she is fine. It has been a success. She's in a wheelchair - but out of hospital."

She added: "Heather has been putting off having the operation. But she couldn't put it off any longer.

"Paul has been very supportive. She will spend the next few weeks recuperating."

Heather - who married Sir Paul in June 2002 and gave birth to their daughter Beatrice Milly in October 2003 - will be in a wheelchair for up to four weeks.

She is likely to need crutches for several weeks after that.

Animal rights campaigner Heather lost her left leg below the knee after a police motorbike hit her in August 1993.

She was told earlier this year that further surgery was needed after suffering considerable pain.

She said at the time: "I can't imagine being eight minutes on crutches, what with carrying my baby on planes and trains."

About 5,000 amputations are carried out in England and Wales a year, and up to half need further surgery.

A friend said last night: "Heather had been in pain for some time and she knew it was a matter of when and not if she had the operation."

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16922854%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26...

April 7, 2006 -- Female First (UK)

Sir Paul McCartney is paranoid people will forget he was a Beatle.

The legendary musician says he worries new fans will only remember him for his later work - and not what he brought to the Fab Four.

He confessed to US publication Association of Retired Persons Magazine (AARP): "They say John was the Mozart, Paul was the Saileri.

"Like John was the real genius, and I was just the guy who sang 'Yesterday'."

"People say, 'Paul, people know'. But what about in the future? If this revisionism gets around, a lot of kids will say, 'Did he have a group before Wings?'"

Meanwhile, Sir Paul believes John Lennon haunted the recording of the 1995 Beatles single 'Free As A Bird' - in the form of a white peacock.

McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison posed for a photograph outside the studio where the track was recorded - when the bird wandered in shot at the last minute.

He said: "It was like John was hanging around. Spooky, eh? We felt that all through the recording."

McCartney also believes Lennon made his presence felt on the single's B-side.

He revealed: "We put one of those spoof backwards recordings on the end for a laugh.

"Then we were listening it in the studio and it goes, 'zzzwrk nggggwaaahhh jooohn lennnnnon qwwwrk' I swear to God."

2Primal Scream:

>Sir Paul McCartney is paranoid people will forget
>he was a Beatle.

Зря Пол на это надеется на самом деле ;)

Отчет Маккартни
CANADIAN SEAL HUNT - PAUL McCARTNEY - 13.04.2006
http://www.paulmccartney.com/newsView.php?newsID=1572803

April 18, 2006 -- The Mail on Sunday (MR News)

"You probably think this novel is about you..."

But Sir Paul McCartney's former publicist insists his book about an ageing rock star IS NOT Macca...then admits the blonde on the cover of the golf magazine he edits IS a Heather Mills lookalike.

When Sir Paul McCartney's PR chief Geoff Baker was sacked, he consoled himself with the thought that at least he would be able to cash in by writing a novel on his experiences of the music industry.

The protagonist is a musician who is about to turn 64 who wants to go out with a bang--but Baker insists the character is not based on his former employer.

Britain's big publishers, however, disagree. Every single one has turned down the manuscript for fear of being sued by the former Beatle.

"I know the book is not about Paul, and if Paul read it, he would know it is not about him," Baker said last night. "But if you weren't to know him you might think the rock-star character was based on him."

But he did admit putting a blonde lookalike of McCartney's wife Heather with a golf ball between her cleavage on the cover of the golfing trade magazine he now edits.

Baker, who was sacked by Sir Paul 18 months ago after 15 years of loyal service, had been assured his novel Rock Bottom would be a bestseller. "But the publishers have all got cold feet and don't want to take the risk in case the McCartneys sue," he said.

The novel, which Baker started a month after he was fired, was originally titled "You Probably Think This Book Is About You." According to Baker it is about "the madness of the music industry" and tells the story of an ageing rocker who wants to stage a live televised round-the-world gig as his piece de resistance. He says it is a satirical poke at the international obsession with celebrity seen through the eyes of a British rock star and his PR man.

"It also follows the journey of a PR's descent into madness as he badly attempts to cope with the pressures of trying to maintain a good image for the star," he added.

"It sends up stars' egos, PR lies, fan worshippers, and tells how all the evils of the industry--drug-taking, heavy drinking and sexual betrayal, ruined lives and friendships."

Baker's agent, Paul Buckman, took the manuscript to editors at Time Warner, Simon & Schuster, Faber, Transworld, Orion, St. Martin's Press NYC, Headline, Virgin, Legend Press and Bantam.

"It seems the book is just too close to the bone, even though it is not based on Paul," said Baker. "When I was first approached to write it I was told by my agent that it would be an assured success--but it has been turned down across the board."

