Pamela Anderson with Henrik Winther

Pamela Anderson has a bone to pick with Kentucky Fried Chicken. She is a member of PETA. Although she has been criticized in the past for being a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to PETA, as far as what she has worn and eaten, I have to say that  this fight against Kentucky Fried Chicken is justified in my opinion.

Now I am not a big fan of corporate food chains to begin with. The most I ever venture into is a Crackle Barrel or Burger King if I am on the highway and the choices of meal stops are very limited. I haven’t been in a Kentucky Fried Chicken since the late 1970’s, and after watching the KFC chicken processing video, I never will.

I had the misfortune of suffering through the entire video of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s processing plant which you can view at  www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com and I was totally horrified to say the least. Workers throwing chickens against the walls, stomping on them alive, clipping their beaks off on arrival, over crowding, boiling them alive and the tale of terror goes on.

Pamela Anderson has contacted Kentucky Fried Chicken and has asked them to be more humane in their processing plants and and even asked Kentucky’s governor to remove a bust of Col. Sanders from the State Capitol Building. Pam went as far as to contact Henrik Winther, president of Rostik, KFC’s Russian partners and asked them to watch the slaughter house video.

Pam has appeared in billboard adds in her “lettuce bikini top” and TV spots asking people to boycott Kentucky Fried Chicken until they change their evil ways.

Pamela is not alone in her fight against KFC. Many celebrities as well as musicians have joined her fight. From Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Tommy Lee (natch), and Pink, to the Smashing Pumpkins and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. For the full list of  almost 60 celebs that support this boycott click here. And some of the celebs have provided short videos. These stars are asking people to “Kick the Bucket” and sign the petition.

Kentucky Fried Cruelty Activists explain their beef with KFC:

The roughly 1 billion chickens killed each year for KFC’s buckets are crammed by the tens of thousands into excrement-filled sheds that stink of ammonia fumes. The birds’ legs and wings often break because they’re bred to be too top-heavy and because workers carelessly shove them into transport crates and shackles.

Chickens’ throats are slit and the animals are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers, often while they are still conscious and able to feel pain.

KFC lets frustrated factory-farm and slaughterhouse workers handle live birds, so many of the animals end up being sadistically abused. At a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and violently stomping on them. This was discovered more than two years after KFC promised PETA that it was taking animal welfare seriously.

KFC hides behind its Animal Welfare Advisory Council, even though five members of the council have resigned in frustration. One of them, Adele Douglass, told the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”

And How KFC Can Clean Up Their Act:

PETA wants KFC to adopt the animal welfare programdeveloped by five members of its own animal welfare board. These advisors are the world’s top poultry experts; they advise the meat industry in North America and Europe and believe that KFC can—and should—adopt them. KFC has yet to do any of the following:

Adopt the “Animal Care Standards” program. This would lower the amount of ammonia in the air in factory farms, improve the living spaces and lighting in chicken sheds, prohibit the intentional starving of breeding birds, and ensure that birds are provided with mental and physical stimulation.

Switch to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK). This would prevent live birds in slaughterhouses from being abused by workers, having their throats slit, or being scalded while they were still conscious. CAK would also improve conditions for workers and decrease contamination levels in chickens’ flesh.

Switch to mechanized chicken gathering. This would drastically reduce the number of broken bones and painful bruising that birds endure when factory-farm workers carelessly throw them into transport crates.

Breed for health rather than rapid growth, and stop feeding drugs to chickens. This would reduce the rate at which birds suffer painful, crippling diseases and injuries, such as broken legs, heart attacks, and lung failures.

Make all welfare standards transparent and verifiable. This would simply ensure that the animal welfare program is being adhered to through announced and unannounced independent audits (the results of which must be made available to the public through KFC’s Web site).
 

Seems like all reasonable requests to me. So if people have to pay a little more for their bucket of bird, then so be it. Besides, these places are only adding to the ever mounting and staggering problem of obesity in the US. Fast food chains play a huge part in the rising cost of health care due to all the health problems associated with being overweight.

Now I am not a fan of Pamela Anderson’s one iota. I can write an entire article on her that would rip her a new one as far as her and Tommy Lee’s shenanigans over the years, besides her overall phony fake parts appearance. And some will say she does all this for the publicity. Whatever. It’s still a good cause and KFC can certainly be less cruel. I know all slaughter houses are a nightmare, and I am certainly not dismissing all the other cruelties that go on in other places, but simple measures can be taken to make them less cruel. And I will admit that I am a bit of a hypocrite due to the fact that I am not a vegetarian myself, but I do try to limit my eating habits.

Many people think PETA goes way too far, but I agree with what they have asked of KFC, and I saw the horrific processing video. And since I HATE corporate fast food chains already… this campaign gets my vote. I am also in full agreement with PETA’s stance on any circus that uses elephants and big cats in their shows. Go to the Cirque baby! Animal free circuses all the way!

