She just ranted on & on & on (1058 hits)
Category: PoliticsRating: 1.08 on 14 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Oleannder (View user info) at 2006-03-04 12:51:38 EST
For some reason unknown to myself I felt compelled to watch Larry King Live last night. It's not a program that I typically tune into mostly because I think Larry King seems like a self important windbag these days more than a journalist, but I digress.
The topic was Canada's seal hunt & the guests were Paul McCartney, Heather Mills McCartney & Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams all via sattelite. As celebritites with huge hearts, big causes & influential sway often do, the McCartneys seemed to be hoping to shame & bully Premier Williams into canceling the hunt in favor of something a little cuter.... like tourisim.
Right off the bat I agree that the hunt should be modified to a certian extent in order to ensure that the seal population is not culled off the face of the planet, however the longer the debate went on for it became clear that the McCartneys had been given a lot of misinformation about the hunt & seemed to be so desperate to cling onto the poor facts that they were given that they seemed to be rather unwilling to allow Premier Williams a chance to educate them.
Whenever the Premier opened his mouth to speak Heather Mills McCartney would start harping at him in mid sentance, demanding change the same way an unruly child would scream for ice scream. She came across as an uncontrolled guttersnipe, interupting any of the three men whenever the urge to hear her own whiney voice came over her.
McCartney himself was respectful & appeared to be listening to what the Premier had to say. However it became clear just how clueless he was to the whole issue twice. First off, the McCartneys had a photo op with some cute cuddly baby seals in the hopes that they would show the world that the adorable baby animal with the big brown eyes deserves to live (aparently it deserves to live more than a cow), however the species of seal that they 'visited' is already protected under law & the hunt has been banned on them since the mid 80's... so they want to protect an animal that's already protected.
The second way that McCartney showed his ignorance was durring the debate. Premier Williams invited McCartney & his fishwife to Newfoundland & Labrador so that he could provide them with the correct facts & scientific reports about the hunt. McCartney told the premier that he was already in Newfoundland & in the studio & they should get together afterwards. The problem with that? McCartney was actually in Prince Edward Island, a completely different Canadian province. Kind of like saying that you're in New York when you are actually in New Jersey.
On a side note, the McCartneys kept questioning the premier about an over culling in the 50's & 60's that drastically reduced the seal numbers to dangerous levels. Their concern was that they did not want to see the seals become culled in that fashion again, but rather then just say that & wait to see what plans are implimented to ensure that does not happen again, they stuck to the ever philisophical question of "But what if they ARE over culled?". First of all the situation has improved in the last 40 years & I don't think that the current Premier is responsible for the lack of governmental action 40 years ago. However the way that Heather Mills McCartney was shrieking at him you would have thought that he picked up a baby seal & bit off it's head every 30 seconds.
Some more information that the McCartneys were lacking - 90% of seals are killed via bullet not clubbing. Seals are used for their meat as well as their fur - think of them as small cows of the sea. Their fat can be rendered into a fuel source, and so on. The whole animal gets used, not just the fur.
So while I agree with some of the things that the McCartneys are trying to do I just wish that they would get a complete education about a topic like this before they start trying to get publicity bites that only make them look stupid.
User Reviews
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-03-06 19:59:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
those one-legged chicks - they're so ANNOYING!!!!!!
Submitted by Maddog (user info) at 2006-03-06 09:20:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You know you live in a second-rate nation when a seal hunt is the top news story.
Submitted by modernpost (user info) at 2006-03-06 09:02:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I'll send her a stocking filler for Christmas
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2006-03-06 07:53:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Macca's an asshole and his wife is a pirate whore.
Submitted by GaidinCanuck (user info) at 2006-03-05 23:14:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Oleannder (user info) at 2006-03-05 11:18:03 (#)
Ranking: 0
There was one thing that the Premier said that disturbed me though.... when he compared groups like PETA to terrorists. I think there's a huge fucking difference between suicide bombings & tossing rotten food at people wearing fur.... that was wrong.
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They are terrorists... They blow things up and violently disrupt legal activities. You don't have to strap a bomb to your chest to be a terrorist.
Submitted by Oleannder (user info) at 2006-03-05 11:18:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orla (user info) at 2006-03-04 17:39:40 (#)
Ranking: 2
All those cute little baby seals you've seen clubbed? Those are poachers. Those are not legal sealers. That's misrepresntation
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Thank you! I had a feeling that in my disgust for the program I had forgotten to mention something.
There was one thing that the Premier said that disturbed me though.... when he compared groups like PETA to terrorists. I think there's a huge fucking difference between suicide bombings & tossing rotten food at people wearing fur.... that was wrong.
Submitted by Jesus_Loves_TwEE (user info) at 2006-03-05 02:38:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Theres five jobs in Newfoundland, thats it, this subject is depressing lets talk about glam rock.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2006-03-05 00:49:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-03-04 19:08:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I can't give you a +2 bercause this post and topic are fucking boring as hell, but I caught a few minutes of Larry King and you are 100% correct - that chick would NOT shut the fuck up.
Good thing Paul's going deaf so he doesn't have to listen to her bitch and nag 24/7.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-03-04 18:53:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Orla, you must not be aware of the relationship between musical
ability and intellect...
Submitted by Orla (user info) at 2006-03-04 17:39:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm actually from Newfoundland (I live in Ontario, though). This, this makes me so angry.
First off, Paul McCartney told the head of the sealing association for the Magdalene Islands that the seal population is decreasing, but the government is increasing quotas.
Not true, the population is healthy, stable, and the quotas are done accordingly.
Also, he talked, rather dramatically, about how the ice would be smeared with the blood of these adorable white seal pups, and that the Canadian government should make this illegal.
But wait... Hasn't that been illegal since 1987?
I think so, yes.
They talked about eliminating the seal hunt, the government buying licenses, and then compensating for lost income. But we're talking lost income of 10 000 people, so, for how long? It was argued that these jobs can be converted to jobs in the eco-tourism industry. It's true, Newfoundland has increased its concentration on eco- and adventure-tourism. This is a good thing, Newfoundland needs to diversify its economy. However, they come off as ridiculously naive and simple, if they believe that if you cut 10 000 sealing jobs, you can just immediately create 10 000 eco-tourism jobs, and all the sealers will thereby find work. What about qualifications? Retraining? Structural unemployment?
Pffffft.
Paul McCartney is a great muscian, but he's also a moron. They come off as detached and ignorant of the depth of the sealing industry, and the problem it faces.
All those cute little baby seals you've seen clubbed? Those are poachers. Those are not legal sealers. That's misrepresntation.
Submitted by ih8u2man (user info) at 2006-03-04 13:25:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
His wife has only one leg....
He would have loved this one...
http://www.ubersite.com/m/74348
Submitted by ih8u2man (user info) at 2006-03-04 13:23:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Kill Seals! Eat Meat! Yellow Submarine!
Submitted by Genko (user info) at 2006-03-04 12:58:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
+1 for calling Paul McCartney ignorant.
I'm sick of all these activist entertainers who've been given a public platform. The people we should be listening to about social issues are the people who've devoted signifigant amounts of time to educating themselves about those issues, not reactionary rock stars looking for publicity. It really makes me sad that the man responsible for Let it Be is being such a jackass.
Seals aren't being culled to extinction. They're actually doing very well, and the hunt serves to control the population in hopes of increasing the number of cod in the Grand Banks. Cod aren't cute, though, thus the issues with the hunt.