"I had believed that being Sir Paul's long-term publicist would be a selling point, not a mark against me."

Baker worked for the 63-year-old McCartney from 1989 to 2004. A close friend of the family and Sir Paul's late wife Linda, he handled the singer's PR in the wake of her death from breast cancer.

He orchestrated Sir Paul's second marriage at Castle Leslie in Ireland to former model Miss Mills but the pair were reported not to get along and Miss Mills disliked the fact that Baker openly smoked marijuana. Just months before he was officially dismissed, Baker was fired on the spot by McCartney following a row, although hours after the incident Sir Paul insisted Geoff had not lost his job.

But a few months later McCartney announced that he had finally fired him and said: "His behaviour has not reached the professional standard I had come to expect."

Baker says there has been no direct pressure from Paul, Heather or their lawyers to drop the book. He said: "But it appears that the content was too close to the bone, given who I am."

Now that his book has been turned down, Baker has taken up editorship of the Golf Course News International trade magazine. "I have to make ends meet and pay the bills," he said.

"It was my brief to make the magazine look as appealing as possible, so I have sent it thundering downhill. Instead of putting Colin Montgomerie on the cover, I splashed on a Heather Mills lookalike with a golf ball between her cleavage."

"I'm enjoying every minute of editing the magazine."

Thomas Dolby's Blog
Mr. McC
Saturday, April 15th, 2006

I was honoured by a visit last night from Paul McCartney who knows Colin Hay and has a house in Malibu not far from the Canyon Club. I’d heard he was going to be there–didn’t really believe it–but sure enough, after the show I walked into the backstage VIP area and there he was. I guess I must have cast my eyes around for an old guy but Paul looks fantastic. Mick Jagger could be his grandad! It was a bit weird because I don’t think he realized I was the guy he just saw play a concert. But someone else told me they saw him grooving and singing along to ‘Hyperactive’. I told Paul I saw him play live in 1963 (aged 5) at the Beatles’ Christmas Concert at Hammersmith Odean in London. ‘It’s quite possible’, he said–as if he had no recollection of the gig ever happening. How curious, I thought. Almost any serious Beatles fan knows about that gig, as the poster is so famous–Freddie and the Dreamers, the Dave Clark 5, etc. Yet Paul doesn’t remember. That’s a pretty good lesson for me. Fans often cite gigs or obscure records I made that I’ve forgotten all about.

Another great crowd last night. I was revisited by some gremlins, which in this instance required a total reboot of the Mac after one song. Then one of my keyboards came unplugged. And the battery pack came of my belt, meaning my headgear got yanked and I had to fiddle with my headset mic all night. VERY frustrating, but I’d made a deal with the audience that I would throw out some free t-shirts if that happened. I hope that took the sting out. Several people said they didn’t really care. You try to jump right back on the horse, but it’s pretty uncomfortable. I wish I was more thick-skinned. But in the grand scheme of things, the show is getting pretty good and hey, you win some you lose some. An ex-Beatle singing along to my set: it doesn’t get much better than that!

http://blog.thomasdolby.com/?m=200604

April 22, 2006 -- USA Today

Roses to the stars

A rose by any other name than a celebrity's just doesn't smell as sweet. The newest in the garden of stars honors the late Julia Child, whose appropriately butter-gold bloom is an All-America Rose Selections winner this year. USA TODAY stops and smells the famous flora with Ellen Trice of American Rose magazine.

Paul McCartney

The petal pitch:
The McCartney Rose, hybridized in 1996 by Meilland Star Roses, boasts "massive" blooms and a "mesmerizing," candy-like fragrance that "lures you deep into the garden," according to the company.

The star's floral philosophy:
TheSmokingGun.com got their hands on McCartney's 2002 concert rider, which indicated that the rocker is "very fond of flowers" backstage, but "no tree trunks!" Potted palms, bamboo and peace lilies - "plants that are just as full on the bottom as the top" - were the preferred arboreal accoutrements.

Added dirt:
Heather Mills carried 11 of the Pepto-pink blooms in her bouquet during her 2002 wedding to Sir Paul.

Buy McCartney roses for your garden. ($14.95 per shrub) http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay...fferCode=S3H

PAUL McCARTNEY TALKS ABOUT THE CANADIAN SEAL HUNT

http://paulmccartney.com/

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Бульварные издания вовсю пишут о том, что брак Пола и Хэзер на грани распада!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tm_objectid=17068195&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=is-i...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?...73&in_a_source=
http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowbizNews.asp?Code=AL122351R&headline=paul_mccartneys_solo_holiday

Манечка, что ты думаешь по поводу?