I digress….
So before you pull in to that next drive thru… stop and think of what you are supporting. If the chicken processing video you watched of your next lunch or dinner being prepped didn’t bother you, perhaps when you order that next KFC Chunky Chicken Pot Pie , Mmm mmm, that has 770 calories and 42 grams of fat,  and 2,160 mgs of sodium, will make you think twice.

For all the caloric, fat content and sodium levels of all KFC’s menu items, go here, and feel ill. Check out the stats on other fast food menu items too. I guarantee you won’t be making as many trips as you used to!

Kentucky Fried Cruelty Website Logo

Here we go again.
It has been announced that the remake of the Beatles classic Yellow Submarine is in the works.Why or why do they insist on taking classics and and trashing them? Didn’t they learn their lesson with Willy Wonka, The Whiz, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and Charlotte’s Web? (just to name a few classics).

Yellow Submarine was magic on the screen back in 1968. Imagine how it looked to a generation that was used to seeing black and white television and experiencing the whole “make love not war” movement. It was also the year that Martin Luther King was assassinated. The movie came out at a time of great civil unrest, and it was a hit I mean a ray of yellow sunshine. *snicker*

In the movie, the playful rhymes of  the charachter Jeremy Hillary Boob PhD. (he was my favorite) pretty much summed up the premise behind Yellow Submarine, “Peace! Peace! Supplant the doom and the gloom! Turn off what is sour! Turn into a flower and BLOOM! BLOOM! BLOOM”

To me, Yellow Submarine was more than just a trippy animated flick. It was part of an entire movement of peace and love. Beatles classic songs like Nowhere Man and All You Need Is Love melded together with trippy animation into a sensory overload of psychedelic yumminess which was loved by many young and old.

But Yellow Submarine was not loved by all and many considered it just a drugged out cartoon. Take for instance this scathing review  (<<<click on the link) of  Yellow Submarine when it was re-released in 1999. The review was entitled “ Take a psychedelic journey to Nowhere land with the Beatles & the Nowhere Man where you’ll find nothing too pleasing without the help from your friends.” Needless to say of course I disagreed with that interview.

The original Yellow Submarine took two years to make, by 40 animators and 140 technical artists and had 14 different scripts. Now I know by today’s standards, those methods are now obsolete, and technology has improved by leaps and bounds, but I am not too privy of someone taking this classic and making it into a modern day mess either.

Sadly, Disney is doing the remake. Now don’t even get me started on Disney, with it’s mass marketing of clothing and toys made in their GLOBAL sweat shops, and other things I don’t care to get into. I just ask you to please do your homework before you support them!
Disney is also pairing up with Rob Zemeckis for this remake.

Now granted Zemeckis has some big  and successful films under his belt, he also did two movies that I just totally despise which were Forest Gump and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Two of the most annoying movies I ever had the displeasure of watching. Save me all the Forest Gump love  fest comments which I am sure I will get. I HATED the movie with a passion and had trouble getting through the whole thing and almost walked out. And if I hear “life is just like a box of chocolates” in that HORRIBLE fake accent that Hanks did one more time, I swear I am going to get the screaming Blue Meanies out.

In Yellow Submarine, the Captain of the Blue Meanies says to ”glove”, “A thing of beauty; destroy it forever!”

Is Disney going to be Yellow Submarine’s ”glove”?

Of course I know the original can never be destroyed. But sometimes another thing occurs when movies are remade. The younger audience thinks that the remake is the first one that was ever made and tend to think the real original is crap. This also happens with music today and it drives me totally NUTS! Grrrrrr! And no, Limp Bizkit was not the originator of the song ”Behind Blue Eyes“. Geez!

A lot of younger people also think if the movie is not in their face with special effects, then it just plain stinks. Perhaps that’s why Disney is going with 3-D animation to inhance it a much as posisble.

But…Disney has yet to acquire the rights to the Beatles songs thus far and one has to wonder if Michael Jackson’s recent death has anything to do with acquiring these songs.Why? Jackson’s estate happens to include the 4,000 song catalogue of  Beatle’s music which he purchased for 47.5 million back in 1985. But keep in mind, he owns the publishing rights for the songs. There is a difference in owning the publsihing rights and the performance rights. For a full explanation go here.  

A bit of history with Jackson and Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. Jackson worked with McCartney on the song  Say Say Say and they did a video together for the song in 1984. Jackson also did The Girl Is Mine with McCartney in 1982. ( I won’t comment on the title or lyrics of that song, it’s just too easy).

Jackson was ironically advised by Paul McCartney. Sir Paul told Jackson more or less that buying music was a sound and lucrative investment. This advice was prior to the 1985 auction of the Beatles catalogue of songs. Jackson took Sir Paul’s advice and outbid both Paul McCartney AND John Lennon’s widow,Yoko Ono! 
Hey all you Jackson fans out there, how can you justify this dastardly move by Jackson? Huh?

Sir Paul and Yoko must have been a tad hot under the collar to say the least. If Jackson had any scruples, ESPECIALLY for the fact that he was also in the music industry, he would of let McCartney keep the publishing rights to his own songs that HE wrote with Lennon and not outbid him in the first place. But then again who knows what McCartney would of done with the songs either. Or even Yoko for that  matter. Maybe it was a good thing that Sir Paul didn’t get the songs? Sir Paul’s ex-wife, the money grubbing Heather Mills, never signed a pre-nup and the songs  may have ended up as being partly hers. GASP!
That money grubbing biotch got WAY too much from Sir Paul as far as I am concerned. At least she is out of the picture now. But when will you ever learn Sir Paul?

So what has happened with some of these songs over the years? Let’s jump back to the 1987 Nike commercial using the Beatles Revolution song. Capital Records owed the performance rights and was paid $250,000. Michael Jackson owned the publishing rights, (meaning use of the words and music) and he was paid for use of the song. Which was later followed by others like All You You Need is Love, which was used for a Luv’s Diaper commercial, and a version of the Beatles song Help, which was used in a car commercial in 1985 . Son Julian Lennon, son of John, lent his voice to When I’m 64 for an Allstate commercial and  let’s not forget Target’s use of Hello- Goodbye for their TV commercials. Egad!

The Beatles song collection saga continued on….. and in 1995, Sony paid Jackson 95 million and merged with ATV, to form Sony/ATV Publishing which was a 50/50 joint venture. So it is probably safe to say that Jackson’s estate includes HALF of the publishing rights to the Beatles songs. 

But there may be a silver lining in this dark cloud, well sort of.
Supposedly Jackson left the 4,000 Beatles songs to McCartney in his will. Rumor has it that Jackson felt remorse about his failed relationship with Sir Paul, and thought this was a way to make amends. Too bad Jackson didn’t do this YEARS ago, so he could of actually made amends in person with Sir Paul, rather than from the grave. So Sir Paul may end up with the publsihing rights to half of his own songs in the end. Just plain sad. *shakes head* But I guess it is better than nothing.
Sadly, Sony/ATV doesn’t need permission from surviving Beatles or heirs to license the songs. Damn you Jackson! And Damn you Sony!
So it’s still up in the air as to whether this remake of Yellow Submarine will eventually get the rights to use these songs.

So getting back to this movie remake.
The NY Times called the original a 2-D CARTOON and they also mentioned two of the movies I despise by Zemeckis.
From the NY Times :

More than 40 years after Old Fred fired up the titular vehicle of “Yellow Submarine” and used it to round up four Liverpool lads who would defend Pepperland from the Blue Meanies, Disney is preparing a remake of the Beatles’ 1968 animated movie, Variety reported.

The original film was a traditional (if thoroughly trippy) 2-D cartoon directed by George Dunning and designed by Heinz Edelmann, in which the Beatles appeared only in a live-action segment tacked on at the end. The planned remake, to be directed by Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), will be a 3-D animated feature that would use the performance-capture technology seen in Mr. Zemeckis’s “Beowulf” and his coming remake of “A Christmas Carol.”

The Variety report said that Disney was still seeking to obtain rights to the Beatles songs used in the original “Yellow Submarine” film, including the title song and tracks like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The remake is being planned for a 2012 release.

No casting was announced for the motion-capture remake, though the project does call to mind Paul McCartney’s recent remarks to Daniel Radosh in The New York Times Magazine: “In 10 years’ time you’ll be standing there, and you will be Paul McCartney. You know that, don’t you?”

Fact: Many people didn’t realize that the voices used in the original Yellow Submarine where not those of the actual Beatles. I never knew that myself. The Beatles only appeared at the very end of the movie as themselves.

Yellow Submarine had it’s fair share of merchandising back in the day to say the least, and it continues today. The Beatles had more merchandise than any other band in history. There were Yellow Submarine pop up books, calenders, Blue Meanie Halloween costumes, Goebel figurines and even Huffy Bikes jumped on the YS band wagon in 1968 and came out with a girls YS yellow bicycle complete with movie graphics right on the seat which I found on a Beatles memorabilia website.

Of course all this stuff had a huge resurgence in 1999 when they re-released the movie for the 30thyear Anniversary. Today you can still buy Yellow Submarine merchandise in all shapes and forms from neck ties to purses, to t-shirts to wallies to stick on your walls. They also came out with new YS Beatles figurines in the 90’s and again in 2000. Even the Cirque du Soleil has a show called LOVE dedicated to the music of the Beatles. I am sure Disney will jump on the merchandising band wagon and will have their little workers slaving away making sure that there is enough Yellow Submarine Onesies and Jeremy Hillary Boob lunch boxes. And don’t forget Yellow Submarine Happy Meals complete with plastic figures which will end up in landfills and stay there for all eternity. Oh wait that s right, Disney dumped McDonald’s back in 2006. Maybe Burger King then? *snicker*

OK, I know I am being cynical, and maybe I am too sentimental about movies being remade and the “old days”. So I decided to check myself, and I went through the list of movie remakes on Wikipedia, but I still found myself rooting for the original versions. Even really early movies like Mighty Joe Young which came out in 1949. I still found myself favoring the original over the remake. (ironically Disney did a remake and they also did  an animated version of course, they make me sick).

Films like Little Shop Of Horrors? DEFINITELY the original. Who can deny the greatness of the cameo by a very young and loony Jack Nicholson in the original? You can’t.
Even though some of these original movies were sheer cornball and the filming techniques were primitive, but that was part of what made the originals so great. They had a lot less to work with back then, but yet the movies were still phenomenal.

That is why I wish they would just leave the classics alone. You can’t reproduce living in the era when these original movies came out or the way people felt when they first saw the original Yellow Submarine. Many people may be annoyed by the remaking of Yellow Submarine. And I can’t speak for the hard core Beatles buffs. Maybe some will be unhappy and some will embrace the new movie with the hopes of a whole new generation of yougins’ buying Beatles music once again and helping to continue the Beatles legacy. I myself do not support Disney, so I will not be catching this particular flick.

But at the very least, let’s just hope that this new release does the original Yellow Submarine some justice and more importantly let’s hope it sends the same message as the original.
Which of course was:

And if celeb blogger Ian Halperin is right, that shouldn’t be much longer.  According to him, Michael is seriously in need of a lung transplant and will soon be pushing up daisies if he doesn’t get it:

The superstar, 50 — seen in a wheelchair earlier this year — is said to be so frail he can barely speak.

Jacko’s secret was revealed by his biographer Ian Halperin, who declared: “He needs a lung transplant, but may be too weak to go through with it. He also has emphysema and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding, which his doctors have had a lot of trouble stopping.

“It’s the bleeding that’s the most problematic part. It could kill him.”

Halperin, an award-winning investigative journalist, said Jacko was stricken with an inherited condition called A1AD — alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency. Sufferers lack a protein which protects the lungs.

Halperin, a Canadian who has written for respected Rolling Stone magazine, said: “He can barely speak. The vision in his left eye is 95 per cent gone.

“For years Michael has been working with his doctors to make sure it doesn’t progress.

“He has been on many medications that have stabilised him.”

Jacko’s brother JERMAINE confirmed: “He’s not doing so well right now. This isn’t a good time.”

The rumors have been widely disputed by the Jackson camp, however, who insist that MJ is doing just fine, thankyouverymuch:

“[The] wild allegations concerning Mr Jackson’s health are a total fabrication,” said Dr Tohme, Jackson’s mysterious “official and sole spokesperson”. “Mr Jackson is in fine health and finalising negotiations with a major entertainment company and television network for both a world tour and a series of specials and appearances.”

The statement came in response to claims by Ian Halperin, an unauthorised biographer, that Jackson is suffering from a rare genetic condition called Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The author told In Touch magazine that Jackson requires a lung transplant and that his “chronic gastrointestinal bleeding” might prove fatal. Oh yes, and in case that wasn’t provocative enough he also alleged that Jackson could “barely speak” and had lost most of the vision in his left eye.

There were several reasons to doubt Halperin’s statements – his tasteless publishing history, his allegedly fudged CV – but Jackson’s own lawyers suggested in November that the moonwalker was not well enough to travel. Though Tohme did not comment on that incident, he emphasised Halperin’s unfounded, “obvious” self-promotion and the singer’s present good health.

It’s also rumored that he has just rented yet another house, a $38M home in Holmbly Hills, a very chi-chi area of Los Angeles, for $100,000 a month…this, despite supposedly being so broke he can’t even afford to pay attention.  I’d love to be that kind of broke…I can’t even get enough money to buy furniture and I have a job.  Yes, that’s right, I’m sitting here typing this with my laptop perched on a milk crate.  But this creepy guy, who hasn’t done anything substantial in years other than rereleasing past hits from twenty-some years ago, manages to get banks to give him money hand over fist.

Oh, and that whole Paul McCartney thing?  It seems that Michael wants to end their feud over the whole Beatles catalogue, so he’s going to leave his share to Sir Paul in his will:

Macca was furious when Jacko outbid him in 1985 to win ownership of the £350million publishing rights to the whole Lennon-McCartney songbook.

The stars, once good pals who collaborated on early 80s hits The Girl is Mine and Say, Say, Say have not spoken since.

But the debt-ridden King of Pop, now said to be battling a serious genetic lung disease, is determined to make peace with McCartney.

Jackson, 50, who according to some reports is convinced he is dying and has been using a wheelchair, has drawn up a new will where Sir Paul, 66, will inherit control of his share of the Beatles songbook if the troubled star dies before him.

Sources close to Jacko say he has always regretted falling out with Macca. One insider said: “Michael is worried about his health so decided it was time to look at his finances.

“Most of his estate has been divided up between his three children. But Michael told his lawyers he was sad he no longer talks to Sir Paul and said he wanted to make things right.” [...]

Jacko sold half of his Beatles back catalogue rights to Sony in 1995, but still makes about £40million a year from them.

Macca said recently: “The annoying thing is I have to pay to play some of my own songs. Each time I want to sing Hey Jude I have to pay.”

Well, I guess if MJ were to totally perish and no longer be living, that would end the feud, all right.  Of course, by the time Sir Paul gets his hands back on his songs, they’ll probably only be worth about $1.83.

If I were Sir Paul, I’d make sure the family bunny rabbit stays securely locked up.

Heather Mills has brought her special brand of crazazy to town again…yes, and this time she is setting her sights on Sir Paul’s new woman:

Barmy Heather Mills has vowed revenge on Sir Paul McCartney – by wrecking his new romance.

Heather fears he may start a new family with Nancy Shevell,47, and snub daughter Bea, four.

The bitter ex-model, 40, even plans to phone her to warn her off-yet outrageously claims she will be doing it for Nancy’s good. A pal revealed: “Heather’s threatening to call and explain the dangers of dating a Beatle.

“She had hell with the public hating her and reckons Nancy could too. Heather genuinely thinks she’s doing Nancy a good turn.”

Bitter, party of one!

Heather is reportedly incensed because Sir Paul told her that he and Nancy were just friends, but they were spotted on a romantic getaway to Antigua swimming, boating, and rubbing sunscreen on each other:

Heather’s lawyer Gloria Allred has claimed she wishes her ex-husband “all the best in his new relationship”.

But her friend told how the pleasantries hid a seething fury – and Heather felt “deceived and betrayed” because Macca told her he and Nancy were just pals. The source added: “She went ballistic when she found out. She’s also terrified they’re planning a baby – even though Nancy’s not far off 50 – and thinks another child will detract from Beatrice.”

Um, no, Heather…I think you’ve already covered the “Marry And Be Impregnated By A Former Beatle So You Can Get Even More Money” angle.  Besides, the woman is almost fifty years old…yes, she could possibly get pregnant, but why would she want to?

With every move Heather makes, she comes across as more and more crazy.  There’s just no other way to put it.  Seriously…calling up your ex-husband’s girlfriend to “warn” her of the dangers of dating him?  Maybe if the ex-husband were Charles Manson, but Sir Paul McCartney?  I think the only real danger for Nancy is confusing some of his primo weed with the parsley.  I can see Sir Paul wanting Heather to know about his new woman for Beatrice’s sake (common with divorced parents), but other than that he has no obligation whatsoever to keep Heather updated on anything in his life.  That’s why they’re called EXES, Heather…you’re an EX-wife.

And what is this worrying that a new, hypothetical baby from a possibly menopausal woman would take attention away from Beatrice?  Does she forget that he has other children as well?  Have they taken away any attention from Beatrice?  Besides, there is no child yet, and the chances of their being one is probably slim to none…yet Heather has chosen to get all het up about a baby that hasn’t even been concieved nor is likely to!

I wonder how long it will take before Sir Paul decides to seek full custody of Bea?  (my answer…not soon enough)

Nancy, we’ve traced the call…it’s coming from…HEATHER!!!  <dramatic music>

 

Oh, the hits just keep coming from our favorite peg-legged British hoooooah.  (Anyone who saw her rant on British morning television will get that last one.)  Turns out that while she lambasted Sir Paul for not giving their daughter Beatrice enough money to fly “A” class (I assume that is first class), it is actually Heather who is relegating her to the back of the plane:

Mucca slammed ex Sir Paul McCartney on Monday for forcing the four-year-old to travel “B Class” after their bitter divorce — while he flew “A Class”.

She haughtily vowed to pay for Beatrice’s first-class travel herself.

But details obtained by The Sun show the one-legged gold-digger has ALREADY failed to live up to her pledge.

Heather, dubbed Pornocchio after her divorce judge branded her a scheming liar, jets to New York this weekend to rest after her court war with ex-Beatle Paul, 65.

But she is sending Bea home early with a minder and nanny in the £409 seats [about $820 USD] at the back of a Virgin jet.

Mucca, 40, will fly to LA the same day for a further three weeks before jetting home alone — in a £3,348 [$6,700 USD] Virgin Upper Class berth. [...]

Both are booked in swish Upper Class on an outbound flight from Heathrow as their minder goes economy.

They will be joined days later by a nanny who is booked to jet home with Bea and the minder on another Virgin flight.

Bea’s seat is reserved in the economy section with her companions.

Upper Class and the flight’s Premium Economy cabin showed “wide open” availability yesterday.

Mucca is booked in business class on her Continental Airlines flight from New York to LA.

She is then scheduled to return home on Virgin, again flying Upper Class.

Six. Thousand. Dollars.  For a first class seat for Mucca and her peg leg (no, I’m not picking on the physically handicapped, just Heather), while her daughter, whom she professes to do everything for, flies coach.  According to the divorce papers, Beatrice gets £35,000 [over $70,000 USD] every year to travel and be with her father.  In this case, little Bea and her minder will be flying from New York back to merry olde England while her mother stays here in the States, presumably doing business with her lawyer/bulldog Gloria Allred.  What, poor Heather can’t rest in one of her homes?

So let’s do the math.  At $6000 a seat for first class, and two tickets (one for Bea, one for the nanny), that’s about six trips across the pond per year.  But Bea won’t usually be making transatlantic flights…she’ll be going from one end of the UK to another.  The fee for jetting around the UK is probably at least half that.  And little Bea probably won’t be flying all the time…I’ll bet there will be times when daddy will be near enough that he will send a car for her.  Basically, Bea can fly first class…as long as she’s going with her mother, to where her mother wants to go.  However, when it comes time to go see dad, it’s coach.

Have you ever heard of Munchhausen’s Syndrome By Proxy?  Basically (and this is a quick synopsis, not a detailed definition) it’s when parents make up an illness or injury to their child to get attention for themselves, so people will then look at the parent and feel sorry for them and be in awe at how well the parent handles everything under such pressure.  Parents will go so far as to poison or injure their own children in order to keep up the charade so as to get attention for themselves.

I think this is similar to what is going on with Bea (and to so many children of divorced parents), although not with illness or injury but with lifestyle and money.  Heather can now step back and say, “Look at poor little Bea, she has to travel B class to go see her father, the miserable miser,” when the reality is that there is more than enough money there for Bea and her nanny to travel any way they like.  Even if Heather eventually has to make up a little out of her own pocket, she received millions of pounds in the settlement, more than enough to do so…the woman is not headed to the workhouse any time soon, no matter her protestations to the contrary.  And I’ll bet Sir Paul (as many divorced fathers are wont to do) will kick in a little more under the table for his daughter to fly or travel to see him.

But in Heather’s mind, she’s coming out looking like the poor, put-upon, long-suffering ex-wife who must put up with such things in order to let her daughter see her father.  And I’ll bet my cup of hot tea she’s telling her daughter that it’s daddy’s fault that she’s flying in the back of the plane.

Fantasist, indeed.

 

Total court pwnage.

The judgement in the Paul McCartney/Heather Mills court case has been released to the public, and it’s a doozy.  Along with laying out the extent of Macca’s wealth, it shows just how Heather attempted to milk Sir Paul for all he’s worth.  But the court had one word for her:  FAIL.

You can read the entire 58-page judgement here, but I’ll give you some of the highlights:

But wait, there’s more…

New reports from the UK say that Heather Mills, ex-wife of Sir Paul McCartney, displayed some very unprofessional behavior in court yesterday:

Having thrown a jug of water over Mrs Shackleton at the High Court yesterday, Miss Mills is now threatening to report her to the Law Society for professional misconduct over allegations that she called her names.

Miss Mills threw water over her former husband’s lawyer and then laughingly announced that she had been “baptised in court.” [...]

Miss Mills’ water-throwing tantrum was followed by an astonishing 12-minute rant on the court steps.

She accused Mrs Shackleton, nicknamed the “Steel Magnolia”, of “calling me many, many names before even meeting me when I was in a wheelchair”.

According to sources, Miss Mills is planning to report Mrs Shackleton to the Law Society, the body that regulates solicitors, over alleged comments made during negotiations leading up to yesterday’s settlement.

A source said: “Mills believes that Shackleton accused her of trying it on by appearing at one legal meeting in a wheelchair to gain sympathy.

“More than anyone else, Mills felt this woman had a personal grudge against her. She felt personally attacked by Fiona Shackleton.”

Can’t someone do something with this woman?  I mean, seriously…she threw water at a lawyer?  Even if the two weren’t in court at the time, I’d think that would be grounds for some sort of legal action.  And quite frankly, had Heather’s previous lawyer done what Paul’s lawyer did, Heather would be praising them to the skies.  Oh wait.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…having a physical handicap does not automatically make you a wonderful person.  There are able-bodied jerks, and there are jerks in wheelchairs.  Quite frankly, Heather has cried wolf so many times nobody knows when to believe her.  I wouldn’t put it past Heather to try and play up the sympathy factor by using her wheelchair…I’m surprised she didn’t turn up at court yesterday in a full body cast and an IV drip.

It seems Heather had a bit of a temper tantrum:

Miss Mills’ outburst came after she was awarded only a fifth of the £125million she had been seeking.

The £25million settlement amounts to more than £700 for every hour that she was married to Sir Paul.

But she was furious at the judge’s decision to grant his request that the full judgment in the case be made public, and today lost her appeal against the move.

Miss Mills is understood to have hurled a glass of water at Sir Paul’s lawyer after accusing her of “letting down womankind” by representing men in the divorce courts.

Did she throw her strained peas and carrots at the judge, and take off her wet nappy and hurl it at Sir Paul?  And does anyone know what sort of plant is in that baggie he is carrying?

If anyone is in need of psychiatric help, it is Heather Mills.  The woman is her own special brand of crazazy….only now, she’s a rich crazazy.  I say, let her sue the lawyer!  She’ll burn through her divorce settlement in no time racking up legal fees.  That is, what’s left of it after she donates the bulk to charity, as she said she would do.

I’ll also be writing later about the judgement, released today…let’s just say it’s no wonder she fought tooth and nail to keep it out of the public eye.

You’ve heard of people who aren’t happy unless they are unhappy?  I seriously think Heather Mills is one of those people.  Despite getting almost $50M in her divorce settlement from Sir Paul McCartney, Mucca is still ranting away, because that’s what she does best.

Here’s Heather on Sir Paul’s lawyer:

She said: “Fiona Shackleton has very sadly handled this case in the worst manner you could ever imagine. She has called me many, many names before meeting me when I was in a wheelchair.”

On Sir Paul’s financial dealings concerning their daughter, Beatrice:

“Beatrice gets £35,000 [$70,000] a year. She is meant to travel B-class when her father travels A-class.

“Paul has always wanted Beatrice to go to a state school. He insisted that he wanted us to move to that area [East Sussex] – £35,000 includes. £17,000 for school fees.”

“He tried to get our daughter with joint residency, even though we had gone 50-50. In that way he has got everything he wanted, but that’s what powerful people get.”

On the judge in the case:

[T]he former model will appeal against Mr Justice Bennett’s plans to release [the settlement details] in full at a further hearing tomorrow. [...]

“He also said that Paul is only worth £400 million. Everyone knows that he has been worth £800 million for the last 15 years.

“Paul has always wanted it public because he wants to look like generous Sir Paul.”

On how she and her daughter have been treated:

“I was locked out of every home. I really hope now that me and my daughter can have a life and not be followed every day. Apart from one television thing I have stayed quiet for 21 months. If the judgment had been kept private I would not be out here speaking.”

And on Macca himself:

Asked if she thought Sir Paul had been “cruel”, she said: “I can’t say that for the sake of my daughter but my sister does.”

Where to start?  First of all, Heather certainly has not been quiet for 21 months.  I don’t think she’s ever been quiet.  If I were Sir Paul, I would have given her more money, all right…I’d have taken a wad of pound notes and shoved them in her mouth just to shut her up for a few minutes.  No wonder he divorced her…if you listened to her “media tour” a few months ago, where she went on TV talk shows all across the UK and US, you heard her annoying bleating about how maligned she is and how she knows secrets that she’s willing to spill.

Personally, I don’t think little Beatrice is going to be traveling coach any time soon.  If my childhood experience with divorce is anything (and my parents were certainly not rich), in my opinion Paul will certainly be shelling out of his own pocket for his daughter, above and beyond the divorce decree.  I personally believe he wants to make sure that his daughter gets the money, and it is put to use for her needs, not her mother’s.

Her passive-aggressive answer to whether she thinks Sir Paul was cruel was telling, as she wanted it to be.  “Oh, I can’t answer that, because I love and respect my daughter too much.  But my sister believes he was, and since I love and respect my sister, you can figure it out for yourselves.”  Poor Beatrice.  To grow up with such a mother.

And spare me the comments about how cruel his lawyer was to her before meeting Heather in a wheelchair.  Gag gag gag…always pulling out the poor “I’m handicapped” schtick.  I got news for you, Mucca…first, she’s a lawyer, and lawyers aren’t generally the warm, fuzzy type.  It’s their job.  And second, even people in wheelchairs can be jerks.  Not everybody with a physical handicap is a wonderful human being, and you are a perfect illustration of that.

I certainly hope Macca has learned a lesson from all this.  She came along at a time when he was grieving for his first wife, sad and lonely and depressed, and she offered him a way up out of the black hole he’d created for himself…minus that annoying baggage known as a prenup, however.  Along the way, however, the dream turned into a nightmare, and he does have to shoulder some of the responsibility.  He made a lot of mistakes.  I’m not saying he’s an angel, and nobody truly knows another person until you’ve spent intimate, quality time with them.  But it does appear that Mucca took advantage of him, not the other way around.

Plus, Sir Paul has maintained a dignified silence throughout this whole matter.  His words yesterday upon leaving court?

Sir Paul left the court quickly, saying simply “thank-you” as he waved to the cameras.

So here’s my question:  Wonder how much of her court winnings she will give to charity, as she promised she would do:

A representative for Mills said to ContactMusic: “Most of the money Heather has ever received goes towards supporting her various charities, the main being Adopt-A-Minefield.

“I cannot comment on what the settlement might be, except that I am certain she wants the vast majority of it to be spent on clearing landmines.

“The way she sees it is that there is no point the money sitting in a bank account gathering dust, the money has to be working.

“The more acres of minefield she can clear, the happier she will be.”

Wonder if she’s happy yet?

 

Though soon-to-be ex Heather Mills is doing her best to make his life miserable by going on an endless barrage of interviews, Sir Paul McCartney is not letting that get in the way of his having a good time.  A few days ago, he was photographed kissing Nancy Shevell goodbye after a weekend visit:

Sir Paul, 65, and Ms Shevell had dinner last Friday at an East Hampton sushi restaurant, where they stayed until 3am.

He visited her at home before stopping off at a lingerie store, Top Drawer, to buy gifts. They were seen outside a cinema before dinner.

The next day they were seen again, having breakfast at a café and strolling along the beach near Sir Paul’s home.

According to a source close to Ms Shevell and her husband, she and Sir Paul have known each other for more than 10 years and she was a friend of his first wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998.

Ms Shevell was diagnosed with breast cancer the year after Linda and the two women fought the disease together.

There is one small hitch, however…Nancy is still hitched.  Yes, she is still married, to Bruce Blakeman, a lawyer.  However, for his part, he says that the separation is mutual and amicable.

Now this sounds more like what Sir Paul should have been going after all along.  A financially secure, strong woman who knows who she is (and who she is not, unlike Heather who seemed to mix herself up with a journalist of the same name).  She is a millionairess and president of her own company.  Sounds like a good match.

It has been reported that his daughter Beatrice recognized his picture on the front page of the Sun, which was at Heather’s home (remember, this is the paper that Heather asked Britons to boycott buying, which totally explains how it ended up on her coffee table), and it was then that Heather went ballistic and contacted Sir Paul to rip him a new one.  However, just a day later, there is a story of Heather giving Sir Paul her “blessing” in pursuing another woman, and has said there is no animosity between them as far as dating other people goes.  Considering the original story was in the Sun, you can take that for what it’s worth.

It would seem from Heather’s bizarre antics of late that she is either full of hate and wants revenge, is coming a bit unhinged, or both.  Her daughter saw a photo of her daddy kissing another woman?  Well…mommy and daddy are getting divorced, and this happens sometimes.  It isn’t an ideal situation by any stretch…in a perfect world, marriages stay together, parents love each other, and they always have the best interests of their children at heart when making decisions.  Unfortunately, we don’t live in that perfect world, and so we have to do the best we can.  You explain the situation as best you can to your children, and you move on…hopefully doing as little damage to the children as possible.

This whole situation is a mess.  Heather is coming across as the very thing she says she doesn’t want to be seen as…a harping, unglued, irritating golddigger.  Her various interview on both British and US television and newspapers doesn’t bode well for her current divorce settlement, as Sir Paul seems to be basically saying that if there are indeed threats against Heather’s life, then their daughter is better off with him…completely the opposite of what Heather wanted to accomplish.

In my opinion, the best thing for Heather to do right now is sit back and be quiet, as Sir Paul has done, and hammer out any differences in private, with dignity…not only for her sake, but for the sake of her daughter.  Sir Paul is a beloved national celebrity in Britain, indeed around the world, and all of this is being dutifully chronicled.  Heather worries that her daughter will someday find out how her father treated her, but all Beatrice will someday need to do is Google her mom’s name, and that will be the end of that.

But I somehow get the impression that we’ll be writing about this one for quite a bit longer yet.

I remember reading about this when it first surfaced, but I filed it in the back of my mind and didn’t recall it until the other day.  Was Sir Paul’s marriage to Linda really as happy as it was always assumed to be?  It would seem that Linda McCartney wrote a vegetarian cookbook with literary agent Peter Cox, and in the course of it made some 19 tapes in which she admitted her depression and frustration when it came to dealing with her high-profile marriage to Sir Paul:

“There were moments when Linda would feel deeply unhappy about her marriage,” Cox said.

“In her low moments, the idea of leaving him did cross her mind, but she immediately rejected it.

“Her family was the most important thing in her life and there was no way she’d give them up. At the low points, she did feel trapped.”

It seems that Sir Paul was an exacting husband, wanting his wife’s total attention and devotion:

Linda found it easier to accept being bossed around by McCartney rather than confront him.

Of course, Paul had charm, was clever and interesting, sometimes rather soulful, even.

And no one is suggesting he was not a kind and affectionate husband.

But once the honeymoon had passed, Linda was to discover that she had married a complicated person who was self-absorbed, rather arrogant, prone to black moods, and with a not particularly well developed sense of humour.

His possessiveness, flattering at the outset, eventually led to friends observing that she seemed like a ‘caged animal’.

All in all, McCartney was not a man who was easy to be married to.

So was Linda happy? “Sometimes yes, sometimes no,” says a friend. “It was like any marriage – it had its ups and downs and it became a habit.

“But it wasn’t the big fairytale.’

To summarize a somewhat lengthy article, it would seem that marriage to Sir Paul wasn’t the glorious experience that so many have tried to make it out to be; however, while Linda did sometimes chafe and rebel against the restrictions put up by her rather demanding husband, she determined that when it all came down to it, her marriage was worth the effort, and she was determined to make it work.  While there were a couple of times in the marriage when she did leave, she always returned, because her marriage and her family were very important to her.

Why did the marriage work?  According to the article, it was because Linda accepted how the relationship worked, but also because she was, at heart, a gentle person.  I’ll also add my thought…I think she loved Sir Paul, even with his faults, and I think Sir Paul loved her, as much as he could ever love anyone.

But wait, there’s more…